How to Make Money Selling Drugs

Movies to See Right Now

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This week’s best pick is the flawless thriller Captain Phillips, with Tom Hanks starring as the real-life ship captain hijacked by Somali pirates and rescued by American commandos in 2009.

I also like the intricately plotted and unrelentingly tense suspense thriller Prisoners (with Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman).  Joseph Gordon Levitt’s offbeat comedy Don Jon offers both guffaws and an unexpected moment of self-discovery.

My other top recommendations are Woody Allen’s very funny Blue Jasmine (with an Oscar-worthy performance by Cate Blanchett) and the very well-acted civil rights epic Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

In addition, the rock music documentary Muscle Shoals, the based-on-fact French foodie saga Haute Cuisine and the witty French rom com Populaire each has something to offer.

Check out my new feature VOD Roundup, where you can find my comments on over twenty current movies available on Video on Demand. There are some good ones, some bad ones and some really, really good ones (including How to Make Money Selling Drugs).

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the week is the cop buddy comedy The Heat, with Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. The Heat is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Vudu and other VOD outlets.

 

Movies to See Right Now

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AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS

This week’s top two picks:

  • I really liked the absorbing drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
  • In A Word… is the year’s best comedy so far – it’s a Hollywood satire, an insider’s glimpse into the voice-over industry, a family dramedy and a romantic comedy all in one.

I haven’t yet seen Short Term 12, the drama set in a group home with a reputedly star-making performance by Bree Larson (Rampart, The Spectacular Now). Same goes for The Family, Luc Besson’s tongue-in-cheek Mafioso-moves-to-France movie.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of it and other upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

The powerfully authentic coming of age film The Spectacular Now and the emotionally powerful Fruitvale Station are both on my list of Best Movies of 2013 – So Far.

My other top recommendations:

My other recommendations:

Check out my new feature VOD Roundup, where you can find my comments on over twenty current movies available on Video on Demand. There are some good ones, some bad ones and some really, really good ones (including Letters from the Big Man).

My Stream of the Week is the documentary How to Make Money Selling Drugs, a dispassionate critique of the Drug War. How to Make Money Selling Drugs is available streaming from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

On September 17, Turner Classic Movies will air the very trippy Un Chien Andalou, made in 1929 by the then very young absurdist director Luis Buñuel with surrealist painter Salvador Dali. If you’ve never seen the famous eyeball-slicing scene, here’s your chance.

Stream of the Week: How to Make Money Selling Drugs

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HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS

Filmmaker Matthew Cooke’s documentary How to Make Money Selling Drugs is a dispassionate critique of the Drug War.  Using the How To format as an attention grabber, Cooke presents the job opportunities in illegal drug commerce as rational economic decisions  How much money can you make as a street dealer?  As a drug smuggler or kingpin?  What is the risk that you will need to defend your product inventory from a violent robbery?  What are the risks that you will be incarcerated?  How do those risks change if you are African-American?

The talking heads are former industry insiders, ranging from former street dealer 50 Cent to big league smuggler Brian O’Dea and notorious LA druglord Freeway Rick.

How to Make Money Selling Drugs is effective because Cooke generally strips away the value judgements and lets the audience draw its own conclusions, balancing out the risks and rewards.  The final risk presented, that of addiction, is particularly sobering.  (How to Make Money strays from this approach just once, with a Woody Harrelson diatribe.)    I expect that most viewers will conclude that 1) drug dealing is not a great long-term career path; and 2) the Drug War has not been effective in reducing drug abuse or illegal commerce.

How to Make Money Selling Drugs is available streaming from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.