The second of his 12 plays dramatizing the Black experience in America during the twentieth century, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a haunting and powerful experience that focuses on Gertrude “Ma Rainey” (Viola Davis, “Widows”), known as “The Mother of the Blues,” one of the first popular Black blues singers to gain acceptance…
Releasing on the heels of one of the country’s most assertive civil rights movements comes Da 5 Bloods, a Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”) joint about one of the most overlooked groups in civil rights history: Black veterans of the Vietnam war. The film seemingly couldn’t have been released at a more relevant time as viewers can…
Avengers: Endgame brings the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) third phase to a close in splendid fashion, designating much of its three-hour runtime to character arcs and the wider narrative, versus intergalactic fireworks and fisticuffs. In fact, Anthony and Joe Russo’s finale is an intelligent film, introducing novel MCU concepts, “hard” science and a supervillain worthy…
Somber is the mood in the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame and rightfully it should be. As you should recall, Thanos — after piecing together the Infinity Gauntlet — has eliminated half the population of Earth and decimated the ranks of the superhero team at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.” The remaining Avengers and…
Over the past decade, Marvel Studios have proved time and again their mastery of the superhero genre. Central to this success is the combination of superhero tropes with other genres: World War II film with “Captain America: The First Avenger,” conspiracy thriller with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” heist movie with “Ant-Man,” high school comedy…
Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) model has introduced ingenious engineers, Norse gods, space raiders and sorcerers. These superpowered figures appear in films that incorporate elements from World War II movies, space opera, heist films, alien invasions and conspiracy thrillers. With varying levels of dramatic success, the framework of a superhero figure in [insert…
James Brown. Jackie Robinson. Thurgood Marshall. Besides being brilliant black pioneers in their respected careers, what do they have in common? They were all played by the same rising young Hollywood actor: Chadwick Boseman (“Gods of Egypt”). His name may not ring a bell since most of his movies haven’t exactly been major box office…
