Spike Lee has always been a very politically and socially conscious filmmaker, with much of his work touching on topical elements that link us all together as human beings. This makes his straight-up genre picture, Inside Man, all the more atypical, as it’s one of the few gun-for-hire pictures that he’s put his name…
Denzel Washington delivers a volcanic performance in his latest directorial effort, Fences, while the magnificent Viola Davis counters with her own blistering piece of internalized acting; the two artists literally explode off of the screen. Efficiently directed by Washington, the film was adapted for the screen by playwright August Wilson, whose original, Pulitzer-winning effort was…
Training Day continues to be one of my favorite modern cop films. It smartly balanced entertainment value, social commentary, and genre expectations, with David Ayer’s superb script feeding into director Antoine Fuqua’s muscular visual style, aided by polished yet gritty camerawork from Mauro Fiore, and razor sharp editing courtesy of Conrad Buff. Denzel Washington delivered…
Antoine Fuqua’s solid updating of The Magnificent Seven is a good time at the movies, an easily digestible modern Western that isn’t interested in anything else other than providing two hours of comfortable, great-looking entertainment. Denzel Washington is excellent, as usual, and leads a very sturdy ensemble cast, with Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt, and a…
