Best Posts in Forum: Movies and Shorts

Has anyone posted about this docu-series? It focuses on the stories of masculine gay black men. This is part 1. Hopefully there's more in the future.

 

I have been hunting the internet for movies that one we as "masculine " gay community can one relate to that for one doesn't fall into the cliche route. If I can think of one I would say My Brother the Devil



Because I have been through a similar circumstance, less violence of course, I can relate to the feelings of the characters involved. That aside this is a good watch, that doesn't fall into the same trappings of the cliche

 

I stumbled upon a Huff Post Gay Voices review of this. Two black, Muslim teens navigate life in Brooklyn, hustling (by selling stuff, not their bodies) for money while exploring their mutual affection. Reviews from 2015 film festivals seem mixed, praising the characters, camerawork and authenticity while some state that the movie is somewhat shallow and the plot goes in disappointing directions. Variety says, "...what’s onscreen here feels observed rather than lived-in," possibly because it's written and directed by a white guy who based it upon interviews with Muslims regarding post-9/11 New York. It sounds like a decent way to spend 85 minutes. It will have a limited release in theaters on Friday, January 22 and a DVD and Video On Demand release the following week.

 

Weekend

I actually really enjoyed this. It was a very honest depiction of how two people can connect even in a short amount of time. It doesn't have that typical formula gay films use. I believe this is on Netflix

 

Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome and Ashton Sanders won Best Kiss at the MTV Movie and TV Awards Sunday, beating out heavy kissers like La La Land’s Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.


Sanders, 21, and Jerome, 19, were both shocked as they walked onstage to accept the award, but it was their speech that stood out even more.

“I really have to start with saying thank you to my parents,” said Jerome. “I love y’all so much. But on a real note, I think it is safe to say that it is OK for us young performers, especially us minority performers, to step out of the box. It’s OK for us to step out of the box and do whatever it takes to tell the story and whatever it takes to make the change.



“This award is for that,” he added. “It’s for us artists who are out there, who need to do whatever it takes to get people to wake up.”

Others nominated in the same category included Beauty and the Beast’s Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, Empire’s Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, and Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick for Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates.

 

They were better off taking a photo like this:

 

Std rates are so high in the 'urban' community because mofos around the way just lay up n fuk. As non-contributing members of society, they don't have shyt else to do.

You can't be unsure of who ur baby daddy is, and then blame a 'dl' man for ur itching.

 

by Juan-Carlos

Spoilers Follow Below



So, far, the only disappointment of season five of Black Mirror (on Netflix) is that there are only three episodes. Episode one, titled, “Striking Vipers” written by Charlie Brooker sets the new season off with a pistol running start. There are a few subjects explored and sexplored such as relationships and it's “rules”, life fulfillment, taboos in sexual fluidity and its roles.

A brief synopsis is we are introduced to Danny (played by actor Anthony Mackie), Danny's college girlfriend Theo (played by actor Nicole Beharie), and Danny's college roommate Karl (played by actor Yahya Adbul-Mateen II). Danny and Karl's relationship as friends and roommates are reinforced by their love of gaming namely a Tekken*-ish game called “Striking Vipers”. Fast forward ahead, eleven years, Danny & Theo are now married with a young son and both are a career couple. They grow accustomed to their daily mundane routines with the totality of work & married life without any excitement. Karl is a bachelor, professional and successful, and dating women 10 years his junior while living his best life. The two college friends are reunited during Danny's birthday cookout and Karl has brought a gift that conjures thoughts of nostalgia for them both; it's a new video game called “Striking Vipers X” that has a VR (virtual reality) card enhancement that will bring the gaming experience to an amazing new level.

Spoilers Follow Below

The guys meet online to play. Karl provides the instructions to Danny while each select their favorite go-to character. Karl selects Roxette (a blonde Asuka Kazama* type character) and Danny selects Lance (a leaner Marshall Law* type character). The fighting challenge begins and awkwardly goes awry after Roxette flips Lance, straddles over him, and drawn by an unknown force, leans in and passionately kiss. Oh, by the way, this VR card interacts with a dime-sized electronic disc that you place on either side of your temple. The” experience” is that you feel every sensation from each blow and punch. So, during this virtual reality kiss, it awakens a myriad of feelings with them both. They began to have clandestine meetings virtually, in and as characters giving, what the kidz say, DL tease. As both of the men wonder...Is this cheating? What is the feeling? Am I gay? I will stop here for there is more to this episode and I don't wish to spoil more of it and especially the ending.


My own thoughts were, damn, not only was this episode homoerotic it also allows an introspective look into one being fulfilled in your life and in your relationship and simply questioning if you do have or could have a same-sex attraction whether physical, mental or emotional.

Life is about living it fully, realized, and free. It is indeed a challenge in being or feeling satisfied when there are obligations and feeling liberated when there are commitments. My take was one in acknowledging the deeper connections and honoring that despite and in spite of anything.

Shortly, after I relocated to Atlanta, I was adjusting to the move, my new apartment, the new job, and finishing my second degree. My circle (best friends) were back home in NY and my philosophy was like a line in Drake's song, “No New Friends.” I got a DM on Twitter from another new transplant to Atlanta who was also Dominicano. So, with that and a mutual love of music and hip hop we bonded. We began to hang out at a few bars and restaurants picking up women together. I knew that hermano was straight and in spite that I found that I was drawn and attracted to him. Secretly pining for an intoxicated advance whether it was a slip of his hand to my thigh or an awkwardly brave drunken kiss. That moment never happened and how anticlimactic was that? After hanging out one evening, he told me he was moving to Cali. Before he'd go this was my chance to tell him how I feel. I told him in the most non-threatening way that he was giving me everything that I miss from home. The male bonding and connection with him meant a lot. I said, “...and not to be on some “homo shyt” I fux wit u and it'll be cool to jack dix or whateva ya kno.”

His response was politely dismissive while displaying love and support. He didn't flip tha phuk out. He embraced me and said, “That's cool”. [Record scratch] That's cool?!? I am thinking, “Is that all?”

I later interpreted that to mean that he values the friendship enough to not acknowledge the welcoming of a sexual advance. I believe that is progressive thinking for a hetero male of color. Black and brown men are raised to not show emotion and any form of expression is a weakness. There was love in that expression and in his response. I never revisited for that would be clearly crossing a line. We remain in contact still. Honestly, I do harbor a relatively small amount of “feelz” though it's completely manageable and nothing, really.

Real talk, if you hadn't seen this episode, please consider doing so. It was very well done and palpable for general consumption to the masses. It's not GAY if you know what I mean. No offense to anyone. It's definitely in the diaspora; Q for Questioning in the LGBTGIA moniker.

I'd like to know what the squad thinks about this written piece and the episode? I may do a follow up in a few weeks opening for questions and side discussions On The Boards.

 

Rag Tag (2009)

Rag and Tag are childhood friends, separated as teenagers, their lives heading in very different directions. Years later they meet again, and realise how strong their feelings are for each other - but there are many obstacles in their way - a Zimbabwean crime ring, their own families and religious communities. Winner of three festival awards, and directed by Adaora Nwandu in the UK and Zimbabwe.

 

Brother to Brother (2004)

A gay art student befriends an older homeless guy who happens to be a major figure from the Harlem Renaissance. Flashbacks show what life was like during the guy's younger days. The student finds that he still faces some of the same challenges today. It's a decent look at past and present struggles and how things change and stay the same. And though there is a relationship, it is not relationship-focused, despite the impression given by the Youtube thumbnail. I think this is Anthony Mackie's first leading role, though it was overshadowed by his portrayal as lesbian-impregnating Jack in Spike Lee's She Hate Me, also released in 2004. (When I attended a SHM screening, the audience hollered at the ending. Possibly the greatest audience reaction I've ever experienced.)

 

^This right here! Being one of your man's 5 girlfriends and one of his 3 simultaneous baby mamas might also be why you're burning.

 

These DL men are ruining the white community!

 

A relative once told me that he wished there were more quality films with predominantly black casts that didn't cover familiar ground like growing up in the hood and slavery. He doesn't discount their importance, but would like to see more stories of black people in unfamiliar situations or slices of different kinds of lives. This year's Sundance Festival seems to offer a couple of those, stories featuring black people doing everyday things in a manner rarely shown by Hollywood, in addition to "Birth of a Nation" which tells a different kind of slavery tale. Both have had their rights purchased. I'm guessing they'll receive limited releases later this year.

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"Southside With You" is about the first date between Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) and Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) during the summer of 1989. A critic favorably compares it to Before Sunrise, a romance that's basically a series of conversations between two strangers wandering around Vienna, Austria, with a bit of discussion of black identity. It seems like Parker did not try to perfectly emulate his voice. This early review makes it sound like a cool romance. It gives a lot of details about the plot, in case you like to see movies with as little advance knowledge as possible. And here's a brief clip.

Sundance Film Review: ‘Southside With You’



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"Morris From America" is a dramedy about 13-year-old aspiring rapper Morris (Markees Christmas) coming of age in Germany with his widowed father (Craig Robinson). He grapples with living in a place where everyone looks and speaks differently, and may find young love with a girl who might expand his musical tastes. It sounds like the plot follows familiar coming-of-age story beats, but praises the relationship between Morris and his dad, the hip-hop and EDM score, the story's maturity, and the writing of the characters, in general.

Sundance Film Review: ‘Morris From America’

 

And they say black folk aren't {more} homophobic than the rest. smh

 

From Beginning to End was...interesting. Freaked me out for a bit to be honest. The thought of two brothers being in love is just...(sigh) whatever floats your boat.

 

Personally I will never tire of slavery period pieces. There should be at least one released per year. We have yet to scratch the surface theatrically on all the atrocities of slavery all because it will make whites and many blacks uncomfortable. I want to spend money to see this. PROPS to Nate!

 

"I've got to tell stories that are important....."

 

Strange Fruit (2004)

New York attorney William Boyals has escaped the Louisiana bayou of his childhood, but he must return to investigate the death of a childhood friend who, like Boyals himself, was both black and gay.

I wrote a review and posted clips from this film on the site 4 years ago. Still one of the ONLY non-stereotypical black gay films ever made that wasn't about dating and relationships.

WATCH: Clips From Black Gay Mystery/Thriller “Strange Fruit”

 

Kellee Terrell

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Lee Daniels recently announced the premise behind his upcoming remake of the ’80s sentimental classic Terms of Endearment. In the original, Debra Winger’s character dies of cancer, but in this filmmaker’s version, which also will feature Oprah Winfrey, one of the leads will have AIDS—a disease she contracted by having sex with a man who is presumably on the down low.


According to the Hollywood Reporter, Daniels believes this storyline is “important.”

“I’ve got to tell stories that are important to me, and so many African-American women died,” he said. “I want to make Flap [played by Jeff Daniels in the 1983 film] gay and infect the Debra Winger character. And then we explore the ’80s in a different way.”

Now, as a journalist who has covered AIDS in black America for over a decade, I commend the effort to bring stories about the epidemic to the screen. Aside from HBO’s Life Support, starring Queen Latifah, black HIV-positive women are usually completely ignored or unfairly demonized (think: Tyler Perry’s Temptation). But there is a way to center these voices without throwing black gay and bisexual men under a bus.

There just has to be.

I’ll admit, I haven’t seen the script, but I have an inkling that I really don’t need to given that these down-low narratives have one goal and one goal only: To paint black queer men as the enemy of our community. And let’s be real, since the down low became a cultural phenomenon in the early 2000s, pop culture’s handling of the topic hasn’t been known for its nuance and empathy.

These bogeyman cautionary tales are just a tired extension of our own paranoia and homophobia. But here’s the gag: It’s all been debunked. Yes, there are closeted black men who sleep with men and women and black women who have been infected by positive closeted men. But study after study has shown that the down low is not fueling HIV among African-American women.

The true culprit is a combination of factors, including high rates of undiagnosed and untreated sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV; disproportionate poverty and poor health; IV drug use; stigma, sexism and homophobia; and mass incarceration in black America that takes significant numbers of black men out of the community, leaving a lot of straight brothas on the outside to share the same female partners. Oh, and straight black men get HIV—roughly 1,900 each year—and 87 percent of the 4,100 black women who are newly diagnosed contract HIV through heterosexual sex ... so I’ll let you connect the dots.

But by all means, let’s keep pointing the finger at gay and bi black men.

It’s not just these alternative facts that infuriate me; it’s also the timing. Wasn’t it just a few months ago that Moonlight won a slew of Oscars, including Best Picture? Barry Jenkins’ insanely beautiful film about the struggles to come to terms with one’s sexuality, the carnage homophobia leaves behind and the beauty of touch between two black men was a real sign that we are truly evolving.

Meanwhile, the premise of Terms of Endearment 2.0 seems to be the exact opposite—dated, irresponsible and pedestrian—kind of like Dave Chappelle’s recent Netflix specials.

Now, before I am reminded that Daniels is an actual black gay man who, through his own life experiences, is capable of penning a multilayered and compassionate screenplay, let’s look at the receipts.

For years, the Empire creator has been caught in the crosshairs of “the sunken place,” making disparaging comments about black women,denying that racism has impacted his own life and career, and insisting that black folks are more homophobic than anyone else. Just a few months ago, he shared that he cast a white actress for the lead of his Fox show Star because “the country needed to heal” and this “white girl is so fabulous that black people will embrace her and white people will embrace her.”

Between these obvious internalized demons and the chronic heavy-handedness of his work in general, we all know how this remake is going to play out. And as a black woman, an HIV/AIDS advocate, an LGBTQ ally and an aspiring filmmaker, I am like Auntie Maxine when it comes to No. 45: I refuse to have a “just wait and see” attitude with this melodramatic mess.

Directors cannot just carve out black gay male characters from vilifying stereotypes and play revisionist history with the HIV epidemic and expect people to give them the benefit of the doubt because they are gay themselves, have a few Oscar nominations under their belt and an extensive IMDb page.

Not in this #StayWoke era.

Right now the state of black film—straight and LGBTQ—is at an interesting intersectional crossroads. Looking at what we’ve seen so far this year and what’s coming down the pipeline, it’s clear that black writers and directors are expanding the rigid notion of what it means to be black in America, and they are doing so by telling fresh and complicated stories about our lives in damn near every genre.

Now is not the time for us to move backward—we cannot afford to. And quiet as it’s kept, Mr. Daniels, neither can you.

Kellee Terrell is an award-winning filmmaker and Chicago-based freelance writer who writes about race, gender, health and pop culture. Her articles and interviews have been featured in Essence, The Advocate, Hello Beautiful, Ebony, Al-Jazeera, The Body and the Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.

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“Moonlight” editors Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders

As the A24 logo appears on screen the sound of ocean waves and Boris Gardiner’s soulful 1973 “Every N***r is a Star” comes on the soundtrack. The film then cuts to Juan (Mahershala Ali) pulling onto a quiet, brightly colored residential street in the hot mid-day sun. In a continuous shot, Juan gets out of his car to survey the drug corner he controls. As he converses with one of his dealers and an addict looking to score, the camera swirls around the three men, who fall in and out of frame.

From a narrative standpoint, we are grounded in Juan’s power and control over this patch of Miami, while seeing glimpses of his compassion that will make him the father figure to the film’s protagonist, Chiron. However, that use of sound, movement, light, and color also introduces us to the world of “Moonlight.” Sound and character ground us in the familiar, but that camera refuses to let the viewer grab onto anything solid or settle into the assumption that this will be yet another black urban drug film.

We’ve come to expect that an American independent film that wants to realistically portray what it’s like to grow up during Miami’s crack epidemic (inspired by the real-life childhoods of Jenkins and co-writer Tarell McCraney) would be matched by a realist cinematic style. Yet “Moonlight” defies the handheld improvised naturalism, or documentary style, that’s has become synonymous with indies tackling real-world issues and characters who live on the margins of society.


“Moonlight”

A24

Alone, the power of Jenkins’ story and characters would have made “Moonlight” one of the better films of 2016, possibly enough to get garner awards attention for acting, script and maybe even a Best Picture nod. However, there’s an element of craft in “Moonlight” that isn’t often seen in a film with a $1.5 million budget, which is why it is the extremely rare indie to also receive below-the-line nominations (Best Score, Cinematography, and Editing) and has a very realistic chance of becoming the first ultra-low-budget American film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

“Moonlight” is filled with countless bold aesthetic choices, each perfectly in sync with Jenkins’ vision of Chiron’s world. Cinematographer James Laxton’s high-contrast, rich color palette photography captures the beauty and harshness of Liberty City. Nicholas Brittel’s chopped-and-screwed score mixes wonderfully with the film’s subjective sound design, bringing us inside Chiron’s emotional world. Editors Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders seamlessly weave the film’s ocean-inspired dreaminess and violent realities.

Certainly Jenkins and his team of artisans deserve recognition, but it’s also worth exploring how the film was able to defy its limitations. “Moonlight” producer Adele Romanski (“Morris From America,” “Kicks”), a veteran indie producer who worked with Jenkins for years to get this film off the ground, has seen firsthand what can got wrong on a film with a 25-day shoot schedule, four weeks of prep, and not always the most experienced crew.

“I see it happen time and time again,” said Romanski in a recent interview with IndieWire. “You have a good plan going in and that pressure cooker of production where suddenly because of [time and budget] constraints everybody is at risk of failure, which doesn’t lead to a creative work environment. There’s no margin for error and it becomes about getting through the shoot.”

A documentary approach to shooting can give an element of authenticity; it’s also a practical choice when a director’s energy is focused on shaping naturalistic performances — especially when children are involved. This is especially true for low budget filmmakers who often don’t have the luxury of rehearsing with actors before production. These were burdens that Jenkins faced as well, having three days to shoot Oscar nominee Naomi Harris, while fellow nominee Ali flew into Miami on weekends while shooting Marvel’s “Luke Cage” in New York during the week.

James Laxton

What “Moonlight” had going for it was a close group of collaborators approaching their professional peaks. Romanski, Laxton, Jenkins, McMillon, and Sanders have been working together since they met at Florida State film school 15 years ago.

“Barry and I landed in Miami in August and officially we started prepping middle of September, with a four week prep with our team, but we spent three years talking about this movie,” said Romanski, who is married to Laxton. “There’s a great benefit from the depths of the relationships at play here. How long we’ve known each other and the shared aesthetic and shared film language — that’s been allowed to develop over a long period of time. Barry comes over every Sunday night for roast chicken. We sit around a table, talk art, and the work. That’s not on the clock, but I think it is sort of inherent in the final film.”

Romanski said at the heart of the film’s success is how in sync Laxton and Jenkins were in the filmic language of “Moonlight.” Last month, when Jenkins presented Laxton with the Best Cinematography Award at the New York Film Critics Circle, he recalled how in 2000 he was a kid who grew up in a world very similar to “Moonlight” and knew little about filmmaking.

“[James] came home with two Criterion DVDs, ‘George Washington’ and ‘In the Mood for Love,'” recalled Jenkins. “I had never seen a film with subtitles before and James said, ‘You should watch these.’ Ever since that moment, I knew I wanted him to carry my vision, whatever that would be.”

As Jenkins told IndieWire back in October, the world he and McCraney grew up had a harshness to it, but you could also feel the ocean in the air and there was great natural beauty and color to Liberty City. This led him to want to visually create a “beautiful nightmare” look to the film. To this end, Laxton and Jenkins shot tests and experimented with how to create the film’s high-contrast lighting scheme, while collaborating with colorist Alex Bickel to figure out how to pull rich color from Miami’s pastel colors, lush vegetation, and the actors’ skin tones.

“[James and Barry] worked so quick, man, they just cut through it,” said Romanski. “They say as few words as possible to each other and know what the other is wanting because they’ve been discussing films and film references for over a decade. Barry could take more time to invest in crafting performance of actors who have never met each other, because he knows James is going to prop up the visual side based on the years they spent talking about how they want to the film to look.”

One thing often overlooked in creating the look of a film is the right costumes, the perfect set dressing, and the ideal location mean nothing if they don’t read on camera, something of particular concern given how Laxton and Jenkins pushed the film’s color palette and lighting. That meant coordination and collaboration between department heads and adjusting to each other’s work. Romanski said that the uniquely close collaboration extended well beyond the Florida State crew.

“As an example, we never worked with Caroline Eselin before, our costume designer, and she and James discovered this incredible process working together,” said Romanski. “Caroline has been married for many years to a top cinematographer, so they had a ease of working together and quick, profound respect through the process. There was just a level of coordination you don’t always see on smaller films.”


“Moonlight”

Romanski also said there was an “egoless-ness” to making “Moonlight.” She attributes that to Jenkins, who had a way of turning the pressure-cooker schedule into a positive, creative environment.

“Something I attribute specifically to Barry in that regard is his ability to really elevate everybody through true appreciation, love, and respect that allow collaborations to really spread,” said Romanski. “This was a big part of why Barry’s vision seeped into every department.”

That also allowed for visual improvisation and adjusting to magic happening on set. One example was the much-discussed scene in which Chiron learns to swim. Once they got into the water, Jenkins decided to try have the camera struggle to stay above water, almost drowning, as Chiron fights the panic mixed with the feeling of freedom.

“There also was the shot of Andre [Holland] smoking the cigarette at the diner,” said Romanski of the romantic, dreamlike cutaways in the film’s final chapter. “We called camera wrap and we were done for the day. I don’t remember if it was James or Barry, but one of them was like, ‘Andre, get against the wall and smoke a cigarette.’ Because it’s such a creatively free and inspiring environment within the structure that Barry set, we were often finding moments of improvisation like this.”


“Moonlight”

For months leading up to the shooting of “Moonlight,’ Jenkins shared with key team members a Dropbox folder filled with tones and songs as he tried to define his film’s soundscape. Not only had Jenkins written into the script nearby sounds of Miami’s serene beaches breezing through the harsher environments of Chiron’s neighborhood, he also spent months figuring out the tones and songs that would help him capture Chiron’s various mental states, since he often doesn’t connect with the world around him.

“I can actually go back into that ‘Moonlight’ playlist now, and half of it is the tone and feeling of the film and the other half is shit, specifically songs, that [are] in the actual movie,” said Romanski.

In exploring and experimenting with the sound of “Moonlight,” it led to Jenkins bringing in Brittel before production. The composer worked from the same playlist to figure out how his score would weave organically with this soundscape. From this, he found a way to create the same contrast found in the beauty and harshness of the film’s cinematography, manipulating his traditional elegiac score and transforming it into deep, distorted sounds as Chiron’s emotions erupt in the film’s second chapter.

Romanski attributes another key factor that allowed “Moonlight” to operating differently than other low-budget films: A24.

“I think people think that meant we had more money, but what it really meant was they simply wanted to ensure we made the best film. There was not pressure about getting ready for a Sundance deadline or how we’d sell the film,” said Romanski. “There’s confidence from knowing someone is taking care of getting this out in the world, which is part of the pressure cooker of making an indie without distribution. The focus was kept on making the best film we could. “

The Craft of ‘Moonlight’: How a $1.5 Million Indie Landed Eight Oscar Nominations

 

‘Moonlight’ Review: Barry Jenkins Delivers a Mesmerizing Look at Black Life in America

Telluride Film Review: ‘Moonlight’

'Moonlight' Telluride Review: Barry Jenkins Tracks a Tragic Childhood in Powerful Sophomore Film

 

I'm so sorry to hear that. But let me get this right, you hate Star Wars but you're completely fine with people running around with tall ass elves, mid-size dwarves, tiny ass hobbits, a random evil eye, color-toned wizards, who all want a ring that makes you invisible and crazy? I'll take the light sabers and the hairy gremlin. Also, at least there are black people in star wars

 

If it was two white guys posing like this nobody would care. He is just kind of holding his head in support like 'I got you' or something...they are not even that close to each other and they are barely even touching. The reactions you all are talking about are surprising to me.

 

The D.L. Chronicles: Episode Thomas

Episode “Thomas” is about a man who, after a tragic and life-changing event, falls in love with a stranger who unexpectedly comes into his life to assist him.

 

I agree 100%

There are countless WWII movies still made to this day, which lasted somewhere around 7yrs.
Slavery was a Holocaust that lasted far longer and took countless lives that will never be documented, memorialized or mourned.
The insidious impact of it still resonates within society today and needs to consistently be addressed and never forgotten.

(gets down off soapbox)

 

I am not even 10 minutes into the video, and I am already triggered. First, Mr. Lowery can get it. Brotha is fine AF.

I was one of those people who shielded myself with achievements. On this my 33rd year of life, I look back at how hard I pushed myself very early on to be damn near perfect. I used that quest for an achievement to hide. In many ways, I am sad about it. I never allowed myself to be merely live. I stayed up late, always did the extra credit, made perfect grades. In my extracurriculars, I had to not only be on the team but lead it whether it was sports or drama. When Mr. Lowery spoke about his quest to achieve, he was talking directly to me.

 

Anthony Mackie is a good dude. I think a lot of people also forget that he played a gay character in that indie film from like 20 years ago, Brother to Brother. I remember watching it and just being happy that there was a black gay character portrayed on the screen.

I agree with his assessment. While it's easy to look at things through a queer or homoerotic lens, I definitely don't think that's the case with these two characters. Although it's fun to joke around with it. I actually want to see more carefree, sensitive straight male friends. Because to associate it automatically with homosexuality is just as detrimental. Men can love each other and be affectionate in a platonic way and have it not be sexual.

 

I get where the that logic is coming from but I don't agree with this premise. This isn't just some Disney movie, hence why everyone is so excited about it. I don't really feel the need to go in on what this movie means or represents for black people (especially to black people who should know what it means). My question to Dr. Boyce Watkins is name a initiative in the African American community that we ALL agree on AND ALL are included in (same with black lgbt community)? This is the same as the"shop black" argument, it sounds good but not everyone is down for the cause. We are a divided yet together people.

By the way black people aren't the only ones excited for this movie. Its low key annoying involving politics into things such as the arts.

 

You should just interrupt and say

 

LOL! I don't know the back story on this but, I kinda wish people would leave Wil and Jada alone already. Who really gives a f$%k anymore of they're closet gays. Not EVERYBODY has to be an LGBTXYZ123 Spokes Person. Let them people live they lives already.

 

For Throwback Thursday we revisit one of our first short films we featured on the site (over 7 years ago) which happens to also be one of our favorites exploring the act of ‘hooking-up’. I remember when I first watched the short and the feeling of tension and empathy I felt for both characters. When describing the short, site co-founder Nick Delmacy stated:

“…the short film “SLOW” gives viewers a (somewhat) realistic view of an “online hookup” between (somewhat) masculine men. Crazy Dope cinematography and believable acting give this an authentic “fly on the wall” feel that made me almost uncomfortable watching. Even more impressive is that this film was shot with NO BUDGET in the director’s own apartment. He negates any excuse other filmmakers have about the shortcomings of their own independent films. DISCLAIMER: The short features some nudity so it’s technically NSFW.”​

Check out short below.



SLOW from Darius Clark Monroe on Vimeo.

 

The Morehouse College sophomore, whose extra credit assignment went viral, will soon get to share his talents with younger kids, because he and his younger brother have just landed a deal with “Sesame Street”.

Julien Turner, a marketing major at the Atlanta HBCU, shared the news on his social media accounts this week.

“Thankful to announce that my brother and I have become two of the youngest filmmakers to ever be commissioned to produce a Sesame Street film. It will be featured in the 2018-2019 season,” he wrote.

No word yet on the details of the project, but the 19-year-old, who began a production company called Dreadhead Films with his brother Justen six years ago, is well equipped to get the job done.

When his biology professor asked students to submit an extra credit project, Turner produced a video that unexpectedly sent the internet into a frenzy.

Inspired by Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO Tour Llif3,” the Ohioan created a music video about cell mitosis called “XY Cell Life” for the Biological Science for Non-Majors course.

While the original lyrics are “Push me to the edge/ All my friends are dead,” he remixed them to “If my genes go left unread/ All my cells are dead.”

He posted his creation to his Twitter page, quickly going viral and garnering national attention. Since its upload nearly a month ago, it’s been retweeted more than 180,000 times and liked more than 357,000 times.

Now, he and his brother have the opportunity to make learning more fun for kiddies, too.

Want to learn more? Follow their journey here.

Morehouse student who created viral extra credit video lands ‘Sesame Street’ deal