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mrsarieljd
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Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Solid movie if you love Bob Marley and understand patois
I'm curious how many of reviewers are not cognizant of Black diaspora and Jamaican culture. There were lots of historical references and thoughtful explanations of various elements of the film especially if you have a basic understanding of patois.
The film does not do a full lifespan storyline. It focuses on 3 or so tumultuous years, his creative process, his lovely wife Rita and his religion, Rastafarianism.
I love the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers and wish I would've been around to see him perform live. The main actor was selected by the Marley family. They were very hands on in the production of this story. I think they did an amazing job considering he passed over 40 years ago with little archival footage to get the hang of all of Bob's unique mannerism.
I recommend the film for music, culture and reggae lovers alike.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Kinda Like America Now
No pun intended, but this hits a little too close to home.
A deadly, worldwide event with ample warning. What do the powers that be choose to do? Use all available resources to rectify the issue or turn it into a political money grab for a population too stupid to know they're being conned?
I guess you just have to watch and see.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
Solid western with a melinated twist
Imagine being so bitter, so neck-bearded, that you are angry about a movie with Black gunslingers in the old west when 1) some of them really existed 2) the movie is fictitious.
Jay-Z was heavily involved in this project as well as the remake of The Great Gatsby. They had rap in the roaring 20s. We got reggae in gold rush era. If you know, you know.
There's a lot of mediocrity on the market but this wasn't it. Not the greatest movie I've ever seen but definitely a movie I'd watch again. A great cast of Black Hollywood royalty. Acting was superb. It kept me on my toes.
Bottom line: watch if you're open minded. If you're mad Ariel the Mermaid is Black now or flooded RT because of the latest Ghostbusters then please, get a life.
All Day and a Night (2020)
More than a Hood Movie, Less than a Classic
The main character, Jahkor, is complex and nuanced. Ashton Sanders has incredible acting chops for a young man his age. Jeffrey Wright delivers, as always, with unmatched versatility. His entire demeanor morphed into JD for this film. I also appreciate that it was actually set in East Oakland for an authentic feel. I enjoyed the story arc and how things came full circle.
Black Mirror: Striking Vipers (2019)
Gay for Play?
I think the two leads had the hots for each other since college but the VR game was a conduit. I felt bad for Theo but in the end I see she got to explore too. The kissing scene turning into a fight was a little disappointing but that might be realistic for two men who keep up facades of straightness. I wish they would've gone all the way in real life. The single character was obviously not interested in the girl he was dating. It was well-crafted and reminiscent of some of the other episodes of Black Mirror using gameplay as an escape.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Well-crafted saga of crime and innocence, abuse and retribution
Most often when we see a prison film, we think of Oz with a bunch of ruthless convicts, shower rape, and cartons of cigarettes. Shawshank gives a much different perspective. While it has subtle notes of the norm, there is much more emphasis on how one does and passes time, hard time, in a penile system wrought with conflicts. We have a true innocent--a well-read and good-hearted man, Andy Dufresne, caught up in a prepubescent justice system, void of forensic evidence and ballistic reports, teeming with graft and greed on the behalf of the "God- fearing" warden. In this world, the guards are more murderous than the inmates, friends stick together more than families, and becoming conditioned to the system gives parolees nightmares about their impending freedom. This story is akin to The Count of Monte Cristo and Alexandre Dumas even gets a brief shout-out in a library scene. For more reason than I can state in this brief review this is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and one of a seldom group to which I have given a perfect rating. It is worth the two hours of screening time and you will find yourself rooting for Andy and Red to the very end.