Johan moves to a new city and is quickly bullied by a group of young people. He meets Linnea but all attempts to get to know her are stopped by mockery and humiliation of the gang. To avoid the harassment, he joins another gang where he is involved in crime and drug dealing.
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.
“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world”. Louis Armstrong sang about this notion via his classic 1967 song, an ode to witnessing elements of our life that should be but some reminders of exactly what that concluding line of each verse indicates. Now we see our contemporary realities and, just being honest, it makes a sentiment like this seem SO overtly far away….perhaps even impossible….to accept or believe could be. It sounds harsh, but again, so much of what is occurring speaks not to beauty, but bedlam.
On March 31st, International Trans Day of Visibility, following some COVID related delays, the trailer was finally dropped, and although Taylour Paige and Riley Keough look to impress as lead characters Zola and Stefani, a brief cameo from a queer icon was what convinced me I have to see this movie.
'Reservation Dogs' is stacked with an array of Native American performers and crew telling their own story.
Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, a part of Netflix's Black Lives Matter Collection, features different social experiments showcasing the larger state of race relations in our society.
