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

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

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

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

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

DIRECTOR:  Brian Gibson

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

PRODUCERS:  Doug Chapin, Barry Krost, and Kate Lanier

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jamie Anderson

EDITOR:  Stuart Pappé

COMPOSER:  Stanley Clarke

Academy Award nominee

BIOPIC/DRAMA/MUSIC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 19, 2023

NOTES:

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

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

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

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

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NatGeo Renews "The Hot Zone" for a Second Season; Will Focus on 2001 Anthrax Attacks

National Geographic Gives Season Two Order to Network’s Highest-Rated Scripted Series Ever, ‘The Hot Zone’

From Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions, Six-Episode Limited Series Will Focus on the Anthrax Attacks of 2001

Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson to Return as Executive Producers and Showrunners

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Geographic announced that “The Hot Zone,” the network’s highest-rated scripted series to date, has been greenlit for a second season, which will focus on the anthrax attacks of 2001. From Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson return as executive producers and showrunners for this next installment.

    “The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely”

“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films. “As the world battles COVID-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is a scientific thriller for our time.”

In 2001, just weeks after 9/11, the United States was rocked by another deadly act of terrorism. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives, left 17 others sick and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of USAMRIID scientists (The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense’s lead research laboratory), FBI agents and Justice Department personnel slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.

“While many of us can recall the breaking news headlines and the widespread fear that ensued when anthrax emerged in America, there are still layers to this story that have not yet been told,” said Kelly Souders. “The second season of our anthology series will dive deep into the forensic investigation of a simple envelope that sent the entire Eastern Seaboard into a panic.”

“After a terrific collaboration with our friends at National Geographic on ‘The Hot Zone,’ we couldn’t be more excited to be back in business with the same stellar team for another season,” said David W. Zucker, president, Scott Free Television. “All of us well remember the anthrax attacks in 2001, which rocked and terrified the country. We’re eager to tell this extraordinary story of all the drama that unfolded to overcome the attacks and identify the perpetrator.”

The six-hour scientific thriller follows last year’s “The Hot Zone,” which starred Golden Globe® and Emmy® Award winner Julianna Margulies and was National Geographic’s most-watched scripted series of all time and ranked the second most-watched series on the network of all time. The May 27, 2019, Memorial Day, three-night, premiere event lifted National Geographic to the No. 5 ad-supported cable network in the target demo for the night and No. 2 among Total Viewers. Across 12 broadcasts through the May 29 finale (premieres and repeats), the series was viewed by 7.5 million people in the U.S. The original series was based on Richard Preston’s bestselling book of the same name and was inspired by the true events surrounding the origins of the Ebola virus and its arrival on U.S. soil in 1989.

“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is the newest addition to the network’s scripted programming slate that takes groundbreaking storytelling further. This project follows National Geographic’s previously announced scripted series including highly anticipated “Genius: Aretha,” the recent premiere of “The Right Stuff” on Disney+, and critically acclaimed limited series “Barkskins,” last year’s top-rated “The Hot Zone” and previous Emmy Award-winning installments of “Genius: Einstein” and “Genius: Picasso.”

For “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson serve as executive producers and showrunners. Scott Free Production’s Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker are executive producers with Jordan Sheehan also serving as executive producer. Lynda Obst is an executive producer. Richard Preston is a co-executive producer on the series. The series is produced by Touchstone Television, a division of Disney Television Studios alongside 20th Television and ABC Signature, and Scott Free Productions.

For more information, follow @NatGeoPR on Twitter.

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About Scott Free Productions:
Scott Free Productions, founded in 1995, is the film and television production vehicle of acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott. In the 25 years since Scott Free was formed, the company has earned over 100 Emmy nominations with 22 wins, and 28 Golden Globe nominations for its television projects. Current productions include the HBO Max sci-fi epic, RAISED BY WOLVES, the first-ever American television series helmed by Ridley Scott, a drama about androids raising human children in an outer space colony; THE GOOD FIGHT, the critically-acclaimed CBS All Access spin-off of THE GOOD WIFE recently ordered to season five; an inventive heist anthology series, JIGSAW, to shoot in 2021 for Netflix; the investigative drama series THE BEAST MUST DIE for U.K.’s Britbox, starring Jared Harris; and an upcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic GREAT EXPECTATIONS for FX/BBC1. Other hailed Scott Free productions include THE HOT ZONE; THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE; THE TERROR; THE GOOD WIFE; TABOO; NUMB3RS; THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH; THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN; THE COMPANY; CRIMES OF THE CENTURY; GETTYSBURG; RE: GENERATION MUSIC PROJECT; I AM DYING; CLIVE DAVIS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES; and the acclaimed Emmy-nominated National Geographic channel series of “Killing” telefilms: KILLING JESUS; KILLING KENNEDY; KILLING REAGAN; and KILLING LINCOLN.

About Touchstone Television:
Touchstone Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, is devoted to making creatively ambitious scripted and unscripted series for all distribution platforms. Touchstone is responsible for the recent Netflix smash “Ratched” from Ryan Murphy and starring Golden Globe and Emmy winner Sarah Paulson in the title role; the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning sensation from Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” as well as its follow-up “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” (both with FX Productions) which also won the Emmy and Golden Globe for Outstanding Limited Series; the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning “Homeland,” starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin which completed its eighth and final season this year; the Emmy-winning “Fosse/Verdon” (with FX Productions) from award-winning producers Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Joel Fields and Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams; the blockbuster “Sons of Anarchy” as well as its follow-up “Mayans M.C.” (with FX Productions) from co-creators Kurt Sutter and Elgin James; “Queen of the South,” executive produced by David T. Friendly, Dailyn Rodriguez and Benjamin Daniel Lobato; the Emmy winning “Pose” (with FX Productions) from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Steven Canals, Janet Mock, Alexis Martin Woodall and Sherry Marsh; the Emmy-nominated “Genius” franchise which will air its third installment “Genius: Aretha” starring Cynthia Erivo this winter; and the Golden Globe-nominated “The Politician” from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan and starring Tony winner Ben Platt and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow. Upcoming series include “The Old Man” (with FX Productions) starring Academy Award winning Jeff Bridges and six-time Emmy winner John Lithgow and the newest installment of “American Crime Story” entitled “Impeachment: American Crime Story” (with FX Productions) starring Sarah Paulson, Beanie Feldstein, Clive Owen and Annaleigh Ashford. Touchstone Television shows have amassed a collective 134 Emmy nominations and 34 Emmy wins, as well as multiple Golden Globes, Humanitas Prizes and Peabody Awards.

About National Geographic Partners LLC:
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 132 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27% of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

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Review: Spike Lee's "25th Hour" Focuses on Mood (Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 116 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

25th Hour (2002)
Running time:  135 minutes (2 hours, 15 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong language and some violence
DIRECTOR:  Spike Lee
WRITER:  David Benioff (based upon his novel, The 25th Hour)
PRODUCERS:  Spike Lee and Jon Kilik and Julia Chasman and Tobey Maguire
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Rodrigo Prieto
EDITOR:  Barry Alexander Brown
COMPOSER:  Terrence Blanchard
Golden Globe nominee

DRAMA

Starring:  Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Tony Siragusa, Tony Devon, and Isaiah Whitlock, Jr.

The subject of this movie review is 25th Hour, a 2002 drama from director, Spike Lee.  The film is based on The 25th Hour, a 2001 novel by David Benioff, who also wrote the screenplay for this film.  25th Hour the movie focuses on a convicted New York City drug dealer who reevaluates his life in the last 24 hours of freedom he has before he begins serving a seven-year jail term.

Montgomery “Monty” Brogan (Edward Norton) is just a day away from entering prison on a seven-year stint for dealing heroin.  He spends the last 24 hours of his freedom with his two best friends – his childhood buddies, Frank (Barry Pepper), a Wall Street bond trader; and Jakob (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a high school English teacher; and his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson).  They plan to party the night away at their New York City haunts as they ruminate on the their pasts and futures and on 9/11.  Monty also touches base with his widower father, Frank (Brian Cox), who has trouble dealing with what has happened to his only child.

Spike Lee’s 25th Hour isn’t so much about plot and story as it is about emotions and moods.  The story is certainly compelling – a man trying to find some closure the last day of is freedom (especially when one considers that Monty Brogan really doesn’t look like he’s going to do well in prison).  However, Lee emphasizes the raw feelings and powerful emotions, as well as the thoughts that press and weigh on the mind of a condemned man.  It makes for some riveting scenes, such as the one in which Monty asks Frank to help him get the right look for prison (by beating him up).  There is an equally poignant, heart-rending, and ultimately beautiful monologue in which Monty’s dad, Frank, offers him a vision for a better tomorrow.  Combine that with the 9/11 references, and this is a New York film that is familiar to us all.

There are good performances all around, making the most of Lee’s stunning succession of potent moods.  No really stands out, because all the leads: Norton, Hoffman, Pepper, Dawson and Cox get at least a few chances to show their dramatic chops in an earthy way that tests their intellects as actors.  The film does dry up in a few places, but its closing sequence will remind viewers of how well a film can capture the human story.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2003 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Terrence Blanchard)

2003 Black Reel Awards:  3 nominations: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress” (Rosario Dawson), “Theatrical - Best Director” (Spike Lee), “Best Film” (Spike Lee, Tobey Maguire, Jon Kilik, and Julia Chasman)

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Updated:  Monday, February 03, 2014

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

Review: "Corky Romano" Has Enjoyable Cheap Laughs (Happy B'day, Fred Ward)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 140 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Corky Romano (2001)
Running time:  86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for drug and sex-related humor, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Rob Pritts
WRITERS:  David Garrett and Jason Ward
PRODUCER:  Robert Simonds
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Steven Bernstein (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Alan Cody
COMPOSER:  Randy Edelman

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring:  Chris Kattan, Vinessa Shaw, Peter Falk, Peter Berg, Chris Penn, Richard Roundtree, Fred Ward, Matthew Glave, Roger Fan, Dave Sheridan, Vincent Pastore, and Kip King

The subject of this movie review is Corky Romano, a 2001 crime-mafia comedy.  The film stars “Saturday Night Live” alumnus, Chris Kattan, as the loser son of a low-level Mafia boss forced to infiltrate the FBI.

Bad movies can be hilarious, eliciting countless belly laughs; sometimes they can be uproarious, which is the case with the Chris Kattan vehicle Corky Romano.  The writers filled the scripts with such implausibility (the central premise of a bumbling idiot infiltrating the Federal Bureau of Investigation stretches the imagination; then, again, who thought 9/11 could happen?), so one must really suspend disbelief.  Chris Kattan, an excellent physical comedian, probably as good as Jim Carrey, firmly takes control of this rickety movie.  He manipulates his co-stars as ably as he maneuvers his body and makes Corky Romano quite funny.

Corky (Chris Kattan) is an assistant veterinarian with dreams of being a licensed vet.  His father “Pops” Romano (Peter Falk) is a wealthy low-rent hood specializing in rackets and gambling, but some unknown person has implicated Pops on murder charges.  The feds are after him, and he’s facing hard time (in the typical “upstate” prison).  He and his sons Paulie (Peter Berg) and Peter (Chris Penn) have hatched a plan to have Corky infiltrate the local FBI office the way the feds have obviously penetrated the Romanos’ operations.  Paulie, a functional illiterate, and Peter, a closet homosexual, have no faith in their brother Corky, but they assist him in his mission to pass as an agent of the FBI and retrieve whatever incriminating evidence they have on Pops.

Once inside, Corky, through the usual movie luck, misunderstanding, and being in the wrong place at the right time somehow convince the feds that he’s a topnotch agent.  His boss Howard Shuster (Richard Roundtree) loves him, and Corky catches the eye of a comely, young FBI wench, Agent Kate Russo (Vinessa Shaw), who is, of course, trying to show the guys that she’s just as good as any male agent.  While most of his colleagues think that Corky is the not only the real deal, but a great G-man, Agent Brick Davis (Matthew Glave) is a rival with Corky for Shuster’s attention and approval, and he out to prove that Corky is a phony.

If you set your brain on dumb, you’ll have a great time because Corky is an very good, bad movie.  Although it’s short on the kind of grossness one can expect from the American Pie and Austin Powers films, Corky Romano has it’s share of bizarreness.  All the male characters in the film really crave the attention of their male peers and associates (in addition to the whole father-son-mentor subtext), and there is a not-too-subtle gay subtext of physical attraction between men, not to mention that certain male characters are always paired together.  Either way, Corky Romano is many cheap laughs, and sometimes, that is hard to find in many movies that claim to be funny.

5 of 10
B-

Updated:  Monday, December 30, 2013

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

Review: "Reign of Fire" is a Hot Popcorn Thriller (Happy B'day, Matthew McConaughey)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 125 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Reign of Fire (2002)
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action violence
DIRECTOR:  Rob Bowman
WRITERS:  Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, and Matt Greenberg from a story by Gregg Chabot and Kevin Peterka
PRODUCERS:  Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Lili Fini Zanuck, and Richard D. Zanuck
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Adrian Biddle (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Declan McGrath and Thom Noble
COMPOSERS:  Ed Shearmur and Brad Wagner

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott James Moutter, Ben Thorton, and Alice Krige

The subject of this movie review is Reign of Fire, a 2002 post-apocalyptic, science fiction and fantasy-action film from director Rob Bowman.  The film takes place in a time after fire-breathing dragons emerged from beneath Earth’s surface and began setting fire to everything, on their way to establishing their dominance over the planet.

Director Rob Bowman’s Reign of Fire is a beautiful, amped-up B-movie with the gloss and sheen of serious A-list action movie.  Bowman is known for his work on the television series, “The X-Files”.

Set a few decades into the 21st Century, it’s the tale of band of humans led by two rivals Quinn Abercromby (the sexy Christian Bale) and Denton Van Zan (the sexy Matthew McConaughey) who fight a brood of dragons that have destroyed civilization and hunt what’s left of mankind.  After the dragons deliver to huge setbacks to the humans, Quinn, Abercrombie, and the beautiful Alex (Izabella Scorupco), the action movie girl de rigueur, travel to London for a last stand against the mightiest of the dragons.

Bowman, who directed many episodes of “The X-Files” television series, as well as the feature film based upon the series, is very good at putting his cast and crew through the paces to create this fantastic and fun film.  It doesn’t have to make much sense (and it doesn’t) to be entertaining, but Bowman takes the B-movie to new cinematic heights.  Yes, I will wonder why everyone is filthy and grimy in this burnt-out world while Alex manages to look freshly washed every scene – a little thing compared to some others.  However, I enjoyed Reign of Fire’s intense portrayal of humans barely holding on, yet fighting for their lives in this post-apocalyptic thriller.  If you like fantasy and action, I’m sure you’ll have a good time with this tasty popcorn thriller.

7 of 10
B+

Updated:  Monday, November 04, 2013

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

Review: "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" is Inventive, Odd, and Relaxed (Remembering Douglas Adams)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 146 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA/UK
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG for thematic elements, action, and mild language
DIRECTOR: Garth Jennings
WRITERS: Douglas Adams and Karey Kirkpatrick (based upon the novel by Douglas Adams)
PRODUCERS: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Nick Goldsmith, Jay Roach, and Jonathan Glickman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Igor Jadue-Lillo
EDITOR: Niven Howie
COMPOSER: Joby Talbot

SCI-FI/COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Anna Chancellor and John Malkovich, with the voices of Alan Rickman, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, and Thomas Lennon

The subject of this movie review is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a 2005 British-American comic science fiction and adventure film. It is based on the 1979 novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which was written by the late author, Douglas Adams. The film follows the adventures of a man from Earth and his alien companion who is writing a new edition of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

Arthur Dent (Sam Rockwell) is an ordinary guy having what looks like another bad day, when he discovers that his house is scheduled for demolition to make way for an expressway. Then, his best friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), shows up and tells him that Earth is also scheduled for demolition by aliens to make way for a hyperspace expressway. Ford later whisks Arthur into space where they eventually end up on the super space ship, the Heart of Gold, captained by the dim-witted President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell).

Arthur actually encountered Zaphod on Earth before, when the President stole the girl with whom Arthur had just fallen in love, Tricia (Zooey Deschanel). Tricia, now known as Trillian, is also on board, as is a chronically depressed android named Marvin (Warwick Davis with the voice by Alan Rickman). The unusual quintet search for the answers (and the questions) to the mystery of Life, the Universe, and Everything – with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (voiced by Stephen Fry) as their… well, guide.

First published in 1979, Douglas Adams’ (1952-2001) novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is one of the all-time best selling science fiction novels every published, and perhaps the most popular sci-fi humor book ever. The book became a cycle first known as “The Hitchhiker’s Trilogy,” after the publication of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) and Life, the Universe and Everything (1982); two more books followed, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) and Mostly Harmless (1992).

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy began as a radio sci-fi comedy series, and the book series is a non-literal adaptation of the radio series. Hitchhiker’s has also been a British TV mini-series, a stage play, a comic book/graphic novel, record albums, and a computer game. A major motion picture had long been in the planning stages at various times over 20 years with such names as actors Jim Carrey and Bill Murray and directors Jay Roach and Spike Jonze attached to the project.

Finally, in mid-spring of 2005, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy debuted in theatres with director Garth Jennings and co-producer Nick Goldsmith as its filmmaking creative center. Jennings and Goldsmith are the music video directing team known as “Hammer and Tongs.” They directed videos for such musical acts as R.E.M. (“Imitation of Life,” one of my personal favorites as an all-time great music video), Fatboy Slim (“Right Here, Right Now”), and Blur (“Coffee and T.V.”).

Before he died, Douglas Adams wrote the script (a non-literal translation of the books as the books were also not literal translations the original radio show) and added new characters (Humma Kavula played by John Malkovich). Co-writer Karey Kirkpatrick (James and the Giant Peach and Chicken Run) came on to improve the script’s structure and make it more coherent. Not having seen any of Adams’ original script drafts, I can’t say how much or if Kirkpatrick improved on Adams’ work. The film does seem to lack organization and focus, and its plot seems rather inconsequential, but The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is about eccentric characters in odd settings and situations, not so much about plot. A viewer doesn’t have to have read the books, but being familiar with the various source materials may make him and her more open to the film. Hitchhiker’s is basically a film about a great big sci-fi/fantasy misadventure set in a universe of oddities and abnormal beings (except Arthur Dent).

The cast and crew so obviously love what they’re doing and really buy into the little world that they created, and that passes on to the audience. Martin Freeman makes a great Arthur Dent, playing him as a flustered man frustrated with his world being destroyed and not having the girl who is “the one” loving him back. Sam Rockwell and Mos Def make a great alien combo, with the former as a cocky and kooky, gun-slinging lothario and the latter as the best-dressed straight man/wise man in the galaxy. I enjoyed watching them and the rest of the cast, and while the voice actors don’t seem to be straining themselves to perform, they are oddly appealing.

Part Monty Python, part Jim Henson, part Mel Brooks’ Space Balls (with a much bigger budget), and part David Lynch, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is not an interstellar homerun, but it’s the most visually and conceptually daring sci-fi comedy – probably ever. And I really enjoy how unpredictable this film remains, even through repeated viewings.

6 of 10
B

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DreamWorks Begins Production on "WikiLeaks" Movie

Production Begins on DreamWorks’ WikiLeaks Project “The Fifth Estate”

Drama Will Open in Theaters November 15, 2013

Participant Media Joins Project

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography has begun on the WikiLeaks drama “The Fifth Estate,” it was announced today by DreamWorks Studios. The film about the controversial website stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange and Daniel Brühl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg, as well as Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Dan Stevens, Alicia Vikander and Carice van Houten.

“The Fifth Estate” will open in U.S. theaters on November 15, 2013 and be distributed domestically by Disney’s Touchstone label. Distribution internationally will be split among Disney, DreamWorks partner Reliance, and deals made through the studio’s partnership with Mister Smith Entertainment.

Following Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Brühl), an early supporter and eventual colleague of Julian Assange (Cumberbatch), “The Fifth Estate” traces the heady, early days of WikiLeaks, culminating in the release of a series of controversial and history changing information leaks. The website’s overnight success brought instant fame to its principal architects and transformed the flow of information to news media and the world at large.

Joining DreamWorks as a co-financier on “The Fifth Estate” is Participant Media. This will be the fifth collaboration between the two companies who previously partnered on Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” the 2011 Academy Award-winning smash “The Help,” “The Kite Runner” and “The Soloist.” With a focus on real issues that shape our lives, Participant creates social action and advocacy programs to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Some of their other films include “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Food, Inc.,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Waiting for ‘'Superman,’” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and the current Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, “No.”

Bill Condon (“Kinsey,” “Dreamgirls,” "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn") will direct “The Fifth Estate” from a screenplay by Josh Singer (TV’s “Fringe,” “The West Wing”), based on “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding. The producers are Steve Golin and Michael Sugar, with Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King joining Richard Sharkey as executive producers. “The Fifth Estate” is a coproduction between Afterworks and FBO, with Hilde De Laere co-producing for FBO. The film is supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter for Audiovisual Production.

Said director Bill Condon, “It may be decades before we understand the full impact of WikiLeaks and how it's revolutionized the spread of information. So this film won't claim any long view authority on its subject, or attempt any final judgment. We want to explore the complexities and challenges of transparency in the information age and, we hope, enliven and enrich the conversations WikiLeaks has already provoked.”


About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company formed in 2009 and led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The company’s recent releases include Spielberg's "Lincoln," starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. The film has grossed over $150 million at the U.S. box office and has been nominated for twelve Academy awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Other releases include “Real Steel,” starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy, Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” based on Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning book and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and “The Help,” which resonated with audiences around the country and earned over $200 million at the box office and received four Academy Award nominations with Octavia Spencer winning one for Best Supporting Actress. Upcoming films include the comedy "Delivery Man," starring Vince Vaughn, the WikiLeaks drama "The Fifth Estate," and car racing actioner "Need For Speed."

DreamWorks Studios can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dw_studios.

Review: New "Fright Night" is Sexy and Mean

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 104 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fright Night (2011)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – R for bloody horror violence, and language including some sexual references
DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie
WRITERS: Marti Noxon; from a story by Tom Holland (based upon the film, Fright Night, written by Tom Holland)
PRODUCERS: Michael De Luca and Alison R. Rosenzweig
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Javier Aguirresarobe
EDITOR: Tatiana S. Riegel
COMPOSER: Ramin Djawadi

HORROR/COMEDY/ACTION

Starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Dave Franco, Sandra Vergara, and Chris Sarandon

Fright Night is a 2011 comic horror film. It is also a remake of the 1985 film of the same name from writer/director Tom Holland. Like the original film, the new Fright Night is about a teen boy who believes that his new next door neighbor is a vampire and tries to stop the monster’s killing spree.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) has a new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell), who claims to work construction at night. Charley doesn’t like the way Jerry looks at his mother, Jane Brewster (Toni Collette), and his girlfriend, Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots). Charley’s former best friend, Edward “Evil Ed” Lee (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), claims that Jerry is the reason people have been disappearing from all over the Las Vegas suburb where they live… because Jerry is a vampire. After Ed disappears, Charley realizes that he needs help, so he turns to Las Vegas magician, Peter Vincent (David Tennant), whose Vegas stage show, Fright Night, chronicles his vampire-hunting adventures. But can the reluctant Vincent really help Charley fight a powerful vampire?

I like to distinguish how movies mix laughs and chills. A horror comedy is a comedy that tries to act and look like a horror movie. A comedy horror is a horror movie that desperately wants to have it both ways – be funny and scary, usually with disastrous results. The best is the comic horror film. This type of movie is truly a horror movie. It looks and acts like a horror movie because it is a horror movie. It is scary, violent, and thrilling, but there is humor of some type: sarcasm, satire, slapstick, and camp. Successful comic horror films include a classic, The Evil Dead, and the more recent Zombieland, and of course, the vampire send-up, the original Fright Night.

The new Fright Night is a superb comic horror film. In fact, it’s batshit crazy with its gleefully vicious villain and its hero – some kid trying to be the protector, rescuer, and savior. I like how screenwriter Marti Noxon re-imagines the original film into a story of a large transient and disconnected population that is easy prey to the monster next door. It’s as if these people don’t notice that their friends, neighbors, classmates, and sometimes even entire households have seemingly disappeared into thin air (or that there is a small war going on between a vampire and a kid). I cannot help but believe that this film is a biting commentary of our foreclosure and alienation society.

Director Craig Gillespie offers so many exciting action set pieces, and he imaginatively stages some of the wackier elements of the screenplay in ways that create a comic edge vampire films rarely have. The action in this film is also aggressive. In the first Fright Night, the part of the plot that dealt directly with the vampire was like a mystery story, and the villain was a suave ladies’ man. In the new film, there is little pretense about what Jerry Dandrige is; thus, the conflict between boy hero and vampire becomes practically a small war. In this way, Fright Night 2011 is more visceral than the original. It is a wild, bloody ride with generous helpings of jest and sarcasm.

This comic horror film has a few key, droll and witty performances, but first, I have a complaint. Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the new “Evil Ed” is an insult to Stephen Geoffreys as the original. It’s not Mintz-Plasse’s fault; the new version doesn’t seem to care much for the character, and it seems as if Ed is included out of a sense of obligation. Conversely, David Tennant’s loutish spin on the Peter Vincent character is a winner; early in the film, this interpretation seems as if it will be a disaster, but, by the end of the film, I wanted more.

Colin Farrell’s Jerry Dandrige is part bully, part predator, and pure carnivore. Farrell is funny, and this performance testifies to his largely untapped talent. Farrell’s Dandrige is similar to a description of baseball pitcher Roger Clemens by a commentator: a big white Republican who believes that he can do whatever he wants – damn the rules.

However, the new Fright Night hinges on Anton Yelchin, and he is fantastic. In the new Charley Brewster, Yelchin creates a complex, layered teen. When the story focuses on Brewster as the reformed nerd, his stubborn determination to be the cool kid, no matter the cost to his soul, to say nothing of the cost to his former friends, is painfully realistic. That is why Brewster’s transformation into teen warrior also rings true. The new Fright Night is a delight, and the reasons are many for this well-made film – with Yelchin being the most important one.

7 of 10
A-

Friday, December 16, 2011

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Review: Anna Faris Saves "The Hot Chick" (Happy B'day, Anna Faris)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Hot Chick (2002)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for appeal for crude and sexual humor, language and drug references
DIRECTOR: Tom Brady
WRITERS: Rob Schneider and Tom Brady
PRODUCERS: Carr D'Angelo and John Schneider
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tim Suhrstedt
EDITOR: Peck Prior
COMPOSER: John Debney

COMEDY/FANTASY/ROMANCE

Starring: Rob Schneider, Anna Faris, Matthew Lawrence, Eric Christian Olsen, Robert Davi, Rachel McAdams, Alexandra Holden, Maritza Murray, Tia Mowry, Tamara Mowry, Fay Hauser, and Jodi Long, Melora Hardin, Michael O’Keefe, and Dick Gregory with Adam Sandler

The Hot Chick is a 2002 American body-switching comedy starring Rob Schneider, Anna Faris, and Rachel McAdams. Adam Sandler served as one of the film’s executive producers and has a small role in the film for which he did not receive screen credit.

The Hot Chick seems to send you a warning from beyond the movie poster – Warning! This is really lowbrow trash! Luckily, movie is very funny, and Rob Schneider has that gift to make you look past the bad story material, the same kind of material upon which his career seems to thrive.

Jessica (Rachel McAdams) is the hot chick, the most beautiful girl in school, but also the cruelest, and she just can’t help herself when it comes to being full of herself. A pair of ancient, mystical earrings (please, don’t question it) causes her to switch bodies with Clive (Rob Schneider). So Clive’s body contains Jessica’s essence and personality, while Jessica’s body belongs to the soul of Clive, a low rent, dumb criminal.

Jessica reveals her new body to her close friend, April (Anna Faris), and, of course, April slowly comes to love Clive. Perhaps, the strangest thing is that so many come to easily accept Jessica’s predicament once it’s revealed to them. I guess it just makes for more characters to be in on the joke, more people to suffer the cruel fate of this movie’s pratfalls.

Schneider and co-writer/director Tom Brady pile the script with so many sight gags and so much gross humor, bodily functions, and sexual innuendo that there’s bound to be quite a few things to laugh at. Relentless, they don’t give the viewer enough time to focus on the holes in the plot. So what? It’s a cheap laugh. How many times do bad movies, especially this kind of cheap comedy, payoff and give make us laugh literally from its beginning to the its very ending?

Besides, I’m really in love with Anna Faris. I’d see this movie again just for her.

5 of 10
C+

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Sally Field Cast in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln"

Academy Award Winner Sally Field to Star as Mary Todd Lincoln for DreamWorks Studios

 

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field will star as Mary Todd Lincoln, wife to the 16th President of the United States, in DreamWorks Studios’ “Lincoln” to be directed by Steven Spielberg. The announcement was made today by Spielberg and Stacey Snider, Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studios.

Sally Field joins Daniel Day-Lewis, who has been cast to play Abraham Lincoln in the Spielberg film.

"I'm excited to be working with Sally for the first time,” said Steven Spielberg. “I've admired her films and she has always been my first choice to portray all the fragility and complexity that was Mary Todd Lincoln."

“To have the opportunity to work with Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis and to play one of the most complicated and colorful women in American history is simply as good as it gets,” said Sally Field.

Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals, by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay has been written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.

It is anticipated that the film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.

Sally Field is a two-time Academy Award winner as Best Actress in a Leading Role for her roles in “Places in the Heart” and “”Norma Rae.” Field won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special for her role in “Sybil.” She won her second Emmy for her guest starring role on the long-running drama, “E.R.” Her other film credits include “Steel Magnolias,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and “Forrest Gump.” Field currently stars in the ABC series “Brothers & Sisters” for which she won an Emmy in 2007.

Doris Kearns Goodwin won her Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time, the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the home front in World War II. Kushner's prize was for his play Angels in America, which later became an Emmy Award-winning television special. He had previously worked with Spielberg on Munich for which he was nominated for an Oscar in the Adapted Screenplay category.

Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label.


About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company formed in 2009 and led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Upcoming releases include “Cowboys & Aliens,” “The Help,” “Fright Night,” “Real Steel,” and “War Horse.”

DreamWorks Studios can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dw_studios.

Daniel Day-Lewis is Lincoln in Spielberg Movie

Press release:

Academy Award Winner Daniel Day-Lewis to Star as Lincoln for DreamWorks Studios

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis will star as the 16th President of the United States in DreamWorks Studios’ Lincoln to be directed by Steven Spielberg. The announcement was made today by Spielberg and Stacey Snider, Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studios.

“Daniel Day-Lewis would have always been counted as one of the greatest of actors, were he from the silent era, the golden age of film or even some time in cinema's distant future. I am grateful and inspired that our paths will finally cross with Lincoln,” said Steven Spielberg. "Throughout his career, he has been exceptionally selective in his choice of material," added Stacey Snider, "which makes us feel even more fortunate that he has chosen to join with us for Lincoln."

Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals, by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay has been written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.

It is anticipated that the film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.

Doris Kearns Goodwin won her Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time, the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the home front in World War II. Kushner's prize was for his play Angels in America, which later became an Emmy Award-winning television special. He had previously worked with Spielberg on Munich for which he was nominated for an Oscar in the Adapted Screenplay category.

Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label.


About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company formed in 2009 and led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Upcoming releases include “I Am Number Four,” “Cowboys & Aliens,” “The Help,” “Fright Night,” “Real Steel,” and “War Horse.”

DreamWorks Studios can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dw_studios.