For Malcolm Washington, an appreciation for August Wilson plays runs in the family. Several years ago, his father Denzel committed to producing film adaptations of Wilson’s Century Cycle plays — a collection of 10 works, each covering one decade of the Black experience in 20th-century America. Denzel started with the …
Read More »
The musical instrument sitting over in the corner, idle but not gathering dust, at the center of August Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning play The Piano Lesson is more than just a piano. It’s a family heirloom, passed down several generations and proof of how their lineage endured hardship and tragedy. It’s a …
Read More »
Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington reprise their stage roles for the film adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. In the trailer, released Wednesday, Boy Willie (Washington) and his niece (played by Skylar Smith) rest their hands on the sculpted figures of an age-old piano, reflecting on the …
Read More »
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence has become 2023’s cultural boogeyman — the vengeful ghost in the machine that now seems closer than ever to possibly “replacing” humanity. (Or, at the very least, replicating our worst instincts and darker desires in a way that’s too dangerous to laugh off.) Musicians, …
Read More »
Name an actor — almost any working actor you can think of — and there is a fairly good chance they are in David O. Russell‘s Amsterdam. Christian Bale, the intense thespian who’s done his best work with the equally all-or-nothing-at-all auteur? No surprise that he’s front and center here. …
Read More »
The trailer for David O. Russell’s Amsterdam preemptively reveals a chaotic story of fact and fiction. Starting with a scene of Chris Rock’s character stumbling into a room to find a “dead white man in a box,” the trailer sets up the story of three best friends — played by …
Read More »