Movie Review Driveaway Dolls

Driveaway Dolls (2024)

Directed by Ethan Coen

Written by Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke 

Starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Colman Domingo, Matt Damon, Bill Camp, Pedro Pascal

Release Date February 23rd, 2024 

Published February 23rd, 2024 

Driveaway Dolls is one of the most sex-positive, pro-LGBTQ movies I have ever seen and I love it. Driveaway Dolls is a refreshingly frank and very funny movie that recalls last years Bottoms with a hint of Raising Arizona for good measure. That last part, obviously, comes from the fact that Driveaway Dolls is a rare solo directorial effort from one of the Coen Brothers. Working with screenwriter Tricia Cooke, the comic sensibilities of a classic Coen Brothers take on a modern, LGBTQ friendly sensibility that makes the whole film feel fresh, even as the movie is set in 1999. 

Driveaway Dolls stars Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian and Margaret Qualley as Marian's best friend, Jamie. The two could not be more different. Jamie is uptight and sexually repressed, while Jamie seeks sex as if it were her profession. As we join the story, Jamie is in the midst of cheating on her girlfriend, Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) and thus, getting kicked out of her apartment. As for Marian, she's grown weary of life in New York and plans to escape to Tallahasse and the loving arms of her aunt. 

With nowhere to live and nothing better to do, Jamie decides that she's going to Tallahassee with Marian, despite not being invited. Jamie however, has a way to get them there cheap. The two go to Clancy's Driveaways, owned by the gruff but lovable, Clancy (Bill Camp). Just as the girls are arriving, Clancy has finished a phone call. He is to give two people a specific car to take to Tallahassee and since Marian and Jamie happen to be going to Tallahassee, Clancy assumes they are the ones taking the car. 

Find my full length review at Pride.Media 

Movie Review The Color Purple

The Color Purple (2023) 

Directed by Blitz Bazawule 

Written by Marcus Gardley 

Starring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Danielle Brooks 

Release Date December 25th, 2023

Published December 20th, 2023 

The Good Lord Works in Mysterious Ways. That's what the opening song in the new musical adaptation of The Color Purple tells us. Oftentimes, people use this phrase to excuse or explain the seeming whims of the almighty God. When something unpredictable happens, god works in mysterious ways. The opening of the movie is setting us up for the notion of the unpredictable nature of fate. The fate that separates two loving sisters. And, perhaps, the same fate that will eventually reunite them. God works in mysterious ways and we can't no until we reach a conclusion, what God's intent was, what lesson God was imparting, and how the journey through God's various mysterious ways will help us learn, grow, change or merely adapt. 

Oh I know, she be mine is the next song. After having given birth, featuring a distracting cameo by Whoopi Goldberg, star of the Spielberg adaptation of The Color Purple, Celie sees a baby in her father's store. The baby has the same name as one of the babies that her father has forced her to immediately give up after their birth. This leads Celie to visualize a sequence in which she walks through a series of convicts breaking rocks before she walks into a gorgeous scene set in a small creek bed, clear, clean water, a small shimmering waterfall, and a series of women who are cleaning clothes in washtubs. 

The sequence is gorgeous, especially the dance sequence in front of the waterfall, spectacular visuals that are beautifully captured. Young Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, playing the young Celie that will eventually give way to Fantasia Barrino's take on the adult Celie, sings beautifully. Her voice is superb. It's a standout sequence, a lovely fantasy and a moment of joyous escape for a character who will spend so many of the next years of her life imprisoned, first by her abusive father and then by the husband she never asked for or wanted. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Rustin

Rustin (2023) 

Directed by George C. Wolfe 

Written by Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black

Starring Colman Domingo, Aml Ameen, Glynn Turman, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright 

Release November 3rd, 2023

Published November 2nd, 2023 

I must be honest, I am not sure I can review the movie Rustin objectively. The film stars Colman Domingo, an actor whom I have interviewed on three occasions and who I have found thoroughly charming. Despite being an actor on a media tour on which he spoke to numerous journalists and was undoubtedly as the same questions again and again, Domingo is one of the most dynamic and kind interview subjects I've had the pleasure of talking to. And, on top of that, after my first interview with him, he remembered my name the next two tours I was on with him and recalled details from the prior interviews. The man is a wonder. 

With that out of the way, Colman Domingo is exceptional in Rustin. Based on the true story of the 1963 Civil Rights march on Washington D.C, Domingo plays the driving force behind the March, Bayard Rustin, a controversial figure in the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s. Rustin was at the right hand of Martin Luther King (Aml Ameen) until Bayard over played his hand politically and King was forced to side against him, causing Bayard to resign and leave the Civil Rights movement all together for several years. 

Rustin was drawn back into the Civil Rights struggle after seeing the horrors being committed by authorities in Alabama. Reverting to his roots as a planner and organizer, Rustin gathers together a disparate group of young radicals in California and starts planning for a two day march on Washington D.C intended to put pressure on Congress to pass President Kennedy's Civil Rights bill. The plan is for more than 100,000 black people to gather on the National Mall where people like Dr. Martin Luther King and prominent black leaders from around the country will address the crowd. 

8 weeks is the time frame when Bayard pitches the idea to Union Leader and Civil Rights legend, A. Phillip Randolph (Glynn Turman). The idea would be absurd if it weren't for Bayard Rustin whose talent for organizing is seemingly unmatched at the time. Randolph is on board but it will take a lot more convincing to get black leaders involved. Specifically, Roy Wilkins, the head of the NAACP is no friend or fan of Rustin. It was Wilkins who appeared to orchestrate Rustin's ouster from leadership among Civil Rights leaders, and help divide Rustin from his friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Click here for my full length review 

Movie Review: Zola

Zola (2021) 

Directed by Janicza Bravo 

Written by Janicza Bravo, Jeremy Harris

Starring Taylour Paige, Colman Domingo, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun

Release Date June 30th, 2021 

Published August 21st, 2022 

Zola is a breath of fresh air in modern cinema. Based on a larger than life story from a Twitter thread, of all places, Zola tells a story of modern sexuality, female friendship, empowerment, and the American sexual marketplace in a suitably surreal fashion. The film was adapted and directed by Janicza Bravo, an exciting new filmmaker whose candy colored visuals are a lovely comment on the dark, almost neo-noir story she’s telling. 

Zola stars newcomer Taylour Paige as Zola, a waitress and part time exotic dancer, who meets and falls in lust with Stefani (Riley Keough), a customer at the Hooters style restaurant where Zola works. Whether or not the attraction between Zola and Stefani is sexual in nature is up to your imagination, however the film keeps the nature of that fluid in a manner that recognizes how so much of millennial culture is based on sexual fluidity. 

The surreally captured scene of Zola and Stefani vibing with each other crackles with tension and excitement and is a terrific set up for the story about to be told. Zola and Stefani exchange phone numbers and text messages and soon enough, Stefani invites Zola for a weekend of getting paid easy money, touring strip clubs in Florida. Stefani claims that she has a hook up who can get them stage time at a series of popular clubs for good money and Zola is eager for the money. 

Things, naturally, take a turn once the trip actually begins. Stefani has invited her boyfriend, a dupe named Derrek (Nicholas Braun), who is certainty in love with Stefani and blind to how Stefani truly feels about him. Also joining in on this journey is a man Stefani calls her ‘roommate,’ Zola has no idea what his name is. The roommate is played by Colman Domingo and he immediately gives off the impression that he is a bad dude. 

Zola is right to be suspicious as soon after they arrive at their cockroach infested Florida motel, the Roommate takes them to the club and leaves poor Derrek behind. He then books a separate room at a much nicer hotel and when the girls are done stripping, they are shown to this room where the real purpose of this so-called ‘ho trip’ is revealed. Zola must find a way to fend for herself while also looking out for Stefani, even if it is all Stefani’s fault that Zola is in this mess. 

The real A’ziah ‘Zola’ King was made to be a social media star. With her natural wit and charisma, it’s no surprise that her 2015 Twitter thread about this ‘ho trip’ to Florida became an immediate sensation. King captures the way young people talk in frank and uncompromising terms. She’s fully self-possessed and brilliantly detailed in her storytelling and that Janicza Bravo captures that unique, brash, and fresh voice so perfectly is what makes Zola the movie so remarkable. 

The movie makes sex work look borderline mundane and yet dangerous all at once. As Zola navigates this bizarre trip, taking mental Twitter notes the whole way, she is both a figure of motherly concern for Stefani and a very pissed off co-worker. Taylour Paige embodies the bizarre dynamic of Zola beautifully as her attitude tells us more than any dialogue ever could. Her suspicion of Stefani and her ‘roommate,’ her being completely over the whole sex work dynamic that Stefani has brought upon the trip, and her strong sense of self-protection and wit, are a refreshing way to experience a character. 

You might suspect a movie based on a Twitter feed would be thin and not particularly artful but you would be assuming wrong about Zola. Zola is brimming with wit and invention. It’s a frank and bitter dark comedy and simply a well told story from beginning to end. The characters are fascinating and the performances are uniformly brilliant, each bringing a different and electric energy to the movie. Taylour Paige is a revelation as Zola, a rare fully formed female character on the big screen. For such a young actress to be this assured and charismatic is a true wonder to watch. 

Then there is director Janicza Bravo whose work is the equal of her young star. Bravo has complete mastery of her aesthetic and a remarkably well placed confidence in her actors. Zola is an exceptional announcement of a new directorial talent. Based on this confident, smart, exciting movie you can't help but be excited about what Janicza Bravo will do next. 

Movie Review If Beale Street Could Talk

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) 

Directed by Barry Jenkins 

Written by Barry Jenkins 

Starring Stephen James, Kiki Layne, Regina Hall, Colman Domingo 

Release Date December 14th, 2018 

Published December 10th, 2018

If Beale Street Could Talk is one of the best movies of 2018. This deeply affecting drama from the director of the Academy Award winning Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, is one of the most human and thoughtful films about life, love, and race we’ve seen in some time. Jenkins, adapting the work of the late, brilliant author James Baldwin, having cultural renaissance with this movie and last year’s documentary on his life, I Am Not Your Negro, gets to the heart of the cultural experience of racism like few films ever have. 

If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of a young couple in love, Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephen James). Tish and Fonny have known each other since before they could remember. Their earliest memories are of baths together at an age when sex was merely a gender. They’ve spent their entire lives falling in love until finally they are old enough to understand it. Unfortunately, for their love story, they are torn apart by hatred. 

We meet Fonny when he is behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. We will come to know what happened but for the earliest part of the film we must trust that Trish’s entreaties about how she is working to get him out of jail center on his innocence. Just as important however, as Fonny’s incarceration is the news that Tish is pregnant. At just 19 years old and with Fonny behind bars, they are going to be parents. 

Given the circumstances, it falls to Tish to inform their families of their situation. Tish’s mother Sharon (Regina Hall) is practical but also loving and deeply compassionate. Her father, Joseph (Colman Domingo) is unpredictable but deeply loyal. The trouble comes from Fonny’s divorced parents, the deeply devout Mrs Hunt (Aunjanue Ellis) and her hustler ex-husband Frank (Michael Beach) who is prepared to do anything for his son, if only to make up for having been an absent father. 

That’s the set up of sorts but the heart of If Beale Street Could Talk is not in a linear narrative but in the flashback structure that builds brilliantly toward the reveal of how Fonny ended up in jail and how that reflects the moment in which the film is set, the early 1970’s in Harlem and how that reflects on America in 2018. At that time, it was as if all young black men in Harlem had to spend time in jail by some predetermination of racist police activity. It’s as if it was merely Fonny’s turn and that seeming inevitability is devastating.

The incredible Bryan Tyree Henry plays a supporting role in If Beale Street Could Talk as Daniel, an old friend of Fonny’s. We come to know Daniel’s story of having similarly been recently in jail and his story provides a gut-wrenching prologue to what is lurking in Fonny’s near future. Daniel could provide an alibi for Fonny in the crime he is accused of but his recent stint in jail is seen as disqualifying of his credibility and an awful cycle of such things emerges to deepen the tragedy. 

I’m painting a bleak picture of If Beale Street Could Talk but the film is not entirely what I have described. Much of what I mentioned here is subtext, the front of the story, the bulk of the narrative and the beauty of If Beale Street Could Talk is the remarkably poetic and thrilling love story between Fonny and Tish. Much like the story of how Fonny ends up in jail, director Barry Jenkins layers in the love story of Fonny and Tish using flashbacks to the beauty, innocence and romance of their burgeoning love story. 

If Beale Street Could Talk contains one of the best, if not the absolute BEST scene in any movie in 2018. Having just looked at an apartment together and Fonny having charmed Tish into taking a risk with him on a place that isn’t quite finished being built, the two walk down the street holding hands and basking in the moment. It’s an almost wordless scene, gracefully filmed and knowing that this is the scene that immediately precedes how Fonny ended up in jail only serves to underline the beauty of the moment. It’s a perfect scene, gorgeously cinematic, heart fluttering romantic and haunting. 

The score also underlines the perfection of this moment. Composer Nicholas Britell’s gorgeous string symphony is at its most moving and evocative in this moment. It’s one of the finest moments of score and image that I have seen in any movie in a long while and it was this moment that made me completely fall in love with If Beale Street Could Talk, a film that combines image, story and sound in breathtaking fashion. 

If Beale Street Could Talk is a masterpiece, a lyrical, lovely, exceptionally acted masterpiece. Stephen James, Kiki Layne, Regina Hall and Colman Domingo deliver perfect performances and director Barry Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton capture the performances in immaculate fashion. Few films in 2018, and indeed, the last decade or so, have moved me as deeply as If Beale Street Could Talk.