Mark Wahlberg Gets Down and Dirty in Down and Dirty "Contraband"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2012) by Leroy Douressaux


Contraband (2012)
Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use
DIRECTOR: Baltasar Kormákur
WRITER: Aaron Guzikowski (based on the film, Reykjavik-Rotterdam, from a screenplay by Arnaldur Indriðason and Óskar Jónasson)
PRODUCERS: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Baltasar Kormákur, Stephen Levinson, and Mark Wahlberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Ackroyd
EDITOR: Elísabet Ronalds
COMPOSER: Clinton Shorter

CRIME/THRILLER

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas, Caleb Landry Jones, J.K. Simmons, Kevin “Lucky” Johnson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, David O’Hara, Diego Luna, Connor Hill, Bryce McDaniel, Jaqueline Fleming, Jack Landry, J. Omar Castro, Jason Mitchell, and William Lucking

Contraband is a 2012 crime thriller starring Mark Wahlberg. It is a remake of Reykjavik-Rotterdam, a 2008 film from Iceland. Contraband’s director, Baltasar Kormákur, starred in the original film. Contraband is about a former smuggler who temporarily returns to smuggling in order to protect his brother-in-law from a violent street-level drug lord.

Former smuggler, Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg), now runs his own small business installing security alarms. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and enjoys a happy and peaceful life with his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and their two sons. However, his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), recently botched a drug smuggling job for Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), a ruthless drug lord.

To pay back Andy’s debt to Briggs, Chris sets up an operation to smuggle ten million dollars in high-end counterfeit money out of Panama and back into New Orleans. To protect his family from Briggs’ threats, Chris asks his old partner, Sebastian Abney (Ben Foster), to watch over Kate and the children. However, there are many others players in this game, both in New Orleans and in Panama, and this contraband run will put all of Chris’ smuggling skills to the test.

I consider time spent watching a Mark Wahlberg movie (one in which he is the lead or one of the major characters) to be time well spent, and Contraband was time well spent. I enjoyed the hell out of it. The film is plot heavy with a large cast of characters, and both elements are well done. However, the film focuses on the plot, subplots, and all the twists and turns they take, more than it ever delves into the characters.

That is a shame because there are some good supporting characters and some good supporting performances. I generally like everything Giovanni Ribisi does, and he is Oscar-worthy as the crazy mutha, Tim Briggs. The always-reliable J.K. Simmons is riotous as the butt-hole-ish, Captain Camp. Even Kate Beckinsale manages to eek out some intensity as the wife/female victim, Kate Farraday. With more emphasis on character development and character drama, Contraband could have been a great film. Instead, it is just a really good film. Oh, well.

The focus is, of course, on the star, and Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor and a true movie star. Movie stars carry movies, and Wahlberg’s streetwise, don’t-mess-with-me, don’t-betray-me, screen persona is alluring – at least to me. If you like Mark Wahlberg, you will probably like Contraband. If you like crime thrillers, Contraband is criminally thrilling.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Beyoncé Headlines 3D Animated Film, EPIC, from Fox and Blue Sky

Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios Announce EPIC Casting
 
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios today announced the voice cast for EPIC, a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of Ice Age and Rio, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and the forces of evil. When a teenage girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world…and ours.
 
Beyoncé Knowles, one of the most widely recognized and highly respected women in pop culture and star of the upcoming “A Star Is Born,” voices Queen Tara; Colin Farrell (“Total Recall”) is Ronin; Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”) is Nod; Amanda Seyfried (“Dear John”) portrays Mary Katherine; and Johnny Knoxville (“Jackass”) voices Mandrake.

Aziz Ansari (“Parks and Recreation”) portrays Mub; and rapper Pitbull voices Bufo. Jason Sudeikis (“Horrible Bosses” and the upcoming “The Campaign”) portrays Bomba; and rock legend and “American Idol” judge Steven Tyler is Nim Galuu.

Co-starring are Blake Anderson (“Workaholics”) as Dagda, and Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”) as Larry.

EPIC charges into theaters everywhere May 24, 2013. The film is directed by Academy Award®-winner Chris Wedge, and produced by Lori Forte (Ice Age: Continental Drift) and Jerry Davis (Robots).

One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

Negromancer is Here for Juneteenth 2012

Welcome to Negromancer - June 2012.  Negromancer used to be a movie review website, but I brought it back as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/ and write for the Comic Book Bin (which has smart phones apps and comics).

All images and text appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

Review: Mel Tormé Brings Life to "The Night of the Living Duck" (Happy B'day, Mel Blanc)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Night of the Living Duck (1988)
Running time: 7 minutes
WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Greg Ford and Terry Lennon
PRODUCER: Steven S. Greene

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY with elements of horror

Starring: (voice) Mel Blanc and Mel Tormé

The Night of the Living Duck is a 1988 animated short film starring Daffy Duck. It also appears as the opening sequence of Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters.

The Night of the Living Duck (a Merrie Melodies) was the second theatrical animated short produced by Warner Bros. after a 20-year dry spell, and it also appeared theatrically with the film Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey. It was also the last Warner Bros. cartoon short to feature the voice of Mel Blanc.

Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) is reading a monster comic book that ends in a cliffhanger. While rifling through his bookcase for the next issue, an ugly, decorative stone idol falls from the shelf and conks him on the head. Daffy, of course, falls into a dream in which he is a lounge singer at a nightclub for monsters. The club patrons include such classic Universal Monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, as well as other film maniacs such as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Godzilla. When Daffy finds that the customers aren’t happy with his act, he sprays his throat with Eau de Torme and entertains his audience with a rendition of “Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives” in a voice that sounds just like Mel Tormé’s!

Like its predecessor, The Duxorcist, The Night of the Living Duck is actually quite entertaining. In terms of story, it isn’t as good as the best Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies, but it would make the B-list. The animation, however, is only as good as the least of Warner’s theatrical shorts, but the truth is that the art of classic hand drawn animated shorts is lost. Still, The Night of the Living Duck has its moments. While Mel Blanc’s voice was worn down by the time he worked on this short, Mel Tormé’s turn as Daffy Duck’s singing voice is priceless and is the element that keeps this cartoon from being run-of-the-mill.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: Adepero Oduye is Spectacular in Dee Rees' "Pariah"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pariah (2011)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Dee Rees
PRODUCER: Nekisa Cooper
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bradford Young
EDITOR: Mako Kamitsuna

DRAMA

Starring: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, and Aasha Davis

Pariah is a 2011 independent film from director Dee Rees. This contemporary drama is a coming of age story about a Brooklyn teen discovering her sexual identity, while negotiating her way through the very different worlds of the lesbian club scene and of her conservative family. Filmmaker Spike Lee is one of the film’s executive producers.

The film centers on Alike Freeman (Adepero Oduye), a 17-year-old African-American teenager who lives in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She lives with her family: her religious mother, Audrey (Kim Wayans); her policeman father, Arthur (Charles Parnell); and her younger sister, Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse).

Alike is gradually embracing her identity as a lesbian, with her openly gay friend, Laura (Pernell Walker), as her guide and support. At home, however, her parents’ marriage has reached a breaking point, and the tension grows whenever her parents discuss her development as a person. When she begins to socialize with Bina (Aasha Davis), a young woman who attends her high school, Alike starts to feel better about her identity, but her family and her social life only grow more complicated.

The easy way out of this review is to say that Pariah is an amazing film, because, y’all, it surely is. I cannot think of a film that deals with the black gay teen experience as well as Pariah does, and if there is one, all the better. The comic actress, Kim Wayans, as other members of the Wayans clan have done, takes a moment to show the range and scope of her talent with a dramatic turn as Alike’s mother, Audrey, that is rich in pathos.

If this movie is a revelation (and it is), then, it is all the more a surprise because Adepero Oduye as Alike Freeman is an illumination casting much needed light on the corporate product landscape that is the American film industry. As Alike blossoms, as a young adult and as a young artist, Adepero grows onscreen before our eyes. The joy we see in Alike as she becomes more confident and assured in the choices that she makes, the more Adepero seizes command of this film.

Adepero has a winning, Tom Cruise-like smile. Dee Rees has made a winning film that will make you smile like Tom Cruise. This film promises a lot in terms of Rees talent. If by chance she doesn’t live up to it that will be understandable. Pariah is a fine film and will certainly be a hard act to follow.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2012 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Adepero Oduye); 8 nominations: “Best Actress” (Adepero Oduye), “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Kim Wayans), “Best Director” (Dee Rees), “Best Ensemble” (Kim Wayans, Adepero Oduye, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, Aasha Davis, Pernell Walker), “Best Film” (Nekisa Cooper), “Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted” (Dee Rees), “Outstanding Supporting Actress” (Kim Wayans), and “Outstanding Supporting Actress” (Pernell Walker)

2012 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Independent Motion Picture;” 6 nominations: "Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture" (Adepero Oduye), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (Dee Rees), “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Charles Parnell), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Kim Wayans), and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (Dee Rees)

Monday, May 28, 2012

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Michael Haneke Wins Palme d'Or for "Amour" at 2012 Cannes

The 65th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 16 to May 27, 2012. Below is a list of winners of “In Competition,” which means the films competing for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d'Or.

“Un Certain Regard” is the part of Cannes that runs parallel to the competition for the Palme d’Or. The “Grand Prix” is the second most prestigious prize given at Cannes, after the Palme d’Or.

With his win for Amour, Michael Haneke became the second director to win the Palme d’Or for consecutive films. Haneke previously won the Palme d’Or for his last film, The White Ribbon, in 2009. Bille August was the first to achieve this feat. No director has won the Palme d’Or more than twice.

2012/65th Cannes Film Festival winners:

FEATURE FILMS

Palme d’Or
AMOUR (Love) by Michael Haneke

Grand Prix
REALITY by Matteo Garrone

Award for Best Director
Carlos Reygadas for POST TENEBRAS LUX

Jury Prize
THE ANGELS’ SHARE by Ken Loach

Award for Best Actor
Mads Mikkelsen in JAGTEN (The Hunt) by Thomas VINTERBERG

Award for Best Actress
Cristina Flutur & Cosmina Stratan in DUPÃ DEALURI (Beyond The Hills) by Cristian MUNGIU

Award for Best Screenplay
Cristian Mungiu for pour DUPÃ DEALURI (Beyond The Hills)

Palme d’Or (Short Film)
SESSIZ-BE DENG (Silent) by L. Rezan Yesilbas

Camera d’Or (for a directorial debut)
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD by Benh Zeitlin presented in Un Certain Regard Selection

PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD
DESPUÉS DE LUCIA by Michel Franco

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
LE GRAND SOIR by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern

UN CERTAIN REGARD AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Suzanne Clément for her performance in LAURENCE ANYWAYS directed by Xavier Dolan

UN CERTAIN REGARD AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Emilie Dequenne for her performance in À PERDRE LA RAISON directed by Joachim Lafosse

SPECIAL DISTINCTION OF THE JURY
DJECA by Aida Begic (Children of Sarajevo)

Will Smith Carries Pleasant "Men in Black 3"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Men in Black 3 (2012)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content
DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfeld
WRITER: Etan Cohen (based upon the comic book by Lowell Cunningham)
PRODUCERS: Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope
EDITORS: Wayne Wahrman and Don Zimmerman
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman

SCI-FI/FANTASY/COMEDY/ACTION

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mike Colter, Nicole Scherzinger, Michael Chernus, Bill Hader, Rick Baker, and Alice Eve

Men in Black 3 is a 2012 3D science fiction comedy. It is also the second sequel to the 1997 film, Men in Black. The Men in Black film series is based upon the comic book, The Men in Black, created by Lowell Cunningham. Steven Spielberg is one of the film’s executive producers, a title he held for the first two films. In this new film, the Men in Black agency (MiB) must use time travel to stop an alien from changing history.

Men in Black 3 kicks off with the alien criminal, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), making a daring prison break. Boris has a past with MiB Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), and he hatches a plot to both remove K and to make an alien invasion of Earth possible. K’s partner, Agent J (Will Smith), travels back in time to 1969, where he meets a young Agent K (Josh Brolin). Together, they race to stop Boris and to save themselves, MiB, and Earth.

The most accurate thing that I can say about Men in Black 3 is that it is pleasantly entertaining. Honestly, I really didn’t expect more than that. The story is sentimental, and seeks to make the connection between Agents J and K a more personal and deeper relationship than it was in the previous films. That’s nice, but the screenplay inadvertently creates loose ends that it ties up; thus, it essentially makes another film starring these characters unnecessary or at least forces a possible fourth film to approach J and K from a different point of view (hopefully, the latter).

There are a number of cameos (Will Arnett, Tim Burton, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc.) in this film that are nice, if you can catch them. Jemaine Clement is marvelous as Boris. Josh Brolin’s turn as the 29-year-old Agent K is both funny and poignant (and saves the time travel segment of this story). Conversely, Tommy Lee Jones looks like a tired, old man; never has the age difference between Will Smith and Jones been more pronounced than in this third MiB movie.

As is usual with these Men in Black movies, Will Smith dominates. Men in Black 3 needs his charm and boundless energy. I strenuously disagree with the reviews that describe this as the best Men in Black movie, because the first is still the best. Like Men in Black II, this third film has enough oddball sci-fi elements and twists to keep the entire thing Men in Black kosher. Men in Black 3 won’t make you believe that a fourth film is necessary, but I’ll take more, as long as Will Smith comes back.

6 of 10
B

Sunday, May 27, 2012