#curtiss cook

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Douda is out here lookin' Douda-licious!

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[mystiquexgoddess]

Someone come be my Douda aka Curtiss Cook

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Naz & Maalik (2015) Directed by Jay Dockendorf

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Jade spinning

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Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brother to Brother (2004), and Beautiful Thing (1996)

Today I will be writing about

Naz and Maalik (2015) dir. Jay Dockendorf

[Available on Amazon, Run Time- 1:24, Language: English]

Summary: Two closeted Muslim teens hawk goods across Brooklyn and struggle to come clean about their sexuality, as their secretive behavior leads them unknowingly into the cross-hairs of the War on Terror.

Cast: Kerwin Johnson Jr. as Naz Curtiss Cook Jr. as Maalik

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Another great film down, and plenty more to go. I very deeply appreciate the authenticity of this film in the way it highlights religion and the shittiness of cops. 

I like that there is a kind of war against the older ways and the newer ways between Naz and Maaling. Naz appears to be much more religious than Maalik, he wears a kufi, he gives alms, he tries to pray five times a day. Not to say that Maalik isn’t religious, but he isn’t as hung up on what is and is not haram, he’s more comfortable in his sexuality, more willing to engage in PDA, but he’s less idealistic about the world. 

I love the hustle and grind we see from these boys, but even more so I love when they spend time alone together. I love how much time we get to see them goofing off, touching shoulders, flirting, racing, just having fun. I love how much time this film dedicates to showing how Naz and Maalik’s relationship works. How it could work. I love that in New York City they have so many shots dedicated to just the two of them, to the peace and quiet and light that follows them when they are together.

I love even more that they fight, that they are messy and complicated, and how much of that is driven not by themselves, but everyone else around them. This film takes place post 9/11, during the War on Terror. For those who are not aware, the War on Terror is/was a global counterterrorism military campaign following 9/11. And like I said, this film does some pretty decent realism, especially when it comes to the portrayal of the FBI agents that spend all day tailing Naz and Maalik because they have been #profiled. 

One of the main conflicts kicks off when an undercover cop tries to sell Naz and Maalik a gun. Maalik, trying to be funny, haggles for the weapon but does not end up buying it. But engaging in a joke like that is enough for this FBI agent to decide they should be followed. At which point, these two FBI agents essentially end up acting as voyeurs to Naz and Maalik’s secret love life. 

The FBI waits until each boy is alone and isolated to question them, and Maalik is completely honest while Naz, scared about his parents finding out about his sexuality, lies about where he had been the night before. Once again, I loved the portrayal of this, of two eighteen-year olds trying to navigate the system that was built to punish them. Not because I’m thrilled they are being harassed, but because I am appreciative of not being subject to propaganda about law enforcement and how “good” they are. 

I liked seeing the dichotomy between Naz and Maalik’s handling of the FBI agent, versus an older Black man handling questioning. How he’s trying his best not to give her any information, how he cites his right to not say anything to her without an attorney present. And in response he is treated with suspicion, the FBI agent tries pressing and pushing for more information, because that’s what cops do. 

And I remain unsurprised when the FBI agent pulls a gun on Naz when he reaches in to his bag. I think there are statements being made when the FBI agent is pissed at Naz and Maalik for “wasting her time” and that the boys are compelled to apologize for the inconvenience, despite the fact they were literally just existing as Black muslims and the FBI agent decided that not buying a gun was enough of a reason to tail them all day.

But it is those outside pressures, the concern that they will be outed, that they will be disowned, that they will lose everything that starts driving a wedge between Naz and Maalik. That Naz’s sister finds out and Naz is scared she’ll tell their parents. Those all start when the FBI starts questioning them, though there are multiple other forces at play.

Now. I think I wrote up a post after I watched Love of Siam, and how fucking furious I was that they ended that film on a separation. But that does not mean I hate separation narratives in queer cinema (I hated the one in LoS because I felt tricked). But Naz and Maalik separating at the end makes sense given their circumstances. There is no winning here. Naz is too kind to slaughter a chicken, Maalik feels compelled to show that he can do it, and Maalik ends up wounded and the chicken ends up dead without either of them laying a hand on it. There are repercussions here, a car accident, an injured person that could have been spared by just killing the chicken. I like that despite the fact that Naz and Maalik do have multiple fights in the film, it is not a fight that breaks them up. 

They both knew this was an inevitability, there aren’t hard feelings about it. It’s sad for both of them, but it happens almost casually. TI did find the ending of the movie very interesting. Because they chose to end it before Naz arrives home. Naz gets on the subway, sad about his separation with Maalik, scared about what is waiting for him at home, and he is stopped by the very same cop that tried to sell him a gun the other day. He is ticketed for riding his bike in the subway, and one of the last lines Naz has in the movie is something like “don’t I know you from somewhere?” 

Because no matter what, he’ll just never catch a fucking break. 

As an aside, I love how frequently homeless people are included in this film and how they are never regarded as scary or terrifying. One guy is mostly quiet and he either stares or sleeps. Another man is loud, rambunctious, and fucking funny. Naz and Maalik talk to a homeless woman, talk to some boys begging for money for medical treatment. I just love when homeless people are humanized, and I am glad that Naz and Maalik spends time focusing their lens on the people society often refuses to look at.

By/For/About Queers

Naz and Maalik is loosely based on an interview director Jay Dockendorf did with a closeted Muslim man that he sublet a room from. Dockendorf used this man’s life story as a jumping off point for his film. And it certainly feels like a film that is made for queer people, the way that it is structured. So ultimately, I think this is a gay trifecta.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment is near the end of the film. Naz and Maalik have just made out and Naz has rejected the offer to take things further. Naz and Maalik lay in bed together, in just their boxers, and they read each other these shitty little poems that are attached to beanie babies that Naz acquired earlier in the film. I just love gay boys and their plushies, I’m a simple person. And once again considering that Ben created this syllabus to be a wind up to BLs, I think the plushie moment is worth noting because boys and their plushies is a recurring theme in a number of BLs. Teh and Oh have matching monster plushies in I Told Sunset About You. Bai Lang’s entire apartment is covered in plushies in My Tooth Your Love. Chinzilla keeps a plushie of a chinchilla on an alter in the music room in My School President. etc. etc. 

And I love plushies every time because I love seeing moments of softness portrayed on screen.

Favorite Line

“Barack Obama*. It’s crazy. It makes white men smell like black men, so white women will like black men more.”

*fake name of a scented oil

I mean…come on. It’s perfect.

Score

8.5/10

I think the story was pretty good, and there are these incredible bright spots of powerful acting. But the director allowed space for a lot of improv, which in some capacities I think is good. However, it does often result in awkward line deliveries, that tend to take me out of the story because the acting fluctuates so much between brilliant and smooth, to conscious and stilted.

[oldshowbiz]

Comedian Jackie Curtiss: You know about Joey Villa? Kliph Nesteroff: Not really. Comedian Jackie Curtiss: Another pain in the ass comic! He was big on cruises and the lower echelon. We called him Pancho Villa because he stole material from everybody. 

He went to work at the Copacabana, which was an odd thing because he really wasn't good enough to work there. 

But it was lollipop season when they didn't serve drinks. They'd book Frankie Avalon for all the teenagers and they’d serve soft drinks. 

So they had Joey Villa come in. 

During rehearsal [the club manager] Jules Podell would come over, ‘Come here, Curtiss! Come in the kitchen!’ He would introduce us to his sister who oversaw anything that left the kitchen, checks and balances and so forth. He'd stop everybody. Dishwashers had to stop. Cooks had to stop. ‘This is Antone and Curtiss. They're the comedy team now. I want you to show them respect. If they need anything - you get it - but they don't get anything for nothing. If they want to buy something, fine. But you don't give them anything for nothing.’ So that's what he would always do. And he'd always ask the question, ‘Are you funny?’ I'd say, ‘Oh, Mr. Podell, I sure hope so because you're paying us a lot of money.’ He'd say, ‘Good answer.’ 

When Joey Villa came in, Podell asked, ‘Are you funny?’ Joey Villa, idiot that he is, says, ‘Mr. Podell, let me tell you something. I am probably the unfunniest comedian you have ever booked. I am terrible!’ And he walked away. 

That night Joey Villa went up and he made the H-bomb look like a three-inch salute. Talk about a bomb. He had flop sweat up and down his neck. Jules Podell went up to him afterward and said, ‘Hey, kid. I like you because you keep your word.’

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Drama

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Here's What Needs To Happen In 'The Chi' Season 7 - Blavity

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Today in History: Today is Thursday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2024.

On this date: In 1919, Bentley Motors Limited is founded by Walter Owen Bentley in London, England.

By The Associated Press Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 18, 1778, English navigator Captain James Cook reached the present-day Hawaiian Islands, which he named the “Sandwich Islands.” On this date: In 1911, the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely brought his Curtiss biplane in for a safe landing on the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in…

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Uzun kariyer yapabilme ilim kurgudan serüven filmlerine kadar her an çok çeşitli türde yapıt veren Steven Spielberg'ilk müzikal filmde olan' Batı Yakası Hikayesi'den ilk fragman Oscar törenleri sırasında yapılıyordu. 1957 senesinde Broadway'i kasıp kavuran benzer isminde müzikalden uyarlanan ve beyaz perdeye öncesinden 1961 senesinde çevrilmiş olan Batı Yakası Hikayesiiki farklı etnik kökenden gelen iki öncesiz düşman çetenin çeşitliliğinin rekabetinin yanında ayrıca bu iki çeteye üyeleri genç bir çiftin olanaklarız aşkını konur. Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno, Mike Faist, Curtiss Cook, Corey Stoll, Paloma Garcia Lee, Maddie Ziegler şekilde adların yerleşmiş olduğu film, 10 Aralık 2021'de gösterime girecek.