Joaquin Phoenix is Batshit Crazy Brilliant in Joker

Joaquin Phoenix is Batshit Crazy Brilliant in Joker

Phoenix brings an emaciated, pill popping Joker back with vengeance, vigor and vivaciousness that will have your head swirling long after the credits have rolled. Produced by Warner Brothers Studios, this film is certainly not for the faint of heart.

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Soderbergh Provides Lively Scandal Recollection in The Laundromat

Soderbergh Provides Lively Scandal Recollection in The Laundromat

Soderbergh is a master at pacing out a film and nothing is more true than with this one.  He gives it the hilarity and pacing of his Oceans film mixed with a little entertaining storytelling narration provided by Oldman and Banderas.  With star cameo roles inhabited by Sharon Stone, Jeffrey Wright, Cristela Alonzo, Larry Wilmore, David Schwimmer and Matthias Schoenaerts to name a few, kept me on the edge of my seat from first frame to the last.

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Transit is Refugee Romance with Unforeseen Twist

Transit is Refugee Romance with Unforeseen Twist

With elements of Cold War, Casablancaand many other throwbacks to classic Hollywood film-noir flicks, Transitis a complicated buffet of a man who discovers love and responsibility for someone other than himself.  He navigates through life in the present with nothing to lose until he loses his best friend and the love of his life.

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The Magic and Urban Legend of Air Jordans revisited with Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1

The Magic and Urban Legend of Air Jordans revisited with Unbanned:  The Legend of AJ1

Unbanned: The Legend ofAJ1 goes beyond the shoe's namesake and breaks down the rules that resulted in the most popular sneaker in the world literally being banned by the NBA.  Proving that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  It's all very reminiscent of the backlash toward former NFL star Colin Kaepernickfor taking a knee to protest inequality toward people of color and the senseless shootings of a multitude of unarmed black men and women.

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Dev Patel Captivates as Hired Gun in The Wedding Guest

Dev Patel Captivates as Hired Gun in The Wedding Guest

Dev Patel is absolutely captivating as the mysterious man for hire with a heart. He's definitely come a long way since the Marigold Hotel franchise andSlumdog Millionaire.  In The Wedding Guest, just as he began to do in Lion, Patel stretches his range to escape the image of the bright-eyed optimist roles he is famously known for.  He does so beautifully and effectively.  Radhika Apte (Samira) is the perfect complement to Patel.  She's cunning, savvy and knows exactly how to get what she wants on her terms.

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Ocean's 8 is a Stylish Heist with an All-Star Cast of Flick Favs

Ocean's 8 is a Stylish Heist with an All-Star Cast of Flick Favs

The Ocean's franchise is back featuring an all-star female cast of flick, tv and recording favorites - Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Rihanna, who hold their own individually and as a unit.

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Avengers: Infinity War is Exhilarating, Jaw Dropping Superhero Yumminess

Avengers: Infinity War is Exhilarating, Jaw Dropping Superhero Yumminess

Avengers: Infinity War, the third installment in the “Avengers” franchise and 19th Marvel Studios film to date, marks the 10-year anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began with the release of “Iron Man” in 2008.  Assembling a team from every Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise ever, the Avengers align in solidarity attempting to defeat the powerful Thanos (James Brolin) before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.  

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Charlize Theron's Real, Raw Take on Motherhood Gives Tully Heart

Charlize Theron's Real, Raw Take on Motherhood Gives Tully Heart

Charlize Theron has never been one of those starlets who stayed  away from a part because it wasn't glamorous. With Marlos, she goes in full-throttle with raw emotion and an uncomfortable physicality that fully helps someone like me understand the mental and physical toll going birth can be on an entire fa

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Melissa McCarthy is the Coolest Mom in Life of the Party

Melissa McCarthy is the Coolest Mom in Life of the Party

When I tell you I haven't laughed this hard in a minute...I do not exaggerate!!!!  This is Melissa McCarthy's funniest film to date.  Written alongside her husband Ben Falcone (who has a cameo as a Uber driver), Life Of The Party is witty realism at it best.

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Gabrielle Union Is Ultimate Mama Bear in Breaking In!

Gabrielle Union Is Ultimate Mama Bear in Breaking In!

What I mostly love about Breaking In is that Shaun Russell never appears as a victim.  She's in control every second under the most stressful of circumstances.  She never wavers in her determination to protect and keep her family safe. Produced by Universal Pictures Breaking In opened Mother's Day weekend and is in theaters now!!!

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The Gospel According to Andre Gives Fly on Wall Insight to a Fashion Icon

The Gospel According to Andre Gives Fly on Wall Insight to a Fashion Icon

The Gospel According to Andre will serve as the best dish of caviar money can buy to those obsessed with fashion.  I, for one, was honored and gleefully proud that Andre Leon Talley opened a door to fashion that will forever be changed by his existence.

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Paula Patton is Action Vigilante in Deon Cole Indie Film Traffik

Paula Patton is Action Vigilante in Deon Cole Indie Film Traffik

Trafficking of young women in America has turned into a form of modern-day slavery.  Living in Southern California, there are daily breaking news items concerning some white van full of young non-speaking English women who have been bought, sold and transported like cattle to a farm.  As a woman of color, it breaks my heart to watch women being treated with such disdain and disrespect.  Even more to the point, watching these same women drugged, raped and beaten so that some man somewhere can make a quick buck.

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PBS Launches Poetry In America to Inspire Americans Through Poetry

PBS Launches Poetry In America to Inspire Americans Through Poetry

Poetry in America features Shaquille O’Neal, Cynthia Nixon, Frank Gehry, Bono, Nas, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and more exploring poems on subjects close to their heart in twelve visually stunning episodes

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Joaquin Phoenix Plays Troubled Hit Man in You Were Never Really Here

Joaquin Phoenix Plays Troubled Hit Man in You Were Never Really Here

Say what you want about Joaquin Phoenix, but the boy can act his buns off. In the new psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here, Phoenix is a former soldier turned FBI agent, no nonsense hitman-on-a-mission who now devotes his time rescuing kidnapped young women from a sex traffickers.

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THOROUGHBREDS is a Dark Dramedy Featuring White Privilege

THOROUGHBREDS is a Dark Dramedy Featuring White Privilege

With a title like 'Thouroughbreds', I thought I was about to watch a film about horses...which BTW...I adore.  What I witnessed instead was a story about mean girls with too much money and white privilege covered in a dark dramedy thriller.

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Wrinkle in Time Taps Into Inner Child & Warrior Mode

Wrinkle in Time Taps Into Inner Child & Warrior Mode

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge child at heart.  It's a characteristic handed down from my beautiful, playful mother.  A quality that allows me to have an open heart and mind when watching projects meant to tap into one's inner child.

One of my favorite films of all time is The Wizard of Oz.  I mean who doesn't love that moment when Dorothy realizes what she searched for in Oz was inside her all the time?  Well, what The Wizard of Oz did for me is what  A Wrinkle in Time will do for this new generation of young people.

Based on the popular novel by Madeline L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time takes us on the journey of Meg (Storm Reid) and her little brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) as they 'tesseract' through time to bring back their scientist Dad (Chris Pine), who is being held captive by the 'it.'

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The Final Year Shares Insider View of a Presidential Transition

The Final Year Shares Insider View of a Presidential Transition

Barack Obama made history as the first person of color to become President of the United States...twice.  It goes without saying that in these dark days we are dwelling in, longing for the days when I turned on the news and saw POTUS singing some Al Green, dancing with his Queen Michelle,  joking around with Jimmy Kimmel or giving a speech that ALL Americans could be proud of would be an understatement.

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Tell Them We Are Rising is a Love Letter to HBCU's on PBS

Tell Them We Are Rising is a Love Letter to HBCU's on PBS

Being a graduate of "The Mecca" Howard  University,  you know I had to check out  the Stanley Nelson directed Tell Them We Are Rising culminating the rise and (in some instances) the fall of Historical Black Colleges and Universities such as  Howard University, Hampton Institute,Morgan, Morehouse, Spellman, Fisk and so many other Historical Black Colleges and Universities.

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