by Sandy | May 9, 2009 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, Directors, Film, Movies
Director Spike is known for his movies – “Malcom X”, “The 25th Day” , “The Insider” and “Miracle of St. Anna” .
He makes good movies and sometimes great ones, but he also makes documentaries. He takes a risk and will veer from the fictional format that he’s conquered, to much acclaim, ever since his first films, “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Do The Right Thing”. When he tackles real events, the results are supreme.
“When the Levees Broke: Requiem in Four Acts”, originally HBO and now in DVD, was moving to watch because he let the people of New Orleans tell their stories about what happened in September 2005 when water and wind ravaged their city. Not out to ridicule or embarrass (like some recent “documentaries”), no need to fictionalize the tragedy- it is raw, angry, direct, sad.
Mr. Lee’s 1998 documentary – “4 Little Girls” also on DVD, is about the bombing of the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 and the little girls that died in the blast– he allows rage and grief to be expressed in a straight forward way. He also gives some insight into to what the racial climate was like before the tragedy and how the people of Birmingham dealt with the aftermath.
Spike’s films are often terrific. His documentaries have been terrific and powerful, always.
I’m looking forward to see his latest:
* The coming of age musical “Passing Strange”. I saw it on Broadway and was thoroughly charmed and entertained by “Stew”, who wrote the book, lyrics and music along with Heidi Rodewald.
* “Kobe Doin’ Work” about Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant
by Cybel Martin | May 6, 2009 | Art, Creativity, Culture, Directors, Movies
I went to my friend, & fellow Tisch alumnus, Rod Gailes’ New York Premier of his feature film “Camouflage” last week. It’s a very intriguing, thought provoking visual journey/film shot during the pre-gentrification of Harlem. I believe Rod began production on “Camouflage” close to 15 years ago. One of the many thoughts the film will leave you with is just how much potential, desire and hope was being suffocated in the impoverished circumstances of Harlem.
St. John The Divine, Harlem, NYC by Ronnie Ginnever
Flash forward many years later and we have that potential expressed. One excellent blog, worthy of a RSS feed, is “Harlem World”. Its a pretty content rich blog/magazine centered on Harlem. What caught my attention was just how much is focused on the arts. I just happened on the blog today (late to the party, I know) but greatly enjoyed this article on the “Negritude” exhibit at the Exit Art Gallery.
A taste:
“Harlem resident Greg Tate presents a three-room “Black Mystery Anti-Panopticon,” envisioning Négritude as a “place” for mystery and funk, music and soul. A DJ shrine, created by Tate and the artists Xaviera Simmons and Arthur Jafa, will provide a site for weekly performances; a raised stage outfitted with a drum kit, microphones, and amps will be used for occasional live music; and an exhibition of visionary black artists – including Thornton Dial, Jr., Thornton Dial, Sr., and Lonnie Holley – coupled with laminated pages from the books Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art, Vols. 1 and 2, will create a “conjuration room where willing spirits can come to get toasted, roasted, and lit the fuck up.”
Harlem World Blog also encourages “citizen journalists” to send interviews, photographs, news stories etc to: hwcontact@yahoo.com
Photo is of course James VanDerZee’s “Couple in Raccoon Coats”, which I believe is at the Studio Museum of Harlem.
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by Sandy | Mar 25, 2009 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Directors, Film, Movies
JANUS FILMS, a distributor of foreign and classic films, fed “Art” movie houses around the country that were brave enough to show films with *sub titles*!
If it weren’t for them, I would not have seen Ingmar Bergman’s “Seventh Seal” (1957), Truffaut’s “Jules and Jim” (1962), Fellini’s “La Strada” (1954) and classic English films like the romantic “Brief Encounter” (1945). The yearly showing of the Russian “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) at the west village Art Theater on 8th Street in NYC was always an event.
Janus Films celebrated their 50th anniversary with the issue of a 50 DVD box set. This is a fun assortment, something for everyone – from to “M” to “Rashomon”. A great purchase of course, but, you can always rent! Look at the list of films included in the set, pick your favorites, or the one’s you might have missed and enjoy!
by Sandy | Mar 10, 2009 | Blogroll, Books, Directors, Writers
“Precious Ramotswe “ is Botswana‘s only female private investigator – the main character of the “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith.
I noticed a few years back that Ms Ramotswe and the author’s name were listed week after week on the SF & Bay area California paper back bestseller list. “Precious” just sort of kept catching my eye and I got curious. I discovered that the Botswana detective has a worldwide cult following.
The author was born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, practiced law in Scotland and when McCall returned to Zimbabwe, he began to write about a red bush tea drinking female private eye – “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”. In this, and the books that followed in the series, our lady sleuth tracks down wayward husbands, missing children and solves village mysteries all the while keeping to the traditions of her culture and maintaining the standards of both Queen Elizabeth and Nelson Mandela (she admires both).
BTW: Directed by the late Anthony Minghella, “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency “will soon come to an HBO screen near you. Produced for the BBC in 2008, “Precious” is played by singer Jill Scott. Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose and Idris Elba from “The Wire” are also in the cast. Should be fun!
Books in the series:
* 1998 .The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
* 2000 .Tears Of The Giraffe
* 2001 .Morality for Beautiful Girls
* 2002 .The Kalahari Typing School for Men
* 2004 .The Full Cupboard of Life
* 2004 .In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
* 2006 .Blue Shoes and Happiness
* 2007 .The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
by Bob Martin | Mar 5, 2009 | Actors, Art, Directors, Film, Movies
I decided to look at (review) “There Will be Blood” as if this was a movie about today, these times. I can see easily the similarity between the turn of the last century and the “The Great Depression”. For over a hundred years we have been in a battle with greed, religion, and oil and we seem not to know how to break free.
PT Anderson, does not do a prequel to Giant, there are no good guys, then or now. Rather he deconstructs the USA, how we’ve become the country we are, through Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis).
Texas Oil Rigs 1920's
Plainview has a permanent chip on his shoulder, never feels respected or appreciated by his family and when given the chance is a bully.
The first time I saw this film, I missed the significance of Plainview’s remarks to Henry. “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” followed by “There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking.” and “I don’t need to look past seeing them to get all I need. I’ve built my hatreds up over the years, little by little, Henry… to have you here gives me a second breath. I can’t keep doing this on my own with these… people.”
Over the past decade or more I’ve gotten the feeling that we sometimes give lip service to caring about people. In order for us to really care we need an incentive, like a tax deduction or in Plainview’s case, the right to lease land for a pipeline.
by Sandy | Feb 24, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Directors, Film, Movies
I sometimes forget how good some actors are until I see them again in a well done film.
Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer are excellent in – “The Insider”, 1999. (Not to be confused with Spike Lee’s “The Inside Man”, which I also enjoyed)
Based on a 1996 Vanity Fair magazine article “The Man Who Knew Too Much“, by Marie Brenner, the movie was directed by Michael Mann and stars Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, an employee of a large tobacco company, who has a juicy story to tell.
He has secret documents in his possession that reveal that top executives of major cigarette companies perjured them selves before a congressional inquiry – all knew that tobacco was addictive, even while telling the public that nicotine was harmless.
After he sought out Mike Wallace to offer up the smoking gun, Wigand found himself in the midst of a game of hard ball – the players being the tobacco company, the U.S. government and CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
His attack of conscience catches him up in a giant publicity shredder, his personal life unravels, he is threatened with bodily harm, but, he’s still got information that can affect the health of thousands and cost big tobacco millions.
Our whistle blower discovers that sometimes the raw truth is not enough. It often depends upon how deep your pockets are and how much money you’re willing to lose.
Great performances by all – this “docudrama” is a very entertaining movie.
