Isn't interesting that we all bash these movies now and about 10-20 years later they all become cult fictional classics... Like Blackula, Cleopatra Jones, Car Wash, Dolemite, Superfly... As if Pam Grier got hooked up in a skeriousss gig... Ol' Skool stylee...
Must reads for USC's Director's School...
Hmmmm... I always wondered how the WB, Paramount, Tri-Star, New Image, Touchstone started off... Do a whole bunch a crappy movies in the 'hood, bank roll off these negroes, then come out with a storyline that seems like "Alice in Wonderland on Crack" and get a dayum Oscar for that mess!!!
And they called that movie, "The Matrix"...
Apparently, producers of these African American focus group movies somehow got someone to bankroll that mess and put it on cinematic Kodak, Fuji-color film... And everyone knows that folks make more money off the DVD rentals than to prop it up in the Theaters--specially since the bootleggers will put that chit out on the streets befoe ya know it...
Ironically I rate my movies as how much I'm gonna pay for them... Like is this flick a matinee priced film or a Friday night date priced movie? 'Cuz I moved to a new city and am trying to meet new people, I hung out with some girls and I had to pay my $$$ to see the YaYa Sisterhood... I coulda waited til it came out on HBO--I wouldn't have cared if it was on Starz superpaks!!!
And for the movies y'all are describing, would I rather see it come out on TV during a Black History Month celebration??? Has anyone seen Sankofa?
If y'all EVER get a chance to see how it is done, volunteer at a movie set and all the work that goes into setting it up... Since I found it boring, I choose to pursue other avenues in my life. But I can say, the folks I know in the "business" tell me it ain't all the easy or glamorous...
Be patient with our brothas and sistahs settin' movies off, only so much does get greenlighted in Hollywood... And who really owns those studios? I can say, not us... That's one of the reasons why Tavis Smiley was fired... You think that chit ain't based on some reality in "Training Day" with Denzel--the 3 Wise Men characters? Instead of them being cops, they are the movie studio execs... Who are the top 3 studios in Hollywood??? Hmmmmm....