2. "Nope...close but too bizzare " In response to Reply # 0
I liked Malcom, the music & the main MESSAGE
Diggy was decent & Roger Guenveur Smith was awesome as usual but Lobby Boy & Hackerholic got on my nerves w/ the n word
Zoë looks more like Lisa than ever before & that's not a bad thing...would've been a good thing if she had more screen time & impact tho
Maybe I needed to be off that Molly/Lily (or whatever the kids are callin it these days) to enjoy this to the fullest. I dug the 90's stuff but there just wasn't enough.
10. "yeah RE: I'm guessing I'll be one of the few who didn't dig it so give i..." In response to Reply # 4
yeah, i really dug it. Liked it much more than i thought i would. his 2 friends should have been better. but still very solid and very enjoyable. even people who dont like hiphop should like it. im trying to convince my niece to watch it, i think shell love it, but she hates hiphop
6. "I lump this with Dear White People" In response to Reply # 0
And I like this more. DWP was toothless and this had teeth...oddly played for humor, and the winning message (outside of being yourself, empowerment) is negative(?). Music - dope. Put it like this: if someone said you would be into watching the lead dance for an extended period of time by the end, I would say they were nuts, but damn if that didn't happen. Overall, a good time.
17. "It's called Dear White People " In response to Reply # 16
It meanders along, using the awesome hook of college blackface parties and ends with a shrug. It was the movie equivalent of Common's loving white people fixes racism comment. Granted, my race movie era includes Higher Learning and Bamboozled where deaths occur, so if I sit down to a movie called Dear White People, I kind of want something uncomfortable shoved in their face. With that strong of a title, it was a friendly wave. I prefer a fist.
19. "I think the movie should be judged for what it is," In response to Reply # 17
not necessarily what the title makes it out to be.
In the case of Dear White People in particular, most of the marketing is purposefully misleading. It pulls a bait and switch one-third of the way through, which made me like it more yet others like it less.
39. "RE: I think the movie should be judged for what it is," In response to Reply # 19
>not necessarily what the title makes it out to be. > >In the case of Dear White People in particular, most of the >marketing is purposefully misleading. It pulls a bait and >switch one-third of the way through, which made me like it >more yet others like it less.
yep ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
9. "I really really enjoyed this flick" In response to Reply # 0
It's hard to believe that SOOO much happened in 2 hours, so the placing of the movie is very fast. The lead is great. Vince Staples is really funny in his 3 scenes. Aesop Rocky is fine and Zoe should've had a bigger role, imo.
Maybe the best teen flick I've seen since Superbad or Attack The Block.
--
"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
20. "I liked it. I did shift in my seat a bit when, well," In response to Reply # 0
"the plot" got started, but the film's tone took it in a far different direction than the average urban film (probably because this film is a comedy, and doesn't stray from that despite the heavy body count and violence level).
It reminds me less of "The Wood" (despite them apparently taking place in the same cinematic universe?) than it does "ATL", which sort of tries to tell the same basic one-sentence summarial plot with far less success.
21. "Dope is really good. I enjoyed it, laughed, rapped along. " In response to Reply # 0
. . . "Romans 10 : 9 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
24. "Yeah, I mentioned that in the post in GD." In response to Reply # 22
In 2015, I think that angle is kind of tired, at least to me. I described it as a conceit, but self-congratulatory works too. It's basically a humble brag.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Thu Sep-10-15 01:32 AM
42. "Doesn't the movie make this point explicitly?" In response to Reply # 36
>especially considering he was EXACTLY like at least one of >those other niggas
I don't think the movie was oblivious to this at all. It seemed like a point being very clearly made. A character at one point toward the end literally says it aloud.
wasn't particularly in the mood for it at the time, but wanted to support on the opening weekend.
ended up really enjoying it; laughed out loud more than in any other movie in recent memory. was happy to see that the theater's seats were filled with various persuasions of folks too (the scene with *spoiler* Malcolm's shaky hand attempting to weigh the drugs got the biggest laugh of the whole showing, courtesy of the older white dude the next seat over).
two surprises: did NOT know beforehand that this movie *wasn't* set in the 90s OR that the lovely and lusciously lipped Zoe Kravitz would be appearing. <--bonus
in response to someone else's comment, I've not seen black "otherness" movies like this before, but I certainly appreciate the exposure of different kinds of black experiences to the masses.
30. "Best movie of the year" In response to Reply # 0
Perfect tone, perfect cast, no pandering (name a movie that hasn't), perfectly executed, everyone enjoys it (rap fans and not), and gives you that great feeling you're supposed to leave a movie theatre with.
"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams
31. "Story got weird but otherwise very good" In response to Reply # 0
Loved the young lead (Shameik Moore), loved Zoe Kravitz channeling her mama, loved the soundtrack, loved most of the story. I think A$AP Rocky has so much natural charisma that he could quit rapping today and be in movies.
I wish the other two kids had more to do than play in the band and stand around and add comments every now and then. And the story just got really weird near the end.
Still, this was very enjoyable.
________________________________________________________________________________ It takes two.
32. "Blatant colorism & Zib being unchecked on his nigga usage aside..." In response to Reply # 0
it was cute.
The protagonist, adorable as he was, either bored me to pieces or was completely overshadowed by other actors (i.e. Diggy, Asian dude in the garment shop, dude from The Wood that played the security guard, etc.) which is never a good look even when your lead is the dorky brainy Black kid.
*MILD SPOILER AHEAD*
The scene where he pulled the gun on the bully was the only time I felt like he owned the scene.
Kiersey Clemons is so damn fine & cute tho, I am so unable lol.
<<Mood...Poppy Okotcha in Look 1 at Ashish Fall 2016 ________________________________________
37. "I dug it. Not great like "The Wood"..." In response to Reply # 0
But a good flick overall.
The non-actors were pretty noticeable (ASAP, Chanel, Tyga), Roger Guenveur Smith was on his shit as always, Al B. Sure's son was surprisingly funny though.
38. "i loved that" In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jul-06-15 12:47 PM by lfresh
a lot
reading through this post didn't know that was ASAP rocky (not that i would have otherwise) i agree he has screen presence
didn't know that was al b sure's son (puffy's adopted son) but damn if those eyebrows weren't familiar
and gone head chanel iman ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
40. "RE: Dope (Famuyiwa, 2015)" In response to Reply # 0
Saw it last night during the last run Dope will have in Austin.
It was self-aware and witty from the jump and it had a number of nice moments establishing the setting and the framework of the movie; the difference in being a 'geek' in a safer neighborhood and being a geek in the Bottoms.
A$AP was nice as well as the cameos from the musicians and the like.
SPOILER ALERT
As far as criticisms, I think the movie would have played well if the supporting cast was built up and the plot was simpler.
The movie never explained why the Blood in the red cap wanted the drugs or the reasons why AJ got into drug dealing in the first place or why that group of kids became friends.
'Zero' from The Grand Budapest Hotel didn't have his past explained like Diggy's was and it would have been nice for the three friends to have more juvenile saber-rattling that comes from not being paid attention to by the others.
END SPOILERS
But all in all, the movie was a nice summer comedy. Hopefully, the actors end up in more roles in the near future.
41. "i really dug it...it's closer to "Fresh" as opposed to "The Wood"" In response to Reply # 0
...really glad I caught it.... I liked that they were different, but NOT different from everyone else....
...I agree that honestly, most of the women in this film have NOTHING to do, especially Kim Elise, but each person made their screen time count which I appreciated....
great movie...
"yes, sometimes my rhymes are sexist, but you lovely bitches and hos should know i'm tryin to correct it"- hiphopopotamus
50. "Thing is, those kids arent' that 'weird' in 2015" In response to Reply # 48 Mon Nov-23-15 09:24 AM by BigReg
I felt like it was the bias and age of the filmmaker who was probably that 'weird' kid back in the days when if you were skateboarder you stood out against the G-Unit crowd.
But like a quote I still laugh at in GD, "That no timbs, no white tees doesn't even work anymore in the club. Even thug niggas look like Kid Cudi now." They could have still been outsiders (since there will always be social levels in high school) but every other scene they didn't need the "HEY, WE ARE BLACK KIDS WHO SKATEBOARD AND DRESS LIKE THE 80'S, HOW EDGY. NO ONE ELSE IS DOING THIS" that they beat us over the head
> >That was pretentious and stupid > >Just make this same movie with the complexity built into >AVERAGE black kids > >Not the super weirdo going to Harvard > >Unnecessary gimmick > >---------------------------- > > > >O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain" > > > > >"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..." > >(C)Keith Murray, "
I really don't trust this crowd w black movies ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
56. "okay, on second viewing, Ba, Kayru, and Tek" In response to Reply # 0
are kinda right about the "i'm not like these other enwurds" dynamics in the movie...
i think is more a problem of having the characters explain it to the viewer than the actual reality or experience of it. Also the ending monologue was completely unnecessary.
i still think the movie was funny, well acted, and unique in its own right
where i thought it was a solid B+ before, i think it's more of a C+ now
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