#Precious (2009) dir. Lee Daniels

[thottybrucewayne]

The category is: movies that are really good but are so so soooooo hard for me to watch

[dailyflicks]

LENNY KRAVITZ as Nurse John McFadden in PRECIOUS 2009 - dir. Lee Daniels

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

also to suggest we have no way to conceive of mothers who "violently discipline [black] boys into masculinity" is also absurd when the Black Abusive Matriarch is quite a popular caricature in our society. she is a bona fide trope in both black and white media (for black media, some of the most notable are the brothers [2001] dir. gary hardwick, precious [2009] dir. lee daniels, and most famously, moonlight [2016] dir. barry jenkins). honestly the term "abusive" is redundant, as the Black Matriarch is an overwhelmingly negative trope, inherently characterized as overbearing, cruel, hypersexual, unmarried, and unbecoming due to her masculinized behavior. the Black Matriarch is largely, directly and indirectly, blamed for all of society's ills and the incompetency and maladaptation of black men. she was the star of the moynihan report. she loomed large during the welfare reform debates of the 90s. and even during the welfare debates of the 80s.

like I know annie teriba is british, but she was referencing bell hooks' in her tweets on that subject. there is no way she as a scholar of the diaspora is unfamiliar with the cultural baggage around the black mother as an archetype and societal construction. and fwiw, the Black Matriarch also looms large in british media. in small axe: the mangrove (2020) dir. steve mcqueen (see: barbara), small axe: education (2020) dir. steve mcqueen (see: kingsley's mother, though she's more sympathetic), bullet boy (2004) dir. saul dibb, gone too far (2014) dir. destiny ekaragha. it's also worth noting that similar tropes exist for asian and hispanic women, in both american and british society (regarding british asian women). see also: everything everywhere all at once (2022) dir. daniel kwan and daniel scheinert, real women have curves (2002) dir. patricia cordoso, bend it like beckham (2002) dir. gurinder chadha, crazy rich asians (2018) dir. jon m. chu, fresh off the boat (2015 - 2022), little english (2023) dir. pravesh kumar, and countless others

[aliveandfullofjoy]

300 Favorite Performances: #100-91

Welcome to the top 100!

100. Rita Moreno, as “Anita,” in West Side Story (dir. Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins, 1961)

99. James Cagney, as “George M. Cohan,” in Yankee Doodle Dandy (dir. Michael Curtiz, 1942)

98. Ben Whishaw, as “Paddington Bear,” in Paddington and Paddington 2 (dir. Paul King, 2014-2017)

97. Mo’Nique, as “Mary Lee Johnston,” in Precious (dir. Lee Daniels, 2009)

96. Penélope Cruz, as “Raimunda,” in Volver (dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 2006)

95. Robert Mitchum, as “Rev. Harry Powell,” in The Night of the Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)

94. Casey Affleck, as “Robert Ford,” in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (dir. Andrew Dominik, 2007)

93. Humphrey Bogart, as “Rick Blaine,” in Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz, 1943)

92. Ewan McGregor, as “Oliver Fields,” in Beginners (dir. Mike Mills, 2011)

91. Elizabeth Taylor, as “Martha,” in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (dir. Mike Nichols, 1966)

(300-291) (290-281) (280-271) (270-261) (260-251) (250-241) (240-231) (230-221) (220-211) (210-201) (200-191) (190-181) (180-171) (170-161) (160-151) (150-141) (140-131) (130-121) (120-111) (110-101)

[pizzaefilme]

Precious - 2009 - Dir. Lee Daniels