Janelle Monae – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – Review by Susan Granger

January 2, 2023January 8, 2023 Susan Granger Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Janelle Monae, kate hudson, netflix, Rian Johnson

It’s not exactly accurate that Rian Johnson’s follow-up Knives Out Mystery is called “-Glass Onion”- because the so-called ‘onion’ is actually a glass dome – with no layers and, essentially, hollow. Having relinquished his James Bond persona, Daniel Craig reprises the dapper Southern detective, Benoit Blanc, in this overly intricate Agatha Christie-like murder mystery set on a luxurious private island that’s populated by a motley assortment of colorful guests. Problem is: despite some intriguing cameos, none of the cast of characters in this whodunit is remotely likeable, so why should we care who murdered whom?

Reviews

GLASS ONION – Review by Martha K Baker

December 19, 2022March 5, 2023 Martha K. Baker Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, glass onion, Janelle Monae, kate hudson, knives out, netflix, Rian Johnson

Gone are the cardigans and libraries. Gone the bookish air of a British mystery. Gone the cozy. In their familiar places are technology, a pandemic, wizardry, and glass galore. Writer/director Rian Johnson created a blockbuster with Knives Out, appealing to British mystery fans. He’s now created a much noisier, more intricate, more boisterous mystery but, nonetheless, an intriguing one.

Reviews

ANTEBELLUM – Review by Susan Granger

December 2, 2020December 5, 2020 Susan Granger Antebellum, Christopher Renz, gabourey sidibe, Gerard Bush, horror, Janelle Monae, Jena Malone

If you’re into bizarre, off-beat films, consider this Prime Video ‘historic horror.’ It begins with a slave, Eden (Janelle Monae), enduring agonizing brutality on a Southern plantation sometime during the Civil War. She’d love to escape but…then there’s a time-travel element. Unfortunately, there’s no way to discuss this basic premise without spoiling it.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Monae’s ANTIBELLUM gets Premium On-Demand release – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 1, 2020September 6, 2020 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments Antebellum, Christopher Renz, Gerard Bush, Janelle Monae, On-Demand, twiw, week in women

Lionsgate has announced that its compelling, highly anticipated horror-thriller Antebellum, starring Janelle Monáe, will premiere as a Premium On-Demand release, debuting on all platforms on September 18. Written and directed by advocacy filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, the mind-bending horror-thriller will be released theatrically in select international markets.

Movie of the Week Reviews

AWFJ Movie of the Week, January 6 to 12: HIDDEN FIGURES

January 1, 2017August 7, 2019 Dorothy Woodend 0 Comments hidden figures, Janelle Monae, jeanne wolf, jennifer merin, Jim Parsons, KevinCostner, kirsten dunst, Mahershala Ali, nell minow, octabia spencer, Sandra Kraisirideja, taraji p. henson, Theodore Melfi

History has a way of disappearing women, particularly women of color. Based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures dramatizes the true stories of African-American women whose brilliant mathematical skills guided NASA’s space shots. The film’s title refers to both the women and the math. Opening January 6, 2017, AWFJ’s Movie of the Week is Hidden Figures,
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General Archives Interviews Reviews Women on Film

HIDDEN FIGURES stars on how working at NASA in the 1960s is a little like Hollywood — interview by Stephanie Merry

December 24, 2016January 2, 2017 Stephanie Merry 0 Comments hidden figures, Janelle Monae, octavia spencer, taraji p. henson

“Any upward movement for one of us is upward movement for all,” Octavia Spencer said. “If we don’t get there

Movie of the Week Reviews

AWFJ Movie of the Week, October 17 – October 21: Moonlight

October 16, 2016June 8, 2020 Dorothy Woodend 0 Comments Andre Holland, Ashton Sanders, Barry Jenkins, Janelle Monae, Moonlight, Movie of the Week, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes

The eight-year gap between Barry Jenkin’s first film Medicine for Melancholy and his sophomore follow-up Moonlight has been a source of some considerable anxiety for all the cinephiles eagerly awaiting Jenkins’s new work. Opening Oct. 21, AWFJ’s Movie of the Week is Moonlight, a political work in that it posits the experience of being black in the US, not with the triumphant exceptionalism of a film like The Birth of a Nation, but with attention and care to a common and shared humanity. Read More…