Summary: An angry black man shouts at his son for failing to get into a fight to protect his younger brother; the boy’s mother contemptuously slaps him. Years later, the boy, Stan, lives with his wife and children in Watts, a black Los Angeles neighbourhood. He works in an abattoir. He cannot sleep, and is…
Tag: American Movies
Hustle & Flow (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: DJay is a Memphis pimp and small-time drug dealer who operates out of his car and resides in low-rent housing with erratic air conditioning, sharing his space with his hookers Nola, Shug and Lex. Frustrated with his life, DJay decides to reinvent himself as a rapper with the assistance of former school classmate Key,…
The Cool World (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: Duke, a young African-American, struggles to survive and make a name for himself in the slums of Harlem. The film opens with a close-up of a bearded, black Muslim on the street preaching hate against whites and the cruel world we live in. We then get a tour from Duke’s high school teacher, the…
Coffee (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: Coffy embarks on a spree of bloody vengeance against drug dealers, dirty cops, and corrupt politicians after her family become casualties of organized crime. Her older sister is a prostitute, her brother a coke addict and her younger sister, LuBelle, is brain-damaged as a result of contaminated drugs. The film begins with Coffy meting…
Bone (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: Bill is a successful car salesman, famous from his television advertisements. He and his wife Bernadette are an affluent couple living in Beverly Hills. One day, they find a rat in their swimming pool; suddenly a big, black man, Bone, appears in their garden, disposes of the rat and then, despite being completely unarmed,…
Mulholland Dr. – Story Summary – Analysis – Explanation
Summary: David Lynch has always been obsessed with getting beneath the surface. From the start of his most famous film, Blue Velvet (1986), where the camera dived beneath a lawn to reveal a subterranean world of gigantic insects, reality in Lynch’s works always seems to be a cover for something more evil and monstrous. Mulholland…
Hurt Locker: Story Synopsis & Analysis
Synopsis: Staff Sergeant William James, a soldier known for his ability to disarm bombs whilst under fire, joins his latest detail in Iraq and finds he is an unwelcome presence: his new teammates, Sergeant JT Sandborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge, are mourning the loss of their previous commanding officer, Sergeant Matt Thompson, whose zen-like approach…
Gimme Shelter (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Following them on a 1969 US tour, Gimme Shelter catches the Rolling Stones at their absolute apex. Interspersed with the live performance footage, we see the negotiations between lawyers and promoters who must find a last-minute alternate venue for a free concert scheduled in San Francisco. They decide on Altamonte Speedway. All events in the…
Fritz the Cat (Movie): Analysis
There was a time when the very idea of sex and violence in a cartoon was so antithetical it would draw audiences on the novelty alone. Fritz the Cat was the first of its kind to receive an X rating from the MPAA. Audiences flocked, making it a midnight-movie staple and a forerunner for cult…
Freaks (Movie): Summary, Explanation
No matter how you approach it, Freaks is a peculiar piece of cinema. The title refers to people who make a living off their physical abnormalities on the carnival circuit. Not only are these ‘freaks’ the subject of the film, but also such performers make-up the majority of the cast. The graphic depictions of these…