I’m always down for a good tale of espionage, especially when it involves Baseball. Doesn’t make sense right? Let me break it down for you. The Catcher Was A Spy is the true life story of Boston White Sox player Moe Berg. Not only did was this dude a real spy, but her spoke seven languages – fluently. Oh, and did I mention he was also bisexual. You can’t say he didn’t live his life to its fullest. As an intelligence operative, he interviewed physicists about the Nazi nuclear program and played an instrumental role in the U.S. effort to defeat Germany, later transferring to the CIA. Paul Rudd is…
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Filmstruck Celebrates The Best of Blaxploitation, LGBTQ and Dads in June
Funk. Soul. Ultra-hip. This month, FilmStruck is highlighting Blaxploitation cinema, a group of films made specifically for African American audiences in the 1970s just as black filmmakers were finally allowed to make Hollywood features.
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What’s it Like to Be a Superhero? Incredibles 2 Cast Spills the Beans
Today is the day!!! Incredibles 2 hits theatres and is already breaking records becoming the biggest animated film opening EVER beating Finding Dory!!!! It’s rumored to open with $170M. I was fortunate enough to attend the press junket and came away with some humorous and juicy details from the cast and director Brad Bird (who also voices the fantabulous Edna Mode). Here are some excerpts from that event… Question: Not a second goes by between Incredibles and Incredibles 2. What was behind the decision to pick it up right away instead of having like an older Violet, an older Dash, an older Jack-Jack. BRAD BIRD: I just thought it was…
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Childhood Games Never Looked More Fun than in TAG
Remember those kids from the neighborhood? You know the ones that you spent every waking day with over the weekends bike riding all over the city or grabbing a showing of the latest hot flick with or the ones you cried with when that one boy you were completely in love with had his arm around someone else? Of course you do. So, imagine taking one of those games you loved as a kid to a whole new level for more than 30 years? Well, that’s exactly what Shawn, Chris, Brian. and Mike from Spokane, Washington did and it garnered enough national attention to be made into a feature…
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Elastagirl and Jack Jack Steal the Show in Disney*Pixar’s Incredibles 2
Disney has done it again! Incredibles 2 surpasses the excitement of its predecessor totally entertaining the adult children like myself. When we catch up with Elastagirl, Mr. Incredible, Violet and Dash – superheroes have been deemed illegal and are underground. When their best efforts to convince society that superheroes being needed and relevant aare thwarted, their superhero program is being shutdown and they have to find new digs in just a few short weeks. Elastagirl comes to the rescue with the help of cool techno-geek villain Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keaner) and her overly enthusiastic brother Winston (Bob Odenkirk). Let me just say that Elastagirl is a total badass when…
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Hardwick and Good Scorch The Screen in A Boy…A Girl…A Dream
There was a man I once met whose chemistry was so strong that when he held my hand, it felt like electricity shooting through my body. Our entire relationship was electric. However, eventually when the light bill doesn’t get paid the lights go out…so did our relationship. Have you ever met someone who sees you exactly for who you are and wants to be with you anyway. Someone that challenges you and makes you challenge them right back? A Boy (Omari-Hardwick/Cass) meets A Girl (Meagan Goode/Frida) and they shared A Dream. A dream that would’ve seen our country elect its first female President. A dream that put caution to the…
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Family, Race, Class and Triumph of Human Spirit Examined in QUEST
For his debut documentary, QUEST, director Jonathan Olshefski spent nearly a decade chronicling the daily triumphs and tragedies of the Raineys, a working class African-American family in North Philadelphia. The father, Christopher “Quest” Rainey, is a local music producer and promoter who hosts a popular freestyle session for aspiring rappers in his home basement studio; the mother, Christine’a “Ma Quest” Rainey, works night shifts at a homeless shelter; and their spirited adolescent daughter, Patricia “PJ” Rainey, is a daddy’s girl who loves to play basketball. QUEST, directed by Olshefski and produced by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, features original music by Christopher “Quest” Rainey. QUEST has its national broadcast and streaming debut on…
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Disco Lives on in the Millineum Through Studio 54
One can’t think about disco and the 70’s without reminiscing about the decadence and glamour of New York City’s hottest nightclub – Studio 54. Back in the day, Studio 54 used to be an opera house and the east coast home for CBS – TV. Nowadays, it serves as a home for many Broadway shows. When Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell got ownership of the building they spent a record $700,000 to renovate. The club was know for its out-of-this-world celebrity clientele, sex orgies and having lines more than a block long for entry to the most exclusive, popular party in the city. They literally started that whole thing of…
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Ocean’s 8 is a Stylish Heist with an All-Star Cast of Flick Favs
The Ocean’s franchise is back featuring an all-star female cast of flick, tv and recording favorites – Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Rihanna, who hold their own individually and as a unit. Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) has been incarcerated for nearly ten years and upon parole contacts her bestie Lou (Cate Blanchett) to embark upon the heist of a lifetime – stealing the famed Touissaint necklace during the Met Ball Gala. Each doll has their specialty. Mindy Kaling is the jewel expert, Rihanna – a computer/IT wiz, Awkwafina – a pick-pocket of epic proportions, Sarah Paulson is a stay at…
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Offerman and Clemons Showcase Music Chops in Hearts Beat Loud
Kiersey Clemons first got the attention of Sundance festival goers with her performance in “Dope” and got my attention again as the young love interest in the Richard Gere film “The Only Lonely Boy in New York”. But, her turn as a poetic, lesbian teen about to leave her single Dad for college is her best role to date. Frank, who is comically, yet warm-heartedly portrayed by Nick Offerman, has his hands full with a failing business, a mother with Alzheimer’s (Blythe Danner) and the desire to resurrect a failing career as a musician, whose core belief is “we don’t always get to do what we love…so we should love…
