My friend and I were planning to see The Flash together, until he read some less savory reviews of it. I might still check it out, but for now, we chose this instead. Incidentally, the only other movie we attended at this theater together was Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Now that the other spider-themed heroes he knows have returned to their proper alternate worlds, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is lonely, especially missing Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). He doesn't dare tell his mom (Luna Lauren Velez) or dad (Brian Tyree Henry) that he's Spider-Man, but they know he keeps secrets and never shows up on time, so they lock horns with him over it. Then Gwen proves she can pay a visit after all, thanks to the technology of an interdimensional society of hundreds of arachnoid heroes led by Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac). But she's not here just for pleasure. The network's primary objective is to send "anomalies" back where they came from or, if dangerous enough, keep them captive at a base. Presently, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a criminal covered in portable space-time holes, has discovered how to hop dimensions.
Showing posts with label mahershala ali. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mahershala ali. Show all posts
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Green Book (2018)
Wow, the latest Best Picture didn't even make the upper half of my family's expectations. Sure, it ranks high on IMDb, but based on the sheer numbers of nominations, I had initially figured on The Favourite or Roma. My parents seemed to anticipate Black Panther or BlacKkKlansman in light of the Academy's newfound diversity kick. And after Bohemian Rhapsody netted quite a few awards, I hadn't ruled out a big slap in the face to the harsher critics. Only after GB's win did I feel a strong urge to check it out.
Future actor Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), is a nightclub bouncer in the Bronx in 1962. When the club closes for repairs, he hears of an opening for a driver for "a doctor," who turns out to be honorary doctor and star jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali). Don seeks not just a chauffeur but an agent and bodyguard of sorts, because the Don Shirley Trio (the other two musicians being White) will be touring the Deep South in a racially inhospitable era. Despite pressures from family and friends not to associate closely with a Black man, Tony appears more concerned about spending eight weeks away from home and potentially missing Christmas Eve. He names a high wage, and Don matches it. You can guess the general shape of the story from there.
Future actor Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), is a nightclub bouncer in the Bronx in 1962. When the club closes for repairs, he hears of an opening for a driver for "a doctor," who turns out to be honorary doctor and star jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali). Don seeks not just a chauffeur but an agent and bodyguard of sorts, because the Don Shirley Trio (the other two musicians being White) will be touring the Deep South in a racially inhospitable era. Despite pressures from family and friends not to associate closely with a Black man, Tony appears more concerned about spending eight weeks away from home and potentially missing Christmas Eve. He names a high wage, and Don matches it. You can guess the general shape of the story from there.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Nice to know that Sony still gets to make Spider-Man movies, albeit quite different from before. The first all-animated Marvel theatrical release since Big Hero Six looked too weird to my dad in the trailer, so I chose it for a solo viewing.
Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) gets a spider bite similar to the one that Peter Parker (Chris Pine) got. Before he can master or even discover all his powers, which include a few that Peter doesn't have, he sees Peter die fighting to stop the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from messing with the space-time continuum before things get really bad. This temporarily foiled plot has the unforeseen consequence of drawing five other spider-themed heroes from alternate dimensions into the one where Miles lives. They all experience occasional spasms, hinting that they can't live long outside their home dimensions, so they hope to take advantage of the Kingpin's next attempt. Ideally, Miles would be the one to stay behind and break the world-threatening machine, but is he competent enough yet?
Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) gets a spider bite similar to the one that Peter Parker (Chris Pine) got. Before he can master or even discover all his powers, which include a few that Peter doesn't have, he sees Peter die fighting to stop the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from messing with the space-time continuum before things get really bad. This temporarily foiled plot has the unforeseen consequence of drawing five other spider-themed heroes from alternate dimensions into the one where Miles lives. They all experience occasional spasms, hinting that they can't live long outside their home dimensions, so they hope to take advantage of the Kingpin's next attempt. Ideally, Miles would be the one to stay behind and break the world-threatening machine, but is he competent enough yet?
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Hidden Figures (2016)
We shouldn't hear many #OscarsSoWhite complaints next month. While I have yet to check out Moonlight, Fences, or Loving, they get enough positive press outside the Black community to suggest a few nominations at least. But only HF presents a focus on Black women in particular, facing sexism as well as racism.
Specifically, they're three NASA employees in the early '60s, more united than the other Black women in their position if only because they ride to work in the same lemon. The one with the most screen time is Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), whose mad math skills get a room full of White men to rely on her to check vital calculations. Despite exhaustion, she is receptive to the hints from everyone, including her young daughters, that she should hook up with one Col. Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali). Meanwhile, Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) has been pulling her weight as an unofficial supervisor in the "colored" female mathematician division without the benefits; when NASA finally installs a room-sized computer, she takes the initiative in learning how it works, not just to help NASA but to avoid layoffs. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) doesn't appear to make any great contributions to the space race in the course of the film, but she does pursue an engineering education and career -- in a Virginia that does not respect Brown v. Board of Education.
Specifically, they're three NASA employees in the early '60s, more united than the other Black women in their position if only because they ride to work in the same lemon. The one with the most screen time is Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), whose mad math skills get a room full of White men to rely on her to check vital calculations. Despite exhaustion, she is receptive to the hints from everyone, including her young daughters, that she should hook up with one Col. Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali). Meanwhile, Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) has been pulling her weight as an unofficial supervisor in the "colored" female mathematician division without the benefits; when NASA finally installs a room-sized computer, she takes the initiative in learning how it works, not just to help NASA but to avoid layoffs. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) doesn't appear to make any great contributions to the space race in the course of the film, but she does pursue an engineering education and career -- in a Virginia that does not respect Brown v. Board of Education.
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