Archive for November, 2008


Most Important Black Films: #25 – Car Wash

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November 30, 2008

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Car Wash was Michael Schultz’ follow up to the cult classic Cooley High.  In the style of Robert Altman, the main character of the film isn’t a person at all; it’s the car wash which serves as the meeting place for pimps, preachers, militants, capitalists, and everyone in between.

Now, on to the tale of the tape:

Relevance: Well, a major part of the plot revolves around the direction the black community is moving in politically.  Oh, and as I mentioned, the director was black.  And off the top of my head, I can name Bill Duke, Richard Pryor, the Pointer Sisters, and Franklin Ajaye as playing major roles.

So yes, I’d argue that this is a black film.

Legacy: For all the people I just mentioned, I don’t know if I would say Car Wash is the single biggest film for any of them.  You know who really made a name for themselves off Car Wash?  Rose Royce.

Craft: I can’t say there’s anything here that’s going to knock you our of your boots.  But for the time it was made, it’s solid.  Frankly, I wish more black filmmakers would experiment with how to structure the stories they’re telling.

Crossover: George Carlin has his memorable part, but I honestly don’t put Car Wash the movie that high on this category.  On the other hand, I still hear “Car Wash”, “I Wanna Get Next to You”, and “I’m Going Down” on the radio on a regular basis.  Did you know the music from this movie won a Grammy?  I call that crossover my friends.

Apollo:  You know, Car Wash isn’t really trying to be that kind of movie.  I’ll give it a little leeway for Richard Pryor cracking jokes in his prime.

So Car Wash holds down #25 on the list of Most Important Films to the Black Experience.  Before we move on, let me put something out there.  Yes, I’ve already ranked up to number one, but I’ll be delighted to move things around if something shakes us up before I get there.

And I chose the words “Most Important” for a reason.  I’m not arguing these are the best black films; truthfully these aren’t even my 25 favorite black films.  I’m a student of the Game, a student of history, a student of black history, a student of film history.  In simple terms, I’m arguing the 25 films I’m listing had the biggest overall influence.

#24 should be up around New Years…

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Milk

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November 30, 2008

 

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Full disclosure: Until the trailers started coming out, I had never heard of Harvey Milk.  Not even once.  Now that I think about it, I haven’t made my way to San Fran yet.  Maybe that will be my 2009 road trip.  Anyway, I can’t speak to how close this movie stayed to the real life events or how closely the actors resembled the real people they were playing.  So I’ll focus on two of the major performances.

First James Franco.  I knew he takes his craft seriously, I knew he wasn’t just another pretty boy.  But I thought his performance grounded the movie; he was the character who I felt like I was watching the life of Harvey Milk through.  Spiderman 1 and 2, City by the Sea, Pineapple Express, and now Milk.  I’m comparing Franco to the all the guys and girls who get shoved down our throats as ‘the next big thing,’ and I’m quickly coming to the opinion he’s the best young actor in the game.  Now as far as the best old-school actor…

Sean Penn’s pedigree speaks for itself.  His Oscar winning turn in Mystic River is one of my favorite performances of recent memory.  Now compare that character to Harvey Milk.  Exactly.  I won’t argue with anyone who says Sean Penn is the king of the scenery chewing bunch; I’m just saying the man’s dedication to becoming the characters he’s playing is top notch.

PROPS from me for Milk.  If you have an open mind and want to learn more about a particular moment in American history, I think the film is a good introduction.

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I Think I Love My Wife

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November 30, 2008

 

 

 

 

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I remember the weekend this movie came out; I planned to see it but something came up.  I went back a couple weekends later and couldn’t find it.  Not exactly a box office smash…

Now that I’ve finally had a chance to see it, let me give you my two cents: this is a very good movie.

Poor Chris Rock; one of the best comedians of our generation, but has a hell of a time translating his comedy style to film.  Eerily similar to Richard Pryor in a lot of ways.  In I Think I Love My Wife, he may have finally figured it out: he plays Richard Cooper, a middle class buppie working in corporate America.  In other words, he’s not playing ‘outrageous.’  Don’t worry, there’s definitely some Chris Rock one liners worked into the movie, but they feel very organic to the story.

The story itself is very formulaic; a happily married man reconnects with a fun friend from his college days who challenges the ‘boundaries’ of his marriage.  Gina Torres plays the loyal and dependable wife; Kerry Washington plays the vixen who re-enters the husband’s life.  Both actresses are gorgeous, and each adds a lot to making this an enjoyable movie.

As the title suggests, this is a movie about and for married folks.  I enjoyed it, but I’d be interested in debating some of the themes with my married friends.  Can you cheat on your significant other without having sex?  I say yes, the film seems to agree.  Do all marriages eventually get stale?  Well, Halle Berry’s gotten divorced.  Twice.  So clearly, you could get tired of anybody if you’re stuck around them for long enough.

So how do you avoid getting trapped in an unhappy marriage?  I think I finally figured out the answer to that question, which (I think) was the moral of the story.  Check the movie out for yourself, and maybe we can debate this point.

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A Hollywood Bachelor’s Thoughts on Prop 8

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November 28, 2008

At different times, I’ve had close friends ask me what I thought of the women who would become their wives.  My response has usually been something like this: “She’s cool with me.  But in the end, it’s you who’s going to be going home to her everyday, it’s you who’s going to be waking up next to her every morning.  If I thought she was bringing you down of course I would tell you, but really what I think shouldn’t matter as much as what you think.”

That may come off as cold to some people, but I can tell you the reason I live by that philosophy.  Tell me if this sounds familiar: treat others the way you want to be treated.  The only thing I’ve protected as hard as I’ve protected my career is my private life.  I chose very early on this path where I put my face, my name, my words in front of the world (and this was years before any of us had ever heard of the Internet!)  I’m not naive; I know people talk.  I’m not a recluse, people see me out and about in L.A. and it is what it is.  But that doesn’t change that there is a very clear line between the part of ‘Malik Aziz’ that’s meant for everybody, and a part of Malik Aziz that is very clearly mine.

One more backstory.  The 2004 Presidential election.  After Bush beat Kerry, some old college friends and I just chatted back and forth about why Bush won.  Over the course of the conversation, I was shocked at how many of my non-Republican friends voted for Bush.  When we asked why, the issue that came out of almost all their mouths was gay marriage.  So when Prop 8 failed earlier this month, I have to admit I was stunned.  But not shocked.  I watched the exact same thing happen on a national level four years ago.

If you have any doubt, I voted no on Prop 8.  As this fight continues, it’s interesting to watch the battle lines drawn.  The gay community seems to have awakened to the level of bigotry and opposition they’re up against.  Now we have a liberal president and Congress, and a clearly fed up minority community.  I’m not trying to compare their struggle to the Civil Rights movement.  For me, there is nothing in American history (and few things ever) that can compare to the story of African-Americans. 

That said though, if you know your history, you know many of the signposts of that movement were not the ‘victories’; they were the sit-ins, the bus boycotts, the moments where collectively we said  ENOUGH.

So it’s entirely possible that in the long run, the passing of Prop 8 could be one of the best things to happen to the gay community’s struggle for equal rights.  I don’t have the answer to that question.  No one does; it’s way too early to call it.

 

But I guess we’ll see.

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She Hate Me

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November 27, 2008

 

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With the extra time off, I’m catching up on various movies I just hadn’t gotten around to yet.  I was talking about Miracle at St. Anna to a friend, and he told me I really should take time out to see She Hate Me.

What I had heard over the years was this was one of the first movies that started what we’ll call ‘later Spike’.  By later Spike I mean that after Malcolm X, some of Spike’s later films try to tackle so many topics in one story, that the film as a whole may fall under its own weight.  It’s an interesting theory, and I can see where people who saw this movie would draw that conclusion.

Touching on Enron, same sex adoption, the Mafia and black sexuality in one film is…a lot.  But as always with Spike, a lot of the points were valid so that didn’t bother me all that much.  From a storytelling point of view, the thing about starting multiple strands/storylines for any filmmaker is how do you resolve them all and tie them all together by the time the movie ends?  In She Hate Me, the story all ties together, but I don’t know how satisfied I felt at the end.

Two things I’ll give this movie PROPS for: Kerry Washington grows on me in every movie and role I see her play.  There’s more than a few sisters working steady these days, but nobody holds down the ‘educated young sister’ roles like she does.  And Dania Ramirez…what are YOU up to these days?

And I have to mention my man Clay Davis.  OK, that’s not the actor’s real name, but my Wire fans know what I’m talking about.  That fool stole his few scenes as usual.  How do you trademark a line in between projects?  Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

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What I’m Working On: 2009

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November 25, 2008

2009 is still something of an open book right now.  I have a short I really like, but the economy isn’t helping anybody these days, least of all independent filmmakers.

Last summer I outlined my next feature script, Isn’t She Lovely?  It’s as close to a Tyler Perry style film as I’m capable of writing; that’s all I’ll say about it right now.  Anyway, for the moment I’m in a nice writing groove, so I imagine I’ll stick to the pen and pad until further notice.

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Thank You Mr. Nolan

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November 25, 2008

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Dear Chris,

In my moviegoing experience, I’ve only been brought to tears twice.  The first time was when Kunta Kinte refused to answer to Toby, which may be the greatest scene in Roots.  The other time was about 10 minutes into Batman and Robin, when the heroes started ice skating around the frozen over Gotham Museum.

In retrospect, I knew of your work years before I had any idea who you were.  My fellow film geeks were raving about this movie where the story was told backwards.  When I finally saw Momento for myself (and enjoyed it), I remember thinking “How come it took so long for somebody to do that?”

As a well-known Pacino-phile, I was a little relieved when I heard ‘the guy from Momento was directing his new film.  If Insomnia was just another paycheck for him, you got him to earn that paycheck my friend.

When Warner Brothers decided to let you remove the franchise, I was admittedly skeptical.  I knew you were a good director, but this is the Batman…

Even before Schumacher’s take, the Batman has always been on my short list of ‘must do’ projects.  He’s a loner, he’s a good guy who could care less about popularity, he’s completely mortal and has to rely on his intelligence and his training to survive.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.  I’m just saying…

To be fair, I can’t say Batman Begins is the best film I’ve ever seen.  What I can say is that there’s been no movie since that’s had me jumping around like a 10 year old boy when I left the theater.  You sir, rescued my favorite fictional character, and portrayed him the way many Batman fans of my generation know him best.

(As an aside, let me also shout out Christian Bale, who’s still probably a little underrated in his portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman.  But it’s the nature of the character in a lot of ways; the villains are much more interesting than the hero.)

When I heard you were making a sequel, I was giddy.  When I heard the title would be The Dark Knight, I was ecstatic.

Then people started saying Heath Ledger was so good, he should win an Oscar.  I started to get a little apprehensive.  Then I started hearing people say, it’s one of the best movies of the year, it’s one of the best crime dramas ever!  At that point, even I had to say to myself, “Why don’t we keep it in our pants until the film comes out at least?”

It’s still hard to believe I’m saying this, but I thought a lot of the hype was right.  As a consolation, let me add that you also made the best Batman film of all time - by far.  The Dark Knight is so good, I agree with many hardcore fans and say you really don’t have to do another Batman film.  There’s a redemption story to be told, but I don’t know how you can top yourself.  If you have one more in you, great.  But let me add my voice to the chorus that says, “Thank you for showing the humanity of the most human of all superheroes.”

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What I’m Working On: 2008

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November 25, 2008

My 2008 project became malikaziz.com.  Coming up with a style and making it fit into the overall direction I’m going in; deciding on a recurring topic (the 25 MIF); tackling a few thoughtful topics to get this blog off on the right foot.

While the ‘voice’ you’re reading is all mine, I had quite a bit of help.  So thank you to Tanya (my new official photographer), Marie and Daheli for keeping me laughing and being great co-stars, Anthony for the logo design, Ormonde for the lineup, Alfred for the great last minute suggestion, Brad for letting me use your lights for far too long, Rex at Rex Tuxedos for helping with the look. 

And thank you for coming by and reading.

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Slumdog Millionaire

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November 24, 2008

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Danny Boyle’s latest is about a young Muslim kid named Jamal Malik.  Needless to say, I really liked this movie.  What, you want to know what it’s about?  Sigh…

This is really a movie you need to see to fully appreciate how it’s done, but Slumdog Millionaire frames a large part of its story around one of the biggest fads of recent memory, the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?  Even within the context of a fictional story, it was amusing to be reminded of why this show was such a huge smash hit, and how the show’s use of dramatic tension fits so perfectly into a piece of cinematic storytelling. 

One of the other great pop culture pieces this movie uses is the story of the Three Musketeers.  I’ve been part of a few ‘trios’ in my own lifetime, and could tell you certain key elements of the Three Musketeers story, but not all of them.  There must be a lot of people like me, because Slumdog Millionaire plays this knowledge to full effect. 

All in all, PROPS from me for a good crowd pleasing movie that doesn’t get too Hollywood (or is it Bollywood?) until the very end.

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25 MIF Guidelines

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November 22, 2008

The scale I came up with to determine the 25 Most Important Films and TV Shows to the Black Experience is pretty simple: five categories, each with a scale going from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).  The higher the overall score, the higher the ranking.  All ties broken by this one man committee.

So what are the five categories:

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Relevance:

Calling something a ‘black film’ or ‘black TV show’ covers a very wide range these days.  A higher score in this category indicates a higher ‘black’ presence (actors, director, actual story, etc.)

Perfect example: Beyonce was one of the stars of Dreamgirls (very easy to argue as a black film).  Beyonce was also one of the stars of the remake of the Pink Panther (not so much).

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Legacy:

The words “Most Important” make this category essential.  What did this project mean to black people when it originally aired/premiered?   What does it mean to black people now?  Were the careers of any black actors/actresses/directors given a significant boost by working on this project?

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Craft

This is where I put on the ‘film snob’ hat and ask the simple question: did the storytellers tell the story they were trying to tell?  I try to be as objective as I can when I rank here.

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Crossover Appeal

This was almost a bonus category, but if something is that important, everyone has at least heard of it right?  A high score in this category means I can go to one of my non-black friends, not in the industry, and they a) know of the project, b) know who’s in it, or c) can quote lines from it.  Any combination of a, b, and c raises the score.

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“The Apollo Factor”

Let me be clear on this: it is never cool to yell or talk at the screen at the movie theater.  If that’s what you do, do us all a favor and wait for the DVD to come out.

Now, that said…

If a film makes you want to react to the action onscreen, then that’s reflected in this category.

Perfect example: I’m stealing this story but it really is the perfect example.  A friend of mine went to an opening weekend screening of Ang Lee’s Hulk.  About a half hour in, the frustrated 9 year old sitting in front of him yelled at the screen, “M****f*****, turn in to the Hulk!”  Nuff said.

Now that you know the rules, check back around the first of the month as the countdown begins…

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