This documentary film from Raymond Gayle examines “the struggles of the black rock musician and the stigma they face in the black community and the music industry.” It features tons of great performance footage and interviews with journalists and musicians like Angelo Moore of Fishbone, Vernon Reid of In Living Color, and Cody ChesnuTT. Although the film is a bit rough around the edges, it’s got a lot of heart and certainly tackles an interesting and timely subject. The success of bands like TV on the Radio (one white guy) and Bloc Party (fronted by a black guy) might signal a shift toward an acceptance of more rockers of color. Watch it here, or by all means go buy a copy.
And here’s the Saturday Night Live performance that first made me a Fishbone fan.
Well, not all Black people. But this is a perfect example of why the stereotype still persists. Writing about the new movie Obsessed, Stephen Holden said the following:
The movie’s most disturbing aspect, of which the filmmakers could not have been unaware, is the physical resemblance between Mr. Elba and Ms. Larter to O. J. and Nicole Brown Simpson. It lends “Obsessed” a distasteful taint of exploitation.
The problem, of course, is the fact that Idris Elba and O.J. Simpson look nothing alike, save for one obvious similarity. They have different shaped heads, different facial structures, different features, different skin tones. They just both happen to be Black. And Ali Larter and Nicole Brown Simpson just both happen to be blond white women.
The only thing distasteful here is how the sight of a Black man on screen with a white woman still makes white people crazy enough to write stupid shit like this.
I would definitely love to see the whole movie get this treatment.
From the 2009 Oxford Film Festival starring Claire Franklin and Jess Edge. Produced by Micah Ginn, Matthew Graves, and Joe York of the Media and Documentary
A brief word of explanation. During a repeat viewing of Gladiator, my wife and I noticed Joaquin Phoenix’s incredibly high “creep factor.” In the real world, this inherent skeevyness is almost always a liability. As an actor, it can open the door to a host of juicy roles. (This is, of course, not a testament to an actor’s true character. In interviews, Willem Dafoe comes across as affable and charming. On screen…creepy.) In a nod to the lingo of the movie, we christened Phoenix as Creepius Maximus. So that explains the title of this blog entry. What follows below, I have no explanation for other than to fall back on my old standby: Rock star trumps everything.
Whenever I find myself bogged down in LA’s notorious traffic, the following two thoughts invariably pop into my head.
1. Get the fuck out of my way!
2. It didn’t have to be like this.
Taken for a Ride is a 1996 documentary that lays out some of the circumstances that led to America having “the worst public transit in the industrialized world.” It’s informative, infuriating, and should be mandatory viewing for every American who lives in an urban area. I watched in on Christmas Eve. Luckily, the next day I was able to retreat into the Paris Metro system, thanks to this amazing gift from my wife.
I have a love/hate relationship with Mark Cuban. It just swung back towards the “love” direction after reading this.
Tiger Woods’ niece is a Demon Deacon. Based on that picture, I’m guessing there will be a slight increase in the male attendance at Wake Forest Women’s golf events.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not big on God. But does being born again deaden your ear for a heavy handed story and wooden dialogue? I was about to describe this movie as "preachy", but I guess that’s the point.
Before Baio’s career began to wane, and long before Swayze’s started to wax, there was Skatetown, U.S.A. Based on the trailer, it’s some sort of homo-erotic, disco West Side Story. If the trifecta of Chachi, Dalton and that sweet description don’t whet your appetite, how about a 70s smorgasbord of a cast that features Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch), Ron Palillo (Welcome Back, Kotter), Melissa Sue Anderson (Little House on the Prairie), Flip Wilson, Ruth Buzzi and Billy Barty. Ruth Buzzi and Billy Barty? Does that mean this movie will have a pie fight?
