If I had seen the actual preview
for the film before going to see it, I might have been prepared for
what I was about to see. But I didn't see the preview, which has a very
lighthearted, comedic edge. Going into the film, I had only read
bloggers' reviews and overheard conversations about the Oprah episode
and the backlash from women who where not pleased with the film. So I went in expecting too much, I think.
The documentary, Good Hair, was supposed to be a look into the black
woman's quest for "good hair", but it should have been promoted as a look into everything you never thought you ever wanted to know about The Annual Bronner Brothers Hair Show, with a few segments about chemical relaxers and the hair weave industry in
India. It's a good documentary for what it is--a Chris Rock comedy. Not sure I agree with the rave reviews. After watching
it, I'm just annoyed. I guess you can visit a couple of hair salons in a couple of cities and interview a few Hollywood actresses and claim to have lifted the veil of mystery behind back women and their hair issues. Whatever, if that's what you want to claim--free country and all that, but it's just annoying.
Well...not a celebrity-celebrity. Maybe I should just call him an actor. So I saw an actor in the Miami airport. You see neither Billy nor I could remember his name or exactly where we knew him from. If it hadn't been for his (super skinny, too-glammed up for airport travel, extensions down to there, toting a pocket sized-pooch in a LV bag) travel companion, we prob'ly wouldn't have even noticed him. He was also really tall and super skinny and carrying a garment bag that I recognized from paparazzi celeb-shopping photos. It was fabric, maybe carrying one suit, and was solid brown with one word, Gucci, printed on it in gold letters.
I saw this film last week on my "day off" from SAHMing (stay-at-home-momming) while Billy was home for vacation. I was prepared to see a film that was a bit light, but heavy and a bit dark (which I gathered from the previews), but I had no idea how emotionally draining and wonderful this film would be. I heart films about family dysfunction and screwed up individuals and this one is sufficiently depressing. There is so much love between the members of Rachel's family. There is a beautiful wedding, quite possibly the most beautiful wedding I've seen in terms of the focus on the love between the bride and groom and their soon-to-be blended families, still there's a cloud so thick over the events leading up to the wedding. The resentment and anger and bitterness and baggage all stemming from a past tragedy is palpable. It's all there and there is no redemption, no forgiveness (of self or others), and no sign that there ever would be any. There is only the gut punch from reality that at the end of the day, some things are just going to suck. Period. Deal with it. And that's real, you know? Sometimes, in life, there is no bright side--some things will just always suck, you know?
I cried mixed tears of happiness and of sadness pretty much throughout the last two-thirds of the film. I watched it during the day too, so I couldn't hide it from people as I exited out into the daylight. And the music! Y'all the music! There's rock, folk, reggae, samba, jazz, a little soul, some R&B. The cast is an eclectic mix of folks of different races and cultures--it's delightful. And if Anne Hathaway doesn't win an Oscar for this role, somebody needs
to reevaluate whose voting, because she took it there in this film.
Here's the preview in case you haven't seen it already. Watch it.
What’s your trifecta? What is your favorite movie, book and cd/album?
You can only name one for each and share a little about your choices.
So Browngirl Speaks tagged me. It was SO hard to pick just one favorite, but I managed. I had bonus picks, but exercised restraint and deleted them from the post--playin' by the rules..
Movie: Love Jones Everything about this film makes it my all time favorite--the cast, the characters, the relationships, the city, the soundtrack...everything. Best thing about it was that for once, a major film featuring all brown people told a story of us outside the hood. No stereotypes, just black folks being, working, socializing, livin' life. Every time I watch it (I own the DVD), it takes me right back to 1997 (when the film came out) , to my college days when I met my man and my dearest friends. So many one-liners from the film are still part of our regular conversations like, "well damn" and "there it is". No film has become a part of me like this one. There hasn't been a black love story told like it since--on film (somebody please buy the rights to The Accidental Diva, and feel free to cast Nia Long and Larenze Tate as the leads-Thanks). One highlight of this film is when Darius Lovehall (Larenze Tate) performs a poem for Nina Mosely (Nia Long) called A Blues for Nina. Check it...
Warning. This clip is rated R so kids ask your mom before you click 'play'.
CD/ Album: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Oh, Lauryn. I listen to this album all the time remembering when. She gave us her best on this album, then life did something to her and she hasn't been the same. It's a shame, because she's an amazing singer and her lyrical skills when she raps are unmatched by any other female artist I've heard. This album is that fire, y'all. I can't say I have a fave track; the whole album is hot. But I do love this one in particular called "Nothing Even Matters" ft. D'Angelo. It's a love song. If you've ever been in love or just mad infatuated, you will feel this song. Check it...
Book: Their Eyes Were Watching God I've written about this one before. Here's what I said:
After last time read back in 2005...
" This was my third of fourth time reading this book. When I heard O was
doing a movie version of it, I had to read it again to refresh. I was
kind of surprised they left out the skin-tone issues...maybe 'cause Tea
Cake's character in the movie wasn't dark-skinned like he was in the
book. I don't think you can read this one too many times. Each time the
experience is different, especially if you read it at different stages
in your life like I have...young teen, older teen, newly married woman, etc.
It's such a rich work of fiction."
I think it might be time for another read since I'm good and married now. :)
Browngirl's trifecta theme was relationships, and based on my picks, looks like relationships is my theme too.
I was introduced to Nigerian films during my college days in Memphis. My then boyfriend, now husband, who is from the West Indies, as well as some other friends of ours from African countries loved to watch videos of Nigerian comedies and dramas. I'd watch the comedies along with everybody else but at the time, as an American with little experience communicating with people from other countries, I had trouble understanding the accents--those of my husband, his friends, and the Nigerian actors. That didn't stop me from laughing on cue with everybody else though. I got use to them after a while and eventually stopped faking amusement and came to actually enjoy the comedies.
Little-known fact: Nigeria's film industry, also known as Nollywood, is the third largest film industry in the world. We all know how hard Hollywood struggles to sell African-American films to wide audiences. While there are plenty of quality independent films featuring black actors out there, they're not widely viewed and aren't raking in the big bucks. Nollywood produces films across all movie genres that employ thousands of African actors in a $250 million industry with audiences largely throughout Africa, Canada and the UK...and maybe soon in the U.S.
I got an email last week about a new photobook by award-winning filmmaker Cybel Martin that documents her trip along with other filmmakers and NYU alumni to Lagos, Nigeria to conduct workshops at the African Film Academy. You can read about the trip and others involved <<here>>. The photobook is only currently available through blurb.com. There's a cool preview of the first 15 pages over there--check it out <<here>>.
This story is also posted on my other blog at HoneyMag.com.
Ok. So Once is film that you could totally watch with your eyes closed. I netflixed it last week and watched it once (pun, however weak, still intended) and then immediately played it again just so the music could float through my house as I hung out with my kid. If you like acoustic guitar music and awesome lyrics, you might like this film. I say might because it's a musical that's just short of being an opera...there's probably more singing than speaking lines...which is awesome! The film made the secret acoustic guitar playing, free living artist inside of me want to hang out with my imaginary musician and artist and dancer friends in an apartment that's way to small to hold all of us and sing and play our instruments and smoke and drink wine and obscure beers and be artsy and talk about how much pocket money we made in tips during our street performances and waiter jobs that day. There is something exciting about people who live their passions. That's what this film is.
It's a love story. It's a musical. It's Irish. It's Indie. It's awesome.
It's very difficult for me to watch a film with any amount of suspense without going online to moviespoiler.com to check out the ending. It's a sickness. I tell myself I'm not going to check, but the moment there's even a hint of suspense about what might happen to somebody, I have to get online before I can watch any further.
I was watching Tristan and Isolde late Sunday morning. It's a beautiful and painful love story. The second it was apparent that there might be a traitor and that someone would get caught and possibly killed, I paused the film, turned on the laptop, read the spoiler online and then watched the rest of the film with peace of mind. It didn't spoil it for me either. I was still emotional at the end and everything.
Even when we record boxing matches or football or soccer games (I don't love sports, but if it's a close competition, I'm always drawn in) I have to go online to find out who won so I can watch the rest of the competition without getting my nerves worked.
We saw Why Did I Get Married? on opening night. I have high hopes that Tyler Perry will add at least one seasoned screenwriter to his staff. His movie could have been SO good if it weren't for [fill in the blank here with the parts of the film that a good screenwriter would have re-written or edited out completely]. I've seen all his movies so far, and am sure I'll watch future flicks of his. Not so much because I think he's a great filmmaker, he's SO just OK, but how am I supposed to not watch a film with Gabrielle Union, or Idris Elba, or Janet other good black actors in the cast? Really. This latest installment was his best yet, so it has to get better from here.
We Own The Night was awesome. Joaquin Phoenix is such a great actor. Mark Wahlberg is Mark Wahlberg--hot and awesome. The only downside to the experience was that we went to see it at our new neighborhood theater and they didn't have the film set right for the screen. We saw mics almost touch the actors' foreheads all through the film and couldn't read any of the Russian-to-English subtitles. The manager was waiting outside the exit to give us all vouchers for a free show. We'll probably use them to go see Dan In Real Life or The Kingdom this weekend.
The Wilhelm Scream is a sound effect that has been used in more than 200 films since 1951. Apparently this scream was recorded by a real actor for a movie and then it became a stock sound-file, which sound editors have chosen to use over and over again in lieu of having the actors actually scream. It sounds so funny to hear it over and over again in such a diverse group of films. Before listening to it, I imagined it would be some blood curdling female voice, but it's just a guy belting out a very strange sound. Funny.
Here's a compilation of some different films with the scream including Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Beauty and The Beast, Star Wars and Howard the Duck among others. How random?
Or are there a bunch of who-could-care-less movies in theaters right now? I'm thinking about checking out 3:10 to Yuma. Russel Crowe is supposedly really good in it. I still have The Last King of Scotland on Netflix too. Maybe we'll finally dust that one off and give it a look-see.
Couldn't get this sandwich off my mind for nothin' yesterday. I'm picking up the ingredients tonight and will be counting down the hours to brunch Saturday morning. I have to eat it at brunch (breakfast and lunch) for two reasons:
I get up on Saturday's around 10 a.m. so the meal has to last me half a day.
This sandwich is too dayum rich and high in everything to count as one meal anyway.
If you've seen Spanglish, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't know about the Spanglish Sandwich, you better ask somebody.
Saturday Post-sandwich Update: I had it today around 12:30 p.m. It was everything I thought it would be. I used romaine lettuce instead of butter lettuce, 'cause I will never in this lifetime pay $4 for fancy lettuce. On a somewhat related note, after I saw Spanglish the first time, I went straight to Crate and Barrel and bought a party-sized set of these beautiful stemless wineglasses like the one Adam Sandler filled with vodka in the "Conversation of Her Life" scene.
A friend of mine invited me to a pre-release screening last night. Eagle vs Shark is a bit of a screwball love story and we loved it. It's full of laugh-out-loud moments. It's like Napoleon Dynamite 10 years after high school. I didn't know anything about the film before seeing it, but the moment I saw Jemaine Clement from HBO's Flight of The Conchords on screen, I said "Oh shit" out loud because I knew we were in for some serious laughs. I think it's in theaters in August. This film is going to be huge.
I'm glad I finally saw this film. It's been on my list forever and I got it from netflix a few days ago. I was in the mood for a slow Sunday morning, so when I woke up, I popped it in. I thought this was a romantic comedy, but it's actually more drama. Steve Martin was very impressive, and I was surprised that I actually took him seriously...he's such a goofball usually. I didn't know he was a writer. I bet his novella is a great read. I'm guessing since he wrote the book and the screenplay that there's probably not much difference between them, but this story must be just as enjoyable in black and white. The characters are sad and lonely and interesting. For whatever reason Steve Martin's character was closed off, crippled in a way, and lonely, not knowing how to have relationships outside of sexual ones. And nobody plays a sad, melancholy, lonely girl better than Claire Danes. I think she's really beautiful. This is definitely my kind of film. I'd watch it again, I'm sure.
I remember the cartoons. I wasn't crazy about the cartoon, but my brother, sister and I watched it growing up. I'm not one of those thirtysomethings (like Billy and my sister) who remember the theme song to the cartoon and the characters. When I went in to see the movie, I expected to be entertained...it's a theatrical comic book throwback, of course it was going to be good. My expectations were FAR surpassed. Transformers is AWEsome! I started to feel nostalgic as I was reintroduced to The Autobots and The Decepticons and Optimus Prime (the Mac truck) and Megatron. Although the old theme song didn't make it into the film, the line "more than meets the eye" was cleverly written into the script. And Bumble Bee got a sexy upgrade from the old yellow VW bug ...which was also cleverly revealed in the film. Great throwback.
Every once in a while I would squeeze Billy's hand (we always hold hands during movies) and say, "Man, this movie is good!" I haven't been as entertained in a long time. There was good drama and just the right amount of cheese. It was funny (a couple of awesome black comic actors showed up in this film unexpectedly) and even the robots had jokes. The action was great and none of it looked fake. The two females in the film are ridiculously gorgeous and smart and cool and Shia LaBeouf (the little Disney kid from Even Stevens and Holes?) ain't a baby no more, y'all. He's well on his way to beefcakedom. Oh, and consider GMC vehicles officially plugged.
This film is 144 minutes of PURE EN.TER.TAIN.MENT. Please, let this be a trilogy! *fingers crossed*
So the other day, I log into my email and there's a message with the same title as this post, and I'm like, "awesome!" I figure it's some announcement from an e-list I'm on or something. I open the email and am shocked and elated that the email is actually a personal email from the filmmaker's PR person! What? She apparently read my blog and thought (quite correctly) that I'd be interested to learn about and meet Austin's own CC Stinsonand share the awesome news about the BET J Best Shorts Contestselection with you guys. I'm supposed to be meeting with CC some time next week. I'd be happy to formally introduce y'all afterward, but in the mean time there's still time to check out her work on BET J.
CC Stinson's short film, Breakdown, to air on BET J on the following dates (central time):
May 27 at 7 p.m.
May 29 at 10 a.m.
May 29 at 8 p.m.
June 3 at 7 p.m.
June 5 at 10 a.m
June 5 at 8 p.m.
June 10 at 7 p.m.
June 12 at 8 p.m.
BET J SELECTS CCSQUARED PRODUCTIONS’ BREAKDOWN FOR BEST SHORTS CONTEST Texas Digital Short Airing on BET J May 27-June 11
AUSTIN, Texas – May 29, 2007 – CCSquared Productions announced today that its entry in BET J’s THE BEST SHORTS Contest, Breakdown, has been named a finalist and will air repeatedly on the cable television channel over the next two weeks. The winner of THE BEST SHORTS Contest, awarded by a committee of reviewers, receives $20,000 and the runner-up wins $10,000.
Breakdown centers on the impact of a corporate layoff on wife and mother “Morgan Jamerson,.” The digital short was written, directed by and stars Austin’s CC Stinson and filmed entirely in Austin with Texas talent. Inspired by CC Stinson’s own experience in corporate life and the events following the loss of her corporate job, Breakdown represents a blend of CCSquared Productions’ dual mission of producing films with a culturally diverse viewpoint and promoting Austin as a premiere filmmaking location. <<FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE>>
Mahogany is FINALLY on DVD. It's been on my 'to be released' list on Netflix for months now. I moved it to the very top so it'll ship next.
Y'all, when I was little, I thought my momma was Mahogany. Really. My mom really did look like (a prettier) Diana Ross, but aside from that, she was always F.L.Y. I'm talkin' 'bout high heel leather knee-boots, matching alligator bags, fedoras (among other fly hats), clutch bags, fly azz suits, wool and cashmere trenches and capes...yes I said capes...velvet, whaaaat?! And all that usually in some shade of brown and set off with a leaopard print something. Don't mess with her when she wears all white, y'all. Mascara (lay it on right) and lipstick (must be red) were necessities before leaving the house and the hair was con.sis.tant.ly laid. Thin and six-feet tall, all gussied up and in heels, y'all can imagine how goddess-like she was to a child. I always wanted to be as pretty as my mom--class, elegance and beauty personified. She still fly too.
When I saw this movie, I wanted to be Mahogany. Really. How much did I want to be Mahogany? After watching the movie, I went into my mom's arsenal of makeup and crushed up some of her brownish Fashion Fare blush and mixed it with Vaseline in a pill box just so I could put lip gloss on like Mahogany did in the film. Now, you girls who have grown up with me have a little more insight into how/why modeling and make-up were such big parts of me.
Mahogany and Diana Ross became instant favorites after I saw that film. Don't get me started on Billy D. Williams and all his smoothness either. My husband's initials are Billy D. Don't think for a second the fact that he goes by "Billy D." doesn't add to his appeal for me. I'm silly. I can't help it. But that's true.
Diane Keaton was wonderful, as I expected. I realize now that she totally plays the same character in all her films. She's always great, but always the same...kinda like Drew Barrymore. Woody Allen was odd and awkward, as I expected, and was also very, very annoying. It was a task to not fast-forward through some scenes, because he was equal parts annoying and funny. Not so much love for Woody Allen though. I'm sure if this movie featured Diane Keaton and some other actor (like Larry David!...the Seinfeld creator?), I could love it.
Good movie. The pace of Reign Over Me is really slow in the beginning, but that's OK 'cause it works for the story. The way the back story (which has everything to do with the main story) is unfolded slowly throughout the first half of the film then suddenly revealed all at once made it really emotional for me. I actually cried. It's a serious, real, relevant story and is treated as such. Just like in real-life, in this film, even in the darkest of times there are moments of levity. Adam Sandler did a really great job of bringing that to this film (he did it in Punch Drunk Love too, which is also an awesome film). Adam Sandler was amazing in general--nobody does "mentally imbalanced guy" better than him. Don Cheadle was great...and sexy as always. I enjoyed this movie, but it isn't one of those films I feel like I'd watch again. It's a film that I'm glad I had a chance to experience, and that I'm sure will resonate with anybody who's ever lost anyone in a tragedy.
Soundtrack=Awesome.
Update: Actually, I would watch this film again. The more I think about it and see the trailer, the more I remember how touched I was by certain parts of this story, and the more I realize I would totally watch this film again.
Blood, guts, glory and a courageous fight for freedom against unbeatable odds. One too many decapitations for me. Ab.so.lute.ly no shortage of manly man ab and thigh flesh. Partly because of the decapitations and largely because of the man flesh, this is an awesome film. I haven't checked to see where it was shot, but the scenery with the lighting and everything was beautiful. It was like one of those museum pieces come to life.
The King, this quintessentially powerful, strong, hyper-masculine Spartan King wears no armor across chest in battle and wears his heart on his sleeve with his wife--very sexy. His wife is the one prominent female in the movie (other than the unfortunate oracle girl) and she is feminine and strong at once. There are just enough ghoulish, monster-looking creatures to make this historical flick a bit fantastical. Sometimes fantasy has a way of making the realistic more bearable for those who need the occasional departure from reality.
The film is violent (at times for no good reason) with just enough gratuitous boob and butt shots sprinkled in between battle scenes, which I did watch out of one squinted eye--the battle scenes, not the nudy shots.
Tuckergurl's the first blogger who blogrolled me when I started this site. A film she's consulting producer on, Election Day, is a Premier Pick at SXSW film festival in Austin this year, so she's down here from NYC for a few days for the festival. Haven't seen the film yet, but we're going to the screening Tuesday night. It's a documentary that follows voters from around the country on election day 2004. Should be interesting. Anyway, we met up last night at Ruta Maya Coffee House for the film party. Although we only know each other through typepad it felt like we were old friends meeting after a long time away. We both met each other with smiles and enthusiastic hellos and familiar hugs. I was relieved that she was as excited to meet me as I was to meet her and that she's as awesome in person as she seems online. Fun times.
And shout-out to L.Britt. Tuckergurl told me you'd be excited that she and I met.
Random Note: I found this site in search of free wireless Internet spots in Austin. I usually don't use free wireless Internet, but I had my laptop with me today 'cause I wanted to get this post up @ lunch and the storm knocked our service out last night and I didn't want to do it at work. Anyway, it's a cool site. Hope somebody finds it useful: Free Wireless USA.
Great movie. Between the blues songs performed by Sam Jackson as Lazarus (who reminds me so much of any one of my uncles), smokin' & drinkin' & cussin' Christian black folks, gold grills, Justin Timberlake's southern, country white-boy accent, and awesome (and familiar) one-liners from Sam Jackson like, "That girl will be on your [mmhm] like stank on shit", I was feeling pretty home-sick for Memphis after this show.
Sam Jackson is amazing in Black Snake Moan, of course. Christina Ricci could have been better, but no other actress could have been Rae. Justin Timberlake is so hot...in general. In the film, as Ronnie, he's sweet and loving and vulnerable, which makes him even hotter.
Speaking of hot, part of me is ashamed to admit this, but the other part is compelled to share...David Banner has officially been added to my Sexy Beast list. I'm not a fan of popular rap music or rap music videos, so I hadn't seen him before. I found out he was a rapper from reading about the film online. I don't know what he sings, I don't love gold teeth on men, and so far every picture I've seen of him online looks more beastly than sexy, but there's something about this man in the film that's nice...real nice.
Martin Scorsese's eyebrows are awesome. I'm sure he dyes them, but he should--they look great.
Ellen was Awesome.
Yay Jennifer Hudson! Why didn't she have a speech ready? Just a little annoyed that she didn't...it is nice to get a real, raw reaction. America's awesome. Anything is possible here. Update:Click <<HERE>> to see her speech on Youtube while it's up.
Yay Forest!
Diane Keaton looked amazing.
I really want Leonardo Dicaprio to win Best Actor next time he's nominated. He's an awesome actor who consistently does awesome work. And he gets hotter the older he gets.
Where were Brad and Angelina?! Did I miss them? I didn't see them on the red carpet or in the audience. What's up with that?
First of all, let me just say that I LOVE Diane Keaton. She's been beautiful and amazing since forever and continues to be even more beautiful and amazing the older she gets. I recently realized that that's her in Annie Hall with Woody Allen, which I only saw part of a few months ago, but have since added it to my Netflix. I actually became a fan when I saw her in Something's Gotta Give. She was so youthful and funny in that movie. She was also a amazing in The Family Stone (beautiful family Christmas movie to watch any time of year), I checked out her IMDb bio and realized I'd seen a lot of her work in the past. Now that I am a bona-fide fan, I have more re-watching and catching up to do. Anyway, she was as awesome in Because I Said So as always.
She portrays a really neurotic and annoying mother, who meddles WAY too much in her youngest daughter's life, but you can't help but love her. Her three grown daughters played by Mandy Moore (LOVE her), Lauren Graham (Lorelai from Gilmore Girls--I also love that show), and Piper Perabo (Violet from Coyote Ugly--which I also am not ashamed to say I loved). The chemistry between them is great. They seem like a real family. Score for the casting folks...casters?
Other things I loved about this film:
The Wardrobes(specifically Mandy Moore's & Diane Keaton's, but generally everybody's). Were awesome.
The Men. All of them--even the little boy--were truly edible eye candy.
Most surprising thing about the film:
The Boyish Humor...specifically involving the family dog and Internet porn...definitely not moments I expected to see in such a presumably girly movie. It was really funny though. Uncomfortable at times, but very funny.
Awe.some. film. Awesome. I don't like suspense though. Can't take it. So near the end I logged on to www.themoviespoiler.com to find out the ending. The build-up to the end was great. I don't think I could have finished watching it if I couldn't know the ending beforehand. I literally can.not take suspense. I'm one of those people who asks other people watching the film what's going to happen next the whole time. I try to keep from watching suspenseful films in groups 'cause it's not fun being so uncontrollably annoying.
I finally watched The Devil Wears Prada last weekend. I'm SO glad I didn't buy the DVD, sight unseen, like I started to. The book was mmmmuchmuch better. I'm somewhat disappointed with what they did with the story. I hate that the self-destructive best friend, the funny doorman guy and the homeless people Andy expensed Starbucks for were omitted. They would have made the film so much more interesting. And Andy's transformation was squished into a few seconds of wardrobe changes...awesome wardrobe changes...but still. You never got a sense of her internal struggle as she tried unsuccessfully to maintain her relationships and her new job. You only know she's a smart girl because they tell you she's smart. The film gives you no reason whatsoever to actually like her. Meryl Streep was awesome, of course, but she was supposed to be pure evil the whole time. The novel was about Andy's journey, but the movie focused on Miranda. Not once while watching this film was I nervous that Andy would give in to the advances of Handsome Writer Guy. Anticipating her giving in/or not giving in was one of the best parts of the novel. They should have named the film something else and not even mentioned the novel it was "based on". Independent of the book, it's a cute movie. Mostly I hate that there weren't more people with English accents. Since they changed it so much they should have written in more English characters. Then I'm positive I would have loved it.
I know and expect film versions for novels to be a little different. Some parts must be omitted to make the two hour flick make sense. But they're not supposed to change whole characters and huge parts of the plot. I'm looking forward to this year's film adaptations of The Secret Life of Bees and The Kite Runner. Both novels deal with some serious social issues and deserve better treatment on film.
The Foreign Press honored Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actor and actress in a movie musical or comedy. Both are very deserving...as was DREAMGIRLS for best motion picture in their category. I was also really happy to see AMERICA FARERAwin best actress for Ugly Betty, which also won for best TV comedy. Shonda Rime's Grey's Anatomy won for best TV drama too. Forest won best actor for King of Scottland too---haven't seen it, don't plan to anytime soon...the violence...but I was really happy to see him win. Blacks and Browns represented. The FPA got it SO right. Very awesome.
I usually never watch the big award shows, but I watched this year because of the Dreamgirls nominations, and I'm SO glad I did. I was really starstruck during the show. At first I taped it so I could speed through later to see who won. Then I kept seeing all these huge movie stars in almost every frame and I found myself just watching to see who else was there. Everybody was there! Will & Jada, Jamie (LOVED that he mentioned that Dreamgirls opened on a limited number of screens...he was like, "You do the math"), PRINCE, Brad & Angelina, Eddie Murphy, Venessa Williams (can you say gorgeous?), Beyonce. It was really cool to see Cameron Diaz and Meryl Streep and Leonardo, Justin Timberlake, JLo, Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore--hello?! Yeah, I was really starstruck.
First of all, the poster for this movie is disturbing and difficult to look at for too long, but impossible to not want to look at again just to make sure you really saw what you thought you did. Very much like the memoirs that inspired the film. The book was difficult to read because this person's childhood was so strange and painful. I cried while reading parts of the book and I cried while watching parts of the film which, unlike the movie poster, was very easy to watch and definitely possible to look at again.
I mentioned before that Running With Scissors could easily turn out to be a "dark, depressing drama or dark, disturbing comedy". After having watched the film, I think both are pretty accurate descriptions. What I can't figure out is why this film got so many bad reviews. Every actor did an outstanding job. Each person owned every single frame they were in.
Since there was no mention of Gabrielle Union in the hype for this film (much like Nia Long and Omar Epps were left out of the hype for Alfie even though they were SO THE MAJOR PLOT IN THE MOVIE!), I'd like to say, she delivered...as in, the mean/crazy she brought to Deliver Us From Eva, was alive and well in Scissors. Gabby fans would be pleased. And I digress.
For me, it was like, I didn't even want to blink because I didn't want to miss anything. I laughed out loud at times and cried at times. The wardrobe and sets and photography were beautiful. The soundtrack was like another character. The fact that these events actually happened to one person in real life will always be a little hard to believe. If it weren't for the memoirs, I think the movie would be so far fetched that it couldn't even be taken seriously. Maybe that's why there were so many bad reviews? I don't get it.
Actually knowing that Augustine turned out OK is what makes Running With Scissors in any format, shocking and amazingly entertaining. Otherwise, his story would leave you a little hopeful for him, but mostly just sad.
I like Da Ali G show. I like the Borat character. I get why the movie did so well last weekend. He's a great character. Borat in a 4-5 minute skit on Da Ali G show? Great. Borat for an hour and twenty-five minutes? Total waste of an hour and twenty-five minutes. Too much Borat.
So I'm in the middle of taking defensive driving online. It's supposed to take 6 hours, so each page is timed--I have to wait a certain amount of time before moving to the next page. As the time on the pages count down, I'm surfing the net and blogging, obviously.
I just finished the chapter on driving under the influence of drugs and they talked about narcotics. Every time I hear or see the word "narcotic" I think about Lawrence Fishburne (as Ike Turner) telling Angela Bassett (as Tina Turner), "I'm gone git off dat narcotic!"in What's Love Got to Do with it.
Another line from a film that will forever be etched in my brain is Loretta Divine's character in Waiting to Exhale telling Bernadine, who was trying to drunk-dial her soon to be ex-husband's new woman, "That's stupiT! It's stupid-and-is-childish."
This is my second time taking defensive driving. I think I've learned my lesson. I'll try to stop speeding, but will definitely do a better job scanning for the po-pos..
I shared my Love Jones DVD with a coworker...a white boy, y'all. He loved Love Jones. When he told me, I just wanted to shed a tear.
I feel like so many people missed out on Love Jones 'cause it was an all black cast and it wasn't a comedy or hood drama. I just want people to know Love Jones and to love Love Jones like so many people I know do.
I just read that movie version of The Kite Runner is set to be released next year. If it's anywhere near as painful and beautiful and ugly and heart-rending and touching and powerful as the novel is, what an amazing film this will be. Simply amazing.
I just finished free trials of Blockbuster.com and Netflix. I figured 1 month free with Blockbuster and 2 weeks with Netflix, why not? In all, I think I watched about 20 films.
The movies came in handy. Billy had a couple of trips last month (Boston & Japan), so I had plenty of time (and the TV) to myself. Between the movies and my tv shows I got very little reading done. Netflix or Blockbuster.com are really cool services, but I won't be a paid subscriber to either anytime soon.
I wasn't gonna chime in about my feelings about the Oscar Nominations, because I'm tired of feeling the same way/saying the same thing/echoing the minority masses, but blogs are all about speaking your piece, right?
"I'm glad you wrote about that. I wanted to, but didn't have the energy. Black folks get nominated gooood for playing servants (Hattie), thugs (Denzel), poor single moms--who baby daddy in jail (Halle), and pimps (TH). Yes, Jamie got his props for portraying Ray Charles, but statistically...you know what I'm saying. I'd like to see some Oscar nods for Blacks acting outside the stereotypical box. But like you said, you gotta get the roles, to be in the running."
Come on, Hollywood! Can we see a little more art imitating life outside the hood?
I watched RIZE this afternoon. Such an amazing documentary. I recognize the dancing from the Missy, Ciara, and Chris Brown videos I've seen. I had no idea that it is such a big part of the lives of so many young people in the hoods of LA. They explain how this dancing came about as a way to vent their frustrations...it's really interesting and moving. There are these very powerful images of tribal dancers in Africa and how their dances mirror those of the kids being filmed. It's like the movements are in their DNA. It really is awesome. One of the dancers said that during their dance sessions, a spirit is there...that you can feel it. I really believe that.
Now I feel bad about making fun of that movie, You Got Served. I thought the concept for that movie was kind of cheesy and made-up...the whole thing about street dancers meeting to "rumble" like gangs or something. Well, I guess it's not so much that I feel bad about making fun of You Got Served, it's just that after having seen RIZE, and how serious and real it is, I realize now more than ever that You Got Served (somewhat based on the street dance crew competition documented in RIZE) really was hokey.
Documentaries are cool. So many interesting people and stories out there...very cool.
...real hard. Like out-loud cry. Every time I watch The Moulin Rouge. On that part at the end during the lovers' secret song when Ewan McGregor stops walking out of the theater and turns around and sings a tearful, "Cooooome whaaaat maaaaaay." Every. Time.
Nine Lives is an enjoyable film. It's more like 9 shorts back to back with some of the characters' lives intersecting. They're all sad stories. Really, really sad stories. It's actually a quite depressing film...but enjoyable to watch...if you like depressing films. Tuckergurl had asked if I knew what was going on in the Lisa Gay Hamilton story. My best guess is that her character was impregnated by her Latino step-father when she was very young, gave birth to a child and supressed the memories. To self-preserve, she convinced herself that the mixed-race girl she grew up with was her sister when really she's her daughter. All the years of keeping it inside took it's toll and she snapped. This is the heaviest of the nine stories in this film. But like I said, they're all pretty sad.
I like movies that are just about people and basic, everyday human experiences and really honest and maybe even bazaar moments. No complicated or silly plots or particularly pretty people...kind of like real life. Sometimes movies like these totally go over my head like Lost in Translation. It was totally lost on me. I tried...even watched it twice 'cause I wanted to love it like so many other people did. It didn't work. Our Song is a "real life" movie that I saw last year for the first time and loved instantly.
I first read about Me and You and Eveyone We Know on Tuckergirl's blog last year around the time it came out. I finally got to see it last night, thanks to a free online rental. It was pretty much what I expected. Actually, I'd heard it would be strange, but didn't expect as much strangeness. I enjoyed watching it. I am, however, pretty sure I won't add it to my collection. The characters are all really interesting, but I was a bit disturbed by this one storyline that involved poop...one little boy's peculiar interest in poop.
Nine Lives is another film I'm really looking forward to seeing. Rodrigo Garcia, the director, also directed Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her...a film I thoroughly enjoy...and often. He's also the director for The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, both shows I love. So I think Nine Lives could easily be among my favorites. We'll see.
Not scary in the horror movie sense, but scary in the horrifying sense. This is book two in my "branching out of Black chick lit" venture. I didn't realize it was the true story of the author's childhood until I got the book and read the jacket. It reads like straight fiction. I'm halfway through the book and all I can say is poor kid. I know he's a best-selling author now, but he's lucky to have survived his childhood. If writing really is cathartic, I can definitely see why he needed to pen these memoirs. He's really funny...the book is a great read. It's a page-turner, but I'm turning pages with one eye shut, preparing myself for the next weird, unfortunate event in this poor kids life.
The movie version will be out in the Fall...It could easily be seen as a dark depressing drama or dark disturbing comedy. Either way, I'm sure I'll give it a look-see.
I'm actually just excited to see another Black romantic comedy. I hope there're more than one or two this year. The cast looks good. I love Donald Faison on Scrubs...loved him in Clueless too...yes, I watched Clueless. Golden Brooks from Girlfriends is in it too.
Blair Underwood...yummy!
It's called Something New and it'll be in theaters Feb. 3.
Very good movie. Photography is beautiful. Wardrobe (for Glenn Close and Elizabeth Banks) and haircuts are covetable. The men are pretty. The acting is a.ma.zing. NYC is, as ever, a living, breathing member of the cast. The writing is excellent. Every character...everyone with a line in this film is interesting...intriguing. This story has been told a million times, but never have I seen it told so well.
Heights portrays people who are in relationships that are perfect to onlookers, but very early on you see that they are all foregoing real happiness for the illusion of it. Diana (Glenn Close) is a legendary stage actress who, beknownst to all, has an open marriage with her director/husband yet is privately tormented by it. Her daughter, Isabel (Elizabeth Banks), an amazing photographer, halfheartedly passes over a once in a lifetime job offer because the time interferes with her wedding, which is weeks away and she hasn't even picked a dress. The tension between she and her attorney fiance is almost tangible. Together they maintain that they've stopped smoking, but privately each still smoke...and that's not the only secret in their relationship.
I love films like this one. It feels real. Nothing feels contrived.
As with any "movie based on a novel by..." the book was much better.The details that make the book such a thrill to read are passed over in the movie, making it a sort of let-down for those of us who read and loved the novel. Independant of the novel, this is a great movie. I'm sure I'll watch it again...several times maybe even. If I were to describe the movie (and the novel come to think of it) in one word (which I'm about to do right now), I'd describe it as beautiful.
This book was on my list ever since Oprah gave it her stamp a few years ago. When I began to see the trailers and posters for the movie, I decided to finally read it. The books I read are usually written by Black female authors. I've wanted to diversify my reading for a while and after reading The Secret Life of Bees and now Memoirs of a Geisha, I'm more convinced I'd like to branch out. Both books are narrated by young girls, white and Japanese respectively. A number of the thoughts and feelings expressed by both girls, I recalled thinking and feeling as a young girl myself. Both authors did an amazing job giving a voice to the universal young girl, no matter what race. I was most impressed with Author Golden's work because he's male, white, and American, yet the way he treated the voice of this Japanese peasant girl-turned geisha is so...authentic.
Confession: I usually skip the foreword and acknowledgments in novels I read, but I'm SO glad I read them in this one. They're very necessary and make reading the book such a complete delight. I actually exhaled when it was done.
Every moment I was reading this book, I was drawn into the world of this blue-grey eyed Japanese girl. I remember trying to explain to a friend how this book drew me in: When I was reading the book, I was IN it. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about it. The imagery is SO vivid. The scenery and objects and people are described so well that I almost feel like I've been to Yoroido and Kyoto, Japan, and have smelled the smells and seen everything Sayuri, the geisha, has seen, and like I know so much about the training and work of geisha...is that weird? I guess not. That's the whole point of fiction right? To give you an "elsewhere" experience?
The storytelling is poetic. It was a wonderful reading experience. It was beautiful. I can only imagine what the movie experience will be like. I can't wait to see what they've done with this novel. As beautifully as the pictures were painted in the pages of the novel, they definitely had a challenge before them. I'm looking forward to seeing this story in motion.
I'm having my stitches removed on opening day, so I hope I'm in good enough shape to see the movie at some point during opening weekend.
Loved it! The movie is among my favorites...among the first movies I ever owned (Dirty Dancing was the first...my all time favorite movie...it was a gift). I have it on VHS and whenever I'm in the mood, AND one of my VCRs is wired correctly, I watch it. It's out on DVD now, so I'll need to hook that up. This film was the beginning of my love of Sanaa Lathan (Zora), and with the name "Zora". I already knew and loved Zora Neale Hurston, but never considered naming my potential future daughter that until I saw this movie and heard it spoken so many times. And I've always thought very highly of Wesley Snipes' general appearance, so this movie was easily one of my favs. Now about the book...
This is a love story about some grown-up love...that make-it-through-the-fire love. It's the kind of love you want, but without all the pain. You know, like you want to love somebody so much that you love them and forgive them unconditionally...not becasue you're a punk, but because you need them like breath...like air. You want to love like that, but to not have that joint tested...does that make sense? The moral of the story (in my opinion)is that it's important to maintain your own identity...your sense of self...once you're in a relationship. Ever seen a couple who are so alike...love the same things, have the same freinds, the same hobbies, the same style? It's easy for people to "disappear" in relationships...either by compromising to the point of conforming so much that they end up morphing into who they think partner wants them to be, or simply morphing into their partner becasue they don't have a strong sense of identity themselves...when it's best (for everybody's sanity) to just stay the person they are, and roll with that...be a constantl reminder of why they fell in love with you in the first place. Of course growth is natural, but to grow together...and maintain personal identity...there's the rub. Now back to the book...
Anyway...great characters. Very enjoyable read. I'm actually glad I saw the movie first...and that the book was so different from the film. I got to experience these characters again, but the story for the first time, which was cool. I'm not surprised the book was so much better. To squeez this story into 2 hours a lot of characters were cut out and some things were rearranged. I guess to tell the whole story, they'd have had to make a mini series, like they did with Alex Haley's Roots or Queen. This story is actually good enough to have a series inspired by it...like Soul Food...which how cool would that be? The characters in this story are like that...you just want more of them. I didn't want it to end. That's the same way I felt after I read The Interruption of Everything. As much as you want to, you don't know what will happen next, but you know everything will work out alright. Terri McMillan is really good at those kinds of endings.
This is only the second novel of her's that I've read. I bought Waiting to Exhale after I saw the movie too...still haven't read it. I'm sure I'll play catch up with her other movie inspiring novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back. 'Specially since this was based on her personal love story...and her groove giver has recently turned up gay. I'll save them (and I'm sure her other stuff eventually) for when I need some detox from heavier reading.
I went to see Rent with Summer this weekend. We had so much fun watching that movie together. I didn't know a lot about the character's stories, beacause I'd never seen the musical on stage, so it was an experience finally seeing the film and filling in the blanks between the songs I was familiar with from the soundtrack. I don't think this movie will make it to my "favorite musicals ever" list, but I do love the soundtrack and I loved some of the performances in the movie. I think I would watch it again just to see my favorite performances again.
My favorties:(in no particular order)
Angel's "Today 4 U"
Mimi's "Out Tonight"
Mark & Joanne's "Tango Maureen"
Roger's "insert any of his performances here". He was awesome...very Bon Jovi.
My biggest impression from the movie, aside from the quite depressing glimpse into the lives of people living with HIV and dying of AIDS:
Rosario Dawson's beauty is almost entrancing and her singing voice is just as captivating.
Spanglish-I loved this movie! I actually watched it two days in a row. I was either on the brink of tears or crying the whole time. I love Adam Sandler anyway, so I'm not surprised I loved his character so much. I think I could fall in love with someone like his character in real life...if I wasn't already in love, of course. Cat Woman-Couldn't make it through the whole movie. I was done after that basketball scene. Crash-Finally saw crash about a week ago. It was a'ight. Ludacris was really good...and Don Cheadle too. The acting was awesome, but I wasn't blown away. I think I waited too long after the hype about this movie died down to see it. Beauty Shop-I could say a lot about how cool this movie was, but I will just say this: Djimon Hounsou was way too sexy for this film. Aside from how beautiful he is, he spoke in this near whisper the whole time and was just smoldering every second he was on screen. No man should be that sexy. It's not right.
Will see tonight
Shop Girl-I love Claire Danes. "My So Called Life" was so necessary in my lifewhen it was on in my high school days. I felt like she was me. Her thoughts were my thoughts. I related to her SO hard. When the show was canceled (way too soon) I was bummed. I've heard good things about this film, so I'm looking forward to it.
Will see very soon
Rent-Thanksgiving weekend in Dallas. I don't think I've ever looked forward to a movie as much as I'm looking forward to this one. Walk the Line-Reese Witherspoon? Joaquin Phoenix? Why wouldn't I want to go see this movie? Pride & Prejudice- This is a Sunday matinee movie. I love to watch a movie like this and then go outside while the sun is still up and just be...in the park or something. In case you've forgotten how much I love these kinds of movies...refresh your memory here. In Her Shoes-I always look forward to Cameron Diaz films to see what she's wearing. I love her style. That's not the only reason I want to see the movie, but the wardrobe is something I look forward to. Same thing with Drew Barrymore & Liv Tyler movies, Girlfriends, and any cool Black film like Two Can Play...Vivica's wardrobe was ca-ra-zy in that film!
Will wait for the DVD (weird coincidence that all these movies start with "G"...and that all these are Black films. Completely a weird coincidence.)
Get Rich or Die Tryin G-It was only in theaters like 2 days. The Gospel
One additional thought...I'm very strongly considering signing up for Netflix.
I've never seen this play. I was introduced to it by my friend, Rhea, back in college...when/where I was introduced to SO much outside my little southern Black Memphis girl world. I fell in love with the soundtrack (as you can see from this entry title, Seasons of Love is my favorite song from the soundtrack), thanks to Rhea, and am SO excited the original cast has made a movie! I LOVE MUSICALS!Dirty Dancing is my all time favorite...then there's The Wiz and The Moulin Rouge...The Sound of Music...the list goes on. I'm going to see the movie on opening day, but I really want to see it with my Dallas friends. It's Thanksgiving weekend, so we might just hook that up. When I come out of that theater after seeing Rent, I'm SO sure I'm gonna say,
"Congratulations, Rent. You're still in the running to become my FAVORITE MUSICAL EVER!"
I hope it lives up to all my hype. Check out the Rent Blog.
Returned the outfitI ordered to wear to Summer's Party For The Grown & Sexy this weekend. Billy and I loved the outfit, but I was in need of some therapeutic shopping. So rather than get a refund, I looked through the catalog and filled out the exchange form for a casual top and some really cool accessories. I missed the party because in my current condition of sickness, I cannot travel out of town and had to follow my doctors orders to stay home.
Stayed in bedand listened to talk radio until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Partly out of depression for being sick and missing my friend's party, and partly because I was enjoying listening to tips about landscaping and organic gardening.
Started transcribing Thanksgiving recipes to send to my friend in Houston. She spent T-day with us a few years back and recently asked for my recipes. Said it was the best Thanksgiving dinner she'd had (she's Kenyan). I boned a turkey, hammered it flat,layered a sausage and vegetable mix on top, rolled it up into a huge turkey sausage roll and roasted it. It was yum. I'm also working on my mom's dressing and red velvet cake recipes.
Watched the Good Times marathon on TVOne all day long. The one with James' funeral came on, so I got to see (for the gazillionth time) Florida drop that crystal punch bowl and say, "Damn! Damn! Damn!"That was cool.
Watched Beauty Shop on PPV.
Made my grocery list.
Wished I had a time machine to warp me into 5 weeks from now when I'll be not-sick and in ATL partying with my girls.
I felt like such a girl watching this film. I think it had a little something to do with all the overwhelming maleness: muscles, guns, super macho, super hot guys. All four brothers were very easy on the eyes. Terrence Howard and Chiwetel Ejiofor were both very pleasant to look at for about a 2 hour stretch as well. Andre Benjamin's acting was pretty good (I LOVE his face--unmistakably African features--beautiful), and Mark Walhberg has obviously been working out. This is a good action/mystery film, in general. The plot and action and everything were all good, but the overall hotness of the men in this film is most remarkable.
Recently I've Seen... The Door In The Floor-Whoa! When this movie was done, I felt gross, and dirty, and manipulated, and shocked, and disgusted. Then I watched it again. This is some deep, psychological, emotional, depressing shiznit! Alfie -Finally. It was really good. It was emotional. I didn't expect it to be so emotional. I didn't know Omar Epps was in it until my friend, Edmund told me. I also didn't realize Nia Long had such a major role either. Marisa Tomei's hair was good as always. Jude Law was dreamy as always. The Best Man-Every once in a while I get in the mood to watch this DVD. It never gets old. The Golden Bowl-It was on IFC this weekend. I've seen it twice before. I read another blogger's review of it, so when I saw it on I watched it again. Girl 6-Another Spike Lee Joint. I've seen it a handful of times. I caught it on cable the other day. Spike has an interesting, twisted mind. And that whole soundtrack is Prince!
I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them all right now.
Still haven't seen... Me & You and Everyone We Know-For some reason they removed this movie from the art house movie theater to this other mega movie theater and the only show-times are at 8pm and 10pm. I like matinees. Plus I like to watch films like this in that particular theater. It was only there for a couple of weeks! Then it was gone. I bet I'll end up watching this on DVD too. If it's still playing, I'll go see it with my sister in D.C. on my birthday. Hustle & Flow- It's the whole Memphis rap thing. I've never been a fan. And with the pimping and everything, I'll just have to prepare myself mentally to watch it. It was filmed in my hometown, and I've never seen M-town on film. Even the John Grisham movie, which I heard was filmed there...I haven't seen it either.
Can't wait to see... The Brother's Grim-Fantasy and fairytales! Yaya's movie Take The Lead- I can't think of the real title of it, and I don't feel like googling it. But Yaya from ANTM is costarring in this dance movie with Richard GereAntonio Banderas . I love Yaya. I love dance movies. I love Richard Gere Antonio Banderas . So, hopefully this movie won't let me down. Rent-as in "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred minutes! ...How do you measure a year? How about Loooooove!"...Oh. Yeah.
Will most likely wait to see on DVD... Must Love Dogs-The only reason I really want to see it is 'cause the dog in this movie is a Newfoundland! Like Stella and Okie's daddy! Can't resist a chance to see a Newfie in action. Okie took more after that side. Stella's more Labbish. Crash-It's been on my to-see list forever. I give up. Heights-'cause it's not playing in Austin, and I don't think it's coming. Four Brothers-Just because I'm sure there will be rewind worthy moments and not being able to rewind will just be frustrating.
Four suicidal strangers meet at a popular suicide spot on New Year's Eve, each with the intent to jump, and their lives are changed by the chance meeting. A heavy subject is dealt with in a very comical way. This would be an awesome...and pretty profound...movie.
Zadie Smith: White Teeth Stopped just past half...
I'm taking a break from this one. I'm halfway through it and am not enjoying the reading as much as I like to. Very challenging--a good thing-- as I said earlier, but I do need a break. I'm retiring it to my nightstand to finish bit by bit at night before bed.
Zane: The Sex Chronicles : Shattering the Myth I really didn't read this one cover to cover. Only read the first 4 or 5 stories. I thought I was grown, y'all, but I'm still a baby. I couldn't finish this one.
Tayari Jones: The Untelling The author's publicist is a fan of my blog and sent me a copy, which she predicted I'd enjoy. She was so right. It took me forever to finish because I've been very preoccupied with my life this year.
I'm positive no story has ever affected me as much as this one. I'm affected and changed by having read this novel. What she said.
Mahogany I wanted to be her...minus the narcotics. She was so glamorous and beautiful. And Billy D. Williams is the man! Interestingly, my hisband's name is Billy D. Hmmm.
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