I know what some of you may be thinking right about now. Some of you may be thinking, “Glenn, what did you do to your editor at MSN Movies to make him dislike you so much?” Because why else would I have been gifted with the assignment to review Lottery Ticket?
If that is indeed what you are thinking, put that thought out of your mind, and stop being such a monocle-sporting smoking-jacket wearer. It should not be a foregone conclusion that Lottery Ticket be bad. The young lead, Bow Wow, second from left, is an appealing performer. The fellow at left, playing his postmodern Eddie-Haskell-in-the-projects cohort, Brandon T. Jackson, a lot of people found him enjoyable in Tropic Thunder. That Terry Crews, he’s in The Expendables. And sure…I dare you to tell Keith David that you don’t want to see a movie he’s in. Ice Cube’s in it, and also produced, and we all enjoyed Friday, didn’t we? So there you have it.
But for all that, no, Lottery Ticket is not very good. Alas. My review here.
Looking at Erik White’s credits on imdb, I can’t say it’s surprising this wasn’t more dramatically sound.
And then I click over to the Voice, where Dan Kois (?) tells me Erik White “has a terrific sense of composition and shoots crisp, energetic chase scenes.” And then I’m reminded of picking up the Voice for a subway ride yesterday, for the first time in maybe 18 months, and being very depressed about the featherweight weekend guide I held in my hands. At some point I’d convinced myself that the Voice was bouncing back. No.
This is the first I’ve heard of this film. It sounds like it has what could have been a very tense, exciting premise. Shame.
@ John M: Kois goes on to call the film “stupid” but “fun;” looks like he gave in to the resistance-to-like that I felt duty-compelled to resist. And some of the shots ARE pretty, and I even said so. But “energetic chase scenes?” Don’t know about that.
Full disclosure: I completely missed the fact that Faheem Najm, whose bit as the bodega owner gave me a laugh, is better known as the Autotune maestro T‑Pain. I really AM getting old!
Perhaps your eyes are simply failing you after all those hours spent sewing suede elbow patches on your sports jackets. I know MINE sure are.
Mismatched reverse shots? That reminds me, there was a mismatched cut in “The Killer Inside Me” that was kind of exciting (didn’t make sense, but… did), but I’d have to revisit it to find it.
Nonetheless, I guess mid to late August is still considered the “dumping ground” for mainstream fare? Wonder how that originated. But for more inspired stuff this week, did anyone catch P.O.V. on PBS? Great shorts collection (particularly in HD). Check out StoryCorps’ “Danny and Annie” and pass it along to those you love: http://vimeo.com/12562270
I do have to say that there were a few shots here that I thought were pretty exemplary (the close-up of Bow Wow’s reaction as the vixen nibbles and whispers into his ear was hilarious, as was cutting back to Mike Epps’ preacher to reveal he’s holding a handgun) but I was similarly vexed by the reverse shots you mention. That said I still enjoyed it, but I might’ve been influenced by the riotous crowd reaction (including the young girl next to me and my fiancée whose observation of ‘look at his little booty’ during the final confrontation was as good as anything in the movie itself). Roll Bounce, this ain’t.
It couldn’t be any worse than the non sequitur reverse shots in HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, which looked like it was assembled by some kind of retard Kuleshov.
Looking at your twitter page just now, noticing you hit some pretty good numbers yourself:
12.25.09 @ 300
8.20.2010 @ 214
Nice.
And Keith David, who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, good guy, solid actor.
If Keith David is having a good time, then all’s right with the world (even if I never see Lottery Ticket).
Guys, I’m standing right here!
I saw Keith David in Penn Station once. He was wearing a purple suit. I was way too frightened to approach him; I’m sure he’s a tremendously nice fellow, but he gives the impression that an autograph request might inspire a They Live-style beatdown.
No offense, Phil, but I suspect in your case that beat-down wouldn’t last quite as long. It wouldn’t in my case, either, of course. All’s I’m saying is, we’re none of us Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Quite possibly the most perfect casting, from novel to film, has to be Keith David as Andre in Clockers. I remember the moment Andre first appears, I thought, “Keith David. This guy walks, talks and acts like he would be played by Keith David.” Probably the only time Spike Lee and I were on the same page about something.
Delroy Lindo as Rodney wasn’t a bad idea, either.
Nope. Another great performance.
Where IS Lindo these days? He’s a superb actor. I’d like to see him in everything.
I liked CLOCKERS overall, but a great film adaptation of a Richard Price novel has yet to be made. I don’t really know why. The wrong people are making them, I guess (though, again, I do like CLOCKERS).