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THE FILM STRIP: Tyrese, Meagan Good, Larenz Tate and Curtis Vondie Hall weigh in on ‘Waist Deep;’ The Urbanworld Vibe Film Festival premieres with ‘Last Days of Left Eye'
"Waist Deep" tucked a little bit of "Boyz 'N the Hood"--only in the sense that there is a strong father figure present--"Bonnie and Clyde," and "Thelma and Louise" under its belt. But Tyrese Gibson says what attracted him to the film is the reality "that a Black man loves his kids, too." "I ain't running away from my babies. You don't see this type of image in movies too often," he says – and I agree.
Although music is Tyrese's first love, he is basking in his acting game. "I'm working on the 'Transformers' with Michael Bey and I'm glad he had me in mind," he boasts. "Him and Spielberg discussed it and they came after me. Everybody else in the film had to audition."
On the other hand, Meagan Good says she had to fight for the role of Coco, the prostitute in "Waist Deep" because it was thought she was too young for the part. Some even felt it was a step backwards for her to play a 'hoe' in a hood film. "I came from playing a lot of girl characters and a lot of girlfriends, but the characters didn't have as much meat and heart," she explained. "She's not just a prostitute and con artist, she's a survivor."
Larenz Tate was itching to get his punk on again. "I hadn't done it in a long time," he mused. "A lot of people who are fans of 'Menace to Society' are looking for me to do something like that. So I said, 'Alright, cool. Let me step to the plate’…I know a lot of people are fans of not only 'Menace to Society,' but 'Dead Presidents' and wanted to see me in edgier roles."
Director Vondie Curtis Hall defends his film and tells all the haters that "Waist Deep" is not the typical, stereotypical hood film. In most films the hooker is a throw away and never really dealt with as a human being. And most films never really show the drug dealer as someone with dreams, too. Everybody's got different dimensions and everybody's got dreams. We haven't seen any depth in those characters."
Ironically, the Urbanworld Vibe Film Festival must not have shared Hall's feelings about depth in characters. "Waist Deep" was to be among the special screenings, but it was scrapped. Celebrating their 10th year, Urbanworld Vibe kicked off this year's schedule of events with the Filmmakers Ball on June 20. The New York Festival runs from June 21-25. The opening night Premiere is "VH1's Last Days of Left Eye" and closes with "Half Nelson," a film about an idealistic inner-city junior high school teacher who rejects the standard Civil Right curriculum in favor of an edgier approach.
In addition to the seminars, screenplay readings, awards ceremonies and parties, there are over 70 selections that include special screenings of "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree, "Purple Rain," "The Will to Survive: The Story of the Gullah/Geechee Nation," and the premiere of "Dirty Laundry." Also of special mention are "Hurricane Katrina and a Project Named Desire," "American Blackout," "Black and Blue: Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop," "Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture," "Bland Gold," "Swipe," "God Sleeps in Rwanda," "Untold Legacy," and "Blind: Consequences and Repercussions."
For further info, go to www.urbanworld.org.
