Review: "American Graffiti" is Still Crusin' to Rock 'n' Roll 50 Years On

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 of 2023 (No. 1934) by Leroy Douresseaux

American Graffiti (1973)

Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR:  George Lucas

WRITERS:  George Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck

PRODUCERS:  Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz

CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Jan D'Alquen (D.o.P.) and Ron Eveslage (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MUSIC

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, and Harrison Ford

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming-of-age, music-driven, comedy and drama film directed by George Lucas.  Lucas, who co-wrote the screenplay with the husband and wife team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based the story on his experiences in the cruising, and street-racing, and rock 'n' roll cultures of his youth.  American Graffiti focuses on a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of one summer night in 1962.

American Graffiti opens in the Summer 1962.  The location is California's central valley, apparently in and around the city of Modesto.  There, through a series of vignettes, we watch as a group of teenagers enjoy the last evening of their summer vacation.

For recent high school graduates and friends, Curtis “Curt” Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard), this is their last night in town before they board a plane the next day and go “back east” for college.  Steve doesn't believe that he can achieve the goals his wants by staying home, even if leaving means parting from his girlfriend, Curt's sister, Laurie (Cindy Williams).  However, Curt, who has recently received scholarship money from a local business group, isn't sure that he wants to leave.  Besides, tonight, he wants to chase the mystery woman who has caught his eye, a blonde driving a white Ford Thunderbird.

Curt and Steve's two friends are also having a big night.  The first is John Milner (Paul Le Mat), the central valley drag-racing king.  He has just learned that someone wants to challenge him for his crown, a confident ladies' man named Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford).  Meanwhile, the second character is the unpopular, but well-meaning Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith), who has just come into possession of Steve's car.  He is supposed to protect it until Steve returns from “back east” for Christmas.  Tonight, however, Terry hopes the car will help him land a date.  Meanwhile, in the background, the popular disc jockey, Wolfman Jack (himself), plays an array of rock 'n' roll hits.

As “DVD Netflix” prepares to shutdown, I've been racing to catch up on certain films that I have never seen or have not seen in a long time.  I recently decided to sample some films in which 2023 is the fiftieth anniversary of their original theatrical releases.  That includes such films as Walt Disney's Robin Hood, (hopefully)Woody Allen's Sleeper, and the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon.

As a kid, I was aware of American Graffiti long before I ever saw it.  I was and still am a huge fan of American Graffiti director, George Lucas's most famous film, Star Wars (1977).  So, as a kid, I read every article I could find about Star Wars, and they often mentioned his two earlier feature-length films, THX-1138 (1971) and American Graffiti.  [I also vaguely remember the release of the sequel, More American Graffiti.]

I also knew that a few film and television stars that I liked had starred or appeared in American Graffiti, specifically Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford.  Besides that fact that American Graffiti was a George Lucas movie, Ford was the other reason I most wanted to see the film.

I finally first saw American Graffiti on television, and though my memory is hazy on the facts, I'm sure I saw it at least a few years after the release of the sequel.  I remember liking it, enough that I planned on watching it again.  Decades later, this recent viewing is the first time that I've seen the film since that first viewing.

I still like it a lot.  I'm still a fan of Ford, Howard, and Dreyfuss, and along the way, I became a fan of some of its other young stars, including Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, and the recently-deceased Bo Hopkins (1938-2022).  The truth is that I'm crazy about the Hollywood icon, Harrison Ford, and, as for as I'm concerned, any movie with Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith as actors is cinematic porn.  [Both Howard and Smith are also film directors.]

Watching the film this time, I was initially annoyed by Lucas' method of telling this story in a series of vignettes that constantly moved from one character to the next.  The film essentially has four plots that revolve around one of four characters, Curt, Steve, John, or Terry.  It took me nearly half the film to realize that the vignettes allow Lucas to depict and to reveal each one of these four young men's goals, conflicts, and fears.  This depiction of their inner selves makes them more interesting to me.  Not only did I root for them, but I also wanted to know more about them.  I wanted to know what was going to happen to them, both in the immediate and far future.

American Graffiti apparently helped launch a wave of nostalgia for and interest in the culture and times of the 1950s and early 1960s or at least an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of it.  The film apparently renewed the ABC network's interest in what would become one of its most popular sitcoms, “Happy Days” (1974-84).  That long-running and popular television series also presented an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Thus, as much as I enjoyed this viewing of American Graffiti, and as much as I'm interested in its characters, I done with it.  I'm not done with its lovely soundtrack – played in the background so that both the characters and audiences can hear these early classics of rock 'n' roll.  These musical recordings make this special night in the summer of 1962 really special.  Still, American Graffiti is an ode to George Lucas' memories.  It is a cinematic dream he fashioned from the varied experiences of his privileged youth.  I don't really relate to it the way I do other films that are also far from my experiences – such as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) or Licorice Pizza (2021).

I wouldn't call American Graffiti a great film, so much as I'd call it a unique and important American film.  Why is it important?  Well, American Graffiti is a prime example of the fantasies that the Hollywood dream factory can make of real moments in time.  It's George Lucas' story – his story – presented as a fairy tale about one unforgettable night that will never be repeated.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 28, 2023

You can buy the American Graffiti film and soundtrack at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1974 Academy Awards, USA:  5 nominations: “Best Picture” (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Candy Clark), “Best Director” (George Lucas), “Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced” (George Lucas Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck), and “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas)

1975 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Cindy Williams)

1974 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” or “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” (Paul Le Mat); 2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Richard Dreyfuss) and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (George Lucas)

1995 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  “National Film Registry”

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: What's Love Got to Do With It" - The First Time the Oscars Screwed Angela Bassett

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 of 2023 (No. 1902) by Leroy Douresseaux

What's Love Got to Do With It (1993)

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

MPAA – R for domestic violence, strong language, drug use and some sexuality

DIRECTOR:  Brian Gibson

WRITER:  Kate Lanier (based on the book, I, Tina, by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder)

PRODUCERS:  Doug Chapin, Barry Krost, and Kate Lanier

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jamie Anderson

EDITOR:  Stuart Pappé

COMPOSER:  Stanley Clarke

Academy Award nominee

BIOPIC/DRAMA/MUSIC

Starring:  Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis, Chi McBride, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Pamela Tyson, Khandi Alexander, Penny Johnson, Richard T. Jones, James Reyne, and RaéVen Kelly

What's Love Got to Do with It is a 1993 biopic and music film directed by Brian Gibson.  It is an adaptation of the 1986 autobiography, I, Tina, by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder and is also based on the life of American music icon and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Tina Turner.

The film takes its name from Tina's 1984 hit single, “What's Love Got to Do with It,” which was a Billboard magazine “Hot 100” #1 single.  What's Love Got to Do With It the movie is a fictional depiction of Tina's professional and personal life with her former husband, the late Ike Turner (1931-2007), who was a musician, bandleader, record producer, singer-songwriter and Grammy Award winner.  The film follows Tina Turner's life from her upbringing in rural Tennessee (early 1950s), through her rise to music stardom and her abusive marriage to Ike Turner (1960s-70s), and finally, to her career revival as a solo artist (early to mid 1980s).

What's Love Got to Do with It introduces Anna Mae Bullock (Angela Bassett).  In 1958, she moves to St. Louis where she reunites with her elder sister, Alline Bullock (Phyllis Yvonne Stickney), and her mother, Zelma Bullock (Jenifer Lewis). Not long after her arrival, Anna is taken by Alline to a nightclub at East St. Louis where she sees a performance by “Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm.”  Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne) is a charismatic bandleader, and Anna, who likes to sing, wishes she could perform with his wild band, the Kings of Rhythm.

When she finally gets a chance to perform onstage with Ike and his band, Anna impresses him with her singing and her exuberant stage presence.  Ike offers to mentor Anna and to produce her music, and he gives her the stage name “Tina Turner.”  In time, Ike and Anna develop a close relationship and eventually marry.  The musical act, “Ike & Tina Turner” (the “Ike & Tina Turner Revue” when performing live) become stars, but Ike has a dark side.  He is addicted to narcotics and is violent and abusive.  And Tina feels the brunt of his physical abuse.  Will Anna/Tina find the courage to break away from him and forge her own career path?

Until recently, I had never watched What's Love Got to Do with It in its entirety.  I decided to watch it in anticipation of Angela Bassett hopefully winning the “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar at the recent 95th Academy Awards (March 12, 2023) for her performance as “Queen Ramonda” in Disney/Marvel Studios' hit film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.  Unfortunately, Bassett did not win, nor did she win the “Best Actress” Oscar for which she was nominated 29 years ago for her performance in What's Love Got to Do with It?

The shame of it is that in the case of What's Love Got to Do with It, it is Bassett's performance, along with Laurence Fishburne's, that carries this film.  Quality wise and in terms of production and execution, What's Love Got to Do with It is a theatrical film that plays like a television movies.  Had What's Love Got to Do with It been a TV movie it would have been a much-talked about “television event,” but the end result would have been an elevated melodrama.

The film's direction, by the late Brian Gibson (1944-2004), emphasizes spousal abuse as style over the substance of plot and character.  The screenplay, written by Kate Lanier (who is also one of the film's producers), suffers from what plagues many biographical films and celebrity biopics.  That is the problem with time.  Rather than focus on a specific and pivotal moment in time, What's Love Got to Do with It, like other biopics, covers multiple decades.  By my estimation, the film covers roughly 1950 to 1983.  The first depiction of Ike abusing Tina is about 55 minutes into the movie, but one of the supporting characters states that this particular incident isn't the first time Ike has hit Tina.  So basically, the film skips over key early moments in Ike and Tina's tumultuous relationship.  [Both Tina and Ike apparently were not happy with the accuracy of this film.]

What's Love Got to Do with It is elevated because of the performances by both Bassett and Fishburne, as well as those of the supporting cast.  Jenifer Lewis proves once again why she is a national film treasure as Anna's mother, Zelma.  The shamefully underrated and underutilized Vanessa Bell Calloway shines in important and key moments of this film.  Laurence Fishburne does more than just make Ike Turner a monster.  He deftly conveys Ike's bitterness and resentment and especially his sense that he has never really gotten what he deserves in terms of financial success, record sales, and industry credit for what he contributed to both the art and business of popular music.

The treasure in What's Love Got to Do with It is, of course, Angela Bassett.  The real-life Tina Turner's voice was dubbed into this movie for the scenes in which Bassett's Turner has to sing.  Still, Bassett offers a richly crafted fictional version of Anna Mae Bullock/Tina Turner.  Her emotions resonate, and her joy and happiness, love and pride, and fear and sorrow come across as genuine.  In this film's quiet, reflective moments, Bassett seems as if she is really thinking Tina's thoughts.  That alone should have earned Bassett an Oscar win back on March 21, 1994 at the 66th Academy Awards.  What should have made Bassett a shoo-in is the physicality of her performance and the way she transformed her body for the role.  It's all superb:  the dancing, posing, and movement on stage; how she mimics the real Tina Turner's facial expressions on stage and when she sings; and the way Bassett carries herself and moves through the trials and tribulations of her life offstage as Ike Turner's wife.

Let's be honest; What's Love Got to Do with It would work better as a TV miniseries.  Let's be real; if Angela Bassett were a white actress, she would have won an Oscar already, probably for What' s Love Got to Do with It.  Not having an Oscar does not change the fact that Bassett has been one of the most versatile and charismatic actors of the large and small screen.  Bassett has also given commanding performances and has been a dominating presence in a number of supporting and small roles in popular films released over the better part of the last four decades.  Although Bassett has not received her Oscar crown, her performance in What's Love Got to Do with It remains her crowning achievement … in a career that should have had more of them since then.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 19, 2023

NOTES:

1994 Academy Awards, USA:  2 nominations:  “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Laurence Fishburne) and “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Angela Bassett)

1994 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Angela Bassett)

1995 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 win: “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture” (Angela Bassett); 3 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Laurence Fishburne), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jenifer Lewis), and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Vanessa Bell Calloway)

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Original "HOUSE PARTY" is Still Letting the Mutha Burn

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 of 2023 (No. 1892) by Leroy Douresseaux

House Party (1990)

Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)

MPAA – R

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Reginald Hudlin

PRODUCER:  Warrington Hudlin

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Deming (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Earl Watson

COMPOSERS: Marcus Miller and Lenny White

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring:  “Kid 'n Play”: Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin; Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence; “Full Force”: “Paul Anthony” George, Lucien “Bow-Legged Lou” George, Jr., and Brian “B-Fine” George; Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson; “Grove B. Chill: Gene “Groove” Allen and Daryl “Chill” Mitchell; Kelly Jo Minter, John Witherspoon, BeBe Drake, Clifton Powell, J. Jay Saunders, Barry Diamond, Michael Pniewski, and George Clinton

House Party is a 1990 comedy film from writer-director Reginald Hudlin.  The film stars the then popular hip duo, “Kid 'n Play,” and is based on Hudlin's 1983 student short film, which he made while attending Harvard University.  House Party focuses on music, romance, and the unpredictable at school night house party.

House Party also features supporting performances by three members of “Full Force,” a hip hop and R&B musical group known for singing, songwriting, and producing.  There are also two members of the hip hop duo, “Groove B. Chill,” and a cameo by noted funk musician, George Clinton.  The film also stars the late comedian Robin Harras (1953-90), who died nine days after the film's release.

House Party introduces aspiring rapper, Christopher Robinson, Jr. a.ka. “Kid” (Christopher “Kid” Reid).  He is looking forward to a house party thrown by one of his best friends, Peter Martin a.k.a “Play”(Christopher “Play” Martin).  However, while at high school, Kid has a lunchroom altercation with a bully, Stab (“Paul Anthony” George), and his two associates, Pee-Wee (Lucien “Bow-Legged Lou” George, Jr.) and Zilla (Brian “B-Fine” George).

Kid goes home and convinces his father, Christopher Robinson, Sr. a.k.a. “Pops” (Robin Harris), to let him attend the party, although it is on a school night.  After he receives a note from Kid's school about the lunchroom fight, Pops forbids Kid from attending the party as punishment.  Kid sneaks out and attends the party anyway, but his father isn't the only one he has to avoid.  Stab and the boys are ready to deliver a beat-down as soon as they find Kid.  Will Kid avoid his tormentors long enough to enjoy the party?  Which girl will Kid choose:  Sydney (Tisha Campbell) or Sharane (A.J. Johnson)?  Will Play stop annoying Bilal (Martin Lawrence), the DJ at his party?  And who will win the battle of rhymes – Kid or Play?

The National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress recently made House Party one of its 2022 selections to the  “National Film Registry.”  Films that make the registry are considered to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

House Party certainly fits that description, perhaps on all levels.  House Party was the first African-American teen comedy to receive mainstream success, both theatrically and in home entertainment.  As a “hood movie” (a film set in an inner city, predominantly African-American neighborhood), it shares elements with other other hood films:  police harassment, school violence, “the projects,” single-parent homes, working class homes, poverty, etc.  However, House Party is straight comedy, and what other “hood movies” treat as high drama or as teary melodrama, House Party plays for humor.  For instance, the character Sharane is “from the projects,” but she lives in an apartment in a nicely appointed Section 8 complex with her quiet, extended family.  Also, the two white police officers that vex Kid and Stab, Pee-Wee and Zilla are mostly harmless, although the film does suggest that they do physically abuse some of the characters off-camera.

Despite the fact that the film was released almost 33 years ago and was likely filmed almost 34 years ago, House Party still seems fresh.  Perhaps, that is because the film is filled with authentic examples of the African-American pop culture of the time.  The fashions, hairstyles, dancing, music, and dialogue are more treasures (sans the edginess) from a time capsule than than they are remnants from a bygone era.

This recent viewing was the first time in about 30 years that I had watched the film in its entirety, and I discovered that I still love the cast today as much as I did then.  Some, like Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, and Darryl “Chill” Mitchell, have had long careers in television.  Others, like Kid 'n Play, left their heyday behind decades ago, which is a shame.  As “Kid 'n Play,” Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin were personable and had excellent chemistry together.  I think media companies never really tapped into their potential as media stars.  It is also a little sad to wonder what would have been with Robin Harris in regards to the House Party sequels.

At that time, however, the entire cast came together and worked like a well-oiled machine.  House Party's infectious and exuberant soundtrack provides the perfect backdrop to writer-director Reginald Hudlin's lighthearted, but energetic comic romp.  The plot is fairly routine, but the execution is what makes this film really work.  Maybe, what makes House Party “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” is that it was and still is a fresh look at Black teens who party hard and squabble often without anyone getting a cap popped in his or her ass.  House Party still seems unique, and I can attest that it is still a blast to watch.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, January 12, 2023

NOTES:

2022 National Film Preservation Board:  1 win:  “National Film Registry”

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Original "HOCUS POCUS" Still Casts a Friendly Spell

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 of 2022 (No. 1868) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hocus Pocus (1993)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some scary sequences, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Kenny Ortega
WRITERS: Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert (from a story by Mick Garris and David Kirschner)
PRODUCERS:  Steve Haft and David Kirschner
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Hiro Narita (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Peter E. Berger
COMPOSER:  John Debney

FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw, Stephanie Faracy, Charles Rocket, Sean Murray, Amanda Shepherd, Larry Bagby III, Tobias Jelinek, Doug Jones, and Jason Marsden (voice) with Garry Marshall and Penny Marshall

Hocus Pocus is a 1993 fantasy, supernatural comedy, and Halloween film directed by Kenny Ortega.  The film focuses on the new boy in town who ignores local Halloween legend and lore and unwittingly awakens a trio of scheming witches who were executed 300 years earlier.

Hocus Pocus opens on October 31, 1693 (All Hallow's Eve), in Salem, Massachusetts.  A boy named Thackery Binx (Sean Murray) tries to save his little sister, Emily (Amanda Shepherd), from the schemes of Winifred “Winnie” Sanderson (Bette Midler) and her two sisters, Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy), who are all witches.  Thackery fails to save Emily, whose life force is drained in order to make the witch sisters young again.  The witches curse Thackery with eternal life and transform him into a black cat.  However, the vengeful townsfolk capture the Sanderson sisters and hang them, but not before Winifred casts a curse.  According to this curse, the Sanderson sisters will be resurrected during a full moon on All Hallows' Eve if a virgin lights the “Black Flame Candle” in their cottage.  Thackery, now a black cat, decides to guard the cottage in order to keep anyone from bringing the witches back to life.

Three hundred years later, it is October 31, 1993 – Halloween.  Teenager Max Dennison (Omri Katz) is the new kid in Salem, where he has moved from Los Angeles with his sister, Dani (Thora Birch), and their mother (Stephanie Faracy) and father (Charles Rocket).  Max's parents force him to take Dani out trick-or-treating.  One of the houses they visit is the home of Allison (Vinessa Shaw), Max's classmate at Jacob Bailey High School and a beautiful teen girl upon whom he has a crush.

Looking to do something different on Halloween, Max, Allison and Dani visit the former Sanderson cottage, which became a museum before it was shut down.  There, Max, a virgin, lights the Black Flame Candle which, in turn, resurrects, Winnifred, Sarah, and Mary.  Now, the three children join the still alive Thackery the black cat (voice of James Marsden), and William “Billy” Butcherson (Doug Jones) the zombie in a bid to stop the Sanderson sisters from sucking the souls out of all the children of Salem, which would give them eternal youth and immortality.

I remember that Walt Disney did mount a somewhat strong marketing campaign for Hocus Pocus upon it original release in 1993, but the film under-performed at the theatrical box office.  [I won't describe it as a box office bomb, as some do.]  In the 1990s, I worked at a video store and our VHS copy of Hocus Pocus was frequently rented, especially during Halloween.  During the last decade and a half, Hocus Pocus has exploded in a popularity due to repeated shows on “The Disney Channel” and what is now known as “Freeform.”  That popularity resulted in the production of a recently released sequel, Hocus Pocus 2 (via the “Disney+” streaming service).  The arrival of the sequel was the impetus I needed to finally watch the original Hocus Pocus from beginning to end, which I had never done, although I had been putting it off literally for decades.

Having finally seen it, I really like it.  Honestly, despite my best attempts, I can't find anything to dislike about it.  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are a riot as the Sanderson sisters, even if Midler is a little too over the top … here and there.  The sisters' costumes and the Halloween costumes worn by the townsfolk are impressive and imaginative, especially the sisters garb.  The sets and art direction are visually perfect, creating a pop Gothic mood and playful macabre sensibility that are pitch-perfect for a family-oriented Halloween film.

The child actors: Omri Katz as Max, Thora Birch as Dani, and Vinessa Shaw as Allison are quite good, and Max ably carries the film.  I do find the emphasis on Max's virginity to be a bit odd.  Billy the zombie and Thackery the black cat are pitch perfect supporting characters for this film.  Hocus Pocus is an impressive bit of directing on the part of Kenny Ortega and also smooth editing on the part of Peter E. Berger.  Hocus Pocus never stops moving; it has a brisk and appealing pace that can make the viewer lose track of time.  I certainly did.

I highly recommend Hocus Pocus for a family viewing night.  It is not a masterpiece of American cinema, but it is simply as perfect and as effective as it can be.  The critics who initially panned Hocus Pocus were sourpusses, and may still be sourpusses … dead or alive.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, October 2, 2022


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

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Review: "SING 2" is Full of Feel-Good Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2022 (No. 1833) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sing 2 (2021)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPA – PG for some rude material and mild peril/violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Garth Jennings
PRODUCERS:  Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri
EDITOR:  Gregory Perler
COMPOSER:  Joby Talbot

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL AND FAMILY/COMEDY

Starring:  (voices) Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Jennifer Saunders, Garth Jennings, Chelsea Peretti, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Offerman, Adam Buxton, Eric Andre, Halsey, Letitia Wright, Bono, Pharrell Williams, Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, and Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze

Sing 2 is a 2021 computer-animated, jukebox musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Illumination Entertainment.  It is a sequel to the 2016 animated film, Sing.  In Sing 2, the Moon Theater crew must persuade a media mogul and a reclusive rock star to believe in their new show.

Sing 2 opens some time after the events depicted in Sing.  Buster Moon the koala (Matthew McConaughey) and the rebuilt “Moon Theater” are thriving.  His latest goal is to impress Suki (Chelsea Peretti), a talent scout from Crystal Entertainment in Redshore City, but Suki is definitely not impressed with the stars of the theater.  So Buster leads his troupe:  Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a housewife and mother of 25 piglets; Gunter (Nick Kroll), the exuberant pig performer who wants to dance as much as he wants to sing; Ash (Scarlett Johansson), the punk-rock porcupine and singer; Johnny (Taron Egerton), the teenage gorilla singer, and Meena (Tori Kelly), the shy teenage elephant singer, to their destiny in Redshore.

Once there, they infiltrate Crystal Tower Theater in order to get an audience with Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale), a white wolf and media mogul, but Crystal brushes them off.  Desperate, Buster starts making promises to Crystal.  The first is that he and his troupe can stage a massive space-themed musical, “Out of This World.”  Secondly, Buster says that he can get reclusive rock legend, Clay Calloway (Bono), to be part of his show.

The problem is that Calloway has not been seen in over fifteen years since his wife died.  Buster sends his secretary, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), to find him.  After Miss Crawly fails spectacularly, Buster's show is in trouble and his life is on the line with Jimmy Crystal.  Is there anyway or anyone that can save “Out of This World?”

I recently watched the original film, Sing, for the first time.  I found that all the obstacles that Buster and his troupe face in the original were all over the place and overkill, and I did not think that Matthew McConaughey's voice performance amounted to much.  McConaughey is better in Sing 2, but not great.  The conflict and obstacles that Buster and the Moon Theater troupe face are singularly focused or directly related to putting on their sci-fi show, “Out of This World.”

In Sing 2, I find the returning characters to be likable or more likable, perhaps, because I am now more familiar with then.  There are also some excellent new characters.  I hope Letitia Wright's Nooshy, a lynx and a street dancer who teaches Johnny to dance, returns if there is another film in the series.  Porsha Crystal (Halsey), Jimmy's daughter, actually grows as a character in the film.  Bobby Cannavale has a fine old time with his performance as Jimmy Crystal, and noted film director, Spike Jonze, is excellent as Jerry the cat, Jimmy's loyal and groveling assistant.  As Clay Calloway, Bono (of the legendary rock band, U2) doesn't sound like Bono, and his performance is mostly flat.

The film's big musical finale, the actual performance of “Out of This World,” is sweet and lovely, although it is a little over the top.  It is an excellent show-stopper, and serves as a nice send off for Buster Moon and his troupe – on to better things.  I hope that there is a third film in the series.  Watching the endearing Sing 2 reminded me of why I really love watching animated films, especially computer-animated films.  They are the warm cup of cocoa in my life as a movie lover.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, April 9, 2022


NOTES:
2022 Image Awards (NAACP):  1 win: “Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance-Motion Picture” (Letitia Wright); 2 nominations: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture” (Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance-Motion Picture” (Eric André)


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Review: "SING" is Animated by Pop Music Hits

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 of 2022 (No. 1832) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sing (2016)
Running time:  108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some rude humor and mild peril
DIRECTOR:  Garth Jennings with Christophe Lourdelet
WRITER:  Garth Jennings
PRODUCERS:  Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri
EDITOR:  Gregory Perler
COMPOSER:  Joby Talbot

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL AND FAMILY/COMEDY

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Jennifer Saunders, Garth Jennings, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Kroll, Leslie Jones, Rhea Perlman, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Nick Offerman, Laraine Newman, Wes Anderson, and Jennifer Hudson

Sing is a 2016 computer-animated, jukebox musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Illumination Entertainment.  The film focuses on a struggling theater owner who holds a singing competition to save his theater.

Sing is set in a city (Calatonia) inhabited by anthropomorphic (humanoid) animals.  The film introduces Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), a koala who owns the “Moon Theater.”  The theater is struggling, and Judith (Rhea Perlman), a brown llama who represents Buster's bank, is threatening the theater with foreclosure.  In a bid to get people interested in the theater, Buster decides to hold a singing competition with a prize of $1,000 going to the winner.  However, Buster's secretary, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), an elderly iguana, accidentally creates a typo that adds two extra zeros to the prize money.  The misprinted fliers for the competition, which declare a $100,000 prize, are also accidentally blown all over the city.

Soon, animals are lined up in front of the theater for the competition's open audition, but Buster only chooses a select few to participate in the singing competition.  There is Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a housewife and mother of 25 piglets.  She is paired with another pig, Gunter (Nick Kroll), an exuberant performer who wants to dance as much as he sings.  Ash (Scarlett Johansson) is a punk-rock porcupine and singer who is trying to find her voice as a songwriter.

Johnny (Taron Egerton) is a singer and teenage gorilla, but he is also reluctantly part of his father, Big Daddy's (Peter Serafinowicz) gang of thieves.  Mike (Seth MacFarlane) is a white mouse who is a street musician and singer of swing music.  Meena (Tori Kelly), a teenage elephant, could be a contestant, but she has terrible stage fright.  Can Buster and his friend, Eddie Noodleman (John C. Reilly), a sheep, bring everyone together and save the theater before financial doom sinks them all?

The Hollywood film industry, sometimes called a “dream factory,” has consistently been pedaling fantasies in which plucky underdogs overcome obstacles in order to achieve something positive, which provides the audience with a happy ending.  Some films pile trials and tribulations, errors, failures, and misfortune upon the hero and supporting characters so much so that it often strains credulity.  The idea seems to be that the more the underdog has to overcome, the greater the pay off for the audience when the underdog wins in the end.

That is Sing in the proverbial movie nutshell.  I found it rather tiresome.  Poor old Buster Moon suffers so much failure, most of it brought upon him by his own actions, that it made Buster less sympathetic to me.  Buster is a plucky theater owner.  He is also such a con artist that it is hard to imagine him as much more than a loser, which is what most people would call him.  It did not help that I found Matthew McConaughey all wrong as the voice of Buster.

For me, there are a couple of things that enhance Sing.  First is Seth MacFarlane, who is best known for the Fox Network's long-running, prime time animated television sitcom, “Family Guy.”  Initially, I did not recognize his voice as Mike the white mouse, but when I did, it made sense to me.  MacFarlane is a genius at voice acting in both live-action and animated productions.  He can sing the heck out of big band and swing music standards, and as Mike, he steals most of the scenes in which the character appears.  Seth certainly makes a case for a Mike solo movie.

Second, I also initially did not realize that Scarlett Johansson was the voice of Ash, the punk-rock porcupine.  Johansson gives a voice performance full of texture, emotion, and personality, and when Ash sings, Johansson kills it.  [Johannson has released one solo album and an album recorded with Pete Yorn].  I spent most of movie wanting for her to be back on screen.  I'm one vote for an Ash movie.

Finally, the third thing that saves this film is the last 20 minutes.  Most of Sing's characters are caricatures and character types, as pleasant as they may be.  However, all the characters (except Buster) shine in the film's riveting, song-filled final 20 minutes.  This rousing songfest even offers a thrilling jail break and a crazy car chase.  I avoided Sing for years, and I am not really interested in singing competitions, in general.  I only really watched it because I am going to watch and review its recent sequel, Sing 2.  However, MacFarlane, Johansson, and the show-stopping finale made me glad I watched Sing.  I like animated movies – even the ones that are not Pixar-great.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, April 2, 2022


NOTES:
2017 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder, and Francis and the Lights for the song, “Faith”) and “Best Motion Picture – Animated”


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#28DaysofBlack Review: GET ON UP

[The late Chadwick Boseman portrayed four African-American historical figures, three of them as the lead actor.  His performance as James Brown in “Get on Up” is an example of why so many are devastated by his passing and also by the loss of what could have been.]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 of 2021 (No. 1752) by Leroy Douresseaux

Get on Up (2014)
Running time:  139 minutes (2 hours, 19 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content, drug use, some strong language, and violent situations
DIRECTOR:  Tate Taylor
WRITERS:  Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth; from a story by Steven Baigelman and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth
PRODUCERS:  Brian Grazer, Erica Huggins, Mick Jagger, Victoria Pearman, and Tate Taylor
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Stephen Goldblatt
EDITOR:  Michael McCusker
COMPOSER:  Thomas Newman

BIOPIC/MUSIC/DRAMA

Starring:  Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Jamarion and Jordan Scott, Viola Davis, Lennie James, Fred Melamed, Jamal Batiste, Craig Robinson, Jill Scott, Octavia Spencer, Josh Hopkins, Brandon Mychal Smith, Tika Sumpter, Aunjanue Ellis, Tariq Trotter as Pee Wee Ellis, John Benjamin Hickey, and Allison Janney

Get on Up is a 2014 biographical film and musical drama directed by Tate Taylor.  The film is a fictional depiction of the life of singer, songwriter, recording artist, and concert performer, James Brown (1933-2006).  Get on Up chronicles the rise from extreme poverty of one of the most influential musical performers in history.

Get on Up opens in Augusta, Georgia, the year 1988.  James Brown (Chadwick Boseman), one of the world's most famous recording artists and performers, gets high on mix of marijuana and PCP.   He visits one of his businesses and discovers that someone from a nearby seminar has used his private restroom.  Furious, Brown confronts the seminar attendees while carrying a shotgun, which he accidentally fires into the ceiling.

The film then uses a nonlinear narrative, following James Brown's stream of consciousness, as he recalls events from his life.  We meet young James Brown (Jamarion and Jordan Scott), living in poverty with his mother, Susie Brown (Viola Davis), and abusive father, Joseph “Joe” Brown (Lennie James).  Eventually abandoned by both his parents, young James lives in a brothel run by his Aunt Honey Washington (Octavia Spencer).

Later, James joins “The Flames,” a gospel singing group fronted by his new friend, Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis).  Soon, they become “The Famous Flames” and sing R&B songs, but within a decade James Brown is ready to go solo.  It would not be the last time James is willing to go it alone on the way to becoming one of the most influential singer, songwriters, musicians, producers, dancers, bandleaders, and recording artists of all time.

Director Tate Taylor and screenwriters Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth have fashioned of a story that looks at two sides of James Brown:  his musical talent and performances and his personal and professional relationships.  This allows Get on Up to give audiences what they want – lots of James Brown on stage – and to also tell a behind-the-music-like story of a complicated man.

Get on Up takes its title from a chorus in James Brown's 1970 hit, “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.”  Brown does indeed “get on up” every time he experiences something personally or professionally that could have brought him down and kept him down.  The thing that I can respect about this film is that it does not only portray Brown as someone who overcomes, but also portrays him as someone who does not appreciate that he was never alone in creating his success.  Late in the film, Brown breaks the fourth wall (one of many times he does this) to tell the audience that he “paid the cost to be the boss.”  However, he did not pay the cost alone, to which wives, girlfriends, lovers, children, band mates, and employees can certainly testify.

Through the impressive work of Get on Up's film editor, Michael McCusker. Tate Taylor jumps around time to show the many faces of this artist who was, in a way, a chameleon as a performer.  We see moments from the years:  1939, 1949, 1955, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1988, and 1993.  This time-shifting of the film's narrative also reveals the many dark times of Brown's life.

Everyone's work would not mean much without a great performer giving a great performance as James Brown, and Chadwick Boseman certainly does that.  Boseman fashions a James Brown that is perfect for the story that Get on Up tells, creating a Brown that is an inspired genius and a dictatorial general.  Boseman nearly buries himself in the role, and I often found myself forgetting that Get on Up is not a documentary and that the James Brown on screen was a portrait not the real man.  However, Boseman's dynamic performance gives us both sides, the public persona known as James Brown, the musical revolution, and the private James Brown, unyielding to family, friends, collaborators, and partners and beset by demons.

There are other good performances.  Viola Davis packs her own power into every scene in which she appears as Brown's mother, and Octavia Spencer's displays the naturalism of her acting that charms her audiences as well as her fellow thespians.  Nelson Ellis offers a rich and layered performance as Brown's longtime collaborator, Bobby Byrd, and twins Jamarion and Jordan Scott damn near steal Get on Up with their performances as young James Brown.

Because of Chadwick Boseman's tragic passing in 2020, Get on Up will largely be remembered for his performance.  That's a shame because Get on Up is a really good film and is one of the best contemporary biographies of an African-American figure and of an icon figure in popular music in recent memory.  So, I'll take both.  Get on Up captures the music and the madness of James Brown, and the film captures a truly great performance by an actor who was becoming great and greater still before he died.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, February 15, 2021


NOTES:
2015 Black Reel Awards:  3 nominations: “Outstanding Actor, Motion Picture” (Chadwick Boseman), :Outstanding Supporting Actor, Motion Picture” (Nelsan Ellis), and “Outstanding Ensemble” (Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee)

2015 Image Awards (NAACP):  5 nomination: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Chadwick Boseman), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jill Scott), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer), and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Viola Davis)

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Negromancer Book Review: "BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears"

BTS: BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Tamar Herman
DESIGN: Evi-O Studios
ISBN: 978-1-97471-713-2; hardcover; 7.875 x 10.5 (August 2020)
312pp., Color, $27.99 U.S.

BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears is a new hardcover book about the worldwide musical phenomenon known as BTS.

BTS (also known as the Bangtan Boys) is a seven-member, South Korean boy band.  The group was first put together, beginning in 2010, by “Big Hit Entertainment,” a South Korean entertainment company.  The members of BTS are RM – leader and rapper; Jin – vocalist; Suga – rapper; J-Hope – rapper; Jimin – vocalist; V – vocalist, and Jungkook – vocalist.  The members write and produce much of their recorded musical output, and while BTS was initially a hip hop group, the members have embraced a wide range of musical genres.

BTS's debut musical recording was the “single album,” 2 Cool 4 Skool.  A June 2013 release, it contained seven singles and two “hidden tracks.”  August 2014 saw the release of the group's debut, Korean-language studio album, Dark & Wild.  December 2014 saw the release of their debut, Japanese-language studio album, Wake Up.  In December 2015, BTS's 2015 album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, became the group's first album to make the “Billboard 200” United States' album sales chart.  On May 27, 2018, BTS's third studio album, Love Yourself: Tear, debuted at the number one position on the Billboard 200 chart.  It was the first time a Korean album had topped the U.S. album sales chart, as well as being the highest charting album by an Asian musical recording act.

And there is something... almost... magical about them.  BTS's music videos are visually striking with dazzling effects, imaginative production design, and alluring colors  Their songs embrace familiar hip-hop and electronic popular music (“electropop”) sub-genres.  They also sing R&B-inspired ballads, which should be familiar to fans of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.  BTS's music also sounds like something different and new – sounds from a future that is leaving behind the funky phantoms of pop anthems past.  And a seven-member boy-band slash vocal group is just hard to ignore.

Well, BTS has a story to be told, and the New York City-based journalist, Tamar Herman, is telling it in the new hardcover, illustrated book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears.  Part music-bio and part analysis, this new book is a thorough exploration of BTS's approach to music in the age of globalization, as this super boy band has brought Korean music to the world.  Focusing on the members, the music, and the fans, Tamar Herman brings forth the extraordinary story of these young K-pop idols:  Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook to life as they transcend the limitations of language, geography, and genre in a way not seen since, perhaps, The Beatles.

THE LOWDOWN:  Author Tamar Herman starts her book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears, with an informative “Intro” and  first chapter, “BTS Meets the World.”  In Chapter 1 is a crucial subsection, entitled “What is K-Pop?”  Herman uses this essay to inform the readers about the basics of “K-pop,” including that it is more of a brand than a genre of music.

As such, Herman explains how BTS has used songwriting to distinguish itself within the brand.  Two members of the group were already writing songs before joining BTS.  With other members writing songs plus a dedicated team of songwriters, the group has been able to evolve its songs and sound.  Through their own songwriting, BTS produces music and performances that rally against societal norms, express poetic ideas of romance, and praise self-acceptance in the face of adversity.  Being involved in the songwriting also allows BTS to stand out both within K-pop and within the larger, crowded, global music scene.

Overall, this book has over 80 photographic images, most of them color and many of them oversize.  Herman goes into exacting detail about BTS's collaborators, and she breaks down the group's albums, song-by-song.  Herman puts such effort into talking about BTS's music that this book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears, is as much a reference book as it is an overview of the band's public life to date.

It is through Tamar Herman's analysis of the who, what, when, and how, as well as the analysis of the music that BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears stands out as a serious book about a group that is serious about its music, it performances, and its public face.  BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears is a thorough exploration of an extraordinary musical act and is certainly not some thrown-together paperback looking to make a quick buck off BTS's fame.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of BTS who are looking for a book that will take them inside BTS and its music will want BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears.

https://www.viz.com/viz-media
https://www.tamarherman.com/
https://twitter.com/TamarWrites
https://www.instagram.com/tamarwrites/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Review: Her Performance in "Nina" Means Zoe Saldana Has No Reason to Cry

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Nina (2016)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom
Running minutes:  90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Cynthia Mort
PRODUCERS:  Ben Latham-Jones, Stuart Parr, and Barnaby Thompson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mihai Malaimare Jr.
EDITORS:  Mark Helfrich, Susan Littenberg, and Josh Rifkin
COMPOSER:  Ruy Folguera

DRAMA/BIOPIC/MUSIC

Starring:  Zoe Saldana, David Oyelowo, Ronald Guttman, Mike Epps, Keith David, Ella Joyce, Stevens Gaston, Jessica Oyelowo, Kevin Mambo, and Yasmine Golchan

Nina is a 2016 biographical dramatic film written and directed by Cynthia Mort.  The film offers a fictional account of Nina Simone, the Black woman who was an American singer-songwriter, jazz musician, classical pianist, and Civil Rights activist and whose career began in the late 1950s.  Nina takes place over a decade late in her life and examines her relationship with the young man who is suddenly thrust into the position of being her manager.

Nina opens in 1988 and finds beloved singer Nina Simone (Zoe Saldana) alcoholic, mentally unstable, and financially shaky.  After an incident involving a gun, Nina is committed to a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital.  There, she befriends a young nurse, Clifton Henderson (David Oyelowo), who is also a fan of hers.  When she leaves the hospital, Nina hires Clifton as her personal assistant, and he accompanies her back to her home in Bouc-Bel-Air, France.

Once there, Clifton discovers that Nina is not only difficult and confrontational, but that she also refuses to take her medication and prefers drinking alcoholic beverages over eating.  Clifton attempts to salvage Nina's career, but her decades of ill will and a bad reputation among music business players and heavy hitters may derail Clifton's plans for a Nina Simone comeback.

Simply put, Nina is a poorly written movie.  Ostensibly, it is one of those stories about a great, famous, or important person who salvages the wreckage of her life to rekindle an famous public career.  What we get is mostly Nina Simone being stubborn and self-destructive with Clifton Henderson standing by her side, looking sad, angry, or exasperated.

I think Zoe Saldana gives a great performance as this film's Nina Simone.  I say “this film's Nina Simone” because there was a lot of controversy about her casting – especially concerning Saldana's skin tone and physical appearance compared to the real-life Nina Simone's physical characteristics.  Saldana seems to bury her true self in the make-up in order to become a dark-skinned Black woman and emerges as a character who is a fighter fiercely protecting what she believes she has left of herself.  Whatever one might say of this film, I think that there is no doubt that Saldana proves that she is an actress capable of playing the “great roles.”

The problem is that this role is not great, mainly because the writing and directing can only deliver what is barely an average film.  Writer-director Cynthia Mort even finds a way to waste the highly-skilled actor, David Oyelowo.  The passion, artistry, and professionalism he brings to his performances are absent here mainly because Clifton literally just waits around for Nina to throw an over-the-top tantrum.  The screenplay gives Saldana enough material to really be showy with Nina, but that same script gives Oyelowo very little he can use to show off.

I am not a Nina Simone expert, but I know enough about her to know that she is hugely respected and much beloved among music fans, historians, and critics.  In no way does this film come close to doing this kind of woman justice.  Watching this film, I have to wonder what the filmmakers of Nina were thinking.  Luckily, the passion that Saldana obviously brings to this project results in a performance that makes Nina worth watching.

5 of 10
C+

Sunday, November 13, 2016


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Review: Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2017) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (2016) – straight-to-video
Running time:  81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS:  Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone
WRITERS:  Spike Brandt, Paul Dini, and Sam Register
EDITOR:  Dave Courter
COMPOSER: Michael Tavera
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE and FAMILY/MUSIC

Starring:  (voices)  Grey Griffin, Jason Alexander, Amy Pemberton, Joe Alaskey, Michael Gough, Rob Paulsen, Todd Stashwick, Frances Conroy, Laraine Newman, Stephen Root, Kath Soucie, Andrea Martin, James Monroe Iglehart, Spike Brandt, and Jye Frasca

Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz is a 2016 direct-to-video animated film starring the famous cartoon cat and mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.  Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it is a sequel to Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz, a 2011 animated direct-to-video film.

Both these films take inspiration and source material from the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz, and places Tom and Jerry (who began as MGM cartoon characters) alongside Dorothy, Toto, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the rest of the characters from that beloved classic film.  Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz is also the first sequel in the Tom and Jerry direct-to-video film series.  [Back to Oz is also the final work of noted animation voice actor Joe Alaskey who died of cancer on February 3, 2016, and this film is dedicated to his memory.]

Back to Oz opens on the Gale farm.  Dorothy Gale (Grey Griffin), Auntie Em (Frances Conroy), Uncle Henry (Stephen Root), Toto, the three farm hands, and Tom and Jerry are still cleaning up the damage caused by the twister that wrecked the farm in the first film.  The Gales are on the verge of losing the farm because of a lawsuit brought by neighbor, Lucius Bibb (Jason Alexander).  Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, and the three farmhands immediately set out to find jobs that can help them get money to pay off the damages Bibb is claiming they brought on his property (a prized watermelon patch).

Dorothy is left behind because the adults consider her too young to work.  While cleaning up, Dorothy, Toto, and Tom and Jerry are attacked by flying monkeys, which had once served the Wicked Witch of West.  During the attack, Dorothy's companions from the Land of Oz:  Scarecrow (Michael J. Gough), Tin Man (Rob Paulsen), and the no-longer-cowardly Lion (Todd Stashwick) arrive to inform her that Oz is under attack again.  This time, Ruggedo the Nome King (Jason Alexander) is taking over the Emerald City, so Dorothy is once again off to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Joe Alaskey) in a bid to save Oz.

Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz is not as good as its predecessor, Tom and Jerry & the Wizard of Oz.  However, a return to the Oz that was created by filmmakers, cast, and crew of MGM's 1939 The Wizard of Oz, even a cartoon version of it, is welcomed – at least by me and some others.  There are apparently a lot of us, or at least enough to create a sequel to the first Tom and Jerry Oz.

Honestly, that is the explanation for whatever success this film, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz, has – its connection to a truly classic American film, one of the best movies of all time.  I won't be fake and deny it.  I hope Tom and Jerry go back to that Oz, again.

6 of 10
B

Friday, March 31, 2017


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Fear of a Black Hat" Has Fun with N.W.H.

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 165 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fear of a Black Hat (1994)
Running time:  88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive strong language, and for sexuality
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Rusty Cundieff
PRODUCER:  Darin Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Demps, Jr.
EDITOR:  Karen Horn

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring:  Mark Christopher Lawrence, Larry B. Scott, Rusty Cundieff, Kasi Lemmons, Howie Gold, G. Smokey Campbell, Bobby Mardis, Brad Sanders, Faizon Love, and Kurt Loder

Fear of a Black Hat is a 1994 comedy and music film from writer-director, Rusty Cundieff.  The film is a mock documentary or “mockumentary.”  Fear of a Black Hat chronicles the rise and fall of a controversial hip-hop group, NWH, simultaneously examining the evolution of and the state of hip-hop music in America.

The early 90’s saw two This is Spinal Tap-like parodies of hip hop culture.  The first to make it to the screen was the Chris Rock starrer, CB4, but the funnier of the two was Rusty Cundieff’s Fear of a Black Hat.  Anyone familiar with the culture of rap, especially the rap music and artists of the late 80’s and early 90’s, will find this satire and parody extremely entertaining.

Fear of a Black Hat begins when Nina Blackburn (Kasi Lemmons), a college graduate student, decides to do her thesis on a rap group.  She chooses Niggas with Hats, or N.W.H. as the subject of a documentary film.  Her film follows the vulgar trio:  Ice Cold (Rusty Cundieff), Tasty Taste (Larry B. Scott), and Tone Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence) from their underground success to their ride as one of the top hip hop acts to their obligatory break up and subsequent reunion.

The acting is mostly very good, and the parody is dead on.  Like some rap music and hip hop culture, Fear of a Black Hat is vulgar, rude, insipid, ridiculous, and very fun.  Cundieff is sly.  On one had this is not taken too seriously; on the other, he’s making a lot of pointed commentary about racism, bigotry, and opportunism, and he’s especially skewering how entertainers use violence and hate in crass attempts to gain attention, money, and fame.  Cundieff seemed to understand that rap was often just Black America doing a self-parody of urban African-American culture – the civil rights activism, self-hate, misogyny, bigotry, and violence to make a point and cash.  Not only do the costumes, settings, and characters reflect that, but also the songs by Cundieff and his songwriting collaborator, Larry Johnson, that really hit upon the culture.

Even people who don’t like hip hop or don’t know it could find Fear of a Black Hat uproarious; some of the stuff in here is just absolutely outrageous and can’t help but elicit laughs.  Those who remember the time period that Fear of a Black Hat reflects will laugh as well as feel a little sentimental, maybe even missing acts like N.W.A., Public Enemy, and Ice T, who represented for an invisible American subculture and showed it off to the world.

6 of 10
B

Updated:  Friday, August 14, 2015


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"Let It Go" from "Frozen" Wins 2014 "Best Song" Oscar

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):

 “Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez WINNER

Nominees:
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen (also known as the rock band U2); Lyric by Paul Hewson (also known as Bono)

Review: "A Mighty Wind" Sounds Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 173 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Mighty Wind (2003)
Running time:  91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sex-related humor
DIRECTOR:  Christopher Guest
WRITERS:  Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest
PRODUCER:  Karen Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Arlene-Donnelly Nelson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Robert Leighton
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring:  Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr., Don Lake, Deborah Theaker, Larry Miller, Jennifer Coolidge, Bill Cobbs, Parker Posey, Rachael Harris, and LeShay Tomlinson

The subject of this movie review is A Mighty Wind, a 2003 comedy-drama from director Christopher Guest.  This mock documentary captures the reunion of a 1960s folk trio, as they prepare for a show to memorialize a recently deceased concert promoter.

Christopher Guest’s film A Mighty Wind is the third in his popular series of mock documentary films, or mockumentaries, as fans know them, which also include Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.  Guest and co-stars Michael McKean and Harry Shearer were also the band in the Rob Reiner’s famous mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap.  This time the comedic trio comprises another movie group, the folk trio The Folksmen.

The neurotic and fussbudget son (the sublime Bob Balaban) of a folk music record company mogul, with some help from his siblings, organizes a reunion of three of his father’s biggest acts:  the aforementioned The Folksmen, The New Main Street Singers, and the very popular duo Mitch and Mickey.  As the groups prepare for a nationally televised show (on public TV) staged at Town Hall in New York City, old tensions and conflicts that caused breakups or hard feelings start to arise.  Will everyone have his or her act together in time to show the nation that folk music is alive and well?

Some consider this to be the least among the Guest-Levy comedies, and A Mighty Wind is often too polished and too smooth.  The documentary aspect of the film is also just window dressing; the film is better when it’s more about personal relationships and less about characters being observed by a camera.  The documentary makes the characters appear to be shallow when they’re obviously more interesting than just the surface appearance.  In the end, the players are more interesting than the film’s conceit.

However, there are times when Guest and Levy deal their wit using only the sharpest instruments of satire and farce, but the brilliance in the writing of this film is that Guest and Levy, for all the fun they poke, actually make folk music quite appealing.  The screwy, peculiar, neurotic, and sometimes wacky characters are all quite loveable.  I found myself laughing good-naturedly more than in derision at the cast.  Would that more movies were so endearing even when they skewering.

The film earned an Oscar® nomination for “Best Music, Original Song” for the fabulous and poignant “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” song by Mitch and Mickey.  Guest, McKean, and Levy, however, did win a Grammy® Award in the category of “Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media” for the movie’s title track, “A Mighty Wind.”  These two songs and many others in combination with a musically talented and funny cast make A Mighty Wind a must see for viewers who want their comedy a notch above profanity and gross out.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole for the song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow")

Updated:  Wednesday, February 19, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: 1983 Version of "To Be or Not to Be" Still a Favorite

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 119 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

To Be or Not to Be (1983)
Running time:  107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR:  Alan Johnson
WRITERS:  Ronny Graham and Thomas Meehan (based upon the 1942 screenplay by Edwin Justus Mayer; from a story by Ernst Lubitsch and Melchior Lengyel)
PRODUCER:  Mel Brooks
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gerald Hirschfeld
EDITOR:  Alan Balsam
COMPOSER:  John Morris
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of music and war

Starring:  Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Tim Matheson, Charles Durning, Christopher Lloyd, José Ferrer, Ronny Graham, Estelle Reiner, Zale Kessler, Jack Riley, Lewis J. Stradlen, George Gaynes, George Wyner, and James Haake

The subject of this movie review is To Be or Not to Be, a 1983 comedy-drama starring Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks, who also produced the film.  Directed by Alan Johnson, To Be or Not to Be is a remake of the 1942 film, To Be or Not to Be, which starred Carole Lombard and Jack Benny.  In the 1983 film, a bad Polish actor is depressed that World War II has complicated his professional life and that his wife has a habit of entertaining young Polish officers.  One of her young officers, however, is about to get the actor and his acting troupe involved in a complicated plot against the Nazis.

Frederick Bronski (Mel Brooks) and his wife, Anna (Anne Bancroft), are impresarios of a Polish acting troupe in Warsaw, Poland circa 1939.  Their Bronski Follies, performed of course in the Bronski Theatre, is the toast of the city.  However, Germany invades Poland, and, arriving in Warsaw, the Nazis take the Bronskis’ stately home as their headquarters and also close the theatre.

Later, the Bronskis and their acting ensemble get involved with Lt. Andre Sobinski (Tim Matheson), a young Polish fighter pilot (who is smitten with Anna), in a complex subterfuge to prevent the Germans from getting their hands on a list of Polish underground fighters.  Things get more complicated when Nazi Colonel Erhardt (Charles Durning, in a performance that earned him an Oscar nod) orders the Bronski Theatre open again to perform for the Furher himself when Adolf Hitler visits Warsaw.

Real-life husband and wife Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft made a great comic team in To Be or Not to Be, a zesty remake of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 film classic starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny.  This film is, of course, filled with delightful musical numbers and a splendid array of costumes, clothes, and uniforms.  But what would a Mel Brooks film be without comedy?

Although Brooks did not direct To Be or Not to Be (the honor went to Alan Johnson), this is clearly a “Mel Brooks movie.”  It isn’t a parody or send-up of anything (as Brooks films are want to be).  It is, however, a witty and often dark farce marked by suave comedy and droll dialogue.  The Nazis are played for fun (Christopher Lloyd and Charles Durning make a comical duo), but their awful menace is always present.  The filmmakers managed to be both respectful and funny with history.  While To Be or Not to Be isn’t as funny as Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, it isn’t far behind those two comic classics, and it is a fine comedy-historical in the vein of Brooks’ History of the World, Part I.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1984 Academy Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Charles Durning)

1984 Golden Globes:  2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (Anne Bancroft) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Charles Durning)

Updated:  Thursday, December 26, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure" Goes to Disneyland

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 73 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure (2013) – straight-to-video
Running time:  57 minutes
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS:  Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone
WRITER:  Paul Dini
EDITOR:  Kyle Stafford
COMPOSER: Michael Tavera
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Yearim Productions Co. Ltd.

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY and ADVENTURE/FAMILY/MUSICAL

Starring:  (voices) Jacob Bertrand, Grey DeLisle, Garrison Keillor, Paul Reubens, Tom Wilson, Kath Soucie, Joe Alaskey, John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, and Richard McGonagle

Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure is a 2013 animated direct-to-video film starring the famous cartoon cat and mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.  Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this film offers a Tom and Jerry spin on the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk.  In Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure, the cat and mouse duo help a boy try to save his family’s theme park.

Once upon a time, Joe Bradley opened Storybook Town, a fairy tale-inspired theme park.  “Where dreams come true if you believe” became Bradley’s motto for the park.  He shared his dream with his wife, Violet (Grey DeLisle), and eventually with their son, Jack (Jacob Bertrand).  After Joe died, however, Storybook Town fell on hard times.

Now, Tom and Jerry are the last animals living in Storybook Town, but they are faithful servants of Jack.  The boy and his mother are desperate to save the park from the machinations of Mr. Bigley (Tom Wilson), a greedy billionaire and owner of Bigley’s Super Strip Malls.  Bigley wants to demolish Storybook Town and turn the property into a strip mall (what else?).

Jack believes some mysterious magical beans will help him save the park, but all they do is take him and Tom and Jerry to Fairyland.  There, the trio discovers that its denizens are also under the boot of a greedy bully, a giant named Mr. Ginormous (Tom Wilson).  Can Tom and Jerry stop their feuding long enough to join Jack in his bid to help the people of Fairyland and to maybe save Storybook Town?

Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure starts off a bit melancholy, with its themes of death, decay, and poverty.  Plus, the story’s allusions to Walt Disney and Disneyland are a little off-putting – to me, at least.  Is this an homage or sly dig?  However, once the story gains a clear sense of purpose and the heroes have a goal (or goals), the movie becomes a bright adventure that radiates with hope.

As for as the production values, the animation is on par with recent Tom and Jerry films, but the art direction is not special.  The character animation on Mr. Ginormous is the standout in this movie.

A number of Tom and Jerry’s fellow MGM animated characters make their usual appearances:  Droopy Dog (Joe Alaskey), Barney Bear (Richard McGonagle), Screwy Squirrel (Paul Reubens), Spyke and Tyke (Phil LaMarr), etc.  I must say that these are not the best versions of the characters, and they have been put to better use in other Tom and Jerry flicks.  The classic MGM sexpot character, “Red,” appears in this movie as Red Fairy (Grey DeLisle), but she is a tepid version of her red-hot self, but still manages to be a little risqué.  Radio legend and spoken word artist, Garrison Keillor, gives voice to the character, Farmer O’Dell.  I can’t say that his performance does anything particularly special for this film, but Keillor’s presence does strike an odd note.

Strangely, the thing that really appeals to me is this film’s sense of hope and perseverance.  In Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure, there is the sparkle of magic to go with the movie’s spark of hope.  I found myself really believing in miracles, and for me, that makes what could have been an average movie a little special.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, October 29, 2013


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.