Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Do The Right Thing

Most films don't matter much beyond the first viewing. Instead, they begin to fade soon after the ending credits start.
But two films I saw this past weekend are as relevant today as they were when they opened more than a decade ago: Do The Right Thing and Boyz In Da Hood.
Both established the careers, resepectively, of Spike Lee and John Singleton. Singleton earned Oscar nominations for best director and best original screenplay, notable achievements considering Singleton was in his early '20s when the movie came out in 1991.
And no one ignored Lee's third film, Do The Right Thing, a searing exploration into race relations on a sweaty-hot summer day on a street corner in Bed-Stuy.
Each movie was a well-textured look at an aspect of black life full of unforgettable characters and poignant moments. Each also was a launching pad for a number of actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnutt, Nia Long and of course, Ice Cube.
To see the trajectory of these people's career since these movies reveals what the eye for talent Singleton and Lee had.
Even more important, Lee and Singleton made Hollywood take notice and widened the doors for black people in the movie business.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

The Break-Up

Hate the romantic comedy where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boys gets on his knees and begs for girl's forgiveness, and boy and girl kiss at the end?
The Break-Up, thankfully, isn't that romantic comedy.
And for a movie that centers on the aftermath of a couple ending their relationship, there's not much romance.
This might not be an easy date movie. The chemistry between Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn is there. The movie is funny most of the times. But it is also unbearably painful.
No one likes to see two good people spend most of their time yelling at each other or doing awfully hurtful things to each other.
Here you laugh to keep from crying because oh boy, Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn declare war, with Jennifer walking around nude as a way of getting Vince back, and Vince acting like a man and pretending he doesn't care.
Yes, it is juvenile, but sometimes, love, or the loss of it, causes us to revert back to children. We forget how to be mature because we don't want to be mature. We're just mad because so and so doesn't want to be with us anymore.
This is what this movie explores in a fairly realistic way. There's no magic moment at the end where all is forgiven because life doesn't work that way.
Sometimes, a relationship is too broken to repair, and this movie is not just about the pain of losing someone you love; it's also about the strength it takes to truly walk away and let go.
Yeah, breaking up is hard to do.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

The Last Stand

The first movie my friend, Camille, and I saw was X-Men, so it was only fitting that we see X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
As we nestled in our seats, we ate buttery popcorn flavored by multi-colored M&M's. My friend has done this for years but, this was a taste adventure for me, one well worth having.
The movie: I gave it three stars out of four. I had worried that Brett "Rush Hour" Ratner would ruin this franchise. Bryan Singer had done such a good job with the first and second one that I didn't want Ratner to mess things up.
And to my pleasant surprise, Ratner didn't.
All your favorite characters are here: Wolverine, Jean Gray, Charles Xavier and Magneto (played deliciously by Ian MacKellan).
In this film, a mutant "cure" is introduced. So mutants have the choice of whether to keep their powers and continue to be discriminated against or lose their powers and live normal. As in the previous movies, this one raises some questions applicable to debates swirling around now on issues such as race and homosexuality.
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the cure as a way to exterminate mutants and rallies other mutants against it.
But there are some who more than think about it. Rogue, who has the power to absorb the life force out of anyone she touches, is one of them. After all, she can't make out with her boyfriend, and to be a teenage girl who can't get it on with her man has to be a real bummer.
Also, Jean Gray, who supposedly died in the last film, is back, only this time she's as nice. In fact, she can be downright destructive when her "Phoenix" personality takes over.
The action is cool and much more violent than the last two. And the film is darker, with some major characters getting killed off (you'll have to see the movie to find out).
Afterward, my friend and I debated whether this would really be the last stand. Considering how well the movie did at the box office and how Hollywood operates, I doubt it. I'm sure plans are being made for an X-Men 4, 5 and 6 in the near future.