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Brown SugarRating:
Release Date: 26 August, 2003 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $10.99 You SAVE: $3.99! Cast: Complete Cast (11 total) |
Brown Sugar Reviews
Great movie ONLY if you were exposed to hip-hop, pre-1990
This movie is brilliant and entertaining and fresh, but sadly most the the reviewers of this movie TOTALLY MISSED the point.
If you thought this was just another romantic comedy, then of course you'd think this was just a run-of-the-mill, predictable movie.
If you weren't exposed and/or have no concept of what hip hop was before it's crossover period, circa-1990 with FAKE, gimmicky artists with no skill like Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer who put out anything that would sell records, don't watch this movie -- someone else will only have to brake it down to you later.
Like the Amazon.com Review (Jeff Shannon) says above (please read carefully), the LEAST entertaining aspect of this movie is Dre & Sidney's relationship.
The gist of the movie is how Dre & Sid's relationship is written as a direct parallel and with commentary on the music business of how hip hop lost its soul when it crossed over and became commercial.
Every scene in the movie is metaphorical and attests to this commentary.
Dre & Sid's friendship as innocent young kids in the 1980s parallels the birth of hip hop and its innocent period.
Dre & Sid's outside (dating) relationships parallel hip hop selling out just enough in the mainstream to survive.
Dre's ultimate marriage to Reece, a fake, money-grubbing, status quo symbol, parallel's hip hop's crossover to the mainstream and going commercial.
Dre & Sid's hookup in the end (pay close attention to the hotel scene dialogue when Sid tells Dre she can't review his CD ... Dre's lines "One moment you say you want me to change and the next you're saying you want me to stay the same...").
That whole scene is metaphorical for the true to life debates music fans have today ... everyone wants hip hop to grow & change, yet those unhappy with the changes (such as overcommercialism & the rise of Southern hip hop) are longing for the "pure days" when rappers with real skills put out great music to represent their intelligence, their skills and their personal experience INSTEAD of puttin' out whatever flava-of-the-month style of music will sell the most (thus, selling out hip hop).
Finally, Dre & Sid's hookup as an official couple on Angie Martinez's Hot97 is like this film's writer's personal commentary that ultimately, hip hop has to return to its roots to move forward (kind of like a Hip Hop Sankofa concept, looking back/understanding the past in order to move forward).
Like I said, if you don't know what hip hop music was pre-1990, you won't understand half of the movie and thus you won't appreciate what the 4 & 5-star reviewers of this movie see in its creativity.
This film was written with a purpose and I hope, despite meager sales, we get more like this one instead of the stereotypical, dumbed-down stuff that Hollwyood keeps pushing.
turned on for Taye . . . watched for the sheer brilliance
This movie . . . is beautiful. I watched it because I am a major RENThead, and a huge Taye/Idina fan, but I watched it again 5 minutes later, because of the metaphoric conection of Dre and hip-hop. I love how Sid falls in love, not only with hip-hop but with "hip-hop (Dre)" this movie is a bit predicatable, but it is amazing. There ia also some comedy, sometimes brought to you by the wonder Queen Latifah. Brown Sugar is so real, yet it is just one of those movies that you watch and say "Damn why can't I find a guy like that." If you're looking for one of the sweetest love stories of our time, then you've found it.
My favorite part is definately Taye Diggs and his hotness, but alas he is a married man, to the most amazing actress ever Idina Menzel. Check him out in his sexiness in Idina Menzel's music video for "Minuet" and in movies such as Rent.
Dee & Taye forever!
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