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Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Grew up listening to these artists, knew the drama already, but the movie condensed it all pretty well
Thank you MTV for introducing me to the world of gangsta rap. I truly appreciate having a better understanding of that struggle, even if I grew up in a totally different nerdy academic lifestyle. (It's all about the Pentiums, baby!) My wife grew up in Long Beach and has always been proud to have attended the same high school as Snoop Dogg (something she will not let anyone forget) so '90s West Coast hip hop is a joy we both share. When this movie came out we saw it in theaters on opening day and it was not a disappointment, so we saw it two more times over the next couple of weeks.
If you have been following the lyrics of the songs and watching interviews and documentaries about NWA and Death Row Records over the years, this movie will absolutely resonate with you. Even if you haven't, give it a chance, as it tells the harrowing true story about these boys from the streets of Compton. Rags to riches. And riches to stitches. (Sorry lol)
After you watch this movie do a little google search of Suge Knight and read up on the events of 2015, because the epic story of Death Row Records has a gritty conclusion that finds its way onto the set of the movie itself!
This story blows my mind! I love the music, I love the heroes & the anti-heroes, and it is so satisfying to see the villain get defeated. Sad about Eazy though. That really gets to me and the portrayal by Jason Mitchell is beautiful. Damn.
Mean Streets (1973)
This is what I want in a movie
An original work of neo noir art made expressly for the screen and not connected to any type of expanded cinematic universe. It's refreshing. I like science fiction, horror, comedy, but neo noir and private detective movies are my shtick. I just cannot get enough and especially a gritty, day in the life of flick that makes me feel as though I'm experiencing the struggle of the characters on screen.
A character driven story that doesn't hold back any punches, has that low budget realism but high quality acting of Keitel and De Niro. Perfectly paired with the movie Taxi Driver in an unrivaled double feature.
Magnifique!
The Sandman (2022)
I own all of the comics and the adaptation is decent
I love the comic series. I've read many of them front to back, new and old issues. Still waiting for my favorite character, Delirium, to arrive on the show; but, so far it's enjoyable -- though unlike the comics, it lacks that stylistic shift from story to story as the artists change up.
I've reread many of the comics since the Netflix show "aired" and I'll probably continue to reread them until the day I die, but it's doubtful that I'd rewatch the live action series. It's interesting to see the adaptation compared to my beloved "mature" comicbook series, but I only rate things 8-10 stars if it's something I'll rewatch, no matter how well crafted.
Looking forward to the series next season -- and even more interested in future comic book stories.
Side note: I'm kind of disappointed at the lackluster integration of the DC superhero universe that the comics flirted with, such as the panels with Batman and Robin, Swamp Thing, Martian Manhunter, etc. It's not like Sandman was a superhero comic but it integrated superheroes from time to time. Yes, there were plenty of nods to DC superhero events in the Netflix adaptation, such as the Boogieman's defeat by Swamp Thing, but nothing overt such as the comics provided.
Just my two cents, as an old fan of the series.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Do Not Expand Tolkien's Work into a Cinematic Universe
Tolkien wouldn't have been okay with a new story written by our modern day writers tackling the issues of the day, injecting politics that are untrue to the nature of Middle-Earth in an effort to capitalize on the age of the cinematic universe. It might work for comic books, as that is the truer nature of serialized art work, but not the nature of a series of painstakingly crafted stories written by an academic over the course of his adult life. We fans are as fiercely protective of the legacy of Middle-Earth as Tolkien himself was.
I was not a fan of the Peter Jackson movies either, so this further devolution of the stories is absolute anathema. I don't care how people of today will judge my words, as my joy of cinema has waned over the years, as has my patience with end-game capitalism. Tolkien stopped writing new Middle-Earth stories because it becomes increasingly darker and more depressing the further from his novels you travel. He started to write a post-LOTR story and he saw no joy in doing so. Although this Amazon series is a footnote from an earlier age, it's not representative of the moral and ethical issues of its time.
I'm certain some assume me to be part of the racialist conservative mob on the right, but I am in fact a middle of the road sometimes liberal leaning moderate. I simply find it sad to listen to modern day Tolkien fans who have seen the movies first and then read the books and prefer the blockbuster violence of the cinematic world over the gentler, poetic stories of the written universe; the world of Tom Bombadil and Old Man Willow. That's the world of Tolkien I love. Not something which lends itself to crossovers into mass murdering video game grinds full of mind numbing CGI.