August 16, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to introduce the next film, 'Message from the King.' The newly released film starring Chadwick Boseman as a brother getting revenge for the death of his sister. The random topic this week is all about our reaction to the Charlottesville, VA white supremacists rally and the implications of having an inarguably racist president heading the country. We also discuss the fact that minorities tried warning white people of this for 2 years and weren't listened to.
August 8, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to discuss the 2015 indie film, Naz & Maalik. The film follows two young Black Muslim men who are stuck between the aspects of their religion, their romantic love for one another, and doing all of this is a post-9/11 world rife with stereotypes, assumptions, and harassment.
PREMISE:
The film follows two high-school friends, Naz and Maalik, who spend a hot summer day bopping around Bedford-Stuyvesant hustling lottery tickets, as well as trying to make sense of their new—and highly secretive romantic—relationship. Over the course of the afternoon, the boys’ petty—though illicit—small-time scheming, along with their secretive dashes into alleyways to kiss, sets a high-strung FBI operative named Sarah Mickell on their tail. Having observed the teens' erratic and mountingly tense behavior, Mickell worries these two may, in fact, be radicalized Muslims, and surveils them as they go through their day. Naz and Maalik's carefree afternoon starts to darken when they realize they’ve given Mickell different alibis and the boys begin to panic about being uncovered by their families.
August 2, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to introduce the next film, "Naz and Maalik." The 2015 indie film about two young Black Muslim twenty somethings living in NYC trying to balance their sexuality and love for each other in a post-9/11 world. The random topic this week is all about the two alternative Black history television shows that have been announced and our thoughts. Conversations on censoring art, and battling group think inside our own community.
July 26, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to discuss the 2012 film, Gimme the Loot. This independent comedy chronicles the day in the life adventure of two Brooklyn, NY graffiti artists who have a simple goal of becoming famous in their small world. Dynamics between men and women are explored as the artist while friends, seem to have an underlying affection for one another.
July 19, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to introduce the next film, "Gimme the Loot." The 2012 film about two friends who a graffiti artists and perhaps more as the strike out to make a name for themselves. The hosts also discuss the idea of letting certain Black people go after we find out about their terrible behavior. In light of the latest R Kelly sexual manipulation and holding women hostage speculative news, the guys wonder why people still cape for people like Kelly, OJ Simpson, Bill Cosby, etc. There is also a conversation on whether or not letting these people go harms us as a community, and what that means long term.
July 12, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to discuss the 2002 action comedy, Undercover Brother. Set in the screwball comedy world starring Eddie Griffin as the super spy man-out-of-time-esque Black title character. He joins up with a secret Black organization called The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. to stop "The Man" once and for all from harming Black people.
July 4, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to discuss the next upcoming episode, Undercover Brother. The 2002 comedy film about a Black spy trying to stop a plot by The Man. Our random topic of the week is about what is the balance of celebrating holidays like the 4th of July and other American jingoistic moments while simultaneously being Black. Should you not, should you not care, or is there a middle ground?
June 28, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys return to discuss the 2016 film, Fences. Directed and starring Denzel Washington as a garbage man who is struggling to get by alongside his faithful wife, played by Viola Davis. A story of ego, fatherhood, security, and loyalty. Impressive performances accompany a script that designs characters to jump off the page.
June 14, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys sit down to discuss the upcoming film, Fences, starring and directed by Denzel Washington and co-starring Viola Davis. Telling the story of a couple struggling to make ends meet while dealing with issues of patriarchy, and marriage dynamics. The random topic of the week is our thoughts on the newly released Black Panther trailer from Marvel Studios and its potential significant impact on Hollywood at large.
June 7, 2017
This week on Black on Black Cinema, the guys are back to discuss the 1991 independent film, Daughters of the Dust. Taking place in 1902, the film depicts the days before a Gullah (or Geechee) family decides to leave their island off the coast of South Carolina to move to the mainland United States. What is seemingly a video essay of sorts about the migration of cultures and the preservation of those cultures plays as a direct throughline to some modern African American norms of today. Daughters of the Dust works to show just how others see their place in the history of their own culture and family.
