In the Ghetto

What a terrible film...

There are two types of idiots that the director of 'When Thugs Cry' can be classified under: just a stupid, lazy fool, or one of those idiots that tries to be extremely intelligent and artsy. The filmwork in this movie is so terrible that it is nearly headache inducing. At one point, the tone will be a deep sepia and the next it will be full color. The sound editing is simply horrid, at one point being loud with cars passing by, then cutting to another character and hearing the yells of children in the background.

If this film was indeed made with a script at hand, then it could not have been very well written. It's completely indulged with stereotypes and random 'drama' thrown in there occasionally. At one point, there is a feud between a couple, and the next minute there is a concert going on where everyone, including the main character's significant other, sings his praises. The random outbursts of tragedies go by so quickly that one barely notices them. They are also proven insignificant because of the weak character development. One really does not care when a character is beaten to a point that is nearly fatal, nor does one care when a character is raped.

But, hey, at least Soundmaster-T produced that wonderful gem of music that is '2 Much Booty (In 'Da Pants)'

I recently borrowed the DVD for "When Thugs Cry" from a friend, and actually sat through the entire thing (which I was surprised I did). Personally, I feel that this movie is NOT worth watching. The only part of the movie that I found satisfying was the soundtrack, preferably the songs by "Swamp Family", which is composed of various stars from the film. The acting was horrible, and the storyline was almost impossible to catch on to. It doesn't surprise me that this movie was a small, un-heard-of movie that was $5 at Wal-Mart. I do, however, wish that the producers would've released a soundtrack album to accompany the DVD, then people would hear the songs, think the movie was good, and go spend the money to watch this disappointment. If anyone decides to watch it, don't watch it for the content, watch it to hear the amazing soundtrack, with songs like "Mama Smile" (the best.)

Other crew credited at the tail of "When Thugs Cry" that's not profiled here include Mark F. Armstrong, associate production coordinator (paragraphs from the media kit I wrote can be found in the liner notes on the back of the DVD jewel case box). Besides writing the media kit, contributing substantially to media promotions, and also conducting paralegal research, reviewing paperwork, and revising the movie's business plan for the producers, I also ended up subsidizing catering and craft service and casting featured extras for the production. You can certainly tell the difference between the scenes shot on Super 16mm and digital video. But, it did end up as my very first professional film production credit.