I am joined by E-Zone, XG, and Chiclets on this review of "Casino" directed by Martin Scorsese. This film is great and will stand the test of time. I like that the film sheds light on how casinos operate and get its' fill. We put man there and see what can come of it. I describe that Las Vegas itself is a character and it's inherently evil, I'd say. The major characters, besides the mobsters, CAN be decent people. It's just the environment that they get molded into. Sam Rothstein and Nicky Santoro ended up being different people as to how they first appeared from the beginning of the film. It's carefully strategic to write a film where a stand up business man is given the keys to a Las Vegas casino and decides to gamble his life's journey with a woman named Ginger. Sam Rothstein is that man and also gambled his life with allowing a well-known & erratic gangster named Nicky Santoro have freedom and pull to do whatever he wants and he gets away with it. It's a recipe for disaster. Like any other famous civilization, good things come to an end and it can end sooner than you know it with a toxic combination. This film about handling what you can possibly handle, knowing very well who you're dealing with, to play the game strategically but also playing it safe, especially when you're dealing corruption, vices, and your own identity. It's harder than it's said, right? To make it, is to sort of gamble yourself. Some bets are good and some bets you know are not worth taking. But sometimes, what seems to be impossible, isn't so. We talk about all kinds of scenes and breaking them down to where we find what we learn from this film. I dig the film personally for its cinematography, the acting from the major characters Lester played by James Woods, the energy of the editing as well as the sound design that goes along with it. Scorsese made sure we are constantly pulling the lever to see if we score and we won at every pull. He won at every pull. It's almost that same effect when one is gambling. This film isn't perfect but it's really up there. Most of the aspects of the film push the notion of the perfect film and it relates to the common man. It's very hard to do that and Scorsese did a great job doing that. He gave us a different perspective of the same stuff he's been visually preaching since "Mean Streets" (which I have yet to review at the date of this description).

Four out of four tokes.

E-Zone
http://flavorsbyezone.com

XG
http://instagram.com/xgmarksthespot

Chiclets
https://www.instagram.com/chiclets_los.angeles/

Gregory Nava's "Selena" is a good biography-genre film about the life of Tejana musician/songwriter Selena Quintanilla-Pérez famously played by Jennifer Lopez. This film showcases the chase of the American Dream that we all strive for. Selena's life was practically a movie in itself - there highs and lows of her personal life and the life of a singer touring across America, trying to make it with her family. There are moments of melodrama, thriller, comedy, and romance of course. I dig the film for the way Nava directed it. He brought out Selena to life and chose the direction of the film to be a portrait of an American family - the very one that put their lives on the line for success and happiness. It came true but a price was paid. I dig the cinematography of the film. You look at the film and it doesn't look like a Hollywood film, it looks natural and appeasing to the eye. A lot of attention to detail in all kinds of aspects of the film from wardrobe to set design. I want to give a great highlighted mention to Edward James Olmos who stars as Selena' father, Abraham. Give the Oscar to Olmos. The man portrayed an American father with values that go beyond American and Olmos gave a great performance of that. I would see the film again just to see the way Olmos embodied Abraham.

Three and a half out of four tokes.

B-Real TV alumni, has photographed bands such as Korn and Slipknot, and loves pro wrestling -  Shaun Vizzy and I discuss his favorite film "Friday" directed by F Gary Gray who stars Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. It's a slice-of-life style of a film that's set in south central Los Angeles where two homies hang out and smoke weed but they get into a sort of laid back but messy situation with the neighborhood drug dealer. It's beyond an LA film or a hood film of sorts, but a film that represents community in a raw form. You do get to see life from a perspective that we can relate. You see real people. We talk about how Shaun saw this film but in a bootlegged VHS form BUT features a cut that's different from the actual theatrical version. We also talk about my disagreement of Roger Ebert's review of the film, especially the third act. Shaun and I talk about the legendary cast and we also discuss the character of "Big Worm" and how central it is to the film overall. This is a film where I did say that some of the scenes don't push the story forward but I fail to realize that LIFE itself goes in the pace we set it to be. Thanks to Shaun for wanting to do a podcast with me especially on this film that I personally feel should be in the United States Library of Congress if it's not there already.

Shaun Vizzy
https://linktr.ee/shaunvizzy

XG and I review "Fat Girl" (À ma sœur!) written and directed by Catherine Breillat that was released in 2001. It's a coming-of-age film from France. The French do coming-of-age films very differently from the USA. This is a film that's meant to break the human spirit and eliminates hope. It's a film about two sisters who sort of compete and talk about "girl stuff" to keep it PG. Their family are in vacation and the older sister secretly wreaks havoc in which shatters the innocence of the little sister. It's a film that's aimed for a mature audience and it barely holds back. Just barely. XG Guerrero joins me again on this episode as we discuss what the film centers at consent, which is keeping your children on check regardless of who and cultural background. It is a slice of life of the human experience and it doesn't spoon-feed you at all. Breillat and the cast all together made a brave film about discovering yourself, the trials and tribulations that females at a young age go through. We discuss the tension that the film develops throughout the course of its story time and it's done differently than from a traditional American film. We also talk about if the film is even worth-watching to begin with and what the director was trying to say concerning the subject at hand which is something I feel is important to take notice. No rating on the review but three & a half out of four tokes.

"Opening Night" is a film about acting and a film about aging. Trying to make sense of a role is hard when you are drowning yourself in alcohol. It's hard to cope with loss when your career is on the line. Gena Rowlands, who plays the lead character, Myrtle, is pure tour de force acting. This film is a masterclass of not only acting but cinema overall. John Cassavetes directed this film and he broke the rules of cinema with this film. It shows that you can do whatever you want however you want as long as you make it sense to yourself. To make something of your own, you gotta make sure it even makes sense. I love that Cassavetes made a film where Rowland's characters went through hard trials and tribulations. In this podcast, I talk about the amazing acting played by Rowlands and the cast included. I talk about how Cassavetes uses the space of not only the stage but the venue itself to create a feel of the audience being there witnessing Rowlands act and as well Cassavetes himself. I also talk about how all this acting and meaning derives from what I feel is a strong screenplay written by Cassavetes. You witness the layers and personalities of the characters and how they work with one another. This is a film where there are sharp turns you gotta be ready for it.

Four out of four tokes.

"Flow" is an Academy Award-winning animated film directed by Gints Zilbalodis. He earned it, plain and simple. Shout out to him and the country of Latvia. It's Latvia's first Academy Award, respectfully. This is a film created with the application called Blender. Imagine that? A film created by Blender, beat Disney AND DreamWorks at their own game. Millions upon millions of dollars, and "Flow" took the cake. Bravo. This is a film about a cat who joins other exotic animals as they journey to find a better place for their lives as it was disrupted by a crazy environmental event. There is no dialog, only sound. IMAGINE THAT? Only sound effects of the animals and the environments they go through and music definitely plays along with it, definitely adds to feel of the film. You care for these animals, you want to know what happens next. That's their dialog and how the journey flows from one place to another, and as we learn about these animals who are the characters themselves, dissecting different personalities and how they with one another. It's crazy how universal it is to be that self-aware about yourself when you look at the mirror. When you do that type of action, you gain a great level of consciousness and these animals did that. Not an easy thing to pull off but Zilbalodis did that. I talk about how animal actions drive the plot forward. I talk about the characters of the film, how they act on a very animal-like level but all that is so relatable as how we humans interact with each other. Its as if we are all one, but in bits and pieces. At some point, they become the humans and we wish we can be there to witness half of it. Finally, a film where all audiences that enjoy but it also challenges the viewers - to look ourselves and at each other and be aware of what we have and how we can make it slightly better.

Four out of four tokes.

I'm joined here with fabb_999 on this episode reviewing "American Me" directed and produced by Edward James Olmos who shows us a life of a man who's spent half his life in the prison system, trying to reclaim himnself in society after he gets out. It's a very masculine but truly humbling film. Olmos did a great job showing us that he can not only act, but direct as well. I was impressed with the shots he used in the film, some that I pondered as to why he would use it and I understood why. He's a creative indivisual and gave us something DIFFERENT to look at. Faby and I talk about about film, it's explosive cast of characters, the iconic one-liners, it's controversies, the elements of theater displayed into the film, the way lighting is used to make things look realistic, how a film like this still resonates to this day spreading its message beyond East Los Angeles, beyond Folsom State, beyond California period. It's a powerful film by Olmos and a story of this kind needed to be told. It's important that even in filmmaking, we need to be a melting pot of sorts of sharing stories that created a culture that is still powerful to today's societal means.

Four out of four tokes.

#americanme #edwardjamesolmos

"Cameraperson" is a documentary directed by Kirsten Johnson that treats the film as a memoir of her life. In this day and age with ties to social media, almost no moment is lost. We share everything and not all of it is worth sharing. Let's just be for real. This film shows us who Kirsten Johnson is through not only her work but her personal life. She shares us crime, loss, and murder. We also see new life, love, and the freedom of where she lives which is the USA. She goes to places where she she purposefully puts herself and company in danger but all of this, to understand life. To Understand people, to make a sense as to what we can provide for life. I like this documentary a lot. We see it through lengthy shots of all kinds situations and they all tie in together, good editing. I liked learning how to interview people. Johnson is very particular about how she films. She definitely puts thought into how she wants the shot to look like and it definitely doesn't want it to be plain and simple. I like the consideration of the shots she chose because I'm sure she has hard drives upon hard drives of footage. She shares us her own vulnerability with footage of different points of her aging mom and you can see how impactful it to her. What's crazy overall about this film, is the fact that there's no voice-over talking points. Just footage. RAW footage. When pieced together the way she did it, she wins in life. Forever.

#cameraperson #kirstenjohnson

Tim Burton directed "Batman Returns", the sequel to the first Batman film of the iconic franchise that came out of a comic book created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. This sequel had an all-star cast that included Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer who played a great Catwoman. I think "Batman Returns" is an okay film by critical point of view but I sure enjoyed the hell of the it. It is fun to watch due to its entertainment value. It has action, some type of drama when it comes to local politics of a city, romance stemming between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and the villain. You gotta have a villain that stands out and Tim Burton's version of Penguin. The design of the Penguin is forever iconic, but how DeVito brings this type of character out. You almost want to root for him and we do actually! We are amused and intrigued as what his goal in this film beside being a mayor. It's a film that's easy to enjoy and part of the reason is not Tim Burton's vision, but the one-liners that almost every character possesses. I'd say, half the time, it works! You really have to see the film to be embraced by the corny-ness of it all. Apart from that, I do like Burton's version of a gothic, dirty Gotham City, where you never seen the sun, lights blind the viewer, and technology seems to be lost in time. I do like cinematography, Burton made great decisions of what kind of shots we should see. A lot of them feel as if they did come from a comic book page. Every shot is different, proposing its purpose. I like the use of blue in the film, especially to mimic moonlight. What's great of the film is how these actors play these characters and play them respectfully toward the screenplay. The way Burton displays the interaction of Batman and Catwoman in the action and dramatic scenes are almost a masterclass of it's own. We honestly forget that we are watching two people dressed in costume. We forget their masks and false identities and realize underneath that are hungry human beings trying fill personal voids and Burton did a great job creating that.

three out of four tokes.

#batmanreturns #timburton

Martin Scorsese directed a brilliant film that will stand the test of time. It's film that we all love and enjoy and we don't care that the characters are bad guys, like, really BAD guys. Scorsese has that visual power where we get to see, envy, the glorification of "GoodFellas" featuring my good friends of the We Don't Smoke the Same podcast - E-Zone and XG. We dissect the film by pointing out favorite scenes, discuss the power of being a gangster and the culture it influences, and how drugs come into play in the mob business. I dig the film for it's realism on these characters and how they handle situations. Scorsese does a great job providing different senes that highlight the highs and lows of the various characters that play off each other. Every time I see the film, I learn something new about it and the director and how it all works.

Four out of four tokes.

E-Zone
http://flavorsbyezone.com

XG
http://fullytoxic.com

#goodfellas #film