2012 BronzeLens Film Festival Opens Nov. 8th in Atlanta

Entertainment Industry Leaders Reuben Cannon, S. Epatha Merkerson, Stephanie Allain, Kathie Fong Yoneda, Roger Bobb and Pearl Cleage Headline 3rd Annual BronzeLens Film Festival November 8-11, 2012

BronzeLens 2012 to Screen 50 Feature Films, Narrative Fiction, Documentaries and Shorts November 8th-11th at Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, World of Coca-Cola, Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Power Auditorium

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filmmakers representing the United States, Africa, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe comprise the more than 50 films to be screened for BronzeLens 2012. Now in its third year, the BronzeLens Film Festival (BronzeLens) continues to be one the nation’s most anticipated film festival events. The festival takes place November 8-11, 2012 and will offer content for filmmakers, industry professionals, students and the general public. Attendees may choose from a variety of BronzeLens expert signature panels, workshops, domestic and international film screenings and get a taste of unique southern hospitality.

BronzeLens Festival Highlights

Legendary casting director and producer Reuben Cannon will host “The Producers Roundtable” a groundbreaking session that brings together high-level entertainment executives to share their strategies for producing successful film and television projects. Award-winning author and playwright Pearl Cleage will discuss her newest project in “From Novel to Screen: The Pearl Cleage Film Project.” And, NAACP Image Award winning producer Roger Bobb will conduct a new workshop “Creating Comedy Shows with Roger Bobb.”

This year, the Women Superstars Luncheon, which has become a BronzeLens favorite for local corporations as a means of exposing employees and clients to the BronzeLens experience, will take place on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel. Accomplished women of color in the film and television industry S. Epatha Merkerson, Stephanie Allain, Kathie Fong Yoneda, Deborah Riley Draper and Emayatzy Corinealdi will be honored at this signature event. This year at the BronzeLens Awards on Saturday, November 10, 2012, the best of the festival filmmakers in their perspective categories will be honored. Legendary film, television and theater director Kenny Leon will receive the BronzeLens Trailblazer Award and television producer/director Roger Bobb will receive the BronzeLens Film Advocate Award. Cinema and Social Justice Sunday, which takes place on Sunday, November 11, 2012, will be produced in conjunction with Center for Civil and Human Rights remains a unique and critical component of the festival.

A total of nine international films will be screened at the BronzeLens Film Festival (BronzeLens) November 8th and 10th. Film selections represent works from South Africa, Namibia, Trinidad, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, The Gambia, Senegal and France/Martinique. Also, for the second year as a key international film component BronzeLens re-joins France Atlanta in collaboration to present films from the Francophone world at what is titled “France-Atlanta at the BronzeLens Film Festival.”

BronzeLens Panels and Films at a Glance

All BronzeLens onsite registration November 8-10, 2012 from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm will take place at the Festival’s headquarters hotel, the magnificent Atlanta Marriott Marquis. All juried screenings are shown at the Georgia Pacific Auditorium, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Morehouse College Sale Hall, Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Power Auditorium.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Panels at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis
•Opening Plenary: Production in Georgia : Status Report

•Real Time Opportunities in Financing Film Production featuring Wade Bradley, Founder/CEO of Media Society

•Distribution Options for the Indie Filmmaker

•Creating in the Digital Age

•Kathie Fong Yoneida: Getting your Script to The Screen

Films screened concurrently at Georgia Pacific Center:
Foot Soldiers: Class of 1964, directed by Alvelyn Sanders, Second Time Around, directed by Jessica M. Young, Color Outside the Lines, directed by Artemus Jenkins and Probable Cause

Opening Night Feature Film 8:00 pm at the World of Coca Cola

Otelo Burning, Directed by Sara Blecher http://youtu.be/gek4b3x0TTQ

Awards and highlights include, 13 nominations at the African Movie Academy Awards (more than any other film)- winner Best Cinematography and Best Child Actor, 16th Annual Busan International Film Festival (Korea), Drama Award-24th Annual One World Media Awards in London, 2011 Durban International Film Festival-Official Selection & Opening Night Film, BFI London International Film Festival, 2011 Dubai International Film Festival, Lille Film Festival France-Official Selection,

Cinenerma BC Brazil-Official Selection, US Debut, at Seattle International Film Festival- Official Selection & Nominated Golden Needle Award, Special Screening at American Black Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival

Friday, November 9, 2012

•How to Pitch Your Film to the Media sponsored by the African American Film Critics Association

•Think Global: International Opportunities For Entertainment Projects

•From Novel to Screen : The Pearl Cleage Film Project: Pearl Cleage and Ayoka Chenzira

All Shorts, All Day Films screened concurrently at Georgia Pacific Center

Feeding Freedom, Sweet Auburn, The Last/First Kiss, Their Eyes Were Watching Gummy Bears, What About Us?, 4-1-9, The Bluest Note, Aide de Camp, State of Mind, The Voice, The Christmas Tree, The Collegians, Bunny, Barbasol, In This Corner, and Keeper of the Flame

Friday Night Feature Film at Georgia Pacific Center

8:00 pm
The Contradictions of Fair Hope, directed by S. Epatha Merkerson and Rockell Metcalf

The Contradictions of Fair Hope is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg with music by Christian McBride. The film has received the following awards: Philadelphia Independent Film Festival- Best Documentary, Newark Black Film Festival-Paul Robeson Best Documentary, Festival International Du Film Panafricain-Dikalo Award Best Documentary, San Diego Black Film Festival-Best Documentary and Roxbury International Film Festival-Henry Hampton Award

Saturday, November 10, 2012 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis

•Bus Tour of Movie Locations in the ATL / Limited Seating

•Reuben Cannon and The Producer’s Roundtable

•Producer’s Luncheon

•Commercial Production Workshop on Film and Advertising: The Madison and Vine Intersection, presented by Georgia Lottery Corp.

•Music for Film.TV, Gaming: From Scoring to Licensing

•Creating Comedy Shows with Roger Bobb

International Films Day Screenings at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis

My Beautiful Nightmare (Namibia), The Merikins (Trinidad), On Our land, Being Garifuna in Honduras (Honduras), Hibana (Dominican Republic), Kunta Kinteh: Coming Home without Shackles (The Gambia), Elza (Guadeloupe) and Inside Story (South Africa)

Morehouse College, Sale Hall

Tey, starring Saul Williams (Senegal)

Film Screenings at Georgia Pacific Center

Still Standing, Homecoming, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and 30 Degree Couleur (Martinique)

Roundtable on African and Caribbean Cinema sponsored by France-Atlanta 2012 at Georgia Pacific Center

2012 BronzeLens Awards: Ray Charles Performing Arts Center on the campus of Morehouse College at 8:00 pm

This is the awards ceremony is for the BronzeLens films selected for the International, Shorts, Features and Documentary and Best of Festival categories.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Studio 11 Films historic premiere of The 11Eleven11 Project™Films, Location Georgia Public Broadcasting at 11:00 am

BronzeLens will screen the films of this prestigious groundbreaking and revolutionary filmmaker's program for aspiring and emergent writers, directors and producers. The ambitious and aggressive training program ended its first season by successfully completing the 11 Short Films it promised in record time under at times adverse conditions. Celebrity mentors LisaRaye McCoy and Carl Payne will debut their directorial skill on films like The Promise and Rhythm at the festival. In addition to McCoy and Payne, other mentors included Miguel A. Nunez, Jr., Rockmond Dunbar, Terri J. Vaughn, Leon, Tatyana Ali, Christopher Pearman and Tommy Ford. Immediately after the screening, Studio 11 Films will host its’ “Premiere Party” where guests who will have an opportunity to meet and greet the filmmakers and their casts.

Cinema and Social Justice Sunday, co-sponsored by the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Location Morehouse School of Medicine at 2:00 pm

The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music that Changed America and WITNESS: SOUTH SUDAN, presented by HBO Documentary Films

Closing Night Film, Location Georgia Power Auditorium at 7:00 pm

Echo at 11 Oak Drive, Directed/Written by Crystle Clear Roberson and Produced by Dianne Ashford of Symmetry Entertainment

Echo at 11 Oak Drive' was filmed on location in Atlanta GA. Trailer Music by Rico Wade of Organized Noize. Starring Rockmond Dunbar and Adam Fristoe, Quynh Thi Le, Eric Mendenhall, TJ Hassan, Shayla Love, Shannon Mayers, Danielle Patrick, Rico Ball. Edited by Deanna Nowell of The Edit Factor. Cinematography by Ross Sebek.


About the BronzeLens Film Festival
Founded in 2009, The BronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta, Georgia is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing national and worldwide attention to Atlanta as a center for film and film production for people of color. Its mission is twofold: to promote Atlanta as the new film Mecca for people of color; and to showcase films and provide networking opportunities that will develop the next generation of filmmakers. Since its inception the BronzeLens Film Festival has evolved as one of the most comprehensive film festivals for filmmakers of color in the United States. Visit www.bronzelensfilmfestival.com for more information regarding the BronzeLens Film Festival and for registration information.

Sponsors of the BronzeLens Film Festival are Coca-Cola Company, Georgia Lottery Corp., Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, Turner, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Panavision, Delta Air Lines, HBO Documentary Films, The Levy Group, Georgia Pacific, Macys, AT& T, Morehouse College, France Atlanta 2012, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, The Sai Sai Group, Inc., White Oak Restaurant, Organix Food Lounge Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, MHR International, Movie Magic and Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council. Media Partners Include: 11Alive/WXIA-TV, Atlanta DAYBOOK, Modern Luxury and Oz Magazine

"Woman Thou Art Loosed" Stirring, Powerful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, sexual content, and drug use
DIRECTOR: Michael Schultz
WRITER: Stan Foster (from the novel by T.D. Jakes)
PRODUCER: Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Reinhart “Rayteam” Peschke
EDITOR: Billy Fox
Black Reel Award winner

DRAMA/RELIGIOUS

Starring: Kimberly Elise, Loretta Devine, Debbi Morgan, Michael Boatman, Clifton Powell, Idalis DeLeon, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Sean Blackmore, Jordan Moseley, Philip Daniel Bolden, Destiny Edmond, and Ricky Harris

The subject of this movie review is Woman Thou Art Loosed, a 2004 religiously-themed drama that is directed by famed African-American filmmaker, Michael Schultz. The film is an adaptation of the 1994 self-help book of the same name.

Woman Thou Art Loosed, adapted from Bishop T.D. Jakes best-selling self-help book for women, begins with Michelle Jordan (Kimberly Elise) committing a murder at a revival. Later, Bishop T.D. Jakes (playing himself) visits Michelle on death row. Told through flashbacks, we then see Michelle, just released from prison and determined not to return to her self-destructive life of drugs, stripping, and prostitution, struggle with the demons of her past, including being molested by her mother Cassey’s (Loretta Devine) boyfriend, Reggie (Clifton Powell). At the encouragement of Twana (Debbi Morgan), a family friend, Michelle begins attending Bishop Jakes’ three-day revival, the scene of Michelle’s ultimate tragedy. Can Bishop Jakes help Michelle to accept the healing power of Jesus’ love?

Woman Thou Art Loosed is a beautiful and spiritually engaging film. What it lacks in refinement and technique, it makes up for with religious fervor. Directed by Michael Shultz (Cooley High and Car Wash among others), who was probably the only black film director to consistently direct movies during the 1970’s and 80’s, the film is mostly disjointed for the first half of its running time. Actually, the film is quite hard to follow for the first 20 minutes or so, but then the narrative seems to miraculously come together and flows smoothly the rest of the way. The tragedy of the film is that the script, which tells a very good and compelling story, is short of characterization and character development. Rich characters fill this story, but we only get a taste of them, just enough to irritate because the story doesn’t give more.

What makes this clunky movie soar is Kimberly Elise’s brilliant and searing portrayal of Michelle, young woman who seemingly can’t stop making bad decisions once her innocence is destroyed when she is a child. Ms. Elise has a magnetic screen presence and her performance as a young woman with trials and tribulations is much truer than Oscar winner Hilary Swank’s tepid routine as a trailer trash boxer in Million Dollar Baby. Also stirring is the ministry and preaching of Bishop Jakes.

Though there are moments in the film when the revival seems a bit over the top, 80 percent of the time, it is awe-inspiring and stirs the soul and awakens the intellect. Bishop Jakes’ message of hope and Ms. Elise’s performance, as well as the other actors who give excellent supporting performances in spite of a limp script, make this a fine religious drama. What it lacks as art, Woman Thou Art Loosed makes up for with spirit and hope.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2005 Black Reel Awards: 2 wins: “Best Actress, Independent Film” (Kimberly Elise) and “Best Director, Independent Film” (Michael Schultz); 2 nominations: “Best Actor, Independent Film” (Clifton Powell) and “Best Independent Film” (Reuben Cannon)

2005 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film;” 2 nominees: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Kimberly Elise) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Loretta Devine)

"Madea's Big Happy Family" a Big Happy Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Madea’s Big Happy Family (2011)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 drug content, language and some mature thematic material
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Roger M. Bobb, Reuben Cannon, and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Tyler Perry, Loretta Devine, Cassi Davis, Shannon Kane, Isaiah Mustafa, Natalie Desselle Reid, Rodney Perry, Tamela J. Mann, David Mann, Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, Teyana Taylor, Lauren London, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, and Maury Povich

Madea’s Big Happy Family is a 2011 comedy/drama and is also the 11th film in the Tyler Perry film franchise. Based upon Perry’s play of the same title, Madea’s Big Happy Family finds super-grandmother Mabel “Madea” Simmons coming to the rescue of her dying niece and her big unhappy family.

Madea’s niece, Shirley (Loretta Devine), is dying of cancer, and she wants to bring her three children: Byron (Bow Wow), Tammy (Natalie Desselle Reid), and Kimberley (Shannon Kane) together to tell them the bad news. However, her two daughters are in the midst of awful marital discord with their husbands. Byron is having major baby mama drama from his ex, Sabrina (Teyana Taylor), and his money-hungry girlfriend, Renee (Lauren London), wants him to return to a life of crime.

Betty Ann Murphy, better known as the rambunctious Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), pleads with Madea (Tyler Perry) to help bring Shirley’s children together. Madea decides to do it her way, with tough love and fists (if she has to) and a little laughter along the way. However, Madea has family drama of her own, with her baby daddy, Brown (David Mann), and their daughter, Cora (Tamela J. Mann).

As Madea movies go, Madea’s Big Happy Family is probably the one that most mixes the somberness and the outlandishness found in Tyler Perry’s movie starring or featuring Madea. The conflicts and confusion that surrounds Shirley’s family may seem over-the-top, but I can attest to directly experiencing or being familiar with some of this family’s problems. Besides, the actors give such tight, authentic performances that nothing their characters do really seems hysterical and contrived, which are occasional sins of Mr. Perry the screenwriter. Shad Moss, better known as the rapper, Bow Wow, delivers a surprisingly strong performance, subtle and graceful in some places. That is a trait not found in many rapper-turned-actors.

The craziness that ensues between Madea, Cora, and Brown is indeed funny – some of funniest Madea stuff since Madea’s Family Reunion. Perry deftly uses Madea’s no-nonsense approach to issues of life, death, pain, and general crisis to cloak some truth’s that a lot of people need to hear, especially members of the African-American audience under 40 years old. You would not be wrong to think that Madea’s Big Happy Family is Perry’s most potent message delivery system. If you get tired to the preaching, Madea, Cora, and Brown offer some excellent comic set pieces.

This film’s glaring weakness is the Shirley character. Ostensibly the lynchpin for a testy family reunion, Shirley is merely a prop or conversation piece that keeps the other characters’ roles advancing from one scene to the next. That is disappointing on a number of levels, one of them being that it robs Loretta Devine of a chance to show her range. Still, Madea’s Big Happy Family is a rousing success. The messages of a loving God, hope, love, self-respect, and respect for others go down smoothly in this spoonful of sweet medicine.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, September 03, 2011

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Review: "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" Does All Good for Itself

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA- PG-13 for mature thematic material involving a sexual assault on a minor, violence, drug references and smoking
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy
Image Award winner

DRAMA/MUSIC with elements of comedy and romance

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodrigeuz, Brian J. White, Hope Olaide Wilson, Kwesi Boakye, Frederick Siglar, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, Marvin Winans, and Tyler Perry

One could make the argument that every Tyler Perry movie seems to be made from the same stencil or template. There are the good women and the bad men they love (Madea’s Family Reunion). There are also the good men and the troubled women they try to save (Madea Goes to Jail). And there are always those who need to go back to church because they don’t know which way is up (Daddy’s Little Girls). Of course, there is usually room for the unsinkable matriarch Madea, and her brother and housemate, the un-politically correct, Joe. Perry’s new film, I Can Do Bad All by Myself (based upon his play) distills the essence of Perry’s oeuvre into its most perfect form to date.

After the pistol-packing Madea (Tyler Perry) catches three siblings breaking into her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Madea marches 16-year-old Jennifer (Hope Olaide Wilson) and her two younger brothers, Manny (Kwesi Boakye) and Byron (Frederick Siglar), to the only relative she can find – their Aunt April (Taraji P. Henson), a hard-living, heavy-drinking nightclub singer. April lives off her married boyfriend, Randy (Brian J. White). Already having several children of his own, Randy doesn’t want April’s niece and nephews around, and April certainly doesn’t think her dead crackhead sister’s children are her problem.

Fate, however, brings Sandino (Adam Rodriguez) into April’s life. The handsome Mexican immigrant is looking for work, so the local Pastor Brian (Marvin Winans) asks April to allow Sandino to move into her basement room in exchange for doing handiwork. The hard-luck immigrant challenges April to open her heart, which forces her to make the biggest choice of her life. Will she keep Randy and her old ways or will she choose the new possibilities for life that taking in her niece and nephew offer?

Why do I think that I Can Do Bad All by Myself is the best Tyler Perry movie? I think this film’s strength is based on the performances of its cast. The script isn’t anything particularly special, at least in the context of Perry’s other writing. The motivations for their actions and explanations for what ails the characters in this film are the usual ingredients for a Tyler Perry psychodrama: alcohol, childhood sexual abuse, drug use, and not going to church.

It is a performance like the one given by Taraji P. Henson that allows I Can Do Bad All by Myself to soar as a film about triumph and redemption. Henson is such a natural that whatever character she plays comes across as honest and authentic. In her performance, the audience can buy April, in spite of whatever contrivances Perry fashions for that character’s past. Henson also deftly executes her skills so that she can amplify the comedic moments even in the midst of the intense drama of this film. For instance, there is pathos and merriment in the scene in which Madea first confronts April with her niece and nephews. This scene defines I Can Do Bad All by Myself’s attitude that there is joy even the darkest times in life. Using laughter, Perry and his star give the audience a chance to step back and take a different look at this pivotal moment in the film.

There are other good performances. Brian J. White as the philandering husband and boyfriend, Randy, is exquisite, and Adam Rodriguez alternately simmers and shines as Sandino, the do-the-right-thing handyman. I would be remiss if I failed to mention Hope Olaide Wilson as April’s fierce and stubborn niece, Jennifer, a character that is essentially a younger version of her aunt. It is a testament to young Miss Wilson’s talent that she could present Jennifer as being destined to follow April’s sad path in life without it seeming contrived.

It also doesn’t hurt to have two of the best ever rhythm and blues and soul singers, Gladys Knight and Mary J. Blige, belting out a few songs, giving the kind of vocal performances that will raise the roof and then knock down the walls. It is these performances that make I Can Do Bad All by Myself the standout drama, thus far, in Tyler Perry’s filmography and a movie not to be missed.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 04, 2009

NOTES:
2010 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Actress” (Taraji P. Henson) and “Best Song, Original or Adapted” (Mary J. Blige for the song "I Can Do Bad All By Myself")

2010 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Adam Rodriguez); 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Taraji P. Henson) and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (Tyler Perry)

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Review: "Madea Goes to Jail" a Message-Heavy Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, drug content, some violence, and sexual situations
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Tyler Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pullman, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, RonReaco Lee, Ion Overman, Vanessa Ferlito, Viola Davis, Sofia Vergara, and Robin Coleman

In the seventh Tyler Perry movie (the sixth Perry has directed), his most popular character, the matriarch Mabel “Madea” Simmons, finally lands in jail in the film, Madea Goes to Jail. Madea’s commotions aside, this film’s primary focus is on the efforts of an up and coming attorney to save a former classmate from a life of drug addiction and prostitution.

A high speed car chase lands Madea (performed by Tyler Perry in drag) on the steps of the jail, but a technicality allows her another in a long line of reprieves. However, Madea’s anger management issues lead to an outrageous act of violence that finally earns her a stiff prison sentence. Madea’s eccentric family, including her daughter, Cora (Tamela J. Mann), and Cora's father, Brown (David Mann), rally behind her and lead the effort to free Madea.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke), who is on the fast track to career success, reunites with an old friend, Candace Washington (Keshia Knight Pullman), who is a drug addict and prostitute known to customers and colleagues as “Candy.” Joshua is determined to get Candy cleaned up, off drugs, and off the streets, but they share a dark secret from their past, which seems to hamper efforts to heal Candy. Joshua’s fiancé and fellow ADA, Linda Davis (Ion Overman) is simply enraged at Joshua’s efforts to help Candy, and she plots to permanently separate the two.

Like Tyler Perry’s other films, Madea Goes to Jail is filled with broad comedy (quite a bit of it slapstick), Christian themes, and principles of forgiveness, healing, and redemption, but of all of his films, this is one comes across as the most shallow in its message. Perry’s films, by his own admission, are more than just entertainment; they are message films, so criticizing them on the basis on that message or how the message is delivered is legitimate.

Madea Goes to Jail is Perry’s most polished effort to date, in terms of technical and craft aspects of filmmaking. The direction is smooth, and Perry has cast a group of highly-qualified and veteran actors. These actors bring a sense of weighty drama to this occasionally very dark movie. When this movie was first released earlier this year (2009), much was made of former child star, Keshia Knight Pulliam’s turn as a drug-addicted prostitute. This faux controversy about Pulliam (who played Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show) missed the truth of the excellent dramatic performance given by the underestimated Pulliam – not to mention that such criticism missed excellent dramatic turns by Derek Luke and the recently Oscar-nominated Viola Davis (Doubt).

What Madea Goes to Jail should be criticized for is its ultimately dishonest and shallow message to its audience, in particularly Black women whose lives are in shambles because of drug addiction and because of past and present physical, mental, and sexual abuse. They suffer such abuse at the hands of loved ones. Madea Goes to Jail is actually a great film until the last 15 minutes or so. Tyler Perry is good at depicting suffering and anguish, but not as good when he suggests methods of healing. It is during the last 15 minutes of Madea Goes to Jail that Tyler Perry, as he rushes to tie everything in a feel-really-good, happy-ending bow, offers Christian platitudes (such as forgiveness) and self-help bromides as the cure for deep-rooted ills. When life gives you lemons, you make Jesus-flavored lemonade? I don’t think so.

I don’t begrudge Perry his happy endings, but if he must send messages, he is going to have to think seriously about the social and personal issues that he makes the centerpieces of his films. If he is going to offer answers and solutions, they should be more than “forgive and forget.” Otherwise, Madea Goes to Jail is an entertaining, at times exceptionally entertaining, film. But it could have been a truly important film.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

NOTES:
2010 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actor” (Derek Luke)

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Review: "Why Did I Get Married?" Finds Laughs in the Drama of Married Life

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual references, and language
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy
2008 Image Awards winner

DRAMA with elements of comedy and romance

Starring: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte, Lamman Tucker, Keesha Sharp, and Kaira Whitehead

Why Did I Get Married? is the fourth Tyler Perry film in a little over two-and half years and Perry’s third directorial effort. Perry’s tried and true formula of inspiration, friendship, prayer, and God is evident in every moment of Why Did I Get Married?, and Perry’s continues to improve as a filmmaker.

Eight married college friends reunite for their annual retreat to an exotic locale. This year the retreat is a beautiful Lake Leland home in the snowy mountains of Colorado. Best-selling author and popular psychologist, Patricia (Janet Jackson), and her successful architect husband, Gavin (Malik Yoba), share a tragedy that may tear their marriage apart if the two ever decide to be open about it. Rising attorney Dianne (Sharon Leal) is career driven, but her supportive husband, Terry (Tyler Perry), is fed-up that his marriage is sexless and that the couple has only one child. Angela (Tasha Smith) and Marcus (Michael Jai White) argue all the time. The final couple is Shelia (Jill Scott), a sweet woman troubled by body-image issues because of she is way overweight. Her weight issues are exacerbated by her emotionally abusive husband, Mike (Richard T. Jones), who has actually brought his barely-secret mistress, Trina (Denise Boutte), on the retreat.

The friends expect fun and relaxation on their retreat, but when the secrets and lies come pouring out, friendships and marriages seem broken beyond repair. Then, Sheriff Troy (Lamman Tucker) comes to the rescue.

Tyler Perry’s “Black gospel theatre” stage plays are loud, raucous, and preachy, and the ones that Perry has adapted to film retain much of their spell-the-message-in-capital-letters charm. Not all of the acting is good Janet Jackson as Patricia and Sharon Leal as Dianne love to act it out loudly and, thus, are a bit too over the top. Still, Why Did I Get Married? works. You’ll find yourself pulling oh-so hard for the downtrodden and mistreated (especially Shelia), and loving it when the villains get their comeuppance (especially Mike). There’s plenty of reason to call up giant belly laughs or even howl with laughter (thanks to the delightful scene-stealing Tasha Smith as Angela).

The message here, as it always is in Perry’s work, is believe in yourself and never believe that God has abandoned you. Well, then, thank God for Tyler Perry – for making fine, entertaining films like Why Did I Get Married? with this simply, but too true message.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, February 28, 2008

NOTES:
2008 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Janet Jackson); 3 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jill Scott), “Outstanding Motion Picture,” and “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Tyler Perry)

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Review: Tyler Perry's First Top Notch Drama, "Daddy's Little Girls"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 98 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic material , drug and sexual content, some violence, and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

DRAMA/ROMANCE with elements of comedy

Starring: Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Louis Gossett, Jr., Tasha Smith, Gary Sturgis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Malinda Williams, Terri J. Vaughn, Cassie Davis, Sierra Aylina McClain, China Anna McClain, and Lauryn Aylina McClain

In the romantic drama, Daddy’s Little Girls, impresario Tyler Perry leaves behind Madea, the character that made him so rich and famous, and steps into the background to act as writer/director/co-producer. The film features a rarity in American film, the working class black father who is totally dedicated to his children, and with this subject matter, Perry makes his best film to date.

Working class dad and mechanic, Monty James (Idris Elba) suddenly finds himself in custody of his three daughters, Sierra (Sierra Aylina McClain), China (China Anna McClain), and Lauryn (Lauryn McClain). However, his ex-wife Jennifer (Tasha Smith) is challenging Monty for custody, but he can’t let her take the children because she lives with Joseph (Gary Sturgis), a dangerous mini-drug kingpin. He finds help and later love in Ivy League-educated attorney, Julia Rossmore (Gabrielle Union), but their class differences and Monty’s criminal record threaten to tear them apart, and perhaps, cost Monty his children.

What makes Daddy’s Little Girls Tyler Perry’s best film to date is the strong character writing. Perry takes much heat from African-American critics of both his stage and screen work for dabbling in stereotypes. What he actually uses are familiar character types to tell stories that are moral lessons and parable about family values, and his audience can identify with both characters and the messages behind the film. The way he works is quite sly. On the surface, his plays and films as bawdy, working-class comedies set in black communities (urban, suburban, or rural), but after he gives his audience several acts of rowdy comedy, he leaps into his messages about family, community, and God. In fact, his characters often find solace and healing through these three institutions.

In Daddy’s Little Girls, Perry leaps right into the drama. Poverty, dysfunctional families, terminal illness, urban crime, social injustice (particularly in the legal system), and class prejudice are all topics Perry uses to build the screenplay for this film, and it works. Daddy’s Little Girls is both entertaining and uplifting. Of all his films, this one, more than the others, is directed at his core audience of conservative, working class African-Americans. To mainstream (read: white) American audiences, this may seem like a foreign film, but many viewers from working class backgrounds should identify with this.

If this film has one glaring fault, it’s that the script doesn’t give enough time to the daddy and his little girls of Daddy’s Little Girls. The film is mostly about the developing relationship between Monty and Julia, for which Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union respectively give fine performances. Tasha Smith as the big bad mama, Jennifer, adds spice, and Louis Gossett, Jr. as Willie, brings refined acting to this delightful and heartwarming message movie.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, June 23, 2007

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Review: "Meet the Browns" Movie Needs More Browns

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2008)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for drug content, language including sexual references, thematic elements, and brief violence
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sandi Sissel
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Angela Bassett, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, Lance Gross, Chloe Bailey, Mariana Tolbert, Rick Fox, Sofia Vergara, Irma P. Hall, Frankie Faison, Margaret Avery, Jenifer Lewis, Lamman Rucker, Phillip Edward Van Lear, and Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns is a 2008 film based upon a 2004 play written by Perry (like many of his films). The film was later spun off into a cable television series of the same name.

The film focuses on Brenda Brown (Angela Bassett), a single mother living in inner city Chicago, with her three children: daughters Tosha (Chloe Bailey) and Lena (Mariana Tolbert), and her oldest child, Michael (Lance Gross), a talented high school basketball player. Struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street, Brenda loses her job when her company shuts down (on pay day!). Brenda is feeling very down when a letter from Georgia arrives announcing the death of the father she has never met.

Looking for a chance to get away, Brenda takes her family to an unnamed small town in Georgia for the funeral. Nothing could have prepared her, however, to meet the Browns, her long lost relatives. Crass and fun loving, this Southern clan welcomes Brenda and her children to raucous family get-togethers and lavish meals of traditional Southern fare. Brenda also once again encounters Harry Belton (Rick Fox), a basketball recruiter interested in Michael’s future who first visited the family in Chicago, but Brenda is suspicious of Harry’s intentions both towards her and her son. Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Michael is determined to help alleviate the family’s financial problems and begins to consider becoming a drug dealer. Should Brenda stay and fight it out in Chicago or return to her strange, new family in Georgia?

Like Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, Meet the Browns is a drama with some humor. In a way, it also seems to be two movies – one focusing on Brenda and her family’s trials and tribulations in Chicago, and the other (the shorter of the two) focusing on Brenda’s small town relatives, the Browns. The parts of the film that take place in Chicago feature Perry’s usual besieged, single-parent melodrama, but it isn’t as good as what was in Daddy’s Little Girls. Frankly, except for a few sequences, the only part of Brenda-in-Chicago that I enjoyed was the delightful comic performance by Sofia Vergara as Brenda’s coworker and friend, Cheryl.

Meet the Browns is at its best when we are meeting the Browns, especially the wonderful Mr. Brown (David Mann), who is the main character of the spin-off television series. Jenifer Lewis also gives a salty comic turn as Vera Brown, and this film would have been better had Lewis had a bigger role. Former Los Angeles Laker, Rick Fox, gives an average performance, a bit stiff and dry, about what one would expect from former professional athletes taking up acting.

Another problem with this movie is that the lead actress, Angela Bassett, often seems out of place. There are moments when Bassett’s turn as Brenda Brown is pitch-perfect and poignant, but there are indeed moments when Bassett overacts and Brenda comes across as shrill. It is a testament to her skill that those bad moments don’t overwhelm the entire performance, as well as the movie

Audiences that enjoy Tyler Perry’s usual mixture of moralizing, affection, and forgiveness mixed with boisterous comedy and mockery will enjoy Meet the Browns, although as Perry films go, it is not one of his better films.

5 of 10
B-

Monday, July 19, 2010

Review: Why Did I Get Married Too?

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 of (2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010)
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic material including sexuality, language, drug references and some domestic violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Neal, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, Tasha Smith, Lamman Rucker, Michael Jai White, Louis Gossett Jr., Cicely Tyson, Richard Whiten, and K Callan

We last saw them in the 2007 film, Why Did I Get Married?, working through marriage and relationship issues at a beautiful house in the snowy mountains of Colorado. Now, Why Did I Get Married Too? reunites those four close couples. They have gathered together in the Bahamas for their annual one-week reunion. They’re eager to reconnect and share news about their lives and relationships, but there are some changes and looming troubles.

Best-selling author and popular psychologist, Patricia (Janet Jackson), and her successful architect husband, Gavin (Malik Yoba), show their friends smiles, but their marriage is deeply troubled. Successful attorney, Dianne (Sharon Leal) and her supportive husband, Terry (Tyler Perry), once had sexless marriage, but while there is now plenty of lovemaking, a secret threatens to destroy their union.

Angela (Tasha Smith) and Marcus (Michael Jai White) still argue all the time, but now Marcus has a successful new career as a television sports commentator. Angela, who once criticized Marcus for not having a job, is now jealous that Marcus makes more money than she does, and that envy drives her suspicious that he is cheating on her.

Shelia (Jill Scott) replaced her emotionally abusive and philandering husband, Mike (Richard T. Jones), with the former Colorado sheriff, Troy (Lamman Rucker). However, a recent move, a new baby, and Troy’s difficulty finding a job have put a strain on their marriage. Then, Mike also decides to visit the Bahamas.

2007’s Why Did I Get Married? was a scandalous relationship comedy and engaging reunion drama. It had plenty of soap opera theatrics and over-the-top drama with a capitol “D.” Why Did I Get Married Too? is also filled with theatrics and big “D” drama, but this second film is also darker and edgier. These squabbling couples now have even bigger problems, problems that would give marriage counselors pause. In each case, husband and wife are unsatisfied with each other, and instead of talking through their problems, they scream at each other, rant and rave, and storm out the door.

It’s fun to watch… sometimes. Other times, it’s painful to watch – not only because the anger is so raw, but also because sometimes the couples’ problems seemed contrived. This might be Tyler Perry’s best effort at writing emotional character drama and at constructing multi-layered conflict. This may also be his worst screenwriting simply because the quarreling and marital problems come across as greatly exaggerated. Perry packs this movie’s two hours with wall-to-wall marital discord; then, he ties it up with a pat happy ending that simply cannot wash away the grit Why Did I Get Married Too? leaves in the viewer’s mouth.

This is still a Tyler Perry movie, so it is entertaining, and there is also a cameo at the end that adds much needed sweet to the previous two hour’s sour. Still, with all the arguing the characters do here, the question is not Why Did I Get Married Too? but why are any of them still married!

6 of 10
B

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Review: "Madea's Family Reunion" a Black Family Film Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
Opening date: Friday, February 24, 2006
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, domestic violence, and sex and drug references
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Reuben Cannon and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: John Carter

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Tyler Perry, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Rochelle Aytes, Lynn Whitfield, Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Keke Palmer, Henry Simmons, Mablean Ephriam, Cicely Tyson, and Maya Angelou

Southern matriarch Madea (Tyler Perry) is normally an unstoppable force, but she finds her hands full with a court ordered foster child, Nikki (Keke Palmer). Then, Madea also has to contend with planning a family reunion. That’s not enough on her plate, however; her nieces, sisters Lisa (Rochelle Aytes) and Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), are having relationship problems. Lisa is engaged to marry Carlos (Blair Underwood), a wealthy investment banker who constantly hits and abuses her. Vanessa has finally found a good man Frankie (Boris Kodjoe), but she can’t quite bring herself to trust him no matter how good he is. Most of that distrust is based on her relationship with her and Lisa’s mother, Victoria (Lynn Whitfield), a desperate gold digger who is willing to marry Lisa off to an abusive husband like Carlos just so that he can take care of both Lisa and her. With the family reunion and dark secrets coming out of every clash between Victoria and her daughters, Madea has to use all her tricks to organize the reunion and hope God can cover the rest.

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion is technically a better composed film than the previous adaptation of one Perry’s plays to screen, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Family Reunion is not as funny as Dairy, although there are lots of laughs, in particularly the scenes between Madea and her foster child Nikki. However, the emphasis here is on the various relationship combinations involving Victoria, Lisa, Vanessa, Frankie, and/or Carlos, and boy, are there fireworks. The combination of soap opera hysteria and melodramatic theatrics is not only over-the-top, but also often just too damn much. The conflicts, feuds, personal demons, etc. may not match up to the commotion that is sometimes real life, but the story here is a bit of a spectacle even for film.

Still, some of it rings true. Tyler Perry’s plays are what’s known by some as “Black Gospel Theatre,” in which characters, mostly poor and working class black folk, beset by all manner of personal setbacks, dilemmas, tribulations, obstacles, etc. have to fight their way out using both inner strength and their faith in (the Christian) God, with an emphasis on both healing and faith. This might put some off, especially those who aren’t particularly religious, but this kind of Christian and prayer oriented African-American drama appeals to many working class Americans, especially blacks, but increasingly whites.

The two film adaptations, like the plays, focus on female characters, but the message is universal. While women make up a large part of Madea’s Family Reunion’s audience, men can find messages and teachings aimed at them. Perry uses Madea as comic relief, but the character isn’t a clown. She spouts wisdom, most of it very practical and useful, between feeding her guests and arguing with Cousin Joe (Perry). This makes the film half-comedy and half-religious inflected drama.

The cast of Family reunion might overact (Lynn Whitfield in particular), and some may not be really good actresses (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), but they make the occasionally overheated drama and often-inflamed dramatics work. It’s palatable; one can feel that Blair Underwood (a very good actor short on work because he’s black) is ready to strike out at anyone who gets in his way. So Madea’s Family Reunion might be a crazy family drama, and it does go overboard; still, its good intentions don’t pave a road to hell, and the movie just works.

Besides, there’s always Madea herself for a good time, and maybe that’s what Madea’s Family Reunion needed – more Madea. I don’t know why playing fat-lady drag appeals to so many black comedians, but like Martin Lawrence in the Big Momma’s House franchise, Tyler Perry does it well. Family Reunion is at its best when Madea is being politically incorrect and giving more mouthy adolescents some good old-fashioned beatings; that would have meant an even better film. So here is one call for more Madea. Maybe next time.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Review: "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" Funny and True

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 103 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for drug content, thematic elements, crude sexual references, and some violence
DIRECTOR: Darren Grant
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Reuben Cannon and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Claessen
EDITOR: Terilyn A. Shropshire

DRAMA/COMEDY/RELIGIOUS (CHRISTIAN) with elements of romance

Starring: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Tyler Perry, Shemar Moore, Cicely Tyson, Tamara Taylor, Lisa Marcos, Tiffany Evans, and Judge Mablean Ephriam

On the surface, Helen McCarter (Kimberly Elise) seemingly has the perfect life, living in a big mansion with her husband Charles McCarter (Steve Harris), a powerful Atlanta attorney, but even she knows that trouble is also bubbling beneath that same surface. All of a sudden Charles wants a divorce, and he kicks her out of their home on the eve of their 18th wedding anniversary and replaces her with a woman who has, unbeknownst to Helen, had two children for Charles. Helen is forced to return to “the ghetto,” where she finds refuge with the relatives Charles made her give up long ago because they didn’t fit in with his new high, life style. Helen finds solace and some comedy in the tragedy of her life through the insane antics of her pot smoking, gun toting, and much beloved grandmother figure, Madea (Tyler Perry). Helen also reunites with her mother, Myrtle (Cicely Tyson) , meets a new man, Orlando (Shemar Moore), and begins to keep a journal of her trial, tribulations, and recovery – The Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

Tyler Perry has made a name and a fortune for himself (after being homeless early in his career) with his black southern gospel theatre stage plays – six of them going back to 2000. Diary of a Mad Black Woman was first staged in 2001, and a recording of the Diary stage performance became part of a hit DVD series of Tyler Perry stage plays. After Fox Searchlight rejected Perry’s screenplay adaptation of Diary, he submitted it to Lions Gate Film, which green lit the project back in the Spring 2004, and for that we’re lucky.

The quality of the acting is mixed. For instance, Kimberly Elise’s voiceovers are dry, and Tyler Perry’s over-the-top antics, which may work well on the stage (I’ve never seen one of his plays performed live), is occasionally too forced even for the big screen. The script is also a bit dry, but makes some wonderful points about charity, forgiveness, Christianity, love, family, and marriage. Darren Grant’s directing holds the film together even through the clunky bits. However, the film ultimately comes together as a fabulous inspirational look at coming to terms with the trials of life, but most importantly coming to terms with one’s family: the one into which we are born, the ones which adopt us, and the ones into which we marry.

Diary of a Mad Black Woman is inspiring, uplifting, shocking, provocative, and always surprising. The message is familiar, but the ways in which the film gets us there is never dull and 99.9 percent of the time engaging. Although this is a film with a predominately black or African-American cast, Diary is universal and good for all Christian souls, even both the nominal and the sanctimonious ones.

7 of 10
B+

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