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Velvet Jesus
USA 2021
produced by Danielle S. Mooney, Jeannine Fisher, Spencer Collins (executive), Anthony Bawn (executive), Charles McWells (executive), Anthony Norris (executive), Brentley Bawn (executive), Billie J. Collins (executive) for B.L.A.C. Mail Productions, Vim Media, 9th Step Productions
directed by Spencer Collins, Anthony Bawn
starring Ernest Harden jr, Jensen Atwood, Melvin Ward, Carter Young, Anthony J. Tremé, Frankie Blair, Rahmaan Patterson, Shaun Dixon, Hunter Dixon, Jordan Tanzilli-Hamm, Charles McWells
written by Charles McWells, based on his stageplay, music by Miguelli, Anthony Bawn
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Vernon (Ernest Harden jr), Afro-American veteran from the Korean War,
couldn't be prouder of himself, having been asked by a reporter (Jensen
Atwood) for an interview about his wartime memories, more than 30 years
after his discharge - even if Vernon's memories are a bit hazy about many
things, and the reporter's questions are a bit too personal. And then
Vernon recognizes the reporter, his estranged stepson Carl he hasn't seen
let alone spoken to in almost two decades. But Carl hasn't come out of
courtesy, he has brought a gun and soon enough ties up his stepdad,
demanding answers why he treated him like that, answers that very often
Vernon can't give, and when he can, Carl doesn't necessarily like them. It
all boils down to Vernon (his younger self played by Melvin Ward) having
wanted to make Carl (as a kid played by Carter Young) fit for what's
basically the white man's world, become a man like he was a man. But that
is what never interested Carl, a top student with an artistic side to him.
The meeting of the two really gets out of bounds though when Carl accuses
Vernon to have sexually abused him, an accusation Vernon seems to be
genuinely surprised about. But it's learning how Carl has tried to get to
grips with this his whole life over that truly shocks Vernon, and
convinces him Carl will do something desparate ... Based on
screenwriter Charles McWells' own stageplay, Velvet Jesus is
basically an actor's movie, as it's apart from the very occasional
flashback just two men in a room doing nothing too spectacular - and yet
both leads manage to really hold the audience's interest, despite neither
character being particularly likeable, while the direction milks the
tension of the basic situation to the fullest. Meanwhile writing-wise the
script manages to make black history and the experience of being a black
man in the US in the mid-to-late 20th century relatable even to a white
European like myself - and the sum of all this is a very compelling
thriller/drama that will in all possibility stay with its audience for a
while.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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