It’s no secret that Don Cheadle wanted to make a movie about Miles Davis (1926-1991) for over a decade. Well, the wait is finally over for jazz fans eager to see the warts-and-all biopic chronicling some of the highs and lows of the legendary trumpeter’s checkered career. Cheadle not only produced, directed, and co-wrote his labor of love, but handles the title character in a haunting performance where he manages to channel the spirit of Miles oh so convincingly, from the gravelly voice to the mercurial temperament. But while the impersonation might be spot on, the surreal screenplay leaves a…
Author: Kam Williams
Tarzan became a sensation soon after his initial introduction to the world via pulp magazines published in 1912. Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the character proved to be such an enduring cultural icon that he would become the subject of a series of best-selling novels, 200+ movies and a long line of consumer products. According to the lore spun by Burroughs, Tarzan, aka John Clayton, was the son of a couple of British aristocrats who perished in Africa while the boy was still an infant. The baby was subsequently raised by apes in the wild where he became so in…
While the slave raids led by Nat Turner and John Brown have been well documented in the annals of American history, the relatively-successful exploits of another notorious abolitionist insurrectionist have somehow slipped through the cracks. At least until now. Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) was born and raised in Jones County, Mississippi, the grandson of a slave owner, making him, at first blush, a very unlikely figure to mount a revolt. He even served as a medic in the Confederate army during the Civil War, but was disheartened to learn how the sons of large plantation owners had been exempted from…
Jesse Owens (Stephan James) is famous for winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics staged in Berlin. The in track and field events events in which he competed included the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash, the long jump and the 4 x 100 meter relay race. What makes Owens’ feat remarkable is that he had to overcome not only racism at home but the prejudice he encountered in Germany which had embraced Nazi notions about whites being a master race. So, not only did he have to deal with discrimination in the States but prejudice on the…