Dramas
A fragmented story of LA's criminal underworld that includes drug dealers and thugs of every variety.
I love it.
An epic movie of urban conflict resolved by poetry slams.
Has great poetry ever uplifted your spirits and inspired your heart? “Slam” by Saul Williams is a great movie manifesting the great arts of inspiring slam poetry. Ray Joshua played by Saul Williams is a young African-American man who struggles to live his life day by day by selling narcotics on the streets. After a shooting that left one of his closest friends in the hospital and Ray Joshua struggling to escape the claws of the justice system, he finds hope through rapping and slam poetry gatherings. Determined to leave the life he lived before and enter the poetry world he wishes to embrace, Ray Joshua has to make a decision, fight for unjust freedom or plea for his future. “Slam” literally brings slam poetry to life.
This film shows how urban youth struggle in inner cities and often fall in the depths of violence and drugs. Ray is blinded by the streets that surround him; he refuses to believe that selling narcotics has no impact in his neighborhood. After spending time in poetry slams, Ray Joshua realizes how important his life is and how he can use his rap and poetry skills to make a profession and better himself as a person. In the scene where the woman poet and Ray have an argument about their own struggles, Ray decides that the life he lived before is not the way to live, nor to spend it in jail. He sees poetry as his savior and life purpose.
I would recommend this film to urban and suburban youth. You can learn a lot from the poetry that Saul Williams has included in the movie. I could relate to this movie on a personal level since I am an artist as well. Finding my true passion in writing lyrics and performing has better my life in the long run. This is not your ordinary ghetto story of violence and gang wars. It’s a eye opener to all urban city youth to bring out your true potential and excel in what you truly enjoy doing. We need more movies like this, to inspire and drive our generations and generations to come.
“She’s not asking for God’s help”: Assisted Suicide in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby
“She’s not asking for God’s help”: Assisted Suicide in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood addresses the controversial topic of assisted suicide at the end of his film Million Dollar Baby. The scenes throughout Million Dollar Baby clearly indicate the pros and cons of assisted suicide. Clint Eastwood addresses the cons of assisted suicide through characters’ religious beliefs and the law; however, Clint Eastwood highlights the pros through the medical profession and patient choice. Ultimately, Clint Eastwood creates sympathy towards the positive position of assisted suicide.
Many religions hold a strong negative position on assisted suicide. The Catholic view introduced in Million Dollar Baby strongly agrees with the “Declaration on Assisted Suicide”. Archbishop of Lorium, Jerome Hamer, states, “firmly once more that nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying” (Hamer par 6). Eastwood first shows signs that the Catholic view disagrees with assisted suicide when Frankie talks to his priest. The priest and Frankie have a heated discussion about God; the priest compares Frankie to a Pagan because he questions God and does not believe in the Catholic teachings (Million Dollar Baby). Eastwood creates some characters to believe that religious beliefs hold a very strong place in the hearts of many people and the Catholic religion believes that assisted suicide is immoral in the eyes of God.
To further address the negative view the Catholic religion holds on assisted suicide, Keri Starmer provides new information on the current viewpoint for the church. Starmer revised the guidelines to “insist that assisted suicide is a crime but set out six factors that would make prosecution unlikely, including instances when the suspect was ‘wholly motivated by compassion’ and when the patient had a determined wish to commit suicide” (“Bishops Welcome Revised Policy” par. 7). The viewpoint of assisted suicide may be changing from negative to positive, but the confession between the priest and Frankie suggests that assisted suicide remains a sin. Eastwood represents the Catholic religious beliefs through the priest, who clearly states that Frankie should not do anything because helping Maggie makes Frankie a sinner (Million Dollar Baby). Negative views on assisted suicide do not only arise in religious topics, but in topics concerning the law.
Many states hold a negative position on assisted suicide and question if the action should become legal. For example, a case in Montana concerning physician-assisted suicide (PAS) stated that Montana became “the third state (after Oregon and Washington) to legalize PAS” (Kaveny par 1). However, the law continues to view assisted suicide as illegal with only three states showing support for assisted suicide. This shows that a specific state, and the law, holds specific views on death. The law and assisted suicide according to Cathleen Kaveny introduces the idea that assisted suicide be peaceful for the patient, but also needs to follow the law. Kaveny informs the reader that “there is a significant distinction between a doctor’s respecting the wishes of a patient or surrogate to withhold or withdraw treatment, on the one hand, and assisted suicide and assisted suicide on the other…” (Par. 8). Eastwood represents this view through Frankie’s character at the end. Frankie runs away from his old life because he knows he has done something illegal. At the end of the movie, Frankie buys the pie shop he has dreamed of and seeks complete isolation. Frankie remains content with the decision he made to help Maggie, but the law does not provide protection, thus he runs away to avoid prosecution. The law powerfully concludes that assisted suicide should remain illegal because the act involves homicide.
Conversely, a positive position on assisted suicide comes from the medical field. Medical journals provide great amounts of information pertaining to assisted suicide, most of the views siding with making patients lives easier and less painful. Eastwood provides an example of this when Maggie goes through a very intense morning preparation. This scene shows what the nurses need for Maggie to continue active in life. Maggie cannot care for herself in any way and does not want to continue living. Although she has an undamaged brain, the rest of her body remains unusable (Million Dollar Baby). Maggie’s decides she wants to die so she does not become a burden to her family and does not feel any pain. The help of family members and doctors become beneficial to Maggie’s request, as it does in reality.
Medical fields display progress in establishing new laws to help patients ask for help dying from their doctors. For example, the Hemlock Society continues to prepare a law that would allow a fully competent patient to prepare a written statement asking for assisted suicide. The doctor would then seek a second opinion, and both doctors would make a decision (Humphrey par. 6-7). Eastwood shows the process of a family member seeking help when Frankie calls many doctors, but he receives negative results and no one is capable of helping Maggie. The opinions of many doctors come back all the same stating that nothing can be done for Maggie (Million Dollar Baby). This adds to the downfall of Maggie’s perseverance to gain back her active life. As seen in the above mentioned article, assisted suicide involves several doctors’ opinions and the patient’s request. According to the research, the medical field supports assisted suicide because patients deserve to be pain free. Doctor’s and family members are strong support systems for a patient and the patient relies on the valuable opinions of the doctors, as well as the support to end their life.
Personal choice for the patients is also important to take into consideration. Ultimately, the patient decides if he/she would like to remain miserable in life or to leave his/her pain behind. Clint Eastwood advocates personal choice by portraying Maggie’s decision to ask for assisted suicide. Maggie asks Frankie to do for her what her father did for their dog, “put her down”, but Frankie says no at first because he still believes she has a valuable life and does not want to lose another loved one (Million Dollar Baby). Maggie’s opinion finally influences Frankie to change his mind, much like “Americans’ Attitudes Toward Assisted suicide and Physician-Assisted Suicide, 1936–2002”. The research provided through the article presents Americans’ positive view for assisted suicide, stating that:
Although public opinion regarding end-of-life decisions appears to have been influenced by the events of the times, Americans have consistently favored the freedom to end one's life when the perceived quality of life has significantly diminished, either by one's own hand or with the assistance of a physician (par 1).
To compare, Maggie bites off her own tongue so that she can bleed out (Million Dollar Baby). It represents she can take control, showing her personal beliefs and choice to die. Personal choice supports the strong argument for assisted suicide.
Clint Eastwood shows a positive position on assisted suicide through the views of the medical profession and personal choice. To balance views on assisted suicide, Eastwood provides a religious view and the consequences concerning the law. Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby shows that assisted suicide is a personal decision to be made by the patient. Eastwood does a great job presenting his stance on assisted suicide. Eastwood creates persuasive characters and a realistic situation that can change a person’s negative opinion on assisted suicide.
Works Cited
Allen, Jen, Sonia Chavez, Sara DeSimone, Debbie Howard, Keadron Johnson, Lucinda LaPierre, Darrel Montero, and Jerry Sanders. “‘Americans’ Attitude toward Assisted Suicide and Physician-assisted Suicide, 1936-2002.” Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare (2006). BNET.FindArticles.com. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .
“Bishops Welcome Revised Policy On Prosecution of Assisted Suicide.” America Magazine. Ed. American Press In. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .
Hamer, O.P, Jerome. “Declaraction on Assisted Suicide.” Vatican: the Holy See. Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .
Humphrey, Derek, and Richard Gula. “Legalizing Assisted Suicide: Medical Perspectives on Death and Dying.” Issues in Ethics 4.2 (1991). Santa Clara University. Marrkula Center: Applied Ethics. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
Kaveny, Cathleen. “‘Peaceful & Private’ Montana’s Supreme Court Rules on Assisted Suicide.” .
Million Dollar Baby. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank,
Morgan Freeman, and Jay Baruchel. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005. DVD.
CRAZY HEART REVIEW....SHORT sweet and to the point
Jeff Bridges finally gets his due with a driven Oscar award winning performance, playing the part that oh so too many people in our real life's play; a self deprecating, over indulgent person with massive talent BAD BLAKE, a country music singer who has MORE than paid his dues working the circuit from one small town to
another. Not only does Bridge's character emote deep rooted feelings of resentment, missed opportunities and lost loves, but does it with his held up high even with a big old country hat on. This movies is a heart-wrenching drama with perfectly paced timing. CRAZY HEART shows all of us what life can throw at you, and what you let stick in your mind, can lead to lasting dangerous ways of trying to cope with circumstance. FANTASTIC script, casting, and one final plot twists leading to where just when you think the movie REFEREE is going to disqualify the lead character, he gets right back up before the count of 10
Matthew Susman
msusman@hotmail.com
Of Mice and Men is based on the novel by John Steinbeck. It is about two men, Lennie Small (John Malkovich) and George Milton (Gary Sinise) who find work at a California farm during the great Depression. At the ranch the both get caught up in all sorts of trouble but they always manage to make it through together.
The acting in Of Mice and Men was impressive and realistic. John Malkovich did a great job of acting childlike and naive. Gary Sinise played a great role as a strong leader.
There is a lot of action and suspense and edge of your seat fights. This movie is definitely worth watching, and it is for all ages to enjoy.
Of Mice and Men was entertaining but yet suspenseful and it makes you want to know whats going to happen next.
George(Gary Sinise) and the mentally-challenged Lenny (John Malkouich) travel together from a long distance away to a new job on a California farm because Lenny is always getting into trouble. They talked to the boss and George lied and told him that Lenny got kicked in the head by a horse when he was little. The boys met Candy, Slim, and Curly but George knew that Curley would cause problems with Lenny because Curly does not like tall people. Later on George and Lenny met Curly's wife and Lenny thought she was pretty, but George knew she was a flirt and he didn't want any trouble between Curly and his wife.
The theme of this story is no matter what trouble Lenny caused George was always there to protect him. True friends always have each others' back.
The acting in this movie was beyond good because the way Lenny acted it seemed like he really had a mental disability. Gary Sinese played George well, but i didn't like his character because he seemed like he didn't care what happened and he got angry a lot. Curly's wife(Sherilyn Fenn) was good in this film because she acted like the big flirt and she kind of seemed real to me.
This is a 10 star movie, but if i could give it more i would. Everything in the film looked real and seemed real.
Okay movie, with heart-stopping end
Stephen Spielberg once said, “A movie should have a great beginning, okay middle, and great end.” Unfortunately, that was exactly how I felt. I must respectfully disagree with Spielberg and say the middle should be just as good as the rest of the film. The beginning and end were excellent, but the middle seemed to drag on and on.
The movie follows two men, George Millton (Gary Sinise) and Lenny Small (John Malkovich) as they search for the American Dream amidst the Great Depression. Work is hard to find, and even when they do find it, the mentally challenged Lenny often ruins the dream by getting into tough predicaments.
The acting in this movie is beautifully executed, Malkovich wonderfully captures his role as a simpleminded man and Sinise strongly carries out his role as Lenny’s guardian and friend. But even such strong acting and breathtaking scenery couldn’t make up for the lack of excitement and suspense throughout the movie.
Don’t get me wrong, the movie has its moments, but they seem to come too sporadically for this viewer.
A great movie with actors acting thier role
Of mice and men (1992) PG-13
Starring John Malkovich, Gary sinise, Sherilyn Fenn
Directed by Gary Sinise
Of Mice and Men is the story of the mentally challenged Lenny (John Malovich) and his friend and caretaker, George (Gary Sinise), who are looking for work to someday build a house and to make a living. At this time they are in the Great Depression in California.
This movie Shows true friendship. Lenny loves animals and likes to touch things. He is also strong as a bull. It is amazing how George deals with Lenny every day. The hot woman (Sherilyn Fenn) is a flirty girl and can get you into trouble. Curly is her husband who is a boxer and who doesn't like people who are bigger than him.
Sinise does a great job of making the story seem like an every day situation for some people. Sinise and Malkovich do a flawless job of acting their roles. I recommend this film to anyone looking for a movie that stands above all other movies.
A great movie with a great plot!
It’s good to know that someone can still create a great movie without excessive cussing, violence, and sex.
Of Mice and Men is the engaging story of how mentally challenged Lenny Small (John Malkovich) and his guardian George Milton (Gary Sinese) set out to find work in the mountains of California. But finding work isn’t their only problem. Not only does Curly, the antagonist, manage to crush the opportunity of living the American dream of owning a small house and farm for George and Lenny, he also leaves George with the most difficult decision of his life.
Malkovich mastered the role of Lenny Small, the mentally challenged man who’s only care in the world was to own a small farmhouse with a field of alfalfa and a few rabbits. Sinise also preformed well and directed even better. There was very realistic scenery and well animated action scenes.
The producers in Hollywood should be taking notes because Sinise really knocked this one out of the park.
A great movie with a great cast
Of Mice and Men (1992) PG-13
Starring Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Sherilyn Fenn
Directed by Gary Sinise
It’s hard to believe that movie made before I was born is better than most movies. Of Mice and Men, based on a novel by John Steinbeck, is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
This film is the story of George Milton (Gary Sinise) and the mentally challenged Lenny Small (John Malkovich), two friends trying to obtain a job in the country after the Great Depression. But wherever they go, Lenny always accidentally messes something up. George is Lenny’s best friend and his keeper. But in the end, George must make the biggest decision of his life.
George and Lenny finally find work at a run down farm in Salinas, California. But soon they get trouble thanks to naïve boxer Curly and his flirty wife (Sherilyn Fenn).
The movie is right on track with Steinbeck’s novel and does a great job making the individuality of each character shine through. All the actors do a spectacular job with their parts and make the two-hour movie fly by at a fast pace.
Of Mice and Men is a definite must-see for anyone who likes a good drama based around friendship.
