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Showing posts from 2021

Cruella

I was not exactly excited to see this movie as the last major film released by Disney ( Mulan ) ended in tears. Nevertheless, I went ahead to see it and I was not disappointed.  Set in the 70s, Cruella is a girl whose dreams of being a fashion designer come true after she redesigned a dress for the Baroness, one of the big names in the fashion industry at the time. She ends up working for her until she finds out that she's a narcissistic bitch who would do anything to remain in power. Kind of like the Nigerian government. This movie gave me The Devil wears Prada vibes, but less enjoyable. Cruella is based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith in which she steals dalmatian dogs in order to make fur coats with their skin. I think this is supposed to be a prequel of sorts as it tells of the origins of Cruella. The idea of trying to create a backstory as to why a villain turned out the way they did is honestly getting tiring. I'd be much happier knowing that

Wrath of Man

As a huge action movie fan, it is my responsibility to watch every blockbuster action film that gets released. Action and horror movies tend to keep me on the edge of my seat and that's a feeling I wouldn't pass up for anything. Guy Ritchie , the director is known for his great storytelling and we see this in some of his previous movies like Sherlock Holmes and The Man from UNCLE . Wrath of Man did not have a great story line, but like his other movies, he keeps you on the edge of your seat with the suspense, thrill and intensity. It had the typical Guy Ritchie signature: the timelines and the sound effect. Basically, Jason Statham plays a man who is trying to avenge the death of his son. That's literally it. Fun fact, Jason Statham made his acting debut in Guy Ritchie's film and they have gone on to collaborate 3 times after that, this being the fourth. I thought the movie was unnecessarily long. There were some scenes that I don't think deserved much detail. Mos

Tenet

I’ve decided to do the unthinkable and write about Tenet. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors and there’s no movie he directs that I wouldn’t watch. He has a reputation for putting out complex and mind-boggling movies like Inception and Interstellar and honestly, understanding his movies kind of makes me feel smart. That being said, I have seen Tenet 3 times and I can say that I did not understand shit. I’m not even angry because it’s okay. Robert Pattison apparently did not understand what was going on while filming so that’s quite comforting to me. There’s a reason I failed Physics in school. Hold up, it’s not that deep yo! Hi Everyone, Yimika here (an intelligent friend who knows more about Physics even though this knowledge is not really useful for this review) who's decided to help Aby with this movie. I should say first that Christopher Nolan, who I’ve only recently been able to identify in a solo picture, did an AMAZING job with this movie in that it really

The Professor and the Madman

I've seen so many negative reviews about this movie on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic (mostly because they claim that the movie is a poor adaptation of the book). I haven't read the book, so this review is based solely on the movie adaptation. This film is a national treasure and must be cherished as such. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn pulled off one of their best performances and totally deserved to be recognized. This is a story that tells about the development of the Oxford English Dictionary(OED) which began in 1878 by editors; James Murray and William Minor and how they came to form a close friendship over the course of their lives. Now you might think "how difficult could it have been to write a dictionary?" Very fucking hard if I must say, considering that there were no phones, and all research had to be done manually and they also had to write the history of each of the words. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. James Murray is a professor hired by the Oxf

The Trial of the Chicago 7

I had been hesitant to see this film since it came out because I thought it was going to be one of those movies that was boring and typically portrayed black people as victims/slaves, because I'm honestly tired of all that but then someone convinced me otherwise and well it was so damn worth it. An historical legal drama, this movie takes us through the trial of activists;  Abbie Hoffman , Tom Hayden , Rennie Davis , Jerry Rubin , David Dellinger , Lee Weiner and John Froines , after the American government charged them with conspiracy to incite violence across state lines at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 1968. Originally called the Chicago 8 because Bobby Seale , the national leader of the Black Panther party was one of the defendants but was eventually given a mistrial during the trial.  In 1968, the DNC is about to take place in Chicago where the presidential candidate for the next election was going to be nominated. The President at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson h

Coming 2 America

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the movies I'm looking forward to in the first half of the year. One of the movies I was looking forward to was Coming 2 America, considering how part 1 was so much fun to watch and brought back childhood memories. Well I guess I should have cherished those memories a lot longer because this is the absolute worst movie I have seen this year. How do you wait for 30years to deliver a sequel to one of the most beautiful movies of the 80s, only for it to come out so awful?  Basically, King Akeem finds out he has a son from his first visit to America and he goes back to find him so he can inherit his throne because only a male heir can inherit the throne of Zamunda. How is it possible that Akeem had not been to America in 30years considering that his wife is American? This movie felt like the producers pressed pause in 1988 and played it in 2021. There was no character development, literally everyone had the same damn roles and the routines were the

Judas and the Black Messiah

 "I am a Revolutionary" These words have been echoing in my head since I watched this movie. If you don't feel like you are a revolutionary, maybe you watched Malcolm & Marie. This is a story about betrayal. Based on true events, this film describes the events that led to the assassination of Fred Hampton by the FBI in 1969. Malcolm X , Martin Luther King , Fred Hampton were people who dared to challenge the treatment of Black folks in America and got killed for it. At the time of his death, Fred was the Chairman of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Quick background on the BPP, they were a Black Power political organization that fought against police brutality and the oppression of Black people in America. After its inception, they became involved in community programs like providing healthcare services, free breakfast for children and were an advocate for class struggle. Fred was so great at giving speeches and political rallies that the FBI; hea

Malcolm & Marie

This is NOT a love story. If you had no idea what a toxic relationship is, this movie shows you exactly what it is. Malcolm and Marie have just arrived from the premiere of a film that Malcolm had just made. Marie enters the house with an attitude so naturally you ask, "What did Malcolm do?". Turns out he did not thank Marie during his "thank you" speech. He thanks literally everyone but the person he claims to love. At this point, in my head I'm thinking "Oh hell no, hell fucking no". How can you forget to thank me, the love of your life? Anyhoo, things quickly escalate from there and there's a series of arguments where they both say really nasty shit to each other. The verbal abuse is so bad that I honestly don't know how they move on from the night. John David Washington and Zendaya give beautiful performances. For John, the apple did not fall far from the tree. After watching him in Tenet , I didn't think he'd convincingly pull of

MOVIES TO WATCH OUT FOR IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2021

With the chaos that 2020 brought with it, many movies slated for release during the year had to be pushed forward to 2021. Here's a few of the movies I'm most anticipating in the first half of the year. Tom and Jerry If you're like me and you grew up watching the cartoon, and you wouldn't mind reliving your childhood, then you should see this movie. Tom and Jerry decide to call a truce on their rivalry and go their separate ways but end up crossing paths in an hotel where Jerry has been causing mayhem and Tom is hired by an employee to catch him.  There's bound to be drama and some nostalgia while watching it. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz , Michael Pena and Ken Jeong . Click Here to watch the trailer:  Tom and Jerry Out February 26!!! Coming to America 2 33 years after the release of the first installment, we get a sequel to the movie. Prince Akeem ( Eddie Murphy ) finds out that he has a son in America just as he's about to become king. His father's dying w

KNIVES OUT

A classic game of cat and mouse, Knives Out is a brilliant movie that delves into the life and family of Harlan Thrombey, a renowned novelist who commits suicide on the night of his 85th birthday and leaves all his wealth to his nurse Marta Cabrera. This looks like a closed case until Private Investigator Benoit Blanc ( Daniel Craig ) shows up one week after Harlan's death to investigate further, implying that a crime may have been committed.  As always, everyone is a suspect and everyone has something to hide. Could it be his unfaithful son-in-law, Richard ( Don Johnson ) who doesn't want his wife to find out about his infidelity? Or his sniveling son Walt ( Michael Shannon ) who constantly had disagreements with Harlan because he did not want his book turned into movies (which would have made Walt rich). Or his daughter-in-law Joni ( Toni Collette ) whom he had just cut off her allowance for stealing from him, and finally his black sheep grandson Ransom ( Chris Evans ) who wa