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 is definitely what’s going to happen next.’ I do think there is one thing we can ALL agree on though…
It’s going to be a LOOOOOOOOONG time before any Hollywood studio even partially bankrolls a film like Malcolm X again!
Personal bias aside, that’s one of many reasons I argued Spike’s epic was the Most Important Black Film ever made, which you can read here:
https://malikaziz.com/2009/12/02/the-most-important-film-of-black-cinema/
Today the film comes out on Blu-Ray. Now if you keep up with me at all you know I don’t really use this space for that type of promotion, but like I said, when’s the next time we’re going to get one of ‘these’ out of the studio system? So yeah…
I’ve still got your back Spike!
If Malcolm X’s words move you, I think you might like my blog, Rhymes and Reasons. It is a series of interviews with hip-hop heads who discuss their lives in the context of a few songs that matter to them. The interviews tend to focus on questions of justice like racism, sexism, sexual violence, white privilege, etc. I hope you enjoy it.
http://thisisrhymesandreasons.wordpress.com/
I’ll check it out, thanks!