This is a powerful documentary looking into the violence surrounding the Chicago's South Side, where employment rates are low and crime and gang violence is high. A group called CureViolence(recently renamed from CeaseFire) made up of people previously involved in the gangs themselves, work to stop young people - all people - from being murdered on their streets.
Ameena Matthews especially impressed me. She is the daughter of Chicago gang leader Jeff Fort and grew up to be one of his lieutenants. Being shot in an altercation changed her life and she got out of the game. Because of the respect her father commanded, and level of involvement in the gangs, she is able to go where a lot of guys can't get in. When a street brawl broke out at the front of the CureViolence building, Armeena walks right into the middle of it and grabs one of the guy, dragging him away... and the guy actually listens to her. "Get them to laugh at themselves, find that soft spot, not weak," she says.
Cobe Williams, an ex gang member and one of the youngest on the CureViolence crew, was called to a woman's home; she has three sons, the youngest of which is imprisoned for attempted murder, the other two are in different gangs and the clashes in the home became too much for her, so she left them. She paid for the rent, left all the utilities in her name so they wouldn't be homeless but moved herself out and didn't tell them where she had gone. Cobe gets the three of them together and the situation becomes unmanageable for him alone so he takes them into the CeaseFire headquarters for mediation.
The one situation that really stuck with me though was when one of the Interrupters has been called out to a friends house. He was all uppity and raging to fight someone after the cops had broken down his door and arrested his mother. The Interrupter talked him down and when you see him later he's all cleaned up and working and actually interrupting his own conflicts. The turn around in that one person alone makes everything they do worthwhile.
I've watched this doco three times now and each time I'm impressed by the hard work these people put in to helping their community. If only there was a CureViolence group in every town, in every country. Recommend this to anyone!
5 out of 5 CeaseFire!
[Quote]
Tio Hardiman, founder CureViolence: "Can't nobody come in and tell somebody to put their gun down. They're not trying to dismantle gangs, they're trying to save a life."
This documentary is entertaining, knowledgeable and really, really interesting even if you're not a fan of hip hop. Hosted and directed by Ice-T who most of this generation knows for his acting roles in shows like SVU. Some who've been around a little longer will remember what an awesome rapper he was before he even thought about acting. Even though I remember him rapping, for some reason it had just slipped my mind how damn popular he was back in the day. Watching this doco and hearing some of his special guests talk about how they used to have his tapes (yes, tapes!) before they got into the game made me realise that I actually know quite a lot of his tunes!
T is the perfect person to do this kind of feature; he has all the background knowledge and the proper contacts. There was one point when he was interviewing WC or maybe it was Ras Kass (I'm not sure 'cos this is the first time I didn't take notes as I was watching!) and they asked him whether he'd gotten in touch with Xzibit. When T said no, they promptly offered him Xzibit's personal phone number and address, and you know what? When T rocked up at his house, he took the time to sit down and have a chat. Who else would be able to do that?
And they're not even the biggest names he's got on this awesome piece of film. Legends such as Afrika Bombaataa, Kool Keith and Doug E. Fresh, not to mention KRS-One, Eminem, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Nas and so many more that I can't even list them! T asks them questions like why do they think that Hip Hop isn't a more respected genre of music, how do they go about writing a song and what lyrics from other MCs get stuck in their heads. KRS even tells us the story of how he was literally pulled up at a battle for his clothes and thought Oh, hell no! got up and battled back! That is so very cool.
I suppose I should bring up my own views in here somewhere. You all know how much I love Australian Hip Hop and I know I am biased but I just find the lyrics and beats so attractive. I steered away from typical American Hip Hop because I wasn't a fan of all the songs about bitches and niggers. I hate that! This doco made me rethink this; maybe I was too quick to judge. So today, I started (softly) with an album everyone has been raving about; Nas' Life Is Good. I know, it's not an old one but I need to ease myself into this, alright?! You know what, I'm freakin' loving it!
Another reason I chose Nas, besides all the guys on Twitter going on about the awesomeness of the album, is because of his comments in this documentary. When asked why he thought Hip Hop didn't get more respect as a genre he replied that it's threatening. How dare they talk like that and make poetry out of their broken English, these people from the streets and slums with vocabularies that will stump most college graduates. How dare they come in and spit magic like that, wear their caps and pants like that....and he's right! Listen to the clip here.
When asked about people who were absent such as Jay-Z and Ludacris, T said; "The only thing you'll say to criticize this movie is you didn't see your favourite rapper but trust me, your favourite rapper's favourite rapper is in this movie."
Really good, really enjoyed this. Very thought provoking and makes me want to start writing bars. Definitely going to get myself a copy of the DVD when it comes out in October. Give it a go, you can pre-order it here!
Cults are fascinating things aren't they? I cant help but think they're not all bad, I mean those people were all so happy living in their self sustainable, multi-racial farm of a home... at least until they were all poisoned....
I'm sure you've all heard about this before; in 1978 (on my birthday) 909 members of the Peoples Temple, including over 200 children, drank cyanide and died in what is the largest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.
I'm still not exactly sure why they did it, except perhaps due to their blind faith in crazy leader Jim Jones. The few days beforehand congressman Leo Ryan had been visiting after receiving letters from concerned family members about the goings on in Jonestown, Guyana. While there, his reporters were secretly handed notes from Temple members begging them to take them away from Jonestown. The letters were immediately passed onto the Congressman and in my opinion, this is what started the whole disastrous chain of events.
Its devastating really and I don't understand it. I guess that's what makes it so fascinating to me.
I've tossed up on the rating for a few days now and come to the conclusion that its a documentary and if it informs while entertaining then I don't see why it cant have a full score... so 5 out of 5 angry dictators...
This movie is loosely based on the several out of control parties, such as one in Melbourne, Australia, thrown by teen Corey at which over 500 people showed up.
I remember this actual event and it was not funny at all, the whole of Australia rolled their eyes.This is what you get when you advertise your party on Facebook... Which doesn't mean that we don't all want to be invited to a party like this! I just wouldn't want to be living anywhere near there or have the job of cleaning up afterwards...
There was on point where the cops showed up and they ushered everyone around the back. No way in hell could they have kept a crowd like that quiet until the cops left. I did have a chuckle when I saw them all sitting out back like grade school kids during story time.
This party is way out of control, it's pretty insane, but at least the movie is entertaining. Once I got over the stupidness of it all, I giggled in quite a few spots.
The reason I don't give it a higher score is that I probably wont watch it again. The documentary style filming, the typical guys hooking up with girls party story line is boring. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the film.
3 out 5 laser light shows...
Side note: I normally mention actors in my reviews but this movie was cast entirely of nobodies. They literally put out a call for people with little to no acting experience to come and be a part of this film. Awesome!
