579. Crash (2005)

*The Warlock is in his father’s palace wearing a black tuxedo and holding a champagne glass of Dr. Pepper*

W: Welcome to my father’s palace for another edition of Oscar’s Month here at Warlock’s Movie Realm. Tonight Neyzor Blades, my father and I will be taking a look at the winner of Best Picture from 2005, the drama known as CRASH.

*Neyzor Blades is in the recliner wearing a black dress*

N: What is this about?

W: I’ll get to that in a second, but first the accolades. Matt Dillon was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Paul Haggis was nominated for Best Director, the movie won Best Editing and Best Screenplay plus the movie was nominated for Best Original Song. Now for the competition, CRASH beat out Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night And Good Luck and Munich. Other movies that weren’t nominated included Cinderella Man, Walk The Line, Pride & Prejudice, Batman Begins and Peter Jackson’s King Kong. I’ve seen Batman Begins, Pride & Prejudice and King Kong and I can say CRASH is better.

N: What….is….it…..about?

W: Alright, alright. The movie is an ensemble cast who’s stories roll into each other in Los Angeles. Its mostly about racism and racial stereotypes. I saw it once with my mom when it first came out and thought it was good. But is it worthy of being Best Picture? The funny thing is it was written by the same guy who wrote last year’s Best Picture winner Million Dollar Baby. Speaking of which, this is the second straight Best Picture appearance by Michael Pena after being in Million Dollar Baby. Its got a great cast and a good story so let’s see how this turns out. Grab your popcorn, grab your drink and grab your woman because its time for CRASH.

Written by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco

Directed by Paul Haggis

Cast:

Karina Arroyave	…	Elizabeth
	Dato Bakhtadze	…	Lucien
	Sandra Bullock	…	Jean
	Don Cheadle	…	Graham
	Art Chudabala	…	Ken Ho
	Sean Cory	…	Motorcycle Cop
	Tony Danza	…	Fred
	Keith David	…	Lt. Dixon
	Loretta Devine	…	Shaniqua
	Matt Dillon	…	Officer Ryan
	Jennifer Esposito	…	Ria
	Ime Etuk	…	Georgie (as Ime N. Etuk)
	Eddie J. Fernandez	…	Officer Gomez (as Eddie Fernandez)
	William Fichtner	…	Flanagan
	Howard Fong	…	Store Owner
	Brendan Fraser	…	Rick
	Billy Gallo	…	Officer Hill
	Ken Garito	…	Bruce
	Nona Gaye	…	Karen
	Octavio Gómez Berríos	…	Hispanic Passenger (as Octavio Gómez)
	James Haggis	…	Lara’s Friend
	Terrence Howard	…	Cameron
	Sylva Kelegian	…	Nurse Hodges
	Daniel Dae Kim	…	Park
	Bruce Kirby	…	Pop Ryan
	Ludacris	…	Anthony (as Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges)
	Jayden Lund	…	Security Guard
	Jack McGee	…	Gun Store Owner
	Amanda Moresco	…	First Assistant Director
	Thandiwe Newton	…	Christine (as Thandie Newton)
	Martin Norseman	…	Conklin
	Joe Ordaz	…	Hispanic Driver
	Greg Joung Paik	…	Choi
	Michael Peña	…	Daniel
	Yomi Perry	…	Maria
	Ryan Phillippe	…	Officer Hanson (as Ryan Phillipe)
	Alexis Rhee	…	Kim Lee
	Ashlyn Sanchez	…	Lara
	Molly Schaffer	…	Woman at Locksmith’s
	Paul E. Short	…	Officer Stone
	Marina Sirtis	…	Shereen
	Bahar Soomekh	…	Dorri
	Allan Steele	…	Paramedic
	Kate Super	…	Receptionist
	Larenz Tate	…	Peter
	Glenn Taranto	…	Country DJ (voice)
	Beverly Todd	…	Graham’s Mother
	Shaun Toub	…	Farhad
	Kathleen York	…	Officer Johnson
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Curt Clendenin	…	Carjack Witness (uncredited)
	Taber Cross	…	Clerk (uncredited)
	Alastair Douglas	…	Young Peter (uncredited)
	Nikki Rapp	…	Woman (uncredited)
	Nicholas George Stark	…	Jamal (uncredited)

*Neyz reads the tag-line*

N: “Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.

Wa: That’s about to change