You should go there

I love Gladiator because of its bigness, it's unabashed aim at creating a parable, the beauty and the brutal fantasy of depicting of the Roman Empire, the music - all of which seem to have been copied in many lesser films since. Of course this is not new for Ridley Scott, but I wish more films like this were made - simple, well executed, timeless stories with memorable dialog and heros that appeal to the super-ego. This is contemporary Hollywood at its best.

Though they almost could've used the same theme song, Hustle & Flow is  a far better than 8 Mile. Hustle & Flow is more real and more tragic, making it a lot more memorable.

Terrence Howard is the kind of actor who has the ability to evoke several competing emotions in a sidewise glance. I love a film that capitalizes on such talent, as this one requires.

Beside the more obviously hip 70's title sequence, catchy hooks, and hip-hop storyline of a pimp trying to make it big, what I like most about this film is its depiction of the creative process. The truth in people creating art from all walks of life in their living rooms, drawing from personal experience and as Howard's character, Djay puts it, that every man has to tell his story. I love that the song they create is an assemblage that crosses boundaries and is equal parts ego, angst, and happenstance. Even though it's hard out here, that this truth previals makes Hustle & Flow an optimistic film which shines through its sad veneer.

I'll confess to being a fan of the TV show. It was cool then, really. So the return of Crocket and Tubbs in an updated, more mature Michael Mann flick sounded very cool indeed. I expected macho brooding set to a rocking soundtrack, which I got, but I had hoped for more.

I found the characters hollow and the plot hard to follow, or perhaps simply uninteresting. I can't help but like a film that feels like a music video circa 1988, and I can't rember the last time I heard some loud Chris Cornell fueling a scene – oh yeah, that was Collateral, Mann's last film. But that was better.

I do enjoy Mann's stylish episodes, and wanted to like this one. This update to the cheesy 80's hit could've gone two ways and been successful: either cheese it up even more as a kind of self parody (think Will Farrell and Dave Chapelle, but Mann wouldn't go there), or take it to a whole new level of style, image, sex, color, and music. I think the latter was attempted, but I couldn't get Don Johnson out of my head - which probably should've been the main goal.