James' World 2

Queen & Slim is a romantic drama directed by Melina Matsoukas (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Lena Waithe, from a story by James Frey and Waithe. The plot follows two African-Americans who must go on the run after killing a police officer in self-defense during a traffic stop gone wrong. Queen & Slim is an interesting story that I wish I could say is fiction but sadly, the story reflects the turn life has taken for people of color!

A criminal defense attorney, Angela “Queen” Johnson (Jodie Turner-Smith), has dinner with her date, Ernest “Slim” Hines (Daniel Kaluuya), in an Ohio diner. On his way to dropping Queen off at home, his presumably erratic driving attracts the attention of police officer Reed (Sturgill Simpson). He pulls the two over and orders Slim to step out of the car. The officer obviously agitated, drew his…

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Knives Out is a murder mystery written, produced, and directed by Rian Johnson. Described as a modern take on the whodunit, the film follows a family gathering gone awry, after the family patriarch’s death leads a master detective to investigate. I looked forward to seeing this film and it did not disappoint.

Wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) invites his family to a party at his mansion to celebrate his 85th birthday. The next morning, Harlan’s housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) finds him dead, apparently having slit his own throat. An anonymous figure hires private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate. Blanc is accompanied by Detective Lieutenant Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield) throughout the investigation.  Blanc learns that Harlan had alienated many of the family: he had threatened to expose his son-in-law Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson) for having an affair; cut off his daughter-in-law Joni’s (Toni Collette) allowance for stealing…

21 Bridges is an action thriller directed by Brian Kirk. Brothers Joe and Anthony Russo act as producers.  21 Bridges is an exciting film that has quite a few surprises.  I don’t think it received all the publicity it should have, I was told about it by a relative.  Initially, I didn’t really know what 21 Bridges was about however, I’m glad I went to see it.

**** SPOILERS ****

21 Bridges opens with a young Andre Davis (Christian Isaiah) attending his father’s funeral after he was murdered on the job. Many years later, Andre (Chadwick Boseman) becomes a successful law enforcer, working for the NYPD and has taken down more than 8 criminals during his time as a police officer. One night, two small-time criminals and former war veterans Michael Trujillo (Stephan James) and Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch) took on a job to ransack a winery and steal several…

The Good Liar is a crime thriller directed and produced by Bill Condon and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. A career con artist meets a wealthy widow online and discovers that his plan to steal her fortune has unexpected complications. The trailers made me think that someone was going to be taken advantage of in a big way. While The Good Liar was a tad bit predictable it was a good movie with a good twist.

Using a dating service, Betty Mcleish (Helen Mirren) meets Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen), a long-time con artist who, along with his business partner Vincent (Jim Carter), manipulates people into giving him access to their finances through a string of deceptions and false identities. Ignorant of Roy’s agenda, the two hit it off right away and started dating frequently. Betty has a grandson,

Charlie’s Angels is an action-comedy written and directed by Elizabeth Banks from a story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn. It is the third installment in the Charlie’s Angels film series and serves as a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and the two previous theatrical films, Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). I absolutely didn’t want to see Charlie’s Angels because it sort of symbolizes flesh peddling.  This version had more substance and less sex but was still based on sexy women luring men by showing excessive skin. I’m just saying!

A team of ladies, employed by the Townsend Agency and known as Charlie’s Angels, are led by senior operative John Bosley (Patrick Stewart). Their mission is to capture international embezzler Jonny Smith (Chris Pang) in Rio de Janeiro and…

Last Christmas is a romantic comedy directed by Paul Feig and written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the story with her husband, Greg Wise. Based on the song of the same name.  Because Last Christmas had so much hype as a must-see movie, one felt if they didn’t go to see it, they’d be missing a potential future classic. Not having any idea what to expect, I went to see Last Christmas and found the movie to be fun, romantic and a little sad.

During the Christmas season, a young lady who lives in London named Katarina “Kate” (Emilia Clarke), has been given a second chance at life, but abuses everyone she used to cherish. With the help of Tom Webster (Henry Golding), a mysterious gentleman who rides a bicycle and volunteers at a homeless shelter, she begins to slowly improve her attitude and heal…

Terminator: Dark Fate is a science fiction action film directed by Tim Miller. The screenplay is by David Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray from a story by James Cameron, Charles H. Eglee, Josh Friedman, Goyer and Rhodes. Cameron also produced the film, alongside David Ellison. It is the sixth installment in the Terminator franchise, and acts as a direct sequel to The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), while retconning other related works such as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015), and the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009) from the franchise’s canon following the return of creative control to Cameron. It’s sad when we go to a movie starring old stars to see how well they perform and what they look like now.  Terminator is such a movie but I must say, Arnold and Linda were great.

Harriet is a biographical film about slave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, who wrote the screenplay with Gregory Allen Howard. Harriet was released in the US on November 1, 2019 by Focus Features, which is owned by Comcast. Harriet turned out to be better than I expected.  While Harriet isn’t 100% accurate, it’s close enough.  Everyone should learn about Harriet Tubman.

Harriet opens on the Brodess plantation in Maryland with Araminta “Minty Ross /  Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo) laid out near a tree.  She appears to be asleep but her husband John Tubman (Zackary Momoh) and her father Ben Ross (Clarke Peters) are standing by as she recovers from what they call “a spell”. In fact, her spells are visions of the future along with her conversations with GOD.  As Minty awakens, her husband cuddles her showing much love.  Minty is excited about a letter they received quoting freedom for her…

The Current War is a historical drama inspired by the 19th-century competition between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over which electric power delivery system would be used in the United States (often referred to as the “war of the currents”). Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Michael Mitnick. Martin Scorsese and Steven Zaillian also serve as executive producers. Not a lot of action but very informative and very interesting.

“The Current War” opens in the year 1880, with Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), revealing his electric lightbulb. He has decided on Direct Current (DC), which is cheaper, cleaner and safer than gaslight but it is limited in range and very expensive. George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), a successful businessman and inventor himself would like to learn more, so he invites Edison to dinner. Edison snubs Westinghouse who then sets out to prove Alternating Current (AC) is the better technology as it…

Black and Blue is an action thriller directed by Deon Taylor from a screenplay by Peter A. Dowling.  Unsure if I wanted to see this movie, I decided to go after a few family members told me they enjoyed it.  The film follows a rookie police officer who goes on the run after she witnesses two corrupt police officers murder an informant/drug dealer. Usually not my cup of tea, but it was well done.

Black and Blue opens in the year 2019 when a U.S. Army veteran Alicia West (Naomie Harris) returns to her hometown in New Orleans.  Now back, she is recruited into the city’s police department. Alicia is reminded by her new partner Officer Kevin Jennings (Reid Scott) about the differences of residing in the community where she grew up and being a police officer servicing that same neighborhood.  The two officers seemed to have a relatively…