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.
I am a huge fan of films that are based on true stories because there is nothing better than things that actually happened. I am also a huge fan of music biopics because I am such a huge fan of music and so I took the opportunity to watch the film I Saw The Light for today. The film follows the legendary story of country music legend Hank Williams (Tom Hiddleston) who died at the age of 29. The film follows Hanks rise to fame in the short amount of time that he recorded music. The film also follows all of the hardships and problems that the fame caused with Hank whether it be his health or the hardships it caused on his marriages. The film also stars Elizabeth Olsen (Captain America: Civil War) as Audrey Williams, Bradley Whitford (Billy Madison) as Fred Rose, Cherry Jones (The Village) as Lillie Williams, Maddie Hasson (God Bless America) as Billie Jean Williams, Wrenn Schmidt (Our Idiot Brother) as Bobbie Jett, Will Beinbrink (Sin City: A Dame To Kill For) as Jim Denny, Josh Pais (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Dore Schary, David Krumholtz (Slums Of Beverly Hills) as James Dolan, and the film was directed by Marc Abraham (Children Of Men).
Spoiler Alert: Just in case, I am issuing a spoiler alert in case you didn’t want to know any information. So,proceed with caution. I wanted to start off by saying that I was very impressed with Tom Hiddleston and his acting in the film. He pulled off the southern accent like a champ and he sang all of the songs in the film and Elizabeth Olsen did as well. The whole time I kept thinking Loki is getting it on with Scarlet Witch, but it was a weird relationship (a lot of fighting). She was one of those wives who believes she had talent even though people were telling her she didn’t. That put Hank in a very tough spot. The most incredible stat is that Hank had 36 hits in I believe a six or seven year period. Think about that stat and look at artists today, it’ll take a lifetime for most to do that. Hanks life was in shambles and the film really explores that in depth more than his music itself. One of the questions I had for a while was why wasn’t Hank allowed back at the Grand Ole Opry and why was he kicked out in the first place? Apparently according to the film itself, it had to do with his drinking habit which is what Hank was sadly known for. It’s actually a very good film that any fan of biopics, country music, or Hank Williams himself should see it. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
Before I woke up this morning, I had never heard of the film I watched and reviewed for today, but there was one factor that made me want to watch. I am a huge fan of Michael Pitt and I have been wondering what he has been up to since he had left the show Boardwalk Empire, but I got my answer in I Origin. Pitt plays molecular biologist Dr. Ian Gray whose main line of interest is the human eye. One thing is for sure when it comes to Ian and that is he does not believe in God and is always out to prove that there is more proof in science than in religion. All of that is about to be put to the test when he makes a startling discovery that may prove that there may be something greater than science. The film also stars Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead) as Kenny, Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Sofi, Brit Marling (Sound Of My Voice) as Karen, 
The film is interesting to say the least and it hits many different genres in one from it starting off as a romance movie that dabs in science to a tragedy movie back to a romance film and back to a science film. The thing that he discovers toward the last half of the film really makes you question whether science is correct or if the religious people had it right all along. What if you could tell if someone was resurrected through the patterns in the eye? Think about that for a second, what if the things you like, don’t like, and the reason you act the way you do is because you were someone else in a past life. Through an eye scan, he discovers that there is someone out there in the world that is a match to his dead wife and I mean an exact match. Wouldn’t you be curious enough to want to see if they reacted to certain things that your past love, brother, or even friend would have. That is the thing I loved about the film was this sense of what if and it didn’t hurt that Astrid Berges-Frisbey was really hot. It’s an honest film that will make you think a little bit, but it can be predictable at times. That was the only bad thing about the film was that you could see certain things happening when they did. Other than that I loved the acting from Pitt and Marling, etc. It was also cool to see them in Delhi, India cause the cinematography was cool. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. It’s airing on HBO and I’m pretty sure it’s available on HBOGO.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 