Alternative Views: The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013)

MV5BMTUwMjgyNTE2OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzU1MzgwMDE@__V1_SY317_CR0,0,214,317_AL_Today’s Alternative Views recommendation comes way of Sundance and a few other festivals. Apparently, it failed to get wide distribution. The reasons for that oversight will remain mysteries to me. This film is hella powerful.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013), Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson

Director: George Tillman

Writer: Michael Starrbury

One review of this film opined that it bordered on “poverty porn”. I can’t agree. Director George Tillman pointed his camera matter-of-factly at life in a Brooklyn housing project. It’s not prurient. It’s not judgmental. It just is the life lived by 13-year-old Mister (Skylan Brooks), his addicted mother, Gloria (Jennifer Hudson) and their semi-permanent house guest, 9-year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon), himself the child of an addict even worse off than Gloria. Continue reading →

Dear Hollywood, It’s Not Me. It’s You

Let’s face it, it’s been bad between us for a long time. I’m a bit long in the tooth now, and I know how you feel about that. I’m no longer snowed by your tales of MPDGs; with you smitten and me wondering how I could eliminate my need for gainful employment just so I could be worthy of your adoration. I cringed through your seemingly endless stream of Blow-‘Em-Up violent fantasies; fantasies that you’re still cranking out despite the fact that these same action stars are in their mid-60s. I was always amused by the suspension of disbelief required to watch downtown Los Angeles transformed into a war zone by a single rogue cop, while you were still opining that a female buddy comedy “wouldn’t be realistic”.

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