billcr12

Director and writer Ryan Coogler will surely be nominated for Oscars in both categories. His eye for detail is amazing and the script is delivered by an ensemble cast with nuance and grit. Michael B. Jordan gives a magnificent performance as twin brothers Smoke and Stack in Mississippi in the 1930s.

The siblings have returned to their hometown with ill gotten gains from Chicago and use the cash to open a juke joint with plenty of booze and music. The Delta blues has never sounded better and I recommend good speakers cranked up to hear the amazing soundtrack.

What begins as a meditation on the racial strife in the south eventually turns into an old fashioned vampire film with a message. Be sure to stay past the first set of credits as there is a follow-up with the legendary Buddy Guy performing a couple of songs. The man is eighty-eight and I was blown away by his genius.

Coogler can be seen in an interview with Amy Goodman on the Democracy Now archives. He is a man of insight and genius.

I read the Stephen King short story forty years ago and still have the hardcover book contains it. The cover shows a monkey holding symbols. Evidently, Disney has the trademark and the film changes it to a drum.

Two brothers come upon the evil toy and every time a key is turned, the toy chimp causes the death of someone nearby.

The kill scenes are entertaining but the dialogue is only occasionally funny. Every possible implement is used, including a swarm of bees. My personal favorite involves a stunning young woman in a bikini and a motel swimming pool.

King adaptations are generally hit or miss and this one is somewhere in-between.

Like the complex book on which it based, Chaos is exactly that, a scattered story with so many angles, it defies a coherent telling.

Thomas O'Neill explains it better in the book which covers much more of the Bugliosi aspect of the case. Vincent told the author, off the record, of the discovery of a Roman Polanski video of his wife Sharon having sex with two men. The late prosecutor also threatened Mr. O'Neill with a lawsuit after being shown notes proving perjury and other misdeeds during the trial.

MKULTRA and COINTELPRO make up a small part of the film and the the two mind control experiments may have played a role in the infamous murders.

Read the book for a better overview. The film is a decent companion to it.