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Training Day ***
The Blues: Godfathers and Sons ****
Sherrybaby ***
Training Day gets an extra star because of the outstanding perfomances by Denzel Washington (in what may be his most intense role since Malcolm X) and Ethan Hawke, who plays the innocent bystander role with a perfect combination of naivete and ethical strength. Kudos also to the creative cinematography by Mauro Fiore, who finds endlessly inventive ways of filming two people in a car. Aside from these elements, however, I found the film appalling, particularly in its racial politics (and I'm not referring to the fact that Denzel plays the heavy). A white man's fantasy (written, as it turns out, by a white man), this film is yet another tired spin on the formula of white boy saving the Other from his innate failings, while, at the same time, earning the respect of those he keeps in poverty, who continue to conveniently kill themselves off. Disgusting.
I'm finding The Blues to be a somewhat hit-or-miss series. This entry by director Marc Levin, however, offers a much more useful and honest portrayal of race relations than the film above. Levin's premise is to reunite the infamous Electric Mud band, and to have them jam with modern hip-hop artists like Common and Chuck D. Overseeing the sessions is Marshall Chess, son of the founder of Chess Records in Chicago, a Polish Jew whose enthusiasm for and sheer joy in blues music helps him blend in with the musicians here. The film offers powerful testimony to the ability of music to overcome racial and economic disparities in American culture without seeming forced or message-oriented. In addition to chronicling the reformation of Electric Mud, the film also provides a mini-history of Marshall Chess' participation in his father's company and some powerful performance clips, including a moving piano duet between the late Ike Turner and his mentor, Pinetop Perkins. The music, of course, is extraordinary.
Sherrybaby, like Training Day, is an actor's film, and the power of Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance overwhelms the somewhat simplistic storyline. Still, worth watching for the, at times, uncomfortable honesty of Gyllenhaal's acting. She had me squirming through the movie, partly because I could see what was coming, but more because the depth of her immersion in the role made the character's fuck-ups all the more heartbreaking when they arrived.
The Blues: Godfathers and Sons ****
Sherrybaby ***
Training Day gets an extra star because of the outstanding perfomances by Denzel Washington (in what may be his most intense role since Malcolm X) and Ethan Hawke, who plays the innocent bystander role with a perfect combination of naivete and ethical strength. Kudos also to the creative cinematography by Mauro Fiore, who finds endlessly inventive ways of filming two people in a car. Aside from these elements, however, I found the film appalling, particularly in its racial politics (and I'm not referring to the fact that Denzel plays the heavy). A white man's fantasy (written, as it turns out, by a white man), this film is yet another tired spin on the formula of white boy saving the Other from his innate failings, while, at the same time, earning the respect of those he keeps in poverty, who continue to conveniently kill themselves off. Disgusting.
I'm finding The Blues to be a somewhat hit-or-miss series. This entry by director Marc Levin, however, offers a much more useful and honest portrayal of race relations than the film above. Levin's premise is to reunite the infamous Electric Mud band, and to have them jam with modern hip-hop artists like Common and Chuck D. Overseeing the sessions is Marshall Chess, son of the founder of Chess Records in Chicago, a Polish Jew whose enthusiasm for and sheer joy in blues music helps him blend in with the musicians here. The film offers powerful testimony to the ability of music to overcome racial and economic disparities in American culture without seeming forced or message-oriented. In addition to chronicling the reformation of Electric Mud, the film also provides a mini-history of Marshall Chess' participation in his father's company and some powerful performance clips, including a moving piano duet between the late Ike Turner and his mentor, Pinetop Perkins. The music, of course, is extraordinary.
Sherrybaby, like Training Day, is an actor's film, and the power of Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance overwhelms the somewhat simplistic storyline. Still, worth watching for the, at times, uncomfortable honesty of Gyllenhaal's acting. She had me squirming through the movie, partly because I could see what was coming, but more because the depth of her immersion in the role made the character's fuck-ups all the more heartbreaking when they arrived.
posted by Chazzbot at 1:49 PM
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