By Vincent Ramos
Staff Writer
Menace II Society
The 1993 classic ,“Menace II Society” , was brothers Allen and Albert Hughes’ directorial debut. At the young age of 21 years old, the two created one of the most influential, shocking crime films ever made.
Protagonist Caine Lawson aspires to live a clean and honest life after graduating high school, but due to a terrible upbringing and bad influences like his best friend O-Dog, Caine falls in love with a deadly criminal life. When he’s given the option to leave the Watts and start fresh, he realizes that trying to stay and survive is impossible.
There’s so much to appreciate about the film but the one thing I want to highlight is how effectively the life of Caine invokes an extremely uneasy, anxious mood. His story is pessimistic and hopeless, every happy moment cut short by seemingly random occurrences. He falls deeper into his dangerous life and paranoia ensures as at any moment he could get robbed or killed. When I watched the movie I wasn’t even able to get up from my couch because of how nervous I was. The unpredictability of life plagues Caine and causes the most stress-inducing watching experience.
An example of this is in the opening sequence. Caine and O-Dog go to a liquor store to get beer but when the cashier insults O-Dog’s mother the whole scene turns awful. Infuriated, O-Dog murders the two workers there, steals the videotape that captured the crime and flees the scene. A normal night instantly turned into a disastrous event that haunts them for the rest of their lives.
“Menace II Society” is a tragic, emotional movie, but it is a must see.
Streaming currently on Paramount Plus.
The Watermelon Woman
This is another directorial debut, but this time it’s historic. “The Watermelon Woman” is the very first feature film with a Black, publicly lesbian director. Cheryl Dunye directed, wrote and stars as herself in this comedic mockumentary.
The film follows a filmmaker named Cheryl who works at a video store and takes interest in a old Black actress from the 1930s known to her as the “Watermelon Woman.” Cheryl decides to stray away from her low paying freelance jobs to start and starts a documentary about the Watermelon Woman. Even though her pursuit of the actress creates conflicts with her personal relationships, Cheryl’s instinct tells her to stay determined to shed light on the Watermelon Woman’s story.
The film holds a bigger message about the way executives and film culture treated Black actors in the early twentieth century. Although these actors played important roles in their films, most of them weren’t credited or acknowledged for their work. Dunye’s film serves as a reminder to appreciate the Black actors who’ve worked so hard on these films and have made such a great impact on cinema.
This isn’t a film that one would expect to be funny but it is hilarious. The jokes are super clever and only enhanced by the sub-par acting, making it feel like a student film which perfectly fits the narrative. This film is one of a kind—- fun, unique and ambitious.
Available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.