My Review of The Lion King (1994) directed by Rob Minkoff & Roger Allers

When I was 4 years old, the earliest film I remember seeing in the movie a movie theater was The Lion King, It was the Marlow Heights Community Theater and I went to the upstairs theater with my mom and we sat in the theater. I will always remember the stampede scene and how it felt to 4 year old me when the sound made the whole theater shake and I felt it and the impact of that never left me. It was the moment when the movies became real to me.

This movie came during the legendary Disney Renaissance and was pitched as Bambi in Africa. It merged Kimba the White Lion with Hamlet along with Pan-African and Biblical themes. It is three acts where we see the hero's journey of Simba as he goes from crown prince to prince-in-exile, to finally defeating his evil uncle and earning his father's inheritance. The music here is some of Disney's most memorable and Timon & Pumbaa would become the breakout characters getting their own tv show and a spin-off movie re-telling the events of this film from their points-of-view a la Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. The KiSwahili phrase "hakuna matata" entered the English-language lexicon based on the song from this film. 

The voice acting in this film has to be the best assemblage of actors from this era. This is the defining James Earl Jones character for my generation (imagine how confused I was when I saw Coming To America (1988) and Star Wars for the first time). Jeremy Irons as Scar was as diabolical a sounding villain as you can imagine. The hyenas were one of the more controversial features to the movies when they were initially introduced as they reminded certain folks of the crows from Dumbo, but you can't deny that Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings brought their A-game as henchmen. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as Timon & Pumbaa are again the breakout stars of the movie. 

I can't think of anymore to say than that this has been the only Disney Renaissance movie that I still come back to 31 years later. It is a defining part of my experience as a cinephile as it is for me the defining origin point of my relationship with cinema. 

My Review of Purple Rain (1984) directed by Albert Magnoli, music by Prince

 Few films have been so lifted by their music like this classic. Yes, I said classic. Possibly the greatest movie soundtrack of all time was accompanied by a film that would've bombed without it. Prince's musical magnum opus and his his most watchable narrative film.

Let's just get the narrative plot stuff out the way first. While this is the best of Prince's narrative films and his second best music film after Sign "☮" the Times (1987), that ain't saying much in regards to the acting. This film confirms the timeless truth that actors are better at playing musicians than musicians are at acting in movies (most of the time). Nobody does any real acting here besides the professional actors playing Prince's parents (shoutout to the late great character actor Clarence Williams III) and Morris Day & Jerome Benton who were having a blast at playing the antagonists to Prince's character (very different from real life where Prince was their very strict boss). This is the only one of the major "Prince films" where Prince was not the director and that may contribute to the acting being relatively more passable than in subsequent films like Under the Cherry Moon (1986) and Graffiti Bridge (1990). While the locations in the film are real (besides the interior shots of Prince's parents' house), much of the movie is original/made-up. In real life: Prince's parents are both Black, he is not an only child and has multiple siblings, and most importantly—all the music that appears in the film, including the songs by Morris Day & The Time and the Apollonia 6 were written by Prince alone.

What makes this film so beloved is the music. The In-story had Prince's character be at war with Morris Day over top-billing at the First Avenue club in Minneapolis, yet the music for both The Time and The Revolution were written and mostly performed by Prince himself (with Morris Day singing lead on the final product for The Time). Prince's real-life rival at this time was that other Midwestern prodigy Michael Jackson. Both men were deeply inspired by James Brown. This film and album dropped a year after the hype over Thriller had stared to subside. 1984-85 would then be Prince's time to shine and shine he would. Much of the music for the film was recorded live in concert at First Avenue in 1983 while other songs had been recorded as early as 1981. The Revolution stands as the test of time as the best incarnation of Prince's bands and of the "Minneapolis Sound." As good as Prince's follow-up album Parade was, as a soundtrack it was not strong enough to have a similar effect on Under the Cherry Moon as Purple Rain's soundtrack had on its movie.

As we approach 41 years this July since its premiere and 67 years since his birth June 7th, I think this film will live on. It was, in the middle of the 1980s, a convergence of African-American, alternative/indie, and Minneapolis cultures. "According to legend," Prince had intended the song Purple Rain to be a county music song for Stevie Nicks, but she passed on it and Prince decided to start working on it and add more gospel, R&B, and rock elements to it made the masterpiece we know today. It is right that the movie's ending climax is the title song and two encores (with an ending "happily ever after montage playing over one) on stage and let the music be the send-off of the movie on a high note. 

That's how you stick a landing☔

My Thoughts on Sinners (2025) directed by Ryan Coogler

 These are just some small thoughts I had on this great movie! It has been awhile since I have been to the theater to watch a movie, but this felt special. I was on the fence about going to see it, but the hype got to me and I decided to spend my birthday watching it. It is an amazing film that has really put the flag down for independent and original film-making. I am not a big musical cinema lover, but it is a great film about the blues and what one is willing to give to create art. Although I still prefer Jordan Peele for my horror fix, I was satisfied with this movie. The two musical sequences with Miles Caton and Jack O'Connel were excellent as was the Buddy Guy feature at the end. Michael B. Jordan showed why he is the Robert De'Niero to Ryan Coogler's Scorsese. Wunmi Mosaku was a revelation and the break-out star for me and Delroy Lindo was a solid character actor as always. The comedic favorite of the movie was Omar Miller who takes over nearly every scene he's in after his introduction. 

I did not see this an IMAX so I guess I won't gush over the cinematography like everyone else, but I will tip my hat to Ludwig Göransson for another excellent team-up. Göransson was just as important to this film as the lead actors. And of course the leader that made it all happen is Ryan Coogler, who has yet to make a bad film.

If I have more to add, I may follow-up at a later date.