![]() ![]() Join in the Weekly "What Are You Reading?" Thread!.Check out the Weekly Recommendation Thread.New Release: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea.Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. ![]() Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. I knew I was going to be a film critic-some would say a snob-in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. Still, bolstered by a great soundtrack and a wide swath of interview subjects (from professors to rappers to Iceberg's hilarious ex-wife Betty), Iceberg Slim is an illuminating and entertaining documentary. ![]() Unfortunately, like most documentaries about one iconic figure, the director and interviewees so revere the subject they miss making a larger connection or grander point. The film should have spent more time examining this contradiction. He ended up turning it all into harrowing, verbose stories that he hoped would de-glamorize the allure of the pimp but ended up making it seem more desirable. It eventually became a hit movie for Universal.īut before he achieved modest success (modest only because his publisher screwed him out of royalties), Iceberg had to deal with an abusive babysitter, a deceitful mother, several stints in jail, and a serious heroin habit. His next book, a novel based on a man he met in prison, was called Trick Baby. His first book, Pimp: The Story of My Life, sold millions of copies. Despite his criminal life, Iceberg is held in high regard by many in the African-American community, with some in academia even going so far as to mention him in the same breath as Alex Haley (Roots) and Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man). This documentary, directed by Ice-T's long-time manager, gives a fairly complete picture of an influential man most of us know nothing about. A master storyteller, unbelievably stylish, and fascinating, Iceberg was the epitome of swagger, long before bros started co-opting that term and shortening it to "swag." If it weren't for Robert Beck, who went by the name Iceberg Slim during his days as a pimp, it's safe to say there would be no rappers. Cast:Betty Beck, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg, Bill Duke, Quincy Jones, Bishop Don Magic Juan ![]()
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