#delroylindo

IMAGINE... Sinners as a television series

The BBC is facing backlash after an apparent racial slur was heard during a live segment at the BAFTAs while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were onstage. The network has since issued an apology, attributing the outburst to an audience member with Tourette syndrome.

The moment quickly spread online, with viewers questioning how the disruption occurred during the high-profile broadcast. Officials say the incident is under review as conversations about live-event safeguards and accountability continue.

Source: NBC

I’m not going to lie... when I first saw the announcement that Netflix was releasing The Harder They Fall, I was nervous, specifically because I thought it was an updated version of the Jimmy Cliff classic The Harder They Come.  My worries were eased as more information came out about the project, however... news about it being a Western, the immaculate cast and the impressive trailers all had me primed for a work with a potentially high enjoyment factor.  I am happy to report that The Harder They Fall more than lives up to the hype, and is wholly worth a percentage of your streaming time.

The Harder They Fall manages to be the kind of Western that speaks to the Rockstar Games generation, particularly fans of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead franchises.  This aesthetic is present in the way that the film balances a number of main stories and subplots with surgical precision, playing like a highlight reel of cut scenes minus action that a player can control.  All of the stories parallel in the way that they center around three main themes : families formed by shared ideals, the power of reputation and the hunger that comes with revenge.  These three themes have always been universally rich with potential, and all are mined to a satisfying degree and spread evenly amongst the main and supporting cast where appropriate, resulting in a story that is both sprawling and tightly interwoven, resulting in a definitive narrative thrust powered by high quality storyline quantities.

On top of these fictional strong points, the film also blurs the lines in regard to the world of historical fiction, using the real life framework of legendary Black outlaws and lawmen as character primer for fictional adventures.  With all of these characters supported by real life historical tales rather than in-film exposition, the available space is filled by performances oozing personality, with character moments abound and plentiful for all willing to step to the plate.  These historical figures are broken up into two narrative factions : the fictional Nat Love Gang, comprised of young dreamers and romantics aided by the legendary Bass Reeves, and the partially based on real life Rufus Buck Gang, filled to the brim with salty dogs that are rough around the edges due to hard upbringings and harder daily lives full of crime and danger.

On the production side, director Jeymes Samuel and company are aided by top notch editing, title design and sound design, giving the film a visual flair and immersive experience that stimulates the senses and emotions without overloading them.  There is an abundantly wonderful application of costuming and styling, not to mention an amazing attention of detail that goes right down to the level of dead teeth and frontier dentistry.  The music choices are ‘interesting’ to say the least, coming off as a bit sporadic... the score-based and genre appropriate music passages are serviceable, but at times, the film toes the line of coming off like a less nuanced version of Westworld, or the Rick Ross realms of Django Unchained.  The writing is wonderfully poetic, existing perfectly between the world of frontier life and hints of modern touches.  On the action side, there are short punches of entertaining action beats that build up to a grand, high-style climax full of great gunplay, fight choreography, big explosions and a story resolution that is brought full circle in a way that is both logically sound and gut-wrenching.

The foundation built by the main four cast members in The Harder They Fall reads like an all-pro team of modern day master thespians : Ildris Elba turns up the sinister dial on his suave nature to an imposing degree; Regina King basks in the hubris of a danger reputation backed up by very real skills and survival instincts; Jonathan Majors continues his streak of balancing effortlessly natural screen presence with vulnerable and raw nerve emotional outbursts; and finally, Zazie Beetz harnesses her coolness and raw attractiveness into a mixture of performative boldness and wisdom-based self-protective measures.  Just outside of this main circle are a host of top notch supporting performances, chiefly led by the über-cool Lakeith Stanfield, who owns his moments and tone shifts like an actor twice his age and list of appearances, like a young Harvey Keitel or Donald Sutherland.  Daniel Deadwyler also turns in a powerful performance that is largely empowering in the face of the discrimination that both Black folks and women would have felt in the time the film was placed, and does so without any hint of grandstanding or punching down.  The chemistry of R.J. Cyler and Edi Gathegi helps push the tertiary plot forward, with their Yinyang presences setting a high bar for all other gang members present.  Delroy Lindo happily steps into the role of legend in a casting that not only works in terms of the film’s world, but in a way that mirrors reality based on his long and consistently impressive body of work.  Appearances by Deon Cole, Damon Wayans Jr., DeWanda Wise, Julio Cesar Cedillo and many more fill out the large cast.     

Thanks to Spike Lee's direction, Da 5 Bloods is one of 2020’s most visually arresting films. It also features one of the year’s best performances. This film has a lot to say. It’s bold, packed with tension, and rich drama.

During the war, Vietnam soldiers Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) discovered a locker of U.S. gold meant for the Lahu people. In present day, they return. Officially, to recover the body of the leader of the "Bloods", "Stormin'" Norman (Chadwick Boseman). They're also planning on smuggling the recovered gold home. As they approach their destination, old war wounds reopen and the poisonous draw of that treasure begins to tear them apart.

Generally, a 150 minute+ running time is excessive. Here, it’s necessary. There is so much to digest in this film you need those minutes to process it all. The very premise fills you with uncertainty. The gold the remaining Bloods are after isn't theirs. Then again, they’ve "earned" it. Even during the war, the Viet Cong used news reports and facts to make Black soldiers question their place in the conflict. The men we follow suffered greatly during the war, particularly Paul. His complex relationship with his son, David (Jonathan Majors), proves it. For all these men, Vietnam never ended and their government failed to take care of them once they returned home. Norman made them promise they would use the money to make a difference.

You expect a certain political standpoint from Spike Lee and it’s there… but the film is not “us and them”. To his friends’ shock and disappointment, Paul strolls into Vietnam with a red “Make America Great Again” hat. It perfectly summarizes the complexity of this group.

We've got a great story. In it are rich characters. These people feel real. They joke around, prove themselves the best of friends, expose their vulnerabilities... and don’t always do what you expect them to. You have no idea where the story is going but you’ve got a bad feeling. Rarely does a treasure trove prove to be the salvation men expect.

Da 5 Bloods is then elevated to the next level by the way Spike Lee tells this story by his co-writers Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, and Kevin Willmott. When the Bloods look at a photo, the film cuts to a shot of just that photo. When they remember Norman, it’s done as if this is a documentary. For a moment, you forget this is fiction. Then, we have the flashback sequences. There aren’t enough of them to make Chadwick Boseman’s performance more than a cameo but the way they’re presented I’ve never seen before. Rather than cast men who look like young versions of Lindo, Majors, Peters, or Lewis, they play themselves in these memories of the past. Why not? When you reminisce, the events you saw are from the same point of view as today. The difference in aspect ratio emphasizes these are memories, not literal trips through time. The editing, camerawork, music, casting, every aspect of filmmaking amplifies the film’s voice in a truly inspired way.

Da 5 Bloods juggles many complicated ideas and freshly presents them. Partly, it's because we haven’t seen what it was like to be a Black soldier in Vietnam, and certainly not within the context of 2020. It’s also a great story about greed and trauma with a fantastic cast. After it's over, I recommend you stay until the end of the credits to see a bonus “scene” showing the cast and crew. It isn’t essential in the same way a nugget that teases the next Marvel movie but it does give you a nice breather after all this heavy stuff. (January 31, 2021)

(News4usOnline) - “Sinners” is the best film I’ve seen this year. As a matter, it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while.  With Michael B. Jordan serving as co-lead in the film as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, star power has a lot to do with the trajectory high “Sinners” went on through its primetime theatrical run.  When Ryan Coogler made “Sinners,” he broke the mode in more ways than one. The math speaks for itself. The production numbers of “Sinners,” according to the website, The Numbers, was $90 million. As it stands today, “Sinners” has grossed more than $364 million worldwide. 

(L to r) MICHAEL B. JORDAN as Smoke, WUNMI MOSAKU as Annie, HAILEE STEINFELD as Mary, MICHAEL B. JORDAN as Stack, MILES CATON as Sammie and OMAR BENSON MILLER as Cornbread in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures It made nearly $300 million (a little over $278 million) just from ticket sales here in the United States. The success of “Sinners” breaks down into several categories.  The first is originality. In an industry full of redos, duplicates and remakes, “Sinners” holds the distinction of being one of those rare original films created out of Hollywood. And Coogler hit a home run with his horror-flick saga.  According to BlexMedia.com,” “Sinners” has become the top-grossing original horror film domestically. That’s impressive.    This is a huge win for Coogler, the same director who fueled the box office smash “Black Panther,” with late powerhouse actor Chadwick Boseman leading the way as the star of the film. Jordan, who played opposite Boseman in “Black Panther,” almost stole the icon’s thunder from his lead counterpart with his portrayal as Erik Killmonger.   “Black Panther” made over $1.3 billion globally, sustaining Coogler’s gift for storytelling and creativity as a director.  “Sinners” presented a much different challenge for Coogler. First, he did not have the mega-funding of Marvel to back him up in making “Sinners.” He would have to take a chance and do this project without all that theatrical muscle behind him. Coogler still managed to succeed. He succeeded because he believed in the project he created, wrote and directed. Coogler owns “Sinners” from top to bottom. It’s his baby. However the film was and still is to be judged, falls squarely on his shoulders. 

(L-r) JAYME LAWSON as Pearline, WUNMI MOSAKU as Annie, MICHAEL B. JORDAN as Smoke, MILES CATON as Sammie Moore, and LI JUN LI as Grace Chow, in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures With Jordan as his main man, Coogler, who began his run of successful movies with the biopic drama “Fruitvale Station,” would not have to bear this burden by himself. Cut deep in the cloth of Negro spirituals, cultural traditions, mixed with race, crossed with the jazz and blues genres, “Sinners” does something that a lot of movies haven’t done, and that it makes sense with its time period and horror themes. Yes, “Sinners” made its debut way back in April, but the lasting impact of the film is far greater than its theatrical run. What I like most about “Sinners” is that nothing seems to be forced. The center of the storyline focuses on two brothers returning to their hometown trying to make good for themselves and their community down in the heart race-divided Mississippi. The journey that Stack and Smoke starts off innocent enough when they purchase a building from a white southerner hoping to cash in by making the facility a juke joint for Black folks to be able to enjoy some revelry for themselves.