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Friday, December 30, 2022
Review: Pam Grier is Radiant in "JACKIE BROWN," Tarantino's Best (Maybe) Film
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Review: Spielberg's "1941" - Raiders of the Lost Invasion (Countdown to "The Fabelmans")
Friday, June 24, 2022
Review: "PARALLEL MOTHERS" is Another Almodovar-Cruz Masterpiece
Parallel Mothers (2021)
Original title: Madres paralelas
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPA – R for some sexuality
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCERS: Augustin Almodóvar and Esther Garcia
CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Teresa Font
COMPOSER: Alberto Iglesias
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Julieta Serrano, Adelfa Clavo, Carmen Flores, Ainhoa Santamaria, and Rossy de Palma
Madres paralelas is a 2021 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film is also known by its English release title, Parallel Mothers (the title I will use for this review). The film focuses on two mothers who give birth on the same day causing them to bond in unexpected ways.
Parallel Mothers introduces Janis Martínez (Penelope Cruz), a highly considered magazine photographer. She does a photo shoot with renowned forensic archaeologist, Arturo (Israel Elejalde). She asks him if his foundation will help excavate a mass grave in her home village, where she believes her great-grandfather and other men from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). After he agrees to review the case with his foundation, Arturo has sexual relations with Janis, who becomes pregnant.
Later, Janis shares a hospital room with Ana Manso (Milena Smit), a teen single mother, and the two end up giving birth at the same time. Janis has a daughter whom she names “Cecilia,” and Ana a daughter she names “Anita.” The women promise to stay in touch, but Janis makes a series of shocking discoveries that will change both their lives.
Parallel Mothers is obviously an acting showcase for Penelope Cruz, who wastes no time exercising her prodigious talents. Cruz won numerous awards and received even more nominations for her performance as Janis Martinez. Writer-director Pedro Almodovar has spent his four-decade career in film making writing wonderful roles for women that result is wonderful films featuring an eclectic group of actresses.
Parallel Mothers' women are united across time by the bonds of motherhood, family, friendship, and loss. They are the speakers for the dead and the nurtures of men, but they also nurture and support and lift-up the other women in their lives. This is the uplift that Janis will provide for Ana, played by actress Milena Smit as a pixie of a girl in need of mothering. Janis and Ana are the solid center and radiant soul of this film about the complications and twists, the pain and the glory, and joy, sadness, and bittersweet nature of being a mother.
The film has a subplot involving the Spanish Civil War, which is the impetus for the Janis and Arturo conceiving a child. The search for the missing graves in her village, a grave that will hold the remains of her great-grandfather and the grandfathers of other women she knows is also part of the film's theme of loss and separation. These men, murdered in the civil war, should ultimately have a decent burial, and Janis and the other women will see to that.
Pedro Almodovar offers a film that is as raw and unflinching as it is beautiful. He draws out performances that are unashamedly naked and vulnerable in their depictions and displays of emotions, in a way American films tend to avoid, even Oscar-bait films. Sometimes Almodovar can be riotous and uproarious, but other times he can be uncannily intimate, as he is here. Sometimes, I feel unworthy of viewing his amazing films, which are so different and so much more daring than what I usually watch. Parallel Mothers is one of 2021's very best films and reveals that the Spanish maestro is, as usual, in top form.
10 of 10
Friday, June 24, 2022
NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Penelope Cruz) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar and Augustin Almodovar)
2022 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language” (Spain) and Best Original Score – Motion Picture (Alberto Iglesias)
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Review: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is Still Fresh and Vibrant
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2022 (No. 1850) by Leroy Douresseaux
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Original title: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios"
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCER: Pedro Almodóvar
CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: José Salcedo
COMPOSER: Bernardo Bonezzi
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/COMEDY
Starring: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, Maria Berranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, and Fernando Guillen
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a 1988 Spanish comedy and drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film is also known by its English release title, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (the title I will use for this review). The film focuses on a television actress who encounters a variety of eccentric characters as she tries to make contact with her lover who recently and abruptly left her.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown introduces television actress, Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura), who was recently dumped by her lover, Ivan (Fernando Guillen). They are both voice actors who dub foreign language films into Spanish, and Ivan's sweet-talking voice is the same one he uses in his work. Pepa knows that Ivan is about to leave on a trip … with another woman. He has even asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase that he will pick up later.
However, Pepa just wants to talk to Ivan. She really needs to talk to him, but he seems to be avoiding her. She never catches him at home and leaves messages on his telephone answering machine. He leaves voice messages on her machine, always seeming to call when she is unavailable. Her life is spiraling out of control, especially as an ever increasing number of eccentric characters, some connected to Ivan, start gathering around her. Their lives are apparently spiraling out of control, too.
There is her friend Candela (Maria Berranco), who is afraid of the police because she had a brief sexual encounter with a man who turns out to be a “Shiite terrorist.” He later returned to her, bringing a few terrorists colleagues, and they are planning a terrorist attack. Candela is more afraid of going to jail than having had a sexual relationship with a terrorist.
Ivan's son, Carlos (Antonio Banderas), arrives at Pepa's penthouse, with his snobbish fiancée, Marisa (Rossy de Palma). They are apartment-hunting and are interested in Pepa's place. Pepa meets the feminist and lawyer, Paulina (Kiti Mánver), who has a past with Ivan's family and may be connected to them now. Carlos describes his mother, Lucia (Julieta Serrano), Ivan's previous lover, as “crazy,” and she is apparently out of her mental hospital and on the way to Pepa's for a confrontation. Meanwhile, what is Ivan up to?
The original Spanish title of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios – is evidently not about a “nervous breakdown.” The “ataque de nervois” is more about women showing excessive negative emotions via panic attacks, fainting, and bodily gestures when they get upsetting news or see something that disturbs them. This is about agitation and stress instead of a full breakdown, which actually seems possible with some of the film's characters.
I can see why so many film critics, fans, and audiences were taken with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the time of its original release. There was nothing like it in U.S. contemporary film at the time. Its costumes, art direction, and set decoration have stylish references to the past and present and hints at the future. If one ignores such things as the types of telephones and answering machines and the operation of the airport, the film does not seem to be set in any particular time, past or present. The decorations in Pepa's penthouse and all the characters clothing are a riot of beautiful colors and color design. However, things like the taxi cab that Pepa frequently uses and its lovable driver (Guillermo Montesinos) add an earthy street-level touch to the film. Even Pepa's menagerie of animals (chickens and rabbits) are a nice addition to the film's oddness
For most of the 1990s, there were rumors of an American remake of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with Jane Fonda often listed as a potential cast member (as I remember it). I am not surprised that American actresses would be attracted to this kind of film. Even with Pepa as the lead, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has five supporting female roles with significant speaking parts, to say nothing of a few smaller parts that all actresses to show themselves.
No one female character is like another, and each woman has her own reason for “ataque de nervois.” Pepa and her eccentric friends and acquaintances are a delight, and the actresses make the most of their time on screen. They turn their character types into showy, gaudy, and captivating women, and I wanted more of them. Also, a young Antonio Banderas, as Carlos, deftly fits in with all these females, never dominating the screen, but always complimenting with uncanny skill.
I have seen Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown described as a black comedy. It is too wildly exaggerated to be anything but a farce. For Pedro Almodóvar, it was his calling card that introduced him to a wider audience outside of both Spain and of the devoted international film audience that already knew him. I like it as a comedy, but I am really fascinated by its characters and the actors playing them. The women on the verge of a nervous breakdown are some amazing women indeed, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is an amazing film.
9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars
NOTES:
1989 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)
1990 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar)
1989 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, June 16, 2022
Review: "LICORICE PIZZA" is a Dumb Title for a Freaking Fantastic Film
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Running time: 133 minutes (2 hours, 13 minutes)
MPA – R for language, sexual material and some drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson
PRODUCERS: Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, and Adam Somner
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Paul Thomas Anderson (D.o.P.) and Michael Bauman
EDITOR: Andy Jurgensen
COMPOSER: Jonny Greenwood
Academy Award nominee
ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA/HISTORICAL
Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Will Angarola, Griff Giacchino, James Kelley, Maya Rudolph, Iyana Halley, Ryan Heffington, Benny Safdie, Joseph Cross, and Bradley Cooper
Licorice Pizza is a 2021 coming-of-age comedy and drama and period film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film focuses on the adventures and misadventures of a teenage boy and a 20-something young woman as their romantic relationship develops.
Licorice Pizza is set in San Fernando Valley, California, circa 1973. The film introduces 15-year-old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), a child actor. While preparing for “picture day” at his high school, Gary notices the photographer's assistant, Alana Kane (Alana Haim). Gary is smitten with her and strikes up a conversation, but Alana, who says that she is 25-years-old (although she could be as much as 28-years-old), tries to rebuff him, to no avail.
A kind of romance begins while Gary becomes a budding teenage businessman and while Alana tries to get her life together. This version of “first love,” however, involves a treacherous navigation as both are attracted to other people. This includes other teen girls for Gary and actors and politicians for Alana. Meanwhile, there is an entire San Fernando Valley of adventures to be had and some growing up to do.
The Los Angeles Times described Licorice Pizza as a “family-and-friends-project” because much of the cast of the film is made up of Paul Thomas Anderson's family and friends. The lead actor, Cooper Hoffman, is the son of the late actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who appeared in several of Anderson's films. A former local restaurant that Anderson patronized is recreated for the film. Living and deceased Hollywood celebrities appear as characters in the film, including legendary television star and studio executive, Lucille Ball, and film producer, Jon Peters. Gary Valentine and his adventures are based on the life of former child actor turned film and TV producer, Gary Goetzman, a friend of Anderson's and the producing partner of actor Tom Hanks. The film even takes its title from, “Licorice Pizza” (1969-85), a former Southern California record store chain that, through sales and acquisitions, became part of the “Musicland” brand.
Thinking about Licorice Pizza, I can only regard it as perfect, and I feel that its perfection comes from the fact that the concept, plot, story, setting, and characters come from a place of love and of familiarity for Anderson. Everything feels natural and real, and there were instances when I was watching this film that it felt like I was staring through a window in time at something that had actually taken place.
To me, Anderson's screenplay is perfect down to the punctuation and indention. To change it would be to ruin it. Even the soundtrack is filled with songs that seem as if they were recorded long ago, but were always meant for Licorice Pizza.
Gary Valentine and Alana Kane (love those names) are so well-developed and so naturally developed that I found myself loving them, being annoyed at them, and being worried for them – as if they were my own charges. As Gary, Hoffman gives one of the best performances of a teenage character that I have ever seen. Alana Haim is Meryl Streep and Glenn Close good as Alana Kane, and her not receiving an Oscar nomination for this performance is artistic theft.
Well … I love this film, and I demand that you watch it. Or I'll beg if that's what it takes. The lives of white kids in 1970s San Fernando Valley is a star system away from when and how I grew up. Still, I could feel that era and the lives of these people in my heart. Honestly, Licorice Pizza is a stupid-ass title for a stupendous-ass film. If the title is what is holding you back from seeing it, ignore that title and see one of the truly great films of the last several years.
10 of 10
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, and Paul Thomas Anderson), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Paul Thomas Anderson), and “Best Original Screenplay” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Screenplay-Original (Paul Thomas Anderson); 4 nominations: “Best Film” (Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Adam Somner), “Best Director” (Paul Thomas Anderson), “Best Leading Actress” (Alana Haim), “Best Editing” (Andy Jurgensen)
2022 Golden Globes, USA: 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy,” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Alana Haim), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Cooper Hoffman), and “Best Screenplay – Motion Picture” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, May 5, 2022
Review: "NIGHTMARE ALLEY" is One of 2021's Very Best Films
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 of 2022 (No. 1839) by Leroy Douresseaux
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Running time: 150 minutes (2 hours, 30 minutes)
MPA – R for strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and language
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
WRITERS: Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan (based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham)
PRODUCERS: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Bradley Cooper
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Cameron McLauchlin
COMPOSER: Nathan Johnson
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/FILM-NOIR
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, Peter MacNeill, David Strathairn, Mark Povinelli, Holt McCallany and Paul Anderson
Nightmare Alley is a 2021 neo-noir crime thriller and drama directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is an adaptation of the 1946 novel, Nightmare Alley, which was written by William Lindsay Gresham. Nightmare Alley the film focuses on a drifter who works his way from low-ranking carnival employee to acclaimed psychic medium on his way to his self-made doom.
Nightmare Alley opens in 1939 and introduces Stanton “Stan” Carlisle (Bradley Cooper). A drifter, Stan gets a job at a carnival operated by Clement “Clem”Hoatley (Willem Dafoe). He begins working with the carnival's clairvoyant act, “Madame Zeena,” (Toni Collette) and her alcoholic husband, Peter “Pete” Krumbein (David Strathairn). They use coded language and cold reading tricks, which Pete keeps in a secret book. Although Pete teaches tricks to Stan, he also warns him against using these tricks to be a mentalist that pretends to speak to the dead, known as a “spookshow.”
Stan becomes attracted to a fellow performer, Mary Margaret “Molly” Cahill (Rooney Mara), and he eventually convinces her to leave with him. Two years later, Stan has successfully reinvented himself with a psychic act for the wealthy elite of Buffalo, and Molly is his assistant. His act has attracted the attention of consulting psychologist, Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), and she is determined to reveal him as a fraud. Thus, begins a cat and mouse game between Stan and Lilith that will destroy lives.
Nightmare Alley is not the first film adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's novel. Hollywood legend Tyrone Power starred in a 1947 version in a bid to escape from the kinds of films (romance and adventure) that had made him a Hollywood star, but had also relegated him to the same kinds of roles (romantic leads and swashbuckling heroes). From what I have read, Guillermo del Toro's 2021 version is more faithful to original novel than the 1947 film.
Some excellent and even great films are ruined or nearly ruined by their endings. Del Toro's Nightmare Alley is solidified as a great film because of its ending, which brings back elements from the beginning of the film. Bradley Cooper's Stan Carlisle is a doomed fool, a man consumed by greed and self-interest. As his lust for power and greed for money and fame become more evident, Nightmare Alley turns truly prophetic. A con man's ultimate mark is himself, and Stan never paid attention to the warnings, especially those that came when he first started working for Clem.
Although Cooper's status as the lead actor playing the lead character allows him to deliver a powerful performance, others in Nightmare Alley are also quite good. Toni Collette, always good, is lovely here as the saintly, whorish, motherly Madame Zeena, while David Strathairn, also always good, is excellent as the pitiful prophet and father figure, Pete. Cate Blanchett, decked in top notch hair and make-up and costumes, is the femme fatale as demoness, Lilith Ritter. The film's best performance, however, is delivered by Rooney Mara, who in subtle shades and quiet gestures represents kind people in this film. In a film determined to be dark and condemning, Mara's Molly is the film's humanity and hope.
As usual, Nightmare Alley offers Del Toro's haunting gothic visuals. The production design, cinematography, costume design, and hair and make-up all capture this film's clash of vistas: Depression-era destitution against a world of wealth, opulence, privilege, and corruption that ignored the poverty and decay right under their noses. From ragged carnival garb to fabulous raiment; from the rundown world of carnies to the glow of swanky nightclubs: Nightmare Alley is a vision of the darkness beneath the American dream and its illusions of wealth and power. I have a few quibbles with Nightmare Alley, finding it a bit too dry, cold, and brittle in places. Still, Nightmare Alley is another great film by the master of illusions, director Guillermo del Toro.
9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars
Thursday, May 5, 2022
NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Bradley Cooper); “Best Achievement in Production Design” (Tamara Deverell-production design and Shane Vieau-set decoration); “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Luis Sequeira), and “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Dan Laustsen)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Dan Laustsen), “Best Costume Design” (Luis Sequeira), and “Best Production Design” (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, April 28, 2022
Review: Pixar's "LUCA" is a True Disney Instant Classic
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2022 (No. 1838) by Leroy Douresseaux
Luca (2021)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence
DIRECTOR: Enrico Casarosa
WRITERS: Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones; from a story by Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, and Simon Stephenson
PRODUCER: Andrea Warren
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: David Juan Bianchi (D.o.P.) and Kim White (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Catherine Apple and Jason Hudak
COMPOSER: Dan Romer
Academy Award nominee
ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA
Starring: (voices) Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Gino LaMoica, Sandy Martin, and Sacha Baron Cohen
Luca is a 2021 computer-animated, coming-of-age, fantasy film directed by Enrico Casarosa, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film focuses on a two sea monster boys disguised as humans and the human girl they befriend.
Luca opens sometime in the 1950s in and around the Italian Riviera. Below the surface of the waters of the Riviera live a group of sea monsters. Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a timid young sea monster, herds goatfish below the coast of the small Italian town of Portorosso. Luca is curious about the human world, but his parents, Daniela (Maya Rudolph) and Lorenzo Paguro (Jim Gaffigan), fear that the humans might hunt him for food. Thus, they forbid him from approaching the surface.
One day, Luca meets Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster boy who lives alone above the surface on Isola del Mare. Alberto encourages Luca to venture out of the ocean, showing him that sea monsters turn into humans when their bodies become dry, but return to their true forms when they become wet. Alberto invites Luca to his hideout where the boys connect and dream about owning a Vespa (an Italian luxury brand of scooter) so that they can travel the world.
Venturing into Portorosso as humans, the boys discover that a local children's triathlon, the “Portorosso Cup,” is about to take place. They run afoul of Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), the local bully and five-time champion of the Portorosso Cup. They also meet a young girl named Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), the daughter of a fisherman, Massimo Marcovaldo (Marco Barricelli). Giulia has participated in the triathlon, but has never won. Hoping to win the money they need to buy a Vespa, Luca and Alberto form a team with Giulia. Through Giulia, Luca learns that there is so much more to the surface world, but his feelings for her threaten everything, including his plans with Alberto.
I could say that Luca is one of Pixar's most beautiful films, and I will, although that is redundant. Pixar's films always have beautiful visuals, and sometimes they are stunning and a wonder to behold. The film is drenched in the bright colors of the Italian Riviera and reinterprets them as if they were watercolor paintings.
Dear readers, perhaps you are familiar with the animated films of the Japanese master, Hayao Miyazaki. His films are a symphony of wondrous colors and stunning locales, and those films clearly have an influence on Luca on a number of levels, especially in terms of visuals and in the tone of the story. Luca's town of Portorosso may be named in honor of Miyazaki's 1992 animated film, Porco Rosso, which is also set in Italy.
I think the elements that really drive this film, its beauty aside, are the characters and voice performances. The characters are very well developed: their personalities, their goals, and fears. From Alberto's jealousy and fear of loss to Giulia's determination and open-mindedness, the viewer can believe in these characters. Luca is ostensibly a coming-of-age story focusing on Luca. His sense of adventure is overcome by his fear of trying new things, whether it is actually going to the surface world or going to school. In Luca, we see the film's themes of acceptance (accepting others, accepting help, and accepting oneself) and overcoming fear (especially the fear of change). Luca takes on a beautiful journey as we see the evolution of the title character, and as for the coming-of-age angle, this film feels like only the first chapter of Luca's coming of age.
The voice performances make the characters seem like real people. If there were an Oscar for voice performances, Jacob Tremblay as Luca would be worthy of being nominated. Every performance is winning, from major characters to bit players. I am crazy about the performances here.
Dan Romer's beautiful score highlights and accentuates the journey of change and evolution that is Luca, both the film and the character. Luca is one of Pixar's most convincing boy characters, which is quite a feat in a filmography full of wonderfully drawn characters. Speaking of drawn, the character design and art direction and production design are on par with Pixar's best.
I always thought that I would like Luca, and now that I have seen it, I am in love with it. For me, Luca is one of Pixar's best ever films, and it is one of 2021's very best films I recommend it without reservation; everyone should see it.
10 of 10
Thursday, April 28, 2022
NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)
2022 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture-Animated”
2022 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Voice Performance” (Maya Rudolph)
2022 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nomination: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Friday, March 18, 2022
Review: "COMING 2 AMERICA" is Simply a Nice Reunion Movie
Coming 2 America (2021) – streaming film
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and drug content
DIRECTOR: Craig Brewer
WRITERS: Kenya Barris and David Sheffield & Barry W. Blaustein; from a story by Justin Kanew and David Sheffield & Barry W. Blaustein (based on characters created by Eddie Murphy)
PRODUCERS: Eddie Murphy and Kevin Misher
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Joe “Jody” Williams (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: David S. Clark, Billy Fox, and Debra Neil-Fisher
COMPOSER: Jermaine Stegall
Academy Award nominee
COMEDY/ROMANCE
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Nomzamo Mbatha, Bella Murphy, Paul Bates, Akiley Love, Rotimi, Louie Anderson, Trevor Noah, and Morgan Freeman
Coming 2 America is a 2021 American comedy film from director Craig Brewer. It serves as a sequel to the 1998 film, Coming to America. The film originally streamed on Amazon Prime. In Coming 2 America, the crowned prince of a prosperous African nation discovers that he has an illegitimate son in America.
Coming 2 America opens in the African nation of Zamunda. It is the 30th anniversary of the wedding of Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) to Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley). They have three beautiful daughters: the eldest, Meeka (KiKi Layne); the middle, Omma (Bella Murphy); and the youngest, Tinashe (Akiley Love).
Akeem is summoned before his dying father, King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), and the King's shaman, Baba (Arsenio Hall). King Jaffe is upset that Akeem never sired a son, and by Zamundan law, only a male can inherit the throne. However, Baba reveals that Akeem did indeed sire a son in Queens, New York City when he visited the United States over three decades ago (as seen in Coming to America). In fact, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), Akeem's best friend and aide, knows the circumstances that led to Akeem conceiving a son with a bar patron.
Akeem and Semmi again travel to America where they meet Akeem's “bastard,” a young man named Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler); his mother, Mary Junson (Leslie Jones), the bar patron; and Kareem “Uncle Reem” Junson (Tracy Morgan), Mary's brother and Lavelle's uncle. Akeem really needs Lavelle to return to Zamunda with him. He requires a son who can marry the daughter of General Izzi (Wesley Snipes), the leader of Zamunda's neighbor, Nexdoria. Izzi is a threat to Akeem and Zamunda, unless the two nations can be united by marriage. Can Lavelle be the heir Akeem needs, and if so, what about Akeem's eldest daughter, Princess Meeka?
Coming to America remains one of my favorite Eddie Murphy films, topped only the fantastic 1983 film, Trading Places. Coming 2 America is not so much a sequel as it is a film that acts like a sequel to Coming to America. The new film is more like one of the TV reunion movies of old 1950s and 1960s television series that used to pop up on network television in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Like them, Coming 2 America gives us our favorite old characters (at least the ones that are still alive) and some new characters, and sprinkles in some cameos, for instance, Morgan Freeman and his famous voice.
As usual, Ruth E. Carter delivers solid gold with her costume design, and the film's production values are marvelous. The film has a good song score and soundtrack. There are a lot of funny scenes in Coming 2 America, but overall, the film's narrative drags. Most of the film takes place not in America, but in Zamunda, although the scenes that take place in America (Queens, NY) pop and are generally fun.
There is not much else to say other than that I really like Coming 2 America as a reunion movie. I have been a fan of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall for decades, and I am always happy to see them. So, to be honest, I am happy that Coming to America has a sequel, of sorts, in Coming 2 America.
6 of 10
B
Thursday, March 18, 2022
NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling” (Michael Marino, Stacey Morris, and Carla Farmer)
2022 Black Reel Awards: “Outstanding Costume Design” (Ruth E. Carter)
2022 Image Awards (NAACP): 2 nominations: “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture” and “Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album” (Eddie Murphy, Craig Brewer, Kevin Misher, Randy Spendlove, Jeffrey Harleston, Brittney Ramsdell for the album “Coming 2 America” – Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Review: 1984 "Dune" Retains its Cult Cinema Charms
Dune (1984)
Running time: 136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: David Lynch
WRITER: David Lynch (based on the novel by Frank Herbert)
PRODUCER: Raffaella De Laurentiis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Freddie Francis (photographed by)
EDITOR: Antony Gibbs
COMPOSER: TOTO
Academy Award nominee
SCI-FI
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Francesca Annis, Jürgen Prochnow, José Ferrer, Kenneth McMillan, Sting, Paul Smith, Everett McGill, Sean Young, Patrick Stewart, Siân Phillips, Dean Stockwell, Max von Sydow, Linda Hunt, Richard Jordan, Brad Dourif, Virginia Madsen, and Alicia Witt
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch. It is based on the 1965 novel, Dune, written by author Frank Herbert. Dune the film focuses on a young nobleman who becomes the leader of a band of desert warriors as he attempts to free their planet from the clutches of a despotic galactic emperor.
Dune opens in the far future in the year 10,191. The known universe is ruled by Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth (José Ferrer). The most valuable substance in the universe is the spice, “melange.” It is a drug that extends life and expands consciousness, and it is vital to space travel. An “orange spice gas” gives the navigators of the “Space Guild” the ability to fold space, which permits safe and instantaneous interstellar travel. The spice is only found on the desert planet, Arrakis, which is also called “Dune.”
The Emperor appoints a noble family of the “Landsraad” (the empire's noble houses) to mine and produce spice on Arrakis. He fears the growing popularity of Duke Leto Atreides of the House Atreides and also the secret army Leto is supposedly amassing. He appoints the House Atreides as the new stewards of Arrakis, replacing the current controllers, the House Harkonnen, let by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan), who is also Leto's enemy. Ceding control of Arrakis to Duke Leto is just part of a plot by the Emperor and Baron Harkonnen to destroy the House Atreides.
However, Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), the son of Leto and his concubine, Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis), is the focus of both the Space Guild and the Bene Gesserit, a powerful sisterhood. For there is a prophecy concerning the “Kwisatz Haderach,” a messiah who will liberate Arrakis and its people, the “Fremen.” The Bene Gesserit are afraid that Paul is this messiah. On Arrakis, Paul will find his destiny, and he will find “Muad'Dib,” if he survives the conspiracies against him.
Until recently, I had not watched Dune in its entirety since I first saw it in a movie theater back in Fall 1984. In spite of its many fault, I still like it. The film has wonderful, unique, and even eccentric production values, which I can also say about its special effects and sound. People like Kit West (mechanical special effects), Carlo Rimbaldi (creature creation), Barry Nolan (special photographic effects), Albert J. Whitlock (special effects), Bob Ringwood (costumes), Anthony Masters (production design), (Freddie Frances), and the Grammy Award-winning rock band, Toto (score) all do the work that makes Dune look, feel, and sound like no other film in American cinematic history. Regardless of my conflicted feelings about the film, dear readers, I want these find artists, craftsman, and technicians to get at least some praise for their work on Dune.
I have read that the producers behind Dune hoped to make it the first of a film series that would be like “Star Wars for adults.” In a few ways, Dune is as good as Star Wars. The difference is that Star Wars is an original film story, and its plot, characters, and settings are simple, straightforward, and are narrowly focused for a two-hour film. Dune is the adaptation of a complex science fiction novel that is packed with plots and subplots. Dune the novel has settings that span a universe, including several planets, environments, and human habitats. Star Wars' back story is briefly mentioned, while Dune's back story spans time in blocks – from decades to millennia – and is very important to the story in the present.
Watching Dune the movie the first time, one can feel that a lot of important parts of the story have been left out. When I first saw Dune, that was obvious to me, although I had, at the time, never read the novel, but I was aware of it and its sequels. [I would read the original novel about twenty years after I first saw the film] Dune the movie has a narrator, Princess Irulan, the Emperor's daughter (played by a young Virginia Madsen), and multiple characters speak in voice-overs. Frequent narration and constant voice-overs basically tell you that this film has too much story for its own good. In fact, when Dune was first released, movie theaters handed out an information sheet that explained terms and names that would be featured in the film. My copy of this Dune fact sheet has been lost to time, but I have never received such a sheet for any other film that I've seen in a movie theater.
[I must also note that I liked writer-director John Harrison's “Frank Herbert's Dune,” a three-part, television miniseries adaptation that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in December of 2000.]
As I said, however, there are things about the film that I really like, and even Kyle MacLachlan's amateurish performance as Paul Atreides does not keep me from enjoying Dune. Actually, several actors deliver good performances in the film, even in small roles. I watched Dune again in preparation for Warner Bros' new version, directed by acclaimed filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve, for which I have high hopes. However, I suspect that I will return to David Lynch's Dune again.
6 of 10
B
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
NOTES:
1985 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Sound” (Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Kevin O'Connell, and Nelson Stoll)
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Friday, June 18, 2021
Review: "THE BOSS BABY" is Boss Entertainment
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 of 2021 (No. 1778) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Boss Baby (2017)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor
DIRECTOR: Tom McGrath
WRITER: Michael McCullers (based on the picture book, The Boss Baby, by Marla Frazee)
PRODUCER: Ramsey Naito
EDITOR: James Ryan
COMPOSERS: Steve Mazzaro and Hans Zimmer
Academy Award nominee
ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY
Starring: (voices): Alec Baldwin; Miles Bakshi, Tobey Maguire, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, James McGrath, Conrad Vernon, ViviAnn Yee, Eric Bell, Jr., and David Soren
The Boss Baby is a 2017 computer-animated comedy-fantasy film directed by Tom McGrath and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is loosely based on the 2007 picture book, The Boss Baby, by Marla Frazee. The film became the first installment in “The Boss Baby” franchise. The Boss Baby the movie follows the adventures of a suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying baby and his seven-year old brother as they try to stop a plot against the world's babies.
The Boss Baby begins with a man, Timothy Leslie Templeton (Tobey Maguire), telling the story of his childhood. He was simply Tim Templeton (Miles Bakshi), an imaginative seven-year-old boy, the only child of his parents, Ted and Janice Templeton (Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow). One day, Tim is surprised to see his parents bringing home a baby, which turns out to be an infant wearing a business suit. Tim's parents refer to the infant as Tim's little brother. Tim is immediately jealous of the attention the new baby receives. However, Tim is also suspicious because the baby exhibits strange behavior to which Ted and Janice are oblivious.
When Tim learns that the baby can talk, act, and move like an adult, the baby reveals that he is “The Boss Baby” (Alec Baldwin), and that he is a secret agent. Coming to a mutual agreement in order to get what they each want, Tim and Boss Baby must stop a conspiracy against the babies of the world created by Tim's parents' employer, Puppy Co. But can a child and an infant secret agent, who are rivals, come together long enough to save the day?
DreamWorks Animation has perfected a kind of high-concept comedy that seamlessly mixes fantasy, adventure, and action into a frothy brand of feature animation entertainment that is pleasing if not necessarily memorable. The films of Pixar Animation Studios are always seeking something deeper in terms of character arcs, personal development, and emotional journeys in which characters often discover that the things they most want have been right there in front of them all along … or at least nearby. This is why Pixar can tell the story of an old man who starts a new adventure in life by becoming a surrogate father to a lonely boy and a new owner to a bunch of misfit dogs, and the result is the Academy Award-winning Up. DreamWorks Animation gives us a story of a boy and a baby who save the world from a conspiracy of puppies and bitter, weird men. The Boss Baby gives empty affirmation to mainstream culture with its tired (white) nuclear family tropes, but at its heart, this film is merely escapist fantasy.
Like other DreamWorks Animation films, The Boss Baby's animation, visuals, and graphic design recall the television animation of the 1950s and 1960s, including Jay Ward Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, and Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., to name a few. There is more than a touch of retro- Space Age, Atomic Age, and Googie influences.
Well, The Boss Baby isn't Pixar, and its visual style is retro, but I have to admit that this film is really entertaining. A lot of its concepts and especially its plot and story elements are ridiculous, silly, and too far-fetched, but the film's leads, Tim and Boss Baby, have screen chemistry. Miles Bakshi comes across like a veteran voice performer as Tim Templeton, and, of course, Alec Baldwin is a master of sly and droll comedy. Great actor that he is, Baldwin makes Boss Baby menacing and edgy and adorable at the same time. For the most part, I found them likable, even lovable, and I wanted to follow them on their breathtaking and ridiculous adventures.
Baldwin, Bakshi, and the voice cast make The Boss Baby succeed in spite of its contrived self. Also of note, Eric Bell, Jr. kills it as the voice of the “Triplets.” The Boss Baby's exciting adventure and intense action mostly overcomes the film's shallowness and absurdities. You might not watch it a second time, dear readers, but I think that there is a good chance that you will really enjoy The Boss Baby the first time you watch it.
7 of 10
B+
NOTES:
2018 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito)
2018 Golden Globes, USA 2018: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”
Friday, June 18, 2021
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Thursday, June 10, 2021
Review: The Fabulous Lightfoot Brothers Carry "Onward"
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2021 (No. 1777) by Leroy Douresseaux
Onward (2020)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – PG for action/peril and some mild thematic elements
DIRECTOR: Dan Scanlon
WRITERS: Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin, and Jason Headley
PRODUCER: Kori Rae
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Sharon Calahan (D.o.P.) and Adam Habib (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Catherine Apple
COMPOSERS: Jeff Danna and Mycheal Danna
Academy Award nominee
ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA
Starring: (voices) Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, Kyle Bornheimer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, George Psarras, and John Ratzenberger
Onward is a 2020 computer-animated, comedy-drama, and fantasy film from director Dan Scanlon and is produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Onward focuses on two elf brothers who embark on a quest to bring their late father back to life for one day.
Onward is set in an urban fantasy world that is inhabited by mythic creatures such as elves, centaurs, and pixies, to name a few. Once upon a time, magic was common place, but over several millennia, technological advances made magic obsolete and largely discarded. The story opens on the sixteenth birthday of an elf boy named Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland), who is shy and struggles with self-confidence. He has an older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), an enthusiastic role-playing gamer and fanatic about both the history of the world and about magic. The boys live with their mother, Laurel Lightfoot (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a widow.
Laurel's late husband and the boys' father, Wilden Lightfoot (Kyle Bornheimer), died shortly before Ian was born. For Ian's sixteenth birthday, Laurel gives both her boys a gift from Wilden. The gift is a magical wizard staff, a rare Phoenix gem, and a letter describing a magical spell. It is a “visitation spell” that can resurrect Wilden for a single day, and while Ian succeeds in casting the spell, he is unable to finish it. As a result, Ian has summoned the lower half of Wilden's body. Ian and Barley take their father (such as he is) and embark on a quest to complete the spell. However, the brothers' quest is more dangerous than they know. It will take Laurel; her boy friend, Colt Bronco the centaur (Mel Rodriguez); and a legendary figure, The Manticore (Octavia Spencer) to make sure that the brothers' quest to meet their deceased father does not end with them being deceased.
I don't want this review to spoil Onward if you have not yet seen it, dear readers. I can say that one of the film's main themes is that people are often looking hard for something they already have. Another theme is that sometimes we blame people for the mistakes we think they are making when it is really our lack of trust in them that leads to trouble. And of course, the themes of relationships between brothers and of brotherly love dominate this film.
Ian and Barley carry this film, and Onward's off-beat, quest fantasy, role-playing game design and mood/mode keep the film from being just another tale of brotherly love. In fact, the first forty minutes of the film are quite problematic, but once the film gets to the heart of the matter – Ian and Barley's quest and each brother's reason for the quest – Onward comes alive. While Onward is not a Pixar classic, it does make strong use of the Pixar's formula of comedy, adventure, heartwarming relationship drama, and an emphasis on getting to the heart of the story.
I would never waste your time telling your that a Pixar film has magnificent animation, great colors, eye-popping environments, and striking graphics and visuals, in general. I will say, as usual, that the voice performances are good. I really like that Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel and Octavia Spencer as “The Manticore” actually have important roles in both the drama and the action-adventure, and these two fine actress shine in their supporting roles. Is it fate or magic that Tom Holland as Ian and Chris Pratt as Barley have … magical screen chemistry?
If not for the first half of the film, I would call Onward a Pixar classic. As it is, it is still the kind of exceptional film that we expect of Pixar and, except for some missteps, they deliver. And yes, I did find the world of Onward to be a bit odd, even weird, although Jeff Danna and Mycheal Danna's musical score is pitch perfect for this world. Still, one of the highest compliments I can give a film is that by the end of it, I still wanted to watch more. The way that the relationship between Ian and Barley plays out is something worth watching. So I am recommending Onward.
8 of 10
A
Thursday, June 10, 2021
NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae)
2021 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Animated”
2021 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae)
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, February 25, 2021
#28DaysofBlack Review: "HARRIET" and Cynthia Erivo Are Magnificent
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2021 (No. 1759) by Leroy Douresseaux
Harriet (2019)
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic content throughout, violent material and language including racial epithets
DIRECTOR: Kasi Lemmons
WRITERS: Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons; based on a story by Gregory Allen Howard
PRODUCERS: Debra Martin Chase, Gregory Allen Howard, and Daniela Taplin Lundberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Toll
EDITOR: Wyatt Smith
COMPOSER: Terence Blanchard
Academy Award nominee
BIOPIC/DRAMA/ACTION/HISTORICAL
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Jennifer Nettles, Janelle Monáe, Omar Dorsey, Tim Guinee, Zackary Momoh, Henry Hunter Hall, Deborah Olayinka Ayorinde, and Rakeem Laws
Harriet is a 2019 biographical film and historical drama from director Kasi Lemmons. The film is a fictional depiction of the life and work of Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), a black woman who was an American abolitionist, a suffragette, and the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. Harriet the movie tells the story of the runaway slave who transformed herself into one of America's greatest heroes by helping to free other slaves.
Harriet opens in Bucktown, Maryland, the year 1849. A black female slave named Araminta “Minty” Ross (Cynthia Erivo) is newly married to a freedman, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh). Minty is a slave on the farm of Edward Brodess, along with her mother, Rit (Vanessa Bell Calloway), and her sister, Rachel (Deborah Olayinka Ayorinde). Minty's father, a freedman named Ben Ross (Clarke Peters), approaches Edward Brodess about gaining freedom for Rit and the children she bore based on an agreement made by Brodess' father, but Brodess rudely declines.
Shortly afterwards, Brodess dies, and his son, Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn), decides to sell Minty down the river, which mean down into the deep south, the worst place for a slave. Minty suffers “spells” since being struck in the head as a child, but they are also visions from God. The spell that Minty suffers after Gideon decides to sell her is the vision that Minty believes is telling her to run away before she is taken to the slave auction.
Fearing that she could endanger her husband and family, she leaves them behind and, after a long journey, makes her way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A year later, Minty has renamed herself Harriet Tubman and makes her first journey back to Maryland. There, she will either take her first steps to free other slaves, or she will be returned to a cruel fate at the hands of an evil owner.
In Harriet, writers Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons fashioned a story that captures the horrors of slavery in a manner similar to that of the 2013 film, 12 Years a Slave. However, 12 Years a Slave is the tale of a free black man trapped in hell of chattel slavery who is determined to survive until a miracle arrives. Harriet is the tale of a black woman born into slavery who takes her fate into her own hands and runs through a hell's gauntlet to find freedom.
To that end, Kasi Lemmons as director creates a film that moves that narrative via action and opportunity. Characters take action and take advantage of the opportunity to gain freedom. As Harriet says at one point in the film – “God was watching me but my feet were my own.” Harriet's lead character is a pistol-packing, action movie heroine every bit as stalwart as Captain America and as ruthless as actor Clint Eastwood's most famous roles in Westerns.
Actress Cynthia Erivo, as Harriet Tubman, is the center of this film's holy trinity. Erivo's Harriet is a force of nature and the wrath of God against slavery. In the film's quiet moments, Erivo presents Harriet as thoughtful and contemplative, but she maintains the roiling storm within, the elemental forces that drive her to return to the land of slavery time and again to free other slaves. Erivo seems to transform Harriet's spells and visions into a living thing that devours fear and cowardice and the evil that is slavery. One can believe that this Harriet was the star of the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes and safe houses in the United States used by enslaved black people to escape from slave states and into free states and Canada.
Erivo's almighty performance earned her an Oscar nomination for “Best Actress.” It is a shame that she did not win, and it is a shame that Harriet did not receive more Academy Award nominations than it did. This film has good supporting performances, an excellent musical score, and costume design that created costumes for the cast that look like the real deal. However, it is Gregory Allen Howard, Kasi Lemmons, and Cynthia Erivo that drive Harriet into being what may be the best film of 2019.
10 of 10
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
NOTE:
2020 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Cynthia Erivo) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Song” (Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell for the song “Stand Up”)
2020 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Cynthia Erivo) and “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Joshuah Brian Campbell music/lyrics and Cynthia Erivo-music/lyrics for the song “Stand Up”)
2020 Black Reel Awards: 6 nominations: “Outstanding Actress, Motion Picture” (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Director, Motion Picture” (Kasi Lemmons), “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Janelle Monáe), “Outstanding Cinematography” (John Toll), “Outstanding Costume Design” (Paul Tazewell), and “Outstanding Production Design” (Warren Alan Young)
2020 Image Awards (NAACP): 7 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Leslie Odom Jr.), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Janelle Monáe), “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture: (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture-Film” (Kasi Lemmons), and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Film” (Kasi Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard)
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Friday, February 19, 2021
#28DaysofBlack: "DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE" Chronicles Ongoing Rape of Africa's Natural Resources
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 100 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux
Darwin’s Nightmare (2004)
COUNTRY OF ORGIN: Austria, Belgium, France, Canada, Finland, and Sweden; Languages: English, Russian, Swahili
Running time: 107 minutes
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hubert Sauper
PRODUCERS: Barbara Albert, Martin Gschlacht, Edouard Mauriat, Hubert Sauper, Antonin Svoboda, and Hubert Toint
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hubert Sauper
EDITOR: Denise Vindevogel
2006 Academy Award nominee
DOCUMENTARY
Starring: Hubert Sauper, Raphael, Dimond, and Reverend Cleopa Knijage
Darwin's Nightmare is a 2004 documentary film written and directed by Hubert Sauper. It was a multinational production, mainly Austrian, French, and Belgian. The documentary examines the effects of fishing the Nile perch, a predatory fish, in Tanzania's Lake Victoria, which leads to food insecurity for many Tanzania families.
In his Oscar-nominated documentary, Darwin’s Nightmare, director Hubert Sauper portrays an Africa where the fittest thrive and the weakest starve and die of disease. The film is set in Tanzania, in the Mwanza City, one of the cities on the shores of Lake Victoria. European interests make huge profits from the local fishing industries, feeding approximately two million Europeans per day while the locals around Lake Victoria starve. The Tanzanians fend for themselves on fish heads and scraps, while their waters are emptied of perch – an example of globalization feeding foreign markets while locals starve.
Lake Victoria, which stretches over the Tanzanian plains, is struggling. In the 1960’s, a scientist introduced the Nile perch into the ecosystem. An enormous variant of the American perch, the Nile perch devour the other fish, practically wiping out all other life in the lake. This was and remains a disaster for the local communities, but the multinational fishing factories thrive from this ecological disaster by processing and shipping abroad thousands of tons of perch every month. While the planes leave loaded with fish, they don’t return with food and clothing for the needy. Instead, they bring more weapons for the various wars and strife in Africa. Meanwhile, Tanzania teeters on the brink of devastation and war.
Darwin’s Nightmare is grim, and in a sense it is one of those “important films,” a movie that seeks to inform viewers about issues and situations about which they should want to know. The film covers how globalization harms local economies and depicts how the introduction of a single new element into an ecosystem can be disastrous. On the other hand, Sauper’s film was hugely controversial in Tanzanian and in some quarters of Europe. Tanzanian officials found the film’s portrayal of extreme poverty in Mwanza City exaggerated, and some claimed that a greater portion of Lake Victoria’s Nile perch was consumed locally and within Tanzania. The controversy over the film even resulted in a book, The Other Side of Darwin’s Nightmare, by Francois Garcon.
The film is occasionally hard to watch, but riveting. Also, listening to all the interview subjects who speak horribly broken English is distracting and occasionally aggravating. Sauper’s lack of balance is too evident, and the film also lacks a broader context. Sauper doesn’t interview academics or experts on any of the topics this film covers. Where are the government officials, aid workers, and a wide range of representatives of the fishing industry? Because of Sauper’s focus on prostitutes, glue-sniffing street kids, impoverished fisherman, the sick, and the family members of those who’ve died of HIV and AIDS, Darwin’s Nightmare comes across as a trip through a nightmare land created by Hieronymus Bosch. It’s a spellbinding trip, but what Sauper excludes keeps a very good film from becoming a great documentary.
7 of 10
B+
NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Documentary, Features” (Hubert Sauper)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
REVISED: Tuesday, February 16, 2021
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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