NOMADLAND is a simple, quiet character and/or lifestyle study. Itâs shot all on location, mostly outdoors, and feels largely improvised. It centers on the great Frances McDormand (DARKMAN) as a woman named Fern, who is often alone. But when sheâs not, sheâs often working exclusively with non-professional actors just being themselves, using their own names. (Two of her co-stars are credited as âLinda Mayâ and âSwankie,â which is also what she calls their characters.)
Adapted from the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by the journalist Jessica Bruder, these are characters and/or real people – mostly of what used to be called âretirement ageâ – who have either chosen or been forced into a life living in vans or RVs, crossing the country to take on different seasonal jobs. Fernâs husband died, and then the mining town where they lived did too, and for years sheâs been âdoing the van thing,â as a friend she runs into at a store describes it. Everyone she knows from before seems concerned for her, and offers to let her stay with them. And we will learn over the course of the movie that itâs not just pride that makes her turn down their offers. (read the rest of this shit…)
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI⌠is a very good straight-to-Amazon-Prime movie in that odd genre of âWhat if we got to see a bunch of familiar cultural and historical figures spend a night hanging out together?â In other words, itâs based on a play, in this case written by SOUL co-director Kemp Powers, who also wrote the screenplay for first-time-feature director Regina King. Of course weâve known King as an actress since 227 and BOYZ N THE HOOD, and then she played Huey and Riley and got an Oscar for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK and was a Watchman, but sheâs also been directing TV since 2013. Her million dollar quartet here is made up of important Black Americans of the â60s who really were friends, but itâs a fictional story about them getting together at a hotel after Cassius Clay (Eli Goree, âPO No. 3,â GODZILLA)âs surprise victory over Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964.
In town for the fight are Clayâs spiritual advisor Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir, KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD, THE COMMUTER), the singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr., RED TAILS) and NFL great Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE), there to do color commentary. After the fight they meet up at Malcolmâs humble hotel room, guarded by two Fruit of Islam, the very serious Kareem X (Lance Reddick, JOHN WICK) and young Brother Jamaal (Christian Magby), who does a really funny double take and star struck grin when he realizes the guy heâs letting into the room is Sam Cooke. (read the rest of this shit…)
Iâve written about a bunch of these corny 21st century dance movies, and I always seem to be comparing them to the BREAKINâ movies, but Iâve never actually reviewed the BREAKINâ movies. That ends now. Iâm reviewing the BREAKINâ movies. The world could use more focus on the BREAKINâ movies right now.
In a certain way, BREAKINâ changed the whole world for me. Iâm pretty sure it was BREAKINâ and/or the cultural conversation around BREAKINâ that first opened my eyes to this movement of music, art and dancing that older, cooler kids in far away New York had been building for several years. If you werenât alive then Iâm not sure you can imagine what a phenomenon it was. I remember a music teacher giving us diagrams of moves, trying to teach us (what she said was) the moonwalk, talking about Michael Jackson being inspired by breakdancers and breakdancers being inspired by James Brown. It was the music part of hip hop culture that would become important to me, and (as I said in my review of the companion movie RAPPINâ), at that time I donât think I even knew the word ârap.â I called it âbreakdancing music.â (And, though I kind of like this soundtrack, I donât associate it much with the type of rap I soon fell in love with.) (read the rest of this shit…)
âIâm just thinking. What if people donât get it? I mean our Street-Latin fusion. Dancing with just us is one thing, but, a street dance battle, I just donâtâŚâ
Recently I reviewed STREETDANCE 3D (2010), an enjoyable street-dancers-team-up-with-a-ballet-class movie that I saw as the U.K.âs answer to STEP UP. It didnât go on to have as many sequels as STEP UP, but it did have one, in 2012, so it was my duty to check it out.
The sequel also reminds me of the STEP UP movies, and thatâs a compliment. It sort of follows the first one in the way that STEP UP 3(D) follows STEP UP 2 THE STREETS: it introduces new male and female leads, but also elevates a younger, charmingly geeky supporting character to a more central role. Or if you prefer action movie comparisons, it’s kinda like NEVER BACK DOWN 2, which promoted Evan Petersâ character Max from nerdy underground fight fan to hotshot promoter. (read the rest of this shit…)
It doesnât seem like many people read my reviews of these 21st century competitive street dancing movies, but I have a fascination with them, so here we are. STREETDANCE 3D is a UK entry in the subgenre and itâs from 2010 – six years after YOU GOT SERVED, four years after STEP UP, two years after STEP UP 2 THE STREETS and a few months before my favorite of all of them, STEP UP 3D. I donât think it made an impression over here (I definitely never heard of it at the time) but it was the highest grossing UK production of that year, it got a sequel and even a 2019 French remake. For the record, I had to watch it in 2D (a 3D version was included on the rental, but itâs a DVD, so itâs the crappy red and blue Freddyvision). But it didnât have that same âMan, I have to see this in 3Dâ energy that STEP UP 3D has. (read the rest of this shit…)
I was under the misimpression that YOU GOT SERVED was a big franchise like STEP UP. Unfortunately it turns out YOU GOT SERVED: TAKE IT TO THE STREETS (2004) is just an hour-long instructional dance video, and YOU GOT SERVED: BEAT THE WORLD (2011) is really an unrelated Canadian dance movie that they rebranded as a YOU GOT SERVED here in the states. (Elsewhere you might find it as BEAT THE WORLD or THIS IS BEAT.) So we don’t get to find out what happens after they shoot the Li’l Kim video.
Think of how many unlikely phenomenons could’ve been cut down with an unrelated part 2! This could have easily been the fate of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, UNDISPUTED and so many others.
The good news is that this one is honestly more fun than YOU GOT SERVED. I knew that would be the case when it opened with a parkour chase across the rooftops. It seems very intense but turns out to be a demonstration. âYou know weâre gonna be the first crew to bring free running to hip hop.â Yuson (Tyrone Brown, BEWARE THE GONZO) has recruited Justin (Chase Armitage, DEATH RACE 2), a freerunner from London, to help his crew, Fusion, create a unique routine for the impending Beat the World international dance competition.
YOU GOT SERVED (2004) is a formula melodrama about a subculture of fiercely competitive dance crews in L.A. At night they have showdowns in what looks like a boxing gym, taking turns doing routines, the victor decided by the crowds who fill the place to the brim and cheer so loud it sounds like a stadium. In the opening scene sometimes they jump and when they land their feet seem to cause the earth to shake, as if they are Titans. But mostly the movie tries to seem down to earth.
It centers on Elgin (Marques Houston, BEBEâS KIDS, HOUSE PARTY 3) and his best friend David (Omar âOmarionâ Grandberry, WRONG SIDE OF TOWN). They and their friends are incredible dancers but sadly they talk about it more as a âway outâ than an art or a passion or something they were born to do, even though it must be all of those things. In the opening battle the prize is $600, but I counted at least eight people they have to split it between. Iâm sure battling is way better than working an 8 hour shift, but I don’t think you could win enough of these to pay the rent. So David and Elgin reluctantly supplement it by doing deliveries for a drug dealer named Emerald (Michael âBearâ Taliferro, HALF PAST DEAD; later directed STEPPINâ: THE MOVIE). (read the rest of this shit…)
A few years ago I reviewed ACTION U.S.A., an indie action movie from 1989, filmed in Waco, Texas. It was the directorial debut of stuntman John Stewart, a veteran of FERRIS BUELLERâS DAY OFF, THE HIDDEN and PHANTASM II. It was clearly designed as a showcase for stunts – all kinds of hanging off of moving cars and helicopters, falling off of buildings, cars crashing and exploding, a guy’s motorcycle catching on fire and falling off a bridge. Tons of fun.
At the time it only existed as a super rare VHS tape, but beginning this week Alamo On Demand are playing a new 4K restoration in drive-ins and virtual cinemas (tickets here), which I imagine (hope) means there will be a blu-ray too at some point. Hereâs the trailer Alamo made for it:
Stewart directed three more movies in the early â90s (CLICK: THE CALENDAR GIRL KILLER, CARTEL and HIDDEN OBSESSION) before doing 14 episodes in the first two seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He continued to work in stunts (including as stunt coordinator for LEPRECHAUN 3 and CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666: ISAACâS RETURN) but didnât direct another feature until 2007, when he made FALL GUY: THE JOHN STEWART STORY. Yes, an autobiopic. Heâs played by Jason David Frank, the Green/White Power Ranger. (read the rest of this shit…)
Christopher St. John was a stage actor and member of the Actor’s Studio who had been in FOR LOVE OF IVY and HOT PANTS HOLIDAY and then was up for the title role in SHAFT. He didn’t get it, obviously – instead he played the supporting role of the militant Ben Buford. But that was enough to inspire him to invest his money in this independent starring/writing/directing/producing vehicle with ads billing him as “Christopher St. John, whom you last saw in SHAFT.”
Because of that connection, and because itâs a 1972 movie dealing with the Black experience, with some guns and a soundtrack by J.J. Johnson, it is sometimes lumped in with Blaxploitation. Itâs not that at all. Frankly I prefer movies where the exploitable elements are more prominent, but thatâs obviously not what St. John was interested in, and that should be acknowledged. This is an arty, experimental and political work that reminds me much more of Jules Dassinâs UP TIGHT (co-written by Ruby Dee), Melvin Van Peeblesâ SWEET SWEETBACKâS BAADASSSSS SONG and Bill Gunnâs GANJA & HESS than SHAFT or SUPER FLY. Itâs more about an impressionistic depiction of societal sickness than, you know, traditional entertainment. For what that’s worth. (read the rest of this shit…)
FAST COLOR is a really well made little movie I watched on Hulu. I didnât really know what it was about, but remembered that when it came out last year there were people lamenting that it didnât get enough attention. They called it a super hero origin story and felt that shouldâve made it more marketable.
That description isnât totally inaccurate, but sells it a little short, I think. Itâs about a woman with some telekinetic type powers, but she doesnât wear a costume, fight crime, fight super villains, or use her powers for heroism at all. She even explicitly says âWeâre not super heroes,â and doesnât seem to later change her mind about that. The story reminds me much more of FIRESTARTER than any comic book movie. Regular person made into a fugitive by being born with unusual gifts, running through small towns to avoid being a guinea pig for some secret government project. (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
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NOMADLAND is a simple, quiet character and/or lifestyle study. Itâs shot all on location, mostly outdoors, and feels largely improvised. It centers on the great Frances McDormand (DARKMAN) as a woman named Fern, who is often alone. But when sheâs not, sheâs often working exclusively with non-professional actors just being themselves, using their own names. (Two of her co-stars are credited as âLinda Mayâ and âSwankie,â which is also what she calls their characters.)
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI⌠is a very good straight-to-Amazon-Prime movie in that odd genre of âWhat if we got to see a bunch of familiar cultural and historical figures spend a night hanging out together?â In other words, itâs based on a play, in this case written by 
Iâve written about a bunch of these corny 21st century dance movies, and I always seem to be comparing them to the BREAKINâ movies, but Iâve never actually reviewed the BREAKINâ movies. That ends now. Iâm reviewing the BREAKINâ movies. The world could use more focus on the BREAKINâ movies right now.
âIâm just thinking. What if people donât get it? I mean our Street-Latin fusion. Dancing with just us is one thing, but, a street dance battle, I just donâtâŚâ
It doesnât seem like many people read my reviews of these 21st century competitive street dancing movies, but I have a fascination with them, so here we are. STREETDANCE 3D is a UK entry in the subgenre and itâs from 2010 – six years after 
âYou know dancing is our only way out.â
YOU GOT SERVED (2004) is a formula melodrama about a subculture of fiercely competitive dance crews in L.A. At night they have showdowns in what looks like a boxing gym, taking turns doing routines, the victor decided by the crowds who fill the place to the brim and cheer so loud it sounds like a stadium. In the opening scene sometimes they jump and when they land their feet seem to cause the earth to shake, as if they are Titans. But mostly the movie tries to seem down to earth.
A few years ago I reviewed 
Christopher St. John was a stage actor and member of the Actor’s Studio who had been in FOR LOVE OF IVY and HOT PANTS HOLIDAY and then was up for the title role in 
FAST COLOR is a really well made little movie I watched on Hulu. I didnât really know what it was about, but remembered that when it came out last year there were people lamenting that it didnât get enough attention. They called it a super hero origin story and felt that shouldâve made it more marketable.
