deerstalker
The first time I heard about the relationship between the Seminole First Nation and the Maroons (Black Seminoles) was in the book, What Mama Couldn’t Tell Us about Love: Healing the Emotional Legacy of Racism by Celebrating Our Light written by Brenda Lane Richardson and Dr. Brenda Wade (1999). Africans were kidnapped to what we now call Florida in the 1520s. The British, claimed Florida as a colony in 1763. As white settlers injected themselves on this land, members of smaller first nations united to form the Seminole nation. White settlers built plantations with enslaved labor. The Black population quickly rose, and a number of the enslaved escaped to live in free communities embedded in the untamed Florida landscape. As the communities of self-liberated Black folks grew, they merged with the Seminole nations and were called the Maroons. The Seminoles and the Maroons became family.
In the first five minutes of Raoul Peck’s docuseries, Exterminate All the Brutes, a subtitle appears on screen. “The Disturbing Confidence of Ignorance: 1836 Seminoles and Maroons.” A determined Seminole female chief (Casia Ankarsparre) appears on screen. Unblinking, she says, “This is the day we fight.” The next scene is a meeting between the chief and a male Maroon leader. In this scene we see a true story that the majority white gatekeepers who control Hollywood rarely include in their whitewashed stories about the history of what we now call “America” — Black and Brown living in integrated community, sharing resources, and resisting white supremacy. As they sit in a circle under a modest covering, the Maroon leader humbly offers to run in order to protect the community. The chief replies, “We’re family now. You stay.” The Maroon leader emphasizes that he doesn’t want to bring harm, to which the chief knowingly says, “They bring harm to our nation, not you.” The white man wants their land by any means necessary. They decide to fight together to protect one another and their land.
Exterminate All the Brutes is a documentary series that jumps time, brilliantly ripping off the facade of “the American Dream,” allowing the audience to face the reality that America was born as a colonial power and to this day operates as one. Peck wrote and narrates the docuseries, so he literally tells the thinly hidden truths of how America came to be. Exterminate All the Brutes holds no punches, defining white supremacy as a poisonous superiority complex that kills nations in order to thrive.
Peck is one of the most renowned storytellers of our time. After completing I Am Not Your Negro, he says that he felt called to make Exterminate All the Brutes, which deconstructs the origins of white supremacy. Now is the right time for this momentous series. Normally, the documentary filmmaker is “outside” of the film. Peck skillfully inserts himself into the story using home movie footage of his Haitian American immigrant family, grounding viewers in relatable reality as he guides us through over 400 years of imperialism and the impact of white dominance and fascism. We need that in order to bear witness to hard truths. Peck is familiar with dealing with dictators. His middle-class family was exiled during the reign of Haitian president/dictator Francois Duvalier and ended up living in Brooklyn when he was a child in the 1960s. Peck narrates, “We traveled a lot because of another dictator, but it doesn’t feel like an exile. I am with family. I am an immigrant from a ‘sh*thole country,’ like he said.”
Three books are the foundation of this docuseries. Exterminate All the Brutes, by Sven Lindqvist, exposes the cruel impact of European imperialism on the African continent. An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, details the Native American genocide. Silencing the Past, by Michel-Rolph Trouillot, is about how Haiti’s independence in 1804 changed the trajectory of the Western world. Peck unites this circle of intellectual healers to create the extraordinary HBO docuseries and credits these authors, who are also his dear friends, as co-creators of the film.
History is remembered by the victors. American history has been reinforced by Hollywood. The Civil War ended in 1865. Moving pictures were invented in 1893, and in 1915, The Birth of a Nation (a white supremacist propoganda film) was the first blockbuster film made in Hollywood. We have generations of Americans who believe in the big lie of Western expansion by Westerns that center one white man killing everyone with a gun.
Peck uses his superpowers as a filmmaker to tell the truths of history from the perspective of the colonized. The docuseries not only uses historical footage and newsreels but also Peck has created full narrative short stories within the documentary to add nuance, humanizing the history.
The white male lead of Exterminate All the Brutes is Josh Hartnett. The character Hartnett plays has no name, but I recognized him immediately. Josh Hartnett is deftly playing white superiority, a character every Black person in America has to endure a daily basis. I have to say, experiencing the way Peck wrote that character and how Hartnett deftly embodies that toxic energy was more frightening than any race-based horror film or series I’ve seen this year. Witnessing the impact of that white man dominating through time was a frightening truth we rarely see told openly. I’m just grateful that I’ve lived long enough to be able to see the truth of this country on screen.
The parts of the documentary that hit me hardest used animation to powerfully reflect the North Atlantic Slave Trade and the Trail of Tears. I will hold those images in my heart forever. Stories give us the opportunity to empathize. We can look past the superficial differences and see we are one people. White supremacy thrives on simplicity. Exterminate All the Brutes is a rich documentary that uses wise storytelling to clearly share the complexity of the system grounded in white dominance that we are all living under.
The documentary is broken up into four episodes, which are really short films.
- Part 1: The Disturbing Confidence of Ignorance
- Part 2: Who the F*** Is Columbus
- Part 3: Killing at a Distance, or How I Thoroughly Enjoyed the Outing
- Part 4: The Bright Colors of Fascism
When deciding to make this film, Peck was encouraged by his friend Sven Lindqvist, who said to him, “You already know enough. It’s not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” As I’ve been watching the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd, Exterminate All the Brutes was a form of catharsis for me. After viewing the entire series, I feel charged up and inspired to continue to do the daily work of dismantling white dominance as our ancestors need us all to do.
Don’t miss Exterminate All The Brutes, written, directed, produced, and narrated by Raoul Peck, now streaming on HBO/Max.
Episodes: https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes/episodes
Additional films, books and resources:
https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes/raoul-peck-essential-reading-films
The first time I heard about the relationship between the Seminole First Nation and the Maroons (Black Seminoles) was in the book, What Mama Couldn’t Tell Us about Love: Healing the Emotional Legacy of Racism by Celebrating Our Light written by Brenda Lane Richardson and Dr. Brenda Wade (1999). Africans were kidnapped to what we now call Florida in the 1520s. The British, claimed Florida as a colony in 1763. As white settlers injected themselves on this land, members of smaller first nations united to form the Seminole nation. White settlers built plantations with enslaved labor. The Black population quickly rose, and a number of the enslaved escaped to live in free communities embedded in the untamed Florida landscape. As the communities of self-liberated Black folks grew, they merged with the Seminole nations and were called the Maroons. The Seminoles and the Maroons became family.
In the first five minutes of Raoul Peck’s docuseries, Exterminate All the Brutes, a subtitle appears on screen. “The Disturbing Confidence of Ignorance: 1836 Seminoles and Maroons.” A determined Seminole female chief (Casia Ankarsparre) appears on screen. Unblinking, she says, “This is the day we fight.” The next scene is a meeting between the chief and a male Maroon leader. In this scene we see a true story that the majority white gatekeepers who control Hollywood rarely include in their whitewashed stories about the history of what we now call “America” — Black and Brown living in integrated community, sharing resources, and resisting white supremacy. As they sit in a circle under a modest covering, the Maroon leader humbly offers to run in order to protect the community. The chief replies, “We’re family now. You stay.” The Maroon leader emphasizes that he doesn’t want to bring harm, to which the chief knowingly says, “They bring harm to our nation, not you.” The white man wants their land by any means necessary. They decide to fight together to protect one another and their land.
Exterminate All the Brutes is a documentary series that jumps time, brilliantly ripping off the facade of “the American Dream,” allowing the audience to face the reality that America was born as a colonial power and to this day operates as one. Peck wrote and narrates the docuseries, so he literally tells the thinly hidden truths of how America came to be. Exterminate All the Brutes holds no punches, defining white supremacy as a poisonous superiority complex that kills nations in order to thrive.
Peck is one of the most renowned storytellers of our time. After completing I Am Not Your Negro, he says that he felt called to make Exterminate All the Brutes, which deconstructs the origins of white supremacy. Now is the right time for this momentous series. Normally, the documentary filmmaker is “outside” of the film. Peck skillfully inserts himself into the story using home movie footage of his Haitian American immigrant family, grounding viewers in relatable reality as he guides us through over 400 years of imperialism and the impact of white dominance and fascism. We need that in order to bear witness to hard truths. Peck is familiar with dealing with dictators. His middle-class family was exiled during the reign of Haitian president/dictator Francois Duvalier and ended up living in Brooklyn when he was a child in the 1960s. Peck narrates, “We traveled a lot because of another dictator, but it doesn’t feel like an exile. I am with family. I am an immigrant from a ‘sh*thole country,’ like he said.”
Three books are the foundation of this docuseries. Exterminate All the Brutes, by Sven Lindqvist, exposes the cruel impact of European imperialism on the African continent. An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, details the Native American genocide. Silencing the Past, by Michel-Rolph Trouillot, is about how Haiti’s independence in 1804 changed the trajectory of the Western world. Peck unites this circle of intellectual healers to create the extraordinary HBO docuseries and credits these authors, who are also his dear friends, as co-creators of the film.
History is remembered by the victors. American history has been reinforced by Hollywood. The Civil War ended in 1865. Moving pictures were invented in 1893, and in 1915, The Birth of a Nation (a white supremacist propoganda film) was the first blockbuster film made in Hollywood. We have generations of Americans who believe in the big lie of Western expansion by Westerns that center one white man killing everyone with a gun.
Peck uses his superpowers as a filmmaker to tell the truths of history from the perspective of the colonized. The docuseries not only uses historical footage and newsreels but also Peck has created full narrative short stories within the documentary to add nuance, humanizing the history.
The white male lead of Exterminate All the Brutes is Josh Hartnett. The character Hartnett plays has no name, but I recognized him immediately. Josh Hartnett is deftly playing white superiority, a character every Black person in America has to endure a daily basis. I have to say, experiencing the way Peck wrote that character and how Hartnett deftly embodies that toxic energy was more frightening than any race-based horror film or series I’ve seen this year. Witnessing the impact of that white man dominating through time was a frightening truth we rarely see told openly. I’m just grateful that I’ve lived long enough to be able to see the truth of this country on screen.
The parts of the documentary that hit me hardest used animation to powerfully reflect the North Atlantic Slave Trade and the Trail of Tears. I will hold those images in my heart forever. Stories give us the opportunity to empathize. We can look past the superficial differences and see we are one people. White supremacy thrives on simplicity. Exterminate All the Brutes is a rich documentary that uses wise storytelling to clearly share the complexity of the system grounded in white dominance that we are all living under.
The documentary is broken up into four episodes, which are really short films.
- Part 1: The Disturbing Confidence of Ignorance
- Part 2: Who the F*** Is Columbus
- Part 3: Killing at a Distance, or How I Thoroughly Enjoyed the Outing
- Part 4: The Bright Colors of Fascism
When deciding to make this film, Peck was encouraged by his friend Sven Lindqvist, who said to him, “You already know enough. It’s not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” As I’ve been watching the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd, Exterminate All the Brutes was a form of catharsis for me. After viewing the entire series, I feel charged up and inspired to continue to do the daily work of dismantling white dominance as our ancestors need us all to do.
Don’t miss Exterminate All The Brutes, written, directed, produced, and narrated by Raoul Peck, now streaming on HBO/Max.
Episodes: https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes/episodes
Additional films, books and resources:
https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes/raoul-peck-essential-reading-films
By: Désirée I. Guzzetta
Godzilla vs. Kong, the final installment of Warner Bros. / Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse, is here and it’s a doozy.
The film carries on the grand tradition of paying as little attention to full human character development as several of the other Godzilla franchise movies do, though in this case, that’s a feature, not a bug. The primary reason to see Godzilla vs. Kong is to watch the two behemoths duke it out with just enough plot in between the big set-pieces. Spend too much time on the human beings running around and risk the wrath of the fans who will say there’s not enough Godzilla in their Godzilla picture.
(In fact, though, there’s not as much Godzilla in this Monsterverse finale as Kong, who only had Kong: Skull Island to himself versus the Big G getting two pictures dedicated to him, 2014’s Godzilla and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Sure, it’s a minor nitpick, but I’m nitpicking it anyway.)
Now that my petty grievance is out of the way, let’s get to the story: Godzilla vs. Kong picks up three years after KOTM. The Titans, having declared fealty to Godzilla after the defeat of King Ghidorah, have gone off the grid. In human plot one, Monarch is maintaining surveillance of Kong over on Skull Island, where Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) monitors the now-full-grown ape with the help of Jia (Kaylee Hottle), an Iwi child who was orphaned when a large storm wiped out the rest of her tribe. Jia, who is deaf, is also watched over by Kong; the two have a special bond that’s very touching.
Meanwhile, in human plots 2 and 3, Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård), a proponent of the Hollow Earth theory mentioned in KOTM, comes to the attention of Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), the head of Apex Cybernetics. Simmons is up to something that gets Godzilla’s hackles up and puts the kaiju on the attack.
In human plot 4, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), who hosts a conspiracy podcast centered on the Titans, is investigating Apex. Once Godzilla attacks, Madison Russell (Millie Bobbie Brown, reprising her role from KOTM) seeks out Bernie to figure out what set Godzilla off. Someone has to protect him, given all the attention lavished on Kong (I am not bitter, I swear!).
All of this leads to several bouts of monster-bashing bedlam as Godzilla and Kong finally intersect. Do they fight? Do they ever! They punch, bite, smack, and wrestle one another in the water and on land. They destroy countless buildings and stomp on cars (and probably people). They roar in each other’s faces. It’s glorious.
Despite all the human activity, the film is very fast-paced, and the monster mashes are exhilarating, especially the neon-soaked fight in Hong Kong. Both Godzilla and Kong are expert brawlers, and their fight for supremacy of the post-Ghidorah world is the sort of spectacle summer (or in this case, spring) blockbusters excel at.
A lot of the credit for the expert pacing goes to director Adam Wingard, whose previous works include the superb horror films You’re Next (2011) and The Guest (2014). Wingard does a great job of propelling the story forward despite the many threads laid out in the screenplay by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein from a story by Terry Rossio and Michael Dougherty & Zach Shields. Yes, that’s a lot of names, and could be the reason the human element feels so thin, but Borenstein did the screenplay for the 2014 Godzilla and is one of the writers credited on the screenplay for Skull Island, so he understands these versions of Gojira and Kong very well. Dougherty also directed KOTM, so he’s no slouch in the Goji department, either. Both beasties command the screen and have personality galore.
The actors all seem to know what kind of film they’re in as well. Of the main cast, Hall, Hottle, and Henry are a joy to watch whenever they appear. Hall and Hottle have an endearing chemistry, and Henry is both funny and relatable as a man driven to uncover whatever tomfoolery Apex is planning.
Bichir appears to be having fun, too, as the cartoonish villain, Simmons, who may as well be twirling his moustache for all the subtlety he lacks whenever he speaks. Bichir chewing scenery makes a lot of the human silliness worthwhile.
But the main attraction in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong is the epic battle of the two Titans. The CGI work here is stellar, as both creatures have a heft and solidness that makes their blows against each other land hard. While the movie does look fine on HBO Max, in IMAX, it’s stunning, especially the Hong Kong scenes. There’s also a part where Wingard pushes into a close-up of a very pissed-off Goji that had me literally sinking back into my seat in fear—that’s how good the CGI is.
Godzilla vs. Kong is loud, goofy fun, full of mayhem and destruction and two cinematic icons beating the heck out of each other. Unfortunately, there’s no after-credits scene, as Legendary’s contract to use the Toho kaiju has ended, but if Toho wanted to let them do another Godzilla film, there’s plenty of openings for more story (Kong is owned by Universal Pictures and could conceivably be licensed out to WB / Legendary again). If you want to have a blast of a time, Godzilla vs. Kong should be number one on your list. It’s definitely tops on mine.
*all pictures are property of Warner Bros and Legendary
The post Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) appeared first on The Nerd Element.
Over the past decade, Melissa McCarthy has established herself as a bonafide movie star, delivering brilliant comedic performances in films like Bridesmaids, Spy, and The Heat. But like all stars, she has also appeared in her fair share of clunkers, films that simply don’t match the level of her comedic talents, like The Boss, Superintelligence, and Life of the Party. Unfortunately, those films are almost always directed by her husband and creative partner, Ben Falcone. So every time a new McCarthy film is announced with Falcon directing, I’ve learned to temper my expectations.
And it’s frustrating, because Thunder Force had such potential. A superhero film starring two 50 year old women with real bodies kicking ass and taking names? Sign me up. While superhero stories continue to dominate film and television, older women have been largely ignored in the genre. With the exception of a handful of performances like Angela Bassett in Black Panther, Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Annette Bening in Captain Marvel, women of a certain age have gotten short shrift, as they always do in Hollywood.
Thunder Force takes place in a world terrorized by Miscreants, sociopaths who gained superpowers when outer-space radiation hit Earth. These superpowered terrorists killed young Emily’s parents, and she swore to avenge them by developing a super serum to give good guys superpowers to fight back. As a child, Emily’s only friend was Lydia, a trash-talking loyal bestie who defended her against school bullies. The two become fast friends until the end of high school, when they have a falling out.
Now adults, Lydia (McCarthy) is a messy, beer-drinking forklift operator, while Emily (Octavia Spencer) is something of a female Tony Stark. Emily has engineered a gene therapy to give herself super strength and invisibility, but when Lydia accidently doses herself with super strength, leaving invisibility for Emily, the two estranged friends come together to become a crime-fighting team known as Thunder Force. Together they team up to take on the Miscreants, led by Bobby Cannavale’s The King, along with Laser (Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Pom Klementieff) and the Crab, a man/shellfish mutant played by Jason Bateman, who is clearly having a blast.
Thunder Force is aided by Emily’s daughter Tracy (Taylor Mosby), who quickly forms a bond with Lydia. The emotional undercurrent of the film is the reunion of these two best friends, and Spencer and McCarthy display an easy chemistry, no doubt thanks to their real life 25-year long friendship.
There are genuinely funny moments in Thunder Force, and I enjoyed it more than any other McCarthy/Falcon collaboration. Spencer and McCarthy are dynamite together, nailing the comedy and the emotional aspects of the film. And Lydia’s flirtation with the Crab delivers some of the weirder, wilder moments of the overlong film. I also enjoyed spending time in a world where women superheroes are casually accepted and celebrated, and where misogyny is only a tool of the villains.
But everything else about the film just plain doesn’t work. From the villains to the costumes to the overly complicated plot, the film feels like a rough draft of an idea. And that lack of flair extends to the action sequences, which are unfocused and uninspired. The world around Spencer and McCarthy feels like a placeholder, and every scene without them drags.
If I had seen this film in theaters, maybe I would be more annoyed. But as a late night Netflix watch, it’s engaging enough to enjoy. After all, comedians like Kevin James and Adam Sandler have been churning out mediocre content for Netflix for years. Why not let the ladies take a crack at it?
Thunder Force is currently streaming on Netflix.
(featured image: HOPPER STONE/NETFLIX)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The post REVIEW: Thunder Force Offers an Unfocused, Goofy Riff on the Superhero Genre first appeared on The Mary Sue.
Because we (ok it was mostly, Dburt) were unable to get through many of the topics discussed during Sunday's Grindhouse broadcast, we will revisit the remaining subject matter for this Wednesday's Mid Week in Review show. Afronerd Radio's Mid Week airs at 8 p.m. eastern, thanks to the good folks at BTalk 100. Additional topics include: friend of the "steam engine," multitalented filmmaker and comic book creator, David Walker stops by to discuss his latest project, The Black Panther Party, a graphic novel (illustrations courtesy of Marcus Kwame Anderson) focusing on the famed (and highly controversial) Black American political organization founded by activists/students., Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in 1966; and as mentioned previously, your AFROnerdist hosts will tackle other issues left on the proverbial kitchen table i.e.-the return of Milestone Media-
the firing of Gina Carano, "gay burger" restaurant joke that trended on Twitter but became a reality; iconic jazz artist, Chick Corea passes; filmmaker, Spike Lee is not against working with Marvel (but maybe not DC); DC comics buyout rumors and other comic book properties during BHM you should be reading.
*One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF
Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!!
or This link below.....
function openPlayer(s){window.open("https://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/"+escape(s),"Player","height=630,width=940,modal=yes,alwaysRaised=yes")}
