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.
Set around fifteen or sixteen years after the events of the original film, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 follows Lucius Verus (played by Paul Mescal) who has built a new life for himself in Northern Africa, where he goes by the name ‘Hanno.’ When his new home is invaded by the Roman Army, led by General Acacius (played by Pedro Pascal), his wife is killed, he is taken as a slave, and is later acquired as a gladiator. He is forced to return to the capital region of the Roman Empire, which he was once a prince of but now holds hatred for. Lucius’ services as a gladiator are bought by the ambitious Macrinus (played by Denzel Washington), who aspires to control all of Rome, and Macrinus promises Lucius that, if they work together, he will work towards giving Lucius the opportunity to fight and take down General Acacius, who Lucius blames for the death of his wife. Unbeknownst to Lucius, however, General Acacius is married to Lucius’ mother, Lucilla (still played by Connie Nielsen), and he, in fact, has secret plans to start a revolution, restore power to the Senate, and remove the dangerous co-emperors of Rome, Geta (played by Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger).
Maya Hawke as Heather in FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994 – Photo: Netflix.
In this edition of my monthly movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I talk about my experience of trying to catch-up on some of the 2021 films released earlier this year, including an entire trilogy of films! What did I think about the Fear Street-films? Is the Rear Window-inspired flick, The Woman in the Window, worth a watch? Is Bad Trip, the hidden camera comedy, funny enough for its runtime? Are Doug Liman and Alexandre Aja’s latest films any good? Well, scroll down to find out in another jam-packed edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews!
I'm Jeffrey Rex 