Movie Review - Sinners

Director: Ryan Coogler
Genre: Horror/ Drama/ Action
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connoll, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Wunmi Mosaku
 
Description: Trying to leave their troubles lives behind, twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
 
Review: In 1932, the immaculately dressed twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both portrayed by a fantastic Michael B. Jordan, return from Chicago to their home in Mississippi, where they hope to turn an old sawmill into a juke joint. A place where people can have a few drinks and listen to good live music. Their cousin Sammie is an aspiring musician, so they bring him along. Together with Delta Slims, who plays his music at the train station.

This town is not an easy place to live, since its earth is still blood-soaked from the atrocities of the Ku Klux Klan. But music is everywhere, blues is everywhere. The twins manage to open their juke joint and their opening evening already seems very successful. But after about an hour, when the party in the juke joint reaches its climax, the film suddenly breaks loose. And I won’t spoil much for you, but all hell breaks loose. There is a comparison to a Robert Rodriguez movie that I can definitely see, but “Sinners is much more powerful and grandiose, and the horror cuts much deeper than you think.

“Sinners” is without a doubt one of the best films that 2025 has brought us so far. All praise for director Ryan Coogler!

Rating: 4,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - 8 Mile

Director: Curtis Hanson
Genre: Drama/ Music
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Taryn Manning, Omar Benson Miller, Anthony Mackie, Michael Shannon

Description: Follows a young rapper (Eminem) in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of life, wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 18: A MOVIE ABOUT MUSIC
 
Review: “8 Mile” tells part of the life story of Marshall Mathers, made famous as Eminem, and more or less plays himself in his film debut. It is the story of a white boy in Detroit, who hangs out mostly in black circles, within a community defined by rap culture and neighborhood rivalries. B-Rabbit, the character Eminem plays, belongs to this community because he is actually just as disenfranchised as the black youth: he lives in a trailer, barely educated, poor, with an alcoholic mother and an estranged father.

The few bright spots in his life are his little sister, his loyal group of friends and his remarkable rap talent. Encouraged by his best friend Future, Rabbit ventures into the exclusively black rap battles, rap duels in which opponents must verbally beat each other up. And the audience decides who the winner is.

It’s pretty straight-forward how the story will largely unfold, no surprises here. Eminem does do a fine job and has enough conviction to keep us interested. And these rap battles are the highlight of the film. It’s a solid film with an equally solid story, but nothing spectacular.

Rating: 3/ 5