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drebaby
Reviews
For Colored Girls (2010)
Great movie to enjoy in a theater!!
I really enjoyed this movie. As some have said it started off slow and as it progressed you really got into all of the characters and aspects of the play I had seen more than 25 years ago stated to come back to me.
All of the performances were great especially that of Kimberly Elise who as some have indicated probably deserves an Oscar nomination. The issue is since there were really no lead characters, will she be placed in the supporting actress category? Loretta Devine, Anika Nani Rose, Phylicia Rashad also gave bravado performances and then there is the over the top performance by Thandie Newton that some will either love or hate. She replaced Mariah Carey and as others have indicated you have to wonder how Ms. Carey would have handled the role of Tangie.
When the SAG Awards are handed out this is definitely a guaranteed ensemble award unless the voters decide to skip it based on some of the unflattering reviews here. I am not sure what some folks expected, but this is not supposed to be happy escapism entertainment. It's a story of the struggle that "colored girls" had to deal with in the 70's when the original play was written and it is still prevalent today.
I saw it at at a theater in suburban LA with my wife, her mother and sister and probably 250 colored girls in the audience. (there were about 5-10 guys there too and a handful of other-than-colored folk.) When the movie was over some woman in back yelled "hey colored girls" and the audience erupted in cheers....No need to wait for the DVD, see it in a theater and experience it with others...
N-Secure (2010)
Better than expected
I actually enjoyed this movie as did the 25-30 people who were sitting in audience with me in a Los Angeles suburb. This was a thriller full of deceit and manipulation. The production was lacking due to budget constraints, but the story was good even though the main character had issues.
The characters in the movie were urban professionals played by former TV sitcom stars and a couple of actors from Tyler Perry's stable of actors. They were all good but the movie needed an A lister to sell it at the box office. I am thinking if a younger Samuel Jackson or Will Smith had played the lead character David Washington, this would have been a mini blockbuster. (Cordell Moore plays Mr. Washington very well)
It would have been against type for Will who lately has been transitioning from an urban hero to a more dramatic actor. Denzel won his Oscar for playing the ultimate bad cop. Will could have gotten at least a nomination playing the lead in this one.
It is worth the money so I say grab it in theaters if you can, and if you can't, at least get it when it makes it move to DVD where these types of movies usually start off at anyway.
The Express (2008)
The Express is a must see movie !!!
I loved this movie. I saw the sneak preview of The Express last Saturday night and this is no ordinary sports movie. In fact this may be the best sports movie done in awhile and I will rank it above the equally enjoyable Glory Road that came out in 2006.
It is the true story of Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy and what he went through in the late 50's and early 60's at Syracuse U following in the footsteps of Jim Brown. Most of us have never heard of him, and I didn't know his story until about 7-8 years ago. However after you watch this movie, you will wish that you had known whom he was and wonder why it took so long to tell his story. My wife who is not someone who likes to watch football unless it is her alma mater, USC, sat through this one riveted with tears of emotion at the end.
The movie stars Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, Omar Benson Miller and Rob Brown as Ernie Davis. Rob Brown is the young actor who you have previously seen playing a basketball player in Finding Forrester, and Coach Carter and a troubled teen dancer in Take the Lead.
The dialog between Brown and Quaid is some of the best acting you will see at a theater this fall. With most of the movie taking place in the turbulent 50's, expect some racial tension, but at the same time some fist pumping yeahs!! to offset it.
Meet Dave (2008)
Better than advertised
The trailers don't do this movie any justice. I saw Hellboy II, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Meet Dave, and believe me "Dave" was the best of the three.
This movie would have fared better if released in February, March or October without the heavy competition form the other blockbusters.
The movie's sight gags were good some of course a little silly or but others were just plain funny.
The audience I saw it with thoroughly enjoyed the movie and there was plenty of laughter throughout the movie.
Mini Eddie was much more looser than Spaceship Eddie.
Please tel you friends to go see this before it is snatched from theaters.
Doomsday (2008)
Better than advertised
I actually enjoyed the movie and was disappointed that it didn't finish in the top five box office. I likeed "I am Legend", but that was boringcompared to this one considering that the initial plot line or concept is the same. As most have said, there are several movies within one here from "28 Weeks Later to Aliens to Lord of the Rings to RoadWarror'. The star of the movie Rhona Mitra plays it straight as tough as nails warrior who leads the charge from segment to segment. I have never seen a woman take so much pain and only have few scratches. A few more positive reviews and big American star (Will Smith) could have push the movie over the top. Unfortunately we won't see a sequel and this is one that could have spawned one if it could have topped $40 million mark. After all they have made four SAW movies!!??
First Sunday (2008)
very enjoyable
We saw this movie and the "The Bucket List" the same day and both were billed as comedies. Even though the latter has the more accomplished actors in Freeman and Nicholson as well as the the director in Rob Reiner, we thought that "First Sunday" was much more funnier. I liked both movies and both had tender moments, but I got into the characters more so in"First Sunday", than I did in the List.. Now I must admit that if you are not African-American, you might not get all of it, but everyone in the racially mixed crowd in the theater I saw it at in Southern California "loved" it.!! If you are afraid to be seen viewing it in a movie theater, at least support the cause by renting it when it is available on DVD
The Perfect Holiday (2007)
Surprisingly enjoyable and almost perfect
I saw "Perfect Holiday" and "I Am Legend" on the same day and to tell you the truth after the dreariness of "Legend", this was a nice movie to cheer me and my wife up. I mean we enjoyed Legend too, but this one made me feel better with the touching love story between Gabrielle Union and Morris Chesnutt and how the small children interacted in the movie.
The story line was predictable going in to it, but it was better than I expected and if you rely on others comments, you are missing a nice charmer. The writing or character development isn't as profound as the other two African -American themed ensemble movies of the past two months, "This Christmas" or "Why did I get married?, but it is still charming enough for families and probably geared more toward younger families with kids where the other two movies were for more of an adult or older teen audience.
Although both Queen Latifah and Terrance Howard have small roles, I hope no one was going to the movie expecting to see them. As someone stated earlier, I believe Howard just did it as a favor to his friends.
As far as the box office receipts and interest, this is a movie that got lost in the shuffle of other so called black movie releases. Either there are none or too many. It probably should been released the Friday before Will Smith', I Am Legend and when "Awake" was the only new movie debuting and it probably would have made a few more dollars. Unfortnately even though it open two days before "Legend", it got caught up in that juggernaut and got lost like all other movies did with the exception the "Chipmunks". With "The Great Debaters" coming out Christmas Day, the Perfect Holiday will be gone from theaters before the holidays are over. Rent the DVD when it comes out and watch it with your toddlers...you all will enjoy it!!
Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
Movie excellent!, but ratings are misleading?
I am not sure if I want to talk about how good the movie was or why the overall rating of 3 seems out of sync here. What are the ratings based on? Of the 37 prior user comments, I read all of them and counted 18 perfect 10 ratings, three 0 ratings, two others at 3 and 5 and the other 14 ratings were between 7 and 9. So I ask again for an explanation from IMDb, how does a movie with so many positive comments and what appears to be an average score of at least 8+ wind up with only three stars shown to the readers visiting the site? If those readers decide to pass on both reviews and the movie due to the rating, then it stops potential movie goers from going out to see the movie and hurts box office.
To put it in perspective, the MSN Movie website currently boasts 92 reviews for this movie and the average user rating there is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
As far as my assessment of the movie, it is an excellent portrayal of the daily life and strife of middle class "black folk" who have their own issues of finance, family, career struggles and drama that don't even incorporate what's happening in the so called inner city. Most African-American people have lived some of these issues and get what's going on in the movie and look beyond what the so called critics look for in style and direction. This is a movie that could make $60-75M box office with no problem, but as indicated by others, will only get nominated at award time by the Black Movie Awards and The NAACP Image staff.