Law Abiding Citizen
Sunday, November 8, 2009

Hmmm. Gerald Butler is the man from 300. He loves black women. Unfortunately, he's paired with beady-eyed, Chinese shar-pei face, Jamie Foxx.

Hmmm. Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a good guy turned revenge seeking angry man. Clyde and his family are the victims of a home invasion; his wife and daughter are killed. Jamie Foxx's character Nick Rice cuts a plea-bargain deal where only one of the criminals is sentenced to receive the death penalty.

Ten year later, Clyde Shelton takes the law into his own hands. He really and truly punishes the criminals, then goes on to teach everyone in the criminal justice system a lesson - from his jail cell. The mystery is how is he able to kill while still locked up? Does he have an accomplice? Is it part of a bigger organization?

Hmmm. A straightforward, thrill seeking, ultra-violent film. He makes things go boom.  No hard thinking is required.

I saw this film, and enjoyed it. It wasn't a blockbuster, knock-you-out-of-your-seat thriller, but rather interesting.


It has the lovely Viola Davis (a quasi-regular of Law and Order) playing the Mayor of Philly, and Regina Hall (the sister from all those Scary Movie parodies) as the wife of Rice.

I haven't seen a movie with this many black women in leading roles in a long while. Oh, wait, then again Gerald Butler is the producer, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. That's why I always can tell how some of these Hollywood people feel about black women: if we're never seen, they don't like 'em. Sometimes if we're seen, it's a horrible stereotype and / or portrayed by an idiot in a fat suit.

I'm taking down names, and I'm keeping track of whose movies / TV shows are worth following and which are not.

Labels: 300, Gerald Butler, Hollywood, Jamie Foxx, Law Abiding Citizen, Law and Order, Regina Hall, Viola Davis

posted by GoldenAh
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Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Monday, March 2, 2009

Through no will of my own, I found myself watching Diary of a Mad Black Woman with some friends and associates. This was the first time, ever, I watched a Tyler Perry movie. I am not a cultural, film, or art snob. I hate any sense of exclusivity regarding culture, there's something for everyone - I believe. However, I do prefer, and enjoy foreign films compared to the putrid "entertainment" distributed by Hollywood: that rancid racist/sexist Industrial Media Complex.

In short, Diary is about a woman, Helen (Kimberly Elise), so devoted to her upper class lawyer husband, Charles (Steve Harris) through eighteen years of marriage, that when he abandons her for a light, nearly-white woman!, she apparently loses her sense of self. This situation makes her an angry black woman, and in case we didn't realize it she tells us!

However, Helen quickly finds a new love (insert eye roll here) named Orlando (Shemar Moore); a pretty light skinned iron welding, working-class brotha! He keeps dropping so much truth on her about herself! He's edjumucated with street knowledge. If only she could see how real Orlando is.

Unfortunately, Helen has to temporarily abandon this down-to-earth-working-class-keepin'-it-real-brotha when she is able to gain some measure of revenge on her wicked mean husband. The revenge scheme doesn't last longer than a hot minute, and Helen's able to find a new spirit of self through forgiveness. Or something like that.

Why, there's even a church scene near the end, where all will be well. Everyone gets to holler, I mean sing, about Jesus and will find redemption.

Apparently, Tyler Perry man is the only living and breathing black American to have his own movie studio. I thought Oprah has one too, but maybe I'm looking at the wrong definition of being able to produce entertainment for the small (TV), or big screen (movie distribution deals).

He has had incredible success with a character named Madea, which I suspect is something of an alter-ego for this man. Madea gets to be, along with Joe (played by Perry also), offensive, vulgar, obnoxious, pathological, morally and physically unattractive, which is the funny. The pistol packing, wild behavior, morals free, anti-social Madea, gets to do all and be all, and is so hilarious in doing so.

Being an older black woman supposedly makes Madea free to do as she pleases. Say what?

This character, the obnoxious black woman, started with Eddie Murphy. I know people want to point to Geraldine by Flip Wilson, but I can say that the character was fussy, classy, sexy, coy, attractive, and truly funny. Geraldine was about being desirable, and still doing what she liked without breaking a nail.

There's really no comparison to what was then, and what gets portrayed now.

I know people who love all the creative works by Tyler Perry; I can't find fault with them. It works for them. Not everyone is looking for highbrow, intelligent, serious or thought provoking film. I know I don't.

Yet, I draw the line at many of these tired, highly influential, and constantly negative portrayal of black women. It's a sore point for me: it robs me of my humanity. These images carry worldwide influence. Trust me, they do.

Until every other television program and movie shows black women as the attractive and desirable girl next door to rebut the uncouth, unsociable, harridan - I'm not contributing to these creator's bottom line.

Next time this film, or any other like it, comes up, I'll have other things to do.

Labels: angry black woman, black women, Hollywood, Kimberly Elise, Madea, media, Media Industrial Complex, Steve Harris, Tyler Perry

posted by GoldenAh
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For 2009 - If Only Hollywood Would Consider These Changes
Friday, January 2, 2009

1. Keep all scenes dry: no more rain, please. I would like to see a film, especially if it is romantic, without people standing around in the rain. I don't care why - they add nothing to a scene. All it shows is a lack of imagination.
   
   Often, I'll watch these programs thinking: they're going to catch a cold! And eww, smelly wet hair!
   


2. No more kissing: it is disgusting to hear people smooch and lip smack. Let the viewers use their imagination. I don't want to see the filthy germ exchange.
   
   I would ban kissing in films if I had the power.
   


3. The minority sidekick to the white woman: it needs to stop. It's so lame. We all don't have an inner Oprah to tap to offer words of wisdom. Enough with the "sassy" minority woman who's gonna to take on the world to make things easy and accommodating for the "clueless" white chick (or man).
   
   It happened with Kate Hudson in Raising Helen, I wanted to choke the director and scriptwriter(s).
   


4. Whatever happened to black or minority sitcoms? I grew up watching shows with a black cast on television with my family. Now, all that's really available are re-runs on some cable networks. I think Lincoln Heights is the exception, but I still find the violence on the program excessive and disturbing.
   
   I don't need to see these programs, Kyle XY is my favorite, but a little variety would be nice. Not everyone wants to watch a program about vapid, bleach blond twits from Beverly Hills.
   


5. Is there a blond (any white) woman quota in Hollywood? One day I may do an actual head count. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one program on television, or movie, that doesn't have a white woman in it. She's included whether her character is integral to the plot or not. It's weird, sometimes they are brought on just because .... Some do nothing to advance the story line.
   
   For example, Heroes can't let go of Ali Larter. Although, I do like her. There are many, many story lines with other characters that would have made the show coherent. So many have been left unresolved. But nooooooo, they keep her, regardless of whether it muddles the stupidity factor of the show by a factor of ten.
   


6. Must there be a gun in nearly every film or TV show? Yes, some of us Americans are gun-totting nuts, but a good story doesn't need one either. How about just implying that people have one, and not show it?
   
   Not everyone who watches media entertainment is a 14 year old teenager who requires violence to stay interested in a program.
   


7. Please scale back the CGI effects. I can tell when it's used, and it still doesn't look convincing or interesting. People can't outrun a flood, rushing or rising waters. People can't survive a twenty-story waterfall in a ship, a car, or alone.
   
   I won't even go into the impossible stunts that the human body cannot perform. You know, those scenes where people can survive a head-on car accident, without seat belts, at 30+ mph.
   


8. Please, please, please make the actors audible. I know you enjoy loud music, and make most films for an international audience. However, I'd still like to pretend that dialogue is important to a movie. It'd be fun to know what's going on.
   
   The incoherent mumbling and overly loud, overly dramatic music needs to stop.
   


9. Make it illegal for George Lucas to release another Star Wars film. It's for the good of us all. He's made enough money. Star Wars is deeply entrenched into our modern culture. He can be proud, and not frightened by any thought that it will be forgotten.
   
   George, you can go away now. Thanks.
   
   I would include Star Trek, but I'm biased, so I'm ready for more of that sameness.
   


10. Make accessible 24/7 every Hollywood film ever made.
    


11. Every film made over the last 30 years old should be in the public domain. Congress and the Supreme Court needs to stop with this extra 100 year extension of copyrights every time it expires.
    
    It's not right.
    

Labels: black women, Hollywood, internet, Kate Hudson, minorities, Star Trek, Star Wars, television

posted by GoldenAh
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Hollywood is Dead, Long Live Hollywood: The Happening and Get Smart
Tuesday, July 22, 2008


These two movies prove that there's something really wrong with the people who "greenlight" films in the Hollywood system. I don't doubt these movies will make a decent and acceptable return on the money the studios put into them.

A Little History

Currently, the films that are emerging from Hollywood remind me of the last two periods in which they were dying: 1950's and 1970's. The 1950's was the first period of slow death due to the advent of television. It also gave us all those "classic" B-films like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

The 1970's was a true near death: the original studio system, run by true media moguls, had been completely swallowed up by corporate bean counters. The films produced were nihilistic, pessimistic and violent.

They offered up nearly a decade of "black exploitation" because of the success of Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song. Following that period Speilberg and Lucas created the blockbuster system, which saved Hollywood. Thereafter, scores of black folks in films and black themed movies disappeared.

Can This System Last? Where's the Full Access?

I see the movie business as archaic and near death as television and music. However, a powerful inertia keeps them all going. These entertainment vehicles exist, because people attend to them out of habit, and it still has the lowest barrier to entry for modest priced entertainment.

My biggest beef with these distribution systems (music, television and movies) is that they won't allow viewers and listeners unlimited access. I shouldn't have to hunt for music or a movie. I should be able to find it the same way we Google for information.

Movie Reviews

M. Night Shyamalan likes to keep folks guessing to the very end.

Unfortunately, The Happening didn't happen. It has terrific visuals in the beginning: construction workers falling like robotic dolls off of a building.

Unlike his past films, Shyamalan doesn't offer any coherent clues as to the reason behind the mass suicides. There are red herrings. Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) wears a mood ring, and you wait for it to be a plot point. It yields no clues what-so-ever.

What initially starts off as a good semi-sci-fi-mystery devolves into a tame, lame, and rather boring nature-goes-bad film. I would like for Shyamalan to watch a few Hitchcock films, especially The Birds. He needs to remember these key points: Am I trying to scare them? Make them laugh? Or put them to sleep?

Get Smart had one good thing about it: Dwayne Johnson. It was a shame he wasn't shown more.


This flick is a remake of sorts. Like the horrid Bewitched, it is based on a television series. I could only ask myself: Why? It wasn't smart, or funny. I loved the reruns as a child. I like Steve Carell, but this film is decades late.

Cold War Era films lost their relevance many years ago. The standard plot line in any film coming out of Hollywood today is: the enemy is us. So that being the case, there are no surprises left.

Labels: black exploitation, Dwayne Johnson, George Lucas, Hollywood, M. Night Shymalan, Mark Wahlberg, Steve Carell, Steven Speilberg

posted by GoldenAh
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Final Destination 3
Wednesday, April 23, 2008


I watched this movie with a vague memory of the original two.

Midway through the film one of the lead actors spells out the plot: a teenager has a very detailed vision of an impending disaster. Said teen freaks out. Everyone that follows this teenager out or off gets to live. Except that, they don't. They all die one by one as they would have during the disaster.

The fun of the first two was watching them try to beat fate or death. If I remember correctly these films came out during a good run on teen horror films by Hollywood. Scream probably touched off the return of this mini-trend.

I enjoy good slasher, ghost, phantom menace / phenomenon, monster, and other type of horror flick.

This film was produced by the people that produced X-Files: Glen Morgan and James Wong.

As for the quality of this movie: there are very few surprises. It's mildly entertaining. It starts off rather well: I found the roller coaster scenarios plausible. People have fallen off of rides. Aside from that it's s'okay. One doesn't have to pay much attention to follow what's going on.

Labels: Final Destination, Final Destination 3, Glen Morgan, Hollywood, horror, James Wong, X-Files

posted by GoldenAh
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The Media and Stereotypes of Black Women
Thursday, April 10, 2008

No Educational Material in Films

I watch television shows and movies solely for entertainment, not education or a sense of "Oh, so that's what they're like." I don't view films by Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Akira Kurosawa (this guy is awesome) to be educational. Interesting, yes, but nothing I'd use as historical fact.

Fanciful Suburban Drama-Comedies

I've enjoyed Parenthood, Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride 2 with Steve Martin. (Loved him in The Jerk.) Even if they are all thematically the same movie, I've never held the impression that any of them are real. (So, that's how all whites in all white suburbia live!)

One standout for me - the kitchen(s). Oh boy, talk about real estate porn! In these films, the homes are always chock full of awesome kitchen accessories. I couldn't stand my kitchen full of stuff, but I do admire these clutter nests.

What Seems True

What is true in these films is the affluent, take it all for granted, privileged nature of the characters. Those self-involved narcissists exist; I've encountered them. There's no hesitation that checks these characters. They are not inhibited by the reality that something evil and external is going to block their paths, dreams, or desires due to race and sex.

It is a great escape to watch movies and television dramas where whites in all white environment worry about mundane stuff.

Oh, if only life could be that uncomplicated for black women in America.

I liked Bringing Down the House, with Queen Latifah and Steve Martin. Queen Latifah was executive producer. I'm sure something in the script spoke to her. I winced throughout the film.

Yet what may be entertainment to me, is taken as gospel among some other groups.

Let me say this in plain English: I've met people who feel they can only relate to me based on media images of black women. I'd be really really rich if I received money for every time I heard, saw, or read what other groups in America, or the world for that matter, believed about black women. Most, if not all, of their ridiculous notions come from the Media: general entertainment (video games, books, etc), Hollywood and the advertising industry.

How it Relates to Me, A Black Woman

When I tell people I can't dance, they respond with shock. I elaborate: I can't remember dances like the Electric Slide or Bus Stop. Or any dance steps for that matter.

When I travel I get questions, which probe: What do I do for a living? We're all drug dealers and entertainers, don't cha know?

How can I afford to travel? I mugged an old white woman to get on this trip.

I've been complimented, with a note of surprise, as to how well I speak. I've even been told at different times that I "sound like a white girl."

People cross the street, clutch their purse (and babies too!), avoid my presence, and do all other wonderful sorts of things, because I am a black woman.

People who befriend me actually assume that at some point in time, I'll turn into a sassy, bossy and hotheaded sistah, and give someone a peace of my mind. Talk about a let down when I do not get mad or huffy.

What's worse are people who assume that I'm going to be their all-knowing wisdom dispensing black female wise-ass protector. Not gonna happen.

And my all time favorite: "I don't know any black women except for the [fill in the blank] show. I really liked that program." And what does that have to do with me?

Thanks For The Stereotypes!

Where else are these stupid impressions coming from, but the Media? (insert ominous music here)

Hey, I'd prefer it if the Media ignored my existence than continue to perpetrate false images masquerading as reality. Then, I can go back to watching my all white entertainment, and everyone else can too.

Labels: black women, Hollywood, media, Queen Latifah, stereotypes, Steve Martin

posted by GoldenAh
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