long post
So, if you are like me who was right in the thick of the shift in hip hop you remember belly. It was probably the most anticipated movie during its release.
-Two stars in hip hop with a supporting cast of well known artists in the industry
-a hip hop music director who was THE standard when it came to shooting videos.
-Fire ass soundtrack back when soundtracks were actually used to promote movies
-Flashy trailer to get you interested
what could possibly go wrong?
I tell you...EVERYTHING!!!
Belly gets a pass b/c of this perceived notion that it ushered in this era for hip hop to get out the booth and get in front and behind the camera. Belly is not a good movie. It has moments where you can maybe see what the angle was, but the ideas never fully come together after the iconic opening scene in the club. And let's face it, a lot of the movies that followed Belly were garbage, but we developed and affinity for them b/c they were the "voice" of the hood when hollywood wasn't trying to put no money into these types of films.
Belly is the product of a bunch of ideas that aren't fleshed out and im not sure if it was editing or something, that was on full display in a lot of the transitions scenes. It feels like a lot was left on the cutting room floor, but that begs to question, if that's a possibility, then how do a lot of the scenes that made the movie get greenlit to begin with. My point isnt to try to break this movie down still by still, but once you get over seeing some of your favorite artists in this movie, dassit.
Hype Wiliams in his directorial debut appeared to be a fish out of water. Maybe directing 3 min music videos just didnt translate well for him to the big screen. Per wikipedia, this is what he has done since Belly
Feature and short films
In 1998, he directed his first and so far his only feature film to date, Belly, starring rappers Nas and DMX, the film released by Artisan Entertainment. In 1999, Williams signed a two-year overall deal with New Line Cinema to produce and direct feature films. His first film with New Line, Mothership[8] died in development. Later that year, Williams was in negotiations with MTV to develop an animated series which was described as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of music and celebrities. The project also died in development.[9]
In 2000, Williams was hired to direct the Warner Bros. film Speed Racer. He left the project the following year, with the film being released in 2008 under the direction of The Wachowskis.[10]
In 2003, Walt Disney Pictures purchased a zombie horror film Thrilla, which Williams wrote. The project died in development, with Gavin Polone attached to produce.[11]
In 2010, Williams was the writer for the Kanye West-directed short film Runaway.[12]
Now, we all know the margin of error for black folks in hollywood is extremely small, however, look at this record. Only the short film Runaway is worth mentioning b/c everything else got cancelled at some point in development> Runaway is a 30 min short flick. Maybe that's where he needs to focus his directing talents.
TIL that this movie had only a 3M budget, most of which was spent on.....yep...you guessed it without googling, the opening scene which essentially was the trailer.
I could go on, but i've made my points. I didnt look for Belly to do anything on this grandiose scale that would change cinema forever. No, but i did at the very minimum expected it to be a good movie. I'm not sure how much of that blame falls squarely on Hype's shoulders, so i'm not trying to make this critique all about him, but as a whole, if we're being honest, this movie oversold and under delivered.
My two pennies.
So, if you are like me who was right in the thick of the shift in hip hop you remember belly. It was probably the most anticipated movie during its release.
-Two stars in hip hop with a supporting cast of well known artists in the industry
-a hip hop music director who was THE standard when it came to shooting videos.
-Fire ass soundtrack back when soundtracks were actually used to promote movies
-Flashy trailer to get you interested
what could possibly go wrong?
I tell you...EVERYTHING!!!
Belly gets a pass b/c of this perceived notion that it ushered in this era for hip hop to get out the booth and get in front and behind the camera. Belly is not a good movie. It has moments where you can maybe see what the angle was, but the ideas never fully come together after the iconic opening scene in the club. And let's face it, a lot of the movies that followed Belly were garbage, but we developed and affinity for them b/c they were the "voice" of the hood when hollywood wasn't trying to put no money into these types of films.
Belly is the product of a bunch of ideas that aren't fleshed out and im not sure if it was editing or something, that was on full display in a lot of the transitions scenes. It feels like a lot was left on the cutting room floor, but that begs to question, if that's a possibility, then how do a lot of the scenes that made the movie get greenlit to begin with. My point isnt to try to break this movie down still by still, but once you get over seeing some of your favorite artists in this movie, dassit.
Hype Wiliams in his directorial debut appeared to be a fish out of water. Maybe directing 3 min music videos just didnt translate well for him to the big screen. Per wikipedia, this is what he has done since Belly
Feature and short films
In 1998, he directed his first and so far his only feature film to date, Belly, starring rappers Nas and DMX, the film released by Artisan Entertainment. In 1999, Williams signed a two-year overall deal with New Line Cinema to produce and direct feature films. His first film with New Line, Mothership[8] died in development. Later that year, Williams was in negotiations with MTV to develop an animated series which was described as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of music and celebrities. The project also died in development.[9]
In 2000, Williams was hired to direct the Warner Bros. film Speed Racer. He left the project the following year, with the film being released in 2008 under the direction of The Wachowskis.[10]
In 2003, Walt Disney Pictures purchased a zombie horror film Thrilla, which Williams wrote. The project died in development, with Gavin Polone attached to produce.[11]
In 2010, Williams was the writer for the Kanye West-directed short film Runaway.[12]
Now, we all know the margin of error for black folks in hollywood is extremely small, however, look at this record. Only the short film Runaway is worth mentioning b/c everything else got cancelled at some point in development> Runaway is a 30 min short flick. Maybe that's where he needs to focus his directing talents.
TIL that this movie had only a 3M budget, most of which was spent on.....yep...you guessed it without googling, the opening scene which essentially was the trailer.
I could go on, but i've made my points. I didnt look for Belly to do anything on this grandiose scale that would change cinema forever. No, but i did at the very minimum expected it to be a good movie. I'm not sure how much of that blame falls squarely on Hype's shoulders, so i'm not trying to make this critique all about him, but as a whole, if we're being honest, this movie oversold and under delivered.
My two pennies.
