|
|
 |
03-04-2007, 12:21 PM
|
#1 of 24 
|
|
Member
Join Date: Feb 2001
Local Time: 09:40 AM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 355
|
Black Snake Moan
Man, what a crazy trip this movie is. It shares some of the same audacious hyperrealistic bad taste as Hustle and Flow, and it more than once veers into the ludicrous, but it really grabbed me.
Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci are a great pair - bruised and messed up, transparent, damaged, walking cliches that turn around on themselves. I kept thinking this is too lurid and trashy, but the truth is I have known, in my years in criminal law, many deeply damaged and dysfunctional people whose behavior makes the Jackson and Ricci characters seem perfectly plausible.
One of the reviewers (Dargis?) called Justin Timberlake "increasingly credible," and I agree. Craig Brewer is really a director to watch. I even don't mind his happy endings . . .
Last edited by Janna S : 03-04-2007 at 04:27 PM.
|
|
|
|
03-04-2007, 02:10 PM
|
#2 of 24
|
|
Michael Reuben
Administrator
Location: New York City, Bear Stearns was here
Join Date: Feb 1998
Local Time: 01:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 19,408
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
Quote:
|
audacious hyperrealistic bad taste
|
Great phrase! 
Brewer couldn't have scored better leads for this film. The film needs actors who can inspire an audience to follow them over the top (and then some), and I can't think of anyone better for the job than Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci. Justin Timberlake's role is pretty limited, but I agree he handles it just fine.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ
|
|
|
|
|
03-04-2007, 03:53 PM
|
#3 of 24
|
|
Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Local Time: 01:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 1,745
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
I haven't seen Hustle & Flow, but I am intrigued after seeing an interview with Brewer on an HDNet program called "Higher Definition" with Robert Wilonsky.
I watched it out of curiosity, and Brewer came a across as a very nice, normal smart guy with a very overactive (and slightly insane) imagination. To think a 'fever dream' and a series of panic attacks are what truly inspired this film!
|
|
|
|
03-04-2007, 03:58 PM
|
#4 of 24
|
|
Crawdaddy
Administrator
Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 01:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 18,117
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
I watched this film this afternoon and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would due to some of the comments I initially read about the film. The two lead actors were definitely the strength of this film and I could tell the theater audience was into the film even if some of the humor and laughter from the audience was a little misplaced.
Crawdaddy
G.W. McLintock: Camille, you're on your own.
|
|
|
|
|
03-04-2007, 06:27 PM
|
#5 of 24
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Jul 1999
Local Time: 12:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 38,328
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
I thought the film had some good redemptive qualities to it, with Laz and Rae's unlikely encounter and odd familiarization phase providing some good acting by Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci (this gal is fearless). Justin Timberlake stuck out like a sore thumb in some of his scenes acting-wise, but at least his screen time is minimal.
I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.
|
|
|
|
|
03-04-2007, 08:19 PM
|
#6 of 24
|
|
Craig Seanor
Member
Location: League City, TX (just south of Planet Houston)
Join Date: Mar 2000
Local Time: 12:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 5,889
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
Black Snake Moan won't win any Oscars, but it's nonetheless a spellbinding time at the movies. Craig Brewer has written & directed that rarety - a film we haven't seen before. Jackson & Ricci get us so invested in the characters that we don't mind following them to some very strange places. Add a great blues soundtrack, and this adds up to one hell of an entertaining ride.
This one together with Zodiac have provided the first GREAT moviegoing weekend of 2007 - much earlier in the calendar than normal. Hopefully there are many more to come this year.
|
|
|
|
|
03-05-2007, 04:47 AM
|
#7 of 24
|
|
Crawdaddy
Administrator
Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 01:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 18,117
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
I thought the film had some good redemptive qualities to it, with Laz and Rae's unlikely encounter and odd familiarization phase providing some good acting by Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci (this gal is fearless). Justin Timberlake stuck out like a sore thumb in some of his scenes acting-wise, but at least his screen time is minimal.
I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.
|
Yes, Christina Ricci is fearless and my opinion of her in regard to comparisons with the other young actresses of today has now be revised in which she's near the top of that category.
Crawdaddy
G.W. McLintock: Camille, you're on your own.
|
|
|
|
|
03-05-2007, 02:14 PM
|
#8 of 24
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Jul 1999
Local Time: 12:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 38,328
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
Would have loved this tagline: "It's hard out here for a nymph."
Kim Richards (Rae's mom) has seen better days (I remembered her from her Witch Mountain films from Disney).
|
|
|
|
|
03-05-2007, 02:53 PM
|
#9 of 24
|
|
Jeff
Member
Location: Graham, NC
Join Date: Nov 2006
Local Time: 12:40 PM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 16
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
Planning on going to see this Saturday. Heard primarily great reviews.
|
|
|
|
|
03-07-2007, 07:33 PM
|
#10 of 24
|
|
Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Local Time: 10:40 AM
Local Date: 09-08-2008
Posts: 1,643
|
Re: Black Snake Moan
It won't win any Oscars because no one will see it...a shame, because Samuel Jackson is worthy of one. He is SO good in this film.
And, yes, Ricci is fearless.
I loved how Brewer did the scene between Ricci and the visiting boy as a horror film. GREAT stuff!
I gotta get the soundtrack to this one...
|
|
|
|
< |
