In the memorable words of Billy Crystal: “It’s a wonderful night for Oscar. Oscar, Oscar. Who will win?” After a prolonged awards season, it’s finally time for the main course, the 93rd Academy Awards. This year, due to the limited studio output in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, AMPAS extended the eligibility window to include films from the first months of 2021, which is why a film such as Judas and the Black Messiah is nominated already this year.
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ Still Image — Photo: David Lee / Netflix.
Directed by George C. Wolfe — Screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
Based on the August Wilson play of the same name, George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom primarily takes place in a recording studio in Chicago back in the 1920s. Here Ma Rainey (played by Viola Davis), lovingly dubbed the ‘Mother of the Blues,’ is planning to record several songs with her band. Rainey arrives fashionably late and is ready and able to throw her weight around, whereas the ambitious, animated, and flirty Levee (played by Chadwick Boseman), a young and talented trumpeter, is preparing his next move towards stardom while practicing with the rest of the band. While Rainey battles with both her manager and a producer for the purpose of having some control of her own career, Levee’s ambitious attitude doesn’t sit right with Ma or his bandmates (played by Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts). Continue reading “REVIEW: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)”→
The following is a review of Troop Zero — Directed by Amber Finlayson & Katie Ellwood (also known as Bert & Bertie).
Bert & Bertie’s Troop Zero is a feel-good dramedy about a young girl, Christmas Flint (played by Mckenna Grace), who looks to the stars in search of life and her mother. She lives in a trailer park with her widowed father, Ramsey (played by Jim Gaffigan), who has told his daughter that her mother is among the stars, comets, and meteors. Because of this Christmas is obsessed with space, and she sometimes uses odd descriptions to describe people in her life. For example, Christmas, at one point, calls Miss Rayleen (played by Viola Davis) an “an intergalactic warrior,” even though she is nothing of the sort. One day, Christmas overhears that girl scout troops will compete at a jamboree to have their voices recorded by NASA and sent into space. This is a dream come true for the perennially bullied Christmas, so she begins to assemble a group of misfits to compete as a girl scout troop at the jamboree, but she soon learns that the girl scout community will not easily accept unique newcomers. Continue reading “REVIEW: Troop Zero (2020)”→
The film nominations for the 2019 Golden Globe Awards have been announced. As always there are surprises, and, of course, there are some snubs that really hurt. In Special Features #36, I present you with the complete film nominations list as well as five reaction sections to the film nominations. In short: Oh, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, I am so angry with you today. Continue reading “Golden Globes Film Nominations: Reaction – Special Features #36”→
It’s beginning to look a lot like, well, awards season. Some critics groups have already announced their winners, while other groups are still waiting for their brief moment in the spotlight. As the wait for the BAFTAs and Oscars goes on, the first major televised awards show is about to announce the films, shows, and performers who they have nominated for their coveted awards. So, today, I am going to try to predict the nominees for each and every film category for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards. Continue reading “Golden Globes Predictions: Film Nominations – Special Features #35”→
The following is a review of Widows — Directed by Steve McQueen.
Based on Linda La Plante’s 1980s crime drama of the same name, Widows is only the fourth feature film from Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and BFI Fellowship-winning film director Steve McQueen, who has now teamed up with crime writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl & Sharp Objects). After having made films about Irish history, sex addiction, and the American history of slavery, McQueen’s latest film tackles themes such as class, politics, and gender via an audience-pleasing genre. Continue reading “REVIEW: Widows (2018)”→
I'm Jeffrey Rex 