In about four days from now, every movie that I watch and review for the blog is going to be a horror film for a month. So, I figured I would try to get in some movies that I have always wanted to see and Crash is definitely one of them. The film follows Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) and her DA husband (Brendan Fraser), Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) and his partner Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), a Latino lock smith (Michael Peña), a Persian store owner (Shaun Toub), a car thief (Ludacris), a black detective (Don Cheadle), and a African American couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) as they navigate and collide in Los Angeles in a stories of race, tragedy, and redemption. The film also stars Tony Danza (Who’s The Boss) as Fred, Keith David (Men At Work) as Lt. Dixon, Jennifer Esposito (Summer Of Sam) as Ria, William Fichtner (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Flanagan, Karina Arroyave (Lean On Me) as Elizabeth, Loretta Devine (Death At A Funeral) as Shaniqua Johnson, Larenz Tate (Dead Presidents) as Peter Waters, Bahar Soomekh (Mission: Impossible III) as Dorri, Jack McGee (Moneyball) as Gun Store Owner, Bruce Kirby (Stand By Me) as Pop Ryan, and the film was directed by Paul Haggis (Casino Royale).
I wanted to start this paragraph by telling how uncomfortable this film was and is going to be to review. There is so much racism and hatred in this film that it’s absolutely insane, but I suppose that maybe this is how some people felt back in 2004 and even into today. I honestly thought before watching the film that it was going to be about the program entitled CRASH in Los Angeles, but boy was I surprised right off the bat. They explore racism in every sense of the way that you can imagine from stereotyping all Middle Easterners and Latin Americans. The film also explore racism as far as how a situation is perceived by a different individual and how some humans are just stuck in their ways. Crash is an excellent film, but it’s one of those films that just when it looks like things are about to get dim, it’s lightens right up, but then falls back down. It truly is a roller coaster ride of a film. Sandra Bullock does an amazing job playing a racist bitch in the film because she is very convincing. Just about every single person in the film does an excellent job like Ludacris being a disillusioned individual or Don Cheadle who is forced to make hard decisions that will benefit others whether it’s right or wrong. Jennifer Esposito has a scene in the film where she just looks so sexy, I was jealous of Don Cheadle at that moment. The film is available on Netflix and I think it’s one you should check out, but be prepared. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
There are some stories in the world that are just too good to be true, but when you find out that they are based on true stories you just have to see it. That was definitely the case when I saw the trailer to today’s film War Dogs. The film tells the tale of David Packouz (Miles Teller), a down and out massage therapist who seems to have everything going against him when childhood friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) shows back up in his life. Efraim gets David involved in some risky business when they become arms dealers for the government. Everything is going great for the gang until they take one deal that may prove to be too much for the duo after all. The film also stars Ana de Armas (Hands Of Stone) as Iz, Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men) as Ralph Slutzky, Patrick St. Esprit (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) as Captain Philip Santos, Shaun Toub (Iron Man) as Marlboro, Bradley Cooper (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Henry Girard, JB Blanc (Breaking Bad) as Bashkim, Gabriel Spahiu (High Tension) as Enver, Julian Sergi (Freaks Of Nature) as Rosen, Eddie Jemison (Ocean’s Eleven) as Hilldale Home Manager, and the film was directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover).
Spoiler Alert: There may be information contained in this Article that could potentially spoil the plot of the film so continue with caution or do not read any further if you do not want to know. I’m watching this movie and I am wondering how the Government just let all of this happen and if you see the movie, how did these guys fool the government for the big money contract. The movie just kind of makes you feel that the government may seem strong at some aspects, but there are really just way too many holes in the system. There are so many great scenes in this film that it’s just hard too choose because Jonah Hill was just so funny. The way he laughs at first is kind of funny, but after a while it annoyed me. The whole scene when they are driving the arms from Jordan to Iraq is probably one of the best scenes in the whole film and I mean the whole sequence. Now the only scene that I am wondering about is the ending of the film. I read that David and one other associate are still in court with Efraim as they are suing each other. So, that is why I question the ending of the film, but overall I thought this was a great film. The film has plenty of excitement, suspense at times, and the comedy was good too. One thing I wanted to mention too is that Ana de Armas is super hot and she looks like the Spanish version of Tiffany Amber Thiessen, but hotter. This could be a contender for movie of the year, but there is still so much more time to go and a lot of films left to see. I am going to give this film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 