Plot: The story of the first Black congresswoman and political icon, Shirley Chisholm, and her trailblazing run for president of the U.S. It chronicles her audacious, boundary-breaking 1972 presidential campaign.
Review: 2024 is an election year in the United States, which means we are going to be inundated by countless robocalls and television ads as the country once again selects the Commander in Chief for the next four years. While it is as contentious as ever in this country, there have been volatile and unique elections in the past. Fifty-two years ago, an election took place that featured many firsts, but most notably, it was the year that Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first black candidate for President of the United States. Her story has been chronicled in documentaries and was spoofed last year in Hulu’s History of the World Part II. Still, John Ridley’s feature film Shirley, starring Regina King in the title role, is the first motion picture to tell her story. A familiar underdog tale, Shirley is nonetheless an inspiring and aspirational story that hits the right notes in reminding us what positive political action can look like.
In 1972, newly elected Shirley Chisholm found herself an outspoken newcomer to Congress, where she was one of just five Black legislators and the only woman. With the support of allies like Ron Dellums (Dorian Missick), political organizer Mac Holder (Lance Reddick), and civic leader Arthur Hardwick Jr (Terrence Howard), Shirley makes the decision to run for the Democratic nomination for President. Pulling in young law student Robert Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges) to run her student outreach program, Shirley enlists campaign manager Stanley Townsend (Brian Stokes Mitchell) and begins a grassroots run for the top job in the United States. With the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed,” Shirley Chisholm was the definition of an underdog. A cursory glance at Wikipedia or any historical reference, and you will discover that not only did Chisholm not gain the nomination, but she finished a distant seventh in the overall primaries that year. So, why would that make for an interesting film? Because that is not the entire story.
Shirley is less invested in the success of the Chisholm campaign but rather the spark it ignited. 1972 was the first year that the voting age in the United States was lowered to 18 in light of a large number of younger adults being sent to Vietnam. Using the youth demographic as a base, we see that Shirley Chisholm engages voters without regard for race or age and instead as an alternative to major candidates like Hubert Humphries and George McGovern. Equally controversial was Alabama Governor George Wallace (W. Earl Brown), the noted candidate who stood against desegregation in schools. Focusing on Chisholm’s energy and vision makes Shirley less of a traditional campaign movie despite hitting all of the formulaic notes of the sub-genre. Writer/director John Ridley (12 Years A Slave) includes multiple montages showing the campaign’s momentum and splicing in actual news footage to supplement the era-appropriate costumes and set design. This works, for the most part, but the film fails to make much use of any of the cast outside of Regina King.
Regina King, a talented actress and filmmaker in her own right, impersonates Shirley Chisholm’s mild Caribbean accent, which flares up when she is angry. Along with a mole on her chin and a strip of black on her front tooth to mimic Chisholm’s signature dental gap, King replicates Shirley’s boundless enthusiasm even when those around her are losing hope. This includes a meeting with conniving politicians like Walter Fauntroy (Andre Holland) and Black Panther leader Huey Newton (Brad James). Regina King also gets the opportunity to act opposite her sister and fellow producer, Reina King, who portrays Shirley’s sister, Muriel St. Hill. Of the main cast, the late Lance Reddick gets the most screen time, along with Michael Cherri as Shirley’s husband, Conrad. Most other cast members are relegated to minimal roles, especially Terrence Howard, who barely registers as Shirley’s confidant and future second husband. Everyone in the cast is good, but they all seem to exist to support Regina King’s showcase of a performance, which is solid but not quite as strong as it could have been.
John Ridley has successfully adapted true stories of Black Americans from various eras of history. While 12 Years A Slave was his most searing screenplay to date, Shirley hews closer to Ridley’s Red Tails, which told an under-adapted chapter of history in a cinematic context. As a director, Ridley has not been quite as effective with his two prior directorial efforts, 1997’s Cold Around The Heart and 2021’s Needle in a Timestack, lacking the panache of a more skilled filmmaker. With Shirley, John Ridley starts out using an approach that mimicked the film and video quality of the 1970s before segueing into a traditional-looking production. Aside from some blatant green-screen moments in the early Washington DC scenes, most of Shirley is serviceably directed, with most of the scenes in smaller, intimate interiors. With a heavy dose of era-appropriate music, Shirley looks right out of the era it portrays. Clocking in just under two hours, Shirley‘s closing act is its strongest, with the final shots showing the legacy of the characters in the film, delivering the conclusive message as to why Chisholm’s story is so important to tell.
Shirley is a good story told within an average film. John Ridley’s script hits all of the right notes for an underdog political story, but it does not muster the same enthusiasm as the real Chisholm did during her run for the Presidential nomination. Regina King does her best to impersonate Shirley Chisholm but cannot carry the entire movie alone. John Ridley is a far better writer than he is a director and the limits of his prowess as a helmer show. Shirley is an important story that could have been better and more focused. I appreciate what this movie is trying to be, but it never builds the same momentum as the participants in the actual event. Maybe if Regina King had directed Shirley, there would have been something more vital than what Ridley could produce.
Shirley has been given a limited theatrical release and will be streaming on Netflix as of March 22nd.
It was reported earlier this year that Ke Huy Quan will star in With Love, which comes from Universal and David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North. Jonathan Eusebio, who previously worked as a stunt coordinator and fight choreographer, will make his feature directorial debut with the movie after serving as a second unit director and stunt coordinator on projects such as Violent Night, Deadpool 2, Black Panther, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it was announced that With Love is being written by Luke Passmore based on an original script by Josh Stoddard & Matthew Murray.
The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that the project has set a release date for February 7, 2025. The movie marks the latest in a resurgence of action films by former stunt performers following the success of the John Wick franchise. As a response to the shaky cam days of the past with movies like the Bourne franchise, many action films that feature hand-to-hand combat with multiple foes are stepping one foot back to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema, which showcased longer takes and a wide enough frame to see what’s happening. With films like Monkey Man and Road House, there are a lot of opportunities for newer, fresher talent to carry the action torch.
Although Quan is actually a veteran of Hollywood films in a sense, having starred in pop culture movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, his star is actually on the rise after he won the Academy Award for Everything Everywhere All at Once and is parlaying that to star in Loki season 2 and American Born Chinese. With Love will be his first lead role in a movie and as Everything Everywhere All at Once showed, he’s got the chops for fight scenes and can hold his own with the likes of Michelle Yeoh.
Additionally, David Leitch and his production company are some of the biggest names in action in Hollywood right now. Leitch’s latest project with Ryan Gosling, The Fall Guy, is a love letter to the stunt film world and has been collecting a bevy of praise after the film screened at SXSW. Steven Spielberg would even profess his love for the movie to Gosling at the Golden Globes, to which Gosling explained, “As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter anymore what happens. Steven Spielberg liked it. That was an all-time moment for me. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s a really special movie.”
I’d like to believe that developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone is having a blast tweeting out daily lines of Stardew Valley’s forthcoming 1.6 update. It all started with a stray patch note about fruit trees and has very quickly become a ritual for the most devout Stardew Valley players. Every time ConcernedApe has…
I’d like to believe that developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone is having a blast tweeting out daily lines of Stardew Valley’s forthcoming 1.6 update. It all started with a stray patch note about fruit trees and has very quickly become a ritual for the most devout Stardew Valley players. Every time ConcernedApe has…
We’ll see Terrifier 2 star Lauren LaVera get her rematch with Art the Clown when Terrifier 3 reaches theatres this October, but sometime this year we’ll also have the chance to see LaVera take the lead in the pregnancy horror film The Fetus. A specific release date hasn’t yet been announced for this one, but a trailer for the film has made its way online, and you can check it out in the embed above.
Written and directed by Joe Lam, with Nathan Faudree and Yuke Li credited as story consultants, The Fetus tells the story of a couple struggling to learn the truth about the origins of their unborn child– a demonic entity that emerges from the body. Here’s an alternative synopsis: When Alessa becomes pregnant, it brings up Chris’ deep-rooted trauma surrounding fatherhood. Upon discovering that their fetus craves human blood, they visit his father, Maddox, for answers.
The Fetus marks the feature directorial debut of Lam, who has previously directed multiple short films and a healthcare documentary. The director provided the following statement: “With The Fetus, I wanted to delve into the emotional terrain of Alessa’s unwanted pregnancy, exploring the complexities it imposes on her relationships with her father Maddox and her partner Chris. The fetus becomes a metaphorical antagonist, unraveling both Chris and Alessa’s psyche, leading them on a haunting journey of fear, self-discovery, and the intricate web of family dynamics. Ultimately, I hope this story challenges the boundaries of the horror genre.“
Lam also produced the film with Joe Barbagallo and Brent Trotter.
LaVera is joined in the cast by Rachel Keefe (Poser), Julian Curtis (Are You Afraid of the Dark?), Joe Barbagallo (Ghost Source Zero), Jeremy Rudd (Sons 2 the Grave), Evan Towell (I, Tonya), McKenzie Shea (Law &Order: Organized Crime), Bobby C. King (The Card Counter), Maureen O’Connor (Used and Borrowed Time), Dalton Rimbert (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Santiago Corbin (Video Journals), Marilyn Spanier (Girl, Interrupted), and genre icon Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2).
What did you think of the trailer for The Fetus? Will you be watching this movie when it’s released later this year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The presence of Lauren LaVera and Bill Moseley in the cast is enough to get me interested in The Fetus, so I’m looking forward to seeing it.
The Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection launched on March 14, and it sounds like it’s a bit of a mess. As of this writing, the compilation has mostly “Overwhelmingly Negative” user reviews on Steam, with only 19 percent of over 4000 scores being positive. Fans are complaining of online server instability and…
The Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection launched on March 14, and it sounds like it’s a bit of a mess. As of this writing, the compilation has mostly “Overwhelmingly Negative” user reviews on Steam, with only 19 percent of over 4000 scores being positive. Fans are complaining of online server instability and…
Publishers are always trying to find the best way to sell the latest game to players. Usually that is done in the form of flashy trailer showing off the game’s mechanics and story. But recently there’s been a new approach, hiring respected British actors to explain a game to fans. It’s a weird micro-trend, and the…
Publishers are always trying to find the best way to sell the latest game to players. Usually that is done in the form of flashy trailer showing off the game’s mechanics and story. But recently there’s been a new approach, hiring respected British actors to explain a game to fans. It’s a weird micro-trend, and the…
In deciding on our next WTF celebrity to cover, we passed around several names but in the end we all decided that: There could be only One! Despite being basically blind, Christopher Lambert made a name for himself as the king of Sci-Fi action films. One could say he single-handedly kept Blockbuster Video in business as most of his output in the 90’s debuted on the bottom shelves of the video rental chain. But few performers have made their mark on the international stage like Christopher Lambert, alternating between North American schlock and more prestigious French fare. Despite most of us knowing Lambert mainly for two iconic roles, there is much more to know about this American-born French actor; it’s time we find out just WTF Happened to Christopher Lambert.
But as always, we must begin at the beginning, and the beginning began for renowned French actor Christopher Lambert on March 29, 1957 in.. Great Neck, New York?! That is because Lambert’s father was a French diplomat stationed in New York at the United Nations before moving to Switzerland when he was two years old and finally returning to Paris, France in his teen years. Lambert would get a taste for the arts at a young age by acting in a play at 12 years old and would attend school in Paris to hone his craft before leaping onto the screen with small roles in a series of French films with credited roles as “Thug at the Dance Party” and “jockey” under his original name Christophe Lambert. But it would be the year 1984 that would introduce Lambert to American audiences when director Hugh Hudson was looking to cast an unknown actor in his updated take on a classic story: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Hudson says the casting came down to two people, Lambert and another unknown actor named Viggo Mortensen, but that Lambert got the part for a pretty specific reason: Lambert is Myopic, meaning that he is near-sighted and nearly blind. Hudson loved that when Lambert took off his glasses, his gaze felt like he was looking through you. The film would receive several Academy Award nominations and become the 15th most successful film at the box office that year.
With his star on the rise, Lambert would return to France to make two more films: Paroles et Musique and Luc Besson’s Subway for which he would win the César Award for Best Actor in 1986. That same year Lambert would cement his legacy to American Audiences by appearing as The Only One: Connor MacLeod in Highlander. With how well that film is regarded in today’s cinematic culture you would assume Highlander was a massive success when it was released. You would be incorrect in that assessment, as the film had a $19 million budget but only recouped $12.8 million of that in theatres. That could be because when it was released, critics called it “entertaining, but a total mess.” Luckily, the film found its audience when it hit VHS… you see, kids, VHS was a format before DVD… never mind! With the eventual success of Highlander, Lambert would fully launch his North American career; the only problem is that none of his English language films really seemed to make an impression. His next four films, The Sicilian, Priceless Beauty, To Kill a Priest and Why Me, combined for a worldwide gross of less than $10 million. Luckily, there was some positive to come from those films as Lambert would meet Diane Lane on Priceless Beauty, and the two would marry in 1988, welcoming a daughter in 1993.
By 1991, Lambert would return to the role of Connor McLeod for Highlander II: The Quickening, which actually brought the legacy of Highlander down a peg as this film, which would see one of Lambert’s fingers be partially chopped off during a sword fight gone wrong, has gone on to be recognized as one of the worst films ever made, which can be attributed to the studio cutting the film separately from the director’s vision and rearranging scenes and presenting a stripped down 91-minute version of the film. Years later, a “renegade cut” of the film was released, restoring some special effects and the director’s original vision. At the same time, fans still maintain that the film isn’t that good, and they unanimously say it is better than the theatrical cut, which only made $15.6 million at the box office.
After appearing in the 1992 film Knight Moves opposite his soon-to-be ex-wife Diane Lane, Lambert declined to star in a Highlander TV series, opting to appear in just the show pilot episode to help launch the new story. Lambert would ask for a reasonable fee of just $50,000 for his work in the episode but a French investor balked at that request and had him written out of the show, this infuriated other investors who felt you needed that connective tissue to launch the show and had Connor MacLeod written back into the series, but by this time Lambert was annoyed with how he was treated and eventually filmed his role in the show for $500,000! He would finish 1992 by starring in another sci-fi action film, Fortress (a Best Movie You Never Saw favorite), which took place in the distant future of… 2017! Fortress was a MAJOR hit in Europe – as big as the first Highlander, which is why they tried to break him through in North America.
The year 1994 would see Lambert star in another low-grossing action film called Gunmen while also getting into the direct-to-video business with the film Roadflower. He would finish 1994 by stepping back into Connor McLeod’s shoes for Highlander: The Final Dimension; the film would ignore the events of the poorly received Highlander II, which has a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, but even by trying to right that wrong, Highlander III would only improve on the second film by 5% as that is its current rating on Rotten Tomatoes! For as well regarded as the Highlander franchise seems to be, it appears no one liked the films, with some calling this third instalment “borderline unwatchable.”
But, as many of us of a certain age know, it isn’t the Highlander films that made us love Christopher Lambert. Nope, a certain film that came out in 1995 made all teenage boys stop and take notice. After appearing in another box office bomb with The Hunted and executive producing the Hugh Grant romantic comedy Nine Months, which was a remake of a French film that Lambert produced, he would step into the iconic shoes of Lord Raiden for the highly anticipated big screen adaptation of Mortal Kombat.
The producers originally offered the role to Sean Connery. Still, when he turned it down, they went to Lambert, who gladly accepted, turning the iconic video game character into an iconic film character. Although not everyone was pleased with his casting, in today’s world, where we must criticize everything, some people have taken issue with Lambert’s casting in the film, saying that an Asian actor should have portrayed the character. As I am not much of a gamer, I can not speak to the character’s roots, but I can say that Lambert’s performance in Mortal Kombat is why the movie works. He is the through line to the story and the characters; he recruits them and maintains order throughout the film… he is to Mortal Kombat what Yoda was to Star Wars! It paid off as it remains his highest-grossing film at the domestic box office, with just over $70 million and a $122.1 million worldwide take off a $20 million budget. Unsurprisingly, they quickly greenlit a sequel; of course, when you went and saw the sequel, you may have noticed a different actor playing Lord Raiden, as Oppenheimer’s James Remar took over the role after Lambert reportedly thought the script was not very good. He was absolutely right because Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is an abomination! That wouldn’t be the last time we would see… well, hear, Lambert as Lord Rayden as he would return to voice the character in the 2020 video game Mortal Kombat 11 and there were even talks of him returning for the recent reboot of the franchise that sadly never materialized.
Lambert’s films never seemed to be critical darlings, but the mixture of science fiction and action was where he garnered his fans. After the financial success of Mortal Kombat you would expect Lambert to see an ascension in his career. Still, over the next few years, the only place you could catch him was at home as his films tended to be schlocky direct to video sci-fi action films that I’m sure netted him a big payday but offered no real substance (without naming them, you can just cut to pictures of the posters here: North Star, Adrenalin: Fear The Rush, Mean Guns, Resurrection, Beowulf, Gideon). By the year 2000, Lambert decided to step
back into some familiar territory by reprising two of his biggest roles: John Henry Brennick in Fortress 2: Re-Entry and Connor MacLeod in Highlander: Endgame which combined the film series and the TV series. Both films failed to make an impression and were quickly forgotten about.
Throughout his career, Christopher Lambert has alternated between English-language films and French ones. In America, audiences recognized him as a B movie legend, while in France, he was able to take on different types of roles. After appearing in several films in both countries that didn’t move the needle on his career, including a role in the notorious Richard Kelly flop Southland Tales (2006) and two films with his girlfriend at the time, Sophie Marceau, Lambert would earn some of the best reviews of his career when he starred in the French Drama White Material opposite Isabelle Huppert about a woman who stays with her coffee crop when civil war breaks out in Africa. Critics seemed almost shocked at Lambert’s performance in the film, saying that he gave a “surprisingly fragile performance.” The film has gone on to be hailed by many publications as one of the best films of the 21st Century. With that type of praise finally being put on Lambert’s name, a few years later, he would garner the box office to go with it as in 2011, he would appear in his highest-grossing film at the worldwide box office: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance!Despite not topping Mortal Kombat at the domestic box office with just $51.8 million, this Nicolas Cage-starring sequel was a hit overseas and finished its worldwide run with around $135 million.
From here, it seems Lambert had a realization that being a supporting player in more respectable projects is a respectable career path! He would appear in 6 episodes of the hit TV series NCIS: Los Angeles and would receive a nomination from the Monte Carlo TV Festival for Outstanding Actor for the Mini Series La Source before appearing in the Coen Brothers’ under-rated film Hail, Caesar! In France he would appear in critically acclaimed films such as Un Plus Une and La Folle Historic de Max et Léon, which he also produced while appearing as himself in the French TV series Call My Agent! Of course, he hadn’t completely gotten out of the direct-to-video game, taking the villain role in the Jean Claude Van Damme sequel Kickboxer: Retaliation in 2018, the same year he appeared in the critically heralded Russian language holocaust film Sobibor and opposite Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe in Bel Canto. The following year, fans of The Blacklist could see Lambert as the political assassin Bastien Moreau in four episodes of the hit show’s sixth season.
Although his output isn’t as frequent as in the 90s, Lambert has kept himself busy, appearing in the critically acclaimed Italian film It’s Not Over in 2022 and starring in the 2023 film Dark Room. He has written two French language novels, La Fille Porte-Bonheur and Le Juge, and is a successful businessman in the food and beverage industry. Lambert says that in his early 30s, he had so much ambition, enough for two lifetimes, so he decided to pursue other things in between films as he knew acting alone couldn’t sustain him. He has invested in several ventures over the years, such as a Mineral Water company, a food packaging company, a wine company, property development and the recycling industry. He says that he adores acting but knew early on that he didn’t want to put all of his eggs in one basket.
So, as the question asks: WTF Happened to Christopher Lambert? He became a legend in nerd pop culture from two characters and made a living appearing in movies you’d say, “Sure, I’ll rent this” in the mid-90s. But he is like an iceberg, if you will allow the metaphor. An iceberg is something you only see a small portion of… but underneath, the part unseen is where all the work is getting done. That is Christopher Lambert; the parts you see are only a small portion of who the man is. His business acumen is that of a highly intelligent person who knew that his chosen profession could go away instantly. But the thing he didn’t count on was people like Christopher Lambert!
And that is why he has these iconic characters that have withstood the test of time; he even has some fun with them, as his official Instagram page says, “This is my official Instagram account because there can be only one!” Lambert is a force to reckon with not just in North America but worldwide. He even has 8 films currently in various stages of production. Christopher Lambert is doing just fine!
