Tagarchief: Wesley Snipes

Sugar Hill (1993)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘He wanted power. He wanted revenge. Now he just wants out.’

Directed by:
Leon Ichaso

Written by:
Barry Michael Cooper

Cast:
Wesley Snipes (Roemello Skuggs), Michael Wright (Raynathan Skuggs), Theresa Randle (Melissa), Abe Vigoda (Gus Molino), Ernie Hudson (Lolly Jonas), Leslie Uggams (Doris Holly), Larry Joshua (Harry Molino), Sam Bottoms (Oliver Thompson), Joe Dallesandro (Tony Adamo), Steve J. Harris (Ricky Goggles)

Sugar Hill feels like Wesley Snipes revisiting his New Jack City character, but through a more somber, tragic lens. The story follows two brothers, Roemello and Raynathan, whose childhoods were shattered by heroin addiction. Now adults, they control the Harlem heroin trade; a seeming success that’s revealed from the outset to be a slow-motion catastrophe.

The film’s message is unmistakable: drugs destroy everything they touch. The narrative begins and ends on a bleak note, anchored by the trauma that set the brothers’ trajectory. Raynathan (Michael Wright), who accidentally killed their mother with a ‘hot shot’, is emotionally broken, unstable, and haunted. Roemello (Snipes), meanwhile, built a drug empire in uneasy partnership with the Italian mob, led by Gus Molino (Abe Vigoda – yes, Tessio from The Godfather).

Although Roemello was once a hardened kingpin in the mold of Nicky Barnes or Frank Lucas, by the time the film begins he’s already looking for an exit. He’s grown weary of the life, and the movie focuses more on his yearning for redemption than on gangster swagger. This shift in emphasis makes Sugar Hill more of a tragedy than a straight crime thriller.

Roemello’s relationship with Melissa (Theresa Randle) gives him hope for a way out, but Raynathan’s instability threatens to pull him back in. On top of that, a new rival – backed by the Italians – escalates tensions and violence.

Visually, the film is impressive, and the cast is stacked with talent. However, Michael Wright’s perpetually tormented performance becomes overwhelming; his intensity, effective in Oz, feels exhausting here. On the other hand, Ernie Hudson (also from Oz) shines as Lolly, the ambitious newcomer.

In the end, Sugar Hill is a flawed but intriguing companion piece to New Jack City. Strong performances and striking cinematography work in its favor, but its relentlessly grim tone and absence of humor make the viewing experience heavy and, at times, draining.

Rating:

Quote:
ROEMELLO: “C’mon Lolly. Look at Harlem, seems like someone is always dying before their time.”

Trivia:
Also known as Harlem.

New Jack City (1991)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘It was a time that there was a new gangster in………’

Directed by:
Mario Van Peebles

Written by:
Thomas Lee Wright
Barry Michael Cooper

Cast:
Wesley Snipes (Nino Brown), Ice-T (Det. Scotty Appleton), Allen Payne (Gee Money Wells), Chris Rock (Pookie Robinson), Mario Van Peebles (Stone), Michael Michele (Selina), Bill Nunn (Duh Duh Duh Man), Russell Wong (Park), Bill Cobbs (Old Man), Christopher Williams (Kareem Akbar), Judd Nelson (Det. Nick Peretti), Vanessa Williams (Keisha)

This trip back to the nineties opens with shots of New York and a news report about economic hardship. “The deficit now stands at an astounding 221 billion dollars, and income inequality is at its worst level since the Great Depression”, the voice-over says. Oh boy, if only they could see us now.

In an amazing shot, the camera swoops in on a bridge where a gangster is dangling a man by his feet. Drug kingpin Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) steps out of his car and orders the man dropped, apparently over a drug dispute.

The movie sets the year at 1986, the height of the crack epidemic in Harlem. Brown, along with his lieutenants Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man – collectively known as the Cash Money Brothers – has seized control of the drug trade. They take over an entire apartment block called The Carter and run their crack empire from within its walls.

Ice-T plays Scotty Appleton, a detective with a personal grudge against Brown. He joins a special police unit tasked with taking down the increasingly megalomaniacal Brown and his CMB crew. The team is led by Stone (Mario Van Peebles, who also directed the film), Detective Nick Peretti (Judd Nelson), and the ex-junkie turned informant Pookie (an excellent Chris Rock).

New Jack City is a true product of its time: the nineties, the crack era, rap music, and capitalism gone wrong (though nothing like today). The costume designers clearly had a field day. The film is also distinctly postmodern: Nino Brown watches Scarface even as he heads toward the same mistakes Tony Montana made. Overall, it’s an effective crime flick: it pulls you in like a crack pipe does a junkie, and you ride it out until the end, when Nino Brown’s empire inevitably comes crashing down.

Rating:

Quote:
NINO BROWN: “You cut a side deal with that motherfucker. Yes, you did, Gee. Fucking Cain. My brother’s keeper. Was it this glass dick you’ve been sucking on? Was that it? Now I see how you let that motherfucker infiltrate. He used you, Gee. What ever happened to, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’”

Trivia:
Wesley Snipes originally wanted to play Scotty Appleton. However, Mario Van Peebles and screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper insisted that he play Nino Brown, as the part was written especially for him.

Dungeon Classics #16: Blade II

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Blade II (2002, Germany | USA)

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman
Running Time: 117 mins.

The first Blade was extremely cool, Guillermo del Toro’s sequel is even better! It’s dark, gory, hyper tense and spectacular. The story revolves around a new breed of vampires – the reapers – who are way more dangerous and bloodthirsty than regular vampires (they even prey on them!). Also, they cannot be killed by silver, only by sunlight. Blade is gonna have a tough time facing these creatures, but he doesn’t stand alone. Whistler (Kristofferson), who somehow survived the first movie, is on his side. So is a group of elite warrior vampires known as the Bloodpack. But can Blade really trust his sworn enemies? Obviously not. The combined group of badasses travel to Eastern Europe to hunt down and exterminate the reapers. Expect hyper cool action and dark horror. Of the three Blade films, Wesley Snipes likes this one best. And right he is.

Dungeon Classics #15: Blade

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Blade (1998, USA)

Director: Stephen Norrington
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson
Running Time: 120 mins.

Things are happening in the vampire order. Some of the bloodthirsty creatures, led by the fiery Deacon Frost, want to become the world’s dominant species rather than living in secret. Who’s gonna stand against them? Well, that would be half-vampire and professional ass-kicker Blade! His mother was bitten by a vampire before he was born, therefore he has all of the vampires’ strengths but none of their weaknesses. Blade, portrayed by the formidable Wesley Snipes, is the daywalker. A vampire killer who goes out every night to hunt for wicked bloodsuckers with a whole arsenal of weapons. On his mission to prevent a vampire apocalypse, he is aided by the vengeful weapon-maker Whistler and blood-expert Karen who survived a vampire attack. Blade is certainly one of the coolest action-horrors of the nineties. The bloody special effects are kind of outdated, but due to Snipes’ perfect central performance, the stylish action and the comic book violence, this is still superb entertainment.