Black Snake Moan is Worth Watching

What manipulators those Hollywood marketers are. I remember seeing the preview for "Black Snake Moan" in the theater and the only scenes that were included were of a young half-naked girl being kept in chains in some backwoods shack. I naturally concluded that the film was some weird Quentin Tarantino concoction (don't get me wrong - I love Tarantino, e.g. Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill). However, despite the weirdness of the apparent setup, the fact that Sam Jackson (one of Hollywood's best, without any doubt) and Christina Ricci were the principals in this movie made me think that, at some point, I would probably see it.

And I did. Last night, I finally pulled off the shelf my copy of "Black Snake Moan", for which Roeper and Ebert have given "two thumbs way up". All I can say is, outstanding movie.

Ultimately, despite the flaky way in which this movie was marketed (not a bad idea to show Christina Ricci in her underwear if you want to draw in the 18-22 crowd; however, this movie is more sophisticated than your average beer swizzler fare), this is a film about redemption and forgiveness. In other words, its emotionally a lot deeper than I would have thought based on its promotion and I found it very satisfying. And, of course, there's a heavy blues music component to it, making it even better (I will probably search for the soundtrack today).

Added bonus: Getting to hear Samuel Jackson play the blues. Outstanding!

Oh, not related to the movie, but this is interesting. Pork is considered bad for you in several respects. And alcohol, in excess, can be healthy as well as unsafe. What happens when you mix the two? I don't have a clue, personally, because I don't plan to ever try them together. However, if you'd like to visualize the two in combination, here's a good pic on Wormbrain's blog (looks neat, but, most likely, you'd find yourself wretching on the floor fifteen minutes later).

Celebrate the New Year with a Pork Martini