OK, for the rest of the free world, who has had cable or Direct TV for umpteen years, I salute you.
Being a writer, I have to pick and choose which of life's paid pleasures I can enjoy, especially writing for Windy City Times.
Unfortunately, Direct TV and cable had to be placed on the bottom of my list. I do have other priorities—like feeding my dogs, feeding me and paying bills.
But after a visit to my Mom's (who has just gotten Direct TV thanks to my oldest brother's kindness and generosity—Hey, I got a DVD player from him for my birthday), my mother is able to enjoy all of the benefits of scanning hundreds of channels. And unlike the song says, there is definitely something on and usually without commercials.
My girlfriend fancies herself a channel surfer with our 10 channels—well, actually, nine since neither of us speaks Spanish. But then again, her favorite station is PAX and her favorite show is Touched By An Angel (the reruns, not the current ones). As for me, I still have to schlep to my local video store for at-home entertainment.
My recent outings to Blockbuster have resulted in a Hawaiian vacation with an adorable, feisty little girl and a rambunctious, and ultimately loving alien (Disney's Lilo & Stitch); a Black man's misadventures and misfortunes one week before his wedding (One Week); a serial killer, Michael Myers, forays into the world of reality TV where he is still seeking revenge by preying on a new group of would-be reality TV stars in the latest installment of the Halloween movies (Halloween: Resurrection, 2002); and a comic visit to a South Side neighborhood barbershop complete with side-splitting cast of characters (Barbershop).
Disney's Lilo & Stitch had me from its start. Lilo is a young Hawaiian girl living with her teenage sister, Nani, voiced by Tia Carrere, following the death of their parents. She adopts an extraterrestrial bent on destruction, but she believes that it is a dog. Lilo wants a friend and her sister believes that a new pet will cheer her up.
This is a realistic cartoon complete with real-life trials and tribulations, the pains of being an outsider and not having friends, the loss of parents, and finding joy and fun where you least expect it. Plus, it has a rocking soundtrack that primarily consists of Elvis Presley's music. Wynonna Judd does an awesome version of the King's 'Hunk of Burning Love' which will have you days later singing out 'Lord Almighty, I Feel My Temperature Rise.' You will be tapping your feet and curling your lips and giggling your hips in no time. The DVD rocks with extras like hula lessons as well as information on the islands of Hawaii.
The other film that I checked out was an indie film out of Chicago entitled, One Week. Created by local talent, One Week features native Chicagoan Ronda Bedgood, a member of A Real Read, in a supporting role and is directed by Carl Seaton and stars Kenny Young as Varson and Saadiqa Muhammed as Kiya. In one week, an engaged straight man (Young) finds out that one of his former sex partners has AIDS and that he could have possibly contracted it. One Week has realistic dialogue and shows how real people think and feel about AIDS.
After discovering that he and his best friend/ roommate, Tyco (Eric Lane) had sex with the same woman who has AIDS, both must deal with it in his own way. Varson looks at himself in the mirror and believes that there is no way he can have the virus, since he looks healthy. While Tyco does not want to know his test results and feels that the solution to their problems is to find the girl and beat her down. So in the midst of final wedding plans and trying to get his deadbeat roommate to move out, Varson must confront an unexpected reality. With the rise of the HIV virus among the Black population and with former NBA star Magic Johnson speaking out about available health options, hopefully this film will create a much-needed dialogue among Blacks.
What's a movie night without a slasher flick? So, I selected the latest offering in the Halloween series. Dealing with murder on a massive level is Halloween: Resurrection. A new group of victims agrees to spend the night at the childhood home of Michael Myers, where they will be part of a reality TV show. This is definitely one of the more clever Halloweens in a long time. With all of the popularity surrounding reality-based TV shows, Halloween: Resurrection has its characters literally and figuratively dying for their five seconds of fame.
Rapper/actor Busta Rhymes plays fast-talking producer Freddie Harris and model/actress Tyra Banks (Nora Winston) is his girlfriend and partner who arrange the reality TV event. Rhymes and Banks definitely spice up things with their witty dialogue.
It's only in the last few years that Blacks have been added to the mainstream horror genre, and Busta Rhymes' character has some choice words for killer Michael Myers. Let's just say he breaks it down to the brother. If you rent the DVD, I prefer one of the alternate endings (which involves Busta Rhymes being saved by Sara—Bianca Kajlich) to the actual one.
My last movie is the sleeper comedy hit Barbershop starring Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson and rapper Eve making her film debut. Filmed in Chicago, you may remember that this one sparked a bit of controversy regarding one of the characters—Eddie, an elderly barber played to perfection by Cedric the Entertainer—who comments about Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while discussing the civil-rights movement. I won't go into detail about the comments— you'll have to rent the movie. But the Rev. Jesse Jackson launched a boycott of the film and asked that the movie be pulled and reissued without that dialogue.
Outside of whether the comments were PC or not, more importantly, they were funny, which is essential in a comedy. The story deals with Calvin (Ice Cube) and his dilemma over whether to sell his deceased father's barbershop business or to continue running it. He is tired of having to run the business and dreams of making it big on his own terms. Directed by Tim Story and produced by George Tillman, Jr. and Robert Teitel (the producers of Soul Food), Barbershop shows a slice of South Side life.
There's also a side story where a bumbling thief, J.D (Anthony Anderson) spends an entire day trying to crack open the ATM he's stolen from the grocery store across the street. There's only one problem—it's empty.
Barbershop shows the importance of Black-owned businesses within the Black community.
As I wrap this Crockett@Chicago, I can't help but think about all of those little satellite dishes hanging from thousands of buildings across our Windy City; maybe one day I'll have my share of the American Direct TV dream.
