Todd Solondz’s fourth film, Palindromes, is a success. Well, it is a success in that I left the theater feeling sick and hating everything. But, since this film takes place in a world where all humans are weak, awful creatures incapable of growth or change, I can only assume that nauseating the audience was among the director’s stated objectives. So, good job, Mr. Solondz! Read more
Frank Gonzales, otherwise known as”Frankie G.,” heats up a seat at the House of Tribes Theatre, a small black box on the Lower East Side of New York City. With a quiet confidence and intense gaze that could melt Alaska, he sits inside the red theatre seat in a black jumpsuit and sneakers, donning a chiseled jaw, gracious humility, and the smoldering eyes of a rising star. Read more
“Mystic River” Director: Clint Eastwood Contaminated Water review by Latif Zaman A generation before Mystic River, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns introduced Clint Eastwood as a cultural icon, the enigmatic and dangerous “man with no name.” Previous westerns showed a good-humored and colorful time, where bloodless gunplay represented a righteous machismo, namely a defense … Read more
Well, Hollywood has pulled another fast one on us, folks — and Halle Berry should be ashamed of herself for saying at the Oscars, “This moment is much bigger than me … this is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, etc.” I highly doubt that Lena or Dorothy would ever find themselves down on all fours for a racist white ex correctional officer in a soft porn sex scene for all of America to watch. Just imagine us telling our little black girls that they too can be Academy Award winners now because of Halle Berry. Their next question may be: “Well, mamma, what role did Halle play to get the award?” I guess my answer would be a big gulp. Read more
“Bamboozled” Directed by Spike Lee Maison Blanche Means “White House” and Black Face A Review of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled” by Melanie M. Goodreaux Once I heard that Spike Lee’s latest work was a film about black face and minstrel shows it brought me back to just 5 years ago … Read more
Clark’s films generally follow a male perspective, females existing mainly as foils for the males. In fact most of the major female characters in both Kids and Bully are raped. In Kids, Casper, to emulate the sexual mastery of Telly, rapes the peacefully sleeping Jenny, in a long, explicitly jarring scene. The defilement of Casper primarily intrigues Clark, however, the camera focusing on Casper’s bewildered face the next morning as he asks “what happened?” Amidst all his drugs and debauchery, only the malicious violence of rape exiles Casper from innocence, from childhood. Looking back, Telly’s pursuit of virgins can be seen as a subliminal compulsion to destroy innocence that is made even more profound by the fact that he is HIV positive. Read more
Those thugs who came from Puebla all the way from the frontier to screw the Nuyoricans from the Bronx because you know those girls and three days later you take them to bed between morning and night all the way to Hollywood like Rita Moreno singing I want to be in America docudrama and … Read more
Maria Full of Grace was not a movie I was particularly interested in seeing. A film about a seventeen year-old girl who traffics drugs? It sounds like a bad episode of a teen drama. And critics in general have a habit of applauding movies that tackle ‘serious’ issues, while ignoring their artistic merits. It makes them seem multicultural, I guess. However, I am happy to admit that in this case I was completely wrong. Read more
A vast landscape stretches to eternity. A dark night finds a little boy running from his home.
Cut to: New York City 2000. Haris, a stylish Afghan-American artist living in Chelsea is haunted by a traumatic past. He tries to interpret his visions in his artwork but needs more clarity.
Flashback to: Kabul, Afghanistan 1979. A young Haris wakes to gun fire. His father tells him to run and sends him off with a prayer and a promise not to return home. His legacy begins.
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Interesting how late seventies and eighties urban history is handled in the movie “Pinero.” The movies producers and director/writer confirm a prediction made by Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe co-founder Miguel Algarin more than 25 years ago about efforts to bring Latino creativity into the mainstream, “I see a lot of waste because before the great Hispanic hit is going to come out you’re going to have to break through all of the cliches.” Miguel Algarin August 1977. The movie about Miguel Pinero’s life reinforces the view no matter how creative Puerto Ricans in the U.S. are we’re still a bunch of savages Read more
