I just watched the movie Hotel Rwanda with Don Chedel. After watching this film...Ray Charles just doesn't seem as important anymore. I mean, innocent children dying just because they are assosiated with being a certain group who was looked as lower class citizens. The US didn't even give a shit about them and they abanded them.

Let's just take a break from talking about what B.Spears will name her child, MJ, and Mariah Carey's new album, Prince, beck, and all the other shit we talk about.

As great a movie Ray was, Ray Charles was not a great human being, he was a truly gifted and talented singer/musician but Hotel Rwanda strikes a nerve, it makes you cry, makes you angry, to play that role (as the manager of the hotel who sees the atrocities happening to his people) takes more courage and talent than anything an actor could possibly go through. I would love some feedback on this from the mature ORG posters. I hope this is the right forum?

But why didn't the US do anything? I don't understand? Why do we have a UN if this kind of shit continues to go on? The US (with all of it's fucking problems) is truly a great place to be no matter how much we complain.

In closing, Ray is a great entertaining movie but Hotel Rwanda touches your soul and makes you think. After watching it, you can't help but think how fortunate most of us are. Holla back!

Ray Charles wasn't from Rwanda.

The Ray Charles movie dragged, i got bored

luv4u said:

U MUST BE JOKING,RAY WAS THE BEST MOVIE I'VE SEEN IN AGES

goat2004 said:

I haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, because I haven't felt ready. I want to buy the dvd and watch it at home, so that I can just be---I hate crying in theaters. You are right about Ray Charles. He was not an exceptional human being on the behavior level, but he was a person who persevered, etc. We have different levels of courage, different capacities of adversity that we are able to handle. Ray Charles was not in Rwanda, so we don't know how he would of behaved. Its hard to compare people, within the life contexts. As far as acting, I thought Jamie Foxx played Ray well, but the whole movie was okay. Don Cheadle is mesmerizing, even in his short ER role he had. That man has a gift--as does Foxx, though I am more impressed by Foxx's musical talent, personally. Foxx could learn from Cheadle, about how to handle movies that speak to the heart and the world, and how to challenge the world through acting. Foxx will one day, I would think. He seems tender hearted in regards to people of his own history, such as his grandmother. I think he will find a sense of activism if he keeps that groundedness at his core. But Hollywood could just eat him up. Lawd, that is a lot of presumption on my part .

luv4u said:

plus Ray Charles never had buck teeth

I haven't seen "Hotel Rwanda" but really want to. I have seen "Ray" and Jamie Foxx was great but I don't think the movie was just all about his performance (all the women in his life, including his mother, give awesome preformances, as well) and I think the reason that movie struck a nerve with audiences (if it did....it only made $75 million in theathers, which is great, but with the way some people talked, everyone on the planet saw it!). I just think it was an overall entertaining movie and no, Ray was not a great person, he was very flawed, which made it a great movie. I don't know why it needs to be compared to something like the events in Rwanda, or even the movie.

VinnyM27 said:

The only reason why I make the comparison is because they were both nominated for best picture and best actor. I was trying to make the argument that Hotel R. is a more important movie and perhapd should have gotten the Oscar for best film over Million Dollar Baby. I mean Ray was a terrific movie, I just wanted to start some debate, that's all. Hotel rwanda was this years Farenhite 911. It's a problem the government knows about...but I guess we have our problems here in the US or Bush would rather focus on fighting unjust wars. And of course, this conversation will lead us somewhere else but that is the point I was trying to make.

goat2004 said:

I'm ashamed to admit I STILL haven't seen Rwanda I only recently saw Ray - at least I supported that one in the theater but I wanted to support both

Anyway, the answer is really simple. The masses in the world (especially the US) don't care about Africa. There's no money in pretending to care about Africa. Rwanda is most definitely a more important film & from what I hear it was Don Cheadle's performance of a lifetime - Don could blow Jamie Foxx away on a bad day so I have a feeling once I see this I'll concur that Cheadle got robbed. But back to the point... Rwanda is more of a hard sell. A mostly Black/African cast, serious & sad story, parallels a current situation we're doing NOTHING about (guilt). That's a hard sell compared to, "HEY! Come jam w/ the beloved Ray Charles!" And you know American audiences go for dumb shit 24/7, so if you give them a choice between a (mostly) feel-good musical & a gut wrenching story, they're gonna go for the okey doke every time.

I'm glad Jamie won & I thought he did a great job, not trying to take anything away from his performance. But I really have a feeling Don just entered his Al Pacino phase - they'll give him his down the line for some other performance that's not nearly as good.

As for Million Dollar Baby I haven't seen it yet so I can't comment. It got fantastic reviews from what I remember, everyone seems to love Clint Eastwood & it had a wider & longer (I believe) release than Rwanda, so it was seen by more folks & had more of an influence/buzz w/ voters.

VinnyM27 said:

Co-sign.

goat2004 said:

What does that have to do with the movie? The events were horrible, but that doesn't make this movie better than any other movie.

goat2004 said:

I agree. Jamie Foxx was absolutely great in RAY but Hotel Rawanda was incredible all the way around. Tough to chose between both of them. Hotel should've probably won.

It's obvious why we didn't become involved in this. There was no monetary interest.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

its just the way our culture is

Both are great movies. I love both of them, but Hotel Rwanda is a much more meaningful movie. I've said before that I thought Don should've won the Oscar, but popularity took over as it usually does these days. Foxx was amazing as Ray, but on the whole RW was a better movie and Don was great in his role.

Im glad that Im not the only one who thinks that HOTEL RWANDA was a superior film. I wanted Don Cheadle to win the Oscar but we all know that wasnt going to happen. Don Cheadle is so underappreciated in the mainstream.

dreamfactory313 said:

Amen, his performance in Devil In A Blue Dress deserved a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, or atleast a nomination. One of the few times I've seen Denzel Washington upstaged on screen.

What makes HR such an important movie? People who paid attention know what went down except for this particular story perhaps. Others who didn't know might be shocked, but what difference will this movie make?

This guy the hotel manager - the real one who did all that stuff- he lives like right around the corner from me. He lives now here in Brussels and he has a completely normal life. No one knew about what he had done until the hype around the movie started.

goat2004 said:

I understand and I agree. It's so much more important but sadly, more important doesn't nesscarily win awards or make that much money. BTW, "Hotel" and "F9/11" both came out last year but sadly, "Hotel" didn't have much of a theather shelf life.

CalhounSq said:

I absolutely agree with you in the bold statement. I feel you. I just recently saw "Hotel Rwanda" myself, and immediately felt like it was a more important film than "Ray" although both were true story films and both had extroadinary acting in them, I almost felt guilty that I had rushed to the theaters when "Ray" came out, and dragged my feet to go see "Rwanda". I definitely learned something or more with watching "Hotel Rwanda", but was entertained by the "Ray" movie. I guess its a difference or matter of tastes. Both were good, but I like "Hotel Rwanda" more.

Being better than Ray is hardly a mighty achievement because Ray is not a great film. It is merely a good film with a terrific performance by Foxx.

That being said, I havn't seen Hotel Rwanda but i'm looking forwrd to seeing it.

I just saw Hotel Rwanda on dvd last night. The first thing that shocked me was the screen that came up denoting the PG-13 rating. After seeing the film, I couldn't help the feeling that something was missing to put me in the horror of it all. I think it was the idea that everyone at the hotel was safe and probably going to be ok. Not to discredit what Paul Rusesebagina did. I just didn't have the vicarious experience I thought I would.