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Capone says, BLACK SNAKE MOAN is his favorite film of 2007, thus far!!!

Black Snake Moan

Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with my personal favorite film from BNAT8. With his previous film Hustle & Flow, writer-director Craig Brewer was not attempting to make a film about a pimp trying to make it as a hip-hop artist. He was making a film about the essence of great hip-hop music. Almost without exception, great hip-hop songs come from someone who has lived the experiences laid out in the music. As top-notch as your production may be, ultimately rap music lives or dies by the authenticity of its lyrics. With his latest, and far superior and more provocative film, Black Snake Moan, Brewer gives us not just a story about a long-retired blues man, but also a tale about what makes a middle-aged black man, deliberately named Lazarus, find what it is in himself that made him love and embrace the blues so dearly many years earlier. I'm sure he never guessed that a half-naked, skinny, nymphomaniac white girl would be his salvation.

Samuel L. Jackson (in his finest performance in more than a decade) is Lazarus, a one-time Tennessee blues man whose wife has just left him for his younger brother. He's angry and shattered by the development. The badly beaten, unconscious Rae (Christina Ricci) is left for dead near his driveway. He attempts to nurse the girl back to health, and while in town collecting medicine and other supplies, he finds out a thing or two about Rae's wicked ways. Her boyfriend (played beautifully by Justin Timberlake) has made many promises about their future, but only after he ships off to bootcamp (and presumably Iraq several months later). In the wake of his leaving, Rae goes on a sexual and alcoholic bender. She also has epileptic-like seizures that can only be ceased with sex.

Lazarus takes on the girl's soul as a project, and he is determined to cure her of her wicked ways by keeping her under his care, reading her Bible verses, and simply showing her the kindness of a stranger who is not trying to have sex with her. To make sure she stays put until the job is done, he chains her to his radiator. My guess is that, if you knew anything about this film before today, this chaining business was a part of what you knew, maybe the only part. Craig Brewer is no dummy; he knows he's being provocative with this set up. And make no mistake, the chaining all happens fairly early in the story, but Ricci isn't in chains long. But in the time she is held captive, she does everything in her power to escape. I know a lot of actresses get labeled "brave" for taking their clothes off in films, but Ricci is downright fearless with her body and the label might stick with this performance.

But after the dust and boobies settle, it becomes clearer what Black Snake Moan is really about, which is, of course, Lazarus' personal redemption and his rediscovery of the things in his life that once made him a better man and a terrifying musician. Brewer drenches his subjects in blues folklore and culture, and you leave this film feeling both educated and invigorated. Black Snake Moan is a deeply spiritual piece, and as strange as it might sound, I could see some churchgoers finding many positive lessons about salvation in several scenes in this work. The course this film takes and the way it leads the audience is unexpected and wonderful, and bless Craig Brewer for carving out this music-fueled niche for himself in the film universe and teaching us not just about playing music but about what inspires those who create it. The year is young, I know, but this is my favorite movie of 2007 so far.

Capone

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Frist?
by HK_Cavalier
Mar 2nd, 2007
04:37:57 PM
Best review of this so far
by Teamwak
Mar 2nd, 2007
04:44:06 PM
Sounds like it's trying to have it both ways
by superninja
Mar 2nd, 2007
04:44:29 PM
"..played beautifully by Justin Timberlake"
by Traumnovelle
Mar 2nd, 2007
04:55:25 PM
I liked the LA Times reviewer who said that
by superninja
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:01:49 PM
Ultimately rap music lives or dies by the authenticity
by BannedOnTheRun
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:04:41 PM
Jackson has what, 30 movies a year right?
by godzillasushi
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:06:37 PM
Traumnovelle
by Quin the Eskimo
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:09:48 PM
So here is my problem with the concept of this
by superninja
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:10:59 PM
Rap Music
by The Funketeer
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:16:43 PM
superninja: And being aroused is...
by TheNorthlander
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:18:33 PM
I stoped reading after the first sentence.
by kingoflight
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:22:56 PM
kingoflight
by BadMrWonka
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:36:00 PM
"You ain't right yet"
by Dr Gregory House
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:41:00 PM
"Great hip-hop songs"
by IndustryKiller!
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:46:21 PM
I agree!
by Hjermsted
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:49:34 PM
Industrykiller, you're a moron.
by Traumnovelle
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:52:54 PM
TheNorthlander, I would say in the context
by superninja
Mar 2nd, 2007
05:59:59 PM
Beastie Boys
by Johnny Ryall
Mar 2nd, 2007
06:22:01 PM
Wait ... so there's a plot ?
by Itchy
Mar 2nd, 2007
06:46:06 PM
bring it on in tah HOMELESSVILLE!
by captainCAPSLOCK
Mar 2nd, 2007
06:50:04 PM
As long as the Beasties new album....
by papabendi
Mar 2nd, 2007
06:51:31 PM
While we're having this debate...
by Cylon Agent
Mar 2nd, 2007
07:00:13 PM
I think there was a mention of boobies
by Cedar_Room
Mar 2nd, 2007
07:00:31 PM
real tits
by bobster52
Mar 2nd, 2007
08:01:34 PM
Fine performances in this one
by BobbyBowfinger
Mar 2nd, 2007
08:20:15 PM
Buffalo 66...
by Billyeveryteen
Mar 2nd, 2007
08:32:59 PM
I all I want is a White Woman & A..
by glodene
Mar 2nd, 2007
08:54:35 PM
...vary wary...
by mr ahole ramirez
Mar 2nd, 2007
09:05:02 PM
Walk it out!! Now Walk it out!!
by Neil McCauleys Crew
Mar 2nd, 2007
10:13:42 PM
DICK IN A BOX the movie
by iwontwin
Mar 2nd, 2007
10:59:10 PM
Hip Hop
by ThomasServo
Mar 2nd, 2007
11:20:56 PM
So this will make a great double bill with HOUNDDOG
by Mace Tofu
Mar 3rd, 2007
12:29:25 AM
It's a good movie.
by tHeGRinGoGenTiLE
Mar 3rd, 2007
12:32:02 AM
Re: Cylon Agent
by ninjatracksuit
Mar 3rd, 2007
12:48:58 AM
ninja track suit
by DeadPanWalking
Mar 3rd, 2007
01:06:28 AM
Funny anchorite
by superninja
Mar 3rd, 2007
02:19:21 AM
Nawww, Spielberg is rumored to...
by glodene
Mar 3rd, 2007
02:33:18 AM
Such a shame...
by Kingdaddy
Mar 3rd, 2007
02:36:41 AM
Shenanigans
by Gozu
Mar 3rd, 2007
02:39:08 AM
rap sucks!
by Bino White
Mar 3rd, 2007
03:05:59 AM
"Real tits?"
by Bob Cryptonight
Mar 3rd, 2007
03:34:44 AM
BOYCOTT THIS MOVIE!!! THIS MOVIE IS WRONG!!!!
by J-Dizzle
Mar 3rd, 2007
04:18:45 AM
Ninjatracksuit.
by Traumnovelle
Mar 3rd, 2007
05:18:22 AM
This will be like Crossroads (the blues-y Ralph
by CreasyBear
Mar 3rd, 2007
08:41:34 AM
"Fearless" with her body? What did she do?
by estacado
Mar 3rd, 2007
09:23:04 AM
This isn't even about rap you fucking cornholes!
by tHeGRinGoGenTiLE
Mar 3rd, 2007
09:47:51 AM
"ultimately rap music lives or dies by the...
by rbatty024
Mar 3rd, 2007
10:16:50 AM
...rap doesnt suck...
by mr ahole ramirez
Mar 3rd, 2007
11:24:33 AM
You're absolutely right, ZombieSolutions...
by rbatty024
Mar 3rd, 2007
02:21:15 PM
What's the difference about this guy and McG?
by superninja
Mar 3rd, 2007
03:24:24 PM
Looks like crap
by Daddylonghead
Mar 3rd, 2007
04:40:29 PM
What I want to know is why
by Ingeld
Mar 3rd, 2007
04:54:52 PM
So is Sam Jackson's character an angel?
by CTU Mole
Mar 3rd, 2007
05:31:40 PM
Whatever happened to the "wise old Indian" stereotype?
by Daddylonghead
Mar 3rd, 2007
06:30:21 PM
Ingeld: It's part of James Cameron's secret !!!
by Daddylonghead
Mar 3rd, 2007
06:35:37 PM
re:Daddylonghead
by Ingeld
Mar 3rd, 2007
07:24:47 PM
Movie was awesome
by Purgatori
Mar 3rd, 2007
11:13:01 PM
Forget the haters
by Reverendz
Mar 4th, 2007
11:22:39 AM
Hey JRKerr
by Reverendz
Mar 4th, 2007
11:23:44 AM
BSM is laughably bad
by Nezzer6364
Mar 4th, 2007
03:09:11 PM
THIS IS THE MOVIE HARRY HAD ON HIS TOP 10?
by BigTuna
Mar 4th, 2007
03:21:59 PM
Had good moments. But mostly kinda boring...
by HappyHamster
Mar 4th, 2007
08:25:50 PM
This was a great flick
by S-Mart shopper
Mar 4th, 2007
10:32:49 PM
Is there nudity or what?
by Trazadone
Mar 5th, 2007
11:09:15 AM
Trazadone...
by Kusoyaro
Mar 5th, 2007
12:37:56 PM
Thanks, Kusoyaro!
by Trazadone
Mar 5th, 2007
01:52:15 PM
Black Snake Moan rocks!
by Zeke25:17
Mar 6th, 2007
09:39:12 PM

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