Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 1st to 5th, 2021 - Update #14

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From WeGotThisCovered:   Christina Ricci has been cast in a mystery role in "The Matrix 4."

AMAZON - From InTheseTimes:  Bezos the Great and Powerful: Beyond the dangers of corporate consolidation, Amazon’s acquisition of MGM has exposed an American economy that’s mostly make-believe.

CULTURE/BLM - From THR: Tom Hanks penned a guest essay for The New York Times on Friday in which he called for the truth of the Tulsa race massacre to be taught in schools.

POLITICS - From Variety:   Facebook says that it will suspend former president Donald Trump from its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms until at least January 2023.  Further, Trump will only be reinstated "if conditions permit."

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Emmy-winning actor, Billy Porter, and executive producer Greg Berlanti are developing a TV series, "Fruits of Thy Labor," for NBC's "Peacock" streaming service.

ANIMATION - From Deadline:   Nickelodeon has released a teaser trailer and art form the "Spongebob Squarepants" spinoff, "The Patrick Star Show."

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, Donnie Yen, is joining Keanu Reeves in "John Wick 4."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Despite all Tom Cruise's cussin' and hollarin', production on "Mission: Impossible 7" in the U.K. will shut down for 14 days because of a positive COVID-19 test.

FILM FESTIVALS - From Variety:   The lineup for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.  This year's festival will be held from July 6th to 17th, 2021.

DISNEY - From Deadline:   "Indiana Jones 5" will begin filming in the United Kingdom next week, according to sources.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:   Paramount Pictures brings resurrects movie-going with "A Quiet Place Part II" ... or do "Deadline" says.

STREAMING - From Deadline:   Actor Sebastian Stan (Marvel's "Winter Soldier") has posted a new photo of himself as the rocker, Tommy Lee (of the band "Motley Crue") to promote Hulu's limited series, "Pam & Tommy."

OBITS:

From Deadline:   The actress Romy Walthall has died at the age of 57, Wednesday, 19, 2021.  Her first screen was in 1984 and her last in 2011.  Walthall made appearances in some of the biggest television series of the 1980 and 90s.  This included "T.J. Hooker," "Moonlight," "Matlock," "In the Heat of the Night," "L.A. Law," and "The X-Files," to name a few.  Walthall also had small role in the director John Woo's hit movie, "Face/Off," starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta.

From Deadline:   American stunt coordinator and film director, Buddy Van Horn, has died at the age of 92, Tuesday, May 11, 2021.  Van Horn was actor Clint Eastwood's stunt double and was credited as the stunt coordinator on Eastwood films from 1972 to 2011.  Van Horn also directed three films in which Eastwood starred, "Any Which Way You Can" (1980), "The Dead Pool" (1988), and "Pink Cadillac" (1989).

From XXL:   Dashawn Maurice Robertson, known as the rapper "Lil Loaded," has died at the age of 20, Monday, May 31, 2021.  Lil Loaded came to fame in 2019 when his song, "Blocc Baby" went viral.  He self-released his one studio album, "A Demon in Blue," October 2020, as a digital download/streaming.

 

Review: "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Turns Out to Be Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract – video (2017)

Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for language, some violence, sensuality, thematic elements and brief drug use

DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu

WRITERS:  Ernie Altbacker (based on the comic book story by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and on the DC Comics characters)

EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinsk

COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann

ANIMATION STUDIO:  The Answerstudios

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Sean Maher, Kari Wahlgren, Stuart Allan, Taissa Farmiga, Brandon Soo Hoo, Jake T. Austin, Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer, Gregg Henry, Meg Foster, Masasa Moyo, Jason Spisak, Crispin Freeman, and Kevin Smith

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  The films stars the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans.  The film's story is based on “The Judas Contract,” the 1983-84 story arc that was published in The New Teen Titans #39 to #44 and in The New Teen Titans Annual 3, which were created by the writer-artist team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie focuses on the Teen Titans and their battle against an insane cult leader and his conspiracy against them.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract opens with the original Teen Titans:  Robin/Dick Grayson (Sean Maher), Speedy (Crispin Freeman), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo), and Bumblebee (Masasa Moyo).  During a mission, the Titans rescue an alien princess, Koriand'r of Tamaran (Kari Wahlgren), also known as “Starfire,” from her captors.

Five years later, Dick Grayson, now known as “Nightwing,” rejoins the Teen Titans, who are led by Starfire.  In addition to original member, Beast Boy, the team is now comprised of Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Terra (Christina Ricci), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), and the current Robin, Damien Wayne (Stuart Allan).  The Titans have been battling a high-tech terrorist organization called “H.I.V.E.” and are trying to find its leader, “Brother Blood” (Gregg Henry), the head of a terrorist cult.

Brother Blood has grown tired of the Titans interfering in his plans, but he desires to possess their powers.  Blood hires the mercenary/assassin, Deathstroke (Miguel Ferrer), to capture the Titans, and to that end, Deathstroke has a spy inside the Titans.

For most of the 1980s, The New Teen Titans was one of DC Comics' most popular comic book titles, and for awhile, it was the publisher's most important and popular title.  “The Judas Contract” was The New Teen Titans' signature story line.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie is true to the spirit of the original story, both in depicting how close a team of disparate individuals can become and in depicting the sting of betrayal committed by one member against the rest of the team.

I really enjoyed this movie, and I am surprised that I liked all the characters and all the voice actors' performances.  Christina Ricci does stand out and conveys the pathos and conflict within Terra Markov, while Brandon Soo Hoo gives comedic depth and dramatic weight to Beast Boy.  I will note, however, that film director, Kevin Smith, appears as a cartoon version of himself, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract could have done without him.

Fans of the direct-to-video, DC Comics animated films will find that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a high point in this long-running series.  Teen Titans fans will also find that, although the film changes the original story quite a bit, this version of The Judas Contract maintains the core of the comic book original, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 25, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Amazon Announces Six Pilots for 2015 "Fall Pilot Season"

Amazon Announces Lineup for its 2015 Fall Pilot Season

Following Amazon’s five Primetime Emmy wins, six pilots will launch from acclaimed creators Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3), Louis CK (Louie), Diablo Cody (Juno), Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator), Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine), Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said), Bob Nelson (Nebraska), Tig Notaro (Boyish Girl Interrupted), Christine Vachon (Still Alice), and Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich (The Killing)

Shows feature noted talent including Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Flea (The Big Lebowski), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Shaquille O’Neal (Blended), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Christina Ricci (Monster), and David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum)

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced the lineup for its fall pilot season which is scheduled to debut later this year exclusively on Amazon Video in the US, UK, Germany and Austria. Amazon customers will find a wide-range of genres in this latest slate of pilots ranging from Good Girls Revolt, a powerful story set in 1969 about a group of young women seeking to be treated fairly and ultimately sparking changes that upend marriages, careers, love and friendship; Z, a half-hour bio-series pilot of Lost Generation legend Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and her passionate love affair with iconic author F. Scott Fitzgerald; Highston, a family comedy about invisible celebrity friendships to Edge, a western set in the post-Civil War era where one cowboy doles out his own savage brand of justice; and more.

    “We have something for everyone in this season and I am excited to see which shows spark conversation amongst our customers and what they want to be made into series.”

Amazon customers will once again be invited to watch and provide feedback on the shows they want to see turned into full series for Prime members. All pilots will be available via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/amazonvideo.

The new half-hour pilots premiering later this year include Highston from Bob Nelson (Nebraska), Directors Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) and Executive Producer Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator); One Mississippi from Executive Producers Louis CK (Louie), Tig Notaro (Boyish Girl Interrupted), Diablo Cody (Juno) and Executive Producer/Director Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said); and Z from Dawn Prestwich (The Killing) and Nicole Yorkin (The Killing), produced by Pam Koffler and Christine Vachon (Still Alice) and directed by Tim Blake Nelson (Anesthesia). The hour-long pilots will include Edge from Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) and Fred Dekker (Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: Enterprise); Good Girls Revolt written by Dana Calvo (Made in Jersey); and Patriot (working title) from Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Weather Man).

As well, these pilots feature notable actors including Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Flea (The Big Lebowski), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Shaquille O’Neal (Blended), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Christina Ricci (Monster), and David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum).

“Our latest pilot season brings together a diverse group of shows that we think customers will really enjoy,” said Roy Price, Vice President, Amazon Studios. “We have something for everyone in this season and I am excited to see which shows spark conversation amongst our customers and what they want to be made into series.”

Amazon’s fall pilot season includes the following shows:

Edge

Based on George G. Gilman's best-selling book series of the same name, which has been described as “the most violent western in print,” Edge showcases the sly, raw power of the western genre. Set in 1868, Max Martini (Pacific Rim, Captain Phillips) stars as Josiah ‘Edge' Hedges—a Union officer turned cowboy, who prowls the post-Civil War American West doling out his own peculiar (and savage) brand of justice. When we meet Edge in the pilot, his mission is personal and his vengeance hath no fury. Edge also stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) as Merritt Harknett, and Yvonne Strahovski (The Astronaut Wives Club, Chuck) as Beth. Edge was developed by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) and Fred Dekker (Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: Enterprise), teleplay by Dekker and Black, is directed by Black, and executive produced by Black, Dekker, Barry Josephson (Bones, Turn: Washington Spies), and David Greenblatt (Battle Los Angeles).

Good Girls Revolt

In 1969, while a cultural revolution with a soundtrack to match swept through the free world, there was still one place that refused to change with the times: newsrooms. Good Girls Revolt follows a group of young female researchers at "News of the Week," who simply ask to be treated fairly. Their revolutionary request will spark convulsive changes and upend marriages, careers, sex lives, love lives, and friendships. Good Girls Revolt stars Genevieve Angelson (Backstrom) as Patti, Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) as Jane, Erin Darke (We Need to Talk About Kevin) as Cindy, Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) as Finn, Hunter Parrish (Weeds) as Doug, Jim Belushi (Show Me a Hero) as Wick McFadden, Joy Bryant (Parenthood) as Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Grace Gummer as Nora Ephron. A co-production with TriStar Television, Good Girls Revolt is written and created by Dana Calvo (Made in Jersey), directed by Liza Johnson (Return), and executive produced by Calvo, Lynda Obst (Interstellar), Darlene Hunt (The Big C), Don Kurt (Justified) and Jeff Okin (Dark Skies, Stanley Park). The pilot is inspired by the landmark sexual discrimination cases chronicled in Lynn Povich's book, The Good Girls Revolt.

Highston

Highston Liggetts (newcomer Lewis Pullman) is a 19-year-old with a wide circle of celebrity friends—that only he can see. His parents, Jean (Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24), and Wilbur (Chris Parnell, Saturday Night Live) force him to get psychiatric help, but his Uncle Billy (Curtis Armstrong, American Dad!) thinks he’s just fine. Highston is a comedy about what it means to be normal in a world that’s anything but. The pilot guest stars Shaquille O’Neal (Thunderstruck) and Flea (The Big Lewbowski), and is written by Oscar-nominee Bob Nelson (Nebraska), directed by Independent Spirit Award winners Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine), and executive produced by Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator), Todd Hoffman (Love Stinks), Nelson, and Todd Schulman (Bruno).

One Mississippi

A dark comedy, loosely inspired by Tig Notaro’s (Boyish Girl Interrupted) life, One Mississippi follows Tig as she deals with the complex reentry into her childhood hometown of Bay Saint Lucille, Mississippi, to deal with the unexpected death of her mother, the interminable life of the party, Caroline. Reeling from her own recently declining health, Tig struggles to find her footing with the loss of the one person who actually understood her, with help from her older but not always wiser brother, Remy, played by Noah Harpster (Transparent), and her emotionally distant stepfather, Bill, played by John Rothman (The Devil Wears Prada). A surprise visit from Tig’s girlfriend, Brooke, played by Casey Wilson (Gone Girl) only compounds the reality of how out of place Tig is in a world without her mother. A co-production with FX Productions, One Mississippi is written and executive produced by Notaro and Diablo Cody (Juno), executive produced by Louis CK (Louie), Blair Breard (Louie), and Dave Becky (Everybody Hates Chris), with pilot directed and executive produced by Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said).

Patriot

The political thriller Patriot follows the complicated life of intelligence officer John Tavner (Australian newcomer Michael Dorman, Wonderland). His latest assignment is to prevent Iran from going nuclear, requiring him to forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous "non-official cover" -- that of a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm. A bout with PTSD, the Federal government’s incompetence, and the intricacies of keeping a day job in the “front” industrial piping company, cause a barrage of ever-escalating fiascos that jeopardize Tavner’s mission. The pilot also stars Terry O’Quinn (Lost) as Tom Tavner, John's State Department Director of Intelligence father, Michael Chernus (Manhattan Project), as John's older brother Edward Tavner, a young Texas congressman, Kathleen Munroe (Call Me Fitz), as John's wife Alice, Aliette Opheim (Sandor slash Ida) as Agathe, a brilliant young homicide detective from Luxembourg hot on John's trail, and Kurtwood Smith (That 70s Show) as Mr. Claret, John's stickler of a new "boss" at the piping firm. Patriot is written and directed by Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Weather Man), and executive produced by Conrad, Gil Bellows (Temple Grandin), Glen Ficarra (Crazy Stupid Love, Focus), Charlie Gogolak (Focus), and John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love, Focus).

Z

Z is a bio-series pilot based on the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, the brilliant, beautiful and talented Southern Belle who becomes the original flapper and icon of the wild, flamboyant Jazz Age in the 20s. Starring Christina Ricci (Monster) as Zelda Sayre, Z starts before she meets the unpublished writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (Gavin Stenhouse, Allegiance), and moves through their passionate, turbulent love affair and their marriage—made in heaven, lived out in hell as the celebrity couple of their time. The series travels through the wild parties, the wicked jazz, the dissolute artists of the era, as well as the alcoholism, adultery and struggle with dashed dreams and mental illness that characterizes their later years. Z dives into the fascinating life of a woman ahead of her time, an artist determined to establish her own identity in the tempestuous wake of a world-famous husband. The show pulls back the curtain on her triumphs and dark secrets. It's a modern take on one of the most notorious love stories of all time, played out in salons and speak-easies from Montgomery, Alabama to the Cote D'Azur. Z is written by Dawn Prestwich (The Killing) and Nicole Yorkin (The Killing), directed by Tim Blake Nelson (Anesthesia), and executive produced by Pamela Koffler (Still Alice) and Christine Vachon (One Hour Photo) of Killer Films, as well as Ricci. The show also guest stars David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) as Judge Anthony Dickerson Sayre, Kristine Nielsen (Savages) as Minnie Sayre, Maya Kazan (The Knick) as Livye Hart, Sarah Schenkkan (30 Rock) as Eleanor Browder, Jamie Anne Allman (The Killing) as Tootsie Sayre, and Holly Curran (Alpha House) as Tilde Sayre.


About Amazon Video
Amazon Video includes tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes available on Prime Video at no additional charge to Prime members, as well as access to hundreds of thousands of titles to buy or rent. Amazon Video is the only service in the world that brings customers both of these options in one place.

Prime Video, available on Amazon Video, lets Prime members enjoy binge-worthy TV shows including Amazon Original Series airing now such as the multi-Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-winning series Transparent, Hand of God, Bosch, Catastrophe and Mozart in the Jungle as well as hit series like Sex and the City, Veep, Girls, The Sopranos, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Wire. Prime Video also offers members blockbuster movies such as Transformers: Age of Extinction, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Star Trek Into Darkness and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, among others. Prime members have access to a collection of kids shows including Amazon Original Series Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and the Annecy, Annie and multi-Emmy Award-winning Tumble Leaf, as well as popular shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, and Blue’s Clues.

Prime members can look forward to several new upcoming original series premiering this year, with the coming-of-age dramedy Red Oaks premiering on October 9, followed by the much anticipated adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle on November 20, and season two of Emmy-winning Transparent December 4. Coming in 2016 will be the second seasons of Mozart in the Jungle, Bosch and romantic comedy, Catastrophe, along with the debut season of The New Yorker Presents.

In addition to tens of thousands of titles to instantly stream on Prime Video, the Amazon Prime membership (www.amazon.com/prime) includes more than one million songs, more than a thousand playlists and hundreds of stations through Prime Music, unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items, early access to select Lightning Deals, unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos, and access to borrow from more than 800,000 books for Kindle owners–all for $99 a year.

Amazon Video can be accessed through the Amazon Video app on TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/amazonvideo. Prime Video titles can also be downloaded for offline enjoyment—the only subscription streaming service to offer this functionality. Customers who are not already Prime members can sign up for a free trial at Amazon.com/prime.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

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Review: "Anything Else" is Familiar Woody Allen

TRASH N MY EYE No. 119 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Anything Else (2003)
Running time:  108 minutes 91 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – R for a scene of drug use and some sexual references
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCER:  Letty Aronson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Darius Khondji
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Woody Allen, Jason Biggs, Fisher Stevens, Anthony Arkin, Danny DeVito, Christina Ricci, Kadee Strickland, Jimmy Fallon, Diana Krall, William Hill, Stockard Channing, Maurice Sonnenberg, Kenneth Edelson, David Conrad, and Joseph Lyle Taylor

The subject of this movie review is Anything Else, a 2003 romantic comedy from writer-director Woody Allen.  The film is a contemporary romantic comedy set in New York City and follows an older guy as he guides his younger protégé through a messy and hilarious love story.

Woody Allen’s Anything Else is a movie about two relationships.  First, there is the friendship between an aged, aspiring comedy writer, David Dobel (Woody Allen), and a young, struggling comedy writer, Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs, American Pie).  Dobel is apparently severely paranoid, but he dispenses much wisdom and advice to Falk, who is in the middle of a messy situation.  That situation is the second relationship upon which the film focuses.  Falk is deeply in love with Amanda (Christina Ricci), a young actress who is insecure about her weight, among others things.  Amanda also claims to be uptight and insecure about her relationship with Jerry, but she may only be using that as a cover for having one or several affairs.

Anything Else isn’t among Allen’s best work, but it’s better than his least work – sort of in the middle.  It’s intermittently funny, sometimes outrageous, but too often dull and dry.  Allen’s dialogue, is as usual, crackling, but it takes almost half the film before the witty repartee begins to flow.  When Allen is not the lead in his film or if he’s not in his film, he usually has another character stand in for him.  While Allen is in Anything Else as David Dobel, Jason Biggs’ Jerry Falk is the Woody character or character type we’ve seen in films like Annie Hall or Manhattan.  Biggs does a passable job in this role, but that’s all; thankfully Woody is so good at writing himself, even for other actors to play, that the film doesn’t fall apart.  But nor does it ever really come together as anything more than several scenes that would make good exercises for an acting class.

Christina Ricci steals the show, although her performance takes a bit of time to get going.  Despite its obvious flaws, Anything Else is worth seeing, not only for Allen fans, but also for fans of Ms. Ricci.

6 of 10
B

Updated:  Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Small Soldiers" is Hugely Entertaining (Remembering Jerry Goldsmith)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Small Soldiers (1998)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some menacing violence/action and brief drug references
DIRECTOR:  Joe Dante
WRITERS:  Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, and Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio
PRODUCERS:  Michael Finnell and Colin Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jamie Anderson
EDITORS:  Marshall Harvey and Michael Thau
COMPOSER:  Jerry Goldsmith

FANTASY/SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring:  Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst, Jay Mohr, David Cross, Denis Leary, Kevin Dunn, Ann Magnuson, Phil Hartman, Jacob Smith, Wendy Schaal, and Dick Miler and the voices of Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Bruce Dern, George Kennedy, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clint Walker, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Christina Ricci, and Harry Shearer

The subject of this movie review is Small Soldiers, a 1998 science fiction, fantasy, and action film from director Joe Dante.  The film depicts a small war between two groups of action figures brought to life by new technology.  Small Soldiers remains one of my all-time favorite films.

Joe Dante directed Gremlins, the tale of toy-like creatures besieging a small town.  He returned to a similar toys-come-to-life theme in the 1998 DreamWorks film, Small Soldiers.  When computer chips manufactured for military use end up in a line of action figures, the toys come to life with minds of their own.  One group, the Commando Elite, is composed of military action figures, kind of like an extreme version of G.I. Joe.  The second group is a collection of monsters and creatures called the Gorgonites.  The Commando Elite, led by Major Chip Hazard (voice of Tommy Lee Jones), are programmed to destroy the Gorgonites, led by the wise Archer (voice of Frank Langella), who are programmed to lose to the Commando Elite.

Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) is manning the counter of his father, Stuart’s (Kevin Dunn) old-fashioned toy store, The Inner Child, when he spots a shipment of Commando Elite and Gorgonite toys on a delivery truck.  He convinces the delivery driver to give him a case of each toy set, but he doesn’t know that once he opens the box, he’s also activated the toys, which are actually intelligent because of the military chips in them.  Then, the Commando Elite begin hunting Archer.  When Alan unknowingly takes Archer (who’s hiding in Alan’s bag) home with him, Chip Hazard and the rest of the Elite mark him for annihilation along with the Gorgonites.  Soon Alan’s neighbors, including a classmate to whom he’s attracted, Christy Fimple (Kirsten Dunst), are marked for death as collaborationists with the Gorgonites.  Now, Alan, Christy, both their families, and two developers from the toy manufacturer (Jay Mohr and David Cross) must not only defend themselves from the Commando Elite, they must also stop the toys for good.

The characters in Small Soldiers aren’t that well developed, but they’re more broad archetypes than caricatures.  Gregory Smith’s Alan is the outsider boy, one with a bit of a rebellious streak, and he’s more spirited and strong-willed than his slight build would suggest.  Kirsten Dunst’s Christy Fimple is the all-American girl-next-door who is much wiser and more open minded than her contemporaries.  They make a good screen couple, and Smith and Ms. Dunst act as if they’ve done this before.  Tommy Lee Jones’ voice over performance as Major Chip Hazard is surprisingly good and really sells the film.  His Hazard voice is a mixture of tongue-in-cheek humor, sarcasm, laid-back disdain, and menace.  The rest of the cast fits in well, but really don’t do much until the final act.

Small Soldiers was a moderate box office success.  The film is a bit old for the small children who would play with toys like the Commando Elite and Gorgonites, and would certainly not interest the older teens and twenty-something males who see war action/adventure films.  Still, it’s a good satire of the violent mentality that says we must hate, fight, kill, and destroy those who are supposed to be our enemies or those we were taught or programmed to believe deserve destruction.

The film really is fun (I’ve seen it twice.), and Joe Dante has the knack for never taking his films too seriously.  He can both make his point and make entertaining films with fantastical settings or creatures.  Dante fills Small Soldiers with references to other films that augment the tale he’s telling.  Like his other films, the aforementioned Gremlins and Piranha and The Howling, he takes the ridiculous and gives it humor and bite, and Small Soldiers surely is an edgy little comedy about a small war and the small-minded reasons for fighting it.

8 of 10
A

Updated: Sunday, July 21, 2013

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Review: Star and Director Go Strong in "Monster" (Happy B'day, Charlize Theron)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 89 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Monster (2003)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and sexual content, and for pervasive language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Patty Jenkins
PRODUCERS: Mark Damon, Donald Kushner, Clark Peterson, Charlize Theron, and Brad Wyman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steven Bernstein (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Arthur Coburn and Jane Kurson
COMPOSER: BT
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/ROMANCE/CRIME with elements of a thriller

Starring: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergesen, Annie Corley, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Brett Rice, Kaitlin Riley, Cree Ivey, and Rus Blackwell

Charlize Theron won the “Best Actress in a Leading Role” Oscar® for her performance in the film, Monster. Directed by indie filmmaker Petty Jenkins, Monster is a biopic about Aileen Carol Wuornos (Charlize Theron), a highway prostitute whom the state of Florida executed in 2002 for murdering several men.

An abused child who had become a prostitute and pregnant by the time she was 13, Wuornos left her home in Michigan and moved to Florida where she continued to hook, servicing mainly truck drivers. After being beaten and raped by a client, she goes on a killing spree, killing any “John” she believed would rape her. The film focuses on the nine-month period from 1989 to 1990 when Aileen began murdering her clientele and also began a disturbing and peculiar romance with a woman named Shelby (Christina Ricci), a closet lesbian from a strict, religious family.

The film is brutal and unflinching, and ultimately hard to watch. It has very little entertainment value, similar to a film like Nil by Mouth, but not as bad as Oprah Winfrey’s Beloved. It’s great filmmaking, but ultimately “too real.” Tragic stories are fine, but such tales, that are too much like an exact copy of something from everyday life, are unpleasing. In the end, that’s what keeps Monster from being one of those “best ever” films.

One reason to definitely not miss this film is Ms. Theron’s virtuoso performance as Aileen. It’s one of the best film performances I’ve ever seen; in fact, I’d have to go back to Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice to find something so complex, so layered, so deep. Ms. Theron literally becomes someone else, totally alien to her public persona and prior performances. As good as Ms. Ricci is, Ms. Theron (an actress in whom I had very little interest) is a supernova, and though Monster isn’t one of the greatest, her performance is.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Charlize Theron)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Charlize Theron)

2004 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Charlize Theron)

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Review: "Cursed" is an Odd Werewolf Movie (Happy B'day, Christina Ricci)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cursed (2005)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for horror violence/terror, some sexual references, nudity, language, and a brief drug reference
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson
PRODUCERS: Marianne Maddalena and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Robert McLachlan with Don McCuaig
EDITORS: Raúl Dávalos, Gregg Featherman, Patrick Lussier, and Lisa Romaniw

HORROR/MYSTERY with elements of comedy and thriller

Starring: Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristina Anapau, Michael Rosenbaum, Mya, Judie Greer, Jonny Acker, Eric Ladin, Shannon Elizabeth, Scott Baio, Craig Kilborn, Lance Bass, Portia De Rossi, Bambi Allen, and Derek Mears

It’s released delayed over a year, Cursed, the teen/20-something oriented werewolf movie from director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, the creators of Scream, finally made it to wide release the last weekend of February 2005. The film was not screened for critics and early word on the Net from fans who claimed to have seen it was poor… But I liked it. Cursed is not great and it has some problems; the makers don’t seem sure if they want a horror movie or a comedy, but scares and laughs mix a little better than oil and water in this instance. Thus, we have a new horror sub-genre – comic horror.

In the film, estranged siblings still dealing with their parents’ death (the film is never quite clear how recent they died or if they were killed) are attacked by a werewolf while trying to help a young woman in a car accident. Ellie (Christina Ricci), the sister, is some kind of producer for The Craig Kilborn Show. She’s always busy juggling guests for the show, and she’s hit a rough patch with her boyfriend, Jake (Joshua Jackson). Her younger brother, Jimmy (Jessie Eisenberg), is dealing with trials of high school as painfully shy nerdy kid who gets grief from the jock types, especially after he becomes attracted to Brooke (Kristina Anapau), a jock’s girlfriend.

At first, Ellie is reluctant to believe that a werewolf attacked them, and it deepens the riff between her and her brother, but eventually the physically changes to her body and her strange behavior convinces Ellie of the truth. A sexy gypsy fortuneteller informs Ellie that she is cursed, and that she must find the werewolf that attacked her (whom Ellie and Jimmy assume to be “the master”) and destroy it in order to break the curse of the werewolf or they too will become beasts. As usual, things are a lot more complicated, and there are several suspects, and it seems more than one villain wishes to harm Ellie and Jimmy.

The bad in Cursed: cheesy CGI to create a werewolf. I hate CGI werewolves, and there's a transformation scene in this movie that is more a mixture of live action and animation than it is computer generated imagery. Also, a lot of the acting is flat or is more pretending than acting, and a few cast members seem to be going through the motions or doing a paint-by-numbers version of acting. The characters are mostly a bunch of pretty people who drive expensive, high-end, luxury cars and act dumb. There’s not much to the plot, which the filmmakers stretch almost to the breaking point, and the story is limp. The film also lacks some poignancy, and it too conveniently resolves family and relationship problems.

The good: Christina Ricci and Jessie Eisenberg really buy into the concept. Everything about the duo rings true: their backstory, living situations, social relationships, and plight. They, more than any other element, sell Cursed to the audience. Rick Baker does some stellar makeup and mechanical effects work, but what else can one expect from this master effects man? The film’s atmosphere is also very good. It’s sometimes funny and outrageous and other times pretty scary, and there are also some nice character twists. Drop disbelief and don’t take Cursed too seriously. I had a blast.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, February 26, 2005

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Review: "Sleepy Hollow" Remains a Tim Burton-Johnny Depp Masterpiece

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 111 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic horror violence and gore, and for a scene of sexuality
DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
WRITERS: Andrew Kevin Walker, from a screen story by Andrew Kevin Walker and Kevin Yagher (based upon the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving)
PRODUCERS: Scott Rudin and Adam Schroeder
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki
EDITORS: Chris Lebenzon and Joel Negron
Academy Award winner

HORROR/MYSTERY

Starring: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Lee, Richard Griffiths, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Marc Pickering, Lisa Marie, Steven Waddington, and Christopher Walken

An Academy Award winner (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration) and recipient of two additional nominations (Best Costume Design and Cinematography), Tim Burton’s film Sleepy Hollow is perhaps the quintessential Tim Burton movie, the film that is the visually summation of the promise he showed in such films as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas. Dark, gothic, and moody, it is a bold fairytale told with modern materials but steeped in early Americana.

The tale is a quirky, modern retelling, or (to use a new term) “reimagination” of Washington Irving’s classic tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In this version, Irving’s famous cowardly hero Ichabod Crane is Constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Deep) whose superiors send him from New York City to Sleepy Hollow, an isolated village in the upper Hudson valley, to investigate a series of murders in which the victims were beheaded. Crane arrives in the village to find the residents mostly hiding behind locked doors and closed shutters. Everyone knows that the Hessian Horseman (this story’s version of the Headless Horseman and played by Christopher Walken), the spirit of dead mercenary, has returned to earth to kill the hapless citizens of the Hollow.

Of course, Crane is a man of reason and refuses to believe in the horseman. During the course of his investigation, he takes on a ward, Young Masbath (Marc Pickering), the son of the one Horseman’s victims, and falls for Katrina Anne Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), the daughter of a village elder. But soon, Crane witnesses the evil power of the horseman, and his mind spirals into paranoia. He begins to suspect many former allies of conspiring with the Horseman, but will Crane be able to tell friend from foe in time to stop the Horseman and his co-conspirator in time to save his friends?

The film is fun to watch, and the actors are great. They mix serious thespian chops with just the perfect amount of tongue-in-cheek. I loved the cast, and Johnny Depp, a frequent collaborator of Burton, straddles the comic with the mad. Christina Ricci looks as if she were born with her face to be a Burton film icon, but her performance here is a bit uneven. Miranda Richardson also makes the most of her small part; she is wicked with an air of menace about her that helps her steal every scene in which she appears.

The film is absolutely gorgeous, at that time, probably the finest looking film of the fantasy/horror genre since Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Burton mixes everything together so well; he is truly a visionary and one of the consummate visualists of the last two decades. Hell, he made Sleepy Hollow a much better film than 1999’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, American Beauty.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2000 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Rick Heinrichs-art director and Peter Young-set decorator), and 2 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Emmanuel Lubezki) and “Best Costume Design” (Colleen Atwood)


2000 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Costume Design” (Colleen Atwood), “Best Production Design” (Rick Heinrichs), and 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Jim Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams, and Paddy Eason)

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Review: "Black Snake Moan" Shameless and Sultry

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


Black Snake Moan (2006)
Opening date: Friday, March 2, 2007
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual content, language, some violence, and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Craig Brewer
PRODUCERS: John Singleton and Stephanie Allain
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Amelia Vincent, ASC
EDITOR: Billy Fox, A.C.E.

DRAMA/MUSIC

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Cochran, David Banner, and Michael Raymond-James

From the writer/director of the Academy Award-winning Hustle & Flow, Craig Brewer, comes the new film, Black Snake Moan. Named after a Blind Lemon Jefferson song (“black snake” was the darkness coming over him), the film follows an embittered black man and a loose white woman coming together for some healing. In spite of the title, this pulp fiction is a blues-drenched tale featuring the kind of ordinary poor folks who stay out of sight and out of mind in our pop culture, but their pain and longing is familiar.

Blues musician Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) finds a white girl: half naked, beaten unconscious, and left for dead on the side of a road near his house. After taking her in, Lazarus learns that the young woman’s name is Rae (Christina Ricci) and that she is the town tramp from the small Tennessee town where they live. Lazarus nurses Rae back to health, but also decides to cure Rae of her wicked ways. He chains her to his radiator in an attempt to get her to slow down and contemplate the future. Desperate to resume her wicked ways of sex and drugs, Rae offers her body to Lazarus if he sets her free. He won’t, and she’s unrepentant. Now, who breaks first?

With the dark, throbbing beat of north Mississippi blues and Scott Bomar’s aching score behind it, Black Snake Moan is a sensational film about sin, redemption, and human imperfection. It glorifies nothing, but proudly says that “it is what it is.” The movie is as odd as many classic 70’s exploitation films. Moan’s characters are like real people. They are fallen and sin often, but they certainly have a God-given right to redemption – to seek it and to attain it.

Brewer’s scandalous and audacious concept aside, he’s smart enough to write inventive, unique scenarios set in poor, rural communities, but even smarter to allow his actors to take these impoverished characters, setting, and plot to bring out the richness of their lives. Samuel L. Jackson is a dangerous, dark, bitter chocolate soul as Lazarus, who is righteous and is nursing a need to get some male vengeance. Christina Ricci is outrageous as Rae, a former abused child beset by a relentless, urgent demon that gives her a hard lust for copulation. Both make outrageous characters familiar because at their core, they just want honest love and friendship just as we all do.

In fact, the supporting cast is quite good. Justin Timberlake as Rae’s soldier boyfriend, Ronnie, shows a felicity for emotion and vulnerability; he reveals so much of the character in his eyes and through his emotive facial expressions. John Cothran as the Lazarus’ preacher friend, R.L., makes a nice God-fearing balance to Lazarus.

Brewer and his director of photography, Amelia Vincent, compose the film is a very deliberate fashion. This unconventional film is shot in a precise manner, which grounds the story and gives it an air of authenticity and realism. In the end, Black Snake Moan’s classical look allows the viewer to focus on this peculiar drama. By skillfully directing his cast and getting the best of his creative staff, Craig Brewer, makes the audacious, the unacceptable, and the forbidden palatable. The blues soundtrack and bluesy score also parallels the film’s intense yearnings and longings. You might find yourself laughing, but this tale of love, betrayal, sex, and liberation from pain is unforgettable because at the heart of the scandal is a familiar tale of wounded humanity.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, March 6, 2007