Author Archives: Dwight Brown

By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Festival Movie fans attending the 29th PAFF could watch its choice programming on a streaming app or computers, versus making the annual pilgrimage to Los Angeles. The setting is different, but the usual array of international African diaspora films is still impressive. Check out these four festival films […]

Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy star in COMING 2 AMERICA By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic Nothing wrong with a little nostalgia. But if you’re looking for a comedy revelation, this isn’t it. It’s an ‘80s throwback with a comic superstar, his merrymen/women and a tinge of Wakanda fever. Grab a seat and […]

White Tiger. Rajkummar Rao as Ashok, Priyanka Chopra as Pinky Madam, Adarsh Gourav as Balram in White Tiger. Cr. Tejinder Singh Khamkha/NETFLIX © 2020 By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire film critic Is this just another passive servant movie, like Gone With the Wind, The Help, or Roma? Or does it have a new kick? […]

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic It may be 2021’s first viable COVID-themed movie. Hopefully it’s not the best we can expect.  Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Audiences who’ve been locked down, pent up, frustrated and emotionally frayed will relate. Life with the virus has been hard and […]

Nnamdi Asomugha as Robert Halloway and Tessa Thompson as Sylvie Parker in “Sylvie’s Love.” (Courtesy Photo) By Dwight Brown NNPA Newswire Film Critic (NNPA NEWSWIRE) —It’s love at first sight. That’s true for the couple in this romantic period film and for audiences who will be transfixed by the stunningly beautiful footage. It’s the summer […]

Photo of Billie Holiday. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic She had an enigmatic presence. A unique, restrained voice with distinctive phrasing. Wrote and sang the iconic protest song “Strange Fruit.” That’s her. Billie Holiday. Lady Day. Died too young and now a faint memory. Eleanora Fagan […]

By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic Upon hearing the premise of this film, involving an 86-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old Senegalese immigrant, you might think you’re in for 94 minutes of sentimental drama. In some ways, maybe so. In others not. But out of an abundance of caution, keep a box […]

Omari Hardwick and Loretta Devine in Spell By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic Omari Hardwick’s and Loretta Devine’s performances elevate this horror/suspense/thriller in ways the script may never have imagined. Devine, especially, steals scenes and makes her venomously evil character devilish beyond redemption. Think back to the 1990 film Misery, which was based […]

Steve McQueen’s “Mangrove” tells the story of the Mangrove Nine, Black defendants put on trial in 1971 after taking part in protests against police raids of the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill in London, England. (Courtesy Photo) By Dwight Brown NNPA Newswire Film Critic The lineup at the 2020 New York Film Festival (NYFF) included […]