‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Sinners
from the series Movie Corner... 5/5 Stars Comedy/Dark Comedy By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II All throughout, a profound maestro of blues with a quick glimpse of future Black music, rings strong from beginning to end. At the opening scene of director Ryan Coogler’s brilliant film (if not an outright masterwork) a young man, Sammie, drives up to a plain looking church, gets out and enters the place where the pastor, his father), is giving a Sunday sermon. When he approaches the pulpit where his father greets him, the camera zeros in on a snapped-off guitar neck in his right hand. Sammie’s face is bloodied and slashed as if he’s been in a brawl. That scene alone embodies a series of metaphors and allegories that will stare audiences in the face. His father requests Sammie to drop the guitar because “If you keep dancing with the Devil, one day he will follow you home.” Warner Bros. Pictures In a small town near Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932, at [...]
The Trouble with Jessica
from the series Movie Corner... By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II If you suffer from any claustrophobic issues, this dark comedy may just not be the movie for you. It all centers in an elaborate home when Beth, her husband Richard, and Jessica visit Tom and his wife Sarah. Jessica is the uninvited guest coming to their dinner. Tom and Sarah have deep problems of their own, mainly financial troubles. One problem is that Tom and Sarah are having to deal with an enfant terrible like Jessica. Once everybody sits down to eat, some unlikely and disturbing topics are talked about. A moral dilemma arises for Tom, Sarah, Richard and Beth. What do they do? Their situation doesn’t get any easier. Will they be discovered or not? Generally this is a relatively funny dark comedy, although the profanity is unfortunately heavy and profuse. The film is from The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival 44 and was screened at The Main Cinema (formerly known as St. [...]
Anora Wins Five Oscars: Thumbs Down On Three
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II The 97th Oscars is --uh-- some met my expectations by winning the golden statues. I vote every year. I went 15 right, 7 wrong, not my best year, but not bad when I had to guess on categories such as best Live Action Shorts, Best Cinematography, and Best Song Score. When I vote for the winner of each category, I vote who will win. It’s not uncommon for me to sweat on getting the right answers often up to the day of the Oscars. Sometimes when I get the right answers I jump for joy. The movie Anora won Best Picture. Best Actress went to Anora’s Mikey Madison. Best Director went to Sean Baker for Anora. I didn’t get to see Anora until two days after the Oscars. After viewing Anora, I said to myself… “Anora the best picture and Mikey Madison the best actress for the 97th Oscars? Nah.” What a slap in the face to Demi Moore for The Substance or Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here who were both much more deserving for Best [...]
