Cool As Ice [HD]

Look at what we have lost?
In a more perfect universe I suppose he would have left us with just a little more, but did we truly deserve it? Did we as a civilization really embrace and honor the message that Ice put forth through his work? It wouldn't be appropriate for me to answer such a question that exceeds the scope of of only one man." I don't believe that this country will ever come across such a great figure as Vanilla, not for some time anyways." This was Quoted by Mr. Nelson Mandela reflecting upon 'cool as ice's first week ticket grosses. He vanished shortly afterwards, almost as quick as he changed the world. Perhaps it was inevitable that Ice would eventually leave, but so quick? Well they say that the brightest flames always vanish the quickest. I would like to think that Ice's music secretly reveals what his goals were, there was a line in 'Ice, Ice, baby!' that went" rollin' in my V.O, drop top down so my hair can blow!" The optimist in me would like to think that that one line is a...

An overlooked classic
This film was pure cinematic brilliance. From the direction of David Kellog, to the ground-breaking camera work of award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaninski comes a new breed of film-making. This film was beautifully shot (1.85:1) and is a feast for the eyes. It is as if the filmakers are taking us on a jorney similar to entering an alternate dimesion. Yes, we step into a world where, essentially, we all learn what it means to be cool as ice. As is noted in David Stenn's cleverly penned script, "It ain't where your from, It's where you're at anyway. And right now I'm with you." That pretty much captures it right there. For 2 hours we are with Ice, playing Johnny Van Owen, as a rebelious rapper who is travelling across country, by motorcycle, on his world tour. Accompanied by his 3 bandmates, unfortunate circumstances arise when Bandmate "Jazz"'s (played by a hilarious Deezer D.) bike breaks down. Now stuck in a town they don't belong whose denizens...

Ranks with te best of Cocteau, Altman or Scorcese
"Cool as Ice" has a distinct class struggle undertone redolent of "The Discreet Charm of the Burgeoisie" or the best of 1950s French cinema. Vanilla Ice is the classic rebel outsider and loner, although I think his performance is drawn more from early Brando than James Dean. In one sense he reminds this reviewer of the classic Ernest Hemingway "code hero" such as lieutenant Henry in "A Farewell to Arms" or the fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" - a person who does not need the approval or validation of outside society to prove his self worth and inner, spiritual integrity.

Earlier that same year (1991) Vanilla Ice rapped "Go ninja! Go ninja! Go!" in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze - while the turtles fought on the dance floor. Ice was demonstrating the utopian vision of man existing spiritually within and outside of nature, a vision first put fort in such early, first generation romantic works as Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" or "The Ruined Cottage" or even...

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