just so you can get a little edu-ma-cation...

After my gripe about Che not being released to theaters, a somewhat silver lining was shone my way via a blog comment. After I read the comment, I typed my way over to everyone's favorite Boob Tube, YouTube, and now I have the biggest smile on my face!

I have here two clips: one's a preview of a straight to DVD (that's already been released, according to the description) film about the life of General George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party (the ORIGINAL, not the "new"). He gained national attention as a Soledad Brother, and both his books, written while in prison, reached bestsellers lists. Gary Dourdan stars as Jackson, and from what I see in the preview he actually does the portrayal some justice. I was actually able to find this movie on amazon.com at a reasonable price.

The second clip is a preview of Assata aka Joanne Chesimard, an independent film about the life of Assata Shakur, who is still alive and living in exile in Cuba. I could go on about how she should have been back in the states by now, but I'll digress. Huge plus(es)? The music is scored by Roy Hargrove. Another Panther, Kathleen Cleaver makes and appearance, and Assata makes an appearance as well. No word on when or if this movie has been released, but you can contact the film maker, Fred Baker, at his website if you have any questions.

Still a little salty that films like these aren't in theaters, but with sites like Youtube, I guess history can be delivered another way. Maybe even a better way.

Special thanks to my new reader/blog friend, Mister Jaycee, for giving me these awesome finds. His blog is excellent, so click his name to check him out. I mean, hey, I'm a follower too!

(deuces.)

no che!

For the record...Che Guevara was an inspirational man. In my opinion. So imagine my excitement when I heard (a longgggg time ago) that Benicio Del Toro was going to bring him back to life! Che was screened last May at the Cannes Film Festival, and Del Toro even won an award there for Best Actor for his portrayal of Guevara. Trust, I've been keeping track on this, I heard it was to be released to movie theaters for everyone's viewing pleasure.

So I waited...

And I waited...

...only to find out that it had already been released in December in LA and NYC! WTF?! I've gotta drive/fly to see this movie?! Where's the justice in that? Turns out it was released early to qualify for Oscar nods,which didn't happen. It's Che. I'm not surprised. To further my frustration, it turns out that I could have watched the movie already...at home. The distributors have decided to make the films available for all major cable and satellite providers, which means I found it...in the MUSIC section...of Comcast On Demand. W.T.F.

True, there is an advantage to having this film so easily at my fingertips. It's free. I can be in the comfort of my own home. And I can take as many breaks as I need to digest the whole film; it's a little over four hours long so it's been divided into two parts. Ouch. I just really wanted to see something great at the movies this year, outside of the predictable blockbusters coming in a few months (HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE?!?! I'M IN THERE!). No big deal; I'll just grab some popcorn, Scuba, and curl up on my couch.

Guess I can simmer down those hopes of seeing a Black Panther motion picture in theaters, huh? Right.

(deuces.)

Walk Hard.

So, I wrote yesterday about a blackout at my job and a power outage at my house. I also mentioned that no power meant no heat, so imagine my frustration when I got home--at 5:30-- only to discover that the power was still out. There was virtually nothing to do, so I grabbed a candle and perched on my bed to get ready for some intense reading/writing/alone time. Fast forward to right now (currently 1:19pm), and I'm sick as a dog. The power finally came back on last night a little after 8pm, so I'm assuming that those annoying germs decided to make their move on my immune system between the time of my getting home, and waking up from my nap around 8:15.
Now I'm sitting in the house, quarintining myself; trying to find something On Demand. I feel like laughing, because nasal congestion is already depressing enough, so I find some comedies to narrow down my search. Bam. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I never went to see it when it came out in theaters; I was a little skeptical of how funny it would really be; and when it started coming on cable I only caught bits and pieces of it. But now, I've finally grabbed the chance to watch it from beginning to end.
I laughed so hard the congestion disappeared.
The movie isn't split-your-side-funny...unless you're a fan of dry humor, sarcasm and subliminal jokes. The messages in this movie are worth paying attention to, and the delivery of each one is pretty creative. I dug it.

One of my favorite scenes. I'm not supporting/condoning/admitting to anything, but this is genius.

Back to my homemade herbal tea, chicken broth and movie watching.

(deuces.)