The Columbusing of Black excellence by white opportunists has long been prevalent in popular culture — never more so than in the realm of music, where everything from Elvis’ hip-shaking to Miley’s twerking have been erroneously attributed. For decades, Black music was ghettoized, pushed into the shadows. It didn’t matter …
Read More »'Hala': A Skateboarding American Muslim Teen Coming of Age
A coming-of-age tale, a compelling directorial debut, and a slight corrective regarding both teen movies and the American Muslim experience, writer-director Minhal Baig’s Hala opens with the sound of du’a voiced over a shot of an empty room. Then it introduces its title character (played by Blockers’ standout Geraldine Viswanathan) …
Read More »'Assassination Nation' Review: Faster, Pussycat! LOL! LOL!
Fear not, ye sensitive viewers who have stumbled into writer-director Sam Levinson’s story of four young women who go from shamed, blamed, framed victims to avenging angels: You’ll get a brief roll-call montage of “trigger warning” alerts before the insanity kicks in. Part PSA and part sneering at the P.C. …
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