(Akiit.com) In the age of COVID, film festival directors are finding creative ways to screen movies for audiences without gathering large groups at indoor venues. Hence the 2020 ABFF Online Edition. For those who tuned in, the array of films for the 24th festival by black artists was vast. These movies ...
(Akiit.com) Audiences can learn so much from historical events that are inspiring and sometimes just profound. When filmmakers choose the latter and decide to recreate a tragedy, it’s a risky endeavor. One that doesn’t always reward its audience. The third Battalion of the all-black Twenty-fourth United States Infantry Regiment consists of 156 soldiers and is stationed in Houston in 1917 during ...
(Akiit.com) Move over Molly. You’ve got competition! Folks in New Orleans are downing potent capsules dubbed Power that can give them superpowers. What’s the catch? The energy rush only lasts for minutes and it’s very unpredictable. Who in the world could think up such a novel premise? Point your finger ...
(Akiit.com) Before there was fake news, distorting realty for evil purposes was called propaganda. That’s what the Russians did pre-WWII to convince the West that the Soviet Ukraine had economic prowess, prosperous citizens and full bellies. BS. The truth had to be told. In the 1930s, Gareth Jones (James Norton, Little ...
(Akiit.com) Da 5 Bloods has the potential to be a timely, thoughtful allegory. They fought together in Vietnam decades ago. Now they’re headed back to Nam to retrieve the body of their fallen commanding officer (Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther) and hunt for a pile of gold. The vets share a brotherly love: ...
(Akiit.com) It probably looked really good on paper. Bickering couple gets caught up in a murder and goes on the lam. It’s just enough of a framework for two comic geniuses to flaunt their comedy licks. Kumail Nanjiani made a name for himself on the series Silicon Valley, and hit it ...
(Akiit.com) “They act like guns are toys until they get shot.” That’s it. Kids playing games and suffering grownup consequences. It’s a prime symptom of misguided adolescent gang life. With a great feel for modern times and hip-hop music, Rapman (aka Andrew Onwubolu) mixes a bit of Boyz N the Hood, with Menace II ...
(Akiit.com) It’s a character study. One that marks the spaces in between conversations. The silences, moans and groans. It’s about someone living in a parallel world of dreams and a patchwork of memories. Leo (Javier Bardem), a writer, is suffering from dementia. Barely able to live on his own. Tended ...
(Akiit.com) They’re making a lot of noise up in Nova Scotia. Local activists of African and Native American descent are holding big businesses and the government accountable for polluting their water and causing an uptick in cancer cases. They’re sounding the alarm and applying pressure. The surprising but very worthy champion of their efforts ...
(Akiit.com) Making films based on true events gets a lot of projects off the ground. Sometimes you watch a movie and when you discover at the end it’s based on fact, it adds something. Sometimes it doesn’t. The Banker proves that if you go to that well too many times, the yield ...
(Akiit.com) He’s a fool for love. She’s gotta have it—with a lot of strangers. They’re opposites destined to meet and teach each other life lessons. Writer/director Nico Raineau, honed his filmmaking sensibility with short films (Brix and the Bitch) and TV series (OMG!). If you didn’t know his stats before, ...
(Akiit.com) The last few years have yielded some iconic red carpet looks. More celebrities are embracing their natural beauty and letting their kinky hair fly. Others are destroying the stigma of wig-wearing and rocking some incredible, glamorous styles. Constantly treating your hair can cause breakage and irreparable long-term damage. If ...