Movie Review: Young Soul Rebels
To sum up this movie in one word…”HORRIBLE“.
Look I know we have a limited selection in the Black Gay Cinema department but it seems like I always have the same feelings, thoughts and questions after seeing a black gay movie like Young Soul Rebels…and some of those feelings, thoughts and questions are…
-Really?
-How in the hell did they get funding for this wack shit?
-What was the director thinking?
-Did they read the script before they started filming?
-Really?
-Wait, who wrote the script?
-Let me fast forward to the end?
-Wait, this is how the movie ended?
-Huh?
-I cant believe I wasted my time with this crap!
The focus is on the struggles of the two radio DJ’s as they deal with racism, homophobia, sexuality, their careers as DJ’s and their friendship. The movie felt like someone wrote a novel, attempting to tell a story but the sentences in the paragraphs are incomplete on every page.
It attempts to tackle to many issues and topics and ends up being all over the place, rushing to an ending because all the actors seemed tired and wanted to start working on other projects. After about an hour it becomes a cluster fuck of bad story telling. I mean the last 15-20 minutes is beyond stupid.
The best thing this movie has going for it is the 70’s soundtrack. The track listing is below…
1. Young Soul Rebels – Mica Paris
2. Message In Our Music – The O’Jays
3. Running Away – Roy Ayers
4. Time Is Moving On – Blackbyrds
5. Don’t Let It Go To Your Head – Jean Carne
6. Let’s Get It Together – El Coco
7. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester
8. P. Funk Wants To Get Funked Up – Parliament
9. I’ll Play The Fool – Dr. Buzzard’s Savannah Club Band
10. Rock Creek Park – The Blackbyrds
11. Me And Baby Brother – War
12. One Nation Under A Groove – Funkadelic
13. Let The Music Play – Charles Earland
14. Young Soul Rebels
Even the trailer for the movie is horrible. View it below…
Other than that, do yourself a favor and avoid this movie.
-Octavius
I loved it. One of the best realistic depictions of what goes on in Black Gay Life. Very artsy and a good intricately woven and layered story line. I couldn’t stop watching and it had me waiting for the next “moment.” Suspenseful, captivating and kept me wanting more, more, more. They just don’t make good movies like this anymore.
A movie about searching for self and growing into adulthood. Soul searching. The fact that I didn’t watch this movie when it was out, And if I had I wouldn’t have understood what was going on because I was doing what they were doing in this movie. This movie was doing me. LIFE ON FILM.
Yeah, this movie was cool. One of the few films out of the UK featuring black Brits as the main characters that I’ve ever known. And the only one (besides Shank) that integrates the homosexual element. Seeing as that we as African Americans are typically in the dark when it comes to how our brethren across the pond are living, this was at least something to ponder.