"Zola" is a must-see

Spend some time in batshit insane Florida this weekend. Writer/Director Janicza Bravo's stripper comedy Zola (co-written by Tony-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris) which was a major Sundance hit way back in January 2020 before the pandemic, is finally in theaters. It was worth the wait. Murtada raved about it last year...

Zola is the first film to get how social media interactions have shaped the way people talk to each other IRL. How many times have you said "LOL" to someone’s face? Admit it, many times. Bravo and Harris manage the find the right speech cadences for that sort of phone jargon. Then, Bravo masterfully realizes them visually so that they are seamless. [Read the full review] 

It's a great and wild time at the movies headlined by fast-rising wonder Taylour Paige (so fun as Viola's girl in Ma Rainey last season) in a nimble deadpan funny star turn. She had me in stitches with a one word line reading "...word" early on in this weekend misadventure before the gallows-humor comedy rubbernecks around its rather serious and frightening sex-trafficking elements. She and the underappreciated Riley Keough are both expert at keeping their performances both real and "in quotes" for the different points of view and emotional facades the women wear to survive. 

93rd Academy Awards: 10 Best-dressed

by Cláudio Alves

After an awards season full of Zoom ceremonies and no red carpets to speak off, Oscar night was a breath of fresh air. While most stars have spent the past few months attending shows from their homes, that didn't mean there wasn't fashion to appreciate. However, there's something special about the spectacle of the red carpet, something ineffably magical. With that in mind, I decided to explore, list, and rank the best looks of the night. From ingenues to aged thespians, male provocateurs, glamorous goddesses, there was much to appreciate. 

First, though, I'd like to make an honorable mention… 

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Interview: Colman Domingo on "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and his slow burn career

This interview was originally published in an abridged version at Towleroad

a recent image from Colman's instagram

by Nathaniel R

Colman Domingo’s laugh is everything you hope it could be. Big, throaty, warm. It’s probably a little disarming for those who haven’t seen the full estimable range of his work and only know him from one of his tougher roles, like AMC’s zombie series  Fear the Walking Dead.  I first met him off the clock at a bar during the Toronto Film Festival a few years ago. Though I don’t usually approach celebrities in non-work circumstances I risked it if only to express appreciation (actors who’ve always been out of the closet deserve our respect). We ended up chatting over a drink. When I bring this chance meeting up, rather than shrugging off the awkward familiarity Colman begins to laugh. “We sure did!” he says enthusiastically before drifting into a familiar conversation — as so many of us have now — about how much he misses meeting and hugging people in person.

We spoke over Zoom in February, almost a year into the pandemic...

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Review: "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" does August Wilson proud

by Nathaniel R

"Deep Moanin' Blues" - Ma's introduction

We see black suffering so often in films that the slightest purposeful subversion of that expectation can stun. You could easily mistake the first shot of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for instance, for a slave drama. It's a wide shot of a dark quiet forest, crickets chirping, that's punctuated by two men running breathlessly through it, and then the sound of dogs barking as if in pursuit. Two lit torches at the end of the shot, however, don't spell doom but joy. The only escape these men are currently after is communal experience. They're headed for a tent concert where folks are already lined up to pay their coins (a sharp detail) before the camera swoops up to see "Ma" Rainey (Viola Davis) humming those "Deep Moanin' Blues" before a joyful crowd.

Not, mind you, that Ma Rainey's Black Bottom replaces suffering with joy. It just nods to their connection before announcing everything else it has on its mind. Which is quite a lot...

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"Zola" has to be seen to be believed.

Murtada Elfadl reporting from Sundance

Maybe it was the 10th time director Janicza Bravo used a freeze frame to reframe the wild weekend tale she’s telling in Zola, when I knew I loved her movie. The freeze frames until then were used to stop the narrative for a pithy or funny observation by our narrator Zola (Taylour Paige), twitter reply style. But this time we were getting a whole new perspective from another character. It was delectable, hilarious and ghastly. I’d say the same for Zola. 

You all remember the infamous 2015 Twitter thread that started with the classic opening lines: 

Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense?”

Well they went and made a movie out of it...

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