Smokin Aces

What a mess. The best thing about this movie is Alicia Keys cleavage scene and the end credits. It tries so hard to be cool but just does not deliver. It seems so scripted the entire time and I'm still confused. The ending couldn't be more corny or confusing. I watched very carefully but still could not grasp what was going on and I dont think the director even understood it. The over the top characters seem so contrived - The rednecks, the gangsta bitches, the hiphop thugs, the russian, the kid in a karate soon talkin hiphop gangsta style ( u want beef son?etc haha so funny...yeah right), Buddy "Aces" with the constant deck of cards (that was soo lame) etc. Throughout the entire movie I was saying things like, " That's impossible", "How did he change so fast?", "Who believes the guy in the mohawk is a security guard.", "Thats not funny." "That dosn't make sense" "Stop talkin and kill him already". Horrible dialogue and story telling. I was very disappointed. I thought this was gonna be a good movie. Of course, Common sucks, as do most rappers nowadays. It just was very chaotic and just thrown together. There was definitely a lack of focus throughout the film and the bad dialogue made all the actors come across lame. I dont see how some people enjoyed this movie as they state on youtube posts and reviews across the internet. I think the hype of having all these big names with the movie convinced them it was something special. However, there a few decent parts like dead Ben Affleck lyp synching, Ray Liotta shooting scene in the elevator, the kid fighting effects and some other cinematography moments but my recomendation ..dont waste your time.
D-

Dog Day Afternoon

A classic that I just had the pleasure of watching. Al Pacino does a great and sincere performance in this true story heist gone haywire, directed by Sidney Lumet. If you love heist movies, this is a must see. Sonny, Sal and their scared little friend hold up a Brooklyn bank with a well put together plan...at least that's what they thought. Sonny has worked in a bank so he knows all the tricks, and Sal ain't f'ing around, but they take a little too long to leave with the money and the building is soon surrounded by cops and the FBI. He becomes the people's champion and even the hostages seem to root for him after a while. Interesting from start to finish.

Favorite Scenes : their cowardly friend leaving them( don't know why, I just like how that scene plays out I guess); "Attica!Attica!"; When he kept the police in check; many more

Worst Scenes : They had to mess up the robbery huh? All he had to do was leave(and not burn the register in the store), but I liked that Lumet made the hostages point that out to him; Any scene with Leon; Why did Sal put the gun down in the end?

Special Features : not one...c'mon guys,anything. A commentary would have been wonderful. Maybe we can expect something for an anniversary edition.

Rating : 4 bags of money

Lumumba

Lumamba" is the true story of Patrice Lumumba, who at just 36 became the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo. He would be in office only a few months until brutally assassinated due to his refusal to bow down to the colonial power structure of Belgium. He was dedicated to building a prosperous nation.The story of Lumumba needs to be heard, and it a testament to the struggles of African liberation.
Lumumba was brutally murdered by his own countrymen with America and Belgium cheering from the sidelines.
Cinematically, I wish it was told a little better. The story was confusing and hard to keep up with at times. How did he get so socially conscious? Where's his back story? The acting could have been better. It seemed as if they used real people, which I can appreciate but it was too amateur sometimes. Nevertheless, the director didn't hold back punches when showing the graphic and gory details while not going over the top. Disturbing but real. Y

Favorite Scenes : when he makes the famous speech (read the real speech - http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/tears-fire-and-blood-speech.html
When his former military officer makes 'a deal with the devil' and is offered "everything" in return

What sucked? : acting; story had a lot of holes.

Special Features : not one, not even director's commentary. It would have been great if they had a bio or documentary on the man. Well, I found something on YouTube(what can't you find on that thing)that I'll share with yall.

Snatch DVD Review

Snatch was crazy. I saw this before but copped it again recently. Guy Ritchie really did his thing. If your a young filmmaker you should have seen this already. An MTV Style, fast paced, cool indie style English feature follow up to the also hip, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells" ( another favorite of mine, infact, I almost like it better..storywise anyway.) It's a heist/ fixed boxing match story revolving around diamonds and criminal characters in England. Brad Pitt makes costars along with Benecio Del Toro and some repeats from ' Smoking Barrells'.(Unfortunately the 'Guvnor' passed away prior to Snatch. I'm sure he would have beeen included.
Anyway, the shots are great, its always interesting and exciting, good dialogue,unique, great characters. The accents and slang definitely lend it something too. There's no solid stories but its interesting none the less. The Crime Boss, Brick Top(Alan Ford ) is believably evil and twisted. Brad Pitt seems totally comfortable in his character's skin. The leads do a cool job, particularly Jason Statham(Transpoter fame). I particularly enjoyed Vinnie Jones's performance (as in the prequel) as Bullet tooth Tony. Good actor...why wasn't he anything else? Can't front...liked it a lot and the style was bananas.

Favorite Scenes : the intro style of the jews entering at the beginning cutting from monitor to monitor; All the boxing matches (the extremeness of Brad Pitt's character's boxing strength), the underwater scene during the last fight seemed ingenious to me;

What sucked? - The storyline was all over the place; The negative portrayal of the blacks in the movie. The black guys were the buffoons of the movie. What's up with that? It was kind of Stepin Fetchit/Wayans Brothers ish. Not feelin that Guy. . However, they were funny at times and did an okay job, especially the skinny fellow.( I recognize him also from the old British Jamaican TV Show - "Desmond. Funny show).

Special Features - It came with another disc filled with special features including 'the making of..' which was cool. Some of the deleted scenes were surprisingly goo The commentary was disappointing though. They didn't sound very interested and rarely touched on much film technique.

Rating - **** 4 bloody stars

State of Grace DVD Review

An Irish gangsta flick (1990) that I’ve never seen until today. It’s about an undercover cop(Sean Penn) who comes back to his old Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood to spy on his old gang, which includes his best friend ( Gary Oldman) and the boss (Ed Harris) but gets in too deep and questions his job.
Now, at the beginning I thought Gary Oldman and Sean Penn were overacting but by the middle of the movie they are really good, especially the crazy character of Oldman; and I do mean crazy (doesn’t he look like a gangsta version of the kid from Ferris Bueller). He’s a livewire nut. Turturro also makes an appearance as the cop above Sean Penn’s character. He does a good job also and seems completely comfortable in his character. Ed Harris is great as always. Robin Wright plays Pen’s love interest. To me, her character was weird and annoying but I think the ladies will appreciate her involvement. Anyway, Its a cool movie overall and you’ll get caught in the intensity at times.

Favorite Scenes : Gary Oldman spinning around “See!See!”;
When they’re about to do the big hit on the Mob boss; the shootout at the end was put together pretty well; Gary Oldman crosses the line with the mob’s crew when they invite him to sit with them; when they find out Penn’s character is a cop; “Don't be asking him he's fuckin' retarded! Sorry, no offence... but you are, okay? “

What Sucked? : Even though Oldman did his thing, his overacting at times was annoying to me. Robin Wright’s character annoyed me sometimes with her fits.

Bonus Features : Crap. They were none, just a lame ass trailer

Rating : 3 1/2 Clovers