Review: "DEADPOOL 2" is Funnier and Friendlier Than the Original

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2024 (No. 1977) by Leroy Douresseaux

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual references and brief drug material

DIRECTOR:  David Leitch

WRITERS:  Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds (based on Marvel Comics characters)

PRODUCERS:  Ryan Reynolds, Simon Kinberg, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jonathan Sela (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Craig Alpert, Elisabet Ronaldsdottir, and Dirk Westervelt

COMPOSER:  Tyler Bates

SUPERHERO/COMEDY/ACTION

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Eddie Marsan, Shioli Kutsuna, Jack Kesy, Michasha Armstrong, and Stefan Kapicic (voice) with Rob Delaney, Lewis Tan, Bill Skarsgard, Terry Crews, Brad Pitt, Alan Tudyk, Matt Damon, Nicholas Hoult, James McAvoy, Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Robert Wellman

Deadpool 2 is a 2018 American superhero film and action-comedy from director David Leitch.  It is a spin-off film in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men film series and is the eleventh film overall in the series.  It is a direct sequel to Deadpool (2016) and is also the second entry in the Deadpool movie franchise.  The film is based on the Marvel Comics character, Deadpool, that was created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, and first appeared in New Mutants #98 (cover dated: December 1990).  Deadpool 2 finds the wisecracking Deadpool trying to protect a fiery young mutant from a time-traveling cyborg.

Deadpool 2 finds Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), the smart-mouthed mutant mercenary, doing what he likes to do – brutally slaughter bad guys.  However, his violent activities catch up with him at home, and tragedy befalls his beloved Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin).  Deep in grief and depression, Deadpool tries to kill himself, but is rescued by Colossus (voice of Stefan Kapicic), the giant mutant who has a body of organic steel.  Colossus still wants Deadpool to changes his ways and also wants him to join the X-Men – as a trainee.

On his first mission as a trainee, Deadpool and the X-Men, which includes Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and her girlfriend, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), travel to the “Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation.”  There, they find one angry teenager, Russell Collins (Julian Dennison), in crisis.  He is a young mutant with pyrokinetic power, and he has given himself the unfortunate code name of “Fire Fist.”  Deadpool's attempt to save the young man has disastrous results, and now, Deadpool has to save Russell from Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling cyborg who has arrived in the present determined to kill the teen.  So Deadpool forms his own X-team, called “X-Force,” with tragically hilarious and hilariously tragic results.

We are nearing the release of the latest Disney/Marvel Studios blockbuster movie, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).  I decided to watch and review the previous X-Men films:  Deadpool, Logan (2017), and Deadpool 2, that lead up to the new film.

Deadpool is humorous and silly, but it was primarily an action movie with drama and humor.  It heavily leans into brutally strong violence, frequent profane language, and explicit sexual references.  Deadpool 2 also has brutally strong violence, constant profane language, and some explicit sexual references.  However, Deadpool is a comedy, and everything serves the comedy, including the drama, superhero action, and even much of the killing.

As he does for Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds makes Deadpool, a film that could not exist without his schtick.  He is the spine of this film's comedy and is the reason so much of it works when it would be disastrous for other performers.  The supporting cast is good, but not great.  Josh Brolin has his moments as Cable, but the Cable is more of a prop than a persona.  Zazie Beetz creates moments for Domino to shine which otherwise wouldn't be there.  Julian Dennison is mostly convincing as the angry young mutant, Russell Collins, especially in the second half of the film.

I find Deadpool 2 a definite, delightful surprise. I never expected much of it because I really did not care for what I had previously seen.  Now, a full and patient viewing makes me think that Deadpool 2 is an occasion when the sequel surpasses the original.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

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

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Review: "SORRY TO BOTHER YOU" is Fresh and Audacious

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 of 2022 (No. 1819) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Running time:  112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, graphic nudity, and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Boots Riley
PRODUCERS:  Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, and Kelly Williams
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Doug Emmett (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Terel Gibson
COMPOSERS:  Tune-Yards: Nate Brenner and Merrill Garbus (score); The Coup (soundtrack)

COMEDY/SCIENCE FICTION

Starring:  LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Harwick, Terry Crews, Kate Berlant, Michael X. Sommers, Robert Longstreet, and Danny Glover, Armie Hammer, and Steven Yeun with Rosario Dawson, Forest Whitaker, David Cross, Lily James, and Patton Oswalt

Sorry to Bother You is a 2018 satirical, science fiction, and black comedy film written and directed by Boots Riley.  The film follows a young African-American telemarketer who discovers the key to professional success and personal wealth, which also propels him into a world of corporate conspiracy and greed.

Sorry to Bother You opens in an alternate version of present-day Oakland, California.  Cassius “Cash” Green (LaKeith Stanfield) is a young African-American man who struggles to be gainfully employed.  He and his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), an artist, live with Cash's uncle, Sergio Green (Terry Crews), specifically in Uncle's Sergio's garage.  Cash learns about a job opportunity at the place of employment of his friend, Salvadore a.k.a. “Sal” (Jermaine Fowler).

Sal works as a telemarketer for a company called “RegalView.”  Cash manages to get a job, and his bosses, Johnny (Michael K. Sommers) and Anderson (Robert Longstreet), emphasize that he must “stick to the script” (S.T.T.P) when making sales calls.  He struggles with the job until an older African-American co-worker, Langston (Danny Glover), tells Cash that he must adopt a “white voice” when making sales calls.  After a few misfires, Cash eventually creates his own “white voice” (spoken by actor David Cross), and it works!  Soon, Cash is so good at selling products to the people he calls that his bosses dub him a “Power Caller.”

Meanwhile, Cash's coworker, Squeeze (Steven Yeun), has formed a union, and now, he wants to recruit Cash, Detroit, and Sal as union activists.  However, Cash is finally making some big money for the first time in his life, and when he moves on up to the luxurious Power Caller suite, he does not want to give that up.  When he starts selling for RegalView's main corporate client, WorryFree, Cash is forced to decide between his friends and selling his soul as part of a terrible corporate conspiracy.

Sorry to Bother You is one of those hybrid comedy film that blends dark humor, satire, science fiction, and adventure in a way that comments on the contemporary times in which the film debuted.  Sorry to Bother You reminds me of films like director Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985) and director Mike Judge's Idiocracy (2006).  Like those films, Sorry to Bother You eviscerates the power elites and the institutions that guide and even control society.

Like Judge's other satirical film, Office Space (1999), Sorry to Bother You perfectly captures the contemporary landscape of working America:  underpaid workers who are like drones; the difficulties of unionizing workplaces; using promotions to separate workers; pitting workers against each other; middle managers who act like overseers; and a narcissistic ownership class that doesn't know and doesn't want to know anything … that does not get them what they want.

In Sorry to Bother You, writer-director Boots Riley offers a bold vision of today with crazy, twisted apt metaphors that relate to now and to the near-future.  My one quibble with the film is that the characters are not quite one-dimensional, but they do lack true depth.  Steven Yeun adds some bump to his rabble rouser, Squeeze, as does Jermaine Fowler with his character, Sal.  However, it seems as if LaKeith Stanfield as Cash and Tessa Thompson as Detroit use their performances to bring their characters to heights to which the film's script does not aspire.  The film is almost over by the time these characters really start to command and shape the direction of the story, which Riley drives using a complex plot, an involved story line, and lots of amazing ideas.

It is a shame that upon its theatrical release audiences did not watch Sorry to Bother You the way they watched big-tent, event pictures.  At one point in the film, one of the characters in Sorry to Bother You says that when people discover a problem that they can't fix, they ignore it.  Sorry to Bother You doesn't offer easy answers, but it does ask that people get involved … and think.  Sorry to Bother You is as entertaining as most superhero movies, and without being preachy, it also asks the people to be heroes against villains and the injustice they perpetuate.  There are many home entertainment options for audiences to discover this wonderful and relevant movie.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, February 16, 2022


NOTES:
2019 Black Reel Awards:  3 wins: “Outstanding Screenplay” (Boots Riley), “Outstanding Emerging Director” (Boots Riley), and “Outstanding First Screenplay” (Boots Riley); 4 nominations: “Outstanding Actor” (LaKeith Stanfield), “Outstanding Director” (Boots Riley), “Outstanding Ensemble,” and “Outstanding Costume Design” (Deirdra Elizabeth Govan)

2019 Image Awards (NAACP):  2 nominations: “Outstanding Independent Motion Picture” and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture (Film)” (Boots Riley)

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

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

Nickelodeon Announces Star Appearances for "Kids' Choics Awards '21"

Kim Kardashian, Gal Gadot, Robert Downey Jr., Millie Bobby Brown, Charli D’Amelio, BTS, Hailey Bieber, Addison Rae, Sofia Vergara, David Dobrik, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish and More Scheduled to Appear at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards ’21

Share It: @Nickelodeon #KCA

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2021, an epic celebration of fan-favorite stars across the worlds of film, television, music, sports and more, will feature appearances from today’s most popular stars including: Kim Kardashian, Gal Gadot, Robert Downey Jr., Millie Bobby Brown, Charli D’Amelio, BTS, Hailey Bieber, Addison Rae, Sofía Vergara, David Dobrik, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish, Anna Kendrick, Liza Koshy, Jennifer Garner, Heidi Klum, Terry Crews, Tyler Perry, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Marsai Martin, Joshua Bassett, Anthony Anderson, Dani & Dannah Lane and Iain Armitage.

Hosted by actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live legend, Kenan Thompson (Kenan, All That), and featuring show-stopping performances from Grammy® Award-winning global superstar Justin Bieber, Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2021 will air live on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

As Nickelodeon’s Orange Blimp takes fans on a virtual ride around the world and beyond, Nickelodeon’s iCarly cast members Miranda Cosgrove (Carly Shay), Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay) and Nathan Kress (Freddie Benson) will reunite to present this year’s KCA for “Favorite Movie.” The hit show, which ran on Nickelodeon for six seasons, will be returning as a revival series on ViacomCBS’ rebranded streaming service Paramount+.

Stars from the worlds of TV, music, film and social media will be joined by Nickelodeon talent: JoJo Siwa; That Girl Lay Lay; Jules LeBlanc and Jayden Bartels (Side Hustle); Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Darci Lynne (Unfiltered); and Young Dylan (Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan).

This year’s show will also feature live and interactive fan walls that bring celebrities and families at home to the main stage; second screen live voting all night long where fans stay in control; a KCA award presented by one lucky family chosen during the show; and an exclusive sneak peek clip from PAW Patrol: The Movie. Additionally, Nickelodeon is harnessing the power of augmented reality (AR) to bring the gooey green slime of the Kids’ Choice Awards into fans’ worlds in a brand-new way. In the Do Not Touch app, viewers can fly the iconic KCA blimp and dump slime all over their homes. The app creates the interactive experience by using a mobile device’s camera to detect real world objects.

Fans can currently cast votes on the official Kids’ Choice Awards website, www.KidsChoiceAwards.com, and on the Screens Up app on supported iPad, iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. International fans can cast votes through the Nick Play app in regions where it is available. Fans will also be able to cast their votes through social media on Twitter. Fans can also stay up to date on all the news by liking Nickelodeon on Facebook and following @Nickelodeon on Twitter and Instagram.

Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2021 is sponsored by Barbie®, Goldfish® Flavor Blasted® crackers, got milk?, LEGO® VIDIYO™, Olive Garden®, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.

Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2021 is produced by Nickelodeon Productions and overseen by Rob Bagshaw, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Content. Michael Dempsey serves as executive producer, with Amy Johnson and Magda Liolis serving as co-executive producers. Nickelodeon’s Unscripted Content executives Rob Bagshaw and Paul J Medford also serve as executive producers. The ceremony is directed by Glenn Weiss.

Nickelodeon, now in its 41st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 12th to 18th, 2017 - Update #39

Support Leroy on Patreon.

CELEBRITY - From ETCanada:  Musician and former "Partridge Family" star, David Cassidy, has been hospitalized with organ failure.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  Box office for "Justice League" looks to be less than forecasted.

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis joins director Malcolm D. Lee for the film adaptation of "I Almost Forgot About You."

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali will star in and executive produce the crime thriller, "Burn."

From TheWrap:  "Selma" star, Carmen Ejogo, joins Mahershala Ali in Season 3 of HBO's "True Crime.

----------
TERMINATOR - From Variety:  Screenwriter Billy Ray ("Captain Phillips") joins the writing room of the upcoming "Terminator" film.

----------
BUSINESS - From Variety:  Comcast expresses interest in buying parts of 21st Century Fox, a week after news comes that Disney was in brief talks with Fox.  Verizon is apparently also interested.

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SCANDAL - From TheDailyMail:  Back in 1988, a 16-year-old girl filed a police reported accusing Sylvester Stallone and his bodyguard of sexually misconduct.

From YahooEntertainmentET:  Stallone says the incident never happened.

----------
CELEBRITY - From THR:  Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone, both Oscar winners, are working on a secret project together.

----------
TELEVISION - From YahooEntertainment:  The seventh and final season of "Veep" has been postponed as star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is battling breast cancer.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From THR:  James Franco in talks to join Fox's "X-Men" universe as "Multiple Man" in a self-titled film.

----------
HARRY POTTER - From Variety:  Here is the first cast photo from "Fantastic Beasts 2."

----------
SCANDAL - From YahooGMA:  Terry Crews finally names the Hollywood player who groped him in February 2016.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  "Girls Trip" scene stealer, Tiffany Haddish is hot.  She became the first African-American stand-up comic to host, "Saturday Night Live" in its history (WTF!).  Now, she has landed lead roles in two film.

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  Taraji P. Henson to star in a female take on the 2000 hit film, "What Women Want," which was directed by Nancy Myers and starred Mel Gibson.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From ThePlaylist:  15 to 20 percent of Justice League is from Joss Whedon reshoots.

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SPORTS/BLM - From ThePlayersTribune:  Stephen Curry pens "The Noise," about peaceful protests, Veterans Day, and accusing protesters of being against the military.

---------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Zendaya will star in and produce the thriller, "A White Lie," playing the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar College.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From ComicBook:  Wonder Woman Gal Gadot does not want Brett Ratner (via his company RatPac-Dune Entertainment) involved with "Wonder Woman 2" because of sexual misconduct accusations against him... at least that what the Internet is reporting.

From LATimes:  Because of an issue of timing, Gadot's alleged demands may be moot.  Warner Bros.'s "Wonder Woman 2" is due in 2019, and Brett Ratner's arrangement with Warner Bros. will expire in 2018.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From Variety:  Sony Pictures is developing a film based on Spider-Man antagonist, Morbius, the Living Vampire.

----------
MOVIES - From ScreenRant:  Co-writer Danny McBride confirms the timeline and other information concerning the 2018 reboot of John Carpenter's horror film classic, "Halloween."

----------
STREAMING - From Deadline:  Amazon sets "The Lord of the Rings" TV series with a multi-season commitment.  The series will apparently be a prequel to "The Fellowship of the Ring."

----------
SOCIAL - From GQ:  "GQ" names blacklisted NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, "Citizen of the Year."

From FoxNews:  And Fox News is so bitter about that honor for Kaepernick.

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JAMES BOND - From Deadline:  MGM and Annapurna to unite to distribute the next James Bond, which will star Daniel Craig.

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COMICS-FILM - From Deadline:  The cast is set for "Deadly Class," the TV series from Syfy that is based on the comic book series published by Image Comics.

----------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 11/10 to 11/12/2017 weekend box office is "Thor: Ragnarok" with an estimated haul of $56.6 million.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard, Lonzo Ball, became the youngest NBA player to record a statistical "triple-double."  At the age of 20 years and 20 days old, he beat the previous recorder holder, LeBron James by five days.

From YahooSports:  Lonzo really don't give a...

From LakerNation:  And LeVar Ball is handling the China situation.

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STAR TREK - From YahooEntertainment:   George Takei says that he is "shocked and bewildered" by the sexual assault acclaim against him by a former model and actor.

SCANDAL - From TheSun:  "Smallville" actress Allison Mack is involved in some kind of "sinister sex cult."

OBITS:

From YahooGMA:  Malcolm Young, guitarist and co-founder of legendary rock band, AC/DC, has died at the age of 64.  Malcolm founded the band with his brother, guitarist Angus Young, in 1973.  Malcolm had been suffering from dementia for several years.

From MLB:  Former Major League Baseball player and coach, Bobby Doerr, has died at the age of 99, Monday, November 13, 2017.  Doerr played 14 seasons for the Boston Red Sox and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and its only member to live to 99 years old.  He played for the Red Sox from 1937 to 1951, but missed the 1945 season for military service.

From TheWrap:  Legendary newspaper gossip columnist, Liz Smith, has died at the age of 94, Sunday, November 12, 2017.  Her column ran for more than three decades and she was credited with helping to bring forth the era of celebrity journalism.

TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  The first official trailer for the film, "Rampage," starring Dwayne Johnson and is due April 2018.

From YouTube:  First official trailer for "The Strangers: Prey at Night," the sequel to "The Strangers" and which is due March 2018.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 8th to 14th, 2017 - Update #40

Support Leroy on Patreon.

MOVIES - From THR:  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which bestows the Academy Awards (Oscars), has expelled Harvey Weinstein in the wake of sexual harassment and sexual assault charges.

From THR:  Harvey's brother, Bob Weinstein, who cofounded The Weinstein Company with Harvey, gives an interview to "The Hollywood Reporter."

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CULTURE - From BoingBoing:  A white guy tries to blow up a plane and hardly anyone noticed... this is not a joke.

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Amazon severs ties with The Weinstein Company and that means that it cancels its involvement with David O. Russell and his TV series to star Robert DeNiro and Julianne Moore.

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MOVIES - From IndieWire:  The title of the Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis film is "Phantom Thread."

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Actress Amber Tamblyn releases a statement for her friend, Quentin Tarantino, about his friend, Harvey Weinstein.

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COMICS-FILM - From Collider:  "X-Men" spinoff "Gambit," with Channing Tatum, is back on and has a Feb. 2019 release date.  Gore Verbinski is supposed to direct the film.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Even if its changes its name, The Weinstein Company may not be able to survive the still-growing Harvey Weinstein scandal.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  "Beetlejuice 2" is apparently really happening, and has a new writer.

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COMICS-FILM - From JoBlo:  The first teaser for Fox's "X-Men" spinoff, "New Mutants," arrives some time after midnight, Fri., Oct. 13th.

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COMICS-FILM - From DenofGeek:  Marvel Studios will publish an official time line of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so that viewers can figure out what happened and when it happened.

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CULTURE - From TheNewYorker:  From a story by Ronan Farrow, Harvey Weinstein's victims tell their stories.

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MOVIES:  From THR:  Gal Gadot ("Wonder Woman") is in talks to star in the Nazi revenge thriller, "Ruin."  Gadot is a citizen of Israel.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  Fox has cast "Ralphie" in its live musical version of "A Christmas Story."  He is 11-year-old Alex Walken.

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ANIMATION - From Variety:  Walt Disney Animation Studios has stopped development on "Gigantic," its adaptation of the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk."

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POLITICS - From YahooAOL:  LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick have perfect reactions to Eminem's freestyle diss of President Trump during Tuesday night's BET Hip Hop Awards.

----------
MOVIES - From YahooUKMovies: - A film fan "mansplains" Indiana Jones' costume to the woman who designed it, Deborah Landis.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:  Ben Affleck expressed disgust at the sexual harassment behavior of movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, but actress Rose McGowan says Affleck knew years ago about Harvey's behavior... because she told him about it!

From YahooUKMovies:  Plus, former MTV host, Hilarie Burton, says Ben Affleck once groped her when she "was a kid."

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RELIEF - From Remezcla:  Here is how you can keep helping Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  Apple is nearing a deal with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and NBCUnivesal to revive the 1980s anthology series, "Amazing Stories."

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CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:  When Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed Gwyneth Paltrow, she was dating Brad Pitt.  Pitt reportedly threatened to beat up Weinstein over the incident with Paltrow.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooNews:  Actor and celebrity host Terry Crews recounts a recent experience with sexual harassment, which sounds more like sexual assault.

----------
MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Dwayne Johnson says that he wants to use his "Hobbs" "Fast & Furious" spinoff to expand the franchise.

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  Sylvester Stallone wants to produce and direct "Creed 2," the sequel to "Creed," which was directed by Ryan Coogler.

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SPORTS - From TheNation:  In light of former NFL player and coach, Mike Ditka's latest racist rants, here is another classic from sports writer, Dave Zirin, "The Unbearable Bigotry of Mike Ditka."

From TheChicagoTribune:   And if Mike Ditka can't see oppression during the last 100 years [Didn't know he was that old! - Ed.], medicines like Viagra (for which he once famously shilled) may cause injury to one's eyesight.

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EMMY - From Emmys:  This Microsoft Word PDF is a detailed list of the winners of the 38th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

----------
CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:  The late actor, Anton Yelchin (who died in June 2016) is honored in an emotional celebration of life.

----------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 10/6 to 10/8/2017 box office weekend is "Blade Runner 2049."

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HUMAN RIGHTS - From Truthout:  This Holocaust survivor is more afraid of Neo-Nazi than Antifa activists.

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CELEBRITY - From THR:  And The Weinstein Company terminates Harvey Weinstein.

From RSN:  Harvey Weinstein losing supporters, including his advisor Lisa Bloom, as controversy around sexual harassment allegations mounts.

From HuffPost:  And Harvey ejaculated into a potted plant.

----------
HARRY POTTER - From Variety:  Jessica Williams, formerly a correspondent on "The Daily Show," are among the new announced cast members of the "Fantastic Beasts" sequel.

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MOVIES - From BusinessInsider:  Jennifer Lawrence wants to explain her film, "mother," to you.

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CELEBRITY - From TheGuardian:  How weird does a movie star have to be before we stop watching their films.

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MOVIES - From NPR:  National Public Radio offers 16 Fall movies they think we should pay attention to.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  There is a fight over who will have the final cut on the film, "The Professor and the Madman," starring Mel Gibson.

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FILM FESTIVALS - From Wired:  The best films from the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to look forward to.

----------
MOVIES - From Variety:  14-year-old Jaeden Lieberher talks about his hit movie, "IT."

TRAILERS:

From YahooEntertaiment:  Here is the first trailer for Fox's "X-Men," spinoff, "The New Mutants."

From YouTube:  The second official trailer for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

From Kottke:  Here is the trailer for the documentary, "Score: A Film Music Documentary."

OBITS:

From TheNewYorkTimes:  Basketball Hall of Fame member, Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins, has died at the age of 75, Friday, October 6, 2017.  Hawkins played seven seasons in the NBA.  As a freshman, Hawkins was expelled from Iowa and later barred for awhile from the NBA because his name was connected via unsubstantiated rumors that he was involved in a New York City point shaving scandal.

From ESPN:  Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, Y.A. Tittle, has died at the age of 90, Sunday, October 8, 2017.  He was on the 1963 MVP.  He played his college football at Louisiana State University, which he led to the 1947 Cotton Bowl, known as the "Ice Bowl."  He played most of his career for the San Francisco 49ers, but had his greatest success at the end of his career with the New York Giants.

Review: "The Expendables 3" is Best When the Old Dogs Run

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux (Support the author on Patreon)

The Expendables 3 (2014)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence including intense sustained gun battles and fight scenes, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Patrick Hughes
WRITERS:  Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, and Sylvester Stallone; from a story by Sylvester Stallone (based on characters created by David Callaham)
PRODUCERS:  Les Weldon, Avi Lerner, Danny Lerner, Kevin King-Templeton, and John Thompson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Menzies, Jr.
EDITORS: Sean Albertson and Paul Harb
COMPOSER:  Brian Tyler

ACTION with some elements of drama

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kelsey Grammer, Antonio Banderas, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz, Terry Crews, Jet Li, and Robert Davi

The Expendables 3 is a 2014 action movie from director Patrick Hughes.  It is the second sequel to the 2010 film, The Expendables, and the third movie in the The Expendables film franchise.  In The Expendables 3, team leader, Barney Ross, replaces his old teammates with some new blood for a showdown against a former friend turned arms dealer.

The Expendables 3 opens with the Expendables:  Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) the leader; his right-hand man, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham); Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren); Toll Road (Randy Couture); and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), on a new mission.  They seek to rescue Doc (Wesley Snipes), one of the original Expendables.

With Doc in tow, the Expendables head to Mogadishu, Somalia to capture billionaire arms dealer, Victor Minns.  However, Minns turns out to really be Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who co-founded the Expendables before going rogue.  After the Expendables' mission goes horrible wrong, Barney dismisses his current team.  When he faces Stonebanks again, Ross plans on having a younger team that is also not connected to him in any personal or emotional way.  But are the new Expendables:  Thorn (Glen Powell), Luna (Ronda Rousey), Marlito (Victor Ortiz), and John Smilee (Kellan Lutz), really ready to take on an Expendables mission?

Released in the late summer of 2010, The Expendables was a surprising gem, an explosive action film that was a throwback to the old macho, testosterone-fueled action films of the 1980s.  However, The Expendables was not some homage, parody, or sentimental recollection of action movie days gone by.  As I said in my review of the first film, it was “an authentic ass-kicking, ass-stabbing, cap-popped-in-ass action movie...”

The Expendables 3 is full of old relic-type actors from the 1980s and 90s – stars who dominated the movie box office and one television star.  The story toys with the idea that the old folks must make way for the new stars, but ultimately, it only plays with such a notion.  Honestly, I want to see Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger more than I want to see Ronda Rousey and Kellan Lutz (nothing against them).

I can't quite express how much I enjoyed seeing Kelsey Grammer (as Bonaparte), an actor about whom I have always had mixed feelings, and Harrison Ford (as Max Drummer).  Ford is really showing his seven decades, but he's still cool.  The Expendables 3 is at its best when it showed the old dogs in action, which is what made the original film such a treat.  So, if there is a fourth film in this franchise, I want more aged beef and less fresh meat.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, July 1, 2015


NOTES:
2015 Razzie Awards:  1 win: “Worst Supporting Actor” (Kelsey Grammer, also for Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return; Think Like a Man Too; Transformers: Age of Extinction); 2 nominations: “Worst Supporting Actor” (Mel Gibson) and “Worst Supporting Actor” (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

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

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Review: "Balls of Fury" is Funnier Than it Looks (Happy B'day, Maggie Q)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Balls of Fury (2007)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Robert Ben Garant
WRITERS:  Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant
PRODUCERS:  Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Jonathan Glickman, and Thomas Lennon
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Thomas E. Ackerman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  John Refoua
COMPOSER:  Randy Edelman

COMEDY/SPORT

Starring:  Dan Folger, Christopher Walken, George Lopez, James Hong, Maggie Q, Thomas Lennon, Aisha Tyler, Jason Scott Lee, Diedrich Bader, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Koechner, and Robert Patrick

The subject of this movie review is Balls of Fury, a 2007 sports comedy film from the team of co-writer/director Robert Ben Garant and co-writer Thomas Lennon.  The film follows a down-and-out former professional ping-pong phenom recruited by an FBI agent for a secret mission that may also lead the former child star to his father’s killer.

Balls of Fury takes place in the unsanctioned, underground, and unhinged world of extreme ping pong where the competition is brutal and the stakes are deadly – sort of like the way Dodgeball portrayed the mean world of professional dodge ball.  But we get the joke!

A ping pong professional as a child, Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), spiraled downwards after an embarrassing loss at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.  Cut to the present.  Randy is down on his luck and on his game, and he’s performing at a nightclub when FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez) recruits him for a mission to spy on one of the FBI’s most wanted men, the faux-Asian crime lord Feng (Christopher Walken).  Randy has some incentive to do take the assignment because Feng was responsible for the death of Randy’s father.

“Operation Ping Pong” requires Randy to get an invite to Feng’s underground ping pong championship tournament.  To do that, Randy will have to get his game back into shape.  With the help of a blind ping pong sage, Master Wong (James Hong), and his niece, Maggie Wong (Maggie Q), an expert ping pong trainer, Randy gets in winning form and gets an invite to Feng’s jungle compound where the tournament is being held.  Now, Randy will have to face a raft of formidable players en route to the prize, including his arch-nemesis, German Olympic ping pong god, Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon), and still take down Feng.

Balls of Fury is a parody/remake of the 1973 Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon, by way of Dodgeball and Comedy Central’s television series, “Reno 911.”  In fact, Balls of Fury co-writer/director Robert Ben Garant and co-writer/actor Thomas Lennon are part of the brain trust behind “Reno 911,” and the kind of sheer absurdity that marks that hit comedy series is much in evidence in Balls of Fury.

This film is sometimes shamefully in poor taste, and its lack of political correctness often borders on bad taste.  Still, it’s fun; Balls of Fury takes a look at sports and competition and pokes numerous holes in the gas bags that are elite athletes, secretive trainers, and arcane rules.  Then, the movie skewers so many sports movie stereotypes, from the sage-philosopher mentors to the sad sack underdogs.  Balls of Fury may look like a bad movie (and sometimes it truly is), but it is a comedy that delivers laughter.

5 of 10
B-

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Updated:  Thursday, May 22, 2014


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

Review: "Idiocracy" is Brilliant and Prophetic (Happy B'day, Mike Judge)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Idiocracy (2006)
Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and sex-related humor
DIRECTOR:  Mike Judge
WRITERS:  Mike Judge and Etan Cohen; from a story by Mike Judge
PRODUCERS:  Mike Judge and Elysa Koplovitz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tim Suhrstedt
EDITOR:  David Rennie
COMPOSER:  Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Alan Crews, Anthony Campos, David Herman, and Brad “Scarface” Jordan

The subject of this movie review is Idiocracy, a 2006 science fiction and satirical comedy film from writer-director, Mike Judge (Office Space).  The film focuses on an “average American” who awakens from a hibernation project five centuries in the future, where he discovers a society that is so incredibly dumbed-down that he is easily the most intelligent person alive.

Idiocracy was essentially produced and abandoned.  20th Century Fox released the film to an estimated 130 theatres – much less than 600 theatres, the number that is usually considered the minimum for a film to be in wide release.  Fox also did little in the way of promotion, and did not screen the movie for film critics.

To test its top secret Human Hibernation Project, U.S. Army officials chose the most average American male they can find, an Army private named Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson).  The most average woman they find is Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute.  Joe and Rita are only supposed to stay in hibernation for one year, but they are forgotten and reawaken 500 years later.  They find civilization so incredibly dumbed-down that they are the smartest people on earth.  The President of the United States of Uhh-merica, Dwayne Elizondo Camacho (Terry Alan Crews), a former professional wrestler, wants Joe to solve the country’s problems (chiefly crop failures), or Camacho will have him rehabilitated – meaning killed.

Idiocracy is director Mike Judge’s long-awaited follow up to his cult hit, Office Space.  Judge is also the creator of the popular animated television series “Beavis and Butt-head” (for MTV) and, co-creator with Greg Daniels of  “King of the Hill” (for FOX).  In this comic sci-fi flick, Judge and his co-screenwriter Etan Cohen transport the audience to a satirical future populated by dumb humans who do nothing but watch TV and who are too dumb to irrigate their crops with water (using instead a sports drink).

Watching this movie, it would not be hard to get the idea that Judge and his creative staff are being unnecessarily cynical, especially when one of the film’s tenets is that dumb people (rednecks, trailer trash, hood rats, etc.) breed too much, while smart people don’t have enough babies.  An underemployed man who lives in poverty and has many children with two or more baby mamas isn’t necessarily dumb, nor are his offspring destined to be big dummies.  To fixate on this, however, would be to take an anal view of the film.  Besides, like much satire, Judge’s Idiocracy is preaching to the choir.

Combine genetic devolution with a populace enslaved to crass media that sells rampant commercialism and entertainment that emphasizes hypersexuality, and you might have a primary ingredient for a dystopian future, even if it isn’t as comically inept as the one presented here.  Judge is trying to make a point about an America where so many people are stubbornly uncurious about their world, the people who live in it, and how their actions affect anyone beyond themselves and maybe the small circle of people around them.  Yet those same people slavishly fixate on the habits and lifestyles of celebrities and assorted public figures.  Judge smartly makes his point with outrageous humor, and truthfully, the film isn’t elitist, it’s just relentlessly and unapologetically funny about making fun of and satirizing its targets.

Luke Wilson is great as a sort of nobody everyman.  He’s the kind of average Joe who tends his little patch of green earth while the rest of the world is engaged in a rat race.  In Wilson’s quiet but well-played role as someone who just doesn’t want to make waves, Judge has the perfect character by which to offer as a contrast to a world of people who are nothing but spoiled dumb children.  They want to be fed, entertained, and pleasured, but they don’t care to clean up after themselves and are too lazy to earn their treats.  Before I make Idiocracy sound like a school lesson, it’s easily one of the year’s funniest flicks.  Referencing Mad Max, 1984, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and other classic cautionary speculative, science fiction, this is the gold standard in satirical comedies.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Updated:  Thursday, October 17, 2013

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

Review: "White Chicks" Has Outlasted it Critics (Happy B'day, Marlon Wayans)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 107 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

White Chicks (2004)
Running time:  109 minutes (1 hours, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, and some content
DIRECTOR:  Keenen Ivory Wayans
WRITERS:  Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Andrew McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Xavier Cook; from a story by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans
PRODUCERS:  Rick Alvarez, Lee R. Mayes, Keenen Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Shawn Wayans
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Steven Bernstein (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Jeffrey Stephen Gourson and Stuart Pappé
COMPOSER:  Teddy Castellucci

COMEDY

Starring:  Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, John Heard, Busy Philipps, Terry Crews, Brittany Daniel, Eddie Velez, Jessica Cauffiel, Maitland Ward, Anne Dudek, Rochelle Aytes, Jennifer Carpenter

The subject of this movie review is White Chicks, a 2004 buddy cop and crime comedy from director Keenen Ivory Wayans.  The film stars brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans as two African-American cops who don white-face and drag in order to disguise themselves as two wealthy, young White women.

Kevin (Shawn Wayans) and Marcus Copeland (Marlon Wayans) are two FBI agents with a penchant for doing things on their own that usually gets them into trouble.  After botching a drug bust, they need something to get them back in the good graces of their boss, Section Chief Elliott Gordon (Frankie Faison).  Assigned to pick up two hotel heiresses, the Wilson Sisters, from the airport, Kevin and Marcus also manage to screw that up.

However, an unknown party has threatened to kidnap the sisters during their weekend in the Hamptons.  Kevin and Marcus resolve to foil the plot by adopting the sisters’ identities.  Add state-of-the art makeup and Kevin and Marcus are suddenly white girls.  Before long, they’re undercover living it up as the Wilsons, but how long can they fool the girls’ friends and their fellow FBI agents?  And most importantly, can they fool the kidnappers?

White Chicks isn’t a great movie, but like director Keenen Ivory Wayans’ other directorial efforts, the film is so funny that it might make you howl.  The plot is not even thick enough to be paper thin, and its bare existence is strictly as a prop for the premise – two black men use state-of-the-art makeup to be white chicks.  The script, by the three Wayans and three other screenwriters, is a succession of silliness meant to be funny, and most of the time, it works.

Though the Internet might be filled with the cacophony of idiots crying that White Chicks is reverse racism – black people making fun of whites (as if African-American filmmakers could make up for nearly a century of horrific screen images of black folk), the film is respectful towards its subject matter; it’s more laughing with than at.  All the characters are foils and butts of jokes; no one is really treated as being better than anyone else.  Even the film’s villain is hardly menacing.  White Chicks is about laughs and having a good time at the movies.  It might fail at being film art, but it’s funny.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2005 Razzie Awards:  5 nominations:  “Worst Actress” (Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans - The Wayans Sisters), “Worst Director” (Keenen Ivory Wayans), “Worst Picture” (Columbia and Revolution), “Worst Screen Couple” (Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans - The Wayans Brothers: In or Out of Drag), and “Worst Screenplay” (Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Andrew McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Xavier Cook)

Update: Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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Review: "The Expendables 2" is Darker, But Still Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 88 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux - support on Patreon.

The Expendables 2 (2012)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence throughout
DIRECTOR: Simon West
WRITERS: Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone; from a story by Ken Kaufman & David Agosto and Richard Wenk (based on characters created by David Callaham)
PRODUCERS: David Lerner, Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton, John Thompson, and Les Weldon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shelly Johnson
EDITOR: Todd E. Miller
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

ACTION

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu, Charisma Carpenter, Chuck Connors, and Terry Crews with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Summer 2010 movie season offered an unexpected treat, The Expendables, an explosive action film co-written, directed, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It was a throwback to the macho, testosterone-fueled, action flicks of the 1980s.

The subject of this movie review is its sequel, The Expendables 2, a 2012 action movie from director Simon West. Like its predecessor, The Expendables 2 is not an homage to or parody of action movie days-gone-by. It is an authentic ass-kicking, ass-stabbing, cap-popped-in-ass action movie, but it is a little darker and more downbeat than the original.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is still the leader of the Expendables, an elite band of mercenaries. Ross and his right-hand man/knife specialist, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham); martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li); unstable Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren); demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture); weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews); and the new guy, sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), charge into Nepal on a rescue mission. It is a success, of course, but Ross and the Expendables have a debt to pay. So says secretive CIA agent, “Mr. Church” (Bruce Willis).

Soon, the Expendables are escorting one of Church’s operatives, Maggie Chan (Nan Yu), to a crash site in the Gasak Mountains, Albania. The item that the Expendables are trying to retrieve is also the target of Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), the leader of a large mercenary band called the Sangs. After one of the Expendables is brutally murdered, Ross leads his team into hostile territory on a mission of revenge.

Early in The Expendables 2, even with the crazy opening in Nepal, it is obvious that this is a darker movie. This sequel replaces the cartoonish and stylish violence with more grit. It seems that just as many, if not more people are casually shot and also shot to pieces, but there is something meaner here. Perhaps, it is this film’s chilly shooting locations in Bulgaria, or maybe it’s the story.

More than the original film, The Expendables 2 is a Sylvester Stallone movie, and the theme, or at least emphasis, is that his character, Barney Ross, has come to a morbid conclusion about his life. He’s a tired, old soldier, but this dog still has a lot of fight in him. But Ross is simply determined not to drag any new people into the meat grinder that is his place of work and profession. The other Expendables are largely in the background compared to the first movie, which is hugely disappointing to me. Still, wise-ass Jason Statham gets many opportunities to spread his wings of sarcasm, and he has some cool, solo martial arts fight scenes. That’s worth the price of admission.

Stallone and some of his costars are starting to look real hoary because of plastic surgery. In fact, there is enough plastic surgery between some of them that it would not be too snarky to say that they are starting to look like action figure toys. Anyway, if you liked the first movie, you’ll likely like the second. The Expendables 2 is good enough to make me ready to go on a third mission with Ross and company.

6 of 10
B

Friday, November 23, 2012

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"Bridesmaids" Offers More Than Just Belly Laughs

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 89 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bridesmaids (2011)
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for some strong sexuality, and language throughout
DIRECTOR: Paul Feig
WRITERS: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
PRODUCERS: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert D. Yeoman
EDITOR: William Kerr and Mike Sale

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Jill Clayburgh, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Tim Heidecker, Rebel Wilson, Matt Lucas, Michael Hitchcock, Franklyn Ajaye, Terry Crews, Jon Hamm, and Wilson Phillips (Carnie Wilson, Wendy Wilson, and Chynna Phillips)

Bridesmaids is a 2011 comedy and drama starring and co-written by Kristen Wiig, a current cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (as of this writing). Produced by Apatow Productions, Bridesmaids follows a down-on-her-luck maid of honor whose personal problems threaten to derail a friend’s wedding.

Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) is a single woman in her mid 30s and lives in Milwaukee. In recent years, she has seen her dream bakery (called Cake Baby) fail and drain away her life savings. Her current boyfriend, the self-absorbed Ted (Jon Hamm), really isn’t her boyfriend; Ted is just someone who uses Annie for sex. When her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), announces that she is engaged to marry her boyfriend, Doug (Tim Heidecker), Annie should be happy for her, but Lillian’s impending nuptials only make Annie think about her own sad state of affairs.

Lillian asks Annie to be her maid of honor, but at the engagement party, Annie is shocked to discover that one of the other bridesmaids, Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne), has a relationship with Lillian that can best be described as “best friends.” Annie is also put off by the other bridesmaids: raunchy, cynical, frustrated housewife, Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey); idealistic new bride, Becca (Ellie Kemper); and Lillian’s crude, but lively future sister-in-law, Megan (Melissa McCarthy). Annie’s attempts at being maid of honor are disastrous and her life isn’t much better. Meanwhile, a local cop, Officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd), takes a liking to Annie.

The title, Bridesmaids, is a little misleading. This film is really about Annie Walker; all the other characters are supporting players to one degree or another. Even Lillian’s wedding, an event that weighs heavily on the story, is merely a subplot in Annie’s complicated life. I would say that much of what was shown in trailers and in television advertisements for this film, especially the hijinks of the Bridesmaids, mostly comes from a section of this film that runs from the end of the first hour to the first 30 or so minutes of the second hour.

That’s not to say that this movie isn’t funny. It’s quite funny. I found myself laughing out loud (really loud, sometimes) at many moments throughout this movie. The bridesmaids live up to the expectations, especially Melissa McCarthy, an Emmy winner for the CBS sitcom, “Mike & Molly.” McCarthy steals practically every scene in which she appears; there should be, at least, some kind of award nomination coming her way. On the other hand, one of this film’s faults is that Maya Rudolph’s Lillian is not in this movie enough. Every time Lillian appears, the movie seems to beg her to stay longer.

Still, this movie is really about Annie Walker, and to that extent, it is well-written by Wiig and co-writer Annie Mumolo. Wiig also gives an excellent comic performance, one that brings humor and sarcasm to Annie’s troubles without making them seem less troublesome. Annie’s life is pretty crappy. That Annie’s dilemmas feel so real is probably why having the policeman, Nathan Rhodes, show up in her life, adds such a lovely romantic touch to this movie. Irish comedian and actor Chris O’Dowd gives what is probably a career-turning performance as the genial, extremely likeable Rhodes, who is a kind of a knight in shining armor. Even I have a crush on the character.

For all the credit that Kristen Wiig, her co-writer, and the rest of the cast deserve, credit should also go to director Paul Feig. He knows just what tone to strike for each scene and also which genre conventions should be present depending on the moment. It’s one thing to direct a comedy-drama, but to also direct a romantic comedy that is connected to a spirit-crushing mid-life crisis is quite a feat.

Do believe the hype. Bridesmaids was a big hit in theatres because people liked it and kept spreading the word about it. And the word I want to use for it is “classic.” I hope it lives up to that. I think it will.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Review: "The Expendables" is the Real Kick Ass

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 73 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux -
The Expendables (2010)

Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language
DIRECTOR: Sylvester Stallone
WRITERS: David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone; from a story by David Callaham
PRODUCERS: Kevin King, Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton, and John Thompson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeffrey Kimball (director of photography)
EDITORS: Ken Blackwell and Paul Harb
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

ACTION

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itié, Charisma Carpenter, Gary Daniels, and Terry Crews with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger

The late summer 2010 box office season has offered one surprising gem, The Expendables, an explosive action film co-written, directed, and starring Sylvester Stallone. Much has been made of this film being a throwback to the old macho, testosterone-fueled action films of the 1980s. Indeed, this movie does have a First Blood and friends, Team Rambo vibe to it. In fact, 80s action stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, swagger (and wheeze a bit) through cameo appearances.

The Expendables, however, isn’t some homage, parody, or sentimental recollection of action movie days gone by. The Expendables is an authentic ass-kicking, ass-stabbing, cap-popped-in-ass action movie, and boy, is it good. [No panty-waists allowed!]

The story focuses on the Expendables, an elite band of mercenaries led by an American named Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone). The teams consists of Ross’ right-hand man, former Special Air Service soldier, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham); martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li); sniper Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren); demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture); and weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews).

Ross accepts a high-paying assignment from the mysterious “Mr. Church” (Bruce Willis) to assassinate General Garza (David Zayas), the brutal dictator of (fictional) Vilena, a small Caribbean island nation. On a reconnaissance mission, Ross and Christmas learn that Garza is being backed by James Munroe (Eric Roberts) a corrupt ex-CIA agent. With his henchmen, Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels), Munroe manipulates Garza and his military into terrorizing the island’s inhabitants, while Munroe seeks to control the drug trade he once fought as CIA. Inspired by Sandra (Giselle Itié), a beautiful islander, Ross becomes determined to stop Munroe and Garza, even if he has to do it alone – although his Expendables obviously won’t let him.

I don’t remember 80s action movies being quite as violent and as gory as The Expendables, although Die Hard 2 had an equally high body count. The violence, however, is not a problem for me. Movies like the Jason Bourne franchise and the recent Live Free or Die Hard offer so much high-tech gloss that the low-tech, bloody mayhem of The Expendables is like cool, sweet lemonade on a scorching hot summer day. This is a meat and potatoes action movie in which brute force does the ass kicking without computerized weapons.

Of course, the acting is mostly mediocre, but still surprisingly sincere. Watching The Expendables, you might get the idea that these guys had fun making this movie, but still took their work very seriously. Jason Statham is the standout here, and Terry Crews’ Hale Caesar should have had more screen time, while Jet Li’s Yin Yang felt extraneous.

Stallone has surprised everyone and made a real action movie, a man’s man action movie. At his age and after plastic surgery, Stallone is starting to look like Boris Korloff’s Frankenstein. Still, by sticking to his old guns, he and his cinematic kitchen staff have made an action movie meal that sticks to the ribs. Hollywood should ask for The Expendables’ recipe.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, September 06, 2010

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