Kemp Powers

“When I was in college in Washington, D. C. A good friend of mine worked concessions at the Key Theatre, and which was an independent theater in Washington, D. C. So she basically let me get into movies for free, and also gave me a free bag of popcorn. And one of the first films, so it was all indie films, and I didn't really care what it was, I had no money, I just wanted to go to the movies all the time. And one of the first films that I saw was, Cronos from Guillermo del Toro. Didn't know anything about the movie, I gradually discovered that it was a horror vampire film. I found it really, really fascinating. I mean, Ron Perlman speaking Spanish, which I, you know, I've seen the actor before, but didn't know he spoke Spanish. And it was really a great twist on the, the vampire mythos.”

“Oh, well, I'll start with one of the basics for me, which is 12 Angry Men. I, one of my favorite films of all time. I guess I always describe this film as an action movie of words. In many ways, the reason why I thought that I could write the play version of One Night in Miami was because of seeing 12 Angry Men and saying that there was more excitement in this battle of ideas in this room than anything I'd ever seen. So, very, very inspirational film for me.”

“Oh, one of my favorite animated films of all time, Watership Down. It's, it's very interesting because I first saw Watership Down, it aired on television when I was a little kid, and it kind of terrified me when, when I first saw the film. And I loved that about it. So for me, I never saw animation cartoons as something for, for kids. I always just thought of animation as an incredible medium for a certain kind of storytelling. And I always, I don't really see animation as for young adults, or children, or adults. I see animation as for everyone. And it's a lot of that philosophy, I think, that, that brought me to, to Pixar, and was something that we always kept in mind when we were making the movie Soul. So Watership Down was, is always a film that I, that I bring up as something that it might scare kids a little bit, but they can also enjoy it. And it's a, it's a very special, very important film for me.”

“Matewan. It's about union organizing, in West Virginia coal mines, which I know sounds like super duper exciting, but it actually is, if you Google, look up the, the Matewan Massacre, to see how, you know, the, the coal mining companies, did their union busting. And there's a, there's a great scene, there's a great speech that Chris Cooper makes in this film when James Earl Jones's character shows up and wants to join the, the union, about how, you know, how the, the corporations often separate people along racial lines or, or ethnic lines, and, and, and that's how they keep people from power. And I think that that's a lesson that we could, learn a lot from today. So it's a really, really great film, Matewan, and I'm happy to, to have a copy of that.”

“Bill Duke's Deep Cover. Love this movie. Most people know that this film, it's most known because it was the first appearance of a song featuring Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg. The, the Deep Cover, soundtrack is really, famous, but I, I just love this film. Laurence Fishburne and, Jeff Goldblum. Laurence Fishburne is a cop who goes undercover, and Jeff Goldblum as a lawyer slash sleazy, drug dealer. And this was just a really great, just like crime noir film, that, that I'm super excited to see added to the collection.”

“This is super exciting. I did not expect this to be here when I got here, but, this is my first time getting my hands on the Criterion Collection copy of One Night in Miami, that I'm the writer of, based on my play, directed by the incredible, Regina King. We're, I'm so proud of this movie. Talk about like a labor of love. And I cannot wait for everyone to see all the additional materials that both Regina and I, and a lot of other folks involved in the film recorded for the, the Criterion release. So yeah, One Night in Miami, make sure you, you check it out.”