Though the book on which “American Fiction” is based was released in 2001, it felt timeless for writer/director Cord Jefferson:

“When I finished reading it, I was just astounded. The material itself, just about the racial politics around culture and of being an artist in America—these are issues that I've been discussing with my friends and discussing with myself for 20 years now. The thing that’s very clear is that all these issues are still pertinent to today’s world, unfortunately, and there’s still a lot of relevance to this book.”

Following the screening, Deadline’s chief film critic Pete Hammond, who can also be seen on KCET’s Must See Movies, moderates a Q&A with director/writer Cord Jefferson.

American Fiction Q&A

For this week's second podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Cody Dericks. Today, we are reviewing the feature directorial debut from Cord Jefferson, "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae & Sterling K. Brown. What do we think of the story, the writing, performances, and widespread tone of the satire-comedy and how it balances the familial drama at its center? Tune in as we discuss these elements, its awards season chances, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you, and enjoy!

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"American Fiction"

The guys discuss the film AMERICAN FICTION, the Cord Jefferson adaptation from the Percival Everett novel ERASURE. 

AMERICAN FICTION, follows Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a frustrated novelist of general fiction, who decides to write a “Black” book full of tired and offensive tropes to profit off the publishing industry’s possibly misguided demand for those stories. He uses a pen name to write an outlandish Black book of his own, which rockets up the bestseller list and into the madness of the book publishing world. At the same time, there is also a gripping family drama threatening to overwhelm the Ellison household.
…

The film adaptation stars Jeffrey Wright, Trace Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Adam Brody, and Keith David. The film was released on December 15, 2023 and was written and directed by Cord Jefferson in his debut film.
…

Topics of discussion include the origin of Monk’s pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh, the experimental structure of the novel with its embedded narratives, the unfortunate news of BARBIE getting moved into the Best Adapted Screenplay category for the Academy Awards, and whether or not Brad Pitt liked Adam Brody’s 2003 film, GRIND. 
…

Listen to the episode to find out how the series stacks up to the book.
…

(0:00) From the book… 
(0:55) Fast facts, recap, trivia…
(12:45) A word from our sponsor…
(13:30) Studio pitch & novel breakdown…
(32:36) Trailer
(35:09) Learn you something, differences from the book…
…

Our next episode will be on the adaptation of the Matin Amis novel, THE ZONE OF INTEREST, which was directed by Jonathan Glazer and stars Christian Friedl and Sandra Hüller. The film’s wide release is set for January 19, 2024.
…

If you would like to get in contact with us about anything regarding the show, feel free to shoot us an e-mail: littolens@gmail.com
…

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78. AMERICAN FICTION

"American Fiction" had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award for Best Film and has been nominated for Critics Choice, Golden Globe Awards, and the PGA Award for Best Film. Director/writer Cord Jefferson was kind enough to spend some time talking with me about his first feature film. Then, we had SAG award-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright speaking with Daniel Howat about his experience working on the film. Then we conclude with two artisan interviews: Composer Laura Karpman talks with Cody Dericks about her work on the film, and editor Hildur Rasula speaks with Will Mavity about editing the film. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters and is up for your consideration in all eligible categories at this year's Academy Awards. Thank you!

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Interviews With Jeffrey Wright, Cord Jefferson & A Behind The Scenes Look At "American Fiction"

For some extra movie content this month we’re doing extra drops of the Best Picture nominees we missed leading up to the 2024 Academy Awards. It’s the first awards show we will sit and watch in decades. It’s been decades because this kind of award show stuff is boring as shit. The Golden Globes? I’ve never watched more than 5 minutes of that stuff. Movies are great but we take the circle jerking with a grain of salt. I mean, at least 40 percent of the people in this business are monsters and that’s a very polite estimate. But, we’re heading towards a year of MOVIEHUMPERS and maybe we should talk about the biggest award ceremony in film. It’s fun to gripe at a show sometimes and one year a guy walked onto stage and slapped another guy. We need more of that energy at the Oscars from a variety of people. Catty glances are fun too. Today we discuss a pleasant and well cast Best Picture nominee in Cord Jefferson’s feature film debut. The comedy “AMERICAN FICTION” stars Jeffrey Wright, John Ortiz, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown. It’s about artistic struggle, cultural expectations and the troubles of family. A funny movie with solid characters that stands alongside “The Holdovers” as another Oscar nominee about a grumpy professor.

American Fiction’s Oscar Nominations are:
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Music / Original Score

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American Fiction (2023)

Writer-director Cord Jefferson's debut feature, American Fiction, combines satire with family dynamics to fairly charming, if visually uninspiring, effect. Jeffrey Wright's Thelonius is a novelist forced into a leave of absence from his teaching position, whereupon he returns to Boston and reconnects with his family, from whom he's distant. He's also furious that his latest manuscript has been rejected for not being black enough, and that what "black enough" means involves every negative stereotype of black people and culture imaginable. But when he sarcastically writes such a novel to shove society's attitude in its face, it's taken seriously by the white literary elite, who shower it with praise.

From the trailer, Mike was expecting more focus on the satire, and more energy à la Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You. It's a surprise, then, that American Fiction spends so much time developing the family drama, but not an unpleasant one, and José finds that aspect the film's most interesting. We consider the idea that the film uses the family story to practice what it preaches, offering a story about black people that doesn't require them to be black in order to justify its existence - it's a universal story about distanced siblings, a mother with failing health, and broken marriages. And we discuss the film's ending, or lack thereof, in which the inescapability of the culture that demands stereotype is emphasised at the expense of a satisfying, earned conclusion to the story we've been told.

American Fiction doesn't create a single artful image, and that ending is disappointing, but the film is also interesting, absorbing, and funny. Worth a look.

Recorded on 2nd February 2024.

419 - American Fiction

Join the film NERDs for our first episode of 2024 where we dive into one of this year's best picture nominees, American Fiction. This film is director Cord Jefferson's freshman and explores politics of being Black in America. Let us know what you think!

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Kinda Movie Critics ep. 99 American Fiction

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Ep. 99 - American Fiction

What Is This Episode - Top of Show
.
THE 2023-24 OSCARS RECAP SHOW:
Red Carpet Report: Really Good! - 3:22
Kimmel’s Monologue: Ok! - 10:20
.
Supporting Actress’ Hall of Heroes Accented Da’Vine’s Moment - 15:17
Animated Categories Gave Our First Surprise - 21:16
Screenplays Got 2 Worthy, Grateful Winners - 25:43
Billie and Finneas Perform w/ Pure Class - 32:56
Makeup and Hair + Production Design Were a Harbinger - 36:06
John Cena May Have Stolen the Show w/ Costume Design - 40:31
Whazhezhe Ruled - 45:07
Zone of Interest Won International Feature, Had an Important Speech - 46:04
A Necessary Surprise Stunt Homage - 49:04
.
Downey is the King, and Finally Got His Crown - 51:03
Danny DeVito, Arnold Had a GREAT Bit - 53:16
Then Presented VFX and Editing to Audience Darlings - 54:04
John Baptiste Performs, American Symphony Should’ve Been Nom’d - 56:57
McKinnon, Ferrera, and…Spielberg?! Were Hilarious?! - 58:48
20 Days in Mariupol Had a Moving Speech - 1:00:51
Hoyte! Wes! - 1:02:29
Becky G Does Diane Justice - 1:05:37
Mulaney is Definitely Our Future Host. Gives Zone a Big Win for Sound. - 1:06:23
It’s Ryan Gosling’s World. I’m Just Ken Ruled - 1:08:52
Score, Song, Go Exactly As They Should’ve - 1:11:28
Navalny’s Video Began Bocelli-Lead In Memorium - 1:14:21
.
Cillian Murphy, a Reluctant, Enthusiastic Champ - 1:16:37
Spielberg Adorns Nolan - 1:19:40
Emma Stone Upsets Lilly, Wins Her 2nd - 1:20:51
Kimmel Shouts Out Trump’s Real Time Insults - 1:25:50
Oppenheimer Wins Best Picture, Despite Pacino’s Confusing Presentation - 1:28:06
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Final Words - 1:30:27
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Your Homework/LEAVE US 5 STARS! - 1:32:44
Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:33:50

MMO's 96th Oscars Recap - This is the Way the Film Year Ends. - Ep 454

A podcast by NextBestPicture.com that reviews the latest film releases and discusses various topics within the world of film and the awards race.

A podcast about books and their film adaptations. It's a safe place for those who really did like the movie better than the book.

Ridiculously unproductive NERD movie talk that is occasionally deep and entertaining.  We call ourselves "Kinda Movie Critics" because we 'kinda' are and we're 'kinda' not, we're just a bunch of nerds that like to watch movies.  
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MMO is talk radio for movie fans with weekly news shows, reviews, previews, and special guests. We celebrate the Oscars by making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. If you love cinema, if you love showbiz, welcome home.

"I have this romantic idea of the movies as a conjunction of place, people and experiences, all different for each of us, a context in which individual and separate beings try to commune, where the individual experience overlaps with the communal and where that overlapping is demarcated by how we measure the differing responses between ourselves and the rest of the audience: do they laugh when we don’t (and what does that mean?); are they moved when we feel like laughing (and what does that say about me or the others) etc. The idea behind this podcast is to satiate the urge I sometimes have when I see a movie alone – to eavesdrop on what others say. What do they think? How does their experience compare to mine? Snippets are overhead as one leaves the cinema and are often food for thought. A longer snippet of such an experience is what I hope to provide: it’s two friends chatting immediately after a movie. It’s unrehearsed, meandering, slightly convoluted, certainly enthusiastic, and well informed, if not necessarily on all aspects a particular work gives rise to, certainly in terms of knowledge of cinema in general and considerable experience of watching different types of movies and watching movies in different types of ways. It’s not a review. It’s a conversation." - José Arroyo.

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Bob Sham and Angela (former Documenteers hosts)have expanded their film discussion into broader waters with MOVIEHUMPERS. This feed is the one stop shop for our classic and current shows.

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Death to all traitors

New tracks tagged #Cord Jefferson