"Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom": A Lesson in Blues
With raw and unapologetic performances by Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, stories about the hardships of Black musicians are weaved in with The Blues.

Radovan Orlak Orao fell off a skyscraper on the day when four of his old friends waited for him to celebrate his birthday. They had been friends since childhood, but now at middle age they see each other only occasionally. Faced with the fact that they actually knew very little about their friend’s recent life, they start meeting more regularly and try to find out the circumstances that led to Orao’s suicide or possibly even murder…
With raw and unapologetic performances by Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, stories about the hardships of Black musicians are weaved in with The Blues.
Dramatic Horror!!! Wait, what?? Did you say "dramatic horror"?? IS there such a thing?? I mean, TRULY. Well, if San Francisco-based, Pakistani-born independent filmmaker Dr. Hassan Zee and this film critic have anything to say about it, there IS such a beast as experienced through the director's newest feature film set to officially debut October 4th in the City by the Bay. Folks, indie film will always be a bastion of experimentation and originality, and this film for me fits that bill.
This movie is based on the LEGO Disney Princess building set.
A refreshing twist is that all the kids’ powers are…kind of useless. There’s a kid who can only move in slow motion, a kid who has every power in the world but can only use them randomly, and our main character Missy who has no powers at all. The thesis of the film seems to be that it doesn’t matter what kind of powers you have, its the way you use them, which is good for the warm and fuzzies.
A family drama is woven with quiet yet powerful forces of words and nature.