When James Baldwin lends his unique voice to film criticism as a means to critique American race relations and the black experience, it’s not just movie fans who should take notice. An expert at cutting through the nonsense, Baldwin uses his love for movies as a jumping-off point to explore his teenaged religious re-education, his relationship with the American south, and the lengths white artistic power structures will go to erase and devalue others. Race and class are dissected through clever and observant critiques of films spanning from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to The Exorcist (1973) – with a wide-ranging and surprisingly sympathetic look at Hollywood through the years. The Devil Finds Work is an eye-opening and sometimes grim look at the state of things, yet remains keenly entertaining and often lighthearted in its observances. Quite a feat.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.