‘Shaft’ (2019): The Father-Son Comedy That Cops Out
The 'Shaft' remake fails to capture Blaxpoitation's rebellious spirit.

To compete in his friend Peter's martial arts tournament, Jack flies into Manila from Hong Kong and brings along a book of secret Jeet Kune Do techniques that was entrusted to him by the late martial arts legend Bruce Lee. During the competition, Jack witnesses Peter's defeat at the hands and feet of his academy's rival master, Miguel. Peter gets the book from Jack, just as Miguel learns about its existence. Miguel sends his best fighters to seize the book. Instead, they kidnap Jack and Peter's girlfriend Miriam and hold them ransom in exchange for the book. Now, working commando, Peter uses the secrets of the book to free his woman and best friend.
The 'Shaft' remake fails to capture Blaxpoitation's rebellious spirit.
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.
'Bros' is a must-watch for October's LGBTQIA+ History Month and it's as good a rom-com as any! Don't let box office numbers or misguided reviews deter you from this great film.
The Night Doctor achieves telling an original story in which the pace accelerates progressively while supported by dark aesthetics.
In addition to the cast being delightfully diverse this time around, the film was just loosely-plotted and action-packed enough to keep a casual fan like myself entertained. While I do agree that the writing of Cole left much to be desired for an original character thrust into a preconceived universe, none of the characters seemed particularly fleshed out in terms of personality; however, I think that's to be expected when you're watching a film literally inspired by a video game.
“I’m always interested in exploring female fantasy, and the sexy witch is a loaded archetype that is simultaneously about men’s fears and fantasies about women, and women’s feelings of empowerment and agency. So whereas we are used to seeing the sexy witch or the femme fatale from the outside, I wanted to explore her from the inside.” - Anna Biller, on why she made The Love Witch