Tag: Jharrel Jerome

Cinema Dispatch: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and all the images you see in this review are owned by Sony Pictures Releasing

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K Thompson

The first Spider-Verse movie had a lot of things going for it before everyone realized what a masterpiece it was going to be. Spider-Man movies reliably make money, animated features are one of the more bankable box-office draws, and it had some pretty amazing trailers with a unique art style and some fun ideas to play with from the comics that we haven’t seen on screen before. Still, I’m not sure anyone expected it to be the overwhelming success that it was, both critically and commercially, and the prospect of a sequel was certainly exciting as the studio would be throwing everything they could at it. Still, the idea left me at least a little bit anxious. Capturing lightning in a bottle is a rare feat in its own right and even the best filmmakers have struggled to pull it off a second time, though oddly enough none of the original directors returned to direct this one. The trailers for this certainly didn’t help matters as I made clear in a Twitter thread earlier this year and I wasn’t thrilled to find out that it would be a Part One instead of a singular movie, so going into this one was both a delight and a moment of dread with expectations being higher than for almost any movie I’ve seen. Does this manage to exceed all expectations yet again and deliver another Oscar-caliber animated feature, or do even the best creatives fall victim to the Subpar-Sequel curse? Let’s find out!!

After saving the multi-verse and becoming the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has started to learn the hard way what it means to try and live as both a superhero and a teenager with only enough time in the day to perhaps make one of them work. This struggle has not escaped the notice of his parents (Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez) who are getting fed up with his absentmindedness which only puts more pressure on the budding superhero. It comes as a relief when Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) pops up into his universe despite the pathways between them getting closed at the conclusion of the last film, and it turns out that some Spider-People, led by Miguel O’Hara and Jess Drew (Oscar Isaac and Issa Rae) are able to cross dimensions with super-science wrist watches and Gwen had joined up with them not too long ago. Unfortunately, the reunion is cut short as one of Miles’s less competent villains, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), has somehow upgraded to an inter-dimensional threat and Gwen is forced to pursue him with Miles tagging along and experiencing the multi-verse for himself. Will Gwen, Miles, and a host of other fun Spider-People catch The Spot and stop his absurd schemes? How did Gwen end up with this group of Interdimensional Spider-Cops, and what secrets are they keeping from Miles? Is it the ultimate swing technique or perhaps the secret to a chafe-free Spider Suit?

“I call this the No Hands Spider-Wobble!”     “He’s growing so fast…”
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Cinema Dispatch: Moonlight

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

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Moonlight and all the images you see in this review are owned by A24

Directed by Barry Jenkins

I don’t get to see a lot of independent films where I live, and the few chances that I do get to see them usually involve a long drive to a faraway theater with exorbitant prices.  Such is the case with this film which has been getting a whole lot of buzz recently, especially with Hollywood’s recent push to diversify itself (and with Birth of Nation having more baggage than they expected).  My knowledge of LGBTQ+ cinema is somewhat limited, though even then I’m not even sure the best way to define that.  I’m pretty sure that saying John Waters or Gus Van Sant are “gay filmmakers” is right on the money as their work often centers around LGBTQ+ characters and their struggles, but what about directors like Lee Daniels or Rob Marshall?  Sure, you can point to most of their movies and point out themes and messages that can be relatable to those in the LGBTQ+ community, but would you put The Butler or Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides along alongside Gus Van Sant’s films?  Hell, what about movies that are explicitly about LGBTQ+ issues but are directed by those who aren’t in the community such as Brokeback Mountain, To Wong Foo, or even this film which was written by a gay man (Tarell Alvin McCraney) but directed by a straight one?  Look, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who can give you a better answer to that question than I can, so I’ll just stick to what I at least PRETEND to know best; namely talking about the movies while making snarky comments.  Is this the film that truly lives up to the ideals that Hollywood has failed to live up to and will get all the credit it deserves, or is this a mediocre endeavor that the cynics in the Academy will glom onto just to make themselves look better?  Let’s find out!!

The movie follows the life of Chiron and is presented to us in three distinct segments.  We see him when he’s small and is known as Little (Alex Hibbert), when he’s a teenager and the nickname has been dropped (Ashton Sanders), and as an adult when he starts using another nickname Black (Trevante Rhodes), and in each one they show a little bit more of his struggle.  What struggle is that exactly?  Well it doesn’t take long to figure out that he’s gay which everyone around him seems to pick up on and, for the most part, use it against him.  His mother (Naomie Harris) is dealing with her own problems with addiction so this just seems like an unbearable inconvenience for her and plenty of kids in school just bully him because he seems different.  Now it’s not like the whole world is against him as a local couple, Juan and Teresa (Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe), try to give him some guidance in his life, and he has a friend named Kevin (Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and André Holland) who tries to keep his spirits up even though he’s got his own growing pains to work through and his own share of bad choices to make.  Will Chiron ever feel accepted in a world that seems tailor made to keep him down?  How will decisions that he and his family make at certain points in his life affect him later on?  Most importantly, WILL YOU JUST KISS HIM ALREADY!?  YOU BELONG TOGETHER!!

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“Just a kiss?”     “What was that?”     “By Lady Antebellum.  I’ve got it on my phone.  Do you want to listen to it?”

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