I’ve been customizing the presentation jellyfin library, and this caused me to notice that the only brown faces visible on any of the thumbnails is on Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon. I probably should be more cultured than this. What movies about non-white characters do y’all think I should add to my collection?
BTW, if you haven’t watched The Last Dragon, go watch it right now. It’s like if Kung Fu Panda took place in Harlem; sure, our protagonist Leeroy “Bruce Leeroy” Green starts the movie at a level of kung-fu mastery that Po doesnt achieve until Kung Fu Panda 3, but the plotline is pretty similar to the 1st movie in that Leeroy is sent on a quest to find a wise master known as Sum Dum Guy so he can reach the final level. Leeroy also is a fucking weeb and never stops being a socially inept dorky loser to the end of the film. I will warn you, though, that the martial arts is very Shaolin from the start and only gets crazier from there, in case that’s a dealbreaker for you. Either way it’s my favorite movie.
Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, Rush Hour, Shaft, Life (1999), Attack the Block, Black Klansman, Beverly Hills Cop, Life of Pi, The Man from Nowhere (2010), Parasite, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Heat of the Night (anything Sidney Poitier really), Coming to America, Bad Boys, Old Boy, Django Unchained, Train to Busan, Shutter, Slumdog Millionaire, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Unleashed/Hero/The One (Jet Li had some bangers).
I hope this list is colorful enough for you to start and I appreciate you for reaching out of your comfort zone.
I actually have a lot of wuxia in my collection. I don’t plan on adding Hero to it thought because it’s really effective propaganda and I dont want to expose my future kids to stuff like that until they have learned how to analyze a text. Not denying that the movie is awesome, it’s like a religious experience. But the core message is that the best way to world peace is to let one strong man conquer the world to unite it, and most importantly that this truth is so self-evident and persuasive that every enlightened character in the movie switches from opposing the emperor’s conquest to being a supporter or at minimum exits the conflict as best they can. Seriously, go watch it again, you’ll notice that pretty much every line of dialogue is building this thesis. But it’s not like Detective Dee and the Phantom Flame or Crouching Tiger; you can’t just enjoy the beautiful fight scenes, your critical analysis cap has to be on for the whole movie.
Kung Fu Hustle, Attack the Block … that’s two more I haven’t thought of in ages that are really good too!
Kung Fu Hustle is crazy. For me, it’s the best kind of absurdist comedy up there with Zucker Brothers or the Wayans’… but where movies like Scary Movie (series) or Airplane! is a laugh factory, Kung Fu Hustle also got me in the feels with the orphan romance story line thrown in. Every character seemed like they had a purpose.
Holy shit, I need to go to bed and all I originally wanted to say was “hell yeah, dude.”
Special shoutout to Mel Brooks; brother you were all over the place and the world is better for it.
Hell yeah!