It’s funny when I think about it. Last year I thought of all the 2020 summer blockbusters I couldn’t wait to see.. Tenet, Mulan, Jungle Cruise, Godzilla Vs Kong, The King’s Man, Bond 25, Black Widow, Top Gun: Maverick, Ghostbusters: Afterlife , Charm City Kings, Promising young woman, Antebellum, legally blonde 3, Run, Spiral, Halloween kills, Fast 9, spongebob 3, candy man, irresistible, soul, in the heights, free guy, morbious, Hitman’s wife’s bodyguard, monster hunter, without remorse, snake eyes, enternals, cut throat city, (my list could literally go on), I would of never believed you if you told me not only I wouldn’t be able to go to the movies again after seeing “Bloodshot” and “The Hunt” but the only new theatrical movies from 2020 I would see would be “Trolls: World Tour”, “Scoob” and “The Tax Collector”, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.. but here we are with 4 months of left of 2020 and I’m up to my 4th newly released film all year.

Now I have been anticipating “Bill & Ted face the music” ever since I heard they were in development of this film. I loved these movies as a kid, I watch these teens get to become a “teenwolf”, get “licensed to drive”, go “back to the future”, get “gremlins”, visit hogwarts & have excellent adventures while all we got to do was be “boyz n the hood” be a “menace to society” & search our “roots”. I didn’t realize how much of an impact that made on me growing up until looking at the screenplays I write now that are basically black genre pictures (just wait to y’all see my brand of urban sci fi comedy/action adventures or my horror or fantasy films). I would of never expected this would be the only film of summer 2020 I would get to see but I’m so grateful that it exists! I’ve been going to drive ins lately to see movies I already own on DVD and digital so it’s great to see something new that’s not a Netflix original. I love sequels to movies that’s as old as me. I loved the force awakens. I loved Jay and Silent Bob reboot, still waiting on Coming 2 America this holiday (if corona doesn’t push it back) so to say how I excited I was about Bill and Ted 3 is an understatement.

Now I’m a big fan of the original “Bill and Ted excellent adventure”, not so much of “Bogus Journey” but I still have the VHS (to me, that film was too dark with the killer robots from the future sending Bill & Ted to hell compared to the light time travel film the first one was). The film isn’t a cinematic masterpiece and isn’t that great of a comedy but it’s a fun light adventure that entertained me as a kid and holds a special place in my heart. I didn’t play the games, watch the show, read the comics or anything but the nostalgia factor is heavy for me. I couldn’t wait to see what happened to Bill & Ted 25 years since we last seen em, especially since now we’re all adults (even though I’m still 20 years younger than the characters). 

As soon as the film starts we get an update on what has happened since the last film and immediately we see Bill and Ted hasn’t changed at all since the last film. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and laughing seeing Kneau Reeves and Bill Winter resume these roles like they never stopped portraying these characters. They continued exactly where they left off and it feels like seeing old friends again. It was also great to see a few of the returning cast from the previous films. It sucks not everyone returned (and I get it, you got to cast popular faces for marketing reasons but the nostalgia factor plays a huge part in these sequels for me) but it’s great to see the return of Missy, Ted’s dad and even the grim reaper himself (plus there's a George Carlin cameo)! As for the new cast, I love the fact Bill and Ted are girl dads but thought it was kinda of weird they had the girls act the exact same way their fathers were (well, still are) but it didn’t push me away from enjoying the film.

I love the issue Bill and Ted have in this film is the fact they still didn’t reach their destiny yet. A lot of us after we leave high school don’t achieve what we planned as soon as we join the workforce, graduate college or return from the military. I feel like that’s a problem everyone can relate to. Being the exact person you were years ago and not reaching your full potential is a great way to start the hero’s journey myth but using the logic for the last two films, why not go back in time (in the future) and drop off the music that will unite the world and when they get to the present when the originally wrote the song, they bring it back to the past instead of stealing it from their future selves, the future Bill and Ted would just give it to themselves in the past.. but then again, that would make the movie only 20 mins long.

Now this film doesn’t touch new ground like they did with the first two film (with excellent adventure being a time travel film and bogus journey about the afterlife) but instead they rehash the time travel and killer robot from the future plot, taking a page from the force awakens book by having their children try and rescue our heroes by time traveling and eventually, ending up in the afterlife in the process of saving their dads. Basically passing the torch.

​ I haven’t seen much of the director’s Dean Parisot work other than Home fries and Galaxy Quest, two films from my childhood that I’m still very fond of (and Galaxy Quest is to blame for my love of Star Trek) so I’m not surprise Dean can direct a great modern science fiction comedy adventure film like this. In my opinion, this is the best directed Bill & Ted film. Definitely the funniest out of the three. Now the ending was definitely on the worst end of what was the conclusion of “Terminator: Dark Fate” but unlike the terminator movie, this film didn’t kill Bill and Ted but instead allow them to play a crucial part of what ended up being their children’s destiny and I loved that. I am jealous of the end credit sequence cause I saw when they were requesting people to send in video clips... I could of been apart of that .. but hey, at least I got to see the movie. Definitely stick around for after the credits tho but I gave the film a 10 out of 10. To me, this film is the best one of the “Bill and Ted” franchise.

Who would of thought in the year 2020, all of our summer blockbusters would be on streaming services? Earlier we had (what usually would be huge Hollywood blockbuster to see in theaters) “Underground 6”, “Extraction” , The Old Guard” and now “Project Power”.

Jamie foxx stars as a former soldier teams up with a drug dealer and a cop (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to find the source behind a dangerous pill that provides temporary superpowers for five minutes. ​The film is directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, produced by Eric Newman and Bryan Unkeless, and written by Mattson Tomlin. It stars also stars Dominique Fishback, alongside Colson Baker, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker and Allen Maldonado.

This film is somewhere between the film “Limitless” and the comic book series “The Boys”. While I did enjoy the film, I found the movie to be lacking in certain areas. There was a lot of things in the script I think was missing that could of made the film feel whole. It wasted a lot of opportunities.​ I love Jospeh Gordan Levitt and I peep that’s why they cast him as the lovable cop who takes illegall drugs, who quotes Clint Eastwood and goes beyond the badge to catch a criminal.. y’all know cops in real life are going to walk away with something else.

One huge missed opportunity is with Jamie Foxx who people tend to forget is a comedian!! There was a scene when Dominique Fishback had asked Jamie was was his power. They could of made a whole comedic scene where he tells her he has a power of a shrimp and she could of clown him the whole time and in the end when they reveal his powers, it would of been a twist which shrimp power he had.​ Overall, I love Project Power . Would of loved to seen it in theaters (definitely a summer blockbuster) but they definitely missed a lot of opportunities to tackle things such as the effect hurricane Katrina had on people in New Orleans and crooked police. I dig the film theme though. Find your power.

Hollywood is show business. It’s not about making art, it’s about marketing. It’s show business, not show art. It’s about making a product. Films like Cinema Paradiso is a work of art. Some filmmakers are artists and they create art. Others just make movies. Fast and the furious is one of those movies. It’s just a product. Another promotion for toys, t shirts and convention tickets. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (also known simply as Hobbs & Shaw) is a 2019 American action film directed by David Leitch and written by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce, from a story by Morgan. It is a spin-off of The Fast and the Furious franchise centered around the titular Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw, characters introduced in the main series. Starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham as Hobbs and Shaw respectively, the film follows the unlikely allies who are forced to team up against a greater threat who is threatening the world with a deadly virus. Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, and Helen Mirren also star.

Fast and the furious is like a major name brand like band-aid where Hobbs and Shaw feels like a generic store brand like wallgreen bandages. This film doesn’t do any justice for the original films of the franchise, it feels like it’s own thing. It feels disconnected and making up rules (and siblings) as they go along. It relies too much on jokes and switches the original genre to become a sci fi action comedy and triggers our nostalgia by showing us shots of nitro and flashing fast and the furious in the title but this film is no fast and the furious.

The visual effects and action was fun but nothing breathtaking. My biggest issue with the direction is that it didn’t know when not to be epic. So many unnecessary climactic shots! The direction seems like the director doesn’t understand film vocabulary. I hate it when I see it in amateur films like “I got the hook up 2” and I hate in in big budget Hollywood summer blockbusters! What supposed to be simple close up are these wide Spielberg/Micheal Bay style shots which usually means something amazing is happening (like when the scientists see the dinosaurs for the first time in Jurassic park or someone sees a transformer in person for the first time) but these shots happen while the characters just stand around explaining the plot.

This feels like the fast and furious amusement park ride at universal studios. It’s a straight to streaming spin off sequel. It feels like how high 2. It feels like the straight to dvd sequels to bring it on and honey. I’m going to see it again and try to completely turn my brain off seeing the epic action in imax but this is definitely the weakest fast film in the franchise and I can’t wait for fast 9 to come out and make me forget this was a thing (but oddly enough I want to see more spin off, like tyrese and ludacris get caught up in their own buddy road trip comedy). We’ll see where this franchise goes.

Originally this was going to be titled “3 reasons why Shaft (2019) Sucks” like I did for a previous Samuel L. Jackson movie “The Hitman’s bodyguard” (and other films like “All Eyez on me") but the problem is, the new shaft film doesn’t suck. It’s just not “Shaft”. So instead of saying the film sucks, let’s point out why this film isn’t considered a Shaft film (to me at least). This film is the fifth film in the Shaft film series and a sequel to the 2000 film with the same title, although way more comedic in tone. Unlike its previous film, which was distributed by Paramount Pictures, this film is produced by New Line Cinema & Netflix (who already have it streaming overseas) and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, who own the first three features and the TV series due to its acquisition of the pre-1986 MGM library when it absorbed Turner Entertainment through the Time Warner formation in 1996.

On February 18, 2015, it was announced that New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to Shaft, based on the famous detective character, John Shaft, and would develop a new film within the series along with producer John Davis of Davis Entertainment. On July 28, 2015, it was reported that Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow would be writing the script for the new film, which would also be produced by Ira Napoliello. On January 20, 2017, the studio hired Tim Story to direct the film. On August 18, 2017, Jessie Usher was cast to play the lead role as the son of Samuel L. Jackson's John Shaft II from the 2000 film, while Richard Roundtree and Jackson would reprise their roles from the previous films and in October 2017, Netflix signed a deal with New Line Cinema to cover more than half of the film's $30 million budget in exchange for the rights, which allowed Netflix to release the film on its platform outside of the United States two weeks after the theatrical release in the U.S. Filming began in February 2018. It was reported that the film already wrapped up production in the early part of the year but the cast went back to re-shoot some scenes in Atlanta (which is why Harlem doesn’t look like Harlem in this film) in August 2018. They should of reshot this whole movie because it’s soo inconsistent with the rest of the franchise (films, tv show, comics, the shaft theme song), that this film feels more like a reboot than a sequel to the classic film and it’s modern sequel in 2001. Here are a few reasons why I feel like that.

Rewatch 2001’s Shaft. How many times did Samuel L. Jackson said the word “motherfucker”? 13 times. In total. In the new film, within the first 5 minutes, not only did they surpass the number.. everyone is screaming “fuck”, “motherfucker”, etc. The franchise always been rated R and it’s basically have become Samuel’s thing to say fuck a lot in his films but I feel like this film took it a bit too far! When Samuel used to say motherfucker in his films, it was like poetry. This film on the other hand is mumble rap. I don’t mind cursing in film but shaft isn’t Samuel L Jackson. Samuel may play Shaft but shaft isn’t Samuel. I felt like I was watching a Wayan’s brother parody of Shaft. Like a “low down dirty shame part 2”. Speaking of comedy, that brings me to my next point.

The original films are neo-noir action crime movies with the 2001 version kinda going the thriller route. This new film however is a generic action comedy (think of films like “Ride along”). Shaft and the rest of the cast are cracking jokes every 5 minutes. Everyone is a comedian! You can have funny moments without making the whole film a comedy. Look back at the last shaft. Scenes like Busta Rhymes talking to the press when he’s supposed to be driving off in the limo or the fat guy eating donuts who’s wants to become a cop, the last film had a perfect balance of drama, suspense and comedy. This new film only kept the comedy.

There’s a line in the moment where Jesse (who plays Shaft the third) says “don’t mind him, he thinks he’s the black James Bond”. That line fits in the film because in a way, he was the black James Bond (especially with Shaft in Africa) and just like James Bond, he had his own Bond girls. Every film was a different woman and none of them because the focus of the film. Not even as a subplot. Not once was the franchise about John maintaining a relationship with anyone. He had plenty of sex, had plenty of women but it wasn’t a huge part of the plot. The investigation override everything in the Shaft franchise but this film not only gives him a love interests to focus on but their relationship is basically part of the plot. There was never a moment in the series where you see Shaft going the distance to get with a specific woman constantly and we never saw the women’s point of view of being with a guy like shaft. We all know shaft was a player but this film made him a womanizer who can’t be without a woman for more than 5 minutes. I love Regina Hall and as always she gives 100% to her roles but it felt so misplaced because never in any of the previous shaft films was there a romantic interests that we the audience had to focus on. Shaft smashes and than dashes and that’s the last we see of his relationships.

Another reason I don’t like this film is that It lost its grittiness and feels like a stylized polished mainstream pop movie with zack Snyder style shootouts with close up of the bullets while playing James brown in the background. It quickly becomes feels generic comedy like a “uncle drew” (which had way more heart than this film) but my biggest complaint about this film is that they turned Shaft into a dead beat dad! Not just Samuel L. Jackson’s shaft but Richard Roundtree as well (who shows up 90 mins into the film compared to the last one where he was Shaft mentor who showed up numerous times). This film completely ruins the continuity of the previous films. Rewriting the fact the original shaft isn’t 2001’s Shafts uncle, but is actually his father when we literally spent the whole last movie explaining their relationship, just to throw it out with one line in this film. How is Shaft, the man who would risk his neck for brother man a dead beat dad? I just can’t see it and you’re telling me throughout the last Shaft film that, that man had a son somewhere that he wasn’t taking care of? Na. I call bullshit.The original film deals with themes like the Black Power movement, race, masculinity, and sexuality. Now we do touch on masculinity and sexuality in this film but race and the black power movement is completely gone. Sure the last film didn’t focus much on the movement but you still felt the black culture within the film. This film felt like they were trying to hard to keep it black. The fact they don’t play Issac Hayes throughout the film is a spit in the face as well. ​The film is very funny and the cast brings their a game and its a good script if it wasn’t a shaft film. This film puts too much focus on comedy, Screws up the morals of shaft and shits on the original (by not playing Issac Hayes and Richard Roundtree role reduced to basically a cameo).

So yesterday during the ugly 4th of July weekend of racist babies screaming about how pissed they are about “The Little mermaid” and this whole #notmyariel drama (more about that in a few), Disney Studios has released the teaser trailer to Disney’s live action adaption of Mulan (in theaters March 27, 2020).

Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical action adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, and was Disney's 36th animated featureand the ninth animated film produced and released during the Disney Renaissance. In the original animation, the film was about the title character (voiced by Ming-Na Wen). Fearful that her ailing father will be drafted into the Chinese military, Mulan takes his spot -- though, as a girl living under a patriarchal regime, she is technically unqualified to serve. She cleverly impersonates a man and goes off to train with fellow recruits. Accompanied by her dragon, Mushu (Eddie Murphy), she uses her smarts to help ward off a Hun invasion, falling in love with a dashing captain along the way. Produced and released during the Disney Renaissance, Mulan was the first of three features produced primarily at the Disney animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Development for the film began in 1994, when a number of artistic supervisors were sent to China to receive artistic and cultural inspiration. Mulan was well received by critics and the public, grossing $304 million, earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and winning several Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature.

Now when I first heard news about Mulan becoming the next film on the list of Disney classics to be adapted into a live action feature, I was excited. Then news came out it wasn’t a musical. Was still hopeful. Then I heard there’s no Mushu character (which in all honesty, I watched it for Eddie Murphy as a kid). Then I saw what happened with dumbo and now I’m even less excited. Now I really enjoyed Aladdin and already got my tickets to The Lion King so most likely I will be seeing Mulan in theaters. I just hope they still play #truetoyourheart by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder in the ending credits... now for the news on “The little Mermaid” adaption.

It was recently announced that Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in Disney’s upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid and racists on social media has lost their damn minds! You may know Halle from Grown-ish or from the Grammy-nominated singing group Chloe x Halle, which is comprised of her and her older sister. The casting of Bailey wasn’t one many fans had predicted, but it was one that delighted many. However it didn’t take long for the usual arguments to be made against her casting, with the lion’s share of points being directed at her race and lack of red hair.

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical romanticfantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film and first film in the The Little Mermaid franchise, the film is loosely based on the Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film tells the story of a mermaid princess named Ariel who dreams of becoming human, after falling in love with a human prince named Eric. The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989 to critical acclaim, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release and $233 million in total lifetime gross worldwide.

One thing I noticed tho about this backlash is how much of it has been driven by bot accounts rather than real individuals. One of the most popular tweets from the backlash claimed to be from a white woman throwing her DVD of The Little Mermaid in the trash because she’s pissed about Bailey's casting. It was quickly revealed to be the work of a bot, using various images stolen from Pinterest and Instagram. The main image of "her" throwing the DVD away was clearly an image of a man's hand, but by the time the tweet was exposed and the account suspended, the damage had been done.

As is typical of social media, trolls and people with pre-existing political agendas latched onto Bailey’s casting as a means to stir the pot and encourage further hostility. It helped to soak up so much of the excitement from the news, allowing once more for the narrative to be defined by hate. Instead of focusing on the genuinely great news of Bailey’s inclusion in a major project that holds decades of importance to Disney, racism defined the story, and it allowed once more for nasty right-wing hate campaigns to pretend there was a real backlash at play here rather than simple bigotry.

I for one, am very excited for this casting. I remember seeing this young star performing on the Macy thanksgiving day parade and now she’s nominated for Grammys, on a hit TV show and now the lead of a Disney movie. I’m so proud of this young sister. I’m loving the success her and her sister have been achieving and I know this version of the little mermaid is going to be special for the little girls growing up watching it. Representation matters. Growing up in the 90’s, there wasn’t much representation of ourselves in media and what what was in the media usually had glorify the lifestyle of gangsters, thugs, drug dealers and everything else we didn’t want kids to emulate (but eventually would since their only entertainment was hip hop & R&B). I know for a fact I will be seeing this film in theaters and I honestly can’t wait to see the modern/Live action version of the musical sequence “Under the sea”!

Sony is finally getting  back on track with the Spiderman franchise (with Marvel helping every step of the way). I honestly didn’t know how this film would live up after Infinity War and End Game but its the perfect ending to the infinity saga if you ask me, and maybe.. one of the best spider man films I’ve ever seen (besides into the spider verse).

Spider-Man: Far From Home is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and the twenty-third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Jon Watts, written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, and Jake Gyllenhaal. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Parker is recruited by Nick Fury and Mysterio to face elemental threats from another dimension while he is on a school trip to Europe.

Defiantly a must see for any marvel or Spiderman fan. If you haven’t seen any Spiderman films, you can enjoy it but this film is really fan service. Fan service for the ones who love the Mysterio character, those who want to see Peter tell MJ how he really feels, how soon does she find out that he’s Spiderman (Look at the old films with Tobey McGuire and see how long it took MJ to find out before and you’ll get your answer), does he every accepts the responsibility that comes with his great power? Funny enough its the same stuff over and over again if you read the comics and watch the show, just told in a different medium but hey, I love it. 10 out of 10.

Last Saturday, I went to the movies for a triple feature and for the second movie of the day, I saw "Child's play" (the 2019 movie) and it is a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. Child's Play is a 2019 American slasher film directed by Lars Klevberg and written by Tyler Burton Smith. It serves as a remake and reboot of the 1988 film of the same title, following a family that is terrorized by a high-tech doll that rejects its programming and becomes self-aware. The film stars Gabriel Bateman, Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry, with Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky. I wanted to see this film knowing there’s basically two different Chucky franchises now. 

In February 2018, it was announced that a television series is in development with involvement from franchise creator Don Mancini, and producer David Kirschner. The show will share continuity with the original film series, and be a continuation of that story. Mancini stated that besides the TV series, feature films will still continue to be developed. By June of the same year, it was confirmed that Brad Dourif would return for the 8-part series to voice Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray. The film was officially announced in July 2018, developing at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer without the involvement of franchise creator Don Mancini or Brad Dourif. Lars Klevberg and writer Tyler Burton Smith signed on as director and screenwriter, respectively, alongside It producers Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg. 

The film has stranger thing/The goonies meets iRobot, Eagle Eye & small soldier vibes and I’m really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Someone asked me if I had to pick between the classic Chucky/Child's play movie and the new one, which one do I prefer and I couldn’t give a proper answer. It’s not the same movie. It’s two different movies to be exact. One film is about a serial killer possessed doll who’s try to get back into his body (and later, the body of the child he first told his secret to) where the new film is about a defective home assistant/doll (similar to smart devices like Alexa and the new smart technology Barbie dolls) that goes iRobot on his owner. I enjoy the original story line but I enjoy the new story as well. One of the guys in the “half in the bag” movie review series called this film a cover, in the way musicians cover songs by other musicians and I actually like that way of describing the film. It’s a cover. A remix. A reimagining. 

​Definitely not a remake. Now I do want to see where the “Chucky” franchise is going with the new tv show and movies in the original universe. Curse/Cult of Chucky still lives up to Bride of Chucky (but I wouldn’t consider them my favorite in the series) but I’m equally excited to see what they will do with the child's play universe. I just wish it wasn’t the Chucky character they used in the new movie. It could of been any other good guy doll! Could of even been from the same manufacturer but of course, people won’t go to the theaters unless they recognize the “brand”/IP. If I have to pick l, I love the new one. It’s probably my favorite but it’s hallow when it comes to the personality of the killer Charles Ray. The new doll is a baby robot who learns to kill. Sometimes cute but creepy when it “shows it’s loyalty”. Charles Ray was a wise cracking asshole who could make you laugh after witnessing a brutal murder. Love the update but the classics can never be replaced.

One of the films I’m excited to see is the upcoming "Black and Blue" movie directed by Deon Taylor (who is becoming one of my favorite film directors). Now I didn’t like Meet the blacks (which he already shot the sequel) and though I like the plot of supremacy, I didn’t like the ending but every film Deon has done since then has been an improvement. Traffik was really good (I feel like it had a horrible trailer tho) and The Intruder was even better! I have a feeling Deon is one of those next directors to watch. His films are great social commentary to the world we live in now and are very entertaining and black and blue doesn’t look any different. @NaomieHarris and @Tyresestar in #BlackAndBlueMovie

Black and Blue is an upcoming American thriller film directed by Deon Taylor, from a screenplay by Peter A. Dowling. It stars Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Reid Scott, Beau Knapp, Mike Colter and Frank Grillo. It was previously scheduled to be released on September 20, 2019 but is scheduled to be released on October 25, 2019 by Screen Gems. In August 2017, it was announced Screen Gems had acquired the script written by Peter A. Dowling, Sean Sorensen will produce the film under his Royal Viking Entertainment banner. In August 2018, it was announced Deon Taylor would direct the film, Roxanne Avent will serve as an executive producer under her Hidden Empire Film Group banner. In December 2018, Naomie Harris joined the cast of the film. In January 2019, Frank Grillo, Reid Scott, Tyrese Gibson, Beau Knapp, Mike Colter and Nafessa Williams joined the cast of the film. In March 2019, James Moses Black joined the cast of the film. In April 2019, Frankie Smith joined the cast of the film. Principal photography began on January 16, 2019. Production concluded on February 28, 2019.

​I love a good popcorn action flick. Growing up I would sit in my classrooms, day dreaming and writing out trailers and action set pieces/sequences like the ones you see in the fast and furious movies and mission impossible. Matter fact when I produced my first full length feature "New York Shorties" I didn’t look at it as an crime thriller, I saw it as an action comedy (but I quickly learned if you film any action in a low budget street movie, it automatically becomes a hood action comedy).

Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.

Granted, they shoot these films with 100s of millions of dollars and my first movie was shot for less than $2k but when I see these big budget movies, I become a big kid in excitement for all the explosions and martial arts. As much as I love my indie dramas that express the directors/writers social commentary & message to the world, I do love these popcorn fast food flicks. Can’t wait to see the rock, Idris elba and Jason statham in Hobbs and Shaw.

You know how every once in a while, a trailer is released and you have no reservations about it? You don’t know if it’s going to be funny, you don’t know if it’s going to suck.. you’re just shrugging your shoulders and thinking “eh, it’s seems alright”... that’s how I felt when I first saw the trailer for “The Hustle”.

The Hustle is a 2019 American comedy film directed by Chris Addison and written by Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer, and Jac Schaeffer. It is a female-centered remake of the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which is itself a remake of the 1964 film Bedtime Story. Now I have not seen either of the original films and I don’t have any problem when they remake a film or reboot a franchise with a female cast.

I went and saw both Oceans 8 and the Ghostbusters reboot.. not better than the original but I don’t hate em . I do think Paul Feig is the worst comedy director working right now and I’ve never laughed at his films and feared ”The Hustle” would be just like his films (as of now “A simple favor” is his best film)so seeing this film was purely out of curiosity.

The film stars Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp, and Dean Norris, and follows two women who set out to con an internet millionaire. Anne plays Josephine Chesterfield is a glamorous, seductive British woman who has a penchant for defrauding gullible men out of their money. Into her well-ordered, meticulous world comes Penny Rust (Rebel), a cunning and fun-loving Australian woman who lives to swindle unsuspecting marks. Despite their different methods, the two grifters soon join forces for the ultimate score -- a young and naive tech billionaire in the South of France.

I know I’m going to enjoy a movie if they can get me to laugh in the first 15 minutes and even tho at first Anne’s French accent didn’t feel authentic, her performance kept me laughing. Some of Rebel’s jokes were a hit and miss but overall I enjoyed watching both women size each other up and compete for their territory. Now it’s not the best comedy of the year (so far) but it isn’t the worse. My only complaint is the last act. I don’t know how the original films ended but something about this film ending didn’t feel right. Maybe it’s the “I bet I can sleep with him before you do” or the “team up” at the end that threw me off but overall it’s an excellent date movie. The perfect Netflix and chill film. I give it a 7 out of 10. Definitely plan on seeing the original films so I can compare all 3.