Over a long career Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become a celebrated and beloved actor, one of the rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) Award Winners of our time. Born into poverty on a Puerto Rican farm, Moreno and her seamstress mother immigrated to New York City when Moreno was five years old. After studying dance and performing on Broadway, Moreno was cast as any ethnic minority

For some, redemption lies at the end of a long and difficult path. For many, that road is without a bend, to others a winding and treacherous journey of doubt awaits. To those who have done jail time all this can seem impossible.

Writer/director E.B. Hughes’’s New York City-set “The Long Way Back” follows one Max Lyons, a man who’s  just been released from prison after doing a year and a half stretch for theft.

I've never really cared for the films of Zack Snyder. They may look great as the director gives each one his unique visual style but the films feel empty and badly scripted.

Apart from his debut feature as director, the surprisingly respectful remake of George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” every Snyder film became more and more insufferable. (It should be noted that, as of this writing

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” - John Lennon

Season Three of Aziz Ansari’s excellent Netflix series “Master of None” is quite the departure.

Season One was a lite and funny take on the New York dating lives of Ansari’s Dev and his close friends Denise and Arnold.

Director Luke Holland set about the incredibly brave task of getting on film as many of the last living members of Hitler’s forces as he could, and the result is a powerful, heartrending documentary called “Final Account.” Now in their eighties and nineties, these elder Germans reflect back on the terror that the Third Reich was able to visit upon Europe. But what of being German at that time? Was it easier to just conform when the Nazis were

Hanif Muhammad made the conscious decision to rise above the injustice and poverty that befell him and many in his community.

Muhammad found himself incarcerated due to the many bad choices made in his youth, as he went down a wrong path for many years. Allowed a second chance to rise above it all and break the stereotypes that affected many of his friends and family from

Actor Clayne Crawford impressed me with his performance in the excellent and underrated 2012 thriller, “The Baytown Outlaws.” In a film full of over-the-top violence and macho posturing, Crawford found a realistic tone to his performance which kept the film centered.

His film choices have been uninteresting and haven’t challenged him as an actor since this.

Crawford is back on my radar