I wanna be like Mike

Netflix is great because it sends movies right to my house and I don't have to pay any late fees. Netflix is bad because it allows me to rent shitty movies without feeling like I'm wasting money. Trouble is that I'm wasting time.

If you haven't realized already, my movie luck just ran out. Whoever thought making Black and White was a good idea is crazy. What I wonder is why any of the actors in it actually agreed to sign on in the first place. Ben Stiller, Brooke Shields, Jared Leto, and Robert Downey, Jr., what were you thinking???

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Black and White, it bills itself as a real-life glimpse at the New York City hip-hop scene and the white kids that try to be part of that scene. What it's really about is shotty filmmaking. The hip-hop soundtrack is so loud and the dialogue is so badly recorded that I had to use subtitles to understand what the characters were saying. Add to that horrible acting, which I blame on the director more than the actors, ridiculous sex scenes, and abrupt scene-cutting and you've got the film from hell. The only things that saved Black and White and kept me watching were the high profile celebrities scattered throughout the rocky plot. My favorite celebrity by far was Mike Tyson playing himself. You would think that a man with a horrible reputation would want to make himself look good on camera. Not Mike Tyson. At a crucial point in the movie, one of the main characters turns to Tyson and asks for advice. "What's your suggestion? What should I do?" he asks. Tyson responds, "You have a problem with somebody. You have to solve the problem. Take care of the problem. You're angry, and you're angry about people that you feel that's betrayed you. But if you're not willing to be nice to someone constantly, then you should kill them." Way to go Mike. Way to keep your reputation intact.

On a semi-related note, there were several scenes in the movie that took place in New York City's Time Cafe. I have been to Time Cafe once in my life. I went to see Elliott Smith play a surprise show at Fez under Time Cafe. I have never heard the restaurant mentioned in a movie before. How odd that I watched this movie on the same day that I found out about Elliott Smith's death.