Beyond The Lights

My 2015 Movies of the Year

Posted on by in American Black Film Festival, Beyond The Lights, Chef, Creed, Dope, Movies of the Year, Rick Famuyiwa, Shameik Moore, The Martian, Twitter, Zoe Kravitz.

Once again it seems like another year has flown by. It feels the older I get, the quicker time seems to move.

In terms of pure post output, this was my least productive year on the blog since its inception four years ago. I could use the same excuses of work, side projects, and other commitments, but the truth is, I have to be more disciplined in my time management and more consistent in my posts. With that said, though my posts were down considerably this year, I did manage to make it out to see some quality films.

Last year I didn’t have a movie of the year, but there were nevertheless quality films I saw like “Beyond The Lights” for example. For 2015 my movies of the year are “Dope” and “Chef.” I picked these films for very different reasons above the other titles I saw over the last 12 months.

I saw “Dope” while attending the American Black Film Festival last June and the film actually headlined the event. “Dope” centers around a high school senior named Malcolm played by Shameik Moore, and his two friends who are nerds at their local high school in Inglewood, California. Malcolm and his friends get invited to a party where a shootout occurs and Malcolm runs out only to find the drug Molly has been slipped into his bag. To make matters worse, he realizes he must sell the drug without being caught/killed all the while applying to get into Harvard. While the story takes place in the hood and involves drug dealing, I wouldn’t consider this a ‘hood movie.’ The actors and director Rick Famuyiwa do a good job of making this film feel lively and even somewhat innocent despite its serious subject matter. Zoe Kravitz is very good in this film as well.

“Chef” is one of the more heartwarming films I’ve seen in years. The story involves chef Carl Casper, played by Jon Favreau, who works at an upscale L.A. restaurant and wants to change up the menu and inject some of his own style into the meals. When he is denied by the owner and told to follow the menu as is, he follows orders and is subsequently ripped by a noted food critic for being bland and boring. Casper goes off on the food critic in a very public manner befitting our cellphone crazed TMZ reality that is 2015 and ends up quitting his job.

Unemployed and unable to find suitable work, Casper’s ex-wife played by Sofia Vergara, suggests he go down to Miami and rent out a food truck owned by her ex-husband Marvin, played by Robert Downey Jr. Hesitant at first, Casper takes her up on the offer and he begins to build his business. Along the way one of his former co-workers comes along to join him and so too does his son. The three of them start out locally in Miami before taking their show on the road and travelling throughout the South, building buzz along the way via Twitter.

This film is incredibly multi-layered. There’s the father-son dynamic, the following your dreams aspect, and even a touching resolution at the end. I highly recommend this film to anyone, and it’s also a movie that would be appropriate for just about any age group. It’s currently playing on Netflix as of this writing. Here’s to more quality films in 2016.

2015 Honorable Mentions: “The Martian” and “Creed”

60 Years Later, Same Questions Still Being Asked

Posted on by in Beyond The Lights, Channing Tatum, Dorothy Dandridge, Eva Mendes, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Harry Belafonte, Hollywood, Margot Robbie, Will Smith and tagged .

I had a brief Twitter discussion the other day in regards to Will Smith’s later feature film titled “Focus.” Based off the trailer, Smith plays some sort of con man and brings in a young woman (Margot Robbie) under his wing, who together they try to swindle the wrong guy and all hell breaks loose. Being that this is Hollywood, it seems fitting that Smith’s character and Robbie’s have some romantic dealings with each other over the course of the film.

What’s striking about this to me is that once again Will Smith, one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, (save for a few duds) has a white woman as his romantic interest. Some of you may be reading this wondering what exactly is the problem with this in 2015? The problem is that we still see far too few examples of black men and women loving each other in major Hollywood motion pictures.

Will Smith himself lamented about this very issue 10 years ago when the film “Hitch” was released. In that film, Smith plays an elite level matchmaker who meets his equal in his female counterpart played by Eva Mendes. Smith said something along the lines that Eva Mendes was chosen as his love interest because had they cast a white woman in the role, it may not have gone over too well here in the States, and had a black woman been cast, the movie might not do well in Europe with two black leads. So the studio decided to play Solomon and chose a Latina instead.

This has been an issue time and again in Hollywood and it’s something that still persists at a time when the Oscars are as white as they’ve ever been going back to 1998. I remember Gina Prince-Bythewood mentioned that when she was originally pitching her 2014 film “Beyond The Lights” to some of the major studios, they pushed her on why did she have to have two black leads. Why couldn’t she just cast Channing Tatum in the role that ultimately went to Nate Parker?

It’s questions like these that bring me to the photo above. It’s a magazine cover from 1955 depicting Harry Belafonte and the magnificent Dorothy Dandridge. ‘When Will Hollywood Let Negroes Make Love,’ was the pertinent question at the time. 60 years later, the answers aren’t any more clear.

Thoughts on Beyond The Lights

Posted on by in Beyond The Lights, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

A few weeks ago director Gina Prince-Bythewood, penned an open letter urging audiences to see her latest film, “Beyond The Lights.” Having had the chance to view the film twice myself, I wholeheartedly agree more people should see this film.

“Beyond The Lights” stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as pop star Noni, and Nate Parker as Kaz, the police officer who saves her life after an apparent suicide attempt. After saving her life, Noni and Kaz become close and their relationship evolves, much to the chagrin of their doting parents.


Throughout the film we see the evolution of their relationship and despite coming from two completely different worlds, we see them as just two people in love attempting to put aside the distractions.

What we really struck me with “Beyond The Lights” is that as the film progresses we see the varying layers of Noni and Kaz’s lives peel off as both are struggling to find themselves while exploring each other. Another underlying theme of the film deals with the hyper sexualization present within the music industry, specifically as it relates to female artists. “Beyond The Lights” is probably out of theaters at this point but should be coming out on Blu-Ray/DVD in February. I definitely recommend giving it a look.

A Look Back at 2014

Posted on by in 2014, Beyond The Lights, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Hollywood, Lupita Nyong'o, Sony.

2014 was a year of progress and one of resolve for me.

It was during that calendar year I really upped my camera equipment game: camera mount, overhead light, microphone, and a new tripod. On top of all that I got some editing software as well. Even picked up some books on producing in the process.

In terms of covering films and Hollywood, I was happy for Lupita Nyong’o winning an Oscar at last year’s Academy Awards. I made proud to see another woman, and former movie of the year winner on this blog — Ava DuVernay — receive critical acclaim across the board for her film “Selma.” Not to mention Gina Prince-Bythewood and her moving film, “Beyond The Lights.”

In 2014 there was the continued rise of the web series and we can began to see web success spill over into the more traditional medium of television. Issa Rae is working on a show for HBO and the creators of BlackandSexyTV are doing a show for HBO as well. TV shows like “Blackish” and “How to Get Away With Murder” showed network TV executives (again) that shows featuring characters of color can not only succeed, but thrive, especially in the realm of social media.

Despite this progress, most films released from the major studios are still overly white and male focused. That old door however is being pushed against harder and harder every year. People want to see themselves on screen, and in 2014 people of color are making that happen through many different forums. Let’s keep this going in 2015. Let us continue to get educated.