Ok, well I recently was blown away by Zodiac, saying I hated not being able to call it the best of the year...I couldn't, because I watched Black Snake Moan right afterwards.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Hustle and Flow, though I did enjoy it...but this one really blew me away. It's hard to say really why it's so great. Besides the acting, directing, and the fact that the story is the best in a very long time, of course. I just really truly bought the characters and didn't for a second doubt that this intense, outlandish story was really happening. Plus it's full of fantastic scenes (the singing during the thunderstorm is the best scene of this or last year, when you subtract Children of Men from the picture. Side note - I'm beginning to dislike* Children of Men, because I wanted to mention both here and with Zodiac being the 'best' of something this and last year, but almost without fail, Children of Men was untoppable.)

But yeah, absolutely incredible. If this (and Zodiac, for that matter) is not on my top ten come Jan 2008, I will be shocked. March 2nd, 2007 is officially the best single day for new releases ever.

*Not really, I'm not a complete hypocrite.

Maybe my expectations were just too high (and they were lofty) for the follow up to the excellent Hustle & Flow, but I was actually slightly dissapointed. All the actors are solid and the story is sound, but I only rarely felt the energy and spirit of Brewer's debut film. And it's not that the story isn't well constructed, believable, and full of Southern atmosphere. The end result to me just felt... A bit hollow. Rather predictable I suppose, without much really happening. As kypade said though, the thunder storm scene was absolutely the highlight. Still, there's a lot to love about the film, and while I sadly didn't, I can understand how someone would.

Now I don't give out very many A's. Usually less than 10 per year. I gave out an unexpected one to Zodiac yesterday, and I'll have to give one to Black Snake Moan today. I'll write some more later, but about the acting, Ricci and Jackson were great, and at first, Timberlake seemed way to "wussy," but in the end, you realize that his persona fits the part perfectly. So, since Timberlake is a girly-man, he fits the part by default.

A-

I'm kinda disappointed more haven't seen this movie. Zodiac's a killer film, for sure, but man, where's the Black Snake Moan love?

edit - I know its only been two days, btw, but that's no excuse. :O

Also, a lot of people at my showing seemed to not like the last scene (with the trucks). But it was definitely the most important scene in the movie, and really gives the movie more of a purpose had the scene not been there.

it looks so awful. please compel me to go see this...

kypade would have convinced me, had he not liked stranger than fiction. now he is not trustworthy.

I'll kneecap you if you don't

Althou seriously im with you Zennier from the trailer this looks truly awful.

It's probably Jackson's best performance and one of his best films. It's the most intensely fascinating and engaging realization of any culture since City of God. It's the best directed film of the year.

But most importantly...the trailer is terribly misleading. (At least the one on apple.com. I just rewatched that one, since I can't remember what was on tv/theaters). Don't get me wrong....the premise is indeed "Jackson finds nympho and chains her to his radiator." I think its the greatest premise in years, and if that alone turns you completely off...well you should still see it, because it's soo much more than whats in that trailer. It's funny, sad, touching, exciting, suspenseful, beautiful. Also, Justin Timberlake is pretty good here (he makes a kinda 'meh' character into a pretty strong one.)

I'm not going to kid myself (or anyone reading this) and say it's the next Children of Men or Pan's Labyrinth in critical reception...some people just won't like it. But I loved every second. :O

Whoever thought putting a chained Ricci on screen for half the movie was a good idea...is a GENIUS!!

The plot borderlines on the ridiculous but it does so with great style. The music, of course is great. That is not enough to hold your attention for an hour an a half though.

The performances are good accross the board. Justin Timberlake continues to show surprising promise as an actor. Jackson is very good as usual as are the rest of the supporting characters. But this is Christina Ricci's film. And although the year is still short I can confidently say her performance will end up as one of the year's best just as I can confidently say she will not receive the recognition she deserves for it. She is provocative and fearless and it's ultimately becuase of her that a movie that would have started dragging about half way through is instead one of the year's most entertaining.

B

Trailer looks so god awful, but I keep hearing good things...I am torn.

I think, after some thought, I'm going to lower my grade to a B+

B, despite an outstanding performance from Christina Ricci, the movie itself was nothing extraordinary and ultimately forgettable. Hustle and Flow was better.

An excellent film with great performances and soulful music to move the plot along. Also quite entertaining and surprisingly heartfelt at times. A-

I absolutely loved this movie. Loved it. I liked Hustle & Flow, but I wasn't in love with it the same way I am now with Black Snake Moan. I was a bit iffy on it at the start, but it only got better as time went on.

Grade: A

I thought this film looked like utter garbage from the trailer, but surprisingly, it's good. Almost great, but I felt the last quarter of the film was a bit weak. Performance-wise, though, all quality performances, even JT.

B

He's a good actor. Did you see Alpha Dog?

BLACK SNAKE MOAN - 7/10 ( B- )

Eh, it's really overrated and was quite disappointing. My rating is a light 7/10. I dug the music though.

The movie is too silly and if I were watching it with a friend I wouldn't doubt it would have been easy to start cracking up at times, like whenever she got her "itch."

I wish I could have loved it more, since I was really looking forward to it from the trailer.

Yeah, he's good in that, too. One of the better singers-turned-actors in recent memory.

I just wrote a mini-review for this at the ole' blog. I kinda sorta hated it.

I looooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvveddddd this movie.

It's got soul and spirit, a good heart, attitude, southern sweat, fantastic music and two great performances. I could replace Justin Timberlake with a better actor, but he wasn't 100% awful, just kind of took me out of the moment.

I'm quickly becoming a fan of Craig Brewer.

awesome.

That part when Christina Ricci beats the shit out of her mom was like... cinematic gold.