Do the Right Thing and Crash Movie Reviews

It's been awhile since I posted anything on my movie review project. So without further ado, I present to you, "Do the Right Thing" and "Crash."

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Do the right thing is a foray into the lives of Brooklynites who are not only experiencing the hottest day of the year, but also a building tension of local racism.

Being no stranger to controversy, director Spike Lee's agenda of this film was to show a slice of his own life as a resident of Brooklyn by uncovering Italian and African American and at times Asian American aspects of hate between one another.

The majority of the story takes place at Sal's Pizza Shop (Danny Aiello). Sal seems to be a virtuous man that is in tune with the community and his customers despite being a white Italian pizzeria owner in the middle of a black neighborhood. His son Vito (Richard Edson) is much the same way while his son Pino (John Turturro) is extremely racist.

The main character of the film, Mookie, played by Spike himself, is a slacker delivery boy who probably still has a job because of Sal's kindness and loyalty to consistency.

The movie starts to get crazy when two trouble makers come into play. First a disgruntled character named Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) is upset with the price of the pizza and also Sal's lack of American American representatives on his celebrity wall, which features Italian sports heroes and entertainers. After a heated argument Mookie convinces Buggin' Out to leave it alone.

Another guy, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) comes into the shop with his boom box blaring Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" (he is constantly blasting this song the entire movie). Naturally Sal is peeved at the noise pollution in his pizzeria and gets into an argument with Raheem.

Things quickly escalate out of control and an all out race brawl breaks out between Sal and his sons, the black customers and neighbors near by and the white cops that show up to the scene.

It would be a shame to spoil the ending so I won't, but it is very powerful and sad. The effect of actions over petty hate is unbelievable.

However, Spike Lee misses the mark with the message which I will get to later.

Here is one of the most famous monologues in movie history. WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE



IMDB - 7.8/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.5/5

Crash (2004)

"Crash" is a movie I heard so much about but unfortunately just never got around to seeing. This movie masters the art of multiple storytelling as it follows around about five different story lines and some how weaves them all together by the end of the movie to paint almost like a quilt of movie.

What's most incredible about this movie is the all star cast they assembled: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Jennifer Esposito just to name a few. This film just like "Do the Right Thing" deals with racism and stereotypes in a much more clearer and emotional direction than "Do the Right Thing."

The movie covers many different racial relations: Black, White, Hispanic, Arabic and mixed races all while playing on stereotypes and sadly everyday negative occurrences people of ethnicity go through.

Perhaps the most telling of these characters is Matt Dillon's portrayal as a racist cop who takes advantage of his power to black citizens, specifically Thandie Newton and Don Cheadle.

Another moving scene involves the character Daniel (Michael Pena) and his daughter when an Arabic man pulls a gun on him assuming he sabotaged his store because of his Mexican heritage.

Every story has a unique plot twist and a powerful outcome that warrants an emotional response. The movie was done so well, and yet had such a small budget. It's amazing because it is an award winning movie and in a sense, an indie film.

I would highly recommend watching this film, but make sure you pay attention!



IMDB - 7.9
TheSIBandGuy - 4.5/5

So the obvious reason I grouped these movies together is because of the topic of race and stereotypes. Another reason was because of their ensemble casts. Lee's movie featured a popular lineup of actors he used in his early works while "Crash" featured A-listers in small roles, pretty cool.

Here is why I liked "Crash" better; the story was a lot more clear and there was a message at the end. Where Spike Lee missed the mark in "Do the Right Thing" was in the message he was trying to convey. At the end of the film it almost seemed like he glorified all the madness that happend without ever really addressing right and wrong. He brushed it off as normalcy with no prospect for a brighter and different future. "Crash" addressed these issues and showed the real power behind hate while making amends for the actions.

All and all, two classic films that are a must see and take on two different time frames of American culture.

Another Earth and Moon Movie Reviews

As I continue on my quest of movie awesomeness, I have encountered two space movies yet again. What's different about these two is they don't deal with the impending doom of the Earth for once. They are more of the sit back and think type of movie. So I now bring you, Another Earth and Moon.

Another Earth (2011)

This movie is about as independent as you can get and manages to create a beautiful movie despite the low budget. I only heard of this movie through a compilation trailer and was immediately interested.

The story follows a young college student named Rhoda (Brit Marling, who also wrote the movie), as she crosses paths with a famous music composer in a tragic way all while the Earth realizes they aren't alone in the Solar System. Coming into plain site, a "twin" Earth is discovered and has come into the plain of site.

It would really be a shame to spoil any of the plot to this movie because the intersecting storyline is incredible and so important to the film (so really pay attention when you watch.) What I will say is at some point contact is made between the Earth's, and they realize just how similar both of them are.

Rhoda was studying astronomy in college before her unfortunate accident happened which ultimately ended her education. However, she won a contest held by NASA to visit "Earth 2."

Here's where the movie gets confusing in a good way. The ending is simply incredible, and nothing really happens. It's left up to the viewer to decide if what they just saw happened, or not. I've spent much time on message boards trying to interpret the ending, and no one answer seems right.

Another Earth is easily one of my favorite films on this list so far, and writer/actress, Brit Marling has a bright future in front of her.



IMDB - 7/10
TheSIBandGuy - 4.7/5


Moon (2009)

Moon is a similar movie to Another Earth, in it's more of something to get you to think besides the obvious space connection. In this movie, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), is a scientist who is living on the Moon for three years in order to harvest Helium-3 and send it back to Earth as a fuel source. Sam is alone on this mission and only communicates with his robot/computer companion, GERTY (Kevin Spacey). Unable to directly communicate with Earth, GERTY and Sam form a close relationship although one of them isn't real...maybe...

The acting by Sam Rockwell is great. He is pretty much the only person ever on screen, and does a convincing job of someone who has clearly been isolated for too long. Spacey's character is just a computer, so it is only his voice, but even his tone is perfect. He reminds me of the computer HAL from Space Odyssey 2001.

This movie is filed with a couple of great plot twists. It's also important to note that it takes place in the future so some of these twists involve thinking about where we would have come as a civilization.

Moon offers a compelling look at loneliness, fear, and mistrust as Sam learns everything is not what it really seems to be.

You must check this movie out for the sheer brilliance of the acting and simple premise.



IMDB - 8/10
TheSIBandGuy - 4/5

Both of these movies were among the favorites I've watched. They are grouped together for having to do with space, but also not being about the end of the world. Instead they focus on advancing the Earth. These films were very much under the radar and did not boast huge budgets, but were very effective in their stoytelling.

Melancholia and the Quiet Earth Movie Reviews

Melancholia (2011)

Melancholia is a rather intriguing independent movie starring Kirsten Dunst (Justine), Kiefer Sutherland (John), and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire).

The movie opens up seemingly happy and a bit comical as we see two newlyweds, Justine and Michael, on the way to their wedding reception. After a series of funny and "cute" married couple moments they wander into the reception about an hour late.

It is there that things begin to take a turn for the bizzarre as we see Justine's true traits come out while around other people. She suffers from some sort of depression or bi-polar disorder and can't make any rational decisions once she gets into one of her moods.

What is supposed to be the best day of her life turns into a total disaster and embarrassment as the wedding and hours old marriage comes to a crumble...but wait, that's not the main plot of the movie.

Justine's brother-in-law, John, is a scientist, and along with the rest of the world has seen a new planet in the sky, Melancholia. The planet is a greenish hue and appears to be moving past the Earth when suddenly it changes direction and starts on a collision course that will wipe out humanity.

The rest is up to you to see! No spoilers here! However, Justine's character becomes a background to the bigger problem at hand, and her sister, Claire comes to be more prominent in the second half of the movie.

The film is actually quite fascinating and visually beautiful with vibrant colors and an opening and closing montage that really makes you happy to have HD. Dunst easily becomes one of the most disliked characters to ever be on screen, and that is due to her superb acting. She makes you hate her, and that's the point.

IMDB - 7.2/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.5/5



The Quiet Earth (1985)

This is a very unknown gem of a movie made in New Zealand on a budget of $1,000,000. The movie has no major stars and only features three actors the whole movie. It is one of the most simple movies I've seen, yet is so effective in it's storytelling.

The Quiet Earth opens with a man waking up to a world where he is the only person left. As weeks go by he descends into a mild insanity as he can't figure out how to cope with being the "ruler" of the world. Eventually he finds a woman and they quest off together until they run into a renegade of a man.

The movie is devoid of much sound and music aside from what they are listening to themselves within the movie. It's just an empty movie just like the world they inhabit. It sounds boring, but it is incredibly awesome to watch.

You grow attached to the main character, Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) and want to see him succeed in this end of days scenario.

The cause of this human wipeout is a bit confusing to follow, but in short it has to do with some sort of time-warp dimension that scientist were fooling around with. The results of this experiment vanished everyone save for a few people who were experiencing things at the right time.

One of the best scenes of the film is the closing title screen when Zac finds himself on a beach and on a new planet. Saturn is rising in the horizon and there are breathtaking cloud formations rising with the sun – truly a great outro for a crazy film.



IMDB - 7/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.5/5

I chose to group these two movies together for the obvious end of the world situations, but also for the character development and unresolved issues of the players involved in the films. Melancholia is two totally different movies. The whole first half it shows you a clearly not all there Dunst while in the second half of the movie shifts to the other characters and the diasater at hand. There's no cure or hope for Dunst except for her waiting to die.

In The Quiet Earth, we see the main character Zac unable to cope with himself. He tries to play the survival card and look for others but fails. Dunst thrives by herself, Zac truly comes alive when he has a companion, opposite spectrums.

Overall, these are must see movies if you are looking for low budget well made quickies. Both movies start off slow, but give them time and you'll get sucked in.

Iron Man 2 and Super 8 Movie Review

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Yes, I know this movie doesn't fit into the "You Gotta See This" type of category that most of the other films I've seen do. Quite frankly, it's on the list because I never saw it before. 

The first Iron Man was a great blockbuster that got the whole Avengers craze off and pretty much resurrected the career of Robert Downey Jr. Downey has become the embodiment of Tony Stark, the multimillionaire, playboy mogul of Stark Enterprises who moonlights as a super hero.

The second installment of the franchise to me felt a bit bland. Downey was great as usual, but the storyline really lacked, and the villain (Mickey Rourke) wasn't very memorable. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was a better character. A glaring and distracting gripe about the film was not having Terrence Howard reprise his role as Lt. Rhodes/War Machine. Although Don Cheadle is a formidable replacement, he didn't seem to fit it. Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) played the Lex Luther type of villain that has no power but rather imposes will.

As you'd expect, the action was superb, the fighting was good too, but the movie just suffered from being boring and kind of all over the place. 

IMDB - 7.1/10

TheSIBandGuy - 2/5

Super 8 (2011)

Super 8 is a really cool movie because it is a throwback to the early Spielberg of the 70s and 80s. Director J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job of capturing the ominous almost whimsical but emotive presence that classics like E.T., Close Encounters, and Jaws have. 

Using predominantly a cast of kids, they play their roles wonderfully as the curious and adventuresome protagonists of the story. The key characters are: Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning), and Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler). 

This is Courtney's first movie and you'd never guess it as he plays the leader of his group of friends. Fanning as is her sister, a great actress. I honestly can't believe how big she's gotten, I thought she was still a little kid, nevertheless, she's going to break out in a big way.

The main plot of the movie is the kids making a zombie film. They each have assigned roles: director, cameraman, makeup, actor, actress, etc. They film their tale with an 8MM camera aka a Super 8, which was a pretty standard home camera to have in the 70s and 80s. 

While filming an important scene of their movie something terrible happens in the background and they get it all on film while being in danger themselves. This kicks off the events of the rest of the movie (NO SPOILERS). This movie is best viewed while being in suspense.

Super 8 has a few small plot holes mixed throughout, but it is nothing major enough to lessen the movie. I'd have to say a lot of people did not enjoy the movie because they were unaware of the context and background of which it was made and were expecting a crazy monster action flick. That's not the case here, it serves to be a fun movie that pays homage to some we already love. Check it out for yourself and see if you can notice any of these similarities. 

IMDB - 7.2

TheSIBandGuy - 4/5

I chose to group these two movies together because they were both supposed to be big summer blockbusters when they hit theaters, and yet failed the hype in certain ways. One was about robots and machines while the other was the "monster" movie. Iron Man 2 failed to deliver the punch of the first one and Super 8 failed to deliver the monster movie people were looking for. However, from a film standpoint, Super 8 was all around a better movie in my opinion.

Movie List - My New Project

Here's something a little different than normal. So as some of you know another passion of mine is movies. I was a film minor in college, and haven't really used it for anything besides the occasional editing here and there. I spend a lot of time on IMDB looking up movies and critiquing everything I watch.

Last week I read IMDB's list for 500 movies you should see before you die, and created a list of movies I've either never seen or haven't seen the whole thing. The movies cover a variety of genres and encompass almost all eras of film. I'm going to attempt to blog about every movie I watch, and add more along the way. If you have suggestions for movies I should look into, let me know!

Below is the first list. Everything in bold I have watched since starting this project.

Pulp Fiction
The Boondock Saints
There Will Be Blood
Reservoir Dogs
Apocalypse Now
Death Proof
A Streetcar Named Desire
Training Day
Lost in Translation
Se7en
Gran Torino
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
The City of Lost Children
Planet Terror
Battle Royale
Battle Royale 2
Gangs of New York
Full Metal Jacket
No Country for Old Men
Casino
American History X
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Iron Man 2
City of God
Super 8
Freaks
On the Waterfront
Requiem for a Dream
Schindler's List
Braveheart
A Beautiful Mind
Godfather 2
Godfather 3
Carlito's Way
The Quiet Earth
Moon
Another Earth
The Untouchables
The Machinist
Avatar
Fear and Loathing
Blow
The Green Mile
Ali
Pursuit of Happiness
Amelie
The Aviator
3:10 to Yuma
Crash
Benjamin Button
The Fighter
Equilibrium
He Got Game
The Road
Beach
The Cube
Melancholia
The Usual Suspects
The Great Dictator
27 Hours
Walkabout
The Natural
The Lost Boys
Amores Perros
Minority Report
Radio Days
Black Rain
Malcolm X
Do the Right Thing
Mo Betta Blues
2046
Deliver Us From Evil
Chronicle

CSI Class Gets a Taste of Art, Literature, and Reality

This post is a little different from most of the others, because it has nothing to do with music, nevertheless I continue. A few semesters ago I had a Journalism professor named Peter Conti. I'm extremely grateful I wound up in his class because he got my writing back on track, and really helped me polish what creativity was there. I really wasn't writing anything at the time except for assignments and songs. Also, because of his class I joined the college newspaper, and fell back in love with the feeling of sitting down and putting words on paper.

I've stayed in touch with PC "Peter Conti" since our class, and I was happy to help when he asked me to come to his class for a story idea he had.

His idea is pretty unprecedented for a College of Staten Island teacher. Conti is in the midst of teaching a three week course-SLS 303 (Modern/Post Modern Culture). Within those three weeks three guest speakers of prominence are addressing the class.

SLS 303 by Justin Sarachik

Last Friday, January 14th, internationally known artist Jun Cha, gave his presentation via the web over Skype. One look through this website http://www.juncha.net and you'll see that this 21 one year old self made success story means business. He does tattoo work for celebrities as well as paintings, design, and free hand drawing. Cha's art is other worldly, and it's no wonder why he's gaining so much attention.

Jun Cha video conference by Peter Conti

Unfortunately I wasn't there to see him, but I did go on Tuesday the 18th to see author Christopher Grant's reading of his critically acclaimed book TEENIE.

Conti met Grant through a pick up basketball game in the city. From there the relationship grew and they want on to begin a project co-writing a book about rapper T.I.

Grant was nice enough to stop by room 2N-116 at 9:30am all the way from Harlem. The class was excited to listen to him read excerpts from his book, and was even more eager to ask him questions afterwards.

Christopher Grant reading from his book TEENIE by Justin Sarachik

On Monday PC's class will be visited by NYC gang police officer, Damon Valentino. He is sure to paint a grim and very real picture of an underground culture that most Staten Islanders don't know about. I'm choosing to not write about this until the full article comes out because it is not art or entertainment related like the other two.

Anyway, that was a quick update, stories on Courtney Zito of Hollywood Girl, Drew Torres, and Zo2 coming!!!

Some Shameless Promotion

I love music. I love games. I made a rap song over a video game beat! In perhaps one of the last great Sonic the Hedgehog games made, Sonic Adventure 2, there was a tune called "Humming Baseline." I found it, I rapped it, I conquered it.

Oh yeah, remember Myspace? Click here for the song!

Now go pull out your Dreamcast or Gamecube and find that beat!

Found here- http://crash-fm.deviantart.com/art/SONIC-ADVENTURE-2-POSTER-136926266