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Reviews
Gangureivu (2003)
GoodFellas meets Cowboy Bebop..........
Gungrave is, hands-down, the best anime series I've had the opportunity to follow this year. Based on an obscure PlayStation 2 game of the same name, the story chronicles the rise and fall of two childhood friends, Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowell, two lowly street punks who join the ranks of Millenion, a Mafia organization that runs the city they dwell in. Driven by youthful exuberance and ambition, Brandon and Harry both rise quickly in the organization. It is clear during their ascent in Millenion that the two friends' paths are diverging. Brandon becomes the most feared "sweeper" in the organization, but all he wants is to be able to protect the people he cares for: Harry, Millenion boss Big Daddy, and Maria Asagi, the only woman he loves. Harry becomes overly consumed with his ambition to rise to the top of Millenion and it threatens to destroy everything both he and Brandon have worked so hard to protect! Gungrave is the brainchild of Yasuhiro Nightow, the creator of Trigun. The animation studio in charge of producing Gungrave is the venerable Madhouse Studios. The show is supported with an awesome soundtrack by composer Tsuneo Imahori, who used to be a member of Yoko Kanno's "The Seatbelts", the band responsible for all of the memorable jazzy tunes from Cowboy Bebop!
How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass (2003)
Mario finally gets it right................
After misfires like Panther and Posse, it takes the subject that's closest to Mario's heart to get him to turn out a truly great film. Baadasssss is his magnum opus and his personal tribute to his film-making pioneer father, Melvin Van Peebles. Great performances are turned in from an all-around great cast. Especially from Mario, as his father, Terry Crews, who plays a member of the crew named Big T, Khleo Thomas, as an early teenage Mario, and Nia Long, as Melvin's wife. If you are in any way interested in the story behind the movie that ignited the whole blaxploitation movement of the '70s, this is the movie to see. After scoring a minor hit with the movie, Watermelon Man, Melvin Van Peebles is looking create something shocking and violent for his next piece. A movie where brothers and sisters can finally see a "badass n***a" stick it to "The Man". But there's one big problem. No respectable film studio or union would dare give him the manpower or the funds to launch such a ballsy cinematic endeavor. What's a brotha to do? Go independent and do it all himself, of course!