All of our Soul of Cinema Movie Review members, the Chris Rock documentary is here and is opening this Friday! We are going to be there! If you are going to see it too, please post your review and critique of the film.
Synopsis:
When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Director Jeff Stilson’s camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesn’t always benefit the black community and little Lola’s question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.
Forest Whitaker Actor, director, producer and Igbo chieftain, Forest Whitaker, is a native of Longview, Texas. He played defensive tackle in high school which he was later granted an athletic scholarship to play at Cal Poly Pomona. He later transferred to University of Southern California where he excelled in the performing arts. He debuted on the big screen at the age of 21 in the comedy, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” where he played Charles Jefferson, as what? A football player. However, his acting talents bum rushed him on his cinematic journey staring in films, such as, “North and South”, “Platoon”, “Good Morning Vietnam”, and Clint Eastwood’s directorial project of the life and career of jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker, “Bird”, a film for which he won the Cannes Film Festival award for best actor and a Golden Globe nomination.
His repertoire of the characters he has played in later films is quite colorful. Among them were a kidnapped British soldier with a questionable sexual preference in the “Crying Game”, a gay fashion designer in “Ready to Wear”, a geeky alien hunter in “Species”, and a mafia hit man who follows the codes of the Samurai warrior in “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”. He started his creative ventures behind the camera by starring and co-producing the movie, “Rage in Harlem”, with Gregory Hines and Robin Givens, and made his successful directorial debut in the national black woman’s theme movie, “Waiting to Exhale”, starring Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon. A few of his most recent and more notable works include, “The Last King of Scotland” where he plays the brutal Ugandan president, Idi Amin, a role for which he won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in 2007, “The Great Debaters”, “Vantage Point” and “Where the Wild Things Are” as the voice of Ira. Included in his upcoming works are, “Repo Men” with Liev Schreiber, “My Own Love Song” with Renee Zellweger, “The Experiment” with Twilight’s, Cam Gigandet.
Aside from being married to the beautiful former model, Keisha Whitaker and the father of four adorable children, he created his own multimedia company, Spirit Dance Entertainment, which produced movies such as , “The First Daughter” and the 2002 Emmy Award winning film, “Door to Door”. Forest was given a star on the Hollywood Walk in April of 2007. Forest Whitaker, has done extensive humanitarian work, he has been involved with organizations like, Penny Lane, an organization that provides assistance to abused teenagers. PETA and Farm Sanctuary are organizations that protect animals' rights. During the last couple of years, he has become a spokesperson for Hope North Ugandan orphanage and Human Rights Watch. Oh yeah, if you were ever wondering about that suspicious looking eye, it is a condition that is called ptosis or drooping eyelid. Whitaker has considered corrective surgery, not for cosmetic reasons but because it is affecting his sight. “Put a li’l bit of that barbeque sauce on dat eye and wake it up!” (Mike Epps, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins) And yes, through genetic DNA testing, Whitaker traced his roots back to the Nkwere people of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria and was honored with the chieftain title at the African Movie Academy Awards. Let’s Hear It For The Honorable Igbo Chieftain, Nwannedinamba of Nkwerre, (which means, A Brother in a Foreign Land). You are the Soul of Cinema Star of October!
Cicely Tyson is an award-winning African American actress. She was born and raised in Harlem, New York by her West Indian parents Theodosia and William Tyson. Tyson worked as a secretary when her stunning beauty was discovered by a photographer which lead her to start a career as a model. Her first uncredited role was in the film, Carib Gold in 1957. From there she went on to do television - the celebrated series East Side/West Side and the long-running soap opera The Guiding Light.
She appeared in The Comedians in 1967, and had a featured role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter the following year. In 1972, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the critically acclaimed Sounder, the same year Diana Ross was nominated for Best Actress in Lady Sings the Blues. In 1974 she won two Emmy Awards for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Other acclaimed television roles included Roots, King, in which she played Coretta Scott King, The Marva Collins Story, When No One Would Listen and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (for which she won another Emmy). In 2005, Tyson co-starred in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie and Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Tyson co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
She has dedicated her career in playing only roles of strong women. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and has a high school named in her honor, The Cicely Tyson High School of Performing and Fine Arts located in East Orange, New Jersey. Tyson was married to legendary trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1988. Her career and contributions span over decades and she will forever be a star of Soul of Cinema Movie Review.
Let this month be about family. This month's meeting is dedicated to celebrating the love of family and quality time. This is an opportunity for families to come and share in the magic of, The Wiz, one of Micheal Jackson's most celebrated movie roles in his career.
"Let the spirit move you", to come out and enjoy a delicious dinner and watch a wonderful movie.
Date: Sunday, July 19th
Time: 5pm
Place: Sadies Soulful Southern Experience
5708 N Sharon Amity Rd
Charlotte, NC 28215-5083
(704) 532-5570
A re-imaging of The Wizard of Oz, set against an urban background with an African American cast. Dorothy is a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher from Harlem, who along with her dog Toto are lost in a snowstorm on the night of Thanksgiving and end up in the Land of Oz, which looks like a strangely surreal version of New York City. Dorothy learns the only way she can get home is to ease on down the road to see the Wiz. Along the way she meets a scarecrow made of garbage who wants a brain; a Tin Man, who is a turn-of-the-century mechanical carnie from Coney Island who wants a heart; and a lion who was banished from the jungle and must make his living as a statue in front of the main research branch of the New York Public Library. courtesy of IMDb
Soul of Cinema Movie Review is proud to dedicate the "Star of the Month" profile to Michael Jackson. We will always remember his role as the Scarecrow in the 1978 film, The Wiz. The Wiz was an urban adaptation of the classic story, The Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum in 1900. The product of Berry Gordy's production company, Motown Productions, this film featured many talented African American greats during that time, such as, Diana Ross who played a real mature Dorothy, Nipsey Russel as the Tin Man, Ted Ross and the Lion, Mabel King as Evillene, Lena Horne and Glinda the Good and Richard Pryor as The Wiz. Quincey Jones was also the musical supervisor and music producer for the film. And although, I love Diana Ross, the song I could not get out of my young head was, (singing) "You can't win, chile...". I love that song and still sing it today.
Michael Jackson, with his brothers, had just left Motown and signed with Epic Records at the start of the the production. Michael Jackson worked very hard, as he always has, to prepare for this role. According to critics, Micheal's performance was the "only memorable performance" in the film and he possessed "genuine acting talent". However, his talent could not save Motown and Universal from taking a $10.4 million loss, making the film, at that time, the most expensive film musical ever made. And even though it did not take home any awards, the film was nominated for four Academy Awards, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Music Score, and Best Cinematography.
Although I was too young to concern myself with Hollywood's stamp of approval, I did not care about what the critics thought. I loved me some Michael Jackson! After my experience with the dry saltine cracker song and dance of the 1939 version of the Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, I was happy to hear the soulful crooning of the scarecrow while he grooved on down the yellow brick road with Dorothy from New York (What up, yo!). And even though, the scary flying monkeys on the motorcycles creeped me out, ( oh, and that subway peddler was creepy too) I was twisting and turning my little six-year-old body along with the Red, Green and Gold people singing and dancing in front of Emerald City and just had to learn the words to "You Can't Win, You Can't Break Even". And in keeping with tradition I made sure that my girls watched the film and we would sing "You Can't Win" before they go to bed. Well, that's not the best song to leave in their heads to dream about, but, it was Michael Jackson, we just wanted to sing it like he did.
Despite, the criticisms of the film, I loved it. I loved the music, the dancing and the colors that played well on the screen. As with many films with an all Black cast, I was happy to see people who look like me tell a classic story they way I, a young black girl, could really relate to. A story that reflected my culture. This film was one of the influences that helped nurture my creative spirit. I would watch it again and again just so I could see Michael Jackson sing and spin down through out the movie. Even with those big, over-sized brown shoes, I could not help to wonder how he could dance without falling flat on his face!
We have all been influenced by Michael Jackson in one way or another, however, as far as film goes The Wiz will be the Alphaof his greatest film performances. People can dwell on the negative about this man's life, however, no one on this earth can judge him. As for me, I will always remember him as a man who gave the world his all. His music spoke to everyone and we all enjoyed it. His memory as well as his music will live on forever. We love you Michael!
May was dedicated to the women, so now June is dedicated to the men!
Diary Of A Tired Black Man is a humorous and deep look into why relationships fail to work from the point of view of a good black man. It is part scripted and a series of interviews with real people from across the country. This story follows the life and relationships of a successful black man as he tries to find a happy place to rest his heart. He is constantly challenged by the anger he finds in the black women he gets involved with. From his wife, whom he divorces, to the other women he tries to date after her nothing but Drama Drama Drama! So what's a black man to do? He tries dating outside of his race, which brings up a different set of issues for him to deal with. It's an interesting ride into the reality of black relationships that a lot of people will relate to, and a lot of people will learn from.
Starring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Paula Lema,Natasha M. Dixon, Shavsha Israel & Little Cierra Lockett. Written, Produced & Directed by Tim Alexander.
Tim Alexander , writer, producer and director.
After dropping out of high school Tim Alexander taught himself how to be a locksmith at the early age of 17. When his sister was getting married, she asked Tim to photograph the wedding, because in her words, ”Tim can do anything”. He didn't even own a camera at the time so he rented a camera, shot the wedding and decided to become a wedding photographer. Three weddings were enough for him and he changed his direction to shooting models instead. That decision led to a 28-year career as a world traveled fashion photographer and make-up artist. He later established Castle Studio, a web design, retouching, print design and visual marketing company that worked with celebrity clientele. This background has lead Tim creatively to where he is today, a filmmaker. He has successfully obtained distribution for his first self-produced film. Over-achiever, Tim Alexander wrote, produced, directed, shot, edited and scored Diary Of A Tired Black Man himself. The film's a message for us all.Films, Life, and Positive Thoughts. http://www.spikespillberg.com/
This film is not only a must see for black filmmakers but for everyone who loves black cinema. But first, I have to send a BIG THANKS and much love to one of our Soul of Cinema sistas who turned me on to this film, Tori Abraham. Thank you so much.
This is a very important piece of work by one of the pioneers of revolutionary black cinema, Melvin Van Peebles. If there should be any convincing testimony on the importance of supporting black cinema and the continuing efforts of preserving black cinema to those who are have little or no thoughts on the subject, it would be found in this dvd.
For many years I have been frustrated with Hollywood and how it has stereotyped blacks in movies and also how it has tried to ignore us behind the scenes as directors and producers. Melvin Van Peebles chronicles the racially charged stereotypes of blacks in Hollywood from the "Old Negro" to the "New Negro". He also pointed out how this discrimination has inadvertently influenced how we perceive ourselves and each other in our community, which is evident in some of our black films.
Melvin Van Peebles is not only brilliant and cultured but his writing in this film is profound, not to mention he is notably suave and smooth! As I was watching this film I felt as if I was being schooled by one of our "Street Teachers". You know those cats that walk around here like; a bus driver, a shop owner or just that dude that hangs out on the corner with a toothpick in his mouth, you know the one, you wonder if he has a job or not. You don't think they know anything. You don't see them on your college campus but their knowledge comes from experience, observations and yes, books! They read too. He directs his lessons from history and his personal experiences from growing up in the ghettos of Chicago, showing his first film in Paris to upsetting Hollywood.
I absolutely love this film and look forward to sharing this film with my Soul of Cinema family and friends real soon. However, I do suggest that if you get the chance check it out for yourself.
Posts
