The Cinematic Review-verse

Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious "Monk" Ellison in 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Good afternoon, everybody. Since I'm learning more about screenwriting, specifically the kind that wins Academy Awards, I decided to give 'American Fiction' another go. At first, I wasn't into it, maybe because I didn't like the whole offensive racist tropes or drama between Jeffrey Wright's character and his family. But now, I see that the appeal of the film is that it shows how adults of different colors are still learning how to deal with said racist tropes and put a positive spin on stereotypes of fictional people of color, while also handling their own internal drama. Tracee Ellis Ross as Lisa Ellison and Leslie Uggams as Agnes Ellison in 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Sterling K. Brown as Clifford "Cliff" Ellison from 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. 'American Fiction'...

After years since returning Arendelle to its former, non-icy glory, Anna and Elsa came back with some new adventures in Disney’s ‘Frozen II’. This time, it’s with bigger plot points than Elsa learning to conceal her gifts or embrace them. There were a few additions to the story that made it seem a little darker than the first film, but ‘Frozen II’ still gave its best performance with top-notch voice acting, messages about family and true love, powerful musical numbers, and of course, occasional scene-stealing by Olaf, the Snowman. In ‘Frozen II’, past mistakes come to light as elemental spirits begin ravaging the kingdom of Arendelle. In order to save their kingdom, Anna and Elsa, voiced by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, travel with Kristoff, voiced by Jonathan Groff, Olaf, voiced by Josh Gad, and Sven the Reindeer, to figure out what is angering the elemental spirits of water, fire, earth, and air. Along the way, Anna and Elsa also try to uncover the mysterious circum...

Photo courtesy of fandango.com "We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better", quote courtesy of thurgoodmarshall.com Chadwick Boseman really brought honor to the famed first African-American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in this direction by Reginald Hudlin!  Marshall really was an excellent film to see! Boseman played the role well because in this depiction, I saw a man who crossed bias and other racial differences to proclaim the innocence of a falsely accused man in front of a disrespectful courtroom in Connecticut. I think either Boseman or Hudlin has an NAACP Image  and an Academy Award nomination ahead of them. As for Josh Gad, I loved how his character Sam Friedman overcame two challenges. First, Friedman was an insurance lawyer before working with Marshall. The whole case was bigger than him. Second, some people beat him up because he was working with an African-American, who some people thin...