“God Bless the Child” was the first Billie Holiday song I ever heard. It was one of my grandmother’s favorites. She loved the lyrics because it was a lesson about how fake friends and money don’t mix. Reading the words years later, I realized those words had to reflect Holiday’s own life of love, loss, and money troubles—which director Lee Daniels explores in his new film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” It’s a mixed-at-best effort with a strong lead performance, but one that ultimately cannot honor the legendary song (or singer’s life) it takes most of its emotional and spiritual cues from.

Continue reading ‘The United States Vs. Billie Holiday’: Lee Daniels’ Drama Can’t Honor The Trauma Behind ‘Strange Fruit’ [Review] at The Playlist.

As one of America’s most respected playwrights, most people are familiar with August Wilson’s popular play “Fences.” Viola Davis and Denzel Washington (alumni of Wilson’s theater work), starred in that film adaptation from 2018. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” another play in Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle series, gets the adaptation treatment from director George C. Wolfe. 

READ MORE: Chadwick Boseman & Viola Davis Are Ready For Oscar In ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

The Black experience in America during the 20th century was often the subject of much of Wilson’s work, unapologetically so about catering to that demographic.

Continue reading ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’: Viola Davis & Chadwick Boseman Sparkle In A Musical Tale Of Ambition & Survival [Review] at The Playlist.

Kelvin Harrison, Jr. has always been influenced by music. As the son of professional musicians, his parents played Jazz most days, and the actor grew to appreciate it. It’s this love for music that drove him to be a part of Nisha Ganatra’s latest film, “The High Note.”

READ MORE: ‘The High Note’ [Review]

Released on VOD last month, the film tells the story of Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson), the longtime assistant to fading R&B star Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross).

Continue reading Kelvin Harrison Jr. Talks His Love Of Music & Working With Tracee Ellis Ross On ‘The High Note’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

The new film “Miss Juneteenth” was released on the 155th anniversary of the first Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the delayed freedom of enslaved Black people in 1865. This film not only arrived on this anniversary, but at a time during which there’s a worldwide reckoning and realization that, while enslaved Black folks may have been freed in 1865, systemic racism perpetuates grave injustices, and in some cases different forms of enslavement (as in the 13th Amendment within the United States’ Constitution), for Black people across the globe.  

Continue reading Nicole Beharie Talks ‘Miss Juneteenth,’ The Importance Of Community & More [Interview] at The Playlist.

Film director Scott Derrickson has his footprint all over the Hollywood horror genre. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose“, and “Sinister” are among the many successful films on his resume. He added a flare of horror and talks of a multiverse to Marvel with “Doctor Strange,” and has worked on a few TV pilots from Hulu’s version of “Locke & Key” to the original pilot for “TNT’s Snowpiercer.”

READ MORE: The Movies That Changed My Life: ’45 Years’ Filmmaker Andrew Haigh

Derrickson is also scheduled to direct the action-adventure film “Bermuda” with Chris Evans about, you guessed it, the mysterious place with the same name in the Caribbean.

Continue reading The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘Doctor Strange’ And ‘Bermuda’ Director Scott Derrickson at The Playlist.

“Jumbo” is the beautifully weird love story from the mind of first time feature director, writer, and new CAA addition, Zoe Wittock. Initially, the film debuted at this year’s Sundance and was set to premiere in Paris this month. However, with shelter in place procedures in order all over the world, the film premiered on VOD in Belgium and Vitamin Cineville in Holland.

The film follows Jeanne Tentois (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s” Noemie Merlant), a shy young woman, and her whirlwind love affair with an amusement park ride.

Continue reading ‘Jumbo’ Director Zoe Wittock Talks About Her Love Story Between A Woman & An Amusement Park Ride [Interview] at The Playlist.

Jane Austen never thought her books would be popular. She certainly didn’t expect any of her stories to spawn cinematic adaptations (because of course, movies didn’t exist at that time. There are different versions of the film: Gwyneth Paltrow stars in the 1996 adaptation, Romola Garai is ‘Emma’ in the 2009 TV mini-series, and there is Amy Heckerling’s 1995 film ‘Clueless,’ which is heavily inspired by the Jane Austen novel.

Continue reading Anya Taylor-Joy Talks ‘Emma’ & Being A Jane Austen Antihero [Interview] at The Playlist.

Critics out of Sundance this year have been talking about Julius Onah’s new film, “Luce.” Leads Kelvin Harrison Jr., Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, and Tim Roth bring their A-game in this thrilling drama that is certain to create a conversation surrounding its themes of privilege, and accountability where its characters are concerned.

‘Luce’: Julius Onah’s Powerfully Constructed Psychodrama Of Race & Social Politics Is Brilliantly Tense [Review]

Luce Edgar (Kelvin Williamson Jr.

Continue reading ‘Luce’: Octavia Spencer & Naomi Watts Talk Complex Characters That Don’t Have All The Answers [Interview] at The Playlist.

Following the runaway smash success of his directorial debut “Get Out,” awards season acclaim, Oscar nominations (including a Best Original Screenplay win), and the creation of the mooted “social horror” genre, filmmaker Jordan Peele returned at the just-wrapped SXSW Film Festival with his new film”Us.”

An ambitious follow-up horror, “Us” is not for the faint of heart. Employing the social horror design again, Peele pushes the envelope even further, mines some “Twilight Zone” terrain and explores uncharted territory, as he uses a divided America as the catalyst for a fight between the have and have nots, and what happens when the lines between the two begin to blur.

Continue reading Jordan Peele Talks ‘Us,’ Horror Tropes & The One Scene That’s Described As ‘The Shining’ Meets ‘Moonlight’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

“Fighting With My Family” is the first truly great movie of 2019. Director Stephen Merchant directs a top-notch cast in this ballbusting, feel-good movie filled with love, laughs, and electricity. This is a movie for the anyone that ever felt like an outsider, or felt their dreams were out of reach.

The movie tells the true story of Saraya-Jade Bevis (aka “Paige”) and her family as she rises through the ranks from local wrestling entertainer in her home town of Norwich, England, to meeting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Diva’s Champion—and all the sacrifices she and her family had to make in the process.

Continue reading Florence Pugh Talks ‘Fighting With My Family,’ Wrestling & Her “Bizarre Filmography” [Interview] at The Playlist.

Director Jonas Akerlund (“Spun,” “Small Apartments,” “Lords of Chaos”), takes a walk on the wild side with his new gory action movie “Polar” starring Mads Mikkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens. This gun blazing, balls to the wall film, now available on Netflix, is based on the Darkhorse graphic novel “Polar: Came From The Cold” by Viktor Santos.

Continue reading ‘Polar’: Mads Mikkelsen & Jonas Åkerlund Talk About Their Insane Hitman Movie [Interview] at The Playlist.

The adrenaline-pumping Netflix original film “Close” puts the stress of the bodyguard world center stage. Helmed by writer/director Vicky Jewson (“Lady Godiva,” “Born of War“) and starring Noomi Rapace the film is inspired by real-life events involving the world leading female bodyguard Jackie Davis.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019 

Sam Carlson (Noomi Rapace) is a counterterrorism expert at the top of her field.

Continue reading Noomi Rapace & Director Vicky Jewson Talk Netflix’s Action Thriller ‘Close’ & An Exciting Wave In Cinema For Female Filmmakers [Interview] at The Playlist.

Having earned the right to be selective and turned into a fine director in her own right, Jodie Foster hasn’t appeared in a film in five years because at this stage in her life; she doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t damn well please. One then presumes something is compelling enough in writer/director Drew Pearce‘s “Hotel Artemis” screenplay to have coaxed the distinguished icon off her couch and back on the screen.

Continue reading ‘Hotel Artemis’ Houses A Good Cast, But Jodie Foster May Want To Talk To The Manager [Review] at The Playlist.

In the age of wokeness and empathic inclusivity, Rachel Dolezal might be one of the most tone deaf people in America. In 2015, she became infamous when it was revealed that Dolezal—the then-President of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington—was not African American and had lied about being Black. Dolezal had appropriated Blackness, and lied about hate crimes perpetrated against her. Afterward, she doubled down on the idea that she was Black and misguidedly leaned into the idea that she was “transracial.” So when it was announced the controversial figure would be the subject a new Netflix documentary— “The Rachel Divide,” directed by Laura Brownson— the idea was met with outrage fierce backlash.

Continue reading ‘The Rachel Divide’ Can’t Deliver A Meaningful Look At Identity Or Race [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.

Having practically cornered the market on mid-range-costing horror and finding terrific success last year with “Get Out” and sleeper hit “Happy Death Day,” horror titan Blumhouse Productions has appeared unstoppable. This week, however, their strong average takes a major hit with the unscary and unfunny, “Truth Or Dare,” a Blumhouse addition that’s so boring it may induce bouts of narcolepsy.

Continue reading ‘Truth Or Dare’ Is Woefully Boring And A Misstep For Blumhouse Productions [Review] at The Playlist.