Movies and TV

[RCNAL]

She did 'When They See Us', 'Selma' and '13th', surprisingly, I've not seen any of those. No special reason why. Anyway, wanted to garner thoughts on her work, and what the early preview of this looks like.

and
Director Ava DuVernay talks new movie "Origin"

 

[Rollie Forbes]

Ava DuVernay is a fantastic director who is in the same rarified air as Spike Lee, John Singleton (R.I.P.), and Martin Scorsese. She always gets the most out of her cast, and her shots are always on point. She's dope.
Ava typically does dramatic film and television, except for her comic book adaptations on HBO Max & the CW. I would love to see her branch out into comedy or maybe more action-oriented projects.
If you want to get familiar with Ms. DuVernay's work and you're looking for a starting point, then watch When They See Us, Queen Sugar, and Selma,

 

[cjg]

One thing about it, with a Duvernay film, there is always a educational message (I know the 13th was, to me, familiar knowledge to black folks, or was really directed towards white ppl) .. there is always a black empowerment undertone ...

To me, she never disappoints...

... With that being said, I don't know what to think given trailer ...

 

[RCNAL]

I didn't realize she made Queen Sugar. I saw a couple seasons of that. Started out great and then went into the swirling hard and a little rainbow stuff. I am going to give the benefit of a doubt and attribute that to the network pushing it on black folks.

Anyway, I always like seeing Black people win as long as they aren't selling out.

 

[Rollie Forbes]

I didn't realize she made Queen Sugar. I saw a couple seasons of that. Started out great and then went into the swirling hard and a little rainbow stuff. I am going to give the benefit of a doubt and attribute that to the network pushing it on black folks.

Anyway, I always like seeing Black people win as long as they aren't selling out.

I think you might've missed some of the nuance in Nova & Calvin's relationship. It wasn't simply about "swirling hard". There were some interesting dynamics that were explored, such as how a Black community activist could date a white man and dealing with pollice brutality while having a relationship with a police officer. I get wanting to earn militant points, but there were some good real-world issues that were explored.
As far as your lgbt point, we weren't beaten over the head with it. There were two gay side characters who weren't awful stereotypes. I have whole articles on this site written about #DatAgenda, but I can't cry foul about those character. They were written in a realistic way that didn't make Black people look bad or compromised, IMO.
Give the show another watch, you might see some new things.

 

[Sapphire]

This looks really interesting. The other trailer I saw for it gets a bit deeper. I love how it ties all the good and the bad qualities of people in different time periods and reflects on how we got to where we are in America today because of this divisive nature that almost seems forced on us.

 

[cjg]

I'm really glad I went to see it ... I didn't know what to think, with the interracial thing, but I think the movie was a superb mix btwn documentary and drama ...

She touched on an issue that I think has never been touched on (at least as conveyed to the Black community) .,

In my opinion, excellent storyline .... Probably the most important work of Duvernay's career ...

I hope a lot of white ppl go see the movie ... Most of her themes, and this is no different, are targeted to the uniformed in their community ...

For some reason, it seems like this movie is being suppressed ... I had to really search for it on the movie listings (I understand why, this movie busts most "Americans" bubble, imo) ..

I enjoyed it!

 

[cjg]

If you do go see it, there is an on screen Director Q and A , so don't leave the theatre to quickly...