Movies
A nice step up from Moonlight. I wasn't that impressed with Jenkins' Oscar winner, for all the positivity that surrounded that film it ended up being a pretty basic Oscar winner. With If Beale Street Could Talk Jenkins shows that if he continues to refine his style though, there's definitely potential for a true masterpiece. The film follows Tish and Fonny, two lifetime friends who end up in a loving relationship. Fate hits when Fonny is jailed for raping a woman and Tish turns out to be pregnant. Tish and her family do their best to prove Fonny's innocence, at the same time she has to try and survive as a single mom. Stylistically this was pretty nice, though it stops short of being great. The cinematography looked very polished, the soundtrack was solid but a bit inconspicuous. Performances are solid and the romance felt warm and sweet, sadly Fonny's subplot doesn't add a lot and detracts from the film's strong points. Still, Jenkins is moving in the right direction.Read all
I'm surprised they actually made a second "live action" Lion King film, after the first one received quite some negativity, but I'm assuming the technology was there. This is more of the same, only this time focusing on Mufasa's origin story. As someone not at all in love with the other Lion King films, it did absolutely nothing for me. The technology is nice, but it never translates into a nice or impressive aesthetic. The voice acting is poor, the plot is bland and predictable, and the few songs that are in there are atrocious. Maybe younger generations are happy to see films like this, I prefer something with a bit more soul and originality. But at least it's a decent tech demo.Read all