Steve & Barry’s Black Dream
Still from Steve McQueen’s film Lover’s Rock one fifth of his anthology film series Small Axe premiering on Amazon November 20
My fall break turned into an autumn sabbatical. My bad. Work, birthdays, COVID, the election; things kind of just slipped away. But I’m back! I won’t go making any promises on frequency but you can count on me to fill your inboxes with my insights until at least the end of the year. I know last time I was here I mentioned a dissection of Chris Rock’s filmography, don’t worry its on the way, it just ended up being way longer that I wanted (editor needed). I thought I’d come back to you with something short and sweet, along with my early call for my favorite movie of the year. Enjoy!
Two of my favorite directors are back in the spotlight, one at top form releasing five movies in one day, the other teasing us with trailers from his next project. Of course I’m talking about Steve McQueen (director of 12 Years a Slave and Widows) who seems to have finally come into full form as a Black filmmaker with the release of his five film anthology Small Axe. Then there is Barry Jenkins (director of Moonlight) who’s tackling a slave narrative for his next project in the Underground Railroad and has injected it with so much beauty and dignity my eyes hurt. Small Axe premieres today and will be releasing one of its five new films every week on Amazon and Underground Railroad has yet to set a release date.
I’ll start with McQueen since I’ve actually seen one of the five films comprising Small Axe back in October. I’m not going to bury the lead here, McQueen’s Lover’s Rock is the best Black house party movie I’ve ever seen. Does it matter that this party takes place 40 years in the past, does it matter these West Indian Black people are across the pond in London, and does it matter that I didn’t know a damn song that played in the entire movie: hell no! McQueen and his cinematographer Shabier Kichner (also Black) have put together something incredibly special from the opening shot to the last. They seamlessly capture the rhythm of a long night out; starting with the reluctant friend who doesn’t want to be out all night, to the DJ prepping the perfect track list.
But what separates McQueen’s foray into the party drama is his attention to detail. Only he would stop the movie to focus on the figure 8 sway of hips as a crowd grinds and dutty wines closer to each other. The vaporization of sweat off rolling waves of Black bodies as it converts to steam condensing back onto the dance floor walls. But he also captures the ways we hurt and heal one another with our bodies over the course of a long night. I wish I could describe every delectable moment of wild Black bliss in this movie but alas the onus is on you to watch it (there is a mosh pit scene, it is epic). I implore you, watch this movie, it will not disappoint, then go listen to Silly Games by Janet Kay.
Before McQueen made 12 Years a Slave and Widows, all his movies had white protagonist. I don’t think that made his cinema any less engaging or Black for that matter (a longer conversation on Black cinema) but the subject of all of his previous work focused so much on isolation and relied on such austere visuals that it lacked the raw joy of Small Axe. I think years of telling stories far from home brought McQueen back to his own neighborhood to fill a hole in the culture. There is a lot of buzz around the diaspora wars and Black Brits playing American roles, and while I don’t feel like wading into that fight today I can say that McQueen is doing the work that needs to be done by championing Black British stories and the need for stories of the entire Black diaspora. Small Axe is bold and ridiculously ambitious, McQueen saw this huge gap in Black British representation and decided to make five movies about it, covering different genres and times, but all centered on one community, his community.
With Barry he’s back at it again with the slow push ins and close ups that make your eyes want to swallow the frame. Jenkins is adapting Colson Whitehead’s great book The Underground Railroad where for all those who didn’t pay attention in history class its an actual railroad this time. So far Jenkins has released three teasers, the one I have here is the most recent he released on his birthday (Scorpio gang!). Each trailer has those creamy pastels and Nicholas Britell’s music is just next level. The slave drama can be a tough one for folks, and the fact that its one of the few Black stories to easily get white funding can make it more than problematic. But I think slavery as an institution can always use more light, and I think with Jenkins being an African American descendant of slaves raised in South this is going to be something special.
Notable Movies Watched this Fall:
Tenet (2020) - Saw this at the drive-in, was mostly underwhelmed. Some great fight sequences but way too dense and I’m sorry but John David Washington’s lack of a line up and fade really bothered me
Oceans 11 (2001) - I still love 13 more, only because I saw it first, but this was textbook good, it will be copied for generations
We are Who We Are (2020) - Best title cards for a TV show ever and Luca Guadagnino excels at creating tender moments and genuine characters, Jordan Kristine Seamón is a star
Lovecraft County (2020) - After episode four I wasn’t a fan, another thing that had great moments but boy was it dense
Mo' Better Blues (1990) - I like most of this, then Spike drops the ball. He really didn’t know what to do with these women as fully realized characters, I will say Giancarlo’s fit was impeccable every scene
His House (2020) - This is flat out a good movie, but I was really in the mood to be scared and this just didn’t terrify me when I needed it most. I like Wunmi Mosaku much more here than in Lovecraft Country
Waiting to Exhale (1995) - Did you know Forrest Whittaker directed this? And that it takes place in Arizona? Me either! This has loads of iconic moments but the pacing and structure feel off in every scene, I also wanted more Whitney and All State man
Notable Albums Listened to this Fall:
Before (2020) by James Blake - Five songs. All gems.
Savage Mode II (2020) by 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - For the longest my friend tried to convince me 21 was the caviar rapper of trap, I’m now a true believer
Hold Space for Me (2020) by Orion Sun - I saw Orion perform two years ago in a dusty warehouse in North Philly now they’re making music that breaks you in two and puts you back together, please listen they are on their way up
…
eric
