Round-up 11: White kid reviews Malcolm X (and more)

For some peculiar reason, the viral clip from the CBS interview with Bill Belichick and his assistant, Jordan Hudson, has been circling my feeds online, and I cannot avoid it. What on Earth is going through Bill’s head? Other than I’m sure being around an attractive young woman, but the control freak nature of the relationship coming to light following that now infamous interview leaves more questions than answers. How much control does she have? What is the true nature of their relationship? How does his family feel? All annoying conjecture to most, but I can’t help but keep my eyes peeled on the story. I suppose we’ll see if anything is to come in the following weeks, but I suppose this will be another media fad that we’ll all forget about when the next cycle comes along…

            I digress; I would’ve been remiss to not mention the random stories flying through my head when I’m in a passive state. When. Well, without further delay, here are the films I watched this past week.

My first film of the week is another in my quasi-formal quest to get my eyes on every NC-17 and/or X-rated film ever made: Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down or ¡Ãtame! (1989). This was surprisingly tame, all things considered. There were probably a total of four or five scenes that crossed into the graphical territory of an NC-17 rating, and even those were relatively underwhelming, in a good way. Antonio Banderas stars as the lead role, a mentally unstable man released from the controlled way of life he’d been raised in, and into the real world. It’s here that he almost immediately becomes obsessed with a local pornographic actress, whom he desires to make his wife, without her even knowing. What ensues is a hilarious kidnapping plot where the odd-couple pair are forced to work together through a series of almost sitcom-styled comic hurdles. Sexy, slick, and especially whacky, this was the perfect blend of romantic comedy and crime.

            Next, I gave End of Watch (2009), written and directed by David Ayer of Training Day (2001) fame (he was the screenwriter for Antoine Fuqua on that project), a shot, a film I’d been kicking around for a while. I was not disappointed, as I expected to be given the quality of Ayer’s most recent projects. This is, plot-wise, a straightforward cop-action flick, but it’s shot entirely documentary-style, and while this very well could’ve just been a gimmick, the clever use of it throughout proves that Mr. Ayer was conscious of this while directing. The story follows two patrolling police officers in the south LA hoods as they uncover a series of gang events that mark them for death by the criminals they seek to keep under control. The tension and motion sickness from the way in which it’s filmed add to the overwhelming nature of the violence when it occurs. Even the more emotional scenes, where it’s just the two officers having playful banter or interacting with loved ones, have a very intimate feeling to them, like you’re seeing conversations that were never meant to be in a movie. And this is where my compliments peak for the film, as Ayer clearly was extracting all of the best aspects of many police procedurals before it and injecting his own flair and creative spin into the process. In my humble opinion, a light version of Training Day, and not in a bad way at all.

I spent an afternoon watching Spike Lee’s legendary biography Malcolm X (1992), and woah, man, does this film really make you take a step back and appreciate an entire man’s life and legacy. I will refrain from giving any opinions on the subject matter, as per one scene where Malcolm X is approached by a young white liberal college student who asks what she can do to further his cause; he replies “nothing” and walks away. Curse the white man: The Movie. But legitimately powerful sequences of racist action inspired the life of Malcolm X and the movements he led throughout his adult life. This is Spike Lee at the absolute top of his game, weaving cinematic spectacle with hard-hitting rhetorical questions about the consequences of America’s greatest sin. The opening scenes are almost a celebration of many films before it, before quickly devolving into the horrors Malcolm would experience, leading to the tumultuous and eventually life-taking journey of religious and spiritual, and moreover, societal acceptance. Not a spoiler alert, as this is based on historical events, but the assassination sequence in the final act of the film comes out of nowhere as far as the action that unfolds. A full-blown shootout between rival sects over the beliefs Malcolm preached; this is what stood out to me as it pertains to the crazy three-and-a-half-hour runtime, that it’s not just learning about the human being, but becoming attached to him through seeing him live the majority of his adult life, and then to have it all taken away so suddenly is jarring and brilliantly executed from a technical storytelling standpoint. This is a very important film, as many of Mr. Lee’s efforts are, and I strongly recommend that everyone sit through this at least once, for the historical and emotional context of the rage many Americans feel to this day.

Finals season has me in the trenches. I spent a whole afternoon watching Malcolm X when I should’ve been studying for my investment management final. Priorities are important; my love for film must come first to some degree, at least. Keeping myself busy while I grind through the end of the semester. As always, I encourage engagement! Let me know what you’d like me to watch or review next. Have you seen Malcolm X? What did you take away from the film?