Quote: (01-28-2012 04:14 AM)ElJefe Wrote:
Quote: (01-26-2012 12:58 AM)speakeasy Wrote:
Quote: (01-26-2012 12:08 AM)Timoteo Wrote:
You always have to consider that it's hard for black directors, no matter what their resume, to get big budget money from studios for films with black subject matter, and a predominantly black cast. Lucas himself had trouble getting the money. Spike comes off as angry sometimes because he's been fighting these battles in Hollywood for years. Warner Bros. didn't want to give him money to finish Malcolm X. He had one of the better segments on "Inside the Actor's Studio," and actually came to tears telling the story of how he eventually got the money. Studios don't want to sink money into this kind of movie, because it's hard to make it back. The bulk of the movie going audience simply won't got to a film with a predominantly black cast.
Yet stupid movies with all black casts like "Soul Plane" get made by Hollywood. People will watch all black movies, so long as the blacks are acting like sambos and buffoons. If it's a serious drama, forget it. Crazy that you can count on one hand the amount of black actors that can get a lead role in a blockbuster movie.
I think this is garbage.
Glory (1989) had a pretty sizeable black cast with only 1-2 white protagonists. One of my favorite movies - aboslutely stellar performances by Freeman and Washington.
I haven't seen Red Tails but Lucas did make Starwars. NEWS FLASH: If you want a serious movie, don't get Lucas.
Hollywood in general just produces crap, but every once in a while a gem comes out. Whether it's white, hispanic or black crap - it's still all crap. I saw a movie spike lee made about the black panters when I was writing a project on them - total crap. Really good movies worth my time are few and far between. I think the reason is because exceptional stories are hard to find, and pairing an exceptional story with good directors and actors requires a perfect storm of probability 0.000001
Don't blame it on prejudice. Blame it on the general meaninglessness of the entertainment industry
You cited one example. And who was the star of "Glory?" Who directed and produced it? It's obvious that Hollywood puts out a lot of mediocre crap, but it's naive to think it's all equal with regards to who gets money to make films, and the type of subject matter doesn't dictate who gets money and how much. You seem to miss the point.
"The best kind of pride is that which compels a man to do his best when no one is watching."