Advanced Comics Review: "ALICE COOPER Volume 2 #1" is Number One with a Bullet

ALICE COOPER VOLUME 2 #1

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Rodney Barnes

ART: Edu Menna

COLORS: Adriano Lucas

LETTERS: Troy Peteri

EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt

COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stuart Sayger; Andrew Mangum; Jason Shawn Alexander

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (October 2023)

Rated Teen+

Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier) is an American rock singer, actor, and Grammy Award-nominated recording artist.  He is known for his outlandish stage shows which include fake blood, stage illusions, and pyrotechnics, to name a few elements.  Originally the name of his band, Furnier made “Alice Cooper” his legal name and embarked on a solo career in the mid-1970s.

Dynamite Entertainment has preciously featured Alice Cooper as a comic book character in Alice Cooper Volume 1 (2014-15).  Cooper returns to comic books in Alice Cooper Volume 2.  It is written by Rodney Barnes; drawn by Edu Menna; colored by Adriano Lucas; and lettered by Troy Peteri.  The series finds Alice Cooper in the middle of a promotional tour for his new album when he notices something decidedly odd about some of his new fans.

Alice Cooper Volume 2 #1 opens at the “Crossroads” jazz club, located somewhere in another dimension.  Tonight, Lucifer makes his debut as a blues-singing sensation, and he is quite good the first time.  However, he is quickly informed that he needs to be loved above all other performers if he is going to have any staying power.  Jealous, Lucifer sends out his demonic forces and suddenly, legendary rock stars start disappearing.

Meanwhile, Alice Cooper – singer, rock musician, and sometimes demon slayer – has a new album out and is in the midst of a promotional tour.  Of course, it's great to see all his fans again, but everywhere he goes, he notices something strange and disturbing.  Some of those fans appear to be the undead!  Even more shocking, someone in the “Nightmare Place,” has a warning for him.  This chapter features guest appearances by such legendary performers as Aerosmith, James Brown, Miles Davis, Buddy Holly, Michael Jackson, Mike Jagger, Elvis Presley, Prince, and Richard Pryor

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  Alice Cooper Volume 2 #1 is the latest, and it is the first Alice Cooper comic book that I have ever read.

Honestly, I am not really a fan of Alice Cooper.  I don't dislike him.  It's just that by the time I discovered him, the legendary rock band, Kiss, was already providing me with my rock 'n' roll weirdness, although I did find Cooper's interesting.  Cooper is a fantastic, killer homeless dude in director John Carpenter's 1987 horror flick, Prince of Darkness.

The only reason that I am reading this comic book is because I am a huge fan of its writer, the amazing Rodney Barnes, who is dazzling many readers with his and Jason Shawn Alexander's vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  And he doesn't disappoint me with Alice Cooper Volume 2 #1.  Every subplot, every location, every scene change, and every character is an utter delight.  Barnes makes every story element so intriguing and every character so likable that I want more.

Edu Menna's art and storytelling are quite potent, bringing Barnes story to comic book life in a variety of moods and changes of style that give this story a surreal tone grounded in a kind of everyday reality.  Menna makes this first issue feel like more than just another dark fantasy comic book; he makes it feel like an event.

Adriano Lucas's colors help this first issue become something a little bit more than just another trip into dark fantasy, and Troy Peteri's lettering conveys the overall sense of oddness that permeates this debut.  These are the finishing touches to a clever opening issue. Alice Cooper Volume 2 #1 hasn't come out yet and I already want the second issue.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Alice Cooper and of the comic books of Rodney Barnes will want Alice Cooper Volume 2.

A

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

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#28DaysofBlack Review: Eddie Murphy's "HARLEM NIGHTS" is Still Cool

[A little over 21 years after its initial release, Harlem Nights remains unique.  It was the dream project of an African-American movie star, Eddie Murphy, who had reached heights that few African-American stars ever have.  I'm glad Eddie Murphy made this movie.]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 of 2021 (No. 1749) by Leroy Douresseaux

Harlem Nights (1989)
Running time:  116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Eddie Murphy
PRODUCER:  Mark Lipsky and Robert D. Wachs
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Woody Omens (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Alan Balsam and George Bowers   
COMPOSER:  Herbie Hancock
Academy Award nominee

CRIME/DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, Berlinda Tobert, Stan Shaw, Jasmine Guy, Vic Polizos, Lela Rochon, David Marciano, Arsenio Hall, Thomas Mikal Ford, Joe Pecoraro, Robin Harris, Charles Q. Murphy, Uncle Ray Murphy, Desi Arnez Hines II, Roberto Duran, and Gene Hartline

Harlem Nights is a 1989 crime film and period drama written and directed by Eddie Murphy.  The film is set during the 1930s and focuses on a New York City club owner and his associates as they battle gangsters and corrupt cops.

Harlem Nights introduces Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor).  In 1938, Ray and his surrogate son, Vernest Brown, best known as “Quick,” run a nightclub, dance hall, and gambling house called “Club Sugar Ray,” located in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.  Ray's other associates include Madame Vera Walker (Della Reese), who runs the brothel at the back of Club Sugar Ray, and her longtime companion, Bennie Wilson (Redd Foxx), the craps table dealer.

Club Sugar Ray is wildly successful, making fifteen to twenty thousand dollars a week, and that has drawn the attention of a white gangster, Bugsy Calhoune (Michael Lerner).  Calhoune wants the majority share of Sugar Ray's revenues, and to that end, employs his criminal associates:  his black enforcer, Tommy Smalls (Thomas Mikal Ford); his Creole mistress, Dominique La Rue (Jasmine Guy), and a corrupt police detective, Sgt. Phil Cantone (Danny Aiello).

Ray decides that he will have to give up his business and move on, although Quick is vehemently against this.  Ray decides to use an upcoming championship boxing match between the world heavy weight champion, black boxer Jack Jenkins (Stan Shaw), and a white challenger, Michael Kirkpatrick (Gene Hartline), the “Irish Ironman,” to disguise his ultimate heist plan against Calhoune.  But for the plan to work, Quick will have to avoid all the people trying to kill him?

Harlem Nights has some of the best production values that I have ever seen in an Eddie Murphy film.  The costumes (which were Oscar-nominated), the art direction and set decoration, and the cinematography are gorgeous.  Herbie Hancock's score captures Harlem Nights shifting tones – from jazzy and sexy to mixes of comic and dramatic violence.  The film's soundtrack offers a buffet of songs written, co-written and performed by the great Duke Ellington, plus performances by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Buddy Clark, to name a few.

Yet, upon its initial release, that is not what some critics noted about Harlem Nights.  They were obsessed with how many times Eddie Murphy's name appeared on the poster.  They counted:  Eddie was star, writer, director, and executive producer; it was too much – at least according to them.  That all played into the “Eddie Murphy is arrogant” argument that many of these critics, mostly jealous white guys, made.

Harlem Nights remains the only film that Eddie Murphy has ever directed, which is a shame.  Granted that his acting is stiff in this film.  Granted that the screenwriting is average; it is never strong on character drama, and sometimes the story really needs it to be.  Still, Harlem Nights moves smoothly through its narrative.  It is slow and easy, although there have been those that have claimed that the film is “too slow.”  Still, Eddie Murphy has a silken touch at directing.

None of Harlem Nights' problems matter to me.  At the time, there had never been a film like it.  Harlem Nights is a big budget, lavish, Hollywood period film that is thoroughly Black.  Its cast is a once-in-a-life-time event.  I'm not sure a black director could have gotten funding with Harlem Night's cast even as a low budget film.  Harlem Nights is a film that only Eddie Murphy could get produced, and one could argue that it was not until well into the twenty-first century that any other black filmmaker could get something like Harlem Nights made.  So I'm good with its problems, and I am simply happy that it exists.

Harlem Nights is an entertaining film, and I have highly enjoyed it every time that I have seen it.  It stands as a testament to what Eddie Murphy became by the late 1980s – the only African-American who was a real Hollywood “player.”  Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, and Della Reese:  they were a dream lineup, a fleeting coming together that seemed to be gone in an instant.  Harlem Nights lives on, as a gorgeous, strange hybrid drama-comedy-gangster-period film.  And I, for one, am always ready to recommend it.

B+
7 of 10

Tuesday, February 9, 2021


NOTES:
1990 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Costume Design” (Joe I. Tompkins)


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

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 25th to 31st, 2020 - Update #26

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

Support Leroy on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS: 

JAMES BOND - From BBC:   The life of Sean Connery in pictures.  The great Scottish actor, Oscar winner, and James Bond legend died Sat., Oct. 31st, 2020 at the age of 90.

MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:  Actor-director Jon Abrahams talks about he and Anna Faris' notorious sex scene in the horror-parody film, "Scary Movie" (2000).

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  Actress Lori Loughlin entered the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, CA Friday morning (Oct. 30th) to begin serving her two-month prison sentence for her part in the college admissions bribery scandal.

POLITICS-CELEBRITY - From YahooNews:  "Celebrity vetting" and $265 million public campaign to “defeat despair” around the coronavirus was planned partly around the politically tinged theme that “helping the president will help the country.”

From YahooEntertainment:  Apparently, Grammy-winner Billie Eilish was among the celebrities vetted to "defeat despair."  But she was ultimately deemed to be "destroying our country and everything we care about."

MOVIES - From ShadowandAct:   Oscar-nominee Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out") gives insight on his directorial debut, a live-action film based on the PBS children's series, "Barney."

SCANDAL-PORN - From Deadline:  Legendary porn movie star, Ron Jeremy, will face seven new sexual assault charges in addition to the 30 he was already facing before today's announcement.  Jeremy is accused of various sexual assault charges levied by multiple women, including one minor, and go back as far as 1996.  Some accusations against Jeremy were not converted into criminal counts because they fall outside the statute of limitations.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  The fifth film in the "Insidious" film franchise will move forward with series star, actor Patrick Wilson, making his directorial debut.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The CW announces the premiere dates for its 2020-21 broadcast schedule.

TELEVISION - From YahooAVClub:   Starz announces the premiere date of "American Gods" Season 3 (Jan. 10th, 2021) and releases a letter from "American Gods" author, Neil Gaiman.

BUSINESS - From Deadline:   Layoffs at NBCUniversal's TV and streaming units to begin in November.

STREAMING - From Deadline:   Here are more outtakes from "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" - the Holocaust testimony.

SPORTS - From YahooSports:   The Los Angeles Dodgers (National League) are the 2020 World Series Champions of Major League Baseball.  They beat the American League's Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the series, 3 to 1.  This is the Dodgers first World Series title since 1988.

MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:   Judith O'Dea remembers her role as "Barbra" in the seminal horror film, "Night of the Living Dead."

BLM - From Variety:  LeBron James' SpringHill Company and CNN Films will produce “Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street,” a documentary examining the violent events of late May and June 1921 in Tulsa, Okla., that led to a slaughter of hundreds of the city’s African American residents.

AWARDS - From THR:   The entire cast of Aaron Sorkin's period film, "The Trial of the Chicago 7," will be pushed for awards in the "supporting actor" categories.  That strategy was used by the film, "Spotlight," which earned two of its actors "best supporting actor" Oscar nominations.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   MGM has won the rights via auction to partner with "black-ish" creator, Kenya Barris, on a biographical film about the late, great stand-up comic and actor, Richard Pryor.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  The winner of the 10/23 to 10/25/2020 weekend box office is "Honest Thief" with an estimated take of 2.35 million dollars.

MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:  Actress Yeardley Smith remembers the "bonkers" production that was Stephen King's 1986 film, "Maximum Overdrive."  Yeardley is now best known as the voice of "Lisa Simpson" on the long-running animated series, "The Simpsons."

RELIGION-CATHOLICISM - From APNews:   Pope Francis on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat.

CELEBRITY - From THR:  There was an auction of the estate of the legendary Paramount Pictures boss and film producer, the late Robert Evans.  The sales added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, including almost half a million for a collection of Helmut Newton photographs.

POLITICS - From YahooEntertainment:  Film actress and Emmy-winning television star, Jennifer Aniston ("Friends") endorses Vice-President Joe Biden for president while throwing shade at clown presidential candidate, Kanye West.

STREAMING-POLITICS - From HuffPost: Even if you don't have Amazon, you can still see that notorious scene starring President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, from "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm."

OBITS:

From BBC:  The Scottish actor and film producer, Sean Connery, has died at the age of 90, Saturday, October 31, 2020.  Connery was best known for playing seminal secret agent and spy, James Bond, Agent 007, in seven films over a 21 year period, beginning with "Dr. No." in 1962 and ending with "Never Say Never Again" in 1983.  Connery also won a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for his role in the 1987 film, "The Untouchables."

From TheWrap:   American professional wrestler, Tracy Smothers, has died at the age of 58, Wednesday, October 28, 2020.  Smothers wrestled as "Freddie Joe Floyd" for the WWF (now WWE) from 1996 to 1997.

From Variety:  American screenwriter and television producer, William Blinn, has died at the age of 83, Thursday, October 22, 2020.  Blinn won two Emmy Awards, one for writing the TV movie, "Brian's Song" (1971) and one for writing the ABC TV miniseries, "Roots" (1977), which he shared with writer, the late Ernest Kinoy.  Blinn also co-wrote Prince's film, "Purple Rain" (1984).

COVID-19:

From CDC:   The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooLife:  What is "happy hypoxia?"  And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?

From JuanCole:  Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19.  Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.

From TheIntercept:  The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...

From TheAtlantic:  The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

From ProPublica:  Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

From TheGuardian:  More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.

From RSN/WashPost:  The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.

7/13 - From YahooSports:  Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.

7/13- From YahooNews:  The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

7/19 - From YahooFinance:  Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.

7/22 - From YahooNews:  A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.

7/22 - From YahooLifestyle:  Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.

7/23 - From TheWrap:  The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19

From Bloomberg:  Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?

7/27 - From CNN:   Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients.  He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.

7/31 - From Slate:  COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!

8/9 - From YahooAFP:  According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.

8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians

9/19 - From WashPost:  U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000

9/23 - From CNBC:  Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.

9/28 - From Deadline:  John Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker reports that over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.

10/2 - From YahooNews:  President Donald and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19.

10/26 -  From YahooFinance:  Walmart CEO detects a new wave a panic buying as consumers stock up for another surge in coronavirus cases.

10/31 - From Reuters:  The United States set a new all-time high for coronavirus cases confirmed in a single 24-hour period on Friday, reporting just over 100,000 new infections to surpass the record total of 91,000 posted a day earlier, according to a Reuters tally.

BLACK LIVES MATTER:

From RSN:   Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability

From TheGuardian:  Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."

From NPR:  Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."

From ChicagoSunTimes:  Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.

From APNews:  No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.

From Channel4:  Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016

From GuardianUK:  California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.

From TheRoot:   What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire

From Vox:  It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic

From CBS:  Breonna Taylor's boyfriend certain cops didn't identify themselves

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from February 1st to 10th, 2018 - Update #34

Support Leroy on Patreon:

COMICS-FILM - From BleedingCool:  See Marvel's Black Panther family tree

OSCARS - From IndieWire:  Paul Michael Thomas, Oscar-nominated director of "Phantom Thread," praises his fellow best director Oscar nominees.

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CRIME - From TheGuardian:  California police work and cooperate with white supremacists against anti-racist activists.

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COMICS-FILM - From Variety:  Joaquin Phoenix in talks to play Batman arch-nemesis, "The Joker," in a stand-alone Joker movie that would be directed by Todd Phillips.

From GeekTyrant:  DC Comics/Entertainment wants Michael Bay to direct a movie based on their character, Lobo.

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MOVIES - From TheFilmStage:  The prolific Richard Linklater, who has directed six films in the last seven years, has apparently set his sights on a film about the 1969 moon landing.

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SCANDAL - From TheGuardian:  Recent statements have famed director Quentin Tarantino facing a backlash.

MOVIE - From IndieWire:   French director Jean Pierre-Jeunet accuses Guillermo del Toro of plagiarism.

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MUSIC - From Vulture:  This is a killer interview with Quincy Jones who talks about Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and the Trumps.

From TMZ:  Quincy Jones claims in his Vulture interview that the late legendary actor Marlon Brando had sex with the late legendary comedian Richard Pryor.  Pryor's widow, Jennifer, apparently confirms it.

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COMICS-TV - From PreviewsWorld:  Gaumont has optioned the rights to produce an animated TV series based on the long-running comic book, Usagi Yojimbo.

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ANIMATION - From Variety:  Fox Animaton and Universal music an united to produce an animated film based on the music of the late world music legend, Bob Marley.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Newly-minted Oscar nominee, James Mangold, will follow his hit film "Logan" (an X-Men) with a movie Henry Ford II's rivalry with Ferrari.

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STREAMING - From Deadline:  Amazon Studios is developing a series based on Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Cimmerian" (or Conan the Barbarian) character.

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BLM - From NYTimes:  Remembering #TrayvonMartin via Charles M. Blow's opinion piece, "The Whole System Failed Trayvon Martin.

From GuardianUK:  Why NFL player protests still matter - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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SUPERBOWL - From SBNation:   Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) win Super Bowl LII 41 to 33 over the New England Patriots (AFC).

From CBSSports:  Here are the players rosters for Super Bowl LII's participants, the Philadelphia Eables and the New England Patriots.

From YahooEntertainment:  Which movie trailer won Super Bowl LII - see them all.

From EW - Celebrities react to Justin Timberlake's mediocre Super Bowl LII halftime show.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the Super Bowl LII weekend box office - 2/2 to 2/4/2018 - is "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" with an estimated take of $11 million.

From Deadline:  Multiple Oscar nominee, "The Darkest Hour," passes the $100 mark in global box office.

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SCANDAL - From YahooET:  Halle Berry addresses sexual harassment allegations against her former agent, Vincent Cirrincione.

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  CBS has ordered for additional drama pilots for the 2018-19 season.  One of them is a modern take on the James Ellroy's novel, "L.A. Confidential," which was previously adapted into a 1997 Oscar-winning film.

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SCANDAL - From NYTimes:  Actress Uma Thurman has a lot to say about Harvey Weinstein and about Quentin Tarantino, with whom she made three films.

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MOVIES - From GeekTyrant:  Steven Soderbergh eyes a screenplay entitled "Planet Kill" as his next film... although he is supposed to be in retirement.

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POLITICS - From HuffPost:  A graphic cartoon that shows him sniffing President Donald Trump's ass has got British TV personality Piers Morgan enraged.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Director F. Gary Gray is in talks to direct Sony Picture's "Men in Black" spinoff.  The film would focus on new characters and be a semi-reboot the way "Jurassic World" was a semi-reboot of "Jurassic Park."  The film is slate to be released June 14, 2019.

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CELEBRITY - From GQ:   A profile of actor Taylor Kitsch, who is currently starring in the Paramount Network's "Waco" miniseries.

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COMICS-FILM - From BleedingCool:  Marvel Studio's "Black Panther" will pay tribute to the late stuntman, John Bernecker, who died last year on the set of AMC's "The Walking Dead."

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CELEBRITY - From THR:  Apparently, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office has named actor Robert Wagner as a "person of interest" in its investigation in the "mysterious death" of his late wife, Natalie Wood, in 1981.

TRAILERS:

From YahooNews:  Here is the first teaser trailer for Sony/Marvel's "Venom" (October 5th, 2018), starring Tom Hardy.

From YouTube:  Here is the first teaser/trailer for Marvel Studios' "Ant-Man and the Wasp" which opens in theaters July 6th, 2018.

OBITS:

From IndieWire:  The actor, Reg E. Cathey, has died at the age of 59, Friday, February 9, 2018.  Cathey is best known for his roles in the television series, "The Wire" and "Oz."  He won an Emmy ("Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series") for his appearances on Netflix's "House of Cards."  He also appeared as "Franklin Richards" in Fox's 2015 reboot of "The Fantastic Four."

From THR:  The actor John Mahoney has died at the age of 77, Sunday, February 4, 2018.  Mahoney is best known for playing "Martin Crane" the cantankerous father on NBC's "Frasier" (1993 to 2004).  Mahoney was also a Tony Award winner.

From RollingStone:  Soul and R&B singer, Dennis Edwards, has died at the age of 74, Friday, February 2, 2018.  Edwards was the former lead singer of seminal Motown vocal group, The Temptations, singing on classic hits, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" "I Can't Get Next to You."

From MSN:  Utah billionaire and philanthropist, Jon Huntsman, Sr., died at the age of 80, Friday, February 2, 2018.  The founder of Huntsman Corp, Huntsman and his family have given away more than $1.4 billion.  Huntsman, Sr. was also the father of Jon Huntsman, Jr., the former U.S. ambassador, Utah governor, and Republican presidential candidate.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of March 8th to 14th, 2015 - Update #10

NEWS:

From YahooMovies:  Alex Gibney talks about his Steve Jobs doc.

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From TheWrap:  Eddie Murphy may appear in Lee Daniel's Richard Pryor biopic as Richard's father.

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From ShadowandAct:  What to expect from "Empire" Season 2.

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From ShadowandAct:  A list of 73 pilots for the 2015-16 TV season that feature African-American leads or supporting characters.

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From SlashFilm:  Sony Pictures announced an all-male "Ghostbusters" movie to go along with it all-female "Ghostbusters" movie.  Or maybe it's a shared universe and a team-up.

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From TheWrap:  A guilty plea in the "Midnight Rider" trial.

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From TheWrap: The winner at the March 6th to 8th, 2015 box office is Chappie with an estimated haul of $13.3 million.

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From YahooMovies:  China lifts the box office of box office flop, Jupiter Ascending.


COMIC BOOKS:

From Comicvine:  Superman's new look - coming in June. It's ridiculous.

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From SlashFilm:  Chris Pine rumored for Green Lantern.

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From YahooTV:  Another look at Supergirl's costume for the upcoming "Supergirl" TV show.


STAR WARS:

From EntertainmentWeekly:  A history of "Rogue Squadron," which may explain the 2016 Star Wars spin-off film, "Rogue One."

Book Review: BECOMING RICHARD PRYOR

BECOMING RICHARD PRYOR
HARPCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Scott Saul
ISBN: 978-0-06-212330-5; hardcover (December 9, 2014)
608pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

Richard Pryor (1940 to 2005) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker.  He was best known for his work as a stage comic or stand-up comedian.  Actor and comedian Bob Newhart once called Pryor “the seminal comedian of the last 50 years.”

Becoming Richard Pryor is a biography of Pryor, written by Scott Saul.  Saul, an associate professor of English at the University of California–Berkeley, is the author of Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties.  Saul has also written for Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, and the Nation, among other publications.

In the “Author's Note” to his book, Saul says that “Pryor revolutionized American comedy with his improvisational approach, his frank talk about sex and race, and the new psychological depth that he brought to the stage.”  One of the groundbreaking things about Pryor's comedy was that it was often autobiographical; the genius and complexities of his act was born from the story of his life.

Saul says that “For all his openness about his life onstage, he [Pryor] was guarded about the facts of it offstage.”  Pryor was standoffish with reporters, and, according to Saul, both Pryor and his elder relatives did what they could to make things difficult for people seeking to write biographies of Pryor.

Saul also describes how Becoming Richard Pryor is different from previous biographies and biographical efforts concerning Pryor.  First, Richard and the elder Pryor were dead by the time Saul began his research for this book in 2007.  [Pyror died in 2006.]  Also, the younger Pryor relatives were willing to share memories, pictures, papers, and other documentations with Saul.  Secondly, Saul says that he approached Pryor as a “historical figure,” so he used a “historian's tools” like research paperwork, and official documents to reconstruct Pryor's life so that he could “unpack its meaning.”  Saul writes that by working like a historian, he was able to follow Pryor's life from month to month, and, in some instances, even day to day.

Thirdly, and finally, Saul says Becoming Richard Pryor is different because its aim is to “... trace, meticulously, Pryor's evolution as an artist.”  Saul traces this evolution up to the point of the release of Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), which may be the most celebrated, if not greatest stand-up comedy performance and comedy concert film of all time.  Saul is right:  Live in Concert (by influence, inspiration, and homage) may have created more stand-up comics (both good and bad) than any other film in history.

So how is Becoming Richard Pryor?  Is it any good.  Is it interesting?  I am reluctant to call Becoming Richard Pryor “fascinating,” as that word seems inadequate to describe either Saul's book or his subject, Richard Pryor.  I know it sounds crazy considering that Becoming Richard Pryor is built on so many words – over 600 pages densely packed with words, but words don't really describe this book.  Becoming Richard Pryor has to be experienced directly by a reader, to be read in order to truly understand the depth of detail by which Saul tells the story of Pryor.

In fact, the story begins decades before Pryor was born (as Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor on December 1, 1940), so that Saul can talk about Pryor's beloved paternal grandmother, His “Mama,” Maria Carter Bryant – later Maria Pryor.  Saul also goes into details about Pyror's relatives' lives before Pryor was born in 1940.  Later, Saul takes us through a journey of Pryor growing up and becoming a budding performer as a child.  Then, he takes us through Pryor's travels as his learned, gathered, and constantly evolved.

It is a long journey to Richard Pryor: Live in Concert.  As big as this book, it is shocking to consider that Saul does not follow Pyror's life and career into the 1980s, when he experienced his greatest financial success as a film actor and movie star.  The 1980s also marked the beginning of Pryor's battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).  That battle along with Pryor's death on December 20, 2005 are discussed in the book's epilogue.

I am glad Scott Saul used the epilogue to discuss that last quarter century of Pryor's life.  What Saul presents is so grand in scope and so intimately and realistically detailed that I don't think I could read much more.  Becoming Richard Pryor is a great Hollywood biography and a masterfully work of history about an important figure in American arts and culture.

Is Becoming Richard Pryor a must read?  Well, as Pryor himself might say, “Hell yeah, m**********r!  So fans and students of American comedy, of American film, and of African-American arts and entertainment must read Becoming Richard Pryor.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "The Muppet Movie" Still Moves Me

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 96 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Muppet Movie (1979)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: James Frawley
WRITERS: Jack Burns and Jerry Juhl
PRODUCER: Jim Henson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Isidore Mankofsky
EDITOR: Chris Greenbury
COMPOSER: Paul Williams
SONGS: Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring: The Muppets, (voices) Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz; Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton, Edgar Bergen, Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Elliot Gould, Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin, Cloris Leachman, Richard Pryor, Bob Hope, James Coburn, Milton Berle, and Orson Welles

The Muppet Movie is a 1979 live-action, comic fantasy film and musical. This Oscar-nominated film stars The Muppets, the puppet characters created by the late Jim Henson, specifically the characters that appeared on the television series, “The Muppets” (1976-81). A film-within-in-a-film, The Muppet Movie tells the story of how The Muppets came together, or, as Kermit the Frog says, “It’s sort of approximately how it happened.”

The film begins with Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) relaxing in a Florida swamp on a sunny afternoon, when a Hollywood agent tells him that he should pursue a career in Hollywood. Inspired by the idea of “making millions of people happy,” Kermit begins a cross-country journey, at first by bicycle. After an accident, Kermit teams up with Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz) and resumes the trip in Fozzie’s Studebaker. Along the way, they pick up fellow travelers like The Great Gonzo (Dave Goelz) and his mate, Camilla the Chicken (Jerry Nelson), and of course, Miss Piggy (Frank Oz).

Meanwhile, the villainous Doc Hopper (Charles Durning) and his assistant, Max (Austin Pendleton), pursue them. The Colonel Sanders-like Hopper is the owner of a “French-fried frog legs” fast food franchise, and he wants Kermit to be the new spokesman for the franchise. After Kermit says no, Hopper chases him, making offers that become increasingly threatening.

Prior to this recent viewing, I had not seen The Muppet Movie since the early 1980s (I think), but I remember liking it. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it now, but it turns out that I still love the movie. Is the reason nostalgia? No, The Muppet Movie is simply an excellent film. As a film musical, it has terrific songs from Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, and three of them (“Rainbow Connection,” “Movin’ Right Along,” and “Can You Picture That?”) are great.

As a comedy, it is sharp and smart, surprisingly so for a film that is aimed at children, although “The Muppet Show,” was meant to appeal to both children and adults. There is sly innuendo, clever word play, and snappy dialogue. The film even offers satire, such as its skewering of the desire to be famous for entertaining.

And hell, ya’ll, it’s the Muppets. What could be unlikable about them? I look forward to my next viewing of The Muppet Movie, and I want to encourage you, dear readers, to see it if you haven’t already or to just see it again.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1980 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Music, Original Song” (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher for the song "The Rainbow Connection") and “Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score” (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher)

1980 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher for the song "Rainbow Connection")

2009 National Film Preservation Board, USA: “National Film Registry”

Monday, November 21, 2011

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Review: "Blazing Saddles" Still Rides Hard and Funny (Happy B'day, Darby)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blazing Saddles (1974)
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Mel Brooks
WRITERS: Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, Alan Uger, and Mel Brooks, from a story by Andrew Bergman
PRODUCER: Michael Hertzberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Joseph Biroc (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Danford Greene and John C. Howard
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/WESTERN

Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Madeline Khan, Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, Mel Brooks, Claude Ennis Starrett, Jr., Liam Dunn, Dom DeLuise, David Huddleston, John Hillerman, George Furth, and Carol DeLuise

Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), a corrupt political boss, wants to run a railroad through the small western town of Rock Ridge, but he has to ruin the town so its citizens will want to leave. Lamarr appoints a black sheriff named Bart (Cleavon Little), thinking that will certainly demoralize them and make them leave Rock Ridge. Bart, however, joins forces with a washed-up gunfighter Jim (Gene Wilder), also known as The Waco Kid, and becomes Lamarr’s formidable adversary. Lamarr then concocts a plan to have a collection of the vilest criminals, cutthroats, and thieves ravage Rock Ridge. Bart, however, rallies the townspeople (who initially hated having a black sheriff) to a grand stand off against their would be destroyers.

Blazing Saddles is one of the great film comedies (it would certainly make my Top 10), and is still the all-time best parody of movie westerns. Actually, the film takes on a western sub-genre, the horse opera, in which a beleaguered sheriff, all but abandoned by the townsfolk he’s sworn to protect, must stand alone against corrupt, greedy, and murderous men. What really makes Blazing Saddles work as a parody of westerns is that the film really works like a western. It looks and feels like a classic western flick from Hollywood’s golden era of Technicolor westerns. In order for a spoof to work, the spoof has to fell like the thing it’s parodying.

Unlike a lot of parodies, Blazing Saddles also has a plot and solid story structure – a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the characters are excellent. A fine group of character actors also play the parts. Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder are excellent comedians, both fun with a kind of likeable slyness, but Madeline Kahn and Slim Pickens also give bravura performances in small roles that help to define the movie.

Blazing Saddles is funny and brilliant, heavy with belly laughs. Although I’ve encountered many people who don’t like it for various reasons, the is one of the films that firmly established director Mel Brooks as a great American comic, a funny man in any medium.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1975 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Madeline Kahn), “Best Film Editing” (John C. Howard and Danford B. Greene), and “Best Music, Original Song” (John Morris-music and Mel Brooks-lyrics for the song "Blazing Saddles")

1975 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Screenplay” (Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger) and “Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles” (Cleavon Little)

2006 National Film Preservation Board, USA: National Film Registry

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Marlon Wayans Ready to Play Richard Pryor

Marlon Wayans will portray Richard Pryor in the biopic, "Richard Pryor: Is it Something I Said," which will begin filming Fall 2010.  In this LA Times piece, Marlon says, in regard to playing Pryor, "I'm ready."

Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company and Sony Pictures are the entities behind this movie.  Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) will direct the film which will reportedly focus on Pryor's controversial brand of comedy and his drug addiction.

Apparently, Wayans is replacing Eddie Murphy, who was attached to the film because of Condon, his Dreamgirls director.  "Creative differences" with the producers apparently made Murphy drop out.  At one time, Mike Epps was attached to this role.

Conversations at AOL Black Voices has something to say about it.  BV Movies Wilson Morales posted about this story, which has been brewing since last October.

I know people think of White Chicks and Little Man when they think of Marlon.  People hate on those films, both of which I liked.  Still, Requiem for a Dream proved Marlon's dramatic chops.  I highly recommend it.