|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 1, 2012 2:25:38 GMT -5
Alright, in honor of Black History Month, the theme this month is African Americans (my lazy shorthand will be A.A.) in American cinema and of course American horror films.
The rules.
Honor system at play.
Movies with A.A. themes or plots based on our racial history or with a majority A.A. cast are worth one point from films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner or In the Heat of the Night or even To Kill a Mockingbird to blaxploitation flicks of the seventies, to Spike Lee joints, to Putney Swope.... all worth one point. Richard Pryor films, one point even that Superman movie!
Horror flicks like Blackula, Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son-in-Law, or Candyman are worth two points. Hey the original Night of the Living Dead counts. Two points there. Same with Dawn of the Dead and Leprechaun Back 2 Da Hood.
And bonus points. The Valentine's Day slasher movies, the original and remake, are worth three points each.
Drinking Kracken Black Rum with Pineapple Fanta. Time to get back to IPAs. Did you know that sake is not fermented rice wine but rice beer? Hold on, got to pour a glass.
Okay, to celebrate my January victory, I poured me a glass of Ty-Ku Sake Silver Premium Junmai from Nora, Japan which claims it is the "World's Best Tasting Sake". Whatever, I liked that cloudy first sake I drank from California much more. I was drinking this sake while watching a film noir Kurosawa movie, Stray Dogs, with a bum Korean translation. Gave up half way through. Damn Korean hack-job!
Alright, let the competition begin, and I drink to ya all. Banzai!
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 1, 2012 3:19:05 GMT -5
Oh, winner sets next month's theme.
Movies with a main black protaganist like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 with Ken Foree count, as do documentaries. At least one hour in length.
To set the mood for the competition, Putney Swope!
Cheers!
|
|
|
Post by Neal on Feb 3, 2012 3:33:03 GMT -5
This is a good idea
|
|
|
Post by jakeawesomesnake on Feb 4, 2012 17:00:31 GMT -5
The Brother From Another Planet I watched this movie thinking it'd be so bad its good ,but instead found it to be a good, thoughtful movie about how dumb racisim is.
JAS-1
|
|
|
Post by jakeawesomesnake on Feb 4, 2012 22:51:27 GMT -5
Watched Countryman which has an all Reggae soundtrack I think it has Rustafarian symbolism which I didn't fully comprehend.
Then I watched Leadbelly which is about the legendary/pioneering blues player of the same name. It is a very good movie.
JAS-3
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 5, 2012 0:45:30 GMT -5
My two all-time favorite American musicians are Johnny Cash and Huddie Ledbetter.
I read a biography on the man back in the early nineties and own eight cds by him. The Smithonian Recordings I recommend a lot. Hell, I hated Nirvana until I heard what Kurt Cobain said about Leadbelly before their haunting acoustic cover of "In the Pines". And got to give Aerosmith props for covering "Gallis Pole" on Permanent Vacation.
My favorite American song of all time is Noted Rider/C.C. Rider followed by Catfish Blues (Muddy and Jimi, dontcha know?).
Drinking Sierra Nevada's spring seasonal, Ruthless Rye. My kind of beer, spicy rye and whole-cone hops. Cheers!
|
|
|
Post by wulf on Feb 5, 2012 3:45:45 GMT -5
This is going to be the best one yet I think. I may be a bit bedridden this month too so plenty of netflix time.
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 5, 2012 5:13:06 GMT -5
First, Wulfie, I'm thinking about ya. Kick some ass and get feeling better. A Pennsylvania Dutch Old Style Eggnog chug to ya! Cheers to your health brother!
Second, Wulf, bring it! Bring your bad self.
Third, LOB-1.
The Black Brigade, the DVD name of the film previously airing originally on ABC in 1971 and known as Carter's Army, starring Stephen Boyd, Roosevelt Grier, Moses Gunn, and two guys named Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams.
I looked up the trailer on youtube, but this is my favorite ten or so minute chunk. Like always, I could say much, but...... Nah. Oh... Oh.. Oh.. One thing. The writer, producer, and executive director was Aaron spelling. That caught me off guard.
Eggnog with brandy, rum, and whiskey is never a bad thing. My third and last bottle of the season. Teardrops. I bought the last two bottles in Travis County, and if that sounds familiar to you but you can't place it, watch the first four minutes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Cheers!
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 5, 2012 5:35:07 GMT -5
and....
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 5, 2012 6:41:05 GMT -5
Oops. Just listened to CC Rider.
There is a reason that song followed by Catfish Blues/Like a Rolling Stone are my two favorite American songs. My subconscious at work. CC Rider/Noted Rider and Catfish Blues/Like a Rolling Stone are all the same song, just two sets of lyrics.
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 7, 2012 7:43:48 GMT -5
The Black Gestapo.
Simply, the neighborhood leeches are a group of organized crime whites. The good guys are this-proto fascist brown-shirt group of blacks who finally win the war against the whites. Then they become worst than the whites in terrifying their neighborhood. Like a mini-1000 Days of Solom in Watts.
One noble member goes to war with the whole black-clad army in the final 10 minutes and wins single-handedly.
I dunno about this movie, it starts of with footage of Hitler and the Nazis. Well, all the seventies boobies looked like fakes. Meaning they were that superheroine variety that always look just so right. The nurse was a hottie.
LOB-2
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 8, 2012 23:40:20 GMT -5
Blacula. A good damn movie. The first few miutes felt like a Hammer film, and racially, this was a very respectable movie, no real racism in 1970s America. Not here. A good watch, with pretty decent special effects and acting, and some freaky looking scenes.
My favorite part was when Blacula fought off about a dozen cops. Modelo is decent yella beer. Cheers!
LOB-4
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 8, 2012 23:51:49 GMT -5
Adding a twist to the competition, for any rasslin fans. Shoot interviews count too (gotta be an hour long), so pull out those DVDs of Ron Simmons, Abdulah the Butcher, Kamala, New Jack, Ron Killings, 2 Cold Scorpio, or Bad News Brown. Each one is a point.
So to quote The Great One, "Bring It".
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 9, 2012 22:31:11 GMT -5
Watching Independent Lens: The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. A Swedish perspective on our turbulent racial history during the Civil Rights Movement.
A hearty Cheers! to the continued struggle for civil rights for all Americans. In the immortal words of Fredrick Douglas, "Agitate, agitate, agitate".
|
|
|
Post by loverofbeers on Feb 9, 2012 23:32:52 GMT -5
Wow.
LOB-5
|
|