Just Mercy Is A Courtroom Drama With Plenty of Empathy And Great Performances

Lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) has just graduated from Harvard with a law degree, which means there’s only one clear course of action to take one. That’s right, Stevenson is going to move down to Alabama and create a non-profit law firm that specializes in providing free legal services to death row inmates. It’s a crusade that’s highly unorthodox, to put it gently, especially considering Stevenson is a Black man trying to fight against a justice system that inherently sees people of color as immediately guilt. However, Stevenson wants to use his lawyer's gifts to help the most underserved of American citizens. After all, these are not inhuman monsters, but people who could be anybody. Heck, Stevenson himself observes to his Mother at one point that “It could have been me, Mama”

Creed II is Satisfying But Disappointingly Not Very Surprising

Creed II is not as good as the first movie. That was inevitable because Creed is one of the best movies of the last few years, how could you possibly top it? Trying to follow up that motion picture was gonna be a difficult task for anybody and new director Steve Caple Jr. (taking over for the original Creed's director Ryan Coogler who is now off in Wakanda) does a commendable job expanding on the story of Creed from the first movie. Even without comparing this sequel to its predecessor though, one can't help but feel like some spark of originality is missing from Creed II. This movie knows how to pack a punch but you can always see the punch coming.

The Exciting Potential In A New Interpretation of Fahrenheit 451 Is Never Fully Realized

Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 has received a pop culture resurgence in recent years thanks to its relevance to modern-day political issue, making it an inevitability that someone would try and take another swing at giving the novel a feature film adaptation (Francois Truffaut was the last person to tackle this material in a 1966 motion picture). Taking on this material now is Ramin Bahrani, director of one of 2015's most underappreciated titles 99 Homes, who writes and directs the film which stars Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. Now that's a dynamite assemblage of creative artists! What a shame, then, that this new take on Fahrenheit 451 is more middling than captivating.

The Phenomenal Feature Black Panther Is A One-of-A-Kind Thoughtful Superhero Feature

Back in 2013, I had two separate screenings of then-new theatrical movies that introduced me to talent I'd never seen before. One of these films was 42, the first starring role for Chadwick Boseman, while the other motion picture in question was Fruitvale Station, the feature film directorial debut of Ryan Coogler. Boseman immediately stepped onto my radar with his performance as Jackie Robinson while Coogler showed an adept hand at depicting everyday life brought to a tragically early end in his inaugural directorial effort. Leaving both individual movies, I hoped I would see further work from both Boseman and Coogler in the near future.

My Thoughts On The Black Panther Trailer

We've been waiting for this for so long.

People have been eagerly awaiting a feature film adaptation of Black Panther for so very long, to the point that any reference to the character, no matter how small, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe drew profound excitement (I remember the mere off-hand mention of Wakanda in Avengers: Age of Ultron drew excitement from the packed auditorium full of moviegoers I was seeing the film with). Now, after eons of anticipation, a film based on this legendary superhero will finally arrive in February 2018. Before that though, we do get to see some footage from the feature in the form of a teaser trailer that dropped last night. Check it out below!


I mean....

Really?

What even needs to be said?

This looks outright flat-out incredible, holy goodness. Every frame of this trailer is jaw-dropping and that's really no exaggeration here. The look of Wakanda is obviously fully embracing the art of Afrofutirism to some stunning results, the costumes look bright, colorful and like nothing else we've seen in a blockbuster before, the action looks fantastic and oh boy, so many amazing actor get to grace the screen in this trailer alone! Lupita Nyong'o! Forest Whitaker! Michael B. Jordan! Angela Basset!!! And the shots we see of Black Panther himself in action are so great, the guys got an agility and grace to his hand-to-hand combat skills that are unlike anything else we've seen in an MCU superhero before.

 I'm chomping at the bit to see the full movie Ryan Coogler and co. have created after this phenomenal trailer! Kneel before the king of Wakanda folks because his movie looks quite incredible!

The Matrix Is Getting A Reboot Because Screw Original Filmmaking

Late last night, word broke out that Warner Bros. was looking to put together a room of writers to concoct ideas on how to continue the Matrix franchise with Michael B. Jordan reportedly eyeballed for whatever lead role the project eventually creates. There is no word yet on if The Wachowski Starship will be involved but I doubt it. I wouldn't be shocked if Keanu Reeves or Laurence Fishburne showed up though for the sake of fan-service though. This endeavor is in super early stages but it's basically happening, especially given how franchise-hungry Warner Bros. is right now.

"A Good Actor Is A Terrible Thing To Waste": 6 Perfectly Cast Actors Wasted In Subpar Superhero Movies

Ryan Reynolds may not have been all that memorable in the 2009 movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but this past weekend's box office juggernaut Deadpool proves that was no fault of his. Nope, sometimes really talented actors get stuck in garbage movies, and today, I'll be examining six actors perfectly cast for notable comic book characters in movies that ended up being....well, let's just say less than perfect.

First up, an actor from another failed Ryan Reynolds superhero movie...

Creed Review

Why, of all sports, does boxing seem to pop up so frequently in cinema? Baseball, football and basketball are the far more popular sports in terms of TV viewers and presence in schools across America, yet, on silver screens everywhere, the primal sight of grown-ups in stripped down attire fighting each other has a far larger presence than any other sport. I have a hunch this is due to the simpler structure of boxing; it's not a team sport, so you only have to concentrate on one individual for an entire story, and the price they pay for participating in the sport of boxing are far more visually overt than the bruises one gets from, say, bowling.