Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Prince has recently launched his own website, and new music is starting to trickle out. Although the website does not have much going on yet, it is a sign of the times that more is coming soon. For now, he does give us a new song and video, “Screwdriver.” Check it out.
Are you excited by the news of a Prince return? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts).
After the news came out that director Peter Jackson was splitting The Hobbit into three films, I was among those who were skeptical. Saturday Night Live this week perfectly captured that skepticism by imagining if the director were to split the film into even more parts. Check out the funny video. {June 2014 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available for embedding, but for now you may watch the SNL video for “More Hobbit” on Yahoo.}
As for me, after seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), I was glad that Jackson made the choice he did. Perhaps I will grow weary of the story by the end of the trilogy, which I did to some extent with Lord of the Rings. But those like me who enjoy the world he has created probably will not mind the fact you get to spend a little more time in Middle Earth. So if you have not yet seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you might want to check it out.
What did you think of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Most today are familiar with Martin Luther King Jr. giving powerful speeches, but it is rarer to see clips of him engaged in conversation. For MLK Day this year, check out the following video when King appeared on Meet the Press on March 28, 1965.
In the video, King discusses voting rights, police brutality, the civil rights movement, and recent nonviolent protests. The interview took place one week after King led the five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to push for voting rights and raise awareness about civil rights violations. A transcript of the interview is available at the King Center website.
It is interesting to see the long interview in context as in the above video. We see another side of King. . . and the media.
Recently, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes analyzed King’s appearances on Meet the Press from 1960-1966, noting that the questioning often shows that the mainstream media seemed at war with King.
What do you think of King’s appearance on Meet the Press? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
If you have missed the first two episodes of the three-part PBS documentary The Abolitionists, you should check them out as well as the third and final part that airs this Tuesday on PBS (and is also available on DVD
The series focuses on some of the men and women who, leading up to the Civil War, fought for the cause of abolishing slavery. Through re-enactments by excellent actors and well-written narration, viewers learn about the hurdles, struggles, heartbreak, and victories of William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Of course, many other abolitionists worked for the cause and a three-part series has to simplify the complicated story. But the focus on the individuals was a wise choice, making the anti-slavery movement more personal to the viewer.
In the first two parts, you learn about how the death of a child helped lead Harriet Beecher Stowe to write one of the most important novels in American history. You watch how the leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison became friends with former slave Frederick Douglass and how the two had a falling out, resulting in personal attacks and the two men not speaking to each other.
Despite the focus on individuals, the series also provides a good understanding of the years leading up to the Civil War and the steps that further divided the United States. The episodes accomplish that task while paying deserved attention to some important women and men in U.S. history. As the New York Times notes, when William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of The Liberator in 1831, Abraham Lincoln was working as a store clerk. And while it is easy for us to watch today and believe that we would have been on the side of the abolitionists, the series helps show how difficult it is to be a hero too.
What did you think of the first episodes of The Abolitionists? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
To give you an idea of my perspective of Quentin Tarantino’s directing work so you know how to judge my take on Django Unchained (2012): I think Pulp Fiction (1994) is a masterpiece, thoroughly enjoyed Reservoir dogs (1992), and liked Jackie Brown (1997). I was not a big fan of Kill Bill 1 (2003), but liked Kill Bill 2 (2004) a little better. While Inglourious Basterds (2009) had some great moments, I could not get into rooting for the sadistic hero, as I discussed in a previous post. Because of the way Tarantino used the simplified moral landscape of good guys versus Nazis in Basterds, I was expecting more of the same using a slavery landscape in Django Unchained. Considering I also am not a big fan of movies that condone violent vengeance for solving problems, I expected not to like Django Unchained. But I liked it a lot.
Maybe I liked the new film because of my lowered expectations for a director who has yet to repeat the wonders of his early work. Maybe I liked the film’s nod to Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. Maybe the music — featuring Jim Croce, Johnny Cash and Ennio Morricone — won me over. Maybe I was just in the mood for what the film had to offer. Or maybe I found the hero’s violence less offensive because he was acting out of love and not revenge. But Django Unchained features a compelling story, great acting, and sympathetic characters with real feelings.
The movie tells the story of Django, played by Jamie Foxx, who is a slave rescued by a bounty hunter and then the two go on a quest to free Django’s wife from slavery. Christopher Waltz gives one of his best performances as the eloquent bounty hunter, and the reliable Leonardo DiCaprio stretches his acting chops to convincingly play one of the nastiest characters in recent movie history. Samuel L. Jackson also appears in an important role. While the last part of the film, where Django seeks out his wife, does not live up to the high quality of the first part of the film featuring Django’s education as a bounty hunter, the entire film is worthwhile.
The movie, which was recently nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, has generated some controversy. It is a violent film, but much of the gunfire violence from the heroes is so cartoon-ish with blood splattering everywhere and bodies flying through the air when hit by gunfire that it reminded me more of The Three Stooges type of violence (but with lots and lots more blood). On the other hand, the violence surrounding slavery is portrayed more realistically and almost unbearable to watch. While the movie does not really present a moral lesson beyond that slavery is bad, there are some moral complexities to the film, such as where Django questions his role as a bounty hunger and killing as a way of achieving his goal.
The other way the film has generated controversy is its language, and in particular its use of the n-word. I will leave it others to debate the role of such language in film, but the use of race and violence in Django Unchained has led to more debate on those issues than any other recent movie. The film even depicts the horrors of slavery more than a recent movie about the sixteenth president working to free the slaves. And it’s not a bad thing when entertainment provokes discussion of these important issues.
Conclusion? If you are planning to see a Quentin Tarantino movie, you have some idea of what to expect. And if you appreciate the actors in this film and like spaghetti westerns, you might find Django Unchained is some of Tarantino’s best work yet.
Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me?: Rotten Tomatoes gives Django Unchained high scores, with an 89% critics rating and a 94% audience rating. Bob Cesca on the Huffington Post writes that Django Unchained is one of the most important films of the year because of its depiction of slavery. By contrast, Anthony Lane at The New Yorker praises the first half of the film depicting the liberation and education of Django, but he argues that the movie goes south in more than one way when it relocates to Mississippi. Flickering Myth makes a similar argument, noting that the back stories of some of the characters could have been developed more. E Online discusses some of the controversy generated by the film. Not surprisingly, Tarantino is enjoying the attention from the arguments about the film.
How does Django Unchained hold up next to Tarantino’s other films? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
