Adapted from the Andersen tale and played out in musical comedy mode, The Ugly Duckling is set in a farmyard where roosters, hens, ducks and geese live and lay eggs together. One fine day, a rooster discovers a giant egg behind the farmyard kingdom fence, and discreetly slips it into the clutch laid by his partner... Very soon, a cygnet emerges, but as he in no way resembles any of them he is immediately stigmatized by the whole farmyard, enduring humiliations and suspicion on the part of his feathered companions. But in the end he becomes a magnificent white swan.
As a whole, Sightless pushed boundaries between illusion and reality. It made viewers question if there really is a difference. Ellen was strong, brave, and even compassionate given her situation. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Joker is a compelling, character-driven, psychological tale that has a message behind the madness.
Netflix’s recent Millie Bobby Brown vehicle, Enola Holmes 3, is a disappointing and confusing entry in the stellar Enola Holmes franchise. Directed by Philip Barantini, the film stars Brown as Enola Holmes, estranged sister of Sherlock Holmes, Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, and Louis Partridge as her love interest, Viscount Tewkesbury. While it deserves credit for its exciting action scenes and attempts to expand the diversity of its Dickensian setting, the most recent entry in the series completely scuttles Enola’s underdog status from the first films that made her so charming and gave a touch of realism to the story of a young, unmarried woman living in London while self-employed as a detective.
Alongside A Drowning Man, I Signed The Petition, 3 Logical Exits, and A World Not Ours, A Man Returned continues to paint a realistic portrait of the Refugee Crisis that eschews the Western gaze and stereotype. These are real portraits painted by a director with lived experience, cultural connection and an amazing eye for visuals.
It’s fun, it’s energetic, but it’s also understated and vicarial. Zola is a modern black fairytale and future of black movies.
