If only this film wanted to be free. But as a Hollywood product, the pitch meeting was clear: Sarafina! + Soap Opera=Black Panther 1.5. Viola Davis will get at least one Oscar nomination for this film that she produced with the best intentions.
An overlong but serious and well-done meditation on how Black American artistry is the engine for true 20th-century American freedom of any type, perhaps of any time. The first half grounds itself in a Magic Negro experience par excellence, a remarkable 21st-century achievement because it pretends to take on the issues directly; it attempts to muddle the mind so that cultural theft is confused with willing baptism into the Church of the Real Thang. In this flick, Elvis–whose early life is presented with all the speed, rhythm and wail of early rock ‘n’ roll and then some–is recast by biopic history as a public champion of Black stylings, his struggles made to mirror and parallel another, and more dangerous, freedom movement taking place outside his door and largely off-camera. And then the bejeweled latter half, the slow, disappointing realization of being lied to, exploited and manipulated by The Man. Powerful, but ultimately, however well-intentioned, racially manipulative.
Director Ron Howard excels at this kind of dramatic story about brave-but-not-reckless leadership. He strains to prevent a White Savior narrative, and I think he succeeds.
A genius genre mashup about survival dominated by historic experts on the topic.
As folks who follow me on social media can see by now, I spend a *ridiculous* amount of time each week watching #JohnCampea, #GraceRandolph, #ScreenCrush, #NewRockStars and others to get my TV/movie superhero news fix. Because of this act of kindness, I will no longer feel guilty about the two hours I spend with Campea almost every damn weekday! #TJCS #TheJohnCampeaShow
After that post-credit, I have become even more interested in Marvel’s ComicCon presentation next week.
Meanwhile….
Remember 29 or so movies ago, when Marvel strove to be great as well as funny and colorful? What is undoubtedly the middle film in Taika Waititi’s “Goofy Thor” trilogy suffers from serious sophomore jinx when placed next to his prior, the comedy classic Thor: Ragnarok. The 2022 question is whether to wait 45 days to see this Loki-less film on streaming or see it now. With great sadness, I say thee nay to the immediate glow.
#supermanandlois #superman&lois
Lana (finding out that Clark is Superman and talking about how he took his sweet time coming back to Smallville after he abandoned her to find his way to the cape): Did you ever love me?
Clark: Oh, Lana, of course I did.
Lana: (PAUSE) Just not enough.
I was determined to hate this show when it premiered and initially I was successful. A Superman TV narrative without Metropolis, The Daily Planet, etc.? A re-tread of Smallville? Superman with a brother? No. This ain’t the Thor movies.
But almost two full seasons in and after me pretty much memorizing Season 1, it’s clear this is the best Superman TV show ever. And that’s not easy, since there’s 70 years’ worth of truth-justice-American-way-TV to evaluate (including the very-good, just canceled homage show Naomi). The message of this well-written, well-photographed show–if you don’t take care of your family, every part of it, and do the hard work of sustaining that care every day, your family and you will fall apart–is clearly articulated by its expert use of nearly 100 years of Superman lore.
Lana will heal because she’s not jealous of Lois; she has her own beautiful and loving family to fix. And that’s the point of this show. Everyone’s busy keeping their family foundation solid. It be hard.
The best compliment I can give this show is that the only Marvel TV shows I ever put on loop are Disney+’s WandaVision followed by Daredevil. So for the CW’s Superman and Lois, a proud and strong DC product, to join that ranking is fantastic.
Drums in the Global Village 