18 • December 9, 2021 - December 15, 2021
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THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS & E N T E R T A I N
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‘Harlem’ from ‘Girls Trip’ creator is a perfect 10 By LAPACAZO SANDOVAL Special to the AmNews Creator Tracy Oliver (“Girls Trip”) has whipped up her brand of magic in the new series “Harlem” playing on Amazon Prime. The PR team sent the entire season (thank you) and I could not get enough of the “unbreakable sisterhood” represented in this delightful series. The show follows Camille, an anthropology professor (Megan Good), and her close-knit friends who all call the rapidly gentrifying Harlem home. The thicker-than-cornbread group includes the romantic Quinn (Grace Byers), the ambitious, LGBTQ+ up-and-coming tech maven Tye (Jerrie Johnson), and the utterly unique, and unfiltered singer Angie (Shoniqua Shandai). There will be comparisons to Starz’s very wonderful “Run the World” (also set in Harlem) and let’s be clear, there is more than enough room for two shows
(or more) that focus on Harlem. Drama is the key to this series, and anthropology professor Camille brings that dramatic flourish because she’s in denial, thinking that her life is on track in the academic world but the truth is, she’s Amazon Prime’s “Harlem” (Sarah Shatz/Amazon Prime Video) not bringing her A+ game and has not for years. season” (i.e. the colder months inspirThe next character that brings another ing single people to search for a partner juicy layer of drama is the beguiling Tye, to cuddle with) which finds the hilarious a lesbian who is best described as a “soft- and complicated Angie lamenting that butch” and the creator of a dating app she’s missed “big nigger season”—her exclusively for queer people of color; she words, not mine. walks with a confident swagger. The writing is first-rate. 10-out-of-10 One of the most charming parts of the with Camille’s storylines providing some series is how Camille’s voiceovers book- of the meatier lines especially when she’s end every episode, focusing her anthro- acting with Whoopi Goldberg, who plays pological observation in each episode. her new boss. One of the funniest episodes is “cuffing But the real magic is when Camille,
Quinn, Angie, Byers, and Shandai step into their life challenges together. Each of these characters is wonderfully dimensional. But it’s the diva-with-a-voice Angie (Shoniqua Shandai) who will emerge as the find of this show. After her music contract is canceled and she’s tossed out of the record label plush townhouse, she’s forced to sleep on Quinn’s couch. Desperate to get her career back on track, she accepts a role in the hilarious musical adaptation of “Get Out.” The “Liberal Family” and “Sunken Place” dance numbers and set design are “bad-good” enough to make you feel deeply uncomfortable because it’s not much of a reach to imagine a sanctioned musical version hitting Broadway in the future. The future of “Harlem” is bright. Four stars and if I could, I would give them more. The first season of “Harlem” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
‘Encanto’—Disney’s look at superheroes with a magical, Latinx family By LAPACAZO SANDOVAL Special to the AmNews
a multi-generational family blessed by wonderful enchantments. The word encanto is used to reference a miracle that “Encanto” is Disney’s newest attempt made a home for this family, deep in the to pay homage to the Latino culture, this mountains in a town named “Macondo” time celebrating the people of Colom- founded by the Buendia family in the bia. Here the center of the story is about middle of the jungle. Of course, Gabriel
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García Márquez’s 1967 novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” delves deeply into sex, politics, and the bloodstained history of imperialism in Latin America—none of which are quite suitable subjects for a Disney kids” movie. So for its structure and rhythm, “Encanto” leans on more familiar U.S. media touchstones. Here’s the kicker: almost every member of the Madrigal family has a special power and they tend to be self-obsessed: Isabela (Diane Guerrero) can make beautiful flowers bloom, and Luisa (Jessica Darrow) is strong enough to lift anything. But poor Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is the only family member without any evident superpowers. Their mother, the attentive Julieta (Angie Cepeda), has the ability to heal people with her cooking and other funny family members include Aunt Pepa (Carolina Gaitán), a tempestuous spirit with a mini rainstorm over her head, and their shapeshifting cousin Camilo (Rhenzy Feliz) who could use a boost of self-confidence. Imagine how poor Mirabel feels and being the youngest sister, she desperately wants to prove (sans magic) she can support her family and community just as well as they can. Plus she’s curious that maybe her lack of powers means that the family’s enchantment is fading. To that end, Mirabel decides to investigate the source of this decline and see if it can be fixed. First stop, Mirabel searches for her uncle “Encanto” (Disney photo)
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Bruno (John Leguizamo), who left the clan because his visions were so strong they troubled the family. Naturally, along this journey, she reaches out to other family members and there are plenty of cute songs to keep the journey moving. It’s clear that Mirabel will ultimately locate her own magical destiny because the magic of the Madrigals is real, and the dark backstory makes the family even more interesting. In their own way, the entire family are superheroes because their magic flows into the town, protecting the entire community. It’s a utopia. Until, quite literally, it starts to come apart at the seams. I don’t want to enter into any spoiler alerts but the family’s matriarch, Abuela (María Cecilia Botero), takes it upon herself to investigate and it turns out that the ostracized uncle Bruno is needed to help solve the puzzle. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote eight original songs for the film, all of them solid, several of them gems, such as the strongwoman Luisa’s song “Surface Pressure” and the ensemble number “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” and the really fun, catchy rival song, Camila Cabello’s “Havana.” There are a lot of great levels in “Encanto” and it’s a visually pretty film. A new classic? You bet. “Encanto” is playing now. https://movies. disney.com/encanto
