Review: If Beale Street Could Talk

by Murtada Elfadl

If Beale Street Could Talk starts with Fonny (Stephan James) asking his girlfriend Tish (Kiki Layne) “Are you ready for this?” I have been ready for a James Baldwin film adaptation for many years. Since I read "Giovanni’s Room" as a young teen and my mind was opened to queer stories. Since I was given "The Fire Next Time" to read as I made the decision to immigrate to the United States, so that I know what I was getting myself into. "Another Country" remains my favorite novel of all time. I am biased for Baldwin, for his writing, for his ideas, for his power, so I was excited for this film. I was also afraid. Will Barry Jenkins be able to interpret Baldwin’s howls of anger and despair as loud as I heard them reading Baldwin’s prose? I needn’t have worried.

Set in early-1970s Harlem, Beale Street is about how Fonny and Tish are separated when he’s arrested for a rape that he did not commit...

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Would you rather?

It's our silly aspirational daydream game. Thank you for indulging our curiosity about you relationship to celebrities. We went a little overboard today. Sorry it's called procrastination! Try it.

 Would you rather...

...choose between Pop! Funkos of yourself like David Dastmalchian?
...honor Stonewall and the LGBTQ movement with Madonna?
...hang in Brazil with Trevante Rhodes?
...babysit with Henry Golding?
...rehearse Veep's final episode with Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
...engage in locker room talk with Ronnie Kroell?
...face a new day in Hollywood with Ileanna Douglas?
...taste the rainbow in Hawaii with Woody Harrelson?
...fight Justin Theroux to be RBG's plus one?
...eat (?) snails with Sam Claflin?
...inspire the next generation whilst getting your hair did with Ellie Kemper?
...or humble-brag with show-runner TV creator Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies and Hannibal fame (note his coffee mug)?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

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Months of Meryl: Suffragette (2015)

John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep. 

#50 —Emmeline Pankhurst, key leader of the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom.

JOHN: Vandalizing storefronts, detonating mailboxes, carrying out prison hunger strikes — these are but a few of the risky tactics employed by women in the British suffrage movement in and around London circa 1912. Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette chronicles the movement’s pivot to such dangerous gambles in an effort to draw attention and spark action for the cause. “Deeds, not words” became the new mantra after years of respectable yet unsuccessful solicitation of a woman’s right to vote. These radical activists, led by Emmeline Pankhurst and visionaries like Emily Wilding Davison, Edith New, and scores of others, believed that civil disobedience and militant action were the only ways to disrupt the status quo and achieve women’s suffrage. This crucial moment of history has rarely been represented on screen, save for glimpses of the movement in Mary Poppins or in a handful of documentaries, despite the exciting and provocative elements inherent in this important story.

Unfortunately, “Important Story” could appropriately serve as the tagline and governing principle of Gavron’s misguided though well-intentioned film...

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Watch at Home: Dumplin', Searching, and Leave No Trace

What's newly available for home viewing these past few weeks? We've neglected to keep you updated of late in the rush to awards season  but this is important since there are several awards contenders that are newly available.

DVD/Blu-Ray
[links to to reviews]
• The Little Stranger - Lenny Abrahamson (Room) returns with a ghost story costume drama.
• Lizzie - Kristen Stewart and Chloe Sevigny star in this lesbian drama about the infamous ax wielding Lizzie Borden
• McQueen - the acclaimed documentary about the fashion designer - it's eligible for the Oscars.
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout - the latest installment in Tom Cruise's evergreen franchise with death defying stunts, double crossing, and (this time) Henry Cavill's moustache and muscles.
• Searching - John Cho is nominated for Best Actor at the Spirit Awards for this sleeper hit about a man searching for clues online when his daughter goes missing

ALSO NEWISH: Peppermint, Smallfoot, The Equalizer 2, The Nun, The Happytime Murders, and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days.

Great rental deals and streaming options after the jump...

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This week in unfortunate headlines...

Since we were just talking about Ben is Back...

Thanks to Jazz (from Awards Daily) for sharing this with us. It's from the Post Journal of Jamestown. Do you think someone got fired?