Director Sam Pollard on the Legacy of Black Art in his New HBO Documentary
HBO viewers likely know the names Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, the artists who painted Barack and Michelle Obamas’ respective official portraits. The network’s latest documentary, Black Art: In the Absence of Light, an expansive, joyous 90-minute look at art history directed by Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI, Atlanta Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children) and executive produced by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., lets viewers in on their processes,...
“F9” Drops a Super-Charged Super Bowl Spot
Universal let off the brakes—just a little bit—to reveal a 30-second F9 spot during the Super Bowl. It turns out that this glimpse of Dom, Letty, Han (!!), and the gang’s next adventure was way more exciting than the entirety of the game itself. Go figure!
The spot reveals—well, affirms—that Han (Sung Kang) is back, and F9 represents a real family reunion in which just about everyone who’s mattered in recent Fast &...
M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” Reveals Creepy Super Bowl Teaser
It’s only a bite-sized teaser, but it’s enough to let you know that yes, this is an M. Night Shyamalan movie, and yes, uncanny, unnatural, and unnerving things will happen posthaste. Old originally began its life as a graphic novel, which means that we actually have some cause to suspect we might know a little bit more about the perpetually secretive Shyamalan’s new film. But, alas, we really don’t. Shyamalan adapted his script from the French graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Levy and artist Frederick Peeters,...
Sundance 2021: Composer Kathryn Bostic on Scoring Two Docs About Trailblazing Women
As we near the close of the first week of Black History Month, it’s important to recognize those who are making history now. Given the overall lack of working female composers of any race, as a Black female composer, Kathryn Bostic has been carving out a road few have traveled, and she’s been doing it for decades. She arrived at this year’s Sundance with not one but two films for which she has supplied the score, both highlighting powerful,...
“Miss Juneteenth” Writer/Director Channing Godfrey Peoples on Her Potent Feature Debut
Writer and director Channing Godfrey Peoples‘ feature debut Miss Juneteenth is a subtlety powerful lesson in compassionate observation. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, with a theater degree from Baylor University (just a 90-minute drive south from Forth Worth on the I-35), Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth is a moving portrait of her hometown, and, more to the point, the tight-knit community of mostly Black people she grew up with. After graduating from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California (where she met her husband and creative partner,...
How Costume Designer Paolo Nieddu Worked With Prada For “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Few musicians are as iconic as Billie Holiday. So much about Holiday was avant-garde for the time, and as a queer Black woman of power, she ruffled more than a few feathers just by existing. Lee Daniels’ new film The United States vs. Billie Holiday is focused around one specific event in the singer’s life, chronicling her determination to sing the protest ballad “Strange Fruit,” and the consequences of that commitment. Outfitting such an icon was a huge undertaking,...
Golden Globes 2021: Female Directors Make History
The Golden Globes nominations are in, and female directors have made history. For the first time, the Globes have nominated more than one woman for the Best Director category. The nominees are Regina King (One Night In Miami), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). This trio joins David Fincher (Mank) and Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) in the category...
“The Suicide Squad” Synopsis Reveals an Epic Mission
We finally have an idea of just how suicidal the mission will be. Warner Bros. has revealed the synopsis for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which “features a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup,” as they put it. Up until now, we’ve known very, very little about Gunn’s vision for his reboot of sorts. We learned during the DC FanDome event that the film would riff on epic 1970s war movies. We learned that major characters could die at any time...
Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, and an A-List Cast Highlight First “Coming 2 America” Trailer
And now we’ve got our most sustained look yet at director Craig Brewer’s Coming 2 America, which really, couldn’t come at a better time. This long-awaited sequel to 1988’s Coming to America brings back a whole royal family’s worth of original characters. The ensemble is led, of course, by Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem, and the new trailer reveals he has risen in the royal ranks to become King. With the newly-crowned King Akeem preparing to take over Zamunda,...
Sundance 2021: Writer/Director Carey Williams on his Romeo & Juliet Adaptation “R#J”
In partnership with producer Timur Bekmambetov, who is known for the innovative film style Screenlife as exampled by Unfriended and Searching, co-writer and director Carey Williams offers his feature debut with a modern and of-the-moment adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” R#J, told entirely through social media and smartphone screens. Using an entirely Black and Brown cast, and blending text messages and Instagram posts with timeless Shakespearian language,...
Zack Snyder Reveals First Image of Joker in “Justice League”
Well folks, we’ve finally got our first, admittedly blurry look at Jared Leto’s Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Snyder has revealed the image of Leto’s version of the Clown Prince of Chaos, who will be involved in some capacity in his upcoming HBO Max cut. The Joker was not a part of the original theatrical release of Justice League, which was shepherded by director Joss Whedon after Snyder had to leave the production...
HBO Unveils the Trailer for “Black Art: In the Absence of Light”
Yesterday, we published our interview with MLK/FBI director Sam Pollard, who is also the director behind HBO’s upcoming Black Art: In the Absence of Light, which will shed light on some of the best Black visual artists working today—and likely introduce them to many folks who haven’t seen their work or heard their names before. In discussing his long career making documentaries on immensely gifted Black talents, which Black Art: In the Absence of Light zeroes in on,...
Screenwriter Kemp Powers on Finding Truth & Beauty in “One Night In Miami”
After nearly two decades as a news reporter, Kemp Powers knew a good story when he found one. Discovering that four cultural icons — heavyweight champ Cassius Clay, soon to take the name Muhammad Ali; activist Malcolm X; crooner Sam Cooke; and NFL superstar Jim Brown — had hung out together in Miami in 1964 inspired him to recreate that night.
Powers’ play, “One Night in Miami,” enjoyed a string of regional productions before it was staged at the prestigious Donmar Warehouse in London in 2016,...
Documentarian Sam Pollard on his Must-See New Film “MLK/FBI”
A couple of days after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his era-defining “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, J. Edgar Hoover’s second in command at the FBI penned a memo describing him as “The most dangerous Negro in America.” As documented in Sam Pollard‘s new film MLK/FBI (On Demand and in select theaters), that 1963 memo launched the Bureau’s obsession with discrediting America’s foremost civil rights leader by tapping his phones and bugging the hotel rooms he stayed in...
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” Gets Release Date & New Posters
We’ve got an official release date for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, otherwise known as the Snyder Cut. If you thought this GameStop story revealed the potential power of a group of committed people collaborating online to make something big happen, the upcoming HBO Max release of Snyder’s revamping of Justice League is also emblematic of online people power.
HBO Max has revealed that the new and improved Justice League will stream on March 18...
Viola Davis, Shonda Rhimes & More Pay Tribute to the Legendary Cicely Tyson
The legendary Cicely Tyson, a history-making actress, humanitarian, and style icon beloved within the entertainment industry and beyond, passed away on Thursday at 96. Tyson died just two days after her memoir, “Just as I Am,” was published. She’d recently given interviews about the book, including this sit-down with Gayle King:
Tyson’s career, which included many critically lauded performances, was trail-breaking in every sense of the word, taking on a long list of compelling,...
The Trailer for Kristen Wiig’s “Barb & Star” Has Major “Stranger Things” Vibes
If you ever wondered what a trailer for a Kristen Wiig comedy would look like if it were modeled on Netflix’s juggernaut fantasy/sci-fi series Stranger Things, today is your lucky day. Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar‘s new trailer opens with an extremely credible facsimile of Stranger Thing‘s intro, down to the typeface used in the titles and a shot of a kid pedaling on a bicycle...
Future Critics: Benji Cherukuri on Composers Hans Zimmer & Nicholas Britell
In the first installment of our series Future Critics, we’d like to introduce you to Benji Cherukuri. Benji’s an avid movie fan, musician, and performer himself. You can check out Benji’s videos—which he edits—on his YouTube channel. Today, however, Benji becomes our first Future Critic.
Benji took some time out from his busy schedule, which includes doing homework for his sixth-grade classes, playing “Fortnite” and “Among Us” with his friends, and teaching his golden retriever puppy Ruthie new tricks,...
Kristen Stewart is a Young Princess Diana in First “Spencer” Image
The first image of Kristen Stewart as a young Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is a visual reminder that this is one of the more intriguing films slated for 2021. Stewart and Larraín have teamed up to tell a story about a very specific time period in Princess Diana’s life—the weekend when she decided she was going to leave Prince Charles.
First, check out the full image from Neon:
Kristen Stewart is Diana,...
Chris Hemsworth Honors First Nations People as “Thor: Love and Thunder” Starts Filming
In an Instagram post marking Thor: Love and Thunder‘s start of filming, star Chris Hemsworth took the opportunity to pay tribute to the history of First Nations people in Australia, where Hemsworth and the Love and Thunder cast and crew are getting to work.
The production was welcomed by a performance of “Welcome to the Country” by Gamay dancers of the Bidgiagal and Gadigal Nation, as well as Maori dancers from Te Aranganui...
