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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 88 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux
John Carpenter’s Starman (1984)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITERS: Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon
PRODUCER: Larry J. Franco
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Donald M. Morgan (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Marion Rothman
COMPOSER: Jack Nitzsche
Academy Award nominee
SCI-FI/DRAMA/ROMANCE
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Phalen, and Tony Edwards
Starman is a 1984 American science fiction drama and romantic film from director John Carpenter. The original screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, with Dean Riesner committing re-writes for which he did not received a screen credit. Although the film was not a box office success, it inspired the short-lived “Starman” television series (ABC, 1986-87). Starman the movie focuses on a young Wisconsin widow; the alien who takes the form of her late husband; and their cross-country drive to help the alien make a rendezvous with the space ship that will take him home.
Starman begins with an alien being who finds his space probe shot down by the U.S. Air Force, causing the probe to crash land in Wisconsin. A pulsating, levitating blue orb, the alien enters the home of widow, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), where he jury-rigs or clones a body from the remains of Jenny’s late husband, Scott (Jeff Bridges). After much confusion and fear, Jenny helps the alien Scott travel to Arizona where he is to rendezvous with the mother ship in 3 days or die. Meanwhile, Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith), a SETI scientist who works for the government, and George Fox (Richard Jaeckel), a military officer, hotly pursue the peculiar pair of Scott and Jenny.
Jeff Bridges earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as an alien who crash lands on earth and assumes the form of young woman’s recently deceased husband. Starman is also in the fine tradition of road pictures that feature a mismatched couple learning about one another before discovering love. Bridges is superb as the awkward, not-quite-childlike alien visitor. He completely sells the idea that the alien is struggling to learn and to understand this world. Everything about him: the way he walks and stands, his speech pattern, the way he answers questions (or doesn’t), and the way he dresses is peculiar and calls attention to him. Having the alien Scott dress in red flannel shirt and wear a red cap makes him stand out in a film in which the photography emphasizes earth tones and the nights are murky.
Karen Allen is also good as the grieving widow; she reveals in her facial expressions the big lump of pain still in Jenny Hayden. Director John Carpenter does well to simply allow his leads to build their characters and nurture their screen chemistry so that by the end of the film, this otherworldly romance resonates.
7 of 10
B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Saturday, April 22, 2006
EDITED: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
NOTES:
1985 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Jeff Bridges)
1985 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama (Jeff Bridges) and “Best Original Score-Motion Picture” (Jack Nitzsche)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 of 2025 (No. 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux
Den of Thieves (2018)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity
DIRECTOR: Christian Gudegast
WRITERS: Christian Gudegast; from a story by Christian Gudegast and Paul Scheuring
PRODUCERS: Gerard Butler, Mark Canton, Alan Siegel, and Tucker Tooley
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen F. Windon (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: David S. Cox, Joel Cox, and Nathan Godley
COMPOSER: Cliff Martinez
ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackon, Jr., Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Maurice Compte, Brian Van Holt, Evan Jones, Mo McRae, Kaiwi Lyman, Dawn Olivieri, Cooper Andrews, Jermaine Rivers, and Eric Braedon
Den of Thieves is a 2018 American action thriller, crime drama, and heist film from writer-director Christian Gudegast. Den of Thieves focuses on the clash between an elite unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a very successful bank robbery crew.
Den of Thieves opens at night and informs the viewer that Los Angeles, California is the “bank robbery capital of the world.” In the city, there are 2400 bank robberies a year; 44 per week; 9 committed every day, which comes to about 1 every 48 minutes. That same night, Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) leads a team of fellow ex-MARSOC Marines (United States Marines Special Operations Command) to hijack an armored truck that stops at a donut shop. The ensuing shootout leaves several people dead, including one of Merrimen's crew.
Responding to the incident is Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Detective Nick “Big Nick” O'Brien (Gerard Butler) and his “Major Crimes Unit” team. O'Brien and his team have Merrimen as their lead suspect in hijacking. O'Brien and his crew are a “clique” or what is known as a “deputy gang.” Acting like gang members, O'Brien and his crew kidnap Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson, Jr.), an ex-marine who has been associated with Merrimen in the past, in order to coerce info on Wilson's alleged current association with Merrimen.
As his personal life falls apart, O'Brien gets more involved with Merrimen and his crew, even becoming more confrontational. When Merriment targets the Federal Reserve Bank – Los Angeles Branch for a seemingly impossible heist, O'Brien finds himself in a complicated game of cat and mouse. However, the reality of who is the cat and who are the mice is ever shifting.
I did not know that the Den of Thieves movie existed until I saw a commercial for its upcoming sequel, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025), about two weeks ago (as of this writing). I decided to watch the first film and found it on the “Max” streaming service. It was not long into watching the film that I realized how much it heavily resembles director Michael Mann's classic heist film, Heat (1995). One of the stars of Heat was the late actor, Tom Sizemore (1961-2023), and for some reason, Den of Thieves made me think of a short-lived television series in which Sizemore starred. That would be “Robbery Homicide Division” (CBS, September 2002 to April 2023), for which Mann was also an executive producer. [I really liked that show, by the way, and was sad when it was canceled.] However, “Robbery Homicide Division” focused on the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), rather than the L.A Sheriff's Department (LASD).
Den of Thieves is a very entertaining film, and will likely delight fans of Los Angeles-set crime films (although the film was actually mostly shot in and around Atlanta, Georgia). However, Den of Thieves' story and concept, which was created by writer-director Christian Gudegast and his now former partner, Paul Scheuring, would have been put to better use for a television series. Den of Thieves is filled with characters that have interesting back stories, but the film only shows us glimpses of that – mostly concerning Gerard Butler's Nick O'Brien.
For the most part, the Den of Thieves' character writing relies on types rather than on depicting fully developed characters. I can also say that the film's actors pretty much give one-note performances. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson's Enson Levoux has one great moment, one good moment, and mostly one-note moments the rest of the time. Evan Jones' striking facial features with the help of the Den of Thieves' hair and make-up team saves his one-note character, “Bosco.” By the end of the film, the viewer might realize that O'Shea Jackson, Jr.'s Donnie Wilson is a missed opportunity.
That said – I enjoyed the hell out of Den of Thieves, which makes me think that Hollywood never really maximized the rip-off potential of Michael Mann's Heat. Den of Thieves is engaging, and the big shoot-outs are a blast to watch. This film is alluring in what its potential offers – even in the times that it does not deliver on that potential. It is a good film made very good by its last act, which is full of twists and turns, surprises, and shocking reveals. I am not sure that I will see its sequel in a movie theater, but I will very likely re-watch Den of Thieves in the future.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2025 (No. 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux
Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – PG for martial arts action and some mild rude humor
DIRECTORS: Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni
WRITERS: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
PRODUCER: Melissa Cobb
EDITOR: Clare Knight
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
ANIMATION/MARTIAL ARTS/COMEDY/DRAMA
Starring: (voices) Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, J.K. Simmons, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim, and Jackie Chan
Kung Fu Panda 3 is a computer-animated, martial arts and comic-fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third entry in the Kung Fu Panda film series. In Kung Fu Panda 3, Po must finally discover if he is really the legendary Dragon Warrior when faced with a threat to everything dear to him.
Kung Fu Panda 3 opens in the Spirit Realm. There, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) fights General Kai (J.K. Simmons), his former friend, who has attacked him. Kai is a yak and spirit warrior who has defeated all the other deceased kung fu masters and has also stolen their vital energy or “chi” (here, personified at a flat jade stone). Kai steals Oogway's chi, but Oogway warns Kai that someone is destined to stop him. Kai returns to the Mortal Realm where he plans to destroy Oogway's legacy.
Meanwhile, in the Valley of Peace, Po (Jack Black), the giant panda, is living his best life as the legendary “Dragon Warrior.” Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) surprisingly announces that he is retiring from teaching and names Po as his successor. Although he does not believe that he can replace his master, Po finds that he is suddenly supposed to teach his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan).
Another surprise comes with the arrival of Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), a giant panda who turns out to be Po's father, which upsets Mr. Ping (James Hong), the Chinese goose who is Po's adoptive father. The excitement is tempered by the fact that Kai has begun his assault, but Po and company learn that Kai can only be defeated by a true master of chi. Po and Ping follow Li to the secret panda village where Li claims he can teach Po to master Chi. Now, Po must learn who he really is? Is he truly the Dragon Warrior and does he know himself enough to reach the Dragon Warrior's legendary destiny?
Like Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Kung Fu Panda 3 does have some really nice fight scenes. I had avoided it until I realized that I really wanted to see Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024), which meant I had to see the third film first. The film has the requisite visual splendor of dazzling colors, impressive production design, and superb character animation, However, this third part in the series is more about growth and development and about the transformation and inner journey of a character that is also known as the “character arc.”
Kung Fu Panda 3 is about Po finding out who he is and also about him learning to embrace what he can do – his destiny. He is meant to be the Dragon Warrior, he simply needs to believe it and also to understand that he cannot do it alone. Along the way, Kung Fu Pa 3 embraces the idea of families – traditional and blended. This film also has plenty of playful new characters (Kate Hudson's Mei Mei, the ribbon dancing panda) and rascally young'uns characters that are meant to engage younger audience members.
Kung Fu Panda 3 does meander quite a bit during its first act and also during quite a bit of its second or middle act. However, the film embraces it story of characters discovering that they are more than they know and that they can have more than one role in the lives of the people they love. This film has a scary villain in J.K. Simmons' General Kai, but he is just a side piece in the arc of Po's struggle. Kung Fu Panda 3 is really about the most difficult and consequential part of Po's journey – the journey into himself. Skadoosh!
The Six Triple Eight is one of the most beautiful and powerful films about World War II that has ever been made.
Its true story about a battalion of Black women soldiers who broke the logjam of mail that kept overseas American servicemen and their families back home from connecting will bring tears to your eyes
The Six Triple Eight is one of the year's best films, and Kerry Washington gives the heroic performance of her career.
The Six Triple Eight is a 2024 wartime drama and historical film from writer-director Tyler Perry. The film is based on the article, “WAC Corporal Lena Derriecott and the 6888th Central Postal Battalion,” written by Kevin M. Hymel and published in the February 2019 issue of WWII History Magazine. The article details the contributions of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-Black and all-female battalion, in World War II.
The film is a Netflix Original,” and it began streaming on the service December 20, 2024, after a limited theatrical run that began December 6, 2024. The Six Triple Eight the movie focuses on battalion of Black women soldiers who go overseas and take on the forces that are keeping American service personnel and their families back home from simply exchanging mail.
The Six Triple Eight introduces high school students and longtime friends, Lena Derriecott (Ebony Obsidian), a Black girl, and Abram David (Gregg Sulkin), a Jewish White boy. They are reckoning with the difficulties of their budding romance in Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Philadelphia, in the year 1942. David is enlisting in the U.S. military in order to serve in World War II, and he wants to be a pilot. David wants Lena to wait for him to return from the war when he will propose marriage to her, and, in the meantime, he gives her a promise ring.
Meanwhile, in rural West Virginia, a mother waits everyday for news about her two sons who are serving overseas in the war. She never gets any mail from her sons, and she later discovers that this is a problem all over the country. It turns out that there is a terrible backlog of undelivered mail. The mother approaches First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon), and she approaches her husband, President Franklin Roosevelt (Sam Waterston), and philanthropist and civil rights activist, Mary McLeod Bethune (Oprah Winfrey), to solve the overseas military mail problem.
Meanwhile, Lena has received terrible news, and it spurs her to join the Women's Army Corps (WAC). She travels to Georgia for basic training with the 6888th battalion – also known as “the Six Triple Eight” – where she meets her battalion commander, the indomitable Captain Chasity Addams (Kerry Washington). Despite being well trained, Capt. Adams and her battalion are never given any orders to serve from the War Department. Then, thanks to the efforts of the Roosevelts and Miss Bethune, the 6888th becomes “The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.”
Now, they must travel to Glasgow, Scotland where they have six months to sort through 17 million pieces of undelivered mail and packages. The must fight, however, a war on all fronts, fighting segregation and racism at home and abroad. Many White military commanders, officers, and soldiers do not believe they can sort through the backlog. Plus, some of these crackas will do everything to stop the Six Triple Eight from being successful.
If you, dear readers, wanted to watch World War II films based on on true events, you can find over eight decades of Hollywood films, including everything from recent films like Saving Private Ryan (1998), Hacksaw Ridge (2016), and Dunkirk (2017) to golden oldies like Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). However, the those films focus on White servicemen.
When it comes to the service of Black personnel during WWII, there is a virtual Hollywood wall of silence that has only rarely been broken by such films as the HBO television movie, The Tuskegee Airmen (1995); Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (2008), and the George Lucas-financed Red Tails (2012). Director Budd Boetticher's Red Ball Express (1952) is about a racially integrated platoon, but the film's leads are White males.
Tyler Perry, a filmmaker whose TV and film work, has been reviled by both Black and White critics and detractors, breaks the wall of silence that exists in front of the story of African-American WWII personnel. He has done it with The Six Triple Eight, the first such film in over a decade.
The film is filled with star-making turns by a cast of young African-American actresses who could see this movie launch their careers. Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott and Shanice Shantay as Johnnie Mae Burton are the most obvious, but though they shine, all the actors make the most of their roles in this film. I must say Dean Norris kills it as the Southern racist cracka-ass General Holt. However, Kerry Washington practically devours this film with her power-move turn as the wily, strong, survivor, Captain (later Major) Chasity Adams. In some ways, Adams is the co-lead with Derriecott, but there other times when the following point is clear. The real-life “Six Triple Eight” probably would have not survived without Adams, and The Six Triple Eight the film probably would not survive without Washington as Adams.
I like that Tyler Perry's direction captures the desperation of families on the home front and of the service personnel overseas who are not connecting because the mail isn't being delivered. Perry does not need to summon his usual melodramatic tropes to convey this to his audience, nor does he. Perry plainly states what his audience can clearly understand; the mail backlog is a desperate situation.
And what better way to portray how much the racist and segregated system was at work against the women of the 6888th than to detail how some thought it was more important to sabotage the women of this battalion than to actually let them do their jobs and get the mail through. Perry could have fallen back time and time again on depictions of verbal and physical racist violence, yet he didn't. The word, “nigger,” does not make many appearance in The Six Triple Eight. Perry merely had to show that in war we are sometimes our own worst enemy, and he showed the white devils who were against the “Six Triple Eight” in all their infamy.
The Six Triple Eight is Tyler Perry's best drama since 2010's For Colored Girls. Although there will likely be no Oscar nods for this film, The Six Triple Eight does not need them. It is more important that a Black filmmaker gets a chance or takes the opportunity to pierce the wall of silence about the honorable and heroic service of Black men and Black women during World War II. The Six Triple Eight is the soaring symphony that, at least for now, shatters that silence.
10 of 10
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
You can read Kevin M. Hymel's original article about the 6888th, "WAC Corporal Lena Derriecott and the 6888th Central Postal Battalion," here.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 of 2024 (No. 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux
Divorce in the Black (2024)
Running time: 143 minutes (2 hours, 23 minutes)
MPA – R for language, some sexual content and violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Will Areu, Tyler Perry, Angi Bones, Diane Ashford, and Meagan Good
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Watson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Storm Evans
COMPOSER: Sheri Chung
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: Meagan Good, Cory Hardrict, Joseph Lee Anderson, Taylor Polidore, Shannon Wallace, Richard Lawson, Debbi Morgan, Mark Elliot Brewer, Rakeem Laws, Berry Williams, Jr., Jeffrey Creightney, and Ursula O. Robinson
Divorce in the Black is a 2024 drama and thriller from writer-director Tyler Perry. The film is an Amazon “Prime Original,” and it began streaming on the service July 11, 2024. Divorce in the Black follows a young woman who is left heartbroken after her husband abandons their marriage.
Divorce in the Black introduces 37-year-old Ava (Meagan Good). She is the daughter of a preacher, Clarence (Richard Lawson) and a demur church-going woman, Gene (Debbi Morgan). Ava married Dallas Bertrand (Cory Hardrict), one of five sons from a family of trifling Negroes who were raised (not reared) by their obnoxious mother, Linda (Ursula O. Robinson)
Ava and Dallas's marriage was troubled from the start and is troubled now. The recent troubles begin with the funeral of Dallas' 39-year-old brother, Cody Bertrand, who had just been released from prison when someone he attempted to mug shot him to death. Ava's preacher father, Clarence, officiates the funeral, and he believes that he cannot lie and act as if Cody had been a decent person. Clarence's words about Cody lead the Bertrands to commit a horribly disgusting act in order to put an end to the funeral service.
Shortly after the funeral, Ava and Dallas return to their home in Atlanta. Dallas is feeling resentful, mainly egged on by his remaining brothers and his mother. He tells Ava that he wants a divorce and that he has already taken care of everything. He says all she needs to do is sign the divorce papers. Ava is heartbroken and grief-stricken by this terrible turn of events. She returns to her parents home in rural Georgia. Eventually, she finds solace and friendship by reuniting with an old friend, Benji (Joseph Lee Anderson), which could turn romantic. Dallas, however, starts to feel cheated when he discovers that Ava and Benji are seeing each other, and he begins to grow increasingly violent. Now, Ava will have to make the toughest decisions of her life.
I thought that Mea Culpa, a “Netflix Original” film released in February (2024), was likely Tyler Perry's craziest non-Madea film to date, being even wackier than his 2013 film, Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor. Now, I'm declaring that Divorce in the Black, released mere months after Mea Culpa, is Perry's craziest film. In many ways, Divorce in the Black is not a good film. After its jaw-dropping opening act, the film's narrative has a hard time finding its footing. It meanders, mostly focusing on Ava's grief over the sudden divorce announcement.
[Apparently, “divorce in the black” means a divorce in which you gain something or remain in the positive after the conclusion. “Divorce in the red” means to lose something or end up in the negative after it is all over.]
Divorce in the Black redeems itself with an entertainingly outrageous and outrageously entertaining last act. I wouldn't call Dallas' actions throughout the film over-the-top. They're quite believable, and, in fact, I've known or heard of men like him. What makes the ending of Divorce in the Black so satisfactory is Ava's change in attitude and Dallas' comeuppance. I can't remember the last time I so enjoyed an African-American male character suffering something similar to Dallas' fate. However, dear readers, you have to wade through a lot of mixed-bag storytelling and almost two hours of questionable runtime to get to the end's immense satisfaction.
I mainly watched Divorce in the Black because I wanted to do some Tyler Perry catch-up before I watched his latest “Netflix Original,” the historical drama, The Six Triple Eight. So I judge Divorce in the Black as mainly being fit for fans engaged in watching most of, if not all, of Perry's filmography.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2024 (No. 1999) by Leroy Douresseaux
Moana 2 (2024)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40)
MPA – PG for action/peril
DIRECTORS: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
WRITERS: Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller; Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller and Bek Smith
PRODUCERS: Christina Chen and Yvette Merino
EDITORS: Michael Louis Hill and Jeremy Milton
ORIGINAL SONGS: Opetaia Foa'il, Mark Mancina, Abigail Barlow, and Emily Bear
COMPOSER: Mark Mancina
ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL and FAMILY/DRAMA
Starring: (voices) Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Amhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Gerald Ramsey, and Alan Tudyk
SUMMARY OF REVIEW:
Moana 2 is not as inspired as the original film, but this sequel charts its own path towards adventure
The title character, Moana, is still a hero who takes her friends and the audience on the greatest of adventures, and that is more than enough reason for fans of the original film to come back for more in Moana 2
Moana 2 is a 2024 American computer-animated, fantasy-adventure, and musical film directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller. It is produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios – the 63rd full-length animated feature film produced by that studio, and it is a Walt Disney Pictures release. The film is a direct sequel to the 2016 animated feature, Moana. Moana 2 finds Moana and Maui on a journey to find a lost island that could reunite the people of the ocean.
Moana 2 opens three years after the adventures Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) had with the demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and the island goddess of Te Fiti (as seen in Moana). Moana is now officially her people's “wayfinder.” She has spent the time since then exploring the islands near her home island of Motunui in the hope that she will find other people connected to the ocean.
During a celebration, Moana has a vision of her wayfinding ancestor, Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey). He reveals why none of those peoples are connected anymore. A long time ago, the malicious storm god, Nalo, wanted power over the mortals. To gain that power, Nalo sunk a legendary island called “Motufetu,” the island which connected all islands and the people of the sea, down to the depths of the ocean. Tautai also warns Moana that the people of Motunui will go extinct in the future if Moana cannot find a way to raise Motufetu.
Moana assembles a wayfinding crew of people from Motunui: the clever craftswoman, Loto (Rose Matafeo); the tribal historian and Maui fanboy, Moni (Haulalai Chung); and a grumpy elderly farmer, Keke (David Fane), alongside her pet pig, Pua, and pet rooster, Heihei. They set off in a boat designed and built by Loto, to follow the path of a meteor that Tautai says will blaze a trail across the ocean towards Motufetu. But first, Moana and her crew must find Maui, who just so happens is being held prisoner by the forces aligned against Moana's quest.
I wrote this in my recent review of the first film, Moana: I always struggle with writing reviews of modern Disney computer-animated feature films. The animation is always superb. The character design is consistently imaginative and inventive, and the character animation – regardless of whether the characters are human, animals, creatures of fantasy, or machines – is flawless. The production design, art direction, set decoration, and graphic design are so good that just about every Disney animated movie gets its own art book – deservedly so.
Well, I don't have to struggle with my review of Moana 2 because it looks just as good as the first film. While the tattoos on Maui's body are still good, they don't get as much screen time as they did in the original film, so they can't steal the show. Instead, Moana has a little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert Tsuda), who does that in several scenes set on Motunui.
Moana 2 is very entertaining, but it is not quite as good as the original film. Because we know many of the characters, especially Moana and Maui, there is not the same joy of discovery. The call to adventure is not as complicated in Moana 2 as it was the first time. It is pretty straightforward here: find Motufetu. And the big showdown in Moana 2 is not quite the showdown the first film offered. Moana 2 simply lacks the inspiration of Moana.
That said, Moana 2 offers stunning imagery that overrides the moments when the story drags or goes adrift, and the film moves towards new horizons for the franchise. Moana, once again superbly given voice by actress Auli'i Cravalho, and Maui, once again made cool by Dwayne Johnson's voice performance, are still great characters. And they go on the best adventures.
Moana 2 is the kind of big, colorful, soaring animated adventure that we expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is not perfect, but it is the kind of film that keeps me loving the world's longest-running animation studio. Fans of Moana and of Disney Animation will not want to miss Moana 2.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2024 (No. 1996) by Leroy Douresseaux
Gladiator II (2024)
Running time: 148 minutes (2 hours, 28 minutes)
MPA – R for strong bloody violence
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WRITERS: David Scarpa; from a story by Peter Craig and David Scarpa (based on the characters created by David Franzoni)
PRODUCERS: David Franzoni, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, and Ridley Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Sam Restivo and Claire Simpson
COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams
DRAMA/HISTORICAL
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi,Yuval Gonen, Rory McCann, Matt Lucas, Alexander Karim, and Peter Mensah with Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington
SUMMARY OF THIS REVIEW:
“Gladiator II” is slavishly devoted to its predecessor, 2000's “Best Picture” Oscar-winner, “Gladiator,” sometimes to its detriment.
The new film's lead, Paul Mescal, carries this film with help from Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Alexander Karim, and with a delightfully nutty turn by Denzel Washington.
Ultimately, “Gladiator II” does stand on its own because of big action set pieces, heart-stopping gladiator combat, and a crazy final duel.
Gladiator II is a 2024 drama and historical film from director Ridley Scott. It is a sequel to the Academy Award-winning “Best Picture of the Year” (2000), Gladiator. Gladiator II focuses on a soldier-turned-slave who must look to his past if he is going to return the glory of Rome to its people as his late grandfather once wished.
Gladiator opens sixteen years after the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Rome is ruled by the corrupt twin brothers, Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), and the corruption is so terrible that the city of Rome seems near collapse.
Meanwhile, General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) lead's the Roman navy in an invasion of the North African province of Numidia. Acacius is unaware that Numidia is the home of Marcus Aurelius' grandson, Lucius Verus Aurelius (Paul Mescal), who now goes by the name “Hanno.” During the battle, Acacius orders the killing of Hanno's wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen), and Hanno is taken prisoner.
Hanno is sold to Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a stablemaster who owns and trains gladiators, and Hanno proves to be a talented gladiator. In him, Macrinus sees an opportunity to position himself next to power in Rome, so he offers Hanno a path to revenge against Acacius. However, Acacius' wife is Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and she is starting to believe that she recognizes this alluring stranger who calls himself Hanno.
In anticipation of seeing Gladiator II, I decided to watch the original film, Gladiator (2000) in its entirety for the first time since I first saw it in a movie theater with some friends back in May of 2000. I have to be honest, Gladiator II is not nearly the film that Gladiator is, and that's okay.
Gladiator II is a very good film on its own. The “battle for Numidia,” which is in the film's first act, is as exciting and as gory as I expected it to be. The gladiatorial events in the new film are quite nice, although admittedly not as nice as the original's.
As the lead in Gladiator II, Paul Mescal as Hanno/Lucius is not as powerful as Russell Crowe was as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator. Crowe stood astride that film, using his dominating screen presence to carry Gladiator's straightforward, sword-and-sandals, revenge tale to box office and Oscar glory. Gladiator II does not give Mescal a straightforward, sword-and-sandals tale of revenge. The Rome of this new film is a hot mess of corruption, led by two homicidal narcissists. The Roman emperors of this film, Geta and Caracalla, are not as lusciously evil as Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor Commodus in the original film. They are simply petty, murderous, vain, egotistical tyrants. Thus, Hanno/Lucius' revenge story is overshadowed by the hot mess that is Geta/Caracalla's Rome, which is complicated by the shifting schemes of Denzel Washington's Macrinus.
Still, Mescal manages to make Hanno/Lucius the center of Gladiator II, even as director Ridley Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa chase the ghosts of the original film. Mescal brings balance to Hanno/Lucius rage with thoughtfulness and humility that truly makes the character not so much the lone hero, as he is one-of-the-people and a man of the people who can start Rome on a path to redemption.
Gladiator II is also helped by the fact that Denzel Washington, as Macrinus, delivers a dominating performance that makes his supporting character a co-lead. Paul Mescal may be a rising star, but Denzel Washington is the kind of established movie star and Hollywood icon whose presence is fuels a film's theatrical push.
Gladiator II won't get out of Gladiator's shadow, but its wild battle scenes and crazy gladiatorial spectacles combined with some key performances should allow the new film to casts its own shadow. Besides, if you have seen Gladiator, dear readers, you know that you are itching to see Gladiator II.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 of 2024 (No. 1994) by Leroy Douresseaux
Gladiator (2000)
Running time: 155 minutes (2 hours, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense, graphic combat
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WRITERS: David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson (from a story by David Franzoni)
PRODUCERS: David Franzoni, Branko Lustig, and Douglas Wick
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson
EDITOR: Pietro Scalia
COMPOSERS: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
Academy Award winner
DRAMA/HISTORICAL
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, David Schofield, John Shrapnel, Tomas Arana, Ralf Moeller, Spencer Treat Clark, David Hemmings, and Tommy Flanagan
Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott. At the 73rd Academy Awards (March 2001), the film won the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year 2000. Gladiator focuses on a Roman general who is reduced to slavery, becomes a gladiator, and takes on a corrupt Roman emperor in order to exact vengeance upon him.
Gladiator opens in the year 180 AD in the region known as Germania. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) prepares to end his 17-year campaign against the barbarian tribes in their final stronghold in the region. The Roman general, Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), a Spaniard, intends to return home after he leads the Roman army to victory against the barbarians. After the battle, Emperor Aurelius tells Maximus that he does not wish to make his own son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the next emperor because he is unfit to rule. Instead, the emperor wants Maximus, who is like a son to him, to succeed him and act as the regent who will restore the Roman Republic.
After secretly murdering his father, Aurelius, Commodus proclaims himself the new emperor. After Maximus spurns his request for loyalty, Commodus has Maximus arrested and orders him executed. Commodus also has the Spaniard's family murdered. After foiling the attempt to execute him, Maximus, badly wounded, is unable to save his family. Maximus is later found and sold into slavery and becomes the property of Proximo (Oliver Reed), a man who trains slaves to become gladiators whom he forces into fighting in gladiatorial events.
Meanwhile, in Rome, Commodus decides to stage 150 days of games, including gladiatorial events held at “The Colosseum.” Seeking newfound wealth, Proximo enters his gladiators, which now include Maximus and Juba (Djimon Hounsou), an African Maximus has befriended. Fate has brought Maximus to Commodus. Now, the general who became a slave is now a gladiator who just might save Rome when he exacts his vengeance upon the new emperor for murdering his family.
In anticipation of the upcoming, Gladiator II, I decided to watch the original film in its entirety for the first time since I first saw it in a movie theater with some friends back in May of 2000. Since then, I have re-watched parts of Gladiator of during cable broadcasts more time than I can remember, but I felt that it was time to watch the entire thing again and commit a review.
Gladiator is a great film because it recalls what Hollywood has always done well, historical epics that are more epic than they are history. The screenplay is a collection of familiar tropes (sword and sandals); stock characters (the crazy usurper; the put-upon woman; the wronged hero); and beloved settings (the Roman empire). The script is really nothing to write home about. The cast and crew and the director and his creative cohorts are the people who turn Gladiator into one of those truly great films that gave the twentieth century a grand Hollywood send-off.
Gladiator is probably director Ridley Scott's slickest and most polished Hollywood film. The film's narrative heart beats strong because Scott gets the best out of his film editor, film music composers, production designer and set decorator, and cinematographer. Everyone pulls together to make this film a visually sumptuous masterpiece, the kind that pounds audiences until they stop resisting and give into the bliss of a grand cinematic epic made in a true Hollywood style.
However, I think the actors are the true heart of Gladiator, delivering performances that make even the least famous of them seem like movie stars. Richard Harris is philosophical and earnest as the doomed Emperor Marcus Aurelius, while Joaquin Phoenix turns what could have been a clownish role into an unpredictable, but alluring reptilian super man-beast, the usurper Emperor Commodus. Oliver Reed, in his final role, made Proximo real and really lovable. And it's sad that Djimon Hounsou as Maximus' steady, philosophic friend, Juba, got almost no love from the various movie award-giving organizations.
The king – or emperor, if you will – of Gladiator is Russell Crowe. Maximus Decimus Meridius is one of Crowe's finest roles, even if it isn't one of his most subtle, graceful, and profound performances. Crowe carries this movie, and Gladiator defeats its own warts because Crowe is its true and one and only Gladiator. Crowe is the center and the beating heart of Gladiator, and the passage of a quarter-century has not changed that. Gladiator remains a great work of Hollywood cinema because it has what the great works of Hollywood must have – a movie star that radiates enough light to blind us to the blemishes of film with ambitions to be great.
9 of 10
A+
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
NOTES:
2001 Academy Awards, USA: 5 wins: “Best Picture” (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig), “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), and “Best Costume Design” (Janty Yates), “Best Sound” (Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, Ken Weston, and John Nelson), and “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey); 7 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Joaquin Phoenix), “Best Director” (Ridley Scott), “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (David Franzoni-screenplay and story, John Logan-screenplay, and William Nicholson-screenplay), “Best Cinematography” (John Mathieson), “Best Film Editing” (Pietro Scalia), “Best Music, Original Score” (Hans Zimmer), and “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Arthur Max-art director and Crispian Sallis-set decorator)
2001 BAFTA Awards: 4 wins: “Best Film” (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig), “Best Cinematography” (John Mathieson), “Best Production Design” (Arthur Max), “Best Editing” (Pietro Scalia); 10 nominations: “David Lean Award for Direction” (Ridley Scott), “Best Screenplay-Original” (David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Joaquin Phoenix), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Oliver Reed-posthumously), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard), “Best Costume Design” (Janty Yates), “Best Sound” (Ken Weston, Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and Per Hallberg), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Nelson, Tim Burke, Rob Harvey, and Neil Corbould), and “Best Make Up/Hair” (Paul Engelen and Graham Johnston)
2001 Golden Globes, USA: 2 wins: “Best Motion Picture-Drama” and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard); 3 nominations: “Best Director-Motion Picture” (Ridley Scott), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Russell Crowe), and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Joaquin Phoenix)
Of course, there is no such place, but the boys are trying to get Luisa to join them on a road trip to the fictitious locale. Although she at first declines the sweet offer, Luisa changes her mind when she receives two pieces of bad news practically simultaneously. Once on the journey, however, the trio finds that their little escapade is riddled with conflict and sometimes interrupted by moments of seduction.
2003 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón)
2003 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Alfonso Cuarón and Jorge Vergara) and “Best Screenplay – Original” (Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón)
2002 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Mexico)
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 epic science fiction and drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve. It is the second part of the two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel, Dune, written by author Frank Herbert. The first part is entitled Dune (or Dune: Part One) and was released in 2021. Dune: Part Two focuses on a vengeful young nobleman who unites the desert people of the planet Arrakis behind his war against the noble house that betrayed and murdered his father.
Dune: Part Two opens in the wake of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and House Harkonnen's destruction of Duke Leto Atreides and the House Atreides. Now, the Baron's nephew, Lord Rabban (Dave Bautista), has control over the desert planet, Arrakis, and over the production of the most valuable substance in the universe, which is known as “Spice.” A highly-addictive drug, Spice extends human vitality and life and is absolutely necessary for space travel. Spice is only found on Arrakis.
Jessica belongs to the Bene Gesserit, a powerful sisterhood who wield advance mental and physical abilities. The Bene Gesserit have a prophecy concerning a “superbeing,” called the “Kwisatz Haderach,” and Paul may be this superbeing because of the machinations of his mother. Stilgar believes that Paul is the prophesied Fremen messiah, the “Lisan al-Gaig.” This belief spread once Paul takes the name Paul Muad'dib Usul.
However, Chani (Zendaya), a young and rebellious Fremen warrior (“Fedaykin”), believes that the messianic prophecies are nothing more than a fabrication meant to manipulate the Fremen. However, as “the Battle for Arrakis” begins, Chani finds herself having strong feelings for Paul and follows him into battle against the Harkonnen, for better or worse.
Dune and Dune: Part Two combine to form the third screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel. The others were writer-director David Lynch's 1984 film, Dune, and writer-director John Harrison's 2000 television miniseries, also entitled “Dune.” Also, there is a French/U.S. documentary film, entitled Jodorowskys Dune, that chronicles director Alejandro Jodorowsky's doomed attempt to adapt the novel into film in the 1970s.
Because HBO is preparing to release its Dune television series, “Dune: Prophecy,” I decided to finally see Dune: Part Two. A horrible illness forced me to miss the film's theatrical release earlier this year. Having finally seen it, I wish I had watched it in a movie theater, although IMAX is not an option for me. Dune: Part Two should be seen on a screen in a movie theater. It is one of the most epic science fiction films that I have ever experienced. The production values, cinematography, film editing, production design, art direction and sets, hair and make-up, and costumes are separately some of the best seen in science fiction cinema thus far in the twenty-first century. Director Denis Villeneuve is more than well-served by these collaborators.
He is also well-served by his co-writers, as the screenplay captures the religious and spiritual dogma and messianic madness that drives much of Dune's narrative. As impressive as this film is from a storytelling point of view, the Fremen's faith is freaking scary and dominates the film. That's why I think Hans Zimmer's film score sounds like it belongs in a horror movie. Quite a bit of Zimmer's musical score is like the spiritual cousin of composer Henry Manfredini's “ch ch ch ah ah ah” sound effect for the 1980 film, Friday the 13th.
There are a number of great performances here. Austin Butler, who surprised in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis (2022), does killer work in Dune: Part Two as Baron Harkonnen's psychotic nephew, na-Baron Fedy-Rautha. Dune's make-up artists serve him well as Butler fashions a character that is as impish and devilish as he is relentlessly homicidal.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 of 2024 (No. 1987) by Leroy Douresseaux
Uglies (2024)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for some violence and action, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: McG
WRITERS: Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson (based on the novel by Scott Westerfeld)
PRODUCERS: John David, Jordan Davis, McG, Robyn Meisinger, Dan Spilo, and Mary Viola
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Xiaolong Liu
EDITORS: Martin Bernfeld and Brad Besser
COMPOSER: Edward Shearmur
SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION
Starring: Joey King, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox, Charmin Lee, Jay DeVon Johnson, Jan Luis Castellanos, Zamani Wilder, Joseph Echavarria, Gabriella Garcia, Ash Maeda, Jordan Sherley, Sarah Vattano, and Ashton Essex Bright
SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:
Uglies is an entertaining and good, but not great science fiction film, but unlike The Hunger Games films, Uglies leans more towards teen viewers than it does towards a general adult audience
The film has high production values, which really show in the scenes that take place in “The City”
Although it leans towards younger viewers, Uglies makes points about conformity and individuality as fiercely as grown-up science fiction films
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Uglies is a 2024 American science fiction-drama film from director McG. The film is based on the 2005 novel, Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. Uglies is a Netflix Original and debuted on the Netflix streaming service September 13, 2024. Uglies the movie is set in a futuristic society in which everyone is considered “ugly” until the receive the compulsory operation that makes them “pretty,” and it focuses on a teen girl who begins to have doubts about the surgery.
Uglies opens in a world that once saw civilization fall apart. In the future, humanity exhausts the planet of all its natural resources. The result is chaos, war, and destruction. Eventually, science creates a new energy source and also develops a surgery that makes everyone “pretty.” This new society believes that if everyone is perfect and thinks alike, then, there won't be any conflict. Everyone gets the surgery which transforms them into one of the “Pretties” at the age of 16.
When the story begins, Tally Youngblood (Joey King) is three months away from her 16th birthday and her surgery. She lives in a dorm with all the other kids who have not had the surgery and who are known as “Uglies.” However, her friend, Peris (Chase Stokes), is about to have the surgery that will make him pretty. Tally and Peris promise to keep in touch after he moves to “the City” where all the “Pretties” live, but things don't work out as they planned.
Tally befriends fellow “ugly,” Shay (Brianne Tju), and Shay has a secret. There is a place outside the City called “The Smoke.” It is a land of freedom and nature, and the people there have not had the surgery. The community is lead by the mysterious David (Keith Powers). Tally is intrigued, but she is caught in the middle. One part of her wants to be independent and different, but another part of her wants to have the surgery, become pretty, and look like everyone else. The decision Tally makes will change the lives of people both in the City and in the Smoke.
I have not read the novel, Uglies, or its sequels. However, I became familiar with the series through a pair of paperback original graphic novels based on the books, Uglies: Shay's Story and Uglies: Cutters, both released in 2012.
I don't see Uglies the movie as being similar to other films based on young adult (YA) dystopian science fiction novels, such as The Hunger Games (2012) and Divergent (2014). Uglies has me thinking about another dystopian science fiction film adapted from a novel. That would be the 1976 film, Logan's Run, based on the 1967 novel, Logan's Run, which was written by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. I recently watch Logan's Run on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network, and I thought of it as I watched Uglies. Both stories deal with characters forced to decide whether it is better to live in a safe, clean, and conformist, though macabre dystopian society or in the great wide and wild open.
Beyond similarities to the aforementioned films, Uglies deals with themes of change, both emotional and physical. Yes, Uglies can seem superficial at times. The film's special visual effects turn the City into a shining and gleaming Oz of non-stop parties under a sky lit up pyrotechnic fireworks. Behind the prettiness, however, is Joey King as Tally doing her best to convey the internal struggles inside the girl. King delivers a strong performance that sells the world of Uglies the film because it would crumble without a strong dramatic lead, which King is here. King makes Tally's conflicts seem genuine, and I often found myself confused by her motivations and actions because they felt like the result of an internal struggle. As slight as the film feels, King makes Tally feel like a real young woman struggling with a decision that will change her in ways she may not like, but a change she believes she has to accept.
The Uglies novel is the first in a series, so Uglies the movie could have a sequel. While it is good, but not great, Uglies is still a dystopian sci-fi film that the family can enjoy together.
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)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2024 (No. 1974) by Leroy Douresseaux
They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPA – R for pervasive language, violence, some sexual material and drug use
DIRECTOR: Juel Taylor
WRITERS: Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor
PRODUCERS: Jamie Foxx, Charles D. King, Stephen “Dr.” Love, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Datari Turner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ken Seng (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Saira Haider
COMPOSERS: Pierre Charles and Desmond Murray
SCI-FI/COMEDY/DRAMA and MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, David Alan Grier, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tamberla Perry, Eric B. Robinson Jr., Trayce Malachi, Leon Lamar, Joshua Mikel, and Keifer Sutherland and Jamie Foxx
They Cloned Tyrone is a 2023 American science fiction comedy-drama and mystery-thriller from director Juel Taylor. After receiving a limited theatrical release, the film began streaming on Netflix on July 21, 2023 as a “Netflix Original.” The film focuses on a drug dealer, a pimp, and sex worker, who must uncover a bizarre mystery that seems to originate from an underground facility beneath their predominantly Black neighborhood.
They Cloned Tyrone focuses on Fontaine (John Boyega), a drug dealer living and slanging in the predominantly African-American, poverty-stricken, and crime ridden suburban neighborhood called “the Glen.” One night, Fontaine arrives at the hotel hideaway of the pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), to get money owed to him. Slick freaks out when he sees Fontaine, who apparently had visited him the previous night just before being gunned down by Isaac (Eric B. Robinson Jr.), a rival drug dealer.
Fontaine does not remember the previous night's events, so Slick takes him to one of his ho's, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), in order to confirm his claims of Fontaine's death. Yo-Yo does just that, but later, a series of eerie events thrusts the three onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. But can a drug dealer, a pimp, and a ho really solve a mind-bending mystery that threatens not only their own neighborhood, but Black neighborhoods everywhere?
They Cloned Tyrone got lost in the glare of two of 2023's mega-box office hits, the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer. This month – specifically July 14th – is the one year anniversary of its limited theatrical release. I had been putting off seeing They Cloned Tyrone, so I thought now was a good time to do so.
In They Cloned Tyrone, co-writer-director Juel Taylor and co-writer Tony Rettenmaier make many references to American popular storytelling via the characters dialogue. However, the film's plot and narrative reference numerous previous Black speculative and genre films. They Cloned Tyrone's conspiracy around consumer products recalls the blaxploitation homage and spoof films, Undercover Brother (2002) and Black Dynamite (2009). Director Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) are spectral presences in They Cloned Tyrone's narrative, and I also see a passing resemblance to elements from Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You (2018). The essences of two landmark 1971 films, A Clockwork Orange and Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song, as well as that of the 1988 cult classic, They Live, are in pungent evidence here.
Still, They Cloned Tyrone is an original. It is a gleeful comedy and satire of America. It also manages to be a bolder and more imaginative science fiction film than the pew-pew-pew, space opera epics that pass for modern sci-fi cinematic storytelling. Taylor and Rettenmaier are correct. The Founding Father's of the United States of America came up with some high ideals, but then, died and left us with the messy reality of a fractured disunited state of affairs. These two writers are among the few to plainly state via metaphor and allegory that for too long, Black people have carried the weight of fixing that mess and trying to make the experiment called America an actual thing.
The film has great production values all around, from cinematography and editing to art direction, costume design, and score. You might, dear readers, miss that because They Cloned Tyrone is such an engaging, crazy, lovable story driven by powerhouse performances. John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris give killer performances, and if they were nepo babies, at least one of them (likely Foxx) would have received Oscar nominations for his or her performance here. Parris clearly has leading lady chops, which she wields in this film to make herself a co-lead rather than a supporting player. Foxx balances pathos and absurdity in making Slick Charles a wonderfully engaging and exceedingly likable character.
But John Boyega: let's be honest. His career in America has not exploded like that of his Star Wars sequel trilogy co-star, Adam Driver... and we know why. Boyega is every bit as good as everything that passes for the young Hollywood's A-list. Boyega disappears inside Fontaine and makes him not so much a tragic figure or even criminal for that matter. Fontaine's is the hero's journey even if he is not fair of hair and skin. Boyega has moments here that are most poignant and dramatic and that only an actor both talented and skilled can pull off.
Boyega makes They Cloned Tyrone more than satire, blaxploitation, horror, science fiction, and absurdist comedy. Boyega gives the film dramatic heft and weight. They Cloned Tyrone is memorable and is also one of 2023's very best films because John Boyega is one of a kind.
10 of 10
Monday, July 15, 2024
NOTES:
2024 NAACP Image Awards: 9 nominations: “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Breakthrough Creative-Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Cinematography in a Motion Picture” (Ken Seng), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier), and “Outstanding Stunt Ensemble-Television or Film”
2024 Black Reel Awards: 8 nominations: “Outstanding Lead Performance” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Supporting Performance” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Screenplay” (Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Kim Coleman), “Outstanding Emerging Director” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Score” (Desmond Murray and Pierre Charles), “Outstanding Costume Design” (Francine Jamison-Tanchuck), and “Outstanding Editing” (Saira Haider)
