If you know me, you know that I am constantly looking for new music to discover.  Kehlani's new album is a genre that I have never explored before.  I have never explored contemporary R&B, so it was hard for me to connect to SweetSexySavage.  Yet, I hear the potential in Kehlani's voice.  Her soothing vocals glide over the often explicit lyrics.  As a singer, Kehlani hits all of the notes for the album.  It would be nice to see this talented singer/songwriter featured with other artists like Calvin Harris or The Chainsmokers.  The instrumentals on SweetSexySavage are a mix of mystically-toned stringed instruments and progressive drum beats.  One of my problems with this album is the generic sound throughout each song.  Maybe it is my inexperience with the genre, but none of the songs stand out as catchy to my ears.  That's not to say that the music is bad.  In fact, that may be a good thing for a contemporary R&B album.  Rhythm and blues is not usually loud or unique, but soft and soothing.    

Notable Tracks: "Undercover", "Escape", "Gangsta"

Similar Artists to Kehlani: Miguel, SZA, BJ The Chicago Kid

Image credit: ​By Tore Sætre - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50475914

20th Century Women finds itself in a message of hope that could not be more relevant to current times.  The film reminds us that we often feel alone in life, but can rely on each other in order to get past this loneliness.  Throughout the film, we walk in the footsteps of vastly different characters.  The creative streak maintains itself all the way through the movie as Mike Mills once again proves himself capable of telling a story through a less-than-linear fashion.

The story is captivating because of the characters.  Mills (Beginners) writes each character with a separate background, creating a sea of lives that at times can be hard to follow.  For the first half of the film, I found myself wondering what the storyline even is.  In my head there is a story throughout the film, but if you asked me to relay the story I would stumble through an answer.  Involving so many different lives into one film is one of Mills's many talents.  To add to the characters, everything is staged and filmed subtly and uniquely.  Without detracting from the story, old footage is added to bring the audience back to the 70s.  As someone who was not alive at the time, I might have found it hard to connect with the characters if it were not for this footage.

The casting for the film is also quite worthy of praise.  Elle Fanning (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8), Greta Gerwig (Mistress America), and Billy Crudup (Watchmen, Almost Famous, Big Fish) support the two lead actors as they guide both of the main characters through the time period.  The most praise must be given to Lucas Jade Zumann (Sinister 2) and Annette Bening (American Beauty​).  Zumann plays Jamie, a boy struggling with coming-of-age.  His character is easily influenced by his surroundings and other characters.  Zumann is a genuinely perfect fit for the role.  Of course, most of the award nominations for the film have gone towards Bening's portrayal of Dorothea.  Her performance is reminiscent of Charlotte Rampling's performance in 45 Years.  It is subtle, yet endearing.  Just as the plotline is hard to convey in text, her performance leaves a blank slate for praise in this review.  It is blank because of a loss for words, not because it holds less value.

The Bottom Line:  It takes a while to get rolling, but once you get the hang of it you will have trouble looking away from the awe-inspiring performances.

Score: 9.4/10

January 23rd
Gorden Kaye (b. 1941) - 'Allo 'Allo
Johann Ofner  
Mary Webster (b. 1935) - The Tin Star

January 25th
Kevin Geer - The Men Who Stare at Goats
Don Grilley 
Sir John Hurt (b. 1940) - V for Vendetta, Hellboy
Jack Mendelsohn (b. 1926) - Dennis the Menace
Mary Tyler Moore (b. 1936) - Mary Tyler Moore
Pervaiz Rana - Godfather

January 26th
Mike Connors (b. 1925) - The Ten Commandments
Barbara Hale (b. 1922) - The Window
John Peakes - Evil Dead II
David Rose (b. 1924) - Z Cars

January 27th
Stan Boreson
Bob Holiday (b. 1932) - I've Got a Secret
Emmanuelle Riva (b. 1927) - Amour
Gisella Sofio (b. 1931) - The Big Heart of Girls

January 28th
Kazem Afrandnia - Mofsedin
Richard Portman - The Godfather, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Ion Ungureanu (b. 1935) - Favorit

Image credit: ​By Sam Hughes, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18099091

1. Split - $40M

2. xXx: Return of Xander Cage - $20.1M

3. Hidden Figures - $15.7M

4. Sing - $9M

5. La La Land - $8.4M

6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - $7.2M

7. Monster Trucks - $7M

8. Patriots Day - $5.6M

9. Sleepless - $3.4M
​
10. The Bye Bye Man - $3.4M

Image credit: ​By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47865305

The ALS ice bucket challenge helped give people knowledge about the disease that is seemingly incurable.  The ice bucket challenge has helped the ALSA raise money over the past few years, but it was hard for people unaffected by the disease to connect with the struggle that the diagnosed go through.  Through this documentary and his organization, Steve Gleason has brought more attention to the disease.  The documentation of his diagnoses opened my eyes to a disease that I have hardly seen in real life.  As always I believe that if I can learn something from a documentary, it is a well-made film.  Based on the amount of information in this documentary, Gleason is more than a well-made film.  It is a masterpiece.

At the center of the whole story, Steve Gleason reveals his reason for fighting to live.  He brings us the ups and downs of life through his own diagnoses.  Watching his progression through the film, audiences get the sense that no problems in life can hold you down.  You have to fight for what you love and to maintain your livelihood.  This message couldn't be more relevant in modern times.  Gleason's sacrifices for his family remind us that we should never whine about the small things in life, but always strive to create meaning in our relationships.

With a message so powerful, you might tear up and laugh as you watch this film.  Gleason's story is rough, full of sadness and a progressively life-threatening disease.  If you have a faint heart, you will have trouble watching this film.  Yet, everyone should be able to leave the viewing with a sense of satisfaction and purpose.  We shouldn't shudder at the sight of another person's struggle.  Rather, we should gain encouragement to have purpose in life.  Gleason's purpose was to bring awareness to ALS, and he has succeeded in helping the cause.  

No matter what river flows through our lives, we can always float with our heads above the water.

The Bottom Line:  Gleason's vlogumentary brings a touching story of living with a purpose.

Score: 9.7/10 

​Image credit: By Collision Conf from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - _DSC1059, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50226278

I don't think I have listened to an AFI album in 5 years, but this albums is a pretty fun revival for the band.  The tracks on AFI (The Blood Album) ranges from insane punk hits like "Dumb Kids" to slower haunting vocal performances like "Aurelia".  The instrumentals are intense, with cymbal crashes and quick guitar riffs.  The album reminisces on the music that 90s kids grew up with.  All of you angsty late teens and early twenty-year-olds will become nostalgic for the band again.  I'm not even going to lie, I still sometimes go back to "Girls Not Grey" when I need to rewind to simple high school times.  Nothing on this album is quite as catchy as "Girls Not Grey" or "Miss Murder", yet there is plenty of new stuff to enjoy from the band that has struggled to remain relevant to their main audience.  After a four year hiatus, these guys have finally come up with an album that is almost as fun as Sing The Sorrow.

Notable Tracks: "Aurelia", "So Beneath You", "Snow Cats"

Similar Bands to AFI: Blaqk Audio, Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance

Image credit: ​By SomewhatDamaged2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/somewhatdamaged_2/198847747/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3431398

1. Denzel Washington used to be a garbage man.

2. Barry Jenkins based the motherly character in Moonlight on his own mother's life.

3. Oliver Stone doesn't like filming dogs.

4. Damien Chazelle did not have a budget to use a backdrop in the sunset-sequence in La La Land.

5. Mira Nair constantly watched Doctor Zhivago as a child and gained a lot of inspiration from the film.

6. Mel Gibson used to emulate films that he saw as a child.

This year's director's roundtable is a great watch featuring 3 well-known directors and 3 break-out directors.

This movie is intense.  It is not for the faint-hearted or easily emotional.  It is for moviegoers that love the blend of art with reality and heart-wrenching drama.  Krisha was a lesser known movie that premiered in 2015, but gained real traction in the U.S. in 2016.  This film is worthy of a lot more recognition because of it's realistic and pointed direction.  Every scene is a beautiful feat in cinematography as the audience wonders what is really going on at the Thanksgiving table for this family.  At times, the viewer is forced to focus on multiple conversations causing disorientation.  The soundtrack only adds more disorientation to the viewer as syncopated rhythms create an extremely unnatural flow for the plotline.

Trey Edward Shults (Mother and Son) is a name to watch out for in future projects.  His take on the screenplay (which he also wrote) places the audience in a foreign household.  Krisha acts as a catalyst for the film as audiences wonder what she has recovered from and how the night will play out.  The camera pans around the room constantly following each character.  Shults makes sure that we get a view of every character for at least a brief moment.  The story is short and simple, but the storytelling is everything but that.

While a lot of the recognition for the critical success of this film can be attributed to the direction and camerawork, I would go amiss without discussing the stand-out performances of a few central characters.  Krisha Fairchild (The Killing of John Lennon) stands out the most considering the fact that the story revolves around her character.  Fairchild's acting is subtle at first, but continues to become hauntingly forceful.  She pushes everyone to the edge with just the slightest change in mood.  Bill Wise's (Boyhood) character, Doyle, is the perfect match for a head-to-head conflict with Krisha.  Wise's performance makes us feel bad for Krisha, even though she is probably the least likeable character in the film.  Of course, Trey Edward Shults brings a quiet, but powerful performance to the film as well.  

The Bottom Line:  Trey Edward Shults creates a short-form delicacy that audiences might have trouble digesting by the end.

Score: 7.5/10