tobenson's film blog - Archive

SUNSHINE

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Under discussion:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Solaris (1972)

Trainspotting (1996)

Armageddon (1998)

Solaris (2002)

28 Days Later (2003)

Sunshine (2007)

SUNSHINE is one of those films that had me hooked for most of its length, but then during the last act almost completely lost me; although not entirely in this case, thankfully. I was slightly disappointed that Danny Boyle, the director the film (also TRAINSPOTTING and 28 DAYS LATER), went for the conventional mainstream plot devices that he threw into the last act of film. I won’t say what they were… you’ll just have to see the film, and we can talk about it afterwards if anyone wants to… but anyway… I really liked the film overall – it’s one of those apocalyptic, end of the world scenarios that we’re presented with: in a nutshell, the sun is dying, and world governments assemble a team of scientists and astronauts to go on what is essentially on a suicide mission, into space, in a ship armed with a nuclear weapon meant to be launched into the sun’s core, where it will explode and reignite the sun… a scenario which we might actually find ourselves in some time in the our future, whenever that might be. The fact that this film was made on a $30 million budget shocked me… not that $30 million isn’t a lot of money for a feature, but compared to other comparable sci-fi movies that cost 3, 4, 5 times that number, it looks damn good! Danny Boyle spent the $30 million wisely, making it look like it’s a film that cost significantly more than what it actually did cost. It’s a good looking film… there are some scenes in which I remember feeling like I could just mute the audio all together, and put on Beethoven’s moonlight sonata and immerse myself in the moment… reminiscent of films like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and SOLARIS. In 2001, there are lots of zero-gravity, ethereal scenes in which the only thing Kubrick wants us to hear is Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube… really sort of eerie, but to wonderful effect. SUNSHINE is more 2001 and SOLARIS than say, ARMAGEDDON (the Bruce Willis/Ben Afleck/Michael Bay flick), or other more action-driven fanfare… essentially all of Michael Bay’s films :o). It’s a character driven sci-fi film, with splashes of both visual and audio blasts every now and then, but more time is spent on the characters, their motivations, and their decisions... sometimes very difficult, life-altering decisions they have to make in other to evolve as the film progresses… often life/death decisions… that sort of Armed Forces nationalistic notion of putting the fate of your country, or in this case, your world, before yours, even if it means giving your life. And throughout the film, I think almost every character is faced with that decision – some answer it willingly, and others have to be forced to answer it, or the decision is made for them. For the first 80 minutes I was mostly riveted with what I saw, heard, thought and felt, but something happens in the last 20 minutes that, as I said earlier, relied on typical Hollywood dramatics – essentially introducing a character, or more like a thing, meant to sort of “spice things up,” which leads to inevitable chases through dark walkways, and subsequent screams that all just sort of annoyed me, because it all seemed so unnecessary. It takes on a different tone altogether. If that character/thing wasn’t introduced, the rest of the film would have been great just as it was, because, again, it added nothing to the film, and instead took me out of it temporarily. But I won’t let that singular misstep take away the fun I had watching the film up until that moment… because the good far outweighed the bad, and when Sunshine is released on DVD in a couple of months, I’ll be shelling out my $20, or whatever it is, to buy it.

The performances are strong – Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh especially – I’ve already talked about the visuals, and it moves along quite briskly at 107 minutes. And I would recommend it… again, if you liked Sci-Fi films like 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY, and SOLARIS (both the Tarkovsky and Soderbergh versions). I think you’ll like SUNSHINE as well.

Listen to my audio broadcast on cinema at www.obensonreport.com

Tambay A Obenson

www.obensonreport.com

Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:15 AM by tobenson | with 0 comments

THIS CHRISTMAS

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Under discussion:

Soul Food (1997)

Big Momma's House (2000)

Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

The Perfect Holiday (2007)

This Christmas (2007)

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (2007)

THIS CHRISTMAS One of two holiday films that tell stories about black people – specifically black families. The other being the upcoming PERFECT HOLIDAY starring Morris Chestnut, and Gabrielle Union.THIS CHRISTMAS (TC) is as predictable and as simplistic as one might expect a film like it to be. But that makes it easier to digest, if, going in, you know just what you’re in for. The proverbial family drama but without very much real drama… no one is ever in any real quandary, even though the filmmakers try to make us believe that they are, not only because we know the clichéd Hollywood happy ending is forthcoming, but also because every dilemma feels a little too sugary sweet, wrapped up in mawkishness, didactics, and often suspect acting and dialogue deliveries.It’s clear that the film wants you to love it at all costs… to have that wonderful, joyous feeling afterwards. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. And one could even say that it succeeds, given the wonderful response it received from the near-sold-out audience I saw it with on Friday afternoon – an audience that was made up disproportionately of boys and girls under 21 years old – thanks in large part to the presence of adolescent R&B heartthrob, Chris Brown, who by the way, belts out two musical numbers during the 2-hour run of the film… maybe 1 too many, unless of course you’re a fan, which I can’t say that I am.

With this film and Tyler Perry’s WHY DID I GET MARRIED (WDIGM), I’m left wondering one thing: I hope these 2 films aren’t indicative of the make up of black families in this country, or just families in general, with every member of each family hoarding some potentially hurtful secret from all the others – secrets that are naturally revealed, either by consent or by force, in calculated precision points throughout the film, meant almost solely to push the film forward and add some needed dramatics to the rather dull, routine characters and story. The difference between WDIGM and TC is that the family machinations of TC are less unrealistic than the somewhat preposterous set ups in Perry’s film, but they still leave much to be desired.

I couldn’t help think of SOUL FOOD (SF) before, during and while watching this. I haven’t watched SF in years, so it barely registers with me, but the story dynamics seem similar – large families in some order of dysfunction, brought together by the sheer will/presence (even posthumously) of the family matriarch, a woman who is more often than not a replica of the disparaging Aunt Jemima or Mammy stereotype, which means she’s heavy (in terms of weight and physical type), somewhat servile, hopelessly selfless, asexual, and of course full of a never-ending stream of words of wisdom. Not that people like this don’t exist in real life, but there’s a good reason why it’s called a stereotype. It’s rather trite, and limiting in its depiction of the middle-aged to elderly black woman in America – one that we have seen duplicated almost ad nauseam by, unfortunately, comical black men in drag and fat suits, as was the case by Martin Lawrence (twice in the BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE series), and of course by Tyler Perry, in his MADEA films. Certainly our mothers and grandmothers are significantly more varied than portrayals like those will have us believe. With all the clandestine activity rampant throughout the film, those with short attention spans will likely be captivated for most of the 2 hours; the rest of us will have to rely on those few moments of genuine development which, for me, happened during the first 30 or so minutes of the film, as each character was introduced, their pros and cons. Although, there was one particularly humorous scene which involved a bottle of baby oil, a shower, a wet towel and a belt. Those who’ve seen the film know what I’m referring to. No, it’s not some sexually charged set-up… this is a family film remember. But it actually managed to generate an impulsive laughter out of me… which is saying a lot, for those who know me well enough.And can we actually have a film about a family with members of the family who actually look like they’re from the same mother and father? The running archaic racist joke is that we, black people, all look alike, so I don’t know if the filmmakers are subconsciously attempting to dispel that myth by populating the film’s family with siblings and parents who look absolutely nothing like each other. Can we have maybe even a smidgen of familiarity… other than the fact that they are all black… or some obvious trend/similarity, whether in height, or lip size… something. Overall, a rather lukewarm reception from me… but then again, I don’t think I’m the film’s target audience, being the publicly labelled film elitist that I’ve become. But I appreciated its generally good intentions, and would like to see it succeed in the marketplace. I suppose one could find a compliment or two in there somewhere.It was well-received by the audience I saw it with, and given the box-office results on opening weekend ($25 Mill), other audiences appreciated it as well.

It’ll be interesting to see if it has any legs going into next weekend.

Listen to my audio podcast on black cinema at www.obensonreport.com

Tambay A Obenson
www.obensonreport.com

Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2007 12:06 AM by tobenson | with 1 comments

Inland Empire = Rubbish!

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Under discussion:

Inland Empire (2006)

Just finished watching INLAND EMPIRE, David Lynch’s last opus… suffice it to say that this is the last David Lynch film I’ll ever see! I’ve given the man enough hours of my life over the last 7 years, to convince me that he is a voice that I should pay attention to, or be interested in, and I’m regretting almost every second :o)

UGH! A 3-hour ride that goes nowhere, shows me nothing new, and doesn’t seem to care whether it accomplishes anything, other than confuse audiences into believing in its false sense of importance. If this film was made by any other person who wasn’t called David Lynch, it would be trashed fiercely by critics and dismissed altogether. But because it IS David Lynch, we’re supposed to automatically raise our heads and commend its genius.

Poppycock!!

If David Lynch didn’t exist, the film world wouldn’t miss him… at least I certainly wouldn’t.

Listen to my audio podcast at www.obensonreport.com.

Tambay A Obenson
http://www.obensonreport.com/

Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:32 PM by tobenson | with 0 comments

Fuck Your Freedom Of Expression :o)

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So... word on the street is that the noose is becoming the next bling accessory.

I hear it comes in 3 colors: bloody red, the customary KKK white, and of course rigor mortis blue.

You can even get your name engraved on it! Wow!

Sizes available include: XXL (or KING), for those who like it a little loose and sagging (expected to be the most popular model), as well as a yet to be labeled much snugger fit, that's sure to never leave you hanging, if you catch my drift.

Of course, an expected Tree add-on, will be sold separately, for those who want the full bling effect!

As expected, there are doubters of this new bling phenomenon... but supporters, as well as expected future connoisseurs of the noose bling, claim that this is partly an attempt to simply take the power out of the symbol, much like they tried to do with the N-word.

Get yours now before it all goes mainstream, like the X cap did in 1992!

(COMEDIAN KAT WILLIAMS AT THE BET HIP-HOP AWARDS LAST NIGHT)

TAO

Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:30 PM by tobenson | with 0 comments

My NPR Editorial Op-ed Piece...!

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Hey Folks!

Last week, NPR asked me to write an oped piece for the "News and Views" section of their website. I just received an email notifying me that they loved it, and have published it on the site, along with a picture of me (I had to use an old pic, since it's the most professional one I've got), and of course a link to my podcast. The producer also says that they'll mention my piece during next week's "News & Notes" show, so listen to NPR next week to hear it, or just follow the link below to read what he called my "brilliant op-ed piece."

So, one editorial down, one to go. I still have to write the piece for Filmmaker Magazine, which will be significantly longer and more extensive. I'll let you know when that's ready.

This is exciting... here's the link: NEWS AND VIEWS

Tambay A Obenson
tao@tambayobenson.com
www.tambayobenson.com

www.obensonreport.com

Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:27 PM by tobenson | with 0 comments

Filmmaker Magazine Mention...!

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Hey Folks!

Just learned that Scott Macauley, editor at Filmmaker Magazine, posted my NPR op-ed on the Filmmaker Magazine website yesterday, along with a link to my podcast. It's in their blog section.

Here's the link: http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/. It's towards the middle of the page, under the "Tuesday, November 06, 2007" section, titled "Toward A New Black Cinema." Feel free to leave a comment while you're there

.

It will also be mentioned in their weekly newsletter that goes out to all their subscrbers.

This is certainly helpful press, given the magazine's readership. I hope it translates to more hits.

Cheers!

TAO

Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:24 PM by tobenson | with 0 comments

The Obenson Report

SUNSHINE

THIS CHRISTMAS

Inland Empire = Rubbish!

Fuck Your Freedom Of Expression :o)

My NPR Editorial Op-ed Piece...!

Filmmaker Magazine Mention...!

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