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It does not takes us long to find that Noni’s life of stardom is not all that it appears to be—and worse, that the child performing in a school auditorium, singing the blues before a few sets of peering eyes, has long since been caged up, and snuffed out.
Read MoreViewers have criticized Spike Lee’s film because of his more recent turn away from commercial film, but I sense that he finds that the violent world around us cannot be ignored.
Read MoreFor the second year in a row, all twenty acting nominations are as vibrant as a glass of whole milk. More than that, no Best Picture nominee is chiefly concerned with minority characters or actors...A lot of ground remains left to cover before the movies we reward look like the world we live in.
Read MoreIn recent years, I went into Oscar night confident in my picks. What a luxury that this year, in the end, my main prediction is that I will likely be wrong as much as I am right. And I don’t care. So many are deserving.
Read MoreBeasts of No Nation is set in an unnamed West African country in the grips of a violent civil war. The fact that the country is not specified steers viewers to look beyond political and historical commentary, and into the human dynamics at play.
Read MoreAdapted from the Greek myth of Orpheus and reinterpreted to suit the malaise and bohemian culture of post-war France, the eponymous Orpheus tells the story of a famous poet who is feeling cynical and jaded by his celebrity and shares no more enthusiasm for his own works.
Read MoreTarantino has been no stranger to controversy, much of which has centered on his comedic, often irreverent approach toward violence and the socio-racial contexts in which they occur. This adds yet another layer of difficulty to the feat at hand in Inglourious Basterds.
Read MoreThe genius of The Future is how deftly July sidesteps the trappings of straightforward storytelling. Cinema is the language of images, and she knows that that language can be more powerful than actual words.
Read MoreAs the characters of Dope meander their hometown of Inglewood, they have to grow up, and yes, they do have role models, but no one really wants to hear the teens’ truth, the justification for their choices.
Read MoreBut the irony is that in a sense, New York itself is fueled by people not making money. In addition to a large population of marginalized low-income New Yorkers who rarely make the cinematic cut, these are people like Noah Baumbach’s characters.
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