With their debut, now making a return appearance via the Criterion Collection, the Hughes Brothers created a potent mix of queasy thrills and haunting despair
Great movie. Can sometimes feel a little sloppy in its narrative momentum, and the lead performance can sometimes be a little iffy, but these issues really just pale in comparison to the power of its merciless tone and amazing visuals. I was not surprised that Criterion wanted this to be one of their first 4K discs, it’s really a feast for the eyes and scenes go out of their way to just use striking lighting that has more in common with Argento than any real, grounded Hollywood movies.
I probably should have mentioned that Lisa Rinzler does an amazing job shooting this. As she did with the Hughes’ DEAD PRESIDENTS, TREES LOUNGE, and others. She’s still really active but doesn’t seem to do a lot of narrative features these days. (A lot of docs, though.)
This is why movies are such a potent drug. Despite making frequent trips to L.A. as I grew up (I was born there but my family moved to Utah when I was six), neighborhoods like Compton and Watts were invisible to me, no-go zones my father and other relatives mentioned only in vague terms. The big three films that started to open my eyes, all of which I saw in theaters from the relative safety of Salt Lake City, were DO THE RIGHT THING, BOYZ N THE HOOD, and MENACE II SOCIETY. I believe Albert Hughes when he says MENACE II SOCIETY was made for white people because it made searingly clear to me, moreso than those two earlier films, how badly white society had stacked the deck against people of color. It is shocking in a necessary way, and it forces you to ask if you would react any differently to the same conditions.
Great movie. Can sometimes feel a little sloppy in its narrative momentum, and the lead performance can sometimes be a little iffy, but these issues really just pale in comparison to the power of its merciless tone and amazing visuals. I was not surprised that Criterion wanted this to be one of their first 4K discs, it’s really a feast for the eyes and scenes go out of their way to just use striking lighting that has more in common with Argento than any real, grounded Hollywood movies.
I probably should have mentioned that Lisa Rinzler does an amazing job shooting this. As she did with the Hughes’ DEAD PRESIDENTS, TREES LOUNGE, and others. She’s still really active but doesn’t seem to do a lot of narrative features these days. (A lot of docs, though.)
This is why movies are such a potent drug. Despite making frequent trips to L.A. as I grew up (I was born there but my family moved to Utah when I was six), neighborhoods like Compton and Watts were invisible to me, no-go zones my father and other relatives mentioned only in vague terms. The big three films that started to open my eyes, all of which I saw in theaters from the relative safety of Salt Lake City, were DO THE RIGHT THING, BOYZ N THE HOOD, and MENACE II SOCIETY. I believe Albert Hughes when he says MENACE II SOCIETY was made for white people because it made searingly clear to me, moreso than those two earlier films, how badly white society had stacked the deck against people of color. It is shocking in a necessary way, and it forces you to ask if you would react any differently to the same conditions.