|
A grades
Lucky Grandma, a gangster comedy set in New York City’s Chinatown, stole my heart at Tribeca Film Festival. SNL alum Sasheer Zamata portrays a fresh take on Black millennials in The Weekend. And Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, the supercharged teen comedy Booksmart, comes out in theaters May 24!
B grades
Wild Rose, a feminist and Scottish alternative to A Star is Born, lands Stateside June 14. Still waiting for distribution are the fantastic documentaries Moonlight Sonata: Three Movements in Deafness and Romantic Comedy, plus an intimate narrative film that empowers sex workers, Jezebel.
Inclusive TV is on deck with Hulu’s Shrill combating fatphobia and Netflix’s On My Block showing the lives of inner city kids with warmth and affection. Also from Netflix, Sex Education blends British and American high school tropes to make strides on queer representation.
If you need a great movie to watch now, in theaters are inclusive superhero movies Fast Color and Captain Marvel. Taraji P. Henson lends her addictive energy to What Men Want while Chicago-set thriller Native Son, now on HBO, will keep you thinking about race and identity.
C grades
I’m a sucker for kung fu movies and Michelle Yeoh, and Master Z: Ip Man Legacy has both. Amazon brings us counter-terrorist drama Informer, centering a Muslim lead. And CBS continues to be mediocre on representation in its 14th season of Criminal Minds.
D grades
Bohemian Rhapsody does Freddie Mercury a disservice in this queerphobic film.
F grades
We had high hopes for Netflix’s Siempre Bruja (Always a Witch), but the Afro-Latinx show failed us. Meanwhile, I’m never going to understand how Vice became an Oscar nominee.
|
