Joseph Olita Movies
Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Indian Jay (Roshan Seth), a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government. Flash-forward to 1990: Jay and his family have settled in Mississippi. Seth's daughter Mina (Sarit Choudhury) makes the acquaintance of African-American Demetrius (Denzel Washington), the prosperous manager of a carpet-cleaning business. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Both Jay and Demetrius must learn to bury their pasts and their prejudices to go on with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, (more)
Based on the famous comic strip, Sheena chronicles the adventures of the title character (Tanya Roberts), a fair-skinned orphan taken in by a kindly Zambouli priestess (Elizabeth of Toro, a real-life African queen) in a remote African village and trained in the ancient arts of makeup and hairstyling. When American newsmen Fletcher (Donovan Scott) and Vic (Ted Wass) travel to her homeland to cover a story on Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas), they uncover his plot to assassinate his brother, the reigning prince (a renowned field-goal kicker), and frame the priestess for the crime. Sheena joins forces with the newsmen to stop him and restore order to the country. Although Roberts looks great in a loincloth, her assets alone cannot save this turkey; one wonders where the jungle princess manages to plug in her blow-dryer. This ridiculous film was panned across the board upon its release and subsequently bombed. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass, (more)
- 1981
While Idi Umin Dada terrorized Uganda with a barbaric, 8-year, depotic rule, he portrayed himself to the world at large as a fat buffoon, albeit in military garb. How the press corps managed to perpetuate that image in the face of his army's rampage against an estimated 500,000 Ugandan victims of murder, torture, and imprisonment is unfathomable. This historical docudrama relates how Imin came to power, and does not spare the audience when it comes to exposing his barbarisms (dismembering his wife's body and forcing her children to look at it is one example of several). As the story of his rule unfolds, the world eventually "discovers" what the Ugandans have known all along, and Tanzanian forces oust Imin in 1979, saving the lives of countless prisoners and other victims of his unbridled violence. Although the movie portrays the horrors of his reign, the violence that is shown is an accurate view of reality, and far from the exploitative gore of a Hong Kong or Hollywood slasher flic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
