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The Black Male Body: Dead on Arrival (Fruitvale Station & Trayvon Martin)
by Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris With Zimmerman found not guilty, and Director Ryan Coogler recapping Oscar Grant’s last days on the big screen, the reoccurring injustices to the Black Male Body are painfully evident. While the “Not Guilty” verdict is saturating headlines from print to post, it’s not the only tragic story of an unarmed black male being crucified by an overzealous, gun-wielding “authority figure.” Millennial Movie Maker Ryan Coogler, 26, has bought his award-winning story Fruitvale Station, of a 22-year-old Bay Area resident Oscar Grant to the big screen. Produced by Forest Whitaker and starring Academy Award winner Olivia Spencer as Oscar’s mom, the 90 minute feature film…
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Four Seasons Philadelphia Interview: Ryan Coogler: FRUITVALE STATION
by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor I knew nothing about the true events which Fruitvale Stationis based upon – I’m sure the controversial racial implications of OscarGrant’s death reached the East Coast, but sometimes I go undergroundnews wise for weeks at a time, and when I emerge, I don’t go back to findout what I missed. I do however pay attention during theSundance Film Festival. And when I read about Fruitvale Station,winning so much praise, I thought, how dramatic can it be? We know theguy dies. But I was so wrong, the film has real heart and emotionalinvolvement because it is so “day in the life of”. As you’re watching…
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QFEST Opening Film: G.B.F.
Last night QFEST (LGBT Film Festival in Philadelphia) opened with G.B.F. an acronym for Gay Best Friend. This movie could quite possibly be the Clueless for this generation and Sasha Pieterse (Pretty Little Liars) today’s Alicia Silverstone. G.B.F. (which premiered at TriBeCa 2013) is set in a high school where no kid has yet to come out. However, there is a gender equality organization looking for someone to defend. There’s also 3 major school cliques – one run by a perfect blonde “mean girl” bombshell, Fawcett (Sasha Pieterse); a fierce, black, drama queen, Caprice (Xosha Roquemore); and a “purity” Mormon, Shley (Andrea Bowen). All three of these girls know the…
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Philly Film Fest Highlight: QFEST July 11-22, 2013
More summer film festivals in Philly! As AwesomeFest continues, and on the heels of The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival comes the 19th Annual leading LGBT film fest – QFEST With 108 films that include 46 feature films, 23 documentaries, and 39 shorts films, as well as 3 World Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres and over 50 Philadelphia Premieres, QFest is showcasing the absolute best in LGBT cinema. As has become tradition for the festival, QFest will be also offering up films that touch on several hot button topics facing the LGBT community, immigration, sexual identity, addiction, and marriage equality. “While not prone to hyperbole, I have to say that this…
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Film Review Flashback: Spotlight on Chicago’s Chicest Flicks
The Windy City plays host to some of cinema’s most memorable moments. From Hitchcock (“North by Northwest”) to Hughes (“Sixteen Candles”), Chicago gives California and New York a run for their money when it comes to movie magic. The movies filmed in Chicago reveal more than just a great setting, they show us the city’s evolution. Films allow us to see our history as it’s being written— through fashion, love, modernity, violence and society’s overall taste and development. ‘Sixteen Candles’ (1984) Molly Ringwald captivated an entire generation as John Hughes’ muse and resident “it girl” in the 1980s. “Sixteen Candles” exemplifies Hughes’ Chicago. A brash, sometimes cruel American City that…
