(film review) [STREAMING] - The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started watching this.  I had no idea about the cast, I had no idea about the story, I had no idea what it was all about and I just felt initially it was some Central Park Five "rip-off" of sorts and having not known this movie was based on a real thing that had occurred in real life, I was pleasantly taken aback once I got into the movie.  You see, I'm not an American and in school, they were quick to teach us about slavary, Christopher Columbus, Henry and his many women and a few plagues and the great fire of London, but not real life events such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Central Park 5 or The Trial of the Chicago 7.  In 2020, even more truths are being unearthed in media like films and TV series such as Lovecraft Country, so I do find it despicable that there are generations and generations of people, not only black, who do not know what has happened in history, because these events have been for the most part, undocumented.  I digress.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 centers around a group of 8 anti–Vietnam War protesters, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Bobby Seale who were arrested in Chicago for conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots during a Democratic National Convention in 1968.  Whilst the 7 defendants are being represented by William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, Bobby Seale isn't represented and Judge Julius Hoffman shows significant prejudice for the prosecution whilst there is also racial tension with Fred Hampton the Chicago chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and other Black Panther members in the courtroom.  Whilst Abbie openly antagonises the court during the trial, many of the defendants are charged with contempt of court while they try to figure out who initially incited the riot on the hill.

I'm not going to lie, this film took a little while to grab me.  Maybe because I wasn't initially interested or the film didn't seem engaging, but once we were in the courtroom and jokes were flying along with the lunacy, I was fully engaged.  I felt like, if some of these things, reactions, comments and behaviours were verbatim, this trial was an absolute mess.  Although the "lead" of this movie was Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, the film was mostly joint carried by the ensemble cast with Sacha Baron Cohen as halfway through the movie, Yahya disappears and Sacha carries on.  Even to a point, even Eddie Redmayne takes a lot of the spotlight in the third act, or at least, that's when I realised it was him and he CAN talk properly, the other characters do come across as fillers.  It would have been nice to get a little backstory from all 8 of the defendants as it just didn't seem sufficient enough.  Some of the cast members, you couldn't really care about as the connection wasn't really there for me.

What I loved about the movie, whether historically accurate to the very last dot, was the depiction of the Black Panther Party and the fact Fred Hampton was in court sitting right behind Bobby as an assist.  It was lovely to see and also made me google Fred Hampton as I had no idea who he was although I had heard  of the name.  Considering there is a movie starring Daniel Kaluuya as Fred coming out at some point soon, this movie helped me to gravitate towards black activists and Revolutionary Socialists because this was and is unknown territory to me.  Yahya was great as usual, tell me of a time when he wasn't? And Sacha was also great.  The drama really got a little thick when you saw Michael Keaton and there was a scene when they were all in a room discussing and an argument broke out.  that scene was played out well, I just felt that maybe there should have been some more heavier moments.

A decent movie and worth the watch but not as gripping as I believe perhaps, I would have liked it to have been, but it does help you to understand what happened at that time, why and what the state of affairs were like in the late 60's.  The Protesting, the Vietnam War, the riots etc.  It's extremely difficult to sometimes take in these films and shows and not treat them as just fiction because they were not taught in school and hardily anyone would know about events like these, so for that reason alone, it is a must watch.

(trailer review) - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

It was only the other day I found out about this movie.  Correction and let me rephrase, I heard about this movie possibly late last year or early this year, but it was only the other day I was reminded about this movie.  Technically I knew nothing about it other than Chadwick Boseman being in it as the last film he would do, but I had forgotten about that and when his death came, my thoughts were over-shadowed by my feelings of how we lost such a great man, what would happen to one of his most iconic characters, Black Panther and where do we go from here? So even if I did look to see what his last film may have been at that time, as I knew it wasn't Da 5 Bloods, I was caught up in his death for a few weeks so being reminded about this movie was a delight but also very bitter sweet.

Having now seen the trailer and having watched every episode of 'How to get away with murder', I have noticed the greatness in acting calibre that is Viola Davis, so from the jump, I knew this was going to be great.  The picture I saw promoting the film had me thinking that this will be a powerful performance and I may even cry.  But then I noticed Chadwick and that he also had a role in this movie (because I forgot right) and then I knew from that moment, I am likely to cry.  Watching this trailer had me a little emotional, but I will say, I am very proud to see these great actors together on screen and I really hope that a lot of people watch this Denzel Washington produced movie because it looks absolutely great.  Plus it is also a delight to see a number of black actors together in a project.  Having just finished Lovecraft Country, I soo welcome more and more black storytelling.

Directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown

(trailer review) - Animaniacs

I immediately thought about writing a review as soon as I saw this trailer.  I'm not sure if it is because it's the Animaniacs and I used to like the show when I was younger or what, so, I didn't even think about if it would fall within what I have been doing for the past year or so.  It's a new TV series.  It's a cartoon.  I guess I can.  And you know what? I'm happy!

There isn't much to say about this trailer, although I remember the Animaniacs when I was younger, may have watched a few episodes, but I can't especially remember being a die-hard fan.  Although I have a Wacko Bumper-Car Toothbrush stand somewhere...lol

The gags are there.  The Animation just looks perfect!  It's old-school but renewed without taking away the artistic integrity of the original drawings.  There were a few smiley jokes, like when Dot whacks the Warner Brothers with a huge mallet and says, "...I'm still a knock out", that made me smile.  But the two funniest moments from the trailer to me were, when Yacko (the one with the brown trousers/pants) swallows a handheld Tablet after being told it hold all the information he'll ever need (or something like that), he gets electrocuted and then starts talking about things that have progressed in pop-culture over the years since The Animaniacs stopped their run all them years ago.  Very Funny! But the kicker for me, was when Dot in an empty looking room says "turn on the black light", the light switches on and the seemingly empty room is now seen with plenty of black people partying.  HILARIOUS!!!  I'm not going to lie, at first I thought it was a racist joke, but I very quickly understood the cleverness of the gag.  I did make sure to replay that bit a few times to see if there were any troublesome stereotypes, but it was great. I laughed until tears every time I rewatched it.  Needless to say, I'm going to find a way to watch this as it is on Hulu...sigh!  Poor England and our lack of programming unlike our cousins in the US.