Urbanworld Film Festival 2024

Movie Review Coming Soon!

Directed by by Frank Sputh, Bin Martha, Kolumbianerin (I'm Martha, Colombian) is a slowcumentary, the nearly three-hour portrait of a young Afro-Colombian woman, a slow, closely observing documentary.

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Expressway Cinema Rentals is Philadelphia's leading photo & video rental resource for the creative community.

Visual Jedi LLC | Specializing in Video Production from concept to creation. Storyboard, audio mixing, editing, graphics design and more!

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Fine Art Reproductions - Limited Edition Giclees on Canvas and Limited Edition Prints by World-Renowned Visual Artist and Designer, Synthia SAINT JAMES

 

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Perspectives directed by Neer Shelter has qualfied for the 2024 Academy Awards

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FYC: Academy qualified short film 'Perspectives' directed by Neer Shelter | Oscars Shortlist

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Rent Abyss: The Greated Proposal Ever, a short film made with a diverse cast & crew working together to tell a story about Love, Friendship and PTSD! This urban military homecoming drama is a candid glimpse into the troubles surrounding a U.S. Army Sergeant who gets stranded by SEPTA in the inner city when a wild marriage proposal shakes up his plans to reunite with the only family he knows. 

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Entries in 2015 A-to-Z Challenge (33)

Wednesday
Apr222015

Shit I Don’t Like about Society: We are all Filthy Creatures!

A serious case of nausea came over me one day last year during a tour stop for my American Red Cross fundraising initiative. I knew that eating would likely solve the problem but it had to wait because completing the five hours I planned to be outdoors, talking to strangers about movies and disaster relief, took precedence over all else.

Soon, I went from standing next to a DVD stand to sitting on one of the blocks in a parking lot next to my vending spot, taking lots of slow in-and-out breaths to prevent myself from vomiting all over the sidewalk. Inches from me lay the very curb on which people spit out mucus and saliva, throw their garbage of empty food containers, urinate and who knows what else. Yet, there I was – lightheaded, sick and trying to gather myself to continue on with my day.

Obviously when you’re in your own state of discomfort, there is less concern about how nasty the surroundings are, and more concern about what it’s going to take for you to get right, really fast. Still, that does not mean we as a human race couldn’t stand to do better at caring for the environment – for it affects how well, and how quickly, we can recover from emergencies. Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is a great example of how every man, woman and child living on the earth has a responsibility in treating it with the respect and care it deserves because there’s no telling when the time comes when you’ll find yourself shitting where you eat; in emergency situations that could have been prevented.

"When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," a Spike Lee Film.Even the most basic of things such as not littering are among the many important wake-up calls anyone can gather from a movie like When the Levees Broke.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of New Orleans residents were surrounded by water they couldn’t drink, soil they wouldn’t grow food on, air that carried some of the foulest odors that no sane person would enjoy breathing in and heat and humid temperatures that made it all more difficult to bear. One can only imagine how much of the environmental challenges that surface when disastrous events occur were the result of --and exacerbated by -- everyday, senseless actions of man.

Western society produces volumes of unnecessary waste and far too many people don’t even think twice about it. We’re quick to trash something than we are to recycle it. We contribute to the economic growth of entire industries that are artificial materials. We disrupt forest land and natural animal habitats to manufacture buildings, highways and other forms of infrastructure rather than restore or rebuild the loads of abandoned ones that are crumbling as they sit. We don’t rinse out food containers or household products before throwing them away. We don’t use up that last bit of ketchup, peanut butter, or shampoo because there’s always more available at a store somewhere.

"Bad Boys II," a Michael Bay filmSo, I believe that society’s wasteful habits stem from the expectation that there’s always somebody else who will take care of the environment, as it relates to our quality of life. The sanitation company will be there to pick up our mountains of trash and take it far away to a distant land somewhere so we don’t have to deal with it.

Companies in the private and public sectors will clean our streets and sidewalks after we soil them with muddy shoes in the rain, cigarette butts, empty pizza boxes, used condoms, baby diapers, sewage and other toxic agents. The utility companies will make sure we have everything we need to live and work as comfortably as possible. The local and/or federal governments will also take care of many other things that we don’t have to deal with as our society abuses the environment, maintains a sense of entitlement in having someone else rinse it out, and then repeats this mistreatment.

S is for SocietyThere is a scene in Michael Bay’s crime action movie “Bad Boys II” where a drug lord named Johnny Tapia tells his young daughter that fashion models are filthy creatures. Given that the western world takes its natural resources for granted, essentially biting the hand that feeds us, I would argue that we are all causes of a polluted environment in which we live and raise our children. However, sooner or later, something is gonna have to give on this front.

The importance of making conscious and better decisions on how we treat the earth is bigger than making it so that someone under the weather can sit on the sidewalk without having to worry about becoming even more ill. It’s about making it so that if we’re ever in a situation where we our dependency on environmental elements for some form of support is greater than ever – be that in terms of nourishment or physical support -- it will be in a much better condition, and thus a much better position to aid us in making that happen.

*Today’s blog post is in honor of EARTH DAY.

If YOU ruled the world, what law would you put into effect to combat pollution?

What are some of the grossest things YOU’VE noticed laying in the street?

Tuesday
Apr212015

Beyond the Rocky Balboa Steps: 6 Alternative Running Routes in Philadelphia

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa.Aside from being a popular tourist attraction, the famous Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is also frequented by locals jogging their way through the city.

There is no doubt that celebrating this classic Sylvester Stallone flick by emulating one of its most iconic scenes can give you the adrenaline rush you’re seeking.

If staying fit is what you’re after, however, then there are many other viable routes for runners in Philadelphia that put you in close proximity to interesting landmarks.

  1. Run at the many different school tracks around the city. Track & field areas of high schools and universities are the stomping ground for students training for the Penn Relays. So, it’s not uncommon to find locals completing their walking and running routines at schools as well.

  2. Participate in the Broad Street Run. Thousands of people come from all over the country to be a part of this 10-mile race, benefiting the American Cancer Society. Joining these runners will bring you in contact with several historic landmarks in Philly that you probably didn’t even know about.

  3. Sign up for the Red Cross Walk & Run to save lives. This early morning workout is a great chance to help you keep your body in shape with the added perk of spending all day among the animal kingdom; Participants get free admission to the Philadelphia Zoo.

  4. Marathoners competing in the Broad Street Run.Run across the Ben Franklin Bridge and back again. If anything, saving on toll fees while bouncing back and forth between Philly and New Jersey during with a close-up view of the Delaware River sounds like a mighty good deal.

  5. Run for your life! People get shot, shot at, hit by cars and assaulted in Philly. It’s the unfortunate reality of a city that’s said to be a place that loves you back. What a joke.

  6. Run through Penn’s landing. Its fun, it’s near the water and it connects you to South Street, one of the most popular shopping districts (and party scenes) in the area. That’s all you need to know.

There you have it! Six places to run in Philly, whether you’re a Rocky Balboa fan or just want to trim and/or tone your physique. Now the only thing left for you to do is tie up those shoe laces and get going!

R is for Running

 

On a typical day, what other type of exercise are YOU most likely to participate in aside from running?

What would make YOU want to run up the Rocky steps?

Monday
Apr202015

A Pop Quiz on Queer Cinema Matters 

(l-r): Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett and Denzel Washington as Joe Miller in the drama film "Philadelphia."Several years ago, I attended the screening of a short film called Making Arrangements. It’s a funny movie that I enjoyed watching at one of the film festivals in town. The plot of this film also involves lesbian movie characters – something I’d rarely seen on the big screen.

Actually, Johnathan Demme’s  drama film Philadelphia -- about a lawyer dying from AIDS who sues his employer for wrongful termination – is among my earliest recollections of seeing a same-sex couple in a movie. Although Dee Rees' teenage drama Pariah is currently the last film I watched that has a diverse portrayal of modern-day relationship dynamics, I find it troubling that this isn’t as common an occurrence at the multiplex as there are films solely featuring straight characters.

If given $1 to name as many movie couples as you could in 15 minutes, do you think you’d be able to clear $100 with no sweat? Chances are the average person who owns a television, or has been to a motion picture theater, has a Netflix subscription and/or possesses a sizeable DVD collection, could complete this task easily. The same, however, cannot be said if we narrowed it down to films with same-sex couples. Just out of curiosity, I tried to recall any movies I’ve seen that have a clear queer presence.

(l-r): Samantha MacLachlan as Ursula and Queen Latifah as Cleo in the film "SET IT OFF."The exercise brought forth an unfortunate realization that of all the films I’ve ever watched, to date, those that I remember featuring same-sex couples clock in only somewhere around no more than ten or so; including the aforementioned Making Arrangements, Philadelphia and Pariah.

The List

  • F. Gary Gray’s action drama Set It Off starring Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Kimberly Elise, about a group of friends who start moonlighting as bank robbers.
  • Dennis Dugan’s comedy Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler, the Sprouse brothers, and Joey Lauren Adams, about a law school grad who adopts a child to impress his girlfriend.
  • John Cameron Mitchell’s romantic comedy drama Shortbus starring Sook-Yin Lee and Justin Bond about a therapist whose clients introduce her to an underground mixer where attendees partake in swinging, erotic fetishism and other activities. (*Sidebar: My review on this movie can be read at Writercize)
  • Neil Drumming’s hip-hop music drama Big Words starring Dorian Missick, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Zachary Booth, about a disillusioned IT worker who reunites with his friends on the night of the 2008 Presidential election.

Other movies with a queer element to them such as Boys Don’t Cry are worth a mention but I’m not exactly sure if this particular film would count, given that it appears the main character was in a transitional period. Same goes for The Crying Game. Although the dark ballerina flick Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis has some lesbian action in it, I doubt that this movie qualifies either in terms of adequate representation for same-sex couples; because its main female characters do not appear to consider themselves to be romantically attracted to women.

(l-r): Gbenga Akinnagbe as James and Zachary Booth as Benn on the film set of "BIG WORDS."Seems like films in the mainstream culture and even indie films that get buzz on the festival circuit are deliberately gay, and understandably so, in cases where it lends to the overall story. However, it would be nice if more movie characters were normalized like in Big Daddy, Set It Off and Big Words. The characters in these movies just happen to have a significant other who is of the same gender.

Who they are dating or married to has no significant bearing on the turn of events in these particular flicks. To include these character types seems like no big deal, which is an important factor to recognize because that’s a better -- and ideal -- representation of how things should be, rather than portraying the LGBT community as some kind of anomaly from outer space or a type of thing that must be the central focus of the entire narrative.

Q is for QueerPOP QUIZ: Which of the following actors was threatened to be fired from their off-screen day job, for playing a controversial role in one of these queer-friendly films?

A)     Queen Latifah

B)     Sook-Yin Lee

C)     Gbenga Akinnagbe

D)     Hilary Swank

Also, how many movies have YOU seen featuring same-sex couples?

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