‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Movie Corner: Last Night in Soho
Universal (2021) ★★★★★ By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Last Night in Soho to its credit is quite spellbinding, thanks in large part to cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung (who also is the cinematographer with director Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz . What director Edgar Wright does convincingly well is how he segues genres, drama, horror and mystery. Adding to this fascinating film is a tribute to many 1960s rock/R&B songs. (The title for Last Night in Soho is a reference to a 1960s rock band, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.) The story begins with a young woman, Eloise (Thomasin McKenkie from JoJo Rabbit), with big aspirations to go London to be a fashion designer but not without a warning about moving to the big city from Peggy (Rita Tushingham). Eloise loves 60s music and styles. Her first nights are in the dorm with some other students who love to party and go to bars. She feels out of place [...]
Movie Corner: Melvin Van Peebles
He's the ManMelvin Van Peebles (1932-2021) Melvin Van Peebles. Photo by John Matthew Smith By HOWARD McQUITTER II The African American filmmaker-actor Melvin Van Peebles, a fiercely independent filmmaker, could make memorable and remarkable films on a shoestring budget such as the 1971 bombshell film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song about a Black pimp who kills two policemen for beating up a Black militant and how he eludes law enforcement. (His son Mario, is also an actor/director.) And with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, in particular, but in conjunction with his body of work (his directorial debut is Watermelon Man in Hollywood), the man is often known as the "Godfather of Black cinema". (The late Black director Gordon Parks is also a modern pioneer of Black cinema.) Mr. Melvin Van Peebles graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B. A. in 1953. He decided to travel heavily in Europe, Mexico and the United States taking on jobs such as postal worker, painter, [...]
Movie Corner: Coda
Vendome Pictures (2021) By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Official film poster, Apple TV+ What can I say about this motion picture that is "art- house", perhaps, yet rings to me to be one of the best films since the 2021 Oscars? CODA (the 2021 story) is the precise literary work by both the director and screenwriter: Sian Heder. She tells a story of one family of deaf members except for the daughter, Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones), in a small fishing town (set in Massachusetts) where the family makes their living by catching and selling fish from a boat. A superb performance by Emilia Jones and fine performances by the supporting cast: Marlee Matlin (won best actress for Children of a Lesser God , a theme centering on deaf people) as Ruby's mother; Troy Kotsur (Frank Rossi) as Ruby's father; and Daniel Durant (Leo Rossi) as her brother. Although Ruby is the only non- deaf person, she is [...]
