Comments for CinemATL: The Blog

Comment on The Woman’s Angle - Sleep Keep Wake Take by willow

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:13:42 +0000

I think Sleep Keep tells a very clear, direct story that speaks for itself. I’m not sure why you feel Harvey’s depiction of the main character–and I believe his name was Nathan, not Ethan–sacrificed the wife’s character. Isn’t it a filmmakers choice to decide who’s voice a story will follow? I commend Harvey for choosing to show a black male character in a positive light. I also commend Harvey for doing that from a female perspective. That’s quite bold for a Woman’s Angle film, don’t you think?

You site the example of Madea’s Family Reunion and you make a great point but Nathan is not silent in this movie. And his turnaround is accurate and very well told within the context of a 10 minute movie.

One of the things I admire about Harvey’s storytelling is that it is so simple and concise, maybe it was too simple for you to discern the clues brought about by the scenes with Nathan’s patients. Nathan’s world is filled with people in chaos and confusion and inner turmoil. His ultimate request from God becomes not “if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take” but rather just give all of us some peace. I think we could all use some of that. What a powerful message.

Comment on The Woman’s Angle: The Promise by willow

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:46:12 +0000

Hmm…interesting review. I’m starting to see a thread with all your reviews. I guess that’s another reason why we need more female critics. Especially ones who make films.

Comment on The Woman’s Angle: Changing Baby by mdfriedman

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:22:41 +0000

Burnley, I can’t speak for Charles, but it would be my guess that he just doesn’t have any way to get actor’s names. Usually, when a film critic reviews a film, they have a press kit where they can identify the major cast & crew of the film (or there’s a website or some other publicly available information like IMDb). Since the Women’s Angle projects only screened on one weekend. and many of the films don’t have websites, and there were no press kits, and Charles probably only saw them once, it may be extremely difficult to get the names of the actors.

Then again, Charles may have some vendetta against actors in general. Who knows?

Comment on The Woman’s Angle: Defining Moments by willow

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:28:27 +0000

Well, as someone who grew up in a very strict regime known as “the church,” questioning “The Man of God” as they are so called is something you just DO NOT do, and you certainly don’t question them with doubts about premarital sex. In my eyes, Charmagne is a hero of sorts because she is the only one to question and challenge. Pastors make comments like Rev. Thompson’s all the time and nobody ever checks them on it–even among themselves.

I think Charmagne is struggling between her faith and her feelings. The fact that she ultimately walks out and doesn’t have sex with Jonathan says that she has the power to do what she wants with her body. Why do women always have to jump into bed with a man in order to be considered “liberated?” And in a religious society where it’s force-fed down people’s throats to wait until marriage, with little hard core evidence as to reasons why, Charmagne makes a decision on her own accord because she acknowledges that she doesn’t know if what she’s been force fed in terms of the Bible is actually true (ie “How do we even know Adam and Eve were married?”) Again, that’s something you just don’t do within the church. You don’t ask questions. And saying that you don’t know is considered just as rebellious as saying that you you don’t believe, in the eyes of that culture.

And why should Charmagne be considered hypocritical for encouraging her sister not to have sex with a guy that she just met 3 weeks ago and who can’t say I love you? Tasha challenges Stephen with the question and when he doesn’t answer, she unfortunately still decides to sleep with him. Also, I thought Jonathan was very supportive of Charmagne. Other men would have rolled out if they weren’t getting sex after all that time. But he respected her values and her faith.

It was unclear as to whether or not Charmagne was a virgin in the first place. The fact that her and Jonathan started dating a year ago and she just got baptized and got her true love waits necklace a year ago could mean that maybe she had already had sex prior to one year ago. Plus, Claudette made that comment about giving up hope that she would be a “respectable lady.” Perhaps that was why she was telling her sister to wait–to help prevent her sister from having a negative experience. If that’s the case, her warning could be more from a practical level than a spiritual one, which would make sense since Charmagne is conflicted about the whole “don’t have sex before your married because the Bible says so” debate anyway. The Bible verse at the end of Defining Moments doesn’t say wait until you’re married, it says wait until you’re ready. Ready could mean being with someone who you love and care for very deeply, and that doesn’t necessarily have to mean marriage.

You raise a valid point about the hypocrisy of virginity tests. I thought the part with the teenage girl bleeding after sex was very sad because many young girls dream and fantasize about their first time and think of it as being this glorious, romantic thing. I can say from experience that that’s not always the case. For many women, losing your viriginity is a big deal because it affects your body physically. What Tasha thought was going to be a great experience ended up being physically painful, messy and rushed. So much for romance! That’s sad for that to be her first introduction to something as beautiful as sexual intercourse. I think that’s what the filmmaker was trying to get across, not anything about virginity tests. That’s a completely different story in and of itself.

I also think you’re right about communication being the key to relationships. Sex and a woman’s sexuality are topics that are rarely talked about openly in the church unless except just to say “Don’t Do it.” I think this film will challenge the religious community in terms of how they box women in sexually. It doesn’t “preach to the choir,” actually it points fingers at the choir. Hopefully it will open up some dialogue and discussion within that community because lord knows the church doesn’t talk about it enough.

Comment on The Woman’s Angle: Changing Baby by Daniel Burnley

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 04:45:20 +0000

Okay, I see a pattern developing with your two reviews of Woman’s Angle films. You fail to acknowledge or even identify the actors in either. Were you not able to get actor names from the credits or from the individual directors, or did you just decide the actors were not important enough to mention. I am a little insulted, and as you know, I was not a part of either film. What’s up with that?

Comment on Look away from Pirates…to indies by Martin

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:33:09 +0000

Got to see it this week and I did like it quite a bit. Reminded me of the 90s indie films that I enjoyed so much.

Good leads and funny dialogue. Very cool.

-Martin

Comment on Oscars 2007 by tsambis

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 01:47:24 +0000

I disagree with a few things strongly enough to write in.
1. The sound effects choir was awesome.
2. The memorial portion was offensive to me for not recognizing Shirley Walker, one of the few woman composers to ever score for major studio films.
She fought against the odds in life only to be marginilized in death.

Comment on Words Are Like Bombs, Their Use Often Have Unintended Consequences by Charles Judson

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 02:19:08 +0000

No problem. I’m glad we talked about it offline.

I think this is one of those good mistakes. It keeps folks like me on my toes and makes me aware of the responsibility I have as a writer for CinemATL.

I’ve tried to balance using my more personal voice on the blog and my more journalistic voice on the rest of CinemATL. It maybe a “dangerous” distinction to make. In the future, I’ll try to remain in a more journalistic mode.

And CinemATL always extends the offer to print feedback from anywhere. Negative or positive.

Charles

Comment on Words Are Like Bombs, Their Use Often Have Unintended Consequences by JosieBL

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:44:57 +0000

Thank you Charles. I greatly appreciate the explanation.

My apologies for Skip and my misunderstanding.

Be well,

Josie Burgin Lawson

Comment on What Are You Doing In 2007: J Howard Bach and Josie Lawson by SkipHuffman

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:48:09 +0000

Aggravating? Them’s fighing words!