John Singleton is not a delicate director and his strongest film is hardly subtle. Yes, the movie is overbearing in places and quite manipulative but on the flip side this is a cultural landmark. It captured a moment in time and spoke to a segment of society that often had been ignored. Singleton gives a memorable look at young African Americans in Los Angles and lays out their conflicts and dreams with obvious care and sympathy. Morris Chestnut and Lawrence Fishburne provide good performance based on Singleton’s sometimes overwrought dialog. It is with this film that Fishburne captured the essence of his wise mentor character that he has been taking to bank ever since.

There are cautions for violence, language and nudity. If these elements are of concern to you, this is a film you will want to skip.


Related Reviews:
As Good as it Gets (1997)
American Gangster (2007)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Siskel & Ebert
FilmHead

Labels: Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr, film, Ice-Cube, Lawrence Fishburne, movie review

Screenwriters: Rob Lurie (The Contender)
Director: Rob Lurie (Resurrecting the Champ)
Actors: Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), Matt Dillon (There's Something About Mary), Angela Bassett (Contact), Alan Alda (The Aviator), Vera Farmiga (Running Scared), David Schwimmer (Apt Pupil), Countney B. Vance (Hamburger Hill) and Noah Wyle (W.)

Labels: Alan Alda, Angela Bassett, film, Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, movie trailer, Vera Farmiga

Are you kidding me? Let me get this straight, I'm a little slow I guess, there's no definitive Martin Luther King biopic (except a forgotten miniseries from the thirty years ago) and Medgar Evers is an obscure figure but this thug rapper gets a turn?

Who says our culture is in trouble?





Screenwriters: Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker
Director: George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honor)
Actors: Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie (We Are Marshall), Derek Luke (Glory Road) and Angela Bassett (What's Love Got to Do with It?)

Labels: Angela Bassett, biography, film, movie trailer

It is a kid's movie that doesn't have scatological jokes (pee and poop humor), sex references or a political agenda - in other words, it probably deserves a Best Picture Oscar.

This inoffensive film is hardly perfect. The central plot following orphaned inventor Lewis as he travels through time to search for his birth mother is quite solid. The animation is passable. The acting is good. The problem with the film comes with the somewhat irritating series of absurd (and unfunny) jokes that come a mile a minute and distract from the story. Most kids will probably enjoy the movie, most parents will probably have to leave the room and find something else to do.


Related Reviews:
Animated movies
Bambi (1942)
Rataouille (2007)


Other Critic's Reviews:
ScreenIt!
Dark Matters

Labels: Angela Bassett, animated, family film, movie review