The Many Saints of Newark

Dickie (far right) and family

The pre-publicity for The Many Saints of Newark made much ā€“ all, actually ā€“ of the fact that this was the origin story of Tony Soprano, fictional mob boss and kingpin of the TV show The Sopranos. Take a quick look at the IMDb page and there, at the very top, the blurb says ā€“ ā€œWitness the making of Tony Soprano.ā€ The casting of Michael Gandolfini, son of James (who played Tony Soprano in the TV series), reinforced the idea ā€“ hereā€™s how Tony Soprano became Tony Soprano. But. But. But. Whatever The Many Saints of Newark is, what it certainly isnā€™t is a film about Tony Soprano. Heā€™s at best peripheral to … Read more

One Night in Miami

Sam, Cassius, Malcom and Jim

What did Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X all talk about when they met to celebrate on the night of Aliā€™s victory over Sonny Liston in January 1964? It’s a fascinating  question that One Night in Miami asks. The answer, in reality, is nothing, since the meeting never took place. But Kemp Powersā€™s  play imagined that it did, and it didnā€™t do the box office any harm. Now Regina Kingā€™s silky and understated direction brings it to a wider audience. Ali wasnā€™t called Ali back then. He was still using his birth name, Cassius Clay, a fact that boomers will already know since Ali is part of their programming. For … Read more