“Judas And The Black Messiah”
While Daniel Kaluuya’s soul-stirring turn as Fred Hampton is arguably the centrifugal force of Shaka King’s muscular and ferocious breakthrough feature, we must also reserve praise for Lakeith Stanfield, who brings a surplus of cracked humanity and stomach-turning moral ambiguity to the film’s trickiest role, that of petty-hood-turned-federal-informant William O’ Neal (our own Robert Daniels, for the record, suggested that Kaluuya is the “heartbeat” of the movie). “Judas” works like gangbusters as an example of incensed historical course-correction, but it’s somehow even more successful as an old-school underworld drama, one refreshingly concerned with penetrating ethical inquiries: How much can you really know a person? How can a man be a revolutionary and also make time to be a husband and father? This is the kind of frighteningly confident American cinematic art that we hardly see anymore because most films simply aren’t executed with this degree of patience, craft, and respect for an audience’s intelligence. – NL
“The Mitchells Vs. The Machines”
The plucky protagonist of this inventive and irresistible family comedy, courtesy of director Michael Rianda and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, is one Katie Mitchell, voice work courtesy of “Broad City’s” Abbi Jacobson. Katie wants to become a film director. Her family is holding her back. The Mitchells are merely trying to deal with sending Katie off to college when there is a sudden robot takeover of earth, and a family merely fighting amongst each other is called upon to fight for humanity’s survival. It’s a brilliant gimmick, and frankly, “The Mitchells Vs. The Machines” could have been a one-joke movie, and that one joke would have still hit. The film combines the boisterous visual wit of the “Incredibles” movies with the staggering scale of “The Iron Giant” and the trademark Lord/Miller smarm; Playlist critic Brian Farvour called the film a “fun animated escape.” If you have kids, get ready to watch this one with them multiple times. – NL
“MLK/FBI”
American history is littered with examples of public figures espousing the values of justice in the face of bigotry, only to be deemed a national threat by the powers that be. This brings us, naturally, to Dr. Martin Luther King and “MLK/FBI,” a spellbinding documentary from Sam Pollard that gets us about as close to understanding Dr. King as we could have hoped for. “MLK/FBI” isn’t an easy sit; it’s got crackling energy and teeth: the lovingly restored archival footage and blessed absence of talking-head interviews make it feel less like an anonymous Netflix doc and more like a rediscovered document from the era of Pennebaker or the Maysles. Playlist critic Robert Daniels was effusive in his praise, stating, “Pollard’s “MLK/FBI” is more than an eye-opening look at an icon, and the evil forces working to tear him apart, it’s a critical chapter that should be imprinted inside every white American’s heart.” – NL
“Night Of The Kings”
There are reference points one could deploy to give an idea of what to expect from “Night Of The Kings”: this film’s hard-hitting depiction of prison life owes a debt to “Une Prophete,” while the flashback-punctuated narrative feels influenced by “City Of God,” and the dalliances with magical realism are ripped from the playbook of Gabriel Garcia Marques. It’s in the way that director Philipe Lacôte brilliantly mixes and matches these ingredients, like a master chef working them into a bouillabaisse of his own creation, that elevates “Night Of The Kings” above standard elevated genre fare (Playlist critic Carlos Aguilar called the film a “striking tribute to the power of storytelling”). “Night” depicts life, or what passes for it, in one of the MACA prisons in Abidjan, the capital of the Cote d’Ivoire, with a fresh-faced young thief faced with a murderous ultimatum that involves regaling his fellow prisoners with stories during a “red moon.” The film is nothing less than an affirmation of the Joan Didion quote that “we tell ourselves stories in order to live,” and Lacôte understands that, even in the most unforgiving of milieus, the power of storytelling offers a possibility for escape. – NL
“Pieces Of A Woman.”
“Pieces Of A Woman” is both a slice of uncompromising social realism in the vein of John Cassavetes or the Dardenne Brothers (the Cassavetes allusion was not lost on our beloved Jessica Kiang, who jokingly called the film “A Stunningly Complete Portrait of A Woman Under The Influence Of Grief” in her Venice 2020 review) and also a work of unapologetic melodrama, filled with stark compositions that recall both Steve McQueen and the cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki. The film, harrowing and arresting, opens with a disquieting, nearly thirty-minute take where Martha Weiss (Vanessa Kirby) gives birth in her home, in the presence of her husband (Shia LaBeouf) and a midwife (Molly Parker). Throughout, Kirby captures her character’s debilitating sense of grief, while LaBeouf is nothing but raw nerves (knowing what we now know about LaBeouf, some of the scenes in “Pieces of a Woman” where the actor abuses Kirby’s character do feel especially odious). It all adds up to a kind of emotional exorcism, ending on a strangely sunny yet convincing note that suggests hope in the face of calamity. – NL
