Sunday, February 20, 2011

essentials for your eyes: the corner (HBO)


CLICK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE CORNER:

The Corner is a HBO mini series (six episodes in total) that tells the tale of drugs and their effects in the city of Baltimore. Although it is shot as a documentary with actors and actresses, the stories told are based off of real events and real people (who are interviewed at the end of the last episode). It was influenced by the book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. The Corner was shot and aired in the year 2000 and paved the way for the series The Wire. A lot of the actors in The Wire starred in The Corner, as well. The main focus is on the family of Gary McCullough, Francine Boyd and their son DeAndre McCullough. 

Gary was once a successful man, with a lot of drive and ambition and generousity. When he met Francine and got her pregnant, he dropped out of college. After their marriage ended (mainly due to Francines drug habits), Gary got hooked on drugs as well and began to lose control, money and everything else in his life.  While Gary lives in the basement of his parents house, Francine lives in a house with DeAndre and her youngest son Derodd. She struggles with drugs as well, but is always trying to get help to get off of them. DeAndre is in his teenage years and even though he has seen how drugs have ruined what was once a good family, he continues to sell the drugs on the corners of West Baltimore. 

I highly recommend this show if you are a fan of drama, HBO and television that reviews drugs and their effects on cities. It is very well written, shot and acted. If you enjoy this mini-series and are looking for a new series to watch, watch The Wire afterwards. It is also written by David Simon and one of the best television series ever. 

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