![\"The](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/cbsn0817compton434210640x360.jpg\")
<\/a>The real N. W. A.<\/p><\/div>\n
This story of the formation of the ’90s rap group N.W.A., and the aftermath, is actually a really interesting one. \u00a0I don’t know exactly how true every detail of it is, but oh well. (The same goes for the rest of the \u201cbased on a true story\u201d films.) [Note: I do find it a tad strange, though, that they totally left-out all of Dr. Dre’s well-documented violence against women. That major omission made him look like too much of a good guy.]<\/p>\n
I was a hip-hop club promoter during the end of the millennium, and my DJs always played a lot of the hits that were in this film. But I never for one second thought about where the music came from. So, I was riveted to the screen (even though I had many more questions than there were answers in the film.)<\/p>\n
<\/a>Both “Cubes.”<\/p><\/div>\n
In case you haven’t even attempted to check it out, because it looks to be a \u201cghetto flick,\u201d trust me when I tell you that I think you should. Don’t let the topic deter you; I was invested the whole time. (And, as much violence as there is in Straight Outta Compton<\/em>, it’s actually much less than in Black Mass. And even The Revenant!)<\/p>\n A funny thing is that, because the dialogue is mostly \u201curban,\u201d I assumed we’d need subtitles. But, this is probably the first movie I’ve seen all season where I could understand almost every word! I was shocked. (Well, I have to admit that there were tons of expletives, which are always<\/em> easy to decipher.) I definitely needed subtitles for Tom Hardy’s dual role in Legend<\/em>, but no such prob with Straight Outta Compton<\/em>. At all.<\/p>\n But, to continue weighing-in a bit on the stupid Oscars \u201crace\u201d controversy, this movie’s story is all good to know, but, on the whole, the film is definitely not worthy of a Best Picture nod. (But neither are some of the others, in my humble opinion, such as Spotlight <\/em>and The Big Short<\/em>. I didn’t much like any<\/em> of the films this year, outside of the amazing The Revenant<\/em>. As Mr. X said, the idea<\/em> for each film is better than the execution of it.) [Note: That statement of his, of course, does not include the aforementioned The Revenant<\/em>, whose achievements in filmmaking he finds as astonishing as I do. And, as probably anyone who knows anything about the business does, as well!] I think many of the AMPAS voters may have just passed on seeing Straight Outta Compton<\/em>, because of its subject matter, but, even had<\/em> it been universally seen, and still<\/em> not been nominated, I’m fine with that.<\/p>\n Both “Cubes.”<\/p><\/div>\n All those young actors are good, but not award-worthy individually<\/em>. I’m still impressed with them, though. \u00a0Most are first time actors, which is just nuts. \u00a0And I loved seeing Ice Cube, Jr. (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.) who looks just like his dad.<\/p>\n But, different from the Oscars, where there’s the \u201cBest Picture\u201d category, the SAG Awards are for acting only<\/em>. So we have the unusual category of \u201cBest Ensemble.\u201d And for that<\/em>, I am<\/em> voting for this cast because they deserve it, compared to the rest of the nominees. Shamefully, the cast of The Revenant<\/em> was not<\/em> nominated (so now the Native Americans can \u201cboycott\u201d this one,) and that’s for whom I would have voted. But, really, this whole Compton<\/em> cast is excellent, especially for guys who had either never acted before, or have done just small, almost extra-work roles.<\/p>\n Really, the inane boycott of the Oscars almost turned me against these guys, but I reminded myself that I’m always fair. And, as a cast, they’re great. At times, I thought I was watching a documentary<\/em> about N.W.A., since I had never seen many of the real<\/em> players before. The guy channeling Suge Knight, R. Marcos Taylor, scared me as much as the real<\/em> Suge does! And he’s a stunt guy, not an actor, per se.<\/p>\n<\/a>