Review: "LOGAN" is Mournful, Violent, and Hopeful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2024 (No. 1976) by Leroy Douresseaux

Logan (2017)

Running time:  137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for strong brutal violence and language throughout, and for brief nudity

DIRECTOR:  James Mangold

WRITERS:  James Mangold & Scott Frank and Michael Green; from a story by James Mangold (based on the characters and stories appearing in Marvel Comics)

PRODUCERS:  Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAHER: John Mathieson (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Michael McCusker and Dirk Westervelt

COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

Academy Award nominee

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Quincy Fouse, Jason Genao, and Bryant Tardy

Logan is a 2017 American drama, action film and superhero movie from director James Mangold.  Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, it is the tenth film in 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie franchise and is also the third entry in the Wolverine film series.  Logan is based on the Marvel Comics character, Logan/Wolverine, that was created by writer Len Wein and artists John Romita and Herb Trimpe and first fully appeared in the comic book, The Incredible Hulk #181 (cover dated: November 1974).  Logan the movie focuses on a legendary mutant trying to save a mutant child from the evil people determined to capture her.

Logan opens in the year 2029.  Mutants are nearly extinct, and no new mutants have been born in 24 years.  The aging and ailing Logan (Hugh Jackman) works as a limousine driver in El Paso, Texas.  Once upon a time, he was known as “Wolverine,” and he was a member of the legendary band of mutants, the “X-Men.”  Now, he and the elderly founder of the X-Men, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), live in hiding. Xavier suffers from a degenerative brain condition, and he sometimes has telepathic seizures that render anyone in the vicinity virtually helpless.  A mutant known as “Caliban” (Stephen Merchant) helps Logan care for Charles.

Logan has plans for escape, but a complication arrives in the form of a small girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), also known as test subject “X23.”  She is a mutant and her abilities are remarkably similar to those of Wolverine's.  However, she is being hunted by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his band of killers, the “Reavers.”  They are in service of the research institute, Alkali Transigen, and the scientists there want her back no matter what it costs in terms of lives.  Will Logan become the hero Wolverine, again, and help Laura get to a place called “Eden?”  Or will he run away from his fate, again?

Having seen the first two Wolverine films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013), I did not go to the theater to see Logan when it was originally released in 2017.  [In my defense, I was knee deep in catastrophic family drama at the time.]  With the impending release of the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Deadpool & Wolverine, I decided it was time.

My was I missing an excellent film.  Logan is by far the best of the Wolverine films, and at the time of its release, it was the best X-Men since 2011's X-Men: First Class.  Truthfully, Logan would end up being the last really good X-Men film produced by 20th Century Fox.

Logan, which was rated “R” by the MPAA, is one of the most violent superhero films that I've ever seen.  Logan, Laura, and a surprise character called “X24” disembowel, dismember, behead, eviscerate, stab, and chop up what seems like a small town's worth of deserving men of various stripes.  Although I can sometimes be a prude about what I see as gratuitous violence in cinema, I love the brutal violence of Logan.  In fact, all the action scenes in Logan are brilliant, from the standoffs to the fights and car chases.

However, director James Mangold, a filmmaker with a hugely diverse filmography, makes Logan turn on dramatic storytelling and performances.  It is obvious that Hugh Jackman as Logan and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier would give fine performances.  Still, actor and comedian, Stephen Merchant, is simply wonderful in the important supporting role of Caliban, bringing pathos and depth to a role that could have ended up being an extraneous freak character.

Boyd Holbrook also brings range and a variety of moods to Donald Pierce, another character that could have been a generic mercenary type.  Dafne Keen matches the rage and range of Jackman as Logan.  Laura could have been lost in the hurricane that is Logan/Wolverine's story in this film, but Keen makes Laura a force of her own.  Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Eriq La Salle makes the most of his short time on screen as Will Munson.

Logan is a mournful film.  It really is not a sequel to the earlier Wolverine films so much as it is the completion of Logan/Wolverine's tragic, but heroic story arc that buttressed the earlier films.  Logan is both an ending and a beginning, and I wish that the care and effort put into this film had been put into some of the other X-Men films.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, July 21, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES" Gets Personal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2024 (No. 1966) by Leroy Douresseaux

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Running time:  140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images

DIRECTOR:  Matt Reeves

WRITERS:  Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback (based upon characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver)

PRODUCERS:  Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Michael Seresin (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  William Hoy and Stan Salfas

COMPOSER:  Michael Giacchino

Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/DRAMA/MILITARY

Starring:  Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Ty Olsson, Michael Adamthwaite, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Devyn Dalton, Max Lloyd-Jones, and Amiah Miller

War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 American science fiction film and military drama directed by Matt Reeves.  It is a direct sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and is also the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series.

It is the ninth entry in the overall Planet of the Apes film series, which began as an adaptation of the 1963 French science fiction novel, La planète des singes, by Pierre Boulle.  In War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar goes on a quest for revenge as a mentally unstable military leader escalates the war between apes and humans.

Fifteen years earlier, the birth of “The Simian Flu” pandemic (as seen in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes) proved deadly to humans.  The flu reduced the worldwide human population, and only 1 in 500 humans (.20 percent) are genetically immune to it.  Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse.  Five years earlier, the apes of the Muir Woods National Monument colony, led by the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis), clashed with the humans living in the ruins of San Francisco (as seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).  The humans contacted the last remaining U.S. Army unit.

As War for the Planet of the Apes opens, “The Colonel” (Woody Harrelson), a ruthless leader of a paramilitary faction, has been hunting Caesar, whom he calls “Kong,” and his ape colony in the two years following the battle in the ruins of San Francisco.  The colony is betrayed by turncoat apes that the humans call “donkeys,” and tragedy strikes close to Caesar.  He sets his colony on a journey to reach a recently discovered oasis, while he begins his mythic quest for revenge.

Caesar's lieutenants:  Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), Maurice (Karin Konoval), and Rocket (Terry Notary) insist on accompanying him.  Along the way, they meet a mute human girl (Amiah Miller) and a lonely chimpanzee who can speak and calls himself “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn).  Will Caesar's quest, however, endanger all his people instead of saving them?  And is he dangerously ignorant of the true nature of the conflicts within the remaining groups of humans?

I have been a fan of the Planet of the Apes film ever since I saw the original film, Planet of the Apes (1968), back in the day when CBS broadcast it on a regular basis.  Its sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), thrilled and chilled me.  I also enjoyed Tim Burton's 2001 Planet of the Apes, a remake and re-imagining of the original film

In preparation for the new film in the franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), I decided to review the two films in the reboot franchise that I had not seen, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes.  I have previously seen and reviewed Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

I found Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to be a really entertaining film, with its director Matt Reeves spearheading a pulpy, post-apocalyptic drama that thrives on inter-tribal conflict.  However, I didn't find Dawn's drama to be quite as substantive as its predecessor, mainly because this film focuses so much on the apes that the film glosses over the human characters that have the most potential.

In War for the Planet of the Apes, it is much the same, but this film is the pinnacle of the first three films in ape acting via motion-capture and voice performances.  Here, Reeves wrings much more emotion from the characters, story, and settings.  Andy Serkis hits the heights as Caesar, his best performance of the first three films.  There are also numerous other fine supporting ape performances.  Through these characters, Reeves presents a film in which the emotion is raw and real and drives the drama to be more powerful than even this film's best action scenes.

On the other hand, there is only one exceptional human character, that would be the mute orphan girl, and Amiah Miller gives an exceptional physical performance as the child.  Using facial expressions and hand movements, she gives the girl such personality that the audience will come to buy her as a legitimate member of Caesar's tribe rather than as a random human.  Woody Harrelson has played so many kooky characters, and The Colonel is not one of the better ones.  It is as if Harrelson has done the crazy dude thing so much that he didn't know where to take that kind of character for this film.

War for the Planet of the Apes improves on the plots, characters, elements and ideas introduced in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  It is a fine end to what we might call “the Caesar trilogy.”  Dear readers, you can't go forward in the Planet of the Apes franchise without seeing War for the Planet of the Apes.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 9, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, and Joel Whist)

2015 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination:  “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, and Joel Whist)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

Review: "KONG: SKULL ISLAND" is a Monster Movie Paradise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 of 2024 (No. 1958) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for brief strong language

DIRECTOR:  Jordan Vogt-Roberts

WRITERS:  Max Borenstein, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly; from a story by John Gatins

PRODUCERS:  Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Thomas Tull, and Alex Garcia

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Larry Fong (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Richard Pearson

COMPOSER:  Henry Jackman

Academy Award nominee

ADVENTURE/HISTORICAL/HORROR and MILITARY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, Marc Evan Jackson, Terry Notary, and Richard Jenkins

Kong: Skull Island is a 2017 monster movie, sci-fi military, and period, adventure film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts.  It is a reboot of the King Kong film franchise and is also the second film in the “MonsterVerse” film series following 2014's Godzilla.  Set at the end of the Vietnam war, Kong: Skull Island focuses on a group of military personnel and civilian scientists who must fight to escape an uncharted island full of giant monsters that includes the island's king, the mighty Kong.

Kong: Skull Island introduces Bill Randa (John Goodman), the head of the U.S. government organization, “Monarch.”  It is 1973, and the U.S. is ending its mission in Vietnam.  Randa fears his time is running out to launch a mission to a recently discovered island that has long been shrouded in mystery and legend, “Skull Island.”

He convinces a U.S. senator to fund an expedition to the island, and subsequently recruits a U.S. Army unit commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) to accompany him.  Also on the mission are recent Monarch recruits, geologist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) and biologist San Lin (Tian Jing).  Randa also hires James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), a former British Special Air Service Captain, as a hunter-tracker for this expedition.  Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), an “anti-war” photographer, forces her way onto the expedition.

The expedition begins with thirteen U.S. army helicopters penetrating the fearsome storms that surround Skull Island.  Randa and Brooks told Packard that they wanted to map the island by dropping seismic explosives, and shortly after arriving on the island, Packard's men begin dropping the explosives, which does help to map the island.  The explosions also draw the attention of a giant ape, which promptly attacks the helicopters.  Soon, the expedition is divided into two groups of survivors.  One is led by Packard who wants revenge against the giant ape, and the other by Conrad who wants to reach a rendezvous point where they will be rescued.  The giant ape, however, is “Kong,” king of Skull Island, and he isn't the only deadly, giant monster on the island.

The “MonsterVerse” is an American multimedia franchise that includes movies; a streaming live-action television series (Apple TV+) and a streaming animated series (Netflix); books and comic books; and video games.  It is a shared fictional universe that includes the character, “Godzilla” and other characters owned and created by the Japanese entertainment company, Toho Co., Ltd.  The MonsterVerse is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise.  It is also a reboot of the King Kong film franchise, which is based on the character, “King Kong,” that was created by actor and filmmaker, Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973).

The fifth film in the MonsterVerse series, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is due to be released sometime in March, so I have decided to watch and review the previous four films:  2014's Godzilla, 2017's Kong: Skull Island (which is the subject of this review), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).  I have previously seen Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, but only recently made attempts to review them.

Kong: Skull Island is proudly both a monster movie and a King Kong movie.  Like Peter Jackson's 2005 film, King Kong (Universal Pictures), Kong: Skull Island digs into its “lost world” pulp fiction and pre-Code horror movie roots.  Kong is as King Kong as any other cinematic version of the character, and the result is an exhilarating film that is fun to watch even after repeated viewings.  Most books about writing fiction and screenplays will emphasize that the characters should drive the narrative, but Kong: Skull Island's narrative is driven by its plot, by its other-worldly setting, and especially by its monstrous gods and god-like monsters.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the film.  Samuel L. Jackson makes the most of his Lt. Col. Packard, who is driven crazy by his insane mission to kill Kong as a salve for his bitterness about the end of the American misadventure in Vietnam.  John C. Reilly once again displays his tremendous character actor chops as the lost-in-time, U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Hank Marlow.  Tom Hiddleston is a good heroic lead as James Conrad in a film in which the human hero is not the film's most important character.  Brie Larson also shows off her acting skills by chopping out some space for his character, Mason Weaver.

However, the characters are just pawns in the film's plot, which involves surviving Skull Island's various monsters and advancing to the rendezvous point.  The setting of Kong: Skull Island is a lost world Eden that is part tropical paradise and part jungle horror, an environment in which the most beautiful place is the most dangerous.  The amazing things to see on this island are its deadly denizens, which includes gargantuan spiders, man-snatching carnivorous birds, and seemingly unstoppable lizards that are literally nothing more than perfectly designed death machines.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention the practically mute human natives of Skull Island with their dazzling array of face and body painting and eclectic costumes.

At the center of Kong: Skull Island is the film's most important character and element, Kong, himself.  He is a thing of beauty, the best special effect in a movie favored with enough impressive CGI to have earned itself an Oscar nomination for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects.”  Kong's introduction into the story, a breathtaking display of fight choreography pitting him against a squadron of military helicopters, is as good as the best fight scenes audiences will find in the top superhero movies.  Whatever glitches in the overall narrative and character development Kong: Skull Island has, Kong's introduction glosses over.  Kong is made king again in Kong: Skull Island, and that is why it is a damn shame that there is not a Kong: Skull Island 2.

[This film has an extra scene at the end of the credits.]

A-

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 17, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Michael Meinardus)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

Review: "Murder on the Orient Express" 2017 is More Dark Than Cozy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 of 2022 (No. 1818) by Leroy Douresseaux

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Running time:  114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence and thematic elements
DIRECTOR: Kenneth Branagh
WRITER: Michael Green (based on the novel by Agathie Christie)
PRODUCERS:  Kenneth Branagh, Mark Gordon, Judy Hofflund, Simon Kinberg, Michael Schaefer, and Ridley Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Haris Zambarloukos
EDITOR:  Mick Audsley
COMPOSER:  Patrick Doyle

MYSTERY

Starring:  Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom, Jr., Tom Bateman, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Sergei Polunin, Lucy Boynton, Marwan Kenzari, and Johnny Depp

Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 mystery film directed by Kenneth Branagh.  It is based on the 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express, written by Agatha Christie (1890-1976).  Murder on the Orient Express the movie focuses on a celebrated detective who is recruited to solve a murder that occurs on a train in which he is traveling.

Murder on the Orient Express opens in 1934 and finds renowned Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), in the midst of solving a case in Jerusalem.  When Poirot is ready to return to London, his friend, Bouc (Tom Bateman), the nephew of the director of the luxury Orient Express train service, arranges a berth for him aboard the train.

Poirot boards the train with Bouc and thirteen other passengers.  There is the talkative American widow, Caroline Hubbard (Lauren Bacall).  The English governess, Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley), and physician, Dr. John Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom, Jr.), seem to be previously acquainted.  Spanish missionary, Pilar Estravado (Penelope Cruz), is prayerful.  American businessman, Edward Ratchett (Johnny Depp), is on a business trip with with his secretary/translator, Hector McQueen (Josh Gad), and his English manservant, Edward Masterman (Derek Jacobi).

There is a Cuban-American car salesman, Biniamino Marquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo).  Elderly Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Judi Dench) travels with her maid, Hildegarde Schmidt (Olivia Colman).  Hungarian Count Rudolf Andrenyi (Sergei Polunin) and his wife, Elena (Lucy Boynton), are always together.  Austrian university professor, Gerhard Hardman (Willem Dafoe), has theories about different “races” and nationalities.  The train's French conductor, Pierre Michel (Marwan Kenzari), attends to the passengers' numerous needs.

That first night, an avalanche derails the train.  The next morning, Poirot discovers that Edward Ratchett has been murdered and stabbed 12 times.  Poirot and Bouc begin investigating the passengers in order to discover Ratchett's killer, but this case will be quite trying for the esteemed Monsieur Poirot.  He does not lie, and this case may force him to do just that.

The first film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), was one of only two films adapted from her work that she liked.  [The other was the 1957 film, Witness for the Prosecution, which was based on Christie's 1953 play, The Witness for the Prosecution.]  In the first film, the late actor Albert Finney gives a tremendous performance as Hercule Poirot, one that earned him an Oscar nomination.  The 1974 film is a classic murder mystery film made classier and more artful by its stellar cast of stars from Hollywood films and international cinema.

Murder on the Orient Express 2017 is stylish and modern with plenty of production values created by computers.  Its cast is a mix of established stars, Oscar-winning actors, and up-and-coming talent.  The 2017 film is so stylish that it often comes across as too cold and too determined to be an Oscar-worthy period piece and costume drama.  Kenneth Branagh, as the film's director and as its leading star (playing Hercule Poirot), sometimes seems lost in the technical details of directing his showy, award-winning cast and in creating an eccentric, OCD, smarter-than-everyone-else detective.

However, Murder on the Orient Express 2017 really shows its power in the last thirty minutes of the film.  The 1974 film offered a tidy happy ending.  The 2017 offers a thoroughly messy happy ending that is more befitting of these troubled, modern times.  Branagh and writer Michael Green turn the last act's revelation of whodunit into an edgy, dark exercise.  Truth be told, dammit!  But it will be done so with all the rawness of grief and the bitterness and hatred of revenge.  No one gets out of this resolution unscathed, and the healing will likely leave painful scabs.

I like Murder on the Orient Express 2017.  I like that the ethnicity and national origins of the cast are more diverse than what is in the 1974 film and in the original novel.  I like that it plainly leaves us with the message that murder is murder – no matter how good the intentions are – and that pain will temporarily make killers of those who are not really killers at heart.  I wonder what Agathie Christie would think of this take on Murder on the Orient Express.

I like Murder on the Orient Express 2017 mainly because it decides not to be cozy about the murder mystery.  I hope the follow up to this film, the just released Death on the Nile, is also this aggressive.

7 out of 10
A-

Thursday, February 10, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS is Perfectly 2 Fast 2 Furious

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 of 2021 (No. 1780) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Running time: 136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content, and language
DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray
WRITER: Chris Morgan (based on the characters created by Gary Scott Thompson)
PRODUCERS: Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, Chris Morgan and Michael Fottrell
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen F. Windon (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Christian Wagner and Paul Rubell
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring:  Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, Elsa Pataky, Kristopher Hivju, Patrick St. Esprit, Luke Evans, and Helen Mirren

The Fate of the Furious is a 2017 action movie from director F. Gary Gray and was released by Universal Pictures.  It is the eighth installment in The Fast and the Furious movie franchise (now called the “Fast Saga”).  A direct sequel to 2015's Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious introduces a mysterious woman who has the power to turn Dominic Toretto into a terrorist.

As The Fate of the Furious begins, Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Letitia “Letty” Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their honeymoon in Havana, Cuba.  While there, Dom meets a mysterious woman who turns out to be the elusive cyberterrorist, Cipher (Charlize Theron).  She has obtained something that she uses to coerce Dom into working for her.  Soon afterwards, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), recruits Dom and his team – his family:  Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) to retrieve an EMP device from a military outpost in Berlin.  However, Dom betrays them all and steals the device for Cipher, and Hobbs and Dom's family, including Letty, are branded criminals.

Intelligence operative and leader of a covert ops team, Frank Petty (Kurt Russell), a.k.a. “Mr Nobody,” arrives with his protege, Eric Reisner (Scott Eastwood), and he has an offer.  Mr. Nobody wants Hobbs and Dom's family to help him find Dom and capture the highly elusive Cipher.  Mr. Nobody also has a surprise for Hobbs and company.  He has recruited Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the rogue British Special Forces assassin who was hunting Dom and his family until they defeated him and Hobbs and the DSS imprisoned him.  But will even Shaw be enough?  Cipher can disappear at will and with Dom at her side, she seems unbeatable.  Cipher's threat to the world and Dom's betrayal will test the family as never before.

When The Fate of the Furious was initially released to theaters in April 2017, I was too mired in family troubles to bother going to a movie theater to see it.  And quite frankly, after what I considered to be a barely average installment in Furious 7, I thought I was done with the franchise.  In fact, I didn't even watch The Fate of the Furious when it started playing on basic cable.  Recently, I saw a clip from the soon-to-be-released F9 (2021), and I was shocked to see Dominic Toretto playing with a baby.  A friend informed me of the events in The Fate of the Furious, and because he and I talked about seeing F9, I decided to rent The Fate of the Furious via Netflix.

Well, I will never doubt you again, Fast & Furious / Fast Saga.  I loved The Fate of the Furious.  This film franchise's over-the-top action has become so … over-the-top that it is practically a kind of superhero and car chase movie series.  These movies are fun, but I thought that the series had reached narrative exhaustion with Furious 7.  The Fate of the Furious was the hot-shot injection of jet fuel that the series needed, as far as I'm concerned.  And Vin Diesel may have given his best performance of the series in The Fate of the Furious.  He really seemed like an evil terrorist, but, at the same time, his grit and determination to manage the evil in order to protect his family feels genuine.

I also want to credit Universal Pictures and The Fate of the Furious in using Havana, Cuba as the setting for the film's opening scenes.  It is a love letter to a place that looks beautiful on film.  And The Fate of the Furious is also a crazy, mad, insane, and beautiful action movie.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, June 23, 2021


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

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


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: "JUSTICE LEAGUE" Sucks, Yet the Republic Survives

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2021 (No. 1770) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Justice League (2017)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action
DIRECTORS:  Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon
WRITERS:  Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon; from a story by Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Charles Roven, Jon Berg, Geoff Johns, and Deborah Snyder
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Fabian Wagner (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Martin Walsh, David Brenner, and Richard Pearson
COMPOSER:  Danny Elfman

SUPERHERO/FANTASY

Starring:  Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Amber Heard, Joe Morton, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Anthony Wise, and Ciarán Hinds (voice)

Justice League is a 2017 superhero film officially directed by Zack Snyder, but completed by director Joss Whedon.  The film is based on the DC Comics superhero team, the Justice League of America, that first appeared as a group in the comic book, The Brave and the Bold #28 (cover dated: March 1960).  Justice League is the fourth film in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) film series.  Justice League the film sees a group of allies slowly come together to face a threat to Earth.

Justice League introduces a being named “Steppenwolf” (voice of Ciarán Hinds).  Thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his legions of “Parademons” tried to take over the earth using the combined energies of three “Mother Boxes,” but he was defeated.  In the present, it is two years after the death of Superman (as seen in the film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), and his death has apparently triggered the reactivation of the Mother Boxes.

Now, Steppenwolf has returned to Earth, and although he is unaware of Steppenwolf, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) knows that something is wrong because he has been battling the scattered Parademons that have been appearing in Gotham City and elsewhere.  Batman also knows that what is happening is too big for him to fight alone, so he has begun the difficult task of finding and recruiting other “metahumans” (superheroes) into a team that can take on the biggest threats to Earth.

Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) is familiar with Steppenwolf and is ready to unite.  The new young hero, Flash/Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), is more than happy to be part of a team.  However, the mysterious undersea metahuman, The Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), brushes off Batman.  Woman Woman approaches the techno-organic metahuman, Cyborg/Victor Stone (Ray Fisher), whose powers and abilities are constantly evolving, but he also brushes off the idea of joining Batman and Wonder Woman's cause.

Even if Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash can convince Aquaman and Cyborg to join, their powers may not be enough to stop Steppenwolf and the Parademons.  They need Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), but he is dead.  So can this “Justice League” change that?

Zack Snyder's first two films in the DCEU film series, Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), are interesting films.  Man of Steel contains moments of true beauty and is an imaginative and poignant retake on the story of Superman.  Batman v Superman is filled with great moments and has several brilliantly-staged action set pieces.  However, both films are at time foolishly bombastic and bombastically foolish.

Zack Snyder began production on what was to be his third DCEU film, Justice League, in early 2016, but left the film in May 2017 in order to deal with the aftermath of the death of his daughter.  Warner Bros. Pictures brought in Joss Whedon to finish the film.  Whedon is beloved in fandom because he is the creator of the long-running “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” television series.  He also wrote and directed two films for Marvel Studios, Marvel's The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), each of which grossed over a billion dollars in worldwide box office.

Whedon apparently changed the story that Zack Snyder's version of Justice League would have told – to some extent.  I have read that as much as seventy-five percent of the Justice League film that reached movie theaters in late 2017 is the result of Whedon's reshoots of the film.

The result is a film that does not move or sound like either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, nor does it have the genuine sense of superhero team dynamics, conflict, and melodrama that Whedon's Avengers films have.  Whedon's Justice League is neither bombastic nor foolish.  It is a collection of crescendos that fade away.  Justice League seems like a collection of loosely connected subplots and action scenes taken from another movie and stuck together to make a new blasé movie.

In Justice League, the dialogue is mostly awful.  All the emotions (grief, exhalation, anger, etc.) seem forced or outright phony.  The actors struggle with the mediocre character writing; sometimes, it gets so bad that it seems as if they are struggling to act.  Steppenwolf is a scary villain that is played as comically histrionic.  Also, the film treats the obviously dangerous Paramdemons as nothing more than props to be destroyed by the powers of the members of the Justice League.

There are a few good moments in Justice League.  The revival of Superman and the subsequent battle between the League and the Man of Steel is genuinely intense.  Every time I watch it, my attention is glued to the screen.

Justice League is not a bad movie; it doesn't have the gumption to be good or bad.  It is a movie that is without a heart, and it comes across as nothing more than an assembly line product put out to benefit a movie studio financially.  It certainly was not put out to truly entertain the audiences that wanted to be entertained by it.  Zack Snyder's version of Justice League will make its debut as Zack Snyder's Justice League on the HBO Max streaming service soon (as of this writing).  Perhaps, it would have been better that Justice League been delayed than it be released in 2017 as a mostly flavorless misfire.

4 of 10
C

Friday, March 4, 2021


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: "Batman and Harley Quinn" is an Ode to Bruce Timm-Era Batman TV

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2021 (No. 1769) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman and Harley Quinn – video (2017)
Running time:  74 minutes (1 hour, 14 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content, language, violence and action, and for rude humor
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Bruce Timm and Jim Krieg; from a story by Bruce Timm (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Kevin Conroy, Melissa Rauch, Loren Lester, Paget Brewster, Kevin Michael Richardson, John DiMaggio, Eric Bauza, Robin Atkin Downes, Trevor Devall, Rob Paulsen, Mindy Sterling, and Bruce Timm

Batman and Harley Quinn is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  The film shares a connection and design style with the animated television series, “The New Batman Adventures” (1997-99), and is spiritually related to that series' predecessor, “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-95), which is the series in which Harley Quinn made her first appearance.  In Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman and Nightwing are forced to team with Harley Quinn in order to stop a global threat.

Batman and Harley Quinn opens with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and his partner, Nightwing (Loren Lester), who was once known as Robin, the Boy Wonder.  The duo has discovered that the villainess, Poison Ivy / Pamela Isley (Paget Brewster) has teamed up with Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man (Kevin Michael Richardson), an alien plant creature that shares Poison Ivy's desire to give plants supremacy of Earth over humanity.  Poison Ivy and Floronic Man plan to create their own viral version of the “bio-restorative formula” that transformed Dr. Alec Holland into the Swamp Thing (John DiMaggio).  To that end, they have kidnapped a scientist, Dr. Harold Goldblum (Rob Paulsen), and forced him to help them replicate the formula.

Ivy and Woodrue are unaware that their altered formula could destroy all life (human, animal, and plant), so Batman and Nightwing must stop them before they finish their formula.  However, “the Dynamic Duo” are struggling in their mission to find the villains and reluctantly turn to Ivy's best friend, Harley Quinn (Melissa Rauch), in the hopes that she will have an idea or two on where to find Ivy.  But Harley has gone into hiding after her most recent recent parole from imprisonment.  Finding Harley won't be easy, and who says she wants to help Batman and Nightwing find her BFF – best friend forever!  And if she does cooperate, can Batman and Nightwing trust Harley?

Bruce Timm was one of the main creative forces behind “Batman: The Animated Series” and “The New Batman Adventures,” as well as other wonderful animated television series that featured DC Comics superheroes.  So I am always happy when he returns to his corner of the animated DC Universe, this time as a writer and executive producer.  One of my favorite animation writers, Jim Krieg, co-wrote Batman and Harley Quinn with Timm.  Voice actor Kevin Conroy, who is beloved for his work playing the voice of Batman / Bruce Wayne on several animated TV series and films, also returns as the voice of Batman for this film.

So I have a few reasons to love Batman and Harley Quinn, and I did indeed enjoy it, but it isn't one of the better direct-to-DVD animated DC Universe films.  The Floronic Man is an uninteresting bag of wind as a villain despite the best efforts of talented voice actor, Kevin Michael Richardson.  Also the Poison Ivy of this film is shallow, and looks weird.

The plot is lame, but their a few things that make me like Batman and Harley Quinn.  First, Timm and Krieg offer strong takes on the characters of Batman, Nightwing, and Harley, and the relationship dynamic between them as a trio or as a trio of duos sparkles with wit and genuine feeling.  Secondly, there are some surprisingly magical moments in this film, such as the karaoke medley in the middle of the film.  The Sarge Steel (John DiMaggio) and A.R.G.U.S. subplot is nice.  Finally, I love the design of the animation and the animation in general in this film.  It is as if “The New Batman Adventures” returned from the old cartoons graveyard for an hour or so.

Despite my reservations concerning its weak plot and villains, I highly recommend Batman and Harley Quinn to fans of Bruce Timm's 1990s Batman TV shows.  When it comes to animation overseen by Timm, I'll take anything and everything I can get.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, March 30, 2021


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

#28DaysofBlack Review: Heroes Abound in "MARSHALL"

[The year after he first played Marvel Comics superhero, Black Panther, the late Chadwick Boseman played real-life hero, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, early in his career when he was a defense attorney defending oppressed African-Americans.  There is something about playing both Thurgood Marshall and the Black Panther that makes an actor special.  That is why some of us both mourn Boseman's passing and celebrate his work.]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 of 2021 (No. 1753) by Leroy Douresseaux

Marshall (2017)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hours, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language
DIRECTOR:  Reginald Hudlin
WRITERS:  Michael Koskoff and Jacob Koskoff
PRODUCERS:  Reginald Hudlin, Jonathan Sanger, and Paula Wagner
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Newton Thomas Sigel (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Tom McArdle
COMPOSER:  Marcus Miller
Academy Award nominee

BIOPIC/DRAMA/HISTORICAL/THRILLER

Starring:  Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, James Cromwell, Sterling K. Brown, Keesha Sharp, John Magaro, Roger Guenveur Smith, Ahna O'Reilly, Jeremy Bobb, Derrick Baskin, Jeffrey DeMunn, Andra Day, Sophia Bush, Jussie Smollett, and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas

Marshall is a 2017 biographical film, period drama, and legal thriller directed by Reginald Hudlin.  The film's lead character is Thurgood Marshall (1908 to 1993), the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Marshall the film focuses on one of the first cases of his career, the State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell, which concerns an African-American chauffeur accused of raping a white woman in 1940.

Marshall opens in 1941.  Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) is an attorney for the “NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,” which he founded.  Marshall travels the country defending people who are accused of crimes solely because of their race.  Upon his return to his New York office, Marshall finds more work waiting for him.  Walter Francis White (Roger Guenveur Smith), Executive Secretary of the NAACP, sends Marshall to Bridgeport, Connecticut.  There, he will defend Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), a chauffeur accused of rape by his white employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), in a case that has gripped the newspapers.

In Bridgeport, insurance lawyer, Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), is assigned by his brother, Irwin Friedman (John Magaro), to get Marshall admitted to the local bar, against Sam's will.  At the hearing for Spell, Judge Carl Foster (James Cromwell), a friend of the father of prosecutor Lorin Willis (Dan Stevens), agrees to admit Marshall, but forbids Marshall from speaking during the trial, forcing Friedman to be Spell's lead counsel.  Now, Marshall must guide Friedman through the trial via notes, but is this case a lost cause when Thurgood and Sam discover that it is rife with lies – on both sides.

Marshall is technically a biographical film, focusing on a specific period in the life and career of future Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall.  Early in the film, however, it is obvious that director Reginald Hudlin has his mind on making Marshall a film that resembles a 1940s film noir with elements of a legal drama and a crime thriller.  The audience can hear that in Marcus Miller's lovely film score and in the way Hudlin stages the action, uses space, and places the actors.

In one of the film's early moments, when Marshall has his back to the camera and is ironing a shirt, I immediately thought of my favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart, and one of his most famous roles, that of Sam Space in director John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941).  From that point, there is hardly a setting in which Marshall's life does not seem to be in danger.  Hudlin races his audience through a movie that seems to be shorter than its almost two hours of run time.  Is Marshall a courtroom drama?  Yes, and it is also a courtroom thriller with a mystery at its center.

I do wish the father-son screenwriting team of Michael Koskoff and Jacob Koskoff had given the script  more depth, as the narrative is mostly style and genre.  There is also a lack of depth in the  characterization, and the characters are a bit shallow.  As hard as actor Sterling K. Brown tries, he can't seem to really draw anything from the well of defendant Joseph Spell's soul.  Spell comes across as more of a stand-in than an actual portrait of a man whose life is on the line.

The very talented Josh Gad is able to give a lot of color to Sam Friedman, playing as a subtly wily man who is able to navigate his way between conflicting sides.  Kate Hudson, mostly known for romantic comedies, shows some serious dramatic chops as the trapped suburban wife and alleged victim, Eleanor Strubing.  As usual, Roger Guenveur Smith is spry, this time as the real-life Walter Francis Wright.

Of course, in the wake of his 2020 death to complications of colon cancer, Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall will be the center of attention in the film, Marshall, going forward.  Despite a lack of characterization in the film's script, Boseman turns Marshall into a relentless paladin, traveling the countryside fighting the forces of white bigotry and racism.  His field of battle is the courtroom, and black men falsely accused because they are black are the people he defends.  Boseman makes me believe that he is a stubborn attorney and hero in an old-fashioned courtroom drama.  He also makes me believe that he is a superhero, almost a year before he became the beloved Black Panther of Disney/Marvel Studios' Oscar-winning film, Black Panther.

Marshall convinces me that Thurgood Marshall was both a heroic lawyer and a superhero.  The film also convinces me that Boseman was the best at bringing the most famous African-American men to life on the big screen.  Plus, Marshall is a really good movie.

8 of 10
A

Monday, February 15, 2021


NOTES:
2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Song” (Common and Diane Warren for song “Stand Up for Something”)

2018 Black Reel Awards:  7 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture” (Jonathan Sanger, Paula Wagner, and Reginald Hudlin), “Outstanding Actor, Motion Picture” (Chadwick Boseman), “Outstanding Director, Motion Picture” (Reginald Hudlin), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Victoria Thomas-Casting Director), “Outstanding Score” (Marcus Miller-Composer), “Outstanding Original Song” (Andra Day-Performer, Common-Performer, Writer, and Diane Warren-Writer for the song “Stand Up for Something”), and “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male” (Sterling K. Brown)

2018 Image Awards (NAACP):  5 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Chadwick Boseman), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Sterling K. Brown), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Keesha Sharp), “and  “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture” (Reginald Hudlin)

The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Turns Out to Be Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract – video (2017)

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

MPAA – PG-13 for language, some violence, sensuality, thematic elements and brief drug use

DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu

WRITERS:  Ernie Altbacker (based on the comic book story by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and on the DC Comics characters)

EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinsk

COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann

ANIMATION STUDIO:  The Answerstudios

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Sean Maher, Kari Wahlgren, Stuart Allan, Taissa Farmiga, Brandon Soo Hoo, Jake T. Austin, Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer, Gregg Henry, Meg Foster, Masasa Moyo, Jason Spisak, Crispin Freeman, and Kevin Smith

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  The films stars the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans.  The film's story is based on “The Judas Contract,” the 1983-84 story arc that was published in The New Teen Titans #39 to #44 and in The New Teen Titans Annual 3, which were created by the writer-artist team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie focuses on the Teen Titans and their battle against an insane cult leader and his conspiracy against them.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract opens with the original Teen Titans:  Robin/Dick Grayson (Sean Maher), Speedy (Crispin Freeman), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo), and Bumblebee (Masasa Moyo).  During a mission, the Titans rescue an alien princess, Koriand'r of Tamaran (Kari Wahlgren), also known as “Starfire,” from her captors.

Five years later, Dick Grayson, now known as “Nightwing,” rejoins the Teen Titans, who are led by Starfire.  In addition to original member, Beast Boy, the team is now comprised of Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Terra (Christina Ricci), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), and the current Robin, Damien Wayne (Stuart Allan).  The Titans have been battling a high-tech terrorist organization called “H.I.V.E.” and are trying to find its leader, “Brother Blood” (Gregg Henry), the head of a terrorist cult.

Brother Blood has grown tired of the Titans interfering in his plans, but he desires to possess their powers.  Blood hires the mercenary/assassin, Deathstroke (Miguel Ferrer), to capture the Titans, and to that end, Deathstroke has a spy inside the Titans.

For most of the 1980s, The New Teen Titans was one of DC Comics' most popular comic book titles, and for awhile, it was the publisher's most important and popular title.  “The Judas Contract” was The New Teen Titans' signature story line.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie is true to the spirit of the original story, both in depicting how close a team of disparate individuals can become and in depicting the sting of betrayal committed by one member against the rest of the team.

I really enjoyed this movie, and I am surprised that I liked all the characters and all the voice actors' performances.  Christina Ricci does stand out and conveys the pathos and conflict within Terra Markov, while Brandon Soo Hoo gives comedic depth and dramatic weight to Beast Boy.  I will note, however, that film director, Kevin Smith, appears as a cartoon version of himself, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract could have done without him.

Fans of the direct-to-video, DC Comics animated films will find that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a high point in this long-running series.  Teen Titans fans will also find that, although the film changes the original story quite a bit, this version of The Judas Contract maintains the core of the comic book original, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 25, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Review: "BOO! 2: A Madea Halloween" is a Typical Inferior Sequel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)
Running time:  101 minutes
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual references drug content, language and some horror images
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS:  Ozzie Areu, Will Areu, Tyler Perry, and Mark E. Swinton
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Richard Vialet (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Larry Sexton
COMPOSER:  Philip White

HALLOWEEN/COMEDY

Starring:  Tyler Perry, Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely, Yousef Erakat, Diamond White, Lexy Panterra, Andre Hall, Brock O'Hurn, Tito Ortiz, Taja V. Simpson, Inanna Sarkis, Hannah Stocking, Mike Tornabene, Akende Munalula, and Elizabeth Hinkler and Emily Hinkler

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween is a 2017 comedy and Halloween movie from writer-director Tyler Perry.  It is a direct sequel to Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016) and is also the tenth film in the Madea film series.  In Boo 2!, Madea and friends travel to a supposedly haunted campground to rescue a teen relative, but end up running for their lives from the boogeyman.

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween opens on the 18th birthday of Tiffany Simmons (Diamond White).  Tiffany is the daughter of Brian Simmons (Tyler Perry) and his ex-wife, Debrah (Taja V. Simpson).  Tiffany wants to be treated like an adult, which is just fine with Debrah and her new husband, Calvin (Akende Munalula).  However, Brian still sees Tiffany as a baby girl, and he has planned for Tiffany a birthday party that is more appropriate for a child.

Brian's aunt, Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry); Brian's father who is also Madea's brother, Joe Simmons (Tyler Perry); Betty Ann “Aunt Bam” Murphy (Cassi Davis); and Hattie Mae Love (Patrice Lovely) also attend the party.  Unhappy with the party and the guests, Tiffany and her friend, Gabriella (Inanna Sarkis), make plans to attend a late-night Halloween party being thrown by Jonathan (Yousef Erakat) and the brothers of Upsilon Theta fraternity.  However, the party is being thrown at the notorious and supposedly haunted campground at “Lake Derrick.”

Madea overhears Tiffany's Lake Derrick plans and alerts her father, Brian, who decides to let Tiffany attend the party just to teach her lesson.  Madea is unwilling to let it go at that, so she rounds up Joe, Bam, and Hattie to take a trip to Lake Derrick and rescue Tiffany and Gabriella from that Halloween party.  However, it is Madea and company who will find themselves needing to be rescued from a chainsaw wielding maniac, ghostly sisters, and assorted monsters.

I am playing catch-up on my Madea movies, as this film was released almost two-and-a-half years ago, and the (allegedly) last Madea film, A Madea Family Funeral (2019), was released a year ago.  When I reviewed Boo! A Madea Halloween back in 2017, I wrote that the film had “its moments,” and I gave it a grade of “B-.”  Since that review, I have seen the film countless times, and it has become one of my favorite Madea movies and one of my favorite Halloween movies.  If I graded the original film now, I would give it at least an “A-.”

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween actually has its moments.  The first hour of the film has an awkward pace, and that hour is not well-written.  Early on, Boo 2! seems like nothing more than a quickly-produced sequel meant to grab cash from a surprise hit movie.  The final forty minutes of t Boo 2! really picks up, and it gets close to being as funny as the original film.

So if you did not get enough Boo! A Madea Halloween and want a little more, you have Boo 2! A Madea Halloween.  And if you need to see every Madea movie, then, you will want to see Boo 2!  If you don't like Madea, well...

C+
5 of 10

Tuesday, March 10, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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

Review: "Thor: Ragnarok" Strikes an Odd, Pleasant Note

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This movie review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Running time:  130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive material
DIRECTOR:  Taika Waititi
WRITERS: Eric Pearson and Christopher L. Yost and Craig Kyle (based on the comic book and characters created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby)
PRODUCERS:  Kevin Feige p.g.a
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Javier Aguirresarobe, ASC (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Zene Baker and Joel Negron
COMPOSER:  Mark Mothersbaugh
NAACP Image Award winner

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Taika Waititi (voice), and Clancy Brown (voice) with Stan Lee

Thor: Ragnarok is a 2017 superhero movie from Marvel Studios, directed by Taika Waititi.  It is the third film in Marvel's Thor film series, following Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).  Thor is a Marvel Comics character that first appeared in the comic book, Journey into Mystery #83 (cover dated: August 1962).  Created by artist Jack Kirby and writers (and siblings) Stan Lee and Larry Leiber, Thor is based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.  Thor: Ragnarok finds the Norse god of thunder a slave on an alien world while his home of Asgard is controlled by the goddess of death.

Thor: Ragnarok opens two years after the battle of Sokovia (as seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron).  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is imprisoned by the fire demon, Surtur (voice of Clancy Brown), who reveals that Thor's father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), is no longer on the realm of Asgard.  Surtur explains that he himself will destroy the realm by uniting his crown with the “Eternal Flame” that burns in Odin's vault, thus initiating the prophesied end-times, “Ragnarök.”  Thor frees himself and defeats Surtur, and he takes Surtur's crown, believing that he has prevented Ragnarök.

The threats to Asgard have not ended.  Thor's estranged brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), is posing as Odin, but Thor and Loki eventually find Odin in Norway.  Odin explains to his sons that he is dying and that his death will free his firstborn child, Hela (Cate Blanchett), from a prison where he sealed her long ago.  When Hela is freed, Ragnarök is imminent.  But before Thor can stop Hela and save Asgard, he must escape from his own imprisonment, the garbage planet, Sakaar, where he is an enslaved gladiator.  And Thor's greatest opponent turns out to be an old friend.

Thor: Ragnarok plays out as one would expect.  Thor saves the day with a lot of help from friends old and new and from adversaries-turned-allies old and new.  What makes this film different and so very endearing is the work of director Taika Waititi, the New Zealand-born director whose films (such as 2014's What We Do in the Shadows) are known for the both the originality of execution and their offbeat sensibilities.  That that originality and sensibility show in Thor: Ragnarok's color palette, its costume designs, sets and art direction.  Some critics and fans have claimed that all Marvel Studios' films look alike, which is certainly not true.  In fact, no superhero movie looks like Thor: Ragnarok, and Mark Mothersbaugh's fantastic, glorious, ear-candy musical score is the finishing touch that makes Thor: Ragnarok stand out from any pack.

Waititi and his cast make the most of Eric Pearson and Christopher L. Yost and Craig Kyle's screenplay.  The pace and acting is lively, wry, spry, and witty, and, in fact, Thor: Ragnarok is, to date, the film that makes the best use of Chris Hemsworth's droll sense of humor.  The film is a bit soft in the middle, but its unique visual appearance keeps the film from going dry.

Some time ago, I read that Marvel Studios had been trying to find the right balance of superhero fantasy, action, and humor in the Thor films, but believed that they had not quite done so in the first two films.  The third time is the charm.  Thor: Ragnarok is the best film in the Thor series, and it is the kind of superhero film that will appeal to movie audiences that don't normally watch superhero movies.

8 of 10
A

Friday, February 21, 2020


NOTES:
2018 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Tessa Thompson)

2018 Image Awards (NAACP):  1 winner: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Idris Elba); 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Tessa Thompson)


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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

Review: "John Wick: Chapter 2" Makes "John Wick" a Real Franchise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2019) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Running time:  122 minutes (2 hours, two minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence throughout, some language and brief nudity
DIRECTORS:  Chad Stahelski
WRITER:  Derek Kolstad (based on characters created by Derek Kostad)
PRODUCERS:  Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dan Lausten (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Evan Schiff
COMPOSERS:  Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard

ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER

Starring:  Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, Claudia Gerini, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Tobias Segal, John Leguizamo, Bridget Moynahan, Thomas Sadoski, Peter Stormare, and Franco Nero

John Wick: Chapter 2 is a 2017 action and crime-thriller starring Keanu Reeves and directed by Chad Stahelski.  It is a direct sequel to the 2014 film, John Wick, and both the original and the sequel were written by Derek Kolstad.  The film tells the story of an ex-hit man who comes out of retirement to kill the man who viciously wrongs him.

Once upon a time, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) was a legendary hit man, a seemingly unstoppable killer also known as “the Boogeyman.”  John retired, but came out of retirement when a young gangster stole his vintage 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 and killed his dog.  John Wick: Chapter 2 opens four days after the first film.  John Wick retrieves his stolen car from a chop shop owned by Abram Tarasov, the brother and uncle, respectively, of the men who wronged Wick in the first film.

Later, John receives a visit from the Italian crime lord, Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio).  It seems that Santino swore John Wick to a “marker” (a form of contract) which allowed Wick to retire and to marry his late wife, Helen (Bridget Moynahan).  The marker is an unbreakable promise, personified by a “blood oath” medallion.  Now, Santino is calling in this marker, and he wants John to perform a hit/assassination for him, one guaranteed to leave Wick's life changed forever.

In my review of John Wick, I wrote that I had been a fan of Keanu Reeves since I first encountered him the 1980s in films like Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and River's Edge (1986), although I am not a fan of his popular 80s film, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).  I also wrote that I had never thought of Reeves as a great or even as a good actor; he is either way too stiff or too wooden as a performer.  That aside, I have enjoyed Reeves in films like the original Point Break (1991) and in The Matrix film trilogy.  Reeves' star has dimmed in recent years, but John Wick's success has been something of a revival of Reeves as an action movie star.

The sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, released in 2017, was an even bigger hit that the original film.  I knew that I would like John Wick just from the commercials and trailers for it, but I was not sure that I would like John Wick: Chapter 2.  Now, that I have seen it, I have to admit that I like it, even more than I did the first film.

I have to be honest.  I love the violent fight scenes and bloody shoot outs that often feature gunshots to the head and blood spurting... no... ejaculating from bodies and heads.  I know the sudden spurts and ejaculations of blood are merely computer-generated effects or practical special effects, but they still thrill me.  I like this film's high-quality production design and the cinematography.  The clothing and costumes are “swell,” and the hotels and other settings are snazzy.

In the middle of it all is one of my favorite movie stars, Keanu Reeves.  I enjoy his John Wick, and I love watching him kill those trying to kill him.  Hey... I'm not the only one enjoying this wanton cinematic, stylish, and slick violence.  There is a third John Wick film set to be released in a few days, as I write this review.  After John Wick: Chapter 2, oh, I am so ready for more.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, May 15, 2019


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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