'Battle of the Sexes' Review: This Famous Tennis Match is a Timely Message on Misogyny
In 1973, 29-year-old Women's tennis champion Billie Jean King was publicly challenged to a match by former Men’s tennis champion and ego-centric chauvinist, 55-year-old Bobby Riggs.
What was on the line for this playful yet all-but patronizing match differed for each athlete. For the self-obsessed showman, Riggs looked to reaffirm not only his own greatness but the unequivocal superiority of male athletes over female athletes.
For King, however, the outcome of this match was anything but light-hearted– she was fighting on behalf of women everywhere to gain the respect from male counterparts not only in the sport of tennis but in daily life. The famous match, which was broadcast around the world by ABC and to this day remains one of the highest-watched sports events of all time, is the subject of Battle of the Sexes, directed by the filmmakers of Little Miss Sunshine and starring Emma Stone as the steely-focused King and Steve Carell as the piggish Riggs.
Not-so-side note: if this premise of a misogynistic media-ham belittling women in the public eye for his own gains sounds strangely familiar to the headlines that dominated the American news-cycle during last year's presidential election, you wouldn't be wrong. That makes this tennis drama as timely as it is a necessary a reflection of how far we've come and how far we still have to go in securing equal rights for all.
Battle of the Sexes uses the tennis match as a vehicle to tell a much larger story that centers around King and her struggle for acceptance and equality in the sport. Stone is more than ready and game to slip into King’s court shoes, exuding a strong inner confidence in the film’s opening. Here, King, the reigning champion of the official Women's league, is met with the flippant sexism of being told the Women's prize will be a smaller purse than the Men’s from league President Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman). Not thinking twice, she drops out to form her own tournament, with hurt but unshaken confidence carrying her onward. The film goes deeper into King’s backstory when it’s revealed that she is doing this as a closeted yet married woman at a time when LGBTQ rights were significantly less than they are today.
Like a tennis player who knows when to soften a backhand lob or directly nail a line hit, Emma Stone as Billie Jean King is exacts her emotions with precision, pitting between moments of triumph and defeats in self-acceptance.
Coming off of last year’s Best Actress Oscar win for La La Land, Emma Stone as Billie Jean King is effortlessly good, covering all spots on the emotional court that this character demands. She plays the stone-faced and determined competitor as much as the insecure reluctant hero and everything in between. Like a tennis player who knows when to soften a backhand lob or directly nail a line hit, Emma Stone as Billie Jean King is exacts her emotions with precision, pitting between moments of triumph and defeats in self-acceptance.
Battle of the Sexes alternates with Riggs’ B-story, as he comes to terms with being once a winner but now a debilitated gambler with trust issues. The filmmakers develop Riggs into a man suffering from his own insecurities and Steve Carell’s trademark “lovable-in-spite-of-himself” character work makes Riggs not your stereotypical “villain.”
The performances and story arc make Battle of the Sexes a universally appealing film but it’s the lush and beautiful cinematography, compositions, and mood-building that directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton have created that make this an aesthetically strong and greatly packaged one. But what else would you expect from the filmmakers of Little Miss Sunshine who won audiences over in that Sundance classic? The message behind Sexes, like Sunshine, strives to strip away facade and inaccuracy in order to expose the human condition and a love of people for who they really are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ykcuAS1F4
"Battle of the Sexes" is rated PG-13 for some sexual content and partial nudity. 121 minutes. In select theaters Friday.
'It' Review: Borrowing Nostalgia to Induce Nightmares
In theaters now is the horror movie It, adapted from the 1,138 page Stephen King novel of the same name.
The story of a small town tormented by a demon in the form of a killer clown has already broken box office records, scaring up an estimated $117.1 million. This has made It not only the largest opening for a horror movie ever, but the largest opening for any film debuting in the month of September.
It opens on a foreboding rainy night, where older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) dispatches out to young Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) via walkie-talkie as the two track a sailing paper boat floating down their neighborhood's street gutter, which then falls down a storm drain to a pair of unblinking eyes and curious voice alluring Georgie inside. This is the presence of the unsettling Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgård), whose blood-red lipstick runs up the corners of his mouth and under his eyes. Pennywise befriends Georgie and then suddenly, the two disappear. A year later, Bill is still preoccupied with finding his younger brother who he can't admit is gone for good. When it's realized by Bill and his friends that other kids in town also went missing that year – along with other freaky occurrences – the group decides to take matters into their own hands and hunt down the clown.
If kids going missing due to other-worldly evil brings to mind images of Netflix's streaming smash-success, Stranger Things, you wouldn't be wrong. I'd bet more than a few Pennywise pennies that this movie's filmmakers (directed by Andy Muschietti) didn't exactly shy away from tapping into the Emmy-nominated hit (and yes, the kid in the telescopic eyeglasses is the main kid who hides "Eleven" in his basement from Stranger Things). To say that It benefits from Stranger Things would be more generous to say then that it flat-out lifts the same pop-eighties look and feel of the show (which itself took inspiration from E.T. and The Goonies). This made me think I was just re-sold a bloodier version of the streaming series a few months before season two came out. However, Jaeden Lieberher as the stuttering Bill gives an unexpectedly fine performance, delivering not one false note in this otherwise campy kid-flick (Lieberhar stands out in the sci-fi drama Midnight Special as well). And as Pennywise the clown, Bill Skarsgård (the youngest Skarsgård brother) is able to craft an iconic character all his own, drooling out a balloonist voice that squeaks with cheer before filling with jokery dread that proves to be as scary as any clown we've seen on the big screen.
For a movie about kids' disappearances and a killer clown, this freak-out horror flick ultimately feels more like a kids movie with good heapings of gore and kid-hurled F-bombs than it does an actual adult scary movie...
For a movie about kids' disappearances and a killer clown, this freak-out horror flick ultimately feels more like a kids movie with good heapings of gore and kid-hurled F-bombs than it does an actual adult scary movie – which is an odd tone to achieve given its R-rating. There's a certain level of maturity missing here, but what would you expect since the film's point of view is from protagonists on the cusp of puberty? In fact, the movie probably attributes a large part of its R-rating to the young boys' expletive-laden buddy banter, which from start to finish provides a lighthearted and humorous counterbalance to the shocking blood-spurting scariness.
It should be said that this reviewer hasn't read the novel or seen the previous TV-movie, so I came into the movie unaware of Pennywise the clown or what made "It" so memorable that it turned up once more in pop culture. Unfortunately, this adaptation doesn't do much in the way of showing why it's become a pop-culture cornerstone in horror. What's ultimately lacking here, is that past the eighties dress-up, there's not a cohesive story underneath that really makes sense, or worth the audience even caring what the reason for the evil that exists is except for the fact that it does. There's a city curfew in place (or one shot of a sign of it), but never any sign of law enforcement in the movie actually ensuring this. In fact, the only adults who we even see in the movie or have a line to speak are all very noticeably weirdo-creepos – country-kooks who make you want to stay away. Are they really in no way tied to the happenings of this clown who only abducts children?
What's ultimately lacking here is past the eighties dress-up, there's not a cohesive story underneath that really makes sense, or worth the audience caring why this evil even exists. Maybe we'll delve deeper in the next outing (a sequel is already being developed), but while It may be lacking in depth, it is still a scarily fun time at the movies.
"It" is rated R for violence/horror, bloody images, and for language. 135 min. Now playing in theaters everywhere.
'Patti Cake$' Review: Don't Miss this Underdog Rap Musical and Sundance Favorite
What if 8 Mile starred a girl?
This is essentially Patti Cake$, a Cinderella story of an over-weight underdog who tries to up-end herself from a dead end life in her New Jersey hometown by following her dream of becoming a rap superstar. Premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival and acquired by Fox Searchlight, the rap musical is now playing in theaters, including the Landmark and ArcLight Hollywood.
Patti Cake$ is a certain kind of wonderful– a refreshing breeze into your life that only indie cinema can offer. The movie is essentially another follow your dreams journey but is made all the better and worthwhile by its stylish, street-savviness and fresh flair. Patti Cake$ will delight and re-ignite you to be your baddest self.
Our lead hero Danielle Macdonald is a beautiful new star to fill the screen. As Patricia Dombrowski aka Patti, she smirks and stunts through the streets with her gangsta-exterior, but balances her toughness with sensitivity, flinching when she's shamed by others over her appearance. Macdonald's star is one that alternates between shimmering and shining, and really owns this movie.
It’s a bad girl story that will re-inspire audiences of all ages to follow their dreams no matter the odds.
This is the work of the film's writer and director Geremy Jasper (a music video director who wrote all of the rap lyrics to the film). And, oh boy, do these songs kick, especially when it comes time for Patti to do her thing. These well-written moments, whether it's a freestyle rap-off in a gas station or in the makeshift studio, give the lo-fi rap tracks a hard rock swagger of a Sleigh Bells metal meets the MC-queen authority style of Nicki Minaj. Half the reason I enjoyed Patti Cake$ so much is because the tunes transport you to this concert world.
(In fact, if you want to get a flavor of the music now, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is available to stream on Spotify. While 'PBNJ' may be the film's single, 'Hunger Gamez' is a real fun one.)
Of course, you can't have a party without pathos, or in this case some sort of story that fuels Patti to strive for this dream (which she takes seriously) without some real motivating forces that try to inhibit her at every turn. For each brash in-your-face moment of riled energy, there are equal balances of tender and affecting human moments. These include watching her washed-up alcoholic mother sing a karaoke tune, an intimate moment with mysterious anarchist, and being hospital-bound with her sickly but snappy grandmother. These are all instances that make Patti Cake$ more than just a fun time, but one of deeper insight and understanding.
While it ultimately follows a more conventional story arc than I thought it would, if you're looking for a movie to shake you out of your more familiar viewing patterns, Patti Cake$ will do just that. It offers music that rocks and moments that connect. It’s a bad girl story that will re-inspire audiences of all ages to follow their dreams no matter the odds.
'Patti Cake$' is rated R for language throughout, crude sexual references, some drug use and a brief nude image. 108 min. Now playing at select ArcLight theaters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-591Dqa48g
'Lemon' is Head-Scratching, and Hilarious
If you're paying attention to the comedy that comes out today, you'll notice the genre has gotten pretty weird.
And how could it not? Comedy has always survived by standing an arm's-length distance away from reality, which itself has become so sensational that it plays like surrealist theater. Thus, comedy has had to move ever-nearer into absurdism, where heady wit reigns king.
This generation's comedy nerds, fringe-group geeks of too-cool tastemakers that eschew normalcy and dare you not to laugh at their impossible wit on display, are not unlike the Salon artists of post-realism Paris, who previously pissed off their predecessors for seemingly disrespecting the craft by dismantling the art from itself in the great pursuit of revealing the meaning behind it. Both camps revel in showcasing a dear cleverness and irony, which in both cases, is held as the highest currencies to the art forms, respectively.
In the age of the internet, there are collectives of alt-comics who have further developed a cool-kids language for the new school comedy scene – and among them are a pretty talented group of folks called JASH. As stated by their YouTube page, "JASH is a comedy collective featuring original content by partners Michael Cera, Tim & Eric, Sarah Silverman and Reggie Watts with additional contributions from their many friends." Under this no-meaning-moniker, it's all wacky and weird short films and other video content that circumvents conventional short films.
One such filmmaker of the JASH family (a previous short being "Gregory Go Boom" in which Michael Cera stars as a suicidal paraplegic) is writer and director Janicza Bravo, whose first feature film Lemon premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival as well as in Los Angeles at this year's NEXT FEST.
The self-staged seriousness of one man's spiral-diving life has enough fun by a host of comedians (Jon Daly and Jeff Garland also cameo) – if neurosis-obsessed humor is your thing.
Lemon has been getting reviewed as a cringe-inducing comedy, which is exactly what writer and director Janicza Bravo would like. Making her feature film debut, Lemon is the story of sad-sack Isaac (Brett Gelman, Bravo's real-life partner), a struggling L.A. actor whose life begins to slowly unravel when his girlfriend of ten years Ramona (Judy Greer) decides to leave him. The break-up is more or less the driving center of this absurdist comedy, of which a number of other nonsensical and low-stakes events orbit around. Some instances include amateurish theater scenes in which Isaac workshops Chekhov's "The Seagull" with two self-serious actors (Michael Cera and Gillian Jacobs) as well as celebrating Passover with his pregnant sister (Shiri Appleby) and quirky parents (Fred Melamed and Rhea Perlman).
All of the characters in Lemon suffer from the same flaw, either too confused or unable to read the emotional needs of their partners or own needs, which mirrors the way in which this generation has lost touch with basic connection to others, as well as our own self-serving needs, and unable to navigate these pithy life moments (which makes for fun, and these comedians' composure never cracks).
The movie is intentionally disjointed, disposing of each scene quickly when it's over. When the second act of Passover ends and we cut right back to Isaac in L.A., who has now met Cleo, a woman of interest (Nia Long), and takes to meeting her family (where the film more or less fizzles out). When "Lemon" inevitably finishes with poop comedy (Isaac not even thinking twice to fish a flung phone out of an excrement-filled toilet), the dumb humor only serves to remind you that nothing is meant to be precious.
While it's all utter nonsense, Lemon is still delightful and fun throughout its relatively short eighty-three-minute run-time. The self-staged seriousness of one man's spiral-diving life has enough fun by a host of comedians (Jon Daly and Jeff Garland also cameo) – if neurosis-obsessed humor is your thing. Lemon both challenges its audience to keep up with it as much as it does lazily move from beginning to end, a tension that remains in tact from beginning to end. If you want to see a movie that may make you as uncomfortable as it does make you laugh, and if you like your comedy brainy and re-wired for the IQ as "the cool kids" would have it, Lemon will tickle you in just the right way.
83 mins. 'Lemon' is not rated. Opening this Friday in select theaters including the Nuart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq-AHDVukoA
Sundance NEXT FEST Brings Festival Hits 'Lemon' and 'Gook' to Los Angeles
Every summer, the Sundance Film Festival brings a handful of films directly from Park City to Los Angeles to make their L.A. debut at Sundance NEXT FEST.
This diverse selection of films played in Sundance’s NEXT category – a category that showcases bold films by up-and-coming talents of tomorrow. The festival is held at the beautiful Ace Hotel Theater in Downtown L.A. and pairs comedy and musical acts with each film, making for a full night of entertainment.
This past weekend, Morgan and Ryan Rojas attended NEXT FEST and caught Lemon and Gook, two films that made our heads spin (along with musical acts Lizzo and Sleigh Bells – two female-fronted bands who brought the Ace Hotel Theater’s roof down).
Lemon (2017) Review by Ryan Rojas
Lemon has been getting reviewed as a cringe-inducing comedy, which is exactly what writer and director Janicza Bravo would like. Making her feature film debut, Lemon is the story of sad-sack Isaac (Brett Gelman, Bravo's real-life partner), a struggling L.A. actor whose life begins to slowly unravel when his girlfriend of ten years Ramona (Judy Greer) decides to leave him. The break-up is more or less the driving center of this absurdist comedy, of which a number of other nonsensical and low-stakes events orbit around. Some instances include amateurish theater scenes in which Isaac workshops Chekhov's "The Seagull" with two self-serious actors (Michael Cera and Gillian Jacobs) as well as celebrating Passover with his pregnant sister (Shiri Appleby) and quirky parents (Fred Melamed and Rhea Perlman).
While it's all utter nonsense, Lemon is still delightful and fun throughout its relatively short eighty-three-minute runtime. The deadpan seriousness of Isaac’s spiral-diving life is a fun time – if neurosis-obsessed humor is your thing. Lemon both challenges its audience to keep up with it as much as it does apathetically stroll from start to finish. It is an interesting tension that is kept intact from beginning to end. If you want to see a movie that may make you as uncomfortable as it does make you laugh out loud, and if you like your comedy brainy and re-wired for your IQ, then Lemon will tickle you in just the right way.
Lemon is not rated. 83 min. In select theaters this Friday.
Gook (2017) Review by Morgan Rojas
Writer/Director/Actor Justin Chon was just a boy during the L.A. Riots of 1992. He since took to filmmaking to express his experience as a Korean-American living through one of the city’s most infamously tumultuous times which, until now, has generally been considered a black/white issue. Chon’s latest film, Gook, gives audiences a fresh perspective of how the Rodney King riots affected the Asian population living in Los Angeles at that time. From destroyed businesses to strained cross-cultural relationships, this Sundance award-winning drama uses black and white cinematography to tell a truly unique story that celebrates the artistry in diverse voices.
Gook tells the story of two Korean American brothers, Eli and Daniel, who struggle to make ends meet by working in their late father’s shoe store, located in the South Central neighborhood of Paramount (a stone’s throw from Compton). The brothers’ tough exterior of gold chains and foul language may seem intimidating to outsiders, but that doesn’t deter 11-year-old Kamilla from hanging around them any chance she gets. Kamilla is a street smart, orphaned black girl whose own dysfunctional upbringing has her searching for the security of a family in unconventional ways. As racial tension runs at an all time high, the special bond between Kamilla, Eli and Daniel is put to the test in a major and life altering way.
Gook is not rated. 94 min. In select theaters this Friday.
'Brigsby Bear' Review: Kyle Mooney's Other-Worldly Fairy Tale
Isolated weirdos have always felt special in their own personally-built bubbles, in their own make-believe worlds of fantasy, so as not to feel the pains of real world living.
Their uber-oddness certainly would compound to the nth degree, no doubt, if that person was a social shut-in for their entire formative life, raised on the wacky Saturday morning adventure episodic's featuring a guy in a bear suit.
What kind of person would they be, and what kind of person would they be forced to become?
This is the premise of "Brigsby Bear." This comedy/drama tells the story of James Pope (Kyle Mooney), a young man who, years after he was abducted from his family by a pair of nutball wannabe-parents and raised on their public-access style television show about a time and space traveling bear, was released back into real world suburbia to make sense of real human relationships.
The awkward bubble-boy is played by Saturday Night Live's new kid Kyle Mooney, who came up with Brigsby Bear as a child and let the idea percolate into his mind. Mooney, who broke it big with internet videos from the comedic sketch group Good Neighbor, also brings his childhood pals in to direct and act in this unique film.
As a Mooney fan and Good Neighbor fan myself, I must say I was slightly disappointed and wish that there was some more comedy in it from their own sensibilities.
Mooney's brand of alt-comedy is awkward-irony and mixed with the heavy VHS-style nostalgia of the eighties and nineties. In "Brigsby Bear," he turns that ironic character into an innocent and deprived one, one that we feel sympathetic towards.
"Brigsby" is clever in a lot of ways. In other ways, not so much. After Mooney escapes the confines of prison life, he must learn what is out there in the real world, dealing with his parents as well as Detective Vogel (Greg Kinnear). Mooney's sole wish is to re-create and share Brigsby Bear with the world in a sort of "Me Earl and the Dying Girl" aesthetic. By its premise alone, it's clear that this film is more a family feel-good than a comedy for college kids. But hey, maybe if you'd spent your amateur career living in the absurd (as well as professional SNL life), you'd want to bring things back to reality. Or maybe you just played it a little too safe. Anyways, that's how the movie plays.
Mooney's passion project played at Sundance and it feels like a well-crafted festival hit. As a Mooney fan and Good Neighbor fan myself, I must say I was slightly disappointed and wish that there was some more comedy in it from their own sensibilities. Ultimately, "Brigsby Bear" is as conventional and heartwarming as a sit-com episode would be, which Mooney – like his characters – seems to live and love.
"Brigsby Bear" is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, brief sexuality, drug material and teen partying. 100 minutes. Now playing at ArcLight Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, and Pasadena.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEohOb38hhs
The Hermosa Beach Summer Movie Series Kicks Off This Weekend
This article was originally published in print in The Easy Reader
The city of Hermosa Beach is proud to bring back its Summer Movie Series, screening a series of films every Saturday throughout the month of August right on the beach under the summer night’s sky.
Presented by Subaru Pacific and produced by Saint Rocke, the movies are screened just south of the pier and are free to attend for people of all ages. Each film has a 6 p.m. start and a 7:30 p.m. screening start, so bring your picnic basket and blankets and sink your beach chairs into the sand for a fantastic selection of films.
The Karate Kid – August 5
The classic coming-of-age kung-fu movie The Karate Kid is the first film to kick the summer series off. This 1984 classic is the story of a bullied teenager, Daniel (Ralph Maccio), and the martial arts master, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), who agrees to teach him the art of karate. With such unforgettable movie moments such as Miyagi’s curiously mystical training methods — making Daniel paint fences and wax cars (“on” and “off ”) — the film continues to be discovered by new generations and remains beloved. Need proof the movie’s a classic? The late Morita earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as the wise sensei Miyagi and the movie has spun two sequels and a major studio remake of the same name in 2010 starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. (Rated PG. 126 min.)
Moana– August 12
What better movie to watch at the beach with the kids than an animated movie about the beach whose title, in Hawaiian, means “ocean”? Released last year, Disney’s Moana is the story of a young Polynesian sea voyager named Moana (Auli’I Cravalho) who, when she learns that her island has been cursed by the demigod Maui (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), sets off on an epic journey across the Pacific to re-capture the heart of the goddess Te Fiti with the hopes of saving her island. Drawing on ancient Polynesian and Maori mythology, Moana is sure to delight and amaze people of all ages with its incredible hybrid-animation (while the film is computer animated, all of Maui’s tattoos are hand-drawn!) as well as original music (written by “Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda). (Rated PG. 107 min.)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – August 19
The ultimate slacker film about the perfect day of hooky will make you feel like a fun-times loving high schooler all over again. Starring Matthew Broderick as Ferris, the movie has become a classic tale of light-hearted teenage rebellion and coming-of-age since it first came out in 1986. Written and directed by the legendary John Hughes (The Breakfast Club), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off captures one cleverly-devised day when Ferris plans the ultimate sick day, getting his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) to join him for a day out-on-the-town in Cam’s father’s prized Ferrari — much to the irritation of sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) and Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones). So SAVE FERRIS and relive the movie that will make you remember that “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” (Rated PG. 103 min.)
La La Land – August 26
Wrapping up the summer movie series is a film so near and dear to the city of Hermosa that you – quite literally – won’t even have to turn your head to see the pier when it pops up onscreen mid-way through the movie. The movie is La La Land, the dazzling modern-musical and love letter to big studio movies of yesteryear. La La Land tells the story of two artists who struggle to follow their dreams while falling in love, all while soft-shoeing across iconic landmarks the “city of stars” – Los Angeles. Come watch Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone (in a performance that landed Stone last year’s Best Actress Oscar) evoke the very best of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as they ballroom-dance across the Griffith Observatory night sky and hammer out jazz tunes at Hermosa’s legendary Lighthouse Café. (Rated PG. 128 min.)
'G-Funk' Review: Warren G's Account of West Coast Gangster Rap
Making its hometown premiere in Los Angeles, the city whose roots were, in part, defined by the rise of ’90s rap music, is “G-Funk,” the biography of rapper Warren G and of West Coast gangsta rap. The film played at the Ace Hotel Theater in Downtown LA as part of the 2017 LA Film Festival.
The release of "G-Funk" comes at a time where other rap icon biopics have hit the big-screen. Films include the critically and commercially successful NWA biopic, "Straight Outta Compton" as well as this year's (less-well received) Tupac Shakur biopic, "All Eyez on Me," which may speak to the larger movement of the recognition of ethnically-marginalized peoples (Black Lives Matter), and real-life stories.
"G-Funk" re-tells the largely familiar story of the rise of hip-hop music on the US coasts at the end of the '80s followed by the rise of rap music in the early '90s. What sets this film apart is the emphasis on the subgenre from which it became – "G-Funk" (short for Gangsta Funk), and the people that put it on the map – including Snoop Dogg, the late Nate Dogg, and the film's producer and creator, Warren G, whose careful supervision of how the story is told, and his portrayal, is evident.
"G-Funk" follows the influence that this one particular style of music had on American politics and culture at the end of the '80s and early '90s. In telling a story as familiar as this one, "G-Funk" had to overcome some obvious challenges: how do you tell yet another side of the rap movement, centered largely around a figure who might not be able to greenlight his own big studio movie, to a new generation of movie-goers?
In "G-Funk," one of its very own members of that new generation was hired to bring Warren G's vision to the big screen- 23-year-old director Karam Gill. Gill, a Chapman University graduate, may not have been born when G had made his contributions to the genre but was nonetheless hired to tell this all-encompassing story of rap, politics, culture, icons, and ultimately, the music.
[Karam] Gill might not have been the most obvious choice – an underdog, even, among his contemporaries – but he shows that he has both the drive and capability of realizing his vision and expressing his art. We learn that this is the type of role that Warren G played in the rise of G-Funk, as well.
One might wonder what Warren G saw in Gill that got him the job (Gill got the gig after attending one of Warren G's concerts, asking the rap star if he could shoot video of his concert, which, after being reviewed, was evidence that he could capably direct this movie). And perhaps there's an interesting parallel to be drawn between their pairing: Gill might not have been the most obvious choice – an underdog, even, among his contemporaries – but he shows that he has both the drive and capability of realizing his vision and expressing his art.
We learn that this is the type of role that Warren G played in the rise of G-Funk, as well.
We witness G’s earliest elementary school days, growing up with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg (MC-ing grade-school freestyles), through defining the G-Funk movement and later linking up with Dr. Dre (G's step-brother) to create era-defining beats including Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic.' "G-Funk" goes on to show the downfall of the genre – in the "Gangsta" lifestyle, filled with power struggles and politicking, with its guns, drugs, and gang-related violence so visibly captured in the East Coast vs. West Coast rap battles.
Along with Warren G and Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Russell Simmons, and Deion Sanders contribute their stories to this documentary, offering their insights over this time and movement and its place in history.
87 minutes. "G-Funk" is currently not rated and awaiting distribution.