Ali

I won't disgrace the legendary Muhammad Ali by poking fun at him, but I would like to talk about the movie simply and cleverly titled Ali.

Couldn't they have gotten a different actor to play him on screen? They could have chosen a distinguished Denzel Washington, or a more bad ass Wesley Snipes, or even an underrated Paul Reubens. But no. They had to choose Will Smith, Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The guy whose mom had to send him to Bel Air to keep from getting beat up is now knocking out people in the boxing ring. Though he deserves this honorable role after one of his latest disasters, Wild Wild West, where he once again brought us to tears with his accompanying rap rendition. Without, I might add, the one who got him there to begin with, DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Now lets look at some of the battles that Will Smith has had to fight in his career that may explain why he landed this role:

In his glory days on Fresh Prince of Bel Air he had to battle with the ratings of the mighty Steve Urkel. With a foe like this, I'm surprised we didn't see more noogies being dished out. Or maybe an occasional purple nerple. And let's not forget the heartache that came with changing moms and aunts every season.

With all odds stacked against him, he battled giant aliens in Men In Black and Independence Day. Though it was the illegal introduction of a weapon that landed him the KO against the oversized cockroach. Some still question whether or not that match was actually won by Smith because technically he lost the boxing portion.

And he "float[ed] like a butterfly, stung like a bee" against the iron-headed guy in Wild Wild West. No one is sure how exactly he pulled off the victory there and I couldn't bring myself to watch it again to find out.

But I can't rag on him completely. There is always Bad Boys. Which still leaves us thinking "What are you gonna do?" (See also: fluke)

So, in conclusion, I have seen the movie and it was a typical performance from "Big Willie Style." And once again he will go overlooked for the Oscars, what a shame. Maybe the next Willennium.