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Dell i watched Boogie Nights and Hard Eight the other day. What did you think of them?
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I feel like I could make a top 20 characters of Boogie Nights list. Thats how great that cast was. Also one of the best directing jobs by PTA. My favorite scene was when Whalberg and John C Reily met for the first time at that pool party.Comment
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Watched Boogie Nights last night. really liked it, seeing John C Reily skinny was kinda weird haha
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Red Hook Summer
Directed by Spike Lee.
2012. Rated R, 121 minutes.
Cast:
Clarke Peters
Jules Brown
Nate Parker
Toni Lysaith
Heather Simms
Thomas Jefferson Byrd
De'Adre Aziza
Colman Domingo
Tracy Camilla Johns
James Ransone
Spike Lee
Silas (Brown), aka Flik, has lived all of his very young life in Atlanta with his mom. This summer he's going to spend his vacation from school with his grandfather Bishop Enoch (Peters), whom he's never met before. To say the two are different is a massive understatement. The bishop lives in Brooklyn's Red Hook housing projects, is an intensely devout Christian, pastors Little Piece of Heaven, the neighborhood church, and is fully embedded in the community. He is also most definitely old school in his ways. All of them. Silas' house in Atlanta is in the suburbs, it seems he's never been to church, walks around recording everything on his iPad and wants nothing more than to go back home. Nonetheless, he's stuck for couple months. the two trying to understand each other while Silas learns the ropes of surviving in Red Hook ensues.
For director Spike Lee, it's a return to his Brooklyn roots. He even includes a brief reprisal of his role as Mookie from the classic Do the Right Thing. It's a place he knows exceedingly well and loves despite whatever blemishes it may have. This much is evident throughout the film, most easily identifiable with the totally unnecessary montage that closes the movie. Spike lets his cameras take longing looks at both is beloved borough and the entire city of New York. However, where Spike's movie really shines is when he's using that camera to create statements and metaphors. Simply put, there are some amazing shots in Red Hook Summer. The most poignant of these deal with the ceiling lights at Little Heaven. A section of them forms a cross and figures prominently in three very powerful shots. Between these shots is perhaps Lee's most frightening double-dolly sequence ever. If you're familiar with the director's work then you've seen the portions of his films where the camera will be in tight enough on a character, or characters, that only the upper portion of their body is visible. He/she will be moving toward us viewers in a way that makes it seem as if they are floating. this is his signature move. Here, the movement is more subtle than usual, but grows in intensity, and has just a bit of shaky cam thrown in. It may only be ten or fifteen seconds of the movie, but it is a brutal moment.
Camera tricks are nice, but most people will be more concerned with the story and whether or not it holds their interest long enough for us to care by the time we get to the finale. The answer is yes...and no. the yes part is easy. Bishop Enoch is a rich character, full of faith, stubbornness, fear, and mystery. To many in the movie, he represents what's good about the community and he has uncompromising values. Still, he's leery of the local rif-raf even as he occasionally approaches them and tries to nudge them in the right direction. However, the most anyone knows of him before his arrival in Red Hook is that he came from "down south." Clarke Peters wraps all of this up into one dynamite package. He plays the role perfectly, both in the bishop's quieter moments and at his most boisterous, brandishing fire and brimstone.
The no part is a bit trickier. Much of it has to do with Silas and Chazz (Lysaith), the girl he hangs around. For starters, his story isn't sufficiently explored. After his mom drops him off in Brooklyn during the film's opening scene, she disappears from the movie for all but one brief scene an hour or so later. She could potentially add much in the way of context for Silas, but gives almost none. Similarly, little is done with what is revealed about his father. All we really get is that the boy is homesick. That's fine, but he whines so much about it, he's tough to like. Chazz is a much more fun personality with her unmistakably Brooklyn attitude and an interesting take on the world around her. The biggest problem with both of these characters is that they are poorly acted. Brown and Lysaith both sound like they're using what they think to be their acting voices, like you might here in a school play. Many of their movements are too deliberate, artificial looking. It feels like Spike should have told them in rehearsals to just speak and act naturally. Since their exploits comprise a large chunk of the movie, it can be quite distracting.
The climax of the movie is where it will completely grab you or totally lose you. While this is true of lots of movies, the feeling is amplified here. The shot I spoke of earlier which contains the big reveal is the lightning rod moment. It may seem over the top and coming in from way out deep in left field. If that fits your line of thinking, you might just tune it out right then and there. If this is an "oh wow" moment for you, you'll be pulled into the fold, far more invested than you were before this instant. It turns into the sort of harsh social commentary Spike Lee is known for.
But is it too harsh? Viewed through the prism of the director's public distaste for Tyler Perry, it is hard not to see this as at least a partial backlash against the message Perry aggressively pushes throughout his body of work, a deconstruction, if you will. In that vein, it may feel heavy-handed and overly reactionary. However, I believe in judging each film on its own merit. Red Hook Summer makes no overt references to anyone else's work, so what I've written is pure speculation. Juicy, it may be, but still speculation. As a stand-alone, it ultimately succeeds by offering Bishop Enoch up for debate. Is his story one of redemption or does it end in eternal damnation? There is also the nagging question of how all of this affects Silas. While not among his best work, it is far from his worst. His return to Brooklyn seems to have re-invigorated him. RHS is intriguing, yet uneven. It is also the most passionate film he's made in years.
MY SCORE: 7.5/10Comment
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Blackfish
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
2013. Rated PG-13, 83 minutes.
Cast:
John Hargrove
Samantha Berg
Mark Simmons
Kim Ashdown
Dean Gomersall
Carol Ray
John Jett
Jeffrey Ventre
Thomas Tobin
Dave Duffus
I've never been to SeaWorld. It seems like such a happy place in all those commercials. Sure, I know there has been the occasional accident, but that's a hazard of working with killer whales, right? I mean, "killer" is in their name, isn't it? Okay, so watching Blackfish convinces me that this is an ignorant point of view. What the movie attempts to show is how much Sea World itself is culpable for these accidents due to the way the animals are treated. In particular, we focus on a whale named Tilikum, who has been responsible for the deaths of several humans.
The short story is that everything about the way whales are kept runs completely counter to the way they live in their natural habitat. We learn how this breeds frustration and aggression in them. With regards to Tilikum, we get accounts of various incidents from his life which continue to influence his behavior. Expanding the story to include reasons for these things taking place, it becomes a tale of corporate greed. It becomes clear that the whales are viewed merely as product by the powers that be.
What helps the documentary's effectiveness is that a number of our talking heads are people who dealt with the whales first hand. They are former SeaWorld trainers who, in many cases, worked directly with Tilikum. Things they were tasked to do weren't anything they immediately thought of as cruel, especially as young people with no prior experience with whales. In hindsight, they have a greater understanding of things, no longer work for SeaWorld, and are speaking out against them. Other people who appear have studied killer whales and/or worked with them in some capacity for decades.
Predictably, no representatives of SeaWorld agreed to be interviewed. Speaking for them is old court testimony, quotes given to various media outlets over the years, company handbooks, and anything else the filmmakers could get their hands on. We get the distinct impression they are hiding behind their legal team. However, there is one brave soul, on former trainer who still tows the company line. In his mind, or at least his words, SeaWorld has done nothing wrong. Agree or disagree, I must give him credit for having the courage to say so on camera.
Blackfish succeeds on three important fronts. First, it paints SeaWorld as the quintessential sinister organization, doling out misinformation to justify questionable tactics. We become outraged at the goings on behind the scenes. As is often the case, seeing how the sausage is made turns our stomach. Second, the movie educates us about killer whales. It points out many of the flaws in our perception of these creatures. It even humanizes them, to some degree. All of this builds tremendous sympathy for them that becomes very powerful when mixed with our anger at SeaWorld. third, even if the other things aren't life changing for you, at the very least you will never look at one of those commercials the same way ever again.
MY SCORE: 9/10Comment
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Epic
Directed by Chris Wedge.
2013. Rated PG, 102 minutes.
Cast:
Amanda Seyfried
Josh Hutcherson
Colin Farrell
Christoph Waltz
Beyonce Knowles
Aziz Ansari
Chris O'Dowd
Pitbull
Jason Sudeikis
Steven Tyler
Blake Anderson
Jim Conroy
John DiMaggio
For the first time in quite a while, Mary Katherine (Seyfried), MK for short, visits her father Professor Bomba (Sudeikis). Her mom has passed away so she understandably wants to spend some time bonding with dad. Unfortunately, dad is totally pre-occupied with his work. For years, he's been trying to prove the existence of an advanced civilization of tiny people located somewhere in the forest around his house. He believes them to be the engine of the ecosystem. He is actually right. We know this because we meet Ronin (Farrell) and his misguided ward Nod (Hutcherson), two Leaf Men, or soldiers, tasked with defending Queen Tara from their rivals, the evil Boggins. Today is when she must choose the pod that will continue to make things grow in the event of her death. The Boggins are after her because they want nothing more than rot and decay. Of course, MK thinks her father nuts. Tired of him neglecting her, she storms out into the woods and bada-boom, bada-bing, she is shrank down to about two inches tall and finds herself in the middle of the war in the forest.
Much of our focus is on the adventure to save the chosen pod, as well as the fish out of water aspects of the tale. Both bring a nice balance of action and comedy that keeps things moving along nicely. Though the jokes are on the obvious side, they work well enough. The action fares better. It is certainly close to what we think of when we hear the word swashbuckling. Just imagine what action scenes in Robin Hood might look like if we replaced horses with birds. There are also some very cool visuals employed during this. the scene where a bunch of bad guys come bursting from beneath the bark of a tree is an amazing sight. Visually, as a whole, the movie works quite well. Lots of flowers and other things you would find in the forest are rendered as somewhat humanoid beings. The scenery is occasionally a bit off as it appears the animators weren't always sure what should look photo-realistic and what should not. Still, it's definitely not enough to be a problem.
Less successfully handled are the emotional aspect of things. The relationship between MK and her dad works okay, but nothing happens that even the kids won't see coming. The same goes for the love story between MK and Nod. It hits every note precisely when we expect it to. More disappointing than either of those story lines is that the movie makes a big deal early on that MK's mom has died and so has Nod's dad yet does nothing with these facts. It approaches them as if there is some exploration of the matter about to take place. Instead, it's merely a ploy to give our lovebirds something in common. Again, none of these are major demerits. They are small dings in the armor that younger viewers will likely ignore, but start to pile up on us old folks.
What the youngsters won't ignore is all the hero/villain stuff. At this, Epic succeeds. The message of it is all a bit heavy-handed, but easy to root for. A lush, green forest is full of life while a gray and brown one is not. They will also like the lovably goofy Nod. Juxtaposed with him is the straight-laced Ronin. More than liking him, he's the one character we actually feel for. We understand he's got just a little bigger stake in the game than the rest. His nemesis Mandrake (Waltz) makes for a pretty good villain. He's properly dark and menacing and seems genuinely prepared to take over the world. The voicing of him by Waltz is very effective in getting this point across. Still, it's the good vs. evil angle that will carry the day for many of the kids watching. With a fairly sizable element of revenge factoring in on both sides we feel how personal things have become without anyone ever saying this explicitly. The other things fill out the movie and are solid enough to stand up and keep things enjoyable. I found it very entertaining and well done.
MY SCORE: 7/10Comment
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Shooter
Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
2007. Rated R, 125 minutes.
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Danny Glover
Kate Mara
Michael Pena
Rhona Mitra
Ned Beatty
Tate Donovan
Elias Koteas
Justin Louis
Rade Serbedzija
Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg), what a name, is a former military sniper who was part of one of those missions that can't be confirmed nor denied. Rather salty about how the whole thing went down, he's now become a bearded recluse living in the mountains with just his dog. One day, the government comes calling, in the form of Colonel Isaac Johnson (Glover). The colonel says he has reliable intel that an attempt will be made on the President's life during an upcoming speech and that the shot will be fired from an incredible distance. Since our hero is the only one known to have made such a long shot, they are asking his help in figuring out how and from where the deed could be done in order to prevent it from happening. One thing leads to another and before you know it, Bob Lee winds up with a couple bullets in him and is on the run from the authorities.
This is a movie built on the cat-and-mouse between Bob Lee and the colonel. It works pretty well as the two make formidable adversaries. Wahlberg gives us the scowling hero look which has served him nicely in the past. It does here, as well. Glover is really a slimy sort. He gives the most interesting performance in the film. I don't think he gets enough credit for playing bad guys. I've seen him give audiences a good one a few times. I guess it's tough to escape the long shadow he himself cast as half of the Lethal Weapon duo. Ned Beatty is also solid as a crooked politician. Meanwhile, Kate Mara does nice work as the girl who believes our hero.
Besides Glover, the standouts are Michael Pena and Rhona Mitra. Pena plays the rookie FBI agent who smells a rat and is determined to get to the bottom of things. Mitra is a fellow agent who slowly comes around to the right side of things. They have their own little cat-and-mouse going with the agency at large as they do their snooping from within the system. Neither is doing award-worthy work her, but they provide some nice interludes between the scenes involving our stars.
In all, Shooter is a passable flick. It's solid action fare that provides enough excitement and suspense for us to make it through no worse for the wear. The ending that's better than the rest of the movie may elevate it in some people's mind beyond what it likely deserves. It deserves to be thought of as decent, definitely worth a watch, but not something that really stands out.
MY SCORE: 6/10Comment
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World War Z
Directed by Marc Forster.
2013. Rated PG-13, 116 minutes.
Cast:
Brad Pitt
Mireille Enos
Fana Mokoena
Daniella Kertesz
James Badge Dale
David Morse
Matthew Fox
Ludi Boeken
Peter Capaldi
Abigail Hargrove
Sterling Jerins
We're told Gerry (Pitt) used to do "dangerous work" for the United Nations. These days he is a stay-at-home dad in Philadelphia. Nothing makes him happier than cooking pancakes for his wife Karin (Enos) and their two daughters. Television news reports tell us that a strange virus has broken out in a number of cities around the globe. Well, you know how it is sometimes. The TV is just background noise to whatever is going on in our lives. However, Gerry should have been paying closer attention. While moving the family about on their daily travels, we all find out this virus has come to the City of Brotherly Love in a major way. The biggest problem with this virus is that it can almost instantly transform a person into a ravenous, mindless creature out to feed on the rest of us. It seems you contract the disease after being bitten by one of the infected. So yeah, Z is for zombies in case you somehow didn't get that.
What ensues is a string of chase scenes punctuated by moments of game-planning. In this case, simplicity is sublime. It generates excitement and tension that lasts throughout. The next wave of sprinting, body-locking zombies is never far off. The tension comes from our heroes running from and/or sneaking around them. Hoping that the good guys aren't heard, seen, smelled, touched, or worse, tasted, is a nerve racking experience. This is especially true when Gerry and company find themselves in a spot where the best solutions have significant risks involved. True, the narrow escape is the oldest trick in the action flick book, but this movie performs it with expert level sleight of hand. For its main distraction, it uses the maximum amount of carnage and mayhem that can be shoe-horned into each PG-13 frame.
Simplicity not only works for the action, it works for the story, too. Sure, it's predictable right from the jump. even the dimmest bulbs can feel illuminated when they figure things out pretty easily. Keeping the viewer intellectually alert is not this movie's aim. The job of the plot is to provide a link between chases without complicating things. In other words, it merely has to stay out of the way. Normally, I would slam a movie for such a lack of ambition. In this case, it works marvelously. Our focus on whether or not our heroes will survive the next scene carries the day.
World War Z is a popcorn flick through and through. And a damn good one. It quickly draws us to the edge of our seats and keeps us there. Visually, it's often stunning in its depiction of the zombies climbing over and interlocking with one another to climb things and/or launch themselves just to get at the nearest human. Brad Pitt gives us a "good enough" performance. This isn't Moneyball or Benjamin Button where he has to emotionally carry the film. He merely has to be cool, like we imagine he always is, zombies be damned. He is. That said, I'll admit that I've not read the novel the movie is based on. I don't know where it cuts corners or added things that weren't there. I have no idea if it remains true to the spirit of the book in any, way, shape, or form. I only know that this is thoroughly fun movie.
MY SCORE: 7.5/10Comment
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Raw Force
AKA Kung Fu Cannibals
Directed by Edward D. Murphy.
1982. Rated R, 86 minutes.
Cast:
Cameron Mitchell
John Locke
Geoffrey Binney
Hope Holiday
Jillian Kesner
Vic Diaz
John Dresden
Carla Reynolds
Camille Keaton
Chanda Romero
Revisiting this flick for the first time in many years, I'm reminded that the 80s really were a different time. Before the VCR (and Betamax, to a lesser extent) revolutionized the movie watching world, films stayed in first-run theaters for months. It was not uncommon for the better movies to still pack houses over a year after their release date. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no - Raw Force, released in the summer of 1982, is most definitely not one of those. The movie that brought about the tangent I opened on is none other than the Spielberg classic Raiders of the Lost Ark. Now, you're probably scratching your head and saying "what the hell does one of the all-time great adventure movies have to do with something known in some circles as Kung Fu Cannibals?" Honestly though, I'm not sure why you don't understand where I'm going with this. In my mind, I cannot think of either one of these movies without immediately thinking of the other. It's not that way for you? You don't understand why it's that way for me?
Sigh. Okay, I'll explain.
Back when both of these movies came out, it was still fairly common for theaters to actually run double features. If you were not born before these movies came out, you may not comprehend what I just said. If this is you, don't drop your tablet or smartphone when you read the next sentence. A double feature meant the theater was showing two movies back-to-back, and only charging you for one ticket. So no, Tarantino and Rodriguez did not invent the idea. Sorry to burst the bubble of any QT devotees.
By now, you've guessed what I've been rambling about but let me set the scene. Where I lived in Queens, my best friend's grandfather ran the Block Association. Every summer he would organize trips for local kids to amusement parks, Yankees and Mets games, and the occasional museum. He also set up the block party and ran a youth softball league. Once, only once that I can remember, he rounded us up with as many parents as could go and took us to a movie. He took us to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was in the summer of '82. It actually came out the year before and was already a huge hit. It was a known quantity even to people like us who hadn't actually seen it yet. The only theater anywhere near us still showing it had it as part of a double feature with a new movie. Yes, the new movie was Raw Force. My buddy's granddad didn't know anything about this other movie. In truth, none of us did. We had seen the commercial on TV and it appeared to be a harmless kung fu flick with both Asians and white guys. It couldn't be but so bad. After all, it was being paired with the family friendly Raiders. Right?
Wrong.
Really wrong.
Really really wrong.
I'm not sure who at the theater decided these two movies made a good pair, but I have to believe heavy narcotics were involved in the process. I might be willing to say that I'm blowing things out of proportion, but not when I remember beyond a shadow of a doubt that Raw Force played first.
So here we are, thirty or so kids ranging in age, and I'm guessing here, from about 8 to 14, and a handful of adults arriving for the double feature because you had to get there early to take advantage of the price. No showing up for just the second picture. Not even a full minute after the opening credits things get very uncomfortable. An Asian guy with a Hitler 'stache in a white suit and a white guy dressed like a reject from The Warriors lead a bunch of women off of a boat onto the coast of an island where they are greeted by some rather creepy looking, sweaty and cackling monks. After the guy in the suit and the head monk exchange a word or two, he tells the white dude to strip 'em. Of course, this means the white guy literally starts tearing the clothes off of the women. After they're all naked, or darn close, the women are herded into a cage and left with the monks.
WTF?
I can just imagine my friend's poor granddad wondering what the hell he had just gotten into. Unfortunately for him, this was only the beginning of one of the most bizarre cinematic rides of all time. It got progressively worse from this point forward. Much worse. Or better, depending on your point of view.
There is some sort of plot cobbled together. The two guys who dropped off all the chicks for the monks do this sort of thing on a regular and get paid a handsome fee. They are also part of some big jade smuggling operation that they hope will make them filthy rich. Meanwhile, a cruise ship that so happens to be stocked with various martial arts instructors, including a Bruce Lee wannabe, and students along with the usual gaggle of drunks looking to get laid is carrying said jade. One of the main attractions on this cruise is visiting that island where the monks are. This whole jade thing causes lots of kung fu fightin'. When I say fightin', I mean of the poorly choreographed and executed sort where we get the usual punch/kick sound effects even though often we can clearly see either the punch or kick miss by several inches. Between the fights is lots and lots of female nudity. And I'm talking full frontal (and rear) buck nekkidness. Outrageous things conspire to bring the two together on a regular basis. Of course, there's the obligatory strip joint brawl during which the strippers pay almost no attention to what's going on. There is also the scene where a woman gets down to her birthday suit while informing her about to be one night stand that she's on the run for murdering her husband. At this point, one of the jade thieve's henchmen comes bursting into the room. Even though he looks to be of Pacific Island or Hispanic descent, he inexplicably has a swastika on his helmet (and is wearing a Superman T-shirt), which comes off during his beating down of the poor dude who was only there to get some easy nookie. During this, the woman, still naked, grabs a gas can (?) and starts hitting the bad guy over the head with it. I'm not making this up. As time passes, the plot just gets stranger and stranger as we go.
How could it get any stranger than what I've already told you? Let's think about that alternate title again, Kung Fu Cannibals. Now let's talk about those monks. Eventually we find out that they aren't getting the girls to make sexy time. In the words of the Asian guy with the white suit "They get them for food." Eventually, we even see them preparing one unlucky lady to be roasted over an open fire. Oddly, she's not nude. However, they don't fight. So that title is a bit misleading. But they do indeed have someone to fight for them. They have a cemetery full of martial artists whom they raise from the dead to do their bidding. Yes! We have now added zombies to all the insanity! And I haven't even mentioned how piranhas figure into all this!
It's getting tough to contain myself. I get giddy just thinking about this movie. To reign myself in just a bit, I'll spend a moment on normal movie stuff like the acting, dialogue, directing, special fx, etc. It all sucks. Okay, that's enough of that. You know what, that's enough period. Let me wrap this up so I can go watch it again.
Oh, what about my best friend's grandfather? Whether or not he actually wanted to see a movie like this, I have no idea. I do know it's not something he wanted us to see. To his credit, or discredit, take your pick, he let us stay and we got through what must have been a terribly difficult hour and a half for him. Honestly, I'm not sure that rounding us up and leaving was ever an option. The thing is, he was a man who legitimately tried to keep whatever promises he made to us kids. In this case he promised he was taking us to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's what he did. It was great. A true classic. Still, it has nothing on Raw Force which is so bad it's awesome!
MY SCORE: -10/10Last edited by dell71; 02-22-2014, 12:31 AM.Comment
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Lee Daniels' The Butler
Directed by Lee Daniels.
2013. Rated PG-13, 132 minutes.
Cast:
Forest Whitaker
Oprah Winfrey
David Oyelowo
Yaya Alafia
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Lenny Kravitz
John Cusack
Liev Schreiber
James Marsden
Terrence Howard
Minka Kelly
Jane Fonda
Vanessa Redgrave
Mariah Carey
Alex Pettyfer
Colman Domingo
Clarence Williams III
Elijah Kelley
Robin Williams
Alan Rickman
David Banner
We proceed through the life and times of Cecil Gaines (Whitaker). Mr. Gaines works in the White House as a butler beginning during the Eisenhower (Williams) administration and finishing during the Reagan (Rickman) years. As a very young child he witnesses atrocities in the Jim Crow South while working as a cotton picker on a plantation. Due to one specific tragedy, he is made a house servant. When he gets older, he leaves the plantation and heads north a bit where he works as a server in a private club. He is so good that he lands that White House gig. At home, things between he and his wife Gloria (Winfrey) are strained by all of his long hours at work. He also has a contentious relationship with his eldest son Louis (Oyelowo). The two see the world very differently. Part of our story follows Louis as he is literally becomes a major part of just about every front of the Civil Rights struggles of the 20th century. The rest, of course, deals with Cecil's duties in the White House, the stress on his marriage and plenty of acrimony between he and Louis.
Right away, we're told The Butler is inspired by a true story. Let's tackle this first. The key word is "inspired." The real butler is a man named Eugene Allen. He most certainly did serve in that capacity in the White House for 34 years. However, not much else is rooted in fact. If you're wondering what is and what isn't, I'll not go into too many details to maintain some form of brevity. Suffice it to say most things that happen outside the White House are fiction wrapped in a cloak of history while what happens inside it is plausibly, possibly, kinda, sorta true. From what I've read, our hero's relationship with the Reagans is the most factual, followed by his rapport with the Kennedys. However, none of this should cloud your judgement. In my opinion, you shouldn't deem the movie to be better or worse than it actually is because more or less of it is true than you think. Let's move on.
What the movie does best is position Cecil against the people he loves. He is a man that works long and hard to provide for his family in a material sense. On the other hand, he's absent from them emotionally. We watch his marriage falter and wonder if he is even aware of what's happening. He does know of her battle with the bottle, but there is more going on than that. With his oldest son, it is a never-ending war of wills. They bark disagreements at one another until it eventually becomes too much for them to occupy the same room. Even though both situations are overly melodramatic, this is where The Butler is most consistently good. Star Forest Whitaker and David Oyelowo are sufficiently angry and deliver fine performances. However, it's a truly remarkable Oprah Winfrey that glues this kitchen sink drama together and makes it go. Hers is the film's most complex and satisfying portrayal.
The movie stumbles over the one thing that was hyped before it was even released: its highlight reel of Black History. It simply fails to pack the punch necessary to give the film its intended power. Much of it is sped through and oversimplified, but doesn't linger long enough to impact the viewer who hasn't already been impacted. In other words, our prior knowledge, or lack thereof, plays heavily into how we feel without much prompting from the film. Early on, we're shown an earth-shattering event. However, that's really it. It's just a moment. Following this, the movie goes into 'tell us stuff we already know' mode by using Cecil to narrate. He basically says "This sucks. I'm outta here," just in a lot more empty words. The only historic part where the movie slows down and breathes is during Louis' time as a Freedom Rider. We see him go through the intense training for and then the harsh reality of staging a sit-in. After that, it's back to warp speed as there's a brief mention of Malcolm X, a stint in the Black Panther Party (incorrectly lumped together as being of identical philosophies, I might add), and failed political endeavors. What this does is sticks closely to mainstream America's very broad ideas of the many facets of the movement which helped shape society. In doing so, it commits a common error. That mistake is pushing the belief that only the aspects of the Civil Rights Movement that were associated with, and/or under the direction of, Martin Luther King Jr. are worth discussing. At least on the surface.
Beneath the surface, what's really going on is that the movie is simply using all of this as a plot device to develop the romance between Louis and Carol (Alafia, formerly Da Costa), a young woman he meets in college and goes through most of his phases with him. Even this is botched, often feeling awkward and eventually unnecessary as it ends unceremoniously without the 'oomph' the movie seems to be reaching for at all times. The one good thing we get out of it is an explosive dinner scene when the two visit Louis' parents. Again, thank Oprah for making this moment.
The Cliff Notes treatment is given to Cecil's younger son Charlie (Kelley) and another major event in our nation's history, The Vietnam War. The poor kid is barely in the picture. He and the war can be summed up in three short sentences. People didn't know why we were there. People protested. Soldiers died. Something else we already know. By sticking to this, the movie telegraphs its blow and fails to make me care as much as I should. The punches that floor you are the ones you don't see coming. This one starts with a huge wind-up that's impossible to miss. The truth of the matter is some of the issues could have been alleviated by telling the story through Louis' eyes. That would likely force some things to be fleshed out instead of skimmed over. Besides, Louis is a far more interesting character than his one-note father. Of course, this might give us a completely different film than the director intended.
Fortunately, all parts of The Butler are well acted. Terrence Howard gives us a great slimeball while Cuba Gooding Jr. shines as the comic relief. Also funny is Liev Schreiber as an abrasive Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson. James Marsden does a spot-on JFK, but it's Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy that gives us one of the movie's most heartfelt moments. It's another instance nearly ruined by too much narration, but it still manages to work.
By the end, this is a movie that feels oddly bloated and deflated all at once. The stronger parts of the movie are a bit overdone while the weaker parts are half-baked. The narration usually states the obvious, robbing prior or upcoming scenes of power. Finally, it wraps itself up in a nice, neat bow of sentimentality. Honestly, given the importance of the occasion, I can hardly blame it. However, the impact of these scenes depends largely on how you already feel about that occasion. They don't supply any of their own juice. Thankfully, the whole thing is well performed and very well paced. The run time flies by and we enjoy the people with whom we're spending time. This makes it a solid movie that takes looks at important parts of our collective past. Just understand that, for the most part, these are fleeting looks.
MY SCORE: 7/10Comment
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The Smurfs 2
Directed by Raja Gosnell.
2013. Rated PG, 105 minutes.
Cast:
Neil Patrick Harris
Hank Azaria
Jonathan Winters
Brendan Gleeson
Katy Perry
Christina Ricci
George Lopez
Jayma Mays
Anton Yelchin
J. B. Smoove
Jeff Foxworthy
Paul Ruebens
Shaquille O'Neal
Kenan Thompson
Shaun White
Since the events of the surprisingly decent first movie, Gargamel (Azaria) has remained in our dimension and become a world famous magician thanks to the smurf essence he extracted from Papa Smurf (Winters). Of course, wealth and glory is not enough for him. He wants to rule the world. To do this, he needs an unlimited supply of smurf essence. To that end, he's created Vexy (Ricci) and Hackus (Smoove), the Naughties. They look like smurfs, but lack the magical element to make them blue and thus, true smurfs. If he figures out how to do this he can create that endless supply of essence and world domination will be his. He opens a portal between worlds and sends Vexy to Smurf Village where she kidnaps Smurfette (Perry). Gargamel then tries to force her to tell him the secret formula to turn the Naughties blue.
As in the original, watching Hank Azaria play Gargamel is a joy. He is so good in the role, it really is like the cartoon character took human form. Unfortunately, his is pretty much a stand-alone performance. The smurfs themselves are rather hit or miss. A few of their jokes are funny, but many are not. A number of the flat ones involve Grouchy Smurf (Lopez) trying on a more optimistic outlook. I get what they're trying to do, but it just doesn't work for me. this is a shame since this character was a high point of the first film. The humans in the cast, aside from Gargamel, are generic. The one possible exception is Victor (Gleeson), step-dad to our hero Patrick (Harris). He's not necessarily a great or original character, but he does bring some life to the screen.
The thing missing most is the magic of our little blue heroes. This is ironic considering the movie repeatedly tells us that their essence is indeed magical. For two movies now, they've been drawn into our world in limited numbers and share the spotlight with humans in the form of Patrick and his family. The greatness of the Saturday morning cartoon that spawned this franchise is that they were in their own world and solely responsible for their own well-being. There were also lots of them for us to get to know. Dropping them into Paris, or New York as in the prior movie, strips them of their autonomy, reducing them to dependents in their own movies. Worse, everything feels bland and rehashed. It's like they've just been slipped into a ready-made plot. The same story, at least their part of it, set entirely in and around Smurf Village and Gargamel's castle could probably have added some oomph to things.
My feelings on the matter aside, all is not lost. I'm willing to admit to being an angry fanboy on this one. I did watch the cartoon every Saturday morning during the mid-80s. This does seem to violated the spirit of the way I remember the show. As a self-contained movie, plenty of it just isn't good for the reasons I pointed out. Still, kids who only know the first film are likely to enjoy it. It has a good deal of action and the Smurfette storyline works well enough. They may even laugh at more of the jokes than I did. The Smurfs 2 is a solid baby-sitter, not a solid movie.
MY SCORE: 4/10Comment
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Man of Tai Chi
Directed by Keanu Reeves.
2013. Rated R, 105 minutes.
Cast:
Tiger Hu Chen
Keanu Reeves
Karen Mok
Yu Hai
Simon Yam
Sam Lee
Ye Qing
Michael Tong
Iko Uwais
If you're familiar with Tai Chi then you know it's the one style of martial arts you never hear about anyone actually using in a fight. It's much more of a spiritual, meditative endeavor. You may have seen elderly people practicing it in the park using slow, sweeping, and graceful motions that scream peace. Tiger Chen (Chen) wants to show the world that Tai Chi can indeed be used in combat. To accomplish this he enters a televised martial arts competition. After winning his first bout, he catches the eye of Donaka Mark (Reeves). By this time, we know what Tiger has yet to learn. Donaka runs a very lucrative and ruthless underground fight club. How ruthless? He kills fighters who show mercy and the poor sap they've shown it to. Lots of kung fu fightin' ensues while the cops try to shut down the operation. This is said to be inspired by Chen's actual life. Um...okay.
The draw here is obviously the martial arts acton. First time director Keanu Reeves wisely reunites with legendary fight choreographer Woo-ping Yuen. The two worked together on The Matrix trilogy. Here, the characters are more tightly bound to the laws of physics so Yuen doesn't have quite as much freedom as when he was choreographing showdowns between Neo and Agent Smith. Still, he delivers the goods. The added layer of realism makes this set of fights a bit more visceral. We feel a little closer to the action. That's not say these guys don't perform a few impossible acts because they do with the aid of a few instances of wire work. It's just not enough to really subtract from our enjoyment.
As the guy we're most often watching, Tiger Chen proves himself to be a capable on-screen martial artist. Many of the guys he fights are faceless opponents, but represent various styles and help keep things interesting. As an actor, he isn't too bad. He does a decent job conveying the changes his character is going through. However, it's Yu Hai as Chen's teacher, Master Yang, who is the real standout. He gives us a classic wise old kung fu sage through a nice mix of nuanced performing and fortune cookie dialogue. Truthfully, lots of the dialogue in this movie qualifies as fortune cookie worthy. Hai makes it work better than anyone else.
The rest of the cast is pretty bad. Sadly, but not surprisingly, this includes Keanu Reeves as our villain. As a bad guy, he's more laughable than menacing. This is largely due to his unchanging facial expression and the fact that every word he utters feels forced and completely lacking the charisma need for an effective antagonist. Yes, I count The Matrix among my very favorite movies of all time. However, it still baffles me that he is the star. Even more perplexing is the fact that he was once a highly sought after and highly bankable actor. Seriously, we're talking about a guy whose best work was in the Bill & Ted movies.
In the director's chair, Reeves fares much better. Don't get me wrong, he's no Ben Affleck, another guy who became a star despite questionable acting ability and has stepped behind the camera. Man of Tai Chi is no Gone Baby Gone, The Town, or Argo, and thus, won't be competing for any Oscars. That said, it's a solidly crafted martial arts movie with a leading man we like. He also has a personal conflict that's easy to get behind. Therefore, even though it isn't great, those two things combine with the action to not only make it highly watchable, but re-watchable and likely a favorite of boys of all ages who are into kung fu flicks.
MY SCORE: 6.5/10Comment
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