Easting Asphalt

I hate to be the one to do this especially since I haven't written anything for this blog for a really really long time, but it is time to dust off the internet cobwebs of this dusty old blog. It's time for a rant.

I am not white.

There I said it. 

And really I shouldn't have to. 

You see, race shouldn't matter as much as it does in this country and I think that is a serious problem. Especially after last weeks shooting in Ferguson. This case has stirred up some familiar feelings towards racial tension in America that really must be addressed by our nations leaders. 

But it also got me thinking. And I've come to the conclusion that I am afraid of the people who swore to protect me. 

Last year I had a run in with the cops, and it plays out like a bad joke.

It goes a little something like this.....

I'm walking home with some buddies from a bar one night. The air was crisp and we were broke, so we skipped out on the cab and decided to walk home. It was me, a latino male, and 3 friends (who I will not refer by name but lets call them Jon, Jay, and Jane). Jon is of arab decent and Jay is half Indian Half African. Jane is Irish. But that will come into play later. The college we were attempting to get back to was a little less than a mile away and we had done it before during the day so we thought to ourselves it would be a relaxing night stroll. We didn't know that that was far from the truth. 

We finally get to the college when we realize that Jane cannot get into the college (this is because even though Jon Jay and I all had our IDs she was just visiting us and we had forgotten to get her a visitors pass.) so we decide that we would all walk a block up and walk through the shrubbery in the front of the college because it wasn't guarded. Again this is something that we had done countless times before. 

On our way up the road we are startled by a sudden police siren pulling to a stop beside us. Immediately two officers rush out of their cruisers with their hands placed on their guns. They rush towards and and command us to stop and not to make any sudden movements. One officer stays behind us and orders us not to turn around while the other makes his way to the front of Jon, Jay, Jane, and I. He tells us that that they were following up on a car that was stolen and then abandoned. The officer crudely explained that they were looking for a suspect on foot. He then asked us for our IDs so that he could run them. 

So far this all made sense to me. They must have saw some young (probably a little drunk) adults out after midnight so of course he had to check and of course he wants to see our IDs. Everything felt right until Jon reached into his pocket.

The officer immediate jumped back and told him to put his hands to his sides were he could "Fucking see them". This was startling to all of us. It didn't seem to make sense. I mean, of course we had to put our hands in our pockets in order to retrieve our IDs. But this officer was focused on Jon. The officer angrily told him to fucking pull it out slowly or else he would put his ass down. 

Jon is a 5 ft 6 middle eastern man. 

After the officer had collected our wallets he asked us what we were doing out so late.

I thought I should respond seeing as he was clearly angry for some reason with Jon. I started to tell him that we were just walking back to our college dorms after a night out. 

He wouldn't have any of that.

 

The officer stopped me after two words and asked me if he was fucking talking to me. He with his hand firmly clasping the handle of his gun walked over to Jon and asked him the question. Jon answered, very calmly. It was clear that he was terrified of the situation that was quickly descending into insanity. 

Then the cop turned to Jay and asked him "Why are you looking at me Boy? Stop fucking looking at me you piece of shit. All of you." He turned to Jon and I. Obviously drunk off of the fear that was so obviously coming out of us. 

He then looked at Jon and said "Well? Why the FUCK are you looking at me?"

I remember being able to tell how nervous Jon was. Despite his small stature he was a man who carried himself high and strong. But now, his eyes were struggling to find focus, not knowing whether to look up or down or left or right. "My father taught me to look at someone in the eyes when I talk to someone" came out of Jon's mouth nervously. 

"What the fuck did you say?" the officer said talking a step towards him and placing his hand on his shoulder. "Are you giving me attitude motherfucker?" Jon's eyes darted down towards his feet. "Are you looking at my piece? Huh motherfucker? You wanna grab my piece?" The officer tightened his grip on his side arm, while simentanously tightening his grip on Jon.

I felt like the question lingered in the air forever. Every time Jon would say no sir, the officer would ask him to speak up. That is until Jane, demanded the officer stop. He took a look at her, thinking it over in his mind for a second. Then ordered the second officer with our IDs to give them back to us. With our IDs returned they silently left. As the cruiser left the curb we all finally let out a breath. 

Still shaking we all stood there in silence. Jon with his head held low, his shoulders slumped. Humiliated. 

That was the worst part. These officers decided to instead of just run our IDs, to humiliate us. All three of us. He belittled us and threatened us and made each of us scared for our lives. 

It was only after Jane spoke up did the officer leave us be.

Now, I am in no way against Police Officers. They are an essential part of our lifestyle. But what I am against is racial profiling, (so obviously a factor in this case) and abuse of power. Talking to these friends of mine again, they all still remember how defenseless we were. How we felt as if he could just shoot us. Leave three minorities dead and play it off as if it where our faults. He attempted to get even the smallest hint of anger or aggression. Any excuse to shoot us. I honestly believe that. 

No one was there for us then. We were alone, we were stripped of our pride, and if Jane wasn't there, I don't think that we would have made it out un-scratched. 

How would we have been remembered? Would the media have presented us as a group of angry men of color, grouping us into our special racially constructed stereotypes, the Latino, The Arab and The Black man, Who were looking for trouble when a brave police men stopped us? Or would we have been depicted as Jon, an Engineer major who was looking into transfer to the University of Colombia, and was just spending his birthday with his long time girlfriend Jane; A man who was kind and peaceful. Who loved sports and math. Or Jay, a Bio-Chem major who loved clothes and cars and traveling, a man who was bullied through high school but still managed to stay positive and fun loving. Or me, an English Education major who just loved to take pictures and write, who just wanted to grow up and teach inner city children. 

Police violence and corruption has been on a rise lately and for the people of Ferguson, this wasn't just a matter of what happened to 19 year old Michael Brown. This is what racial tension looks like, It is hear and it is ugly, but it is the truth. 

And if Officers of the Law can't protect Citizens of The United States from racial violence, if THEY are the ones who are becoming well known for PARTAKING in it, then who will protect us from them? 

A Little Something Personal.

As a film connoisseur (read that in the most pretentious voice you can think of), I love cinema. TV, movies, and of course short films. Especially short films that come from young video moguls. They may not be the best acted or best written or have the best effects, but they almost always have some of the best passion, which is something that major mainstream film seems to be missing these days: see Transformers:Age of Extinction.

Passion projects are always very special, and when a director is able to make one, well it must be invigorating. As a young writer I have dabbled in a few scripts that I know will never be made. But sometimes they are.

The following is something that I want to share with my readers, and it is very personal to me. I was given the opportunity to actually make one of my films. Now it is in no way the best thing that is out there, but without further ado, my first film First Last Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKnUCHfY2wI (A link if the video embedded does not work).


This short video was my first taste in actually making films and I thought it might be fun to share it,  feel free to comment and tell me how you feel about it, and as always,

Thanks for reading

Questions: Minorities in Film

This week I want to tackle a slightly more serious topic, and that is Race Equality in film. With the film Dear White People coming out, I feel it is an appropriate time to delve into it.

To me one of my biggest gripes about Race in movies is that to me at least, it seems that every time someone brings up race in movies, people go crazy and begin to accuse minorities of being racist. And yes some minorities are a tad bit racist, but that happens when your people have been oppressed, or are still being discriminated against in the modern "Post Racism America".

PROTIP: Racism is still very much alive and, still very degrading in todays modern America.

So I wanted to ask you, the readers some questions. Some of these questions are literally from other movies that are about racism in America, but I think they are still worth asking.

"Why does a movie have to be about slavery, racism, or poverty to have a minority in the leading roles?"

Orange Is The New Black (which is a fantastic show that breaks a lot of ground in race equality)         1. Has to be set in a Women's prison to warrant a lead female character, and 2. Is set in a prison to explain why there are other minorities in the prison. And even then, where are all of the Asian prisoners? The Indian Prisoners? The Native American ones? Theses minorities aren't even usually mentioned when it comes to race relations in film. Which brings me to my next question.

"Why is it that when people make a movie they only add one or two black characters? Why not other races?"

I say this because I feel like when talking about race equality people tend to forget that there is a lot more than white and black. The problem probably lies in the word "race" (We can discuss that in the full article). Ethnicity is the right word. And there are SOO many of them! Latinos, Asians, Indians, Native Americans, The Inuits, and thats just the tip. The list goes on and on and on. yet we never see those ethnicities in film.

"Tyler Perry, I think he does nothing more than belittle his people and further expand and solidify in some minds racial stereo types. Discuss."

Sorry Perry, a lot of your movies are so disgustingly racist, not only to the black community, but to every race there is, furthering terrible stereotypes that minorities have been trying to leave behind them for centuries. But I guess anything to make a quick buck.

"Why do women always have to be the subject of a romantic sub plot, or even for women that are depicted as strong and self reliant, have to be saved by the male protagonist in the end?"

"Why can't a movie like Inception have an all black or hispanic, or Asian or Female cast? Why do we as a society find this weird or immediately play it off as a Tyler Perry, or some feminist movie. SO what if it is? Why is that a bad thing?

"And would you watch one of those movies?"

Ok, rant over.

And those are only a few of my objections with how hollywood handles minorities in movies. But now I want to here your side. What do you see in movies? Do you even think it is a problem? If not why? Comment below and share your thoughts, or message me on Twitter @AGuyTheGuy . And as always,

Thanks for reading.

Hollywood Angst

Last weekend another Fairy Tale was given the o'l Hollywood treatment and "re-imagined" to be well, completely void of, well pretty much everything that made it memorable to begin with. Lately Hollywood has been stuck in a rather odd phase. You see, it (Hollywood as a whole) has been taking classic movies, mainly 80s horror movies, Disney fairy tales and of course super hero movies and remaking them a lazy gloss of dark undertones, and explosions, and CGI, and of course rancid directing and acting.

Hollywood is in many ways, a lot like your little sister in high school. Obsessed with painting it's nails with black sharpie and writing terrible poetry about how dark it's soul is and how abysmal life has become, etc, etc. However unlike your sister who eventually got over it and put away the Fall Out Boy poster, Hollywood is still stuck with this strange obsession with taking classics and making them Dark and Gritty.

Now reboots and remakes have always been around, and a doubt they will ever go away. And this isn't a bad thing. I mean movies like The Thing (1982), The Fly (1986), and The Departed (2006) are all fantastic films, and they are also all remakes (The Departed even snagged Scorsese a much deserved Oscar). However most good remakes are successful because they bring something new to the table whether it is technology that has finally matured enough to give the story justice (The Fly, The Thing, and many other 80s horror movies) or there is a director who feels they can show the story in a new and interesting way (The Departed, Scarface). The thing is sometimes a movie doesn't need to be told again. We refer to these movies as classics. They came out at the right time with the right director and even now they just are well, perfect. 

Disney was a place of instant classics once upon a time. Their animation was timeless, their songs catchy and rich, and their stories were just magnificent. So why change something that is so obviously not broken? 

Money.

Cartoonishly absurd amounts of money to be precise. It's a simple formula really, take something that people know and just rehash it. You can have practically the same script and do all the shooting in front of a green wall, and put the phase "You've never it like this before" on the poster and boom! You've got yourself a piping hot pile of shi-- I mean summer blockbuster. 

I am going to call this process Nolanization. Now before the hate pours in let me explain. I LOVE Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (sorry Dark Knight Rises you are kind of almost unwatchable by Nolan standards). Nolan did something special in 2004 when he announced that he was going to give a more "grounded and darker" Batman. 

This had never been done before. In fact before Batman Begins we didn't know a super hero movie could be more than a ploy to sell toys. Super hero movies were for children. They were filled with ban puns and even worse acting, colorful sets and anatomically correct bat suits (I'm shaking my head  at you Schumacher).

But Nolan did it. He scavenged through the rubble that Schumacher left behind and found gold and then gave it to us (what a swell guy)! The result was a film that was a huge success both critically and finically. In a way Nolan unknowingly set up the terrible sub genre that is "Dark and Gritty Reboots". 

Hollywood would like nothing more than to copy his structure and make bat-loads of money just like he did (See what I did there?) but the thing is. Christopher Nolan is kinda sorta a cinematic genius. His craft rivals some of the best filmmakers that have ever walked the earth and his movies show it. So no, you can't take a first time director and ask him to be Christopher Nolan. It just isn't going to happen. You keep on acting like it's going to happen. But it isn't. So lets all stop this foolishness and get back to making great movies again....

please..?

And of course, Thanks for reading.

Questions Previews and Sorrow

This Sunday I have taken up the nobel task of writing about Dark and Gritty Reboots. However such a quest can not be manned by one man alone no, YOU the reader must trek with me into the deep, existential esq realm of Hollywoods newest (and let me add already oldest) trend of filming the same movies yet again, only with the contrast slightly tweaked to get that dark, slimly look every one liked.... in The Dark Knight. I give you these questions to ponder upon.

1). Has there been a dark and gritty reboot that you have enjoyed since The Dark Knight ?
2). Is there any movie do you think deserves a reboot?
3). Are you tired of these half assed things (I know I certainly am)

Are there any other questions that my tiny human brain couldn't think up? Then let me know everything you feel about these movies in the comment section or on my twitter @AGuyTheGuy

And of course, Thanks for reading.

Edge of Tomorrow: A Much Welcomed Return to Science Fiction

Name the big summer movies out this year, The Fault in Our Stars, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Malificent, Guardians of The Galaxy, How To Train Your Dragon 2 and of course who can forget much anticipated Rio 2 (Sarcasm intended). The next task is to find the common themes within these movies. That obviously being that they are all either franchises, gritty reboots, sequels, or super hero movies, (Godzilla literally being a gritty reboot for a new super hero franchise that is about a heroic ancient super hero dinosaur monster).

It has become a trend that nearly every big movie that comes out is based on a book. Rarely do we see a risky or even original movie get a wide release. Obviously this is because the movie business just that a business and the production companies have done their homework and know that they can sink millions of dollars into a movie as terrible as Rio 2 and expect a profit because "shit, did you see those colors? Children loooove colors".

Now before you all go and whisper under your breathe, "Guardians of The Galaxy is a risk" stop yourself and really think about it. Not only is Guardians a big budget and I mean BIG budget super hero movie, it is also a sequel of sorts (that it is a continuation to the marvel cinematic universe) It is a Disney film and last but not least it is a giant teaser for The Avengers 2 (The super hero fanatic in me just peed a little writing that). That movie is GOING to make money, and the executives at Disney know that.

However this isn't the point of this post. Although it may be fun to rant about the movie business I enjoyed X-Men and positively (and let me add un-ironically) loved Godzilla. This blog post is to commemorate a movie that (in my opinion at least, but then again this is also my blog so that was probably implied) took a risk. That movie being Edge of Tomorrow. 

Lets get this out of the way right off the bat. Edge of Tomorrow is the best movie I have seen this year so far (granted I haven't seen The Grand Budapest Hotel yet which saddens me to no end). It was action packed, looked great and above all else was extremely hilarious. Overall, this movie did exactly what it wanted to do which is, create a great time for it's audience. Which is probably the best thing a summer movie can do.

Now I know Edge of Tomorrow is based off of the manga All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Which means yea it is based off of a book. But it is based off a book that is by no means mainstream, and on top of that has been given a different name. On top of that this movie is a stand alone movie. No spoilers but it has a pretty definitive ending.

The most bizarre thing about this movie is that besides leading man Tom Cruise, it is a pretty risky sell. Unlike Godzilla that has the benefit of being a well known franchise and Guardians which has the benefit of being apart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Edge of Tomorrow went into cinemas in wide release with nothing more than Tom Cruise, who I have nothing personally against (although he is arguably one of the craziest human beings to ever walk this fine earth) but I wouldn't have been surprised if he joined the sea of washed up actors dicking about in the nostalgia riding Expendables 3. (I mean seriously? Kelsey Grammer? What demographic is he catering to (The "I loved the Beast in Last Stand AND Fraiser and I would looooove to see them in an action movie about explosions also hashtag:THEBOSS!"?) Not that I have anything against that cheese fest or Tom Cruise (as an actor) but really as far as promotions go, that really isn't a seller in 2014.

It is a wonder to me that Edge of Tomorrow was even made really. Try describing it to a friend:
You: Hey lets see a movie
Friend: LETS SEE THE MOST AMAZING SPIDEY MAN (in the dumbest voice you can imagine)
You: How about we don't waste our time and see Edge of Tomorrow
Friend: Well that isn't a well established franchise noir does it have many relevant actors in it besides Crazy Cruise. What's it about?
You: It is like Groundhogs Day meets the opening scene to Saving Private Ryan.
Friend:.... What is Groundhogs Day ?
You: (Smack friend for being so uncultured).

Now of course that is a dramatization but the point is this movie is a hard sell. Yet it still went all the way through to prove itself to mainstream audiences. It is a risky risky movie with a budget of almost 200 million dollars and a pretty sad opening weekend of only 29 million.

The real crime here is that the reason fantastic movies like Edge of Tomorrow are so rare, is because they audience of 2014 really and I mean REALLY craves familiarity. Everything we see in theaters is based on a book or a comic book, or apart of a franchise. Which in turn leaves no room for movies like Edge Or Looper or Pacific Rim or any original non rebooted sci fi movies.

It leaves me sour that I know Hollywood will probably never start making original pieces again, movies that are fun to watch instead of unnecessarily dark and gritty (yes The Dark Knight was great but seriously, Malificent? Seriously?) That original movies will eventually loose their place in mainstream media, and by 2042 the 15th Spiderman movie will probably be running for best picture along with a couple Disney sequels and Godzilla:MechaGodzilla, The Rise of Godzilla. But at least we can remember a time when originals did exist. At least we have that.

Until then GO SEE EDGE OF TOMORROW GOD DAMMIT! And of course....

....Thanks for reading.