My 2015 Movies of the Year

Once again it seems like another year has flown by. It feels the older I get, the quicker time seems to move.

In terms of pure post output, this was my least productive year on the blog since its inception four years ago. I could use the same excuses of work, side projects, and other commitments, but the truth is, I have to be more disciplined in my time management and more consistent in my posts. With that said, though my posts were down considerably this year, I did manage to make it out to see some quality films.

Last year I didn't have a movie of the year, but there were nevertheless quality films I saw like "Beyond The Lights" for example. For 2015 my movies of the year are "Dope" and "Chef." I picked these films for very different reasons above the other titles I saw over the last 12 months.





I saw "Dope" while attending the American Black Film Festival last June and the film actually headlined the event. "Dope" centers around a high school senior named Malcolm played by Shameik Moore, and his two friends who are nerds at their local high school in Inglewood, California. Malcolm and his friends get invited to a party where a shootout occurs and Malcolm runs out only to find the drug Molly has been slipped into his bag. To make matters worse, he realizes he must sell the drug without being caught/killed all the while applying to get into Harvard. While the story takes place in the hood and involves drug dealing, I wouldn't consider this a 'hood movie.' The actors and director Rick Famuyiwa do a good job of making this film feel lively and even somewhat innocent despite its serious subject matter. Zoe Kravitz is very good in this film as well.

Still Thanking Black Starz 11 Years Later

When the month of March rolls around, I get flashbacks. You see, while this site is just under a year-and-a-half old, media --specifically film-- has intrigued me for the better part of 11 years. It's been this fascination with moving images and the stories behind them, that has left me like a small boy chasing a dream that always seems just beyond the horizon. It all started rather simply.

March of 2002 was an interesting time. I was 6 months into my freshman year of high school, my Oakland Raiders were a winning and respectable organization, and I was witnessing a miracle at the Meadowlands as Jason Kidd was leading the then New Jersey Nets on a path to the NBA Finals. It was also the time when my family upgraded from basic cable to digital cable. I had never seen so many channels before in my life. As great as the sheer volume of channels were, it was the included movie packages that caught my attention.

1 Year of FilmSwaggin

My oh my how the time flies.

I started this blog a year ago today because I felt it was finally time to express some of the thoughts that had travelling around in my head for months, or in some cases, years. FilmSwag is more than just a blog I feel. It gives me a platform to reach people and speak on topics that I might otherwise only discuss with certain audiences or in particular settings.