SING SING (2023) and IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2018)
Details
[Barry]
How can a person be imprisoned? By walls and bars? By attitudes and myopia? What if the individual soul has caged itself? And what if a society uses imprisonment to subjugate groups of people? And if they seek to rise again? How would a filmmaker interrogate and express these themes visually?
Sing Sing (2023) is a best picture Oscar nominee, and “at the world premiere of Sing Sing... the film got a four-minute standing ovation.” We see a depiction of incarcerated men in a storied prison outside of NYC, where an arts program offers a path to reconnect with their humanity. “The decision to feature the real prisoners recreating their own stories alongside professional actors — and in a dynamic, gritty, almost gonzo filmmaking style — makes for an especially unique experience.” This film received 70 film awards and 201 nominations (IMDB). These comments are from the RT critics capsule comments page:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sing_sing
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) features an early 1970s Harlem in which Tish and Fonny are engaged, and have been friends since childhood. But their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. “It’s hard to imagine how one film could fill you with so much love yet overwhelm you with an equal amount of pain. But that’s exactly what Beale Street does.” “There’s an entire world created in this movie, a reflection of our reality, but soaked in Jenkins’ dreamlike view.” This film received 104 film awards and 194 nominations (IMDB). These comments are from the RT critics capsule comments page:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/if_beale_street_could_talk
I hope that everyone enjoys the artistic synergies in these films, plus the bonus of seeing Coleman Domingo twice. Multiple reviewers have written that Sing Sing provides him a role worthy of his talents.
We will discuss these two together, then meet again for The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
AVAILABILITY. Sing Sing and Beale Street are available on Prime, with no rental charge. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is on Hoopla through a Guelph library card and other jurisdictions (but not for the KPL). If Beale Street Could Talk and The Reluctant Fundamentalist are available on fsharetv.cc, which is a safe free streaming site (What a find! Mucho gracias, Peter!). Via the chat, you are welcome to ask me about my digital copies of these films.
I look forward to seeing you all! - Barry
Notes on using fsharetv.cc
It is possible to make subtitles display. At times I prefer this. Pro tip: Under Settings > Pick Subtitles >, select the (top) entry - with the most downloads. These are pulled from Opensubtitles.org. This is a smart web site!
For Fundamentalist, the top subtitle entry worked for me--eg, the subs are in sync. For Beale, the 2nd entry worked (ends in ACE-EV0)--for me, anyways.