REVIEW: King Richard [2021]

We need to make two more kids. You couldn’t watch tennis in the mid-90s without hearing an opinion about Richard Williams lurking behind his camera in the stands while his daughters Venus and Serena took the American program and the sport itself by storm. Every commentator had something to say to simultaneously champion his efforts putting them on the road to superstardom and vilify his off-court persona via his parenting technique, self-promotion, and hijinks. At times he became the bigger story and thus a big distraction to what the Williams…

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INTERVIEW: Reinaldo Marcus Green, director of Good Joe Bell

Between his feature film debut Monsters and Men in 2018 and the currently shooting Richard Williams (Venus and Serena’s father) biopic starring Will Smith, Reinaldo Marcus Green had the distinction of directing Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana‘s first produced screenplay since their Brokeback Mountain Oscar victory in 2006. That’s quite the run for the New York native, NYU Tisch graduate—one that has quickly proven to be very well deserved. Good Joe Bell is that sophomore title and it just debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. It tells the tragic…

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TIFF20 REVIEW: Joe Bell [2021]

The truth is all I have. The first event at which we see Joe Bell (Mark Wahlberg) speak his anti-bullying message can’t help but make you laugh. He’s standing on-stage with a disheveled look cultivated by a weeks-long journey on foot, spouting more nervous “ums” then concrete dialogue as his son Jadin (Reid Miller) watches at the back of the auditorium. The scene lasts less than two minutes before Bell asks the audience of teenagers if they have any questions as though his awkward presence was enough to spark conversation…

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TIFF18 REVIEW: Monsters and Men [2018]

Six dudes for one guy. The conversation surrounding Black Lives Matter is (and should be) about the victims of police violence who’ve yet to see any killers in blue face real consequences. It’s not about saying their lives matter more than anyone else, but that they matter at all. Because if you look at the headlines it’s easy to wonder if people think they do—especially the police. Just like nursery rhymes in classrooms have begun teaching youngsters how to stay safe during school shootings, many parents of POC children are…

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