Do The Right Thing 20th Anniversary

20 years ago to the day, Do The Right Thing was released in theaters around the United States. Many hail this as Spike Lee's greatest work as it often pops up on various lists of the 100 greatest films and/or scripts of all time. Do The Right Thing marks a a huge moment in the history of black film. Never had a black writer or black director helmed a project that garnered such wide-spread acclaim, and to do it with a film dealing with race and race relations was revolutionary. 

           

                                                                                                 

Do The Right Thing deals with a hot, summer day in Bedstuy New York when racial tensions hit a peak. The main conflict centers around a pizzaria owned by Italians in a predominately black neighborhood. The Italians feel since they own the pizzaria they can conduct business as they choose, however the blacks feel a certain hand in ownership since the pizzaria is in their neighborhood and feels like they should give them more respect. 

                         

While taking a Spike Lee class in college, we watched the film to discuss the issues of ownership and responisbility depicted. The teacher asked us who felt Mookie did the right thing in throwing the trash can through Sal's window. The classroom was split. The white's felt Sal's ownership constituted his freedom in running the pizzaria. The black students on the otherhand understood Mookie's frustration and refused to crucify him for what he did. I regarded Sal's pizzaria as an interesting metaphor for America. 

                                

Lee became the first African-American to be nominated for Best Director and Best Writer at the 62nd Academy Awards. Many felt the film should have been in the running for Best Picture and called it one of the all-time greatest Oscar snubs. The Academy instead decided to award Driving Miss Daisy the distinct honor, a film about a grumpy old white lady befriending her black driver. It showed exactly how comfortable Hollywood felt dealing with race relations. Despite their avoidance Do The Right Thing has become legandary as was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for perservation in the National Film Registry. 

 

                                 

University Paper on New York as Minstrel Stereotype

Tiffany Pollard, a.k.a. New York from VH1 has been a polarizing figure ever since she bursted onto Flava of Love. She was wild, crazy, and coniving. People loved her for being a train wreck, a ghetto-mess, and great, mind-less, entertainment. But others hated her for giving black women a bad name. Black women were already suffering from being stereotyped in reality TV. It seemed like almost every show had their token black, b*tch. Then New York arrived and happily took that role, even calling herself the HBIC. Her success on VH1 is a by product of being this extreme caricature, even so much, her recent show made her into a cartoon. New York has starred in six reality series and looks to be doing a seventh with I Love New York 3. 

A paper was found online about Tiffany "New York" Pollard and how she portrays the new millinium steroetype of Jezebel and Sapphire. It talks about the similarities between the two including their extreme sexual appetite and her domineering, controlling nature. You can read it here. Here's an excerpt. 

As we have previously iterated, the lead female characters on Vh1’s I Love New York represent contemporary examples of two of the most pervasive mediated caricatures of African American women during the 20th century—the Jezebel and Sapphire. Tiffany Pollard as the new millennium Jezebel is typecast in the same one dimensional way as the blaxploitation Jezebel of years past, and as such, she evokes and enacts many of the same troubling stereotypes. “New York’s” lustful appearance, promiscuous demeanor and manipulative behavior make her the perfect Jezebel for the 21st century. And, much like the caricature she embodies, most things about “New York” are a profound exaggeration, from her lengthy highlighted hair weave and thick protracted false eyelashes to the four inch stiletto shoes she dons, she is as complex as a Dick and Jane preschool text.

The Jezebel stereotype depicted black women as seductive temptresses with an animal-like appetite for sex. The Sapphire stereotype was depicted as being loud, overbearing, and aggressive. Does New York embody these minstrel caricatures? What do you think?

2009 B.E.T. Awards

The jury is out at whether or not "Skank Robbers" would be a good thing. On one hand, it is more tom-foolery, but on the other hand it's tom-foolery at its finest. Soul Plane if they had stepped up their game. Due to everyone's shocked reaction, I wouldn't be suprised if this becomes a reality. And Foxx's Wanda had the best line of the night. "I know it's Chris Brown's baby. He keeps kickin me."

After news of Michael Jackson's death, the B.E.T. Awards became a tribute show to Michael Jackson. They did their best with only 3 days preparation time, but I do think MJ deserved more than two mediocre performances from New Edition and Ciara, a crappy Keri Hilson dance, and a failed Jamie Foxx moonwalk attempt. Neyo did it right though as well as Jamie Foxx in the end. All the MJ testimonies were nice. I was disappointed that Beyonce didn't do more. If she did it up, she could have made a huge statement.

The BET Awards also give out Best Actor and Actress of the year. With all the hooplah, Best Actor was completely ignored. Yet, I'm guessing it went to Idris Elba since he was the only nominee in attendance and had the latest film out with Obsessed (other than Common in ill-fated Terminator Salvation but let's all do him a favor and forget about that). Best Actress went to Taraji P. Henson. She attributed all her young fans to BET's constant rotation of Baby Boy.  I'm happy for Taraji, but I wish more people in the black community would acknowledge Viola Davis' amazing performance in Doubt. She wasn't even nominated despite having a better chance than Taraji at winning the Oscar. Oh, Taraji and Tyrese recreated the Baby Boy drama on stage later, which got ruined by Vingh Rhames pretending to be drunk (I hope he was pretending cause that would a damn shame). 

Overall, I think the awards show did black people proud as best as a Viacom owned TV channel serving black people could. The O'Jays tribute was classy as well as many of the performances. The only embarrassing performances were from Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne/Drake (but what else is new). My favorite performances were Jay-Z, Ne-yo, Jamie Foxx, The O'Jays, and Monica's half of her duet with Keyshia Cole. 

Although it wasn't the Michael Jackson all-out tribute I wanted, I thank B.E.T. for doing their best. Here's to hoping the Apollo show kills it. Michael Jackson, now and forever. 

Black Star Watch: Donald Glover

No, he's not of the offspring of the Albert from The Color Purple, a.k.a. Danny Glover. At least, I don't think he is. That would just be way to convenient.

Danny Glover is an upcoming comedian that's been on the radar from many in Hollywood. The guy's various projects have earned him a small  cult-like following, however its only a matter of time before he explodes into the mainstream. 

His most widely known project is the crtically-acclaimed series, 30 Rock. He's one of the staff writers working alongside Tina Fey from which he earned a WGA nomination for best comedy in 2009. He also co-stars on an episode from time to time. He'll also be starring in the new NBC series, Community this fall. 

He was discovered while performing in a sketch comedy group known as Derrick Comedy. Derrick Comedy's youtube sketches have gained national attention.

In 2008, he wrote and co-starred in a Derrick Comedy film known as Mystery Team about three naive high school kids who try and solve a double homicide. The film premiered earlier this year at Sundance and will be released this fall. 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

Donald Glover has a different type of comedy than let's say Dave Chappele or Chris Tucker or even Chris Rock. The more varying styles that blacks bring to any artform is progressive, since blacks tend to often get categorized or stereotyped into one form.  I think its safe to say that won't be Donald Glover. Hollywood also needs more black TV writers. I heard a startling statistic the other day that 90% of TV writers are white, which means almost all minority portrayal on TV are being controlled by white writers with very little minority influence. Hence why they often turn out the way they do. Anytime a black writer breakthrough the field is a win for all of us. 

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Words cannot express what the world loss today. Its sad when anybody dies, but Michael Jackson was such a big part of my childhood along with countless others, and such a big influence to many artists, ranging from music to film to dance to fashion. He was truly revolutionary and to say goodbye is hard. 

                                          

Dancers and musicians may have a different perspective, but I, as a filmmaker view Michael Jackson as a revolutionary. Songs have always told stories, but no one ever thought they could to the same degree as a film until Michael Jackson. He bridged the gap between music and film and truly made music videos an artform. He did everything to the highest degree and made everyone step up there game. 

As a minority, he proved the glass ceiling can be shattered. Yes, blacks have always been a staple in the entertainment industry but very few can call themselves legends, especially on par with The Beetles and Elvis Presley. Say what you want about his legal trouble and his controversies, but you can't take anything away from the legacy of his art. Our kids will learn about Michael Jackson and wish they lived in a time where they could appreciate him as we did.

MICHAEL JACKSON R.I.P.

                                            

TRANSFORMERS 2 RACISM CONTROVERSY

I never really thought the first Transformers was racist, until a kid in my public speaking classes dedicated his whole speech to it. Then I was enlightened. The character of Jazz was a racist caricature and killing him only perpetuated the Hollywood tradition of killing the blacks first. {Previous Transformers Post}

But anytime I spoke on the matter, I was criticized for being sensitive and looking too far into it. They're robots and robots can't be black no matter how much jive they talk. 

Well do I feel vindicated now. Here is an Associated Press article discussing how two new characters in Transformers 2 do just about the same thing. They're names are Skid and Mudflap. They constantly brawl and bicker, rap,use street slang, wear gold teeth, and admit to not being able to read. The characters aren't integral to the story and are only there for comic relief, which is further insulting. 

When asked Michael Bay claimed they never had any real direction in the characters and only went that route because the voice actors were headed there. But Reno Wilson who voiced Mudflap said he was told the alien robots learned about human culture through the internet.

"It's an alien who uploaded information from the Internet and put together the conglomeration and formed this cadence, way of speaking and body language that was accumulated over X amount of years of information and that's what came out."

Thus the reasoning is the alien twins learned from the internet that this is how black people talk and are thus imitating that. How does that not sound offensive?

I appreciate a good summer blockbuster just as much as everyone (maybe not to the fanatical degree as everyone) but when I see my race, or any race, being characterized in a way akin to the Minstrel days, and then covered up under the lame excuse that they're robots, I get upset. This is still perpetuating the problem of negative racial stereotypes in Hollywood films and it's even worse because the average viewer won't be critical enough to see it. 

I'm interested in what other people think? Is this racism? I adamantly believe it is but has everyone else been convinced? Am I really alone in this?

TWO YOUTUBE PERSPECTIVES:

SPILL.COM ARTICLE ON THE ISSUE

GRAN TORINO FILM REVIEW

"Get off my lawn!" Dirty Harry is back!

Gran Torino is the story of a racist, widowed Korean War vet, Walt Kowalski, whom finally changes with the times. Living in a Detroit neighborhood overtaken by hispanic and Hmong gangs, he befriends his Hmong neighbors becoming almost like a father figure to their kids.   

It's funny how a film about a racist turns out being less racist than films not about racists. Walt has a potty mouth and basically offends everybody from pollacks, to micks, to "gokes", what he constantly calls Hmongs people. The thing is, he's an asshole to everyone, including his own children. So does he really mean the stuff he says. That part is questionable until we come to a scene where he teaches the neighbor's kid that his offensive language is how "real men" talk.

He's actually a sweetheart and basically adopts the neighbor's kids, teaching the son how to work hard and protecting the daughter from neighborhood gangs. 

This film has a lot of potential, but regrettably in my opinion, doesn't live up to that. The actors at time become stiff and the dialogue at times becomes smarmy. Clint Eastwood is notorious for accepting screenwriter's first draft. Sometimes this could be a good thing, but Gran Torino is one of those scripts that could have definitely used a touch-up. I still haven't decided whether my beef with some of the acting is because of the script or the novice actors. The Hmong kids (Bee Vang & Ahney Her) both have their cringe-worthy moments as does the priest Christopher Carley whom plays Father Janovich. 

Besides these qualms Gran Torino is entertaining and enlightening. Clint Eastwood is always great to watch and Christian Bale should take notes from him on how to grunt. The film takes place is Highland Park, Michigan which is the perfect setting due to its ravaged neighborhood yet archaic style. The film's title gets it's name from Walt's 1972 Ford Gran Torino which they stopped making in 1976. The car serves as a metaphor for Walt himself, and his old ways. Yet they can both still glisten and sparkle in 2009. 

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

The climax of this movie is basically the stand-off between Walt and a Hmong gang. The Hmong gang attacks Tao, the Hmong kid Walt basically adopts. Walt retaliates by whopping one of the gang member's ass. The Hmong retaliate by shooting up Tao's home (not Walt's) and raping his sister Sue. This is where the inevitable Boyz In The Hood moment comes into play, but instead of the victim, Tao, it's Walt that makes the complex decision. He locks Tao in his basement to ensure he doesn't seek revenge while he seeks a resolution himself. In a way, it's also a major theme in Steven Spielberg's Munich. Violence only begets more violence. There's only one way out of the cycle. Either death or jail and the film involves both.

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

The everlasting feud of the old school versus the new school. Living in 2009, we know there are just those old folks that lived in a different time period and are stubborn to get rid of there old ways. Do we ignore those people or try to change them? Is it worth it trying to change them? Should we consider the hate they'll potential spread to their offspring continually perpetuating the problem? Unfortunately, I believe racial hatred will always be in this world no matter how mixed and liberal we get, but it's refreshing to see a story about one of those stubborn hags who can change.

RATING:

=2 Stars
= 3 Black Fists

EXTRAS:

• Clint Eastwood won many acting accolades for his portrayal in Gran Torino including a Golden Globe nomination.
• The film was rumored to be Clint Eastwood's last acting role.
• The film grossed $263 million dollars becoming Clint Eastwood's most lucrative film.

Precious Co-Signer

For my first podcast interview, my distinguished guest was Lamont Pierre, an independent filmmaker by way of Florida. He had also interned under Lee Daniels during the fall that Precious was being wrapped. This is what he had to say:

On Precious:

I remember being in the elevator with Lee in his building one day and I think he had just screened it for some people and he asked me again, for the umpteenth time and was like really, what did you think of it. Because I actually got a chance to see Precious with him one day. He screened it for me. And I told him in the elevator. I was like, look, this film is going to be my generations The Color Purple. And it is. And I stand by that today. People are not ready for this film. They're not ready. 

On Precious' Cast:

Mo'Nique was awesome. Gaby Sidle, Precious, Mariah!I can't stress this enough. You know what, people can hate all they want to until the release date in November. And then it's going to silence everybody. So, it's cool Mariah, just deal with it for a few more months. When that movie comes out, that will be all she wrote. Cause that woman acted her ass off. Excuse my language. She can act her butt off. And this film. She just does it. Like, she does it. Paula Patton. In my opinion, she's giving you Halle-Berryisms, with her performance. Everybody in that film did such a great job. 

Precious Predictions:

I know [Lee Daniels] is very very proud of it. I'm very proud of it to. It was my film. I wish it was my film. It's going to be a hit in many ways. Not only is it going to be critically acclaimed, I think it's going to be great financially for everyone involved. Everybody needs to watch out for that film.

Listen to The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series here. 

TOWELHEAD FILM REVIEW

With Towelhead, Alan Ball just became my new favorite screenwriter over Paul Haggis. First, the brilliance of American Beauty and then the audacity of Towelhead. Yes it was adopted from the novel, which just means Alan Ball knows how to find gold.

Towelhead tells the story of a Jasira, a 13-year old Lebanese girl whose sent to live with her father in Texas after her mother discovers her live-in boyfriend shaved her pubic hair. She deals with her racist father who constantly blames her for everything, her neighbor whom continually makes advances toward her, and her own sexual urges in which she doesn't understand. Towelhead is a coming-of-age drama about racial attitudes and coming into your own as a woman the wrong way. 

I can't praise this film enough. The trailer doesn't do it justice, mostly because the film doesn't focus on one particular thing. It's juggles complex issues in the life of a confused teenager and while most films would falter, this film picks just the right spots. 

The first story line deals with her father. He's old-fashioned yet a complete hypocrite. He constantly blames Jasira for everything and doesn't practice what he preaches. He often calls the neighbors racist for making judgments on his attitude on the Gulf War due to his race. Yet he forbids Jasira from seeing her boyfriend because he's black, claiming people would respect her less. His girlfriend, on the other hand, is white, and therefore completely acceptable. 

The second storyline is the neighbor's family. Mainly the father, Mr. Vuoso played by Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight's Two-Face). He's intrigued by Jasira and subtly makes advances toward her. The interesting part is that Jasira welcomes his advances and even eggs him on. This is what makes the story so rich and complicated. Jasira only does this because she's confused about sexuality. She feels like she has to entice the neighbor in order to be a woman. He ends up raping her, twice. The first time without her permission. The second time with her permission. Regardless, due to her age, this is still statatory rape. Jasira is too young to realize what she's doing and Mr. Vuoso is taking advantage of that. 

The third storyline deals with her boyfriend. A black kid at school played by Eugene Jones III. Like all teenage boys he's desperate to have sex, but is appropriate enough to ask before acting. Again, Jasira's confusion about sexual attitudes leads her into bed. This storyline is also where race comes into play. Upon finding out that he's black, her father forbids her from seeing him. This is the same kid that taught Jasira to stand up for herself whenever being called  a towelhead or sand-nigger. 

Again, this film had many storylines and many subjects, but they're balanced very well. There are great performances from all, most notably the three male leads, Aaron Eckhart, Eugene Jones III, and Peter Macdissi whom plays the father. If I had one critique for this film, it's that after about an hour I got tired of this girl constantly being shitted on and mistreated by everyone around her. It got worse and worse and never let up. Thank god for Toni Collette's character who serves as the moral compass the girl and film so desperately need. All in all, this film tackles complex issues the studios are afraid to tackle, from complex characters the studios are afraid to portray. Like Slumdog Millionaire, this is a rare film that doesn't come around too often, but let's hope the recent success of films that go against the status quo changes all that. 

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

I constantly found myself thinking this is how girls become prostitutes and porn stars. This is where is all starts. From the father who refuses to install any self-confidence in their daughter to the neighbors making inappropriate suggestions confusing their notions of womanhood. It truly takes a village to raise a kid, but when the village isn't right itself kids will stray from their path. Even though Jasira welcomed Mr. Vuoso, it wasn't her fault. She was young and naive. Just like the lost souls that finds themselves in dangerous adult industry professions, most of the time it's not their fault. They were taught as a little kid to be a woman is to be available and that sex is a valuable and powerful tool, rather than a mode of expression. 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

There are two items of race to discuss in this film, one in which I will talk about here and another which will be given it's own post. The latter will be the N-Word debate which in the context of this film became the T-Word debate. Yet the same principles, feelings, and ideological notions apply. Funny how we're all so much more alike than we think

But the former is this portrayal of racism and judgments. Because they are Lebanese, Mr. Vuoso automatically assumes Jasira's father supports Saddam's side in the Gulf War. Not only is this the opposite, but this is the opposite to the extreme. Because of all the backlash towards Middle-Eastern Americans, Jasira's father despises Saddam and even goes as far to protest when the U.S. Government doesn't attack the war in the barbarity that he would like. 

Myself, being a black man, often find myself being cautious not to confirm stereotypes when around certain company. Such as not telling jokes so I don't come off as the funny black guy. It's interesting how stereotypes can determine who we are and who we're not. Not that Jasira's father would support Saddam if stereotypes weren't around, but isn't adamantly opposing him not for what you believe but to prove the stereotype wrong just as problematic. 

Also Jasira's father forbids Jasira from seeing her boyfriend because he's black. He claims this is because society won't respect her being with a black man and that he didn't make the world the way it was. Of course, this is wrong, but is it racist? He's not saying anything disparaging about the intellect or morals of black people. Just making a decision he feels is smart based on societal views. So are black people who refuse to date white people because of how black people will perceive them any different. Yes, it's a preference, but again, if the preference is based on societal views, does that make it anymore right or wrong. 

RATING:

 = 4 Stars

 = 5 Black Fists

EXTRAS:

• The actress portraying Jasira, Summer Bishil, was nominated for Best Female Lead at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. 
• Several Middle-Eastern anti-defamation groups opposed the release of the film due the disparaging title.

Films & Music Videos

Common's Testify music video from his Be album was inspired by Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. I caught common on Current TV proclaiming The Usual Suspects as his fifth favorite movie of all time. 

The Usual Suspects is a neo-film noir telling the story of small-time con man (Kevin Spacey) who's been caught. He tells his story to the police about Keyser Söze, their ring leader and all around International baddie. In the end, as he's leaving the station, the detective realizes that he's been duped, that Kevin Spacey is Keyser Söze and he's already gotten away. "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." The screenwriter and Kevin Spacey both won Oscars and The Usual Suspects is constantly listed as one of the greatest films of all time. 

Common's Testify video likewise tells the story of a woman's testimony that turns out to be false. It features Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2006 B.E.T. Hip-Hop Awards. 

LENS ON TALENT

We're so quick to criticize B.E.T. as of late that we often don't give them credit when it's deserved. Lens on Talent is a short film competition on B.E.T. sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. The host is Sanaa Latham and the aim is to give recognition to upcoming black talent. At the end of the season, the winner will be awarded $100,000 to go toward their next project. The show comes on B.E.T. every Sunday at 10PM. 

Watch black short films in the running

THE PIXAR LEGACY

Pixar didn't really catch my radar until Cars came out. I had known of Pixar but blended their movies with the likes of ANTZ and Ice Age and such. Then Cars left a bad taste in my mouth, not that it was bad. It just wasn't great. 

But these last couple of years, Pixar has really cemented the adulation of the public. A streak of three highly praised films going to areas where people didn't think it was possible for kid's movies. Ratatouille - about an outsider rat who cooks gourmet food, WALL-E - about a lonely robot in a post apocalyptic-like earth, and UP - about an old man grieving over the death of his wife. 

So with the release of Pixar's 10th film, Up, a lot of people have been creating a ranking system. Below is mine. I understand it may be contraversial and not represent the population at whole, but regardless, this is how I see it. But first - a Pixar montage I found on youtube. 10 films in, they've certainly built themselves a reputation. Their films already seem timeless.

                      

10)  A BUG'S LIFE

9) CARS

8) MONSTERS INC.

7) TOY STORY 2

6) RATATOUILLE

5) UP

4) THE INCREDIBLES

3) FINDING NEMO

2) TOY STORY

1) WALL-E 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

Unlike my gripe with Disney, whom purposely seemed to shun the idea of doing an animated film with black characters until now, I can't really complain about Pixar's demographic. They've done films about robots, rats, and toys. In fact, very few Pixar films actually spotlight humans. Up and The Incredibles are really just about it. They've even had their token black character, The Incredible's Frozone, which didn't have a huge role but many people still adore. 

If anything, Pixar has done explored the subject of race a lot, but in subtle ways. In the main characters in The Incredibles were discriminated against for being superheroes. And the main character in Ratouille had to overcome prejudicial barriers in order to achieve his dream. I still would like to see a black Pixar movie, but for right now, I'm satisfied. 

UP REVIEW

Are Pixar movies still for kids?

This is what I found myself asking after watching Pixar's latest and tenth film, Up.

Up starts out telling the story of Carl Fredrickson. As a young boy he dreams of being an explorer. He shares this passion with Ellie, whom later becomes the love of his life. They get married and vow to one day build a house on the cliff of a rainfall in South America. After she dies, and Carl becomes a grumpy old man who's getting kicked out of the home he and Ellie built, he ties a bazillion balloons to the house and sets off for the waterfall. 

Now this is only the first 30 minutes. After that, Carl finds Russel, an eager wilderness explorer, on his porch. On route to the falls, they encounter a talking dog (by way of technology) and a large pre-historic bird. To say anything else would be giving away too much.

Yeah, it may seem like a lot, and it is, but Pixar does a great job keeping everything manageable. In fact, everything else is really secondary to the main plot - Carl fulfilling this promise to his dead wife. And we are constiently reminded of it as we see Carl physically pulling his house through the South American jungle. The film, as all Pixar films do, does a great job of focusing on the moments than anything else. The most beautiful, of course, being Carl caring for his house which reminds him of Ellie. 

At the beginning is a lovely montage of Carl growing old with Ellie up until her death. That short sequence alone could melt hearts, much like WALL-E's first 30 minutes of no dialogue - visual storytelling at it's best. It shows them growing up spending time together, getting married, planning to have kids, failing, saving money to go to South America, having to spend the money on other emergencies, growing old, and eventually Ellie's death. This is all set to a musical number "Married Life", which will no doubt make composer Michael Giacchino in consideration for Best Score when next year's Oscar's roll around. Just listen:

My favorite character of the film, since Ellie wasn't given much screentime, was the dog, DOUG. His master has given him a collar that vocalizes his thoughts. While the other talking dogs are malicious, cut-throat, and demeaning, DOUG is a lovable buffoon. 

It may seem like I'm gushing because I am. UP is great and despite it's "ghetto animation status" UP is better than 90% of the films out there. It's action appeals to kids and themes appeals to adult. I don't see anyone walking away from this film unhappy. 

But there were somethings I didn't like:

1) The Dogs:

This movie is so grounded. Despite the quirky characters, it doesn't launch into blatant buffoonery like most cartoons do. Even the talking dogs are handly quite nicely. They don't talk, they have collars created by their master that vocalizes their thoughts. Through this, I can buy dogs communicating and having their own chain of command. But what I can't buy is dogs flying planes. Toward the end's big action sequence, three dogs board jets in an effort to shoot down Russel. So these dogs can talk, but where in the hell did they learn to fly jets. And wouldn't these dogs that can fly jets be more impressive than this stupid bird, the bad guy Charles F. Muntz is after in order to regain his glory. It was a minor irritance, mainly because I didn't find it consistent. 

2) Jumble Mumble

I apologize that I now have to compare every Pixar film to WALL-E, but in terms of the story WALL-E was way more succinct. It was all about WALL-E chasing love and Eve's "directive" of getting the ship to return to earth by proving this plant existed. Up is less focused, instead comprising of a bunch of jumbled storylines. Carl is fullfulling his dead's wife wish by putting thier house on the cliff. Russell needs to get his last Wilderness Scout badge in order to get promoted, thus bringing his estranged father to his graduation. Charles F. Muntz wants to prove that this bird exists in order to reclaim his glory days as an explorer. And the bird, just wants to feed her children. It's great that everyone had their backstory and motivations but none of them really went together. 

3) Title= Up?

Going into Up, no one really knew what it was about other than a guy getting over his dead wife by attaching a bazillions balloons to his house. Up was great for the marketing plan, because the pictures with the house flying certainly got people's attention. But other than that, Up had little to do with the story. It wasn't about Carl moving up, but Carl moving on. Could "Up" be the worst Pixar title so far?

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

I don't think people understand how rare it is to see these movies we're seeing from Pixar. The last three films, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up are films that could have never been made by Hollywood's standard. Hollywood is a business, not an art, and movies about rats, lonely robots, and old people would never be thought of as appealing to kids. They even had to fight the Disney machine to be allowed to create Wall-E (a lonely robot in a post-apocalyptic like earth with no dialogue in the first half-hour, this is unheard of in the realms of kid's movies). This is good that Pixar is being allowed to tell the stories they want to tell and that people are responding favorably to them. In this day and age where Slumdog Millionaire won Best Film and Barak Obama is President, maybe Hollywood too will loosen its grip on their pre-conceived notions of bankable film concepts.

Also, the idea for Up came about when creator Pete Doctor, was thinking about a way to escape from life. While the film turned into something else, this idea of getting away from everything is generally one people connect with. I remember Into the Wild from few years back which explored the same theme.  

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE: 

This film isn't really about black and white. There are no black characters, but then again, very few humans in general are actually shown. 

Up is more about moving on in life. Carl will never forget his memories with Ellie, but what he needs desperately is to create new memories without her. Often, when the history of racism and slavery in the US are discussed, the white-counterpoint is these are events of the past that need to be forgotten in order to create a new optimistic future. 

In my own opinion, it depends on the issue. Slavery - yes. Reparations - yes. The N-word - jury still out. Civil Rights & Social Inequality - no, not until full-equality has been achieved. 

But in a lot of ways, we have let things in the past stay in the past. Race relations are a lot smoother than they were back in the day. It's just that every other year issue/injustice/debate that brings this issues back to the surface i.e. Jena 6, Katrina, Rodney King, O.J.

RATING:

 = 4 STARS

 = 0 BLACK FISTS

The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series: Episode 1

Check out my first podcast episode, an interview with independent filmamker Lamont Pierre of the DVD Series My Brother's Keeper. 

The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series:

Oscar Micheaux was an African-American filmmaker in the early 20^th century. Having been shunned by Hollywood for his race, Micheaux took on his own projects, producing, directing, writing, and scrounging everything together for his work. Having completed forty films, Micheaux became the most prominent producer of race films and the father of independent filmmaking. Micheaux is the reason minorities see themselves on the screen today. Where would we be if Oscar Micheaux had given up? Would Spike Lee have come about, or Tyler Perry for that matter? Would anyone known how to make a film independently if he hadn’t proved it was possible? Would blacks have ever had a rebuttal to “The Birth of a Nation?” How many Oscar Micheauxs are out there, and how many more would we have if those with a dream had never given up? 

The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series is a monthly 30-minute discussion with black, independent filmmakers. The mission is to inform and inspire, as well as motivate and shed insight. However, unlike Tanya Kersey’s Urban Hollywood series, this podcast focuses on the inspirational and highlights filmmakers still in the trenches. The moderator is Denzel Hawke of The Black Hawke Review.  

BLACK VAMPIRES

With Twilight running away with the MTV Movie Awards, it's official. The Vampire craze has arrived. Along with Twilight, we have HBO's True Blood, and new CW series The Vampire Diaries. So, what's so appealing about vampires all-of-a-sudden. We had Buffy & Angel back in the day and that was way better than any of these knock-offs.  I think it has to do with the new angle Twilight introduced. Being captivated by a dangerously unstable, but yet, good-hearted creature has seemed to capture the teenie-bopper market. It has a Beauty and the Beast feel to it - the overarching complex love story that also served well in Brokeback Mountain and Romeo & Juliet. 

This new bona fide fad, made me interested in how blacks fit into the vampire world. 

AKASHA

No, Alliyah in Queen of the Damned doesn't count. Playing the first vampire, Akasha, she did have a romantic involvement vampire rock god Lestat, whom awoken her with his music. But he turned around a killed her since she was plotting to kill of and enslave all of humanity. Let's not forget, Akasha was never really a black vampire. In the books she was Iraqi. Alliyah just looked bad-ass as hell in the part.   

MAXIMILLIAN

We came close in 1995 with Vampire in Brooklyn, but Hollywood went the predictable route, by making it a cheap comedy. Eddie Murphy plays Maximillian, a vampire who arrives in Brooklyn in search of the Dhamphir (half-human/half-vampire) daughter of a vampire from his native island. He must turn her into order to live beyond the night of the next fill moon. This turns out to be Detective Rita Veder (Angela Basset) whom he entices with his vampire charm.  

BLADE

Blade in the trilogy series was portrayed by Wesley Snipes. The character was created by Marvel Comics at a supporting character in the 1970's comic, Tomb of Dracula. The story goes while Blade's mother was in labor, she was turned into a vampire, thus making Blade a dhampir. He grows up to become a vampire hunter, teaming up with Whistler, an retired vampire hunter and weapons expert. The series was high on action but low on serious drama. At least we got our black vampire hunter even if it was just for an excuse of an action flick. 

CHARLES GUNN

Played by J. August Richards, Charles Gunn of the Angel series is the leader of a gang of vampire hunters in inner-city Los Angeles. When he briefly joins up with Angel's crew, his gang runs amuck causing him to leave them for good. He starts dating Fred Burkle, a white woman whose been captivated in an alternate dimension for years. But when he kills the man that originally banished her, she dumps him. When Angel's crew merges with their adversary, the law firm Wolfram & Hart, he allows them to upload his mind with a comprehensive understanding of the law, deciding to change things from within the system. The only normal human on our list, Gunn has a pretty important role to the Angel universe, yet was never destined to become a main attraction.

KENDRA

Also a Josh Whedon creation, Kendra, played by Edi Gathegi, was from the Buffy series. The law goes, once a slayer dies, a new one resurfaces. After Buffy "died" in Season One, Kendra was sent to guard Sunnydale. She died rather easily of course. Slashed in the neck by Drusilla's fingernails. At least she had the balls to go after Angel why she was living. Though, all-in-all she was never taken seriously in the Buffy Universe. 

 

LAURENT

Played by Ed Gathegi, Laurent is of the Twilight Universe. He is a nomadic vampire that hangs out James' coven, the main baddie going after Bella, though he refuses to fight alongside them. SPOILER: in New Moon, Laurent returns to Forks and tries to kill Bella only to be destroyed by a group of werewolves. Another black vampire bites the dust.