Spoiler Time: Get On Up

Hey Kornheads, that's that time of year again, actually it's more that time of week but you know what I meant. This is where I break down everything completely wrong and some of what's right with the Tate Taylor directed Get On Up. Don't ask me why because based on the box office, there isn't a soul in this land that's going to see this movie but this could be fun. Let's get started, shall we?


Making a movie on the life and times of the Godfather of Soul is a daunting task. That is the only pass I give the director, screenwriters, and producers. That man has done so much, accomplished so much, and lived such an amazing life that to try and distill it all down into a two hour movie is a foolish attempt, and yet Get On Up is in theaters today. The problem with it is simply...everything. Outside of the Oscar award winning performance of Chadwick Boseman, this movie is a joke. From the blatant Ray ripoffs to the lack of James Brown's cultural impact on his people, this movie misses on damn near every level.

Did you know James Brown performed for the inmates at Rykers Island in New York back in 1972? Did you know one of his wives died while undergoing plastic surgery? Did you know he recorded three hours of music for the film Black Caesar without ever seeing the movie? Remember his epic concert he gave before the Muhammad Ali, George Foreman fight in Kinshasa, Zaire? Remember his iconic groundbreaking song "(Say It Loud) I'm Black and I'm Proud"? Did you know of his somewhat friendly rivalry between him and Little Richard? Did you know James' first love was baseball but went with singing because the girls loved singers? Did you know he owned radio stations? Did you know his nickname in prison was 'Music Box'? Did you know he had a sit down with President Richard Milhous Nixon regarding the state of affairs in the ghetto? Did you know he was a drug addict up until his death on Christmas in 2006? Did you know he is the most sampled musician in the history of music and that without James there would be no hip hop? If you knew none of this don't worry, you aren't alone because it appeared that those involved with Get On Up didn't know any of this either.

None of the things I listed were in the movie, NOT ONE! And yet Get On Up was supposedly about James Brown. It could have been a movie about some fictional character, say James "Thunder" Early played by Eddie Murphy in the Dreamgirls movie. Then Get On Up would have been decent, but to say this was a movie based on the most influential man in music is a misnomer. It's just flat out not true. Tate Taylor said "this movie is about singing and dancing" which is the absolute wrong idea to have when you call yourself making a James Brown biopic. The man was so much more than that and Tate Taylor needs to be ashamed of himself and he needs to be banned from doing anymore movies that deal with Black people. He obviously doesn't get it. I would have loved to have seen what this movie would have looked like had Spike Lee directed it.

Now the sad part is this, Tate Taylor's career will survive this but Black movies will take a huge hit. As of today, Get On Up has earned just $17,113,630. Hollywood will point to that number and say, "See, there's no market for Black movies" completely ignoring the fact that this "Black" movie is just horrid. And that may have something to do with everyone behind the camera being white and everyone in front of the camera, with a few exceptions, being Black. I'm glad I saw it, just to see Chadwick's mind blowing performance but this movie needs to be burned and forgotten about and the sooner the better.

Tell me Kornheads, when you heard about this movie, were you excited to see it, indifferent, or had no desire whatsoever? I'd love to know!