NEGROMANCER 2.0: Drama

Showing posts with label Drama. Show all posts

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Review: "LOGAN" is Mournful, Violent, and Hopeful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2024 (No. 1976) by Leroy Douresseaux

Logan (2017)

Running time: 137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for strong brutal violence and language throughout, and for brief nudity

DIRECTOR: James Mangold

WRITERS: James Mangold & Scott Frank and Michael Green; from a story by James Mangold (based on the characters and stories appearing in Marvel Comics)

PRODUCERS: Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAHER: John Mathieson (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Michael McCusker and Dirk Westervelt

COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

Academy Award nominee

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Quincy Fouse, Jason Genao, and Bryant Tardy

Logan is a 2017 American drama, action film and superhero movie from director James Mangold. Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, it is the tenth film in 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie franchise and is also the third entry in the Wolverine film series. Logan is based on the Marvel Comics character, Logan/Wolverine, that was created by writer Len Wein and artists John Romita and Herb Trimpe and first fully appeared in the comic book, The Incredible Hulk #181 (cover dated: November 1974). Logan the movie focuses on a legendary mutant trying to save a mutant child from the evil people determined to capture her.

Logan opens in the year 2029. Mutants are nearly extinct, and no new mutants have been born in 24 years. The aging and ailing Logan (Hugh Jackman) works as a limousine driver in El Paso, Texas. Once upon a time, he was known as “Wolverine,” and he was a member of the legendary band of mutants, the “X-Men.” Now, he and the elderly founder of the X-Men, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), live in hiding. Xavier suffers from a degenerative brain condition, and he sometimes has telepathic seizures that render anyone in the vicinity virtually helpless. A mutant known as “Caliban” (Stephen Merchant) helps Logan care for Charles.

Logan has plans for escape, but a complication arrives in the form of a small girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), also known as test subject “X23.” She is a mutant and her abilities are remarkably similar to those of Wolverine's. However, she is being hunted by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his band of killers, the “Reavers.” They are in service of the research institute, Alkali Transigen, and the scientists there want her back no matter what it costs in terms of lives. Will Logan become the hero Wolverine, again, and help Laura get to a place called “Eden?” Or will he run away from his fate, again?

Having seen the first two Wolverine films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013), I did not go to the theater to see Logan when it was originally released in 2017. [In my defense, I was knee deep in catastrophic family drama at the time.] With the impending release of the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Deadpool & Wolverine, I decided it was time.

My was I missing an excellent film. Logan is by far the best of the Wolverine films, and at the time of its release, it was the best X-Men since 2011's X-Men: First Class. Truthfully, Logan would end up being the last really good X-Men film produced by 20th Century Fox.

Logan, which was rated “R” by the MPAA, is one of the most violent superhero films that I've ever seen. Logan, Laura, and a surprise character called “X24” disembowel, dismember, behead, eviscerate, stab, and chop up what seems like a small town's worth of deserving men of various stripes. Although I can sometimes be a prude about what I see as gratuitous violence in cinema, I love the brutal violence of Logan. In fact, all the action scenes in Logan are brilliant, from the standoffs to the fights and car chases.

However, director James Mangold, a filmmaker with a hugely diverse filmography, makes Logan turn on dramatic storytelling and performances. It is obvious that Hugh Jackman as Logan and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier would give fine performances. Still, actor and comedian, Stephen Merchant, is simply wonderful in the important supporting role of Caliban, bringing pathos and depth to a role that could have ended up being an extraneous freak character.

Boyd Holbrook also brings range and a variety of moods to Donald Pierce, another character that could have been a generic mercenary type. Dafne Keen matches the rage and range of Jackman as Logan. Laura could have been lost in the hurricane that is Logan/Wolverine's story in this film, but Keen makes Laura a force of her own. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Eriq La Salle makes the most of his short time on screen as Will Munson.

Logan is a mournful film. It really is not a sequel to the earlier Wolverine films so much as it is the completion of Logan/Wolverine's tragic, but heroic story arc that buttressed the earlier films. Logan is both an ending and a beginning, and I wish that the care and effort put into this film had been put into some of the other X-Men films.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, July 21, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)

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Monday, July 15, 2024

Review: "THEY CLONED TYRONE" Digs in the Past to Raise Hell Today

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2024 (No. 1974) by Leroy Douresseaux

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPA – R for pervasive language, violence, some sexual material and drug use

DIRECTOR: Juel Taylor

WRITERS: Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor

PRODUCERS: Jamie Foxx, Charles D. King, Stephen “Dr.” Love, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Datari Turner

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ken Seng (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Saira Haider

COMPOSERS: Pierre Charles and Desmond Murray

SCI-FI/COMEDY/DRAMA and MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, David Alan Grier, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tamberla Perry, Eric B. Robinson Jr., Trayce Malachi, Leon Lamar, Joshua Mikel, and Keifer Sutherland and Jamie Foxx

They Cloned Tyrone is a 2023 American science fiction comedy-drama and mystery-thriller from director Juel Taylor. After receiving a limited theatrical release, the film began streaming on Netflix on July 21, 2023 as a “Netflix Original.” The film focuses on a drug dealer, a pimp, and sex worker, who must uncover a bizarre mystery that seems to originate from an underground facility beneath their predominantly Black neighborhood.

They Cloned Tyrone focuses on Fontaine (John Boyega), a drug dealer living and slanging in the predominantly African-American, poverty-stricken, and crime ridden suburban neighborhood called “the Glen.” One night, Fontaine arrives at the hotel hideaway of the pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), to get money owed to him. Slick freaks out when he sees Fontaine, who apparently had visited him the previous night just before being gunned down by Isaac (Eric B. Robinson Jr.), a rival drug dealer.

Fontaine does not remember the previous night's events, so Slick takes him to one of his ho's, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), in order to confirm his claims of Fontaine's death. Yo-Yo does just that, but later, a series of eerie events thrusts the three onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. But can a drug dealer, a pimp, and a ho really solve a mind-bending mystery that threatens not only their own neighborhood, but Black neighborhoods everywhere?

They Cloned Tyrone got lost in the glare of two of 2023's mega-box office hits, the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer. This month – specifically July 14th – is the one year anniversary of its limited theatrical release. I had been putting off seeing They Cloned Tyrone, so I thought now was a good time to do so.

In They Cloned Tyrone, co-writer-director Juel Taylor and co-writer Tony Rettenmaier make many references to American popular storytelling via the characters dialogue. However, the film's plot and narrative reference numerous previous Black speculative and genre films. They Cloned Tyrone's conspiracy around consumer products recalls the blaxploitation homage and spoof films, Undercover Brother (2002) and Black Dynamite (2009). Director Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) are spectral presences in They Cloned Tyrone's narrative, and I also see a passing resemblance to elements from Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You (2018). The essences of two landmark 1971 films, A Clockwork Orange and Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song, as well as that of the 1988 cult classic, They Live, are in pungent evidence here.

Still, They Cloned Tyrone is an original. It is a gleeful comedy and satire of America. It also manages to be a bolder and more imaginative science fiction film than the pew-pew-pew, space opera epics that pass for modern sci-fi cinematic storytelling. Taylor and Rettenmaier are correct. The Founding Father's of the United States of America came up with some high ideals, but then, died and left us with the messy reality of a fractured disunited state of affairs. These two writers are among the few to plainly state via metaphor and allegory that for too long, Black people have carried the weight of fixing that mess and trying to make the experiment called America an actual thing.

The film has great production values all around, from cinematography and editing to art direction, costume design, and score. You might, dear readers, miss that because They Cloned Tyrone is such an engaging, crazy, lovable story driven by powerhouse performances. John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris give killer performances, and if they were nepo babies, at least one of them (likely Foxx) would have received Oscar nominations for his or her performance here. Parris clearly has leading lady chops, which she wields in this film to make herself a co-lead rather than a supporting player. Foxx balances pathos and absurdity in making Slick Charles a wonderfully engaging and exceedingly likable character.

But John Boyega: let's be honest. His career in America has not exploded like that of his Star Wars sequel trilogy co-star, Adam Driver... and we know why. Boyega is every bit as good as everything that passes for the young Hollywood's A-list. Boyega disappears inside Fontaine and makes him not so much a tragic figure or even criminal for that matter. Fontaine's is the hero's journey even if he is not fair of hair and skin. Boyega has moments here that are most poignant and dramatic and that only an actor both talented and skilled can pull off.

Boyega makes They Cloned Tyrone more than satire, blaxploitation, horror, science fiction, and absurdist comedy. Boyega gives the film dramatic heft and weight. They Cloned Tyrone is memorable and is also one of 2023's very best films because John Boyega is one of a kind.

10 of 10

Monday, July 15, 2024

NOTES:

2024 NAACP Image Awards: 9 nominations: “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Breakthrough Creative-Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Cinematography in a Motion Picture” (Ken Seng), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier), and “Outstanding Stunt Ensemble-Television or Film”

2024 Black Reel Awards: 8 nominations: “Outstanding Lead Performance” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Supporting Performance” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Screenplay” (Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Kim Coleman), “Outstanding Emerging Director” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Score” (Desmond Murray and Pierre Charles), “Outstanding Costume Design” (Francine Jamison-Tanchuck), and “Outstanding Editing” (Saira Haider)

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Sunday, July 14, 2024

Review: "SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAAD ASSSSS SONG" is Still Beatin' Some White Ass

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 184 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song (1971)

Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – X; re-rated R in 1974

EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Melvin Van Peebles

PRODUCERS: Jerry Gross and Melvin Van Peebles

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bob Maxwell

COMPOSERS: Earth Wind & Fire and Melvin Van Peebles

CRIME/DRAMA/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales, John Dullaghan, Johnny Amos, Mario Van Peebles, Megan Peebles, and Max Van Peebles

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 action-thriller, drama, and crime film from writer-director Melvin Van Peebles. It is considered a seminal black exploitation film or “blaxploitation” film, being one of the first that kind. The film focuses on a Black man who goes on the run after brutally beating two police officers, with help from other marginalized people and outsiders.

After saving a black protester (likely a Black Panther) by brutally beating the two cops who were brutalizing the protester, Sweetback (Melvin Van Peebles), an apolitical sex performer goes on the run from the white pigs and other white law enforcement types. He heads for Mexico with help from the black community and disaffected Hell’s Angels, and he also meets many unique characters on the way to freedom.

Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback Baad Asssss Song is considered by many people to be the film that ushered in the blaxploitation film wave. With its emphasis on fighting “the man” (the white power structure, in particular corrupt city officials and policemen) and graphic and gratuitous sex, the film is the prototypical blaxploitation film. However, there is likely no other film like this one in its portrayal of police corruption and the of the racist attitudes that prevail among white law enforcement officials.

Structurally, the film has a bare and simple plot, and the script is absent of story and character development. In a many ways, the film itself is more impressionistic than literal, while the theme is literally against white oppression and (evil) white cops. Van Peebles in collaboration with Earth, Wind, and Fire, the R&B group who would go on to have huge crossover success on the pop charts provide a constant musical backdrop for the film. So sometimes, this movie seems like an overly long music video. In spite of its narrative shortcomings, Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song is bold stroke in using film to not only communicate messages and ideas, but to also be used as a means of protest. The film is the work of an artist/firebrand; one must open up to feelings, experiences, emotions, and thoughts that are alien in order to get to the art, and when you get it, Sweetback will be like nothing else.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

EDITED: Sunday, July 14, 2024

NOTES:

2020 National Film Preservation Board, USA: National Film Registry

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Saturday, June 29, 2024

Review: "GODZILLA MINUS ONE" Recalls the Original Spirit of Godzilla

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2024 (No. 1970) by Leroy Douresseaux

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan; Language: Japanese

Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for creature violence and action

DIRECTOR: Takashi Yamazaki

WRITER: Takashi Yamazaki (based on characters owned by Toho Co., Ltd.)

PRODUCERS: Gô Abe, Kazuaki Kishida, Keiichiro Moriya, and Kenji Yamada

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kôzô Shibasaki

EDITOR: Ryûji Miyajima

COMPOSER: Naoki Satô

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/DRAMA and HISTORICAL/WAR

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Ando, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Yuya Endo, and Sae Nagatani

Gojira Mainasu Wan is a 2023 Japanese historical war drama and science fiction film written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki and produced by Toho Studios. It is Toho's 33rd Godzilla film and 37th entry in the Godzilla film franchise. The film's English-language title is Godzilla Minus One, the title by which I will refer to it in this review.

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year (March 10, 2024). The director, Takashi Yamazaki, was one of the four men who each received an Oscar statuette for the win. In Godzilla Minus One, a former kamikaze pilot is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder when the giant monster of his nightmares returns to attack post-war Japan.

Godzilla Minus One opens in 1945, near the end of World War II. Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands his Mitsubishi A6M Zero at the Japanese base on Odo Island for repairs. Shikishima is a kamikaze pilot (the military units that flew suicide missions for Japan during WWII). The base's lead mechanic, Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), deduces that Shikishima had fled from his suicidal duty by pretending his plane had technical issues. Later that night, Godzilla, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the island garrison, and only Shikishima and Tachibana survive.

Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo. Plagued by survivor's guilt, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), whose parents also died in the bombing. With an orphaned baby girl, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), left in Noriko's custody, Shikishima forms a kind of family unit. He even finds employment aboard a minesweeper tasked with disposing of naval mines from World War II. Still, Shikishima can't leave the war behind and is reluctant to ask Noriko to marry him.

Meanwhile, the United States' nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll leaves Godzilla mutated and empowered. Baptized within the horrific power of the atomic bomb, Godzilla now re-emerges, more powerful, and begins to battle Japan on land and sea. Can Shikishima emerge from his guilt and help save Japan from a monster that can unleash the power of a nuclear weapon?

North American audiences are familiar with the modern, rebooted version of Godzilla that stumps around the Legendary Entertainment's “MonsterVerse” an American multimedia franchise that includes a suite of movies that began with 2014's Godzilla and includes the most recent hit, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). In Japan, Godzilla also received a modern reboot, known as the “Reiwa era,” and that began with the 2016 film, Shin Godzilla. Godzilla Minus One is the fifth film from this era.

Godzilla mainly appears in three major sequences in this film, and they are absolutely awesome. The initial one, the attack on Odo Island, is as good any dinosaur attack depicted in Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequels or Jurassic World (2015) and its sequels. The second sequence, when Godzilla attacks Ginza, a district in Tokyo, took my breath away. I believe that the Ginza attack probably earned Godzilla Minus One the votes it needed to win its special effects Oscar. This film's Godzilla is the old-fashioned one that looks like the man-in-a-suit original from the early Godzilla films, beginning in the mid-1950s. However, modern special effects takes the classic and gives him more character, making him more a force a nature than a mere monster.

Godzilla Minus One is as much an ensemble wartime drama as it is a monster movie. It is not perfect, because it does drag quite a bit in places between Godzilla's appearances. The cast, led by Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima, personifies the lives of people living and struggling through the aftermath of a defeated Japan. In a sense, Japan's imperial ambitions and overreach brought that suffering on the people. However, dropping two atomic bombs dropped on Japan (on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945) was some other country's decision. Nor is Japan at fault for the monster that Godzilla becomes as a result of the United States' atomic testing in the Pacific.

Godzilla Minus One is a depiction of Japan's post-WWII efforts to save itself from its own actions and the actions of others. I found myself rooting for them in that epic final battle much in the way I root for the U.S. of A in American war cinema. However, Godzilla Minus One is not so much about nationalism as it is about national survival, and it is quite well-made and entertaining, also.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, June 29, 2024

NOTES:

2024 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masanori Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima)

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Thursday, May 9, 2024

Review: "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES" Gets Personal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2024 (No. 1966) by Leroy Douresseaux

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback (based upon characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver)

PRODUCERS: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Seresin (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: William Hoy and Stan Salfas

COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/DRAMA/MILITARY

Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Ty Olsson, Michael Adamthwaite, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Devyn Dalton, Max Lloyd-Jones, and Amiah Miller

War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 American science fiction film and military drama directed by Matt Reeves. It is a direct sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and is also the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series.

It is the ninth entry in the overall Planet of the Apes film series, which began as an adaptation of the 1963 French science fiction novel, La planète des singes, by Pierre Boulle. In War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar goes on a quest for revenge as a mentally unstable military leader escalates the war between apes and humans.

Fifteen years earlier, the birth of “The Simian Flu” pandemic (as seen in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes) proved deadly to humans. The flu reduced the worldwide human population, and only 1 in 500 humans (.20 percent) are genetically immune to it. Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse. Five years earlier, the apes of the Muir Woods National Monument colony, led by the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis), clashed with the humans living in the ruins of San Francisco (as seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). The humans contacted the last remaining U.S. Army unit.

As War for the Planet of the Apes opens, “The Colonel” (Woody Harrelson), a ruthless leader of a paramilitary faction, has been hunting Caesar, whom he calls “Kong,” and his ape colony in the two years following the battle in the ruins of San Francisco. The colony is betrayed by turncoat apes that the humans call “donkeys,” and tragedy strikes close to Caesar. He sets his colony on a journey to reach a recently discovered oasis, while he begins his mythic quest for revenge.

Caesar's lieutenants: Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), Maurice (Karin Konoval), and Rocket (Terry Notary) insist on accompanying him. Along the way, they meet a mute human girl (Amiah Miller) and a lonely chimpanzee who can speak and calls himself “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn). Will Caesar's quest, however, endanger all his people instead of saving them? And is he dangerously ignorant of the true nature of the conflicts within the remaining groups of humans?

I have been a fan of the Planet of the Apes film ever since I saw the original film, Planet of the Apes (1968), back in the day when CBS broadcast it on a regular basis. Its sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), thrilled and chilled me. I also enjoyed Tim Burton's 2001 Planet of the Apes, a remake and re-imagining of the original film

In preparation for the new film in the franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), I decided to review the two films in the reboot franchise that I had not seen, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. I have previously seen and reviewed Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

I found Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to be a really entertaining film, with its director Matt Reeves spearheading a pulpy, post-apocalyptic drama that thrives on inter-tribal conflict. However, I didn't find Dawn's drama to be quite as substantive as its predecessor, mainly because this film focuses so much on the apes that the film glosses over the human characters that have the most potential.

In War for the Planet of the Apes, it is much the same, but this film is the pinnacle of the first three films in ape acting via motion-capture and voice performances. Here, Reeves wrings much more emotion from the characters, story, and settings. Andy Serkis hits the heights as Caesar, his best performance of the first three films. There are also numerous other fine supporting ape performances. Through these characters, Reeves presents a film in which the emotion is raw and real and drives the drama to be more powerful than even this film's best action scenes.

On the other hand, there is only one exceptional human character, that would be the mute orphan girl, and Amiah Miller gives an exceptional physical performance as the child. Using facial expressions and hand movements, she gives the girl such personality that the audience will come to buy her as a legitimate member of Caesar's tribe rather than as a random human. Woody Harrelson has played so many kooky characters, and The Colonel is not one of the better ones. It is as if Harrelson has done the crazy dude thing so much that he didn't know where to take that kind of character for this film.

War for the Planet of the Apes improves on the plots, characters, elements and ideas introduced in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It is a fine end to what we might call “the Caesar trilogy.” Dear readers, you can't go forward in the Planet of the Apes franchise without seeing War for the Planet of the Apes.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 9, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, and Joel Whist)

2015 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, and Joel Whist)

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Sunday, May 5, 2024

Review: "DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" Goes Ape Sh*t

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2024 (No. 1965) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (based upon characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver)

PRODUCERS: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Seresin (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: William Hoy and Stan Salfas

COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Toby Kebbell, Nick Thurston, Karin Konoval, and Judy Greer

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction-thriller, action, and drama film directed by Matt Reeves. It is a direct sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and is also the second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series.

It is the eighth entry in the overall Planet of the Apes film series, which began as an adaptation of the 1963 French science fiction novel, La planète des singes, by Pierre Boulle. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, apes and humans are thrown together for the first time in years, and a fragile peace is threatened by mistrust and betrayal.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens ten years after the birth of “The Simian Flu” pandemic (as seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Deadly to humans, the flu has reduced the worldwide human population, and only 1 in 500 humans (.20 percent) are genetically immune to it. Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse.

There was a large group of apes that were all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus. They established a colony in the Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco. Their leader is the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis), who protects the colony with his lieutenants. Among them is the sinister and treacherous bonobo, Koba (Toby Kebbell).

One day, for the first time in years, apes and humans meet. A group of humans, led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), unknowingly enters the apes' territory in search of a hydroelectric dam that could restore power to a rag tag human community living in the ruins of San Francisco. As level-headed as Malcolm is, there are hotheads among the humans, like their leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), an ex-police officer. Among the apes, Koba is the hothead, but a fragile peace develops between the two tribes. However, mistrust and betrayal threaten to plunge both humans and apes in a terrible war for control of the San Francisco area and ultimately, for dominance over the Earth.

I was skeptical of Rise of the Planet of the Apes when it was first release, but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I first saw it. I could not believe how exceptionally well made it was. As we all prepare for the impending release of the franchise's latest film, 2024's Kingdom of the Planets of the Apes, I am going back to watch and review, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a really entertaining film. Director Matt Reeves has spearheaded a pulpy, post-apocalyptic drama that thrives on inter-tribal conflict. However, I don't think Dawn's drama is quite as substantive as its predecessor, mainly because this film focuses so much on the apes that, except for Malcolm, the film glosses over the human characters that have the most potential.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a true Planet of the Apes film. The apes are more important, and the humans exist mainly to cause conflict among the apes. Rise of the Planet of the Apes's drama was more grounded in reality, and its subplots mattered beyond being fuel to light the flames of conflict. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is very well made and is fun to watch. Still, I feel like I'm waiting for a bigger and more important film.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, May 5, 2024

NOTES:

2015 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, and Erik Winquist)

2015 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, and Daniel Barrett)

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Thursday, May 2, 2024

Review: "RESERVOIR DOGS" is Still Running These Mean Streets

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 of 2024 (No. 1964) by Leroy Douresseaux

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence and language

DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino

WRITER: Quentin Tarantino

PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrzej Sekula

EDITOR: Sally Menke

DRAMA/CRIME

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Randy Brooks, Kirk Baltz, Edward Bunker, Quentin Tarantino, and (voice) Steven Wright

Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 drama and crime film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino. It is Tarantino's debut film and is the film that brought him to the attention of movie audiences, film critics, and movie studios. Reservoir Dogs focuses on the aftermath of jewelry heist gone wrong as each surviving criminal tries to find out which of his cohorts is a police informant.

Reservoir Dogs opens in a diner and introduces eight gangsters. The boss is Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney), and he and his son, “Nice Guy” Eddie Cabot (Chris Penn), are plotting the heist of jewelry store that has obtained some pricey, fine-cut diamonds. Joe has put together a crew to pull off what seems like a routine robbery, and he has given them nicknames or aliases so that they don't know each other's “Christian names.”

Larry Dimmick (Harvey Keitel) is “Mr. White.” Freddy Newendyke (Tim Roth) is “Mr. Orange.” “Toothpick” Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) is “Mr. Blonde.” The other three are “Mr. Pink” (Steve Buscemi), “Mr. Blue” (Edward Bunker), and “Mr. Brown” (Quentin Tarantino).

However, the heist turns out not to be routine because it was like the cops were waiting for them. Now, two of the six robbers are dead. Four of them are hold-up in a warehouse. One of them is grievously wounded, and one of them has shown up with a young police officer, Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz), he kidnapped. If they are going to make it out of their current predicament, however, they are going to have to discover which of them ratted the rest out to the police.

This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the original theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino's most famous film, Pulp Fiction. It's also the 30th anniversary of the film's debut at the 47th Cannes Film Festival. Before I take a look at that film in its entirety for the first time in thirty years, I decided to go back and watch Reservoir Dogs in its entirety for the first time in over thirty years.

Over the last few decades, I have seen many films referred to as “neo-noir,” because they are modern versions of “Film-Noir.” This term refers to the stylized Hollywood dramas – especially crime dramas – of the 1930s to the 1960s. The 1940s and 1950s are seen as the classic period of Film-Noir. I believe that Reservoir Dogs is legitimately neo-noir because it recalls two of my favorite Film-Noir classics, John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), especially the latter of which Reservoir Dogs borrows several ideas and elements. Early on, it is also clear that the nonlinear narrative that Tarantino uses in Reservoir Dogs is similar to that of Akira Kurosawa's classic period drama, Rashomon (1950).

Reservoir Dogs introduces audiences to what would become Tarantino narrative hallmarks: pop culture references; gory violence, hard-hitting action, nonlinear storytelling, and a heady mixture of songs from the 1960s and 1970s. In this case, the music is introduced by an unseen radio DJ, K-Billy, voiced by comedian and actor, Steven Wright. At the time, however, those didn't feel like hallmarks. They were new, and over thirty years later, they still feel new, not like things that are now director trademarks which in many ways define Tarantino's career and process. Even watching the film now, I see them as clever flourishes from a young director with a lot of potential.

Yes, the dialogue does not always sparkle, but every moment of this film bursts with potential even. That is true even when the nonlinear storytelling reveals that the entire process of the jewelry store heist seems like a thing inadvertently built on a house of holes.

Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Steve Buscemi provide the strong performances that often keep Reservoir Dogs from seeming like a shallow work of plagiarisms. The bring depth, weight, and substance to ideas that might falter in the hands of lesser talents. Chris Penn and Lawrence Tierney make for a believable father-son duo, and the film's lone Black actor, Randy Brooks, as the police official, Holdaway, dominates every scene in which he appears.

Thirty-two years later, I am now wondering why I haven't watched Reservoir Dogs more often. It, along with Tarantino's next two feature films, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown (1997), form Tarantino's purest filmmaking period. Without the big budgets he would get in his twenty-first century films, he had to be clever about the places he flexed himself, whereas now he can indulge his every whim. His characters were vulnerable and living on the margins as regular people, low-level criminals, and cheap hoods. In his films of the last two decades, the characters are flashy anti-heroes and rebels played by some of Hollywood biggest stars. Reservoir Dogs has not aged well simply because it has not aged. It still feels like a star recently born.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 2, 2024

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Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Review: Stanley Kubrick's "THE KILLING" is Still Killer Noir

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 85 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Killing (1956) – B&W

Running time: 85 minutes (1 hour, 25 minutes)

DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick

WRITERS: Stanley Kubrick with Jim Thompson for additional dialogue (based upon the novel by Lionel White)

PRODUCER: James B. Harris

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lucien Ballard

EDITOR: Betty Steinberg

COMPOSER: Gerald Fried

FILM-NOIR/CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook, Jr., Marie Windsor, Ted DeCorsia, Joe Sawyer, James Edwards, Timothy Carey, Joseph Turkel, Jay Adler, Kola Kwariani, and Art Gilmore (narrator)

The Killing is a 1956 American Film-Noir thriller and crime drama from director Stanley Kubrick. The film is based upon the 1955 novel, Clean Break, from author Lionel White. The film follows a veteran criminal who assembles a five-man team to help him pull off a daring racetrack robbery.

Mention Stanley Kubrick’s name and most film fans will immediately think of his films such as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, or later Kubrick films like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. Not many will remember the film that first earned him the notice of Hollywood heavyweights like Kirk Douglas and Marlon Brando, a terrific little film-noir gem called, The Killing.

After spending five years in Alcatraz, ex-convict Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) decides that if he’s going to commit crimes, the reward should be worth the risk, and he’s found one that’s very worth the risk – a million dollar heist of a racetrack. Clay masterminds a brilliant and complicated scheme to steal $2,000,000, and recruits several conspirators including track employees and a crooked cop. The only flaw in Johnny’s near-perfect plan is that one of his gang members, George Peatty (Elisha Cook), tells his shrewish wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the planned robbery, and she shares it with her boyfriend. Add a little dog and things get complicated very quickly.

The Killing is one of the best heist films I’ve ever seen. A superb cast of character actors, most used to playing tough guys, policeman, and shady types, gives this film a solid Film-Noir atmosphere and creates a edgy, taunt little thriller that you can’t stop watching until its concluded. Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay as a firm, no-nonsense guy that any hood would follow, and in a quiet, subtle fashion, he gives this film added edge.

Stanley Kubrick shaped The Killing using a non-linear structure, in which the narrative moves backwards and forwards in time. Many viewers will recognize non-linear structure as a Quentin Tarantino signature style in such films as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. In fact, Tarantino credits The Killing with influencing his decision to shape his film narratives in a non-linear structure.

The film has a few problems that keep it from being a truly great film. Art Gilmore’s narration is poor, delivered in that stereotypical monotone used for crime films. Some of the dialogue is a bit too stiff, and the film drags much of the first half hour. However, The Killing pays off the viewers’ patience quite handsomely in the form of an excellent crime film about small time hoods masterminding the perfectly plotted heist.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Original Post: Sunday, June 03, 2007

EDITED: Wednesday, May 1, 2024

NOTES:

1957 BAFTA Film Award: 1 nomination: “Best Film from any Source” (USA)

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Review: "MEA CULPA" May Be Tyler Perry's Craziest Movie... Yet

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 of 2024 (No. 1963) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mea Culpa (2024)

Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)

MPA – R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language, some violence and drug use

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry

PRODUCERS: Will Areu, Tyler Perry, Angi Bones, and Kelly Rowland

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Cody Burmester (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Larry Sexton

COMPOSERS: Amanda Delores and Patricia Jones

DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Kelly Rowland, Trevante Rhodes, Nick Sagar, Sean Sagar, RonReaco Lee, Shannon Thornton, Kerry O'Malley, Arianna Barron, Connor Weil, Maria Gabriela Gonzalez, Paul Ryden, Ava Hill, and Angela Robinson

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Tyler Perry's Mea Culpa could be titled Tyler Perry's I Want to Screw My Client

--The first half of the film is a slow-burn (slightly dull) romantic thriller; the second half is an explosion of WTF moments

--Despite poorly developed and under-utilized characters and middling dialogue, Mea Culpa is a typical shameless Tyler Perry guilty pleasure – that I found somewhat pleasurable.

Mea Culpa is a 2024 drama and legal thriller from writer-director Tyler Perry. The film is a “Netflix Original,” Perry's fourth for the streamer (as of this writing), and it began streaming on Netflix February 23, 2024. Mea Culpa follows an ambitious criminal defense attorney who takes on the case of an artist accused of murder, which only further complicates her own dysfunctional marriage.

Mea Culpa introduces Chicago-based defense attorney, Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland). She and her husband, Kal Harper (Sean Sagar), are having marital difficulties, made worse by Kal's overbearing and interfering white mother, Azalia (Kerry O'Malley). Forced to financially support the two of them because of Kal's professional and personal problems, Mea decides to take on the defense of an accused murderer. Acclaimed portrait painter, Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes), has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Hydie (Maria Gabriela Gonzalez). Her body is missing, but there is enough blood evidence in Zyair's loft, where he lives and paints, to get him charged with murder.

The problem is that Mea's brother-in-law and Kal's older brother, Raymond “Ray” Harper (Nick Sagar), is the assistant district attorney who is prosecuting Zyair's murder case. Also complicating matters is that Zyair does not respect boundaries and wants to f**k Mea. Eventually, Mea will have to admit “mea culpa,” but that might not save her from the myriad conspiracies that surround Zyair Malloy and this case.

Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that means “my fault” or “my mistake,” and it is also an acknowledgment of having done wrong, a wrong that could have been avoided. It's my fault that I love Tyler Perry's work so much because otherwise, I would not have watched Mea Culpa. Make no mistake, however; loving Tyler Perry films, no matter how crazy they are, is not a wrong. Mea Culpa may be Perry's craziest non-Madea film to date, being even wackier than Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013).

Mea Culpa is quite enjoyable, especially the second hour of the film. Critics tend to fault Perry's screenwriting, but the plot for Mea Culpa isn't any more nonsensical than a host of legal and erotic thrillers from the past five decades. I'm thinking of Body Heat (1981), Presumed Innocent (1990), and Primal Fear (1996), to name a few. If Mea Culpa had been released around a quarter-century ago, it would have been considered a clone of the classic erotic thriller, Basic Instinct (1992).

Where Perry's writing shows weakness is the dialogue and character development. If the actors in this film seem average or mediocre to you, dear readers, I would bet it is because they are trying to build convincing characters while mouthing stiff, unimaginative dialogue. The film's actual plot and action is not anywhere near as bland as the dialogue. In fact, when this film finally explodes in the second half, even bad dialogue can't keep Mea Culpa's cheesy, shameless melodrama and violence from being its trashiest and most glorious self. The shame of it is that there are some very interesting characters who are not fully realized and who would have made much the action in this film seem plausible, at the very least. Perhaps, Mea Culpa should have been a miniseries instead of a film.

I must say that Mea Culpa may be Tyler Perry's most beautifully photographed film; kudos to director of photography, Cody Burmester. The cinematography captures Kelly Rowland's unappreciated beauty, and when she gets nude, the camera celebrates her fineness. Yes, Trevante Rhodes as Zyair Malloy is also fine, and the camera suggests that his big muscular body also comes with... an impressive endowment. Yeah, the sex scene between Mea and Zyair is kinda funny, but they look so good pumping and bumping and grinding.

With Mea Culpa, Tyler Perry does unleash “strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language, some violence and drug use” as the “R” rating declares. However, Perry's first almost NC-17 makes me love his work even more, and it makes me hope for future movies like Mea Culpa or even better. I'll say “mea culpa” if I'm wrong and be happy about it.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, April 18, 2024

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: DreamWorks' "ORION AND THE DARK" Takes on Childhood Fears

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 of 2024 (No. 1956) by Leroy Douresseaux

Orion and the Dark (2024)

Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

MPA – not rated

DIRECTOR: Sean Charmatz

WRITERS: Charlie Kaufman (based on the book by Emma Yarlett)

PRODUCER: Peter McCown

EDITOR: Kevin Sukho Lee

COMPOSERS: Kevin Lax and Robert Lydecker

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices): Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Mia Akemi Brown, Ike Barinholtz, Nat Faxon, Golda Rosheuvel, Natasia Demetriou, Aparna Nancherla, Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina, Nick Kishiyama, Shino Nakamichi, Werner Herzog, and Angela Bassett

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Orion and the Dark is a unique animated film that is about a child learning to accept fear as a part of life without letting it control him.

Orion and the Dark has an eclectic cast full of surprising characters, but Orion and Dark are this film's winning pair.

Orion and the Dark is a good family film, especially for parents and for children who are of middle grade age and younger. I find it to be too deep in its feelies, but it will tug on the heartstrings of its intended audience.

Orion and the Dark is a 2024 animated fantasy-adventure and comedy-drama film directed by Sean Charmatz and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is animated by French production company, Mikros Animation, and is also a “Netflix Original” that began streaming on Netflix February 2, 2024.

Orion and the Dark is based on the 2015 children's book, Orion and the Dark, from author Emma Yarlett. Orion and the Dark the movie focuses on a boy whose active imagination causes him to be scared of everything and on the entity that takes him on an incredible journey.

Orion and the Dark introduces 11-year-old Orion Mendelson (Jacob Tremblay). He is a severely anxious child with a long list of irrational fears. He is a schoolboy with a fear of speaking in front of class, being bullied, ending up in a toilet, and a fear of speaking to Sally (Shino Nakamichi), the girl of his dreams, of course. Outside of school, he also has a bunch of fears, including the fear of getting eaten by a shark, but at home its is worse.

Orion is afraid of the night, especially of the dark and of all the dark places in his bedroom. Orion's father (Matt Dellapina) and mother (Carla Gugino) have a difficult time getting him to bed. One night a giant, smiling creature slithers into his room. He introduces himself as “Dark,” the embodiment of Orion's worst fear, the dark. Tired of hearing Orion's constant complaints about him (the dark), Dark takes the 11-year-old on an adventure to help him overcome his fears and to appreciate the benefits of nighttime and of the dark. But there are plenty of dangers along the way, including Dark's rival, “Light” (Ike Barinholtz), and Orion's own deep-seated fears.

Orion and the Dark is a beautifully animated film with simple, but evocative character and concept design. It took me awhile to remember that Orion and the Dark reminds me of the 2014 DreamWorks Animation film, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Both films share a visual aesthetic, possibly because artist and designer, Timothy Lamb, served as the production designer on the two films. Both films also convey their fantastical settings and surreal environments via eye-appealing art and design that have a children's picture book quality.

I do have one gripe about Orion and the Dark. The film does have a heart – a center – which is that both Orion and Dark have to learn something about themselves and to overcome self-doubt. The film, however, also has sentiment, and it is, at times, exceedingly sentimental, which can be both heartwarming and saccharine. Orion and the Dark is sometimes too much in its emotions and feelies, so much so that by the end, I thought the film was trying to give me an insulin attack. Orion and the Dark pounds on its parent-child themes and dynamics with schmaltzy consistency.

I want to avoid spoilers. Still, I will say that Orion and the Dark does have a time-travel subplot courtesy of screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind), who is known for creating elaborate, twisty, meta screenplays. Orion and the Dark has several interesting supporting characters, especially Dark's fellow “Night Entities,” so many so that I could see it becoming an animated television series. Orion and the Dark is unique and quite well made, and many may find its heartwarming insistence just what we need in these dark times.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

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Thursday, February 15, 2024

Review: "SURROUNDED" Takes a Different Path to the Wild West

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 of 2024 (No. 1953) by Leroy Douresseaux

Surrounded (2023)

Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)

MPA – R for violence and language

DIRECTOR: Anthony Mandler

WRITERS: Anthony Pagana and Justin Thomas & Andrew Pagana

PRODUCERS: Jason Michael Berman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Derek Iger, Anthony Mandler, Ade O'Adesina, and Letitia Wright

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Max Goldman (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Ron Patane

COMPOSER: Robin Hannibal

WESTERN/DRAMA

Starring: Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael K. Williams, Kevin Wiggins, Brett Gelman, Luce Rains, Andrew Pagana, Augusta-Allen Jones, Herman Johansen, Keith Jardine, C.M Petrey, Austin Rising, and Tony Sedillo

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Letitia Wright can make audiences put aside her most famous role – that of Shuri in Marvel's “Black Panther” films – and accept her as a 19th soldier who can defend herself with a gun and take on any man trying to get the best of her.

--Although it lacks the epic scope of the great American Western films, Surrounded is riveting and intense.

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Surrounded is a 2023 Western drama film directed by Anthony Mandler and starring Letitia Wright, who is also one of the film's producers. After debuting at the Sun Valley Film Festival in April 2023, MGM released the film digitally (VOD) on June 20, 2023. Surrounded focuses on a former former Buffalo Soldier who travels west to lay claim on a gold mine, only to end up playing guard to a dangerous, captured outlaw.

Surrounded opens in the year 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War. Mo Washington (Letitia Wright) is a former Buffalo Soldier. [This was the nickname given to U. S. Army regiments that were primarily comprised of African-Americans and were formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier.] Mo arrives in Brushwood Gulch, New Mexico, the last stop on the edge of the Wild West.

Mo has a secret. He is actually a she. Mo is a former slave, who after becoming a freedwoman, disguised herself and became a soldier. After leaving the army, she travels west to take possession of a gold claim in the Territory of Colorado. Mo books passage on a stagecoach, but some time after departure, the coach is attacked by a group of “road agents” (marauders) led by the infamous Thomas “Tommy” Walsh (Jamie Bell).

After a chaotic fight, Mo is left to guard the captured Tommy Walsh, who tries to convince her to set him free. He has buried somewhere in the area the $120,000 that he and his gang stole during a recent bank robbery. So many sinister figures want him – from members of his gang to bounty hunters and assorted bandits. Now, Mo finds herself surrounded, and she must survive everyone who is coming for Walsh. Most of all, she must survive Tommy's wily ways.

Surrounded is a surprisingly intense Western drama made all the more intense that the lead character is a Black woman pretending to be a Black man in a world that hates both. Add racism and also racial elements and Surrounded is... surrounded by intensity. This is an unusual scenario for an American Western film, but Cathay Williams was a real-life African-American woman who disguised herself as a man and served out west in the U.S. Army from 1866-68 during the Indian Wars.

Like the film's tone, Letitia Wright is intense – quietly so – as the no-nonsense and devout Mo Washington. Wright makes everything in her performance seem genuine and convincing, from the way Mo dresses to her ability to wield large pistols. Wright is best known for playing the role of Shuri, the Wakandan princess in Marvel Studios' Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). In Surrounded, however, Wright made me forget Shuri and accept her as 19th century Black woman who survives slavery, the tragic deaths of her parents, and her time as a Buffalo Soldier.

Surrounded is filled with good performances. Fellow British actor, Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), has excellent screen chemistry with Wright, and Bell is quiet good as a Western character, bringing complexity and eccentricity to the standard murderous Western outlaw and bank robber. Surrounded is also the final film appearance of the Emmy Award-nominated actor, Michael K. Williams, who died in 2021. Here, he makes the most of his small role as Will Clay, so much so that I wish that he had a bigger role in the film.

Surrounded is a surprisingly riveting film. Early on, it seems as if it doesn't really have the energy to rise above being a mere historical drama and become a true Western film. It does and eventually hits its stride, although I wish the film had focused on some of the interesting characters outside the Mo Washington-Tommy Walsh dynamic. Surrounded is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu.

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, February 15, 2024

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

Review: Pixar's "TURNING RED" is Universal and Unique

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2024 (No. 1952) by Leroy Douresseaux

Turning Red (2022)

Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)

MPA – PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

DIRECTOR: Domee Shi

WRITERS: Domee Shi and Julie Cho; from a story by Domee Shi, Julie Cho, and Sarah Streicher

PRODUCER: Lindsey Collins

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Mahyar Abousaeedi and Jonathan Pytko

EDITORS: Nicholas C. Smith with Steve Bloom

COMPOSER: Ludwig Goransson

SONGS: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O'Connell, and James Hong

Turning Red is a 2022 animated fantasy and comedy-drama film directed by Domee Shi and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is Pixar's 25th full-length animated feature film, and it is the first to be solely directed by a woman. Turning Red focuses on a teen girl who is dealing with her demanding mother and the changes of adolescence when she suddenly discovers that becoming really excited causes her to turn into a giant red panda.

Turning Red opens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2002. It introduces a Chinese-Canadian girl, 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang). She lives with her parents, mother Ming (Sandra Oh) and father Jin (Orion Lee). Mei is a dutiful daughter to her mother who calls her “Mei-Mei,” and she helps take care of the family's temple, “the Lee Family Temple,” one of the the oldest temples in Toronto. The temple honors the Lee family ancestors instead of gods, and it is dedicated to Mei's maternal ancestor Sun Yee.

Mei is also dedicated to a trio of girl friends: Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park), and all three of them are dedicated fans of the boy band, “4*Town.” Life is busy, but it's about to get complicated. The morning after a night of humiliation, Mei wakes up to discover that she has been transformed into a giant red panda. This is a condition that happens when Mei is overly excited, but it can be cured. But what does Mei really want?

In the early days of the Disney+ streaming service and in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walt Disney Company released three Pixar feature films as direct-to-streaming releases: Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red, declining wide theatrical releases for the films. These were and still are three of Pixar's greatest films, but they are finally getting belated theatrical releases in early 2024. [Soul in January 2024; Turning Red in February 2024; and Luca in March 2024.]

Turning Red is an incredible coming-of-age story, and like Pixar's Oscar-winning Brave (2012), it is a story of transformations and of mother-daughter relationships and all the love and support and trials and tribulations that come with it. Its beautiful, terracotta-like colors amplify the film's sense of magic and magical realism. The variety of faces, body types, skin colors, hair styles, and clothes and costumes are a testament of how culturally expansive Pixar's films set in the human world are. Everything about Turning Red invites the entire world of moviegoers to come along on this timeless, universal tale of a child coming into her own and learning to love herself as she is becoming and to love her parents for what they were, are, and can be.

Domee Shi and her co-writers, Julie Cho and Sarah Streicher, have created a character, a world, and a scenario of which I believe I can be a part. I am an old-ass Black man, a million miles away from a 13-year-old Canadian girl of Chinese descent, but Turning Red makes me understand that what the girl experiences are in some ways similar to what I've experienced. In a way, I am jealous of Turning Red and of Meilin Lee because I could never embrace the messy strangeness in me to the extent that she does. I definitely did not want my freak flag fluttering in the wind too much.

There is so much to like in this film. As usual, the animation is up to Pixar's astronomical standards, and Ludwig Goransson's score infuses itself into the film so much that it seems as if the animation is performing a concert. Speaking of music, I'm embarrassed to admit that I like 4*Town, the band, and its three songs performed in the movie, which are written by the sister-brother team of Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. And I couldn't love the movie if I wasn't crazy about actress Rosalie Chiang's multi-layered and energetic voice performance as Mei. Chiang makes Mei feel like a real girl, genuine child in the throes of change and transformation.

Some have said that Turning Red's setting and its lead character, Mei, make the film not timeless and universal like Pixar's other films. They can go screw themselves. Turning Red is universal like other Pixar films and also unlike other Pixar films. Turning Red is Pixar high art and Disney magic, and it is a truly great film that I plan on watching again and again.

10 of 10

Sunday, February 11, 2024

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 BAFTA Film Awards: 1 nominee: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nominee: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”

2023 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nominee: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”

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Friday, February 9, 2024

Review: "A MADEA HOMECOMING" Doesn't Come Out Quite Right

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 of 2024 (No. 1950) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Madea Homecoming (2022)

Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for crude sexual content, language, and drug references throughout

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry

PRODUCERS: Will Areu and Mark E. Swinton

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Taylor Randall (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Larry Sexton

COMPOSER: Philip White

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Tyler Perry, Cassi Davis, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, Gabrielle Dennis, Brendan O'Carroll, Jennifer Gibney, Brandon Black, Isha Blaaker, Candace Maxwell, Geneva Maccarone, and Amani Atkinson

A Madea Homecoming is a 2022 African-American comedy-drama from writer-director Tyler Perry. It is the 12th film in the Madea film series. The film is a Netflix original and was released to the streaming service on February 25, 2022. In A Madea Homecoming, family drama erupts and secrets are revealed during the celebration of Madea's great-grandson's college graduation.

A Madea Homecoming opens in Atlanta, Georgia. Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry) is preparing for the arrival of her extended family. Uncle Joe (Tyler Perry) is criticizing people, and Mr. Brown (David Mann) is about to set himself afire while preparing the barbecue pit. It is a special time for Madea's daughter, Cora Simmons (Tamela J. Mann), because of the impending arrival of her daughters, Laura (Gabrielle Dennis) and Ellie (Candace Maxwell). Laura's son, Timothy “Tim” Marshall (Brandon Black), is graduating from college. He is traveling to Madea's house with his best friend and fellow graduate, Davi O'Malley (Isha Blaaker), for a large family dinner before graduation day.

But there are some surprises arriving, also. Tim has a secret to tell his family. Laura has a secret. Laura's divorce attorney, Sylvia (Geneva Maccarone), has a secret. Richard (Amani Atkinson), Laura's ex and Tim's father, has a secret to tell, although Madea doesn't want him at her house. Davi has a secret. Davi's great-aunt, Agnes Brown (Brendan O'Carroll), and Agnes' daughter and David's cousin, Cathy Brown (Jennifer Gibney), have a secret. They're coming to Madea's, but they weren't invited. And it isn't a secret that Betty Ann Murphy a.k.a. “Aunt Bam” (Cassi Davis) is usually high, and everyone else may have to get high to make it through the family drama that is about to erupt.

2019's A Madea Family Funeral was supposed to be the final film in the Madea film series, but I ain't complaining. A Madea Homecoming is similar to A Madea Family Funeral in that it features a large cast of new extended family members that many of us didn't know that Madea had. Unfortunately, the 2019 film is better put together than A Madea Homecoming.

First, it should be noted that A Madea Homecoming is a crossover with British-Irish sitcom, “Mrs. Brown's Boys,” which is headlined by the character, “Agnes Brown,” played by Irish actor, Brendan O'Carroll. Agnes Brown has been called the “Irish Madea,” but because this is my first encounter with O'Carroll and his character, I can't say otherwise. Truthfully, neither the Agnes nor Cathy characters really add that much to A Madea Homecoming, but they are a pleasant addition, at least.

A Madea Homecoming has many, many very funny moments, but the film seems too long and too much of a rehash of scandals that have appeared in earlier films in the series. The main plot and subplot feel more flat and dry than lively and funny. The most consistently funny part of this movie is Madea Beyoncé parody that runs over the end credits, and Madea in a blonde Beyoncé wig singing off-key with the “Marcella Band” is delightful.

When I reviewed A Madea Family Funeral in 2021, I said that if it were indeed the final Madea film, I could say that the series went out on a relatively high note. Madea returns on an off-key note with A Madea Homecoming, and it isn't the final Madea film. Coming sometime in the future is Madea's Destination Wedding.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, February 9, 2024

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