Do The Right Thing

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

3 minutes ago, DanEngler said:

That's ostensibly what his first movie is about (although everything I know about it I learned by listening to Blank Check.)

Didn't know about that one!

[grudlian. 4725]

1 hour ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

Would be interesting if Shyamalan ever wanted to make a movie about the Indian-American experience, but it doesn't seem to be his kind of thing.

While I'd be fine with that, I would rather have him do what he's doing (partly because he's really hit or miss with me). I think it's vitally important for people of color to also make movies that aren't entirely about the struggle of people of color. Some of my non white friends complain about not just representation in media that isn't explicitly about race but also being told that looking a lot of nerd culture stuff means they are turning white or whatever. So, I think it's nice that maybe the most prominent Indian American director is mostly interested in making horror and suspense movies. If it's not what he wants to make, maybe someone else needs to be the one doing it.

[ol' eddy wrecks 212]

I'm not getting to watching this until this weekend, so I can't weigh in on much.

In terms of films by black directors, my knowledge is sadly very limited (I mentioned To Sleep with Anger and The Hollywood Shuffle in the upcoming episode thread because they were leaving the criterion channel's/streaming service, well, have now left it).

So I will just include this article because it at least lists movies...

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/cover_story/2016/05/the_50_greatest_films_by_black_directors.html

 

I believe The Watermelon Woman (and I know Black Girl) is streaming on the criterion channel.

Some of the movies on the list, such as Touki Bouki and Black Girl, aren't American. (e.g. Touki Bouki is from Senegal - or at least the director is).

The one director I didn't see on the list was Bill Gunn for Ganja & Hess (remade by Spike Lee as Da Sweet Blood of Jesus). Which admittedly, feels a bit incomplete (maybe because of the rushed situation in which he filmed it). So, while it might not leap to mind as "top 100 movie" type of material, it has interesting flourishes and I find it more interesting and worth watching than a lot of movies on the AFI list (admittedly, I have more idiosyncratic tastes).

He's directed two other movies, one sounds like it might have some of the same issues, and the other appears to hard to find.

[grudlian. 4725]

9 hours ago, ol' eddy wrecks said:

I'm not getting to watching this Some of the movies on the list, such as Touki Bouki and Black Girl, aren't American. (e.g. Touki Bouki is from Senegal - or at least the director is).

Black Girl is fucking fantastic. I really recommend it.

Touki Bouki I didn't really get what was so special about it. Other than being the director's first film and coming from a country that had no really film industry up to that point.

[ol' eddy wrecks 212]

Black Girl is on The Criterion Channel (unsurprisingly), if anyone wants to watch it.

I'm a bit late to this episode, but I just wanted to add, the speech Radio Raheem gives is actually from another movie, Night of th... just kidding.

I actually assumed everyone knew that for some reason.  I have heard an interesting anecdote on it (maybe apocryphal), but someone once asked Spike Lee, "is that Radio Raheem quoting Robert Mitchum or is that Spike Lee quoting Robert Mitchum."  Spike reportedly, paused, thought, and after a bit you could see a smile crack out on his face, and he replied, "Radio Raheem doesn't know who the hell Robert Mitchum is."

In terms of references to movies already covered on Unspooled, I took the money scene at the end to be a reference to Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  Though, in the end Mookie does bend down and pick up the money.  But it was the whole principle they were trying to make.  Maybe a stretch on my part, but it seemed deliberate.

 

 

[ol' eddy wrecks 212]

I will concede I'm not really engaging with any the complex questions about the movie in that quick take, but it's a Monday night, and it's a prior episode.