AFI Fest: I’m Your Woman

 By Abe Friedtanzer

Career-defining roles are a blessing but one with a downside. Audiences can have trouble separating actors from those parts in subsequent projects. Rachel Brosnahan is a great example of this, taking off as the title character in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel when it premiered in 2017. Even her CIA agent character in a Sundance selection from this past year, Ironbark, now titled The Courier, felt like she could easily have been a comedienne who decided to go into espionage later in life. Fortunately, the opening night film of this year’s AFI Fest, I’m Your Woman, indicates that Brosnahan may be indeed be branching out and trying something different…

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Review: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in "Fast Color"

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

When it comes to great actresses who haven’t become household names despite terrific performances, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is at the top of the list. In 2014, she was headlining Belle and Beyond the Lights, both to much acclaim. I’ve been a fan of hers since the 2010 NBC series Undercovers, a quickly-axed show that I’m pretty sure only I liked. Shortly after it was cancelled, she had a role in the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts comedy Larry Crowne and it looked like her career might really be taking off. After supporting parts in projects as diverse as Miss Sloane and A Wrinkle in Time, she’s now taking the lead role in a superhero movie, which Chris first reported on more than two years ago.

As 90% of movie theater audiences hold their breath waiting for the 181 minute Avengers: Endgame to be released, this is something completely different...

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