A Time to Kill (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this movie shortly after it came to video and thought it was a pretty good movie. Then a couple years later, I saw it again. And it just kind of stuck in my brain. I'll be reading or listening to something, and it will remind me of the movie. In conversations I bring up this film all the time because it is so relevant to important issues of our time. Racism, vigilante action, legal issues, etc. The more you watch this movie, the more it makes you think.
And if you're not interested in thinking about some of the larger philosophical issues at hand, there's still plenty of stuff for you. You've got Matthew McConaughey who does a phenomenal job, and looks great while at it. Oliver Platt imbues his character with just the right amount of sleaze and charm that you can't help but love him. Donald Sutherland is absolutely lovable as the old-school gentleman (and you and your friends can argue over whether he's a lush or or a drunk/alcoholic). Sandra Bullock does a believable job, and the men tend to find Ashley Judd rather attractive in this role. And let's not forget Samuel L. Jackson, who makes his character so real that you understand the situation he's in and why he does what he does.
So basically, there's something for everyone here. Thinking stuff with good looking people (male and female) who act well. Can't go wrong with this one.

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Hood 2 Hood: Blockumentary, Vol. 2 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)This dvd starts showing who went to jail or passed away after being filmed in the first release of 2005 "Hood 2 Hood - The Blockumentary".
Also it begins with a funeral with religious rite in the Vallejo's hood (CA); during the time after the vol.1, some actors passed away ! So you'll see who was in the Vol.1 and passed away.True soldiers of the ghetto streets ! R.I.P.: very impressive !!!!!!!
Rich Kid Entertainment did is again, following their hugely popular Hood 2 Hood they just released Hood 2 Hood, The Blockumentary Part Two which is an action packed DVD that takes viewers on a graphic detailed journey through the highest crime ridden neighborhoods in the United States of America. It contains exclusive interviews with real gang members, drug dealers pimps and killers.
Cities included are Miami FL, Baton Rouge LA, New Orleans LA, Louisville KY, Vallejo CA, Oakland CA, San Diego CA, Omaha NE, Milwaukee WI, Chicago IL, Yonkers NY, Washington DC, Atlanta GA, Baltimore MD, Brooklyn NY, Bronx NY, Birmingham AL, Chicago IL, Compton CA, Detroit MI, Gary IN, Harlem NY , Houston TX, Jackson MS, Kansas City KS, Kansas City MO, Las Vegas NV, Little Rock AR, Los Angeles CA, Memphis TN, Philadelphia PA, Queens NY, Richmond CA, Sacramento CA, San Francisco CA, ST. Louis Mo, and Richmond VA.
The neighborhoods included in the journey are those of some of today's hottest Rap and R&B stars such as Kanye West, Lil Boosie, Webbie, Gucci Mane, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Nelly, Juvenile, T.I., Suge Knight, Mac DRE, 3-6 Mafia, Cash Out Quis, Rick Ross, E-40 and Mary J. Blige just to name a few.
Viewers be prepared to witness controversial never seen before footage. This is reality TV at its best !!!!
Running Time: 3 hours
Produced & Directed by: Aquis Bryant
Edited by: Aquis Bryant, Brian Bradley & Omar Wicker
Hood 2 Hood- PART 2, The Blockumentary is an action packed film that takes you on a tour through America's highest crime rated neighborhoods. Rich Kid Entertainment contacted all the underground hood connections from hoods across the country from California to New York, to the South and Midwest. Their connections opened the doors to their hoods and allowed them to capture the day-to-day actions of life in a crime-infested neighborhoods. Film crews have never had access to footage like this, that includes everything from several pounds of marijuana and kilos of cocaine, fully automatic assault rifles, beatdowns, and thousands in cash earned in drug sales.
They traveled to over 20 different cities and neighborhoods that included the actual neighborhoods of today's top rap artists. Viewers be prepared to witness controversial and violent never seen before footage. Hood 2 Hood, The Blockumentary is reality T.V at it's best!!!!!!
DVD with 3 HOURS of footage!!
Showing Hoods In:
Atlanta, GA
Los Angeles, CA
Oakland, CA
Richmond, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco, CA
Vallejo, CA
Baltimore, MD
Brooklyn, NY
Bronx, NY
Birmingham, AL
Chicago, IL
Compton, CA
Detroit, MI
Gary, IN
Harlem, NY
Houston, TX
Jackson, MS
Kansas City, KS
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Little Rock, AR
Memphis, TN
New Orleans, LA
Philadelphia, PA
Queens, NY
St Louis, MO
Running Time: 5 hours
Produced & Directed by: Aquis Bryant
Edited by: Aquis Bryant, Brian Bradley & Omar Wicker

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Hood 2 Hood, The Blockumentary is an action packed film that takes you on a tour through America's highest crime rated neighborhoods. Rich Kid Entertainment contacted all the underground hood connections from hoods across the country from California to New York, to the South and Midwest. Their connections opened the doors to their hoods and allowed them to capture the day-to-day actions of life in a crime-infested neighborhoods.

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The Wanderers (1979) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Wanderers is many things...an urban gang drama, juvenile comedy, changing of the times study and more. It works on all these levels and has become a certified cult classic. At it's core, the Wanderers is about the final death of the innocence of the 1950's. The Wanderers are an Italian gang in NY, still clinging to the last vestiges of the 1950's with their matching satin jackets and grease-backed hair. Early on several members run afoul of another gang, the notorious 'Baldies'. The Wanderers find themselves trapped until a newcomer, the huge Perry saves them and is immediately welcomed into the gang by their leader Richie (Ken Wahl).
The various members of the Wanderers have problems to deal with on their own. Richie has gotten his girlfriend, Despie, pregnant, Perry's mother is an Alcoholic, Turkey wants to join the Baldies and Joey has an abusive father who thinks his son doesn't measure up. The Wanderers have a verbal war with a black gang, the Del Bombers, in school and decide to settle things with an old-fashioned rumble.
When the Wanderers cannot get any other gangs to back them up, Despies father (Dolph Sweet) a neighborhood mob boss steps in and decides to stop the rumble and have the gangs settle their differences with a football game instead...with a lot of mob money riding on the outcome. The game climaxes when the two gangs, along with the rest in attendance, must join together to fight "The Ducky Boys", a group of vicious, seemingly homosexuals, who have crashed the game with hundreds of members.
Mixed in with the drama and action is a liberal amount of juvenile buddy comedy as the Wanderers 'accidently' bumb into women on the street in order to touch their breasts. This is how the meet Nina (karen Allen) a bohemian girl who Richie becomes infatuated with. There there are drunken parties, games of strip poker, etc. In one memorable scene, the drunken Baldies join the marines.
Through all of this is the theme of the changing of the times. The doo-wop of the 1950's is now being replaced by folk music. A poignant scene has Richie following Nina until she enters a club where (in sound anyway) Bob Dylan is playing. Richie doesn't enter as he seems to know that it's just not his world. The film also covers the assasination of John Kennedy as the symbolic death of innocence. It is this moment the galvanizes the strained relationship between Despie and Richie.
One wishes that the Ducky Boys had been better explained. They are a creepy group of men..older than the other gangs...who never speak and were actually seen taking Holy Communion in one part where Turkey enters their turf by mistake and his killed. What were the Ducky Boys representing? It's the one mystery of the film.
The Wanderers has a fantastic soundtrack of early 1960's hits including "Soldier Boy", "Walk Like a Man", "Runaround Sue", "Shout", "Big Girls don't Cry" and of course the title track.
This is a movie that holds up still after 25 years because it works well on so many different levels. This was mostly a cast of unknowns with Karen Allen perhaps being the most notable star a year after she did 'Animal House'. An enjoyable movie from beginning to end.

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Tully High School seniors Richie, Joey and Perry run with a gang called the Wanderers in the Bronx. The time is fall 1963 but their experiences are universal: falling in love, surviving in school and defending turf against rivals like the Fordham Baldies, the Del Bombers and the Ducky Boys.

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Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was skeptical. What does a blonde (now grey) former professional skateboarder (now film maker) from the other side of town know about gang wars in LA? And then there's me: a white guy from the suburbs in Ohio who was raised by a gun collector who is still pretty open about his use of the"N" word. When I hear about gang violence: I just shrug: "It's probably a fight over something stupid." Still, this film remained in my queue and wasn't working its way up very quickly.
I elevated this movie to #1 when Michael Vick was signed by the Eagles. In one week: I heard two accounts from completely different lifestyles: Prissy ESPN sports talk show host Mike Greenberg declared that he had never heard of the subculture known as dog fighting until the Vick case made the news. Vick stated that dog fighting in his childhood neighborhood was so common that police would stop to see a fight and then drive away. Dog fighting was the norm. It was then when I knew I had to check out Peralta's newest movie as I'd loved the Dog Town and Z Boys documentary.
The first 25-30 minutes of the movie covers pre-1970 race riots in LA and other cities. How invisible lines created "hoods" by police who would commonly question straying pedestrians about "why don't you go back to your neighborhood?" Then abruptly, the movie takes a sharp turn when vocal black leaders like MLK, Malcom X and others are thrown in jail or murdered. Suddenly, all the icons were gone. Think of the Living Colour song: Cult of Personality - "When that leader speaks, that leader dies."
For the rest of the movie I was hooked. I couldn't grasp what was happening. The Crips and Bloods seemed to come out of nowhere. Peralta seemed to have skipped something important. But he didn't. I didn't understand how there were suddenly two gangs. I didn't understand why they were divided and bent on killing each other based on territories, red or blue bandanas, or other reasons.
Before the movie ended, I got it. Young black men without fathers, mentors or real leadership took a downward turn. Image, status and bravado became a common theme in neighborhoods where there is no hope. I will admit that I'm a Republican with strong beliefs that everybody should pull their weight and not rely on handouts. In a world where police often respond by use of strong force, there's little reason to NOT question authority. I have no solutions. The oppressed respond to violence, with violence.
Jim Brown has a couple of short appearances (he's not in the film enough in my opinion) and he is quoted by someone in the extras: "If the police have not resolved the problem in 40 years, they never will resolve the problem." It's about oppression, not the gangs themselves. Stacey says the an outtake that he wanted to make this movie because he didn't understand why there is no gang violence in suburban or upscale neighborhoods. Why are people arming themselves and having gun battles with former childhood friends in impoverished communities?
This movie is a must see for anyone even mildly afraid to drive thru certain neighborhoods or better yet, the generation of kids from the suburbs who were raised on hip hop, MTV and anything that glorified the gangsta lifestyle. In the extras, Snoop Dog and Lil Wayne each give a heartfelt, unscripted point of view that really was impressive.

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CRIPS AND BLOODS:MADE IN AMERICA - DVD Movie

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