Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Black History Month 3: The Enemy Strikes Black

"A rat done bit my sister Nell. (with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell. (and Whitey's on the moon)
I can't pay no doctor bill. (but Whitey's on the moon) Ten years from now I'll be payin' still. (while Whitey's on the moon)
The man jus' upped my rent las' night. ('cause Whitey's on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights. (but Whitey's on the moon)
I wonder why he's uppi' me? ('cause Whitey's on the moon?)
I wuz already payin' 'im fifty a week. (with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin' my whole damn check, Junkies makin' me a nervous wreck, The price of food is goin' up, An' as if all that shit wuzn't enough: A rat done bit my sister Nell. (with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an' arm began to swell. (but Whitey's on the moon)
Was all that money I made las' year (for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain't no money here? (Hmm! Whitey's on the moon)
Y'know I jus' 'bout had my fill (of Whitey on the moon)
I think I'll sen' these doctor bills, Airmail special (to Whitey on the moon)" -Gil Scott Heron

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Black History Month 2: Electric Boogaloo

"Power condedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them, and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows or with both. The limit of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." -Frederick Douglass

"All racists are irresponsible." - James Baldwin

"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." -Muhammad Ali The Greatest (1975)

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Black History Month...

Some quotes:

"A wise man once told me not to argue with fools, 'cause people from a distance can't tell who is who." -Jay-Z

"The true measure of a race can be judged by the character of its woman." -Mary Bethune Cookman

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

The Fifth Annual Amy Awards

Here they are. The fifth annual Amy Awards. Please remember that I currently do not get paid to see movies, so I missed a few. So, this list is based on what I saw and what I really liked. Enjoy the creamy goodness.

Best Movies-
1. Mean Girls
2. Spider-Man 2
3.Hero/House of Flying Daggers
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Kill Bill II
6. The Incredibles
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. Sideways
9. Garden State
10. Maria Full of Grace

Honorable Mention- Anchorman, Collateral, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, The Terminal, Bad Education, Vanity Fair, Shaun of the Dead

Favorite Male Performances- Tim Meadows, Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls), Mark Wahlberg (I Heart Huckabees), Dustin Hoffman (Meet the Fockers), Jamie Foxx (Ray), Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Gordon Liu (Kill Bill), Wil Ferrell (Anchorman), Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Neil Patrick Harris (Harold and Kumar), Brad Bird (Incredibles), Gael Garcia Bernal (Bad Education), Tobey Maguire, JK Simmons (Spider-Man 2)

Favorite Female Performances- Sanrad Oh, Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Daryl Hannah, Uma Thurman (Kill Bill), Catalina Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Cate Blanchett (The Aviator), Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst (Eternal Sunshine), Natalie Portman (Garden State), Sharon Warren (Ray), Ziyi Zhang (House of Flying Daggers/Hero), Reese Witherspoon (Vanity Fair), Amy Poehler, Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls)

Favorite Screenplays- Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine), Tina Fey (Mean Girls), Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby), Alvin Sergeant (Spider-Man 2), Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill)

Favorite Directors- Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill), Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine), Pedro Almodovor (Bad Education), Zach Braff (Garden State), David O'Russell (I Heart Huckabees)

Random Musings-
Team America had some of the best songs of all time, too bad the movie didn't live up to it.
I Heart Huckabees was not a complete success, but the ideas and the interesting visuals made it a movie more people should have tried. It was not as pretentious as it seemed.
Can someone make a scary Hollywood movie? Please?????
Wil Ferrell is a comic genius. Enough said.
The voice work in "The Incredibles", "Shrek 2" and by Alan Tudyck in "i, Robot" was fabulous. Maybe actors do better without their bodies?

Hope you enjoyed the list, send your comments.