Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

 Film Nine: The Italian Connection (1972). A loose sequel to Fernando Di Leo's Caliber 9 that is even more audacious than that film. A small-time criminal and pimp from Milan, Luca Canali, expertly played by Mario Adorf, finds himself set up by his boss and soon two hitmen are after him. Quentin Tarantino used these hitmen as the basis for the very similar ones in Pulp Fiction. The action and fight scenes are composed well, and the cinematography is top notch. Watch for an unexpected headbutt from Adorf that would never fly in an American film. 

Film Eight: A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion (1982). Yaphet Kotto stars in the heartbreaking true story of a free man who cannot buy his wife and son out of slavery and plots a rebellion to help free thousands of slave in South Carolina. I wish we learned more about Denmark Vesey and others like him in school. The film covers many issues surrounding slavery and conditions in America that often go unmentioned today. 

 Film Seven: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). Great performances, especially Janelle Monae’s make this comedic mystery sequel eminently watchable. I figured out who did it early on but missed many of the particular details.