In an 8.11 N.Y. Times piece about F. Gary Gray‘s Straight Outta Compton (Universal, 8.14) and more particularly about a screening of the Universal film last night, Michael Cieply observes that “those who have already seen the film have been quick to make a connection with the recent unrest in cities including Baltimore and, again this week, Ferguson, Mo.” On 7.31 I posted the following: “Apart from it being a tight, satisfying, straight-ahead telling of the N.W.A. saga (roots, breakout, success, conflict and falling apart, concluding with the death of Easy E.), it’s quite an indictment of police racism and brutality. And what a time for this to arrive in the wake of a string of video-captured police shootings and unwarranted arrests, the most recent being the shooting of Samuel Dubose. ‘Fuck Tha Police’ and then some. Expect highly charged reactions.”
