Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a sharply enjoyable sequel
Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson reunite for another wild mystery in Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Intrepid detective Benoit Blanc’s (Craig) latest adventure takes him to a lavish private estate on a Greek island, but how and why he came to be there is only the first of many puzzles.
Devotion glides to victory as crowd-pleasing entertainment
For his third film as director, J.D. Dillard adapts the 2017 biography Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by author Adam Makos. The film shortens the title to Devotion and introduces audiences to the comradeship between naval officers Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) during the Korean War.
Second Listen Sunday: Johnta Austin, Love
Big Daddy Kane was easily one of Hip Hop’s brightest stars when his third album, Taste of Chocolate, hit record stores in October of 1990. Kane was known for boasting about his talent as a microphone checker, but as any Hip Hop head will tell you, Kane possessed a first-rate technique and rhyming skills to match his bravado.
Slow Jam Saturday: Big Daddy Kane feat. Barry White, All Of Me
Big Daddy Kane was easily one of Hip Hop’s brightest stars when his third album, Taste of Chocolate, hit record stores in October of 1990. Kane was known for boasting about his talent as a microphone checker, but as any Hip Hop head will tell you, Kane possessed a first-rate technique and rhyming skills to match his bravado.
Take a visual sip of Pepsi, Where’s My Jet
A conversational contest run by soda giant Pepsi, led to a court case, receives the documentary treatment from Netflix in Pepsi, Where’s My Jet. Andrew Renzi is in the director’s chair, and Jeremiah Murphy pens the script. The year was 1996, and the cola wars were raging.
Second Listen Sunday: The Deele, Eyes Of A Stranger
Before Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and L.A. Reid became in-demand producers, they were members of the R&B band, The Deele. The other members of the group were Carlos “Satin” Greene, Darnell “Dee” Bristol, Stanley “Stick” Burke, and Kevin “Kayo” Roberson. Reid and Edmonds were part of the group’s line-up for the group’s first three albums. Eyes of a Stranger, the final album Reid and Edmonds contributed to, is this week’s Second Listen Sunday selection.
Slow Jam Saturday:Black Coffey, Rocket Love
The legendary Stevie Wonder had already received his flowers numerous times when the R&B duo Black Coffey covered his lush ballad “Rocket Love” in 2002. The song initially appeared on Wonder’s nineteenth studio album, Hotter than July, which arrived ins stores on September 29, 1980.
Tyrese doesn’t score a TKO in The System
Tyrese Gibson teams up with director Dallas Jackson to chase his action star movie dreams in The System from The Avenue. Terry Savage (Gibson) is a young soldier who recently returned from war and has just finished his enlistment.
Second Listen Sunday: Rome, My Time Again
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again nineties R&B nineties was such a crowded field that frequently, a singer would drop a hit single, and we thought they would become one of R&B’s next stars. Michigan-bred singer Rome was one such singer. Bursting onto the scene with the hit slow jams “I Belong To You” and ” Do You Like This” in the spring of 1997, Rome had a decent enough voice that displayed his gospel roots.
Standard plot twits fill The Minute You Wake Up Dead
Director Michael Maler follows up last year’s inspirational sports drama Heart of Champions with the mystery The Minute You Wake Up Dead from Lionsgate. Russ Porter (Cole Hauser) is a shady small-town stockbroker who just lost some of the townies a considerable amount of money. He begins dating a shy waitress named Delane (Jamie Alexander) to take away some of the stress in his life.
Slow Jam Saturday: Full Force, “Your Place Or Mine”
In addition to offering scene-stealing moments in the first two House Party films, Hip Hop and R&B group Full Force made a name for themselves as in-demand producers. Initially, the group crafted tracks for artists such as UTFO, Doctor Ice, Samantha Fox, Patti LaBelle, The Force M.D.s, and of course, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Those records would lead to the group working with icon artists Bob Dylan, Patti LaBelle, and James Brown. When the resurgence of teen pop arrived in the late nineties, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and ‘N Sync were all blessed with the Full Force magic.
Street Dreaming With Author Justin Jones
Hip Hop Head and author Justin Jones is currently in the final writing stages of his second book ‘Hip Hop Was Dead: The State of the Culture 2003-2007’. That book covers a 5-year era of Hip-Hop and how the culture was affected during that period. Mr. Jones took some time out, though, to chat with me about his debut book Street Dreaming: Reading Nas’ It Was Written.