I Love Boosters (Boots Riley, 2026)

Marximum overdriveBoots Riley's I Love Boosters is a truckload of fun. Gang of shoplifters (The Velvet Gang-- Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige), Sade (Naomi Ackie)) prey on a chain of fashion stores (Metro Designers) owned by ultrarich Christie Smith (Demi Moore); they're joined by Chinese factory worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) and her band of laborers: high-style hijinks ensue. And when I say 'high style' I don't exactly mean 'high style.' Riley does show us the more traditional notion of the image as incarnated by Christie's stores: monochromatic (each branch a different primary color); tasteful (if sleekly elegantly provocative); expensive, with every detail including the employees (who are asked to purchase their own constantly updated uniforms) production-designed within an inch of their lives. The Velvet Gang give us the alternative, wearing audacious clothes that reflect their personalities: Corvette is an ambitious if not unreflective designer; Sade seeks direction…