Change Your Image
bcheigh
Reviews
Farmingville (2004)
This is a Film used by BOTH SIDES of the immigration debate
Some of the comments complain that the film is biased for the pro-immigrant side. I think the reaction from those commentators show that the film brings out emotions of all sides, and thus it is a successful documentary for discussion.
I personally know that this documentary was shown by an extreme anti-immigration group in Massachusetts as an educational piece for their group. I showed this documentary to my very much pro-immigrant community of friends and colleagues.
The success of the film (or failure, if you prefer) lies in the fact that both sides do respond to it strongly. Perhaps it reveals that America remains a polarized society, and that we are letting the extremists grab the mike rather than discussing the issue and identifying a pragmatic solution. The opportunism for anger is rampant, particularly on the anti-immigrant side.
I recommend this movie, and hope that viewers realize that division and extremism will not accomplish real solutions...only harden untenable positions.
Sucker Free City (2004)
Spread the word on this 'Movie': It is worth publicizing, and we should mourn the non-existent series
Just to put it out there first: I appreciate Spike Lee films because he has been one of the few out there taking risks about contemporary urban environs. That said, my opinion about this film is simply out of someone who appreciates good character depth and development, characters who are multi-faceted, and plot lines that weave a lot of disparate actions/ characters together (like in "Syriana").
Just talking about the characters, the Lincoln Ma character had the potential to be a great movie character. Here is a guy who controls a lot of power in his hood, and he's definitely well-connected. But he's not self-controlled, he's got a streak of jealousy riding him everywhere, he's always both exercising his power but he's also not that strong, not that strong-willed. It's almost like the character "Iggy" in "The Wire." He's going to snap eventually, but unlike Iggy, he's going to snap real real slow...like he's going to mess up soon. Anyway, in reality of the film, his character is set up this way, but we never get to see what happens. It's great to see an anti-hero who you're not sure whether you like, or you don't like, but you kinda are real curious to see him/her deal with their surroundings....
This is just Lincoln's character. K-Luv's character I thought would be more predictable, the benevolent gangsta. But he takes action/revenge that I didn't expect. It was kinda surprising. Well, to avoid writing more, a TV series definitely allow directors to explore themes and characters whom they create much more deeply. An something that is dedicated to an urban setting will mosdef be about communities...and THIS SHOW would have been on point to be taking this approach. And Spike Lee was going to really go full-on with this.
SHOWTIME: You blew it. Here we had a combination of good story, a real setting, and a director whose interest is in urban neighborhoods, and the people who make a living in urban places. Plus, not to mention the great cinematographer. You missed it SO BAD....and not just in challenging The Wire or anyother HBO show, but just for missing the boat on a new concept on how we connect with our cities, and finally giving S.F. some props...
alright, no more ranting on Showtime. We'll just have to wait until Spike gets his own channel.