Dr. Strange Delivers A Mystical Spell On The Audience By Arthur Byrd

During last year I heard the announcement that there would be a Dr. Strange movie being made by Marvel. I thought why?

I remember the Dr. Strange comics back in the 70s and 80s. It was one of the hardest comic books to follow because of the mystic powers and strange names of characters and objects. I did like the look of Dr. Strange with gray in the hair, the goatee and the cool cape. Plus, Dr. Strange is not one of the well-known Marvel characters.

Then, I saw the trailer for Dr. Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange and Tilda Swinton with a shaved head as The Ancient One. My skepticism started to loosen up.

I would like to start off by saying I enjoy Dr. Strange.

The movie begins in Napal as a sorcerer named Kaecilius played by Mads Mikkelson and his side villains enter the Kamar-Taj, a secret compound and go into the library of ancient mystic books. They kill the librarian and steal a few pages from a specific book belonging to The Ancient One.

As the thieves are leaving, they confronted by The Ancient One. A fight starts on the street with building moving around. It was an awesome fight scene.  In the end, Kaecilius and his side villains escape with the pages.

Then, we meet Dr. Stephen Strange who is an egotistic neurosurgeon. In one scene, he and his colleague and former flame Christine Palmer played by one of my favorite actresses Rachel McAdams save the life of someone who was declared dead. They find a bullet in the person.

With his God complex at an all-time high, Strange is driving his sport car real fast on a rainy street. He loses control of his car goes over and embankment. Strange’s hands are severely damaged from the accident. He tries in vain with experimental surgeries.

Then, Strange learns about Jonathon Pangborn, a paraplegic who mysteriously was able to walk again.

Strange meets Pangborn played by Benjamin Platt who tells him to go to Kamar-Taj, the compound of The Ancient One.

After some difficulties due to his arrogance, Strange is accepted into the Kamar-Taj. The Ancient One teaches Strange from the books in the library. The new librarian is Mr. Wong played by Benedict Wong who helps Strange navigate through the books.

With all the mystic meanings, the movie can be confusing, but director Scott Derrickson did a great job in explaining things to make it easier for the audience.

Strange learns that Earth is protected from other dimensions by a spell from three buildings called Sanctums which are located in New York, London and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Kaecilius uses the stolen pages to call up Dormannu of the Dark Dimension. In the dark dimension, time does not exist and all can live forever.

The movie picks up steam as Dr. Strange must now use his newly formed powers to go against Kaecilius and Dormannu. There are some other things happening with The Ancient One, time and space which has some interesting twists. I will let you enjoy your popcorn and find out for yourself.

The Dr. Strange cast is excellent starting with Cummberbatch. He is the only one for the role. He has the look, the stature in the fierceness that comprises Dr. Strange. He has it all.

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo had the task of being on the side of good with maybe some evil mixed in.

Tilda Swinton was very cool and serene the role even though she hardly change her expression throughout the movie. It is a role that easily could have been given to a man. She makes it her own.

Rachel McAdams is good in the movie with some comedic moments and very touching scenes with Cummberbatch.

Dr. Strange will definitely part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in other movies.

As the credits come up, I recommend you don't leave and stay to the last lights come up and there are no more images are on the screen.

Dr. Strange was a good movie, but not a must-see one. You will get a good superhero experience.  It is a better movie to see on the big screen with its amazing visual effects.  I did see it in 3-D.

I did learn something like Dr. Strange doesn't have a cape, but a cloak of levitation. I thought that was very cool.

If you didn’t know who Dr. Strange was, now you know.

Here is the Dr. Strange Panel from Comic-Con 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naHPJTpPeBQ

Dr. Strange Trailer

During last year I heard the announcement that there would be a Dr. Strange movie being made by Marvel. I thought why?

I remember the Dr. Strange comics back in the 70s and 80s. It was one of the hardest comic books to follow because of the mystic powers and strange names of characters and objects. I did like the look of Dr. Strange with gray in the hair, the goatee and the cool cape. Plus, Dr. Strange is not one of the well-known Marvel characters.

Then, I saw the trailer for Dr. Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange and Tilda Swinton with a shaved head as The Ancient One. My skepticism started to loosen up.

I would like to start off by saying I enjoy Dr. Strange.

The movie begins in Napal as a sorcerer named Kaecilius played by Mads Mikkelson and his side villains enter the Kamar-Taj, a secret compound and go into the library of ancient mystic books. They kill the librarian and steal a few pages from a specific book belonging to The Ancient One.

As the thieves are leaving, they confronted by The Ancient One. A fight starts on the street with building moving around. It was an awesome fight scene.  In the end, Kaecilius and his side villains escape with the pages.

Then, we meet Dr. Stephen Strange who is an egotistic neurosurgeon. In one scene, he and his colleague and former flame Christine Palmer played by one of my favorite actresses Rachel McAdams save the life of someone who was declared dead. They find a bullet in the person.

With his God complex at an all-time high, Strange is driving his sport car real fast on a rainy street. He loses control of his car goes over and embankment. Strange’s hands are severely damaged from the accident. He tries in vain with experimental surgeries.

Then, Strange learns about Jonathon Pangborn, a paraplegic who mysteriously was able to walk again.

Strange meets Pangborn played by Benjamin Platt who tells him to go to Kamar-Taj, the compound of The Ancient One.

After some difficulties due to his arrogance, Strange is accepted into the Kamar-Taj. The Ancient One teaches Strange from the books in the library. The new librarian is Mr. Wong played by Benedict Wong who helps Strange navigate through the books.

With all the mystic meanings, the movie can be confusing, but director Scott Derrickson did a great job in explaining things to make it easier for the audience.

Strange learns that Earth is protected from other dimensions by a spell from three buildings called Sanctums which are located in New York, London and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Kaecilius uses the stolen pages to call up Dormannu of the Dark Dimension. In the dark dimension, time does not exist and all can live forever.

The movie picks up steam as Dr. Strange must now use his newly formed powers to go against Kaecilius and Dormannu. There are some other things happening with The Ancient One, time and space which has some interesting twists. I will let you enjoy your popcorn and find out for yourself.

The Dr. Strange cast is excellent starting with Cummberbatch. He is the only one for the role. He has the look, the stature in the fierceness that comprises Dr. Strange. He has it all.

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo had the task of being on the side of good with maybe some evil mixed in.

Tilda Swinton was very cool and serene the role even though she hardly change her expression throughout the movie. It is a role that easily could have been given to a man. She makes it her own.

Rachel McAdams is good in the movie with some comedic moments and very touching scenes with Cummberbatch.

Dr. Strange will definitely part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in other movies.

As the credits come up, I recommend you don't leave and stay to the last lights come up and there are no more images are on the screen.

Dr. Strange was a good movie, but not a must-see one. You will get a good superhero experience.  It is a better movie to see on the big screen with its amazing visual effects.  I did see it in 3-D.

I did learn something like Dr. Strange doesn't have a cape, but a cloak of levitation. I thought that was very cool.

If you didn’t know who Dr. Strange was, now you know.

Here is the Dr. Strange Panel from Comic-Con 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naHPJTpPeBQ

 Dr. Strange Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM

The Birth of A Nation Tells The Story of Nat Turner Brilliantly By Arthur Byrd

I remember sitting in a movie theater watching the movie 12 Years a Slave. I was overcome with emotions as I watched Solomon Northup played by Chiwetel Ejiofor go through his ordeal of being a free man who was drugged, kidnapped and sold into slavery.

While the 2016 The Birth of a Nation did not have as emotional effect on me as 12 Years a Slave did. The movie was well done with its strong acting, bold imagery and realistic violence.

The Birth of a Nation takes its name from the 1915 D.W Griffith movie called The Birth of a Nation.  Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation presented lots of racism towards African-Americans and promoted the violence and hateful tactics of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Birth of a Nation tells the story of Nat Turner, a slave who led a rebellion in 1831 that left almost 60 white Virginians dead. In retaliation, 200 blacks were killed by whites.

Many people go to the movies for entertainment and movies that have slavery as the main theme are definitely not entertainment.

The Birth of a Nation was not entertaining film but was a learning, eye-opening and heart tearing experience.

Nate Parker who starred as Nat Turner pulled triple duty on the movie as the co-writer, producer and director. He was very convincing as Turner as he goes from slave-preacher to revolutionist. 

The movie begins with an African ceremony where  a young Nat (Tony Espinoza) is recognized as having a certain foretold powers of wisdom, courage and vision because he has ”the holy marks” (3 mole in a straight line down his chest.)

Nat grew up on the Turner plantation where he plays hide and seek with the owner's son Sam as kids. He would steal books from a chair on the porch to teach himself to read.

In a strange twist of fate, Sam's mother Elizabeth played Penelope Ann Miller finds out that Nat can read. Instead of some sort of punishment, she starts to tutor him in reading the Bible.

Years later after living in the Turner's main house, Nat is sent to work in the cotton fields as he became a preacher for the Turner plantation slaves. Occasionally, he would go with Sam played by Armie Hammer to get supplies.

On one trip, Nat observes a slave auction involving a young woman. He persuades Sam to purchase the woman named Cherry played my Aja Naomi King for Sam’s sister on the plantation.

One of the endearing moments in the movie is watching Nat and Cherry fall in love.

Later, Nat is rented out for a price as a preacher to slaves at other plantations to encourage their loyalty to the plantation owners.

At one plantation, Nat sees a slave being force-fed by knocking out his teeth.

The Birth of a Nation shows some quick graphic shots of what slaves endured.

Parker did excellent job as a director and as an actor transforming Nat from a slave–preacher to a revolutionist.

From the whip lashing that Nat received by baptizing a white man to the gang rape of Cherry by slave hunters and the sad death of his grandmother, he is pushed to do something about the injustice inflicted on slaves. All of this, led to the rebellion.

In some historical biographical movies,  a few directors have taken some creative liberties with a person’s story that may or not happened. We as an audience have to take Parker’s vision with one eye open and with both ears listening.

The Birth of a Nation is well done and acted with nods going to Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Junior and Jackie Earle Hurley.

The movie gives a realistic look at the aftermath of the rebellion with blacks being hung in trees with a haunting soundtrack.

The scene with Nat being hung has a Braveheart, the award winning movie by Mel Gibson about Scottish hero William Wallace, feeling to it but he says nothing.

The Birth of a Nation is type of movie that may not lift you but will make you want to take a stand and possibly do something if you see injustice.

Links Here is a link to a DGA (Directors Guild of America) Screening Interview with Nate Parker.  This is very good as Nate explains the making of the The Birth of a Nation.

 https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/episode-38-the-birth-of-a-nation-with-nate-parker-and-jeffrey-byrd

The Birth of a Nation Trailer 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIlUerVomDE