First "Madagascar" a Looney Tune

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 86 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Madagascar (2005)
Running time: 80 minutes (1 hour, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG for mild language, crude humor, and some thematic elements
DIRECTORS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
WRITERS: Mark Burton and Billy Frolick and Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
PRODUCER: Mireille Soria
EDITOR: Mark A. Hester

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter

The subject of this movie review is Madagascar, a 2005 computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation. The film focuses on a group of zoo animals accidentally shipped to Africa.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) is king of the animal attractions at New York City’s Central Park Zoo. He and his friends: Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) have lived there their entire lives. However, on the day of his tenth birthday, Marty begins to wonder what life outside the zoo – in particular life in the wild, would be like. With the help of four crafty penguins, Marty escapes the zoo for an overnight excursion. When his friends discover him missing, they also leave the zoo to rescue him.

The quartet attracts so much attention, and the sight of Alex the Lion running loose and free scares many New Yorkers. After the quartet is captured, they along with some other animals who escaped (two monkey’s and those darned penguins, again) are put on a cargo ship to be transferred to a zoo in Kenya. Once again, the penguins cause trouble and sabotage the ship, inadvertently causing Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria to be stranded on the exotic island of Madagascar. Now, the quartet has to learn to survive in this lush jungle paradise, but Marty, Melman, and Gloria discover, much to their chagrin, Alex’s wilder side.

Madagascar is the fifth feature-length computer animated film from DreamWorks through their computer animation studio, PDI (DreamWorks Animation). With each film, the art and craft of PDI’s computer graphics and animation markedly improves. In terms of the “drawing” style, this film is closer to the Warner Bros. cartoon shorts of the 1930’s and 40’s, in particular the work of cartoon directors Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Bob Clampett. The characters are designed to look 2D (two-dimensional), like the hand drawn cartoon characters featured in the aforementioned trio’s legendary work, although the Madagascar’s characters exist in the 3D (three-dimensional) world of computer animation.

How did PDI successfully create a computer animated film that looks like classic “cartoony” animated cartoons of yesteryear? What makes this work is that they mastered “squash and stretch,” the process which animators use to deform an object and then snap it back into shape to portray motion or impact. The ability to squash and stretch is essential to cartoon slapstick comedy such as the Road Runner cartoons. While squash and stretch are easy for animators to do with a pencil in hand-drawn/2D animation, it is more difficult for computer animators to do. DreamWorks Animation has successfully moved to the next level in terms of the quality of their work by creating characters that stretch and expand. It’s a film that able captures the manic energy of Avery, Jones, and Clampett’s Warner Bros. cartoons.

The animation of human characters and the layout, lighting, and set designs of human environments is shocking in how good it looks, but once the narrative moves to Madagascar the character animation really takes off. The characters bend, twist, elongate, and expand in a constant barrage that has the manic energy of classic cartoons. This also helps to sell a limp concept.

The plot is a basic fish-out-of-water tale without much imagination. The characters, except for the penguins, aren’t exceptional or memorable. They are good for some laughs, but they lack the zip, zest, or tang of cast of the Shrek franchise. The buddies of this buddy film, Alex and Marty, have some chemistry, but aren’t that dynamic a duo. Actually, the animals and the actors that give voice to them (Stiller, Rock, Schwimmer, and Ms. Jada) have the best chemistry as either a trio or a quartet. Put three or four together, and the film sparkles and splashes over with slapstick comedy that works. Cut the quartet in half and the narrative loses its energy.

Overall, Madagascar is a pleasant family comedy with some exceptionally strong humor that should appeal to adults; plus, the film references lots of other movies, and that keeps older viewers interested. DreamWorks Animation hasn’t yet reached Pixar, the gold standard in computer animation, but the quality of entertainment in Madagascar proves that the studio can deliver high-quality, if not classic, animated entertainment.

7 of 10
B+

"Madagascar 2" is Kinda like "The Lion King"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – PG for mild crude humor
DIRECTORS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
WRITERS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath and Etan Cohen
PRODUCERS: Mireille Soria and Mark Swift
EDITORS: Mark A. Hester and H. Lee Peterson
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, John DiMaggio, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, will.i.am, and Elisa Gabrielli

The subject of this movie review is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a 2008 computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation and a sequel to the 2005 film, Madagascar. It is also the company’s 10th computer-animated feature film released to theatres. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa finds the zoo animal heroes from the first film now accidentally stranded in Africa.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) was the king of New York City. Actually, he was the king of the animal attractions at New York City’s Central Park Zoo. He and his friends: Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), had lived at the zoo practically their entire lives. However, a series of events found them stranded on the exotic island of Madagascar. Four crafty Penguins: Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Private (Christopher Knights), and Rico (John DiMaggio) were also stranded with them.

In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Alex and friends and the penguins hope a rickety airplane can get them back to New York. The Madagascar lemurs: King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer), and Mort (Andy Richter) join them on a flight that goes bad quickly. Now, the group is stranded in continental Africa, where Alex (whose birth name is “Alakay”) is reunited with his parents, his father, Zuba the Lion (Bernie Mac), and his mother, Florrie the Lioness (Sherri Shepherd). It is a happy reunion until a rival, Makunga the Lion (Alec Baldwin), hatches a plot to use Alex to unseat Zuba as king of the pride.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is an exceedingly family-friendly film; for a DreamWorks Animation production, it has surprisingly little scatological humor or romantic innuendo. The story is rife with themes built around family and friendship, and it emphasizes that friends can also be another kind of family. Escape 2 Africa is all about love, and in this story, love means understanding and then, acceptance.

I find the last half hour of this film to be much better than the rest. Getting the duet featuring Alex and Zuba makes watching this movie worth the time spent. As was the case with the first film, there is a subplot featuring the Madagascar penguins, who are some of my all-time favorite animated characters. This plot involves some tourists and hundreds of monkeys, and it’s like its own mini-movie – a good mini-movie.

Like the first film, Escape 2 Africa has great production values. The character animation and the overall film design and art direction are beautiful; this is the computer animation equivalent of The Lion King, one of Walt Disney’s most gorgeous and visually striking films. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa won’t have the place in film history that The Lion King has, but I love this movie’s almost-obsession with being about family and friends. It is a movie that has just enough balance to get parents to watch it with their children.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Jaden Smith to Star in Untitled M. Night Shyamalan Film

I found some Will and Jaden Smith news, which I posted last week.  Here, is the official version of that news from Sony Pictures:

JADEN SMITH TO STAR WITH WILL SMITH IN AN UNTITLED SCIENCE-FICTION ADVENTURE FOR COLUMBIA PICTURES AND DIRECTOR M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

CULVER CITY, Calif., April 4, 2011 – Jaden Smith is set to star opposite his father, Will Smith, for director M. Night Shyamalan in an untitled sci-fi adventure, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures. Shyamalan and Will Smith will produce with James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith and Ken Stovitz, Smith’s partners at Overbrook Entertainment. The screenplay is by M. Night Shyamalan and Gary Whitta.

Set 1,000 years into the future, a young boy navigates an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes.

Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, “Night is an outstanding filmmaker who has a tremendous vision for this science-fiction adventure story and we couldn't be more excited to be working again with Jaden after our experiences on The Pursuit of Happyness and The Karate Kid. We’re thrilled to have the two of them together on this project.”

Shyamalan added, "The chance to make a scary, science-fiction film starring Jaden and Will is my dream project."

JADEN SMITH is the twelve-year-old son of Will and Jada Smith. He most recently starred in the worldwide blockbuster The Karate Kid, which took in more than $350 million. Smith was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, an Image Award, and a Black Reel Award for his role. Prior to The Karate Kid, Smith starred opposite Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly in The Day the Earth Stood Still and won the 2009 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor for his role in the film. He made his debut performance opposite his father in The Pursuit of Happyness, garnering an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance, a Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Male, a Black Reel Award, and nominations by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the NAACP Image Awards and the Teen Choice Awards.

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN has directed nine feature films: Praying with Anger, Wide Awake, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender. The astronomical success of his chilling psychological thriller The Sixth Sense catapulted Shyamalan into the stratosphere of being one of the most sought after young filmmakers in Hollywood. The Sixth Sense has become one of the highest grossing films of all time and received a total of six Academy Award® nominations, including one for Best Picture, and two for Shyamalan for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. His most recent film, The Last Airbender was a worldwide hit, taking in more than $319 million globally.


About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 140 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Review: "Scream 2" Doesn't Sustain Strong Start

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream 2 (1997)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for language and strong bloody violence
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson (based upon characters Kevin Williamson created)
PRODUCERS: Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Deming (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Elise Neal, Jerry O’Connell, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, Liev Schreiber, Lewis Arquette, Duane Martin, Rebecca Gayheart, Portia de Rossi, Omar Epps, Heather Graham, (voice) Roger L. Jackson, Tori Spelling, and Luke Wilson

Two years after the shocking events in Scream, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Randy Meeks (Jaime Kennedy), the only surviving teens of the Woodsboro massacre, are attending college. Sidney is trying to get on with her life until a copycat killer begins acting out a real-life sequel, and some of Sidney’s college classmates meet a grisly fate at the hands of a knife-wielding killer. Ambitious reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Woodsboro deputy Dewey (David Arquette) are also back as the new killing spree leaves no one safe and no one above suspicion of being the Woodsboro copycat murderer.

Scream 2 is, for the most part, quiet entertaining. It does not, however, have half the wild and crazy energy of the first, and part of that may be because the original film was full of nutty high school kids running amok and having a good time, although there was a murderer in their midst. There are plenty of party crazy college students in the sequel, but we don’t see much of them because the film really zeroes in on Sidney’s character. Wacky kid characters made the first film fun, not female problems. Beyond Sidney’s small circle of associates, no other characters, not even bit players, come in to add something surprising to the mix.

Scream 2 is worth watching, at least for the first hour. After that there are some good moments, but the film begins to fall apart.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
1998 Razzie Awards: 1 nomination: “Worst New Star” (Tori Spelling)

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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).

Will Smith Joins Son Jaden on New M. Night Shyamalan Project

I don't know if you know, dear reader, but I'm something of a Will Smith fan.  So I'm excited about this exclusive news from Deadline.

Will Smith will join son Jaden Smith on an untitled futuristic science fiction adventure film that will be directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who gave us The Sixth Sense, but also The Last Airbender. Shymalan wrote the script with Gary Whitta, and the project went under the title "One Thousand A.E."  Jada Pinkett Smith will produce the film with Shyamalan.  Go to the Deadline posting for more.

Review: "Set It Off" (Happy B'day, Queen Latifah)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 63 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Set It Off (1996)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong graphic violence, pervasive language, some sex and drug use
DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray
WRITERS: Takashi Buford and Kate Lanier; from a story by Takashi Buford
PRODUCERS: Oren Koules and Dale Pollock
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Marc Reshovsky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: John Carter
Image Award nominee

DRAMA/ACTION/CRIME

Starring: Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, Blair Underwood, John C. McGinley, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Ella Joyce, Dr. Dre and Anna Marie Horsford

Set If Off, the second film from music video director F. Gary Gray, was almost the best film ever made about the plight of impoverished African-American women at the turn of the century. Instead, the filmmakers settled on making a film that is a decent drama and a cathartic action movie. Part western and part girl movie, Set If Off resonates with the pain of these female characters although the film only scratches the surface of who the characters are.

After some neighborhood acquaintances of Francesca “Frankie” Sutton’s (Vivica A. Fox) rob the bank where she works and kill a few people, her supervisors at the bank fire her because they find the fact that she knew the culprits disturbing. Her diligence and hard work (only a day prior, she’d counted $240,000 by hand to help one of her bosses) don’t matter one bit. Detective Strode (John C. McGinley), the lead detective in the case, also considers her to be in cahoots with the robbers.

Lida “Stony” Newson (Jada Pinkett) has been plans for her brother Stevie (Chaz Lamar Shepard) to attend UCLA. Stevie is a friend of one of the bank robbers. He visits him after the robbery, and a pack of cowardly, punk cops murders Stevie when they mistake him for the bank robber. Thinking Stevie has a gun, they shoot him down like a dog, only to discover that he was trying to show them that all he had in his jacket was a bottle of champagne a friend had given him for his birthday.

Tired of being on the beating end of the stick, Stony and Frankie join two other downtrodden friends, Cleopatra “Cleo” Sims (Queen Latifah) and Tisean “T.T.” Williams (Kimberly Elise, in a sparkling debut), as bank robbers themselves, to make a little money to get ahead in life and to stick it to the evil, white tyrants who go out of their way to oppress a sister.

This movie could have been so much more than it ended up being, maybe an intense urban drama about what these young women go through and the ends they meet when they finally lash out (perhaps blindly and unwisely) at the world for their pain. However, I will review this movie for what it is. The drama is about average. I caught on to what the story was about; I felt the sisters’ pain. Still, other than Stony, the film mostly relegates the characters to being ciphers, and the script only skims the surface of Stony’s character, for that matter. The filmmakers feel compelled to spend much of the film’s time detailing the intricacies and violence of bank robbery, and they do that quite well. As robbers, the four women are clumsy, but they’re raw and eager. Their crimes are swift and abrupt, and Gray presents it all in a bracing fashion in which the camera lovingly follows the ladies’ every move.

I wanted this film to be more, but, honestly, I really enjoyed what I got. The drama, as mishandled as it was, it still touching and visceral, and the action had me cheering my girls every step of the way. As things fall apart for them, I couldn’t help but feel the emotions and bond they shared, both strong enough to make them sacrifice for one another.

The acting is also quite good. This was a breakthrough role for Queen Latifah, who is full of snarling and barely checked rage; the camera loves her. Ms. Pinkett easily revealed the depth of her talent as a strong dramatic actress, but this performance didn’t earn her lots of new roles, being of the jigaboo persuasion. Ms. Fox’s character barely registers, but that’s the fault of the script. This was a good start for Ms. Elise; her large expressive eyes make her a film natural in her ability to convey feelings.

For all its shortcomings, Set It Off is a very good film, and we need more like it, albeit of a higher quality, that detail the hard lives of poor people and their willingness to fight back when they need to. See this film, and then watch it again.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
1997 Image Awards: 3 nominations: “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jada Pinkett Smith), “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture” (Queen Latifah) and “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Blair Underwood)

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Review: "Collateral" is Flashy, Gritty, and Edgy (Happy B'day, Michael Mann)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 143 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Collateral (2004)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
WRITER: Stuart Beattie
PRODUCERS: Michael Mann and Julie Richardson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dion Beebe (D.o.P.) and Paul Cameron (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Jim Miller and Paul Rubell
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

THRILLER/ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Javier Bardem, and Klea Scott

Director Michael Mann is certainly a master of filming deliciously eye candy movies; from his hit 80’s TV series “Miami Vice” to such glossy power ballad films as Last of the Mohicans and Heat, he has delighted us with his visual acumen. His most recent film, Collateral, is, as a visual feast, an absolute delight and, just maybe, a masterpiece, albeit one with a flaw here and there.

A cabby named Max (Jaime Foxx) finds himself the hostage of Vincent (Tom Cruise), an engaging contract hit man, as he uses Max to ferry him around Los Angeles from hit to hit. The screwy duo eventually attracts the attention of Fanning (Mark Ruffalo), a savvy homicide detective. But despite the attention of the police, Max must, on his own, find a way to save himself and the last of five victims, Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), a federal prosecutor who rode in Max’s cab before Vincent and befriended Max.

Collateral’s success is definitely the product of Michael Mann’s vision and of his cast, especially Cruise and Foxx. Mann’s film feels like his last L.A. blast off, the aforementioned Heat, but don’t mistake his visual flair for lack of substance. Mann’s films are always thrilling, even the character dramas, and they breath with life and vitality. Every frame suggests motivation and conflict, so Mann’s glossiness isn’t the shallowness of the many filmmakers his 1980’s work influenced.

Cruise is, of course, a delight to watch; he merely takes his usual film persona and turns of the heat to super intensity and makes Vincent a cold, ruthless machine – a machine that simultaneously has disdain for life and how we live it and a fascination with existence and how we understand it. This performance by Foxx is likely another hint that he is a comic who will reinvent himself as dramatic star much the way Robin Williams and Steve Martin did, but with the success of the former. Foxx’s Max is a troubled man, dealing with the failures and disappointments of life with a mixture of weariness and hope, cynicism and optimism, and stoicism and passion.

But Mann, Cruise, and Fox can’t do it alone. Ms. Smith and Mark Ruffalo are excellent supporting performers, and Ruffalo’s Fanning would himself make an excellent lead character in his own film. Stuart Beattie’s script is also good, especially in creating Vincent, part cipher and intriguing mystery man, but an inviting character who leaves us wanting more. The script did seem a little soft on really fleshing out Foxx’s Max, but overall, the script is a tightly-crafted short story that Mann was able to turn into a thrilling, short, dangerous crime tale that is both gritty and glorious. Collateral may be somewhat lacking in substance, but it’s just about the best confection you can have.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Editing” (Jim Miller and Paul Rubell) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jamie Foxx)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Cinematography” (Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron); 5 nominations: “Best Editing” (Jim Miller and Paul Rubell), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jamie Foxx), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Stuart Beattie), “Best Sound” (Elliott Koretz, Lee Orloff, Michael Minkler, and Myron Nettinga) and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Michael Mann)

2005 Black Reel Awards: 1 win “Best Supporting Actor” (Jamie Foxx) and 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Jada Pinkett Smith)

2005 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx)

2005 Image Awards: 3 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jada Pinkett Smith)

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"Kingdom Come" is Tyler Perry-Like

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux


Kingdom Come (2001)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG for thematic elements, language and sensuality
DIRECTOR: Doug McHenry
WRITERS: David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones (based upon their play Dearly Departed)
PRODUCERS: Edward Bates and John Morrissey
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Francis Kenny
EDITOR: Richard Halsey
(NAACP) Image Awards nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Loretta Devine, Anthony Anderson, Toni Braxton, Cedric the Entertainer, Darius McCrary, and Whoopi Goldberg

When the despicable head of a black family dies, family and close friends band together for a few tumultuous days to bury the old turd.

His long-suffering wife, Raynelle Slocum (Whoppi Goldberg), must bear the presence of her fractious clan. Her oldest and most reliable son, Ray Bud (LL Cool J) deals with burying a father he wasn’t particularly fond of, while he and his wife Lucille (Vivica A. Fox) struggle over their difficulty to conceive a child. Ray Bud’s brother Junior (Anthony Anderson) arrives broke and unemployed with his shrewish wife Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith) and their brood of noisy boys. And there are many more mini-dramas in this huge cast of characters.

Kingdom Come is wholly and unabashedly a black movie. The cast is all black, and the writers created a cast of characters who are black rural and black Southern archetypes and stereotypes. If movies can revolve around story, setting, and/or characters, this one complete hangs upon its large cast. The plot is sparse: bury the old bastard as fast as we can so we don’t have to stay around each other too long.

Based upon a stage play, the movie, adapted by the playwrights, is very talky. Many of the actors spend much of their screen time screaming at their screen partners or just plain talking and explaining. The movie obviously has a message about families sticking together that it repeatedly pounds into our heads. Like many stage plays aimed at African-Americans, this one aims to both entertain and to teach. Its message is both obvious and familiar and geared towards black folks. African-Americans can nod their heads in agreement at the play’s message and vicariously gobble down huge servings of soul food with the cast.

Director Doug McHenry, a prolific producer and director (House Party 2 and Jason’s Lyric) chooses bluntness over subtlety, but he wisely follows each cast member’s every move, as this film could not hang upon its story. To understand Kingdom Come, one must come to understand the characters’ motivations. The film is average goods that does have some very funny and touching moments.

Kingdom Come’s importance is that it exists at all, and it is much needed in a Hollywood landscape that mostly ignores the audience that wants films like Kingdom Come. The cast also includes R&B vocalist Toni Braxton, Loretta Devine (Waiting to Exhale and What Women Want), and Cedric the Entertainer. The quality of the acting ranges from surprising to really good, and the actors overcome the average script and directing in making their characters fun to watch.

In the end, anyone with an extended family, regardless of ethnic background, will recognize the family template upon which this family is based. It’s a universal story with universal themes set in one particular group. Its family dynamics are as similar as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or Parenthood. While it is not great, or even very good, for that matter, it is a good choice on home video and for family viewing.

5 of 10
B-

"The Karate Kid" is Still a Winner

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Karate Kid (2010)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language
DIRECTOR: Harald Zwart
WRITERS: Christopher Murphey; from a story by Robert Mark Kamen
PRODUCERS: James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Ken Stovitz, and Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Pratt
EDITOR: Joel Negron
COMPOSER: James Horner

DRAMA/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wen Wen Han, Zhenwei Wang Rongguang Yu, Zhensu Wu, Zhiheng Wang, and Luke Carberry

The Karate Kid 2010 is, of course, a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. The new film stars Jaden Smith (son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith) and international martial artist and actor, Jackie Chan. The new film is an absolutely lovable, well-made film that stands on its on and does the original proud. This time, however, kung fu, not karate, is the martial art of choice.

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to Beijing from Detroit with his mother, Sherry Parker (Taraji P. Henson), because of her new job. Dre experiences love-at-first-sight when he sees a young violinist named Mei Ying (Wen Wen Han), practicing in the park, and the feeling is mutual. However, Dre’s feelings for Mei Ying make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), a kung fu prodigy and rival for Mei Ying’s affections.

Dre knows a little karate, but it is not enough to help this karate kid from America safely navigate his new home. Cheng uses kung fu to beat the crap out of him. Dre finds a friend and mentor in Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man of Dre’s apartment complex, after he rescues Dre from a beating. After a futile attempt to settle the dispute between Dre and Cheng peaceably, Mr. Han enters Dre in the “Open Kung Fu Tournament” where Dre may face off against his nemesis. Han begins to teach Dre real kung fu, but although he is being trained by a master, Dre realizes that surviving the tournament will be the fight of his life.

At its heart, The Karate Kid is a wonderful story about a teacher-student relationship that develops into a surrogate father-son bond. It is a superbly written (by screenwriter Christopher Murphey) example of a bond between two people in which each not only helps the other heal, but also soar to new heights of achievement and happiness.

The relationship between Dre and Mr. Han works so well because of the strong screen chemistry between Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Their performances make the characters’ actions and emotions seem authentic and sincere. They not only ground the story’s more fantastical moments, but they also give it a touch of goofy charm, which lightens the movie’s overall dark and sometimes edgy and grim atmosphere. Jaden has inherited his father, Will Smith’s cheeky cockiness, but the young actor seems like more of a natural talent, as if he doesn’t have to try as hard as his father.

In this film, Jackie Chan gives what is by far his best performance in an American production. Perhaps, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Chan gives a complex, layered performance to create in Han, a complicated and inscrutable man. This is best exemplified in the scene in which Cheng’s Master Li (Rongguang Yu) and Mr. Han have a tense confrontation. Chan plays the scene with barely checked but mostly concealed fury. It is difficult to figure out what is going on in Mr. Han’s mind at that moment, and that’s the way Chan probably wanted it because it adds another layer of mystery to Han.

Fresh of the maligned Pink Panther 2, director Harald Swart has delivered a winner. This film, however, is as much a Chinese and American take on Rocky as it is a remake of The Karate Kid 1984, itself a teen, martial arts spin on 1976 Oscar winner for “Best Picture.” It is unsettling to see 12-year-olds beating each other up, as they do here, but The Karate Kid 2010 is excellent family entertainment. Its messages about setting goals and being open-minded and resilient make it even more of a winner.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Review: "Princess Mononoke" is Simply Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux 

 

Mononoke Hime (1997) – animated

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki

PRODUCER: Toshio Suzuki

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui

EDITORS: Takeshi Seyama and Hayao Miyazaki

 

Princess Mononoke (1999) USA release – English dub

Running time: 134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for images of violence and gore

WRITER: Neil Gaiman – English screenplay

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/WAR/ACTION

 

Starring: (English voices) Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Keith David, John DeMita, John Di Maggio, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Billy Bob Thornton

 

Many consider Hayao Miyazaki to be Japan’s greatest animator and one of that country’s finest directors. He has several films to his credit, including Majo no takkyubin (released in the U.S. as Kiki’s Delivery Service) and Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky). In 2003, he won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for Spirited Away, the 2002 English language version of his film Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi. However, his first real shot at mass appeal in the United States was the film known in America as Princess Mononoke.

 

The story centers on Prince Ashitaka (voice of Billy Crudup) who finds himself in the middle of a war between the elemental and spiritual forces of the forest and Tataraba, a human iron-mining colony. The town’s leader , Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) has conspired with a sly assassin named Jigo, sublimely voiced by Billy Bob Thorton, to kill the great forest spirit. Ashitaka meets San, the Princess Mononoke (Claire Danes), a girl raised by the Wolf God. San leads the animal gods of the forest against Lady Eboshi, who has also made her colony a haven for outcasts. Ashitaka walks a razor’s edge, trying to save both the humans and the forest before the two destroy each other, and, although he it not the title character, he is the story’s focus.

 

Although the drawing is not as polished and as classical as a Disney film, the animation in Mononoke is nothing short of breathtaking and fantastic. While so many Western animators use computers to augment their films, Miyazaki used traditional hand drawn cels, reportedly correcting by his own hand 80,000 of the films 144,000 cels. The animation takes on a scope of epic proportions while simultaneously being romantic.

 

Miyazaki and his animators created a film that manages to be encompass the film genres of action, adventure, and war, while being a dramatic film of beautiful and poetic touches. The depth of the storytelling is novelistic in its approach. It has so much going on that the audience cannot help but be captivated and enthralled even if the references to Japanese mythology goes over their heads. The voice acting for the English dubbing is excellent, which includes not only those actors mentioned prior, but also Jada Pinkett-Smith, Gillian Anderson, and Keith David. They did have a good script with which to work. Fantasy novelist and comic book scribe Neil Gaiman, creator of the Sandman comic book, wrote the film’s dialogue in a friendly American vernacular Mononoke.

 

Fans of anime and animated films cannot miss Princess Mononoke. For people who loved epics like The Lord of the Rings, this film fits right in that vein. It stands, not only as an accomplishment in animation, but a special achievement in movie making.

 

9 of 10 

A+ 

 

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Review: "Bamboozled" is Clever and Truthful, But Too Angry

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 121 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bamboozled (2000)
Running time: 135 minutes (2 hours, 15 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong language and some violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Spike Lee
PRODUCERS: Spike Lee and Jon Kilik
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ellen Kuras
EDITOR: Sam Pollard
COMPOSER: Terrence Blanchard

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Paul Mooney, Sarah Jones, Mos Def, Al Sharpton, Mira Sorvino, and MC Search, Cameron Diaz, meet Jada Pinkett-Smith. Jada, meet Cameron. There but for the grace of God.

Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) is a frustrated African-American television writer, tired that the television industry and entertainment in general ignores the cultured (he thinks) taste of the black middle class in favor of lowbrow and stereotypical so-called ghetto entertainment. Determined to show up his crude boss Thomas Dunwitty (Michael Rapport, Deep Blue Sea), Delacroix, with the help of his able assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett-Smith, Set It Off), develops a blackface program, The New Millennium Minstrel Show. Blackface shows were crude forms of entertainment in which whites wore black face paint to imitate blacks, and Delacroix and Hopkins create their blackface TV program in a secret pact to protest the way white media bosses disrespect black viewers. Sure that the show will fail and get him fired, Delacroix watches the show become a huge sensation.

Bamboozled is writer/director Spike Lee’s (Malcolm X, Summer of Sam), most incendiary and most passionate film since his heralded Do The Right Thing. It is a biting satire with razor teeth and an unrelenting surrealistic farce. Lee aims the satirical portion of his film, the behind the scenes making of the minstrel show, squarely at the entertainment establishment and the audiences for American entertainment. Lee severely heightens the farcical nature of the minstrel show beyond what one would expect of a “real” minstrel show. He does it make his jabs at blackface, tom shows, minstrel shows, and other forms of drama that belittle minority groups hit that much harder.

As passionate as the film is (and as well intentioned as it may be) it is horribly inconsistent. I’m not sure if the inconsistency is deliberate, a means to show how complex issues of race and culture in America are, or if that’s just a sign of poor screenwriting (of which Lee has been accused on a few occasions). Bamboozled is at times uneven, mean-spirited, and confusing; at other times, it is hilarious, pointed, intelligent, and witty. The main problem is that those two sides jumble the film’s messages. The viewer may have an idea of what the film is about, but the viewer may have a difficult time figuring out what exactly Lee wants to say or what he is actually saying.

Some of the acting is very good. Tommy Davidson as Womack, one half The New Millennium Minstrel Show’s star team, Sleep’n Eat, is a fine comedian and a very funny, but underutilized comic actor with some strong dramatic chops. Savion Glover, both as Manray and as his minstrel alter ego Mantan, is known for his work on Broadway, but he is very good here, and the camera loves him almost as much as the lights of Broadway love him. Wayans as Delacroix swings from funny to unbelievable; his character’s mannerisms and speech patterns are so mocking that the character is unbelievable and, at times, too unsympathetic to watch. The waste in the film might be the under use of Ms. Pinkett-Smith: sympathetic and intelligent, the story could well have revolved around her, as she is the only character connected to all the main players.

This is a missed opportunity to make a point about the exploitation of black entertainers, past and present, and about the stereotypical portrayal of African-American in the media and in popular culture. As a film, it is daring in its subject matter, and that’s worth points in its favor. However, movies tell stories and entertain. Lee fills Bamboozled with so much ire while seemingly ignoring his story. The movie is too disjointed for many viewers to follow and too angry and preachy to be entertaining.

It is good that Spike Lee uses film to communicate daring subject matter, even if when get a mixed bag like this. He hit it right on the head with Do The Right Thing, I’m hopeful and sure that he’ll get it right again.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2001 Black Reel Awards: 4 nominations for best director-theatrical, screenplay-theatrical, supporting actor-theatrical (Tommy Davidson) and supporting actress-theatrical (Jada Pinkett Smith)


2001 Image Awards: 1 nomination “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jada Pinkett Smith)


2000 National Board of Review: Freedom of Expression Award

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