IMDb user comments for
The L.A. Riot Spectacular (2005)

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
If Bill Maher and Albert Einstein made a film, this would be it., 19 June 2006

Author: Jake Schmidt from United States

The true story of the L.A. Riots has been a tale nobody had the right to tell, until now. The producers take a hard and truthful look at the human dynamics and social turmoil that is Los Angeles, then throw in a dark humor that ends up speaking the truth for all of us. No matter what social or ethnic group you are from, you'll feel a twinge of pain, a bit of righteousness, and a healthy amount of sadness at the condition we all share: Apathy mixed with fear. I watched this film with an active duty veteran policeman from LAPD, and he reminded me of one of those "bobble head dolls" you see in people's back windshields: He had a perpetual smile on his face but his head was either swinging side to side or bobbling up and down. Even when Snoop Dog starts chanting "F*** the Police, F*** the Police" it's easy to understand his (and many Angeleno's) frustration at the huge barrier in communication that divides L.A. government and it's people. This film speaks to that frustration, and keeps the question's alive.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Direct-to-video for a reason, 6 December 2006

Author: bozo2bozo2 from United States

It's weak and obvious, with only modest production values, a ham-handed script, and labored humor. If the director and writer were sophomores in high school, I'd give them very high marks, but they're not. There are some good actors here, although it's a challenge to see that.

So what's wrong with it? Satire is supposed to give the viewer a dose of reality and then, with subtlety and taste, twist it. This movie takes the most obvious idea and walks with it... oh... so... slowly. You get it. You GET IT. But it just keeps going. It's like any of a thousand of bad Saturday Night Live skits, where in the first twenty seconds all comedic juice has been squeezed out of that lemon... but no: you've got another ten minutes. And then a commercial.

I'd suggest that if you get it for free (for god's sake, don't spend any money on it), you watch it long enough to figure out that it's not worth the time you spent; after, you'll wonder why you wasted that half-hour of your life.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The most dangerous film in Hollywood...and also its funniest., 22 May 2006

Author: (DD@rocketarts.com) from United States

Attention celluloid connoisseurs, here's a movie that has that rare blend of outrageous comedy, biting satire, art with substance and spot-on social criticism. This film will have you chuckling and howling, then…thinking…a tad disturbed, but will inevitably leave you with more insight behind what fuels urban decadence. Spoofing the beating of Rodney King by the LAPD, this wickedly witty work exposes many of the root causes and perpetuation of these unfortunate, yet all-too-common incidents in society. Treating people like impersonal objects, distrust, misunderstanding, turf protection and crass commercialism all contribute to the frayed edges, short fuses and lethal disrespect of social intolerance. This movie doesn't just poke fun at racism, the media, political correctness and stereotyping, it throws stiff jabs and roundhouse kicks at the whole shithouse…and damn, it's funny! It also has the courage to face head on, deep human issues with a twinkle in the eye and tongue-in-cheek…everybody's guilty, yet everybody's cool.

It's a short film, less than an hour-and-a-half, but generates more substance per minute than bloated mainstream blockbusters. It warrants repeated viewing. The production values are not lacking despite a modest film budget and the dialogue is rich in subtlety, revealing the writer's depth of understanding of what makes society tick and what makes society sick. I found this refreshing while viewing it and even more so afterwards. Most films that deal with race related issues tend to be unconvincing due to shallowness in either the writing, directing or acting, or all the above.

Though I've enjoyed the serious intent of films like "Dangerous Minds," "Boyz In the Hood," and "Blackboard Jungle," they never quite convinced me that they had a finger on the pulse of what goes down in the 'hood.' "The L.A. Riot Spectacular," from its comedic perspective, hits much closer to home. It's a hip flick that switches gears seamlessly between highbrow and homeboy in the proper vernacular and with real authority.

The actors do a fine job bringing their obnoxious, yet endearing characters to life. As the story progresses, they undergo transformations and one can't help but laugh at and empathize with their follies. I particularly enjoyed Charles Dutton, as Mayor Bradley and it was fun seeing Ronnie Cox as Police Chief Gates. But I found the whole cast amusing with memorable performances by: TK Carter, who plays victim-turned-opportunist, Rodney King; Snoop Dogg lends a likable narration and entertainment presence; Emilio Estevez, still has the best snicker in Hollywood as Officer Powell along with Christopher McDonald as Officer Kuhn. George Hamilton achieves comedic transcendence when he morphs from flaky underdog to ominous overcat. Other notable caricatures were achieved by the actors who portrayed; the lucky slime who filmed the infamous beating on video, the dejected-but-lovable Mexican, the hard-luck-but-good-attitude Korean couple, the impossibly narrow Aryan father and son, the naive-but-mindlessly-dangerous gangstas, the sensational TV news couple with their shameless gall and of course, a blood-sucking lawyer.

Good art asks questions but some art reveals answers and tells you where your feet are. So to writer/director Marc Klasfeld, thanks for the hard work and awesome job! Keep jabbing away. This film will find its audience and make people guffaw for years to come and maybe someday we will, "all get along."

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Film Student Documentary Covering 5 years After (anyone remember the title?), 17 December 2006

Author: Scott Ritchie from Park City, UT -- United States

I have not seen the film in question here, however, the topic of the events, covered by the film, brought back to mind a documentary I had watched years later.

I am not sure of the title (I thought it was "What Has Been Learned: 5 Years Later, the LA Riots" or "What Have We Learned: 5 Years after the LA Riots" or something lie that. I'm quite sure that I watched it on 'Independent Lens' or one of the local Public Broadcast Networks. I thought it was being peddled at Sundance in 1998 or 1997 as well but can't find a listing.

Anyway... the documentary was a then/now perspective on South Central and used the lenses of several digital cameras, each given to film students, from one of the new "magnet" community colleges and other film students from USC. Also used in the film, rather than stock news footage of the Riots, was a wide variety of snippets from the area's residents who were shooting the Riots and the aftermath with their own video cameras. It was riveting! Much more gritty than the fluff recaps, brought out for sweeps month, from all the major networks. Rather than some "bubble headed bleached blond" re-capping the same old helicopter-shot footage of columns of smoke and slow motion repeats of the Reginald Denny beat-down... you were placed dead center in the middle of this sh!t by people with cameras of people who didn't care if they were on camera or not. Some of the riot footage was shot by local gangs, with their members mugging-it-up for their own cameras as they shot, burned, and looted their way through 3 coke/crack/weed and booze filled days of what (to them) was just a grand old time.

The footage and commentary of the film students was what was most chilling. One USC group sat out gathering up all of the locally shot footage they could find of the riots from then, using the same people who filmed it or were caught on camera at the time, and interweaving their new interviews and area filming from five years later. The blight and degradation/gentrification, which is occurring still, was in stark contrast to what the general public was spoon-fed by the networks' coverage, of the five-year mark, by smiling talking heads with boob-jobs and face-lifts and their attempts at investigative reporting.

Great film... now if someone else who has seen it can just remember and post the title on this board... that would be fantastic. I would very much enjoy a second look at the well made (albeit a bit poorly edited and lit at times) documentary from those who were there and from those who still care.

Thanks,

srchn4ansrs

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7 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
One of The Funniest Films I've Ever Seen, 2 June 2005

Author: jbw242 (jbw242@nyu.edu) from United States

As an avid movie fanatic I'd have to say that I have not laughed so hard in a long time. I saw this film with three friends at the Tribeca Film Festival and we all agreed that it was one of the funniest movies we've seen in years. Immediately after walking out of the theater and the entire evening afterward we could not stop thinking about the countless hilarious parts of this film. But at the same time the film does portray the seriousness of the riots that occurred in LA in the early 90s. The all-star cast, some of whom took on quite controversial roles, was fantastic. And along with the excellent editing between the actual video clips from the riots and the shots filmed for the movie, it made one great film. I can't wait for Rockhard Films to find a distributor for this film, because I have to see this movies again. The second I left the theater I wanted to watch it all over again. So if you are listening distribution companies...Pick Up This Film...Please!

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