“I need you to survive the night.” Dismukes
Number of Times Seen – 1 (5 Dec 2017)
Brief Synopsis – Depiction of the events of the Algiers hotel during the rioting in Detroit in 1967.
My Take on it – Having grown up in the suburbs of Detroit, I was quite excited to see this movie when I heard about it since I knew that there were riots in the 60’s, but didn’t really know much about the actual events that took place.
This film does a great job focusing on the events of the Algiers Hotel and they are able to keep the tension level rising throughout the story.
Love dthe way that we get to see how both sides are motivated by fear which can lead to so many different kinds of outcomes.
After having seen this, I’m glad that I wasn’t aware of what happened before watching it because it allowed me to feel the tension of everything going on wiithout knowing where it would eventually lead.
The film runs a bit too long for its own good and during the first 2/3 of it, there are scenes that move along a bit too slowly.
To compensate for that, they rush through the events of the final 1/3 which also doesn’t help much to keep things in perspective.
Bottom Line – Does a great job showing how everyone involved in these events acted and reacted out of pure fear. The tension is built up really well and I’m actually glad that I personally didn’t know anything about the story before I saw this because it helped keep things surprising. The runtime is a bit too long for its own good and since the main story runs too long, the final 1/3 feels too rushed. Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Director Kathryn Bigelow was inspired to unearth this event by the Ferguson (MO) riots (Aug. 2014) where an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy
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MovieRob 
this was one of the best movies I saw in 2017. It will make my personal top 10. I found it absolutely riveting and I think my stomach was in a knot from start to finish. I knew vaguely about the story – but none of the particulars – so I had no idea how it would play out or what would happen to anyone depicted. I posted at the time – right after seeing it when it came out – that I was sure Kathryn Bigelow would be nominated again for Best Director – and I thought she could win. The movie was not seen – but now it’s screening and screener season – and I’m sure that Megan Ellison at Annapurna will beat the drums for this picture – so there’s still hope. Bigelow teamed up again with Mark Boal who did the screenplay – after they did Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker together and this is every bit as good as both of those.
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nah, THL and ZDT were both much better IMHO.
As I said in my review, I like dthis a lot, and it was thrilling and riveting but things coulda been moved a bit faster because it does run a bit too long.
Needless to say, it probably wont make my top 10, but so far, I only have one lock and thats Dunkirk (which I rewatched today)
The Big Sick and IT will probably also make my list, but I still have lots and lots to watch before February when I make my list
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We’ll agree to disagree. My heart was in my mouth for most of Detroit. I found it to be very powerful. Zero Dark too – but you knew where that story was going. And Hurt Locker intermittently so – like the bomb defusing scenes. There were others that I found very slow and draggy. On our dueling Top 10s – Big Sick is on mine (along with Baby Driver, Get Out, maybe Victoria & Abdul, probably a bunch I haven’t seen yet – and Three Billboards – in which BTW – McDormand gives another spectacular performance). IT will be nowhere near it. Nor will Dunkirk – which I thought was a long, boring mess.
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yeah, i recalled that u werent a fan of it.
I liked get out and v&A, but neither blew me away enough. Baby DRiver was lots of fun, but will probably get an HM by me, but not make the top 10
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Nice review, I wasn’t sure we needed the rushed court case, the whole hotel scene is intense and to think it is Will Poulter and John Boyega, two former BAFTA Rising star winners, it was great to see
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agreed. that might have made the whole story feel more tense because of the unevenness of those two parts
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