Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Michael Ledo Coming off a well receptive original run from 411 BC Greece, Aristophanes' play lives on because of the universal themes it projects. Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) leads the women of Chicago from with holding sex from men until the gang wars stop and the men surrender their arms. They take over the National Guard Armory similar to the take over of the Acropolis in the original tale. Spike Lee maintained the idea of the divided chorus, but his version had more differences than similarities.In this film two gangs are at war: Trojans who wear orange lead by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes). They are fighting against the Spartans who wear purple and are lead by Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon). John Cusack plays a preacher/priest in the community. The dialogue is mostly poetic, much in a rap style. The issues go deep and is supportive of Black Lives Matter, painting everyone in South Carolina as racists. It is also anti-NRA and the politics of the film is the cause for both the love and the hate. Most of the politics is presented in a funeral eulogy delivered by John Cusack who wasn't poetic. Drugs are alluded to, but are not considered a major problem.Samuel L. Jackson plays Dolmedes who narrates the story and gives us the Greek background. Spike Lee has managed to find clothes that don't look good on Jackson as well as poetry he can't master. Lee also uses numerous Greek names in the film, including the gang names that were not in the original play. For instance Oedipus (Wade F. Wilson) describes an unhealthy relationship with his mother.Certainly worth a view for liberals. Conservatives will most likely be less enthusiastic.Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity. Adult themes and language throughout.

svikasha Spike Lee's 2015 satirical musical film "Chi-Raq" is a deeply provocative film. Consequently, the film is very polarizing and audiences will either love it or hate it. But that should not dissuade people from giving this movie a try. For one, the film stars a wide range of talented black actors including Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Teyonah Parris, and Angela Basset. The versatile John Cusack is also present in this film as perhaps one of the few voices of reason in the film's truly chaotic setting: Southside Chicago. When most people think of Chicago, they probably picture the Magnificent Mile, the former Sears Tower, and iconic celebrities like Michael Jordan. But as the opening song of the movie poignantly states, for many in Chicago, the stark reality is: "Boy I don't live in Chicago. I live in Chi-raq". There were 7,356 murders in Chicago in the years 2001 to 2015. That's more than all of America's casualties in both Iraq and Afghanistan. For almost two decades now, the situation in many parts of Chicago has deteriorated into a situation that resembles a true warzone.War is not a unique experience. But the current situation in Chicago deserves some serious recognition from Hollywood. This is why one can't help but appreciate Spike Lee's creative take on "Lysistrata", an ancient Greek play that presents themes that are relevant to this very day. The original Greek play "Lysistrata" was written by Aristophanes, the legendary playwright from ancient Athens. Only eleven of Aristophanes original plays still exist today. These plays formed the foundation for ancient comedy and Aristophanes has been dubbed the father of comedy for his contributions to the ancient form. "Chi-Raq" is Spike Lee's modern take on the ancient play that was originally performed during the classical era of Athens in 411 BCE. In the original play, there is a main character named Lysistrata who attempts to persuade the women of Greece to withhold sex from their lovers as a means of forcing the men fighting in the devastating conflict known today as the Peloponnesian War to stop fighting. The Peloponnesian War is most notable among ancient conflicts because it was a conflict where Greeks broke their own religious beliefs and cultural taboos to wage total destruction on each other. The situation strongly resembled black on black violence today. The original Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta. In "Chi-Raq", the main conflict that Lysistrata is trying to stop is a never-ending gang war between two black gangs in Chicago, the Spartans and the Trojans. Samuel L. Jackson is ever-present throughout the film as Dolmedes, a narrator of sorts who seems quite amused at the events happening around him. Lysistrata essentially brings Chicago's men to their knees. At times the film can be too political and too satirical. The lyrics and rhymes can feel absurd at times. But the film brings up a lot of profound points. For one, it recognizes that the problem goes beyond Chicago. As Lysistrata's mentor and caretaker mentions, "It's not just about Chicago. What about Bodymore Murderland? Killadelphia, City of brotherly murder? Bucktown. Brooklyn, New York". It is easy to pick on Chicago when presented with the statistics, but gun violence is a national problem. The problem has just coalesced by wreaking havoc on the Windy City."Chi-Raq" is a worthy attempt at social activism. John Cussak delivers a solid performance as a priest who offers the wise words, "bullets ain't got no names. No eyes. That's right, they're just designed to take lives. Like they'' take yours soon, son. Three places you're gonna end up: County Morgue, County Hospital, or County Jail. The people downtown don't give a **** about you. You're in the system. You in jail. And you won't make bail. And it's privatized now to capitalize. No more insurance card, no more family to feed, you're hanging from a tree. You're not even costing them money. You're making them money. And Nobody's gonna hear your ****ing 'cause this is a new legal form of lynching". The film reminds the audience that the underground economy exists in Chicago because banks and government institutions don't want to loan money to poor people. This is widely evident by seeing the stark difference between downtown Chicago, with its pristine subways and high-rising skyscrapers, and Chicago's South Side where graffiti and deterioration rule the day. At the end of the day, an investment needs to be made to fix the poverty. "We go from third rate schools to first class high tech prisons". But this doesn't mean people shouldn't take personal responsibility. If there is one thing that can be taken from the movie, its that there is a war raging havoc on the streets of Chicago. As the Liberian activist and Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee said before ending the Second Liberian Civil War, "Look, if you have any power to put stop to the war, you go and do it".

bob the moo I knew little of this film when I sat to watch it, only that it was from Spike Lee, and I was open to whatever it chose to do. The opening credits suggest seriousness and grit; this is an impression that continues even at the same time as it adds theatrical presentation to the delivery, and rhyming couplets to the dialogue. At this point I was intrigued by the style as well as the content but as the ideas grew the film really gets out of control. I am really not sure what the vision for the film was, and what was told to the cast to draw in so many big names – but I'm guessing different things attracted them since so many of them appear to be in different films from the others.The film touches on a lot of serious subjects, but at the same time it tries to involve comedy, musical numbers, sexual farce, and generally odd or misjudged attempts at comedy. The result is a film that feels so totally unfocused that it is really difficult to stay with it. Being kind, you could describe this wild energy as being enough to carry the viewer along, but I did not find this to be the case. Instead I wanted it to be better – to be worthy of its subject matter and its better elements; but this never came together, and I found it quite frustrating just how messy it was.The starry cast doesn't help because even when they are really good, they are distracting by their fame, as well as the disjointed nature of their individual material. Parris is strong in the lead, but struggles to find a through-line across all her varying material. Cannon is wholly unconvincing throughout, while Snipes' comedy gangster undercuts the grit of this part of the film. Bassett and Hudson are excellent in their scenes – and it is not their fault that their scenes exist in a film different from the other scenes. The parade of familiar faces is distracting (Cusack, Jackson, Harris, Chappelle etc), although some are used well. I do always enjoy seeing people from The Wire and Oz, however getting Whitlock Jr. to deliver his most famous line (well, word) was just another misjudged moment.Chi-Raq has a lot of ideas and energy, and it is an experience to watch it for these. However the film is wildly unfocused and messy, ultimately failing to hold it all together or to deliver a satisfying whole.

lafrondaindiecinemacritic Chi-Raq (2015) *** 2hr.07min.Spike lee is one of the most talented and provocative directors in the past 30 years who has continuously makes films that are not only important but also the most joyous of filmmakers with a distinct vision and has made film are challenging, visually and intellectually stimulating filmmaker. Spike Lee has been given a bad rap by the media that is too outspoken for his own good, for Lee has had a difficult time recently getting his films made. He was able to get" Chi-Raq" made but Lee had to deal with a lot of controversy surrounding the film. The mayor of Chicago Emmanuel has said the naming of the film "Chi-Raq" makes Chicago look bad and makes light of the tragedy of street violence in Chicago. I will go on record, to say that the film does not make light of the black on black violence. It is a satire, but Lee is such a good filmmaker that he can be topical, irrelevant without being offensive. The film stars Teyonah Paris as Lysistrata who at the beginning of the movie is making love to her boyfriend Chi-Raq Dupree (Nick Cannon) that is until they hear gun shots. Fearing for her life she moves in with Chiraq mother Helen (Angela Bassett) they talk about her son and how can they make the city of Chicago be a worth wile city again. Helen also hates her son's choice of profession and wonders if he will ever make better choices in his life. Later, a 7 year old girl is shot down and no one wants to come forward and to tell what happened to her. The girls' Mother (Jennifer Hudson) demands justice for her child and pleads to anyone if they can find it in their hearts to come forward and have sympathy for her and for her dead child. Lysistrata has a solution, she and along with a bunch of her girlfriends decide to abstain sex for their men and encourages many black women to do the same publicly. These black women truly feel that they can stop the violence of black on black crime. To stop the persistent shooting within their city. Soon the word get out and is spreads like wildfire not only in the city of Chicago but to other foreign countries such as India, Brazil, Japan and France—yes even France of all places. The men in their lives have a meeting to denounce their significant others to resist their lustful charms and believe that the women will come to their scenes and come back to them no questions asks.Several powerful scenes come to mind. One being Father Mike Corridan (John Cusack) who chastises those people who will not come forward in finding justice for that 7 year old girl and her mother and how can we sit by and not stand up for what's happen to their great city. How the city has become a city of cowards. The community is only looking out for themselves. Another scene that is quite topical is when Lysistrata entices and older white guy, who is a lover of the south and the confederate flag to have sex with him and to tie him up and blind fold him. Only to discover that all of his friends are tried up and that they are the ones that are enslaved and not the women they enslaved hundreds of years ago. Bassett has an effective scene with an insurance agent who wants her to buy insurance for her son. Bassett is disgusted by the request. They are many good performances in the movie, especially Hudson and Bassett as the e women who are pained to see what has happened to their great city of Chicago. Samuel L. Jackson is the narrator of the story and he gives a charismatic and dramatic energy to his scenes. The main problem of the movie is that it spends a little too much time with topical humor and not enough with the character of Chiraq. We don't really get to know him on personal level. There's not real story given to him as why he chose a life of crime. However, I do recommend the movie because this film deals with issues that are important to society and asks the audience to find a solution to a problem that still goes on in not only Chicago but in America as an whole as well.