Monster's Ball
 

Has anyone seen the new movie, "Monster's Ball", which stars Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton? I believe it opened this past Friday. I have not seen it yet, but I am seriously considering it.

I'm curious to see how Halle takes on this challenging role. I was never too impressed with her acting ability. I was also disappointed to hear that she is baring even more skin in this movie than she did in "Swordfish". In an interview she made a comment that exposing herself in "Swordfish" made it easier for her to let it all hang loose in "Monster's Ball".

Now I know that most men will love to see Halle exposing herself in the movie's passionate sex scenes, but were they really all that necessary?

I thought that she did a great job with Dorothy Dandridge, but now she's been naked in the last two movies that she's made, and I've definitely lost a lot of respect for her. But I guess I could be wrong about "Monster's Ball". Maybe Halle will prove me wrong!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that P Diddy is in this movie as well...

She was naked before, remember The Last Boyscout?

I want to see the movie myself. Some of it was filmed down here.

Why does it matter if she takes her clothes off or not? :confused:
It's not like she is out there playing in stereotypical roles or being shown in a negative way. Isn't it natural for us to "take it off"?

I saw her in an interview and she said that Eric had problems with the scene at first, but he eventually "calmed down".

I'm getting old...Can we say Ginko and all that?
 

I believe the movie opens NATION-WIDE this Friday.

No, Soror. I don't remember "The Last Boyscouts". I remember the movie, but I don't remember her in the film. I guess I'm going to have to make one of these days off a Blockbuster Day/Night.

:D

Soror, Halle Berry was Damon Wayan's stripper girlfriend that was killed in the first 20 minutes of the movie.

Hello everybody,
I saw the movie this past weekend and I thought it was a very good movie. I cried, laugh and even I know he just didn't say that:eek: If you see the movie I'm talking about the scene with Billy Bob father and Halle Berry, what he says to her its just :eek: I like the movie and recommend that eveyone goes see it.

Not a clue!
 

lol. Thanks, but I still don't remember. LMAO!

It's been a lonnnnnnng time since I've seen it. LMAO

I don't know about this movie. I'm a little :confused:, :eek: and lost.

It seems like some parts were missing. I guess I'll have to watch it again or view the deleted scenes. IMO, it was OKAY.


I rented Vanilla Sky also and it is a trip! :eek: Has anyone seen it?

Vanilla Sky was really good then at the climax of the movie started to kinda trip out. It was ok.

Monster's Ball was carried by the actors. The ending was kinda like...umm, ok. Oops, there are the credits. But the rest of the movie was really good, I felt.

I rented the movie last night. I was like how in hell did you win for this. All she did was cry and sex the guy. The movie had no substance. It left a great deal to ponder. Like, why did she not ask the guy if he was there when her husband was killed.

We bought the DVD last night and watched it. I'm trippin' off the fact that Halle won an Oscar for this performance. Yes, she did very well. However, I'm not seeing anything that was just so amazingly spectacular about it. It was a good movie - a bit odd at the end. I'm also trippin' off the fact that that dude went out and gave 'ole girl a car and named his gas station after her after one little freak session. I was looking for more in the ending...perhaps Halle's character becoming a bit more mentally stable with her "new" life.

I'm with you Professor...I was kinda lost and didn't get some of the underlying themes that seemed to be going on. At the end, I was pissed because she didn't confront ol' Billy Bob...and what did he get out of it?

I'm not sure if her acting skills were sooo great that she should have won the Best Actress award. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad an AA won, but why did she win for this movie? Where was the substance?

I think she did better in Losing Isiah.

:cool:

I also think her acting in Losing Isiah was better. I saw Monster's Ball before it was nominated for an Oscar and came out of the movie theater disappointed. I thought the storyline didn't develop the characters well enough that you understood them.

#7 Snuggles
DST

Oscar-level performance???
 

Well, I rented the video last night and was not impressed with Monster's Ball. I kept waiting for the good part.

Halle's performance was credible but definitely not Oscar-winning.

I finally saw this movie last week at the 50 cents show and it was 50 cents good but not OSCAR good.

I agree with what has been previously stated. Losing Isaiah was a much more solid performance for her. Hell she could have won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Jungle Fever because her crackhead performance was all of that.

Monster's Ball's ending pissed me off because I just knew she was going to at least confront him about it and all they did was eat some ice cream.

I still have not seen Training Day but GOOD LORD, Denzel was MAGNIFICENT in John Q. He had me broke ALL THE WAY DOWN in that theater.

I can honestly say that Halle getting that Oscar was truly a pat on the head, a shoo fly, etc. type of award. It was deserved, belatedly though.

I know no one else liked BAPS but I did so they could have gave her an OSCAR for that movie as well.

I have still not seen Monster's Ball, but reviews I have read and heard closely mirror responses on this board. Everybody seems to believe that it is not Oscar material. I think I'll agree.
I am in the minority, and I think that Halle is more looks than quality. I believe that we have much better actresses than she, and I do not think that she was deserving of an Oscar. However, the Academy figured it was time, and they had better make up for past slips and put out. I think Halle is just what they needed, and she was given this award as a balm.
I can also see why some people would think she has stripped her way to the top. Now, who really thinks she can float with Angela Basset, or Whoopi for instance? Now, as for Denzel, I must admit, he did rip it up in Training Day, and I have to give the brother his dues. Now that was definitely Oscar material, and I intend to rent it and watch it again.
I might be wrong, but lets be careful about who "they" pick to give Oscars to. Do not be surprised if more talented minority people get slighted in the near future. We might have wasted our "quota"...

By the way, who has seen "Eyes Wide Shut?" Can somebody give me the catch. Call me dumb, but I did not get what the mystery was.

After Halle won the Oscar I was going to see the movie, but much of the response I got from people who saw it was pretty much the same as on here. I still think I will rent it though because I am curious. I'll post my comments about it afterwards.

CT4, "Training Day" is a must see. I gotta admit though, for parts of the movie I was like, "Denzel? Not you Denzel..." because he usually plays upstanding characters. But his performance is outstanding and totally believable.

TLAW, "Eyes Wide Shut"...can't help you there. I was :confused: What was all the hoopla about for this movie? :rolleyes:

Serenity, it was supposed to be a real thriller, so I must be slow...

Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman playing out I guess their fantasies on screen. :rolleyes: I do not know. I did not see the movie. :confused:

CT4: I didn't realize $1.00, let alone 50 cents movie theaters still existed. :o :eek: That's where I need to be.

I kept getting lost and eventually fell asleep. :yawn:

Secret Porn Movie
 

I just recently watched Monster's Ball and I was in fact embarrased as I watched Halle basically screw Billy Bob. I know that it was suppsed to show raw and animal passion but dammmm all that was unecessary. I have seen plenty of movies where they cut away. Seeing Halle like that was liking being a voyeur into some secret porn movie. I know Eric had a little bit more to say than that if I saw my wife getting it from the back and rolling around buck naked, even if there was no "intercourse" that is still to much. And I agree with what was said before the best actresses not to metion black actresses didn't take their clothes off. But I guess that is why they didn't win Oscar's. I even watched the scene with her commentary and she was saying things like oh when i watch this scene I don't associate that being me, she said it was like looking at another person and saying wow look what she is doing. Well I say to her "Halle how do you think we feel". I have always liked Halle but Monster's Ball left a bad taste in my mouth.

Two Thumbs Down
 

Ok, y'all ... I am totally confused, baffled and flabbergasted. I just got done watching Monster's Ball and I had to come post. How in the hell did this movie win ANY Oscar nominations, let alone Halle winning for best actress? :confused: I'll admit, I've never been a Halle fan. I think she's an extremely beautiful woman, but a medicore actress at best. She's never been able to quite convince me of any role she's played (except for Jungle Fever - she was a believable crackhead). Halle just has too much fluff and not enough grit. Yeah, thats it ... she's just not gritty enough. Shoot, Mos Def and Puffy gave better performances than she did :eek:.

While it was past time to give us our due, I think the Academy paid us a huge disservice by choosing Halle as their token. We have much, much better actresses out there.

Does anyone know if this movie was supposed to take place in present day?

i finally saw it..........
 

i finally saw the movie with my husband last night. over all i thought it was a good movie. i like intense movies and this by far was one of the most intense films i have seen. i liked the fact that there was less dialogue than normal so you really had to watch the film. i see how and why eric benet could have been upset with halle over the sex scenes. the first one was really a bit much but contrary to the opinions of others that i have read, it was not a random scene.

to those of you that saw it did you all catch how he was eating the chocolate ice cream with a white plastic spoon and how leticia was written in black against a white background...serious innuendo!!! i took it as 'ol boy having a serious thing for black women in general but because of his upbringing, he couldn't live out he true desires; aside from the fact that he was just COMPLETELY TURNED OUT:eek: .

i can see how some folks may feel that this was a stereotypical movie in which the white man rescues the black woman, but the way the movie was carried out, everything was all circumstantial (sp?)

i found the ending to be lacking and i could quite understand her facial expressions. was she angry?? was she going to kill him?? i was hoping that she would go off on him or something but it was kinda left out there dangling. the dialogue b/w the 2 would have been extremely important, i think.

'splitting the oak???':eek: , i personally would have killed the old man.

You no me!!!!!!!
 

AKA2D'91 when I saw the movie I was like:eek: :eek: :eek: . This film was directed by the odd Stanley Kubrick, who has a history of directing erotic, mind puzzling films. He did this film call "a clockwork orange" I have so much respect as a memberfriend :D :D for this sight that I won't even tell you what it was about: it came out in the late '70s or '80s and was plain stupid (especially for that time)

Re: Secret Porn Movie
 

Princess don't feel bad my husband and I went to see it and I was embarass because of the white people in the theator....I was embarrass only in the scene were she was begging for it; I hate to see Afric.-Amer. women begg for anything especially to an Anglo-Saxon. It's nothing wrong with her making passionate love to him it's just how it all took its essence. Not prejudice just real

I finally saw Training Day last night on DVD no less

*good performance
*still would rather that he got the Oscar for John Q over the corrupt azz cop in Training Day
*he wore me out with the overuse of N****

I was blown away by just how corrupt GOOD DENZEL was but he played the role magnificently.

I saw a little of Monster's Ball a few months ago. I wasn't impressed with it at all, not even a little. Actually I was shocked that Halle felt the need to go to the "extreme" with that part. You mean to say in all the work she's done, she had to do porn in order to win an award? :rolleyes: I just shook my head and thought is this the only way we can be recognized? I think Cinemax is supposed to show other scenes in the movie never before seen in the U.S. IMO, I don't really think she's a great actress, but I'm happy she got an award nonetheless.

Now I saw Training Day a few months ago as well. That part was so unlike the regular Denzel. When he got to cursing I was like :eek: Out of all his movies I think that was one I liked the least, but it showed how versatile his acting abilities are (like we didn't know.) He looked sexy in that movie especially the scene where he left Macy Gray's house and the neighborhood folks started shooting and he had both guns blazing....ok I'm rambling. I don't care what the role is, Denzel can tear it up though. He was excellent in John Q. Now his acting in that movie was an award winning performance. Kimberly Elise did a good job as well because her acting wasn't so great in Set It Off. She has really matured. When an actor/actress can make you feel an emotion, that's the sign of a good performer.