Moving, Essential: "The Hate U Give"

The Hate U Give (2018)
directed by George Tillman, Jr.
starring Amandla Stenberg, Russell Hornsby, Regina Hall, Anthony Mackie, Common, Issa Rae

Recommended? Yes, highly. A must-see.

I knew this was the movie to see as the George Tillman Jr. directed screen adaptation of the YA novel went wide. Many of you have seen it already. I went with trepidation. Not because I didn't think the film would be good, but because the subject matter is painful. I'd been trying to get through the audiobook of the brilliant Angie Thomas novel and have not been able to do it. The story of how a young teen copes with seeing another best friend die of gun violence right in front of her, this time from a policeman's bullet, is a story we unfortunately know all too well.

The saving grace of this narrative is in seeing how this exceptional teen rises up, takes action, and becomes who she is meant to be.

Far from being a simple tale of "something terrible happened and it made me a better person," The Hate U Give manages to meld a YA coming-of-age story with a treatise on black identity, black love, the immediacy of hip-hop as social commentary, social justice, political action, police brutality, class, crime, and racism. Watching a teenager have to navigate between the social hierarchy of a mostly white private school, the supportive enclave or her family, and the harsh realities of the streets in between is stunning. Though many of us have grown up this way, to see it portrayed in a way that few films have captured with such poignancy makes me marvel anew at the resiliency of people of color who must cope, dodge, adapt, and overcome just to survive in our society.

Watching this brilliant film was a rollercoaster of emotion for me:

* Thrilled by the portrayal of protagonist Starr Carter by the amazing Amandla Stenberg, who manages to imbue Starr with both the questing uncertainty of a teenager and the burgeoning maturity of the woman she is becoming.

* Gratified by the depiction of a loving, proud black family headed by a strong father who is a complicated, multilayered character. Regina Hall is effective as Starr's loving and protective mother, but Russell Hornsby as Starr's father Maverick, a former gang member who served an undeserved prison term for the local drug kingpin (Anthony Mackie) and now runs the local convenience store, is an absolute standout. You feel his love and pride in his family, his fierce determination that his children stand up for themselves, and his desperation and frustration at continued disrespect from law enforcement.

* Heartbroken by yet another senseless murder of a young black man, Starr's childhood friend and first crush Khalil, played by the engaging newcomer Algee Smith. This scene portraying their confrontation with police points up just how necessary it is for parents of color to have The Talk with their children.

* Outraged by the unwarranted brutality against black and brown people by police and the refusal by many police departments to hold officers accountable for them. However, I commend the film for not demonizing the character of the officer who shot Khalil, and for presenting the viewpoint of police in the character of Starr's uncle Carlos, played by Common, an officer who explains to her how in the same circumstance, he too would probably have shot her friend.

* Saddened that the youngest of us, the children, have to grow up in these times when they don't get to have a true childhood.

* Embarrassed and disappointed by the grip that gangs and drugs still have on our communities, though the economic cycle that forces many into crime is deftly explained in the film.

* Inspired to see another generation radicalized to action in the face of so much ongoing oppression, racial animosity, apathy, and violence. The character of local organizer April Ofrah, played by Issa Rae, is a reminder that we must be the change. It is when we give up that any hope for change diminishes. And Starr Carter represents that hope.

The Hate U Give makes sure to show a balanced picture, that not all cops are violent, and not all whites are clueless racists. The fact that these messages are also conveyed makes the film that much stronger. Some of the scenes toward the end are disturbing, as police attempt to quash a peaceful protest and young people are threatened with beatings, shootings, and fire.

The Hate U Give is not a feel-good movie. It's a powerful film that shows viewers the truth of black neighborhoods across this country in the era of #BlackLivesMatter. It's a movie about how one young girl gets woke, and by watching, hopefully we do too. And this makes it one of the most important films of the year.

Words on Flicks for Your Ears

The Words on Flicks Show
With Your Host, Janine Coveney

A new podcast on movies from a fan perspective ...

Greetings everyone. After posting 80 blogs on various movie topics to this platform, Words on Flicks is expanding to the podcast universe. Beginning October 18, 2018, I am launching a weekly 60-minute BlogTalk Radio show to talk about my favorite hobby, watching movies. You can check it out every Thursday evening at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.

Why a podcast? Because online radio/video talk has expanded and exploded in the last few years and it's a great platform for discussion of various topics. I myself was invited to guest on a couple of podcasts in the past year, and Ed Waterford, one of the hosts and EWaterRadio founder, generously offered me a timeslot of my own. In that moment, I thought, Why not? Everyone likes movies. They may not get a chance to go to the theater that often, or they may not like a particular genre, but most people have seen a film that has impacted or influenced them in some way, and it's fun to talk about that.

Background: I am an entertainment journalist. I have been a writer, editor and content creator and my beat has been 90 percent about music and the terrestrial radio business. I enjoyed several years as a Billboard Magazine scribe covering R&B and then as managing editor for their now-defunct radio-oriented spinoff magazine Billboard Airplay Monitor. I covered music -- hip-hop, R&B and jazz -- for more than a decade at various other magazine and broadcast companies. I branched into travel writing as well after going abroad to cover jazz events. I never felt the need to become an "air personality." But I think doing the podcast will be fun.

Because while writing and editing was what paid the bills, in my off hours I do a lot of fiction reading and writing, spinning my own stories into (as yet unpublished) novels. I've also done a lot of movie watching. A fascination for good storytelling, particularly visual storytelling, has fueled my love of cinema from a very early age. Growing up in New York City, I caught my mother's enthusiasm for watching TV Channel 9's "Million Dollar Movie" series, which was usually classic musicals, dramas, or gangster flicks of the 1930s through the 1950s. I was still in elementary school. And by the way, I had no idea it used the Gone With The Wind Theme until I first saw GWTW as a young adult:



As I got older, getting home from high school, there was ABC's "The 4:30 Movie"; Mom would make snacks and make me promise to do my homework afterward, but for an hour and a half or two hours, including those pesky TV commercials, we were glued to the screen, oohing and ahhing over a leading lady's costume, some fancy dance footwork, or a gruesome shootout. My mother taught me to recognize her favorite screen idols, and I was able to follow actors from film to film. Just hearing the theme music to this afternoon movie gem puts a smile on my face:



Living in NYC, it was also easy to see independent and foreign films because it was a major market. I remember ditching school to go the 68th Street Playhouse to see the original "Birdcage" -- La Cage aux Folles -- in French, as well as numerous other subtitled flicks when I was still a teen. I also got into the habit of seeing major studio films during the first weekend of release. When I first moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s, I wanted to write for television. So I studied scriptwriting and story structure. I even studied acting for a little while. These experiences actually changed and improved how I look at a film.

Movies are sheer escapism. But they are also a chronicle of our history and culture and an ongoing commentary on human nature. When we watch, we bring our own knowledge and life experiences to the viewing, and in the process we open ourselves up to learn and see more through the main characters. When I watch, I try to take in everything that's presented on screen -- not only the actors' performances, and the mechanics of their dialog, but the subtext of that dialog, what the costumes and the set decoration say about their status, their relationships, their education, and their values. Older movies are a virtual symposium on the values, customs, clothing, and culture of past generations, which is fascinating to me. Historical dramas -- though often fictionalized and Hollywood-ized -- can still offer us a valuable perspective on real events and personalities. Situations that were life-threatening, reputation-altering, and life-changing in the past don't hold the same meaning today, though we now face new threats and challenges due to progressive values and advanced technology.

This is also an interesting moment in cinema history, as the studios and the film and television academies try to acknowledge the stories and talents of people of color, with more diversity initiatives and a broader array of films being made than in past decades.

In my head I have a memory file where I tend to make little mental links between films with similar themes, music, characters, and situations. It's just how my mind works. So I get to write my unfettered and amateur opinions here. I get to share a bunch of words on flicks.

So hopefully you'll want to tune into blogtalkradio.com/ewaterradio as I chat about various themes and topics in movies past and present.

In addition to this blog, I've launched a new Words On Flicks FaceBook page, and you can send me your ideas at janinec@wordsonflicks.com.

Thanks for indulging me and coming along for the journey.

Timeless Love: A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born



directed by Bradley Cooper
starring Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, others

Recommended: Yes.

When I heard that actor/director Bradley Cooper was taking on "A Star Is Born" for yet another remake, I wondered ... why? There are already so many remakes of previous titles in Hollywood's pipeline, are there no original stories left?

A Star Is Born first came to the screen with Fredric March and Janet Gaynor back in 1937; most film fans know the Judy Garland musical vehicle with musical dud James Mason starring as an alcoholic actor. That version really captures the rhythm of Hollywood as well as everything that makes Judy Garland a star: the acting, the singing, the dancing; it also utilizes montages of black and white photos to advance the story, something not much seen at the time.

Of course people either revere or revile the 1976 version with luminous Barbra Streisand and sexy Kris Kristofferson. I happen to be in the revile camp -- I watched the movie again recently and it was just as bad as I remembered, though it had great cinematography and one good song in "Evergreen." Playing a rock star singer-songwriter, Kristofferson sang some truly abysmal numbers in that.

As I remembered the Garland/Mason film, the narrative seemed more a cautionary tale than a timeless love story. On my FB page, I asked "Why does A Star Is Born keep getting remade? Does a talented woman still need a hand up from a powerful man? And is a man still so threatened by a woman's success that he self-destructs?" Responders disputed this view, saying the previous versions were products of their time, and that it wasn't the woman's success that led to the man's demise, it was his own demons and he was on a downward spiral anyway. Hmmm. I can sort of see where there is a glimmer of self-sacrifice there, made in the name of love; as Maine decides that he will only drag his wife down, he takes the ultimate exit.

I also asked if smart women were still falling in love with hopeless drunks. Well, in the new version of A Star Is Born, apparently they are.

Spunky waitress, monster vocalist and sometime performer Ally, played soulfully by an amazing Lady Gaga, gets swept off her feet by one of the most charming, talented, and famous alcohol abusers on the scene, the rock artist Jackson Maine, played soulfully by Cooper with a roguish glint in his eye and channeling costar Sam Elliot's western basso elocution. They meet by accident, Jackson chasing a drink, and Jackson finds himself intrigued and inspired by Ally's talents and down-to-earth personality. The two begin a whirlwind romance, with Jackson pulling Ally onto the stage with him to sing an original song she'd only a cappella'd to him the night before.

There is no question that Ally is aware of his substance abuse issues, as well as his hearing problems, but his charm, talent and his focused interest in her elicits a bottomless well of love and loyalty. So with the audience roaring its approval of Ally's prodigious pipes (I knew Gaga could sing, and she is mindblowing here), she becomes a staple in Jackson's touring show before being plucked for solo pop stardom by an enterprising young talent manager. As in previous versions of ASIB, at the pinnacle of being recognized for her solo success, Jackson falls apart -- quite publicly. Unable to conquer his own demons, angered by and envious of Ally's success as a pop nymphet, which seems removed from the soulful singer-songwriter style she first evolved in her shows with him, Jackson can't recover his equilibrium. From there, it's a downward spiral for Jackson. And a real bummer for us viewers.

In some ways, this new version hews closely to the 1976 one in terms of Jackson being a burned out rock star, and in keeping his origins to the west (note that Streisand's former husband, Jon Peters, is a producer for both), and it has the look and pacing of many 1970s auteur flicks. There are some interesting updates; rather than meet in a dive Hollywood bar, Jackson meets Ally in a drag bar where she is allowed by the stage queens to perform "La Vie En Rose" in Edith Piaf eyebrows. Her backstory includes being a den mom to her father (a surprising turn by Andrew Dice Clay), and his crew of perhaps wiseguy-connected "drivers," as well as best friend to a young gay man played with charm by Anthony Ramos, who starred as Mars Blackmon in the reboot of Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have It." Jackson's relationship with his brother and caretaker, played to perfection by the great Elliott, gives viewers a window into the rock star's sense of entitlement as well as his insecurities after abandonment by their parents.

What is refreshing and compelling about this ASIB is the naturalistic performances of Gaga and Cooper. While most movies rush the principle characters into bed after a few volleys of dialog, this version shows us the progression of their relationship, which includes a friendly ribbing, an opposites-attract dynamic, and a true bonding over the creation of music. We see how Jackson invests Ally with his own hopes and dreams, looking to reignite his own creative drive, and we see how Ally's fascination and regard for Jackson's artistry and his belief in her leads her to grab for both love and self-expression. We see them fall in love before our eyes, and it's quite remarkable and believable. There may be some viewers, however, who feel that these scenes go on way too long, that the leisurely pace is off-putting, that the dialog drags. I say: As viewers we have become so used to wiz-bang editing and narrative shortcuts that this slow unfolding of realtime affection has become rare.

In addition, the music for this outing is really, really good. Cooper holds his own, wrangling his guitar and singing tunes that already sound like rock anthems. And Gaga's vocal power and control are nothing short of astonishing. It's no wonder the soundtrack has leapt to the top of the Billboard charts in the weeks since its release. Together, as actors, they have some amazing scenes that will challenge your ability to keep a dry eye.

Ultimately, I think the reason for the remake of A Star Is Born is the evergreen nature of its narrative, which provide the two leads with incredibly juicy, showy acting roles. Cooper is great, and his casting of Gaga is inspired. It was also nice to see actors known more for comedy, including the aforementioned Clay, Dave Chappelle, and even Eddie Griffin, in supporting roles.

While previous versions of ASIB show us the trajectories of two distant stars crossing, this version is much more intimate and human.