Archive for the 'Racism' Category

American Gangster

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in Based on a true story, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Dysfunctional, Family, Investigation, Mob, Racism and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, a real-life American gangster, I feeling like I was watching Training Day, only this movie was much cooler, much classier, and just better all around. According to the film, which was based on claims by Frank Lucas, Frank Lucas was the driver/bodyguard that stepped in after his boss died of a heart attack. What’s different about this mob story is that Frank Lucas is black; he’s not Italian, Sicilian or Russian. He brings in his brothers to help run the business and runs shop like the Italians. He makes sure the public and everyone around him loves him. People even love him when Frank beats the crap out of them for making mistakes.

On one hand, Lucas was kind of like Robin Hood. He took from the rich and gave to the poor. Frank also cut out all the middle-men and worked for himself. He dealt in narcotics and got his good directly from Southeast Asia. He bribed a lot of people to make his operations work and brought a lot of them down with him.

This movie is definite Oscar material. Denzel has been nominated several times for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He has won two Oscars already and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again for this film. Some other talented performances would include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Polito.

I really enjoyed the cinematography. Lately in films we’ve been seeing the wild camera shots and angles. The Bourne series would be an example of this, even though I like it there, and it just wouldn’t work in this film. I didn’t really pay attention to the ASL (average shot length), but it was very easy to follow and the timing and flow of the film went very well.

I think Ridley Scott did quite well directing. You might recognize that name from his previous works such as Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men and who could forget Blade Runner? He’s also produced a long list of movies. One that I’ve been wanting to see in particular would be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Even though this is a mob/gangster movie, it also shows a peek into the lives of these people. It’s not just extortion, lies, decent and people getting knocked off in casinos and dark alleys. Definitely a good drama as well as a crime and thriller. I highly recommend this one.

Animal Factory

Published
by
Chalupa
on June 28, 2007
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Independent and Racism
. 1 Comment

This is a movie I’ve seen at Best Buy, Blockbuster, etc for a long time and I’ve always wondered what it’s like. The cover just makes it look so good. I wouldn’t say this was amazing, but I really liked it.

Directed by Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong are both inmates in a prison. Dafoe is the head of a faction in the prison and Furlong has just been incarcerated. Like most prison shows, movies and stories, Furlong needs to find some friends fast or he’ll turn into what they call “fresh fish”. This is where Dafoe and his gang of thugs step in.

Dafoe has never seemed like a big and scary person, but he pulled off being tough and formidable here. I wouldn’t want to mess with him. It’s no wonder so many stand up for him in this prison. For some weird reason, he latches onto Furlong and looks out for him; being genuinely friendly in the process. Dafoe sees something in this young man that he doesn’t have with his fellow inmates: intelligence, wit and somewhat of a striving to better oneself. The dynamic duo makes plans to escape. In the end only one of them makes it out, but that’s ok. We’re left feeling like this is how things were meant to be.

This left me wanting to finish watching all of Oz, a TV show about a hard-core prison. I was also left wondering why Dafoe took the time and effort to even look out for Furlong. Maybe this was a peek into the humanity of his character. I’d say this was also some good directing by Buscemi. Interestingly enough, he directed a couple episodes of Oz after making his prison movie. So I guess the real question is does Animal Factory remind me of Oz, or does Oz remind me of Animal Factory?

Clerks II

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 17, 2006
in Comedy, Cult film, Independent, Racism and Sequel
. 0 Comments

I would like to start this post by saying that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’m not really sure why. I remember when Clerks came out back in ‘94 and seeing commercials on TV for it. It looked so interesting and fascinating. I wasn’t really allowed freedom in choosing every film I wanted to watch back then so I didn’t actually see the movie until almost five years later.

Since then I’ve always been interested in anything Kevin is working on. Much of Kevin Smith’s work is vulgar, crude and offensive (depending on your view points) and many people have asked me why I submit myself to such filth. I’ve never really had a great answer other than, “I just like it.” Kevin often explores controversial topics that many artists are afraid to approach. I once heard Kevin talking about how his brother is gay and has problems watching movies because he has problems connecting to them. The guy always seems to get the girl. Well what about the other people out there in the world?

Homosexuality is just one topic Kevin has tried to present in a humorous manner off and on in many of his films. He is also the creator of Jay and Silent Bob and is in fact, Silent Bob himself. Smith also has this amazing fan base of cult-proportions that is a mystery to many. I think I may know part of the reason for this. Ready? Kevin Smith. That’s it. This guy has charisma. He’s funny, he’s cool, he’s personable, and he seems like the kind of guy that could be your friend. Seriously. This is just an average guy who loves movies, but isn’t stuck up and a little crazy like Quentin Tarantino.

So the movie….I’ve been digressing upon many a rabbit trail here. Clerks II is a continuation of the Dante and Randal story we were first introduced with back in ‘94. Only now they’re 10 years older and still dealing with some of those same issues from a decade ago. Oh, and did I mention the sequel is in color?

Kevin has definitely made a big name for himself in Hollywood, in the comic book world, and in the hearts of many around the world who pine after a persona as cool as one of Smith’s characters. Who wouldn’t want to throw water on an annoying customer like Randall? Who wouldn’t want to have girls fighting over them like Dante? I’m sure a lot of you wish you could say anything and everything on your mind like Jay. Did you know there are heroines as well? There’s Alyssa Jones, Veronica, Caitlin Bree, Rene Mosier, Brandi Svening, Bethany Slone, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and then there was Dogma where Alanis Morissette played the part of God.

So anyways, Clerks II. Originally titled Passion of the Clerks, I assume this was to poke fun at Mel Gibson. This was even back in 2004 so this was way before Gibson decided to torpedo his career with a drunken tirade at police officers. In this latest installment we get to Dante and Randal back at it again. Working together, getting each other into interesting situations and inadvertently terrorizing some of the general public in the process. There is also another return of Jay and Silent Bob and great performances by Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman (new to the Smith films).

I would be lying if I said this movie was clean and unlike his other films. I was definitely shocked in a couple scenes. Once again, as usual, the bar was raised. Interestingly enough, the MPAA gave the film an ‘R’ rating immediately. Usually his films have to be edited to make an ‘R’. The movie is definitely a bit slow in the middle and almost seems to drone on for bit, but there’s a dynamite ending. I’ve heard some critics complaining about the end of the film, but think if you understand the progression of the previous 5 films than it will make complete sense to you too.

I found this movie entertaining and enjoyable. However I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not already a fan of Smith’s previous works. Definitely an acquired taste, it could be hard to fully appreciate jumping to the end of this series without starting at the beginning. A bit like the original Star Wars trilogy in the sense that each film can be watched as a seperate entity, but it really helps to see the full picture.

Sling Blade

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 17, 2006
in Based on a play, Based on a short film, Drama, Independent, Murder, Racism and Revenge
. 0 Comments

I never really thought much about Billy Bob Thornton until after seeing this movie. Things just never made sense to me. The few roles I had seen him in were never that great or earth shattering. He was married to Angelina Jolie, and he never seemed to present himself very well in public. Little did I know, Billy Bob is a writer and a director besides being an actor. I’ve always heard other people (actors/actresses) rave about the talent this man has, but had never witnessed it myself. That’s because I hadn’t seen Sling Blade.

This movie is about a man named Karl Childers. Karl is retarded man that gets let out of the state mental hospital. Karl was in the hospital because at the age of 12 he killed his mother and one other person. Now at face value this sounds horrible and tragic, but as you take a peak into Karl’s life you start to understand why he is the way he is.

After being released from the hospital, Karl gets a job at a small engine repair shop repairing engines. He’s apparently a prodigy at it. His new boss also lets him live in the shop since Karl has no place to go and his living family wants nothing to do with him. Besides getting a job, Karl also makes friends with Frank, a local boy, while helping him tote his family’s laundry home one afternoon. Frank likes Karl so much that he asks his mother to let Karl stay with them. From then on we see the lives of Karl, Frank and Linda (Frank’s mother) unfold and we meet some of their friends as life goes on. I’m not going to much further into the plot because I don’t want to give anything away.

This is such an amazing movie, I’m not really sure how to give it justice by typing away on my keyboard. This film deals with family, friendships, doing what is right, justice, protecting your own, love, being willing to give up everything for somebody you care about, etc, etc. All of Karl’s life he’s been picked on and written off just because of his mental state. However, Karl understands a lot more than people give him credit for. He also ends up being one of the most understanding, caring and insightful characters in the film.

I was so amazed to learn that Thorton wrote and directed this film besides being the main actor. Whenever I had seen the cover, I always thought that was Ewan McGregor on the cover or somebody that looked similar. That’s Billy Bob folks. I also sat down and watched all of the extra stuff on the 2nd disc as soon as I could. It’s always rewarding to learn about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Along with Thorton in the cast we also have Dwight Yoakam (Wedding Crashers, Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), J.T. Walsh (Good Morning Vietnam), John Ritter (Problem Child, Three’s Company), Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights, All the Pretty Horses) and many other recognizable faces. I think this is one of Ritter’s best performances ever, mainly because we get to see him break out of some of his typecast roles and actually act. Thorton even got him to radically change his hair, something Ritter never did for any other director. Lucas Black also gives an amazing performance as a kid in this movie that you’ll be hard-pressed to match.

I feel like I could go on and on about this movie, but I don’t know how to appropriately tell you how much this movie rocked my world. So go see this one. Please.

Crash: Second Review

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 13, 2005
in Crime, Drama, Independent, Multiple story line, Racism and Social Commentary
. 0 Comments

Just enjoyed this movie with Lana, Liz and Jenny. It was amazing. This is one of those movies where you have a lot of different characters going through different things and it all ties together in the end. Liz said she heard somebody compare this to Magnolia which is true only on the basest levels, but as a whole the movies are very, very different.

This movie deals with so many things it’s hard to know what to describe first. You have a woman dealing with anger. You have a man disgusted with his co-worker and trying to do the right thing on the job. You have several people dealing with racism on different levels. There is a son trying to do everything right and a mother who is worried about her other son. There are men trying to take care of their families and there children trying to protect their parents. There’s cops and robbers, country and hip-hop, love and violence….this movie has just about a little of everything in it.

One of the ‘tag-lines’ or quotes or whatever you want to call it is Don Cheadle talking about how we’re so worried about making contact with people. We’re so uptight about having our own personal space and not getting close to people. It’s actually pretty true if you think about it. When is the last time weren’t afraid to pickup a hitchhiker or accept a ride from somebody while walking? When is the last time you offered to help a total stranger when they obviously were in a bind? When is the last time you realized that everybody is human and no matter how weird or strange they are, they still feel awkward and vulnerable and just want to be liked and have friends?

After the movie we all agreed there was solid acting all around…even with Brendan Fraser in it - and that’s a bold statement. Bold like those A1 commercials. This film contains drama, comedy, tragedy and even a tad bit of action, depending on how you look on it. It even almost made me cry. I’d say this movie has the potential to stretch ya and make you think if you let it. If you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood you might want to check this one out. It sorta follows Clint’s anti-happy ending theme. This is definitely going on my buy list.

Hey Neville - I just looked here after posting and didn’t know you had just posted about the very same movie. Instead of deleting or trying to add a comment I’ve decided to just leave it and see if we said anything similar.

Crash

Published
by
Neville
on May 10, 2005
in Crime, Drama, Independent, Multiple story line, Racism and Social Commentary
. 0 Comments

“Crash,” Paul Haggis’ directorial debut (he wrote “Million Dollar Baby”) is as impressive as great films come. I’ve heard people talk about “Crash” and sigh because they think all it was about was racism. But it is about much much more than that. It’s about the goodness in people, and about the bad inside all of us. It’s about how people—especially in L.A.—suffer from a lack of human-to-human contact, and emphasizes the needful craving we all have for relationships. And of course, it’s about more drama and more coincidences than you can shake a stick at, but that’s all well and good in my opinion. It’s been compared to “Magnolia,” which I can see but feel that it’s somewhat of an unwarranted comparison. Just because a movie juggles a dozen characters wonderfully and complexly doesn’t mean they’re “Magnolia” or worthy to be compared to it. But “Crash” has some elements similar to it, and so, I can see why people are saying that. Although it’s not nearly as brutally honest or provocative or shockingly intimate as “Magnolia” was and is, “Crash” is wonderful in its own ways, one of which being in the way it manages to take a group of characters and make them multi-dimensional and multi-layered. I was fascinated by where they all were going and I was intrigued and entertained by them at the same time. And for a film so dark and naked in its portrayal of racial and ethnic stereotypes, it still manages to make you laugh and make you laugh at yourself.

Also, if there ever was a movie that showcased my favorite Madeleine L’Engle chapter entitled “What Are You Looking For?” (from “A Stone for a Pillow”) it would be “Crash.” It proves—in the first 10 minutes—how people see what they want to see, and how people will find whatever it is they are looking for. Be it bad, or good, or ugly, or racist—it’s all out there….waiting to be turned into something meaningful.

“Crash,” like “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,” sees America as it is today–particularly in terms of language differences and culture clashes. It is a gripping little imperfect piece of cinema, that will most likely garner a spot on my top ten list for 2005. Despite a few things I would’ve changed had I been the one making the movie (i.e., the end song that closes with the credits just does not fit—and ruined the mood of the film for me) and the final, ambiguous, yet, could-it-be-preaching-for-or-against-illegal-immigration shot—also felt out of place to some extent. However, this is a film you should definitely see, as long as you’re in the mood for some tough entertainment. Beautiful score, unforgettable moments, powerful movie…period.