Archive for March, 2009


Most Important Black Films #19 – Blazing Saddles

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March 31, 2009

blazing_saddles

Lucas, Spielberg, and Scorsese all get their well-deserved credit, but doesn’t Mel Brooks deserve a little more love for pumping out his own classic films in the 70s/early 80s?  Chief among them is his parody of the Western genre, Blazing Saddles.  The story revolves around a black sheriff put in charge of a racist town in the Old West.  This isn’t just a ‘film geek’ pic, this is truly a great comedy…

Now on to the tale of the tape…

Relevance:  While I joke with my partner about someday making a ‘slavery comedy’, Blazing Saddles is probably as close as anyone will get.  The main character is a black sheriff, and nearly every joke of the film revolves around that fact.

Legacy:  Already one of film’s great comedies, Mel Brooks wanted Richard Pryor to play the lead role of Bart.  The studio 86′ed it since Rich was already well into drugs, so Pryor got a writing credit.  Still one of Hollywood’s great ‘what ifs’ to me, but that’s neither here nor there.

Craft:  If you appreciate the art of parody and the art of telling a good (film) joke, you have to love this movie.  It’s often credited with being the first film to have a ‘fart joke’ in it, but when I think of craft in regards to this movie, I instantly think of Sheriff Bart’s first ride into Rock Ridge…

Drunk:  The sheriff’s a (church bell).

Pastor: What’d he say?

Mayor: The sheriff’s near!

Crossover: Big Time.  Because it’s a Mel Brooks film first and foremost, Blazing Saddles almost certainly has a bigger fanbase with the mainstream than it does with black audiences.  The film was nominated for three Oscars, but didn’t win any.

Apollo:  I repeat, it’s a Mel Brooks film.  While I’m partial to ‘Where the White Women At?’, Mongo punching out a horse, or the Hollywood backlot ending probably have much more ‘What the Hell?” credibility as far as this category goes.

A minor surprise next month as the countdown continues…

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Most Important Black TV Shows #19 – Diff’rent Strokes

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March 31, 2009

 

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Diff’rent Strokes was by almost any measure a classic sitcom of the early 80s.  The premise, an extremely wealthy white man adopting two black kids from the projects, set the stage for many of the celebrities we see today going to Africa and adopting black babies.  (That’s a joke folks before anyone bites my head off).

Anyway, on to the tale of the tape…

Relevance: While the premies sounds ultra-dramatic, Diff’rent Strokes was a comedy 90 percent of the time (more on this later).  The roles of Arnold and Willis have defined Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges for their entire lives (for better and worse it seems).

Legacy:  Go ahead and say it: ‘What you talkin’ bout Willis?’  Now that we got that out of the way, let’s also credit Diff’rent Strokes for bringing us the next phase of Janet Jackson’s career (as Willis’ sometimes girlfriend).  You hardcore TV buffs also probably remember Mrs. Garrett started on Diff’rent Strokes before moving on to her own spinoff show, The Facts of Life.  Oh, and do you really think Webster was getting a greenlight if Arnold didn’t become the phenomenon he did?

Craft:  If you want to know what a top of the line 80s sitcom looked like, you could do worse than watching a season of Diff’rent Strokes.  It was so good in fact…

Crossover:  The First Lady (Nancy Reagan) appeared on a ‘very special episode’, encouraging kids to “Just say No” to drugs.  As I’ve alluded to earlier (but I’m sure you all remember anyway), Gary Coleman was EVERYWHERE for a while in the 80s.  I would actually be quite shocked to find a white kid of my generation who knew nothing about Diff’rent Strokes, now that I think about it.

Apollo:  You know I had to go here.  Arnold and Dudley make friends with the neighborhood bike shop owner.  They go home with him.  Next thing you know, they’re taking pictures.  Next thing you know, Dudley ain’t got no shirt on, and he’s hopping around on this cat’s lap!  I’m openly baiting you to go to YouTube and find this.  As an adult, it’s every bit as funny/creepy as it was to me as a child. 

The countdown continues in April…

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Inspirations – My Friends

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March 27, 2009

A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s the sh-t that happens while you’re waiting for moments that never come.  – Lester Freamon, “The Wire”

Last night, I had dinner with one of my oldest friends and his fiancee.  It was my first time meeting her, so of course we talked about a few (not too embarrassing) stories from our past.  Our mutual friend ‘the Player’ was there, so he was a good counterbalance to the two of us, who’ve clearly changed in obvious ways from when we all met many moons ago in Lawrence.

Today I’ve been part of a back and forth discussion with my Trojan brothers about how we’ll take care of our season tickets for the 09 season.  When the ‘group’ started, I was the sub who would sit in on Saturdays when someone else couldn’t make it.  The first year we were three rows off the top of the Colisseum, every year since we’ve gotten steadily closer.  Now it’s quickly become part of our shared L.A. sports fan tradition. 

Last week this time, I split a meal with one of my fellow March birthday mates.  Another friend from school (but a different ’friend’ circle), we talked a little about business, but mostly I confided into her some of my private thoughts.  I had some optimism about the direction some things were going, and her enthusiasm made me more enthusiastic.  It was endearing.

As life has played itself out, I have a ton of people I’m cool with, a lot of really good friends, and three best friends.  In retrospect, I can probably point to a specific moment/episode where I recognized it, but really it’s a lot of little things that have added up over time.  (Look up my ‘Relationships’ blog for more on this theory.)   If my passion topics are race and sports, I see fairly eye to eye with them in that regard.  They’re all married, so I’ve become pretty friendly with their wives as well.  Those three ladies have informed me on a conscious and subconscious level on what I’m looking for in that regard.

When I was a teenager, I was obsessed, obsessed with movies.  One of my best friends (the one in L.A.) will tease me to the day I die about my unchecked ambition when I was younger.  But, if you believe in the opening quote (which I do), then I’ve come to appreciate the newfound balance I’ve tried to give myself.  Still not all the way there, but the intent and effort are real (which all the people I’ve mentioned here have picked up on). 

The profession I planned for, the friends I didn’t.  So, well…read the above quote again.

 

 

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A Day in the Life of a Filmmaker – Chapter 2

Filed under: Lady In My Life, What I'm Working On — 2 Comments
March 25, 2009

Exhausted.  It’s been a couple of days since we shot, and I still feel exhausted.  I’m not in ideal shape physically, but I (thankfully) dropped 10 pounds in the month leading up to this, so I know I’ve been in worse shape.  The crew and most of the people who stopped by seem to feel that it turned out well; we did get in every shot we planned on; getting multiple takes on nearly all of them.  Two-thirds of the way through the process, I’m still not quite in a celebatory mood just yet.  We’ve made a film, the film I set out to make; still doesn’t mean it’s a good film yet though.  The standard I hold myself to is extraordinarily high, but if you know me personally, or even if you’re a regular visitor to this blog, that won’t come as any surprise.

So, moving forward.  The editor is putting the first rough cut together, using the script, and some guide music I had in mind that will be the temp track.  (Should I tell you what song I used while writing it?  Nahhhh….)  I’m on the horn with my composer, giving him some feedback and ideally getting him a copy of the rough cut so he can score me something nice, that fits the tone of the story.  You know this consciously, or you know this subconsciously, but music can easily make an okay film good, a good film great.  It may not be the best example for this particular argument, but I just watched Rocky III again a couple weeks ago, and I’ll be damned if I don’t start smiling and shimmying as soon as I hear “Eye of the Tiger.”  Yeah, that’s not the most epic piece ever, but I think you see my point…

I’ll jump back into that boat to approve the ‘final cut’ but I also need to think about the future of the project, namely distribution.  After months of plotting just to get the story shot, now I can put my energy back into who I want/need to see it, and how they get it.  There’s the festival circuit, there’s my various friends and associates in the Biz.  Even though this is a short film, people of color handled it in front of and behind the camera, so it also fits quite well into one of my larger ‘Missions’ if you will.  I’m being a little coy here; I do have a gameplan in place.  My real first step is to polish the feature length version of the story that this short is supposed to be a ‘Prologue’ for.

Exhaustion is kicking back in.  But another chapter has been written.  The story’s far from over though…

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Most Important Black TV Shows #20 – Video Soul

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March 25, 2009

video_soul

There was a time, many years ago now, where if you turned to VH1, BET, or MTV, no matter what time of day or night, you’d see a music video.  You just to have to take me for my word on this one.  One of, if not the pioneer of all video countdown shows (including Total Request Live and 106 and Park) Video Soul was the only place to go to see music videos by black artists (eventually spawning the two shows that would highlight rap videos, Rap City and Yo! MTV Raps).  The Dick Clark of the 80s urban generation was Donnie Simpson, whose high pitched cackle and Cliff Huxtable-esque style made him the perfect host for the East Coast based show.

On to the tale of the tape…

Relevance:  It sounds strange to look back now, but outside of Michael Jackson there was a noticeable ‘line in the sand’ when it came to seeing videos of certain artists.  Prince eventually got his own well deserved MTV play, but if you turned to Video Soul, you knew you’d see some Prince.  Major, and in this case, relevant difference.

Legacy:  As mentioned in the intro, TRL, 106 and Park, Rap City, and Yo! MTV Raps all owe a huge debt to Video Soul.  And those are just the television shows.  If I listed every artist who got their initial (and in many cases only) video play on Video Soul, I’d run out of space. 

Craft: Low score here, but I think context is important.  A couch, a giant monitor, Donnie Simpson and sometimes Sherry Carter.  Not much more needed.  Won’t hold the ‘craft’ of 80s videos against the show.

Crossover:  As opposed to 106, Video Soul was very much a product of its time.  I won’t go as far as to say it was ‘proud’ to be so Afro-centric, but I will say (among other reasons), you’d never even dream of Tom Cruise stopping by Video Soul to promote one of his films back in the day.

Apollo:  Again, the nature of the show was more of a ‘showcase’ for other artists.  I don’t know if anything Donnie did as an ‘oh snap!’ type of moment.

#19 should be up next week…

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Inspirations – Nature Boy Ric Flair

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March 18, 2009

 

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“Whether you like it or don’t like it, learn to love it!  WHOOO!”

As a kid growing up in Kansas City, we’d make frequent trips to my parents birth state of Louisiana, where most of my aunts and uncles reside.  My mother’s hometown would be considered rural South; I lived there for a short while.  There aren’t gutters like in the city; just huge ditches that run up and down the residential streets (helpful if say, a hurricane type storm comes through).  While I don’t hear my Midwestern accent, I always hear the accent of my cousins.  The parts of the vocabulary that passed on to me, calling my elders Ma’am and Sir, saying ya’ll as opposed to you all, I definitely picked up in my time spent down South. 

My grandfather didn’t have cable the way we think of it now.  Anytime I’d go to his house, two things stood out that I didn’t see in Kansas: the joint JFK/Martin Luther King portrait in the living room (all the other pictures were family), and the huge television that he must had going back to the 60s.  That television didn’t pick up local news (cause there wasn’t really any TV station in that town) but we did get Superstation TBS.  My grandfather was a huge baseball fan, so anytime the Atlanta Braves were playing, that TV was on.  One of my most cherished memories as a kid was going with my grandfather to a Kansas City Royals game.  To the best of my knowledge that’s the only time he ever went to a live major league game. 

The other thing I could count on from Superstation TBS growing up was World Championship Wrestling.  World Championship Wrestling in the 80s meant one man.  The wheelin’ and dealin’, kiss stealin’, limosuine ridin’, jet flyin’ son of a gun!  The Nature Boy Ric Flair!  Ninety percent of the time Flair was the ‘heel’ or bad guy, but he was so charming, so stylish, so funny, he was to me the first in a long line of bad guys who were so good at being bad I ended up cheering for them anyway (followed in no particular order by the Joker, Tony Montana, and Barry Bonds to name a few). 

If the 80s were the last real era of excess, Flair’s style was the perfect personification of that.  Why did he dress so well?  Because that’s how he felt ‘the Man’, the World Champion should present himself.  Not just the best in the ring, but the best out of the ring too.  One promo which I’ll never forget for obvious reasons, was when he started railing about how all the girls wanted Slick Ric, and wanted to take a ride on Space Mountain, then looked inside his suit jacket and read ‘This coat made for the World Champion, by Michael’s of Kansas City!”  How in the hell was I not going to get geeked off of that?

Another Flair attribute I always tried to emulate was his trash talking style.  Everybody does some version of “I’m big, I’m bad, I’m the best!”  Flair was the first (and best) person I ever saw who knew how to talk trash and make you crack up laughing at the same time (even as a bad guy).  For those of you who watched my own ‘wrestling persona’ on TV, I have no problem admitting I watched all the ‘Naitch’ I could to try to nail the comedic timing aspect that goes with the type of smack talk I gravitate to. 

My personal favorite smack talk line of all time:  Flair was cutting a promo against Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat to promote their championship match at an upcoming Clash of the Champions.  Flair comes into the ring with four or five girls, he’s wearing a fur coat, he’s stylin’ and profilin’ (and he was the bad guy by the way).  The Dragon comes to the ring, as ‘Mom’s Apple Pie’, a well known married man, with a son known as ‘Little Dragon’, who represented the family unit and family values.  Two men who stylistically couldn’t be more opposite.  Anyway, as Ricky finishes running Flair down for being a bad example for all the kids in the audience, Flair arrogantly grabs the mic, blowing Steamboat off with the still classic line:

“I’m going to go out, and live life the way a World Champion should live life.  Why don’t you go home, and help the missus with the dishes?”

It was one of the biggest jerk things I’ve ever heard someone say, and I couldn’t have been cheering any louder.  That was Ric Flair.

Even though it was long overdue, when Flair finally retired as an active competitor at last year’s Wrestlemania, there was a genuine sadness in me, and for many of the kids of my generation.  Wrestling of course, is no more real than what I do, but like what I do, it’s a form of storytelling.  Ric Flair was both one of the best and the most passionate performers within his craft.  I still keep one eye on wrestling to see if there’s anything going on that interests me, but I keep an eye on it knowing there will never be another Nature Boy Ric Flair.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

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Most Important Black Films #20 – In the Heat of the Night

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March 18, 2009

heatofthenight

In the Heat of the Night is considered one of, if not the defining film of Sidney Poitier’s career.  It spawned an equally popular TV show, and is often earmarked as a ‘defining’ film of the 60s.  On to the tale of the tape…

Relevance:  Well, the story of the film revolves around a black detective from the North coming into the heart of the racist South to solve a murder.  And it stars the one of the original black movie stars, Sidney Poitier.  Any questions?

Legacy:  I’ve already made reference to the TV show.  Sidney’s co-star was Rod Steiger, a well respected Hollywood vet in his own right (On the Waterfront is the first film that pops into my head).  Oh, and you may be familiar with this line: “They call me Mister Tibbs!”

Craft:  A solid, ‘important’ film by the standards of the time it was made in.  From a technical point of view, it’s still very watchable.  But in terms of addressing the racial issues, very dated.  It’s one of those movies that’s very interesting to watch when you realize there’s an African-American in the White House now.  There’s a very famous scene where a white man slaps Sidney, and Sidney slaps him right back.  At the time it was shocking, now…not so much.  The look on the poor butler’s face still cracks me up; there was a damn porch monkey in the front yard!  No I’m not joking, go back and watch it.  All that said, I’m sure there’s more than enough white people who still think like the characters in the movie; I’m not naive or cynical.  I grew up driving past rows of Confederate flags to get to my grandfather’s house.  OK, I’m getting way off topic, back to the ‘movie’…

Crossover: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Norman Jewison), Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.  You add in the ‘Sidney Poitier’ factor, the score by Quincy Jones;  they don’t get much more crossover than this.

Apollo:  Now it seems pretty tame, but put it back in its historical context: 1967.  JFK and Malcolm had been dead for a few years, but RFK and Dr. King were right around the corner.  And you have this major Hollywood film where an ‘uppity Negro’ is talking back and fighting back any white person who challenges him.  In that context, I don’t even know what would be the equivalent today of doing a film like this.  With all due respect to all the other minority groups in America, the story of black people in this country carries the deepest (ongoing) connection.

Back later this month for #19…

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Inspirations – Thriller

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March 13, 2009

 

thriller

I could very, very easily do a post just on the different ways Michael Jackson has influenced me.  How many aspects of Mike have I co-opted into my own identity?  Soft spoken shyness?  Check.  Unbridled show biz ambition? Check.  Reclusive private life?  Check, check, check.

Anyway, Thriller is by far my favorite album ever, one of the few I can still put in the CD player now without having to skip a track.  You either have or had this in your collection, so I’ll spare you the ‘historical background.’  Instead, nine stories…

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

Ma ma se, ma ma sa, mu ma cu sa!

Ironically, the best moonwalk I ever did was to this song.  My first ‘adult’ trip to Atlanta, the girls we were hanging out with took us to this all night bowling alley.  Wanna Be Startin Somethin came over the loudspeakers, and after my first strike, I hit the ladies with the slide to get my point across.

Baby Be Mine

Baby be mine (baby you gotta be mine)/And girl I’ll give you all I’ve got to give

Every time I hear this song, for a split second I think I’m listening to Off the Wall.  Easy to forget because of this album, but Mike was a legitimately good singer before he became a one man phenomenon.  I’ll still argue that with anybody.

The Girl Is Mine (w/Paul McCartney)

Cause we both cannot have her/So it’s one or the other/And one thing you’ll discover/Is that she’s my girl forever and ever!

This one reminds me of one of my old college roommates.  Hear me out.  I forget exactly where we were at, but one time this song came on, he did Paul’s part, I did Mike’s, and…it didn’t sound half bad.  Never did anything with it though.  It’s funny, because in real life we became inverse images of each other: I’m an Alpha, he’s a Kappa; I’m in LA, he’s in NYC, etc.  Life can be funny like that.

Thriller

So now’s the time, for you and I to cuddle close together.  All through the night, I’ll save you from the terror on the screen, I’ll make you see…

I imagine this will find its way to YouTube at some point, but in my best bootleg movie from undergrad, there was a dream sequence where my character went through a Thriller type transformation:  The full moon appears, he goes from ‘regular black guy’ to hip hop thug.  my Kangol turned into a skullcap, my specs turned into shades, my regular teeth turned into gold fangs.  The joke still makes me laugh a little honestly.

Beat It

You got to show them that you’re really not scared, you’re playing with your life, this ain’t no truth or dare!

The wedding reception for my Captain.  (A few people are already laughing.)  After some friendly party-walking turned into a one-on-one pop locking contest between me and ‘the Joker’, the DJ had the nerve to throw on Beat It.  Taking full advantage of the ballroom, I hit every trademark move from the video: sitting up in my bed, blasting through the double doors of the ‘pool hall’, the West Side Story style go home sequence.  Somebody was taping it, but hopefully that’s been taped over at this point (fingers crossed).  Yes, I know every dance move to every big Michael Jackson video. Don’t test me.

Billie Jean

She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son…

My freshmen year of college, I did ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’ at this little karoake contest.  (One of the guys who became a best friend to me was my backup dancer as I recall; man life is funny).  Of course, after I nailed that one, everyone was trying to get me to do ‘Billie Jean’ for an encore, but I knew my moonwalk wasn’t that great.  Nevertheless, the next day at Mrs. E’s (school cafeteria), I kept getting ‘coaxed’ into breaking out the falsetto again.  But I have to be feeling it.

For the record, I’m one of those people for whom Mike’s performance on Motown 25 really changed my life.

Human Nature

Why, why?  Why do they do me that way?  I like living this way.  I like loving this way.

My favorite song of all time.  There are other favorite songs, but no real challengers.

He might not remember this, but my college roommate from USC makes me think of ‘Human Nature’.  This was pretty early in our friendship, but we were in my car going somewhere, and SWV’s “Right Here” came on the radio (great use of the sample, I’ll be the first one to admit). 

Anyway, to get a rise out of me, this cat says, “Yep, that’s the best use of that music ever!”

I almost threw that fool out of my car in the middle of the 405.

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)

“Girl, I think it’d be nice, if you and I could, you know, just…get together?”

P.Y.T. makes me think of my second cousin (more like my niece, you know how families are).  When she was a baby, she’d always want to sing and dance with me.  At that age, ‘dancing’ meant just hopping up and down with the music.  She couldn’t really talk yet, but she tried to do the chorus, “Na na na! Na na na na!”  It was very cute.

Lady In My Life

And baby through the years, even when we’re old and gray, I will love you more each day, cause you will always be the lady in my life.

I can’t relate this song to a particular woman or episode from my past.  For me it’s just a great ballad, another of those rare examples of Mike just straight up singing, not being ‘Michael Jackson’. 

And not a bad movie title either.

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Lady In My Life

Filed under: Lady In My Life, What I'm Working On — Leave a comment
March 13, 2009

 

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Lady In My Life is the feature I’ve spent the first quarter of the year writing.  Named after one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs, LIML tells the story of a young man (Jamal Ali), as seen through the eyes of of his mother (Tanya Washington), his wife (Gloria Ceballos), and his daughter (Aaliyah Ali).  A ‘family’ film in every sense of the word, it takes place in three different locations (rural Louisiana in the 70s, Kansas City in the 80s and 90s, and Los Angeles at the turn of the century), and covers two major religions (Christianity and Islam).  It is both the most epic and the most personal story I’ve written at this point in my evolution as an artist.  While it wasn’t a conscious choice, it’s also the first story I’ve written without cursing, and the sexual references are mostly implied (the most undeniable proof I’m getting old…fast).

I definitely wrote this with certain actresses (and a few actors) in mind for the major roles.  The businessman in me won’t reveal that info yet; honestly that’s way down the line from a business point of view.  I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  What I will say is this: I can remember vividly when a ‘black film’ was defined as having either Spike Lee or Eddie Murphy.  That was it.  It’s still not where I feel it should be personally, but there has been progress.  And as long as there are those with ambition and talent banging against wherever the ‘ceiling’ lies, progress will continue to be made.

If writing the feature represents the first step, the second step is the Prologue.  For those of you like me who are fanatics of The Wire, you’ll probably remember before Season 5 started, three short films were released.  Each was a Prologue, or origin story for one of the major characters of the Wire (Prop Joe, Omar, McNulty and Bunk).  In a similar vein, the Prologue for LIML takes place years before the ‘story’ of the feature film begins.  It revolves around the first (dating) anniversary of two of the main characters, Jamal and Gloria.  Their five year old daughter Aaliyah is one of the central characters of the feature: you do the math.  The Prologue is obviously related to the feature, but it’s truly a separate project.  I’ll definitely be providing updates as that piece of the puzzle progresses; if there’s a demand for it, I’ll write a separate post talking more specifically about my goals for that particular project.

So that’s a preview/review of my 09 plans.  More as the gears start turning…

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My Loyal Readers…

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March 10, 2009

I’m working under something of a deadline right now.  The posts the next few days will be few and far between as I try to meet my deadline and take care of a few other things. 

If things go to plan, I’ll have a LOT to talk about real soon. 

Until then…

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