Notorious [2009] (DVD)

Being a big fan of rap in the late 90's I was very intrigued when Notorious was released in cinemas earlier this year. For those unfamiliar with Christopher Wallace a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G. (or Biggie Smalls) was a rapper from New York who was making waves in the east coast of the US. He came up from the streets without a father figure and despite his mothers guidance ended up dealing drugs. Wallace was a talented individual who wrote and rapped about life on the streets and his experiences but soon after being released on probation he was back on the street making money the illegal way. But after a close brush with the law Biggie changed the course of his life and ...  Read the complete review

WHAT IS IT ABOUT: The Notorious B.I.G (aka Christoper Wallace) took the US rap world by storm in the early 90s before being killed in a drive by shooting in 1997: this is his story. WAS IT ANY GOOD: As someone who has a 'bit' of knowledge of the early roots of the Hip Hop scene, I knew a bit of this story anyway, but certainly not enough that I could claim to be an expert. The film, starting with Biggie's death then flashing back to tell the story of his life, is a bizarre little movie. On the one hand, it offers a fairly interesting showcase of the workings of the Hip-Hop industry, from recording studio sessions to the trappings of ...  Read the complete review

Now I must admit, this is not the sort of film I would usually watch. Not really into the whole rap scene and have no great interest in this story. However I was recently with a group of friends and we all watched this together. Notorious came out early in 2009. In tells the story of the famous American rapper B.I.G aka Christopher Wallace. Is a typical story of rags to riches. Wallace grows up in Brooklyn and gets involved in the gangs and drug culture on the streets. He is soon involved in drug dealing and ends up in prison. However Wallace's first love has always been rap. He has a gift with words and can really hit the mark when he starts to ...  Read the complete review

The Notorious B.I.G./Biggie Smalls/Christopher Wallace took the world by storm with his music in the 1990s. From his days on the streets as a drug pusher, right up to the moment where he was shot and killed in 1997, Notorious portrays his life in this biographical film that is well presented and pulls no punches. We start off with the fateful night where he was killed, and at the point of the gunshot, we are transported back through time to when he was a boy in school. From then on, the film describes every major point of the rapper's life, including the highs and lows, the loves of his life, his friends, his enemies, and does it all in a flowing and ...  Read the complete review

Notorious attempts to depict the story of Christopher Wallace's (Biggie Smalls) life from his early years to his early death. Jamal Woolard, an aspiring MC himself, has an admirable performance considering this is his first major film. The movie first shows Biggie before he was Biggie. A studious boy with no father and a stern but loving mother played exceptionally well by Angela Bassett. As he grows up, the world around him eventually pulls him in as he starts dealing crack and gets kicked out the house. A visit in jail and a close second encounter leads him to start taking rapping more seriously. Going from small gigs to releasing worldwide albums was very ...  Read the complete review