THE HITT-MAKER

Chances are I might have invalidated anything this award might have meant by not being able to choose a single film for the title of Underground Film of the Year for 2002. The quality of films reviewed this year weren't up to par with last year's releases and only two features really stuck out, the urban drama THE HITT-MAKER and the horror-action film NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. They both stand on their merits and they both deserved the title, so they both are being crowned.

Why THE HITT-MAKER? Because no movie sent in for review this year has shown even one-tenth the heart of this one. I can look past any technical issues and see the movie for what it is, a heart felt attempt at capturing a specific moment in time during a desperate man's life. The movie doesn't cover any new ground in terms of what cinema is, but filmmake's passion shines through all the same.

A friend of mine likes to remind me that everyone has an angle, even those that seem perfectly content in life. THE HITT-MAKER just goes to show that nobody is perfectly content and the straight and narrow doesn't really exist, but angles are everywhere. It's a bleak portrait.

As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the director, known only as Mr. Balln Big, knows each and every character personally. He pulls from his own life to tell a story about the struggles he's seen and dealt with. I've always said that if you have a story worth telling, then tell it, and Mr. Big does just that. The film is deeply personal and deeply moving.

The epic horror and action title known as NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. might seem like an odd choice to be cast with an urban drama, but it has just as much heart as THE HITT-MAKER, and considering past winners, a title like this should come as no surprise. As I've said before, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. goes to show how ambition and determination can make up for that lack of money in a filmmaker's pocket. When you look at what the White Brothers were able to achieve, the result is absolutely stunning.

Like past winner MEAT MARKET, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. uses the horror genre to comment on society. At its heart, this movie is a satire. The White's are able to make a movie that's as entertaining as it is intellectual. That's not something altogether easy to do. I know, I've tried. If you talk to Garrett White he'll even be happy to point out a few elements I missed in my initial review. I don't always agree with the White's political stance, but that's totally beside the point. While they entertain, they educate, and that's something only the best films can do.

This year I've started giving a title to a short film that exceed my expectation of what a filmmaker can achieve in a limited amount of time. Of the winners this year, MR. BLACK has the most in common with the past features to win the Underground Film of the Year title in that it's about more than just its subject. MR. BLACK is about movies themselves. Concepts like plot and character take a backseat to themes, ideas, and cinematic self-awareness. Some would call MR. BLACK a parody of all that cinemaphiles hold dear, but I would like to think of it as a natural outgrowth of modern cinema trends. It's takes various genres and cliches and molds them into something new and exciting. It doesn't push the envelope, it bursts right through. If MR. BLACK were a feature, it would be the sole taker of Underground Film of the Year title as it's the reason why I watch movies.

Below you'll find the original review I wrote for each respective film. I hope you take the time to seek out these movies as well as the past winners, they are all worth your time and effort. At the very least, they can teach the novice filmmaker what is possible to achieve with the medium and that the most important aspect of all is to put yourself in your work. If it's not heartfelt, it's nothing more than light entertainment.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Produced and Directed by Mr. Balln Big
Written by Cecil Woodson III and Mr. Balln Big
Edited by Cecil Woodson III

Quik - Mr. Balln Big
Cash - Terry Love
Momma - Mrs. McClendon
Monae - Keisha Ingram

After 4 years in jail, all Quik wants to do is get his life back in order. His plan is to follow his dream of being a music producer with his own indi-label. The only things standing in his way are his old friends and his former life style of street hustling.

THE HITT-MAKER from Cecil Woodson III and Mr. Balln Big might be limited in execution by its meager budget, but it's a movie big on what's important: heart - and lots of it. Backed with a streetsmart vibe, this story about a man's road to redemption makes for a compelling drama the likes of which I haven't seen in ultra-independent cinema, ever.

Most of what crosses the B-Independent desk is pure exploitation, recently I've been fortunate enough to see a number of movies that show filmmakers who are willing to embrace the video medium and produce stories about life in America. These small documents of our generation's existence will probably be forgotten in the realm of big budget extravaganza, but these tiny film are far more important than those gargantuan soulless efforts could ever hope to be.

As the would-be rap mogul, Mr. Balln Big is our flawed hero Quik. Full of rage and anger, Quik wants to turn his background as a hustler to his advantage and promote his music. While he wants to better himself, he friends from the old days are still stuck in their ways and all do their best to pull Quik back into their world. The dilemma between right and wrong comes down to acceptance, as is often the case with teen violence that we see so often on the news.

The single inspirational figure in Quik's life is his mother, a woman who has dedicated to her life to God. Seeing the fulfillment his mother gains from her spirituality, Quik sees an opportunity for guidance down the straight and narrow.

In today's cinema where religion is often scorned with accusations of hypocrisy, it's refreshing to see a movie where the spiritual message is presented in such an uplifting manner, but in all it's religiosity, THE HITT-MAKER never becomes "preachy." There are no speeches about the sin of man or how seeing the light will make us better people, instead Christianity is used in its basest of all forms - simple rules for "good" living.

The message of THE HITT-MAKER stems from those rules for "good" living, "what goes around comes around," and there's a price to pay for everything we do. Favoritism in God's eye comes at the cost of a selfless love to our Earth-bound brethren. Material success comes with hard work. And ultimate sin will cost you your eternal soul.

There are no easy decisions in life. Every choice me make comes at the sacrifice of something else. How we deal with those choices is how we define ourselves. All Quik wants to do is be a better man, but the temptation to be a "brotha" is always there. Quick rewards are quickly fleeting, you have to work at creating a lifetime, layer by layer, level by level. One bad decision can bring down the entire house of cards.

THE HITT-MAKER can sometimes be hard to watch, the never-ending stream of profanity seems like poor writing at times, but looking back it reflects a street vanacular vastly different from my world in the suburbs. The use of the "f" word becomes rythmatic, as does "nigga." Before long the words loose their profane connotations, becoming as commonplace as "the." What starts off distancing soon becomes hypnotic as walls are torn down to reveal a world foreign to my own.

Those are just some of the reason why films such as THE HITT-MAKER are vital to the survival and proliferation of ultra-independent moviemaking. It's a movie that rejects the pop-culture to embrace true culture.

See it.

Balln Big