Screw Bruce Willis, Harry Potter and Optimus Prime! I'm salivating for American Gangster, coming this Fall. Based on crime boss Frank Lucas, with a little sprinkling of Nicky Barnes, both of them almost untoucheable heroin kingpins in 1970s Harlem. All star cast--hell, Ridley Scott directing, Nicholas Pileggi ("Wiseguy" author--Scorsese made it into "GoodFellas")...this just may out-Wire "The Wire," and make "The Departed" look like the "Birdcage." Mi comadre and fellow Baltomoron now Brooklynite, author/Vibe magazine/XXL reporter Mike Gonzales, relayed this to me as an addendum: New York Magazine article that inspired the screenplay. Lucas (Denzel's character) claims to have grossed $1million dollars a day from heroin sales in Harlem. His claim to fame, or infamy if you may, is how he procured his drugs. The Return Of Superfly: By Mark Jacobson
4 comments:
Is the Nicky Barnes biography still in bookstores? I couldn't find it but it's at bn.com and amazon, however.
Another Oscar for Denzel?
You are going to find this interesting. As a young pup in the USCG, I had some friends in Interdiction working out of New York Harbor and Moriches on Long Island who new about these "gentlemen" operating in Harlem. Their relationship with La Cosa Nostra was stormy as best.
I am hoping there is a balance so as not to glorify the Lucas character; however, if done correctly, it will show things factually and without filters. One of my favorite films is Gladiator and one of my favorite actors is Russell Crowe. Denzel Washington's prowess is legendary. Seeing them together like this, with Ridley Scott at the con makes me wish fall would come sooner (and this heat and humidity would leave!).
I read the script and it was excellent. Chiwetel is also in the movie. This is def. on my must see list for the fall.
Chiwetel. The C-word. My wife's favorite actor. Lawd, even playing a drag queen in "Kinky Boots," he illicits a swoon from her! I caught her weeping for him in the "Tsunami" movie on HBO. I had to impose a Chiwetel moratorium...
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