F 9

 

F9

What can be said about Fast and Furious? What hasn’t been said about Fast and Furious? This is the ninth film in the twenty years run of the franchise. The worldwide gross box office is $6.8b at a cost of approximately of $2.1b. The films are formula driven. Fast cars, muscle bound  men, tough but attractive women, insane car chases and a plot that is an afterthought. Fast and Furious is character centric. Vin Diesel is the main character Dominic Toretto who has appeared in nearly all the films with his posse of  actors which he refers to as family.

This movie is a reunion of all the past FF characters. One character died in an earlier movie, but that did not stop the writers. Missing from this reunion is Dwight “The Rock” Johnson. Apparently there is bad blood between Johnson and Diesel. Johnson is a by the book kinda guy; on time do the shoot. Whereas Diesel is a tardy slacker who likes to schmooze with the crew. However, both manage to make $20m a film each.

The new element in this film is Dom’s estranged brother Jackob played by John Cena. I think they brought Cena in to make Diesel’s acting look better. Vin Diesel’s acting is like a car with one gear. He depends on his signature sneer to carry his acting. To dramatize the fall out between the brothers they used two younger actors as versions of Diesel and Cena. Aside from one having a round head for Diesel and the other a rectangular face for Cena, they looked nothing like them.

The film has some fantastic stunts which are either real or CG. One scene is just imbecilic with  two characters in outer space in a car with a rocket engine strapped to the back. A “ jumping the shark” moment.

The bottom line is if you did not see any prior FF films this is not for you. If you have, you know what to expect. FF 10 is in the works and will be released in 2022. If it is the last one I think it will open the door for Cena . He needs to work on his sneer.

Summer of Soul (Hulu)

 

Summer of Soul (Hulu)

This is a documentary of a forgotten musical festival in Harlem in 1969. It was formally known as the Harlem Cultural Festival and  was called the Black Woodstock. It took place over a six week period in Mount Morris Park in Harlem attended by  nearly 300,000. The concert film was overshadowed  by  Woodstock and relegated to 50 years of obscurity in a basement.

 The Harlem Cultural Festival was a series of music concerts held in Harlem during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of black pride. The sounds were R&B, blues and jazz.

The film is directed by Ahmir Questlove Thompson (band leader of the Roots). It won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the US Documentary Competition. It features Afro/Latin music from some of the great artists of the time. Some of the acts were Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, The Staple Singers, BB King, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Max Roach, Mongo Santamaria and Sly and the Family Stone. The performances are shown whole and not just clips along with enthusiastic reactions from the audience. It is worth seeing the film just to see Steve Wonders’ virtuoso drum solo. The Black Panthers provided security for Sly and the Family Stone when the police refused. The music is amazing and still fresh.

The film is also social commentary. 1969 was a heady year. Apollo 11 landed on the moon and the country was still raw after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. These assassinations erupted in riots in across major cities. New York City was spared from rioting in part due to the efforts Mayor Lindsay and the concert was seen as quelling emotions and show casing black pride. The Reverend Jessie Jackson spoke at the concert to offset the pain of the MLK assignation.

Regarding the moon landing the residents of Harlem had a more earthly opinion of the landing. They felt the money was better served addressing the poverty of their neighborhood. How can you be enthusiastic about the landing if you cannot afford a TV?

This documentary  is a resurrected jewel and is an important complement to black and American history.