Shaft

a/k/a Son of Shaft

Release Date:  6/14/2019; In Theaters
Genre:   Drama
Rating:  R
Director:   Tim Story
Studio(s):  Davis Entertainment, Khalabo Ink Society, New Line Cinema, Netflix
Running time:  111 mins.

Cast:  Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson (John Shaft), Jessie T. Usher, Alexandra Shipp, Avan Jogia, Regina Hall, Matt Lauria (Cutty), Method Man (Freddie P.), Isaach De Bankolé (Gordito), Method Man.

Story:  JJ, aka John Shaft, Jr. (Usher), may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education only his dad can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary locked-and-loaded John Shaft (Jackson) agrees to help his progeny navigate Harlem’s heroin-infested underbelly. And while JJ’s own FBI analyst’s badge may clash with his dad’s trademark leather coat, there’s no denying family. Besides, Shaft’s got an agenda of his own, and a score to settle that’s professional and personal.  Source:  IMDB.

Trailer:

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Details:   Avan Jogia has been cast in New Line’s reboot of Shaft. He joins previously announced cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Regina Hall, Alexandra Shipp and Richard Roundtree.  Tim Story will direct a script from Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow which will follow a nerdy FBI agent who launches his own investigation after his friend dies under suspicious circumstances. Needing help with the case, he reluctantly enlists the help from his estranged father — the legendary, stuck-in-the-80s-but-still-cool-as-hell titular John Shaft.

New Line and Netflix are partnering on this film with Netflix financing more than half the film’s high $30M budget for international rights and will stream Shaft outside of the U.S. after New Line releases it theatrically domestically.  

Back in 1971, Gordon Parks helmed the now-classic blaxploitation film Shaft, starring Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, the black private dick who’s a sex machine to all the chicks. The film spawned a few sequels, and then in 2000, John Singleton directed a remake starring Samuel L. Jackson in the title role. The Singleton/Jackson version went light on the lady killer aspects of the original, and instead focused on a murder mystery.  Source(s):  Slash Film; Deadline.  Photo Source:  Movieweb.

 

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SuperFly

Release Date:  6/15/2018
Genre:  Drama/Crime
Rating:  Unknown
Director:  Director X
Studio(s):  Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Details:   Remake of the 1972 film.  Allen Maldonado joins the cast led by Trevor Jackson as Youngblood Priest, Jason Mitchell as Eddie and Michael K. Williams as Scatter in Sony’s Super Fly remake.  Maldonado has been cast as Litty, a new role for the film, or at least a new name for a character in the original film. The remake’s supporting cast includes Lex Scott Davis as Georgia, Andrea Londo as Cynthia, Jacob Ming-Trent as Fat Freddy, and Omar Chapparo as Adalberto. Rapper 21 Savage is also in talks to join the film in some capacity.  Additionally, rapper Future has come on board as a producer. He’ll also curate the soundtrack.  Future will produce with Joel Silver and Steven R. Shore, the son of the original film’s producer Sig Shore, will be an executive producer.

The original film, which was directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. starred Ron O’Neal as Youngblood Priest, a cocaine dealer trying to get out of the business, and centers on him securing one last deal before getting out. It resulted in two sequels, Super Fly T.N.T. and The Return of Super Fly.  Source:  Shadow & Act.

Trailer:

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Breaking In

Release Date:  5/11/18; In Theaters
Genre:  Thriller
Rating:  PG-13
Director:  James McTeigue
Studio(s):  Breaking In Pictures, Will Packer Productions, Universal Pictures.

Cast:  Gabrielle Union (Shaun Russell), Billy Burke (Eddie), Jason George (Justin Russell), Richard Cabral (Duncan), Ajiona Alexus (Jasmine Russell), Levi Meaden (Sam), Seth Carr (Glover Russell), Mark Furze (Peter).

Story:   Gabrielle Union stars as a woman who will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security.  No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined on Breaking In.  Source:  Breakinginmovie.com.

Trailer:

 

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Monster

a/k/a All Rise

Release Date:  5/7/21; Netflix
(Original Release: 2018)
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  R
Director:   Anthony Mandler
Studio(s):  Tonik Productions, Charlevoix Entertainment, Bron Studios, Inc., Get Lifted Film Company, Netflix.
Running time:   98 mins.

Cast:  Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (Steve Harmon), Jeffrey Wright (Mr. Harmon), Jennifer Hudson (Mrs. Harmon), Jharrel Jerome (Osvaldo), Jennifer Ehle (Katherine O’Brien), Tim Blake Nelson (Leroy Sawicki), John David Washington (Richard ‘Bobo’ Evans), Dorian Missick (Asa Briggs), Lovie Simone (Renee Pickford), Nas (Raymond ‘Sunset’ Green), A$AP Rocky/Rakim Mayers (William King).

Story:   Based on the bestselling book by Walter Dean Myers.  Steve Harmon, a bright, sensitive 17-year-old, stands trial for acting as a lookout during the lethal armed robbery of a Harlem bodega. Before his arrest, he was an honors student and aspiring filmmaker taking street-level snapshots and on-the-fly footage of neighborhood life. Now, Steve is seen as just another young black criminal, assumed guilty and labeled a monster. But Steve and his lawyer declare his innocence and attempt to defy the odds in a bid to win his freedom.  Source:  Sundance.org; Photo Source:  IMDB.

Trailer 1:

 

Trailer 2:

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Monsters and Men

Release Date: 9/28/18; In Theaters
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Director:  Reinaldo Marcus Green
Studio(s):  Department of Motion Pictures
Running time:  117 mins.
Cast:  John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Chanté Adams, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan.

Story:  One night, in front of a bodega in Brooklyn’s Bed–Stuy neighborhood, Manny Ortega witnesses a white police officer wrongfully gun down a neighborhood street hustler, and Manny films the incident on his phone. Now he’s faced with a dilemma: release the video and bring unwanted exposure to himself and his family, or keep the video private and be complicit in the injustice?  Source:  Sundance.org.

Trailer:

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Sorry To Bother You

Release Date:  2018
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Director:  Boots Riley
Studio(s):  Significant Productions
Running time:  105 mins.

Cast:   Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, Armie Hammer, Omari Hardwick.

Story:   Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield), a 30-something black telemarketer with self-esteem issues, discovers a magical selling power living inside of him.  Suddenly he’s rising up the ranks to the elite team of his company, which sells heinous products and services. The upswing in Cassius’s career raises serious red flags with his brilliant girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), a sign-twirling gallery artist who is secretly a part of a Banksy-style collective called Left Eye.  But the unimaginable hits the fan when Cassius meets the company’s cocaine-snorting, orgy-hosting, obnoxious, and relentlessly optimistic CEO, Steve Lift (Armie Hammer).  Source:  Sundance.org.  Photo Source:  IMDB.

Trailer:

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