"Dear White People" Calls out Modern Black-Face Parties Thrown by White College Students

            "Dear White People" breaks away from the negative Black youth stereotype cultivated by Hollywood over the years. Every individual storyline is incredibly well crafted. The three dimensionality of each character leaps off screen. The exchange of dialogue expressing heavily opposing viewpoints is delivered, written, and portrayed on screen eloquently. The social commentary is worthy of being praised. This film is a powerful contemporary satire, and if it spurred outrage in people because of the title, or the portrayal of white people inflicting daily micro-aggressions on minorities, well, maybe that was the point? Do yourself a favor and watch this modern classic!    

            This successful independent film, that happened to be funded entirely by fans, delivered strong performances, criticizing modern “black faces.” This story narrates the racial tension building up between Black and White students in a predominantly white Ivy League University. Each character has an interesting backstory, one self-deprecating, another of a mixed race questioning her race identity, or a young writer who doesn’t fit any of the stereotypes his counterparts expect of him. “Dear White People” questions why every character in a Tyler Perry movie that’s college-educated is inherently evil, or consists of black women suffering the entire time.   

            The micro-aggressions depicted in the film like, confusing two people just because they’re of the same race, or asking someone who looks ethnically ambiguous what they are, are such an eye opener. 

            Here we are, in 2017, and people are still throwing parties with racist themes like, University Of Florida’s 2012 Blackface party, or Arizona State University’s 2013 MLK Black Party. “Those invitations, whoever sent them, should have been met with derision and outrage, instead, a hundred people- your students arrived with posters, decorations, and costumes they had prepared for such event… showing us exactly where we’re at.” I’ve seen this movie so many times, yet I’m always finding new underlined meaning behind each dialogue exchange. If this comedy makes you feel anything, speak up! In order for us to grow and move on from such an antiquated mentality, we have to take different people’s perspective into count. So, please watch this movie, you won’t be sorry!

           

"Detachment" Reminds us of the Hypocrisy Behind "No Child Left Behind" and Delivers a Memorable Film

Adrien Brody delivers an amazing performance as a substitute teacher that lives detached from people. He teaches inner city student, while dealing with a dying grandfather troubled by his past, and takes an underage prostitute off the streets and into his home. “Detachment” depicts the serious issues facing public schools, including staff and students, correlated with the amount of help received from the government. Director Tony Kaye reminds us that “No Child Left Behind” is bullshit, and which main concern is property value. The film narrates how unappreciated teachers are in the United States, the result of the lack of good parenting skills, and the external factors affecting the public education system. 

The film opens with real teachers describing how they fell into, or were inspired to be a teacher. As the stories progress, you soon understand that some of these people didn’t intend to be full time teachers, they had other plans, but the fallacy of comfort trapped them in. The movie follows a substitute teacher, who tends to live detached from people, throughout his encounters with students facing different problems. One student seems infatuated with hurting animals, another suffers from verbal harassment brought on by her parents, and so on. “Detachment” also explores how a teen may fall into prostitution just to survive, and asks, how long can she keep getting used before she just becomes a walking body?

The film comments on how the youth in America is under a marketing holocaust, limiting their mind’s capacity, pushing them towards an abyss of ignorance. James Caan interprets a teacher that pops pills and is not afraid of mocking narcissistic, empty-headed, problematic teenagers. One student comes in with a tiny top claiming to not be giving it up to “every dick in my face,” he showers her with pictures of gonorrhea infested vaginas. He humiliates another student by repeating what the kid said in opera form, and the list goes on. Without giving much away, throughout the movie, you understand how unappreciated teachers are in America, and how a simple, “Thank you,” can make a difference. 

Tony Kaye includes how the “No Child Left Behind” act’s only concern is raising property value through higher test scores. During a faculty meeting, a “No Child Left Behind” representative treats these educators more as real estate agents than teachers. The story exemplifies the result of lack of parental involvement in their children’s education, especially in inner city kids. The empty and silent hallways of this urban school on Parent Teacher night says more than a thousand word monologue. 

Finally, this film is an actual work of art; it’s a perfect reflection of our dangerous reality. The cast did a great job of bringing life to these troubled characters; the young cast did amazing, and the actors that portrayed the school faculty gave a soul to this film. Check out the trailer down below, and if you still don’t feel like watching it, watch it either way and tell me what you think! 

"Power Rangers" Hits the Feels not Just With the Nostalgia, but the Inclusion as well!

First of all, I must salute this film for having three out of five of the lead roles go to minorities, and even better, their individual story lines have nothing to do with their race! The movie followed a typical superhero film outline, but was embodied with nostalgia; leaving people who grew up watching “Mighty Morphin” walk out of the theater tempted to see it again. “Power Rangers” makes fun of itself at times, delivers surprisingly good performances, some subtle adult jokes, likable characters, and a decent story with three-dimensional teenage superheroes. 

The movie has such a diverse cast and breaks away from the subtle racism of the original show; having an Asian character play the yellow ranger, a native American being the red ranger, and an African American actor playing…  You get the idea. This movie did none of that! We never hear the yellow ranger, portrayed by a Hispanic, speaking Spanish, or see the Asian actor playing the black ranger studying, this film breaks away from those stereotypes. Each character has their personal story line, one dealing with her sexual preference, another dealing with his dying mother, and another being bullied while coping with his father’s death. “Power Rangers” portrays an autistic character with so much respect and in such a fun way, the blue ranger soon becomes a fan favorite. 

The film was endowed with so much nostalgia that it makes the movie even more fun! Anyone that grew up watching the first couple of seasons of the “Power Rangers,” including “Zeo,” enjoys recognizing certain things like, talk about the Zeo crystals, the comical Alpha, the ranger’s cheesy lines during fight scenes, and an epic theme song. Even the editing gave it a “Power Rangers” feel to it, where in every battle, the red ranger asks if their ready, the fellow rangers appear on screen individually responding. The movie surpasses expectation by giving Zordon and Rita a backstory, their own objectives, and understandable motives, which results in a well-rounded story. 

“Power Rangers” is fun for kids and adults. I’m not a kid-person, but even I can sacrifice being around children for this movie. The film offers superheroes for its younger audience, and subtle masturbation jokes for it’s older crowd. The five lead actors were surprisingly good; they each had their own time to shine, and delivered when their moment came on screen. For those of you that have already seen it, what did you think? Did you like it? Did it ruin your childhood? Lemme' know!

"The Sex Addict" Offers a Cascade of Jokes in a Seth-McFarland Manner

  This independent comedy succeeds in portraying how far a sex addict can fall, it continually pushes the buttons through attention to detail, and provides a cascade of jokes throughout the story, giving it a “Seth McFarland” sense of direction. The film follows a young woman documenting her dissertation on sex addiction for her PHD, but the project soon becomes compromised when she falls for “The Sex Addict.”  The first thing I must commend the film on is how it explores the consequences of sex addiction, like, not being able to commit to one person, the restraint it may hold on your job performance...etc. (No Spoiler) There’s a scene where Rex, the subject of the dissertation, is desperate to have sex, and meets up with a girl online. He’s surprised to find out that she’s not a girl, the only thing she has in common with Beyonce? The shoulders.

 

Rex rushes to the bathroom, calls every woman on his contact list, but no one answers. After taking a moment, he goes back inside....

The film shows tremendous attention to detail, there were small things that added to the full comedic relief of the movie. One example is when Rex puts up a sign warning his neighbors to stay off his property. 

       (WARNING. KEEP OUT. TRESPASSERS WILL BE *SEXUALLY* VIOLATED.)

As the story progresses we witness a cascade of jokes taking form in short scenarios, like your boss visiting you at the hospital just to tell you you’re fired. Congratulations to the cast, you can tell everyone was invested in this project, which made those awkward-creepy scenarios into weird/hilarious jokes you can share with a friend like, “this young woman walks into a sex predator’s house…” 

There were certain things I wish they would’ve gone more in depth about like, why did Rex’s parents hate him? And whose story was this by the end of the film? We switch from the woman pursuing her PHD to the intern’s perspective throughout the movie. San Fernando Valley native? Got to watch this! It was fun seeing locations one would pass by on their way to work or whatnot. Ever wondered how deep the lake in Balboa Lake is? 

 As an aspiring filmmaker, I have to applaud the team behind this film on completing this project; this is the true definition of independent filmmaking. They got their shit done, how many of us can say that? Looking for a good indie-comedy?  Check this movie out on the 28^th of April on Video On Demand, or iTunes, or even better, preorder the DVD or Blu-ray the 28^th of March!

"Do the Right Thing" Depicts Racism between Minorities and Civil Unrest Caused by Police Brutality

             The film does a great job at depicting gentrification, racism between minorities, and civil unrest caused by police brutality. Spike Lee sewed together many relevant social issues throughout the story. The film follows different people of the same community though the hottest day of the year, but tensions rise when a local customer confront a pizzeria owner about the absence of black people on his wall of fame, soon the entire community is in for an ugly awakening. There’s an amazing compilation of scenes where people of different races verbalize popular racial stereotypes.

 

Lee provided an interesting twist on how films touch on racism. While some directors depicted racism in the traditional stories set in the civil rights era, Spike Lee showed how people tend to group themselves according to race, resulting in conflict between them as residents living on the same block.

            The movie kept pushing the buttons, this time, through gentrification. The story shows people of different races moving into a “bad” neighborhood, opening businesses in the area, and pushing the old residents out through economic means. Although the film emphasized how people tend to group each other according to race, by the end of the day, those who did not win the natural lottery are all vulnerable to the same problems in society. “Do the right thing” ended the film with a clear example of one of the biggest flaws in our society, police brutality. After an altercation escalates and the police are called, the situation, ironically, only goes from bad to worse. More than 20 years later, and innocent people are still muttering the words, “I can’t breathe,” as their last. Be-it for a lack of training in the police force, or racist people becoming cops to have authority over others, there is a trend of minorities being murdered by policemen. 

The film all in all offers an abundant amount of relevant hot topics. Congratulations to the cast, every actor delivered their lines perfectly, and the chemistry between them was incredible. If you enjoy seeing hot topics through a different perspective and like a well developed story, check out this film!!! And remember, "do the right thing!"

"Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil," the Result of Horror and Comedy Having a Beautiful Baby

           "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" is a horror-comedy that does a perfect job at poking fun at the horror genre. A group of preppy college kids believe their friend has been taken by evil hillbillies, they act as if they were in a scary movie, taking things from bad to worse throughout the entire film. This isn’t a comedy where it’s one joke after another, it’s a smart comedy where everything is taken out of context. One example is when Dale, a likable shy hillbilly, approaches a couple of college girls, bursts out laughing awkwardly while holding a scythe... any wonder why the two girls were terrified? 

 

I mean who wouldn’t be creeped out by that? Props to the director and director of photography, if you pause it at any time, since everything was placed perfectly in the shot, you immediately know what type of story this is.

           Another pro is how they switched the roles, where it was the guys that fit the horror film villain archetype turning out to be the protagonist. Each one of the college kids was the typical character you’d find in a campy horror movie, you got the cute final girl, the annoying douchebag, the dumb blonde, etc... 

 

  

          Emphasis on the dumb blonde role...

  

           The writer did a great job! We laugh at these preppy college kids taking things out of context, and we get scared for our beloved hillbillies, and why? Because these damn college kids keep trying to kill 'em!  

           Definitely recommend this film for all horror-comedy fans, you'll laugh, get your nice dose of graphic violence, and sleep well that night. Two thumbs up! 

Check out the trailer below!

Reasons Why "Another Earth" is Independent Filmmaking at its Best!

  To make a long story short; A highschool graduate kills a man’s family in a drunk driving accident. Years later she's released from prison, goes to apologize to the man, but lies instead, and befriends him– Don’t worry, I haven’t spoiled the movie, you get all this from the trailer.

This is independent filmmaking at it’s best. Why?

1. The script is so well written. The interior storyline follows the lead character explore some massive personal growth. She feels horrible for what she did- and she should, she drove home drunk and killed a man’s family. An internal dilemma kicks in, how can we root for a person that ended two innocent lives? You should hate this person, but you can't, you witness her being human, making a mistake, and trying to make amends. 

  

 

        The exterior storyline explores the discovery of an Earth-like planet, inhabited by citizens identical to our Earth. Then film then plays with the idea of, did the other me do better than me? Did they make the same mistakes? Both storylines compliment each other so well, that it leaves such a good aftertaste once it fades to black. 

 

2. Memorable scene: You barely see her smile in the beginning, but there’s this one scene when she stops at a convenient store, goes to the candy isle, takes a bag of gummy worms, and smiles. This moment only lasts a couple of seconds, yet her smile made me empathize with her. This poor girl is so consumed by remorse, that she keeps trying to punish herself. Yet, she just got off an eight hour shift, she’s tired, and she’s just looking for a little pick-me-up. As she tries to pay for her gummy worms, she runs into an old friend- who, unlike her, went to college, finished school, and is now engaged. He has his life together, she's working as a janitor in their old high school. She ends up leaving the gummy worms on the counter and walks out. The consequences of her mistakes echo through this film.

 

3.  This film is indie filmmaking at it’s best. The overall theme is beautiful; don’t let yesterday dictate who you are today, or who you’re going to be tomorrow. It explores the idea of second chances, and how we sometimes feel like we’re not worthy of them, yet we don’t want to be who we were yesterday, so we jump into the abyss of the unknown, hoping the grass is greener on the other side.

 

 Check out the trailer and let me know what you think!