One thing I like about David Poland as an awards analyst is that he often makes an effort to expand the tight circle of contenders by bringing little-buzzed names into the conversation. Needless to say, this kind of punditry can lead to a lot of dead ends, but every now and then he lands on a genuine sleeper — which is why this casual aside in his Friday box-office column caught my eye:
Of the current 16 [Lionsgate] $20m domestic openers, 7 are Tyler Perry (which is why For Colored Girls… is a lock to end up in this year’s Oscar race come December)…
In case it hasn’t been on your radar, he’s talking about “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,” Perry’s filmization of Ntozake Shange’s landmark 1975 stage study of the African-American female experience. The play, a poetry-based piece taking on issues of abuse, rape, abortion and eventual empowerment, is pretty strong medicine; it’s difficult to imagine how it might work on film, and how it’ll mesh with Perry’s brash creative sensibility.
