Ian On The Red Dot

Saw the video below. Funny yet sad.

The video above reminded me of this movie which is coming up soon - He Was A Quiet Man:

I watched ‘American Gangster’ on Saturday. ‘Godfather’ it is not, but the movie was still awesome with Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas. I walked out of the movie being seduced instead of repelled.

The New York Times has an article that provides some background for the movie and a movie review that captures the problem with the movie.

I like this description of the movie from the review:

The America in this film isn’t a melting or even a boiling pot; it’s a bitter object lesson about the logic of market-driven radical individualism, wherein a self-styled Horatio Alger type, thwarted by racial prejudice and born into poverty in North Carolina, grows up to become a powerful captain of the illegal-drug industry. Lucas pulls himself up by his bootstraps, a gun tucked into his belt, and becomes a folk hero (and a pop culture idol) who doles out free turkeys to the very community he helps enslave with narcotics, fear and despair.

If you want to know more about the real Frank Lucas, this 2000 New York Magazine feature on him would be a good place to start.

I like how the movie used the following quote from him except in the movie it was said by the Frank Lucas’ mom to Frank Lucas instead of him to a reporter:

You know, if I’d been a preacher, they would have been preachers. If I’d been a cop, they’d have been cops. But I was a dope dealer, so they became dope dealers . . . I don’t know . . . if I’d done right.

A trailer for American Gangster:

A trailer for a documentary on Nicky Barnes which was the character played by Cuba Gooding Jr in ‘American Gangster’.

When I was growing up, my childhood was spent reading books about ‘Robin Hood‘ and the ‘Outlaws of the Marsh‘.  Then there was that movie starring Emilio Estevez - Young Guns.  Then I fell in love with books written by Mario Puzo such as ‘The Godfather’.  The first film of the trilogy starring Marlon Brando is one of my favorite movies.

A few years ago, I chanced upon a series titled ‘Hustle’ produced by the BBC.  In recent weeks, I learned that the chinese video hosting site tudou.com had all the episodes up to season 4.  To find the first episode in season one, type ‘Hustle s01 ep01′ as the search query.  To find subsequent episodes, just change the number in ’s01′ and ‘ep01′ to indicate the season and episode you are seeking.  Each season has only six episodes.  I also learned of another series produced by the BBC - The Real Hustle.  This show is a documentary that teaches you how cons are pulled.

There is something about such stories that I find so alluring and captivating.  The brotherhood among the characters.  The importance of family and its protection.  The honor among thieves.  Living by one’s own code.  Not serving the Man.  Sticking it to the Man.

Why do we have government?  Why do we subject ourselves to laws, rules and regulations?  Why did our ancestors allow themselves to live under a ruling system?

Whatever the reasons for the taxi drivers in Singapore breaking the rules and regulations of the taxi companies, they have some measure of my sympathy.  As always, Don Corleone says it best.

“I work my whole life, I don’t apologize to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. I don’t apologize for that. That’s my life. But I always thought that when it was your time that you would be the one to hold the strings.”

The story of Mickey Bricks’ father is one that resonates with me.  The fate of the father is one that I hope never befalls any Singaporean.

Sadly, it seems inevitable that it would.