Tagarchief: Wesley Snipes

29. King of New York (1990)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Abel Ferrara
Writer: Nicholas St. John
Stars: Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

In discussions about the greatest gangster films, this dark pearl is never mentioned. It should. Christopher Walken delivers a chilling central performance as the psychotic Frank White and Laurence Fishburne is mesmerizing as his loose cannon sidekick Jimmy Jump.

After being released from jail, White quickly takes out his competitors and becomes the main drug kingpin of New York City. He uses the proceeds to build a hospital for the poor. Meanwhile, a frustrated police team desperately wants to nail him even if it means illegally killing themselves.

Director Abel Ferrara and screenwriter Nicholas St. John obviously enjoy upsetting their audience with this moral ambiguity. The offputting violence and trashy depiction of New York’s underworld add to the discomfort. As does the vampire-film inspired cinematography.

The cast of King of New York is truly impressive and features many names of actors who would become big stars in the nineties, including David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi and Theresa Randle.

For all its darkness, it is no surprise this exploitation movie was not well received back in 1990. Time for a re-evaluation I would say. Whenever great gangster films are discussed, King of New York must be IN.

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.