For Spike…

  It’s funny how ‘timing’ plays out sometimes.  Between Red Tails, the Help, and Sundance, there’s been a lot of public and private conversations already this year about the direction of where black cinema is going.  Everyone has their own opinions, but the truth is none of us can look at the landscape and say, ‘This […]

First Oscar Impressions

Some quick thoughts on this morning’s nominations… Best Picture – 9 films, wow.  I called 6.  Extremely Loud and War Horse haven’t been on my ‘must see’ list, but now I feel obligated… Best Actor – Gary Oldman, it’s about damn time!!!!! (yes I’m biased, been a fan for decades before he played Commissioner Gordon). […]

Red Tails and the State of the Union

So the last thing I did this weekend was go out and see Red Tails for myself.  I thought it was cool; not the ‘savior’ for black cinema but also definitely not anything that set ‘the movement’ back a hundred years.  The box office numbers came in well, which I think was the one thing […]

Most Important Black Films: A Soldier’s Story

  So like a lot of you, I’m getting geared up to see Red Tails in a couple of weeks.  To get my mind ready for that, I went on Netflix Instant this weekend and rewatched A Soldier’s Story for the first time in what must have been 2o years.  The trailers already let us […]

J. Edgar

  I heard a lot of mild criticism when J. Edgar came out so I didn’t have my hopes real high when I finally got a chance to see it.  It’s not a bad film by any means, but against the best work of either Clint Eastwood or Leonardo DiCaprio, this film definitely falls into […]

Hugo

  I went into Hugo with literally no expectations.  It was a Scorsese picture, but definitely not a typical “Martin Scorsese’ picture.  It’s a 3D film (bleh) but Hugo is a complete family film (by far the best use for that technology in my opinion).  I came out of Hugo not overwhelmed, but pleasantly surprised […]

Midnight in Paris

  First off, hope everyone had a nice New Year.  Now let’s get back to business… As I watched Midnight in Paris, I appreciated the irony of this particular story.  A writer who spends quite a bit of time daydreaming about his idols finds a time warp that allows him to hang out with Hemingway, […]