Nickel Boys (2024) | REVIEW

Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson in NICKEL BOYS — PHOTO: Amazon MGM (Still image from trailers).

Directed by RaMell Ross — Screenplay by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes.

Based on Colson Whitehead’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys follows a smart and politically engaged young African-American man named Elwood Curtis (played primarily by Ethan Herisse) who, in 1960s America, is wrongfully convicted of grand theft auto while hitchhiking on his way to college. Elwood, due to being underage, is then sent to Nickel Academy, a so-called ‘reform school,’ where he befriends a boy named Turner (played by Brandon Wilson) and experiences racial segregation and abuse.

Continue reading “Nickel Boys (2024) | REVIEW”

‘Bottoms (2023),’ ‘The Little Mermaid (2023),’ and ‘The Meg 2 (2023),’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

(L-R) Jason Statham in MEG 2: THE TRENCH (Warner Bros. Pictures), Halle Bailey in THE LITTLE MERMAID (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures), and Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri in BOTTOMS (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures).

In this edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, I have had a look at one of the very best and funniest movies of the past year, a live-action remake of an animated classic, and a, for some, much-anticipated summer movie sequel. All of these are 2023 flicks that you may or may not have missed. Click below to learn more about my thoughts on the specific films.


Continue reading “‘Bottoms (2023),’ ‘The Little Mermaid (2023),’ and ‘The Meg 2 (2023),’ | Bite-Sized Reviews”

REVIEW: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Velvet Buzzsaw — Directed by Dan Gilroy.

In 2014, Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut — Nightcrawler — became a hit with critics and audiences alike. It gave us a brilliant and rivetingly unhinged performance from its leading man, Jake Gyllenhaal, and it showed us that Dan Gilroy was a supremely talented filmmaker.

With his second directorial effort, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Gilroy stumbled a bit, even though that film had another committed lead performance — this time from Denzel Washington. Now, Gilroy and Gyllenhaal have reteamed for a horror film about the art world with Netflix’s Velvet Buzzsaw, and, though it isn’t quite a return to form, it shows us that Gilroy is perfectly capable of having fun with his art. Continue reading “REVIEW: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)”