Review: "Madea's Family Reunion" a Black Family Film Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
Opening date: Friday, February 24, 2006
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, domestic violence, and sex and drug references
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Reuben Cannon and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Toyomichi Kurita
EDITOR: John Carter

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Tyler Perry, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Rochelle Aytes, Lynn Whitfield, Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Keke Palmer, Henry Simmons, Mablean Ephriam, Cicely Tyson, and Maya Angelou

Southern matriarch Madea (Tyler Perry) is normally an unstoppable force, but she finds her hands full with a court ordered foster child, Nikki (Keke Palmer). Then, Madea also has to contend with planning a family reunion. That’s not enough on her plate, however; her nieces, sisters Lisa (Rochelle Aytes) and Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), are having relationship problems. Lisa is engaged to marry Carlos (Blair Underwood), a wealthy investment banker who constantly hits and abuses her. Vanessa has finally found a good man Frankie (Boris Kodjoe), but she can’t quite bring herself to trust him no matter how good he is. Most of that distrust is based on her relationship with her and Lisa’s mother, Victoria (Lynn Whitfield), a desperate gold digger who is willing to marry Lisa off to an abusive husband like Carlos just so that he can take care of both Lisa and her. With the family reunion and dark secrets coming out of every clash between Victoria and her daughters, Madea has to use all her tricks to organize the reunion and hope God can cover the rest.

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion is technically a better composed film than the previous adaptation of one Perry’s plays to screen, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Family Reunion is not as funny as Dairy, although there are lots of laughs, in particularly the scenes between Madea and her foster child Nikki. However, the emphasis here is on the various relationship combinations involving Victoria, Lisa, Vanessa, Frankie, and/or Carlos, and boy, are there fireworks. The combination of soap opera hysteria and melodramatic theatrics is not only over-the-top, but also often just too damn much. The conflicts, feuds, personal demons, etc. may not match up to the commotion that is sometimes real life, but the story here is a bit of a spectacle even for film.

Still, some of it rings true. Tyler Perry’s plays are what’s known by some as “Black Gospel Theatre,” in which characters, mostly poor and working class black folk, beset by all manner of personal setbacks, dilemmas, tribulations, obstacles, etc. have to fight their way out using both inner strength and their faith in (the Christian) God, with an emphasis on both healing and faith. This might put some off, especially those who aren’t particularly religious, but this kind of Christian and prayer oriented African-American drama appeals to many working class Americans, especially blacks, but increasingly whites.

The two film adaptations, like the plays, focus on female characters, but the message is universal. While women make up a large part of Madea’s Family Reunion’s audience, men can find messages and teachings aimed at them. Perry uses Madea as comic relief, but the character isn’t a clown. She spouts wisdom, most of it very practical and useful, between feeding her guests and arguing with Cousin Joe (Perry). This makes the film half-comedy and half-religious inflected drama.

The cast of Family reunion might overact (Lynn Whitfield in particular), and some may not be really good actresses (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), but they make the occasionally overheated drama and often-inflamed dramatics work. It’s palatable; one can feel that Blair Underwood (a very good actor short on work because he’s black) is ready to strike out at anyone who gets in his way. So Madea’s Family Reunion might be a crazy family drama, and it does go overboard; still, its good intentions don’t pave a road to hell, and the movie just works.

Besides, there’s always Madea herself for a good time, and maybe that’s what Madea’s Family Reunion needed – more Madea. I don’t know why playing fat-lady drag appeals to so many black comedians, but like Martin Lawrence in the Big Momma’s House franchise, Tyler Perry does it well. Family Reunion is at its best when Madea is being politically incorrect and giving more mouthy adolescents some good old-fashioned beatings; that would have meant an even better film. So here is one call for more Madea. Maybe next time.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Original "Clash of the Titans" B-Movie Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 98 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Clash of the Titans (1981)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Desmond Davis
WRITER: Beverley Cross
PRODUCERS: Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ted Moore (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Timothy Gee

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FAMILY/ROMANCE

Starring: Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Laurence Olivier, Clair Bloom, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress, Sian Phillips and Neil McCarthy

Since the original, classic, black and white film, King Kong, special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen was known for his meticulous use of stop-motion photography. This was the method of photographing models one frame at a time, from 25 to 35 frames for every one second of film that gave the models the illusion of life. Before computer-generated imagery (CGI), this was how fantastic creatures were given life in films. The special effects crew of The Empire Strikes Back made extensive use of the method for several scenes on the ice planet of Hoth. Harryhausen’s most famous and best example of his use of the technique is the famous skeleton fighters from Jason and the Argonauts.

Clash of the Titans, a big-budget spectacular back from the early 80’s, was Harryhausen’s last film before his retirement from filmmaking. The tale borrowed liberally from Greek mythology, and the master Harryhausen brought many wonderful creations to life for the film, my favorite being the gorgon, Medusa.

Perseus (Harry Hamlin) must find a way to defeat the Kraken (another Harryhausen creation) before his betrothed Andromeda (Judi Bowker) is sacrificed to the creature for the appeasement of a jealous goddess. With his trusty winged steed, Pegasus (more Harryhausen), Perseus sets off to obtain the head of Medusa, whose face turns men who gaze upon it to stone. It is the only thing that will stop the Kraken from snacking on his virginal bride-to-be.

Though the effects look dated, Clash of the Titans is fun, family-oriented fantasy. It’s exciting and adventuresome in a quaint sort of way, and it has never lost its charm. The combination of Greek myth, a cast that includes revered British actors, fantasy and fantastic creatures, with a B-movie pace makes this a delightful film treat for the young at heart.

6 of 10
B

Review: "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" Funny and True

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 103 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for drug content, thematic elements, crude sexual references, and some violence
DIRECTOR: Darren Grant
WRITER: Tyler Perry (based upon his play)
PRODUCERS: Reuben Cannon and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Claessen
EDITOR: Terilyn A. Shropshire

DRAMA/COMEDY/RELIGIOUS (CHRISTIAN) with elements of romance

Starring: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Tyler Perry, Shemar Moore, Cicely Tyson, Tamara Taylor, Lisa Marcos, Tiffany Evans, and Judge Mablean Ephriam

On the surface, Helen McCarter (Kimberly Elise) seemingly has the perfect life, living in a big mansion with her husband Charles McCarter (Steve Harris), a powerful Atlanta attorney, but even she knows that trouble is also bubbling beneath that same surface. All of a sudden Charles wants a divorce, and he kicks her out of their home on the eve of their 18th wedding anniversary and replaces her with a woman who has, unbeknownst to Helen, had two children for Charles. Helen is forced to return to “the ghetto,” where she finds refuge with the relatives Charles made her give up long ago because they didn’t fit in with his new high, life style. Helen finds solace and some comedy in the tragedy of her life through the insane antics of her pot smoking, gun toting, and much beloved grandmother figure, Madea (Tyler Perry). Helen also reunites with her mother, Myrtle (Cicely Tyson) , meets a new man, Orlando (Shemar Moore), and begins to keep a journal of her trial, tribulations, and recovery – The Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

Tyler Perry has made a name and a fortune for himself (after being homeless early in his career) with his black southern gospel theatre stage plays – six of them going back to 2000. Diary of a Mad Black Woman was first staged in 2001, and a recording of the Diary stage performance became part of a hit DVD series of Tyler Perry stage plays. After Fox Searchlight rejected Perry’s screenplay adaptation of Diary, he submitted it to Lions Gate Film, which green lit the project back in the Spring 2004, and for that we’re lucky.

The quality of the acting is mixed. For instance, Kimberly Elise’s voiceovers are dry, and Tyler Perry’s over-the-top antics, which may work well on the stage (I’ve never seen one of his plays performed live), is occasionally too forced even for the big screen. The script is also a bit dry, but makes some wonderful points about charity, forgiveness, Christianity, love, family, and marriage. Darren Grant’s directing holds the film together even through the clunky bits. However, the film ultimately comes together as a fabulous inspirational look at coming to terms with the trials of life, but most importantly coming to terms with one’s family: the one into which we are born, the ones which adopt us, and the ones into which we marry.

Diary of a Mad Black Woman is inspiring, uplifting, shocking, provocative, and always surprising. The message is familiar, but the ways in which the film gets us there is never dull and 99.9 percent of the time engaging. Although this is a film with a predominately black or African-American cast, Diary is universal and good for all Christian souls, even both the nominal and the sanctimonious ones.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: "Dracula 2000" is 2000 Times Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dracula 2000 (2000)
Running time: 99 minutes; MPAA – R for violence/gore, language and some sexuality.
DIRECTOR: Patrick Lussier
WRITERS: Joel Soison, from a story by Joel Soison and Patrick Lussier
PRODUCERS: W.K. Border and Joe Soison
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Pau (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Devaney Flanagan and Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR

Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler, Danny Masterson, Jeri Ryan, Colleen Anne, Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Esposito, Lochlyn Munro, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps, Nathan Fillion, and Christopher Plummer

Patrick Lussier’s (a film editor on Mimic, Scream 2 and Scream 3) Dracula 2000 presents the fabled count as a young, handsome, curly-haired Adonis. Easily the sexiest Dracula since Christopher Lee, Gerard Butler’s vampire overwhelms the helpless screen with his stunningly good looks; no doubt, he’s got to get his props in the looks department. The problem is that his looks make it difficult to accept him as Dracula. Vampires dine on humans for Pete’s sake, and the idea of them as romance novel cover boys is pure silliness. Even Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Gary Oldman had nastiness about them. This vampire’s handsome appearance would have his female (and some male) victims at his neck before he even had a chance to bare his fangs.

In this nouveau version of the classic story, Abraham Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) is an English antiques dealer. Sometime during the 19th century, Van Helsing successfully captured Dracula (Gerard Butler). He keeps him locked in a well-fortified crypt, and he draws the Count’s cursed blood and injects it into his body to make himself immortal. That way he will always be alive to recapture Dracula if (or when) he escapes, since by this movie’s logic, the Count cannot be killed, and Van Helsing must always be there to save the world.

A small band of thieves led by a man named Marcus (Omar Epps), breaks into the crypt, and later, unwittingly release Dracula as the thieves escape to America. Loose in New Orleans, Dracula tracks Van Helsing’s daughter Mary Heller (Justine Waddell) who shares a psychic connection to Dracula via the vampire blood her father passed to her. Van Helsing’s chases the count, while his own assistant Simon Sheppard (Jonny Lee Miller, Trainspotting) follows him.

Dracula 2000 is by no means special, and the movie proudly revels in being dumb. The filmmakers never seem to aspire to give anything above the ordinary. The movie looks ordinary, and the acting outside of Plummer is poor. One can find in this movie things that one can find in many vampire movies that predate it. This story is so familiar that changing the locale to New Orleans simply isn’t enough to inject something new into the story. The movie doesn’t even try to take advantage of the wealth of stereotypes that setting a story in New Orleans offers: voodoo, Cajuns, jazz, organized crime, Harry Connick, Sr. under investigation again, Mardi Gras, etc. Apparently, the makers assumed that if they simply hiring a young, hot, photogenic cast would be enough to draw in the 18 to 35 set to watch an old story they’ve seen before. Granted that it worked to make American Pie from Porky’s, it just doesn’t work all the time.

And the little jerky “fastmo” camera thing that Stephen Norrington used in Blade to show the high speed at which vampires moved is an old idea beaten to death in Dracula 2000. Omar Epps (The Wood, Love and Basketball) is wasted. No less talented than Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Heath Ledger, etc., only the color of his skin keeps him from getting the good roles and keeps him slumming in crap like this.

Poor Justine Waddell’s character spends so much time swooning in and out of visions; one would swear it was because of drunkenness rather than because she shares a link with a vampire. Her psychic connection with Dracula is more annoying than informative here. Unable to stop, catch her breath, and act because she’s often running away from this Fabio version of Dracula, her potential is wasted. And her romps with Dracula’s buxom crew of vampire sex kittens, led by Jeri Ryan (the Borg erection enhancer late of Star Trek: Voyager), is not as exciting as one would think. Doe-eyed and confused, Mary Heller is a sympathetic figure in a pathetic movie; character and audience are cheated.

2 of 10
D

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A Negromancer for All Seasons

Welcome to Negromancer, the rebirth of my former movie review website as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/. All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

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Adult Swim to Broadcast "Kekkaishi" Anime

VIZ MEDIA LICENSES KEKKAISHI ANIME SERIES TO ADULT SWIM

Life Is a Wild Adventure For A Teenager Balancing Girls, Junior High School And Nighttime Demon Slaying

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has licensed 52 episodes of the popular Shonen Sunday KEKKAISHI anime series to Adult Swim for domestic broadcast. KEKKAISHI will begin airing on May 29th.

KEKKAISHI is based on the hit manga series by Yellow Tanabe (also published in North America by VIZ Media). A story of mystical forces powerful in the region known as Karasumori. For over 400 years, it has been the duty of a clan of “kekkaishi”—barrier masters—to guard this land and exterminate the supernatural creatures that are drawn to it night after night.

Yoshimori Sumimura is a junior high school student at Karasumori Academy, which is built upon the Karasumori grounds. By night, Yoshimori follows the tradition passed down through generations and fulfills his destiny as the twenty-second “kekkaishi” of the Sumimura clan. But by day, Yoshimori's got other demons to contend with, like an obsession with cake making and a seriously crotchety grandfather! Yoshimori's pretty neighbor, childhood friend and rival, Tokine Yukimura, is also a “kekkaishi,” but their families are caught up in a feud over who is the true practitioner of the art. Protecting ordinary people from the ever-present danger of the Karasumori grounds, Yoshimori will continue to grow stronger as he battles the forces of evil again tonight!

“Kekkaishi spotlights compelling cool characters, in an intense yet fun-filled supernatural action adventure saga. It possesses all of the hallmarks of great anime!” says William Germain, Director, Programming & Music Sales, VIZ Media. We are very excited to add KEKKAISHI to the Adult Swim anime lineup for U.S. fans to enjoy.”

For more information on KEKKAISHI please visit www.ShonenSunday.com.

About Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s network offering original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults. Airing nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, home to the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for youth and families, and is seen in 97 million U.S. homes. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga (graphic novel) publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. Owned by three of Japan’s largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa and is a global ex-Asia licensor of Japanese manga and animation. The company offers an integrated product line including the popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine, graphic novels, and DVDs, and develops, markets, licenses, and distributes animated entertainment for audiences and consumers of all ages. Contact VIZ Media at 295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133; and website at www.VIZ.com.

Shrek Character Posters: Shrek