Director Jacques Audiard calls his film A Prophet his “anti-Scarface”. That’s a handy guide as to what to expect in this riveting crime flick. There is none of Tony Montana’s glamour, no camaraderie ala Goodfellas. Instead, A Prophet follows one central character, a French Arab named Malik and played by Tahar Rahim, who is forced to survive in prison with no one but an intimidating Corsican mobster to guide him.Like the best crime movies, A Prophet is the story of how people construct their identities, but it also demonstrates how the Corsican mob is changing. Older bosses like the film’s Cesar (played by Niels Arestrup, The Bourne Ultimatum) are out of date, their glory days harkening back to the days of the French Connection (when heroin was smuggled from France to the U.S. in the 1950s-1970s). Malik is the new breeda boss whose reputation is not made on experience, but on study. After all, he’s in prison. What other option does he have? Read the rest of this entry »

After a career that lasted six decades, Dennis Hopper died of complications related to prostate cancer on May 29. Hopper was 74. Though he is best known as an actor who often played villains and other unstable characters, Hopper also directed and wrote a number of films. One of his best known early roles was in the 1969 hit, Easy Rider. In this film, Hopper co-stars alongside Peter Fonda, playing the role of a young biker who sets out on an adventure with his friend to bike across the country, meeting many interesting characters along the way. What many people don’t know is that Hopper had been playing smaller roles in TV and film for over a decade before this big debut. Some of his earlier works included Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. Read the rest of this entry »