Boogie Down
Revisited this one last night, having seen it once shortly after it was released. While I still enjoyed it, it didn't seem quite as remarkable as my first screening. A lot of the scenes kind of dragged, and seemed very self conscious, like the director was pulling everything out of his bag of tricks, afraid to leave anything good on the cutting room floor. Could probably have used a little more editing. There are some good scenes, the wild 'drug heist gone wrong' scene with Alfred Molina still carries a lot of power, and the long tracking shots that frame the movie at the beginning, middle and end are all impressive. Other scenes seemed a little forced (Dirk Diggler's fight with his Mother before he leaves home, The Rollergirl Limo scene, etc) Some of the characters and set-ups were quite moving and funny, while others just seemed to be there for cheap effect. Rather a sad movie, in more ways than one, - you feel bad for these poor pathetic losers, but you see a little of your own shortcomings in them as well -- and also sad to see how too much exploitation of anything can make even sex seem boring and stale.