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When The Levee Breaks: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Helps Us Say Goodbye To Chadwick Boseman and Hello To The Best Performances of the Year - Special Guest writer Marvin Pittman of Forces of Geek's "Blerd Vision"
Episode 9222nd December 2020 • The NOMCAST - Netflix Original Movie Podcast • nomcast
00:00:00 01:21:58

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Host Andrew Morgan is joined by Forces of Geek's Marvin Pittman (@marvinpittman) to break down the latest film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-Winning playwright August Wilson's work, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, starring Viola Davis as the "mother of blues" herself Ma Rainey & the late Chadwick Boseman giving his final performance as the upstart horn player Levee. They discuss if this is Chadwick Boseman's best performance of his too-short career, the impressive selections from producer Denzel Washington for the cast & crew, the transformation of Viola Davis into Ma Rainey with help from Costume Designer Ann Roth, the themes of The Great Migration & Jim Crow looming over the film, the exploitation of black musicians, the film's Oscar chances, & even a fun story about the "We Are The World" recording sessions back in the '80s.

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MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM is a story set in Chicago in the summer of 1927. Tensions rise during a recording session between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player, and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable "Mother of the Blues."