The titular Possum Trot is, of course, the setting of this based-on-a-true-story tale, a majority-Black small town in East Texas fueled by its vibrant Baptist church, led by charismatic reverend W.C. Martin (Demetrius Grosse). His “First Lady,” Donna (Nika King), struggles to keep her head above water with two children and piling bills. And yet,

A side note, but not really: In 1990, thanks to the release of Philip Kaufman’s Henry Miller-Anias Nin biopic “Henry and June,” another MPAA rating was added, the NC-17. This meant no children under 17 were admitted at all unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. This was mainly about sex, although violence was also taken into

The opening story is about a young boy, an Israeli Jew, who goes to work in a factory, where he participates in the construction and cleaning of an oven for cremation. Eichmann is the one who’ll be put in it. The cremation of Eichmann is a topic of heated debate within the film. There are lines that

The man in question is—well, brace yourself for the amusing mouthful—Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d’Urfé (an endearingly gentlemanly Kacey Mottet Klein), an emissary to the King whose traveling coterie has been robbed and murdered, perhaps by Turks, or some other tribe. Eventually, an isolated manor in the countryside shows mercy and takes him in. Except,

Set in a semi futuristic Japan, “Sunny” follows Suzie Sakamoto (Rashida Jones), whose life is upended when her husband Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and their son seemingly perish in a mysterious plane crash. While speaking to authorities, the other victims of the plane crash are asked to call their loved ones’ phones to listen to their

In a 2009 news article, “Race Becomes More Central to TV Advertising,” Shreffler comments, “Advertising is aspirational. It’s who we want to be, a lifestyle we want — not always who we are.” It is one thing to be aspirational but another thing to distort reality and not having Black executives at the advertising decision

Young Québecois-based vampire Sasha (Lilas-Rose Cantin) never had any urge to suck human flesh, unlike her bloodthirsty family. One specific incident on her birthday involving a clown family buffet she was too startled to participate in leaves her with profound PTSD that neurologically affects her. Now, the desire she would’ve had for blood has been

A slide in the film’s introduction dictates that if women contributed to the international economy to the same degree as men, they would have an equal global impact as the economies of the United States and China. The film takes this opening statement and pursues a path to prove it, spotlighting each of the women

With these films and stars, it was as if major Hollywood studios and smaller independent studios were trying to recreate the template that proved so financially advantageous during the heyday of Blaxploitation. Blaxploitation was an ethnic sub-genre of the action film that was wildly popular in the early-to-mid-1970s, following on the heels of the success

It’s been five years since director Boots Riley’s riot of a debut, “Sorry to Bother You,” dominated conversations. With a deft hand that crafted comedy with punchy social critique, “Sorry to Bother You” put Riley’s creativity and contributions to Afro-Surrealism on the map. The style he implemented in that film proves to be not a one-and-done,