Down with the Kings (2008) Online

"DWTK" is exemplary in many ways. The music, most from the mid to late 90s, reminds me of going to JHS 204 in Astoria, Queens, before the gentrification. Things were different then so seeing all the important parts of my childhood on film was special. The intense struggle between poverty and prosperity in evident in the main characters. It appears to be a true accomplishment for talented actors whose promise is evident. The actors, especially Mr. Raquib and Mr. Reyes, had unique chemistry that seemed clear as their characters were forced to react to different scenarios. Mr. Khan's screen writing was clever; he has the potential to challenge his audience further than he did in this film, which continued to go through twists and turns with each scene. I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, but it is a step in the right direction for everyone who was a part of this. I'm looking forward to seeing more cinematic contributions that continue to shed a spotlight towards many of the important issues going on in my community. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on this!

DWTK Top Ten List, something like the Letterman show:

10) Use of sepia/red screen for Tanvir's money-making schemes: because money is red in Kazakstan 9) no dialogue for the Huslter shows prof. donaldson's point that you don;t need it all the time. plus it gets rid of the chewing sounds he would have made 8) music to capture audience interest. and attract lawsuits from jay- z's lawyers 7) basketball scenes are very street-real. the new york knicks are very interested 6) friendship since childhood is shown so audience knows how close the guys are. boys in the hood mixes with boy meets world 5) villafan played a good Kasey. not a lead character but we know he's important. and amazingly he kept his British accent growing up in queens 4) the baseball bat used in the fight scene was actually used in the real beating of a cockroach 3) the calendar scene is a shout-out to prof. donaldson's use of quotes. Too bad it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY! 2) the guys acted so real because they used the same brand of method acting as Marlon Brando. They also used the same brand of chips, cheese, and chicken that he did. 1) Bobby's muscle shirt

First of all, let's see this movie available online! I've been wanting to show it to friends after seeing it at the screening. I hope it makes its way to film festivals and gets the respect it deserves. For those of you who don't know, here's my rundown of the story, and why it's more worth seeing than the Hollywood crap with fake famous people (oh yea i said it :) Picture two friends, close since they were shorties running around in Queens (i'm from the bk, but i can respect queens's place). One grows up real straight-and-narrow, the other grows up more exposed to the street. That's the reason that the character named T has his troubles. So we see how they are as adults for most of the movie, just a couple of flashback scenes to when they were kids. But there are a lot of cuts to this rooftop where the two men are yelling and cursing at each other! It makes you think like, "these friends are gonna rip each other apart!," and you are made to wonder when it's gonna get to that point in the course of the story. You just don't see stuff like that in the movies, or even on good shows. Makes you use your imagination and predict how the story goes. Then you get to figure out if you were right or wrong- awesome stuff!

This story is told with a great deal of sensitivity towards the lifestyle choices that lead many young men into a life of crime. This is especially clear at the end, since we know that Tanvir has a strong support-base but is still unclear as to what he should do. More could have been done in this film to accentuate the "down" fall of the "kings" as the title suggests. We only see how one character is suffering; the others are doing just fine in comparison. In terms of symbolism, a lot of attention was paid to detail. The street-talk is on point; the image of the bookie's cell phone text message was accurate; the use of a bmw for to accompany the gangster character sends a clear message; the use of the sepia (red screen) for anything involving money or the desire to make it was well-placed. Just before the end the movie had too much of an uninterrupted music sequence, giving it more of a music-video feel. But still even this was well done.

Who would've thought this kind of art could come from a student at a criminal justice college? props to you dannycans! When we all saw the movie at the screening, we all had some good laughs and knew what you were trying to do with the story. It's alright that there were no females featured, the story is all about how tight your boys are. When it comes to your artistic touch dannycans, you should keep doing what you do- you're very talented. You picked a topic that speaks to a lot of people in nyc especially. You got very good actors, and the fact that they are close friends to you speaks a lot to your character. cuts you chose from the classic old school tracks were very well done. i think everyone will be able to pick out the lyrics and why they work for the story. nice use of backdrops and street-real videography. The fight scene at the park was tense! Maybe it would have been interesting to make that crazy guy with the bat with more of a background to your characters. Not to give away the ending, but there could have been more done with him and how it affects your boy T.