I left one movie off my previous post from 2007, which was my Part One list of Twelve Movies From The Last Five Years That I Wanted To Like But Didn’t.  Remaining are the movies from 2008 and 2009 that made (or didn’t make, if you look at it that way) the cut.

2007 continued

American Gangster

Common = Gangster in RIdley Scott's American Gangster.

This movie was built up to be pretty big in the minds of those that love a gangster film.  You have Denzel, Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott directing, a Jay-Z-laden soundtrack, and comparisons to the classic film Scarface, then…ehhh.  The movie was just okay. It wasn’t along the same lines of the Pacino/DePalma classic, it didn’t really move me, nothing about it was very memorable, even though it was a solid film.  It was just another movie and that was disappointing. I still haven’t seen it since.

2008 – Be Kind, Rewind & Blindness

Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind featured Mos Def and Jack Black, an odd and intriguing pairing, mixed with the directing talents of Michel Gondry, and the result was one of the weakest movies of the year.  Mos was almost impossible to watch (to listen to him), the lo-fi film recreation storyline should have been a lot more fun, and it really amounted to a schlocky, underwhelming piece, that made me further question the talents of those involved, and have highly soured me on Gondry as a director. He has to earn back the good will that he built with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I don’t know that he is up to the task.

Blindness

This turned out to be the biggest rip-off ending in a film that I have seen in years.  With Fernando Meirelles helming one of my favorite films of the past decade and a high-ranking personal favorite of all-time in the amazing City of God, this was an opportunity to see him take the next huge step as a director and reap the rewards that fans of City of God wanted for him. (Fernando, feel free to mix in a Lil’ Dice cameo).  Instead, he didn’t take advantage.  The movie kept your attention (though not easily) for the duration and then yanked the rug out from beneath your feet in a horrendous ending.  I don’t know that I will ever forgive him.  BTW, Fernando, call me – because in truth I don’t remember the ending, I just know I absolutely hated it.

2009 – Bronson, Watchmen, The Hangover & Public Enemies

Bronson

Tom Hardy was Bronson, pre-Inception.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s film built up as A Clockwork Orange type of film, but was nothing more than a weird, sordid tale about a guy, told in an odd, and rather uninspiring way.  I was very high for the film before I saw it only to be incredibly let down. It was actually hard to make it through. I know it was based on a true story, but it didn’t redeem it at all for me. I hoped for a lot more.

Watchmen

This was a film that had a great trailer. Normally I wouldn’t have had much interest in a film like this, but it was built up to be perhaps one of the biggest movies ever, and landed with a rather resounding thud.  This wasn’t a horrible work, but if you counter it with a movie like The Dark Knight which more than matched the hype, it only exaggerated the difference of what this film might have been.  I think Zack Snyder may be able to become an interesting director, but he also might be the next Michael Bay. At this point, the meter is swinging in the “Bay” direction. Not good.

The Hangover

I don’t like comedies. Rarely, do they ever live up to my expectations, which are, I don’t know, how do I say this, to….laugh during the movie.  Is that too much to ask?  Absolutely. I chuckled two to three times during the film.  That does not a good movie make, nor is it worthy of being the biggest comedy of all-time.  This movie exemplifies how different the tastes of mainstream America and mine are.  I envy you, mainstream audiences.  To derive enjoyment from such average work must be nice. I wish I was as easily entertained, but alas, I am not. I’d rather be hung over, than watch The Hangover.  It was not believable, nor very fun.

Public Enemies

I have to include this movie on the list, because we did a dedication week to Michael Mann here on The Film Nest, and I (essentially) had breakfast with the man a few months ago. I was hoping for another movie along the lines of his previous actioners such as Heat and Collateral.  This did not match that.  I don’t think that this is a bad movie by any means, it just wasn’t great, and I thought it had the potential to be that.

Casting Johnny Depp (a feminine man in a masculine role) was the starting point of this heading down the wrong path.  The action was ordinary and you didn’t care enough about the characters to engage in the story.  It was a movie you simply watched but didn’t interact with. For that, it makes the disappointing list.  And Michael, next time we are at breakfast, easy with the staring at me brother, I’m just trying to eat and mind my own business.  Don’t use me for your script inspiration – unless of course, you really, really needed it.

I hope all movies I see are entertaining, but the odds are stacked wildly against me.  In the next five years, if I lower my expectations, perhaps there won’t be a need to compile such a list. I’m counting on you Hollywood, to bail me out.  If not, my pen (or keyboard in this case) is ready. Good luck.

Twelve Movies From The Last Five Years That I Wanted To Like But Didn’t – Part One of Two

Right off the bat, I don’t want the title of the article to be misleading.  In my eyes, it’s a given that you want to like every movie you see.  That’s the reason you pay money to go to the theater or take the time to rent and watch a movie.  Sure there are some movies that you have low expectations (or no expectations) for and end up being pleasantly surprised. But what I am concerned about here are movies that I was looking forward to seeing and came away disappointed.  These are, as the title states, movies that I wanted to like but ultimately didn’t (or I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much as I had hoped to).

This is an entirely subjective list.  I understand that.  I’ll say right off the top that these are not movies that I saw that were ruined by a particular experience taking place either – i.e., a bad movie-going experience where teens are talking all the time (one of the reasons I prefer to see films in an empty theater usually, and often by myself) or your dog just went to the vet and the bill was $1,000 and you tried to watch a movie to cheer up, unsuccessfully. These are simply movies that I wanted to be better.

I should also specify that these aren’t the worst movies I saw in a given year; these just didn’t live up to my expectations.  There is a reason I have learned to temper my expectations for movies throughout the years, and it is because of film viewing experiences such as these. Note: Movies are from 2006-2010, hence, the 5-year window.

2006

Clerks II & The Fountain

Clerks II is kind of a given, considering the classic that Kevin Smith’s original Clerks is.  As far as I am concerned, his whole career has been a struggle to live up to the expectations he set with that film.  (That being said, while still a classic, even Clerks is incredibly flawed upon repeated viewings).  Still, the sequel was ridiculous and over-the-top where the poor acting stood out more.  He should have went back to B&W film stock and shot that for $100,000 to force everyone to become more creative.  I know that’s a tall task, but still, adding Rosario Dawson didn’t help. This was one of the worst movies I saw that year.

The Fountain suffers a similar fate for a different reason.  While not an awful movie, director Darren Aronofsky was coming off his incredible Requiem For A Dream (6 years earlier, but still), and you had two reasonably big stars (Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz) and a big budget.  I expected so much more from this bizarre fantasy film. It just didn’t do it for me (and I don’t think I am alone here).

2007

Death Proof, The Darjeeling Limited & Transformers

Noticing a theme here already? I am.  These are all movies from directors I like (or want to) and the movies failed to move me.  Quentin Tarantino made three of my favorite films in years past with the triumvirate of Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction (particularly P.F.) and Reservoir Dogs. Then he wasted his (and my) time making this schlock.  I know its supposed to look cheesy, and aside from the purposely edited film stock that made the film look like a true B-level movie, the acting and story were just weak.

This was a pointless exercise to me.  I know that this is not the most popular opinion among film (nerds) fans and Tarantino backers, but I call people out when they deserve it. He redeemed himself with Inglorious Basterds, so there.

Transformers is just devastating for personal reasons. Making it a kid’s film (robots hiding behind the house from parents? Really?) was tantamount to heresy for me.  I need to see Megatron as a size defying Gun and not a plane.  All of the robots had virtually the exact same voice save for Peter Cullen’s distinctive Optimus Prime.  This made it hard to care about any of them much. Where was Starscream’s high-pitched whine? I needed it.

On the positive side, the effects were cool, but not enough to save the film for me.  I can live with the human element (though its not easy), with the love story and all, but while most of my friends enjoyed it (the last time I saw a movie in a rather large group), I was not down.  I have yet to see it’s sequel either. Michael Bay should finally go darker with the next film (like Christopher Nolan’s Batman/Dark Knight) and then we might have something to work with.

The Darjeeling Limited began to show Wes Anderson’s time in the spotlight was fading.  I still enjoyed his previous effort, 2004’s Life Aquatic, and Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums are great movies, but Darjeeling did little for me.  You have the Wilson brothers and add in Jason Schwarztman, I expect so much more.  One particular moment, a J.Schwartz ad-libbed hand lick was the only redeeming thing in this movie.  I was highly disappointed with the art-house hero on this one.

Semi-redeemed himself with Fantastic Mr. Fox, but the jury is now out on Anderson.  Wish I could say the same thing for M.Night Shyamalan, but its no longer out on him. He just sucks now.

Part Two with the other movies will come soon enough. Stay tuned and share your comments on this so far. Thanks.

Since there are as many slow days from a quality news standpoint in this industry as there are, I figured I would go ahead and do a recap of some of the movies I have recently seen from my Netflix queue.  These will just be quick shots, mini-reviews; just my feelings on the films I have seen.  I’ll try to update a post like this every so often, once I have enough to report on.  Maybe every month or two, something along those lines. Just work with me on this, cool?  I’ll even throw in my Netflix rating, based on their 5-star system.  Not the same system I use here, so my official The Film Nest ratings might be different.  Anyway, here are the latest movies I have seen from my Netflix queue.

Brooklyn’s Finest

Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes in Brooklyn's Finest.

This is a movie I was really excited about upon first hearing about it, but then mediocre reviews led me to skip it in theaters.  (This is a common theme with many of my Netflix movies BTW.)  Nevertheless, the movie didn’t do it for me.  I was hoping for a mini-New Jack City or Training Day, but while in some ways it came off as Training Day 2, with Ethan Hawke still there, I’ve never been a huge Richard Gere fan, though he was fine here.  Visually the film was good looking, it just didn’t have any emotional resonance and the script was a bit jumbled.  Essentially a talking head movie, when I was hoping for something more action oriented.  The suspense was there, but something was just missing.  2 stars of 5

The Wolfman

Benicio really didn’t need much make-up to become the Wolfman, based on the original film.  Cheesy graphics didn’t help this.  The film had a strange tone.  Really, Emily Blunt’s character is going to fall for the Wolfman even though her husband/fiancee just died?  Silly really.  There wasn’t enough rhyme or reason to why certain things were the way they were in the film.  Hopkins was actually tolerable as Wolfman senior, but this was just a poor effort overall.  1 star/5

Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson dreams of Oksana's fate. Just kidding. I think.

Mel Gibson’s return to the big screen before we heard the recent tapes from dude’s personal life.  He is thrashed, but again, I was down with seeing him return to his action roots.  Unfortunately, this was far too much if a talky to ever get too involved.  Where was the action? This was basically him investigating the entire time.  Disappointed.  The best part was (spoiler!) when that chick got killed by a car when exiting Mel’s vehicle. That was cool.  2 stars/5

Shutter Island

I’d already seen it in theaters, so you can see what I felt about it right here.  Very good movie.

The Book of Eli

Denzel and the Hughes Brothers sounded like an intriguing combination.  The look of the film was cool, with the washed out film stock.  I actually liked this about as much as I expected to.  I didn’t find the spiritual elements too overwhelming and actually thought that the end of the movie was pretty cool.  Maybe a little unrealistic for Denzel to care about the Mila Kunis character enough to worry about her the way he did, but it made for a decent film.  3 stars/5

Un Prophete (A Prophet)

This was a bit of an unexpected movie in terms of the way it played out.  It is set nearly entirely in prison, on the inside.  Not what I was expecting from a story about the rise of a kid into a gangster, baller.  Still, it was unique, a little gritty and pretty cool direction.  I was overall pleased.  If you can handle the foreign aspect of the film, I recommend it.  It was a little graphic in its violence and had some weird undertones with the ghost hanging around as much as he did, but still a nice work.  4 stars/5

The Burning Plain

I’ll watch a lot of Charlize Theron since I respect here so much as an actress.  This movie qualifies as one I wouldn’t otherwise have seen.  Catching Charlize naked was enough to make me finish the film.  Unfortunately, it all takes place the first five minutes of the movie.  Still, the story was interesting, if a little uneven.  I was down with the youngsters forbidden love storyline.  This was one of those full circle sort of films.  Not enough to recommend it highly though.  2 stars/5

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell

Bad acting is the law in I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

I expected this to be unwatchable and it essentially was.  Its a guy movie through and through and yet it plays the happy-ending card at the end.  Completely lame, with marginal acting, an unbelievable story in some ways (that was supposedly based on true events); I am just shocked I actually sat through it all. A rare movie I watched during daylight hours just to finish the film.  Highly unrewarding in every way. 1 star/5

District 9 (Note: o.g. review not mine)

Saw it already last year and liked it enough to re-watch it. Not quite as good the second time through, but still an original story. Check it if you are a sci-fi fan. 4 stars/5

Here is my list of the film’s released in 2009 in order of preference.  You must realize how difficult it is to put together a true order of films, as so many of them start running in to one another and so much time has passed between viewing some films in the theater and others on DVD or Blu-Ray.  Nevertheless its a task I set out to do and therefore, present that list to you now.  They are in listed in order from best to worst, top to bottom, in my opinion.  I’ve given a little bit of reasoning on some of my picks, scattered throughout the list, for reference.  Click on any of the bolded/italicized titles for original reviews.  Let me know what you think, agree or disagree. (Please note that several of these reviews were done by other previous writers to the site, despite what some name consolidation would suggest – hence there may be some situations where a better review was given to a low ranking picture for me and vice versa.)

Where The Wild Things Are

This was my favorite film of ‘09 based on the achievement of taking a book with so few words and making it a full-length film.  I think it was the ultimate in creative achievement for the year and perfectly captured the feelings of wonder and imagination a boy has, and translating for adult consumption.  Spike Jonze is officially a genius and Maurice Sendak should be tickled pink over this.

The Road

After reading the book, this adaptation perfectly captured the post-apocalyptic vision that I saw in my head while reading the novel and enhanced it where it could.  A difficult film, a challenging subject, but one that rewards the viewer (primarily those with the book as a frame of reference in my opinion).

Avatar

A creative and technical achievement, even if the story telling is not top notch.  There is a good reason this is the most seen film of all time (based on B.O. dollars).

Up In The Air

More Than A Game

Three of my top-8 favorite films this year were documentaries. This one chronicling a young LeBron James meant the most to me I suppose.

Tyson

Inglourious Basterds

Capitalism: A Love Story

State of Play

Crazy Heart

Bruno

I enjoyed this in the theater, but probably would continue to drop it down the list if I were to re-watch it a few times. Crass, but it was still amusing and Sacha Baron Cohen has brass balls.  He could probably sell real estate in Glengarry Glen Ross.

District 9

The Hurt Locker

The Escapist

Sugar

Moon

This one continues to grow on me. Actor Sam Rockwell and director Duncan Jones deserved more recognition for their work. A great score by Clint Mansell, the man behind the infamous score from Requiem For A Dream.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

Uplifting final scene. One for the underdog in all of us.

Precious

Duplicity

The Cove

Makes you care about dolphins. Pathetic, senseless slaughtering might lead some to anger and activism.

Nothing But The Truth

Rachel Getting Married

The Vicious Kind

Sherlock Holmes

Brothers

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Two Lovers

Michael Jackson’s This Is It!

Law Abiding Citizen

Notorious

Whatever Works

The Brothers Bloom

I wasn’t that impressed with this when I first saw it, but I get the sense I might appreciate it more in time if I were to see it again.  It’s been two years since I have seen it as it was a very advanced screening at the time.

The Informant

Potential ditto on the above comments.

The Messenger

The Soloist

Zombieland

A Serious Man

(500) Days of Summer

The Box

Didn’t deserve to get bashed as much as it did. It’s a strange film but J.R.Kelly is a unique voice in film today. I hope he gets more opportunities to utilize it.

Shrink

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

The Blind Side

Not remotely close to a top-10 film.  Oscars really lack credibility.  While I was rooting for the likable Bullock, I wasn’t that blown away by her performance here either. Sorry.

Funny People

Gentlemen Broncos

Public Enemies

Invictus

This film makes me feel like Eastwood is losing it.  Really a jumbled mishmash of scenes meant to be uplifting and educational.

World’s Greatest Dad

The Girlfriend Experience

Thirst

Taken

Completely cheesy and implausible, but fun to see Liam Neeson play this role.

Bronson

Downloading Nancy

Taking of Pelham 123

Last Chance Harvey

In The Loop

Wolverine

Watchmen

Push

The Lovely Bones

The Hangover

So overrated I can’t begin to break it down. Nothing remotely special in this one and I would have loved to enjoy it. Maybe 3 laughs throughout. Plus, a little bitter since it “stole” (used) one of my script’s premises/film ideas.

My One and Only

I Love You, Man

Powder Blue

Swayze is a genius in one of his last film roles. Still a pretty weak film.  And yes, we’re leaving out the obvious reason why I would sit through this drivel. You can figure it out on your own.

Away We Go

Sunshine Cleaning

2012

Long and overwrought, disaster flick puffery.  Horrendously mixed dialogue alternating between dead serious and ridiculously over the top.  Amazing it not only got made but was seen as much as it was.

Post Grad

The Ugly Truth

Big Fan

Couples Retreat

The Proposal

I propose you never suffer through this film. The reason I rarely see rom-coms. Ocassionally I submit to a woman’s filmic desires for some reasons my subconscious would need to explain, but I am continually reminded why I choose what movies I should see.

The Great Buck Howard

Complete lack of chemistry between the lead male/female (C.Hanks and E.Blunt). A slice of life that just didn’t work for me.

The Limits of Control

I hate to have Jarmusch’s movie in this spot, but I can’t justify having this any higher. Boring and unmoving.

Another year down, and another year full of all types of movies, across a spectrum of genres and covering an array of performances that we all were witness to.  This is The Film Nest’s 2nd Annual Platinum Nest Awards.  “The Oscars ain’t got nothin’ on us” (ala King Kong and Denzel).  The First Annual Platinum Nest Awards can be seen here.  As usual, this list is divided into some specific areas, and since my chief writer Prodigal Son and I can’t agree on what films were best and worst in each area, we give you both of our choices in each category.  Of course, if you agree with Prodigal, you are simply wrong and if you agree with me, you have impeccable taste.  Trust me, I know.  For our entire 2009 lists, you can click right here, and you may also see our previous years lists under the Film Rankings link on our sidebar.  Thanks again for supporting the site and making it more enjoyable to share our film likes and dislikes with you all.  Let us know what you think and if there are any films that we didn’t see that should be noted.  Drumroll, please…without further ado, I give you the awards. Cool.

Best Picture

Where The Wild Things Are (The Rake)

Inglourious Basterds (Prodigal Son)

Best Actor

Sam Rockwell – Moon (The Rake)

Matt Damon – The Informant (Prodigal Son)

Best Actress

Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy (The Rake)

Gaborey Sidibe – Precious (Prodigal Son)

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds or Anthony Mackie as ‘Pac – Notorious (j/k) (The Rake)

Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds (Prodigal Son)

Best Supporting Actress

Mo’Nique – Precious (The Rake)

Mo’Nique – Precious (Prodigal Son)

Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)

Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds (The Rake)

Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds (Prodigal Son)

Best Director

James Cameron – Avatar (The Rake)

James Cameron – Avatar (Prodigal Son)

Most Underrated Movie

The Road (The Rake)

World’s Greatest Dad (Prodigal Son)

Most Overrated Movie

The Hangover (The Rake)

Drag Me To Hell (Prodigal Son)

Worst Movie

The Limits of Control (The Rake)

Year One (Prodigal Son)

In our continued effort to bring you the unique insight of our team members views on film, we present to you a list of 20 possible Oscar contending films for the upcoming 82nd Annual Academy Awards held in 2010.  This list is not entirely comprehensive to be sure, as it excludes films already released like The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds, but it gives some hints at intriguing possibilities for awards contenders that will soon be released into theaters.  We primarily focus on the main awards categories of Picture and Director as well as the chief acting slots.  Let us know what contenders from the list you think are strong possibilities.  We would love to debate them with you. Note: The entire Film Nest Crew contributed to this post.  Enjoy.

Amelia

Amelia is a biopic about the aviation legend Amelia Earhart, who tragically disappeared on an attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. The film was directed by Mira Nair and stars two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, as Earhart. As far as the films Oscar chances, a Best Actress nod for Swank seems a strong possibility given her track record. Since the list for Best Picture is now 10 films, Amelia also has a good chance to be on the list, as the Academy loves inspirational biopics. The Academy loves it even more when the lead dies at the end (Swank’s used to this as well, both of her previous wins came from playing ill-fated characters).

An Education

Ever since its debut at Sundance earlier this year, Lone Scherfig’s An Education has been primed to make an awards-season run, especially for its young star, actress Carey Mulligan. The film charts the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl (Jenny) growing up in suburban London in the 1960’s, specifically after she meets a rich playboy (Peter Sarsgaard) nearly twice her age. Since January, An Education has been sweeping the festival landscape like a good-natured plague, leaving a bounty of admirers in its wake. Carey Mulligan is already being described as a Best Actress lock, with supporting characters like Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson always giving persuasive testimonials for their admission into awards talk. The Danish helmer, Lone Scherfig has a definitive shot to enhance the female directorial presence at the ceremony in March, hopefully joining Kathryn Bigelow amongst the honored. Without question, this is a major horse in the Oscar race.

Avatar

It’s been 12 years now since James Cameron released a feature-length film, which we won’t soon forget, as 1997’s Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Avatar has been in some stage of development since then, but will only now see the light of day as Cameron has been biding his time for special effects to catch up with his vision. The story takes place in the 22^nd century on the planet Pandora, pitting humans and Pandora natives, the Na’vi, against one another as the backdrop to a forbidden love. Given Cameron’s prior outing and the every-once-in-a-while dazzling of Academy members by special effects (Titanic, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King), the film has elements that can take it into more Award-worthy categories than just Special Effects.

The Blind Side

The true story of Michael Oher, now in the NFL, is one tailor-made to tug at the heartstrings. Oher was a homeless, uneducated African-American child taken in by a white family who helped him achieve mammoth success. Sandra Bullock plays the matriarch of the white family, removing herself from her rom-com comfort zone and placing her in a role she appeared to start in 2005’s Best Picture, Crash. This could be Bullock’s calling card for the future, but the story is so powerful even the trailer invokes emotion. The Blind Side is a dark horse Best Picture candidate with the field now at ten, while Bullock has a chance to deliver a performance worthy of a Best Actress.

Broken Embraces

Broken Embraces is a Spanish-language film that tells the story of a blind screenwriter, Harry Caine, who gets a visit from someone in his past. This visit in turn brings to the surface several things from his past which he hoped would remain hidden. The film was directed by past directing nominee Pedro Almodovar (Talk To Her), who also directed Volver. The film stars Penelope Cruz, José Luis Gómez García, Blanca Portillo and Lluís Homar. I’m not up on my Spanish language stars so I only really know Cruz’s work, but her last collaboration with Almodovar won her a supporting actress nod (Volver). Embraces certainly has the credentials to get a Best Foreign Language Film nod and Cruz, coming off her win for Vicky Christina Barcelona, can’t be counted out either.

Brothers

With the oft-delayed Brothers, director Jim Sheridan attempts to get back to his small-scale humanist roots (My Left Foot, The Boxer) with a remake of Susanne Biers’ 2004 Danish-language film of the same name. The film centers on Tommy (Jake Gylenhaal) and his relationship with the newly widowed Grace (Natalie Portman) and her child after Sam (Tobey Maguire) — her husband and Tommy’s older brother — goes missing in Afghanistan. When Sam turns up back at home, he finds that Tommy and Grace’s relationship may have evolved past petty condolences. This is very touchy material – treading through a soldiers’ societal re-entry, post-traumatic stress, love triangles, family tragedy, friendship, forgiveness, etc. I mean, Pearl Harbor basically used this same scenario as its narrative backbone. However, with the pedigree of the cast and the crew and the early December release date, Brothers has significant awards potential for Lionsgate. Even if the film is received coldly, look for possible acting nominations for the three leads.

Capitalism: A Love Story

Even in a downtrodden economy, Michael Moore’s name evokes box office gold, especially when compared to his documentarian compatriots. In Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore brings his typical combative, but highly entertaining non-fiction style, to the tale of how the economy found itself in the toilet. Two of the last three theatrically released features Moore has made have been nominated for Best Documentary (Bowling for Columbine, Sicko), with the one in between (Fahrenheit 9/11) probably being too politically divisive to do so, despite its craftsmanship. He took home the Oscar for Bowling for Columbine in 2002 and there’s no reason not to expect the man to duplicate his efforts this time out.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Adapting Roald Dahl’s book of the same name, Wes Anderson makes his first venture into animation (stop-motion) and it will feature an all-star Oscar cast of George Clooney, Meryl Steep and Bill Murray (at least nominated) providing the voices. Clooney plays Mr. Fox, a fox who must wage battle against chicken farmers who want to rid him and his family from stealing their stock. Wes Anderson, who was nominated for best screenplay for the Royal Tenenbaums (2001), will bring his unique direction to the animated genre and it certainly looks like he will visually bring the book to life. This has the potential for a Best Animated Feature nomination.

The Informant!

Both Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich) and Matt Damon (acting nom only for Good Will Hunting but screenplay winner there) are recipients of Oscars in the past, which leads The Informant! to being a possible nominee/winner in both the directing and acting categories for 2009. While I thought the picture left something to be desired, early reviews elsewhere have been strong, and nothing can take away from Damon’s embodied performance in the role of ADM whistle-blower Mark Whitacre, based on a true story (yet another film type that the Academy finds attractive). Damon packed on the pounds to play Whitacre (the notorious health fanatic reveled in chasing McDonald’s with cookies and the like), which evokes another Oscar nominated performance on a very similar topic when Russell Crowe added the lbs. for his whistle-blower in 1999’s The Insider. The much lighter tone of Informant will be critical to seeing how it is received. Such whimsy can often be downplayed as comedy (while it is a dark comedy) and therefore overlooked by the Academy voters as a non-serious piece of work, not worthy of a golden statue. Still, if I had to put money on it, I think Damon is next to a shoo-in for a nomination, even if I felt the picture missed its mark.

Invictus

Invictus is the story of how South African President Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of the country’s rugby team to help unite the divided nation. Invictus is from director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela with Matt Damon as the rugby captain. This film is sure to get nods in all the major categories. It’s a fair bet to suggest Freeman will get a Best Actor nomination, as might Damon in the supporting category. Best Picture is a no-brainer as the film’s subject and stars are Oscar favorites. This film could see Eastwood win his third directing statue (he also won for Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven). Some have suggested that he should have got one last year, along with a Best Actor Oscar for Gran Torino. He was robbed last year IMO. I hope the academy fixes their oversight and he gets what he deserves this year.

It’s Complicated

Meryl Streep, who is almost guaranteed to be nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Julia Child in Julie and Julia, will continue her amazing streak with It’s Complicated. Streep plays Jane, a divorced woman who begins to have an affair with her ex-husband, now remarried, Jake (Alec Baldwin), but must also deal with Adam, another man who has fallen in love with her. Streep, who has been nominated an amazing fifteen times (winning two), might have the potential of being up twice in one year. Directed and written by Nancy Myers (nominated in 1980 for Best Screenplay for Private Benjamin), It’s Complicated may get some kind of nomination considering anything that Streep is in turns to gold.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is an adaptation of the novel by Alice Sebold. Bones is the story of Susie, a young girl who is raped and murdered by her neighbor. Susie then watches from “the in-between,” as her family tries to comfort each other after her death. While she watches her family, she also sees that her killer, who was never caught, is preparing to kill again. The Lovely Bones was directed by LOTR helmer, Peter Jackson (a previous feted director) and stars screen veterans Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Stanly Tucci. Susie is played by Saoirse Ronan, who received a best supporting actress Oscar nod for Atonement. Bones, with its very serious subject matter, looks fixed to be nominated for Best Picture.  While Ronan, as the films true lead, could see herself the recipient of a possible Best Actress nod for this too. How does Peter Jackson look in the directing category?  Firmly entrenched, we think.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Common collaborators George Clooney and Grant Heslov have joined forces to write, direct and produce films like Good Night and Good Luck and Leatherheads, with Clooney at the helm of both. Now Heslov gets his turn directing with the mad, surrealist black comedy/satire, The Men Who Stare at Goats. The film is based on Jon Ronson’s non-fiction account of the U.S. military’s believe-it-or-not development and research of paranormal activities. The film was received rather warmly at the Venice Film Festival before heading to Toronto, so with past success as a barometer, and 10 slots now available for a certain Academy category, its not unheard of to see something like this sneaking in to the Oscar Best Picture race – it’s basically being described as Dr. Strangelove meets the Coen Brothers. However, it looks to be a tough battle in the big picture with another Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air, a more prestigious, sure-headed and almost certainly finer choice – at least in the view of many to this point – coming out in November. If nothing else, look for this to help Clooney gain recognition for his more buzz-worthy performance of 2009.

Nine

Rob Marshall returns to the screen in an attempt to match both the financial and Oscar-season success of Chicago, the 2004 Best Picture winner. Nine is the musical retelling of Federico Fellini’s 8 ½, as originally depicted on Broadway starting in 1982. Of course, Fellini’s original masterwork was about a fictional character named Guido Contini (an alter ego for Fellini himself), a director going through a major mid-life crisis both in his creative and personal life, he must balance the many women who love, torment, and grieve him deeply. Certainly Nine must be taken seriously as an Oscar contender unless proven otherwise given the sheer talent on display. The cast includes – here we go, deep breath – Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Ms. Black-Eyed Pea, Stacy Ferguson. With that firepower, Nine could crash the party big-time. Only a mixed response from audiences and critics will stand in its way.

Precious

Originally titled, Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, the film – produced by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey – won three awards at Sundance earlier this year. Two of the awards were for the film itself, winning the Audience and Grand Jury awards, while Mo’Nique took home an award for acting. Precious is a young African-American girl who has endured abuse from her mother and rape from her father, going unloved as overweight, illiterate, poor and pregnant until she enrolls in an alternative school. Director Lee Daniels’ second film has earned him plenty of acclaim and Mo’Nique’s abusive mother could garner some Oscar attention. If Oprah can supposedly help win a presidential election, she’s sure to be able to influence Oscar voters as well.

The Road

The Road is John Hillcoat’s adaptation of the acclaimed best selling novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy.  Set in a post-apocalytpic world, about a father and his son’s attempt to survive in the desolate landscape, early reviews have been mixed but the footage we’ve seen here at “the nest” has been nothing short of exemplary.  Acting powerhouses Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron lend major credibility to the work, as both have been nominated for Oscars in the past, with Theron victorious on one occasion.  Directing, acting, and picture nods are all realistic possibilities at this stage, and we can’t help but be eager to see what is presented with the challenging, dark material presented on the big screen.  “The Road” may not be one we want to travel in real-life, but if past years are any indication, the subject matter should not be something Oscar finds too difficult to navigate.

A Serious Man

Directed by the Coen brothers, A Serious Man follows a middle-class Jewish man trying to keep his life from falling apart and achieving his aspirations of becoming the perfect family man in 1960s Minnesota.  Despite not having a well-known cast, the Coen brothers name alone will help make this an Oscar contender. The trailer is fantastic and the Coens are still riding high from their Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men in 2007.  Also look out for Michael Stuhlbarg for possible Oscar buzz since he looks really good in this. The Coens have been on a hot streak since No Country for Old Men and this has the potential of continuing the trend.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes might seem a dark horse to be on this list. The classic sleuth is getting a serious makeover this time around, with Guy Ritchie, never close to winning anything golden, behind the camera. But alas, Robert Downey Jr. is the titular Holmes, Jude Law is his compadre Watson, and both are twice nominated for Oscars past. Throw in a generally well received Rachel McAdams (State of Play), a fair amount of hype, a Christmas release date, and the expansion of the Best Picture category, and you might have the makings of an outsider like this finding it’s way into the fray. Of course, beloved actors like Law and RDJ are always strong hopefuls for their roles as well, with RDJ still an outsider for his moving performance in this year’s overlooked The Soloist. The action might turn off older Academy blue hairs, but we’re thinking the expansion means the Academy could think just enough outside of it’s traditional box to make room for a new spin on a classic. Maybe the third time could be a charm for either of the lead actors as well. Just a hunch, but it might be elementary – my dear Watson.

Up In The Air

George Clooney, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor with Syriana in 2005, plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate consultant who travels around the country firing people. Things soon change when he meets the woman of his dreams, which drastically changes the way his life is lived. Directed by Jason Reitman, who earned a nomination for directing Juno in 2007, Up in the Air looks like it will showcase Clooney at his best, judging from the trailer. He was fantastic in Michael Clayton and had it not been for Daniel Day-Lewis’ insane performance in There Will Be Blood, Clooney would have easily taken home his second Oscar.

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are is the adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, where Max, a boy sent to his room for being disobedient, creates a world where he becomes king of the “Wild Things.” A simple enough premise, but the film has possible Oscar aspirations as the field has been expanded to 10 films for Best Picture and there is a strong chance that director Spike Jonze could receive a nomination in that category as well. Early footage has revealed that Spike has created wonderfully imagined environments that are not only Sendak approved, but seem to perfectly capture and expand on Max’s “wild” imagination. Voice work by James Gandolfini and acting by Catherine Keener (twice nominated) certainly won’t hurt its chances at receiving Academy exposure. It has been one of our most anticipated all year and in weeks we will be able to determine if it lives up to the lofty expectations. For the record, it also appears to look strong in the music and effects categories at this point too.

With the release of Terminator Salvation behind us, I read a multi-page retrospective of the franchise in “Empire” magazine. They broke down all three prior films, in detail, and lauded the ending of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I had to admit I hadn’t really thought about that film since seeing it in theaters and as I was reading about the ending, an idea struck. What are the top ten bleakest endings in film? As I drummed up titles, I did my best to whittle it down to ten, but found it impossible. What’s worse is that Rise of the Machines, the film that sparked the article wouldn’t make it into my top ten. What constitutes a bleak ending? I wanted to weed out films that had any sort of upside to their denouements. I didn’t want to settle for a title merely because the hero or main character died, but one that truly sucked the life out of the viewer with almost no way to leave the theater with a smile on their face. Without further ado, I present to you the top 14 bleakest endings in film.

Spoiler Warning: Please beware that because I’m discussing endings here, it’s only natural that if you haven’t seen the films listed below, the ending will be spoiled for you.

14. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)

Convicted criminal Randall McMurphy is sentenced to serve out his time in a mental institution. He bucks the authority of Nurse Ratched and does his best wake the rest of his co-inhabitants out of their dreary existence. He organizes an escape to do some fishing off a boat. They are eventually caught and McMurphy is reprimanded via electro shock therapy. He doesn’t give up, however, as he manages to sneak booze and two women into the ward one night. The next morning, Nurse Ratched finds a patient, Billy, with one of the women. She threatens to tell his mother and Billy later slits his throat. McMurphy strangles Nurse Ratched and is taken away. He’s lobotomized. The Chief, a patient McMurphy has befriended, suffocates McMurphy as the humane thing to do.

13. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Judgment Day had been a topic throughout the Terminator franchise. It was spoken of in The Terminator, it was briefly shown and serves as the subtitle in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but is right at the tip of the iceberg in Rise of the Machines. The Skynet project was taken over by the U.S. Air Force and overseen by General Robert Brewster, the father of John Connor’s future wife, Kate. General Brewster is killed and right before dying he gives John and Kate the location of the Skynet core system. Once at the Skynet core location, however, what was thought to be the Skynet core is actually a Cold War-era fallout shelter. Skynet exists only as software run by computers worldwide and is impossible to shut down. Judgment Day is inevitable and John and Kate can only wait inside the fallout shelter as the rest of humanity gets rained down with nuclear holocaust.

12. The Great Silence (1968)

In the snow drenched mountains of 1898 Utah, a group of people struggling with the weather are forced to steal for food.  Banished from the town of Snowhill and branded outlaws, they are hunted relentlessly by bounty hunters. Leading the hunters is sadistic Loco. When a woman witnesses her husband being murdered by Loco to collect “his bounty,” she enlists a mysterious mute gunfighter named Silence to kill Loco. He is their only hope of survival. Loco tricks the struggling people of Snowhill into thinking there’s food back in town for them and rounds them up. When Silence attempts to rescue the captured people, he is killed by Loco.  Loco then guns down the rest of the refugees.  He then rides off with his gang to collect the money for the so-called outlaws.

11. Easy Rider (1969)

Two bikers named after Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid sell a large amount of drugs and store the money in Wyatt’s motorcycle gas tank. They go on a trek in search of Mardi Gras. One night, while camping, they get beaten down while sleeping and their new friend, George, is killed courtesy of a machete to his neck. Wyatt and Billy are able to continue and after New Orleans, they pursue a wealthy retirement in Florida. While on the road, a pickup truck full of two yokels decides they’re going to scare the duo via shotgun. Billy flips them off and is fatally shot in retaliation. The men then shoot Wyatt’s gas tank, killing him and destroying the money they were going to use.

10. The Vanishing (1988)

Rex and Saskia, a Dutch couple, are traveling on a cycling vacation. They stop at a gas station to grab some snacks. Saskia volunteers to retrieve the food while Rex waits. And waits. And waits. She never comes back. Three years go by and Rex is still obsessed with Saskia’s disappearance. Every once in a while he is tantalized by the kidnapper, asking to meet, but never shows. Rex finally meets with the kidnapper and demands to know what happened to Saskia. The kidnapper refuses to tell him, but will show him, only if he’s willing to endure the same fate as Saskia. Rex’s curiosity is unmatched and he relents. He huffs some chloroform and blacks out only to wake up inside a wooden coffin. Buried alive.

9. The Descent: Unrated Cut (2005)

Sarah, Juno (not the pregnant one) and four friends go spelunking inside a cavern near the Appalachian Mountains. The idea was one of female bonding and adventure, but when Juno reveals to the group she duped them into an off-limits cave nobody knows about, things go awry. Cavern rocks start falling, trapping the girls with no way out. Then, cave-dwelling human-like creatures with a thirst for blood, feast on the group, killing them off one-by-one. Sarah manages to escape through a tiny hole, leaving Juno behind to be devoured. She manages to find her vehicle and speeds off the path as quickly as possible. Then, a bloodied Juno appears next to her in the vehicle and she realizes she’s hallucinating. She’s back in the bloody cavern, battling the crawlers with no hope. Having the rug pulled out from beneath you after a nerve-wracking fight is never pleasant.

8. Oldboy (2003)

After 15 years, trapped in a hotel room without explanation, Oh Dae-su is released. Wondering the streets, he meets Mi-do, who takes him to her home when he passes out. They form an intimate relationship together. Dae-su, bent on finding his captor, eventually finds Woo-jin. Woo-jin tells Dae-su about his reasons for imprisonment, which includes going to high school together and Dae-su spying on the incestuous relationship between Woo-jin and his sister. Rumors spread, culminating in Woo-jin’s sister’s suicide. Woo-jin hands Dae-su a photo album of his family portrait. As Dae-su scans the album he witnesses his daughter grow older until it’s revealed Mi-do, his current intimate partner, is actually his daughter. The last 15 years of Dae-su’s life have been set-up by Woo-jin just for this moment. Dae-su pleads with Woo-jin to keep the secret from Mi-do, begging for forgiveness and cuts out his own tongue as a symbol of his silence. Woo-jin agrees and kills himself in his sister’s honor. His life’s work complete.

7. American History X (1998)

Danny, a white supremacist, is forced to take a special history class administered by his black principal, titled “American History X.” The objective of the class is to write a paper about Danny’s older brother, Derek. Derek has landed in jail and is put off by the Neo-Nazi gang behind bars, raped by them and befriends a black inmate while working the laundry room. When Derek is released, he sees Danny has conformed to his past life. Derek resists all temptation to fall into old habits and tries to school Danny in his new way of thought. Danny finally turns a corner and together they rip down all Nazi paraphernalia they own. Danny encounters a black student he had an altercation with the previous day and the student unloads three bullets into Danny’s chest, killing him. Derek hears of the news and cradles Danny in his arms. Danny narrates: “Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time.”

6. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Addiction plagues Sara, a mother taking weight-loss pills in order to fit into a dress for a TV appearance; Harry and Tyrone, heroin junkies trying to get into the distribution side of things; and Marion, a coke-snorting girlfriend of Harry’s. Add Rebecca Bloomwood from Confessions of a Shopaholic and they can have a nice intervention. By the end, Sara’s mind is blown and she undergoes electro shock therapy, numbing her brain. Harry’s trackmarked arm gets infected to the point where it needs to be amputated. Tyrone gets to mess with prison guards, hard labor and drug withdrawal by himself. Marion prostitutes herself for cocaine. Where’s the uplift in that?

5. Duck, You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)

A Mexican outlaw, Juan Miranda, and an exiled IRA Irish explosive expert, John Mallory, become friends during the Mexican Revolution.  With 1,000 troops coming to the revolutionaries’ position via train, they must find a way to stall the train until Poncho Villa and Emiliano Zapata come with reinforcements. John agrees to go by train to collide and derail the enemy train. The dynamite packed train collides with the other, John escapes unscathed and a massive battle ensues.  Juan witnesses an enemy general shoot John in the back.  Dying, John tells Juan to let him be, but Juan insists that he can make it.  As Juan rushes to get help, John kills himself in a fiery explosion and Juan is forced to watch his friend parish in flames.  With his friend dead, Juan blankly asks, “What about me?”

4. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Adopting a baby boy as you witness his father and your co-worker die a gruesome death plumbing for oil is a nice gesture. Slapping the boy for being a mute and then banishing him from your life after he pours his heart out through the only form of communication he knows – sign language – isn’t so nice. Daniel Plainview is certainly a ruthless oilman, “you will agree,” and his final confrontation with his lifelong adversary, the young preacher, Eli, is solitary, but epic. Milkshake metaphors abound, Plainview forces Eli to denounce his life’s dedication to God and proceeds to bash his head in with a wooden bowling pin. Plainview’s goal is to live a life devoid of others. His wish is granted.

3. Seven (1995)

There’s not much cooler a concept than a serial killer doing what he does best to violators of the seven deadly sins. John Doe was killing for moralistic purposes long before the movies thought it was necessary to do so. However, he surrenders himself to detectives Mills and Somerset after they’d only found five of the seven. That’s odd. He tells them he’ll lead them to the other couple of bodies. In the middle of nowhere, they stop. A lone van comes along and delivers a box to the detectives. “What’s in the box?” That would be Mills’ wife’s head. Doe became jealous of their love and killer her. Envy. That’s six. In retaliation, Mills puts two in Doe’s brain. Wrath. All seven. The detective so bent on stopping the completion is the one who perfected it. Somerset quotes Hemingway: “‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.” Take that, world.

2. Arlington Road (1999)

When I first saw this film, I thought it was the worst ending I’d ever seen. It was so vastly different from anything else. I thought it was lazy, but over time I’ve come to respect the hell out of it. Michael Faraday, a professor of American terrorism, suspects his new neighbors, Oliver and Cheryl Lang of something funky. Oliver lies about his work and where he went to school. Cheryl kills Michael’s girlfriend. Nevertheless Michael’s son, Grant, has committed to a Boy Scout trip under the tutelage of the couple. Michael tails the transportation van, hoping to stop Grant’s imminent annihilation. He follows the van into FBI headquarters and realizes it’s the wrong van. He opens the trunk to his rental car and BOOM. 184 people dead. Grant is orphaned. The best part being the terrorist label is slapped on Michael and will stay with him posthumously forever.

1. The Mist (2007)

After surviving being trapped in a grocery store surrounded by winged creatures, tentacled things and other ghastly beings that swarmed in through the title-described haze, David, his young son and three others make a run for it in a jeep. The idea is to get as far away from everything as the world they knew is overtaken by the nightmare-inducing creatures. They drive as far as the jeep can take them. Their gas has exhausted. They have a gun, but only four bullets. Doing the only humane thing possible, David uses the bullets on his son and the other passengers, forcing himself to deal with the torture of being killed by the creatures. Their call is heard. A large object sorts through the mist. It’s a cavalry of rescue vehicles. Now David must endure the torment of having killed his child only seconds before finding rescue.

Are there any we missed? Do you think the order should be changed? Let us know.

P.S. Before it’s suggested, Million Dollar Baby would’ve been number 15 on the list, but since it’s so similar to the ending of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I excised it at the risk of being redundant.

With the upcoming Star Trek film creating such a huge buzz, I decided to look back and rank the 10 movies that came before it.  Some have been considered well-made films and other have been flat-out awful. The original TV show may have started one of the biggest cult followings ever, but the movies made it a commercial success.  I hope Abrams vision of Star Trek is successful because it certainly needs a shot of adrenaline. I hope to rank his high on my new list, but for now, here’s the current ten.

1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Often referred to as “the one with the whales,” this one involves the Enterprise crew going back in time (in a captured Klingon ship) to 1986 to retrieve two Humpback whales in which they would communicate with an ancient alien space probe threatening earth in the 23^rd century. Yes, the plot on paper sounds ridiculous, but this is the best of the series and appeals to any non-Trek fan. Directed by Leonard Nimoy (Spock), this one is easy to relate to because it takes place in (then) contemporary times, is very character driven, has no bombastic villain with an evil plot or over-the-top special effects. This one also dishes out a lot of humor and it certainly will not disappoint.  I recommend it simply as just a very good movie, Star Trek or not.

2. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

The best from the Next Generation cast, First Contact is more action-oriented than previous Trek films and it features by far the coolest antagonists, The Borg. When the Borg’s (half-machine/half-human cyborgs) attempt to assimilate and destroy Earth fails, they proceed in time to 2063 to stop “first contact” between human and aliens and conquer Earth in the past.  Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Co. follow the Borg in time to stop their plan. Directed by Jonathan Frakes (first officer Riker), First Contact also involves the element of time-travel. It too has a lot of humor and has a memorable performance by James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp speed. He also utters perhaps the greatest line in Trek history while talking to the Enterprise crew, “So, you’re all… astronauts, on…some kind of star trek.”

3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Considered the best of the films (except on this list), Star Trek II has Kahn (Ricardo Montablan) seeking revenge on Kirk (William Shatner) after he left him on a once hospitable, but now baron planet. When Pavol Chekov (Walter Koeing) and Capt. Terrell (Paul Winfield) are looking for a supposed dead planet to start the Genesis project, a technology used to create a new life, they accidentally stumble upon Kahn and his followers. Kahn captures the two and then hijacks their ship, the U.S.S. Reliant. Kahn uses the ship to hunt down Kirk to find the location of Genesis, which he will use as a weapon of mass destruction. Kirk, who’s training new recruits on the Enterprise, must stop Kahn from executing his plans. Director and co-writer Nicholas Meyer single-handedly saved Star Trek after the disaster of the first film. He breathed new life into the franchise and came out with a fast-paced, nicely-written movie about revenge, life and death.

4. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Nicholas Meyer once again saves Star Trek after the god-awful Star Trek V. This was also the last movie to feature the original cast and they ended on a high note. After years of fighting, the Federation and the Klingons decide to negotiate for peace. Kirk and crew, on their last mission aboard the Enterprise, are sent to escort the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon (David Warner) to Earth. When the Enterprise fires upon Gorkon’s ship and sends a crew to kill Gorkon, the event almost launches the Federation and Klingons into a full-scale war.  Kirk says the Enterprise didn’t fire upon the ship and wasn’t aware of the boarding party sent to kill Gorkon. After Kirk and Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) beam aboard the ship to save the chancellor’s life fails, they are accused of murder by General Chang (Christopher Plummer) and sentenced to death in a Klingon mining colony.  Meanwhile, Spock leads an investigation to prove Kirk and McCoy are innocent. A very underrated Star Trek movie, Undiscovered Country echoed the parallels to the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War. Star Trek VI never has a dull moment.

5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

After Spock’s death in Part II, his body is sent to the newly created Genesis planet. With McCoy now inheriting Spock’s “essence,” Spock’s father Sarek (Mark Lenard) persuades Kirk and his crew to go back to Genesis to retrieve his body. Meanwhile, the Klingons, led by Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), have gained knowledge of the Genesis project and want to use it as a super weapon. Kirk, given the order to not return to Genesis, steals the Enterprise and is forced to deal with the Klingons in a deadly encounter. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, Search for Spock is a good sequel to Wrath of Khan, but doesn’t have the same impact that film had.  It does have a few minor plot holes, like Spock being “regenerated” by the planet. It’s an enjoyable watch, but obviously not on par with Star Trek II or IV.

6. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

The original cast passes the torch to the Next Generation and this was the last to feature William Shatner as Kirk.  The meeting between Picard and Kirk was certainly an enticing plot point, but Generations was somewhat of a disappointment. Kirk is supposedly killed on the maiden voyage of the Enterprise B by an energy beam called the Nexus. When scientist Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) threatens the destruction of planets to get back to the Nexus, the Enterprise must him stop before millions of life-forms are killed. Despite the hype this movie displays between the two captains, the outcome is pretty weak. Also, Data is exceptionally annoying when he decides to get an emotion chip to have human feeling. His feelings, however, go haywire and he goes crazy. McDowell was very good as the villain, but the meeting between Picard and Kirk plays like an afterthought.

7. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

This is the last movie to feature the Next Generation cast and also the last Trek film altogether, until the Abrams one.  When a younger clone of Picard named Shinzon (Tom Hardy) overthrows the Romulan senate to become praetor, the Enterprise must go on a diplomatic mission to meet Shinzon. They later find out that Shinzon actually wants to use Picard’s DNA to keep himself alive and disrupt the human race with his unstoppable ship, the Scimitar. The only thing that kept this movie from being terrible was the action, which is the most Star Trek has ever seen.  The whole Picard clone thing and Data discovering an android brother were both weak. It also featured perhaps the ugliest alien villains, the Remans.

8. Star Trek:  The Motion Picture (1979)

This movie isn’t the best example of ushering in a popular TV show to the silver screen. Essentially a rip-off of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Motion Picture follows the Enterprise crew intercepting a mysterious cloud named V’Ger. V’Ger is destroying everything in its path and is threatening Earth. Directed by the legendary Robert Wise, the movie seems to focus more on special effects (by Douglas Trumbull, 2001) and less on story. The movie was plagued with problems from the beginning and easily went over budget. It’s very boring and has by far the worst costumes of any sci-fi movie. This also marked the first appearance of the hideous Klingon make-up.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Insurrection feels like a two-part miniseries than an actual movie. When the Son’a (not that ugly, surprisingly) is forcing a group of people named the Bak’u off their unique planet, the Enterprise must stop the Son’a extraction at all cost, even committing a direct violation of their orders.  Because of the worthless script, this was by far the worst Next Generation movie. It featured the worst villain, Adhar Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham) and the worst villainous plot. Ru’afo wants to remove a group of people from a planet so he can become young again. Wow, so exciting. Not good at all.

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

This piece of crap is why people bash Star Trek and give it a bad name. Directed and co-written by William Shatner, this horrid excuse for a movie has the Enterprise being hijacked by Spock’s half-brother, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill). Sybok, thinking he’s the next messiah, commands the Enterprise to the mysterious Sha Ka Ree (Vulcan version of Heaven) to find God (not kidding about this part). Meanwhile, the Klingons just decide out of the blue to go after Kirk because they don’t like him.  It also has embarrassing moments like Scotty (James Doohan) saying he knows the Enterprise like the back of his hand and then proceed to knock himself out or a middle-aged Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) doing an “exotic dance.” It has horrendous special effects and it could easily be one of the worst movies of the 80’s. It was also the proud winner of three Razzies, including worst actor (Shatner), worst director (Shatner) and worst picture. Completely avoid this.

Often times, rappers are trying to create a persona for themselves to stand out from the crowd in a music industry that covets personality more than talent. Therefore, it is an almost natural transition for many rappers to try to make the plunge into acting. With the Black Eyed Peas front man Will I. Am’s first film role coming in this summer’s Wolverine, I figured I would compile a list of rappers turned actors (or at least dabbling in acting) in studio films. You can call these guys rapper actors if you like.  I look at those in studio films because tons of these guys (and gals) are doing smaller fare and putting it out themselves, see the blueprint set by Master P. A few rules for the list: the artist has to have been a legitimately known MC (so no Gravy aka Jamal Woolard from Notorious.) Also, you have to also have done more than one film as well (Will I. Am excluded since he is inspiration for the piece), so you will not see Eminem (8 Mile) below. Here are 21 Rappers Turned Big Screen Actors. This is not an entirely comprehensive list by any means, so feel free to add any you see as necessary or comment on those you see here.

Ice-T

The former gangster rap star is still going strong on TV with “Law & Order” (9 years in!), but lest we forget he was in Trespass, New Jack City, and Ricochet back in the day. He actually kind of started this whole movement. He has the longest list of credits of any rapper you will find with more than 70 acting credits to his name. It is amusing that he played a cop in “New Jack” and a detective in “Law” considering he boastfully sang “Cop Killer” more than 15 years ago. He obviously has something that works to get him by, so respect is due.

Andre Benjamin aka Andre 3000

He seems a natural to try his hand at this but has been hit or miss in my view so far. He had Be Cool, Four Brothers and Guy Ritchie’s underseen Revolver, but Idlewild with partner Big Boi (ATL, Who’s Your Caddy?) flopped. Still, he was good in the indy Battle In Seattle proving that he has a chance in acting for the foreseeable future. To his credit, he is willing to stretch himself and is seemingly serious about the craft at least.

Bow Wow

The youngster had Like Mike, which put him on the map, and roles in Roll Bounce and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Will he be forever known as a child rapper/actor or can he transition as a man? It remains to be seen but has as few projects in the works.

Will I. Am

Getting a role as Wraith in Wolverine is surprising only because it is his first acting role ever and now he gets to turn up in what is anticipated to be one of this summer’s biggest films and a possible franchise. Slightly curious to see how he does. Here is his somewhat convincing Wraith spot in case you missed it.

LL Cool J aka James Todd Smith

The man dubbed “Ladies Love” has had enough opportunities to turn this into a legitimate big screen career and I don’t think it is happening at this point. Deep Blue Sea, Any Given Sunday and S.W.A.T. showed what he can do, but it appears he is going to be sticking with smaller TV roles at this point. It’s always been hard for me to see him as anything other than LL for the most part, since he was a pretty big star.

50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson

The man who was shot 9 times (and still lived!) seems to be more focused on acting nowadays after becoming among the biggest music stars on the planet at one point. He has done his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ biopic but then was in Righteous Kill and has the busiest slate of anyone on the list with at least 6 projects coming in the next two years. I wonder if he can stick around, now that he is out of the music limelight (at this juncture).

Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark

While some may find him a stretch to be included as a rapper, he was a pretty big star with his Funky Bunch hits (“Good Vibrations”, “Wildside”) back in the day and has been highly successful as an actor by any measure. Boogie Nights’ Dirk Diggler showed he could act and he has parlayed it well into countless acting roles with considerable range (A Perfect Storm, I Heart Huckabees) and producing hit TV show “Entourage” to boot.

T.I. aka Tip Harris

The slim one who calls himself “King of the South” on the mic showed up in ATL and American Gangster to mixed results. He has charisma but not sure he has any real range as an actor. His recent gun charges will stem the tide from him showing up in anything in the near future with Takers being his next acting project due in 2010.

Ice Cube don’t call me O’Shea Jackson

The former gangster rap star and would be greatest MC ever (that’s a different discussion, but accurate) is one of the bigger successes as far as this list goes. He went from Boyz ‘N the Hood to Friday to xXx 2 and now routinely shows up in his own produced projects (family fare, no less). He was once more promising as an actor than it has turned out in my eyes, but it is interesting that he somewhat has played against type. As a financial and box office success, he can’t be denied.

Eve

The “pitbull in a skirt” was in two Barbershop films, xXx, and The Woodsman with Kevin Bacon but seems like she might have run her course on the big screen for the time being. She is still getting TV roles though as she battles some legal issues (hip-hop streed cred—cool!). A multi-hyphenate interested in fashion as well, she may never just been seen as an actress.

Mos Def

A backpack rapper known for thinking-man rhymes, he was really an actor before he became an MC, so he seemed a natural fit for the big screen, that is until…you hear him talk. Too often he uses a particularly annoying voice when trying to create characters for film. Still, he has a varied string of film credits from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks with Bruce Willis, Be Kind Rewind, and he earned raves for HBO’s Something The Lord Made (a pretty solid film too). In the end, might have more respect as an actor than rapper (debatable) as he has Next Day Air hitting soon.

2Pac aka Tupac Shakur

The notorious, fallen icon might have been the biggest star out of any one on here (and may still be), but died young. An artist who showcased his acting in Juice, Gridlock’d, and Poetic Justice, which all showed off his undeniable charisma but we’ll never know how far he might have gone. See Film-U-Missed, Tupac: Resurrection for a look at his life from his perspective.

Snoop Dogg

The “slim with the tilted brim” star was surprisingly good in Training Day but it’s tough to see him as anything other than Snoop. Need I mention Bones? I thought not. His former partner and sometimes collaborator Dr. Dre is less convincing, something he himself acknowledges and it will keep him out of the mix as an actor.

Puffy/P.Diddy aka Sean Combs

The producer/rapper is trying to be taken seriously as an actor. Though he hasn’t had a real big studio film, he did get respect for 2001’s Monster’s Ball and last years “Raisin In The Sun” TV work was lauded. First acting role was in the Jon Favreau/Vince Vaughn teaming part-deux, Made. He claims he will win an Oscar someday, and surprisingly, he is tough to doubt.

Queen Latifah aka Dana Owens

From her CD “All Hail The Queen” as one of the original female rap stars to acting in Chicago and earning a Golden Globe in the process, Latifah is now a full-fledged acting star. She participated in the huge hit Bringing Down The House and the Barbershop spin-off Beauty Shop. She has been removed from the rap scene a long time now and is only seen as an actress these days, though she recently put out a Jazz album lest we forget she has other interests.

Common

The Chi-town MC had put out several albums before getting a big hit and venturing into acting. He is an another guy that seems to be a natural for this and I think he has a chance to be one of the more successful on the list. He’s been in a lot of actioners to some surprise with Wanted, American Gangster and Smokin’ Aces and he will be in Terminator: Salvation with Christian Bale this summer.

Ja Rule/DMX

Jeffrey Atkins was a big rap star at one point with commercial and hardcore hits which he used to get into other avenues like acting. He had his chance in both film and music but is next to off the map in both these days. Did 50 Cent kill his career? As an actor he had Scary Movie 3 as well as Half Past Dead with Steven Segal and that title was apropos for his career as it turned out. DMX aka Earl Simmons, the gravelly voiced, barking rapper on the other hand, was in independent ‘hood film Belly, Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds (another Segal film) but has the range of a cardboard box and simply can’t be taken seriously. Hence, I lumped these two together.

Xzibit aka Alvin Joiner

The West Coast underground rap legend who rose to fame on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” has had a pretty good go of things as an actor. He got Derailed with Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen and did xXx 2, X-Files 2, 8 Mile and Gridiron Gang which all showed off the X to the Z. He may not be a great actor (yet?), but he is likable and charismatic. Known for a muscular build, he has had to be stronger inside than out as Xzibit recently lost his infant son to a rare lung disorder. He still has projects acting coming through 2011.

Ludacris aka Chris Bridges

The former radio DJ (Chris Lover Lover) turned punch-line rapper, has had some higher profile films as an actor including Oscar-winner Crash and last year’s Max Payne. He initially stretched himself for Hustle & Flow (I kid). Was in Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla in a small role, where he was at the very least, efficient. Chris some talent here and it will be interesting to see how things turn out for him as I suspect he is going to try to be in it for the long haul.

Will Smith aka The Fresh Prince

The former fun and charming rapper is now the most successful box office star on the planet. Need I say more? He was once accepted to M.I.T. and was the first rapper to win a Grammy for “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” He once exquisitely portrayed Ali, has been nominated for many awards, regularly stretches himself, and is among the most personable stars you can imagine. Will is the undisputed box office champ who may never be topped. His string of $100m hits just was broken with Seven Pounds last year and he is currently on a bit of a hiatus. We eagerly anticipate seeing how he will react.

It’s no secret that I love hip-hop.  Music. Culture.  Whatever you want to call it, it is in me and I enjoy it.  Of course that love and appreciation for hip-hop extends to film.  I am the resident writer here for all things that involve hip-hop in movies.  I find any way to share this with you that I can and incorporate it into The Film Nest.  I was on the scene to review Notorious and The Wackness early.  I gave you a Film-U-Missed covering the controversial 2pac with Tupac: Resurrection.  I delivered a Classic Scene from Boyz N The Hood.  I even recently posted a (loosely) film related post in the form of a new music video for Eminem’s “We Made You.” I enjoy sharing this passion with anyone who will listen.  So, I decided to do a list on the 10 Movies The Hood Loves The Most.

Admittedly, this is a difficult task.  There are tons of ‘hood movies.  But what type of movies does the proverbial ‘hood love?  Well, for starters, it has to incorporate some form of or connection to hip-hop.  Whether it is with the actors, the lifestyle, or simply the music, a ‘hood movie needs that element to it, to bring enjoyment to the discerning eyes of those who stay up late at night and sleep during the day.  It also has to be about the ‘hood in some way.  It could be location, a character that is particularly gangster, something about the drug game (a prominent hood profession), or rising against all odds.  All traits the ‘hood respects.

The movies that could fall into this category are many.  A movie could be about cops and robbers (cops regularly are targeted with the hood’s angst).  Action helps, but is not completely necessary for ‘the hood to be down with it.  I need some inspiration here, so fortunately, I have my iTunes playing what is essentially 90% or more hip-hop in the background now to help me out.  Finally, I must re-iterate that these are movies that the ‘hood loves.  That doesn’t mean that they are the best movies by any means.  Nor does it mean that they are in the order of the best made films within the list.  The ‘hood doesn’t always think technically in that way.  Hood denizens want to be entertained, just like anyone, and these movies clearly do the trick for them.

10. I’m Bout It (1997)

The rapper and entrepreneurial icon, Master P, wrote, directed and starred in this movie that practically started it all as far as rappers doing things themselves in movies.  This movie was released straight to video and was taken as a serious attempt to make money with a foray into film.  I admit it’s been years since I have seen this, and I remember being it nearly atrociously unwatchable, but for P and for the ‘hood, it is about the hustle. P played guinea pig while showing MCs the way to think for themselves and make their own money.  The man is a business genius even if he can’t act or (really) rap at all.  This film featured him and his whole No Limit stable acting in a film loosely based on the premise “if a man hasn’t discovered something to die for, he isn’t fit to live.”  In a lot of ways I agree with the statement and even if the movie is so-low budget it was probably made for pennies, I am certain P cashed in from it.  You don’t have to like P, or the movie, to respect what he is all about here.  Making money and being self-made.  The ‘hood can dig it.

9. Belly (1998)

Nas contemplates the plot while starring in "Belly"

Belly is essentially hip-hop video director Hype Williams’ answer to P’s I’m Bout It.  Written in part by hip-hop icon Nas and starring both he and DMX, Belly is a stylish, if still largely disjointed film.  Not an easy movie to sit through, but due to it’s stars, distinct style and set pieces, it sneaks by.  With the plot about the drug trade and two friends going in opposite directions, the ‘hood has always felt strong about this movie.  Hype does take the camera to some cool angles, and as a fan, it is marginally (only marginally) interesting to watch Nas and DMX try to act, but that’s about all there is to it.  Nas is actually not bad, but DMX isn’t good as an actor, though if you recall at the time, he was a major star, as he followed this up with Romeo Must Die with Jet Li and Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal. It’s the plot that’s just wack, with a strange religiously twisted end.  Trying to follow the jumping of scenes (are they even connected to one another?) isn’t easy but there is some violence, decent music, and enough style to perhaps make it watchable. Once.

8. Colors (1988)

The first good film on the list, Colors has Sean Penn and Robert Duvall as cops in the middle of LA where gangs are strongly at war.  The acting is obviously excellent, the soundtrack is one of the first to feature nearly all hip-hop on a major film, and the plot works.  The ‘hood begrudgingly respects Duvall’s Hodges as a veteran in the tough area, whereas Sean Penn’s “Pac-Man” is trying to learn the ropes.  This shares alot of themes with Training Day, just 15 years earlier.  The scene where they arrest all the Bloods and Crips and put them in jail cells next to each other is exciting, especially knowing that there were numerous real gang members involved there.  Dennis Hopper (yes, him) directs.  Look out for a young Don Cheadle as gang-member “Rocket” and Courtney Gaines “Whitey” cholo.  For those who don’t know him, this is his follow up film after Can’t Buy Me Love’s, Kenneth.  “You shit on my house!”  Don’t miss Colors, it’s strongly recommended.

7. Do The Right Thing (1989)

Spike's "Mookie" delivers the 'hood's 7th most loved film.

More about a neighborhood than the ‘hood, Spike’s seminal work (although 25^th Hour fans might argue) is a classic that covers a sweltering day on a diverse Brooklyn block.  This is much more focused on racial relations, but the ‘hood saw someone they felt they could identify with at the time in Spike.  Strong casting and a plot with mounting tensions keeps this one moving towards it’s ultimate conclusion.  Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” was a featured track on Radio Raheem’s boombox, and his unneeded death leads to a powerful climax.  The complexities of this are worth revisiting over and over, as viewers and characters alike wonder why all the madness had to take place.  Martin Lawrence makes his first big screen appearance as a local jackass and Danny Aiello, John Turturro and Spike hold down the fort as the main characters.  Appointment viewing.

Interlude, Mobb Deep’s “Win Or Lose” is playing, I have to take a little break.  The sample is off the hook! “Federal Note fetish”…classic.

6. New Jack City (1991)

Ice-T is cocked and ready in the classic "New Jack City"

The ‘hood loves Mario Van  Peebles ode to Scarface with Wesley Snipes as drug kingpin Nino Brown.  Snipes has never been better (except at evading taxes), Chris Rock as junkie “Pookie”, Ice-T as an edgy cop with Judd Nelson, of all people, as his partner.  Allen Payne is “G. Money” who helped Nino build their drug empire, but sees tension over Brown’s recklessness and their crossing up over a girl, leads to their demise.  The “Am I my brother’s keeper” line during the scene where their friendship ultimately fizzles, is oft-repeated and revered to this day.  This one is not a great film, but has plenty to entertain throughout (several times over, if you are me) and you really can’t call yourself a ‘hood film fan without seeing it.  “I want to shoot you so bad, it makes my dick hard.”  Eat your heart out, Seth Rogen.

5. Friday (1995)

I partied with Deebo from "Friday" in Vegas once.

Ice Cube’s first comedy entry is easily his best comic film to date.  The man who would have been gangster rap’s King shocked us all by going funny here, as the straight man opposite a young comic named Chris Tucker.  Tucker has never been better; he can do as many Rush Hour’s as he wants and never be this funny.  What charisma and what an impression he makes.  Tiny Lister as “Deebo,” Faizon Love as “Big Worm” and an appearance from the sultry Nia Long, make this the classic ‘hood comedy.  An ode to marijuana.  When Tucker’s “Smokey” declares about a woman, “The older the berry, the sweeter the juice,” Cube’s Craig replies “it’s the blacker the berry.”  Not a moment too late, Smokey replies, “She’s blacker than a muthafucker too.”  Hilarious stuff.  One of the best experiences I have had watching a movie in a theater.  The whole crowd was singing the songs when they were on.  One of my great moments in my cinema going history is also the ‘hood’s indisputable most respected comedy.

4. Juice (1992)

Tupac Shakur makes an indelible screen impression as “Bishop,” a man with the “juice” once he gets a hold of a gun.  Moments after securing the gun from his best friend, trouble ensues and said best friend loses his life.  That’s “juice” for ya.  Omar Epps is “Q”, a more morally grounded DJ in the crew, where Bishop fiends for power and Jermaine Hopkins’ “Steel” (Lean On Me’s “Sams”) also hang.  While Q is out to get a record deal, spinning in a contest hosted by Queen Latifah, in an early role, Bishop’s aggressive search for power haunts the crew and Pac’s charisma lingers long after the film ends.  The climactic battle leaves a new man (I won’t spoil it) with the “juice”, but he doesn’t want it.  Ernest Dickerson directs this great film about black youth struggling with their identities and peer pressure while growing up in the confines of a group.  Oh, and the search for “juice.”  Gripping stuff.

3. Boyz N The Hood (1991)

Cube in his iconic state during the "Boyz" shoot.

What has long been one of my favorite films ever, Boyz N The Hood succeeds as a great tale of “growing up in the ‘hood.”  John Singleton, fresh out of USC Film School, gives us his best film to date (by far) with Cuba Gooding Jr. bursting on to the scene, and the aforementioned Ice Cube in his first film role (still rockin’ the Jheri Curl).  Cube is the gun-toting hard ass “Doughboy,” Cuba the good guy raised by Furious Styles (a stellar Larry Fishburne) and Morris Chestnut is Ricky, the football prospect who is his families ticket out of the ghetto.  Ricky’s football dreams are dashed as he ends up a tragic victim of local hoods leaving retribution to come in the form of retaliation, Doughboy style. Like all things Singleton, this is sometimes preachy but its ultimately a real and revealing film about the struggles of growing up and making adult decisions, perhaps before you are ready to make them.  It echoes real life in that way.  Good subplots and great music, with a brilliant score to boot by John Williams.  A true classic.

2. Menace II Society (1993)

Caine & O-Dog stare down some marks.

Remember when I reiterated that this was in the order that “the ‘hood” places these films?  Here is a classic example.  The ‘hood loves “Menace” more than “Boyz,” deeming it the “real” version of life in the ghetto.  I don’t concur entirely, but The Hughes Brothers did make a solid film that made a star out of Larenz Tate.  Tate’s “O-Dog” is a gun-happy gangster and homie to Caine, a boy trying to be a man while raising a child with Jada Pinkett’s “Ronnie.”  It’s a different film from “Boyz” that is still rooted in the problems of youth growing up in a tough area and making decisions sometimes beyond their capabilities.  Allen and Albert hold it all together through unflinching visuals and yes, violence.  The directing and story are solid but overall it doesn’t seem on par with “Boyz” and the two films will always be linked, regardless of time.  While I enjoy the film, I have never held it in quite the same high regard as Singleton’s pic.  Perhaps I will see it again (though I have seen it multiple times) to continue to try to uncover its layers.

1. Scarface (1983)

Pacino's "Scarface" takes his rightful place atop our list.

What were you expecting to see here, Deep Cover?  Clockers? New Jersey Drive?  South Central?  No, there was never a doubt about the movie the ‘hood loves the most.  Scarface is the epitome of a rags to riches tale.  Tony Montana is a man who came from nothing to be king of the drug trade, only to see it all fall apart.  Brian DePalma put Al Pacino in the lead in what should have won him the Best Actor Oscar, hands down.  To not even be nominated is criminal.  Hence the Academy hasn’t had credibility for years, here or in the ‘hood!  Pacino may have taken some flack for his dialect, but it is perfect for the film and his depth shines throughout.  Watching his reaction as his friend is ripped apart by a chainsaw or his heightened sense of theater when he is coked-out to the hilt in the final scene, you know Pacino was on his game.  His Montana is the most quoted character in all of hip-hop history (and perhaps film history) and rightfully so.  Living by a true code, all he has is “his balls and his word.” And he “don’t break ‘em for nobody.”  A lesson for all men of any moral fabric to understand and strive for.  Really, the world would be a better place if we all lived by that credo…just with far less violence.  This pic may have been before hip-hop in large respect but it has defined the music and culture better than any film has since.

Thanks for finishing the list.  If you feel something is overlooked, trust me I considered tons of movies but probably not all, please share. I’d love to hear your thoughts on some great movies that “the ‘hood” (or even you!) love.  Peace.