It’s New York harbor in 1926, which is when we are introduced to Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he disembarks a steamship from England that’s just docked at the pier. The young wizard has to resort to a sleight of hand to slip through customs, since his suitcase is filled to the point of bursting with a unique brand of contraband. Newt happens to be hiding a menagerie of mythical creatures with unusual names like obscurials, bowtruckles and dougals. Given the unreliable latch on his tattered, leather satchel, it doesn’t take long for a mischievous niffler to escape. We soon…
Author: Kam Williams
It isn’t bad enough that Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert/Ashton Sanders/Trevante Rhodes) is being raised by an emotionally-unavailable, drug-addicted, single-mom (Naomie Harris). The shy youngster also has the misfortune of having to hide the fact that he’s gay, since he’s experiencing pangs of sexual awakening in the midst of an African-American, ghetto culture which is homophobic to the point of violence. Consequently, he finds himself not only being teased for being a “faggot” by a school bully (Patrick Decile) but sadistically beaten to a pulp by his best friend and secret lover, Kevin (Jaden Piner/Jharrel Jerome/Andre Holland). This sorry state of…
At first blush, Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) looks like your average CPA. After all, the self-employed nerd plies his trade in a modest office located in a nondescript strip mall in suburban Plainfield, Illinois. The talented forensic accountant’s is apparently very well-suited to the profession, given that he was born with Aspberger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism which enabled him to become something of a math savant. Nevertheless, looks can be very deceiving, since the mild-mannered loner also has a shadowy side he is great at keeping under wraps. Consequently, no one has any idea that Christian’s clients happen…
Step aside Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, the undisputed reigning “King of Comedy, ” pound-for-pound, is clearly now Kevin Hart. That’s after his “What Now?” world tour during which the diminutive comedian staged 168 shows across the United States and Canada, as well as ports-of-call in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. The pinnacle of the 16-month standup series was an outdoor event at Lincoln Financial Field.where the Philly native son performed in front of a very appreciative crowd of 50,000 hometown fans. And the record-making turnout marked the only occasion on which a comic has ever sold out a mammoth…
Nat Turner (Nate Parker) was born into slavery on October 2, 1800 on a sprawling plantation located in Southampton County, Virginia. There, as a precocious child, he exhibited a thirst for knowledge at an early age and learned to read the Bible with the help of his masters, Samuel (Armie Hammer) and Elizabeth Turner (Penelope Ann Miller). The couple simultaneously shielded him from the brutality of the evil institution by granting him the privilege of living and working in the mansion rather than having to toil in the cotton fields alongside his mother (Aunjanue Ellis) and grandmother (Esther Scott). Nat…
Directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa in 1954, Seven Samurai was a groundbreaking film which had a profound influence on the evolution of cinema for generations to come. Superficially, that seminal work merely reads like a martial arts epic set in 16th Century Japan. Yet, over the years, it has spawned a cottage industry of knockoffs trading in the picture’s novel narrative revolving around a rag-tag team of selfless heroes recruited in service of some lofty goal. In 1960, Seven Samurai was remade as The Magnificent Seven, a sprawling Western co-starring Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Robert…
US Airways Flight 1549 had barely taken off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport on the afternoon of January, 15, 2009 when it sighted Canada geese flying in its path at about 2,800 feet. The Airbus 320 was unable to avoid the flock and the ensuing strike disabled both of its engines. At that point, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger immediately took control of the powerless plane from co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) and informed the tower of his dire predicament. After weighing his options in the next few seconds, Sully ignored air traffic controller Patrick Harten’s (Patch Darragh) suggestion to return…
Who would ever think of making a movie just about Barack (Parker Sawyers) and Michelle Obama’s (Tika Sumpter) first date? Richard Tanne would, that’s who, and he makes an impressive directorial debut with this inspirational biopic chronicling a very eventful day in the lives of the future President and First Lady. The story unfolds in Chicago during the summer of 1989 when Michelle was already employed as an attorney and living back home with her parents (Vanessa Bell Calloway and Phillip Edwad Van Lear). Barack had just finished his first year at Harvard law school and had landed an internship…
Jackie Chan made dozens of martial arts movies in his native Hong Kong prior to finding phenomenal success stateside in 1998 co-starring with Chris Tucker in the buddy-comedy Rush Hour. Their pairing as unlikely-partners proved so popular that they returned to the well to shoot a couple of sequels in Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3. And Jackie further milked the familiar formula in outings opposite Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights. Despite being perhaps a little long-in-the-tooth to still be doing such stunt-driven adventures, the sixty-something matinee idol is back with Skiptrace, a slight variation on…
A Jason Bourne movie just isn’t the same without Jason Bourne, as the producers found out the hard way in 2012 when they made The Bourne Legacy without the iconic title character. Fortunately, they’ve since settled their differences with star Matt Damon who returned to reprise the role of the dashing, renegade CIA agent which he originated and played to perfection in the espionage franchise’s first three installments. The movie marks the reunion of Damon and Paul Greengrass, director of both The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), the series’ most successful episodes at the box office. While…