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Baptizedinbacongrease
Reviews
Always Outnumbered (1998)
Lesser known classic
I had seen this movie in passing at first, not knowing the name of the movie but with a bit of research I ended up watching the movie in it's entirety on HBO. This was one of my favorite performances by Laurence Fishburne because he had his moments where it felt this was based on a true story. This wasn't a typical story of tragedy, in fact at times his decisions were impossible to be the right ones, but it's a dark side of what some people live with and the circumstances that few people can deal with.
The quality wasn't the best, this was obviously a low budget film that never graced the silver screen. There are several forgettable moments in the movie, while others were done exceptionally well. This story isn't one based on great morals, most of the time it was about getting away or having to accept facts or use violence to make things better.
My favorite scenes were of Laurence Fishburne's character Socrates being a felon who was doing what it takes to make a living, and the harsh reality it is for people who have served time in prison. The parts where he recycled to make money, getting paid in change, dealing with places who refused to hire him, being haunted by his past kept me captivated in what will happen next. They were in a bad neighborhood and tried to make it better, having to swallow your pride at times but they still managed to see a tomorrow.
While there are several flaws with the teenager he decided to look after and basically mentor, it showed a side of Socrates as a man who was very flawed but still able to teach him to stand up for himself and make better decisions. The teenager could have been written much better but it made Socrates much more fragile at times and shed light on a softer side where he was out to help others. In the end, I didn't agree that he made the youngster run away from his problems, but it was a better decision and gave closure to his scenario.
For some reason the table being restore was a failed attempt at a metaphor to me, but it was obvious that they had it in the movie as an excuse to eliminate the other love interest and teenager. His love interest with the lady in the restaurant was done fairly well, for the most part, but it worked. Those were some of the better scenes in the movie because he wasn't a romantic guy, he was struggling to find work but had too much pride to start a relationship despite the woman making it clear she was interested in him regardless of his situation.
The crackhead part was great, there are some moments where Socrates almost looked like a superhero by disarming teenagers and being fearless in heated situations, but I really liked how he scared the crackhead away. That seems to be the thing I liked about his character, and the same goes with him refusing to buy a gun so his friend could shoot himself after the suffering of being terminally ill. Those parts felt authentic at times, there are moments where you often question if you would make the same decisions, even when some of the characters think the best decision would be to murder someone.
I don't know if I liked the ending, I say this based on how I can't think of another way it should have ended. I was disturbed originally but it seems like it was a story written by the narrator, which makes it more flawed, it gives me the impression that the script was rushed and re-written during production. Then again this was a movie never intended to have a theatrical release.
When all is said and done, I still think it had some amazing moments and Laurence Fishburne's performance was great. This movie wasn't afraid to address the harsh reality of a tough neighborhood and how the people who deal with poverty get treated. If they polished up the script more, spent more time on production and maybe replaced a few of the actors it would have been a huge hit.
Comedy Compadres (1988)
Stand up comedy with Latino comedians
I don't remember this show being in the 80's, in fact when I watched it the show was on late night when some television networks would go off the air. This show was never a guarantee to be funny, some of the comedians were terrible. I only knew about this show because a family member would work a night shift and watched it while getting ready for work.
Some nights were good, but there were times the all comedians struggled and failed to deliver. There were times I felt it resembled a talent show because the audience wasn't harsh. It wouldn't shock me if the comedians brought friends and family to cheer them on because this show had a really small set.
My rating on this show is based on the episodes, ignoring the terrible logo, but nothing was a guarantee. One night every comedian could have had great jokes and delivery to the point I would rate it a 10, then other nights all the comedians had no business being on the stage and I would have rated it a 1. Nothing was a guarantee with this show, which is why few people even remember it.
Culture Clash (1993)
One of the sketch comedy shows that were ahead of their time.
During the early to mid 90's was a time where shows began to tread the fine line that could be taken as offensive, rather than how political correctness would censor shows. You had your late night sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live, then you had In Living Color and Culture Clash who had some skits that could have been pulled off the air at any given moment. In Living Color was a success, it helped pave the way for several of the cast members to continue their careers at a much higher level than a simple television show with shared success.
Culture Clash on the other hand was a bit more obscure, and to be honest was a show that wasn't afraid to mock actual 'culture' and even the slang of being bilingual. That's not to say that the show wasn't good, by no means was this full of thoughtless skits but rather it acknowledged a very true situation where the actual comedy was focused on living with American culture along with immigration. When it comes to this form of comedy it can, and likely did, offend several people and not just for personal gain of one culture.
Watching the show now made it clear that racial slurs were allowed to slip through any censorship, and while I don't agree with that language being said, most of their skits had merit behind it all and were a reality for several people. I don't recall it lasting more than a year but I suppose it must have had syndication in another time slot or channel when this series aired. Most of the highlights were the guests on the show, the ones I remember the most were Edward James Olmos and Oscar De La Hoya.
Other than some offensive comments made, which were expected, I did like part of the show that had it's Spanish word of the day that made the show a bit more educational. It almost makes me feel that Dora The Explorer stole their idea, but I remember that being one of the main things I remembered about the show. I have to keep reminding myself of the era this show was in syndication, the LA riots were still fresh in our memory yet this was all intended to make people laugh.
It's why I believe this show never got much recognition, I myself was afraid to even ask other people if they watched the show at times because of some jokes they did. It also feels like the television networks tried to sweep this all under the rug because most of the information is hard to find, even on this site there's not much to say about it other than people have a blurry memory of it all. I still can't find my favorite skits from the show, and I've tried to find all the videos online.
I suppose it's not a show that everyone would fully understand, most of the jokes were about immigration and the language barrier. The rest was generally jokes about American culture, and how the early 90's were. It was a different time, it makes me feel that this show was intended to shed some light on a dark reality of stereotypes but finding ways to laugh it off and move on rather than dwell on tough times.
This show may have been forgotten by most, but it did have an impact on several comedians who never would have had a chance. Their jokes were taken bad at times but if you watch them now, there are several jokes that hold up very well. It's worth checking out, the gems shine far more than the filler material in this show and it's why I remember it.