Somewhere in Hollywood there is a place for a great story where Blacks are the lead characters. I don’t mean the Madea archteypes either. I mean the Henry Fonda everyday American types who persevere thru strength of character as opposed to sight gags and off color slanguage.
Anthony Mackie (who stays needing a hairline) and Kerry Washington (who called me a fat sweaty dude on the Hip-Hop Honors red carpet) combine to deliver a heart wrenching performance about a family in south Philadelphia in the mid-1970s. After the Black power movement had been disbanded and discredited what and who was left for the people to believe in? That is the backstory. This movie is really about a family finding its way in life.
‘Night Catches Us’ will open this Friday in the Magic Johnson multiplex in Harlem. I implore you to keep your eyes open for your opportunity to go see this movie. The stories I want to deliver to the big screen don’t stray too far from this theme. There has to be more films of all people which don’t play to the widely held stereotypes of those people. As long as the story is beautiful, and true. ‘Night Catches Us’ is that movie. Support independent films my people.
DP– have you ever seen “To Sleep With Anger” dir. Charles Burnett?
I’m a big Henry Fonda fan, good look with the comparison.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNGQ1hUyx-k
OX-BOW INCIDENT–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDfzCzdjcs
TWELVE ANGRY MEN–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8trhBy2DLE&feature=related
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WXwO7Hqluo
BONUS–
BBC documentary on Gil Scott-Heron (** STAR **) of the new Kanye–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFJThh3GZM&feature=related
Did Kerry Washington really call you a fat sweaty dude? lol, I wanna hear that story..
Good looking on this link. Never heard of this flick but will definitely go see it. Also your first paragraph on this drop – classic.
i agree with lex i want to hear the story behind that.
Great Find Dallas . . . Will keep an eye out for it now.
Saw this at the LA film fest a few months ago and it def is a jewel. It took Tanya Hamilton 10 years to get this out because major studies told her no. On top of that it’s not being released in enough theaters as it should be. It’s infuriating.
Oh and I believe you can watch it on itunes, if you can’t find it in theaters.
“There has to be more films of all people which don’t play to the widely held stereotypes of those people. As long as the story is beautiful, and true.”
Well said, DP.
Heyyyy, Keeks!
Just noticed, wow, “To Sleep With Anger” is ** NOT ** available on dvd; only way to see it is “on demand” at Amazon. Un-fucking-believable.
Here’s the trailer anyway–
http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/27536/to-sleep-with-anger-trailer
Saw this for first time at Angelika in 1990.
Tony Grands, hope you see this, would love to get West Coast opinion of this v. other LA film.