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< Back Polite Society offers life lessons without taking itself too seriously Focus Features, 2023 103 minutes Director/Writer: Nida Manzoor Reading Time: 6 minutes Polite Society K!ng (JY0GLFGSIJAMMVFN) 00:00 / 06:29 📷 : Pixabay White: Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Ginkgo Biloba: Youthful, lighthearted, and fun movies and TV shows Chris Chaisson 2023-05-09 “The gods whispered to the warrior, 'You will not withstand the fury.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the fury!'” Between John Wick, Fast and Furious and the slew of comic-book movies in theaters, there is no shortage of big-budget action-packed cinema hitting the big screen. Nonetheless, these franchises all take themselves very seriously. Yes, they have humor and heart, but their characters are frequently indestructible despite their many brushes with death. They fight off villain after villain, sometimes without breaking a sweat, and reel off fake deep proverbs with a straight face. In fact, it’s been suggested that the goal of blockbusters is to create meme-worthy moments to increase their popularity. While it works, a nice change of pace would be a goofy action-comedy where the main character looks foolish and over their head at times. Director Nida Manzoor and her new action-comedy Polite Society provide this refresher. Polite Society unfolds from the perspective of Ria (Priya Kansara, Bridgerton ), a British-Pakistani high school student in London practicing martial arts and aspiring to become a professional stuntwoman. She finds inspiration in not only her idol, but also her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya, The Umbrella Academy ), an aspiring artist who has dropped out of school and moved back home. While they are a few years apart, Lena and Ria remain very close, with Ria helping Lena shoot videos of her training in martial arts and reciting mantras. One day, Lena, Ria and their parents attend the fancy party of a young doctor, Salim (Akshay Khanna, Grace ), whose mother, Raheela (Nimra Bucha, Churails ), is trying to marry him off. He is smitten with Lena, takes her on a date, and seduces her. Feeling as though she’s losing her sister to someone who will strip her of her passion for art, Ria sets out with her school friends to sabotage Lena’s promising new relationship, discovering Raheela’s true motives in the process. Polite Society ’s calling card is the heavily stylized action and editing. At times, it feels reminiscent of the 1960s Adam West Batman series, the Kill Bill movies or an Edgar Wright film. Between the voiceover narration, frequent quipping, and bombastic sound effects accompanying fight scenes, the film engages the audience through its absurdity. Manzoor makes it intentionally difficult to determine if the action depicted is exactly how scenes are playing out or part of Ria’s imagination. Considering her goal to be a career stuntwoman, this stylistic choice complements the story and protagonist well. If your main character is a dreamer, you may as well place the audience directly in her dreamlike world. However, Ria comes back down to earth frequently, such as when she cannot land a spinning kick on her school bully and comically falls to the ground in a heap. A clear example of such a surreal moment in the film is when Lena finds out that Ria has been tailing her boyfriend to find dirt on him. Lena enters Ria’s room and engages her in a violent fistfight, damaging walls, mirrors and doors all through the upstairs level of the house. Their parents, down in the kitchen, hear the noise and appear nonplussed, as though they are used to it. While they are both bloody and bruised, they eventually stop and have a verbal argument before parting ways. Similar to prior scenes, the violence is a bit over-the-top for what you’d expect from sisters with a healthy relationship. They go beyond tussling and bloody each other up. This type of fight choreography is meant to portray the existence Ria will likely have if she is successful with her career goals. It also heavily contrasts the notion that Pakistani women be meek, docile or subservient. A major theme of Polite Society is keeping one’s dreams alive. While Ria is young, rebellious and full of optimism, Lena feels beaten down by the beginning of her adulthood, experiencing self-doubt for the first time. Part of why she is so charmed by Salim is his recognition of her uncertainty, despite his own clear-cut career path. He comforts her with the sentiment that it is okay to be unsure of where you are headed, understanding her in a way that her sister cannot. Meanwhile, Ria and Lena’s camaraderie is clearly a source of motivation for Ria. Though her school friends are fiercely loyal, she craves Lena’s support in more ways than one. Not only does she need encouragement, but she also needs Lena to continue on with her own dream. Such a difference in perspective can occur between friends or siblings in different phases of life, where the younger of the two still thinks idealistically while the older becomes more practical. A noticeable element of the film is Ria’s strengths and weaknesses. Outside of meddling in her sister’s relationship, her fighting skills fail her in many confrontations; basically, every single one. She takes quite a few lumps in the movie, all in humorous fashion to keep a light-hearted tone. Her failures contrast sharply with many other movies where the main character has martial arts training. Instead of wiping the floor with everyone she faces off with, Ria struggles to execute all of the moves she has learned. Her inability to win fights or execute stunts makes the movie that much more endearing, as there is a clear message about perseverance in all of her disappointments. Despite her embarrassing and painful losses, she keeps getting back up and trying again. Similarly, she continues writing to her idol Eunice Huthart, a famous stuntwoman, despite months and months of having never heard back. Her persistence makes her a charming character, even if she is occasionally irritating to those around her. Polite Society tickles the funny bone throughout while still offering poignant moments and quirky action sequences. While having a different storyline, Manzoor’s indie flick feels strikingly similar to the 2010 action-comedy Kick-Ass . The latter is far more violent, but both lean heavily on style, sound editing and the humorous slapstick failings of their main characters. 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Boys in Blue offers a raw view into the lives of high school football players and coaches < Back Boys in Blue offers a raw view into the lives of high school football players and coaches Showtime Sports Documentary Films, 2023 45 minutes Creator: Peter Berg Reading Time: 7 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Showtime Boys in Blue Vision (WHGTRGECNCLJ0AQJ) 00:00 / 07:56 Dandelion Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Reba Chaisson 2023-01-31 Okay, I am not a prude, just naïve about some things. Several years after my son graduated high school, I asked out of the blue if his high school football coaches used foul language. He was incredulous that I would ask a question that seemed to him to have such an “obvious” answer. “Yeah,” he said. I also learned that it was not unusual for football coaches to have profanity-laced practices and film sessions. Indeed, this was the norm. The documentary series, Boys in Blue , sent these memories rushing back and I could not help but laugh. So that’s what Brandon meant! Boys in Blue focuses on the North Community High School football team. Located in Minneapolis, the predominantly Black school sits in the middle of a poor community where sadly, gunfire and violence are all too common. Initially unbeknownst to the talented football players, the coaching staff consists of Minneapolis police officers. This combined with the team’s blue uniforms makes for an apt title for the piece. In addition to the jovial and open coaching staff, several of the kids are profiled. Hill, the 15-year-old varsity quarterback, is friendly but reserved, and quietly aspires to play professional football. Best friends Meiko and “Rio” are seniors whose goals are to do the same. And “Cash” is a sophomore who is focused on using football to “repay [his] family for everything they’ve done for [him].” The coaches are all in lock step with the kids, as their own goals are to help their players get where they want to go. In this sense, high school football, at least for many of the team members at North High, is a means to an end – but this is not in any way atypical. We know this from the numerous studies conducted by social researchers over the last 30 years. In The Great American Football Ritual , D.E. Foley writes about the season he spent studying a high school football team in a small Texas town back in 1990. He found that the Friday night “football ritual” played a significant role in how the players, and even the community, viewed themselves and their status relative to non-elite players and towns, respectively, based on the strength of their high school football program. The television series Friday Night Lights , which ran from 2005-2011, was based on H. G. Bissinger’s 2004 book of the same name . The critically acclaimed series was about a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, and its significance to the town’s identity. Like the kids at North Community High School, the players here aspired – even expected – to go to a major university and ultimately play in the National Football League (NFL). I think a lot about the level of emphasis kids and coaches place on getting to the pros. According to the NCAA , only 7.3% of high school football players play NCAA football, and of those, 1.6% go pro. In raw numbers, that is 254 NFL players out of 1,006,000 high school football athletes each year. Knowing these odds, should young people be given what can be viewed as false hope? Shouldn’t they instead be encouraged to pursue much more realistic, attainable goals? Admittedly over the years I have waffled on these questions. My family and I have had long, serious, and sometimes contentious debates at the dinner table on this very issue. The viewpoint I settled on is that these are not mutually exclusive paths. Pursuing the dream to play professional sports does not preclude simultaneously preparing for a more traditional career. Given the odds of going pro, grave mistakes are made when the former is heavily – or worse, solely emphasized over the latter. Still, some might say it is sad that the lofty dreams of the kids in Boys in Blue are not being tempered by the adults around them. Such statements though, reflect a lack of appreciation for the complexity of the kids’ lives. The sadness here should be reserved for the circumstances under which Hill, Rio, Meiko, Cash, and the other kids at North High are forced to learn and live every day. Gunshots are heard throughout much of the documentary’s filming. Coach Adams acknowledges the persistent violence in the surrounding community, adding with great seriousness: “But for some reason, when it’s game time (shaking his head slowly), don’t f*** up my football game. Don’t f*** up my football game.” When gunshots are heard during a talk outdoors with Rio and Meiko, Meiko casually comments: “I ain’t ‘gon lie; that sh** normal for us.” Much of the research on high school sports focuses on teams in Texas, with a smattering in Florida and New York, and all address things like identity, sense of community, unrealistic aspirations, and significantly, the dangers of concussion. Not to minimize the importance of these issues, but none hone in on the challenging and often dangerous conditions under which students learn, play, and even walk to school every weekday. Perhaps these were not the conditions of the communities that were studied. If so, then sense of community is not the same near North High as it is in the places focused on in many of the studies. So while the coaches in Boys in Blue can be criticized for not tempering the kids’ aspirations for going pro, they should be recognized if not rewarded for what they do provide. These include friendship, yet another family to trust and rely on, and a sense of security for their young players, who are experiencing daily travails that include just trying to stay alive. I was glad to see Peter Berg contextualize the players’ experiences in this work. Boys in Blue reminds me so much of the HBO series, The Wire , which ran from 2002-2008. Each season focused on a different aspect of the Baltimore community: the police, the streets, the docks, the media, and even a focus on the schools. During that particular season, viewers saw teachers find innovative ways to both connect their students to the work and show that they were there for them during difficult times. This is similar to the role of North High’s coaches in the training and support of their players. Also like The Wire , Boys in Blue delved into local politics and how the actions of leaders often impact students’ lives in unintentional but very real and stressful ways. Indeed, politics in the North High community looms over the fate of all of the boys in blue. While not technically a film, Berg’s Boys in Blue documentary series checks all the boxes for why it nonetheless fits the indie sector so well. It tells a small story of a high school football team in an urban community, allowing the audience to not only get inside the school, but inside the players and coaches’ lives. The significance of this cannot be understated. Whereas judgments are often made about predominantly Black schools and the kids in them, this work gives us the privilege of an extended firsthand glimpse over four episodes. With this, we can at least begin to form/shape/modify our own ideas about the kids, families, and coaches through a deep and broad lens. At Cup of Tea Critiques, we rarely recommend a production – this will be our first (and perhaps only) exception to this. 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< Back Bob Marley: One Love presents the look and sound of sincerity Paramount Pictures, 2024 104 minutes Director/Writer: Reinaldo Marcus Green / Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin, and Reinaldo Marcus Green Reading Time: 6 minutes Bob Marley: One Love Mother Earth (UGMU6CW0MDCL4R3L) 00:00 / 06:59 📷 : Used with Permission, Dustin Knotek https://www.instagram.com/dustinknotek/ https://www.behance.net/dknotek, https://dknotek.com/ Jasmine: Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages Sage: Movies and TV shows with low-key characters Reba Chaisson 2024-02-17 We are so primed to the lies and pretentiousness of political and cultural leaders and even members of the judiciary that we have a knee-jerk reaction to sincerity. Sincerity is questioned in part because of our limited exposure to cultures outside of the Western mainstream, where perspectives, attitudes, and approaches to life and living are different from our own. This film about the life of Bob Marley stands a chance at challenging our cynicism about the possibility that sincerity can be real. Bob Marley: One Love is about the musician’s constant and incessant search for ways to fulfill the purpose he believes Jah (God) has for him. Set in Jamaica and the UK, the film begins with the adult Marley, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir ( Barbie , King Arthur: Legend of the Sword ), arranging a concert to bring peace to his country, which is divided by factions warring for power. The divisions are a result of Jamaica’s recent independence from Britain and the familiar vacuum that colonial powers create when they leave territories in political and economic ruins. Marley expects his melodies of love and unity to transcend the actions of his fellow Jamaicans, transform their thinking, and motivate them to put down their guns – until he is targeted by rebels who invade his home and shoot him. Such trauma would lead many people to question their faith and the understanding of their purpose. Marley, instead, questions his countrymen. In an exchange with his long-time mentor, Marley expresses his incredulity about the incident, stating, “I would have never believed they would try to kill me!” Family Man Barrett, his mentor played by Aston Barrett Jr., passionately responds, “The question is not why they tried to kill you. It’s why they did not succeed.” Marley doesn’t falter in his purpose after the trauma, instead striving to strengthen his music and move people to change in these new post-colonial times. For now, the sound is imperfect. The drums are not quite right. Even the album cover isn’t on point. Ever more focused, he moves as if guided by something deeply spiritual and he refuses to deviate from its instruction. Bob Marley: One Love will likely be criticized as a display of reggae music rather than a story about the man’s life. He draws thousands to his riveting concerts all over Europe and sings sweet quiet songs with soft melodies and lyrics about love. I agree that the film is heavily infused with Marley’s music and performances. However, it also gives us context and perspective for Marley’s life with glimpses into his childhood and the painful void left by a father who shunned him. I would also argue that the movie portrays Marley as an imperfect man who cares deeply for his wife Rita, played by Lashana Lynch ( No Time to Die , Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical ), and has a special relationship with his son, Ziggy. And while a lot of bands disband because of divisiveness or changing interests, Marley’s band remains intact and steadfast, even after relocating to Britain for a time. So, understanding this film as it regards Marley’s life beyond his music requires hearing what is unspoken and seeing what is not front and center. A fair criticism of the movie is the lack of space given to other reggae artists. People younger than 40 are likely unfamiliar with Bob Marley since he passed away in 1981 and reggae is not a part of mainstream music in the West. So, Marley and his music not only predate rap, pop, and alt rock, it stems from a part of the globe that few of us think to visit when we vacation – Jamaica. In addition, Western media utters little about the goings on in this former British territory. The movie compounds this by zeroing in only on Marley’s world. In my humble opinion, this is a missed opportunity for the film given the captive mainstream audience. It was a chance to expose us to the range of this genre, not only its sound during Marley’s era but also through to its present beats. Who are the artists? What is their message? How has the genre changed over the years and how has it influenced other music? Why don’t we hear it on the radio stations that tend to keep only a dozen songs in their playlist despite music like reggae that is pop and rock adjacent? Introducing reggae artists in the film could have gone a long way in broadening viewers’ minds and expanding their tastes into this segment of the music industry. Small Axe , a series of five shorts by British filmmaker Steve McQueen, depicts the harassment experienced by people from the West Indies between the late 1960s and early 1980s in Britain. We see an example of this in Bob Marley: One Love when Marley and his friends are pushed around by the police, searched and thrown in jail for standing around a statue at night and talking. The fact-based Small Axe series suggests that Marley and his friends endured much more physical harassment than was shown. The scenes are likely crafted in this manner to keep the movie positive and avoid detracting from the emphasis on Marley and his message of love. This is not an unusual tactic in film. Indeed, Mr. Church did something similar where it omitted historical context so as not to distract from the story’s focus on the main character. As I said then, it does beg the question on whether a story should be presented with complete and accurate historical context, or if filmmakers have tacit permission to strip away extraneous but ugly information that can add noise to the film and disrupt its themes. The approach depends on what the filmmakers want to convey. Marley’s love and respect for people was so genuine that he nearly takes the head off his manager for bringing corruption into his space. In an interview, he stated that his kind of rich could not be measured in money. His kind of rich was love, safety, and happiness for all people, and this strand ran throughout his life and music. What do you do with such a unicorn? How do you wrap your arms around someone who is such an oddity? Whether we realize it or not, we miss Marley. It is sad that we did not have the pleasure of being wrapped in his ever-evolving music for a longer period of time. We could sure use a unicorn today. Yeahh maan! Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Lonesome Soldier redefines heroism as what we do for ourselves Military Movies, 2023 109 minutes Director/Writer: Nino Aldi / Alexander Randazzo, Lionel Chetwynd, and Linda Lee Reading Time: 7 minutes Lonesome Soldier Revolve (BBKXZ5A8I1B3NWE3) 00:00 / 09:53 📷 : Used with permission, Malachi Pictures Coca: Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Dandelion: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Reba Chaisson 2024-06-14 I think we can all agree that patriotism is important and honorable. I’m not talking about material symbols of patriotism, like some phony ball cap with words suggesting that wearing it is patriotic. I am talking about deeds, commitment, and sacrifice of self, much like that inherent in military service. Enlisting in the military requires complete surrender of yourself and relinquishing of your own ideas about who you are. Those who join the service place themselves under the control of an institution that strips them of their identities, molds their minds into a different way of thinking, and shapes their bodies into something they won’t recognize by the time their service is over. Knowing this, some of us submit to it anyway. All of us know someone who did. Few of us, however, witness the struggles of someone who came back broken by what they saw, what they did, and who they had become. That is until Nino Aldi’s film, Lonesome Soldier , introduced us to Jackson Harlow. Lonesome Soldier centers Jackson, a twenty-something musician played by Alexander Randazzo ( The Lost Bus , Bad Impulse ). Jackson lives in a close-knit rural Tennessee town, where he grew up showered with the love of his overprotective mother and nourished with the wisdom of his supportive but curmudgeonly grandfather, Mack, played by John Ashton ( Gone Baby Gone , Beverly Hills Cop ). The mild-mannered Jackson has incorrigible friends with whom he hangs out at the local bar, where his band regularly performs in front of hometown patrons. Not making enough money as a musician nor mechanic, Jackson enlists in the National Guard Reserve soon after marrying his long-time sweetheart Christy, played by Leah Grosjean ( Bird of Paradise , The Recipe ). He expects to be away from her one weekend per month, until he is called to serve in Iraq where his orders for three months turn into an additional six, and then more. Based on a true story, Lonesome Soldier feels authentic on several dimensions. The age–, gender–, and racially–diverse cast helps us see ourselves as part of a larger, broader family. Although the film’s setting is a small rural community, the relationships between the characters feel like those many of us had while growing up even in corners of large urban areas. At twenty-something, many of us are still connected with our closest childhood friends and enjoy getting together at a local spot. Also as young adults, we quite frequently gather with family for dinner at “Mom’s house,” sometimes bickering with folks at the table. And occasionally, we find ourselves in spontaneous but poignant talks with older adults, who impart bits of wisdom that stick. I like this film in part because it feels like the lives many of us lived when we were young. These elements make Lonesome Soldier feel like a story about us, even though its focus is on the one of us who makes a consequential choice to enlist. The one of us who leaves as an unassuming and kind young man who loves his wife and treasures his baby girl. And the one of us who returns home as something quite different. Early in his Basic Military Training, Jackson meets Ritchie (Dion Earl, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot , Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping ), a fellow enlistee from a nearby town with whom he becomes close friends. When Ritchie’s sergeant catches him smoking, he orders him to dig a hole to bury the cigarette. “DIG DEEP!” yells his sergeant. He then demands that Ritchie offer a eulogy for the buried cigarette. This moment certainly conveys the ingenuity of those who train others. It reminds me of the 1984 movie, Karate Kid , where Mr. Miyagi requires his teenage student, Daniel, to paint fences, wash cars, and sweep floors. Later, to Daniel’s surprise, he learns there was a purpose to these seemingly pointless household chores. Similarly, Ritchie’s sergeant takes a seemingly small infraction of the rules and makes it into an exercise to toughen him. Digging the hole and eulogizing the cigarette butt are not only meant to dissuade Ritchie from smoking again. They are meant to force him to bury any “soft” feelings he might have for anything in his life. They are meant to transform him, prepare him to do what is unimaginable, and feel in a way very different than he felt before. We are all changed in some way by our experiences. But change is not strong enough of a term to convey the transformation that occurs as a result of experiencing war, where non-combatants such as babies and children are slain, and soldiers are left with the imagery of their mangled bodies and are often covered in their blood. Just as horrendous is soldiers seeing their brothers– and sisters-in-arms shot right in front of them, and they are helpless to do anything substantial to save their lives. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs’s National Center for PTSD , these experiences along with being shot at and ambushed “increase [soldiers’] chances of having PTSD or other mental health problems.” Compounding this, it says, are the long absences from home. To mollify these effects, some veterans self-medicate to suppress the nightmares, hallucinations, anxiety, and depression; others tragically commit acts much more damaging. Upon returning home, Jackson is often thanked by friends and family for his service and referred to as a hero, sincerely and teasingly. Reconciling such references though with his experiences and how he now feels about himself proves difficult and leads him to display the prototypical symptoms of PTSD. Thus, his family and friends’ comments seemingly exacerbate the frustration, confusion, and helplessness he already feels. Indeed, Jackson expresses, “I don’t really give a f*** about myself.” Jackson’s grandfather, Mack, a veteran himself, advises him to “just suppress the guilt.” Such advice hints at the belief that these feelings can be stopped like brakes function on a bike. But just as stopping a bike in heavy rain can result in serious injuries from the skid, suppressing guilt as Jackson does risks throwing his life even further out of balance. Something different is needed. At his lowest point, Jackson is reminded that his “Fight’s not over; it’s just different,” which suggests that Jackson has to be re-transformed. He has to “dig deep” to fight his way back to himself. Unlike most movies I have seen about war and soldiers returning home, Lonesome Soldier exposes the impact on families when soldiers are absent from home for extended periods of time. Partners can become overwhelmed with stress, which is exacerbated when caring for children or sick family members. Children’s health and safety can be put at risk due to the constant worry and simply missing their enlisted parents. We enjoy seeing news clips of children jumping into the arms of a parent returning home after a long deployment. But what we don’t see is what happens to families between the soldier’s departure and return. This film elucidates an aspect of military deployment that is rarely addressed in the media, particularly as it regards the partners of soldiers and the types of support they want or need. I remember watching the 2014 biopic, American Sniper , about Navy Seal Chris Snyder. Upon returning home from the Middle East, Chris, played by Bradley Cooper, was repeatedly thanked for his service. It was awkward for him, off-putting even. The film depicted him as angry about it because it seemed disingenuous. After all, what does that mean “Thank you for your service” or “You’re an American hero?” These sentiments flew in the face of what he felt about himself given his experiences in the service. While the expressions are meant to acknowledge those who performed extraordinary acts, “hero,” “heroism” and comments relating to them are so overused that their power has flattened into platitudes and led to cynicism. Perhaps we should now consider something both timeless and meaningful. The next time we see a veteran or a soldier in uniform, maybe we can consider adding something to make our acknowledgments impactful. Ask “What can I do for you?” “What do you need?” or “How can I help you?” But let’s do this only if the intent is truly to be of service to them. This way we are digging deep to uncover the hero within ourselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Marketing Associate Apply Now San Francisco, CA, USA Job Type Part Time Workspace Remote About the Role This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Requirements This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. About the Company This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Apply Now

< Back Talk to Me tackles peer pressure and the effects of witnessing violence A24, 2023 95 minutes Director/Writer: Danny Philippou / Michael Philippou Reading Time: 5 minutes Talk to Me A Most Sinister Kind (LQSZUBJOBXALHA5N) 00:00 / 05:00 📷 : Used with permission, Agustin R. Michel https://www.instagram.com/agustinrmichel https://twitter.com/AgustinrMichel https://www.behance.net/agustin_rmichel Dandelion: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Ginseng: Suspenseful and intense thrillers Chris Chaisson 2023-08-11 The phrase “elevated horror” has been thrown around in cinematic circles over the last few years, as horror directors aim for more depth in their stories. The term is meant to refer to horror stories that tie in to social or psychological issues. Many younger creators have touched on topics like social media addiction, grief and generational trauma with their works, a change of pace from the costumed villains of decades past. I recently re-watched a ‘90s film Menace II Society , an unflinchingly violent film about the final high school days of two friends growing up in Watts, California. What struck me most about the film was how every brutal moment had an innocent bystander who would likely face permanent emotional damage due to what they had just witnessed. Though part of a much different genre, Australian YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou tackle this theme in their new A24 flick, Talk to Me . Talk to Me revolves around a group of high school aged students who use an embalmed hand cased in ceramic to conjure up spirits. After lighting a candle and holding the hand, they say, “Talk to me,” and a ghost appears to whomever is holding the hand. They then recite, “I let you in,” allowing the ghost to possess their body. The caveat is that after 90 seconds, the spirit will want to remain in the body, so they must let go of the hand and blow out the candle before the time is up. When the younger sibling of one student partakes, the spirit possessing his body causes him to inflict violence on himself, putting him in critical condition and ending the group’s enjoyment permanently. The A24 project, created by two brothers who own the popular YouTube channel “RackaRacka,” is certainly not the first horror movie to feature kids contacting spirits from beyond the grave. There have been several Ouija board-adjacent horror flicks in which the game goes terribly wrong. Where Talk to Me diverges from the others is its tie-in to contemporary pop culture trends. The teenagers do not partake in the activity to rebel against strict parents; they do it to fit in and gain attention. An unfortunate trend in recent years has been adolescents succumbing to dangerous challenges on social media that bring them harm and, in some cases, death. Though letting ghosts possess your body sounds, um… ill-advised , so does consuming laundry detergent or running across a series of large stacked crates. The film points out the intoxicating effects of fame and popularity, whether in a local or global community. As we see repeatedly, all that is needed to encourage foolish behavior are a couple of examples where nothing bad happens. The more individual sub-plot of Talk to Me is the stages of grief its protagonist, Mia (Sophie Wilde, The Portable Door ), experiences. Having witnessed her mother’s overdose, Mia struggles to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, as does her father. She lives with her friend Jade’s family, as her relationship with her father has been strained. With both having witnessed the life leave her mother’s body two years prior, Mia and her father both struggle to come to terms not only with the loss of life, but what they saw with their own eyes. They each carry the guilt of believing that she could have been saved. Mia’s infatuation with contacting the spirits compromises her judgment. Not only does Mia play along but encourages Jade’s little brother, Riley, to join in, putting him in a perilous situation against Jade’s wishes. After the teens all witness a violent, horrifying and consequential moment, the fun ends and the ancillary characters drift out of the story. While this puts even more focus on grief-stricken Mia, it also highlights how trends among youth come and go once a sobering and catastrophic moment occurs. Though Talk to Me mirrors Menace II Society in its depiction of young people witnessing death and violence, the two films hail from completely opposed dramas. Talk to Me ventures into the supernatural while Menace II Society is very grounded in the reality of its time period. A better comparison in the same genre would be the early 2000s thriller Joy Ride . Paul Walker and Steve Zahn play brothers on a cross-country trip who prank a truck driver on a CB radio, leading him on to think they are a woman that is interested in him. Once they reveal themselves, the truck driver wants vengeance and goes on a violent rampage. What the films do have in common is young people seeking attention, letting a game go too far, and having to cope with the horrifying, irreversible results. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Dark Night of the Soul compels us to let it go Trick Candle Productions, 2024 80 minutes Director/Writer: SJ Creazzo Reading Time: 6 minutes Dark Night of the Soul Pour it Slow (J2QO8N7X2VQATPQ1) 00:00 / 07:29 📷 : Used with permission, Trick Candle Productions Sage: Movies and TV shows with low-key characters Ginger: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Reba Chaisson 2024-11-06 I suppose we all have unresolved issues. You know what I mean; things that still don’t sit right on our minds and our hearts decades into adulthood. Sibling rivalry: Mom was mean to me; Dad liked you best. The high school gossip started by your best friend. The betrayal of a lover we’d only known for six months. Even that slight by a passerby on a train or in a passing car can be added to the list. Some of these things just roll off our conscience, but others stay with us and mess us up more than we realize. Think about our work for instance. When faced with a problem, sometimes we need to walk away from it to gain some clarity. There’s something about getting some distance from our work that loosens the tension in our brain so disparate connections can naturally occur, murkiness can give way to lucency, and logic can begin to flow freely. Time constraint, though, is often the impediment to such clear thinking. We need more than just a 15-minute break for this to happen. Like a snack is insufficient to satisfy a dinner-sized hunger, giving our brain the space to think requires much more than a tea break or even a regular afternoon siesta. SJ Creazzo’s Dark Night of the Soul brings the importance of rest and reflection into focus by stranding its protagonist after a serious car accident. Dark Night of the Soul centers on Dr. Alex Waldan, a brilliant CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) scientist tasked with finding a cure for a deadly virus that has led to a global pandemic. The state of emergency becomes even more complicated when she crashes her car in an isolated area near the Catskill Mountains while reviewing her notes, examining test data, and listening to cynics on a talk radio station. Interestingly, Dr. Waldan crashes her car while engaged in a non-digital form of distracted driving. Played by Kristanna Loken of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines fame, Alex wakes to find herself severely hurt in a deserted clearing. Her gruesome injury contrasts sharply with the backdrop of a bright day, complemented with surrounding trees freshly bursting with reds, browns, and yellows signaling the nascent stages of fall. Noticeably absent from the movie is any form of digital technology, which plays only about a five second role as her call to 9-1-1 on her cell phone immediately fails. What do you do, then, when you have none of the modern technological conveniences? Whereas Cast Away focuses on Chuck Noland’s (Tom Hanks) survival and self-entertainment on an island when his cargo plane crashes, Dark Night of the Soul hones in on Alex’s mandate: developing a cure that can save lives and end the pandemic. Undoubtedly, the urgency of the matter and the stress of being “singularly tasked” to find a cure contribute to her feeling compelled to multitask behind the wheel. From her point of view, she has no time to waste. Ironically though, the accident gives her the gift of time to rest and reflect. Alex’s reflections manifest as memories of people in her life. The most vivid of which consists of contentious conversations with her deceased father, exquisitely played by Martin Kove, best known for the Cobra Kai and Karate Kid franchises. In one memory, she vents to him about a time when he forced her to sleep on a bed in the woods after telling her there was a bear nearby. He calmly responds that she did well and thought she was smart to raise the bed to a height the bear couldn’t reach, adding that there really was no bear. Writer/director SJ Creazzo’s technique of memory triggers for Alex conveys the need for us to sometimes draw on adversarial experiences to motivate us to survive dangerous or challenging situations. For instance, after several such memories with her dad, Alex angrily asks him, “How can you possibly help me at all?” He responds, “By being here.” Not all survival must necessarily be drawn from challenging times. Among Alex’s other memories are conversations with her sister, Lori, played by Courtney Warner ( McVeigh , Valentine’s Town ). The two discuss their remembrances of their parents, particularly their father. During one of their talks, Alex lets it slip that their dad loved Lori more than he loved her. Surprised, her sister explains that they were treated differently by their dad because he knew they had different strengths and talents. She adds, “Treating people equally is objectively crazy because not any one person is the same.” Lori’s statement serves the purpose of calming Alex’s latent angst about her father’s feelings for her given how she was raised by him. As worded though, the statement renders like a political opinion rather than Lori’s personal assessment of the way her father operated. The U.S. is still undergoing its centuries-long struggle with treating people equally under the law, without regard to their race, gender, class, or religion. As such, Lori’s line would land much more impartially had it been phrased, “Treating us the same when our aptitudes and interests differed would have been ludicrous.” This keeps the matter personal and family-related rather than what seems like a pronouncement about a broader political issue. Dark Night of the Soul reminds me in some ways of Challengers , the 2024 theatrical release about Tashi, a tennis phenom played by Zendaya, who injures her knee and misses out on the opportunity to play professionally. In my review of the film, I talk about the emotional weight we carry from loss when we don’t reach the point of acceptance. Indeed, Alex is also dealing with loss with which she has yet to reconcile. In Challengers , I discuss the damage we inflict on others as a result of not dealing with loss. What is never addressed, though, is the damage we do to ourselves. I like the creativity of Dark Night of the Soul with respect to its use of Alex’s memories of loved ones to remind her that she has a larger purpose and must survive to fulfill it. SJ Creazzo’s calm and thought-provoking story convinces not only Alex but also us that staying closed in our anger and blinded to truths keep us in the dark, stunting our growth and preventing us from seeing things clearly. While I wouldn’t recommend getting into a car accident to realize this, I agree that we have to find ways to let the emotional baggage go so that we can fulfill the promise of our lives. Dark Night of the Soul will debut on Amazon Prime on November 12, 2024. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Thelma prompts us to reconsider our roles in others’ lives Bandwagon, 2024 97 minutes Director/Writer: Josh Margolin Reading Time: 6 minutes Thelma Ante (JASJU1U0XPTXNIPM) 00:00 / 06:12 📷 : Pixabay White: Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Chamomile: Family dramas Chris Chaisson 2024-07-09 Getting scammed absolutely stinks. Being set back financially is often not even the worst part. The most regrettable aspect of it is feeling both that you are too gullible and maybe even that you lack the necessary survival skills to take care of yourself. If you’re fortunate, you rebound and get a good story out of it. For some people, it may be a breaking point or an opportunity for others to write them off entirely. Regardless, anyone who’s been bamboozled wishes they can recoup their losses, and Josh Margolin’s newest comedy Thelma allows them to live vicariously through a 93-year-old woman doing just that. Played by June Squibb ( Nebraska ), Thelma is a widow in her nineties holding on to her autonomy despite her family’s concerns. She remains very close with her grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger, The White Lotus ), who visits her frequently and looks after her. When Thelma falls for a scam and sends $10,000 to someone pretending to be Daniel, she hatches a plan to get her money back despite Daniel and his parents (Parker Posey and Clark Gregg) attempting to dissuade her. She pairs up with an old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree, Shaft ), at a local retirement home and goes on an adventure to track down the scammer. As more roles open up for underrepresented demographics (in this case older adults), there has been a tendency to portray them as victims who need protecting. Often, older adult characters in movies get scammed or robbed and are rescued by a younger heroic figure. Similarly, many LGBTQ+ characters are portrayed as victims of hate crimes in ways where the story abandons character development and zooms in on the violence they endure. And, as has been frequently pointed out about the 2010s, moviegoers experienced a heavy dose of films surrounding slavery and civil rights. While the increased representation is a positive for marginalized groups, a common thread is them being defined by their suffering and in need of saving. Despite being a goofy comedy with the primary objective of providing a few chuckles, Thelma bucks this cinematic trend. Rather than chalking the scam up as a loss or letting someone else track down the perpetrator, Thelma takes matters into her own hands. Aside from the understandable anger that comes with being scammed, Thelma gains motivation from overhearing her family suggest that this incident proves it is time to put her in a home. In a sense, her goal is less to retrieve $10,000 than to retain her independence. Thelma’s plan requires some ingenuity, as she must first sneak away from her overprotective family, convince Ben to tag along, and even borrow (without asking) a weapon from a doddering friend who lives alone. Through Thelma’s actions, it is clear that she is of sound mind and physically capable enough to look after herself. After all, even most young and healthy people never go through the trouble to track down their scammers (I sure as hell didn’t). Not only does Thelma have to overcome the expectations of her family, she must rebel against the ideas of those in her own age range as well. Ben feels perfectly comfortable being supported by others and tries to convince Thelma that she will be better off surrendering to her family’s perception of her. His character illustrates that just like other demographics, older adults are not a monolith. Some welcome the chance to be cared for while others actively reject it. Additionally, Daniel struggles with the concept of “acting his age.” While it is clear that he genuinely loves his grandmother, he also takes great pride in caring for her. As a young adult who recently experienced a break-up, he carries with him an insecurity that he is not growing up fast enough and assuming adult responsibilities. He views looking after Thelma as a way of establishing his self-worth. His conundrum shows how our behavior and decision-making surrounding our aging relatives can sometimes be more about us than them. Much of the film’s humor comes from poking fun at the action genre, frequently through the use of its soundtrack. Several scenes invoke music that we have gotten used to hearing in fast-paced car chases or hand-to-hand combat. Yet in Thelma , the speeding sedans and shootouts have been replaced by slow-moving motorized scooters. While the music brings to mind scenes from cult classic thrillers that contain life-and-death stakes, there is no such threat when Thelma is simply trying to bust out of Ben’s retirement home or exit the gas station unseen. Mixed in with these “action” sequences are scenes where Daniel teaches Thelma how to use social media and recurring gags involving other members and staff at Ben’s retirement home. In addition to inducing several laughs from its audience, Thelma challenges our perceptions of those we view as feeble or incapable. While it is often out of love and concern, our assumptions can quickly become patronizing or ultimately about what we want. The film serves as a reminder to not be so quick to define what our loved ones are or decide what they should desire, but simply be there for them when the time comes. A decent comparison for Thelma is another June Squibb film from 2013, Nebraska . While less humorous, the film revolves around an older character (played by Bruce Dern) taking a road trip with his son to reclaim a prize and dodging predatory people who learn of his good fortune. Both films show how aging may make you a target but it does not have to render you helpless. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Dope Thief shares important lessons about family < Back Dope Thief shares important lessons about family Apple Studios, 2025 50 minutes Creator: Peter Craig Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Apple Studios Dope Thief Survive (PNTD034EZSCMMHXD) 00:00 / 08:12 Coca Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Rosemary Movies and TV shows with intense action Reba Chaisson 2025-09-04 Many years ago, I read a book called All Our Kin , penned by Carol Stack and based on her research in The Flats, a working-class neighborhood in a major city in the Midwest. In the book, she reveals how she used participant observation to gain entrée into the community and get to know her new neighbors. Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed is similar, as it is based on her time living in several poor communities and working in nearby diners and hotels, so she could experience life and living as her neighbors did. Participant observation allows for researchers to gain a deep appreciation for residents’ hardships, triumphs, and everyday survival strategies. One of the big takeaways from both studies is how people in the communities rely on kinship networks, that is, support from people who are not related by blood but are considered family nonetheless. I mention all of this because the limited series, Dope Thief , stirred these themes in my head once again. Apple TV+’s limited series is about two best friends who front as federal agents to steal money and drugs from dope dealers in Philadelphia. Donning shell jackets with bright yellow DEA lettering and phony badges around their necks, the duo look legitimate as they invade dealers’ homes, intimidate the occupants, and help themselves to money and drugs. The scenario is reminiscent of the character Omar in the HBO series, The Wire . Omar (Michael Kenneth Williams), with the help of a shotgun hanging from his shoulder and tucked under his long coat, made his living robbing dope dealers—without the use of a DEA jacket! In one episode, Omar simply stood under the window of an apartment and the dealer just dropped the drugs down to him. Brian Tyree Henry ( Class of ’09 , Atlanta ) leads the cast of Dope Thief as Raymond Driscoll, an early 30-something who has never left home but tells his mother, Theresa Bowers (Kate Mulgrew), that he works all day as a painter. Theresa, who is not Ray’s biological mother, is not as gullible as Ray seems to believe, as she casually queries him about such things as his odd hours and how he is able to paint houses in the cold weather. Still, she surprises him with a birthday treat with a candle on top. “You thought I forgot. Happy Birthday you piece of sh**,” she says with a smile. He looks at her with much appreciation. Wagner Moura ( Civil War , Shining Girl ) is Ray’s best friend, Manny Carvalho, and the two are quite literally thick as thieves. Ray’s and Manny’s business continues as usual until they learn that they can get a big haul in a rural area on the outskirts of Philly. On a rundown piece of property, according to their source, the owners manufacture and sell large quantities of dope. Excited about their potential take, the two rush their usual surveillance and planning. The heist goes awry, and the cartel-linked, biker-gang-affiliated property owners inform them through an anonymous, raspy voice on a walkie talkie that they know they are the perpetrators, adding “You think you’ll be tough to find in your Scooby Doo van?” The call puts Ray and Manny in fear for their own and their loved ones’ lives, forcing them to leave their homes to evade the cartel, the biker gang, and the real DEA that is now investigating the crime. Ray has quite a contentious relationship with his dad Bart, played by Ving Rhames. We realize this when he confronts his dad for convincing Theresa to fund his release from prison on a medical discharge. “Ain’t one part of my life that you didn’t [mess] up,” says Ray. This is a chilling exchange. That Ray’s words spew with such clarity and vile in the moment, as if oblivious to his existing cartel/DEA problems, indicates he still carries raw emotional scars from his childhood experiences. From this scene, we get a strong sense of why Ray seems determined to rely only on himself to protect his mother and Manny. The days are always overcast, cool, and seemingly wet in Dope Thief . Perhaps this is why Ray and Manny’s situation seems perpetually hopeless throughout much of the series, suggesting that the weather plays just as much a role in the show as the human characters. Theresa, however, brings levity to this intense story by acting independent of Ray’s demand to not pay for Bart’s lawyer, for instance, and challenging Ray in ways that come across as humorous, as she did with his claims about being a painter. She is undeterred and unflustered by Ray’s obvious untruths, self-imposed hardships, and even his efforts to dictate certain demands. When he is fiercely adamant, for instance, that he is not to be taken to the hospital for a serious injury, Theresa ignores his protests and implores the group to stop letting “this lunatic” run the show and get him to the hospital. Unable to go to the police given the crime they were committing at the time, Ray and Manny have to duck and cover on their own and ultimately fend for themselves. Sometimes, however, help comes from the most unexpected places. We see this when Bart’s lawyer, Michelle Taylor (Nesta Cooper), meets a reluctant Ray in a bar outside of Bart’s prison. Ray, using verbal cues and body language, signals to her that the people after him are in the bar waiting to follow him outside. Suspecting all along that he was in some kind of trouble, she helps him out of the situation rather than leaving him at the mercy of his would-be killers. The old saying that blood is thicker than water means there is nothing like the bonds of blood relations, but Dope Thief challenges this. The series has an ethnically diverse cast, with characters similar in social class and not related by blood. Yet, they are all connected to one another in ways traditionally conceived as a family unit. Manny and Ray have been best friends since high school, and while they butt heads like friends (and even biological brothers) do on occasion, each repeatedly risks his life for the other. Theresa, though not Ray’s biological mother, is loyal and strong-willed, both of which serve her well in protecting her son from himself and others. Michelle, albeit a lawyer and not a part of the social network, bonds with Ray and his family, despite the risks to her career and life in doing so. Hence, family is more than blood relations; it is a mutually supportive kinship. And as Stack and Ehrenreich showed in their studies, shared biology is not a prerequisite for gaining entrée to it. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Queen Sono brings a spy thriller from a different part of the world < Back Queen Sono brings a spy thriller from a different part of the world Diprente Films, 2020 43 minutes Creator: Kagiso Lediga and Karabo Lediga Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Queen Sono Adrenaline Rush (0F2JDLS3MEXST1KL) 00:00 / 07:04 Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2023-10-30 Cinematic representations of spies are usually of U.S., European, or Israeli descent, predominantly male, and between 40-60 years of age. Think Eric Bana as Avner in Munich , Gary Oldman as George Smiley and John Hurt as Control in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , George Clooney as Bob Barnes in Syriana , and Leonardo DiCaprio as Roger Ferris in Body of Lie s . There are a handful of female spies but unlike the subtlety of their male counterparts, they are usually presented as action characters with a lot of sass and pop. Think Helen Mirren as Victoria in Red , Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt in Salt , and Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blond . Queen Sono presents an interesting departure from these stories and depictions. First, rather than a film, it is a six-episode Netflix series. Second, the story is set in South Africa and features a little-known Black actress, Pearl Thusi ( Quantico , Catching Feelings ), as Queen Sono, a South African spy who kicks her antagonists’ tails as she gathers intel from countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Queen Sono is the daughter of Sofia, a celebrated militant and activist who was killed when “Q” was a child, an event which haunts her to this day. Raised by her scrappy paternal grandmother, Mazet, and supported by Dr. Sidwell Isaacs, intelligence director and close friend of her mother’s, Q joins the government’s security agency (SOG) with aspirations of doing field work. She becomes a part of the South African president’s secret service detail and eventually moves into the country’s intelligence ranks. The story contains parallel plot lines, one of which consists of Q’s private mission to learn who was behind her mother’s assassination and hold them responsible. This operation allows us to see beyond Q’s tough veneer, exposing the deep hurt she masks from the loss of her mother. It makes her actions appear reasonable, as she uses her elusiveness to enter a prison to confront the man accused of the crime, and later takes on a fictitious identity to gain access to a family to casually extract information she needs. The other storyline involves Q’s legitimate job, which is to dismantle an organization headed by eKaterina Gromova. Played by Kate Liquorish ( Still Breathing , Eye in the Sky ), eKaterina is a ruthless corporate leader from Eastern Europe who wants to take over the security and communications infrastructure for all the African governments. While Q has many occasions to show off her fighting skills, she bleeds a few times during her physical confrontations and even loses one of them. Combined, the two storylines make the character a realistic portrayal of a spy – making her human versus automaton-like. One of the things I like about the series is it forces us to distinguish the countries in Africa. Too often, we view Africa as a monolith rather than a continent of 54 nations, each with its own set of languages, customs, cultures, sociopolitical systems, and economic challenges and priorities. In media, women and children in Africa are typically depicted as poverty-stricken, malnourished, and without shelter or living in huts. The preponderance of the images leads us to generalize this reality to all countries on the African continent. In Queen Sono , people live in homes and apartments in urban areas, not huts in rural areas at the edges of towns where movies about Africans tend to be set. And as we see in the series, even countries rife with problems have spectacular views of forestry and waterfalls. But urban areas and landscapes are rarely if ever depicted in Western cinema set in African nations. So, in this sense, Queen Sono is an exception. The scenes across several African countries help us to appreciate the distinct systems, cultures, and even problems of each. Although Black people have been in the U.S. for over 400 years, our past and present experiences continue to shape our sense of belonging in the country that has been our home longer than most Europeans and all people of color, except Indigenous Peoples. It is interesting to see so many patriotic Black people in South Africa who take ownership of it and view it as “[theirs] to protect.” For example, they carry a high level of disdain for President Malunga, the current leader of the country, because of the depths of his corruption and greed. Yet, they still respect him because he is the elected president. This mix of commitments comes through as Q’s aunt, Nana, played by Connie Chiume ( I Dreamed of Africa , Black Panther ) who is well-connected and active in politics, hosts a luncheon for the president at her home. Before carrying a tray out to the patio, she says to her daughter, “It’s not every day we get to host a president. Let’s go and put on a show for that a***h***.” This thread runs throughout the show as we observe “Q’s” commitment to her role at SOG to “keep South Africa safe.” We also see it in her lover, Shandu, played by Vuyo Dabula ( Invictus , Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom ), who is vocal and active in his commitment to freeing Congolese, South Africans, and others on the continent from being exploited by white diamond miners, other outside groups, and the corruption of political leaders like President Malunga. Queen Sono is similar to the 1970s films, Coffy and Foxy Brown , each about a Black woman pursuing vigilante justice. Both films feature Pam Grier as an early 30-something African American woman who seeks revenge for an attack on her sister ( Coffy ) and boyfriend ( Foxy Brown ). The films contain a lot of action for a time when it was rare to see Black women on screen as leads, let alone in such strong and active roles. The Queen Sono character is a modern-day blend of Coffy and Foxy Brown. Each work is even named for the lead characters. It is refreshing to be presented with a strong lead character of color from a part of the world we rarely get to see so broadly and extensively. Queen Sono is a substantive piece about a woman dealing with a personal struggle while fighting publicly sanctioned battles. The presentation passively breaks down our ideas of countries in Africa as similarly impoverished and rife with instability, and of the people who live in them as poor and apathetic. While I understand the pandemic interrupted Netflix’s plans to continue this series beyond the first season, my hope is that the company revisits this decision with the goal of completing the narrative. It is a visually entertaining presentation bolstered by a solid story. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

River of Grass makes us consider the predicaments of young veterans < Back River of Grass makes us consider the predicaments of young veterans Skinny Lee Productions, 2024 17 minutes Director/Writer: Derek Magyar / Jon Bloch, Chad Christopher, and Derek Magyar Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Skinny Lee Productions River of Grass All that Remains (DMK19LKPHWVEQWLA) 00:00 / 04:25 Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Honeybush Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Derek Magyar 2024-08-22 There is a kneejerk tendency to decontextualize people’s lives. This can lead to rash uninformed judgments about some of the decisions they make. But it isn’t always apparent what folks are dealing with nor the level of support cradling them. When youth and limited social experience are layered in, it becomes even more difficult to appreciate the challenges they face. Derek Magyar’s short film, River of Grass , encourages us to critically consider the predicaments of young veterans and perhaps young people in general. Starring Dylan McTee of Roswell, Mexico fame, River of Grass presents 20-something year-old Larry Johnson, who arrives home in the Florida Everglades after serving in the Vietnam War. In reuniting with his family, Larry does not react to being called the usual nicknames, like “war hero” and “Golden Boy.” His older and hostile brother Robert, played by Victor Webster ( Mystery on Mistletoe Lane , Workin’ Moms ), teasingly but jealously tells him “You almost look like a man now.” These labels convey the commonsense idea that Larry is tougher as a result of experiencing war. But this is a superficial assessment based on Larry’s physical fitness and the significance of his uniform. While he looks more fit and upright than when he left, surely, he has been shaken to his core in ways that are not readily apparent. As I wrote in the review of Lonesome Soldier , I suspect the stirrings beneath the surface are, at least in part, veterans’ efforts to reconcile who they are with what they’ve done and seen. Compounding this for Larry is a family whose business is crime, and their explicit and tacit expectations that he rejoin their underground enterprise. Although other options are available to Larry given his veterans benefits, his freedom to exercise them is constrained by his circumstance. As if the weight of the family business isn’t heavy enough to bear, Larry is limited by his mother Betsy’s sentiments (Marceline Hugot) that college “[feeds] kids that liberal hippie crap.” So, Larry’s freedom to do what is right for him is suppressed due to the pressures exerted by his family. Adding in his young age, his ability to freely decide what is right for him becomes even more difficult. When we think of military veterans, we often imagine them as older adults, and the news largely portrays them as such. It is true that nearly three-fourths of military veterans are in this age group, but River of Grass has me wondering if younger veterans are being overlooked in the smaller but significant slice. In any case, responses to their predicaments cannot be simplistic, rectified with labels and platitudes to help them feel seen. There is a need to more fully appreciate the context of young veterans’ lives in order to understand how best to support them given their age and familial constraints. So, I am left wondering if the needs of younger veterans are perhaps more nuanced than those of their older counterparts, who have wider and deeper life experiences and are more likely to have families of their own providing unconditional comfort and affirming support. A Vietnam War-era piece, River of Grass is a dark story in a southern rural setting, where streetlights and landscape lighting typically do not exist. The effect of this is the film’s ominous tone, reminiscent of the 1986 feature length movie At Close Range , with Sean Penn as Brad Jr. and Christopher Walken as his father, Brad Sr. The elder Brad heads a violent crime business in rural Pennsylvania and is eventually joined by his unsuspecting son. Like River of Grass , At Close Range is shot mostly in the dark, and the subject matter is seedy and ominous. Note that River of Grass contains language of the period that some might find offensive. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Beef illustrates the snowball effect of insecurity and stubbornness < Back Beef illustrates the snowball effect of insecurity and stubbornness A24, 2023- 30 minutes Creator: Lee Sung Jin Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Beef Heist (BRYFFHN6ZQAN9Q4K) 00:00 / 04:50 Chamomile Family dramas White Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Chris Chaisson 2023-04-18 “It is selfish for broken people to spread their…brokenness.” Few experiences encapsulate displaced anger as clearly as road rage incidents. Whether they act on it or not, most people see a road rage incident in the news and can recall being that infuriated. I’ve always perceived this anger as being confined to that specific moment. Driving a vehicle is the most dangerous activity most of us ever do, and a close call due to someone’s negligence can bring that to the forefront of our minds. As I get older, I realize that the close call itself is likely the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sometimes, frustration from our personal lives boils over, and we use a stranger who (in theory) we will never see again as the outlet. Cooler heads usually prevail, but every now and then pettiness wins. Danny (Steven Yeun, Blue Bayou ) and Amy (Ali Wong, Big Mouth ) in the new Netflix series Beef show us the catastrophic results of such an instance. Beef ’s inciting incident, a close call in a parking lot, serves as a gravitational pull into a game of one-upmanship for the two protagonists. After unsuccessfully attempting to return supplies to a department store, Danny nearly hits Amy’s SUV as he reverses out of his parking spot. She honks and flips him the bird before heading off. It is clearly the wrong day for Danny, who pursues her for no apparent reason other than sheer frustration. After a dangerous back-and-forth of trying to run each other off the road, they go their separate ways without having caught a glimpse of each other. Unbeknownst to either of them, the incident was caught on tape and goes viral. What ensues is a series of escalating pranks and sabotage attempts between the two that begin to involve loved ones, culminating in darker and darker consequences. Danny and Amy play off each other perfectly, as they do not appear to have anything in common. Amy is a wealthy business owner in Calabasas with her own family, on the precipice of a deal that will make her even richer. Danny is a single, down-on-his-luck contractor taking care of his aimless younger brother Paul (Young Mazino, Fish Bones ). He resents Amy’s financial status, profiling her and going on several tangents about what he assumes her background to be. As it turns out, they both have similar frustrations with how their lives are going. Danny is strapped for cash and cannot seem to impart his wisdom or work ethic onto Paul. Amy feels disconnected from her husband, her plant business and a wealthy potential investor (Maria Bello) that she must continually schmooze to win her over. The repressed anger and depression of both characters fuel their childish pranks and quests for vengeance on one another. After a few episodes, Beef makes it obvious that the back-and-forth between Amy and Danny provides each with a strange catharsis. Even though they are both engaging in juvenile and, at times, criminal behavior, it grants them a departure from what is unsatisfactory about their personal lives. Their petty endeavors are not only selfish but eventually begin to put their loved ones in harm’s way. Neither of them is wise to the repercussions because they have gotten swept up in their own adrenaline rushes. In a way, Danny and Amy have developed a contentious, unorthodox romance. Beef consists of a predominantly Asian cast, with Danny and Amy playing Korean characters while Amy’s husband is Japanese. The series differs from many others in its representations of such characters by allowing them to be individualistic, angry and petty. Often, Asian characters are depicted as docile and adhering to a collectivist mindset. For many decades, Asian-Americans have been referred to as the “model minority,” a back-handed compliment that subtly characterizes them as being subservient. Beef deliberately depicts Danny and Amy as selfish and fueled by an inner rage, showing that diverse representations do not always have to be based around positive attributes. The protagonists are not perfect, endearing or admirable; they’re simply flawed in a way that we are not used to seeing. While not a TV series, the project most similar to Beef from a premise standpoint is the early 2000’s thriller Changing Lanes . Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck play two members of a road rage incident who let a feud develop between them. Though it does not hit on the same class, gender, or race differences as Beef , both involve flawed characters who let petty emotions take them down dark paths. The message in both stories is to always let go of your fleeting road rage before it devolves into a much bigger issue. Or just Uber everywhere (shrug). Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!