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Went to see "Who's Your Caddy?" this weekend to appease my folkses. It was everything you would expect it to be; nothing more, nothing less.
I get asked from time to time why there aren't more quality commercial black films. Well, in my opinion, there are plenty of people that try to make them, but not enough people in decision making positions greenlighting them. When I worked at the studio That Will Henceforth Remain Unnamed, they shot down wonderful, innovative projects like they were the Taliban. It was amazingly frustrating, to the point that I couldn't work on the business end any longer, as my disgust never seemed to go away.
There is enough room for all types of films out there, both black and non-black. And not everything has to be a masterpiece. And I am all about our community making and having their own. But now that we are making inroads and greenlighting our own films, can we please elevate just a wee bit? (*cough *cough* king latifah, tracey edmonds)
6 comments:
amen. but anybody who has had a meeting at a studio or interned at one (me!) you figure it out pretty quickly why there are so few quality films period. black films seem to have fallen by the wayside since all the independent studios got bought up by conglomerates. once i had somebody tell me that my black romance screenplay was good but i needed to add a knife fight because that's how black people fight. since i'm black and i've never had a knife fight, imagine my disdain. the gatekeepers...grr!
black people don't knife fight, we shoot guns...geez shows how much they know.
Im not surprised our films dont get greenlighted. In college my white screenwriter professor (who is most honest movie guy i know) told me that whatever script I write, because Im black, will be assumed to be a "black" movie.
That theory was proved to me before I even graduated.
Also, sadly, black people rarely go to see quality black movies period, nevermind who is in it. I still argue with people that "Waiting to Exhale" didn't deserve and Oscar nomination. ;)
^lol. i don't know, i've never been shot either. hhmm...
i feel you. what do you think about halle berry's oscar for monster's ball? or denzel's for training day while we're at it.
well that year i rooted for halle just cuz she was black (to be honest), after seeing the other performances, I would have given it to Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge (i thought she did a great job). As for Denzel, I think it was totally up for grabs that year. I cant even remember who was nominated. It wasnt the best Denzel role by any means though.
I have learned to keep my mouth shut about the Halle Berry thing, as some people feel so strongly about it. Let's put it this way; though it was probably her best performance, it was a long way from Oscar caliber.
And we all really know what was up with the Denzel Oscar...any of his other performances could have qualified more than that one, even The Mighty Quinn, haha. But seriously, the Training Day performance was overkill, pretty hammy. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have even gotten nominated, much less win. If anything, he should have gotten one for "He Got Game".
P.S. A knife fight?? I've seen everything twice, and I've NEVER seen anyone fight with 2 knives! How 1950's Westside Story.
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