#16 — Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014) Ava DuVernay’s Selma is a proper history lesson. Attaching that description to a film usually signifies dreary dryness and a plodding pace as the filmmakers labor to impart lessons more than shape action or … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Sixteen
There are movies that I love unreservedly, quoting them with the hopped-up reverence of a devoted Bible thumper. 13th is a movie that I wield. Since viewing Ava DuVernay’s exceptional documentary on — for starters — the perpetuation of black persecution through the establishment of a skewed judicial system and incarceration complex, I find myself continually referencing it in spirited debates about current affairs. I have operated in multiculturally mindful academia and engaged with leftward political commentary enough to be comfortably acquainted with notions of institutionalized oppression, so there’s little in 13th that is fully revelatory to me. But I … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2016 — Number Nine
Of late, watching Ava DuVernay emerge as a powerful, uncompromising voice has been one of the great pleasures of observing the filmmaking landscape. As recently as four years ago, DuVernay was largely unknown, though she certainly had some prominent champions. Selma justifiably changed all that, especially after DuVernay and her film were largely ignored when the Academy Award nominations were doled out. In a happy irony, exclusion dramatically increased her prominence, helping to put her in high demand and making her one of the creators sought out for her insights when various discussions roiled around the industry. DuVernay may not … Continue reading Now Playing: 13th
There are a multitude of reasons for the outrage that greeted the omission of Selma from key categories in this year’s Academy Award nominations. While some of the most compelling involve taking issue with the willful and arguably cowardly disregarding of its current political pertinence, my personal fierce disappointment is inspired by a far simpler reason: Ava DuVernay’s depiction of a seminal moment in the Civil Rights movement is one of the great filmmaking achievements of the year, joined in my mind with only a couple other of releases as a pure triumph of directing. DuVernay delves into a portion … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2014 — Number Two
In the immediate aftermath of watching Selma, I was one of those many people who marveled at what a leap forward it was for director Ava DuVernay, considering the perceived degree of difficulty in shifting from small, intimate dramas to a period picture on a wide scale depicting a signal moment in recent American history. Then I revisited my own review for DuVernay’s prior film, Middle of Nowhere, and I realized the resounding inaccuracy of that perception. Yes, the scale of Selma is very different, most evident in the scenes recreating the various attempts at mounting a protest march the fifty … Continue reading Just try to do your very best, stand up and be counted with all the rest
I had plenty of stuff up at Spectrum Culture this week, with probably the most notable being my review of the film that earned Best Director honors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s probably among the best of the year, and the performance of lead actress Emayatzy Corinealdi is definitely among the year’s best. I also adhered to my previously established role as the person on staff who reviews offshoots of Sleater-Kinney. In this instance, it’s the second effort from the band that bears Corin Tucker’s name. It’s solid enough, but it doesn’t manage to recall the style of … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Coffee for Two 