Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of ... See full summary »
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Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend.
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
An emotive journey of a former school teacher, who write letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, in search for the father he never knew.
Director:
Walter Salles
Stars:
Fernanda Montenegro,
Marília Pêra,
Vinícius de Oliveira
Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent. Written by
Offline Publicist
When Ray is on his way to the poetry night, he gets on the metro at the Cleveland Park station, rides, and gets off at the metro at the same station: Cleveland Park. See more »
Quotes
Ray Joshua:
And they start shooting at the children / one by one / two by two / three by three / four by four / five by five / six by six / But my spirit is growing seven by seven.
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Soundtracks
"Sellin' D.O.P.E. (Drugs Oppress People Everyday)"
Performed by Dead Prez (as dead prez)
Written by Stic Man (as C. Gavin) and L. Alford
dead prez appears courtesy of Loud Records See more »
Fantastic performances, a good story and interesting photography make Slam a very good movie; realism makes it a great one. I was in awe of the utter authenticity of the people, the situations, the energies in this film. I was suitably impressed by the emotions expressed and how effective it all was, for essentially a minimalist message (the odds are stacked against young black males in the inner cities) but even more impressed once I listened to the commentary on the DVD. I highly recommend you get your hands on the disc, and listen to the commentary after watching the film. Sure, it's a bit too self-congratulatory ("what a beautiful shot!" [it was only "nice"]) but the insight on the people involved--the writers, actors, poets... adds an incredible amount of depth to the experience.
To quickly generalize: if you appreciate Spike Lee's work, you'll probably like Slam. Although Spike might be a little upset that a white Jewish director brought this to film :-)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Fantastic performances, a good story and interesting photography make Slam a very good movie; realism makes it a great one. I was in awe of the utter authenticity of the people, the situations, the energies in this film. I was suitably impressed by the emotions expressed and how effective it all was, for essentially a minimalist message (the odds are stacked against young black males in the inner cities) but even more impressed once I listened to the commentary on the DVD. I highly recommend you get your hands on the disc, and listen to the commentary after watching the film. Sure, it's a bit too self-congratulatory ("what a beautiful shot!" [it was only "nice"]) but the insight on the people involved--the writers, actors, poets... adds an incredible amount of depth to the experience.
To quickly generalize: if you appreciate Spike Lee's work, you'll probably like Slam. Although Spike might be a little upset that a white Jewish director brought this to film :-)