Top Five

Top Five is Chris Rock putting together a semi-autobiographical film with a bunch of his friends, but unlike when Adam Sandler does, it's hilarious and really good. The film follows Andre Allen (Rock) around while he promotes a movie called Uprizing, the story of the Haitian slave revolt that resulted in 50,000 dead whites. He takes an interview with the NY Times providing us with Rosario Dawson in the perfect role for her, a beautiful, smart, strong woman. She follows around Rock for the day as he promotes the film, comes clean about his life, and they find similarities in their lives. Rock's character has a drinking problem that he has fought with and stayed clean for 4 years, so the film is supposed to take place in 2007 apparently. He's surrounded by his wife to be, a reality starlet played (perfectly) by Gabrielle Union. JB Smoove is his best friend/entourage of one/manager. His family is hilarious and played by mostly other stand-ups, most notably Tracy Morgan. The cast is just unreal playing either themselves, or hilarious characters. The tale goes through these two crazy days in his life and it's fantastic. It's interesting to have his take on a bunch of things throughout the film, like his friends Top Five rapper/MC list, hence the films name. Bottom Line: 8.4 out of 10. Run out and see this hidden gem. It didn't get near enough notice when it had it's run in theatres, but it's excellent. Funny, insightful, entertaining, and thoughtful. Even being a white dude I thought it was spot on.

Spirited Away: Anime Attempt #3

In an attempt to continue to find movies I haven't seen and are unique I bought Spirited Away, an anime film that, according to IMDB, is one of the best "cartoons" ever. The movie follows a girl (maybe 11?) and her family as they are moving to a new house in a new city. They stop near their new house and explore a long archway that leads to another world. It's a world very unique where humans are scarce and thought little of. The movie follows her journey to reunite with her parents and get out alive. I didn't watch with subtitles, but with English dubbing, which isn't great, but not terrible. The animation is impressive, the story is pretty good, and it is unique. Bottom Line: 6.4 out of 10. Not a huge fan, but it wasn't too bad. I think it's safe to say I'm not a huge anime fan. Next up, tentacle porn. P.S. I've been watching The Wire again and I'm almost certain season 3 is the best season of television ever. What a great series.