Tag Archives: Amazon Prime

16Mar/23

Amazon Prime’s SWARM: A Beyhive Horror Series With an ‘Atlanta’ Tone

March 16, 2023CreativeAmazon Prime, Chloe Bailey, Dapper Dr. Feel, Dominique Fishback, Donald GLover, music, SWARM, taji magDapper Dr Feel

Dominique Fishback as Dre (Photos courtesy of Amazon Prime)

Synopsis

An obsessed fan of the world’s biggest pop star sets off on an unexpected cross-country journey.

Starring | Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) as Dre and Chloe Bailey (Praise This) as Marissa

Where to Watch | Amazon Prime

Release Date | Streaming March 17th, 2023

About SWARM

I will always be drawn to Donald Glover’s projects, whether a series, movie, or new music. He is an excellent overall artist, so when it was announced that his latest project, SWARM, would be streaming on Amazon Prime, I impatiently waited for the show to hit my screener’s queue. Let’s say I was not disappointed by the thriller.

With the writer for the award-winning series Atlanta, Janine Nabers, serving as writer and showrunner for the series, you can tell how similar the shows are in tone. One can say the shows share the same universe with the story, camera style, characters, and similar structures, besides all the murders that occur in SWARM.

As I was introduced to the lead character Dre played by Dominique Fishback within the first five minutes of watching the series, I was met with a visual of Chloe Bailey that I did not expect to see. I am sure people will be talking about it on the internet. We see Dre’s obsession with scrolling the internet of her music idol Ni’Jah, equivalent to Beyonce. In fact, the stories and rumors that have circled Beyonce are used in this series, down to her fan base known as the Bey-hive.

In a Vanity Fair interview, Nabers explained the lead character Dre by saying, “We were really interested in creating an antihero story,” She went on to mention how she and Glover drew inspiration from classic TV antiheroes who were messy but compelling—Mad Men’s Don Draper, The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano—and created a new version of that archetype, “through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman. Nabers and Glovers, combined with the acting of Fishback, create a truly mysterious but intriguing anti-hero in Dre.

When we first are introduced to Dre, she’s scrolling through her social media fan site of her favorite singer Ni’Jah, whose life she solely revolves around and is comparable to Beyonce. Dre is so obsessed with the artist she opens a credit card to buy tickets and doesn’t even have enough to pay her rent. Dre struggles to connect with the natural world and often feels awkward or out of place around others. There is character growth with Dre as she slowly sheds her shy and low confidence into a more confident murdering super fan. One might say she becomes a serial killer, with specific triggers that occur once someone attacks or does not acknowledge her idol Ni’jah.

Not only is Ni’jah closely similar to Beyonce, but even the events/tabloids surrounding Beyonce are similar, and in Atlanta fashion, the writers and actors make it work. Setting up jokes and planting easter eggs for the audience to enjoy, similar to the Teddy Perkins episode of Atlanta in season 2, episode 6, or the “Three Slaps” episode in Season three.

Dominique Fishback as Dre and Chloe Bailey as Marissa (Photos courtesy of Amazon Prime)

Chloe Bailey plays Dre’s best friend and roommate, Marissa, who seems more grounded and positively influences Dre. She has grown out of the Ni’Jah fandom and is the closest thing she has to family. Marissa plays a significant part in the series, contributing to Dre’s wild, murderous adventures from her routine life. Bailey has some great chemistry with Fishback as her best friend.

Outside of Bailey’s chemistry with Fishback, the introduction of the Marissa character within the first five minutes definitely came as a shock to me. Let’s say some adulting things happen, and don’t be shocked when you see it trending on social media. I know I was thrown entirely off guard.

Other guest stars include Damson Idris (Snowfall), Paris Jackson (Sex Appeal) and Billie Eilish, and X Mayo (The Blackening), who all play colorful characters that make each episode worth watching. Their interaction and communication with Dre are something you’ve probably heard from some friend, family member, or crazy neighbor but it’s hard to believe. Although the series is meant to cover two and half years’ worth of Dre’s life, it feels like more with the hijinks she gets herself into in different states.

SWARM has a lot of visuals that set the tone of each scene, mainly when Dre is triggered or has a flashback. At times, the change in environment, including colors, lighting, etc., made me unsure if Dre was in her head or actually playing it out in reality. Much credit goes to the series directors, including Adamma Ebo, Ibra Ake, Donald Glover, and Stephen Glover, for creating these scenes.

SWARM is a thriller with funny and shocking moments that will definitely trend. I have only seen the first four episodes, but I can already say that Dre’s stories get crazier than the people she meets, and it will serve as a palate-pleaser for fans of the Atlanta show. My biggest question is, what will Beyonce think of the series?

01Mar/21

Coming 2 America: Hilarious, Nostalgic and a Well Written Sequel

March 1, 2021Culture, FIlm, NewsAmazon Prime, Black Creatives, Eddie MurphyDapper Dr Feel

Spoiler Alert

One of the biggest fears I had for Coming 2 America was the plot failing as other sequels have done in the past. The first film is a 30-year-old classic which is why many, including myself, were asking why they were making another sequel period, but this film was well written from the jokes to the plot, even the cameos weren’t forced or left the audience scratching our heads.

The plot of the film revisits the moments from the first movie. The infamous club scene where Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) are looking for Akeem’s future wife brought nostalgic laughs. The events leading Akeem to have an illegitimate son by having a one-night stand with Mary (Leslie Jones) were pure comedy. Leslie Jones was in rare form. Of course, I wondered why there wasn’t a DNA test done to confirm Akeem had a son but it’s a comedy so that’s not important.

Playing on the theme of making your path was also written well in the film. This especially goes well with Lavelle doing as a young Akeem did, escaping to America with his love interest, the royal barber, to live his own life. Akeem’s transformation from happy-go-lucky and free-spirited to becoming more conservative was also done organically through each act.

Tying in Akeem’s daughter, Meeka’s (KiKi Layne) desire to become heir to Zamunda and breaking tradition was not forced into the script and paid off in the third act. You would think since there are multiple storylines in a film it would be a mess but in this case, it was just enough.

The relationship between Queen Lisa Joffer (Shari Headly) and Mary was also interesting. We saw the two who both birthed children for Akeem become friends and not have a hot-mess relationship. Mary was even able to bring the New Yorker back out of Lisa as they drunkenly sang and danced the “Humpty Dance,” a great scene and transitional moment.

The payoff for me was Akeem’s mother being the voice of reason while being absent from the whole film when Cleo (John Amos) asks Akeem what his mother would do when Akeem was in a low place. Other women were also the ones providing words of wisdom. This includes Lavelle receiving important life advice from Mirembe, Mary, and Meeka throughout the film.

Music and Entertainment

Let’s talk about the music and performances in the film because there are some memorable ones. King Jaffe’s funeral was outrageous but desirable because he was able to witness it. He had performances by En Vogue, Salt-n-Peppa performing “What a King”, Glady’s Knight did “Midnight Train to Zamunda,” dance performances by the Zamunda dancers. Who wouldn’t want to go out to this type of celebration?

Bopto’s (Teyana Taylor) entrance was also another fun musical set with a rendition of Prince’s “Get Off”. I loved this because I am a huge Prince fan. Of course, the film could not go without Oha, the royal orator that sung “She’s Your Queen to Be”, laying down some of Prince’s lyrics followed by Lavelle’s rap portion of the song.

Cameos and Movie Nods

Some of our favorite characters portrayed by both Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy return from the first film including the old men in the barbershop, Reverend Brown, etc. The newest addition was Baba portrayed by Arsenio Hall who had me dying every scene he was in. There’s also a surprise performance by Randy Watson, whom I waited for in anticipation with excitement at the end of the film during the wedding, I’m sure people will enjoy it.

Just like the first film, the Duke and Duke firm from Eddie Murphy’s other film Trading Places had a few scenes. If you don’t remember in Coming to America, the Duke brothers are shown homeless and broke until luck is bestowed upon them.

Review

Coming 2 America was a surprisingly hilarious sequel that I would happily watch in theaters. Some may argue but I found it to be just as funny as the original Coming to America. The film also has a great soundtrack featuring songs by John Legend and awesome costume designs with beautiful colors by the award-winning Ruth E. Carte. If you are looking for good laughs, nostalgic musical entertainment, and a good-hearted film, then tune into Amazon Prime Friday, March 5th. Watch the credits for bloopers!

18May/20

“Ruthless” Co-Star, Lenny Thomas, Talks Tyler Perry Studios and Life during COVID-19

May 18, 2020Culture, FIlm, NewsActor, Amazon Prime, BET, COVID19, Dapper Dr Feel, Lenny Thomas, Melissa L.Williams, Ruthless, Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry StudiosDapper Dr Feel

Lenny Thomas portrays Dikhan on Tyler Perry’s new series Ruthless. Dikhan is one of the ruthless and intimidating antagonists in the series but, as for Lenny himself, he is far from it. The New Yorker has a heart of gold and an optimistic attitude. Taji Mag was able to find out how unlike Dikhan Lenny really is in an exclusive interview during this COVID-19 crisis.

Dapper Dr. Feel (DDF): What brought you to this role?

Lenny Thomas (LT): Thankfully my agent has a great relationship with the casting director of most of Tyler Perry’s projects. I was thrown in the mix through a self take. Mind you, during the auditing process of tv and movies, there are multiple rounds. Lucky me, I got this role off of one self-tape which still, ’til this day, blows my mind. While putting together my self-tape, my agent coached me and I sent it in. A week later, I’m on set with Tyler Perry. I’ve had some success, so I was not a stranger to hard work and diving right in and getting the job done.

Lenny Thomas as Dikhan in Ruthless

DFF: What was your inspiration for the role?

LT: Honestly, if I didn’t have the proper guidance that I did growing up, I could have been Dikhan. Exercising the demons in my life allowed me to tap into this character. Being in the New York area, the undercurrent is kind of negative, so I pulled from dealing with that and seeing the negative characters in my life while growing up.

DDF: Dikhan is the second in command and seems ruthless, how do you think he got to this point?

LT: Apparently, he spent some time in jail and used to be involved with numerous gangs. Decade or so time he spent in jail, something broke him. In this broken state, he met The Highest and they decided they were no longer going to be the victims of their circumstances by taking matters into their own hands, thus creating the life they currently live.

DDF: What is it like working with Tyler Perry?

LT: It was tough, everyone was trying to keep up with him. I have not seen a person work as hard as that man works. We barely passed a 12-hour day somehow. That is unheard of in television, usually, it’s between 12 to 16 hours in my experience. It was all inspiring too because of the people he surrounds himself with. There’s so much love in Tyler Perry Studios, I have never been on a set that had so much love and care. Everyone was taking care of each other. Also, to be unapologetically Black, I have never been around so many Black people on set in my life. It was overwhelming, so many times it was overwhelming. I was thinking to myself, “Is this my life right now, is this really happening?”

DDF: Who have you developed a relationship with on set?

LT: That’s a hard question because I love my castmates. There are 11 leads on the show and the people I grew closest to are Blue Kimble who plays Andrew on the show and Melissa Williams who plays Ruth Truesdale. Melissa, in particular, set the stage, she is perfect to lead the show because her heart is big. I did not notice she was the lead of the show because it was like I was shot out of a cannon into shooting the series, once I got the role. I was still working before I flew out to set, so I was playing catch up the whole time. When I met her I was like, you are unusually nice to me. I’m not used to this, I mean I’m from New York, we don’t treat each other like this.

DDF: What is the best acting advice you have received and who gave it to you?

LT: Best acting advice was from Risa Garcia. She has an acting podcast and is also an acting teacher/casting director. Her advice just blew my mind, it makes life worth living honestly. She says to her students, “When you get these jobs that you’ve been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is after you have some power, then you should empower somebody else. This is not just a grab bag candy game.” That wisdom really speaks to the person I am going to be for the rest of my life.

DDF: What director would you like to work with next?

LT: Steve McQueen! I would love to work with him. He got on my radar with his movie starring Micheal Fassbender called Shame. He just seems like an actors director.

DDF: How has life been during COVID-19?

LT: I turned myself into an introvert years before this happened so staying inside, has not been a problem. The beautiful thing is, before I booked Ruthless, I was going through a breakup and my life was seemingly falling apart. Then, all of a sudden, the Ruthless opportunity comes along and it was like a defibrillator was used on my life. My lady and I started to reconcile and said we would start to build this life together. We unsuccessfully tried to reconcile before but I didn’t have the tools for it. Now I do.

Social distancing has been cool, we have spent several weeks in the apartment and we have been more connected than before. I’m not missing outside. I’m not missing a thing. I want to do my part and make sure no one gets infected by my doing. I’m curious to see how life is going to change but I am hopeful for the future.

As I was watching the first part of the show Ruthless, I developed a disdain for the Dihkan character and was ready to fight him myself. Luckily he is only a character on the show, so I guess you can say Lenny has done a great job at portraying this role. Check it out for yourself!

“Tyler Perry’s Ruthless,” a spin-off of the hit television series “Tyler Perry’s The Oval,” tells the riveting story of a woman named Ruth who kidnaps her young daughter to join her in the dark underworld of a fanatical religious cult. “Tyler Perry’s Ruthless” stars Melissa L. Williams, Matt Cedeño, Lenny D. Thomas, Yvonne Senat Jones, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Jaime Callica, Nirine S. Brown, Blue Kimble, Stephanie Charles, Hervé Clermont, Anthony Bless, and Bobbi Baker.

Watch Ruthless on BET and Amazon Prime.

Tag: Amazon Prime