James' World 2

Nomadland is a drama written, edited, and directed by Chloé Zhao. The film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book called Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. Nomadland is about a woman who decides to leave home after her long-time job shuts down permanently and travel around the American West in a van.  I felt Nomadland was slow, dry, and depressing, yet managed to stay interesting.  I would guess it probably appealed to nomads at best.

In 2011, Fern (Frances McDormand) loses her job after the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada falls victim to the Great Recession and shuts down. She worked there with her husband for many years until he recently died. Fern decides to sell most of her belongings to purchase a van that she would live in while traveling the country searching for work. In the meanwhile, Fern takes a seasonal job…

Minari is a drama written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung. A semi-autobiographical take on Chung’s upbringing. The plot follows a South Korean immigrant family of four who tries to make it in rural America during the 1980s. In a word; Heartfelt! Minari is definitely worth seeing.

A Korean American family moves from California to their new plot of land in rural Arkansas. Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) hopes to grow Korean produce and sell it to vendors in Dallas. As a father and breadwinner of his family, Jacob is making the biggest decision of his and his family’s life, one that his wife Monica Yi (Han Ye-Ri)does not agree with.  First, he decides to decline the services of a water diviner, to avoid paying for county water, then digs a well in a spot he finds on his own. Next, Jacob enlists the help of  Paul (Will Patton), an eccentric…

“Mank” is a biographical drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and hisdevelopment of the screenplay Citizen Kane (1941). Directed by David Fincher, based on a screenplay by his late father Jack Fincher, the film was produced by Ceán Chaffin, Douglas Urbanski, and Eric Roth. While I view “Mank” as a great production, I don’t think it’s for everyone. The movie is filmed in black and white and draws its breath from an old Hollywood era, soaked in thick industry lingo.

In 1940, RKO provides Orson Welles (Tom Burke) complete creative freedom for his next project. Welles recruits Herman J. Mankiewicz “Mank” (Gary Oldman), who is in Victorville, California recovering from a broken leg he sustained in a car accident. Herman dictates the script to his secretary, Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), who notices similarities between the main character and William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance). Producer John Houseman (Sam Troughton) is concerned about Herman’s…

I’m Your Woman is a neo-noir crime film directed by Julia Hart from a screenplay by Hart and Jordan Horowitz.  I’m your woman focuses on several criminals trying to assist a woman on the run after her husband, who is involved with organized crime, mysteriously goes missing. I actually saw this movie twice — it’s a good one.

In the late 1970s, a housewife named Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is married to Eddie (Bill Heck), a professional thief. Jean’s existence appears to be somewhat mundane, to top it off, she and Eddie are unable to conceive or adopt children. One day, Eddie mysteriously comes home with a baby boy for Jean to raise. She quickly decides to name the baby Harry (Jameson and Justin Charles, Barrett Shaffer). Sometime later, Jean is awakened in the night by one of Eddie’s business partners, Jimmy (Jarrod DiGiorgi), who gives her a…

Red Dot is a Swedish drama as well as a thriller written by Alain Darborg and Per Dickson and directed by Alain Darborg. The film follows a couple who takes a trip to see the Northern lights while trying to rekindle their relationship. In the trailer, the red dots that were pointed on the couple’s chest and the drama surrounding them intrigued me to watch this movie. I never saw what was coming. Well done, although I did not like the way Darborg and Dickson choose to end the film.

Red Dot opens in the university cafeteria just after David’s (Anastasios Soulis) graduation ceremony. He tries to surprise his girlfriend Nadja (Nanna Blondell), by publicly proposing to her, which she happily accepts. A year and a half later, however, they are stressed due to work and school and fight frequently in their Stockholm apartment. The stress is compounded when…

The Queen’s Gambit is a coming-of-age period drama miniseries based on Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel of the same name. The title refers to “Queen’s Gambit”, which is a popular chess opening. It was written and directed by Scott Frank, who created it with Allan Scott. Beginning in the mid-1950s and proceeding into the 1960s, the story follows the life and development of an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drugs and alcohol dependency. I absolutely loved this series.

The Queen’s Gambit begins in Lexington, Kentucky, with nine-year-old Elizabeth Harmon (Isla Johnston) riding in the back seat of her mother Alice Harmon’s (Chloe Pirrie) car.  Alice instructs Beth to “close your eyes” as she collides into an on-coming truck, which left Alice dead and Beth homeless. Beth had no visible signs of injury from the crash and was admitted to Methuen…

Coming 2 America is a comedy that serves as a sequel to the original 1988 film. The movie is directed by Craig Brewer and created from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield. The story, by Blaustein, Sheffield, and Justin Kanew, is based on characters created by Eddie Murphy. It is the second installment in the Coming to America film series. I thought Coming 2 America was going to be funny, I was right, it was hilarious.

On the 30th anniversary of his wedding with Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley), Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of Zamunda is summoned before his dying father, King Jaffe Joffer (James L. Jones). King Jaffe and his shaman Baba (Arsenio Hall) reveal to a dumfounded Akeem that he begot a son during his first visit to Queens, New York after Semmi (Arsenio Hall) had enticed two women into spending the…

American Skin is a drama written and directed by Nate Parker, who also stars in the film. The story tells of a Marine veteran who takes matters into his own hands after his son is killed by a police officer.  This film was released in September of 2019 yet I had not heard of it — talk about existing under the radar! Having said all that, American Skin was referred to me by a family member.  I believe it is the most powerful film with the most powerful message I’ve seen and heard in a decade.

Lincoln Jefferson (Nate Parker), a U.S. Marine veteran who works as a janitor at a prestigious and mostly white junior high school, is in the process of strengthening his relationship with his 14-year-old son Kajani Jefferson (Tony Espinosa) after he and his wife Tayana Jefferson (Milauna Jackson) divorced. One night, after picking his…

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is based on the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari, and is directed by Lee Daniels. The United States vs. Billie Holiday was initially set to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures, but was sold to Hulu in December 2020, and digitally released in the United States on February 26, 2021. I didn’t think this new and very different version of the Billie Holiday story could surpass “Lady Sings the Blues” but it truly and brilliantly held its own. The United States vs. Billie Holiday was very sad but still a pleasure to watch.

During the 1940s, jazz singer, Billie Holiday (Andra Day) was targeted by the US government in an effort to racialize the war on drugs.  Ultimately their aim was to stop Billie from singing her controversial song called “Strange Fruit”…