CRITICAL THINKING (2020)

Directed By: John Leguizamo 
Written By: Dito Montiel 
Cinematography: Zach Zamboni 
Editor: Jamie Kirkpatrick

Cast: John Leguizamo, Michael Kenneth Williams, Rachel Bay Jones, Jorge Landeborg Jr., Corwin C. Tuggles, Angel Bismark Curiel, Jeffry Batista, Will Hochman, Zora Casebere, Ramses Jimenez 

Miami – 1998. Poverty, broken families, and a prejudiced system push underprivileged youth to the fringes of society. But for a magnetic group of teens, there’s a reprieve. A game where it’s not about where you come from, but how you play. That equalizer is chess. Mr. “T” Martinez, a chess militant and passionate coach, leads them to a completely foreign battlefield.


Wish one could say this film Is different than the many a teacher makes a difference but unfortunately though similarly based on a true story. It hits many familiar beats of the genre.

Though I will say this one is a little rougher around the edges than most and a lot of the drama and plot points are left hanging to a certain degree. Letting us see some change or some who were at each other’s throats at peace with one another.

Which might be frustrating for a viewer but leaves the story and film with some realism. As it doesn’t exactly tell us what happened to some stories or characters but it does offer an endpoint. Even while some scenes and conversations feel missing. 

The film isn’t cookie-cutter, but the audience knows what will happen for the most part as we just watch how the film Will get us there.

The film isn’t exploitative. This isn’t urban porn where there seems to be no hope and it is nice to see a movie and know a story where a person of color helps the diverse students towards a goal. Someone who knows what It’s Like in the neighborhoods and what it’s like to be discriminated against and undervalued.

The teacher helps them to learn lessons not exclusively teach it to them and gives them hope. He doesn’t necessarily save them, just guides them to their own salvation.

The cast keeps the film moving and sparkles. John Leguizamo in his directing debut. Co-stars as the teacher and shows a talent behind the camera. 

Grade: C+

SPUN (2002)

Directed & Edited By: Jonas Akerlund 
Written By: Will De La Santos & Creighton Vero 
Cinematography By: Eric Broms


Cast: Jason Schwartzmen, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Josh Peck, Patrick Fugit, Debbie Harry, China Chow, Charlotte Ayana, Julia Mendoza, Eric Roberts, Nicholas Gonzalez, Larry Drake, Rob Halford, Tony Kaye, Ron Jeremy, Billy Corgan 

A drug dealer introduces one of his customers, a ‘speed freak’, to the man who runs the meth lab. A crazy three-day adventure ensues.


This film is just a dirty as the characters it portrays it seems to be trying to send the message of drawing you in with the visuals and showing you the life of a tweaker so you can see how pathetic and disgusting the life is but at times it seems to also make some characters mythically cool like the character of the cook played by Mickey Rourke.. 


Worse all the bad things seem to be played more for comedy than anything else like telling a story. I wanted to like the film but only found a few things noteworthy or fascinating.


Like most movies that involve drugs as central to the plot and addicts as most of the main characters, there is a lot of misadventures that you think are going to add up to something like a plot but it ends up the movie doesn’t really have anything to say. 


Sure visually it is great and the cast is likable but they need better material they inhabit the characters but if the characters are just there with nothing to do then it’s just like the life of tweakers a waste.

The movie is directed by Jonas Akerlund who has directed videos for Madonna, He certainly has an eye for visuals but he needs to find material that matches his eye here he doesn’t find it. There seems to be an epidemic with foreign directors when they make American movies they seem to like to direct stories that focus on the underground and the downtrodden there are little joy’s and mostly bleak existences which is there right to do but at least make it dramatic or interesting that would be nice instead of making it seem like a photoshoot with a theme no substance and all deteriorating gloss. 


 There are some really gross scenes like Mena Suvari having a bowel movement or John Leguizamo’s constant masturbating or the castration of Patrick fugit I can understand the need to be shocking with your dark comedy to be noticed and make a statement.

A drug dealer introduces one of his customers, a ‘speed freak’, to the man who runs the meth lab. A crazy three-day adventure ensues.


it’s just a wasted endeavor here, in fact, the most interesting character is in the movie but really doesn’t do too much and that is Mickey Rourke the movie isn’t all bad it‘s worth a watch but it’s not as good or revolutionary as it thinks it is. 


You get to see The strippers, The dealers, Porn shops, and all the usual taboo material. But for some reason it seems rather tame and not cutting edge. 

The film has a certain hyper stylization in a kind of trash culture. Trying to glamorize it. It’s distracting though while the film tries to offer characterizations to give us in the audience, people to care about and follow. It also uses then and their pathetic was as folly for humor more than anything else.

It also was the beginning of what seems to be Brittany Murphy’s third act where she seemed to play floozies, addicts and simpletons. Ladies who just seemed off. As she is attractive but seems so out of it that you wonder if it is method acting.

As depending when you were introduced to her as an actress. At first she was a child star then she grew up and played supporting characters and then leads that were more romantic comedic or comedic then she changed her look a bit and became more dramatic. Then the third act of her career came in films like THE DEAD GIRL and SIN CITY. If you watched her grow from a Child actress to here. You wondered if this was a new phase in her career or developing a type to play. As she went fro. Cute to sexy to skanky. Though still walking to the best fi her own drummer.


The film was originally intended to be a documentary on Meth Cooks. Instead, they just took the story of a meth addict (Co-Writer Will De La Santos) and his experiences chauffering a meth cook around town in Eugene, Oregan for three days. They just embellished the stories to be more cinematic. 


 GRADE: C-

RIDE ALONG (2014)

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Directed By: Tim Story
Written By: Jason Mantzoukas, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi & Greg Coolidge
Story By: Greg Coolidge
Cinematography By: Larry Blanford
Editor: Craig Alpert 


 Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, John Leguizamo, Bryan Callen, Bruce McGill, Gary Owen, Jay Pharoah, Jacob Latimore, David Banner, Angie Stone

Fast-talking security guard Ben joins his cop brother-in-law James on a 24-hour patrol of Atlanta in order to prove himself worthy of marrying Angela, James’ sister. Originally the movie intended for Dwayne Johnson to play James and Ryan Reynolds to play Ben.

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CYMBELINE (2014)

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Written & Directed By: Michael Almereyda
Based On The Play By: William Shakespeare
Cinematography By: Tim Orr
Editor: John Scott Cook & Barbara Tulliver 


Cast: Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, Delroy Lindo, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Corrigan, Penn Badgely, Anton Yelchin, Dakota Johnson, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, James Ransone, Vondie Curtis-Hall, J.D. Williams, Spenser Treat Clark 


 A gritty story of a take-no-prisoners war between dirty cops and an outlaw biker gang. A drug kingpin is driven to desperate measures. You would need a big name cast to keep the audiences interest. Unless you have Shakespeare purist fans. As there is no real style and feels closed in and claustrophobic


So with this cast other than Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke. you have actors who are more on the mainstream leading roles. Challenging themselves and trying to show they are more than pretty faces by tackling Shakespeare in a more contemporary way and trying to make it more of a crime story.

Though this is one of few times Ed Harris really get to play a leading role. Even if he is barely in the film his presence is always felt. Where as Ethan Hawke is an accomplished stage actor and leading man. So it is not strange to see him In This film. In more of a smaller but pivotal role. Though both heavily featured on the poster. they seem to leave it a showcase for the other actors. As most of the tale revolves around the younger supporting characters. They still revolve more around Harris’s character.

Though it still comes off as slow and claustrophobic. Throughout the performances feel more forced and never quite natural. I understand the language might be out of place, but usually in successful adaptations the actors still find a way to make it convincingly theirs. The material never seems to come alive. Even with such a violent tangled tale.

It’s a shame as the film has a good recognizable cast and strong material that doesn’t feel like it ever comes full circle and maters by their presence. Small scale can be realistic in a kitchen sink drama way. Here that style adds very little, but is definitely a stylistic choice.

The film offers us glimpses of the underworld they operate in but never quite fully explained. Yet we see constant back deals behind closed doors. That every so often becomes a little confusing. Though by the third act it all becomes more clear.

The film feels like an experiment. While also trying to follow the popularity of Shakespeare and the adaptations of it. It tries to stick to it’s more indie roots by choosing a play that is less well known. So that maybe fewer audience members can find fault with it.

This is Director Michael Almereyda’s second attempt at a modern shapespeare tale. He directed an adaptation of Hamlet with Ethan Hawke that similarly had mixed but better results.

Strangely this is one of the few of Shakespeare’s tragedies that has more of a happy ending. Once you get through some deaths and a general massacre.

The film comes off more as a rich fairy tale. That seems inspired by the show SONS OF ANARCHY, with it’s dirty cops and criminal biker gang. Just as that show was inspired by the tale of HAMLET.

Grade: C

SISTERS (2015)

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Directed By: Jason Moore
Written By: Paula Pell
Cinematography By: Barry Peterson
Editor: Lee Haxall 


Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Samantha Bee, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, James Brolin, Diane Wiest, Greta Lee, Heather Matarazzo, Kate McKinnon, Jon Glaser, Chris Parnell, Paula Pell, Dan Byrd, John Lutz, Brian D’arcy James

Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.

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THE INFILTRATOR (2016)

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Directed By: Brad Furman
Written By: Ellen Brown Furman
Based On The Book By/on: Robert Mazur
Cinematography By: Joshua Rais 

Editor: Luis Carballer, Jeff McEvoy & David Rosenbloom 


Cast: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Benjamin Bratt, Amy Ryan, Jason Issacs, Olympia Dukakis, Jospeh Gilgun, Juliet Aubrey, Yul Vasquez, Art Malik, Michael Pare, Said Taghmaoui, Elena Anaya, Carsten Hayes 


 A U.S. Customs official uncovers a money laundering scheme involving Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.


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