vision63 wrote:
[quote=Black]
[quote=vision63]
[quote=Black]
[quote=vision63]
Is "Get on Up" still out? I thoroughly enjoyed that. Chadwick Boseman is "dynamic."
Oh yeah... that was the one I saw. Did you enjoy it without .... enhancement?
You mean with a date? You saw it today?
No I saw it about 2 weeks ago. Apart from yours, others' reactions have been similar to mine. Sure, it was a good performance, but the film didn't work very well in so many other ways.
It certainly wasn't a documentary, nor should it have been. It worked. Now if I wanted to, I could rip it to pieces. I could rip just about anything to pieces. I did a lot more of that when I was younger. There was a lot of restraint by this filmmaker and I'm fine with that. I have many friends who are steeped in the black film aesthetic that refused to even go see it. They have the same issues with this film as they did with "12 Years a Slave." The fact that it's genesis regarding it's development and production was from a white perspective in their opinion. I fully understand. Despite all of that, it's either something that's worthwhile or it isn't. If I'm draggin all of that baggage into the theater, how objective am I really being? Why not just allow the filmmakers to express what it is they're trying to exhibit? True, I go into the theater "WANTING" to be entertained. I enjoy my life better that way.
On time I worked on a black film in South Carolina way back in 1989. I was the only person there that came from Los Angeles (except for the director and the lead male). Everybody else was from NYC. They hated Hollywood and because I lived there, I wasn't initially trusted. Anything that depicts black people in an accessable and commercial way is automatically viewed with derision by this relatively small faction of filmmakers, cinematographers etc. I was hurt because I really wanted them to like me. Eventually they did. I moved to NYC after that for a while and met everyone and got to really understand the black film community there, in your town, Chicago and Atlanta. No doubt there are a TON of amazingly talented people in these cities doing some amazing work. But I, myself, am always going to frustrate many with having a broad sense of acceptance with a deep desire to understand and reciprocate with anyone of a good, caring mind. My mind is always open wide.
SO, I walked into the theater in L.A. (Long Beach), and let "Get on Up" wash over me. I let the film entertain me. My intellect detected all of the false, awkward and "wrong" moments but chose to push that aside because the performers were simply dazzling me, making me smile and filling my senses with the joyful noises of James Brown.
I didn't say I didn't enjoy it. I just found there were too many things the filmmaker tried to do that weren't successful.
