Film Review: Uncorked

By Rapmusiq
Uncorked is the Netflix banger we all need in these trying times. If you haven’t seen this film, stop reading, go watch it and come back to this article. Because it’s about to be spoiler central. First things, first, this film is Black AF [insert Black Power fist emoji]. It captures everyday black folks in their natural environment. Not suffering, not battling some undisclosed white villain; but simply living their lives. The realistic family dynamic is incredibly relatable.

Everyone has parents and/or parental figures with expectations of us. We all have that cousin who expects freebies but would give us the shirt of their back if we needed it. The gaze both in Memphis and in Paris is black folks viewing black folks. The references made are our own inside jokes and kitchen table talk. The cast invites us in with its clear star power: the national treasure Niecy Nash, Courtney B. Vance aka the luckiest man on the planet (google his wife) and newcomer Mamoudou Athie, who is absolutely lovable from the moment he steps on the screen. His character Elijah is your brother, cousin, boyfriend, best friend. We all have an Elijah in our life. The unassuming, quiet guy who is just trying to figure out his next step. Did I mention he is absolutely beautiful? I digress.

The story is what we all need because it’s not about struggle, strife, racism or slavery. It’s about a young man loving his family and making his way in the world; something we can all relate to. While he has love in his life, it is not the primary focus of his life or the film. His relationship is a healthy source of support that does not define his character. And while he experiences challenges he also experiences realistic solutions to them. We all get a collective win as he smashes through his barriers.

The film isn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. He experiences wins and losses. We are allowed the space as an audience to process them along with him. We are also privy to the complexities of parental love and the ways in which a parent’s hopes and dreams projected onto their child can become a breeding ground for disappointment and resentment. The film’s ending is strangely satisfying as we continue to root for our hero down to the ending credits. Whether he is successful or not is irrelevant because he pushes forward despite his barriers (although deep down in my heart I know he makes it!). I give this film a 10 out of 10.

Comments

It's Not Love, it's Love Adjacent

It’s my thought that the heart and the mind take turns in sharing authority in how we pattern our personal decisions. They cannot both be in control at the same time, and I believe that there’s a celestial straw pulling to determine which will rule within each given moment. The dangerous part about this is, sometimes when the heart wins, we forget to use our brain . When this happens, we start making decisions that are completely passion driven, hunger driven, and backed behind a receptor that shouldn’t receive as much showtime as it’s getting. Sometimes you fall in love with someone that is all wrong for you. They don’t feed you spiritually, they don’t feed you mentally, and maybe they don’t respect you. But they have ONE or two things on our list, so we keep them around. But by osmosis, all the signs that you saw in the beginning appear a bit less obvious, and now you THINK you love this person. Your heart is in control and your brain is taking a break, your brain has

Ladies, Make Him Act Right! (From a man's perspective)

So ladies, we have a tendency to get advice from women about MEN far more than we should. So I have a special treat today. We're going to get some advice on how to entice, encourage, and exalt a man from you guested it.. A MAN. I picked one, who speaks with the sole purpose to educate. So some of his language may be a bit harder than you're used to but.. you will not be disappointed. Capt SistaGurl Out! Introducing Tikko Brohey Ladies do you feel like “dudes ain’t shit” or “dudes don’t act right?” Have you ever thought about the things you do that contribute to that? The answer is probably not. Now granted there are dudes out there who just ain’t shit, and that’s just what it is. Majority of men are good men. But his partner can often determine just how good he'll actually be. Every woman deserves to be treated like a queen, as every man deserves to be treated like a king. The disconnect comes from when there’s an argument all the King and Queen shit is out the

The Black Freak

Recently Nicki Minaj received a wax statue at Madame Toussads wax museum in Las Vegas. Although this is a huge honor, there have been recent reports stating that her statue requires extra security surrounding it. Spectators at the museum have been flashing photos of her likeness in very indecent poses. Why? Well, because she's on all fours and half naked. Now, I've never been to this place but I went on the website, and viewed a few statues, the only other one half naked, but standing is..RIHANNA. Nicki Minaj in my opinion has willingly fashioned her persona into a modern day Sarah Bartmaan . For those of you unfamiliar, she is best known as the Venus Hottentot, and in life she was an African Woman turned Dutch, turned French tourist attraction, turned science experiment. This is real, look it up if you don’t believe me. Anyway, I say this about Onika because, like Sarah, when there was a rescue attempt to save her, she said (according to history),

The SistaGurl Blog

Search This Blog