Review: "Ghost Rider" in the Mediocre Sky

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


Ghost Rider (2007)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for horror violence and disturbing images
DIRECTOR: Mark Steven Johnson
WRITER: Mark Steven Johnson; based upon his screen story (based on the Marvel Comic)
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Steven Paul, Michael De Luca, and Gary Foster
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russell Boyd, ACS
EDITOR: Richard Francis-Bruce, A.C.E.

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliot, Donal Logue, Peter Fonda, Matt Long, Raquel Alessi, and Brett Cullen

With his new movie, Ghost Rider, Mark Steven Johnson has written and directed his second mediocre film based upon a comic book (2003’s Daredevil being the other). In spite of both Johnson and a comically amateurish performance by Nicolas Cage as the hero, Ghost Rider survives on visual effects that create some scary monsters and cool, disturbing images.

When he was a young man, carnival stunt motorcyclist, Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) sold his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda), in order to save his father, Barton Blaze’s (Brett Cullen) life, and that deal also cost Johnny his girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson (Raquel Alessi). Years later, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is the world’s most famous motorcycle daredevil, but that other devil has come for his due. Mephistopheles is at war with his son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), and he wants Blaze to stop Blackheart from finding something that both hellish father and son want – a lost contract of damned souls belonging to Mephistopheles.

To that end, Blaze discovers the gift/curse of power that Mephistopheles had given him for the price of his soul. At night, in the presence of evil, Johnny becomes the fiery, motorcycle-riding demon with a flaming skull, Ghost Rider. Although obligated to serve his dark master, Johnny is also struggling to rekindle his romance with Roxanne (Eva Mendes), now a TV news reporter, and she’s isn’t buying Johnny’s story that he is the mysterious Ghost Rider. Perhaps, the only one who truly believes Johnny and knows what he’s going through as Ghost Rider is the mysterious grave keeper, Caretaker (Sam Elliot), and Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider will need Caretaker’s help as he takes on Blackheart and his demonic minions.

Mark Steven Johnson based his screen story and screenplay for Ghost Rider upon the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Created by writers Roy Thomas and Mark Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog, Ghost Rider first appeared in the comic magazine, Marvel Spotlight #5 (1972), and would later be updated for the 1990’s by writer Howard Mackie and artist Javier Saltares. For this new Ghost Rider movie, Johnson has borrowed elements from throughout the character’s publishing history.

Despite four decades of source material from which to cherry pick, Johnson still delivers a cheesy, superhero horror flick. Ghost Rider is of the same quality as one of those low-end Sci-Fi Channel original movies, except GR has the production and promotional budget of a Hollywood blockbuster and a big movie star as the film lead.

There’s nothing much to be said of Nicolas Cage’s performance in this film. He’s an admitted, serious comic book fan. Still, his sincerity and love of the material doesn’t wring from him, for Ghost Rider, the kind of great performances that won him an Oscar (Leaving Las Vegas) and earned him another nomination (Adaptation). Here, Cage does a kind of hammy riff on Elvis Presley, which, speaking as a fan of Cage’s work, is embarrassing.

However, when Ghost Rider (which is certainly a computer generated character) is onscreen, especially when he’s facing off against Blackheart (well played by Wes Bentley), the film is actually fun, though still cheesy. The fiery motorcycle stunts, the wicked villains, and the frightening (and occasionally) disturbing images – mostly generated by computer – are fun. Beyond fans of comic books and comic book-based movies, Ghost Rider may attract the attentions of action movie junkies and some fans of Cage. This is simply a mediocre movie, although Eva Mendes looks white hot in a form-fitting white dress, and that’s worth seeing.

4 of 10
C

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Review: "Yojimbo" is One of the Great Crime Comedies

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 133 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Yojimbo (1961) – Black & White
Running time: 75 minutes-U.S.
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Ryuzo Kikushima and Akira Kurosawa; from a story by Akira Kurosawa
EDITOR/PRODUCER: Akira Kurosawa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kazuo Miyagawa
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of drama

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yosuke Natsuki, and Eijirô Tono

Akira Kurosawa’s darkly comic film, Yojimbo, is without a doubt one of the great screen comedies. Despite it’s violent moments, the film is a hilarious tale wherein all the vices and all the things about man that we think of as wrong, are on display: wanton lust, naked greed, blatant envy, crude deception, consistent hypocrisy, murder, rage, and a whole lot more.

In the film, Sanjuro Kuwabatake, (Toshirô Mifune), a crafty ronin (masterless samurai) finds himself in a small village divided by two merchants, who more or less operate criminal gangs. Sanjuro decides that the only way to rid the town of the rivals is to get them to kill each other. Thus, he pretends to work for both sides, feigning indifference and interest in each side’s offer for his service, while they steadily kill each other. Two things complicate Sanjuro’s plan. The gun-slinging son (Tatsuya Nakadai) of one of the merchants arrives in town and, having the lone firearm in the village, easily begins to bump off rivals. The second thing is that Sanjuro frees an imprisoned wife and reunites her family which causes the gunslinger, Unosuke, to closely scrutinize Sanjuro’s role in the town.

Kurosawa’s film is one of the great contributions to cinema, one that so impressed American directors that Yojimbo was the template for many American hit films including the Clint Eastwood western, A Fistful of Dollars. The film is on the surface hilarious, but on a deeper level is a careful examination of motivation, selfishness, and desire or want. Kurosawa also composed the film with brilliant wide shots that encompass a feeling of openness. This method seems to give the story and actors room to breath and to stretch, and that allows the story’s ideas to fully develop.

If I had to point to one thing that stands out about the film (and there are actually many), it is the energetic performances of the cast. They demonstrate such timing and rhythm that the performances are almost like a dance routine. Through voice, facial expressions, and movement, they truly bring Yojimbo to life.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1962 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Costume Design, Black-and-White” (Yoshiro Muraki)

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Oscar Nominees Asked to Prepare Two Speeches

MTV Movies Blog is reporting that Oscar nominess have been asked to prepare two speeches:

Basically the winners will be allowed 45 seconds with which to tell the world what the award means to them. As for shout-outs to agents and parents (and spouses if they're remembered), there will be a separate forum for such gratitude backstage via a "Thank You Cam." These videos will be available online afterward for anyone to see, rather than aired during the television broadcast of the ceremony.

Apparently, MTV's story comes from Reuters which reported that the producers of the Oscar telecast, Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, made this request at the annual Oscar nominees luncheon held Monday, Feb. 15th.

I have to say that the acceptance speeches annoy me, probably as much as the other really annoying elements of the Oscar telecast: the performances of dull best song nominees, the speech from the Price-Waterhouse guys or whoever counts the votes, the obligatory speech from the Academy president, the presenters' attempts at humor, etc.

Some of the winners' speeches are just plain embarrassing, for any number of reasons:  too long, too personal, too many people to thank.  Some of the winners ought to have the decency to just get off the stage.  That meanness said, I still think they should have their time to say what they want.  For all that they annoy me, I don't think they should be rushed off the stage.  I can always press the mute button or switch to another channel for a minute or so.

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

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

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

COMEDY/DRAMA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 of 10
B

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


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


2000 National Board of Review: Freedom of Expression Award

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Weekend Box Office Results for Feb. 12-14 2010

U.S. Box Office Estimates for the weekend of February 12 to 14, 2010


1 Valentine's Day - Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution: $52,410,000

2 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - 20th Century Fox Distribution, Fox 2000: $31,100,000

3 The Wolfman - Universal Pictures: $30,627,000

4 Avatar - 20th Century Fox: $22,000,000

5 Dear John - Sony Pictures Releasing: $15,300,000

6 Tooth Fairy - 20th Century Fox Distribution: $5,600,000

7 From Paris With Love - Lionsgate: $4,740,000

8 Edge of Darkness - Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution: $4,585,000

9 Crazy Heart - Fox Searchlight Pictures: $4,000,000

10 When in Rome - Walt Disney Studios Distribution: $3,429,000

Quentin Tarantino's Slavery Western or "Southern" (A Bits & Bites Extra)

FirstShowing.net found a New York Daily News interview of Quentin Tarantino, in which the director talks about what kind of film his next project would be:

Next up for Tarantino? "I'd like to do a Western. But rather than set it in Texas, have it in slavery times. With that subject that everybody is afraid to deal with. Let's shine that light on ourselves. You could do a ponderous history lesson of slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad. Or, you could make a movie that would be exciting. Do it as an adventure. A spaghetti Western that takes place during that time. And I would call it 'A Southern.'"

FirstShowing has also learned that Tarantino's next project will NOT be Kill Bill Vol. 3.

John Pilger Calls the Oscars "a Con"

In a op-ed ("Why the Oscars are a Con?) for the website, Truthout, John Pilger, an Australian-born, London-based filmmaker and journalist, explains why he thinks that the Academy Awards are a con.

The Emmy-winner starts with this paragraph:

Why are so many films so bad? This year's Oscar nominations are a parade of propaganda, stereotypes and downright dishonesty. The dominant theme is as old as Hollywood: America's divine right to invade other societies, steal their history and occupy our memory. When will directors and writers behave like artists and not pimps for a world view devoted to control and destruction?


I highly recommend this article.