Belly

COBRARocky5.0

The Suspiria of 90s hood movies.

Josh Lewis4.0

"Born by myself, die by myself."Remixes a decade of American crime cinema (including Ferrara, De Palma and Bill Duke) with a form of experimental hip-hop expressionism. A blaxploitation purification story told in idiosyncratic compositions drenched in passionate colors and sudden, incomprehensible explosions of violence. Doesn't care about narrative coherency as much as it cares about capturing the intense feelings of its dark, oppressive environment; an entire network of pressure, isolation, and brutality that only ever gives you the illusion of individual choice/power. DMX plays it exactly right, all self-assured authority until it's hollowed out and crushed and offered a chance to rebuild. Don't know what I was expecting when I turned this on but I did not expect to be thinking about Takeshi Kitano or Seijun Suzuki. It's a crime that Hype Williams didn't get to develop this style further and that DMX didn't get to act in more movies than he did. RIP to a king.

Will Menaker4.0

Nas and DMX read self-improvement books as the millennium approaches.I think they ran out of money halfway through this movie because of all the insane lighting. Totally worth it. Such a delirious, disaster of a masterpiece. Reminds me a lot of Southland Tales in its apocalyptic vision of the new American millennium and how its auteur director was perhaps driven mad by it, or at the very least never got another bite of the apple. Hype Williams canvas of dreamy nighttime color and beautifully appointed interiors belies the claustrophobic oppression and squalor of the world of exploitation he portrays. The epitome of late 90s aesthetic vibes all pointing to a new century of youth culture dominated by drugs, sex, and violence with a small glimmer of escape through knowledge of self and NOT assassinating Louis Farrakhan on behalf of the CIA.A few random observations:-Nas is possibly the worst actor ever to appear on film. That being said the scene where he goes back to the old projects and sits on a park bench to smoke weed and talk wisdom with a 12 year old is one of my favorite scenes in movie history.-This movie also must hold some record for "Most Actual Weed Smoked on Film," every character no matter how major or minor is smoking a giant blunt or spliff in pretty much every scene. Best of all when DMX is arrested at the restaurant by cops and is still smoking a blunt when they handcuff him.-Even though I understood less than 1/4 of what he said, the Jamaican drug lord character Lennox was awesome and all the scenes in Kingston are amazing.-The Omaha local who has a perm and eats a banana and causes trouble for Sincere and Buns is one of the funniest, weirdest characters of the 90s.-The budget problems are vividly rendered in the closing Henry Hill-style voice-over by Nas where he says "Africa, you can't believe how amazing it is, it's like a whole different world" and they just use shots of NYE's in Times Square to illustrate this. It's funny, but it totally works and fits how weird an apocalyptic everything in this movie is. -Finally, RIP DMX. A singular presence in music and on screen whose loss will be felt for years to come.