Will Smith and director Antione Fuqua avoid slave movie tropes in Emancipation
Following his much-deserved Oscar win for last year’s King Richard, Will Smith returns in Emancipation from Apple TV+. Action and thriller genre specialist Antoine Fuqua directs the film from a script by William N. Collage.
Violent Nights earns a spot on the nice list
Tommy Wirkola delivers a new fun film for our annual holiday viewing in Universal Pictures Violent Night. It’s another Christmas, and the Lightstone family is getting together. The family includes prodigal son Jason (Alex Hassell), his wife Linda (Alexis Lighter), and their daughter Trudy (Leah Brady).
Darby & The Dead is a harmless teen comedy
After utilizing his directorial talents in the world of episodic television for the past few years, Silas Howard returns to features in Hulu’s Darby and The Dead. Becca Greene pens the screenplay from a story by Winnoah Wims. Darby Harper (Riele Downs) is your typical high school-aged teenager with one notable difference.
Willow is a whimsical sequel
A beloved eighties fantasy film receives a sequel in a series format three decades later in Willow from Disney+. Based on George Lucas’ 1988 fantasy-adventure film Willow, the series picks up years after the Nelwyn sorcerer Willow (Warwick Davis) successfully rescued the infant empress Elora Danan from the clutches of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda of Nockmaar.
Second Listen Sunday: Donell Jones, Where I Wanna Be
Donell Jones had already made a name for himself, writing for the likes of Usher, Jade, and Madonna, when his debut album My Heart hit stores in the summer of 1996. Jones’s debut featured the hit singles “In The Hood,” “You Should Know,” and his cover of the timeless Stevie Wonder classic “Knocks Me Off My Feet.” Furthermore, two of the album tracks, the slow jams “No Interruptions” and “I Want You To Know,” are better songs than some folk’s entire discographies that entered the music game in the last twenty years.
Slow Jam Saturday: Michael Jackson, Who Do You Know
Often it’s hard to believe it’s been thirteen years since GOD called the King of Pop home. Since his passing, fans have enjoyed some of his unreleased music. A few weeks before the official anniversary, the MJ estate blessed fans with Thriller 40.
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.