Dr. Strange-The Multiverse of Madness, Review: Averse, obverse, inverse, diverse, reverse, converse, traverse, transverse Of all the screen movements in Dr. Strange-The Multiverse of Madness, floating and jumping are the main competitive events, closely followed by light rings that are twirled and hurled as weapons by either side. If you can excel in these events, you win the battle. The battle, yes, but the war, no. It is a completely unequal war, with a witch who keeps winning any which way...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” is the innocuous language used in the 1948 iconic New Yorker short story by writer Shirley Jackson, whereby a wife and mother named ‘Tessie’ is stoned to death in her typical American small town by the friendly village folk, a longstanding tradition. ‘Old Man Warner’ insists doing away with the lottery proves the young generation are “damn fools,” and on that n...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent We interrupt this Pandemic to bring you Elizabeth Moss in SHIRLEY from NEON, about “The Lottery” writer Shirley Jackson. On June 19, 1948, The New Yorker published Jackson’s odd story about a town that gets stoned, but not how you think. And with this enigmatic introduction to SHIRLEY, from Director Josephine Decker and Writer Sarah Gubbins, let’s make a small parallel to our Coronavirus-driven times where ending a ...

The Shape of Water, Review: Half full, half empty It’s co-written and directed Guillermo del Toro. And here is an excerpt of the synopsis: In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment. Sounds interesting? Yes. Premise can work on its own? As a sci-fi thriller, yes, but as an allegory and metaphor-packed Guillermo d...

Siraj Syed reviews Doctor Strange: Surgery and sorcery go hand in hand Comics can be victims of overkill, especially when they traverse the distance from page to screen. Casting might be (mis)guided by name and fame, when suitability is of greater import. Marvel’s Doctor Strange, with part Disney talent and full distribution channels in tow, is ridden with both pitfalls. It’s a marvel then that the film manages to serve above par, enjoyable fare, for which credit largely goes to t...

By Maria Esteves – October 14, 2015 The 53rd New York Film Festival 2015 (NYFF53) Closing Night Premiere of MILES AHEAD, press conference with actor/director Don Cheadle, cast members Emayatzy Corinealdi and Michael Stuhlbarg, moderated by festival director Kent Jones, NYFF, was held at the Walter Reade Theater Saturday, October 10, 2015. Questions posed to actor/director Cheadle, Corinealdi and Stuhlbarg by moderator Jones and members of the press included "Can you talk about findin...

By Maria Esteves – October 12, 2015 MILES AHEAD is explosive, passionate, romantic and provocative! Actor Don Cheadle is Miles Davis incarnate. Cheadle’s directorial debut, a decade in the making, is truly a masterpiece. Set in the late 1970s, this creative music biopic captures the legendary Miles Davis (1926-1991) personal life, sense of humor and experience during his absence with the recording industry that ultimately led him to take the law into his own hands. Miles music s...

In the only Urdu/Hindi film he ever made, Indian cinema’s Bengali language grandmaster Satyajit Ray used chess as a metaphor, setting it against the backdrop of the crumbling Navabi rule over Avadh (Lucknow), and its imminent take-over by the British East India company. It was simply called Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players). Another chess film, a 30-minute short made in 1988, was called Queen Sacrifice. The present film manages with just a pawn sacrifice! Two feature-length recent ...