All movie reviews

Before the Williams sisters, and after Althea Gibson, there was Arthur Ashe. Ashe was the first major Black male tennis star. According to Wikipedia, he’s also the only Black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the US Open. That last event is held in the world’s largest tennis court, … Read more

Throughout it all Aris remains mysteriously detached from all these activities, living life as a spectator. This starts to change when he meets another amnesiac–an outgoing woman named Anna (Sofia Georgovassili) who is also going through this “program.” She approaches her assignments with a childlike annoyance, uninterested in the emotional nuances of each interaction. For … Read more

Teddy’s latest pitch is to his boxing ring boss, Marty, who has kept him on despite the fact the marketing brochures Teddy made don’t mention the address of the gym. Lori thinks her man’s latest idea has merit, which makes me question her common sense. Teddy wants to promote “no-contact” boxing, a cardio workout where … Read more

Executive produced by Giannis “Greek Freak” Thanasis, “Rise” follows the story of the NBA star and his brothers, Thanasis and Kostas Antetokounmpos. The film chronicles the early lives of the Greek-born brothers of Nigerian descent. Through their family’s determination, faith, tenacity, and work ethic, they rose above their circumstances and hardships to become sports phenoms and … Read more

The trio of artists is led by the self-absorbed and uncompromising Elle di Elle (Fatma Mohamed). Along with her partners Billy (Asa Butterfield) and Lamina (Ariane Labed), Elle puts on provocative, performance art pieces for a fawning crowd. One piece has her withering on the floor naked, covered in a viscous red fluid, pretending to … Read more

In the early going, we get Judge’s familiar, but endearing potty humor: Beavis and Butt-Head arrive at the Johnson Space Center, and the latter immediately quips, “Heh, heh. Johnson.” The astronauts at mission control are testing docking with the Mir Space Station, and you guessed it, the docking arm’s phallic imagery and the corresponding opening … Read more

Based on the short story of the same name, written by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, “The Black Phone” chronicles a suspenseful tale of The Grabber, a child killer who snatches teen boys in broad daylight never to be seen again. When Finney (Mason Thames) becomes the next captive, held in a soundproof … Read more

The most fascinating linkage in “Elvis” is the extrapolation of commerce and race. Parker is enamored by Presley because he plays Black music but is white. Elvis turns off the white Christian old, like the moribund country singer Hank Snow (David Wenham), and the homophobic men who consider him a “fairy.” Yet he excites the young, … Read more

The adorable little guy, voiced by Slate, now makes his way to the big screen in a live action, stop-motion feature film. Marcel carves out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rossellini), and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of an eccentric community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a … Read more

And yet, Wang doesn’t build this sprawling docuseries like her previous works. The director has always shown a knack for interrogating Chinese political policies through her personal history toward incisive ends. In “Hooligan Sparrow” she used her childhood experience observing sex workers to discuss sexual assault. For “One Child Nation,” concerning the country’s one-child policy, … Read more