I can't adequately describe how shocked I am. I picked this movie up on a kind of lark, simply looking for something that looked interesting. I wandered into a masterpiece. From the first frame, this film is captivating, confident, and shocking. It's so good that by the end, you're holding your breath, praying that it doesn't fall apart, as you assume it must. It never does. I don't know where this movie came from, who any of the actors are, who the directors are, nothing... but if you have any interest in gang behavior, or the human beings involved in it, you have no business not seeing this movie.
Seriously, folks, this is great stuff. This is coming from a guy who thought "Boyz N the Hood" was overrated, and who thought "Menace II Society" was the closest cinema was ever going to get to the streets. I was wrong. You watch this film in awe, because nobody seems to be acting, nobody seems to be directing... indeed, nothing seems to be being filmed. There is a scene where there is a home invasion and one of the women in the house is raped. I looked around the empty room I was sitting in, as if I had inadvertently become a party to a felony.
But, you ask, what is this movie ABOUT? What happens in it? What am I walking into? Trust me, it's better not to know. I walked into this movie cold, knowing nothing but what I got from the advertising blurb. Read the back of the DVD, and plunge in like I did. You will not regret it.
I can't stress this any more: if you love cinema, you owe it to yourself to see "Gang Tapes." And yes, if you told me that an hour and thirty minutes ago, I'd have laughed heartily at you. And if you think I'm unqualified to make that judgment, I'd turn you to my DVD library, which includes everything from Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev to Kurosawa's Ikiru to Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar, to, yes, Menace II Society.
This isn't a gold mine. This is a cache of platinum. Stop whatever you're doing, and dive in. Trust me, you'll want to campaign in the streets for this masterpiece. Only my better judgment prevents me from doing the same.
BTW, to the ignorant mf who posted about the director being a Jewish Whitey who didn't know what he was talking about... as somebody who has studied gang behavior in Los Angeles extensively, let me tell you that "Gang Tapes" has it DOWN... from the gang signs, to the names (Kris is called Lil Alonzo after his initiator) to the language, to the blue flags around the wrists (Alonzo and co. are Eastside Crips).
Simply put, you don't know what you're talking about. Try this on for size-- do you even know what "set tripping" means? Thought so.
Seriously, folks, this is great stuff. This is coming from a guy who thought "Boyz N the Hood" was overrated, and who thought "Menace II Society" was the closest cinema was ever going to get to the streets. I was wrong. You watch this film in awe, because nobody seems to be acting, nobody seems to be directing... indeed, nothing seems to be being filmed. There is a scene where there is a home invasion and one of the women in the house is raped. I looked around the empty room I was sitting in, as if I had inadvertently become a party to a felony.
But, you ask, what is this movie ABOUT? What happens in it? What am I walking into? Trust me, it's better not to know. I walked into this movie cold, knowing nothing but what I got from the advertising blurb. Read the back of the DVD, and plunge in like I did. You will not regret it.
I can't stress this any more: if you love cinema, you owe it to yourself to see "Gang Tapes." And yes, if you told me that an hour and thirty minutes ago, I'd have laughed heartily at you. And if you think I'm unqualified to make that judgment, I'd turn you to my DVD library, which includes everything from Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev to Kurosawa's Ikiru to Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar, to, yes, Menace II Society.
This isn't a gold mine. This is a cache of platinum. Stop whatever you're doing, and dive in. Trust me, you'll want to campaign in the streets for this masterpiece. Only my better judgment prevents me from doing the same.
BTW, to the ignorant mf who posted about the director being a Jewish Whitey who didn't know what he was talking about... as somebody who has studied gang behavior in Los Angeles extensively, let me tell you that "Gang Tapes" has it DOWN... from the gang signs, to the names (Kris is called Lil Alonzo after his initiator) to the language, to the blue flags around the wrists (Alonzo and co. are Eastside Crips).
Simply put, you don't know what you're talking about. Try this on for size-- do you even know what "set tripping" means? Thought so.