There was a point in my life when I was a supporter of Christina Milian. I bought all of her albums when it was time to go to the shop and spend physical money on such endeavors. I was convinced it was her song from 2004 “Whatever You Want” featuring Joe Budden was a hit that catapulted her to the highest, if only the label would really get behind it. I had many conversations with friends during which I confessed my love for her as a person and my appreciation for her art. To know me in the start was to know the way I handled Christina Milian. I’m sure I’ve watched her movie “Love Don’t Cost” more times than Christian and Nick Cannon ever did.

So you’ll be able to imagine my delight (possibly not, but sway with me) when I noticed that Christina Milian had entered the Hallmark movie market on Netflix as a leading lady, starting with the 2019 movies “Falling Love for an Inn” where her heroine wins an inn in New Zealand and finds love. Then it was 2021 “Escape to Love” where her character is a pop star who has to sing at her ex’s resort wedding… and finds love. Listen, because I love love and Christina Milian, I am committed to this era of her life.

I was lucky when I turned on Netflix a few weeks ago and watched a movie called “Meet Me Next Christmas” starring Christina Milian and Devale Ellis and something like Kofi Siriboe.

I love Christmas movies. First of all, I love a good romantic comedy, and most Christmas movies are romantic comedies. I especially love black romantic comedies because, you recognize, I’m black and they sometimes star people I know since the Black Hollywood actor base is not very large. Plus, Christmas movies are frequently so sweet; they are frequently family friendly, and with love in the air, hope and the promise of joy are never far-off. Christmas movies are stuffed with good things, and I like good things. I principally watch all of the Christmas movies that come out on all of the streaming services, like “Meet Me Next Christmas.”

“Meet Me Next Christmas” is the story of Layla (Milian) who tries to go home to her boyfriend for Christmas, but meets James (Siriboe) in an airport lounge. they hit and he fired. They conform to meet on the Pentatonix concert NEXT Christmas in the event that they are each single. Plus, Pentatonix… is hilarious in this movie. Anyway, a 12 months later, single Layla is trying to seek out tickets to Pentatonix in hopes of meeting James, who will bring their legendary meeting full circle and begin essentially the most epic love story of all time. But to get a ticket to the sold-out Christmas show at Rockefeller Center, he has to make use of the concierge. Teddy (Ellis) enters. Shenanigans ensue.

I won’t spoil the movie because, again, I like good things and I guess you do too. But let me inform you. In this movie there may be comedy, there may be love and there may be the promise of affection. It has essentially the most random antics, Poughkeepsie and, most significantly, Christina Milian, who is actually great in these kinds of movies. I cannot say this enough: I would watch a marathon of Christina Milian in Hallmark-adjacent movies. She just has that something that makes romantic comedies work.

Devale Ellis can also be great in this movie. Let me inform you, Devale could have a serious profession ahead of him in this romantic comedy. He seems down-to-earth and likable enough to play the male romantic role. And it’s funny. I cannot pretend to know a ton about his film and TV profession; I watched “Zatima” and a few episodes of “Sistas”, but let’s just say the fabric didn’t quite let it…cook. I’ve seen him here and there, but I hope he gets more probabilities to play a number of the leads. I’m not saying his role as Teddy in this movie was an Oscar-worthy performance, but you recognize what, it worked and I thought he must have added a little more bite to the most important character’s energy.

Look, most Christmas movies are a lot of crap, and “Meet Me Next Christmas” is just the best amount of fluff with equal parts ballyhoo. You know where the movie goes. There are not any surprises in the ending. But I don’t think Christmas movies needs to be as twisty as “The Sixth Sense”; Christmas movies are comfort food that could be played in the foreground or background while the family sits and drinks hot chocolate (or wine for the adults in the room). This movie is great for that. Maybe I’m biased because I expressed my honest attitude towards all the pieces related to Christina Milian. But I liked this movie enough to observe it multiple times, not because I missed things the primary time, but since it was charming enough and had enough “shudder, why not” moments that I now got into it to my annual canon of holiday viewing. If you watch this, it’d do the identical for you. It has all the pieces I need for Christmas.

And do you recognize what meaning?

We’ll all… get together next Christmas to observe it together… again? NO?

I’ll see you.

Rome is teetering on the edge “Gladiator II” by Ridley Scott. It is alleged that its collapse is inevitable. The dream it once symbolized is dead. The once lofty ideals of the Roman Empire have deteriorated in a venal land now ruled by a pale-faced emperor.

On the throne is Geta (Joseph Quinn), who sits next to his weeping brother Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). The heart of this Rome is, in fact, the Colosseum, where crowds cheer on gladiators who fight and die. The timeless Scott feels especially at home there. The arena, stuffed with spectacle and violence, replaces the director’s own vision of the big screen: go big or go home.

This dichotomy – a failed society and its insatiable need for entertainment – provides a clever and unflattering backdrop to the “Gladiator” movies. The second part, which takes place 20 years after the events of the first film, introduces a brand new fighter to the Colosseum – a mysterious outsider named Lucius Verus, played by Paul Mescal. And to answer the inevitable query: yes. Yes, I had quite an excellent time.

“Gladiator II” just isn’t as prestigious a movie as his first film, the 2001 Best Picture winner. Rather, it’s a panoramic sword-and-sandal epic that values ​​the need for entertainment above all else. No one in Gladiator II understands this higher than Denzel Washington. His performance as Machiavellian power broker Macrinus is a pleasant mixture of robes and smiles – so compellingly over-the-top that it almost reaches Al Pacino’s ’90s standards.

Inside Rome, there are scattered interests intent on overthrowing it, including Marcus Acacius, a decorated general who has just returned from a successful campaign to capture Numidia in northwest Africa. (This siege provides a panoramic opening to the film, with the armada racing at almost NASCAR speeds towards the walled city, with towers on the bow of the boats from which you’ll be able to scale the parapets.)

Acacius is a loyal Roman, but when he learns that the emperors are only out for the blood of more territory and war, he and his wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) begin a plot to overthrow their brothers.

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In a movie where everyone keeps a secret, few stay hidden for long. The most significant of them is Lucius Verus, a warrior from Numidia who was taken prisoner and compelled to fight as a gladiator. He is the son of Lucilla and Maximus (Crowe from “Gladiator”). After the events of this film, Lucilla sent him, the heir to the empire, to Numidia to grow up outside the empire’s power struggles.

Mescal, an incredible Irish actor “After Sunset” AND “All of Us Strangers” for the first time, it easily enters the arena of blockbusters. “This is interesting,” says Makrinus, taking a look at him for the first time. Lucius Mescala is vengeful – the Roman army kills his warrior wife at the Battle of Numidia. “Rage pours out of you like milk,” says Macrinus admiringly. The glint of mischief in Mescal’s eyes gives Lucius a little bit more character than the average gladiator out for revenge.

We watch as Lucius cleverly survives arena after arena. Meanwhile, Macrinus manipulates him to divert public attention away from the emperor. It’s a wealthy, if somewhat cartoonish, tapestry of palace intrigue for which Macrinus skillfully pulls all the strings.

But the truth is, none of the machinations of power are as fascinating as the increasingly carnival-like scenes in the Colosseum. During the gladiators’ first trip there, they’re greeted by man-eating monkeys. Then it is a rider on top of an enormous charging rhinoceros. Then the piece de resistance: a flooded Colosseum stuffed with sharks. There are even small false islands covered with palm trees.

Now “Gladiator II” may not live up to it many inquiries from historians. (Some issues were also raised in connection with Scott’s recent historical epic, “Napoleon,” which was also written by David Scarpa). But this is not a movie built for accuracy. It’s designed to take just a few bits of history and inflate them into the treat and delights of watching Washington’s Macrinus flail around with a head recently free of his body.

Yes, heads are turning for Scott’s Gladiator sequel. Macrinus manages to throw Rome right into a frenzy. In fact, he does it so easily and cunningly that when things start to go improper for him, the air leaves “Gladiator II.” You cannot quite consider his recklessness after he tightened the screws so patiently and artfully.

Nevertheless, two possible successors emerge – Lucius, who has the birthright to the throne, and Macrinus, who comes into its reach solely through his own wit. Is it any wonder I used to be rooting for Macrinus the entire time? How could you not, with Washington chewing up such landscapes and making impassioned (and relatively accurate) statements like, “That, my friend, is politics!”

“Gladiator II” – premiere of Paramount Pictures. is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong, bloody violence.” Duration: 148 minutes. Three stars out of 4.