The High Note (2020)

Who are you doing it for once there are no more surprises? Surprises rarely happen anymore for Maggie (Dakota Johnson), a personal assistant for some odd years to one of the greatest singers and entertainers of all time, Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Maggie does everything, whether that be getting Grace’s car, her dry cleaning, […]

End of Sentence

Prison of the mind, prison of the body, prison of the spirit. No matter the version, it’s all a personal hell. Frank Fogle (John Hawkes) has been prepping his prison a while now; that being, the eventual death of his spouse, Anna (Andrea Irvine). Doesn’t make the prison any easier to deal with when it […]

St. Louis Superman

August 9th, 2014. That’s the day Ferguson, Missouri became a battleground after the shooting of Michael Brown. Following this day, battle rapper and activist Bruce Franks, Jr. decided to go one step further in his community. Sensing more representation was needed for those who look like him and an education lesson necessary for those who […]

The Lodge (2019)

As above, so below. Divorce is never easy for the participants involved and those around them. Young siblings Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) are dealing with the separation of their mom, Laura (Alicia Silverstone) from their father, Richard (Richard Armitage). What is worse is that Richard has moved on quickly with new beau […]

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Friends are the family you choose. Save for Carl (Bruce Dern), there are not many people Zak (Zack Gottsagen) can consider a friend in his nursing care home. As an individual with Down’s Syndrome, everything and everyone exists to insulate himself from the outside world. Zak knows there’s more to life than this. He’s got […]

The Flood (2019)

“Everyone’s got a story.” Wendy’s (Lena Headey) job as a British immigration officer is to sniff out the bull of these stories that applicants seeking asylum serve up. She’s developed quite the hardened reputation, fully separating logic from emotion and sticking to the facts. Her approach is going to be challenged. Her latest applicant is […]

Vanilla (2019)

“Things can be dumb and amazing.” At least, that’s what’s said by Kimmie (Kelsea Bauman), who aspires to be a standup comedian. For now, she works in an NYC pizza parlor where she tests out her material—often in painful fashion—to patrons and her manager/uncle, Sal (Eddie Alfano). The Big Apple is also home to Elliott […]

Come As You Are (2019)

Doused in mud, soaked in bleach. For Scotty (Grant Rosenmeyer), coming as he is means being without function in his limbs, afflicted since birth. For Mo (Rav Patel), coming as he is means being completely blind. For Matt (Hayden Szeto), coming as he is means adjusting to a new normal of being paralyzed from the […]

Double Feature: Won’t You Spend a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood?

In a perfect world, each piece of media stands alone as its own, absent of comparison and lens-holding to similar things and works. That’s not always how the world works, however, and sometimes, it’s easier and more effective to analyze things as the sum of parts. When looking at the two most […]

Boyz n the Hood

One out of every 21 Black-American males will be murdered in their lifetime…most will die at the hands of another black male. In 1984 Inglewood, California, ten-year-old Tre is intellectually gifted, but lacks direction and the right influence, raised only by his single mother, Reva (Angela Bassett). The decision is made to send him to […]