Letterboxd — Your life in film

Calling this documentary "subpar" is a kindness. I won't waste time dissecting everything wrong with this amateurish, uneven, more misguided than instructive, surface level fluff. I also won't waste time unpacking the infuriating, obscenely racist, fractally wrong origin of "Amos n Andy" insofar as the white creators, their appalling blackface antics, or the insanely popular radio show.

Here, I'm focused on discussing The Amos n Andy Show, the first show to center Black characters portrayed by Black performers.

I personally…

Quality-wise, this doc is mediocre. However, what it lacks in style/aesthetics it makes up for in being mad fascinating insofar as relaying the real life story of infamous NY stick up kid Kelvin Martin (the original "50 Cent").

Just imagine a scrawny little 5'2" dude with a bulletproof vest and two guns (357 and colt 45)–no getaway car! 😂–running around NY in the 80s strong-arming pimps, drug dealers, rappers, or anybody at any given moment. Talk about King Kong levels…

Why? Just why? What's so wrong with simply telling a strong, straightforward, compelling narrative story with believable stakes and characters?

I'll never understand the logic behind the creative decision to destroy the super engaging verisimilitude of the narrative for some cutesy, tryhard, "me so clever," all-kale diet eating, hipster doofus filmbro bullshit.

For the first 38mins of this film, I was loving it. I was fully absorbed in this world and the plight of the sweet but assertive little girl.…

Nothing about this works for me. Everything about it makes me want to punch a puppy.

It's falsely advertised as "mystery, thriller, horror" when it's infinitely more accurate to describe it as an unthrilling, mystifying conundrum plagued by horrifyingly awful writing and execution. (Fuck you, Harry.)

Most of this movie felt like the director (fuck you, Harry) sat in the corner nervously Googling "how to direct a feature film" tutorials while advising the performers to "just wing it," which would…

I'm sure that, at least on rare occasions, many folks have experienced that overwhelming yet inexpressible feeling with a movie. That "no words exist to articulate how you feel" feeling. Yeah. This is one of those rare times for me…

I won't attempt to describe how this film profoundly resonated with me, or why I treasure it beyond words. I can't. Instead, I'll simply state:

This is one of the greatest family drama films that I've ever seen.

This is…

This was fun as hell and is now one of my fave 2023 horror releases!

I tend to love horror that's entertainingly vile and cruel and irreverent. On that front, Evil Dead Rise is fucking delicious.

As an unapologetic nonbeliever who's perpetually annoyed and profoundly unmoved by the vast majority of religious horror flicks, I appreciate how this centered some sick ass demonic mythos without dipping a toe in those tired, goofy ass, "peril must involve or must be conquered…

"Even if my fingernails are torn out, my nose and ears are ripped apart, and my legs and arms are crushed, this physical pain does not compare to the pain of losing my nation. My only remorse is not being able to do more than dedicating my life to my country." - written by 17 y.o. Yu Gwan-sun during imprisonment (real quote; not in the movie)

Here's why I treasure this heartrending film and consider it an exceptional, multifaceted take…

🎧"How could somethin' so tarnished be flawless?/Told you, life's a bitch, but she's gorgeous"🎶 - Jadakiss, Incarcerated Scarfaces

Bantu Mama is an intimate human tale all about connection, or lack thereof: the disconnect between the social self and others, the disconnection of maternal desires and familial ties, and the complicated connection between African roots and the displaced African diaspora.

This film is a unique found family portrait. A journey of confrontation and healing. An engaging submersion into a gritty and…

The Worst Person in the World, but make it French and gay (and better 🙃).

I fucking adore this portrait of a brilliant and beautifully flawed young woman. It's wildly amusing, deliciously seductive, and irresistibly endearing in allllllll of the right ways.

It's a damn shame that Anais in Love had the misfortune of coming out only mere months after the really-good-but-somewhat-overhyped critical darling The Worst Person in the World. This film didn't get nearly as much shine as it…

When a person is conditioned to muzzle a considerable chunk of what they really think and what they genuinely feel, there will be repercussions. Unacknowledged emotions and suppressed grievances only fester and grow stronger, no matter how hard or how long we stifle them.

Here, we bear witness to the confessional consequences of emotional levees fracturing once an othered voice is freed from coercion and unjust obligations that demand submission of mind, body, and spirit.

The Patience Stone, given the…

This past Friday (March 31st) would've been my father's 73rd birthday. This marks the first time that his b-day has come and gone without him here to celebrate it with and…it's impossible to articulate how much that hurts.

A while ago I decided to start a new tradition for his birthday: I'm going to watch a western (movie, show, or both) every March 31st to commune with his memory. While there's been a handful of more modern western flicks that…