TV: NETFLIX giveth and NETFLIX taketh

NETFLIX has a ton of offerings which is one reason it retains as many subscribers as it does.  Last week, for example, we saw the best and we saw the worst of NETFLIX.

 

 

 

 

The best?

DEAD TO ME season three which was everything anyone could want and so much more.  We hope this is not Christina Applegate's farewell performance but, if it is, she truly accomplished something.  Pay attention, Kaley Cuoco, this is what a real actress does.  Christina's honed her craft and is one of the best actresses the country has.  She created another memorable character with this series.  

Her Jen and Linda Cardellini's Judy have real chemistry and come across as the best friends everyone seeks out in life.  The third season is the last season and based around concluding events.  It also moves much more swiftly than the previous two seasons.

We need to note Natalie Morales who has always been wonderful on the show and who, when she smiles, it just about the warmest person in film or TV.  

The journey of season three will probably produce some tears.  It will also produce a lot of laughs.  DEAD TO ME is the sort of series that broadcast networks just aren't interested in.  (Basic cable?  They're pretty much all switching to cheap garbage that they're calling 'reality TV.') And DEAD TO ME exists as a reason for people to subscribe to NETFLIX.

IS THAT BLACK ENOUGH FOR YOU? exists to run intelligent people away and to miseducate the rest.

We didn't know Elvis Mitchell had a hand in this until we started streaming.  Had we known that ahead of time, we would have skipped it.  Elvis has been fired many times -- including by MOVIELINE for lying in print. 

The topic is what pulled us in -- that and knowing people in front of the camera (such as Suzanne De Passe, Margaret Avery, Harry Belafonte and Billy Dee Williams) and behind it (Steven Soderbergh, Ciara Lacy and David Fincher).  

The film is examining the world of African-American film making between 1968 through 1978.

Or pretends that's the case.

BLAZING SADDLES exist for Elivs Mitchell as a Cleavon Little success.  He gets bitchy -- no surprise if you know his work -- over Gene Wilder.  BLAZING SADDLES was a huge hit.  And Cleavon was given no follow up, Elvis laments, while tossing shade at Gene.  

Gene had already starred in film classics like THE PRODUCERS, START THE WAR WITHOUT ME and WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.  The year BLAZING SADDLES came out, Gene would show up with YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN -- which he both starred in and wrote.

Where did Cleavon go after BLAZING SADDLES?  Oh, right.  To Broadway.  That's not going to help your film career -- now or then.

And what film career?  

It was his only starring part in a film up to then.

There's another factor -- actually many other factors -- and that would be who Gene teams up with.  No, not Gilda Radner.  Gene made three films with her, yes.  But he made four with Richard Pryor.  They were a comedy team.

Cleavon worked with Richard as well.  In GREASED LIGHTENING, as Peewee, a role that Richard hoped would humiliate Cleavon.

Cleavon wasn't supposed to star in BLAZING SADDLES.  Richard was supposed to star.  The studio felt that Cleavon was more 'manageable.'  So Richard lost out on the part despite the fact that he'd written in when co-writing the script.

Yes, karma is a thing.  Equally true, so is competition.  And Richard was competitive.  More importantly, Richard had friends and the industry, believe it or not, does believe in fairness.  That's why Julie Andrews won a Best Actress Academy Award for MARY POPPINS, for example.

With many in the industry angry over Cleavon 'stealing' Richard's role, he didn't have a lot of support.  Diana Sands grew ill during this period and she handed her role in CLAUDINE over to Diahann Carroll -- and made it clear that she was doing so.  She made it clear so there would be no attacks on or grudges against Diahann.  (And Diahann would earn an Academy Award nomination for CLAUDINE.)  

Cleavon, right or wrong, was perceived as stealing Richard's role.  Cleavon then rushes off to Broadway.   The comedy he did was well received.  It didn't break box office records and would close after 233 performances.  He comes back to California and . . . does an episode of THE WALTONS.  Sorry but back then you were TV or film.  The barrier between the two was much stricter.

Cleavon also had personal rumors -- which Elvis Mitchell avoided so we will as well -- that made him much less desirable than he'd been when he was cast in BLAZING SADDLES.  In addition to the rumors his actions had caused, many White studio heads confused him with Clifton Davis at a time when Davis and Michael Jackson were supposed to be a pair -- the actual (false) rumor there was that Michael was going to have sex change surgery to marry Clifton. 

Was Cleavon talented?  

Absolutely.  But there are many talented people who are not working every year.  And if you lose your momentum -- doing Broadway and TV in the 70s would kill your film momentum -- you lose it.  Look at Joan Rivers.  She lost it repeatedly and she had a very powerful enemy who had a lot of friends.  In fact, if we're being honest, Mel Brooks stabbed Joan in the back.  (He knows what we're talking about.)  It ended his film career, he had no more hits after that embarrassment.  

Gene Wilder was an established film star when he made BLAZING SADDLES and he worked his ass off to maintain his film stardom.  Cleavon was the Richard Pryor replacement, the one those in the know watched in the film and thought, "Richard could have done that so much better."  Because Richard could have done it better.

Richard is given very short shift in the alleged documentary.   He appears in 23 films during the time period the film covers.  He is also a superstar.  It won't be until the 80s when another male emerges (Eddie Murphy) to make that claim.  Repeating, not a mere actor, he's a superstar.  During this time period, there are also several actresses (we'd love to say "many" but that's not accurate) but only one movie star: Diana Ross.  That figures in so remember those two basic facts.

Ruby Dee is mentioned.  Her film UPTIGHT is even noted.  But Elvis isn't very interested in women which must be why he doesn't even bother to note that Ruby co-wrote the script.  It's why he spends forever on ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (to cover the soundtrack) while ignoring a western from the same year which actually starred an African-American --Lena Horne in DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER.  Pam Grier gets a bit of attention.  We say a bit because there are men who get far more attention and made far less films during the time the documentary is supposed to cover.  SPARKLE gets very little attention from Elvis for being a female-led film and he further injures his own reputation by refusing to note, while playing the scene in the film where the girl group sings "Something He Can Feel," that the actresses were undercut by lack of faith.  They sing more than fine.  But they didn't sing on the album.  (Instead, Curtis Mayfield recorded the songs with Aretha Franklin.)  He wants you to know an African-American man was a villain in a James Bond film but somehow rushes to insist that never happened again -- except for the fact that Grace Jones is a villain in a James Bond film.  He also wrongly thinks Irene Cara is African-American.

During the time span the documentary is supposed to be interested in, Bill Cosby stars in six films during this time period but he's not really explored.  Is that due to the overturned conviction?  We don't know.  But he was a film star during this period and some commentary on that would have been helpful.

Elvis spends a lot of time on Sidney Poitier but never tells the audience that Poitier directed STIR CRAZY (1980) which was, in its day, the most successful film at the box office ever directed by an African-American.  

"But it falls out of his time frame.''

The time frame is artificial.  He wants to tell you that Blaxploitation was a good thing.  Some might disagree.  He wants to tell you it was a Black film revolution -- maybe in front of the camera but any real look at this era would need to note Hannah Weinstein.  And he wants to tell you it ended . . . because of one movie.

THE WIZ.  

The 1978 film was directed by Sidney Lumet.  But he doesn't get blamed.  Diana Ross gets blamed.  Elvis tells you she was too old for the part.

Some would disagree with that opinion but, more to the point, without Diana you don't have a feature film.  And, contrary to CRAPAPEDIA and other outlets, Diana did not go around Berry Gordy to get the role.  She called Berry saying she wanted to play the role.  He told her she was too old.  He then called Rob Cohen who told him what Diana meant: The film gets made and Diana gets one million for the film.  That was more than enough for Berry which left Rob worried, he'd just been speculating and now had to seal the deal.  (Which he did.)  

THE WIZ was a musical.  Too much money was spent on it.  A director who had never filmed a musical shouldn't have been put in charge.  

But Diana delivered.  So did Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, Mable KIng and every other performer.  

Elvis wants you to believe -- as does CRAPAPEDIA -- that THE WIZ ended Black films.  That's incorrect.  Here are a few examples from the years immediately after 1978 -- and these are just a few examples.

1979, for example, saw the release of ROCKY II, DISCO GODFATHER, THE HITTER, FIREPOWER, BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT, RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE IN CONCERT, THE FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH,  and PENITIARY -- the latter starring Leon Isaac Kennedy who also starred in the films' two sequels.

1980's STIR CRAZY, BABYLON and IT RAINED ALL NIGHT THE DAY I LEFT.

1981's BUSTIN LOOSE, RAGTIME, CARBON COPY, DEATH HUNT and FORT APACHE THE BRONX.

1981's BODY & SOUL, BUSTIN' LOOSE and THE DEVIL AND MAX DEVLIN.

 

1982's BLACK COMMANDO, THE TOY, 48 HOURS, SOME KIND OF HERO, RICHARD PRYOR LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP, DEADLY DRIFTER, ROCCKY III HARD FEELINGS, HANKY PANKY, ROCKY III, WHITE DOG, VIGILANTE, AN OFFICER & GENTLEMAN  and  ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO.

 

1983's THE LAST FIGHT, FLASHDANCE, TRADING PLACES,  SUPERMAN III, RICHARD PRYOR: HERE AND NOW, LONE WOLF MCQUADE, BILL COSBY: HIMSELF, DC CAB, DEAL OF THE CENTURY, THE BIG SCORE, THE LAST FIGHT, TOUGH ENOUGH, JAWS 3-D and STREAMERS.

1984's BEAT STREET, BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL, BREAKIN', THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, PURPLE RAIN, A SOLDIER'S STORY, BEST DEFENSE, BEVERLY HILLS COP, ICEMAN, HAMBONE AND HILLIE, PLACES IN THE HEART, A SOLDIER'S STORY, CONAN THE DESTROYER and THE COTTON CLUB.

1985's BREAKIN' 2,  KRUSH GROOVE, Berry Gordy's THE LAST DRAGON, THE BRIDE, THE COLOR PURPLE, BREWSTER'S MILLIONS, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, A VIEW TO A KILL, THE SERPENT WARRIORS, FAST FORWARD, WHITE KNIGHTS, ENEMY MINE, ROCKY IV and STAND ALONE.

 

1986's SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, UNDER THE CHERRY MOON, JUMPING JACK FLASH, WILDCATS,  CROSSROADS, THE GOLDEN CHILD, ON THE EDGE, BEVERLY HILLS COP II, EXTREMITIES, NATIVE SON, VAMP, RUNNING SCARED, CLUB PARADISE, IRON EAGLE, FIREWALKER, ROUND MIDNIGHT, KNIGHTS OF THE CITY,   and JO JO DANCER, YOUR LIFE IS CALLING.

 

1987's BLACK COBRA, TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE, HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, BURGLAR, FATAL BEAUTY, PREDATOR, BEVERLY HILLS COP II, CRITICAL CONDITION, LETHAL WEAPON, THE WILD PAIR, CRY FREEDOM, DISORDERLIES, LEONARD PART VI, BIG SHOTS and THE PRINCIPAL.

 

1988 I'm GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA, TOUGHER THAN LEATHER, SCHOOL DAZE, BIRD, THE TELEPHONE, ABOVE THE LAW, UNDER THE GUN, ACTION JACKSON, CLARA'S HEART, COMING TO AMERICA, MOVING, FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY, SHOOT TO KILL, LITTLE NIKITA, OFF LIMITS, DELTA FORCE COMMANDO and IRON EAGLE II.

1989's CRACK HOUSE, HARLEM NIGHTS, DO THE RIGHT THING, THE MIGHTY QUINN, HOMER AND EDDIE, GLORY, ERIK THE VIKING, RIVERBEND, JOHNNY HANDSOME, LETHAL WEAPON II, THE MIGHTY QUINN, TAP, A DRY WHITE SEASON, SIDEWALK STORIES, TAP, THE PUNISHER and SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL.

THE WIZ opened October 24, 1978.

You've got a time lag so, no, THE WIZ's box office didn't destroy anything.

What did change things was that TV movies revolving around an African-American actor or actors became much more common.   And, of course, ROOTS changed everything in 1977.  Elvis misses all of that.

"Elvis likes to make s**t up,"  a friend at THE NEW YORK TIMES.

That certainly explains this bit of garbage:

When movies were first being built around, God help us, Elvis Presley or the Beatles whose first releases in the US were on a Black-owned record label why wasn't anyone seeking out these women rock pioneers for careers in the movies?

We see images of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Duchess and Betty Davis.

To answer Mitchell's idiotic question, Elvis Presley was 21-years-old when he made his first film in 1956.  With Richard Lester directing, the Beatles made 1964's A HARD DAYS NIGHT and 1965's HELP -- Paul McCartney  was 22 and 23.  How old was Rosetta Tharpe in 1956?  41 years old.  A Hollywood truism -- no woman becomes a film star over 40.  And Rosetta wasn't rock, nor was she rhythm & blues -- she was gospel.  As for The Duchess --- that would be Norma-Jean Wofford -- at the age of 30, Bo Diddley taught her to play rhythm guitar and she joined his band where she remained for four years (1962 to 1966) after which she retired from music to raise her children. She wasn't a rock pioneer nor did many people know who she was.  Lady Bo, the woman she replaced in Diddley's band, was a rock pioneer.  It's like the difference between Vanity (the real deal) and Apolonia (the copy).  As for why 'rocker' Betty Davis didn't become a film star from 1956 to 1966?  She wasn't really a musician.  She cut three singles that didn't sell and that didn't chart.  She was a model -- a successful one.  It's not until 1973 that she gets her first album released -- well past the time that the Beatles and Elvis stopped making films -- and well before Prince would start back  up the musician-film star genre.

"Why wasn't anyone seeking out these women rock pioneers for careers in the movie?"  We think we more than answered that question.

Here's another example of Elvis Mitchell just making things up:

. . . Director Alice Guy-Blache decided to do something else entirely.  In 1912, she directed A FOOL AND HIS MONEY -- what's said to be the first film with an all African-American cast.  Her artistry shows a playful clarity and did not diminish those actors.  She was successful enough in those days that studios sought her out and, given the care that she used to make her art, it was only logical that she turned down the first Tarzan movie.

As explained in THE MEMOIRS OF ALICE GUY-BLANCHE, she didn't turn down a Tarzan film, she couldn't come up with the money the studio was asking her to invest in it.  That was in 1920.  And it wasn't the first Tarzan film.  1918 saw FIRST NATIONAL release TARZAN OF THE APES.  1918 saw the release of the second Tarzan film: THE ROMANCE OF TARZAN -- she wasn't asked/invited to direct that either.  In 1920, she was offered the direction of THE ADVENTURES OF TARZAN.  She tried to raise the money required but couldn't.  It would have been the third Tarzan film -- not the first -- and she didn't turn down the offer.  And, let's note, that when Elvis lies that "she turned down the first Tarzan movie," the screen displays movie posters for 1918's TARZAN OF THE APES -- she was never offered the opportunity to direct that film.  P.S. Her A FOOL AND HIS MONEY is said to be among the first films with a narrative that has an all African-American cast.

Elvis Mitchell can't be counted on to get anything right.

After viewing IS THAT BLACK ENOUGH FOR YOU?, we have to agree with our NYT friend, Elvis Mitchell just makes s**t up.  And it's his 'documentary' that drags down NETFLIX's reputation.  There need to be some standards imposed.  You shouldn't have a documentary without a fact checker and you shouldn't be airing garbage that is one lie after another and calling that a documentary.