Life Is Hot In Cracktown is the harsh uncompromising plethora of tales about people who do crack, spend their time looking for money for crack and live within its addiction 24/7. There's no frills here, no upside, and no real hope. There's Mary Beth, (a dazzling turn by Kerry Washington) a pre-op transgender, hooking to survive as her crack frazzled boyfriend Benny (Desmond Harrington) robs apartments. Then there's Romeo, (Evan Ross) a shell like dead eyed teen gangbanger, husked out after his brother's death, and who spends his days raping and terrorizing when he's not smoking up. Kids aren't spared either, with ten year old Willie (Ridge Snipe) panhandling the streets for money, partly to feed his younger sister, and partly to contribute towards his parents addiction, all the while observing Melody, a teen prostitute who he has a crush on.
Life Is Hot In Cracktown is a bleak, depressing yet strangely touching tour de force from one of the most underrated (and sadly and unjustly overlooked) director's around, Buddy Giovinazzo, who's searing debut Combat Shock was no less disturbing despite its micro budget.
Unsympathetic yet non-judgemental, it's quite frankly one of the best films I've seen recently and if this film was done by a mainstream or famous director, it would probably reap awards, with one in particular going to Washington and another to Evan Ross.
I caught this at the Edinburgh fabfest and it was one of the highlights of an already impressive lineup of films, with Buddy Giovinazzo as a special guest, who is one of the nicest, unassuming self deprecating guys you can meet. Hopefully Cracktown will get a US distribution because it deserves to be seen.
A highly recommended film, check it out. 9/10
Life Is Hot In Cracktown is a bleak, depressing yet strangely touching tour de force from one of the most underrated (and sadly and unjustly overlooked) director's around, Buddy Giovinazzo, who's searing debut Combat Shock was no less disturbing despite its micro budget.
Unsympathetic yet non-judgemental, it's quite frankly one of the best films I've seen recently and if this film was done by a mainstream or famous director, it would probably reap awards, with one in particular going to Washington and another to Evan Ross.
I caught this at the Edinburgh fabfest and it was one of the highlights of an already impressive lineup of films, with Buddy Giovinazzo as a special guest, who is one of the nicest, unassuming self deprecating guys you can meet. Hopefully Cracktown will get a US distribution because it deserves to be seen.
A highly recommended film, check it out. 9/10