Mini-Reviews - 2021 Edition

Mini-Reviews - 2021 Edition

Usually, I prepare this type of article near the end of each year and upload mini-reviews that I have in store for a few films I didn’t have time to write a full opinion piece on. I’m going to do things differently in 2021 so that I can publish my thoughts on every movie I see this year without missing a single one. Even with much fewer films in 2020, I still found myself struggling with time, so I expect 2021 will go down the same road, sooner or later.

Therefore, this article will contain the same concise opinions you’ve seen in other pieces like this. Small reviews of some movies I can’t afford the time to write 800+ words on due to external situations that might occur in my life. In most cases, these are going to be films that won’t have that much of an impact on my year-end reflection of the best/worst movies I’ve seen in 2021.

This section will be updated each time I add a new entry, as well as its date of publication, so these compact opinions can be seen by everyone at any time.

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Concrete Cowboy (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Concrete Cowboy (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Ricky Staub

Written by: Ricky Staub, Dan Walser

Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, Clifford "Method Man" Smith

Runtime: 111 min

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Cole (Caleb McLaughlin) is expelled from school in Detroit, he is sent to North Philadelphia to live with Harp (Idris Elba), his estranged father. Harp finds solace in rehabilitating horses for inner city cowboys at the Fletcher Street Stables, a real-life black urban horsemanship community that has provided a safe haven for the neighborhood residents for more than 100 years. Torn between his growing respect for his father's community and his reemerging friendship with troubled cousin Smush (Jharrel Jerome), Cole begins to reprioritize his life as the stables themselves are threatened by encroaching gentrification.

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