Menace II Society- 20 years later

[oh crap]

Just celebrated it's 20th anniversary. Can't believe it came out that long ago. Still a great movie, imo.

http://ambrosiaforheads.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/menace-ii-society-original.jpg

and LOL @ leonardo dicaprio supposedly knowing it word for word
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/05/31/leonardo-dicaprio-menace-ii-society/

[Trill Clinton]

classic film. i've convinced myself that since we technically didn't see kane die, he moves to atlanta and betters himself.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Still an awesome fox body 5.0

[SA210]

classic film

[baseline bum]

I hate that movie; most of the characters have no redeeming qualities and I wasn't sad at all to see Kane die after he started teaching the kid stupid shit like how to hold his gun. Everyone just seemed like a stereotype, and the characters were no where near as interesting as those in Singleton's classic Boyz n the Hood. Menace II Society did have a way better soundtrack though. That remix of Streiht up Menace when Kane is jacking that fool for his Daytons was classic.

qjTlUv87PVk

[Thebesteva]

One of VERY few legendary films I never watched because A) I dont care about black people's struggles B) I thought I saw it when I was a kid but it turns out it was the Don't be a menace.....drinking your juice in the hood film which was even more legendary tbh

[Bill_Brasky]

That opening scene was raw, loved that fuckin movie.

[CuckingFunt]

I hate that movie; most of the characters have no redeeming qualities and I wasn't sad at all to see Kane die after he started teaching the kid stupid shit like how to hold his gun. Everyone just seemed like a stereotype, and the characters were no where near as interesting as those in Singleton's classic Boyz n the Hood. Menace II Society did have a way better soundtrack though. That remix of Streiht up Menace when Kane is jacking that fool for his Daytons was classic.

qjTlUv87PVk

Boyz N Tha Hood felt dated and out of touch the day it was released. Outside of appreciating a few performances, I've never been able to get into that one at all.

But, then, I generally think that the Hughes Brothers are better filmmakers than Singleton, so that's hardly a shock.

[baseline bum]

Boyz N Tha Hood felt dated and out of touch the day it was released. Outside of appreciating a few performances, I've never been able to get into that one at all.

But, then, I generally think that the Hughes Brothers are better filmmakers than Singleton, so that's hardly a shock.

You gotta expand on that. What was dated about Boyz N the Hood? The gang wars were going pretty strong until the 92 riots. I found the characters so much more interesting in Boyz N the Hood. Everyone was pretty one-dimensional in Menace II Society, but I loved the story of Furious saving Tre from the life he was headed to when with his mother in Boyz N the Hood.

And what a lame ending Menace II Society had. Kane goes out in a blaze of glory, the Muslim friend who got his life together (was his name Shareef?) gets killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you see Shareef fall back in death 3 times, Kane crawls to the kid drawing all the gunfire there but somehow the kid isn't hit, O-Dogg is there shooting his gat sideways like a fag, and then Kane cries about blowing his life in his last breath... I mean, what a piece of shit ending.

[CuckingFunt]

You gotta expand on that. What was dated about Boyz N the Hood? The gang wars were going pretty strong until the 92 riots. I found the characters so much more interesting in Boyz N the Hood. Everyone was pretty one-dimensional in Menace II Society, but I loved the story of Furious saving Tre from the life he was headed to when with his mother in Boyz N the Hood.

Boyz has just always felt unbearably heavy handed and packed with cliches in a way that Menace does not. And I'm sure a lot (or most) of that is purely subjective and based entirely on my own personal tastes and my fondness for the understated -- until the ending, which you address later on, Menace II Society moves at a pretty relaxed pace and spends much of its run time at a relatively low volume, compared to Boyz N The Hood which feels more like the film itself, and all of the actors in it, are cranked up to 11 from beginning to end.

To be clear, I don't think either one is a perfect film. I'm fine with how the ending of Menace was written, but do think the directors' inexperience is on full display there as they throw in every possible trick they can think of. It's silly, and hasn't aged well, and is especially problematic now that I've watched the film enough that I'm no longer emotionally invested enough in Kane's death to ignore the poor choices made in terms of direction. Nor do I think that Boyz is a bad film. It can be quite effective and, as I said in my earlier post, several of the performances are quite engaging. At the end of the day they're both good, flawed films, but Menace II Society felt more recognizable and more immediate to me (as a high school kid growing up in the LA area who had a ton of friends and acquaintances that were directly and/or tangentially involved in this life) than Boyz N The Hood ever did. To that extent, Menace felt more like it was capturing something and Boyz felt more like it was imagining something.

But, again, I fully acknowledge that being entirely subjective and based on nothing other than my own gut feelings and reactions.


And what a lame ending Menace II Society had. Kane goes out in a blaze of glory, the Muslim friend who got his life together (was his name Shareef?) gets killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you see Shareef fall back in death 3 times, Kane crawls to the kid drawing all the gunfire there but somehow the kid isn't hit, O-Dogg is there shooting his gat sideways like a fag, and then Kane cries about blowing his life in his last breath... I mean, what a piece of shit ending.

I think the structure of the ending is fine. Whether or not it succeeds, it's aspiring to be classic tragedy and makes sense when considered in those terms.

I agree that it's ridiculously choreographed, however, and that it relies far too heavily upon cheesy slow motion shots and repetitive edits.

[JoeTait75]

I never knew there could be audience participation at a movie theater until I saw Menace in the summer of '93.

[leemajors]

I hate that movie; most of the characters have no redeeming qualities and I wasn't sad at all to see Kane die after he started teaching the kid stupid shit like how to hold his gun. Everyone just seemed like a stereotype, and the characters were no where near as interesting as those in Singleton's classic Boyz n the Hood. Menace II Society did have a way better soundtrack though. That remix of Streiht up Menace when Kane is jacking that fool for his Daytons was classic.

qjTlUv87PVk

tbh when someone mentions menace the first thing I think of is Kurupt saying "I'm goin out loony like O-Dog"

[silverblk mystix]

Boyz was perfect for its time.

Menace was horrible - and still is today.

The writing was nowhere near the same ballpark and Boyz was clearly superior.

Watching Menace in a hollywood theatre with my son - with wanna-be thugs laughing as people got killed on screen - was a sad commentary on what we were to become in the coming years.

In my experience - ymmv.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

The only weak part of Menace was the narration throughout the movie, it sounded as if the actor wasn't too great at reading aloud

[IronMexican]

I never knew there could be audience participation at a movie theater until I saw Menace in the summer of '93.

:lmao

[johnsmith]

Boyz was perfect for its time.

Menace was horrible - and still is today.

The writing was nowhere near the same ballpark and Boyz was clearly superior.

Watching Menace in a hollywood theatre with my son - with wanna-be thugs laughing as people got killed on screen - was a sad commentary on what we were to become in the coming years.

In my experience - ymmv.

Wait a minute....how old are you?

[silverblk mystix]

Wait a minute....how old are you?

Menace was one of those movies - that played for years at midnight shows in hollywierd - along with a few other cultish flicks...but older than you probably.

[oh crap]

Last great "hood" movie? I think so. There hasn't been one like it since.

[McGusto55]

I said wit cheese nigga.....classic...

[DJR210]

The memories this movie brings. Being a 4th grader and hearing all of my friends w/ the "cool parents" who had HBO quoting all the parts..wasn't for some time after before I actually got to see it..

I also love Blood In Blood Out, two of my all time favs.

[JoeTait75]

It makes me feel old that a movie that came out after I graduated from HS is now dated, tbh.

Best scene, imo:

XKamkm6dwTA

[SA210]

The cliches in those movies were fine with me because that's how stupid gang-bangers would act. In this case, it was OK, for me. And I hate cliches. Boyz N The Hood though edges Menace out for me though.

I care more about the characters in Boyz. Menace has O Dogg and Jada Pinkett who really carried that film, along with Charles S Dutton. But Boyz N the Hood felt real close to home growing up in the hood, ghetto birds and all lol.

And I love American Me, but Blood in Blood Out beats that one out for me too. :tu

[oh crap]

RIP to cousin Harold, tbh. Nigga was a G.

[baseline bum]

tbh when someone mentions menace the first thing I think of is Kurupt saying "I'm goin out loony like O-Dog"

Dat Nigga Daz still got the best line in that song:

I flip-flop and serve hoes with the fat dick
Till I die I'm still screaming that "bitches ain't shit"

[mouse]

90% of you just don't get it.

[baseline bum]

Boyz has just always felt unbearably heavy handed and packed with cliches in a way that Menace does not... Boyz N The Hood which feels more like the film itself, and all of the actors in it, are cranked up to 11 from beginning to end.

Can you give some examples of why you feel this way? I really don't see where the cranked to 11 criticism comes from. It was hectic at the beginning because Tre was out of control away from his father, but I never felt like it was back up to 11 until those Bloods started shooting at Crenshaw and then the cop threatened to kill Tre. I felt the exact opposite. It seemed like Menace was the film version of a Spice 1 album. Gangster everything. Meanwhile in Boyz N the Hood even the 1D characters like Dooky, Monster, and Little Chris were portrayed as humans rather than caricatures, whether it's Monster playing Duck Hunt or Dooky bragging about all the pussy he gets, Little Chris sucking up to Doughboy, etc. And Dough being brought up by a mother who hated him because she hated his father is something that happens all the time; known so many people who grew up in that kind of fucked up household where the other brother/sister was the one the mother loved.

Furious and Dough were just such awesome characters, and I thought the respective actors executed their roles so flawlessly. I think the only scene turned up to 11 that felt kind of awkward was Tre punching the air and yelling at the world at his GF's place.

So many scenes in Menace just seemed stupid to me, like capping the crackhead in the alley and taking his cheeseburgers, or A-Wax at the hospital walking up to the desk and yelling "Get us a motherfucking doctor!" A-Wax and his bitch don't even try to leave the scene right after O-Dogg shoots the crackhead? Who just stands right there at a murder scene?

[CuckingFunt]

Can you give some examples of why you feel this way?

Don't know if it's really something I can give examples of. Or if attempting to do so would be worth the effort. I'm not trying to make the point that Boyz is worse than Menace by any objective measures or anything like that. I'm only talking about my reaction to the two films; one resonated with me, the other didn't.

[cute_spursfan]

this use to always come on BET's *Blackbuster saturday* haha. good ishh

[silverblk mystix]

Don't know if it's really something I can give examples of. Or if attempting to do so would be worth the effort. I'm not trying to make the point that Boyz is worse than Menace by any objective measures or anything like that. I'm only talking about my reaction to the two films; one resonated with me, the other didn't.


Backpedaling lol

[AaronY]

Don't know if it's really something I can give examples of. Or if attempting to do so would be worth the effort. I'm not trying to make the point that Boyz is worse than Menace by any objective measures or anything like that. I'm only talking about my reaction to the two films; one resonated with me, the other didn't.
Translation: She was talking out of her ass and didn't expect anyone to call her on it..

[silverblk mystix]

Translation: She was talking out of her ass and didn't expect anyone to call her on it..


eggsacklee!

:rollin

[AaronY]

Don't worry, I'm sure her overwhelming aura of self-confidence will get her through this..despite the fact that she's so full of shit its spilling over the top and coming out the sides, I feel bad for the people around her tho since its probably even squirting out of her and spraying anyone in her vicinity..can't even imagine working with her the amount of bullshit you would get exposed to on the daily

[mouse]

It makes me feel old that a movie that came out after I graduated from HS is now dated, tbh.

Best scene, imo:

XKamkm6dwTA

^ gets it!

[CuckingFunt]

Backpedaling lol


Translation: She was talking out of her ass and didn't expect anyone to call her on it..

This is my very first post in this thread:


Boyz N Tha Hood felt dated and out of touch the day it was released. Outside of appreciating a few performances, I've never been able to get into that one at all.

But, then, I generally think that the Hughes Brothers are better filmmakers than Singleton, so that's hardly a shock.

It should have been pretty clear to anyone paying attention that from the start I've only ever been talking about my own experience of the two films and not making claims as to either's objective quality.

[CuckingFunt]

Don't worry, I'm sure her overwhelming aura of self-confidence will get her through this..despite the fact that she's so full of shit its spilling over the top and coming out the sides, I feel bad for the people around her tho since its probably even squirting out of her and spraying anyone in her vicinity..can't even imagine working with her the amount of bullshit you would get exposed to on the daily

Considering how little interaction we've had, you're entirely too concerned with what I'm typing.

[baseline bum]

Watched this again today and I just do not like this movie at all. It's like the theme of the movie is if you're young, black, and born in the ghetto, then you're completely fucked and it's a death sentence. It's just an over the top sad song. Whereas the theme of Boyz N the Hood seems to be that parental involvement is absolutely critical when you're born with those strikes against you. You initially see Dough and Tre as pretty similar young kids but wildly different adults, due to Tre having a parent who gives a shit about him and fights like hell to give him a fighting chance of escape. Not to say Tre's mother doesn't, but her way of saving Tre was to try go to school for a better job to move him out of the hellhole he was in, but Tre didn't have the time to spare and she couldn't properly raise him on her own while trying to better her family's living situation. To me Boyz is one of the great films of the 90s while Menace is just shallow and shocking.

[baseline bum]

classic film. i've convinced myself that since we technically didn't see kane die, he moves to atlanta and betters himself.

How's he do that when the police have the video of him being an accessory to murder?

[lebomb]

Yall are reading WAY to deep into the movie. :rolleyes

[I. Hustle]

I love movies and have done some acting (extra roles and local crap) and I still can't stand people that try too hard to break movies down and disect them. They are for entertainment. I remember I was an extra on a movie once and this chick next to me started telling me how her agent got her that "gig" and blah blah blah. Then she asked how I got it. I told her "I just came across it in the Chronicle, plus I get to keep ALL my money." Then I laughed and walked away.

[leemajors]

Good podcast with Allen Hughes, talks about 2pac and Eddie Murphy a bit.

http://thechamps.libsyn.com/allen-hughes-director-menace-ii-society-american-pimp

[Big Empty]

lol i still use a line off of it "snaps for the petro"

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I hate that movie; most of the characters have no redeeming qualities and I wasn't sad at all to see Kane die after he started teaching the kid stupid shit like how to hold his gun. Everyone just seemed like a stereotype, and the characters were no where near as interesting as those in Singleton's classic Boyz n the Hood. Menace II Society did have a way better soundtrack though. That remix of Streiht up Menace when Kane is jacking that fool for his Daytons was classic.

qjTlUv87PVk

:lol Ice Cube has so much depth to his character.

[baseline bum]

:lol Ice Cube has so much depth to his character.

There was a lot of depth to Doughboy's character. He was the son whose mother hated him yet he was constantly loyal to Ricky. He was a pretty similar character to Tre growing up, but the lack of decent parenting kept him from every becoming the success Tre was.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

There was a lot of depth to Doughboy's character. He was the son whose mother hated him yet he was constantly loyal to Ricky. He was a pretty similar character to Tre growing up, but the lack of decent parenting kept him from every becoming the success Tre was.

what are you laughing at, fat fuck
you don't do shit.
you won't amount to shit.
...............all you do is eat, sleep and shit!

:lmao that movie has many classic lines

[baseline bum]

Where you goin anyway, you fat fuck?
It ain't like you got a job.
Who's that little fucker on my porch?

[Viva Las Espuelas]

y'all must think i'm the maid :lol

so many

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Boyz N Tha Hood felt dated and out of touch the day it was released. :rollin what the hell? SMH
that's really a rhetorical because i don't care for your answer :D

"dated" :lmao

[FuzzyLumpkins]

There was a lot of depth to Doughboy's character. He was the son whose mother hated him yet he was constantly loyal to Ricky. He was a pretty similar character to Tre growing up, but the lack of decent parenting kept him from every becoming the success Tre was.

That's not depth. Mother hates him, he loves his brother. That isn't even dualism. About the only 'depth' was the suspense of his decision at the end but he was that kid to begin with. I mean you talk of cliche but the notion of the good kid bad kid or the kid with so much promise that gets snuffed or the black father figure that makes a difference. It's not as if any of those were novel notions or displayed as anything other than that. That shot at the end with the mother opening the college crying over that letter. I just don't see it as anything but cliche after cliche.

I get what you are saying that there is no depth to Menace but I would at least say that Caine displayed some duality with the O-Dog and then with his girlfriend. There was asinine shit like the scene in the prison and all the gratuitous violence but

[oh crap]

That's not depth. That shot at the end with the mother opening the college crying over that letter. I just don't see it as anything but cliche after cliche.

lol but boyz is sooo deep :cry

anyways, I agree with both you and the Funt. I enjoy both movies but happen to much prefer Menace. Both are classics.. to each their own. LOL @ fanboys getting butthurt though.

[CuckingFunt]

:rollin what the hell? SMH
that's really a rhetorical because i don't care for your answer :D

"dated" :lmao

What are you talking about?

[AaronY]

Considering how little interaction we've had, you're entirely too concerned with what I'm typing.
Lol, goes around exuding pomposity, arrogance and self-superiority..writes overly articulate, didactic posts which look like they belong in an academic journal and then is shocked, SHOCKED when people have strong reactions to her nonsense..

[leemajors]

Lol, goes around exuding pomposity, arrogance and self-superiority..writes overly articulate, didactic posts which look like they belong in an academic journal and then is shocked, SHOCKED when people have strong reactions to her nonsense..

:cry

[AaronY]

Dont make fun of my friend!! :cry

[Koolaid_Man]

Lol, goes around exuding pomposity, arrogance and self-superiority..writes overly articulate, didactic posts which look like they belong in an academic journal and then is shocked, SHOCKED when people have strong reactions to her nonsense..

lemme tell ya right now...lay off my girl cucking Funt or my foot will find it's way through your mouth by compliments of your ass

[CuckingFunt]

Lol, goes around exuding pomposity, arrogance and self-superiority..writes overly articulate, didactic posts which look like they belong in an academic journal and then is shocked, SHOCKED when people have strong reactions to her nonsense..

I am shocked that people would liken anything I've posted in SpursTalk to an academic journal. I am also shocked that using full sentences and mostly proper grammar is enough to label me (and me only, for some reason) pompous and arrogant.

And I am all-caps SHOCKED than any of this would get so many people's panties in a twist.

[CuckingFunt]

lemme tell ya right now...lay off my girl cucking Funt or my foot will find it's way through your mouth by compliments of your ass

I'm not your girl.