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AMERICAN FICTION MOVIE REVIEW
Jeffrey Wright plays author and teacher Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a man with a rather pretentious name and the attitude to back it up. Frustrated that he has trouble getting his books noticed by anyone other than critics or even published at all, he jokingly writes a ‘black’ book. That is to say, he considers his experience as a black man just as valid as anyone else’s and is angry that the only books that are marketed as ‘important black novels’ are about criminals and the impoverished, often written and even titled in Ebonics, as is the current novel du jour by popular writer Sinatra Golden (Issa Rae). Much to his surprise, the book he dashed off quickly to poke fun of the cultural narrative is immediately heralded as great and important and he is offered more money that he could have dreamed of for it. Even worse, he has to pretend to be ‘street’ in order to sell the idea that it is real. The whole thing just makes him angry and sick, but unfortunately he really does need the money badly to care for his ailing mother. Chris, Marco, and Nathan salute this smart comedy that may just clock in as one of the best of the year.
DIRECTED BY: Cord Jefferson
STARRING: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Adam Brody, Leslie Uggams, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Okieriete Onaodowan, Keith David, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Miriam Shor, J.C. MacKenzie, Patrick Fischler, Michael Cyril Creighton
YOUR REVIEWERS
Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)
Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.
Nathan Flynn (Screener Squad)
A recent transplant to Austin originally hailing from the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is the Midwest, Nathan Flynn has been a movie super freak since he saw “An American Werewolf in London” way too young and grew up worshipping the James Bond franchise and all things related to Cold War-era spycraft. When he’s not watching movies and being a constant defender of the Tron franchise, he can be found practicing his second biggest love: cooking (having been a chef for 10+ years) and hitting his head up against a desk to write screenplays that nobody reads. He also spearheads his own podcast on the Mission Impossible franchise titled “Mission: Impodible”. He can be found rarely posting on his personal twitter.
Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)
By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.
“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”
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