QUEEN & SLIM (2019) – My rating: 8.5/10

Queen & Slim is a romantic drama directed by Melina Matsoukas (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Lena Waithe, from a story by James Frey and Waithe. The plot follows two African-Americans who must go on the run after killing a police officer in self-defense during a traffic stop gone wrong. Queen & Slim is an interesting story that I wish I could say is fiction but sadly, the story reflects the turn life has taken for people of color!

A criminal defense attorney, Angela “Queen” Johnson (Jodie Turner-Smith), has dinner with her date, Ernest “Slim” Hines (Daniel Kaluuya), in an Ohio diner. On his way to dropping Queen off at home, his presumably erratic driving attracts the attention of police officer Reed (Sturgill Simpson). He pulls the two over and orders Slim to step out of the car. The officer obviously agitated, drew his gun on Slim. Queen gets out of the car, identifies herself as an attorney and demands to know why he was arresting Slim.  When Queen tried to record the incident on her phone, the officer shoots her, luckily only grazing her leg. Seeing Queen shot, Slim tackles the officer but he got the best of Slim, beating him senselessly. Slim grabs the officer’s gun, during the struggle, the gun goes off killing the cop in self-defense. Queen convinces Slim that they either have to go on the run or spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Queen & Slim was a sad and tragic movie that unfortunately represents similar scenarios and attitudes taking place in today’s society.  Racial profiling is a serious problem that plaques the police force as well as regular people on the streets.  By nature, there isn’t a way to effectively keep cops or civilians from doing it. If a certain race of people consistently fits the shoe, they are going to be suspected of wearing the shoe without question.  Cops, however, should be better than that.  They have had enough training that should help them make better decisions. I could go on and on about this but I won’t get into the struggles of races.  The sad part, is innocent people suffer because of bad decisions.  Queen & Slim is supposed to show the human side of the accused and oppressed so people can emphasize. I don’t think the goal was achieved.  It’s like saying, “did you know Blacks are Human?” I give Melina Matsoukas and Lena Waithe an “E” for effort and a Thanks for trying. The film shows the struggles Queen & Slim encounter as they run for their lives.  Queen & Slim received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, chemistry between Kaluuya and Turner-Smith, direction, emotional weight, and messages, though some criticized the script. The movie has grossed $30,584,870 million worldwide. Check It Out!

 

WIDOWS (2018) – My rating: 8.8/10

Widows is an action drama directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by McQueen and Gillian Flynn, based upon the 1983 ITV series of the same name. Widows is a British-American co-production. The plot follows a group of women who attempt a heist in order to pay back a crime boss after their criminal husbands are killed during a botched job.  I was thrilled to see Widows, as I heard it received raved reviews and 93% rotten tomatoes.  They were right, Widows deserved every good review it received.

Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) is a renowned thief who is killed alongside his partners, Carlos Perelli (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Florek Gunner (Jon Bernthal) and Jimmy Nunn (Coburn Goss), during a botched robbery. Harry’s widow, Veronica Rawlings (Viola Davis), a Chicago teacher’s union delegate, is threatened by crime boss turned politician, Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), from whom Harry and his partners robbed $2 million. Jamal is running against Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), the son of the incumbent, Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall) and needs money to help win the election.

**** SPOILERS BELOW ****

Veronica discovers Harry’s notebook, which contains a detailed plan for what would have been his next heist, worth $5 million. She decides to carry out the heist to repay his debt to Jamal who has his blood thirsty brother, Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya) watching the women’s every move.  Veronica recruits two of the other widows, Alice gunner (Elizabeth Debicki) and Linda Perelli (Michelle Rodriguez), to assist her. Since the fourth widow, Amanda Nunn (Carrie Coon), didn’t show to their initial meeting, Veronica visits her and learns she has a newborn child, so she opts not to mention nor include her in the heist. Alice is responsible for buying the getaway car and guns, while Linda is tasked with deciphering the blueprint in Harry’s plan.  Alice uses David (Lukas Haas), a real estate executive who identifies the blueprint as a  safe in Jack Mulligan’s home. In the meanwhile, looking for information, Veronica’s chauffeur, Bash O’Reilly (Garret Dillahunt) is murdered by one of Manning’s men. Linda recruits Belle (Cynthia Erivo), her children’s babysitter, to be their driver and Veronica visits the Mulligan home to ask Jack for protection from Jamal and to case the premises in advance of the heist, while the other women investigate the external security.

Obviously, I really enjoyed Widows.  The cast were the crème de la crème of actors who played their roles with outstanding precision.  The plot heats up with an intensity that will keep you guessing to the very surprise ending.  Widows has more twist and turns than you can imagine.  The style and flow of Widows reminds me of “How to Get Away With Murder”, only much more understandable.  I recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a good suspense feature with lots of twist, action and excitement.  Check it Out!!!

 

BLACK PANTHER (2018) – My rating: 10/10

Black Panther is a Black superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The film is directed and written by Ryan Coogler,   and produced by Kevin Feige / Marvel Studios.  By now Black Panther has become a phenomenon surpassing all expectations for this type of action comic book hero with a predominantly Black cast. In Black Panther, the main character returns home as king of Wakanda and finds his sovereignty challenged by a new adversary, in a conflict with global consequences.  Now in it’s 6th week, the film has grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2018, as well as the seventh highest-grossing film ever in the United States and the 14th highest-grossing film of all time as well as the biggest debut by an African-American director.

Centuries ago, after being hit, in Africa, by a meteorite containing a powerful metal called vibranium, five African tribes go to war over rights to own this metal. One warrior ingests a “heart-shaped herb” affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first “Black Panther”. He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. Vibranium enabled the Wakandans to develop advanced technology, including the ability to cloak, thus isolating themselves from the world by posing as a Third World country.

As a result of placing spies all over the world, in 1992, a young King T’Chaka (Atandwa Kani) visits his brother N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown), who is working undercover in Oakland, California. T’Chaka accuses N’Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) with stealing vibranium from Wakanda. N’Jobu’s partner reveals he is Zuri (Forest Whitaker), another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T’Chaka’s suspicions.

In the present day, following a much older King T’Chaka’s (John Kani) death, his son, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to Wakanda to assume the throne. He and Okoye (Danai Gurira), the leader of the Dora Milaje regiment, extract Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), T’Challa’s ex-lover, from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony with his mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright). At the ceremony, the Jabari Tribe’s leader M’Baku (Winston Duke) challenges T’Challa but looses in ritual combat.

After Klaue and Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) steal a Wakandan artifact from a museum, W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), T’Challa’s friend and Okoye’s lover, urges him to bring Klaue back dead or alive. T’Challa, Okoye, and Nakia travel to Busan, South Korea, where Klaue plans to sell the artifact to CIA agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman). A fight erupts and Klaue attempts to flee but is caught by T’Challa, who reluctantly releases him to Ross’ custody. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda’s international image is a front for a technologically advanced civilization. Erik attacks and extracts Klaue. Ross is gravely injured protecting Nakia. Rather than pursue Klaue, T’Challa takes Ross to Wakanda, where their technology can save him.

While Shuri heals Ross, T’Challa confronts Zuri about N’Jobu. Zuri explains that N’Jobu planned to share Wakanda’s technology with people of African descent around the world to help them conquer their oppressors. As T’Chaka arrested N’Jobu, N’Jobu attacked Zuri, forcing T’Chaka to kill him. T’Chaka ordered Zuri to lie, saying that N’Jobu had disappeared and left behind N’Jobu’s American son, Erik, in order to maintain the lie. Erik became a U.S. black ops soldier, adopting the name “Killmonger”. Meanwhile, Killmonger kills Klaue and takes his body to Wakanda. He is brought before the tribal elders, revealing his identity and claim to the throne. Killmonger challenges T’Challa to ritual combat; after killing Zuri, he defeats T’Challa and hurls him over a waterfall. After ingesting the heart-shaped herb, Killmonger orders the remainder of the herb incinerated, but Nakia extracts one first. Killmonger, supported by W’Kabi and his army, prepares to distribute shipments of Wakandan weapons to operatives around the world.

I have taken you through most of the characters and given you a lot of the story.  As usual, I have to stop here in order to keep the story in tact.  If you haven’t already seen this awesome movie and to find out what happens next, give it a try as it is one of the best films I’ve seen in some time.  In particular, the plot is “on the money”.  The acting is brilliant and the special effects are sensational.  There is also lots of trivia so I added an entire section on most of the actors, actresses and characters for you to read about.  I enjoyed Black Panther so much, I’ve seen it twice.  I highly recommend it and I congratulate Marvel and Disney for a job well done! Check it Out!

[Black Panther is Oscar nominated for BEST: Picture, Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing]

Actors/Actresses/Characters:

• Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther:
  The king of the African nation of Wakanda, who gains enhanced strength by ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb. Ashton Tyler plays a young T’Challa.
• Michael B. Jordan as N’Jadaka/Erik “Killmonger” Stevens:
  The son of N’Jobu, and a U.S. black-ops soldier who seeks to overthrow his cousin T’Challa. Executive producer Nate Moore said Killmonger “has his own opinion on how Wakanda has been run and should [be] run”. Seth Carr plays a young Killmonger.
• Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia:
  T’Challa’s former lover and a War Dog, an undercover spy for Wakanda placed in other countries to complete missions. She is from the River Tribe. Nyong’o called Nakia a “departure” from her comic counterpart. She begins the film fighting for enslaved women in Nigeria; Nyong’o learned to speak Hausa for certain scenes in the film. She also trained in judo, jujitsu, silat and Filipino martial arts.
• Danai Gurira as Okoye:
  An “extremely proud” Wakandan and traditionalist from the Border Tribe, who is the head of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces of Wakanda, who serve as T’Challa’s bodyguards. When looking to cast Gurira, director Ryan Coogler had not seen The Walking Dead, in which Gurira portrays the popular character Michonne, and instead wanted her for the part because of her performance in Mother of George. Gurira said that the fighting skills she learned playing Michonne complemented the skills of Okoye, but that “there’s a lot of ways that they’re extremely different …
• Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross:
  A member of the Central Intelligence Agency and former liaison of its Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force. Freeman said that Ross “has an uneasy peace with T’Challa”, and that he “goes on a strange journey, an enlightening journey to Wakanda.” Unlike his comic book counterpart, who mainly served as comic relief, Freeman and the filmmakers sought to turn this version of Ross into a more capable agent in terms of diplomacy and combat.
• Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi: A confidant to T’Challa and his best friend, who is the head of security for the Border Tribe, serving as the first line of defense for Wakanda.
• Letitia Wright as Shuri:
  T’Challa’s 16-year-old sister and the princess of Wakanda who designs new technology for the country. Wright described her as “an innovative spirit and an innovative mind” who “wants to take Wakanda to a new place… [and] has a great fashion sense”. Wright also felt Shuri was a good role model for young black girls.
• Winston Duke as M’Baku:
  A powerful, ruthless warrior who is the leader of Wakanda’s mountain tribe, the Jabari, who are in protest to T’Challa being the new king. Duke described the Jabari as people who “strongly believe that to move forward, you have to have a strong adherence and respect for the past. As a result, they have a deep moral conscience.
• Angela Bassett as Ramonda:
  T’Challa and Shuri’s mother and Queen Mother of Wakanda. Boseman noted that Ramonda “is one of the advisors that [T’Challa] would look to… for some of the answers of what his father might want or might do. She may not be exactly right all the time, but she definitely has insights.” Bassett wore a silver, waist-length wig for the role that was made from 120 pieces of hair hand-rolled into dreadlocks.
• Forest Whitaker as Zuri:
  An elder statesman in Wakanda, and the keeper of the heart-shaped herb. Coogler called Zuri a religious and spiritual figure, and a way to reference the spirituality within Wakanda from the comics. He also added that Zuri “is a major tie back” to T’Chaka for T’Challa, and is “Black Panther’s version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Denzel Whitaker, who is not related to Forest, plays a young Zuri.
• Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue:
  A South African black-market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster, who is allied with Killmonger. He uses a piece of advanced Wakandan mining equipment as a sonic disruptor arm-cannon, replacing his left arm, which he lost in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Boseman described Klaue as a threat to Wakanda, one of the few outsiders to enter the country, and someone with access to vibranium, comparing him to Osama bin Laden. Serkis added that in addition to his desire for vibranium, Klaue is motivated by a “personal” vendetta against T’Challa, and “to expose what he thinks is the hypocrisy of Wakanda.”

 

GET OUT (2017) – My rating: 8.7/10

I went to see “Get Out” thinking it was going to be a horrible horror flick focused on race, the rich and immortality.  I’m so glad I did go to see the movie instead of forming an incorrect opinion.  Jordan Peele wrote a very creative story that borders on science fiction, dark comedy and horror.  The surprises are multiple and starts when a deer ends up flying across the road after being hit.  The story is filled with a bunch of rich, sinister people who are hard to figure out, so don’t look to solve “Get Out” easily. I particularly liked that this film didn’t go for cheap thrills using extremely loud sounds and surprise pop-up appearances, like a lot of other horror flicks.

TSA Officer Rodney “Rod” Williams (Lil Rel Howery), was just tasked with dog sitting for his best friend, a Brooklyn-based photographer, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya).  Chris and his girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) are preparing for a long weekend drive to meet her parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener). Chris is apprehensive because Rose has yet to reveal to her parents that her fairly new boyfriend of 5 months is African American.

As Chris and Rose arrive at the Armitage estate, they pass an African American groundskeeper, Walter (Marcus Henderson). Rose’s parents welcome Chris with big hardy smiles and hugs.  Dean proudly offers to give Chris a tour of the house, at which time they encounter their maid, Georgina (Betty Gabriel), who is also African American. While the family sits with Chris for a friendly get-to-know you-better-chat, Missy innocently queries Chris for personal information and finds out that his mother died in a hit-and-run accident when he was eleven years old. They also discuss Chris’ smoking habit, and Missy, a psychiatrist, offers to help him overcome his addiction through hypnosis, which Chris declines. At that time, Rose’s brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) arrives and they all sit down for dinner.

That night, when Chris goes out into the backyard to smoke a cigarette, he observes strange behavior from Walter and Georgina. When he re-enters the house, Missy brings up Chris’ smoking habit and invites him to sit down with her. She again offers to hypnotize him before asking him about the night his mother died. Chris reveals his guilt for not calling 911 as soon as he realized his mother hadn’t come home, and that he instead sat watching television. He finds himself unable to move or stop talking about his mother,  realizing he is being hypnotized. Missy commands him to sink into the floor, and he falls in an endless void while looking at Missy through a large screen; Missy tells him that he is now in “the sunken place”.  Chris suddenly wakes up and believes that the encounter with Missy was just a nightmare; however, after a conversation with Walter, he realizes that the encounter was real and that he had been hypnotized because he no longer wants to smoke, not remembering anything else.

From this point on, the film takes on a more sinister approach.  Get Out is different and leaves us wondering if such things really go on.  Without revealing any more of the story, I urge you to see this really good horror movie for the answers to what’s going on with this family.  BTW: the family is having an annual weekend party with many other friends who will bring more drama and questions to the game.  I thoroughly enjoyed Get Out and highly recommend it to everyone.

[Get Out is nominated for BEST: Picture, Actor, Director and Original Screenplay]

 

SICARIO (2015) – My rating: 8.8/10

Sicario has gotten a lot of buzz as an Oscar front runner. The movie deals with a Mexican drug cartel, the FBI (International and Domestic divisions) and other law enforcement agencies. Sicario is brutal and shows us drug enforcement from a different perspective. Deceit and dangerous procedures, along with cleaver legal maneuvers were incorporated to achieve common goals. Admittedly, whatever we’ve been doing in the past has been an unworkable disaster. The amount of drugs coming into the US, via Mexico, is astounding. In Sicario, several FBI agents come together to break the pattern and make a difference, even if they all are not on the same page.

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya) have been going through the same routines with the same results — rounding up a bunch of dead hostages and victims of the drug war while the drugs are safely smuggled into the US. In the opening scene, over 30 bodies were discovered within the walls of a small house along with a bomb in the backyard that kills two officers. A big operation with little payout for the team. When Kate’s boss, Dave Jennings (Victor Garber), recommends her to Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), a CIA Special Activities Division officer who is undercover as a supposed US Department of Defense adviser, Kate volunteers to join forces, eager to make a difference. Their goal is to search for the men responsible for all those dead bodies and the murderer of the two officers, which includes cartel boss, Manuel Díaz (Bernardo P. Saracino). While on a plane to El Paso, Texas, Kate meets Matt’s partner, Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) who plays a major role in Sicario. She begins to learn that things are not what they seem and definitely not what she’s been told.

Sicario breaks all the rules and is intense, violent, bloody, thought provoking and well acted. The story is deep and demands your attention every step of the movie. As usual, I’ve left out most of the story, as not to spoil it — I think Sicario has been under the radar for the most part. You should try to see it before it goes away. It’s worth seeing on the big screen.

[SICARIO is nominated for Cinematography, Original Score and Sound Editing]