Starring Jennifer Hudson, Kelvin Harrison Jr and Jeffrey Wright; Monster follows the dramatic journey of a smart, likeable film student whose world comes crashing down after he’s charged with felony murder.
Directed by Anthony Mandler, additional key cast includes Nasir Jones, John David Washington and Tim Blake Nelson.
This movie has thatWaves(2019) feel. Particularly the way that it’s about a young man with plenty of promise. One whose life suddenly takes a seriously tragic turn.
It was so comforting to see Wright’s face in this trailer. I look forward to learning more about his character’s experience of parenthood.
Rakim Mayers, Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Ehle and Paul Ben-Victor also star.
Waves (2019), Alexa Demie, Kelvin Harrison Jr., A24
Starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Sterling K. Brown, Taylor Russell, Alexa Demie and Lucas Hedges, Waves is a coming of age, raw, emotional and sometimes funny drama / romance centred around the teenage children of a couple in modern day America.
I liked the way Waves opened; the colours, camera angles and music, all of which worked to remind us of the seemingly carefree youthful abandon of late adolescence. As hectic, bright and beautiful as those moments were, it’s not too long before you realise that everything isn’t quite right. Tensions become apparent and it’s clear something is going to change – and not in a good way.
Tyler (Harrison Jr.) is a promising and troubled high school athlete unable to truly open up to his parents, so he suffers behind closed doors. His younger sister Emily (Taylor Russell) who seems to fade into the background much of the time certainly doesn’t have the focus of her parents – especially her father; at least not the the way her brother does. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s Tyler’s troubles that end up tragically and irrevocably altering the lives of more than just his immediate family.
Waves (2019), Taylor Russell, Sterling K. Brown, A24
Considering the themes of familial tragedy and some very modern / American issues, it’s unsurprising that I shed a few tears as Waves played. Particularly because of the very real and raw way writer / director Trey Edward Shults’s film captures the emotional turmoil suffered by its characters. Some of it so heartbreaking that I have to liken certain moments to having to watch an inevitable car crash while being completely unable to help.
Waves is the kind of movie you watch for the film making artistry, great acting and the ways it beautifully and realistically captures some of the most delightful and heartbreaking events in the lives of teenagers and parents in modern America. You will laugh and smile, be very concerned but also often moved by the generosity of spirit displayed before you.
‘Long’ is another word to describe this movie. It’s not quite the bladder busting 3.5 hour length of The Irishman (2019). However, by the half way point in Shults’s well-captured and highly affecting movie, you’ll think ‘Yeah, I think it’s wrapping up now.’ Except it doesn’t wrap up because that’s when act two – or more fittingly, ‘the second wave’ begins. And sit back you must, because you’re going to need what it has to tell you, especially after the tragedy of ‘the first wave’.
Kelvin Harrison Jr, Sterling K. Brown, Alexa Demie and Lucas Hedges are the stars of new drama / romance, Waves.
Directed by Trey Edward Shults; Waves follows two young couples as they navigate the emotional minefield of love and growing up…
I’m interested in finding out just how intense this movie is. Especially considering the amount of emotion and dramatics in this trailer. I’m also already a fan of Brown and curious about Harrison Jr.
For a moment there, I thought Harrison Jr. was Dudley O’Shaughnessy from Rihanna’s We Found Love Video.
Clifton Collins Jr., Taylor Russell, Avis-Marie Barnes, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Neal Huff, Krisha Fairchild, Sidnei Barboza and David Garelik also star.
Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Kelvin Harrison Jr. are the stars of Luce.
Directed by Julius Onah, Luce is the story of parents to an adopted son from war-torn Eritrea. Said parents are forced to reckon with their idealised image of their son, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher…
This rather good trailer edit has me scared. Scared for myself, scared for Spencer’s character because no one is listening to her and scared for Luce’s parents. I’m also very curious about what the alarming secret actually is.
We all know Watts and Spencer are great actors, so I can’t wait to see what Harrison does with this role. They do say that dark characters are more fun to play, after all.
Andrea Bang, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Norbert Leo Butz, Omar Brunson and Astro also star.
The Movie My Life 