NEGROMANCER 2.0: Movie review

Showing posts with label Movie review. Show all posts

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

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

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Review: Prime Video's "THE UNDERDOGGS" is Vulgar, Funny and Holds The Titty

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 of 2024 (No. 1949) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Underdoggs (2024)

Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)

MPA – R for pervasive language, sexual references, drug use, and some underage drinking

DIRECTOR: Charles Stone III

WRITERS: Danny Segal and Isaac Schamis

PRODUCERS: Kenya Barris, Mychelle Deschamps, Jonathan Glickman, Constance Schwartz-Morini, and Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg)

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mitchell Amundsen (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Paul Millspaugh

COMPOSER: Joseph Shirley

COMEDY/SPORT

Starring: Snoop Dogg, Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps, Elias Ferguson, Jonigan Booth, Caleb Cm Dixon, Adan James Carrillo, Alexander Michael Gordon, Kylah Davila, Andrew Schulz, Thom Scott II, Kal Penn, Kandi Burruss, Tony Gonzalez, Terry Bradshaw, and George Lopez

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

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Snopp Dogg is excellent is this truly funny sports comedy.

--This film has a lot of profanity and bad behavior, and their reference to sex acts and sex organs is plentiful. It's family comedy that is not appropriate for viewing, unless the family is a bit daring.

--The Underdogg's scatological tale of a washed up, arrogant coach and a group of kids who know mostly disappointment does not come across as corny or phony. The Underdoggs keeps it real, perhaps, too real sometimes.

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

The Underdoggs is a 2024 sports comedy film from director Charles Stone III. The film is an Amazon “Prime Original” that began streaming on “Prime Video” January 26, 2024. The Underdoggs follows a washed-up former professional football player who decides to coach a peewee football team as way to regain his fame only to learn some important live lessons.

The Underdoggs opens at the “California High School State Championship 1997.” Jaycen "Two J's" Jennings (Elias Ferguson) is the star wide receiver at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and by catching the “Hail Mary” pass thrown his way, he wins the state championship for his school. Jaycen goes on to be a star professional football player, but his ego eventually gets him tossed from the professional ranks.

Now, Jaycen Jennings (Snopp Dogg) is a washed-up ex-professional football star – an arrogant washed up former football star, and the days of being “Two J's” are behind him. Still, he is desperately trying to hang onto fame, hopefully by landing a plum gig hosting his own Fox Sports TV show. However, Jaycen hits rock bottom when he is sentenced to community service after an accident.

Eventually, he finds his way to the Los Angeles County Community Outreach Program, where he decides to coach a peewee football squad, a group of poor kids known as “the Green Team.” Jaycen, however, sees this as a chance to get what he wants, but will he be forced to really give these kids what they need – a coach that cares?

I am shocked by how much I really like The Underdoggs. Of course, the screenplay by Danny Segal and Isaac Schamis (from a pitch by Snoop Dogg and fellow producer, Constance Schwartz-Morini) revisits familiar territory. The tale of a fallen coach, mentor, or role model and his team of poor kids, outcasts, and assorted misfits has played out in such films as The Bad News Bears (1976) and Role Models (2008). The Mighty Ducks (1992), which is referenced in The Underdoggs, is apparently a similar film, but I have never seen it (nor have I ever wanted to).

I have been a long-time fan of Snopp Dogg, and perhaps because of serendipity, he is perfect as an actor is this story of underdogs. I like that the film allows Jaycen to stay true to himself while also evolving, but the children also keep it real while learning to take pride in themselves and in their efforts. In this way, The Underdoggs is a perfect, lesson-heavy, family film, but...

The Underdoggs is rated “R” by the MPA for “pervasive language, sexual references, drug use, and some underage drinking,” and alla' that shit is actually in the film, sometimes in large quantities. There is even a funny “disclaimer” at the beginning of The Underdoggs that basically says that today's children use the same profane words spoken in the film. Perhaps, the filmmakers' argument is this is indeed a thoroughly modern family-friendly film. I think the “F-bomb” is said in The Underdoggs seemingly more than one hundred times. So its appropriateness will vary from family to family, respective of decorum and personal tastes. I have to admit that I was uncomfortable with the amount of profanity and bad behavior in this film, but...

I still laughed a lot. The Underdoggs is uproariously funny. I think Mike Epps as Kareem, Jaycen's friend who becomes his assistant coach, and Tika Sumpter as Cherise Porter, who was Jaycen's high school girlfriend, make the best of characters that are not that well written. Epps is always a scene-stealer in everything from comedy to action to horror, and he grabs all he can here. Sumpter makes Cherise an effective moral check on Jaycen's selfishness.

In the end, I feel totally comfortable recommending The Underdoggs to adult and older teen viewers. It is one of the funniest films of the new year, so far. I think some young viewers will be crazy about The Underdoggs, whether their parents approve or not.

A-

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

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

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Review: Prime Video's "ROLE PLAY" Offers an Odd Couple

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 of 2024 (No. 1948) by Leroy Douresseaux

Role Play (2024)

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

MPA – R for violence and language

DIRECTOR: Thomas Vincent

WRITER: Seth Owen

PRODUCERS: Kaley Cuoco, Alex Heinenman, and Andrew Rona

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Maxime Alexandre (ASC)

EDITOR: Gareth C. Scales

COMPOSER: Rael Jones

ACTION/THRILLER/COMEDY

Starring: Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Connie Nielsen, Rudi Dharmalingam, Lucia Aliu, Regan Bryan-Gudgeon, Jade-Eleena Dregorius, Stephanie Levi-John, and Bill Nighy

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

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Role Play is somewhat similar to the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), which was a big-budget action-comedy. Role Play is a smaller scale action-thriller with darker, edgier humor.

--Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo are an odd pairing, and for at least half of this film, they seem miscast in their roles.

--Role Play is an average, entertaining film that is better suited for Prime Video than it is for the big screens of a local movie theater. Still, the last half hour of the film really intensifies.

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

Role Play is a 2024 action-thriller and black comedy film from director Thomas Vincent. The film is an Amazon “Prime Original” that began streaming on “Prime Video” January 12, 2024. Role Play focuses on an assassin whose secret life intrudes on her life as a suburban wife and mother.

Role Play introduces Emma Brackett (Kaley Cuoco). She is married to Dave Brackett (David Oyelowo) and is now the mother to his son from his first marriage, Wyatt (Regan Bryan-Gudgeon), and is mother to the daughter, Caroline (Lucia Aliu), she had with Dave. Emma and Dave have been married seven years and are living in New Jersey. But Emma has forgotten their anniversary because she was busy overseas killing someone and not in Nebraska, as she told her husband.

To make up for forgetting their anniversary, Emma suggests that they spice things up by engaging in some romantic role play at “the Royal Grand” hotel in New York City. The fun, however, is interrupted by Robert “Bob” Kitterman (Bill Nighy), who is actually a rival assassin out to claim a bounty placed on Emma by her former agency, Sovereign. Emma is forced to reveal her real self – Anna Peller, professional killer. Now, her past has returned to reclaim her.

Dear readers, as soon as you read Role Play's synopsis, you will likely think of the hit 2005 film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Directed by Doug Liman, the action-comedy film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They play a bored upper middle class couple, but both are actually assassins working for competing agencies. One day, they are assigned to kill each other.

Role Play is described as an action-comedy, but it is truthfully an action-thriller and dark comedy. The film does have a comic undertone; there are some genuinely funny moments; and the film's musical score by Rael Jones is action-comedy pitch perfect. Role Play, however, features several violent fight scenes and brutal killings, in addition to its offbeat sensibility.

One reason is the casting. Kaley Cuoco is best known for playing the role of “Penny” on CBS's long-running, former sitcom, “The Big Bang Theory” (2007-19). I found it a little difficult to picture her as an assassin or professional killer. David Oyelowo is known for his serious dramatic roles in such films as Red Tails (2012) and Selma (2014), as well as for his role in the recent Paramount+ Western television miniseries, Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023). For about the first hour of the film, I did not find him convincing as the clueless suburban husband.

However, once Anna Peller's cover as Emma is blown, Cuoco is forced to give it her all trying to convince the audience that she is a killer, and suddenly sitcom Penny seems quite dark, indeed. Also, it is then that Oyelowo can drop the hubby routine and become the spousal partner-in-crime. In the last half hour to 40 minutes of the film, Emma and Dave actually become funnier characters. Then, Role Play takes on its action-thriller aspects with gusto.

Director Thomas Vincent makes the most of the film's more intense moments, giving Seth Owen's screenplay, which probably had more juice on the printed page, a jolt. Role Play is the kind of easy-going film that could not make it as a theatrical release, but it makes for an entertaining streaming film, especially once the leads really start to... play their roles.

B-

5 of 10

★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

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

Friday, January 26, 2024

Review: "THE BOOK OF CLARENCE" - Black is Beautiful and So is Enlightenment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 of 2024 (No. 1947) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Book of Clarence (2024)

Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for strong violence, drug use, strong language, some suggestive material, and smoking

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jeymes Samuel

PRODUCERS: Shawn Carter (Jay-Z), James Lassiter, Tendo Nagenda, and Jeymes Samuel

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rob Hardy (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Tom Eagles

COMPOSER: Jeymes Samuel

COMEDY/DRAMA/RELIGION

Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Michael Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Eric Kofi Abrefa, Chase Dillon, Babs Olusanmokun, Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Pinnock

The Book of Clarence is a 2024 comedy-drama and religious film written and directed by Jeymes Samuel. The film focuses on a wayward man who decides to capitalize on the rise of Jesus by also declaring himself to be “the Messiah.”

The Book of Clarence opens in Lower Jerusalem, the home of the “Gypsies,” in the year 33 A.D, and it introduces a young man named Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield). He is down-on-his-luck and is drifting in life. He spends time selling weed with his close friend and sidekick, Elijah (RJ Cyler). Their latest scheme is a chariot race against Mary Magdalene (Teyana Taylor), which goes disastrously bad. In turn, that puts Clarence and Elijah deep in debt to a local crime boss, Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi Abrefa), who threatens their lives if he isn't paid in 30 days.

Meanwhile, Clarence's twin brother, Thomas (LaKeith Stanfield), is one of the 12 Apostles that follow Jesus of Nazareth (Nicholas Pinnock). After failing to make inroads with his brother's associates, Clarence decides to capitalize on Jesus and the rise of messianic figures by declaring himself “the Messiah.” Clarence does not believe in the existence of God, but he finds success by preaching “knowledge over belief.” Soon, Clarence has a large number of followers, and they are making him wealthy. But then, something happens...

The Book of Clarence is not as partisan as Mel Gibson's 2004 masterpiece, The Passion of the Christ, nor is it Black-centric and anti-racist in the way director Jean-Claude La Marre's The Color of the Cross (2006) is. In The Book of Clarence, Jesus is a Black man, but the narrative isn't really about Jesus being black. The people of Jerusalem are black, but that just seems to be the way it is supposed to be – nothing special or deliberate. Also, I don't think the film ever refers to them as Jews or Hebrews (as far as I can remember).

The Book of Clarence's plot and themes, which are soft and muddled in the film's middle act, seem to converge on the notion of enlightenment, not the movement “Enlightenment, but as a state of knowledge and understanding. Clarence, who pushes knowledge over belief, gets the lesson that knowledge without understand is empty, the equivalent of “faith without good works is dead.” The Book of Clarence unveils these messages and ideas, not with seriousness, but with sly wit and also with subtle digs at oppression, racism, and imperialism – for good measure.

That aside, the thing that most impresses me about The Book of Clarence is that writer-director Jeymes Samuel presents a film in which Black people are so very beautiful and alluring in all their varying dark and brown shades, all the textures and styles of their hair, and all the shapes, contours, and statures of their bodies. Yet in spite of its allusions to white oppression, as all the Roman characters are white, The Book of Clarence treats having an all-Black cast play the characters in a story set in the time of Jesus as an utterly normal thing. It's about time; British, Irish, and American actors have been frontin' in Biblical films as if that is an entirely normal thing. [Even if Jesus was Caucasian, he wasn't white...]

Jeymes Samuel fills his film with outstanding performances, especially LaKeith Stanfield's powerful, eccentric, turn as Clarence. It is too late in his career to discover Stanfield as a revelation; we been knew he was good. He makes Clarence's awkward, bumbling, stumbling journey to enlightenment seem like a real, tangible thing. I feel Clarence's evolution in my head and in my imagination.

Also, David Oyelowo knocks the film on its ass as the back-handing John the Baptist, much the way Alfre Woodard upends notions of Jesus Christ's mother, Mary, as “Mother Mary” later in the film. Teyana Taylor throws her beauty at us as Mary Magdalene, and Anna Diop digs out the awkward layers of Varinia, Clarence's love-interest. And RJ Cyler gives a best supporting actor type performance as Clarence's best friend and partner, Elijah.

The Book of Clarence isn't perfect. Its plot staggers and lurches at times as it moves towards its explosive final act, which is filled with breath-taking miracles and shocking plot twists. The film apparently was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in September 2023, but ultimately made its only 2023 appearance via its world premiere at the 67th London Film Festival. So as fate... or God would have it, The Book of Clarence is the best film of 2024 – thus far.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, January 26, 2024

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

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Review: "CAFÉ SOCIETY" Sounds More Scandalous Than It Actually Is

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2024 (No. 1946) by Leroy Douresseaux

Café Society (2016)

Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for some violence, a drug reference, suggestive material and smoking

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Woody Allen

PRODUCERS: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Vittorio Storaro

EDITOR: Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/ROMANCE with elements of crime

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Sheryl Lee, Jeannie Berlin, Ken Stott, Sari Lennick, Stephen Kunken, and Corey Stoll

Café Society is a 2016 period comedy and romance film written and directed by Woody Allen. Set in the 1930s, the film follows a Bronx native who moves to Hollywood and falls in love with a young woman who is already in an affair with a mysterious married man.

Café Society introduces Robert Jacob “Bobby” Dorfman (Jessie Eisenberg). He is the youngest child and younger son of Marty Dorfman (Ken Stott) and his wife, Rose Dorfman (Jeannie Berlin). The Dorfman's middle child is their adult daughter, Evelyn (Sari Lennick), who is married to Leonard (Stephen Kunken), a teacher, an intellectual, and a communist. Dorfman's oldest child is their elder son, Ben (Corey Stoll), a gangster. While his siblings' lives are set, Bobby's is not. He is discontented with working for his father, Marty, who is a jeweler, so Bobby decides to move to Hollywood.

There, his mother Karen's brother, Phil Stern (Steve Carell), is a powerful talent agent who works with the most famous stars, biggest filmmakers, and most powerful movie studios. Phil is married to a beautiful woman, Karen (Sheryl Lee), and he lives in a lavish mansion in Hollywood. And he might have a job for his wayward nephew, Bobby Dorfman.

Bobby ends up taking a job running menial errands for Phil, and that brings him into contact with on of Phil's employees, Veronica “Vonnie” Sybil (Kristen Stewart). Bobby falls in love with Vonnie, but she claims that she already has a boyfriend, Doug, whom she describes as a journalist. Ultimately, Bobby returns to New York City, where he runs a high-end nightclub that he names “Les Tropiques.” It is there that Bobby embraces “café society,” as the club soon becomes a famous hangout for the rich and powerful. Bobby, however, cannot escape his recent past, nor can he avoid Ben's gangster activities.

Coup de chance, the film Woody Allen says will likely be his final directorial effort, was released in France in September (2023). Because of the controversies surrounding Allen the last few decades, especially the last five years, the film may not get a stateside theatrical release (although there has been a rumor that it has found a thus far secret U.S. distributor). In anticipation of eventually somehow seeing Coup de chance, I have decided to watch the recent Woody Allen films that I missed, such as the 2015 film, Irrational Man, and Cafe Society.

Cafe Society is an amiable, lightweight Woody Allen period comedy. It's nostalgic overtones certainly recall Allen's utterly delightful and semi-autobiographical period film, Radio Days (1987). I adore Radio Days and am tempted to call it his masterpiece. Unfortunately, Cafe Society is nowhere near the film that Radio Days is.

The first half of Cafe Society, which is mostly set in Hollywood, ends up being a prologue to the main story. You see, dear readers, Cafe Society's real story takes place after Bobby Dorfman returns to New York City and becomes a player in cafe society, the party scene of the Big Apple's rich and famous – from the blue bloods and celebrities to politicians and gangsters. In fact, the film is practically sleepy until Bobby becomes the impresario of NYC's most popular and notorious nightclub. That is when the two strands of his past – his aborted relationship with Vonnie and the natural end of Ben's activities – meet. Of course, it is a time when Bobby has the best of everything.

Cafe Society's themes of love-at-first-sight, love lost, and yearning for what might have been are familiar, and the film deals with it all so slightly that the story feels underdeveloped. I can't help but believe Cafe Society would work better as a television series, which would allow it to fully develop its multiple subplots and to play out a cast that is filled with potential. Ultimately, Café Society is an average put-together of familiar Woody Allen tropes, decorated with gorgeous production values. The cinematography, costumes, and sets are all Oscar worthy.

5 of 10

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

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

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

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Review: "SALTBURN" is not Salty, nor Does it Burn

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2024 (No. 1945) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saltburn (2023)

Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)

MPA – R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Emerald Fennell

PRODUCERS: Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, and Margot Robbie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Victoria Boydell

COMPOSER: Anthony Willis

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, Alison Oliver, Sadie Soverall, Paul Rhys, and Carey Mulligan

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

REVIEW SUMMARY:

-- The new film from the writer-director of Emerald Fennell has an intriguing premise and is actually intriguing for about its first hour.

-- Their are few good performances, particularly by Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and Archie Madekwe. Sadly, the movie focuses on its least interesting character, Oliver Quick, played by one of the hottest dull actors around, Barry Keoghan.

-- Saltburn is mainly for adventurous movie fans. Viewers looking to be entertained may want to look for a movie that is less stiff.

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

Saltburn is a 2023 psychological drama and black comedy from writer-director Emerald Fennell. The film follows a new student at Oxford University who is drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, which leads to a tragic summer at the classmate's family's sprawling estate.

Saltburn introduces Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a scholarship student at Oxford University. Oliver struggles to fit in due to his inexperience with upper-class manners and deportment. However, one of Oliver's fellow students does capture his imagination, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), an affluent and popular student. It turns out that Felix is empathetic to Oliver and his stories of his parents' substance abuse and mental health issues.

After Oliver becomes distraught when he learns of his father's sudden death, Felix comforts him. Later, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family's sprawling estate, Saltburn. Oliver meets Felix's eccentric parents, his father, Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), and his mother, Lady Elspeth Catton (Rosamund Pike). He also meets Felix's kooky and lewd sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). Also staying at the state is fellow Oxford student and Felix's first cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), who thinks very little of Oliver. As the summer wears on, however, these unlikable people become too self-absorbed to recognize the danger so very near to them.

I was a huge fan of Saltburn writer-director Emerald Fennell's 2020, Promising Young Woman, for which Fennell won a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar. Promising Young Woman was a shocking, funny, vindictive, and righteous film, and which is much more than I can say about Saltburn, which looks like a sumptuous period drama. On the other hand, for all its good looks, Saltburn is sterile as a black comedy.

I can deal with a film that focuses on unlikable people, which Saltburn does. Still, I found Saltburn's lead actor, Barry Keoghan, and his character, Oliver Quick, dull and unimaginative. I don't get Keoghan's critical acclaim. He was pitiful and sad in The Banshees of Inisherin (2020), which earned him a “Best Supporting Actor” Oscar nomination. However, sad, silent waif characters bore me, and Keoghan's Oliver Quick is duller than his Dominic Kearney was in Banshees. Here, Keoghan's personality-free performance in this film does not convince me that Oliver is what the film's final act suggests he is. Honestly, what Fennell offers here is nothing more than a riff on novelist Patricia Highsmith's literary character, "Tom Ripley," if Ripley were played as a character that was stuffed and mounted. Also, I must admit to often mistaking Keoghan for another milky white boy actor, Ezra Miller (The Flash), who did the pale, waif thing really well until his... secrets came out.

I like Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton, a funny and charming character, and Elordi's boyish, white boy looks should give him at least a few years in Hollywood as a “hot thing.” The film's best performance is given by Archie Madekwe, the Black British actor who creates Saltburn's most intriguing character. As the “mixed-race” Farleigh Start, Madekwe is mysterious and sexy, and honestly, I wish Saltburn was about Farleigh's relationship with the Cattons and his life at Saltburn. I should also admit that I'm always crazy about Rosamund Pike, so I was in love with Lady Elspeth.

Ultimately, I can only recommend Saltburn to adventurous movie fans who are always on the lookout for films from interesting filmmakers, which Emerald Fennell certainly is. I simply wish that Saltburn burned a little more.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

You can stream the SALTBURN film here on AMAZON Prime Video.

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Review: "PREY" is the Best "Predator" Sequel to Date

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2023 (No. 1944) by Leroy Douresseaux

Prey (2022)

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

MPAA – R for strong bloody violence

DIRECTOR: Dan Trachtenberg

WRITERS: Patrick Aison; from a story by Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg (based on the characters created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas)

PRODUCERS: John Davis, Marty Ewing, and Jhane Myers,

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeff Cutter (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Claudia Castello and Angela M. Catanzaro

COMPOSER: Sarah Schachner

SCI-FI/THRILLER

Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, Julian Black Antelope, Stefany Mathias, Bennett Taylor, and Mike Paterson

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

REVIEW SUMMARY:

--Prey is by far the best Predator sequel, and it is one of 2022's best films.

--The Canadian landscape where this movie was filmed is an equal character in the story while offering magnificent vistas and breathtaking beauty.

--The first half of the film is a tense suspense thriller that builds a sense of mystery similar to that of the original Predator film.

--The second half of the film is an explosion of brutal violence and heart-stopping duels that leads to a showstopping finale. I highly-recommend it.

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

Prey is a 2022 science fiction thriller film directed by Dan Trachtenberg. It is the fifth film in the main Predator film franchise, which began with the 1987 film, Predator, and the seventh in the overall franchise (when the “AvP” films are counted). Prey is a prequel to the four main Predator movies, and it is a direct-to-streaming film that was released as a “Hulu original film.” Prey is set in the early 18th century and pits a young Comanche woman who wants to prove that she is a warrior by taking on a mysterious creature that slaughters everything in its path.

Prey opens in the Northern Great Plains in September 1719. Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman, has trained as a healer, but she wants to be a hunter like her older brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers). To that end, Naru wants to embark on a “kühtaamia,” which requires her to hunt something that is hunting her.

While tracking deer, Naru witnesses strange lights in the sky, which she believes to be a “Thunderbird,” the legendary creature of Native American folklore. However, the strange lights are actually an alien ship dropping a Predator (Dane DiLiegro), something her people have never encountered. Now, Naru, Taabe, and their tribe's other hunters must take on a Predator that is the ultimate hunter. If she cannot defeat the Predator, she will lose her life and her tribe will fall as well.

I have been interested in seeing Prey since I first heard about it, but I wasn't subscribing to Hulu when it debuted, nor do I currently subscribe to it. However, my friend and collaborator, Carter Allen, an illustrator, concept designer, and comic book creator, sent me a copy of the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray edition via Amazon.

Now, having seen it, I think it is a shame that Prey did not receive a theatrical release. It's cinematography captures the beautiful vast forest locations outside Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where this movie was shot, in a way that should be seen on a big screen. The landscape is an equal character in the film, even more so than it has been in previous Predator films. Prey's director, Dan Trachtenberg, uses the landscape to make his film feel real and to have weight and depth and not come across as if it were some kind of action or video game fantasy.

Prey is the best sequel to 1987's Predator, easily surpassing what I think is the previous best sequel, 2010's Predators. In some ways, the combatants in Prey seem more authentic and the action more visceral than in the first film. The fights are brutal and up-close-and-personal. Flesh is slashed and chopped into raw meat, and bodies are pierced, penetrated, and ruptured with artistic precision. Heads are lopped off, and limbs aren't far behind. The Predator of Prey does not kill from on high, shooting death rays as the original Predator did. In Prey, the Predator moves in for the kill in a way that is similar to what Logan/Wolverine did to the mercenaries in the X-Men film, X2 (2003). Also, the costume and creature design for Prey's Predator is as much horror movie killer as it is sci-fi monster. In some ways, he seems garbed as a super-villain.

Amber Midthunder as Naru and Dakota Beavers as Taabe give outstanding performances. Their characters are well written, and Patrick Aison's script is ambitious enough to give the actors the opportunity to explore their characters, which they do. Midthunder is mesmerizing and fierce as Naru, and she makes me care about her journey every step of the way.

I'm surprised. Prey easily exceeded my expectations. I hope that future Predator films are as ambitious as this one. In the meantime, I pray for a sequel to Prey.

9 of 10

A+

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

You can buy a copy of the PREY Blu-ray at AMAZON.

Discover Carter Allen's latest graphic novel, Ectyron vs. Des Moines here.

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

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

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Review: First "CHICKEN RUN" Runs Wild at the End

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 of 2023 (No. 1943) by Leroy Douresseaux

Chicken Run (2000)

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

MPAA – G

DIRECTORS: Peter Lord and Nick Park

WRITERS: Karey Kirkpatrick; from a story by Peter Lord and Nick Park

PRODUCERS: Peter Lord, Nick Park, and David Sproxton

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dave Alex Riddett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Mark Solomon

COMPOSERS: Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell

BAFTA nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring: (voices): Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Tony Haygarth, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, and Benjamin Whitrow

Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animated fantasy and comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. It is a British, French, and U.S. co-production produced by Pathe and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Chicken Run was Aardman's first feature-length animated film and, as of this writing, remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in worldwide box office history. Chicken Run is set at a British chicken farm where the chickens hope that an American chicken can help them escape the farm's vicious owners.

Chicken Run opens in post World War II England, specifically at an egg farm that is run like a prisoner-of-war camp. The farm is owned and operated by the cruel Mrs. Malisha Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and her submissive husband, Mr. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth), who eat and kill any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. Inside the chicken yard, a rebellious chicken, Ginger (Julia Sawalha), is constantly engaged in escape attempts. Her goal is to help all her fellow chickens escape the farm and find a new home in the land that lies behind a hill some distance from the Tweedy's farm.

One night, Ginger witnesses a rooster glide over the coop's fences. She learns that he is an American rooster, Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson), a.k.a. “Rocky the Flying Rooster” a.k.a. “Rocky the Rhode Island Red.” Believing that Rocky can fly, Ginger begs him to help teach her and the other chickens how to fly so that they can escape the farm. Rocky is not quite what he seems, however, and time is running out as Mrs. Tweedy has devised a new way to get more money out of the farm's large population of chickens.

I have been putting off seeing Chicken run for 23 years. Then, I discovered that a sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, was set to debut on Netflix December 15, 2023, so I decided to finally watch it. I am a fan of the later feature-length animated films that Aardman Animations produced in partnership with DreamWorks Animation, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). I have also enjoyed a few of Aardman's animated short films, including A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (1989) and Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993).

In the end, I like Chicken Run, not as much as I like other Aardman works I've seen. Chicken Run takes some inspiration from director John Sturges 1963 war and adventure film, The Great Escape. Chicken Run is also described as an adventure film, but it is really a sedate comedy and drama that only occasionally plays with its edgier elements. Honestly, I think the storytellers under-utilize the Tweedys who are delightfully menacing and are endlessly funny as a dysfunctional couple. The film is filled with interesting characters, inventive production design, and a novel plot, but the filmmakers seem to keep holding back the narrative's energy for the big ending – more than they need to as far as I'm concerned.

Chicken Run does not really live up to its comic and adventure potential until the last 20 minutes of the story before the end credits start. The film suddenly seems to wind up and then explode in a final act of flying contraptions, determined poultry, and maniacal farmers. In fact, the finale is the first time in the film that Mel Gibson's Rocky does not seem like an extraneous character. I will try to see the sequel on Netflix, but for the time being, finally seeing Chicken Run seems to be the only run I really need to make at the story.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 16, 2023

NOTES:

2001 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and Nick Park) and “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Paddy Eason, Mark Nelmes, and Dave Alex Riddett)

2001 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical”

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

Friday, December 15, 2023

Review: Woody Allen's "SLEEPER" is Comedy Gold and a Sci-Fi Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 of 2023 (No. 1942) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sleeper (1973)

Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Woody Allen

WRITERS: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman

PRODUCER: Jack Grossberg

CINEMATOGRAPHER: David M. Walsh (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Ralph Rosenblum, O. Nicholas Brown, and Ron Kalish

COMPOSER: Woody Allen

COMEDY/SCI-FI

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory, Don Keefer, John McLiam, Bartlett Robinson, Chris Forbes, Mews Small, Peter Hobbs, and John Cannon (voice)

Sleeper is a 1973 science fiction-comedy film directed by Woody Allen. The film focuses on a store owner who is revived from a cryogenic state into a future world in which the United States has been transformed into an oppressive government that forces its citizens happy and content.

Sleeper opens in the year 2173. The American Federation, a police state (of sorts), has replaced the United States of America, which was destroyed long ago. The government is oppressive, but it keeps its citizens happy by giving them good jobs, plenty of food, mood-altering drugs, happiness via mind alteration, and a device called the “orgasmatron” to keep them sexual satisfied.

There is, however, an underground rebellion determined to take down the government and its mysterious “Leader.” Towards that end, the rebels revive Miles Monroe (Woody Allen), a jazz musician who also owned of the “Happy Carrot” health food restaurant. In 1973, Miles went in for a routine operation, which managed to go wrong, and the result was that he was cryogenically frozen. The rebels illegally revive Miles and plan to use him as spy to infiltrate and derail the government because he would be the only member of this society without a known “biometric identity.”

As someone from the distant past, Miles is considered by the current government to be an “alien.” If caught by the police, he will be brainwashed into a complacent member of society. The success of Miles' spy mission and his hope of remaining free of brainwashing rest in an idle socialite and poet, Luna Schlosser (Diane Keaton), who may be too self-indulgent to become a rebel.

Coup de chance, the film Woody Allen says will likely be his final directorial effort, was released in France in September (2023). Because of the controversies surrounding Allen the last few decades, especially the last five years, the film may not get a U.S. theatrical release. In anticipation of somehow seeing Coup de chance, I have decided to watch the recent Woody Allen films that I missed, such as the 2015 film, Irrational Man.

I also decided to review Allen's 1973 classic film, Sleeper, because this year (2023) is the fiftieth anniversary of its original theatrical release (specifically December 17, 1973). I have seen the film twice before, but I have previously not written a review of it.

Because Woody Allen has become such a controversial and, in recent years, such a toxic figure in American cinema and culture, people may have forgotten what a charming cinematic figure he was for at least three decades. They may also be unaware that Allen is also an accomplished clarinetist as one can discover in Sleeper's lively Dixieland-style jazz soundtrack, which features Allen performing with “The Preservation Hall Jazz Band” and “The New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra.”

Sleeper is certainly an excellent parody of the science fiction films of its time, and it is a sharp satire of pseudo-intellectuals, pretentious artists and their patrons, self-indulgent poets, and other assorted poseurs. The film expertly references such then current science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and THX 1138 (1971). [Douglas Rain, who provided the voice of “HAL 9000” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, also provided the voice of the medical computer in Sleeper.]

However, Sleeper is a showcase of Wood Allen's immense comedic talents, both as writer and as an actor possessing impeccable comic timing. His skill at physical comedy is also quite impressive and reveals the influence of great performers such as Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Groucho Marx, and I would add the work of the great master of silent films, Buster Keaton. Allen uses facial expressions and the rapid delivery of dialogue, which transforms this slightly built man into a comedy force of nature. Allen uses his body like a prop, something to abused so long as it stirs a the barrel of laughs. The result is a winning and lovable character in Miles Monroe.

Sleeper also proves (at least for me) that Diane Keaton is the perfect comic foil and partner for Woody Allen. Obviously, she has serious dramatic chops, but Keaton is also pure magic and sparkly delight as a comedic actress. I could watch another hour of her and Allen in this scenario. Sleeper may seem a bit dated in some aspects, but its leads are eternally pleasing. Sleeper is a clever satire as well as a witty spin on dystopian science fiction. Other than Mike Judge's 2006 satirical sci-fi comedy, Idiocracy, there is nothing like it. Still, the treat in Sleeper is an energetic Woody Allen and an equally smart and savvy Diane Keaton.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, December 15, 2023

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

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Review: Prime Video's "CANDY CANE LANE" is an Unexpected Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2023 (No. 1941) by Leroy Douresseaux

Candy Cane Lane (2023)

Running time: 117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)

MPA – PG for language throughout and some suggestive references

DIRECTOR: Reginald Hudlin

WRITER: Kelly Younger

PRODUCERS: Brian Grazer, Charisse M. Hewitt, Karen Lunder, and Eddie Murphy

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Newton Thomas Sigel (ASC)

EDITORS: Kenny G. Krauss and Jim May

COMPOSER: Marcus Miller

COMEDY/FANTASY

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Genneya Walton, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Madison Thomas, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, Robin Thede, David Alan Grier, Ken Marino, Timothy Simons, Danielle Pinnock, and D.C. Young Fly

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

I watched “Candy Cane Lane” on a lark, and I did not expect much from it. Boy, am I surprised. It is so shockingly charming and endearing that this must be some kind of Christmas magic.

Eddie Murphy is quite good in family-oriented films, and even his fans who don't ordinarily like Murphy's family films will probably find something to like in “Candy Cane Lane”

The story is ridiculous at times, but “Candy Cane Lane” is the best Christmas movie I have seen in a long time. I recommend it without reservation.

Candy Cane Lane is a 2023 comedy, fantasy, and Christmas film directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Eddie Murphy. The film is an Amazon “Prime Original” that began streaming December 1, 2023. Candy Cane Lane focuses on a man who is so determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest that he makes an unwise pact with a rogue elf.

Candy Cane Lane introduces Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy), a husband and father who crafts his own hand-carved Christmas decorations. Every year, a local television station hosts the “Candy Cane Lane Spectacular,” a contest to judge the best decorated house. Chris has never won, and he is jealous of his neighbor, Bruce (Ken Marino), who has won several times.

Shortly before Christmas, Chris' employer, the industrial plastics firm, Sydel Twain, lays him off. When Chris learns that this year's Candy Cane Lane prize is $100,000, he becomes desperate to win the money for his family, although he wife, Carol Carver (Tracee Ellis Ross), has a very good job. Chris is also oblivious to the lives of his two older children, Joy (Genneya Walton), a high school senior and track star, and Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson), a tuba player and budding musician.

Looking for Christmas decorations and supplies, Chris and his youngest child, daughter Holly (Madison Thomas), stumble across “Kringle's,” a mysterious Christmas shop filled with all kinds of beautiful decorations, including model buildings, ceramic figures, and a strange Christmas tree. Chris is so enchanted by all that he sees, believing that these decorations could help him win Candy Cane Lane. He unwarily signs a deal with Kringle's eccentric shopkeeper, Pepper (Jillian Bell). However, Pepper is more than she seems, and so is the receipt Chris signs. Soon, he will need all the help he can get from his family and from a trio of diminutive new friends in order to keep himself out of Pepper's clutches. And he also has some Christmas lessons to learn.

Audiences first came to know and love Eddie Murphy from his stand-up comedy career; his stint as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (1980-84); and his R-rated comedy films, such as 48 Hrs (1982), Trading Places (1983), and Beverly Hills Cop (1983). Much to the chagrin of the those fans, Murphy's film career as an A-list star eventually led him to make innocuous family-friends films, especially Dr. Doolittle (1998), Shrek (2001), and Daddy Day Care (2003).

Those fans will not be pleased with Candy Cane Lane. It is a family movie, an absurd fantasy film, and a Christmas movie full of holiday lessons to learn. For me, Candy Cane Lane is one of the best absurd movies that I have ever seen. Its concepts and ideas are as imaginative and as inventive as they are ridiculous and preposterous, yet I find the film endlessly lovable. Every time I tried to dismiss it, I found myself drawn ever deeper into its delicious, addictive fluffiness. Candy Cane Lane is a true feel-good movie. It shouldn't work, yet it works to perfection. Considering director Reginald Hudlin's past directorial efforts, I was (and still am) shocked that he could pull of this kind of Christmas movie, which is, for the most part, a warm cup of cocoa. If anything, Candy Cane Lane suggests that screenwriter Kelly Younger is certainly inventive.

Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, and Robin Thede are a delight in their voice roles, and David Alan Grier is sly and smooth in his surprise role. Jillian Bell is nearly perfect as Pepper, except for a few moments that are too over the top. I think Madison Thomas needed more screen time as Holly Carver, and Timothy Simons and Danielle Pinnock are a winning pair as TV co-hosts, Emerson and Kit.

Eddie Murphy barely breaks a sweat as Chris Carver, and neither does Tracee Ellis Ross as Carol Carver. Still, they work well together as a screen couple at the center of this delightful family fare. Despite what some fans may think, Eddie Murphy has the magic touch when it comes to family films. Murphy passes on the lessons that Chris has to learn with a knowing wink and a nudge, and I was willing to buy it all. I think I'll be watching Candy Cane Lane again, if only because, for two hours, it made me believe in that Hollywood bullshit called “Christmas magic.”

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, December 10, 2023

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

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

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Review: Phoenix is the Man in Woody Allen's "IRRATIONAL MAN"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 of 2023 (No. 1940) by Leroy Douresseaux

Irrational Man (2015)

Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)

MPAA – R for some language and sexual content

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Woody Allen

PRODUCERS: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Darius Khondji

EDITOR: Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/DRAMA/MYSTERY/ROMANCE

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Joe Stapleton, Nancy Carroll, Betsy Aidem, Ethan Phillips, Jamie Blackley, Nancy Giles, and Tom Kemp

Irrational Man is a 2015 comedy-drama, romance, and mystery film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film focuses on a college professor who finds the will to live after committing the act of murder and the young student who falls deeply in love with him.

Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) arrives in Newport, Rhode Island with some acclaim. He joins the faculty of (fictional) Braylin College where he will teach “ethical strategies.” Abe is depressed, is experiencing an existential crisis, and sees no meaning in his life. He drinks excessively and considers suicide.

Despite his tormented state, Abe catches the attention of two women. The first is chemistry professor, Rita Richards (Parker Posey), and the second is Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), one of his students. Each is crazy about him in her own way. Abe's relationship with the two really goes nowhere … at first.

Abe hatches the idea of murdering Judge Thomas Augustus Spangler (Tom Kemp), an unethical family court judge who is plotting to take the custody of her children away from a woman. Plotting and committing murder has given Abe's life a sense of purpose that he has not felt in ages. For various reasons, however, both Rita and Jill suspect Abe of Judge Spangler's murder.

Coup de chance, the film Woody Allen says will likely be his final directorial effort, was released in France in September (2023). Because of the controversies surrounding Allen the last few decades, especially the last five years, the film may not get a U.S. theatrical release. In anticipation of seeing Coup de chance, I have decided to watch the recent Woody Allen films that I missed, beginning with the most recent that I had not seen, Irrational Man.

Some of Woody Allen's films have previously focused on a lead character who is involved in murder or commits murder. Examples include Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Match Point (2005). Having murder as subplot gives Allen's films an edge they don't normally have. Irrational Man seems to drift with no purpose until Abe Lucas actually commits murder, and suddenly this film seems like a totally different movie from what it was during its first half. Frankly, Irrational Man seems to be asleep for at least half its runtime.

I find myself entirely sympathetic with Phoenix's Abe Lucas. Of course, I would feel differently if this were a real murder victim that was friends or family to me. As it is, I find myself really liking the post-crime Abe Lucas, and I found his later, darker turn to be a bit alluring.

Phoenix gives life to a character that Allen does not develop very well. As the narrative moves towards its conclusion, Phoenix makes Abe feel richer, and the character might have improved even more with a longer runtime, more because of what Phoenix would do rather than what Allen would not. Emma Stone is whiny and unlikable as Jill Pollard, but Parker Posey makes the best of horny Rita Richards. I wish Rita had more screen time.

Irrational Man is strictly for Woody Allen fans, although Phoenix is the one who saves this film and uplifts it. So Joaquin Phoenix fans may find something in Irrational Man to like, also.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

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

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

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Review: First "MORTAL KOMBAT" Film Has Not Lost its Immortal Charm

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 of 2023 (No. 1939) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mortal Kombat (1995)

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

MPAA – PG-13 for non-stop martial arts action and some violence

DIRECTOR: Paul Anderson

WRITER: Kevin Droney (based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias)

PRODUCER: Lawrence Kasanoff

CINEMATOGRAPHER: John R. Leonetti (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Martin Hunter

COMPOSER: George S. Clinton

MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

Starring: Robin Shou, Christopher Lambert, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto, Trevor Goddard, Chris Casamassa, Francois Petit, Keith H. Cooke, Steven Ho, Gregory McKinney, and the voices of Frank Welker, Ed Boon, and Kevin Michael Richardson

Mortal Kombat is a 1995 martial arts and action fantasy film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the first film in the Mortal Kombat film franchise, and is based on the video game series, Mortal Kombat, which began in 1992. Mortal Kombat the movie focuses on three martial artists who find themselves entered into a martial arts tournament that will decide the fate of Earth.

Mortal Kombat opens in the dreams of Liu Kang (Robin Shou), a former Shaolin monk. Kang dreams of the death of his brother, Chan (Steven Ho), at the hands of Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a powerful sorcerer. Now, Kang is determined to avenge his brother's death, and to do this, his most enter the tournament, Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat is a martial arts tournament that is held once every generation between the representatives of the realms of Earth and Outworld . There have been nine previous editions of the tournament, and the realm of Earth has lost all of them. If the warriors of Earth lose this tenth tournament, the realm of Outworld and its Emperor will invade the realm of Earth.

Although Kang's former comrades in “the Order of Light” are reluctant to have him represent them in the tournament, Lord Rayden (Christopher Lambert), the god of thunder and defender of the realm of Earth, believes Kang is the right choice. In addition to Kang, Rayden has chosen two other entrants, Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), a movie star who wants to prove that his martial arts skills are legitimate, and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson), an American special forces operative, who is hunting another entrant in Mortal Kombat. That would be Kano (Trevor Goddard), a criminal allied with Shang Tsung.

Kang, Cage, and Blade travel to Shang Tsung's island where they meet Princess Kitana (Talisa Soto), the Emperor's adopted daughter, who wants to ally with the Earth warriors. With its strange rules, Tsung's weird warriors, and lurking danger, Mortal Kombat will test the warriors from the realm of Earth to their limits.

I first saw Mortal Kombat when it was initially released to theaters in August 1995. I liked the movie, but at the time, I was not overwhelmed by it. I do remember it fondly because I saw it with coworker who was a fellow college student and also a dear friend for many years. Since then, I have grown fond of Mortal Kombat, and I have wondered why over the years.

The Mortal Kombat video game and subsequent film adaptation are hugely influenced by the legendary Bruce Lee's classic 1973 martial arts film, Enter the Dragon. There seems to be some kind of mental and dream time connection in my mind and imagination between this first Mortal Kombat film and Enter the Dragon, which is one of my all-time favorite films. [However, I have only watched the 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, in its entirety once, and I have not seen the 2021 franchise reboot, Mortal Kombat.]

Mortal Kombat is by no means perfect. Some of the dialogue is stiff, and is made stiffer by the actors' deliveries, especially in the case of Bridgette Wilson as Sonya Blade and Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage. However, the two aren't always bad, and I find them rather likable. Christopher Lambert is unfortunate as Lord Rayden, I'm sad to say; everything about his character is forced and contrived. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is over the top and melodramatic as Shang Tsung, but I really dig his performance and his character. I think there isn't enough of Tagawa's Shang Tsung.

The two best things about Mortal Kombat 1995 are Robin Shou as Liu Kang and the film's soundtrack. Shou, an underutilized Hong Kong-born actor, is magnetic as Kang, and Shou is the one that makes the film more than just a standard martial arts/action-fantasy film. Mortal Kombat also features The Immortals' single, “Techno-Syndrome,” with its signature yell of “Mortal Kombat!” It lifts this movie any time a few strains of it are played, and the music certainly creates a sense of anticipation for me.

So Mortal Kombat is by no means a great film; it may even be a mediocre film. For me, however, it seems to get better each time I watch it. I think I hear the opening notes of “Techno-Sydrome” now. “MORTAL KOMBAT!”

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Monday, December 4, 2023

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

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

Friday, November 10, 2023

Review: "THE MARVELS" is a Fun-Filled Marvel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2023 (No. 1938) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Marvels (2023)

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

MPAA – PG-13 for action/violence and brief language

DIRECTOR: Nia DaCosta

WRITERS: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik

PRODUCER: Kevin Feige

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sean Bobbitt (BSC)

EDITORS: Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff

COMPOSER: Laura Karpman

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of comedy

Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park See-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Leila Farzad, Abraham Popoola, Lashana Lynch, and Samuel L. Jackson, Tessa Thompson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Kelsey Grammer

REVIEW SUMMARY:

The Marvels is a direct sequel to the film, Captain Marvel (2019), and a continuation of the Disney+ miniseries, “Ms. Marvel” (2022).

The story brings Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel together to stop a Kree warrior named Dar-Benn from destroying several worlds in a bid to save the Kree home world, Hala.

The film is short and sweet and is also a quirky and weird science fiction superhero film that is similar in tone to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and to the Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

The Marvels' plot is a bit scattershot, but the fight and action scenes are highly energetic, resulting in a fun Marvel film full of likable characters.

______________________________________________________________

The Marvels is a 2023 superhero film directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Marvel Studios. The film is the 33rd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and is also a direct sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel. The Marvels is also a continuation of the Disney+/Marvel Studios television miniseries, "Ms. Marvel" (2022).

The film is headlined by the Marvel Comics character, Carol Danvers, who first appeared in the comic book, Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (cover dated: March 1968), and who later became Captain Marvel. In The Marvels, Captain Marvel gets her powers entangled with two other similarly-powered individuals, forcing the trio to work together to save the universe.

The Marvels opens with a focus on Hala, the capital planet of the Kree Empire. The collapse of the empire's “Supreme Intelligence” leads to a civil war among the Kree on their home world of Hala. The result is that the planet is becoming barren as it loses its natural resources and its sun is rapidly going dark. Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), the new leader of the Kree, retrieves one of two “Quantum Bands.” She hopes to harness its power and to pair it with her staff, “the Universal Weapon,” as part of her scheme to save Hala.

On Earth, specifically in a home in Jersey City, New Jersey, teenager Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), who is also the superhero, “Ms. Marvel,” is dealing with teenage and family issues. Kamala also happens to possess the other half of the Quantum Bands.

Meanwhile, above the Earth, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), now residing at the S.A.B.E.R. space station, has detected a “jump point” (which allows for hyperspace travel) anomaly caused by Dar-Benn. Nick Fury calls in Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), an astronaut who has the ability to manipulate all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, to investigate the jump point anomaly near S.A.B.E.R.

When Monica touches the jump point at the same time as Captain Marvel, it causes a reaction in which Monica, Carol, and Kamala switch places through teleportation. Now, this reaction brings the three young women together in order to stop Dar-Benn from destroying several worlds in order to save her home world, Hala. And Kamala thinks that she, Carol, and Monica can best do this as a team, a super-team she names “The Marvels.

In addition to being a sequel to the 2019 film, Captain Marvel, and being a continuation of the Ms. Marvel TV series, The Marvels includes story elements that appear in the Disney+ Marvel Studios miniseries, “WandaVision” (2021) and “Secret Invasion” (2023). There are also elements from Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). At this point, I wonder if watching Marvel movies means having to be familiar with what has happened in too many previous films and television series. There is also a scene that runs in the middle of the end credits that references other movies based on Marvel Comics characters.

Still, I love The Marvels. I have not subscribed to Disney+, and I only saw the fifth and sixth episodes of the Ms. Marvels miniseries when it was aired on the ABC broadcast network in early September (2023). I love The Marvels because I can figure out what is going on without having seen everything else it references. If I really want to know more, I can read Wikipedia summaries of the Disney+ series that I have not seen.

The Marvels is marvelously enjoyable. It is a science fiction adventure comedy that makes a comedy of physical errors out of every fight. It's more like Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) than it is like any other Marvel film. Director Nia DaCosta and her co-writers take time to develop the relationship between Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. Also, giving so much time to Kamala family: her mother, Muneeba Khan (Zenobia Shroff); her father, Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur); and her older brother, Aamir Khan (Saagar Shaikh), gives the film a human element that keeps the sci-fi, outer space weirdness of The Marvels from entirely taking over the narrative. Yes, the plot is a bit scattershot, but The Marvels is kinetic and packs a lot energy in its fight and action scenes.

The Marvels also gives us a lighter, funnier side of Nick Fury, and, the delights of Goose, the cat-like “Flerken” alien is multiplied this time. Dar-Benn turns out to be one of the more ruthless and interesting of the MCU's recent villains. And if that isn't enough, The Marvels has one of the MCU's best (if not the best) extra credit scenes. The Marvels is refreshingly short, and while it is more loose than cohesive, it does remind me of one thing. Every trip to the world of Marvel Studios' films is an out of this world experience.

[The film includes one extra-credits scenes that takes place during the middle of the credits (mid-credits).]

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, November 10, 2023

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

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

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Review: "SCOOBY-DOO and the Witch's Ghost" is Kind of Witchy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2023 (No. 1937) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999) – Video

Running time: 66 minutes (1 hour, 6 minutes)

Unrated

DIRECTOR: Jim Stenstrum

WRITERS: Rick Copp, David A. Goodman, Davis Doi, and Glenn Leopold

PRODUCER: Cos Anzilotti

EDITOR: Rob DeSales

COMPOSER: Louis Febre

ANIMATION STUDIO: Mook Animation

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Scott Innes, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward, Tim Curry, Kimberly Brooks, Jennifer Hale, Jane Wiedlin, Bob Joles, Tress MacNeille, Peter Reneday, and Neil Ross

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is a 1999 straight-to-video, animated horror-comedy film that was directed by Jim Stenstrum and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It was the second film in the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video film series that began with 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. It was released on VHS on October 5, 1999, then on DVD on March 6, 2001. In the film, Scooby and the company get involved with a famous horror novelist and his ancestor who was rumored to be a witch.

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost opens with Mystery Incorporated: Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Mary Kay Bergman), Velma Dinkley (B.J. Ward), Shaggy Rogers (Scott Innes), and Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes) solving a case at a San Francisco museum. There, they meet the famous horror novelist, Ben Ravencroft (Tim Curry). Velma Dinkley is a huge fan of Ravencroft, so he invites her and the rest of the gang to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts.

Upon arrival, Ravencroft and Mystery Inc. discover that the town's Mayor Corey (Neil Ross) has transformed Oakhaven into a tourist trap. The town is even putting on a concert featuring an all-female gothic rock band, the Hex Girls: Thorn (Jennifer Hale), Dusk (Jane Wiedlin), and Luna (Kimberly Brooks).

Oakhaven is like an amusement park with a theme based on the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft (Tress MacNeille), who is an ancestor of Ben Ravencroft. Ben describes Sara as a “wiccan” who used herbal remedies to heal the poor and less fortunate. In 1657, the townspeople of Oakhaven believed that Sarah was a witch, and they persecuted and executed her. Ben has spent years searching for Sarah's medical journal, which he believes will help him prove her innocence.

But now, the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft is really back, and she wants revenge. Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang are about to discover that this mystery turns out to have plenty of twists and turns.

Like a number of the early straight-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost has a tone that is darker than the franchise's usual fare. In this film, the supernatural elements are “real” as compared to the usual fake supernatural shenanigans committed by the adversaries in Mystery Inc.'s cases. Still, I was surprised that the film takes such a benevolent attitude about the modern pagan, earth-centered religion, “Wicca.” The film's story goes to some lengths to separate Wicca from “witchcraft,” which is generally seen as the use of magic for nefarious purposes.

Beyond that, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is a standard Scooby-Doo film. I find the “ghost of Sarah Ravencroft” to be less impressive than the “fake ghost witches” of earlier Scooby-Doo cartoons, such as “The Witch” in the “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” episode, “Which Witch is Which?” I can say that the film does have a nice twist involving Sarah Ravencroft that does darken the film's tone a bit more.

However, as a Scooby-Doo fan, I consider almost all Scooby-Doo productions to be must-see. And while, it isn't special, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is entertaining. And the Hex Girls are quite nice.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

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