Thoughts

I have mentioned this film a number of times in my journeys, primarily because of the stranglehold the concept of it has had on me. Needless to say, I finally got around to it (so I can get a good grade). I was not only mesmerized and unable to peel my eyes off the screen, but my expectations as a whole were completely shattered, in the best way possible. The Holy Mountain follows a thief, cleverly dressed as Jesus Christ, venturing through a heightened reality filled with re

We lost Gene Hackman this past year, the legendary actor and star of The French Connection (1971), directed by William Friedkin. This film is dark and gritty, and exactly the kind of realistic action/thriller I live for experiencing. Hackman portrays Popeye Doyle, a tough-as-rocks narcotics agent on the tail of a big international heroin score.

More complexly put, it delicately walks the tightrope of being commentary on our sociopolitical landscape and simultaneously being a laugh-out-loud satirical comedy. Oh, and it’s an action film. PTA pulled out all the stops for this one, not only assembling an ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, and newcomer Chase Infiniti...

The performances by Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright steal the show. Fantastic comedic and tense moments are offset by a majority of cringeworthy dialogue and the most awkward scoring choices I’ve ever heard. It felt like watching a soap opera at more than a handful of moments. Going off of that, the police dialogue had to be some of the worst I’ve ever seen. The redeeming moments are within the tense action scenes, led by the direction of Lee with Denzel on the move.

Hess’s semi-live-action film adaptation of the famous game is not a letdown. It is a recurring event of corporate greed dominating creativity. Which is pretty ironic given the game’s structure. As of writing this, the movie has raked in close to seven and a half million dollars worldwide.