This film, which many may assume is a historical punk documentary, actually is an honest and needed treatment of race and identity. Punk and Hardcore music is simply the microcosm in which it is told. First time Director, James Spooner, in telling this story, has opened new dialogues on these crucial subject both intra and interracially. Many times funny, sometimes sobering, a wake up call to America. An examination of the duality of racial identity that DuBois called "double consciousness." What could have been "The Bad Brains Story" is a story about kids, alienated by two cultures and two communities. Many of these punk and hardcore kids have never questioned their role in the punk scene or the black community until their interviews, and it's obvious as they struggle on camera to reconcile a fragmented self.
Honey Don't! is a chaotic queer noir that's part detective story, part midnight movie madness. Margaret Qualley is fantastic as the wise-cracking private eye Honey, with Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans adding their own dry humor to the mix. The mystery itself is pretty loose, but the film makes up for it with crackling sexual tension, weird side characters, and razor-sharp dialogue. It's messy and uneven, but in the best possible way.
Netflix’s Shadow and Bone has a complicated relationship with race. It has a diverse cast, but not without its problems. Based on Leigh Bardugo’s two book series, the show features characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which is very straight and white, and the Six of Crows duology, which is much more diverse. When bringing together a cast and writing about these characters, the team behind the show expanded upon some of the representation missing from the first trilogy, then seemed to take away representation from the duology. Shadow and Bone seems to play a bit of a push and pull game when it comes to portraying diversity onscreen.
Ralph and Vanellope unpack lots of surprises for those who love going on the Internet.
‘Sexy Beasts’ promotes itself as different from other dating shows as being not appearance-based. This is true to some extent thanks to the special effects makeup. However, looks do still play a role despite the masks.
'Brother' is a gripping family drama with dazzling performances all around.
White audiences saw Peola’s mixed-race passing as a Black woman’s struggle to be white. Black audiences saw it as the rebellion of a Black woman trying to gain privileges only given to white people.
