Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, National Champions begins three days before the college football national championship game.
Stephan James as LeMarcus James, J. K. Simmons as Coach James Lazor, and David Koechner as Richard Everly in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films
The star quarterback LeMarcus James, played by Stephan James, and teammate Emmett Sunday, played by Alexander Ludwig, ignites a player’s strike declaring they won’t compete until all student-athletes are fairly compensated.
J. K. Simmons as Coach James Lazor and Kristin Chenoweth as Bailey Lazor in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films
With billions of dollars on the line, the stakes could not be higher as their head coach, played by J. K. Simmons.
Andrew Bachelor as Taylor Jackson and Tim Blake Nelson as Rodger Cummings in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films
Various stakeholders, played by Lil Rel Howery, Tim Blake Nelson, Andrew Bachelor, Jeffrey Donovan, David Koechner, Kristin Chenoweth, Timothy Olyphant and Uzo Aduba, race to protect or destroy the prevailing collegiate athletics system.
Produced by Amazon Studios and co-creators Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, Julia Roberts will not return for the second season of Homecoming, though she remains as executive producer.
Homecoming: Season 2 follows Janelle Monáe’s character as we learn more about the fallout from the Homecoming program. The show expands on the corporate side of what happened to the men of the Homecoming project.
Directed by Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk, is set in early-1970s Harlem as a timeless and moving love story of both a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year old Tish Rivers, played by KiKi Layne. Tish is a daughter and wife-to-be. She vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust connect her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny, played by Stephan James. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.
The movie clip shows how sharp and poignant the movie comes across.
The second poster shows the love story and the bonding of the main characters.
Tish knows that Fonny is innocent, and is mindful that his good friend Daniel Carty, played by Brian Tyree Henry, was recently freed after an unjust incarceration. Fonny’s mother, played by Aunjanue Ellis, clings to her devotion to God and his father, played by Michael Beach, struggles with feelings of powerlessness. Tish’s earthly father Joseph, played by Colman Domingo, and fierce older sister Ernestine, played by Teyonah Parris, hold steadfast in their support. Even more anxious to clear Fonny’s name is Tish’s deeply compassionate mother Sharon, played by Regina King, readying to put herself on the line for her daughter and future son-in-law’s happiness.
The undercurrents fill the story including the couple’s unborn child, whose arrival will herald new joys and challenges. Facing the unexpected prospect of parenthood and holding down a job without her partner at her side. Tish must adjust her perspective on the realities of her existence. She visits Fonny regularly, trying to shore up his spirit even as prison takes its toll. As the weeks turn to months, Tish reaffirms their hopes and resilience, relying on familial and inner strength.
If Beale Street Could Talk is based on a book by James Baldwin, charting the vivid emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the Jenkins poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.
The talented cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Beach, Ed Skrein, Diego Luna, Dave Franco, and Pedro Pascal.
The song playing in the background might seem cheesy to some but I like it because it shows how poetic and deep their lives are intertwined. Just beautiful – true love.
Jenkins won an Oscar for directing Moonlight and Beale Street is his beautiful and poetic follow up. Watch the movie and be transformed.
The Blu-ray and DVD are hitting the streets with streaming available as well. The movie is poetry. If you haven’t seen it yet, now is your chance. It’s a beautiful love story about bigotry and family. Both disc sets have deleted scenes and featurettes about the making of the movie.
Directed by Sam Esmail, I am excited about this Prime Video Series. Homecoming is a mind-bending psychological thriller. The story focuses on Heidi Bergman, played by Julia Roberts. She is a caseworker at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a Geist Group facility helping soldiers transition back to civilian life. Walter Cruz, played by Stephan James. He is one of these soldiers, eager to begin the next phase of his life. Overseeing Heidi and the facility is Colin Belfast, played by Bobby Cannavale. He is an ambitious company man whose manic behavior puts demands on questionable motives.
Four years later, Heidi has started a new life, living with her mother, played by Sissy Spacek. Heidi is working as a small-town waitress, when a Department of Defense auditor, played by Shea Whigham, comes to her with questions about why she left the Homecoming facility. Heidi begins to realize that there’s a whole other story behind the story she’s been telling herself.
The cast also includes Jeremy Allen White, Alex Karpovsky, Dermot Mulroney, among others. Here is a very short teaser trailer.
