Rosewood
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VHS Movie Reviews of Rosewood
Movie Review: Excellent Movie!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched "Rosewood" in Texas when it came out in 1997. Unfortunately, it was not well received at the time - in fact, I found it really difficult to find a theatre that featured the film. Much like "Roots", this is a pivital movie, giving the viewers a snapshot of true events that occurred in Florida in 1922. Of course some artistic license is taken. At times, Vingh Raimes seems more like a super hero character....but the racist attitudes of the period seem to be accurately represented. One other note, I just read the rant about republicans verses democrats and I have this to say. It's funny how in modern times the republican party seems to celebrate the "retro" sensibilities of the 1950's when blacks just happened to be forced to ride on the back of the bus and received separate and unequal schooling. And when blacks also provided cheap labor as 2nd class citizens for whites who wanted to maintain their status as 1st class citizens of these United States....funny, no one really ever talks about how that power structure provided a world for middle class whites to flourish in before the modern civil rights movement took hold....a lopsided world missed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy, but I digress....Anyway, the author of that rant fails to mention that during the 1960's, racist "Dixiecrats" like Strom Thurmond left the democratic party to join with the republicans who accepted him with open arms. And recently before his death, Strom was celebrated by fellow republican Trent Lott who wished aloud that Strom had been president. - When I lived in Texas, the people I knew who regularly used racial slurs, and drove around with confederate flag license plates always (and I mean always) claimed to be republican when the subject of politics came up. The democratic party is no perfect party, but trying to make the republican party seem like a refuge and oasis for blacks just because Abe Lincoln once was a member is just plain ignorant!!!!Movie Review: Shameful Democrat past once again rebuked
Summary: 3 Stars
This film reminds us of the horrors that the Southern Democrats inflicted upon African Americans. As Wayne Perryman reminds us in his book, "Unfounded Loyalties",
"One party and their abolitionist supporters believed the Bible instructed them to lay down their lives for the slaves, the other party and their supporters believed the Bible gave them the right to take the lives of blacks if they rebelled against being slaves.
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"One party was heavily influenced by the Abolitionists and the radical wing of their party ... and the other party was influenced by the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups.
"One party and its supporters started the Freedman's Bureau and other programs to help build communities for blacks, the other party and their supporters engaged in practices to hinder those efforts and to destroy those communities (Wilmington, North Carolina).
"One party and its supporters established quality schools and colleges for blacks, the other party and their supporters engaged in practices that attempted to close some of those schools or diminish their quality.
"One party passed laws and Constitutional Amendments (13th , 14th , 15th) to include blacks as part of mainstream society, the other party passed laws to exclude them from the mainstream (Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes). ..."
Sadly, many do not know that that "one party" was the Republican Party, while the "other party" was the Democratic Party. I myself didn't know at the time I watched this stirring film. I suppose burning crosses make us assume the bad guys are aligned with the religious right. Unfortunately, the "other party" used a nonsensical interpretation of the "curse of Ham" to justify slavery; fortunately, "one party" saw through it.
This film is also a great example of how history is being rewritten or dumbed down. While many films have shown lynchings and other abuse of African Americans, they usually leave you with the impression that the bigots were "Bible bashers" ... as you can see, this is only half the truth. Very rarely are we reminded that it was Republicans who laid their lives on the line to defend blacks, based on their Christian faith.
We are all sinners. Perhaps the shameful past that the Democrats are trying to forget - indeed, most youngsters today do not need to forget, they haven't even been taught - will spur them onto greater deeds that may even outshine the "one party".
Movie Review: Powerful Unfortunate History
Summary: 5 Stars
"Rosewood", starring Jon Voight and Ving Rhames, is a gripping true story about an all African-American town that was burned by an all white lynch mob in 1923, which killed many. Its powerful message sends an eyeopening attack in audiences' hearts. The filmmakers deserve tremendous respect for deeply exploring these chain of events to such levels. This was highly necessary for people to understand the impact of violence and racism. The intensity is so groundbreaking that it forces audiences inside the movie. Their research is highly obvious, making it very educational. The movie plot is brilliant, keeping the heart and soul alive in every scene:A small town, Rosewood, is usually a peaceful, loving town. In New Years Eve 1922, everything functioned as usual. Around that time, a woman from a nearby town, Sumner, falsely accuses a black person of raping and assaulting her (it was actually a white man, but there was no rape). Once word is out, all hell breaks loose.
The recreation of the town is perfect. Every detail is flawless, including the styles of the early 1920's. Every building structure and creation is flawless. The costume designs are as flawless, looking like actual 1920's clothing.
The acting was intensely great. Everyone offers their own heart and soul sense into this movie, making it more powerful. Jon Voight and Ving Rhames capitalize the acting talents. This is Rhames's best role in years. His tough warrior image never fades for a second, which is very convincing. His presentd talents were wrongfully overlooked in the 1997 Acadamy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. Jon Voight's role as a man who comes to terms of what a true ally is. His heartdrenching role forces audiences to feel his character's learning progress and emotions.
"Rosewood" is a great movie for those looking for an factual intense drama. This will surely educate audiences about reality. This movie will become a classic in the near following years as it deserves.
Movie Review: An excellant movie about what happened in Rosewood
Summary: 5 Stars
I first watched this movie on HBO, after viewing it with my wife we decided to rent it so our children could see what realy happened in Rosewood and learn about history, we are a white family and I feel it is important for my children to learn what realy happened there. After watching the movie we took a ride to the site that was once Rosewood, the only remaining structure is mr. Wrights house, the town is gone, we walked through the area that was once Rosewood and tried to imagine it as it was in the movie, we then went to Sumner and saw the site that was once the mill,we found some relics there, along with some buildings that had housed the residents of Sumner who worked in the mill, we then visited Mr. Wrights grave in Sumner, all in all the movie was great as it taught my family and myself about the history of the town and how horrible racism was back then.Movie Review: Good storym aterial that falls apart due to Bad execution.
Summary: 3 Stars
Director John Singleton gets his opportunity to direct an epic black film in Rosewood and define himself as a black director. Unfortunately in this clumsy, clunky incomplete mess of a movie he shows us why he will never measure up to the high standards of black filmmaking Spike Lee established years ago with his definitive films, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. The devil is in the details and they are a lot missing in Rosewood. In this story about a successful black town, the story focuses way too much on the white characters. A better director and screenwriter would have shown us a blanked and clear picture of what life was like in Rosewood Florida. I wanted to know why the African Americans lived in the town why they wanted to come there, what jobs they did, and who they were. Unfortunately Singleton doesn't answer any of these questions. Instead, he glosses over these details and gives us a hazy picture of a town that looks like any other in Jim Crow America. Worse he fills it with one-dimensional stock black characters. We get the old mammy, the schoolmarm, the angry black businessman and the new guy in town trying to start a new life for himself. Even the white characters come off like White Southern stereotypes. The liberal shopkeeper, the redneck killer, the nervous sheriff, the indifferent judge and the evil white woman get a lot of screen time but do nothing with it. The story completely starts to fall apart after the white woman lies about the rape. The white characters go on a campy lynching rampage that is reminiscent of Godzilla destroying Tokyo; it's sad that John Singletons inept direction trivializes the tragic deaths of African Americans who were lynched during this era. This film is supposed to be based on real life events and real people and they are treated like action movie fodder by Singleton. People we're supposed to care about die, but I didn't get to feel that way because I never got to know anyone because Singleton forgot to let us get to know anyone well enough in the first act of the film. The surviving women and children try to escape the rampage by hiding in the swamp. The remainder of the film devolves into a Jerry Bruckhiemer production as stuff burns up real good and we get a big chase scene as they try to get on a train out of town. The part of the film that angers me most is the scene where the Ving Rhames character is being lynched. He tells his horse Booker T to go and then allows himself to be hung; however while being strangled he miraculously cuts himself down and escapes. This one scene shows us why Singleton will never be a great filmmaker; instead of giving us powerful visuals in a compelling story he treats the source material like a joke. This was supposed to be a film about real people who lived and died in a tragedy not some over the top action flick like Lethal Weapon.
It's a pity that great actors like Ving Rhames, Jon Voight, Don Cheadle and the Late Esther Rolle had to work with Singleton on this project. They give good performances in spite of the shallow material. I wonder what they could have done with a better-written script and a more competent director. The material itself was very interesting and the project had a lot of potential. In the hands of Spike Lee, James Cameron, or Steven Spielberg this truly could have been an epic film. With them directing the film we would have gotten a clear picture of who the people were and what life was like in Rosewood Florida. For John Singleton this is truly a definitive film. When given the tools to make a great film he makes something awful. This is not his Roots. This shows why he needs to go back to film school and learn the roots of filmmaking.