Memphis Hi-Lites: Memphis Redbirds

Redbirds Park in Downtown Memphis

My family recently went back to our home state of California. We lived in a resort that was about a half a mile from the beach in Oceanside. We were only 45 minutes from California Adventures and Disneyland and we visited both. I went shopping at the border near Mexico, visited my alma mater San Diego State University (which has added an underground trolley station-something that is probably ruining GPAs all over campus) and then I went to eat at Sombreros, Pat and Oscars and Sammy's Woodfired Pizza. I stood in the Pacific and watched my son play in the ocean and I held my daughter as the June gloom began to recede and the sun was breaking through over the horizon. I felt the sand shift under my feet and I realized that I missed San Diego. I missed the idea of going to Julian for apple pie and ice cream. I missed the beach. When we got back on the road to come home, I realized that I was returning to a place that was going to be hot and for the most part angry. In my head, Memphis was not a choice as much as it was an agreement. Especially after being back in Cali, Memphis just seemed... blah.

Welcome To The Rileys: A review

Hypothetically answering, what would you do if your spouse decided to put headstones on your cemetery plot with your names on them and you were still alive? Welcome to the Rileys is a film that manages to create questions through a slow paced, carefully crafted narrative using characters who don't require a complete understanding. It isn't often that a film can take stock characters, familiar everyday people and make them compelling without adding in elements of the absurd. I don't mean absurd in the style of Beckett... Then again maybe I do.

When I think about family narratives, they are generally poorly, melodramatic Lifetime movies that are driven by the visual depiction of drama. A person dies tragically, is injured, or abused and the viewer is shown these images and instead of being led into the disentagration of family, the viewer is thrown headfirst into the emotional baggage of the characters forcing an emotional response. The only movie that I can speak of in terms of Black film where the death of a child is the center of the rise in action is Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married and that was with the characters played by Malik Yoba and Janet Jackson. The story line there presented a unique opportunity to establish a movie that could have been very similar to Welcome to the Rileys, but Perry dealt with that complicated storyline like Blacks couldn't handle a slowly drawn narrative of discovery.

Night Catches Us: a review

On January 1st, I dropped a trailer for the film Night Catches Us. I didn't know a lot about the film but I knew that Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie were the lead actors and to me this meant that it was a movie worth my time. I had generally forgotten about the film since then, until it showed up in our Instant Watch on Netflix.

Night Catches Us is the feature film debut of Tanya Hamilton who wrote and directed the movie. In the easiest description of the film Marcus (Anthony Mackie) returns to Philadelphia where he was a member of the Black Panther Party. Patricia (Kerry Washington) another former Panther still remains in the same neighborhood where a tragic situation has created in her the need to carry on the programs created by the Panthers, although the BPP is no longer in the position of influence it held.

Hamilton uses an artistic lens to capture Philadelphia and the film is more like a study of the neighborhood for photography and videography. The images of the Philly streets are often captured with the street signs in the background, or buildings or abandoned lots, trash strewn streets, in contrast to the images she captures of children playing and people walking from neighborhood stores. Every shot involves a character, in thought, standing face to face with someone or something that seems to be eroding. The score by the Roots recreates a seventies sound without sounding antiquated. Overall the movie is beautifully crafted and at 1hour and 30 minutes the scenes shift and move quickly, which isn't jarring, but does create questions.

Although the imagery and quality is incredible I could only give the film 3 out of 5 stars. It was not due to the acting, which held together a script that had more potential than follow through. The acting was powerful and Mackie and Washington lend credibility to their roles and depth to lines that lack the needed development to really grasp the time. The Black Panther Party has appeared in film often and there has yet to be a portrayal that has really defined what the Panthers did and how important they are to history. Hamilton does use actual footage of the Death of Fred Hampton and archival footage of the Panthers and their food programs and of course the shots of Bobby Seale and the chants are always there lingering at moments of confusion, but the story is rushed and some plot points are established but not given enough clarity. Black Thought (Tariq Trotter of the The Roots) plays Marcus' brother Bos, a Muslim who is only utilized in a few scenes, but his voice and the visual depiction of him in his all black clothing and his relationship with his brother could have been a stronger storyline.

What Night Catches Us does do very well is to capture the confusion of the 70s and this makes the film worth watching. The 70s saw the removal of certain political and social walls for Blacks. It seemed that the advancements of the Civil Rights movement had actually given Blacks some status, but the actual facts were that the Black neighborhood became more fractured and the Panthers' role in the neighborhood, became unstable due to government (national and local) forces that infiltrated and corrupted the organization. This destruction of the people from the inside out, left a whole generation with the ideals of the Panthers, but without the foundation. In other words the destruction of the Panthers created the current state in Black America: People who are unaware of the damage controlled media images and broken homes create in the community. This is given incredible power in one scene with the character Jimmy (Patricia's brother) who is a young man searching for an identity in a world that is not ready to accept him as a man and a world that does not want to explain to him the past.

While somewhat predictable, with stock characters, Night Catches Us is a solid film that should be watched because it is important and entertaining.

Here is the link to the trailer here on CB Publishing.

The website for the film can be found by visiting http://www.nightcatchesus.com/

Get To Know: Martin Russell

When I coached high school basketball, I always looked around for the tallest kids on campus. Working at an inner city school in San Diego, that also happened to be the most multi-cultural/racial school in the city, presented problems. Our school, Crawford High School, had incredible soccer, wrestling, and badmiton teams because of the abundance of Africans, Latinos and Asians, but our traditional sports teams, the ones dominated traditionally by Blacks had to work really hard and it didn't help that there really weren't any tall kids running around the campus. There were a few, but they liked soccer, not basketball. I remember one kid, a tall light skinned Black kid, that I asked to play and he responded that he didn't play ball. I told him I could teach him and I basically wanted his size on the court. That kid never accepted and it was okay with me, because he was a funny kid. I remember him being this really quirky guy that didn't stand out, he simply blended into whatever crowd he was around. That's the way Crawford was, well most of the time. The students there were kind of their own rainbow coalition in the middle of a city where the poverty line is 70,000 dollars and most of the people in our area were no where close to making that kind of money.

This morning I ran across a post on Facebook, by that kid/man, Martin Russell. He is beginning work on a documentary and if this is any indication of what is to come... Get To Know Martin Russell. Watch this:

It's Kind of A Funny Story: A review

The nuances of life become ritual and in adulthood, the experiences of the past are forgotten. This is what makes the coming of age story an attractive tome. In watching the uncomfortable maturation of the teen, or a child, the reality of being an adult is challenged. Often the reading of a book that deals with the struggles of an adult and their social issues can make the reader jaded and unforgiving. Adults no longer reach, struggle, or learn; they simply live. In their lives the mundane existence of routine becomes so monotonous that the adult no longer believes in the power of the mind. They no longer trust that a thought can influence the world. Inspiration can only be found in religion or financial success. In the teen self awareness, realization, is important and makes their lives a lot more complicated than they seem.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story has made the list of my favorite films. I sometimes think about the things that mother misses because she is no longer here. I wrote a poem titled, You Would Have Loved Ray. That poem forced me to analyze my mortality. This film, based on a novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini, shows the five day journey of Craig. Craig is a sixteen year old living in New York City. The standard items of youth are in place and could be seen as nothing more than pawns in the manipulation of the viewer: the cool best friend, his hot girlfriend (who Craig is attracted to), parents, and a sibling. What makes this film work though is that they are immediately removed from the equation by the director’s focus on Craig’s eventually admitted selfishness after he checks into a mental institution after considering suicide.

Get To Know: Rise Against

I have had countless discussions with artists about the responsibility of the creator of images and sounds. In these conversations, I have found the foundation for my understanding of the importance of art. I have also realized that my ideas about how art should be used, are very constrained. I think that art should serve a purpose and that the artists have to consider the audience, not to cater to the audience, but to promote discourse. The conversation does not have to be comfortable; on the contrary, it should be uncomfortable, but it should have a point. Right now, I can't say anything else about Rise Against. I need you to watch this video, amazing and powerful.

It's Complicated...Kind of a review

Okay that title is pretty vague and I will be the first to say that this blog does not get a crazy amount of traffic, so being vague is not a good thing. I love the blog: http://www.shadowandact.com/ . Not because the title derived from my favorite author, but because the blog has the most information on cinema that caters to a diverse audience. In other words, if I want a Black movie, or I want to know about a movie filmed, written and produced by those not of European ancestry, then I can find the info there. I tend to think I have a pretty good ear, for books, and an okay eye for film. What I have been looking for though from S&A is an article, or a summary on why is it that Black people can't create a film like It's Complicated. I've made similar comments after watching films like The Fountain, or The Notebook, but I won't rehash those discussions here. I will, but in a different way.

When Memphis is At It's Best

I'm not writing much here because the individual websites speak for themselves. Memphis in May is an annual event that features a multitude of tasty, entertaining treasures. What is even better this year is that the Memphis Grizzlies are in the second round of the NBA Playoffs bringing an extra amount of flavor to the city. This is a chance for Memphis to shine, even through the rough weather. Visit both of these sites and get into the spirit of the city.

Beale Street Music Festival

Memphis in May International Festival

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown: A review

Dan Brown has crafted several novels that resulted in a massive number of sales and in all honesty created an industry in tourism. His novels Angels and Demons and The Davinci Code sparked tours and ignited a fascination with symbols, myths, conspiracies and controversy. The Lost Symbol, released in 2009 has not generated the same type of interest.  People have not decided to devote time to setting up TLS tours in the nation's capitol. Ironically, it seems that Dan Brown has an effect on the rest of the world through his literature, yet in America where The Lost Symbol is set, this same passionate response is non-existent. Possibly this speaks to the point of this text. Which is how apathetic the American society has become. Actually, there isn't one point in The Lost Symbol, this book is an arrangement of facts, and storytelling that lends itself to dialogue and the generation of a conflict which actually has the power to destroy an industry, or support it. That industry is the big business of the church. Then again that isn't the only point of the book. Confusing isn't the word I'm looking for to explain why America hasn't created the same fervor for The Lost Symbol as it did for the other books. The United States is the youngest nation in the world and with youth comes the inability to focus. Americans have simply added TLS to a long list of to do items. I happen to think it should be in a short list of must do, must understand, must implement.

Get To Know: Lenny Kravitz

My favorite Lenny Kravitz album is 5. If you don't have 5 buy it simply because of the song Mama. I can't hear that song without crying. Yeah, I'm man enough to say that. While Lenny has always pushed the boundaries and I can consider him one of the best entertainers of my generation, this album goes back to his funk roots and the way this sounds, I think I'll have to play this and the Black Keys at the same time when I run. Okay, you already know Mr. Kravitz, but it's been a while. His upcoming album Black and White America, will release soon and if this video is any indication of what he's dropping, I'm copping. Thanks to okayplayer.com for keeping the updates rolling on all of these various projects.

For Colored Girls: A review

The For Colored Girls reinterpretation by Tyler Perry has seen countless analysis and criticisms. I even took the time to discuss the film after watching the original play. Click here to read that analysis. My original discussion was that this play should not have been recreated. I made this decision because after watching the original play, the level of frustration I encountered as a man watching a film obviously written for and by a Black woman at the height of the Black feminist literary movement, (Do not look up Black Literary Feminist Movement, this is something that I am working on to analyze the writing that was created in the late 60s to the early 80s by women like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Toni Cade Bambara and obviously Ntozake Shange), was difficult to understand. In its original form the narrative has a clear, calm, powerful, poetic voice, that enhances the emotional attachment to the women who encounter different men who create their frustration and push them towards the thought of suicide. These women are also aware enough to understand that it is their own lack of power which generates the negative energy that promotes their inferiority and mistreatment. This duality existed in the original performance by an ensemble that included Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield, due to their inspired performance. The actresses took a complex, jarring narrative and after watching the original, I knew I didn't have any desire to see Tyler Perry's film and my primary question was why this story, again, now?

Get To Know: Singa Bromfield

I recently went on one of my weekly excursions to buy a bunch of kicks to resell and standing in front of the store was a man with a guitar in classic NYC street musician style. His foot was against the wall, his guitar was held across his stomach and his fingers strummed the strings with agile movements, but it was his voice. His voice was a calming force of melodic, soulful gravity. I typically fail to find the sincerity in today's singers. Most people sound so polished and packaged that they fail to really resonate with me. In my mind I still live in a time where music was more important than the video and the sound connected you to a memory. Now musc simply ties you to a dance move and the memories are worth keeping. This man leaning against the wall played. It didn't matter if people thought he was homeless or hustling or keeping his guitar case open to just take the dough that people tossed in the box. He just played and I thought to myself, incredible.

Commentary and thoughts on the film Skin

Racism creates a vast array of emotions when presented in American society. It seems that the US has the need to own the divisive treatment that is created by people and their personal,social, and learned hatred of other cultures. The US however finds it difficult to actually analyze, and create narratives discussing race. People in America want to forget the past, move on without acknowledging the inherent conflicts that skin creates. Entertainment in America tends to make its stories and movies that deal with racism about popular individuals. While the stories that are beginning to fade away, with the passing of grandparents and elders, are becoming lost in time; other societies that have also progressed from segregation and racism are taking those stories and generating films that attempt to understand the psychology behind skin.

One such film that takes the challenge of bringing light to the absurd nature of superiority is the flim Skin. Released in 2008, Skin is the story of Sandra Laing a woman who was born into the apartheid era of South America. The immediate thought generated by this is in regard to Nelson Mandela, however this film does a very good job of focusing on the people who are affected in their day to day existence by apartheid. The film does not stray into a homage to Nelson Mandela and he is only shown in one scene, on a sheet of paper listing the people running in the first free election of 1994. This is important because the narrative created allows the viewer to feel a connection to the family of Sandra Laing, who is important because she is a black child born to white parents.

A White Dude Asked Me Some Questions



Damn Robert Downey, damn.



Okay a few years back a white dude asked me some pretty good questions. I'm posting a few of the questions and answers to drop here as food for thought. The topics ranged from dating and entertainment, to history and education. This is the kind of thing that has to happen for America to truly to understand relationships. I think often that Blacks are afraid to let White's and other cultures ask them questions. Blacks are acutally afraid to let anyone ask them questions. Typically the outcome of questions is a defensive posture instead of an honest response. Here are a few, respond to them yourself in the comments section.

On Entertainment:

Q: Is there a difference between Hip-Hop and rap?

A: To preface this question I have to state that Rap is one of the facets of Hip-Hop culture. For this question’s purpose I will draw a distinction between the two. Hip-Hop is a culture that includes four facets: Breakin, Graffiti, Turntablism, and lyrical dominance on the mic or rap. I assume you are asking about the difference between music that is considered Hip-Hop and why some is considered rap. Okay here it goes, Hip-Hop endears itself to the appreciation of verbal manipulation identifiable by the ability to say something of importance in a lyrical manner. In other words, Hip-Hop is life music even at its simplest and base moments such as the signifying in Pharcyde’s Ya Mama, it is about the ability to create a narrative with words. Hip-Hop is closer to poetry in its purest form. It comments on society and life in the inner city, or life in your city as it exists.

Get To Know: Official Release Date

Certain artists generate a response that makes you honored to hear what they have to say. As I grow old in Hip-Hop, I'm starting more and more to seek out artists that mesh all of the elements together: dope tracks, lyricism, creativity and inspiration. In mainstream music the heart is missing. You can't listen to the songs and get that spontaneous "Oh ish son, listen to that and rewind it." Well there isn't a rewind anymore, but you want to hear that lyric over and over again. I found a few of these moments in the MLS Cd I reviewed last week especially on Hard and Target Practice, but with this guy every track seems to be a genuine ode to Hip-Hop. Lupe may be one of the best in the game today. No, he is one of the best in the biz today. Instead of talking so much listen to I'm Beaming and understand that real Hip-Hop is alive and well. You don't have to listen to weed narratives and excessive party anthems to get to it, it's right here. Lasers is dropping March 8th. Oh I thought this album was going to be called LUP-END? Anyway...

Get to Know: Fashawn

Hip-Hop has had a black eye for so long that often emcees who drop an LP get love although they are actually pretty mediocre. Now I'm not saying that guys like Wiz, Currensy or Wale aren't dropping new age gems, but they are not quite there yet in terms of dropping classics. An album that dropped in 09, may be the best Hip-Hop album that has been made in recent years.  This is a big claim, but definitely needed.

Fashawn's name is highly regarded in circles that respect the art of the emcee, but is often overlooked when discussions of the best new emcees are dropped. I understand that longevity is the key but when Drake is hailed as the second coming, I guess it is in regard to mainstream. Fashawn at an early age has learned to weave narratives, and lines into a quilted pattern of blankets that cover the tracks like black ice on streets in the winter. The flow is a fulid slippery slope of metaphors that pull the listener into their own adolescent struggles and makes you remember your first fight, girl, failure and success. Boy Meets World is a modern classic and earns the right to be compared to Nas' Illmatic. I just hope people will actually begin mentioning this emcee more often. The Ecology will drop in 2011 and I'll be watching for it; you should do the same.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stage Three amendment: When a man has come to a fork in the road, he can’t sit and take his time. He has to choose and accept what may come. No turning back and going to look down the other road. Keep straight and accept it. Allow God to do his job and all things will turn out fine.

I thought long and hard about what had occurred. I knew that I’d made a mistake and that I’d blown my chance at stepping up. What I didn’t know was that I’d blow it in an attempt at moving up to Stage Three. That could’ve caused a bigger problem in the long run if I would’ve acted on my emotions and called Ros or Laney. The thought had crossed my mind. But I knew I had to reconsider. I wrote in my journal and it finally came to me. I had to get Janice back. I knew if I got Flip to talk to Tina then I could get back in there, but I had to fix this one. I had to take responsibility.

I didn’t talk to Janice for a week. That next weekend I had to help Flip move to his new place. He didn’t have much stuff, but the things he did have weighed a ton. We rented a truck and started with the living room. He refused to put his CD player and stereo stuff in the truck even though he still had the boxes for it all. There is nothing like a man and his music. Without a good stereo system a man is only half the man he could be. The same thing holds true for a man and his car. Flip saved all of his stereo equipment to move last. He put all of his stereo equipment into his SC. We filled the truck with all of the stuff and began cleaning the apartment. We didn’t have much to do considering Flip had stop spending the night at his house. He was staying with Tina at her crib, which is normal I guess. It’s that whole process when you start dating seriously. You spend one week at her house she spends the next week at yours. It eventually gets to the point that you question why you both have a place to stay. The normal progression is to make the next jump, moving in together. I guess that’s why Flip was asking me about it that day.

Video for Night Catches Us

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sometimes the Lord puts people into your life for a reason. Why question everything? Then again why not? I’m not saying doubt, or that I don’t believe, but you have to wonder. I still was bothered by what Flip told me and I just couldn’t make sense of it all in my head. Why would she choose him to, “come out of the closet,” so to speak?

We spoke about it again that night on the phone. I was about to meet Janice at her place to talk. But I was somewhat intimidated by what a conversation would hold after hearing about Tina and her problem. I’m sure Janice had gone through it all with her, and held the same feelings that Tina may have had about men. Maybe that’s why she wanted to really get close to me. She probably assumed that Flip and I were at the same Stage. What’s kind of buggin me right now is how Flip stepped up and accepted what had been put in his face. He thought about the whole situation and decided to stick it out. I know I would’ve ran away. I’m just not at that point in my life where I can handle that kind of situation.

I said when I started that I would remain honest throughout and I will. I would’ve ran away because to stay with her after that kind of info would’ve placed me into serious commitment territory. A place I’d been avoiding for a long time, but it was a place that was slowly beginning to seem like the right thing to do. But how am I to know when I’m supposed to settle down? For Flip, everything kind of lined itself up in a nice package and dropped into his lap. He was frustrated and tired of being by himself. I don’t mean physically by himself. He explained it like this a few weeks before we met Tina and Janice.

Movie Review: Don't Let Me Drown (2009)

Most movie viewers are hedonistic in their approach to film. Unless the film satisfies some base connection most people only watch what looks like them. Often this leads to a skewed perception of what a great film is and can be. I find that to truly watch and care for film is to seek out cinema that can entertain, inspire, educate and generate discussion. Shameless Netflix plug.... now, Netflix is the perfect launching pad for young aspiring screenwriters and directors.  Netflix has so many titles available immediately that a lover of films can spend an entire weekend watching films from almost every culture in the world. Recently I've caught a couple of films that I highly recommend. One in particular resonates with my longing to see well developed characters with depth and complexities that can't be simply defined.

The film Don't Let Me Drown, directed by Cruz Angeles and co written by Maria Topete (2009), stars E.J. Bonilla and Gleendilys Inoa. These young actors form an unlikely couple in post September 11th New York. I guess the statement shouldn't be unlikely because they are both Latino. However, what many people fail to realize is that intraracism, or racism within the same groups, has a more harmful effect than basic racism. While race is only slightly shown in the film, which is set in New York in Brooklyn and Manhattan, for an African-American writer to witness the verbal attack from a Mexican mother on her son's Dominican girlfriend raises some interesting questions.

The main character Lalo (Bonilla) is the son of a janitor who has to clean up the debris at Gorund Zero. Lalo's mother is working hard to pay bills and is frustrated because her husband, a migrant, is not being paid on time. He is also progressively growing ill throughout the film from what he is inhaling on the job. However this subtle storyline is not developed in detail, but it does create texture and pathos for those watching. Lalo's love interest Stefanie (Inoa) is a young Dominican Girl beng raised in a household with an opressive father, who is genuinely the most attractive abusive character I've seen in film, which is an oxymoron obviously. His complexities derive from his oldest daughter dying in the collapse of the WTC. In him you find an opportunity to analyze abuse and control from a man attempting to understand how, and why his first daughter is gone. His emotional fragility in lieu of his wife's strength is compelling and makes for a character who in his attempt to control something becomes a destructive force. Tyler Perry should take note and learn to develop such complex characters.

Coming of age stories seem to be prevelant in the NYC film culture. Don't Let Me Drown follows suit with a perfectly paced narrative of the City and one of the many stories that are sure to be told for years. If you have a little time watch this film.