Review: Angel Has Fallen Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

Angel Has Fallen Directed by Ric Roman Waugh; Release Date: August 2019

 

Film Shorts

ANGEL HAS FALLEN:

*Light Spoilers*

Last night I watched Nick Nolte save a film. I watched the movie not knowing it was the third in a series featuring the lead character, played by Gerald Butler.

We often complain about movies that give good to great actors terrible lines and not much to work with. Well, to avoid this, ANGEL HAS FALLEN simply made those actors disappear. 

They knocked Morgan Freeman into a coma. They killed Jada Pinkett Smith. They did something to Lance Reddick so we didn't see him for thirty minutes. And, they made Piper Perabo a housewife, with an infant, who is just waiting to be kidnapped.

The movie was dying a fast death until Nick Nolte waltzed out of the woods, holding a rifle and looking like a mentally-scarred Vietnam War vet. From there, the movie got off the template molded by THE FUGITIVE and tried to set its own path. 

Though, for the most part, it was too late to recapture what could have been a high-stakes thriller that pitted the Secret Service and FBI against a private Black Ops company.

I do plan to watch the first two, as they could be better and the series might just have run its course, though there are two more films reportedly in the development pipeline.


Recommendation: LOW-MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Freshman Year Directed by Trey Edward Shults; Netflix

Freshman Year Directed by Trey Edward Shults; Netflix; March 2020

 

Film Shorts

FRESHMAN YEAR:

I happen to watch these two movies -- Waves and Freshman Year -- on consecutive days. They happen to have a major plot line in common though they treat it differently. They also have a similar family structure for the main male characters and feature inter-cultural / racial romances. That is where the similarities end and why I am separating the reviews, while recommending you watch the two films back-to-back.

Freshman Year presented an accurate portrait of the first year college experience. The movie had many chances to go wrong but it made all the right turns, which sort of surprised me. Freshman Year is a Christian faith-based film and as such, there are only specific answers to the problems characters face. Even with this constraint, the story moved at a great pace and made you cheer for all the characters, including minor ones.

The film does have its shortcomings, in that it is very linear and the stakes are not high artistically nor symbolically. Yet, it is the type of film to promote to younger people in your life.

Recommendation: MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Waves Directed by Trey Edward Shults

Waves  Directed by Trey Edward Shults; November 2019

Film Shorts

WAVES:

I happen to watch these two movies -- Waves and Freshman Year -- on consecutive days. They happen to have a major plot line in common though they treat it differently. They also have a similar family structure for the main male characters and feature inter-cultural / racial romances. That is where the similarities end and why I am separating the reviews, while recommending you watch the two films back-to-back.

**SPOILERS** - though I'm not sure this will ruin your viewing experience.

I truly wanted to like WAVES because of the aspects listed above and the director really was trying to do an artistic film. This actually became one of the major fault lines. I came away not knowing whether "waves" pertained to light, sound or water. All three elements were featured but lots of meaningless dialogue and pretentious camera work left me confused.

The major problem with Waves is that I hoped it was based on a true story. It really was not. I'm not sure how many more times we can sit through a fatalistic vision of a young black male because he is romantically involved with a white (-adjacent) female. 

To make it even more compelling to viewers, the film gave him a domineering father and a budding substance abuse problem.

After all this goes down, Waves shifted the narrative to his younger sister. She gave a riveting performance in what would have been a great stand-alone film. In case you haven't guessed: yes, she became romantically involved with a white male and true love blossomed. He played white savior to her magical Negress.

Waves doesn't suck but it is problematicAF.

Recommendation: LOW-MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: The Last Black Man in San Francisco Directed by Joe Talbot

The Last Black Man in San Francisco Directed by Joe Talbot; Release date: June 2019

Film Shorts

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO:

...is a great movie. It puts itself beyond a critic's touch. It doesn't ask for laughter. It doesn't ask for tears. It clearly states there is no plot, so in essence there are no expectations. This allows the film to provide shots after shots of representations (symbols) the viewer can freely interpret.

Yet, after each scene, there are no hard stances to take on situations or characters that other films force a viewer to cheer or hate. On its most direct line, The Last Black Man In San Francisco (TLBMISF) is about displacement via neighborhood gentrification, the generational changes that San Francisco has gone through. There are evident takes on race, white people, real estate agents, drugs and its victims and, of course, street dudes, being that it is a movie about black men.

The latter is where TLBMISF hits the bull's eye and why the film should find an audience that helps it become a cultural reference point the way other movies that portrayed the friendships and interactions between black males.

Recommendation: HIGHEST

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: The Photograph Directed by Stella Meghie

The Photograph Directed by Stella Meghie; Release date: February 2020

 

Film Shorts

THE PHOTOGRAPH:

A wonderful film, a sly nod to photographer Carrie Mae Weems, particularly her work in The Kitchen Table series.

Stylistically the movie hits on all points and the dialogue is in the vein of Stella Meghie’s normal wit and pacing that is not weighted down by forced gravitas.

The film could have done more with a thematic play on the title and given more weight or backstory to the main male character.

It’s a movie worthy of support because it will undoubtedly stop kids from jumping off the porch. It also is a romantic film that doesn’t force the romance , thereby giving young lovers a way forward in their real lives.

Recommend: HIGH

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Queen & Slim Directed by Melina Matsoukas

Queen & Slim Directed by Melina Matsoukas; Release date: November 2019

Film Shorts

QUEEN & SLIM:

...starts with an improbable event: a traffic stop where a black man kills a cop. OK, so the film has the audience's attention. One now has to wonder the reason for this particular framework. The lead female character is a lawyer, and the lead male is an average religious guy. OK so, are we going to address Church & State?

Yes, kind of, sort of but the real play is liberation theology. The dialogue is pointed. The reverse trip through the Underground Railroad works - going from free state Ohio, through Kentucky, and ending up in Louisiana. All around, things are falling in place for the characters, the cinematic vision and the themes. Even when Queen & Slim does a shift and mocks the idea that liberation can be found by adapting the look and ethos of Blaxploitation films, it still works.

Though the protests in the backdrop doesn't work as well, it is understandable since we're taking a journey from the present, through the 70s, and are now doing the protests of the 60s and late 50s -- with destination Cuba.

At this point, the movie is wonderful. Now all it has to do is stick the landing, and it tries when liberation also becomes about personal freedom. It tries when the liberation theology of the dialogue asks the question: why are children born? Then, it still-lifed (still birth).

Recommendation: MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Directed by Stanley Nelson Jr.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Directed by Stanley Nelson Jr.; August 2019

Film Shorts

MILES DAVIS:
BIRTH OF THE COOL

So many takeaways from this, with one that hit me personally: the back-to-back takes from Stanley Crouch and Carlos Santana on Miles’s departure from his previous musical course as it applies to BITCHES BREW.

One thing I don’t want to do is sound like and side with Crouch. At the same time, as much I can groove to Santana’s music, he’s too complimentary to sounds and people I don’t quite appreciate.

Other things I learned makes me appreciate Miles so much more, and the women in his life, and how much they tried to save him and gave up for him, particularly Frances Taylor.

This was so well done, it makes me want to listen to every album and song again, as well as screen every film about Miles.

Recommendation: HIGHEST

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Marriage Story Directed by Noah Baumbach; Netflix

Marriage Story Directed by Noah Baumbach; Netflix; Release date: November 2019

Film Shorts

MARRIAGE STORY:

...starts with a divorce that turns acrimonious over location and custody. Oddly enough one can make the case those two themes serve as analogies for the story itself. The film talks about the couple's marriage and mostly rehashes the unhappy moments, while never setting them in the past. 

MARRIAGE STORY seems more concerned with fitting into the sub-genre where the wife has dimmed her potential to advance her husband's career. Within that crater, the film seems to be more of a production for some named actors to work together. As such it features a great cast that is able to lift the story and rescue it from an abyss of rehashed storylines.

A film geared toward critics, this star vehicle for Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver does give them enough dialogue and scenes together. Unfortunately, MARRIAGE STORY has them playing to type; whereas it would have been great to show them as non-brooding, peppy figures. Laura Dern gives an over-the-top performance as the cut-throat lawyer that widens the wedge between them - a role for which she won an Academy Award.

Overall, the film sets out what it hoped to accomplish and serves as a what not to do guide for those heading into marriage or divorce.

Recommendation: MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Sticks & Stones Performed by Dave Chappelle; Netflix

Sticks & Stones Performed by Dave Chappelle; Netflix; Release date: August 2019

Film Shorts

STICKS & STONES:

I read this article about Sticks & Stones earlier and it made me want to see what Dave Chappelle said. In some ways I agree with the article's main point and it's the reason to watch it and the epilogue.

Dave stepped on some minefields and many will be triggered and some may never support him anymore. But, "too far" is really a cute way of saying he attacked the left and an embankment that is being built that is marginalizing many voices. So, have at it and tell us #HowDoYouWantIt? #HowDoYouFeel? #Tupac

Recommendation: HIGH

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Girls Trip Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

Girls Trip Directed by Malcolm D. Lee; Release date: July 2017

Film Shorts

GIRLS TRIP:

"Single women are an even bigger market." That line of dialogue from the movie could serve as a basic tagline that encapsulates the premise of the movie. It is also a blueprint that most artistic creators use when ready to commodify their work. In itself, Girls Trip carries two strong storylines throughout.

The draw, the one that brought in the viewers, patterned itself after movies like The Hangover. Girls Trip brought the raunchiness so hard afterward you might have to watch a foreign film with subtitles to recalibrate your sensibilities.

The second thread deals with the failings of men in committed relationships. No new terrain traversed, that storyline just sits there, exists primarily because "Single women are an even bigger market."

Recommendation: HIGH
for the laughs.

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Crazy Rich Asians Directed by Jon M. Chu

Crazy Rich Asians Directed by Jon M. Chu; Based on work by Kevin Kwan; Release date: August 2019

Film Shorts

CRAZY RICH ASIANS:

A stylish film showing the luxe life of Asians. Best to take off the critical lens. It's presented as a RomCom but there are few laughs.

CRA follows the formula for the genre but mostly plays up the Cinderella aspect and forces us to accept the oft-presented life of the rich as vapid and unfulfilling unless the man reaches down and marries a woman of substance but no means.

As standard fare, all the men except for the lead fall short while the women are glorious in all they present including the mean mother-in-law.

Recommendation: MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: American Son Directed by Kenny Leon; Netflix

American Son Directed by Kenny Leon; Netflix; Based on work by Christopher Demos-Brown; Release date: November 2019

Film Shorts

AMERICAN SON:

Without giving any spoilers or getting into the symbolic representations, I felt they did a bait and switch on black viewers.

I, as a writer, have never written from that perspective and/or come to such conclusions. I mean, I have some of my notebooks from when I was sixteen and I've never displayed such a basic view, such a misunderstanding on how race is played out, especially as it relates to police.

I literally felt like throwing a trashcan at the entire production, like Mookie in DO THE RIGHT THING.

Recommendation: LOW-MEDIUM

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Always Be My Maybe Directed by Nahnatchka Khan; Netflix

Always Be My Maybe Directed by Nahnatchka Khan; Netflix; Release date: May 2019

    
Film Shorts

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE:

A cute little RomCom that stays true to the formula and satisfies a RomCom fan like myself. 

Though I enjoyed the movie, I found it problematic on two aspects. One, it played way too safe in trying to avoid Asian stereotypes that it removed lots of -- what could be considered -- authenticity.

Two, using black life/culture/people as a support system, with "support system" being my way to not disparage the creators of the film as the use/featuring is meant to be complimentary. 

If you've screened it, chime in and let me know your thoughts. If you haven't, it's worth a viewing.

Recommendation: MEDIUM-HIGH

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: See You Yesterday Directed by Stefon Bristol; Netflix

See You Yesterday Directed by Stefon Bristol; Netflix; Release date: May 2019

   
Film Shorts

SEE YOU YESTERDAY:

***SPOILERS light***

I watched this last night without ever reading a review, watching the trailer, etc...I wanted to be surprised. At first, it was a pleasant surprise for the broad representation of black folks, especially Caribbean, particularly Guyana; Bronx, Brooklyn (Flatbush and Crown Heights). 

I immediately took a liking to the two main characters and the story, and could see my child and others like him in them.

...and then it was a bad mix: The Cop Shot The Kid and you still hear him cry. 

Not only did I recognize a pattern that I see in black fiction (mine included), in black life. It's that we cannot escape trauma. We truly are suffering from PTSD. 

This is a story where you wish the filmmakers could go silly like Phineas and Ferb.

Unfortunately this is not us, this is not our life. So I applaud the filmmakers for understanding the struggle, taking on the fight. 

SALUTE!

A MUST SEE!

Recommendation: HIGHEST

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: Widows Directed by Steve McQueen

Widows; Director: Steve McQueen; Based on work by Lynda La Plante; Release date: November 2018

  
Film Shorts

WIDOWS:

...is a real good movie. I'd planned on seeing it in theaters because of Viola Davis but got caught up during its first two weeks. By then the reviews came in and both critics and moviegoers were mixed on it so I skipped it. I got a chance to screen it earlier and I see why.

Widows is mainly about the old order falling and some people are ready for that and others are not. The movie is a major departure from the traditional heist movie while holding firm to the constraints that bind us, particularly black and white relations, in love and politics. 

The movie pulls no punches and pretty much kills "all your little darlings", i.e. your misconceptions of what the next plot point will be. Many twists to enjoy.

Recommendation: HIGH

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet

Review: What Happened To Monday Directed by Tommy Wirkola; Netflix

What Happened To Monday; Director: Tommy Wirkola; Netflix; Release date: August  2017

  
Film Shorts

WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY:

Great concept and for about two-thirds of the film, I feared they were not going to pull it off. But, they did and well enough to say the mishaps that occurred were the studio's fault. WHTM is sci-fi without a reliance on gadgets. WHTM is dystopian with enough cultural heft that ties into the past and current political climates that there's no need to question its premise. 

What puts it over the edge are some surprises we do not see coming.

The slight low-lights that filter through are due to the writing where there are moments of checking boxes and paint-by-numbers. 

I brush those aside as time-crunch.

Recommendation:  HIGH

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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet