Review: "Kill Bill: Volume 1" is Still a Killer

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 152 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino
PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Sally Menke
COMPOSER: The RZA
BAFTA Awards nominee

ACTION/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS/THRILLER

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Michael Parks, James Parks, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Julie Dreyfus, and Chia Hui Liu

The subject of this movie review is Kill Bill: Volume 1, a 2003 martial arts and action film from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two films that were released within several months of each other. The film follows a character called “The Bride,” who is seeking revenge against her former colleagues.

If there was much doubt that Quentin Tarantino could still make not just good movies, but great movies, Kill Bill: Volume 1 should dispel that doubt, unless the doubters are just being contrary. That Kill Bill is one of the most violent, if not the most violent, American films ever made is very certain. Only time will tell if Kill Bill Vol. 1 is the best American action movie ever made, but it is the best and most thrilling film since James Cameron abruptly reshaped thrills and intensity of movies with Aliens.

In the film, The Bride (Uma Thurman) awakes from a coma in which she’d been in for four years. It has been four years since her fellow assassins of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad killed her husband and wedding party at a small church in Texas. Her boss, Bill (David Carradine), however, did the honor of shooting The Bride, showing no mercy even though she was late in her obvious pregnancy. Bill’s biggest mistake was that he didn’t kill her, and now The Bride is out to Kill Bill. Before Bill, she has scores to settle with two of her colleagues, Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox) and Cottonmouth, now known as O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Liu), and a Yakuza crime boss in Tokyo.

Tarantino reportedly shot so much footage for Kill Bill that he and the studio Miramax Films ultimately decided to divide the film into two parts. One of Tarantino’s signature techniques is to juxtapose time in his scripts, dividing his films into self-contained chapters that are complete little short stories on their own. Each chapter fits in quite well with the larger film story and embellishes it so very well.

Kill Bill isn’t so much about the story as it is about the technique of making film. Tarantino basically asks his audience to go along with this long homage to Asian cinema, in particular martial arts epics and crime films. He mixes film genres with varied visual styles of films, and in that his cinematographer Robert Richardson (an Academy Award winner for Oliver Stone’s JFK) ably assists. At times, Kill Bill is totally about what the film stock looks like – the colors, the lack of color, grittiness, glossiness, etc.

This is a film geek’s film – the kind of genre film a big fan of a particular genre would like to make as well as see, and Tarantino makes it so well. Kill Bill is a grand time. For fans of martial arts films who loved the elaborate fight scenes in movies like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the master fight choreographer who worked on both films, Yuen Wo-Ping, worked with Tarantino on the heart-stopping and eye-popping fights in Kill Bill.

Tarantino gets the most out of all his crew. The RZA (of hip hop act Wu-Tang Clan fame) composes a brilliant, genre-crossing, ear-bending score that recalls the sounds and tunes of classic gangster, Western, martial arts, and crime cinema classics. Shout outs also go to the art and costume departments.

Kill Bill is without a doubt great cinema about cinema, and it’s excellent entertainment. By no means perfect, it does dry up on occasion and even seems a bit long. There were also too many bits obviously thrown in to accommodate the next chapter. Still, the fault lines don’t matter because Kill Bill is so damn fine. Action movie lovers and lovers of great filmmaking cannot miss this because Kill Bill Volume 1 is that proverbial good movie about which people are always complaining Hollywood doesn’t make anymore.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 BAFTA Awards: 5 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music”(RZA); “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Tommy Tom, Kia Kwan, Tam Wai, Kit Leung, Hin Leung, and Jaco Wong), “Best Editing” (Sally Menke), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Uma Thurman), and “Best Sound” (Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, Wylie Stateman, and Mark Ulano)

2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 nominee: “Best Supporting Actress” (Vivica A. Fox)

2004 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Uma Thurman)

------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Don Cheadle Turns "Traitor" into a Hot Thriller

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Traitor (2008)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language
DIRECTOR: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
WRITERS: Jeffrey Nachmanoff; from a story by Steve Martin and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
PRODUCERS: Don Cheadle, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, and Jeffrey Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: J. Michael Muro (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Billy Fox
COMPOSER: Mark Kilian

DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Saïd Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough, Alvy Khan, Archie Panjabi, Raad Rawi, Lorena Gale, and Jeff Daniels

Traitor is a 2008 drama and thriller starring Don Cheadle. Based on an idea by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin), who is also an executive producer on this film, Traitor focuses on a U.S. citizen turned terrorist and the FBI agent who is tracking him.

Born in Sudan and a naturalized Arabic-speaking, U.S. citizen, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle) is working as an arms dealer when he is arrested in Yemen and thrown in a Yemeni prison. There, he meets Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), who is part of the Al-Nathir terrorist network. Omar befriends Samir, and after they escape from prison, Omar gets Samir to join the Islamic Brotherhood.

Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) has been hunting Samir, who is also former U.S. Special Operations Forces, through numerous countries. After he learns that Samir has returned to America, Clayton must discover the secrets behind this complicated man before the mysterious Risala Shukra Al-hiba event begins. Samir is a traitor, but exactly who or what is he betraying.

While it examines the beliefs and motivations behind terrorism, Traitor operates like a spy thriller similar to the 2010 Angelina Jolie film, Salt. Traitor is also a kind of dual procedural thriller, as it depicts how an FBI international terrorism investigation works and how terrorists plan (recruiting, financing, infiltrating, etc.). This is a film that seems to really know its subject matter. Of course, this is a bare-bones version of the inner workings of a terrorist organization, but the audience will get the idea that this movie isn’t something thrown together like an exploitation film.

Traitor has lots of twists and turns, and not only does it have one major reveal, but it also has a few big ones in the last half-hour, alone. Don Cheadle, who gives another high-quality performance, holds the story together, so this fast-moving narrative has dramatic heft. Sometimes, Traitor made me feel uncomfortable because it seems so plausible, and credit that to Cheadle’s performance. Traitor is his movie, and he makes it a good one. It also doesn’t hurt that the radiant Archie Panjabi appears in this film in a nice supporting role.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2009 Black Reel Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actor” (Don Cheadle), “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Saïd Taghmaoui), and “Best Film” (Jeffrey Silver, Kay Liberman, Steve Martin, Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj, Steve Gaub, Don Cheadle, and Arlene Gibbs)

2009 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Don Cheadle)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Review: "Hitch" is Funny and Sweet (Happy B'day, Eva Mendes)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hitch (2005)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for language and some strong sexual references
DIRECTOR: Andy Tennant
WRITER: Kevin Bisch
PRODUCERS: Will Smith and Teddy Zee
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Dunn
EDITOR: Troy Takaki and Tracey Wadmore-Smith

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, Julie Ann Emery, Robinne Lee, Nathan Lee Graham, Adam Arkin, Michael Rapaport, Jeffrey Donovan, and Matt Malloy

The subject of this movie review is Hitch, the 2005 romantic comedy starring Will Smith. In the film, directed by Andy Tennant, Smith plays a professional matchmaker.

Alex “Hitch” Hitchens (Will Smith) is a professional “date doctor,” who helps mostly shy, insecure, and nervous men learn to be confident enough to date the woman they just can’t get out their minds. His biggest project is to help a pleasantly plumb accountant named Albert (Kevin James) find his confidence so that he can woo his employer’s biggest client, wealthy playgirl, Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta). Hitch runs into his own complications when he becomes smitten with Sara (Eva Mendes), a New York gossip columnist. Both Hitch and Sara have dating issues, especially Sara, who usually erects an impenetrable wall whenever a man attempts to be friendly with her. However, Sara is determined to discover and publicize the identity of the mysterious “date doctor” about whom she’s been hearing in relation to the Allegra-Albert romance, even if it costs her personally.

Early reviews of the film suggest that Hitch is a trifle and a bit a fluff that Will Smith manages to save with his endearing film personality. Hitch is lightweight subject matter, but Will Smith and his co-conspirators make this a winning romantic comedy and comic romance. It’s not as good as When Harry Met Sally, but there is a lot more meat on Hitch’s film bones than on most romantic comedies about mismatches and misunderstandings. Will Smith does give this film vibrant life because he is a fine actor and a radiant movie star. He is comfortable and super confident on the big screen, and the camera loves him. If Denzel Washington is the heir to Sidney Portier, then, Smith is the black Cary Grant.

The rest of the cast, however, does it part. Eva Mendes is more like a co-star than supporting player. She carries this film, and there is an air about her that suggests she can go toe to toe with a man in the vein of Katherine Hepburn. No, Ms. Mendes isn’t yet as good as Ms. Hepburn, but she seems headed in the direction of being a movie star because in this film, she shows that she can carry a lead role by making her end of the story as engaging as that of the central character.

Kevin James is surprisingly delightful. I like him, but I’ve never quite enjoyed his CBS television comedy series, “The King of Queens.” James usually plays charming, fat guys, and everyone seems to love a fat guy who can make fun of himself. James is also witty and sarcastic; his self-effacing tendency and smart alec cool serves him well in Hitch, making him a scene-stealer.

After spending years directing episodic TV, director Andy Tennant has worked mostly on romantic comedies, Sweet Home Alabama being his biggest hit to date. At present, Hitch may be his best work as he took Kevin Bisch’s funny script and made it into a high-energy comic romp of misunderstandings and dating chess matches. Some might see this as a “chick flick,” but Hitch is simply funny. Like many films, the ending is too sweet by a mile. Still, it works, and Will Smith has another winner.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2006 Black Reel Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actor” (Will Smith), “Best Film” (Will Smith, Teddy Zee, and James Lassiter), and “Best Original Soundtrack”

2006 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Will Smith) and “Outstanding Motion Picture”

------------------

Review: Characters Save Creaky "Barbershop"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Barbershop (2002)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for language, sexual content and brief drug references
DIRECTOR: Tim Story
WRITERS: Mark Brown, Don D. Scott, and Marshall Todd, from a story by Mark Brown
PRODUCERS: Mark Brown, Robert Teitel, and George Tillman Jr.
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tom Priestley (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: John Carter
COMPOSER: Terence Blanchard

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy, Leonard Earl Howze, Lahmard Tate, Jazsmin Lewis, Tom Wright, Jason Winston, DeRay Davis, and Keith David

Barbershop, a recent co-production by Ice Cube’s film production company Cube Vision and State Street Pictures, is another in a recent spurt of so-called urban audience movies, i.e. movies for black people. However, the light-on-plot film was a huge hit that drew in a broad cross section of viewers, so even white folks can be entertained by film’s with little or no story as long as the characters are funny and engaging, as they definitely are in Barbershop.

Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) is a barber like his father and grandfather before him, but Calvin has bigger dreams. He inherited his late father’s shop, but Calvin has also saddled himself with debt from a number of failed business ventures. Looking for cash to help him with his latest start up, he sells his barbershop to a loan shark, Lester Wallace (the wonderful, but seldom seen Keith David). After he takes that big step, he comes to regret his decision when he realizes that Wallace is going to turn the shop into a ho house. That really hurts because his father’s business always meant a lot to the local community.

I can forgive the weakness of the film’s plots (and subplots) because it is rich in funny and endearing characters. To be of quality, a film doesn’t have to have great characters, a great setting, and a great story; the finest and most artful films do. A good film can be strong and entertaining with just one of those elements. Barbershop holds our attention because the characters are so damned funny. The acting isn’t always tight, but the cast really gets into their characters and give a good show. In an odd way you can forgive Barbershop a lot of faults because you know that you’re always going to get another hilarious scene with these great characters.

Out of all the actors, Anthony Anderson captured my attention just as he has in Romeo Must Die, Big Momma’s House, and Life among others. He’s funny, hilarious in fact, in the tradition of portly funny men. Ice Cube is nowhere near being a good actor, but he has an excellent sense in choosing film projects that will appeal to a broad audience, whether it’s popular trash like Anaconda, a sleeper hit like Friday, or a daring filmmaking choice like Three Kings. He’s a movie star.

Barbershop is a good comedy with many funny characters. It’s warm and homespun like Soul Food, with a good down home message about family and having sense of community, at its heart. Besides who could miss a film when Cedric the Entertainer is really on his game as a funny man and an actor, especially since you get to hear him say “F*ck Jesse Jackson.”

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
2003 Black Reel Awards: 6 nominations: “Best Film” (Robert Teitel, George Tillman Jr.), “Best Film Soundtrack, “Theatrical - Best Actor” (Ice Cube), “Theatrical - Best Director” (Tim Story), “Theatrical - Best Screenplay-Original or Adapted” (Mark Brown and Don D. Scott), “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor” (Cedric the Entertainer)

2003 Image Awards: 5 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Ice Cube), “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Anthony Anderson), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Cedric the Entertainer), and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Eve)

"Barbershop 2: Back in Business" is a Better Business

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for language, sexual material and brief drug references
DIRECTOR: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
WRITER: Don D. Scott (based upon characters created by Mark Brown)
PRODUCERS: Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr.
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tom Priestley (D.o.P)
EDITORS: Patrick Flannery and Paul Seydor
COMPOSER: Richard Gibbs

COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy, Leonard Earl Howze, Queen Latifah, Harry Lennix, Robert Wisdom, Jazsmin Lewis, Kenan Thompson, Javon Jackson, DeRay Davis, Tom Wright, and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon

Barbershop 2: Back in Business is a hilarious character based comedy that easily surpasses its admittedly funny 2002 predecessor, Barbershop. Like the first one, Barbershop 2 relies on funny characters to carry the movie and a homey setting in Chicago’s Southside to establish the atmosphere.

Shop owner Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) has settled into being a small business owner, and his shop is thriving. The barbers who rent from Calvin are gregarious people who are fun to be around, so many locals gravitate to Calvin’s shop for a haircut, bawdy jokes, and the generally funny atmosphere.

As in the first film, Calvin is still struggling to save his shop – this time from greedy urban developers who want to buy him and his neighbors out. They want to replace “mom & pop” business with name brand chains – including a rival barbershop called Nappy Cutz. If that wasn’t enough, some of his employees/renters are starting to get on each other’s nerves, so can Calvin save his shop and neighborhood, while dealing with complex and messy interpersonal relationships? However he chooses to deal with problems will certainly involve laugher.

Anyone who liked Barbershop should like the sequel, and I can imagine many people who didn’t like the first will enjoy Barbershop 2, since it is almost twice as funny as the original. Barbershop 2’s script simply has more zest, and the comedy flows naturally. The first time around the laughs became old shtick, and the movie lost steam. The story and plot here is relatively light, and the little guy business versus the corporate devils is a familiar tale. However, the execution of the plot and routines of the characters have a better rhythm and the timing’s impeccable. Every thing seems to happen just when the films needs a boost or needs to move onto the next joke or funny scene. As far as character pieces go, Barbershop is a work of art.

In the end, the filmmakers wrap up Back in Business with a bit too much ease. Even this lightweight story ended up having the potential to say a lot about tradition and community over greed and progress, but maybe they believed that dealing with such weighty subject matters would turn a character comedy into ensemble drama. And we did come for the laughs. What Barbershop 2 misses in dealing with real world issues, it more than makes up for in being a good time, feel good comedy that just may keep audiences laughing for years.

Oh. Barbershop 2 isn’t a BLACK movie. It’s a funny, broad comedy featuring a primarily African-American cast, but it’s laughs and lightweight pass at values should appeal to peoples.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2005 Black Reel Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Actor, Musical or Comedy” (Ice Cube), “Best Film, Musical or Comedy” (Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr.), “Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted” (Don Scott), and “Best Supporting Actor” (Cedric the Entertainer)

Review: "Contagion" is Uncomfortably Real

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Contagion (2011)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing content and some language
CINEMATOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
WRITER: Scott Z. Burns
PRODUCERS: Gregory Jacobs, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher
EDITOR: Stephen Mirrione
COMPOSER: Cliff Martinez

DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan, Elliot Gould, Chin Han, John Hawkes, Anna Jacoby-Heron, and Enrico Colantoni

Contagion is a 2011 film from director Steven Soderbergh. Essentially an ensemble drama and thriller, Contagion documents the spread of a virus that turns into a global pandemic, causing worldwide social chaos. Meanwhile, government officials try to contain it and medical officials try to identify the virus in order to create a vaccine for it. Contagion is a smart, scary disaster movie that will simultaneously give you the creeps while making you wonder if you are prepared for a pandemic.

The film begins by focusing on Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), a businesswoman in Hong Kong. Unbeknownst to her, Beth returns to the United States bringing with her a pestilence that will leave half her immediate family dead. From there, the story focuses on countless players dealing with the aftermath of the virus that is eventually named, MEV-1. Beth’s husband, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), balances his need to protect his daughter, Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron), who is frustrated with the quarantine, with her need to be a teenager. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), an Internet blogger who is obsessed with conspiracy theories, schemes to make money off the chaos created by the spread of the virus.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) leads a team trying to identify the virus, contain it, and create a vaccine for it. A World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist, Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), travels to Hong Kong to trace the origin of the virus. CDC scientist, Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle), feels the pressure to find a cure, so she makes a decision that is either selfish or selfless. Meanwhile, fear and mass hysteria spread faster than the contagion.

Contagion has no single protagonist and no outright human antagonist. However, because it is an ensemble drama, Contagion can explore multiple themes, such as mass panic, loss of social order, the limitations of government during a disaster, cronyism, and greed, etc., from the view point of multiple characters.

Director Steven Soderbergh has this film jumping from one character and plot to the next. Because the characters are so well-defined and the plots so riveting, he always leaves the viewer wanting more, which can directly engage the viewer with the story, almost as if it were a real event. Contagion’s ultra-realism makes the movie feel more human and less post-human like so many modern, computer effects enhanced film thrillers. Of course, Soderbergh has an excellent multi-layered script by Scott Z. Burns from which to work. This reach and scope of this screenplay practically demands that Burns or someone else turn it into a novel.

Contagion is by no means perfect. It burns so hot, which is why it is so intense as a thriller, but Soderbergh needed to dial that back a few notches in certain parts of the story. Sometimes, the film is too aloof when it needs to stop and focus longer on certain characters in certain scenes.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2012 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor” (Laurence Fishburne)

2012 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Laurence Fishburne)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

---------------------------

"Bringing Down the House" Brings Laughs

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bringing Down the House (2003)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for language, sexual humor and drug material
DIRECTOR: Adam Shankman
WRITER: Peter Filardi
PRODUCERS: Ashok Amritraj and David Hoberman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Julio Macat (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jerry Greenberg
COMPOSER: Lalo Schifrin

COMEDY

Starring: Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart, Kimberly J. Brown, Angus T. Jones, Missi Pyle, Michael Rosenbaum, Betty White, and Steve Harris

Critics and naysayers have been lying in wait for Bringing Down the House almost immediately after the first trailers and advertisements were aired. A straight-laced, older white man and a down to earth hip hop queen - racism and stereotypes of course – it couldn’t be anything but that. Well, they were wrong.

Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lonely, divorced, tax attorney who meets Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah) in an online chat room. He assumes she’s a young, curvaceous blond, but she’s actually an African American prison inmate, which he discovers when she shows up on his doorstep one, fine evening. Charlene wants Peter’s help to clear her of a crime she says she didn’t commit, but his life is already complicated by mild turmoil. He misses his ex-wife Kate (Jean Smart) and their two children, Sarah (Kimberly J. Brown) and Gregory (Angus T. Jones). His bosses at his high-pressure job have given him the assignment of bringing a frugal heiress’s (Joan Plowright) billion-dollar account to the company. To make matter worse, the FBI is searching for Charlene, as is her creepy boyfriend (Steve Harris), and Peter’s friend Howie (Eugene Levy) really has a jones for Charlene.

First, I should say that Bringing Down the House is hilarious, laugh out loud, knee-slapping funny. It’s the best comedy I’ve seen a long time, and I haven’t laughed, really laughed, at a movie in a while. I could call Bringing a “feel good” movie because it made me feel good. Looking at the poster and seeing commercials for the film might give people the idea that this is an un-politically correct film in a PC age, but it really is about making new friends, people with different social and economic backgrounds. If that sounds a little high brow, it might be, but it’s the long way around saying that birds of different feathers can flock together.

As for as the it’s politics, you have to watch the film really close to notice something I think becomes obvious half way through the picture. The film parodies the stereotypical portrayal in popular culture of white people’s stereotypical reactions to black people. It’s not making fun of black people; it’s poking fun of the way whites are played as sheltered nerds who only know a skewered version of black culture.

Queen Latifah’s character Charlene is actually well rounded, and Latifah plays her as a brassy, self-reliant, never-say-die woman who takes the initiative to defend herself. What you see is what you get, and Charlene is certainly not one of those women of ill repute who actually has a heart of gold. Latifah takes her character seriously and plays her with a sense of humor. Charlene, though loud and confident, is sensitive and doesn’t look out for her own interests without regards for other people.

Martin could make a career out of playing the odd straight man to black comedians; he worked quite well with Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger. His chemistry with Latifah is as good as or better than the chemistry between him and his white co-stars. He gives Peter a dual edge; you can laugh at him and with him, and you care about him. And if you’ve seen the part of the ad that shows Martin in a black club thuggin’ it out while wearing “street” gear, do know that it’s damned funny and not stereotypical. In fact, he plays the scene as a white guy who likes hip hop and hanging out with black people instead of playing it as a naïve white guy with a stereotypical idea of how to be “black.”

But to heck with all the social politics. This is a funny movie. It lags at the end as it tries to tie everything up for a feel good end, and there were some good characters that would have made this movie even funnier if they had a little more screen time. However, I give Peter Filardi credit for writing a funny movie that gives the finger to its critics. Martin, Queen Latifah, and the rest of the cast put on a good show, not a coon show. To miss this is to miss a rare treat, a film that makes you laugh and feel so good that you probably wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Film: Best Actress” (Queen Latifah)

2004 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Queen Latifah)

Review: A Bag of "Bones" (Happy B'day, Snoop Dogg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 151 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bones (2001)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence/gore, language, sexuality and drugs
DIRECTOR: Ernest Dickerson
WRITERS: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe
PRODUCERS: Rupert Harvey, Peter Heller, and Lloyd Segan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Flavio Labiano (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Michael N. Knue and Stephen Lovejoy
COMPOSER: Elia Cmiral
Black Reel Awards nominee

HORROR with elements of fantasy

Starring: Snoop Dogg, Pam Grier, Michael T. Weiss, Clifton Powell, Ricky Harris, Bianca Lawson, and Khalil Kain

I held out no hope for rapper Snoop Dogg’s horror film vehicle, Bones. It was released in 2001, but I didn’t see it until two years later. When I finally saw it, I found Bones surprisingly entertaining, if a bit hokey and poorly written.

I also learned that Ernest Dickerson directed the film. Dickerson came to prominence in the late 80’s and 90’s as Spike Lee’s cinematographer on Lee’s first five full-length features including Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. He made his directorial debut with the fairly well received urban drama Juice, about a group of friends and their trouble with a pistol. Dickerson later showed a deft touch for horror films with the delightful Demon Knight, a film version of the HBO series “Tales from the Crypt.” Sadly, Bones, although mildly entertaining, lacks Demon Knight’s sense of mad glee and hilariously evil hijinx.

Snoop plays Jimmy Bones, a low-key gangster, pimp type, and godfather of an inner city neighborhood in 1979. When he refuses an offer to join the drug trade, the dealers shoot him and force his associates and baby mama to participate in the killing. 22 years later, his angry spirit returns after some suburban kids buy his playa mansion and turn it into a club.

Bones isn’t that bad, but it isn’t too good. It’s lost somewhere in the middle of mediocrity. The characters all have potential, especially in regards to their socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, but the filmmakers sacrifice them to violence and trite special effects, many of the effects old when Clive Barker used that kind of SFX in his early Hellraiser films.

Snoop does most of acting with a perpetual scowl etched across his face. Still, he has excellent screen presence, and makes a good bad guy when he’s given (I don’t know, maybe) depth and subtext. It really would have been nice had Dickerson approached this film with the same sense of fun and funny mayhem that made Demon Knight such a charmingly trashy fright flick.

4 of 10
C

NOTES:
2002 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Actress” (Pam Grier)

-----------------

Review: John Singleton Shepherds "Four Brothers"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 144 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Four Brothers (2005)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, pervasive language, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: John Singleton
WRITERS: David Elliot & Paul Lovett
PRODUCER: Lorenzo De Bonaventura
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Menzier, Jr. A.C.S.
EDITOR: Bruce Cannon, A.C.E. and Billy Fox, A.C.E.

DRAMA/ACTION/CRIME/MYSTERY

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sofia Vergara, Fionnula Flanagan, Taraji P. Henson, Barry Shabaka Henley, and Jernard Burks

The Mercer Brothers – hotheaded ex-con Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), ladies’ man Angel (Tyrese Gibson), family man and businessman Jeremiah (André Benjamin), and rock musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund) – return to the mean streets of Detroit after their adoptive mother Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) is murdered during the holdup of a corner grocery store. They take the matter of her murder into their own hands in spite of assurances from police Lt. Green (Terrence Howard) and Detective Fowler (Josh Charles) that they are working on the case.

Soon the Mercer boys realize that their mother’s death wasn’t just the tragic result of a simple store holdup. Bobby and Angel use their rough old ways of handling business to track their mother’s killers, but these aren’t the same Detroit neighborhoods they left and their old ways have new consequences. Whatever the result of their own private investigation, the Mercer brothers discover that their brotherly bonds, first forged by adoption, are as thick as those of brothers by birth.

I expected John Singleton’s new film, Four Brothers, to be a very well made action drama, but it turned out to be one of the best films I have seen thus far this year. It has the cool intensity of a 70’s action movie or blaxtiploitation film. While Four Brothers is certainly a straight genre piece, it is also a character-driven film with a lot of action and drama. First credit should go to the script by screenwriters David Elliot & Paul Lovett, long time collaborators. They not only pounded on story structure, but they made very engaging characters out of the protagonists for the most part.

The villains, however, come out on the short end. Some are very interesting, like Chwetel Ejiofor’s Victor Sweet, but in the end he emerges as nothing more than a really evil dude; there’s no The Godfather-like examination of evil here. All the “bad guys” seem to be interesting characters worth developing, but the script never gets that far. That’s one of the things here that keeps Four Brothers just short of being a truly great film.

On the other hand, Singleton’s intense, block-by-block building of this film’s narrative and the frenetic pace he gives it glosses over any script and performance shortcomings (I found Fionnula Flanagan’s Evelyn Mercer to be as creepy as she was sympathetic.), and John Singleton’s masterful directorial performance makes Four Brothers as good as the kind of memorable crime films like Out of Sight. Four Brothers doesn’t miss a beat, and this is one of the year’s best directing jobs.

The four leads really drive this film. All are good: Andre Benjamin, known to many as Andre 3000 of the Grammy-winning musical act OutKast, is a natural acting talent, and here, he doesn’t come across like a fish out of water as is the problem with so many something-else’s-turned-actor. Garrett Hedlund, barely out of high school when he captured the juicy role of Patroclus opposite Brad Pitt’s Achilles in Troy (a film by Wolfgang Peterson), comes across as an affable and energetic co-star. He’s sort of the odd-man-out, but he makes do with the lesser part the story hands him.

The driving force of the brotherly quartet is Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson. Wahlberg is a very good actor who is rushing towards greatness. He’s a movie star, and his presence can make you want to see the movies in which he stars, regardless of genre. He’s got Hollywood star cool, yet there is a bit of an edge to him – part tough guy, but loner/rebel. Hey, it works on the big screen. Who’d a thunk it? Tyrese Gibson is a damn good actor, and has movie star appeal. He’s the other piece in a matching set with Wahlberg, being every bit the handsome tough guy, but with a bit of softie in him. In this film, he doesn’t come across at all as a supporting player. He plays Angel Mercer so naturally that you’d think he’d been doing the acting thing for at least twice as long as he actually has.

The cast, writers, directors, and crew come together to make this urban action/exploitation film into the consummate gritty Hollywood action drama. Four Brothers might come across at first glance as junk, but it’s really a hamburger recipe turned into a fine steak. Enjoy it on the big screen or make a must-keep date for it on home video and DVD.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2006 Black Reel Awards: 4 nominations: “Black Reel Best Director” (John Singleton), “Best Ensemble” (André Benjamin, Tyrese Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Sofía Vergara, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Taraji P. Henson), “Best Film,” and “Best Original Soundtrack”

2006 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie” (John Singleton)

----------------------------

Review: "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" Does All Good for Itself

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA- PG-13 for mature thematic material involving a sexual assault on a minor, violence, drug references and smoking
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy
Image Award winner

DRAMA/MUSIC with elements of comedy and romance

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodrigeuz, Brian J. White, Hope Olaide Wilson, Kwesi Boakye, Frederick Siglar, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, Marvin Winans, and Tyler Perry

One could make the argument that every Tyler Perry movie seems to be made from the same stencil or template. There are the good women and the bad men they love (Madea’s Family Reunion). There are also the good men and the troubled women they try to save (Madea Goes to Jail). And there are always those who need to go back to church because they don’t know which way is up (Daddy’s Little Girls). Of course, there is usually room for the unsinkable matriarch Madea, and her brother and housemate, the un-politically correct, Joe. Perry’s new film, I Can Do Bad All by Myself (based upon his play) distills the essence of Perry’s oeuvre into its most perfect form to date.

After the pistol-packing Madea (Tyler Perry) catches three siblings breaking into her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Madea marches 16-year-old Jennifer (Hope Olaide Wilson) and her two younger brothers, Manny (Kwesi Boakye) and Byron (Frederick Siglar), to the only relative she can find – their Aunt April (Taraji P. Henson), a hard-living, heavy-drinking nightclub singer. April lives off her married boyfriend, Randy (Brian J. White). Already having several children of his own, Randy doesn’t want April’s niece and nephews around, and April certainly doesn’t think her dead crackhead sister’s children are her problem.

Fate, however, brings Sandino (Adam Rodriguez) into April’s life. The handsome Mexican immigrant is looking for work, so the local Pastor Brian (Marvin Winans) asks April to allow Sandino to move into her basement room in exchange for doing handiwork. The hard-luck immigrant challenges April to open her heart, which forces her to make the biggest choice of her life. Will she keep Randy and her old ways or will she choose the new possibilities for life that taking in her niece and nephew offer?

Why do I think that I Can Do Bad All by Myself is the best Tyler Perry movie? I think this film’s strength is based on the performances of its cast. The script isn’t anything particularly special, at least in the context of Perry’s other writing. The motivations for their actions and explanations for what ails the characters in this film are the usual ingredients for a Tyler Perry psychodrama: alcohol, childhood sexual abuse, drug use, and not going to church.

It is a performance like the one given by Taraji P. Henson that allows I Can Do Bad All by Myself to soar as a film about triumph and redemption. Henson is such a natural that whatever character she plays comes across as honest and authentic. In her performance, the audience can buy April, in spite of whatever contrivances Perry fashions for that character’s past. Henson also deftly executes her skills so that she can amplify the comedic moments even in the midst of the intense drama of this film. For instance, there is pathos and merriment in the scene in which Madea first confronts April with her niece and nephews. This scene defines I Can Do Bad All by Myself’s attitude that there is joy even the darkest times in life. Using laughter, Perry and his star give the audience a chance to step back and take a different look at this pivotal moment in the film.

There are other good performances. Brian J. White as the philandering husband and boyfriend, Randy, is exquisite, and Adam Rodriguez alternately simmers and shines as Sandino, the do-the-right-thing handyman. I would be remiss if I failed to mention Hope Olaide Wilson as April’s fierce and stubborn niece, Jennifer, a character that is essentially a younger version of her aunt. It is a testament to young Miss Wilson’s talent that she could present Jennifer as being destined to follow April’s sad path in life without it seeming contrived.

It also doesn’t hurt to have two of the best ever rhythm and blues and soul singers, Gladys Knight and Mary J. Blige, belting out a few songs, giving the kind of vocal performances that will raise the roof and then knock down the walls. It is these performances that make I Can Do Bad All by Myself the standout drama, thus far, in Tyler Perry’s filmography and a movie not to be missed.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 04, 2009

NOTES:
2010 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Actress” (Taraji P. Henson) and “Best Song, Original or Adapted” (Mary J. Blige for the song "I Can Do Bad All By Myself")

2010 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Adam Rodriguez); 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Taraji P. Henson) and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (Tyler Perry)

-----------------------

Review: "Madea Goes to Jail" a Message-Heavy Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, drug content, some violence, and sexual situations
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry and Reuben Cannon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Tyler Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pullman, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, RonReaco Lee, Ion Overman, Vanessa Ferlito, Viola Davis, Sofia Vergara, and Robin Coleman

In the seventh Tyler Perry movie (the sixth Perry has directed), his most popular character, the matriarch Mabel “Madea” Simmons, finally lands in jail in the film, Madea Goes to Jail. Madea’s commotions aside, this film’s primary focus is on the efforts of an up and coming attorney to save a former classmate from a life of drug addiction and prostitution.

A high speed car chase lands Madea (performed by Tyler Perry in drag) on the steps of the jail, but a technicality allows her another in a long line of reprieves. However, Madea’s anger management issues lead to an outrageous act of violence that finally earns her a stiff prison sentence. Madea’s eccentric family, including her daughter, Cora (Tamela J. Mann), and Cora's father, Brown (David Mann), rally behind her and lead the effort to free Madea.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke), who is on the fast track to career success, reunites with an old friend, Candace Washington (Keshia Knight Pullman), who is a drug addict and prostitute known to customers and colleagues as “Candy.” Joshua is determined to get Candy cleaned up, off drugs, and off the streets, but they share a dark secret from their past, which seems to hamper efforts to heal Candy. Joshua’s fiancé and fellow ADA, Linda Davis (Ion Overman) is simply enraged at Joshua’s efforts to help Candy, and she plots to permanently separate the two.

Like Tyler Perry’s other films, Madea Goes to Jail is filled with broad comedy (quite a bit of it slapstick), Christian themes, and principles of forgiveness, healing, and redemption, but of all of his films, this is one comes across as the most shallow in its message. Perry’s films, by his own admission, are more than just entertainment; they are message films, so criticizing them on the basis on that message or how the message is delivered is legitimate.

Madea Goes to Jail is Perry’s most polished effort to date, in terms of technical and craft aspects of filmmaking. The direction is smooth, and Perry has cast a group of highly-qualified and veteran actors. These actors bring a sense of weighty drama to this occasionally very dark movie. When this movie was first released earlier this year (2009), much was made of former child star, Keshia Knight Pulliam’s turn as a drug-addicted prostitute. This faux controversy about Pulliam (who played Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show) missed the truth of the excellent dramatic performance given by the underestimated Pulliam – not to mention that such criticism missed excellent dramatic turns by Derek Luke and the recently Oscar-nominated Viola Davis (Doubt).

What Madea Goes to Jail should be criticized for is its ultimately dishonest and shallow message to its audience, in particularly Black women whose lives are in shambles because of drug addiction and because of past and present physical, mental, and sexual abuse. They suffer such abuse at the hands of loved ones. Madea Goes to Jail is actually a great film until the last 15 minutes or so. Tyler Perry is good at depicting suffering and anguish, but not as good when he suggests methods of healing. It is during the last 15 minutes of Madea Goes to Jail that Tyler Perry, as he rushes to tie everything in a feel-really-good, happy-ending bow, offers Christian platitudes (such as forgiveness) and self-help bromides as the cure for deep-rooted ills. When life gives you lemons, you make Jesus-flavored lemonade? I don’t think so.

I don’t begrudge Perry his happy endings, but if he must send messages, he is going to have to think seriously about the social and personal issues that he makes the centerpieces of his films. If he is going to offer answers and solutions, they should be more than “forgive and forget.” Otherwise, Madea Goes to Jail is an entertaining, at times exceptionally entertaining, film. But it could have been a truly important film.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

NOTES:
2010 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actor” (Derek Luke)

----------------------------

Review: "Queen of the Damned" is a Mere Curiosity Piece (Remembering Aaliyah)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 175 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Queen of the Damned (2002)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for vampire violence
DIRECTOR: Michael Rymer
WRITERS: Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni (based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice)
PRODUCER: Jorge Saralegui
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ian Baker
EDITOR: Dany Cooper
COMPOSERS: Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs

HORROR/FANTASY/MUSIC

Starring: Stuart Townsend, Aaliyah, Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Perez, Paul McGann, and Lena Olin

Some may remember the furor and excitement over the unintentionally campy costume drama, quasi horror/fantasy, vampire movie, Interview with a Vampire, based upon the Anne Rice novel of the same title. Released in 1994, it featured Tom Cruise miscast as one half of a vampire duo with Brad Pitt, who wasn’t as miscast, as the other half. At the time, I liked Interview with a Vampire, but I have never been able to watch the film in its entirety since then.

Now comes a sequel of sorts – Queen of the Damned. This 2002 horror film is an adaptation of the third novel in author Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, The Queen of the Damned, with some plot elements from the second book in the series, The Vampire Lestat. While the first film had its controversy, Queen of the Damned is mostly remembered because it is the last screen appearance of R&B singer and actress, Aaliyah Dana Haughton, best known simply as Aaliyah.

In this film, sexy Stuart Townsend replaces Cruise as the vampire Lestat. Queen of the Damned also depicts Lestat’s rebirth as a vampire (which had been hinted at in the first film) at the hands of a noble dilettante vampire named Marius (Vincent Perez). Marius also possesses the (un)earthly remains of the King and Queen of Vampires (they’re frozen like alabaster statues). Lestat arouses the Queen, Akasha (Aaliyah), from her slumber and that panics Marius. The nobleman takes the remains before Akasha is fully revived and disappears, leaving Lestat alone. This is told in flashback.

The film really begins centuries later, as the sounds of rock music awaken the despondent Lestat, who eventually joins a band of Goth rockers. Still feeling very lonely, Lestat deliberately commits one of the greatest sins a vampire can commit against his kind; he goes public with his vampirism. Marius, who had been secretly following Lestat since he’d abandoned his apprentice, reappears to warn his “child.” However, Lestat’s rock star fame has earned him a death sentence from several vampires who want to destroy him for going public. Worst of all, Akasha finally awakens completely. She has her eyes on Lestat as her royal consort, but she also wants to destroy humanity again, as she did during her first reign.

Queen of the Damned is an occasionally delightful horror film with a heavy fantasy atmosphere, but it also has an equally heavy campy atmosphere. Still, I found it to be an oddly fascinating monster movie. The script is weak, and all the characters are little more than fancy and stylish ciphers. Like its predecessor, Interview with a Vampire, Queen of the Damned manages to have a peculiar kind realism or verisimilitude, as if the world of this movie could actually exist. Director Michael Rymer does a good job grounding this film in reality, which it makes the film’s more fantastic elements really stand out.

A really nice extra from this film is that Jonathan Davis, leader singer of the rock band Korn, and film composer Richard Gibbs provide some nice music and songs for Lestat’s rock band. Davis even sings the songs in the film, but contractual difficulties forced others to sing the songs for the film’s soundtrack CD release. The music adds a nice touch to this campy movie, which is worth seeing when you’re hungry for trash and laughs. I’ll remember Queen of the Damned for Aaliyah, the singer who became an actress with potential. Her beauty radiates in this film, and that makes me think more of it than I would without her.

5 of 10
C+

NOTES:
2003 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film Poster”

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Review: "Gothika" is Creepy and Crazy (Happy B'day, Halle Berry)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 168 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gothika (2003)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, brief language and nudity
DIRECTOR: Mathieu Kassovitz
WRITER: Sebastian Gutierrez
PRODUCERS: Susan Levin, L. Levin, Joel Silver, and Robert Zemeckis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Libatique (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Yannick Kergoat
COMPOSER: John Ottman
HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Penélope Cruz, Bronwen Mantel, and Kathleen Mackey

Gothika is a 2003 supernatural thriller and movie vehicle for Halle Berry. It is a ghost story about a female psychiatrist who awakens to fins herself a patient in the very asylum where she works.

Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is psychiatrist who deals with really crazy people everyday at a prison for the criminally insane. A respected colleague, Dr. Douglas Grey (Charles Dutton), is her husband. One night she leaves work during a driving rainstorm. After taking a detour, a girl suddenly appears on the road ahead of her and forces Miranda to drive her vehicle off the road. When she goes to the girl who obviously seems to be in some kind of distress, something really strange happens. When Miranda awakens, she finds herself locked in the same institution where she worked, and she’s been accused of committing a horribly gruesome crime of which she has no memory.

Quite a few critics have given it bad reviews. One even called it trash – glorious trash, but Gothika is a very entertaining movie. Like a lot of films, it’s really absent of new ideas, and it seems to borrow heavily from What Lies Beneath and The Ring (2002). It is, however, an effective and entertaining horror film and a nicely made thriller. It has some genuinely creepy moments, and at the theatre where I saw it, one girl immediately screamed after a nice “bump in the night” moment.

French director Mathieu Kassovitz is a hot property, and he has the makings of good director, although I don’t see much that would make him stand out from a whole pack of qualified professionals. There are moments in the film, when Kassovitz makes Gothika a bit too mannered and cold. With an asylum for the criminally insane as a setting and a shocking murder upon which the plot turns, Kassovitz needed to make his film get down and dirty. Instead, Gothika is overdressed and over designed, and the cinematography is too slick and glossy.

But you know what? I love watching Halle Berry, and she gets better practically with each film she does. She sells us this film, even when her costar Ms. Cruz seems to be hanging around only to lend her tabloid star presence and her accent. Like the great actresses and stars, Ms. Berry takes us inside the character with her, forcing us to share the extreme terror that comes from loosing one’s memory, place in society, and, most fearsome of all, loosing one’s mind. We can believe that there is a horrible crime hanging over her head, and that she doesn’t remember it and doesn’t want to because it means admitting and learning horrific things. Have fun, and go see this movie.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Film: Best Actress” (Halle Berry)

2004 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Halle Berry) and “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Charles S. Dutton)

----------------------------

Review: Penelope Cruz Rescues Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 mintues)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Woody Allen
PRODUCERS: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Gareth Wiley
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Javier Aguirresarobe (D.o.P)
EDITOR: Alisa Lepselter
Academy Award winner

COMEDY/ROMANCE/DRAMA

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Chris Messina, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn, Pablo Schreiber, Carrie Preston, Zak Orth, Josep Maria Domenech, and Christopher Evan Welch (narrator)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romantic comedy and drama from director Woody Allen. This was also his fourth consecutive film shot outside the United States (beginning with 2005’s Match Point). This Oscar-winning film is the story of two American girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain who both fall in love with a womanizing Spanish painter.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) travel to Barcelona, Spain to spend the summer with Vicky’s distant relatives, Judy (Patricia Clarkson), and her husband, Mark Nash (Kevin Dunn). Vicky is practical and traditional in her approach to love and is preparing to marry Doug (Chris Messina), a well-to-do white collar type. Cristina is non-conformist and spontaneous, but doesn’t know what she’s looking for in love.

Late one night at a restaurant, Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem), an artist, boldly approaches Vicky and Cristina and invites them to spend the weekend in the city of Oviedo with him. Vicky is reluctant, but Cristina is ready to go. Both young women eventually develop strong romantic feelings for Juan Antonio, but in different ways. Neither woman, however, knows that Juan Antonio’s mentally unstable ex-wife, María Elena (Penélope Cruz), is about to re-enter his life.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona received some of the best reviews any Allen film has had the past decade. Penélope Cruz even received a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance as the tempestuous and sometimes violent María Elena. In fact, it is Cruz’s Elena that saves this film. The first 50 minutes are listless, dull, and, in a few places, almost unwatchable. When Elena arrives, this movie perks up and its themes of unhappy marriages, romantic longing, and the search for meaningful, fulfilling relationships suddenly resonate, whereas those themes were hollow and did not feel genuine before the arrival of Elena.

One of Allen’s strengths has been his screenplays, but this one isn’t strong. The dialogue is flat and fake, and the actors, try as they might, cannot make it anything better. Working this poor script causes the actors to give middling performances, except for Cruz. These characters and the subplots all have potential; the screenplay just rushes by them as if they were nothing more than items on a grocery list that just needs to be gotten out the way. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was a successful film for Woody Allen, and I am happy for him as a fan of his work, but I only enjoyed half of this movie. Once again, I credit the lovely and talented Penélope Cruz, who can bring energy even to a limp film like Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
2009 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Penélope Cruz)

2009 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Supporting Actress” (Penélope Cruz)

2009 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical;” 3 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Javier Bardem), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Rebecca Hall), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Penélope Cruz)

2008 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Penélope Cruz)

--------------------

Review: "Seven Pounds" is Too Damn Dark (Happy B'day, Rosario Dawson)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

Seven Pounds (2008)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic material, some disturbing content, and a scene of sensuality
DIRECTOR: Gabriele Muccino
WRITER: Grant Nieporte
PRODUCERS: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, James Lassiter, Will Smith, and Steve Tisch
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Philippe Le Sourd (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Hughes Winborne
NAACP Image Award winner

DRAMA/MYSTERY

Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper, Elpidia Carrillo, and Joe Nunez

I don’t know how many readers of this review will remember Beloved. This 1998 film was Oprah Winfrey’s big screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1987 novel of the same name (which won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). Beloved, directed by Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme, was a technically well-made film, but was almost unwatchable because it was so depressing, heartrending, and morbid. The plot, characters, and setting were so gloomy that when I saw it, it seemed as if a pall had been cast over the theatre. There is a point when a movie is so sad that it can’t be entertaining.

Seven Pounds is a reunion of actor Will Smith and director Gabriele Muccino, who together made 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness. Happyness was well made with good performances, and while the film featured Will Smith’s character undergoing so many hardships, he was ultimately triumphant, and the film was hugely entertaining. Seven Pounds is well, with good performances, but is so damn dark that watching it is really like having to sit and experience something irritating and painful for two hours.

The film focuses on Ben Thomas (Will Smith), a mysterious IRS agent with a somewhat arrogant air who loves to surprise clients with unexpected visits. He also goes out of his way to help people in need. Why would an IRS agent do that, and why is it so obvious that he’s hiding something? After he meets, Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), an ailing young woman with a fatal heart condition, Ben begins to fall in love with Emily, and that causes him to struggle with completing his shadowy mission of redemption.

It’s safe to assume that Seven Pounds, a weighty, dramatic, star vehicle, is Will Smith’s attempt to make another run at getting Oscar recognition. As such, Smith probably would have better served his ambitions if Seven Pounds was less dour, sour, and gloomy and was instead more upbeat. Movie reviews and Sony Pictures, the studio behind Seven Pounds, have gone to great lengths not to give away too much about Seven Pounds’ plot, but honestly, most viewers will figure out Ben Thomas’ scheme and why he’s scheming 10 minutes (20 tops) into the film. So, I’m not giving anything away by saying that if Thomas’ efforts at redemption are so noble, then, he should be at least a little more lighthearted about the goal he has freely set for himself.

In a way Seven Pounds is too obtuse and too European. I say that because Seven Pounds’ director Gabriele Muccino comes out of a tradition of European cinema in which film narratives gladly go into the dark places of the human condition. There are characters in some European films that have excellent intentions, but their methods for doing something noble for other characters are jaw-dropping and even scandalous (see the wonderful, heartrending Danish film, After the Wedding, which is similar in passing to Seven Pounds).

Regarding Ben Thomas’ absolutely shocking plan, much of the audience for American films will be put off by someone like him, who so fits the saying “wears his emotions on his sleeves.” One can certainly question Thomas’ real agenda and intentions. Does he seek redemption, or is he just a guilty coward, or is he just a self-appointed martyr? In such a character, we would prefer a grim but determined, grieving but genial fella with a smile that can brighten our days even while we can see the sadness in his eyes – the kind of character played by Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or Tom Hanks.

Instead, we get a Will Smith, practically wearing rags and his face covered with ash. Smith, an underrated actor who gives a good performance here, shows an impressive range of emotions in Seven Pounds – most of them of the sadder, negative variety. Seven Pounds is a good movie, but in the end, its darkness makes it too heavy to be entertaining or a great film.

6 of 10
B

Thursday, January 15, 2009

NOTES:
2009 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Director” (Gabriele Muccino) and “Best Film”

2009 Image Awards: 2 wins: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Will Smith) and “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Rosario Dawson); 1 nomination: “Outstanding Motion Picture”

-----------------

2001 Oscar Nominee "The Emperor's New Groove" Plays a Looney Tune

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Running time: 78 minutes; MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Mark Dindal
WRITERS: David Reynolds; from a story by Chris Williams and Mark Dindal with Roger Allers and Matthew Jacobs
PRODUCER: Randy Fullmer
EDITORS: Tom Finan and Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malick, Kellyann Kelso, Eli Russell Linnetz, Stephen J. Anderson, Bob Bergen, Rodger Bumpass, and Tom Jones

In a once-upon-a-time, Disney storybook version of the Incan Empire, Emperor Kuzco (voice of David Spade) is a selfish and childish monarch who rules over his kingdom as if it were his personal play land. However, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), the vengeful priestess who was his advisor before he fired her, turns Kuzco into a llama, but Yzma’s co-conspirator, Kronk (Patrick Warburton), fails to properly dispose of llama Kuzco. Pacha (John Goodman), a gentle llama herder, inadvertently rescues Kuzco, who had actually planned on razing Pacha’s hillside home to build a summer palace. Pacha, while trying to teach him the value of friendship and selflessness, goes on a jungle adventure to help Kuzco regain both his humanity and his throne.

The Emperor’s New Groove certainly isn’t a Disney animated classic on the level of Bambi or Beauty and the Beast (but then what is), but it is something the company can do very well – produce delightful and funny family entertainment. Its wacky brand of comedy and self-knowingly sarcasm brings to life what is initially a painfully slow and clunky film. In spite of a shake start the film becomes a slapstick comedy about two buddies racing to reach a goal before their clownish, but relentless pursuers stop them. This is the kind of a funny animal fable Disney does well, one that emphasizes lots of life lessons for the young ‘uns (and many adults certainly could do to learn those lessons well).  In a way, this is also like a feature-length version of a Warner Bros. Looney Tune cartoon.

The film features wonderful background illustrations of a fanciful version of the Andes and the Incan Empire. Lush jungle backdrops, imaginative sets and art direction, colorful costumes, and appealing character designs are a winning combination. Two things, however, really sell this film. First, the character animation and film direction maintain and lively pace and engages the viewers with an ever changing situation. This is truly a jungle adventure as the scenery changes creating sort of an edge-of-your-seat comedy caper.

Secondly, the voice acting is quite good. David Spade can be a little grating, but it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the self-absorbed Kuzco. John Goodman is fine as usual playing the wise and gentle older fellow with his deep and rich-sounding voice. Patrick Warburton’s rumbling tones are always welcome. The big surprise here is Earth Kitt’s voice performance as Yzma, as she deftly mixes comic menace and casual asides that make Yzma a grand villainness in the great Disney tradition of wicked witches and wily women of magic.

The Emperor’s New Groove will delight the kids and appeal to their parents, as well as adults who like hand-drawn animated feature films. While this isn’t a great Disney animated film, The Emperor’s New Groove, as a second tier Disney cartoon, is a better hand-drawn animated film than cartoons produced by other American studios.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2001 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (Sting-composer/lyricist and David Hartley-composer for the song "My Funny Friend and Me")

2001 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress” (Eartha Kitt)

2001 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Sting and David Hartley for the song "My Funny Friend and Me")

Monday, January 30, 2006

Review: "Three Kings" Prophetic, Timeless, and Timely

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 102 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Three Kings (1999)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic war violence, language and some sexuality
DIRECTOR: David O. Russell
WRITERS: David O. Russell, story by John Ridley
PRODUCERS: Paul Junger Witt, Edward L. McDonnell, and Charles Roven
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Newton Thomas Sigel
EDITOR: Robert K. Lambert
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell

ACTION/COMEDY/DRAMA/WAR

Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Cliff Curtis, Nora Dunn, Jamie Kennedy, Mykelti Washington, Judy Greer, and Liz Stauber

David O. Russell’s (Flirting with Disaster) film Three Kings is set in the aftermath of the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm). Four soldiers set out to recover Iraqi gold that Saddam Hussein stole from Kuwait. Somewhere along the way, they discover that the people, the ordinary citizens caught between the United Nations (i.e. American) juggernaut and Saddam’s brutality, need the soldiers more than the soldiers need the gold.

This is obviously an anti-war picture, but that term is rather broad, as it is for many films that are war movies or take a hard look at war and strife. Shot in a palette of shifting and unusual colors, the film is as surrealistic as the experience of sudden and massive violence can be. In the end, it’s “anti-war” in the sense that it shows how the individual must confront his part in large scale violence, in which he exists as a servant and when the warlords are faceless bureaucrats and manic officers far away from the ground level violence. It’s also about how the little people, the one’s who have no say in how things are run, take the sucker punches. If this movie does one thing well, it is how it portrays the plight of the powerless.

The elements of the film: setting, story, and characters have a hard, visceral feel. The brutal edge bites deep into the soul and makes the viewer feel for the players. On the other hand, the film feels out of control and overly earnest, as if it’s screaming its message at you. That’s not off-putting, but the film often feels hollow because the chain of events are so predictable. From the first time the soldiers (ably played by George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze) encounter some Iraqi civilians getting beat up and shot, you know what’s coming. Clooney’s Maj. Archie Gates can’t leave them behind, and while Wahlberg’s Sfc. Troy Barlow first resists getting involved, he predictably relents. From that point, the Three Kings (Ice Cube’s SSgt. Chief Elgin is the third) are on an earnest holy mission; even Cube’s Elgin is made to play a pious man calling on a high authority to guide them.

Though it is well meaning and flashy, I do give Russell and story writer John Ridley credit for bluntly confronting the hypocrisy of the U.N.’s (once again, U.S.’s) public stance on why they were in Iraq the first time. Three Kings says a lot of things that needed to be said back then and are as relevant today as they were then. It’s a gut check to for a lethargic audience fat on the film treats that will inevitably lead them to tire of SFX tricks. To hear not one, but several characters, both military and civilian, in a film, confront war with such sarcasm, disdain, and sorrow is refreshing.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2000 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor” (Ice Cube)

---------------------

Review: "Requiem for a Dream" is Perhaps the Best Picture of 2000

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Requiem for a Dream (2000) – NC-17 version
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense depiction of drug addiction, graphic sexuality, strong language, and some violence (edited version)
DIRECTOR: Darren Aronofsky
WRITERS: Hubert Selby, Jr. and Darren Aronofsky (from the by Hubert Selby, Jr.)
PRODUCERS: Eric Watson and Palmer West
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Libatique
EDITOR: Jay Rabinowitz
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/CRIME with elements of horror

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Louise Lasser, Ajay Naidu, Te’ron A. O’Neal, Denise Dowse, and Keith David

With films like Gladiator, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Traffic taking all the attention in 2000, it was easy for a far superior work of cinematic art to get lost, but hopefully serious film watchers will discover Darren Aronofsky’s brilliantly filmed tale, Requiem for a Dream, on home video and DVD. Like Ang Lee’s work in Crouching Tiger, Aronofsky’s effort in his film is a dizzying achievement of directorial achievement, though on a smaller scale.

The film follows four drug addicts living in Brighton Beach, in the shadow of the crumbling Coney Island amusement park. A mother, her son, and his two friends find their drug-induced utopias slowly destroyed, as their addictions grow stronger. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a lonely television-obsessed widow, who gets a call that she has a chance to be a game show contestant. Determined to fit in the red dress she wore to her son’s high school graduation (when her husband was still alive and seemingly the last time the family publicly showed a happy face), she sees a doctor about loosing weight in 30 days. He gives her three prescriptions, a mixture of speed and downers. Initially, Sara can’t adjust to what the speed does to her, but she soon adjusts to the jittery feelings it gives her. However, when her body adjusts and starts to crave the high, she begins to take too many of the pills. Before, all her anxieties (growing older, grieving for her late husband, worrying about her son’s life, loneliness, etc.) and her increasing dependency on drugs cause her to go over the edge mentally.

Meanwhile, Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), and his best pal Tyrone C. Love (Marlon Wayans) are taking heroin and cocaine. Harry and Tyrone also start to make a lot of money dealing drugs, but a gang war dries up the dope supply and drives up the prices, making it difficult for the trio to get their fix. That in turn drives each of them to the depths of their souls and into the bowels of a cruel society that exploits their need.

The four leads are simple incredible; this is career defining work. Ms. Burstyn opens her soul to absorb the text and transforms it into a character that emits truth. Then, even more difficult, she has to bare her soul to the viewer, and her performance is so fierce and the character’s situation so scary that the combination could scorch your soul. Any Caucasian actor that would have given the kind of performance that Marlon Wayans gives here would have had the pick of heavyweight dramatic roles offered to him after Requiem; instead, filmgoers can only see him in lowbrow comedies. Jennifer Connelly also comes into her own here. She’s eventually win an Oscar for her supporting role in A Beautiful Mind, but Requiem was where she showed her ability to deliver in intense dramas. Jared Leto, as usual, shows how passionate he is about acting, especially building a character. He eats up the screen, and his presence is like sunburst on film.

Aronofsky and his collaborators used a number of in-camera effects with digital special effects, special cameras, and editing technique to create a world of drug addiction, hard core criminal activity, and institutional callous cruelty that is real as the flesh on your bones. However, Aronofsky isn’t alone in his talents. There are any number of great directors and skilled filmmakers who use tricks and techniques to make visually appealing, surprising, and shocking films. What makes this work stand out is that Aronofsky went to great limits to make you feel. Thus, you’ll love it or hate because Aronofsky pushes you inside Requiem for a Dream, and you can’t sit back. The viewer has to be involved, and he or she has to care. A viewer has no choice but to have a strong feeling by what he or she experiences via this truly engaging and gripping movie.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2001 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Ellen Burstyn)

2001 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor” (Marlon Wayans)

2001 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Ellen Burstyn)

---------------------------

Review: "Children of Men" is a Great Science Fiction Film (Happy B'Day, Alfonso Cuaron)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Children of Men (2006)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, language, some drug use, and brief nudity
DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón
WRITERS: Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (based upon the book The Children of Men by P.D. James)
PRODUCERS: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Hilary Shor, Tony Smith and Iain Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki, A.S.C., A.M.C.
EDITORS: Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón
Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/DRAMA/THRILLER/WAR

Starring: Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, Peter Mullan, and Pam Ferris

It’s London, 2027, and Theo (Clive Owen) is just trying to get by, working as a bureaucrat who lives in a state of numbness. The world has changed so much since he was an idealistic young activist. Hope for the future is dying because it has been almost 19 years since the last baby was born. Most nations have fallen apart as people embrace separatism and descend into nihilism and lawlessness. To survive the ever-increasing internal strife, terror attacks, and tremendous influx of desperate refugees, Great Britain embraces militaristic imperialism. The government has been moving the refugees – called “fugees” – into detainment camps for deportation.

Meanwhile, Theo is content to visit his old friend, Jasper (Michael Caine, looking surprisingly fresh in a shock of long white hair) at his secluded home in the remote countryside away from London, but suddenly, Theo’s ex-wife, Julian (Julianne Moore), is back in his life. The leader of the Fishes, a covert group fighting for immigration rights, she needs Theo to obtain transit papers for a young woman named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), whom Julian wants to move out of the country. Theo suddenly finds himself deep into Julian’s covert operations when disaster befalls them all, and Theo learns that Kee is eight-months pregnant. Suddenly, Theo and Kee are in a desperate race, avoiding friend and foe, in an attempt to get Kee to safety and maybe save the future of mankind.

Children of Men may very well be the best speculative science fiction film to come around in ages. With its relentlessly bleak view of the future, it is one of the scariest dystopian films to come along in while. Since this future is certainly plausible, Children of Men is one of the few sci-fi films of the last few decades with that favor the grit of realism rather than the flashy gleam of such science fiction stalwarts as aliens and time travel.

Director Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá tambíen and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and his creative staff, in particular cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and production designers, Geoffrey Kirkland and Jim Clay, focus on keeping Children of Men from being so way out there in the future (Blade Runner) or almost supernatural (The Matrix) that the audience is not only riveted, but can’t ignore a story that one could mark on a calendar as likely to occur soon. Cuarón goes full steam ahead mixing art, politics, and entertainment. Almost from the early moments of the film, it is hard to separate the film. I found myself entertained at the highest level, while being impressed with Children of Men as high art, but at the same time, I couldn’t ignore the politics. Cuarón makes England look like the ruined version of present-day Iraq that I see every day on the news. It’s so much to take in, and Cuarón has the film hit the ground running with the kind of wild ride that popcorn action movies provide. Children of Men, however, is a gourmet film meal with the kick of a Memphis (or Texas) barbeque event action movie.

There are good performances all around. Although Julianne Moore and Michael Caine share top billing with Clive Owen, the star couple is Owen and newcomer Clare-Hope Ashitey. They have the kind of screen chemistry that directors would almost sell their souls for in order to have it for the leads in their films. Owen and Ashitey with unyielding subtlety, quiet determination, and simmering intensity give Children of Men its spiritual hook. Together, they make sure that this political sci-fi, New Testament allegory closes as it should, and Alfonso Cuarón has chosen a grim and dour scenario and executed it with breathtaking technique. Children of Men is an undeniably entertaining art film and artfully entertaining movie that would make the short list of best pictures in any year.

10 of 10

Friday, January 12, 2007

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Emmanuel Lubezki), “Best Achievement in Editing” (Alfonso Cuarón and Alex Rodríguez) and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby)

2007 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Cinematography” (Emmanuel Lubezki) and “Best Production Design” (Geoffrey Kirkland, Jim Clay, and Jennifer Williams); 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Frazer Churchill, Timothy Webber, Mike Eames, and Paul Corbould

2007 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Supporting Actor” (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and “Best Supporting Actress” (Clare-Hope Ashitey)

---------------------