Category: the Batman


American Muslim, Volume V

Filed under: American Muslim, Inspirations, the Batman, What I'm Working On — Leave a comment
August 29, 2011

 

A little over a month ago, I was asked what my resolution for this Ramadan would be.  In my heart, I was aware of what I needed to do, but at the time I wasn’t ready to commit to it. Sometimes you go through things in your private life, and your feelings about those episodes should remain private. I don’t mind publicly stating however, that my resolution was to let go of the guilt I’ve been carrying with me, over situations beyond my control.  The gift of being compassionate is wanting the best things in life for the people you love; the curse of being compassionate is dealing with a great deal of pain when the people you love are in pain.  I do hope that this series of posts has established that, whatever chaos I have going on in my personal life, my gut instinct will always be to use my skill set to promote harmony.

The ‘American Muslim’ series will continue; moving away from Ramadan I see it as being more reactive than proactive.  I don’t see myself as a religious leader; it’s no coincidence that I haven’t quoted any scripture here.  But as I feel the need to speak up, I will.  Maybe I won’t approach the subject again for months.  Maybe a presidential candidate or the NYPD will strike a nerve and I’ll feel the need to say something sooner.  Time will tell.

Anyway, I look forward to a cup of coffee if I need it after I get to work.  I really look forward to a glass of water in the afternoon as we’ve been experiencing a nice heatwave the past week or so.  Next week I’ll get back into working out again which I’ve missed, just for the rush I get.  And yes, I’m looking forward to football season starting this weekend and stuffing my face every Saturday and Sunday for the next few months.

A bonus clip today, the My Fellow American project posted the video I shot for their mission; you can see it here:

http://www.myfellowamerican.us/videos/malik_aziz__my_fellow_american.html

If it looks like my t-shirt is about to fall off my shoulders and I haven’t eaten a decent lunch in a month, it’s because, well, I haven’t eaten ANY lunch in a month!  Jokes aside, I was glad to help promote their cause (since I consider it my cause as well.)

As Brother Malcolm said, All praise is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.

Eid Mubarak to all of my brothers and sisters around the globe.

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American Muslim – Volume I

Filed under: American Muslim, Inspirations, the Batman, What I'm Working On — 2 Comments
July 31, 2011

In my opinion, some people have been put on this Earth to drive people apart and to pull others down into their insecurities and misery.  I, on the other hand, feel that I’ve been put on this Earth to remind others of the connections between us.  Conflicts are inevitable, but ultimately, in between our disagreements, we have to co-exist peacefully.

So that first paragraph lets you know, this post is more intellectual than normal.  So fair warning to those of you who normally come to this space for silly/charming/smartass/’Bruce Wayne’; I’ve saved most of that energy for Volume II. No offense taken if you want to skip ahead to the jokes, it’s one of things I enjoy most and do best.  But this is about the foundation of my house; my ideology and philosophy, why I am and why I do what I do.

This year I celebrated my birthday in Vegas; a month later I flew home to Kansas City.  Same airline.  As fate would have it, same skycap attendant for both flights.  A brother, he recoginzed me immediately the second time (which I was kind of flattered by when you think of how many people pass through LAX daily).

Anyway, here’s the conversation:

Skycap: ‘My man! How was Vegas?’

Me: Vegas always treat me well brotha!

Skycap: ‘So what’s up, the Lakers gonna threepeat?”

Me: I hope so!

(He looks at my driver’s license.)

Skycap: Oh… Um… one second my man!

(He does the 10 foot Walk of Shame to the Feds, who runs my permanent record and finds out I’m a natural born U.S. citizen who’s never been arrested, who has voted in every presidential election since I was 18 years old, and hold down a steady 9 to 5 job.  He does a second Walk of Shame back to me with my boarding pass and a shit eating grin on his face…)

Skycap: Yeah man, you know, just doing my job!

Me: I understand, I understand.  So, you know as soon as we’re in the air, I’m jumping out of my seat and screaming ‘Allahu Akbar!’ at the top of my lungs right?

(OK, OK, I didn’t really say that last line; I’m not suicidal.  Had to throw a little sarcasm in there; I can turn it down but not off.  Back on point…)

Way back when sticking my head in a book was my outlet into a world beyond I knew, I took an early interest in American History.  It started of course with the story of my ancestors.  My roots on both sides are in the rural sections of Louisiana.  In other words, I learned as much with my eyes as I did in any book.  I recall with a chuckle my father and uncles pointing out to me the trees they picked pecans from as boys; as a kid I just smiled, but in my teenage years it occurred to me these tours always stopped before we got to ‘the Big House’.  (It didn’t take a genius to surmise that while our family name is linked to one of the biggest Creole families in the area, to this day I doubt anyone on ‘my’ side of the family has spent any time in the ‘Big House’.)

As I studied, my natural curiosity led me to wonder if there had been any similar stories in American history.  The Black Experience (in America) is unique in many ways, least of which is the physical/karmic violence that God forbid will never be repeated.  But as I looked for a common thread, I learned that, truth be told, it’s practically ‘Standard Operating Procedure’  for U.S. citizens at some point to be told “Yeah you were born here, but that ‘freedom and justice for all’ line doesn’t apply to you.’  A few examples that immediately come to mind…

We refer to Native Americans as such in part because they were living their lives here before there was an actual ‘United States of America.’  Of course, the reason there is a U.S. of A. is because the United States Army was created to fight the British. And as far as Native Americans are concerned…

During America’s immigration boon, the first generations of the Italians and the Irish immigrated to this country and had to jump through the imaginary ‘You’re not really an American’ hoops.  Africans, um, ‘immigrated’ here in mass numbers and…yep.  Leap forward a century or two and Japanese-Americans got the ‘royal treatment’ after Pearl Harbor.

Now you may argue I’m pulling the race card left and right, but historically race is always the easiest to point out because, well, you can literally see it. There have been plenty of other ‘Scarlet Letters’ in the history of this country.  The most well known is probably Senator McCarthy and the Communist hearings of the 50s.  If we’re expanding this analogy to legal battles, lest we forget women in America didn’t always have the right to vote; that had to be won.  In present day there’s the ongoing battle by gay couples to have their unions legally recognized as marriages.  Those who dislike America or consider themselves ‘Enemies of the State’ will use any or all of these examples (and more) as to why this country is fundamentally flawed.  We shout democracy at the top of our lungs here and around the world, and at the same time will sanction, sometimes officially, that our own citizens can’t have equal rights.  Truthfully, I can’t say that argument is flat out wrong; I just choose a different perspective…

While it’s true America’s history in dealing with its own citizens is ‘checkered’, it’s also true that in nearly every circumstance some level of progress was made. (We can debate the definition of ‘progress’ another time.)  The analogy I often use, as it’s an analogy I’m familiar with, is that of a pledging process.  You walk in the first day, you’re nobody, and you’re told and made to feel like you’re nothing. During the process, you stand your ground and learn ‘the rules of the game’. Eventually the process is complete, and you come out of the other end a member.

(If you really want to extend the analogy, it would be interesting to study who becomes ‘the One whose identity completely became the new group’, ‘the One who focuses on the history and getting ‘the next guy’ through the process’, and ‘the One who became an asshole who can’t wait to take out their anger and frustrations on the next guy’.  Again, another time.)

When you define yourself as an idealist (as I do), you know going in that the change you seek in the world can’t be measured by ‘tangible’ results.  Let’s say hypothetically my goal was for a law to get passed.  A law can create an opportunity that didn’t exist before; it can force us to share a classroom or a workspace.  But it can’t change human nature or people’s opinions.  Only time and life experience can do that.  To be honest, I’m not convinced the words I write or the way I choose to carry myself will change any individual’s mind about what they believe ‘Islam’ is, and what ‘Muslims’ are.  But if I don’t even attempt to make things easier for the next generation of Muslim Americans, then I’ve guaranteed myself failure.

One of my favorite guy jokes is ‘Man Law’; the code of being a Man and the unwritten rules of what we will and won’t do.  Man Law Number One is universally recognized: ‘Protect Your House.’  Depending on the circumstance, its meaning can be physical, verbal, or in this case spiritual.  I remember clearly a time when a Muslim woman could wear hijab, and while it was certainly ‘different’, there was nothing suspicious about it.  I remember clearly the days of when people discovered a man was a Muslim, the natural curiosity of that man’s life story stopped short of anything that suggested criminal or the ‘T word’.  I don’t believe in ‘turning back time’, but I do believe we can get to a point in the future where my children can just be ‘kids’ and will reach early adulthood before having a justified paranoia that some fringe group in this country or in another country is plotting to wipe them off the face of the earth.

So this is my foundation.  Apologies if I got preachy at the end, but it’s the state of things as I see them.  There’s a line that is being repeatedly crossed now between ‘political showboating for your supporters’ and ‘you went there because you’re not expecting anyone to react.’

Volume II (probably next week) will go more into what happens when you wake up a sleeping dog.

Ramadan Mubarak to my Muslim brothers and sisters around the world.

Peace unto my non-Muslim brothers and sisters.

Thanks for reading.

One.

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Green Lantern

Filed under: Movie Reviews, the Batman — Leave a comment
June 18, 2011

 

The best way to start this is by saying I probably know more about the backstory of this character than most just through having a good friend who’s a diehard fan of this character, but in terms of my expectations for this movie, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away.  And as I turns out, I wasn’t.

Now that doesn’t mean I thought this film was bad, that’s going too far.  From my point of view though, there were two major problems.

One, it was trying to be all things to all people.  There’s a storyline about the three main characters and their relationships with their fathers; that’s interesting.  There’s the visual, outer space story about how the Universe is broken up and how there’s a Green Lantern for each section of the Universe.  That’s interesting.  There’s the love story between these two childhood friends who can’t commit to each other.  Interesting.  And there’s a story about their third friend who is the smartest of them all but gets the least emotional support.  Also interesting.  And the movie tells all four of the stories, fairly equally.  So you have about a half hour total with each story, with the tone moving from ‘The fate of our world is at stake’ to ‘I look pretty cool as a superhero’ to ‘Daddy didn’t love me’.  I think you see where I’m going with this…it was a lot.  And that was my take as a casual fan; I heard some true fanboys spewing hate as the credits rolled.

The other problem for the film (which others have said) is that this is a rough time to make an ‘average’ comic book film.  The bar is just ridiculously high.  And especially if you’re not one of the Big Three (Superman, Batman, Spider Man), you have to really knock it out of the park to get the casual moviegoer to say ‘I want to see more of that.’  I’m kind of indifferent to ‘Thor 2′ for example, but I am interested in how ‘The Avengers’ will turn out.

You’re on deck, Captain America…

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The Wrestling Revolution

Filed under: I Love L.A., the Batman — Leave a comment
May 17, 2011

Today I share an ‘I believe in Harvey Dent’ style moment.

Among the wide variety of friends I have in L.A., in the past few months I’ve spent more time hanging out with and ‘talking shop’ with friends who are involved with the local MMA and wrestling scenes.  Running in those circles, I guess it was inevitable in retrospect that I would shake hands with Jeff Katz, a passionate wrestling fan and Detroit sports fan who also happened to behind a few Hollywood films you may have heard of (we’ll come back to that).

Anyway, within the last month on WWE programming, one of the last men standing from the Attitude Era, Christian, finally won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time after 17 years.  (Universally regarded as a nice moment for him and the fans.)  What was not so nice was the length of time Christian would hold the top belt: 2 hours (in show time).  Christian happens to be a friend of Katz, and the incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back for this wrestling fan.

I can’t sell his pitch better than he can sell it himself, but here’s the short version.  WWE is a monopoly in the wrestling industry and it has been for years now.  Instead of doing what others have done and failed at miserably (compete with WWE on their terms), why not try a different model altogether?  Thus, the Wrestling Revolution was born.

So there’s a short version of the backstory, you can click the link below and here Jeff’s vision straight from the horse’s mouth:

 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/790983338/wrestling-revolution

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Thor

Filed under: Movie Reviews, the Batman — Leave a comment
May 6, 2011

As you can probably guess, I know much more about the characters in the DC Universe than I do about the characters in the Marvel Universe.  When Iron Man came out a couple years back, I was as ‘blind’ to the character’s backstory as possible.  Thanks to my buddy Vahagn, I know a ‘little’ more about the Marvel guys now.  So I was ‘aware’ of Thor in his place in the Marvel universe but couldn’t tell you alot about him.

Speaking as ‘MovieGoer X who likes a good comic book movie without knowing everything about the character’, I enjoyed Thor alot.  The tone of the Marvel comics is similar, but I’ll start here: whoever is making the decision about the ‘tone’ of the Marvel films deserves major credit.  Like Iron Man, Thor isn’t trying to be The Dark Knight.  The first act jumps right into the absurdity of a ‘God of Thunder’ landing in present day America.  And it’s such a great play because when the movie gets heavy into the action in the second half, the audience is invested.  A part of me wants to get upset again on all the comic book movies who couldn’t get this right, but we’re still in a golden age for fanboys, so I’ll just sit back and enjoy it.

I’ll be honest; since the ‘mythology’ of this particular character doesn’t interest me much beyond understanding the ‘rules’ of his world.  I could have done without as much of that (outside of the humor of seeing Stringer Bell in a golden costume.  I’ve picked up that fanboys weren’t too crazy about that, but I guess Marvel felt like they could get away casting that role color blind).  The tie ins to the future ‘Avengers’ movie was MUCH more organic in this film than in the Marvel films before it; I’m actually looking forward to what they do with that now.

This came up in discussion after the film, but Natalie Portman owns the sci fi geek market so hard it’s absurd.  Her role here was ‘the girlfriend’, so I don’t think this will earn back to back Oscars for her. Whenever she comes back from motherhood, I’ll be very interested to see if she sticks with these kind of roles or goes in a different direction. The cat who played Thor absolutely killed it though; he even nailed the accent you would expect ‘Thor’ to talk in.  I’ll say it again: The Avengers movie is starting to shape up very very nicely…

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What are My Favorite Movies?

Filed under: 25 MIF & TV, Inspirations, Movie Reviews, the Batman — Leave a comment
April 24, 2011

So awhile back my friend @thecheesefry turned me on to Flickchart, and I promised after I ranked 1000 films (a solid number I think for anyone who calls himself a film geek) that I would post what my favorites are. The question I used when ranking was this, “It’s Sunday afternoon, there is nothing on but these two films, which one am I watching?”  Before I get to my top 20, here are a few things I learned.

1. 1000 films…that’s a lot of movies.  But I give you my word I really have seen all 1000 films I’ve ranked (to this point).

2. A lot of the ‘classic’ films?  You really only need to see them once. (A somewhat surprising revelation to me.)

3. Depending on what your ‘question’ or criteria is for choosing one film over the other, you can learn a lot about someone’s personal tastes with a time killer like this list.

4. I knew I was a big Gary Oldman fan, but even I didn’t realize how big of a Gary Oldman fan I was.

So enough chatter, here is my top 20, with a little comment about each one.

20. Bram Stoker’s Dracula - my favorite ‘bad’ movie of all time.  Gary Oldman chews up the scenery, but Winona and especially Keanu in a historical period piece.  Alrighty.  And I know it fits the over the top mood of the whole film, but Beast Dracula having his way with Lucy in the second act can still get a ‘What the Hell?!?’ out of me.  Good Times.

19. Vertigo - I also have soft spots for ‘Psycho’ and ‘North and Northwest’, but this is the Hitchcock film that rose the highest.  One of my favorite endings definitely; I think the first time I saw it, my feeling was ‘Now THAT was a movie!”

18. The Shawshank Redemption – Like a lot of people, this one was under my radar until it came out on video.  Also on the short list of films me and my father enjoy equally.

17. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) - Granted the deck was stacked in terms of cast (pun intended) but this is a great Hollywood movie.  Clooney at his peak, Vegas looks fantastic, great use of Clair de Lune at the end.  Easily a personal favorite of the past ten years.

16. Coming to America – I talked about how great this movie is in the ’25 Most Important Black Films’ section (cross site plug).  I’m not the first person to say this but it’s true, it’s by far the most quotable black film ever.  One of my few regrets in life is not walking off the stage like Randy Watson after my last step show.

15. Batman Begins – As a pair of my friends can attest to, the last time I came out of a movie theater jumping up and down and pumping my fist.  And I was well into manhood when this film came out.

14. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – Everyone knows this film is underrated, they’ve remade it with Denzel, and I still feel like it doesn’t get its just respect.  The assassination of the real president a year after the film was made will always hold the original down. And I just recognized the irony that next I have…

13. JFK - Whatever you choose to believe about what happened that day in Dallas, strictly as a film ‘JFK’ is phenomenal.  In my lifetime, maybe no other film has demonstrated how powerful the medium can be in terms of making people think about the world around them.

12. Return of the Jedi – I’m old enough to remember when people trashed this as ‘the weakest Star Wars film’.  Those were the days right?

11. City of God – Best non-Italian gangster movie ever?  Maybe.  I have fond memories of ‘City of God’ being to film what ‘the Wire’ was to television.  Out of nowhere, people were telling me, ‘YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!’, setting my expectations low so I wasn’t disappointed, then telling five other people ‘YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!’

10. The Empire Strikes Back - The Dark Side never had, or never will look this damn cool and bad ass ever again. “Luke, Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father…”

9. A Streetcar Named Desire – Young Brando at his physical peak, when he was clearly passionate about acting.  Nuff said.

8. Eddie Murphy: Raw - I’ll be the first to admit that some of the jokes here are extremely overboard (and especially ironic given the rumors and run-ins with the law Eddie has had since then), but I’ll take this over ‘Delirious’ every time.  Eddie was still the kid from Saturday Night Live on Delirious, here is when he is ‘Eddie Murphy: Movie Star’.

7. Airplane – Now the ‘joke a minute’ genre has been watered down to the point that the films are usually not funny at all, but the originator is still the best of the bunch in my opinion. ‘Stewardess, I speak jive…’

6. Once Upon a Time in America – It’s not a perfect movie, but I still love the ambition of it. I think everyone has or will have at least one non romantic relationship that will end badly.  And in the end, did Noodles just get high and imagine what could have been?

5. Superman II – Christopher Reeve will always be the perfect Clark Kent/Superman, and Terrence Stamp gave the Gary Oldman performance before we knew of Gary Oldman.  ”Kneel before Zod!  ZOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

4. The Dark Knight – the Prince of Gotham lost this round and I couldn’t have been happier.

3. The Godfather Part II – Best sequel ever.

2. Roots - Technically not a ‘film’ in the way the others are, but Flickchart put it on the list, so here it is.  Still debating at what age this will be mandatory viewing in the Aziz household.  Five seems too young…

1. Malcolm X - What did you expect?

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2011 ArtFradieu Oscar Live Commentary

Filed under: I Love L.A., Inspirations, Movie Reviews, the Batman — 1 Comment
February 27, 2011

Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Malik Aziz share an unique, common background.  Both young men are natives of Kansas City, Kansas, graduates of the University of Kansas and went to grad school at the University of Southern California.  They both grew up in the ‘golden age of hip hop’ and share a passion for films.

For the past several years, they’ve also posted predictions about the Academy Awards.  Technology has evolved where last year for the first time they were able to post their unique commentary during the show.

This is Round 2…

Thomas: tee minus three minutes sucka!

Malik: It’s time for this year’s Oscars.  For those wondering, I’m wearing a tux from Oscar de la Renta…

Thomas: And I’m wearing a hoodie from champs sports…

Thomas: So, I’d say this was a hit and miss opening sequence. Anne Hathaway and James Franco seem game. The Black Swan bit was a little painful, though.

Malik: yeah hit and miss was right..

Thomas: Funny joke from Hathaway about appealing to a younger demo.

Thomas: That’s exactly what ABC is going for by having them host instead of a baby boomer.

Malik: yeah we’ll see how the ratings do tomorrow

Thomas: Hey, is that Lou Gosset Jr. sitting in front of James Franco’s grandma?

Malik: yeah LOL

Thomas: “There’s only two things that come out of the Oscars. That steers and queers and I don’t see no horns on James Franco.”

Thomas: Officer and A Gentleman, thanks very much.

Malik: idiot, LOL

Malik: this feels slow but I’m digging the set design

Thomas: Hey, Lou Gossett won an oscar when black people were only winning once every ten years.

Thomas: Set design is cool, but the pace is very slow so far.

Thomas: What constitutes set design and/or computer generated backgrounds?

Malik: All I know is I’m 1 for 1 in my Oscar pool brotha…

Thomas: Alice In Wonderland looked great and had great sets, but I’d be curious to know how much of the sets were created by actual set designers and not special effects guys.

Malik: good question, but it’s the direction we’re going in I’m afraid

Thomas: That category os blurring fast.

Malik: an Oscar for Nolan’s cinematographer, nice!!!!

Thomas: Well deserved win, here. Wally Pfister shot a beautiful film with Inception.

Malik: ‘his master?’

Thomas: Mark that on the list of things a brotha will never say.

Malik: i got $100 if you win an Oscar and refer to ANYONE as your master…

Thomas: If I heard any black man say that, I might bumrush the stage even if I don’t know him.

Malik: LMBAO!!!!

Thomas: Much respect to Kirk Douglas.

Malik: yeah I don’t want to make a joke here.

Thomas: But, in fairness, the demo just switched the channel for a few minutes….

Malik: too bad, this is a major category

Thomas: Who wins here?

Malik: i picked Leo

Thomas: Good performances all around.

Malik: yeah this is a strong category

Thomas: This lady in Animal Kingdom freaks me out for some reason.

Thomas: Leo angered some people for lobbying for herself this oscar campaign.

Malik: yeah I’m offended, people get paid to do that…

Thomas: She took out a few ads in magazines asking people to consider her.

Thomas: But, if she really wants to win, she wants to win.

Thomas: Who’s the guy with the job of holding Kirk Douglas’ cane?

Malik: yeah I appreciate the honesty

Malik: this has to be the most agonizing moment in these five women’s lives…

Thomas: Yes…

Thomas: Not just for them.

Thomas: Leo’s life just changed.

Thomas: Leo fought for this award. She got it.

Malik: now you got me going, can’t you see some kid saying ‘Man Michael Douglas aged pretty bad didn’t he?”

Thomas: That’s the thing. There might be kids who don’t know who Michael Douglas is, either.

Malik: OHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Thomas: Leo’s a ham on stage, but we already knew she was.

Thomas: Good job in The Fighter. But, don’t be taking Kirk Douglas’ cane!

Thomas: Anne Hatahway is kind of funny. “The Young and Hip Oscars” lol

Malik: yeah good comeback

Thomas: Did you check out this short animated film?

Malik: i heard about it but no

Thomas: Looks interesting. But, I always wonder who generally gets a chance to watch these, other than festivals and voters.

Thomas: Maybe that’s it.

Malik: yeah i researched this, you have to be in a certain part of the Academy to vote on certain awards

Thomas: Toy Story 3. Nice.

Malik: probably the best overall movie this year if we’re being honest

Thomas: For anyone who loved their toys, this film was a tear jerker.

Malik: agreed

Thomas: Nice way to round out the Toy Story trilogy.

Malik: yeah we grew up with that trilogy in a way

Malik: hey it’s your category brotha!

Thomas: The white tux twins?

Malik: yeah a little hard on the HDTV…

Thomas: The is Sorkin all the way

Thomas: The only question is what kind of speech will he give.

Malik: we’re about to find out…

Thomas: Even the other nominees were like, “I ain’t winning this…”

Thomas: Nice acknowledgment of the book the screenplay is based on and the author who wrote it.

Malik: yeah this is a good speech

Malik: Wrap It Up Son!

Thomas: He’s kind of a blowhard, but has a great memory of names. Overall, classy speech.

Malik: Whoa, that was my pick but I’m still surprised it won

Thomas: No surprise here.

Thomas: Seidler is in his 70s.

Thomas: Waited decades to write this story and did it well. As he said, he’s the oldest writer to win this thing.

Thomas: Seidler is also giving a classy and funny speech.

Malik: another good acceptance speech

Thomas: Writers representing with the speeches!

Thomas: Not bad singing Anne Hathaway.

Malik: (blank stare at Franco…)

Thomas: Text message from Charlie Sheen is funny.

Malik: OK Russell Brand, that was a good line…

Thomas: This is funny.

Thomas: And, I’m not even a Russell Brand fan.

Malik: me either, but I have to say the new Arthur is a good idea (on paper)

Malik: only OGs remember Dudley Moore at this point

Thomas: True, but it is a revered comedy. Hopefully they did it right.

Thomas: In HDTV, that gold envelope looks like a work of art itself.

Malik: yeah that’s pimp!

Thomas: Here comes your girl, Reece.

Malik: yeah…

Thomas: So, does Bale win and will Hathaway reference Batman?

Malik: yes and yes

Malik: as will I

Thomas: Will Bale give a crazy speech?

Malik: IN THE ALL BLACK SUIT!!!!

Thomas: Batman says “Bloody hell”?

Malik: yes so what?

Malik: learning your American accent is something we only do to make ourselves more accessible to you Yanks

Thomas: Just saying. Batman sounds kind of British up in this piece.

Thomas: At least Superman is still played by an American. Wait…

Malik: did he get a little emotional at the end?!?

Thomas: Either that, or he had a brain fart, forgot his wife’s name and played it off.

Thomas: I like to think it was emotion, though.

Malik: it better be, couldn’t pull that with no sista…

Thomas: She’d be staying daggers at him. “Negro please…”

Malik: LMBAO!!!

Malik: great intro for the sound/music categories

Thomas: Yup.

Thomas: One of my biggest loves – film scores.

Malik: i almost got up and started swinging my lightsaber around – no homo

Thomas: No comment.

Thomas: But, The King’s Speech score was well done. And used very well in the film.

Thomas: Social Network has a good one, too. Though it was a little monotonous.

Thomas: I would have picked Kings Speech, personally, but I get it.

Malik: yeah I thought Inception might have had a chance there as well

Malik: the sound was a big part of that film as well

Thomas: True.

Thomas: Scarlett Johanson. Hot?

Malik: Yeah I dig her, I’m always surprised when I hear some guys say they don’t get her appeal.

Malik: You one of them?

Thomas: She’s nice. But, there are times when she’s much better than others.

Thomas: Inception deserves this win. Great sound.

Malik: yeah tonight is not one of her better nights

Malik: and yeah there’s the Inception win

Thomas: black with bow tie.

Thomas: Don’t see that often.

Thomas: Man, they start the “get off the stage music for non actors RIGHT AWAY.

Malik: I blame Kirk Douglas still.  There I said it.

Thomas: lol

Thomas: Inception taking no prisoners with sound and effects…

Thomas: But Nolan got no love for directing.

Thomas: I heard the Academy might see him as a “comic book guy” even though The Dark Knight was well respected. Think they’ll award him for the next Batman or will it take a non comic/special effects film?

Malik: good question…

Malik: depends on how good the next Batman is, people have a short memory.

Thomas: Cate Blachett. Much respect for her skills.

Malik: yeah she’s like an even more mainstream version of Streep

Thomas: This is another category which blends the practical work with special effects.

Thomas: How much of the Wolfman look was practical and how much was computer generated?

Malik: don’t know but i have a side question for you…

Malik: what would you do if you won an Oscar and the music never stopped?

Malik: they play you on to the stage and just keep playing…

Thomas: Go up on stage and stare down the orchestra. Don’t say a word, just stare at them the entire time they play.

Malik: that would be the greatest moment ever!

Malik: God forbid I’d be in the crowd, the camera would catch me looking like I had no home training…

Thomas: Got the first black people on the show.

Thomas: Of course, they’re rapping.

Malik: (shaking my head…)

Thomas: How much could they pay you to sing the Beauty and The Beast song with an English accent?

Malik: Not enough. Next question…

Thomas: Randy Newman songs just make people feel good.

Malik: God bless Randy Newman, but Family Guy nailed him in one of their first seasons.

Thomas: lol. Just watched the Family Guy clip of Randy Newman!!!

Malik: Told You!!!

Thomas: How did Waiting For Superman not even get nominated for a documentary oscar, though?

Malik: Man, I don’t know

Malik: i’m not sleeping on the teacher’s union though…

Malik: our first awkward looking Oscar winner…

Thomas: This guy is a film student. Nuff said.

Thomas: But, he’s living the dream if that’s the case.

Malik: very true, I’m not hating…

Thomas: Figured Auto tune was coming.

Malik: i’m trying not to laugh…

Thomas: They could have picked a better film to do it with, though. Winter’s Bone. Some movie that’s the opposite of musical.

Malik: “He Doesn’t Own a Shirt”  - that’s a winner

Thomas: yeah, funny

Thomas: That’s what the demo wants!

Malik: i was going to say that’s her best look tonight I think

Thomas: yeah.

Thomas: Oprah sighting.

Malik: the Queen has arrived

Thomas: I wish I could watch more documentaries.

Malik: I thought Restrepo was good, haven’t seen the winner yet though

Thomas: The level of quality has really been amazing in this category.

Malik: I’m sure more fictional filmmakers are naturally gravitating towards docs these days

Thomas: Can always depend on the documentary people to make a political statement or two.

Thomas: Good.

Malik: Yep, now get off the stage!

Malik: Billy Crystal getting a well deserved ovation.

Thomas: Yes. Still the best Oscar host ever.

Thomas: For our generation at least.

Thomas: Bob Hope was known as pretty good himself.

Malik: yeah Hope is iconic

Thomas: That passover joke is iconic itself.

Malik: LOL

Thomas: I wonder who did “new Bob Hope’s” voice.

Malik: yeah that was awkward.

Thomas: Inception has to win this, right?

Thomas: Alice In Wonderland was really good for effects, but the turning room itself probably won this for Inception.

Malik: agreed

Thomas: Social Network is cleaning up. Some in their camp have to feel like they have a shot at best picture. What do you think?

Malik: Ask me after the give out the Directing award in a few minutes…

Thomas: Jennifer Hudson. Hot?

Malik: Usually but I don’t like her look tonight

Thomas: Yeah, I agree. Doesn’t seem like her own look.

Thomas: But, she lost weight and that looks good for her.

Malik: oh i see brotha; you like those size 1 types…

Thomas: I ain’t saying that.

Thomas: Just think that she looks good either way.

Malik: i guess you’re digging Gwyneth Paltrow huh?

Thomas: lol. The skinny snow bunnies…?

Thomas: Gwyneth’s never been my type. To each his own.

Thomas: I do wonder if Jennifer Hudson looks at Gwyneth’s singing and is like, “Don’t even try it…”

Thomas: The Family Guy Randy Newman is still in my head. Lol…

Malik: it’s going to be there for awhile LOL

Malik: “she takes a bite”

Thomas: The real randy Newman is pretty funny, though.

Malik: yeah that dude is pure Cali

Thomas: Uh Oh. Celine’s singing your song.

Malik: no comment

Thomas: You’ve always been a fan of “Smile” and an even bigger fan of Celine.

Thomas: This is nice.

Malik: i heard this really was MJ’s favorite song though

Thomas: Yeah.

Thomas: Perfect song for this montage.

Malik: yeah

Thomas: Well done. They normally go to commercial after the montage. Not this year. Think I still have a crush on Lena Horne.

Malik: I still have a crush on Halle Berry…

Thomas: NOW they go to commercial.

Thomas: Nice.

Malik: that may have been the best In Memoriam even though it wasn’t the most star studded

Thomas: It was well done.

Thomas: Here we go – directing…

Thomas: Wow. Hooper wins in his first nomination.

Malik: yeah that’s impressive

Thomas: Not sure how I feel about that.

Malik: the Social Network folks just got their bubble burst I think..

Thomas: Looks like The King’s Speech just grabbed the inside track on best picture again.

Thomas: The Social Network took the early prizes, but The King’s Speech might be coming on late.

Malik: nice Mama’s boy speech there

Thomas: Yeah. Nice and simple speech.

Thomas: Fincher has one in the bank for a future award, though.

Malik: you know the historian in me wants to get into the Governors Award ceremony one day

Thomas: Wow. That photo of Lucas, Scosese, Speilberg, Coppola, DePalma  etc, was pretty cool.

Malik: yeah i was wondering if you caught that!

Thomas: Don’t think I’ve seen a director’s photo like that before.

Thomas: How would you feel if they were taking a photo like that and asked you to step out of it?

Malik: LOLOLOL oh man….

Malik: thanks for pulling me out of my sentimental moment brotha…

Thomas: lol

Malik: Warren Beatty looking like “I remember when you yelled at me like that…”

Thomas: lol

Thomas: Jennifer Lawrence has a bright immediate future if she wants it.

Thomas: BUT, this is Natalie Partman’s night.

Thomas: Think I still feel that my favorite nomination announcement was when it was done by peers (a group of fellow actors/actresses) a year or two ago.

Malik: agreed that was awesome

Thomas: Natalie Portman takes it.

Thomas: She’s been good for years. Deserves this. Was great in Black Swan.

Malik: yeah

Malik: I’m a Natalie fan so this is cool

Thomas: She’s been acting since she was born, so you know she’s been thinking about this moment forever.

Thomas: Shout out to Luc Besson!

Thomas: The Professional!

Malik: still the flick!

Thomas: I like Portman, because as I said before, she seems very normal and even has a geeky side.

Malik: it’s coming out in this speech

Thomas: Yup.

Malik: she just thanked the 1st AD and the camera operators for God’s sake!!!

Thomas: 1st AD is even surprised by that…

Malik: also loving the Chinese Theatre backdrop by the way

Thomas: Yeah, that’s great.

Thomas: Hey, if you get nominated for an acting oscar and I’m sitting behind you, remind me to lean up behind you when they call your name and be like, “Yo, they said your name. You hear that? You hear that?” as I shake your shoulder.

Malik: LOLOL, please don’t…

Malik: that’s EXACTLY why there aren’t any minorities nominated…

Thomas: Colin Firth has to win this, it seems.

Malik: well deserved in my opinion

Thomas: Yeah, they got it right. Great performance.

Thomas: Funny first line of his speech, too.

Malik: that’s going to be replayed for years…

Thomas: Does Harvey Weinstein ever shave?

Malik: naw that’s his look

Thomas: But, he never lets it grow into a full beard.

Thomas: The stubble beard has been his thing forever.

Malik: yeah he’s on that Paul Pierce program

Thomas: lol

Malik: so the last one, it has to be King’s Speech right?

Thomas: Yup.

Malik: Spielberg keepin it real!

Thomas: Nicely put by Speilberg.

Thomas: Even if you lose, you’re in great company.

Thomas: They’re playing the best moment from The King’s Speech.

Malik: Exactly

Thomas: By the way, this is a great score as I said before.

Malik: Excellent montage

Thomas: Yup. Well done.

Thomas: Whoever did the montages for the oscars should get an award themselves.

Malik: yeah montages and set design were aces

Thomas: Alright. There you go.

Thomas: King’s Speech. Well done.

Malik: yessir

Malik: I know we have other obligations; any last words brotha?

Thomas: It’s been fun. Gotta love the movies. Best job in the world is to be able to tell stories. On to Oscars 2012.

Malik: i don’t think The Dark Knight Rises will be eligible yet but I’m sure there will be other good films..

Thomas: Looking forward to seeing them. Peace out!

Malik: thanks to everyone who read along.

 

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Oscar Preview 2011, Part I

Filed under: Movie Reviews, the Batman — Leave a comment
February 22, 2011

 

I’ve got quite a lot going on so I can’t promise I’ll finish this, but I have to at least throw out a few predictions for the Oscars this weekend:

Best Supporting Actress

Personal Favorite: Hailee Steinfeld had a star making turn in True Grit. Part of the history of the Supporting categories are these are where the ‘upsets’ happen, so if you want to use that logic, a relative neophyte holding her own onscreen with Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and Matt Damon would certainly qualify.  I also liked Amy Adams hitting a different type of note in The Fighter, but a part of me also hears people saying ‘a stunning actress going plain’ which drives me up the wall (personal pet peeve).

Who Should Win: I’d say Steinfeld but to me she was a lead in that movie and is only in this category to increase the odds she can pull the upset.  I’ll go with Melissa Leo.

Who Will Win: Melissa Leo for The Fighter.

Best Supporting Actor

Personal Favorite: I favor Method guys, so it was easy for me to cheer for Christian Bale’s performance in The Fighter. In all honesty, I could make a convincing case for every nominee in this category.  Any of these guys could have been nominated in another year and easily win.  Those are the breaks sometimes.

Who Should Win: There’s a chance that The King’s Speech rolls over everybody and Geoffrey Rush winning here would be part of that.  But it seems everyone has forgiven Christian for his Hall of Fame rant on the Terminator set (OH GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!), and he’ll walk away with the gold.

Who Will Win: BATMAN!!!!!!!

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Quick Shots

Filed under: the Batman — Leave a comment
January 20, 2011

A lot of movie talk among friends this week – I thought I’d post my thoughts on three different castings…

Willow Smith in a remake of Annie - I mean, did this even have to get ‘sold’?  Little Jada has a hit song under her belt, her brother had a nice hit (and respectable remake) with the Karate Kid; and little orphan Annie is one of those movies that it seems like every generation gets their own version of.  I don’t know if it’s confirmed, but I heard Jay Z will be helping out in some way.  I may be wrong but it seems like “Hard Knock Life” was his first real, real big crossover hit.  Seems like a smart, safe play all the way around.

Beyonce in a remake of “A Star is Born” - this was the equivalent (to me anyway) of seeing someone whose name you know but you just can’t remember, then they say their name and say “YEAH THAT’S IT!”  I can’t say I’m a hardcore Beyonce fan, but I’m a fan.  Personally I’ve wanted to see her do a role where she just acts and doesn’t sing, but “Beyonce in “A Star is Born” sells itself.  Directed by Clint Eastwood sounds to me like they’re gearing up for an Oscar push.  We shall see.  Early prediction: there won’t be a Jennifer Hudson this time around to steal the movie from under her.

Anne Hathaway in “The Dark Knight Rises” - Cautious optimism.  I don’t care how much juice Chris Nolan has with Warner Brothers, there was just no way there was going to be any kind of “Batman 3″ without SOME type of female lead. (Not saying that was his intention.)  I like Anne Hathaway, I think she’s very credible as an actress, but (like everyone else) wasn’t even on my radar to be Catwoman.  Of course we all know the reason the rational fanboys haven’t gone ballistic over this: Heath Ledger as the Joker.  So we’ll see what Nolan has in mind…

Have a good weekend.

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2010 – The Return of Bruce Wayne

Filed under: I Love L.A., Inspirations, Lady In My Life, the Batman — Leave a comment
December 30, 2010

 

A couple weeks into 2010, the last film I wrote and directed was being introduced to a national audience by a movie star.  With a couple of weeks to go in 2010, I got to host a show where I gave an up and coming rapper/producer his first television experience.  I love the harmony of that; it’s symbolic of the type of year this has been – harmonious.

Internally, I don’t feel like I’ve changed much in the past 12 months to be perfectly honest.  Maybe it was the film, maybe it was the personal life, maybe it was all of us just being a year older.  The saying is, you get back from the world what you put into it, so maybe it was me just being set in my ways.  Whatever it is, it feels like this was the year that people seemed to take me as I am.  The people who dig me take my imperfections as part of the package, the people who don’t like me seem to get that my insecurities have nothing to do with whether they like me or not. At this point, I am who I am, flaws and all as Beyonce would say.

Along those lines, I want to say it was Jay who said that no matter what he’s done since, in his mind he’s still the crack dealer from Marcy.  My mentality has a similar vibe: I will always be this quiet, black Muslim kid from Wyandotte County.  The Hollywood stuff and the European girlfriend, to my friends it’s like, ‘Who ELSE but Malik would be doing that?’ (and to those friends I say, ‘You’re absolutely right!  Nobody but me!’)  In all seriousness though, it’s all part of the natural direction of me following My Calling and my life’s journey. To me, there is no ‘either/or’, it’s all inclusive.  I’ve come to realize one of my pet peeves is when people try to erase their past.  There is no reset button in this game; things happen, you deal with them, you move forward.  Everything that happens is important, even when we don’t understand the reason at the time.

Part of being a student of the game of life is knowing at some point you will be pushed to your limits.  I’ve certainly gone through the emotional ringer the past 12 months. On a superficial level this has been a fantastic year, but those who know me best will tell you I’ve spent the greater part of 2010 severely depressed. (I’m good now though.)  Keeping things in perspective was something I had to remind myself often.  I’m a romantic, I’m an eternal optimist, I believe for the most part the good and the bad balance each other out.  When I look at my own life, I see love, I see loyal friends, I have a supportive family.  I’m in my early 30s and I can focus on being a capitalist for the rest of my days.  This year was brutal, but I have inner peace and I sadly know way too many people who don’t have it and don’t know how to get it.

So what one thing will I take with me from 2010?  Well, after half of a lifetime with a relationship best described as ‘standoffish’, fate has decided it was time for me to start reconnecting with my bloodline.  You can’t repair a decade and a half of distance in a few months of course, but as in all things, the intention to change things is the first (and most important) step.

For us Batman fanatics, the big thing in 2010 was the comics storyline, ‘The Return of Bruce Wayne.’  Bruce was shot back in time by Superman foe Darkseid, and had to fight his way back to the present day (which he did of course).  The major lesson learned in that arc (SPOILER ALERT) is that while the mythology of the Batman is a boy left alone after the murder of his parents and his childhood, the reality of Batman is that he’s never been ‘alone’.  He’s had allies every step of the way.  I was reminded in 2010 that while I certainly enjoy being ‘the Prince of Gotham’, I’ve never really been alone either.  This year more than all the others combined I think, I’ve been held up, encouraged, cheered for and supported by those I’ve always known I could count on, some who have genuinely surprised me, and some of you who I will probably never meet in this life.  I have been taking notes so I’ll try to name as many of you as I can (since this is already absurdly long…)

Katy – you stuck with me through my personal hell, and I’ve tried to reciprocate; thank you for holding down the BB team when it was sorely needed; ART – a lot of people told me to be ‘Michael’ when everything in my heart said it was time for a ‘Sonny’ move, but your voice stood out the most.  Thanks for being such a great friend. Marie – I love doing the show – LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  Hope to get a chance to do it again next year. Nathan – in a parallel universe, I would be living your life, but My Calling has evolved in an exciting direction, and I’m excited to ‘play my part’.  Looking forward to hearing about Jordan.  DaFellas – I’d call you my Jackson 5, but even if I was being sarcastic that would be WAY too condescending.  I think of us now as the Beatles after they broke up – everyone is following their ‘solo’ interests and we get together when we can and talk about how much fun we had.  You’ll always be my guys.

If you’re still reading a few more folks but I promise this is it: the Fradieus, the Franks, the Harrises, the Sheffields, the Thomases, Conway and Jabari for your advice (invaluable), BeatSmith (great show), Michael Zanuck, Daphne Kirby, Amanda Max, Doug Miro (best blogpost of the year), Through a Glass, Black Entertainment Television, Pasadena Community Network, Ralph Scott, the Black Hollywood Education & Resource Center, the Pigskin League, the Jayhawk friends, the Trojan friends, the Sumner friends, the Frat, everyone who has helped the past 12 months in the Return of Bruce Wayne.

The Dark Knight is rising in 2011.  Happy New Year!

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