‘Till’ Trailer: Danielle Deadwyler Stars In Chinonye Chukwu’s Civil Rights Drama

In 2014, Russell Crowe made his directorial debut with “The Water Diviner,” about an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey after World War II to find his three sons who never returned. Critics weren’t high on the movie, but it fared well with audiences; at least with those who saw it.

A 91-year-old civil rights activist and education advocate was stabbed multiple times while walking her dog in a Boston park, authorities said. Jean McGuire, the first Black woman to serve on the Boston School Committee, was stabbed in Franklin Park at about 8:30 p.m.Tuesday, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Wednesday after visiting McGuire at the hospital. McGuire's stabbing, as well as the recent fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy in the city, is unacceptable, said Hayden, whose family has been close to McGuire's for years.

J. Kim Murphy Apple has released the first full trailer for the third season of its comedy series “Mythic Quest,” showing Rob McElhenney’s Ian and Charlotte Nicdao’s Poppy helming GrimPop Studios and teasing a rivalry between the pair and their old company. “Joe Manganiello? Nobody’s going to believe he could play me. He’s not big enough!” Ian exclaims in the trailer, reacting to news of the beefy actor (playing himself) being booked to portray the egotistical developer in motion-capture. New episodes of “Mythic Quest” follow Ian and Poppy at the helm of their new banner GrimPop, making a name for themselves in the video game developer world. Over at rival studio Mythic Quest, tensions brew and loyalties are tested.

Danielle Deadwyler is stepping out for a special screening of her new movie.

Ellise Shafer Chloë Grace Moretz discovers a dangerous virtual reality in the official trailer for Amazon Prime Video series “The Peripheral,” from “Westworld” creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. In the sci-fi thriller series based on William Gibson’s novel, Moretz plays Flynne Fisher, a young woman living in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2032 with her Marine veteran brother Burton (Jack Reynor) and ailing mother. As their mother grows sicker, Flynne and Burton make ends meet by playing paid simulations (aka sims). According to the show’s official description, “The two siblings share Burton’s avatar, ‘jockeying’ for high-paying customers to beat challenging game levels. When Burton is offered a chance to beta test a new Sim, it’s Flynne who ends up playing, pretending to be her brother. The Sim takes place in London and it tasks Flynne with breaking into a corporation known as the Research Institute—to steal a valuable secret. When the assignment goes wrong, Flynne begins to realize the Sim is more real than she ever could have imagined. The London she’s exploring exists in the future… the year 2099. And what Flynne has uncovered in the Research Institute has put her and her family in grave peril. There are people from the future who want to use Flynne for the information she’s stolen… and there are others who want Flynne dead. Flynne encounters Wilf (Gary Carr) in Future London, a man who may be the key to unlocking the mystery at hand. But first, in her present, Flynne and Burton, along with his former elite military unit, must rally to save themselves from forces intent on killing them—forces sent from the future to reclaim the vital secret Flynne stole.”

A parents rights group is filing a complaint with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights over a high school theater production which appears to limit participation only to students of color.  Newton North High School’s Theater Ink program is putting on a production in January 2023 titled "Lost and Found: Our Stories as People of Color." According to the show audition packet, "Lost and Found will be a reserved safe space for this exploration and for people of color to be vulnerable and support one another." Parents Defending Education filed complaint alleging that the action is "in violation of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." "The performance description does not assert that participation in this performance is open to all," the complaint continues.  Theater Ink, according to its website, is "Newton North High School's Teaching and Working Theatre, is a student-centered community that emphasizes the process of artistic collaboration and instills a disciplined work ethic." The site links directly to a Black Lives Matter website, and the audition for "Lost and Found" asks students how they "identify racially/ethnically." The audition pamphlet also specifies that weekly rehearsals for the production will include "organized discussions about race and identity in our lives."  "Regardless of intent, American public schools may not offer opportunities to students on the basis of skin color.

William Earl Variety has announced the lineup for its annual Business of Broadway breakfast presented by City National Bank in New York on Oct. 17. Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson will join the event for a keynote conversation about their collaboration on the revival of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” currently playing on Broadway. The programming will also include a Broadway producers panel moderated by Erik Piecuch, senior vice president and entertainment banking leader of City National Bank. The panel will feature Lee Daniels (“Ain’t No Mo’”), Cindy Tolan (“Death of a Salesman”), LaChanze (“Kimberly Akimbo” and “Topdog/Underdog”) and Ken Davenport (“A Beautiful Noise”). The producers will speak about their experiences premiering new productions on Broadway this season and how the business has changed since Broadway’s return.

Whoopi Goldberg has a note of her own for one reviewer of her new film Till.

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki have opened up about the real-life romantic relationship they shared while filming "The Big Bang Theory." Cuoco and Galecki met on set while portraying Penny and Leonard on the CBS sitcom that ran from 2007 to 2019.The two had "chemistry" from the beginning, but didn't start dating until season one wrapped. "All the scenes up until we actually got together in real life, it was obvious there was always something there," Cuoco admitted during an interview with Vanity Fair. "There was chemistry, and we were crushing on each other.That was the whole first season until we actually got together for real." The duo went on to talk about the moment during filming "The Big Bang Theory" when they might have begun to fall "in love" in real life.

Zack Sharf Whoopi Goldberg attended the New York Film Festival on Oct. 1 to world premiere her new drama “Till,” director Chinonye Chukwu’s biographical drama about Mamie Till’s pursuit for justice following the murder of her son, Emmett. Goldberg has a supporting role in the film as Alma Carthan, Mamie Till’s mother and Emmett’s grandmother. One “Till” review was critical of Goldberg’s fat suit in the film, but the Oscar winner was not wearing a fat suit in the film. Goldberg called out the review during the Oct. 3 episode of “The View.” “There was a young lady who writes for one of the magazines, and she was distracted by my fat suit, in her review,” Goldberg said. “I don’t really care how you felt about the movie, but you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me. That was steroids. Remember last year? I assume you don’t watch the show, or you would know that was not a fat suit.”

About twenty minutes into “Till” — the 1955 story of Emmett Till’s brutal murder — a moment encapsulating this conventional, elegantly rendered biopic’s greatest asset arises. An anxious Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), the mother of 14-year-old Emmett (she affectionately calls her son Bo), plays poker in the living room of her Chicago home with two of her girlfriends.

Chinonye Chukwu was certain of two things setting out to tell the story of a loving and lovely 14-year-old boy lynched in 1955 Mississippi for whistling at a white woman. First, the story had to be told from the perspective of Mamie, the mother of Emmett Till. “We had to follow closely her emotional journey. For without Mamie, the world, we, would not have known who Emmett Till was.”

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Growing up in Texas toward the tail end of the 20th century, I was not taught about Emmett Till. I’ve learned about him since, of course. Till’s name adorns this year’s overdue federal antilynching act, and his tragic fate has inspired plays and films, including 2018’s Oscar-nominated short, “My Nephew Emmett,” and now a powerful new feature from Chinonye Chukwu, who gave Alfre Woodard one of her greatest roles in 2019 Sundance winner “Clemency.” Till’s story — that of a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was kidnapped in the middle of the night and lynched while visiting his family in Mississippi — may have been omitted from my Southern schooling for racist reasons, though I suspect it had as much to do with Western culture’s “great man” bias. History, as a field of study, celebrates the achievements of heroic individuals. Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks. Those names were all taught. But Emmett Till was a kid whose murder galvanized the American civil rights movement, and it has taken a different kind of thinking — à la “Say Their Names” campaign or Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” — to position victims in the public’s mind.

Till directed by Chinonye Chukwu and written by Chukwu, Keith Beauchamp, and Michael Reilly follows Mamie Till, a woman who moved the nation with her resilience in the face of her teenage son’s death. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Whoopi Goldberg, and Haley Bennett.

The stars of Till are stepping out to promote their highly-anticipated new movie.

Clayton Davis We have Denzel Washington’s single teardrop. We have Viola Davis’ runny nose. And now, we have Danielle Deadwyler’s lip quiver, expertly executed in Chinonye Chukwu’s deeply moving drama “Till.” Another best actress contender emerges although I wish the film could rise to the level of Deadwyler’s performance.   The sturdy drama follows Mamie Till (Deadwyler), the mother of Emmett Till, whose abduction and lynching in 1955 sparked global outrage and served as an important catalyst in the civil rights movement. “Till” charts Mamie’s grief, as well as her pursuit of justice. But getting people to see a movie about such a horrific event will be a tough sell, even if the film avoids depicting much of the brutality of Emmett Till’s killing.