10 things I enjoy about the movie “Sinners”

1. I love how Director Ryan Coogler expresses his stories, one thing I have noticed as I’ve watched his films, Coogler allows all his characters to come to life as if they are real people with individual lives. That makes you wonder what their backstory is. This movie is no different, I wanted to know what the backstory of Annie and Mary is, and Cornbread. He gives us a bit of insight into Delta Slim and the twins Smoke and Stack lives but after watching I want to know more about them.

2. Actor Michael Bakari Jordan… and its two of him, lol. I’m a fan and I have been for quite some time, so I’ll keep this short. We need to congratulate Micheal for add himself to the lineup of celebrity twins, he is now an honorary member just like Lindsey Lohan and he did a MARVALOUS job in his role. The accent, the drama, the dual character change. I absolutely love how we were able to see the differences in his characters without having to guess. Smoke and Stack are very different people even though they were connected as one set throughout this film. They completed each other and stood alone in every scene. Bravo Mike!!

3. This seems to be a well thought out case all around. The pulling of different representations, including the Asian community within the black community, Choctaw Natives, Rimmick being an Irish vampire with gold coins from a different time and Mary representing the one drop rule. This film did an amazing job of representing different cultures in this time frame.

4. The sex scenes, I know this sounds weird to point out, but I love how the sex scenes were not explicit and vile, but they were VERY much present throughout this film. Also, the sex scenes didn’t seem like filler scenes, you know like events that were unnecessary to the film. These scenes were intentional and fit the day of unusual events perfectly. Also, the sex scenes added growth of the character Sammie as the story kept moving forward, he became a “man”.

5. “From the windows to the walls!” Screaming in my Ying Yang Twins voice. The music scenes in the juke joint, seal this movie deals for me. They were cutting up in that juke joint. The scene in which we got to see how the Blues has impacted all genres of music from the past until now was the best historic reference in a movie I’ve seen in a while. It also gave black millennials (and others) a clear reference of those “The Sugar Shack” paintings by Ernie Barnes we grew up seeing in our elders’ homes. Joy, the music scenes brought in the joy of this movie.

6. The small jokes and satire used in this film were perfect. “Naw, we cousins” and the “No vision,” the “y’all smell that… I might have shatted on myself,” and lastly, “that (cuss word), That was our dad’s guitar.” Brought a bit of laughter to this film in the mist of it being a wild ride.

7. This is an original film, the end lol. Case closed. This is no sequel or no spin-off, and there are no overhyped cameos from celebrities for profit. This is just real hard work with an original passion for storytelling.

8. The Lord’s Prayer stand-off between Sammie and Remmick was crazy for me from a spiritual perspective. As someone who learned “The Lord’s Prayer” as a child and still can recite it off the top of my head as an adult. I love the conflict of this moment. We got to see the conflict between the church and the outside influences without heavy judgement. You get to decide how you want to look at this situation. The two different ways I was able to grasp that water scene and that impressed me. I would go back to see the movie just for that scene alone.

9. The fight scene, in this movie. Smoke verse Stack, wild verse diplomatic, the emotions between two brothers making a choice to go different ways, amazing. And I say this with delight, Grace got on my nerves, why would she let them in and then die less than 30 sec later? Lol her daughter was fine. They were outside dancing and chanting, not even thinking about the little girl, lol.

10. The women of this film and how the women were written was phenomenal. I want to thank Ryan Coogler for how he casted, wrote and portrayed the women in this film, and YES, I am mainly speaking on Annie, one our beloved black beauties. Annie was Smoke's estranged companion who is also a root worker who fits the image of a lot of women today but is rarely honored. I loved how Annie got to be a love interest, a healer, a nature and a unapologetic calm power of authority. Black women do get to be viewed in this light too often. Coogler went against the on screen stereotypes of black plus size women and made her powerful. I loved Mary for the very opposite, she was trash talking, loud and not afraid to match the energy of Stack.