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Yes it\u2019s July, and maybe an odd time to discuss films that focus on the winter holidays. Or it could be the perfect time, since production schedules often dictate that films hitting screens in December are shot in summer or spring.<\/p>\n
One such case is\u00a0Christmas in Compton<\/em><\/strong>, the new comedy from actor-turned-director David Raynr<\/strong>, and starring\u00a0Keith David, Omar Gooding<\/strong>, and Sheryl Lee Ralph<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The story is as follows: <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The colorful characters who populate the tree lot cause additional complications for Derrick as he tries to solve his problems secretly.\u00a0 Things spiral out of Derrick\u2019s control, jeopardizing the survival of the lot, and more importantly, the relationship with his father.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The cast also includes\u00a0Eric Roberts <\/strong>and\u00a0Miguel Nunez<\/strong>. Shooting wrapped in Los Angeles in May, and the filmmakers are currently in talks for distribution.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s not yet confirmed whether we\u2019ll see\u00a0Christmas in Compton<\/em> on the big screen, TV, or DVD, it does bring up the interesting question of black holiday films. I don\u2019t know about your household, but despite the holiday flicks that come out each year (think\u00a0This Christmas, The Preacher\u2019s Wife,<\/strong><\/em> or\u00a0The Perfect Holiday<\/em><\/strong>), the black films my family typically watches during the holidays tend not to be holiday-themed at all (think\u00a0Roots<\/em><\/strong> or\u00a0The Five Heartbeats<\/strong><\/em>).<\/p>\n Maybe we have different sensibilities about holiday films, or maybe we\u2019re just waiting on one great black holiday film to earn its way into our catalogue. Generations from now, I wonder will there be any that stand alongside\u00a0It\u2019s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street<\/em><\/strong>, or one of my faves,\u00a0A Christmas Story<\/em><\/strong>? In the coming years, what lines from black holiday films will be recited as often as\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ll shoot your eye out\u201d<\/em><\/strong>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes it\u2019s July, and maybe an odd time to discuss films that focus on the winter holidays. Or it could be the perfect time, since production schedules often dictate that films hitting screens in December are shot in summer or spring. One such case is\u00a0Christmas in Compton, the new comedy from actor-turned-director David Raynr, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":619,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions\/619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevindkinsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nBig Earl (David), the owner of a Christmas tree lot in Compton, and a man with a big heart and a big vision, demands success from everyone around him. All kinds of trouble erupts the week before Christmas when his son, Derrick (Gooding), part-time music producer and part-time Christmas tree lot employee, crosses the line to prove to Big Earl that he is a success.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n