They like the blues just fine. They just don't like the people who make it.

Sinners — 2.5/5

If we are to judge how much I like a movie by how much I like talking about it, this would be a five out of five. Unfortunately, my line of conversation drifts towards "this movie sucks ass, wtf." I shouldn't write a review in anger, but in my planned cooldown time, it got nominated for a record-breaking amount of awards. I went down, down, down and the flames went higher. I should be excited that a 'From Dusk Till Dawn'-esque vampire flick is nominated for our nation's most prestigious honor, and instead I'm just sad it wasn't 'From Dusk Till Dawn.' 'Sinners' takes an hour to gather its characters, its long length meant to imply that the connections between them would form the pillars of some larger tent. This is not true. You would also assume that each character may have needed that time for us to understand their characterization. This is not true. Each character, essentially summed up as 'a cool dude,' is in their own story, tenuously connected. The movie then touches on a couple of bigger ideas. Preacherboy's intro/outro, and one interesting (and also a little cheesy?) scene in the middle talk of music that pierces the veil, that connects past and future, and of gifts that should be pushed aside lest they invite in the devil. That's interesting! Unfortunately it's not what the movie is about. Maybe it's about white people stealing from black culture? That's interesting! Unfortunately it's not what the movie is about. The white person also kills other white people and isn't all that interested in the black culture so much as they are interested in The Chosen One and his larger gifts; and also eating people. But there's really just one scene that breaks me, and it makes me feel like an idiot because it feels like the "BuT tHe PloT HoLe' crowd, but it really took me out of the movie and allowed me no entry back. Smoke has to kill someone who has asked that they be killed before they turn; this person has gifts; but different gifts than the other gifted one; the vampires have not to then been interested in this person. Once this person is killed, their plans are ruined? And they all collectively leave the barn? Frightened? Even though they outnumber the survivors 10:1? And showed no care for this person? And then Delroy Lindo (always a pleasure) opens his arms with a broken bottle and invites them back in as a distraction so the others can escape? Even though the vampires had left? Disconnected storylines and bland characters and large holes in movies are just bad fucking writing, people, what the fuck. It makes no goddamn sense. This movie is fine enough, it's fun enough, I enjoyed the vampires!, but jesus fucking christ, in no way in no world is this special. In a larger sense, this just makes me look harder at the past and I don't think I really love anything Ryan Coogler's done? I like his accent but Fruitvale Station was fine, The Black Panther 1 and 2 were fine, and 2 significantly worse, I couldn't care less about the Creed franchise, and now this. What the fuck am I missing? In some other world, I'd feel crazy, but you know what, I like my life and where I've ended up: y'all the motherfuckers that are crazy.