When We Were Kings

In 1974, boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman came  Africa  for what Ali called the "Rumble in the Jungle," a highly publicized world heavyweight championship fight. Documentarian Leon Gast flew to Zaire to film both the fight and a music festival organized by promoter Don King. 
 When We Were Kings provided a vivid portrait of the controversial Ali. At 33, he was considered past his prime for the Zaire fight, and his refusal to serve in the U.S. military on moral grounds was still an issue in the minds of many. But here, Ali displays strength, skill, intelligence, and tremendous charm, making it clear how he became one of the most renowned figures in the world of sports. And, while George Foreman is best known today as a genial commercial pitchman, he's seen here as a strong, forbidding opponent, not especially articulate and seemingly unstoppable. The film also features interviews with several notable fight fans, including Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, and Spike Lee. A fascinating document of a great moment in sporting and cultural history.

Killer of Sheep

Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.

Frustrated by problems with money, he finds enjoyment in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. 

For those of us that has seen hard times it is the little things that make you feel the use to continue to go on.

Lackawanna Blues

A young boy grows up among a non-traditional family of oddballs and dreamers in this adaptation of Ruben Santiago-Hudson's acclaimed one-man show. Ruben Junior  is a young boy who was born in the late '40s into a family that started crumbling not long after he was born. Ruben Junior's parents were from Lackawanna, a city in Upstate New York, and were living in a rooming house run by Nanny Crosby  whose place was a hub for the local African-American community. When Ruben Junior's parents split up, he and his mother return to Lackawanna and Nanny's rooming house; with mother overworked physically and in sad shape emotionally, Nanny takes Ruben Junior under her wing, and offers him the sort of nurturing she gives all her boarders. Nanny's house is full of people struggling for a fresh start in life, ranging from former convicts to recovering drug addicts, and she opens both her doors and her heart to them as they strive to make themselves better people. Ruben Junior finds a loving home a midst the colorful eccentrics in Nanny's circle of friends, but as America changes over the course of the 1950s and '60s, so does the neighborhood where Nanny and her tenants live -- and not for the better. 
I enjoyed this movie, it gave an example of a strong woman that found herself in the midst of life. 

Fruitvale Station

Well here, we go again, Excuses, Excuses, Excuses, but no accountability for your decisions.  Fruitvale  Station begins with some young  black men sitting on the floor of a subway station fussing with some police officers about the fact that they did not do anything wrong.  Police offices fussing with that face telling the young men to “SHUT UP” before I… Next thing you hear a gunshot and people screaming.

The scene in the movie change and we get to know a young man that has made a mistake with his girlfriend.  He is trying to explain himself but she is refusing to listen until he offers her a ring.  Then his day starts and it is filled up with excerpts of his mother and him in the past, and of him calling mom to wish her a happy birthday.  The writer wants us to see him in the light that he is and in the light that he was.  Well it works for me, I began to fall for his smooth ways, but at the same time, I recognize a temper.  The kind of temper that could get someone hurt.  This writer went out of his way to make us love this young man through his everyday rat race.  We all know about that, rather we want to or not.  The movie did not take too long to bring us back to the scene that we saw in the start of the movie.  We get to see what the first scene was trying to tell us, just when we see him make up his mind to do the right thing.  I became angry because I realized what was going to happen, and my thought were, why when everything starts coming around, something has to happen to end the goodness.

This movie was based on a true story.  After the movie ended, the director went on to show the movie watches scenes of the family and a picture of the young man that was killed by the police officer.  You know the police officer that claimed he thought he was drawing a tazor not his gun.  YEAH RIGHT!!  That is how it works.

Oh, man did I like this movie.  NO!  Life stories like this are not pleasurable and only leaves me in tears and very sad.  Not understanding why it had to happen that way.  However, this is a true story so I cannot stay angry.

This movie tells the story of a young man that has made a decision to change his life. The story begins with  a young man taking care of all his errands while he tries to find a way to by dinner for his mother. Oscar has a child and a girlfriend that does not believe that he cares for her and her child. Oscar made some mistakes in his earlier days and ended up in jail for a while. Oscar had an anger problem and that problem kept him in jail longer then he should have been their. When his mother stop visiting him, he decided to start learning and do the right thing, so he can go home. He made it home and he got a job. He started having some problems and was late to work. His boss fired him and would not give him another chance. He told his girlfriend he was still working. He told his mother he was still working. He did not want them to worry. He also did not want them to be disappointed in him.

It was New Years Eve and his girlfriend wanted to go out to celebrate. He did not want to go, he wanted to stay in and just be with his family. She did not understand. His mother did not want him to go, so she suggested he go on the subway train. She was concerned about him driving in that area. So they went and his daughter begged him to stay home. He promised he would be back soon.

Well they had a good time.They did not have any issues. While on the subway train back to their neighborhood, he came across an enemy from prison. They fought and someone called the police while they were on the train. When the train stopped they tried to get off an leave but the police stop them. They also stopped they other person (he was white) but they let him go and kept three of the black guys. Oscar was one of those guys. They did not have any evidence but they were sure they were the trouble makers.

This movie was another movie that left me angry and unhappy. I watch movies to gain comfort, or to get some laughter. This movie did neither. It just gave me another reason to be concern for my son that lives in Brooklyn, New York.

“Sweet Backs Bad Ass Song,”

“Sweet Backs Bad Ass Song,” is a movie that I would not have chosen to watch on my own.  The beginning of the movie was weird and a bit too X-rated for my taste.  I did not get a chance to see the entire movie, but I did see several parts of the movie.  Sweet Back seem to be a character that ended up with a strange life but was a pleaser to all the women he met.  However, he did not have a good representation with the police department, maybe because the police department was crooked.  When he had enough and killed those two police officers, his life changed into a great big run for his life.  All the people he met, either ended up dead or hurt from the bad police that were trying to track Sweet Back down.  The arrangement of this movie was strange.  It was a lot going on in the movie, and little to understand.  Some parts of the movie, I wondered, “Why is that in this movie.”

I was able to watch portions of   Van Peebles’ son’s version of the movie.  The commentary helped me understand Mr. Peebles ideas and process of producing his movie.  The thought process to save money and use porn cinematographers to film his film was an intelligent move to avoid a high spending movie.  When he found a way to prevent the producers from having said about his movie without making he stand out was unique.  I also could not get the running in the dessert until I listen to his commentary.  I did not get the purpose of the movie until I saw some of the outskirts of the movie. 

Dancing in September

Dancing in September tells the story of two ambitious African-Americans attempting to make their mark in the television industry. One is a scriptwriter named Tomasina “Tommy” Crawford, who has grown weary of contributing to stereotypical characters and programming for African-Americans and dreams of creating a balanced, positive program for herself and the African-American public. The other is a newly appointed television producer named George Washington, who hopes to ascend to the highest levels of the television industry and carve out a special place for himself to help redefine African-American programming.  When Tommy submits a script for a positive family sitcom titled “Just Us,” she is indirectly brought  into George’s path.  The rest of the film follows the struggles that both she and George face in the specific environments, mainly painting a positive portrayal of African-Americans in the media, in addition to staying true to their own culture and identity as African-Americans.

This was a movie more in my style of entertainment. Something soft, with romance and a plot that makes you sit on the edge of your chair.  The character portrayed was identical to everyday people.  Tommie character stood strong for her beliefs, until I would never think she would have fallen for money and acknowledgment.  George Washington seems to be a man that was glad to make it, but I did not believe that he would stick to his beliefs.