Month: November 2022

Emancipation is a Brutal Film About Perseverance and Determination

Yep, it’s another slave movie. In recent years, many consumers, of all races, have expressed fatigue over the flow of films coming from Hollywood that depict American slavery and the brutal treatment that the ancestors of African Americans…

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The Fabelmans Uses Film to Teach About Family and Personal Growth

Steven Spielberg makes his return to the big screen in his most personal film yet. The Fabelmans is a semi-autobiographical film about the director’s childhood and love for film and directing. Even more than the movies, this film…

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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Improves Upon Its Predecessor in Every Way (Middleburg Film Festival)

For the purpose of providing necessary context to this review, I must admit that I was not a big fan of the original Knives Out film. Benoit Blanc felt like an updated but inferior version of The Thin Man’s Nick…

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The Menu Feels Fresh and Innovative, Using a Michelin-Star Backdrop to Satirize Socioeconomic Divide

COVID-19 hit the world like a ton of bricks almost three years ago now. Untold lives were changed, nearly one million were lost, and the road to recovery is still slow in many ways with recovery in some…

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She Said Takes a Deep Dive on Systemic Abuse (Middleburg Film Festival)

The investigation into the behavior of legendary, and now infamous, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein marked the beginning of a seismic shift in how the country addressed sexual harassment and misconduct. A new film sets to document the journey toward exposing…

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Danielle Deadwyler Paints an Emotional Portrait of Strength Through Grief in Till (Middleburg Film Festival)

Till tells the true story of the famed, brutal lynching of Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall) in 1955 Mississippi following his encounter with Carolyn Bryant (Haley Bennett) at her family’s grocery store and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s (Danielle Deadwyler)…

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Armageddon Time Is an Interesting 1980s Time Capsule, but Not an Interesting Film (Middleburg Film Festival)

The 1980s was a pivotal decade that saw many great changes for the United States. An actor became President, a child star went solo and changed music and television forever, and commerce coined a phrase that would last…

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Elizabeth Banks Shines in the Timely Film Call Jane (Sundance Film Festival)

The recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which found that the United States Constitution does not confer a right to abortion was a landmark case that gave American states the right to institute…

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