Movie Review: A Soldier's Story, a movie adaptation of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize Winning Play

 

                                                    Movie poster courtesy of Wikipedia

My dear mother passed away in July 2023, after living with cancer for over twenty years. I miss her dearly. Sometimes, rewatching movies we both enjoyed is my way of remembering good times. Recently, I thought about A Soldier's Story (1984 film). We watched the movie over and over again and quoted lines to each other.  A few months before she died, I invited her to see the live play at a local theater. She was not feeling well, so she suggested I take my brother instead.  Like Sinners (2025), A Soldier's Story is set during the era of Jim Crow, segregation of Black people in the United States. Both prominent characters in the films were from Mississippi. However, the villain in A Soldier's Story was not an Irish vampire promising 'Fellowship and Love." Let's discuss.....

Sinners (2025 film) by Ryan Coogler: An Outside Look on the Inside of Ourselves

 

Sinners film (2025) Rated-R, Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan.(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

On the way home from watching Sinners (2025), written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B Jordan, I felt a flood of conflicting emotions.  I was shaking as I cried, laughed and pondered the layered story. I saw it at a full house movie theater of people who were invested in watching the story unfold because the only sounds I heard were screams, laughter and applause.  As of this writing, I have seen the movie ten times in the theater. This is what movies are supposed to be about - a community experience. I will not expose the plot of this film because it is best to see it for yourself. If you like good movies, then you will probably like this good movie. But, Sinners is not just a movie experience to only entertain because there is an underlining theme which will mean different things to different people. The story is multi-layered which is unfortunately rare in movies now days.  I left the movie thinking about how I can enjoy every moment of my life and that I should be careful who I invite inside my life because some people are human vampires. Let's discuss....

Entertaining Movies to Stream on Netflix - December 2024

 

                                                              Courtesy of Netflix

There are several immensely entertaining movies streaming right now on Netflix as of December 2024. I have lost count of how many times I have watched these movies, but I notice something new each time I watch them. With each repeat viewing, I see nuances that spark new observations. Let's discuss....

See Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at The Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia

 

Courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta, Georgia

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorite movies. As a child, I enjoyed the story for its entertainment value; As an adult, I appreciate its wisdom.  As a hero's journey, Rudolph is ridiculed for being unique due to his red nose. The story also explores what it means to be a misfit. The wisdom of the story is universal-appreciate your unique qualities. I saw the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer show at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was a delightful experience.  I highly recommend you see the show.  Let's discuss....

Hope Can Set You Free: A Look at The Shawshank Redemption

 

The Shawshank Redemption movie poster, courtesy of Wikipedia

Warning: this article contains spoilers from the film The Shawshank Redemption. 

Hope is defined as "a feeling of expectation and desire for certain things to happen."  In the film, The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne maintained hope for a better life even though he was convicted of a crime he did not commit and forced to endure 19 years of confinement in a dangerous prison. The film is also a story about hope versus despair, which utilizes inspiration from the Hero's Journey and the Bible.  It is celebrated as one of the best movies ever made even though it was not a box office hit.  A popular line from the movie, "Get busy living, or get busy dying" is about the options we have in life. It is possible to be alive, but not live.  The choice is up to you. Andy's character encourages you to have hope and pursue the life you believe you deserve. Let's discuss...

Choices and Consequences - Red Pill vs Blue Pill - Choose Wisely

 

The Matrix poster - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Recently, I attended an exciting football game. One team had a choice to either kick a field goal for three points or run the football through the end zone for two points. Usually, a team with similar options would go for the field goal. So, it was shocking to me, and others, when the team went for the run. The team didn't score and eventually lost the game.  This event inspired me to think about our life choices and consequences. With every choice we make, there is a corresponding consequence.  Like Neo in The Matrix, every day we make life altering choices, so choose wisely.  Let's discuss...

A Presidential Candidate for the People: Netflix's Biographical Drama Shirley Wins!

 

Netflix's Shirley Movie Poster courtesy of Wikipedia

The Honorable U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's 1972 historical run for the presidency of the United States is the basis for Netflix's Shirley.  Let's discuss... 

Origin (Film): A Beautiful Biographical Film With Emotion, Suspense and Heart

                                        Origin movie poster courtesy of Wikipedia

Origin is a 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay, which is based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson as she writes her non-fiction book Caste: Origins of Our Discontents. Ms. Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, was asked by a publisher to write an article about the death of Trayvon Martin which would explore how racism played a major role in the incident. However, Ms. Wilkerson believed racism could not be the only reason. Why would a man of color, a Latino, pursue a black youth in an effort to protect a white neighborhood?  Could there be other reasons beyond race? Wilkerson's quest to unearth answers to these questions took her on an adventure to locations in the United States, Germany and India. Her purpose was to find reasons for racial disharmony that goes beyond the simple answer of racism. Ms. Wilkerson's conclusion is that racism in the United States is a type of caste system.  Let's discuss...

American Fiction (Film) Review - Get Ready to Laugh, Cry and Think

 

                                           American Fiction movie poster courtesy of Wikipedia

American Fiction is a movie directed by Cord Jefferson, who also wrote the screenplay, which is based on the book Erasure by Percival Everett. 

 Per the MGM website, 

        "AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain."

Let's discuss....

The Hero's Journey of the Meek Female Archetype: The Color Purple Film (1985)

                                       The Color Purple Poster released by John Alvin courtesy of Wikipedia

                                                                                 

(Warning-this blog includes movie spoilers.)

Happy New Year 2024!

The Color Purple by Alice Walker was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983. The book is very popular, as well as controversial, and is the foundation for a dramatic film and musicals.  I saw the 1985 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes, as a teenager. Recently, I saw the new 2023 musical film starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino. After watching the new film, I was inspired to take another look at the 1985 film, which is now a classic.  Paraphrasing philosopher Heraclitus, No man, or woman, ever steps in the same river twice, for its not the same river and he, or she, is not the same person. As an adult, I have a different take of the story. I understand the critics who feel that the film has a negative portrayal of an African-American man, which is true. On the contrary, advocates believe that the film is not a reflection of all African-American men and is mainly a film about redemption and reconciliation, which is also true. Just like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, the meaning of a story is in the eyes of the viewer. The themes of The Color Purple (1985) include the consequences of economic deprivation on society and illustrates the hero's journey of the meek female archetype. Let's discuss....

A Must See Film: Two Distant Strangers by Travon Free

 

Two Distant Strangers is a 2020 Academy Award winning short film written by Travon Free.  As of June 2023, the film is streaming on Netflix.  Even though the running time is only 32 minutes long, the short film tells a fully developed story and leaves a lasting impact for days after viewing. Two Distant Strangers explores relatable themes about power, free will, control, déjà vu, police brutality and racism. Why are these types of stories important and need to be seen?  In his article, How Stories Change the Brain, Paul Zak states “…stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual community to the next.”  Let’s discuss….

The Lion King and Mindfulness

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

I enjoyed Disney’s The Lion King (2019). Even though major aspects of the movie stayed true to the 1994 original, the movie felt fresh because I noticed new motifs. Specifically, the importance of mindfulness is illustrated in Simba’s journey. How? Let’s talk about it….