Posted on June 27, 2020 at 8:10 pm
There’s no movie I’m looking forward to this year more than Pixar’s “Soul,” from Pete Docter of “Inside Out” and “Up.” Voice talent includes Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx along with Tina Fey, Quest Love, “Hamilton’s” Daveed Diggs, and Angela Bassett. Here’s a sneak peek.
And here’s a behind the scenes panel discussion from the Essence conference.
Posted on May 24, 2020 at 9:55 pm
Spike Lee’s new movie is “Da 5 Bloods,” the story of black soldiers in the Vietnam War.
In an interview with Mark Leepson of VVA Veterans, Lee said that the movie was originally written with white characters. But when he was brought in to direct, he reworked it to focus on black soldiers, and he brought in experts to advise him and showed the film to black Vietnam veterans to get their feedback.
The veterans were not shy about telling Spike Lee what didn’t look right in the movie—and what did. And Lee took heed. “Those guys helped us,” he said. “I listened to them. They were there while I was in high school. They really, really helped us. And I knew that if they liked the film, then I had done my job. No way would I make a Vietnam War film and not let those guys look at it. They were there. Brothers died in their arms.
“I made the film for them,” he said. “I made the film for those guys who were 18 years old, boys who were trained to be killers and went overseas and never were the same. And they were the ones who were lucky; they came back. That was much of the justification for this film, that we had those four screenings for those vets and they loved it.”
That said, Lee said, “this film is not just for black Vietnam vets. There’s an adventure segment to this film that can be captivating, too. It’s not made exclusively for black Vietnam vets.”
Posted on March 24, 2020 at 8:00 am
Coming to Netflix: “Crip Camp,” a documentary about a camp for people with disabilities “run by hippies” that helped lead to ground-breaking legislation on access and support.
For more on the at the protest featured in this documentary, see this interview with the real-life leader of the movement, Judy Heumann.
Posted on March 23, 2020 at 10:40 am
Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Séan Cullen and Ricky Gervais provide the voices for “The Willoughbys,” a new animated film based on the book by Lois Lowry, coming to Netflix.
Posted on March 1, 2020 at 11:59 am
A new version of Noel Coward’s ghost comedy “Blithe Spirit” is coming! This one stars Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, and Dame Judi Dench.
I am fond of the original film version with Rex Harrison and an unforgettable Margaret Rutherford as the dotty ghost whisperer Madame Arcati.
