SymParThegod SPTG

Martyrs demark the African-American experience. The documented lineage began with Emmett Till’s murder, his ravaged visage strewn across Jet Magazine’s issues, and continued through Medgar Evers’ assassinations, the four girls in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and a cruel, etc. Fred Hampton, the gifted Chairman of Chicago’s Black … Continue reading “‘Judas And The Black Messiah’: Daniel Kaluuya Is Electric In Flawed Hampton Biopic [Sundance Review]”

As a child, Mendel explored the nearby forests of Michoacán, a state in Mexico, with his older brother Vicente. The trees there are filled with massive, beautiful clusters of monarch butterflies. Their metamorphosis fascinated him throughout his life and, today, he studies the evolution of their wing design as a research scientist in New York … Continue reading “‘Son of Monarchs’: A Biologist Looks For Tranquillity In His Life Work [Sundance Review]”

13-year-old Sammy Ko (Miya Cech) is a problem child. Prone to skipping class, smoking cigarettes, and mouthing off to her teachers, she’s the opposite of the meek model student Hollywood typically imagines when writing young Asian-American characters. Our scowling heroine’s got baggage, and a lot of pent-up anger, in part because things are beginning to … Continue reading “

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Following the tragically early death of Chadwick Boseman at 43 from cancer, I was honestly worried and concerned that “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler might exit the Marvel franchise, heartbroken to have lost his King T’Challa. But not only has Coogler seemingly persevered in making “Black Panther II,” due July 8, 2022, but his commitment … Continue reading “Marvel ‘Wakanda’ Series In The Works For Disney+ As Ryan Coogler Signs New 5-Year Disney TV Deal”

Last year, after months of delays due to the pandemic, Disney’s long-awaited live-action remake, “Mulan,” was finally released. The film got mixed reviews overall, but many people were really happy with the work director Niki Caro did in the fantasy action film. Now, she’s moving onto more grounded action in her next feature, “The Mother,” … Continue reading “‘The Mother’: Jennifer Lopez To Play An Assassin In Netflix Action Film From ‘Mulan’ Director Niki Caro”

If you’ve been paying attention to social media (or your own stock portfolio) over the past week or so, you probably have heard about the drama surrounding the GameStop stock explosion that has seen the general public attempt to screw over hedge fund managers with shocking, often hilarious results. Well, you can’t have a story … Continue reading “Noah Centineo To Star In GameStop Stock-Inspired Netflix Film From ‘Hurt Locker’ Writer”

Freely utilizing a non-linear structure, with mixed results, Ronny Trocker’s sophomore feature, “Human Factors,” is a compelling puzzle-box, showcasing a botched home robbery from five different points-of-view, that never fully synthesizes its twisty structure with a realized narrative. Filmed with an ironic detachment that recalls the work of Michael Haneke, “Human Factors” labyrinthian time-jumps, which … Continue reading “‘Human Factors’: Ronny Trocker’s Mystery Gets Lost In Its Non-Linear Structure [Sundance Review]”

The beauty of having an anthology series is that you can cast some big names, only have them for an episode and not worry about trying to get an A-lister to commit to a months-long television shoot. And if you’re Amazon, you have the money to spend on some truly massive names for the upcoming … Continue reading “

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After a relatively slow start to the year, on the film front, at least, February looks to provide a larger range of films across streaming platforms (and some still only available in theaters.) There’s a decent mix of awards hopefuls, feel-good romances, and experimental indie films in the mix, with trilogy finales, directorial debuts, and … Continue reading “

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