‘Midnight at the Paradise’ is a Love Letter to Film, Music, and the City of Toronto
'Midnight at the Paradise' premieres tomorrow at Toronto's Paradise Theatre! I had the pleasure to sit down with Vanessa Matsui to discuss the making of this film.

In modern day New York City a ninety eight year old women lies helpless on her death bed. As her granddaughter begins to take on the chores of cleaning the apartment, she comes upon a story that her grandmother had been writing. It is the story of Blooming Flowers. The account is from her younger days as a journalist of her 1935 trip to a remote village hidden along the border of China and Cambodia.
'Midnight at the Paradise' premieres tomorrow at Toronto's Paradise Theatre! I had the pleasure to sit down with Vanessa Matsui to discuss the making of this film.
In the film adaptation, director Jon M. Chu turns each musical number into a massive show stopper, with grand set pieces and a wealth of diverse dancers. Yet, in this attempt to show reverence for the people of the Washington Heights barrio, Chu, or maybe more specifically those in charge of casting, left out a crucial part of the community, Afro-Latinos.
Every movement becomes a question of identity. To become who we are meant to be. In order to reach that we often have to shed who we once were, and that shedding can sometimes be so brutal it’s ungraceful.
The concept of male fragility is explored (interestingly, by a male director) in The Sun Never Sets
An in-depth discussion about anti-Black discrimination in college and professional football.
American Fiction is a genuinely entertaining film with a few lessons.