Category: Sunday Soapbox

Written by malikaziz

Take Nothing for Granted

So, I could have very, very easily been murdered today.   I found myself Downtown this afternoon.  Not L.A. Live, more the residential neighborhoods.  I was wrapping up my affairs as a nearby high school was letting out. One set of boys walking down the street I was on starts shit talking another set of boys […]

Written by malikaziz

‘Roma’

I don’t know if this particular film needed the help, but first off let me say Netflix is getting better at playing to the eyes and ears of the film geek community.  I got to see ‘Roma’ at the Directors Guild over Thanksgiving weekend, on the big screen the way I’m sure Alfonso Cuaron (and […]

Written by malikaziz

Psalms 118:22

In no particular order, thank you… Mom, Pops, Sheena, the Fradieus, Darryl, Tara, Brittany, Tawana, Shannon, my ‘Fan Club’, Steve, Lorenzo, Leo, Jermaine, the Asian Delegation and my Age of Learning family, Nathan and Saba, Jay, Tish, Alfred and Amber, Adrian and Aida, Ben, Terrance, Brandon, Akela, Aaron, my Jayhawk family, Larvell and April, the […]

Written by malikaziz

‘Mary Poppins Returns’

So here’s my disclaimer: I have more vivid memories of the Simpsons’ ‘Sherry Bobbins’ episode than I do if the original ‘Mary Poppins’.  In my mind now, the original film is more certain iconic songs and clips than remembering the plot of the actual movie. So, I doubt the new film will become as iconic […]

Written by malikaziz

‘Jinn’

  So, a film about a young convert finding her place (and herself) as a Muslim while also coming into her own as a young adult.  You would not be wrong to deduce that I’m cheering for this film to succeed on several levels, whether it’s a good film or not. But the debut film […]

Written by malikaziz

‘The Front Runner’

  Like Jason Reitman, I’m old enough to remember hearing the names ‘Gary Hart’ and ‘Donna Rice’ on the news, but way too young to have any context for it at the time. ‘The Front Runner’ makes its case as one of those ‘pop culture turning points’ where our obsessions with the personal lives of […]

Written by malikaziz

‘Beautiful Boy’

  I knew the subject matter of this film, and it’s still not an easy two hours. Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell carry this two hander, about the relationship of a father and son, as the son has a lifelong fight with drug addiction.  Every family has some version of this: the person you love […]

Written by malikaziz

Video of the Day – ‘Ocean’s 11 Ending’

  It occurred to me today that this will (probably) be the first year in at least a decade that I don’t hit up Vegas. Two things: At this point, I’ve done ‘Vegas Birthday’, ‘UFC Fight Weekend in Vegas,’ ‘Hangover in Vegas’, ‘New Year’s in Vegas’… there’s not really any all new variations I haven’t […]