April 2010 Welcome

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/. I also write for the Comic Book Bin, which has its own iPhone app.

All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

Freddie Vs. Jason Simply Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 128 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive strong horror violence/gore, gruesome images, sexuality, drug use and language
DIRECTOR: Ronny Yu
WRITERS: Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (based upon characters created by Wes Craven and Victor Miller)
PRODUCER: Sean S. Cunningham
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fred Murphy (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Mark Stevens
COMPOSER: Graeme Revell

HORROR/FANTASY/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Robert Englund, Monica Keena, Ken Kirzinger, Kelly Rowland, Jason Ritter, James Callahan, Brendan Fletcher, and Lochlyn Munro

There’s little reason to say a whole lot about the long-awaited film showdown between two venerable movie maniacs, Freddy Krueger of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films and Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th films. It’s not simply a question of loving or hating it; when you get down to the bare bones, Freddy Vs. Jason is a truly awful film.

Freddy (Robert Englund) is in hell, fuming because he can’t get at the children of Elm Street in the town of Springwood. The parents and town leaders have found a few ways of keeping Freddy from the minds and dreams of their children. Thus, Freddy resurrects Jason (Ken Kirzinger) in hopes that Jason will scare up memories of Freddy. Of course, a plot, even a silly one, between two undead, homicidal maniacs is bound to fall apart. Jason gets out of hand, taking all the kills for himself, so Freddy decides to take him out of the equation.

Ronny Yu, who breathed new life into the Child’s Play series with Bride of Chucky, can’t do a damn thing for Freddy Vs. Jason, and I totally blame the manically lame script. Whereas Bride was perverse, funny, and perversely funny, Freddy is clunky, dull, and painfully dry. I think the writers, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, instead of telling a good story, used too much of their script to shoehorn into this new film all the continuity and characteristics of the two original series. Because of this, more than half of Freddy Vs. Jason is without a story beyond what amounts to preflight commentary. There are quite a few good moments in the film, but everything else is, to speak plainly and crudely, crap.

Although the film as some imaginative effects, it’s not nearly as imaginative as the original Nightmare films, which all surely had smaller budgets than this film. Oh, it does have its moments, but it’s cursed by all the things that typically make horror movies bad: poor acting, weak plot and script, and lack of imagination. As far as horror films goes, most fans are willing to overlook all those problems if the damn thing is scary, and Freddy Vs. Jason isn’t, not even close. It’s just vile and violent, mostly a self-parody that exudes an air of cynicism about itself and the audience.

We, who loved the originals, were programmed to come, despite the misgivings we had from the moment we first heard of that “they” were making a Freddy Vs. Jason movie. Some of us just can’t resist, so we deserve the occasional cow patty thrown squarely in our mugs. The real tale will be told when we see how many of us come back for more, because in the end we deserve a much better film than this.

2 of 10
D

New "Madea" Film Due April 2011

Press release from Lionsgate:

LIONSGATE IS HOME, SWEET HOME TO TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY

11TH Title in Hit Franchise is Planned For Easter 2011 Release

SANTA MONICA, CA, April 28, 2010 – LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), the leading next generation studio, today announced that it has acquired the rights to the next film by writer/director/actor/producer Tyler Perry, TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY. The film will be the eleventh title in the studio’s hit Perry franchise. Perry will reprise his signature role as the straight-shooting Madea in the film, adapted from his new stage play “Madea’s Happy Family,” which is currently on tour in the U.S. The announcement was jointly made by Joe Drake, Lionsgate Chief Operating Office and Motion Picture Group President, and Mike Paseornek, Lionsgate President of Motion Picture Production

Lionsgate plans to release TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY on April 22, 2011.

Said Paseornek, “No one makes a big-screen entrance like Madea, and we’re very excited to welcome her back with TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY. To us, the title of the film couldn’t be more apt. Not only is Tyler a cherished member of the Lionsgate family; his unique brand of storytelling, humor, music and uplift has created a big happy family of moviegoers.”

Said Perry, “It’s very important to me to make movies that audiences can relate to, and I can’t think of a more relatable subject than family. I’m looking forward to bringing back Madea and the gang, and I’m glad to have Lionsgate with me for the journey.”

Perry’s tenth film for Lionsgate, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, is scheduled to begin principal photography on June 1 in Atlanta. Perry directs his screen adaptation of the Obie Award-winning play by Ntozake Shange, and produces alongside Paul Hall. The film’s all-star cast includes Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Jurnee Smollett, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Anika Noni Rose and Macy Gray. FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF is scheduled for nationwide release on January 14, 2011.


ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF - News) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has nearly 20 shows on 10 different networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as "Mad Men," "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with new series such as "Blue Mountain State" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," its spinoff "Meet The Browns" and "The Wendy Williams Show."

Its feature film business has generated such recent hits as TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, the action film KICK-ASS, which opened at #1 at the North American box office and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which has garnered nearly $50 million at the North American box office and won two Academy Awards®. The Company’s home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

"The Rookie" is a Warm Family Sports Drama

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Rookie (2002)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
DIRECTOR: John Lee Hancock
WRITER: Mike Rich
PRODUCERS: Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray, and Mark Johnson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Schwartzman (director of photography)
EDITOR: Eric L. Beason
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell

DRAMA/SPORTS

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Beth Grant, Angus T. Jones, and Brian Cox

Jimmy Morris’s (Dennis Quaid) perennially losing baseball team made a bet with him. If they won district, he would give his dream of being a Major League Baseball player another shot. Of course they won, and he did try again.

Director John Lee Hancock, a television director and screenwriter (A Perfect World), and writer Mike Rich (Finding Forrester) take the ideas of dreams and wish fulfillment and force them into the harsh light of day in the film, The Rookie. They remind the viewer that getting what you want isn’t always easy, but they have a bigger surprise in store for the viewer. It’s how this film deals with what happens when you get what you want.

In the case of Morris, he does make it to the big leagues (no big spoiler), and the majors is what he expected it to be. It’s just that he had a life and responsibilities before he got his dream job, and now the two conflict. He also discovers that being a big leaguer is a little more complicated than just “playing ball.” Director and screenwriter weave a story and create characters that seem real, because, not only is the story based on real events, the Morris struggle is universal – the desire to do what you want to do and the need to do what you have to do. This is the most intense and heaviest G-rated film in history. The creators still manage to make it fun and uplifting because they encourage us to identify with Morris’s quest.

Quaid gives a very good performance as man navigating his life, between the responsibilities and the dreams. It’s the performance that endears us to him, and Quaid sells us on a story that could have been very down beat. His every gesture, each look into his eyes and his face sells us that the reward at the end is worth the struggle along the way. In Quaid’s Morris, we see that there are rarely ever any pat resolutions to the problems we face in life.

The movie does seem a bit long, and some of the other characters (Morris’s wife and father) should have had more screen time, as they are obviously important to the growth of the character. There’s also a religious element in the film that’s clumsily underplayed. However, The Rookie does deliver both a message and fine entertainment. One other nice thing that it is subtly played throughout the film – regardless of how tough it is to achieve a dream and no matter how lonely one might feel, there are a lot of people around the dreamer supporting him along the way.

6 of 10
B

The Real "Brazil" Still Dazzles the Imagination

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 209 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Brazil (1985) – Director’s Cut
Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)
MPAA – R
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
DIRECTOR: Terry Gilliam
WRITERS: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown
PRODUCERS: Arnon Milchan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Pratt
EDITOR: Julian Doyle
Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/FANTASY/COMEDY with element of romance

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan, Kim Greist, Barbara Hicks, Charles McKeown, Kathryn Pogson, Shelia Reid, and Holly Gilliam

In a dystopian future, an inefficient bureaucracy controls society. Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a daydreaming civil servant in the Department of Records (part of the Ministry of Information) who spots an error in a sea of paperwork – an innocent man was arrested and apparently killed because that error mistakenly identified him as a terrorist. In this future, the government expects citizens to pay fines and monetary penalties for their offences against society (the government) simply because even the most minor offenses generate so much paperwork. So the family of the innocent, now-deceased man is owed a refund for the money charged them for his “crimes.” While attempting to deliver the refund, Sam encounters Jill Layton (Kim Greist), and she looks exactly like the woman who is in all his daydreams. In the course of trying to catch up with Jill, Sam incorrectly becomes the object of government’s (via the Ministry) ire, as they assume him to be the mysterious, illegal serviceman and terrorist, Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro).

Part social commentary, part outrageous fantasy, and black comedy, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil is one of the most dead-on socio-political satires in film history. It so accurately portrays both bureaucratic excess and negligence that it is both uncanny and uncannily timely, especially in light of recent events involving individual citizens being mistaken for terrorists because of their names, nationalities, and/or ethnicities. In fact, the Ministry of Information’s slogan, “Suspicion Breeds Confidence” defines the mentality of post-9/11 America.

The things that make this film excellent are the script and the actors’ ability to interpret its subtleties, while performing amidst the director’s indulgences. Terry Gilliam’s (Time Bandits) direction is obtuse, and he often seems more enamored with the dressings of his scenario rather than the narrative and allegorical aspects of it. Meanwhile, the cast seems better at bringing Gilliam’s vision to the screen that the director himself. This includes a brilliant performance by Jonathan Pryce as an exasperated everyman who doesn’t realize that he truly is different from everyone one else (kind, considerate, intelligent) and how much that endangers his life. The text (writing) is what makes Brazil a superb social commentary and an exceptional black comic satire, and luckily the cast acted as midwife to bring the script’s best aspects to screen even when Gilliam meanders.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1986 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown) and “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Norman Garwood and Maggie Gray)


1986 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins” “Best Production Design (Norman Garwood) and “Best Special Visual Effects” (George Gibbs and Richard Conway)

Sunday, October 8, 2006

TokyoScope 3 is "War of the Giant Monsters"

GIANT MONSTERS INVADE SAN FRANCICSO

THE BIGGEST CELEBRITY FROM JAPAN – GODZILLA – CRASHES VIZ CINEMA FOR SPECIAL FILM AND DISCUSSION EVENTS IN MAY

VIZ Cinema Hosts Kaiju Shakedown! Godzillathon! And TokyoScope Talk Vol. 3 Features War Of The Giant Monsters Discussion And Prize Raffle Of New Gamera DVD

NEW PEOPLE and VIZ Cinema welcome the 3rd and latest installment of TokyoScope Talk – War of the Giant Monsters – on Friday, May 7th at 7:00pm. Join Otaku USA Editor-in-Chief Patrick Macias, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters author August Ragone, and Japanese film critic Tomohiro Machiyama at the Bay Area’s hottest film venue for a fun and lively discussion on the “kaiju” (monster) movies featuring rare images and clips of Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera and other iconic creatures from classic Japanese sci-fi cinema. General admission tickets are $10.00.

VIZ Cinema invites Bay Area monster fans to a 5-day Kaiju Shakedown: Godzillathon!, running Saturday, May 8th thru Thursday, May 13th. Featured will be rare screenings of the Big G’s 4 most-loved films including Godzilla vs. Hedora (1971), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). Details and screening times at: www.vizcinema.com.

Don’t miss a rare chance to see the beauty and enormity of Godzilla in stunning 35mm prints with English subtitles and a premium THX®-certified sound system! These events may sell-out. Ticket prices: General Admission: $10.00; Senior & Child: $8.00. Advance tickets on sale at: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/films/films-5-2010/#godzillathon

TokyoScope Talk – War of the Giant Monsters will feature a special raffle giveaway of premium monster collectables including the brand new DVD release from Shout! Factory of Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965). The revered classic features the original Japanese version of the film presented with fresh English subtitles and anamorphic widescreen produced from an all-new HD master created from original vault elements.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.


About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Review: Date Night

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


Date Night (2010)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference
DIRECTOR: Shawn Levy
WRITER: Josh Klausner
PRODUCERS: Shawn Levy and Tom McNulty
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Semler (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Dean Zimmerman

COMEDY/ACTION/CRIME

Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Common, Bill Burr, William Fichtner, Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Ray Liotta, and J.B. Smoove

Steve Carell and Emmy-winner Tina Fey, two masters of some of the funniest and smartest television comedies in recent memory, come together for Date Night. Directed by Shawn Levy, Date Night follows a suburban New Jersey couple that comes to Manhattan for an out-of-the-ordinary night of fun and get the extraordinary night of their lives. This movie may not be Fey’s “30 Rock” or Carell’s “The Office” (their NBC television series), but it’s them and that’s enough.

They are sensible people Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey). This loving couple has two kids and a house in suburban New Jersey. Phil and Claire even have their weekly “date night,” a special night, in which they attempt to their dating years, as they dine on fish and potato wedges. Exhausted from their jobs and children, Phil and Claire rarely end their date nights with romance, or even sex. Then, they learn that a couple with whom they are friends is divorcing because the husband and wife started to feel like they were roommates and not really husband and wife.

On a whim, Phil decides a change of their regular date night plans in order to take Claire into Manhattan to the city’s hottest new restaurant, Claw. The Fosters, however, don't have reservations, and, once again on a whim, Phil decides to steal a no-show couple’s reservations. The Fosters are now the Tripplehorns, but the real Tripplehorns live dangerous lives, which the Fosters discover when two thugs, Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common), accost them over a flash drive the Tripplehorns apparently have. Soon, Phil and Claire are on the run, and their date night becomes a series of crazy adventures. Never mind saving their marriage; they have to save their lives.

Moviegoers who like Carell and Fey and want everything to turn out good for the Fosters will enjoy Date Night. Obviously, these acclaimed comic actors are the be-all, end-all of this movie. The material, however, is actually good, better than to be expected of Hollywood star vehicle. Screenwriter Josh Klausner has actually presented a rather snappy little scenario of a crime caper, although the way this caper ends is a bit clumsy and too pat. Director Shawn Levy, so adept at finding edge-of-the-seat thrills from practically any concept (see Night at the Museum), has made a film in Date Night that is funnier than most cop/buddy action comedies with action that is just as thrilling and fun to watch.

Steve Carell and Tina Fey don’t deliver their best work, but not for lack of effort. Carell’s wide-eyed mania, double-takes, and babbling are always just in time to strike the right note. Fey’s breezy performance is practically pitch-perfect for this film, an effortless turn from a comic actress flirting with genius. Date Night will likely make much of its audience want another date night with the team of Carell and Fey, but, in the meantime, we can enjoy this night again and again.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, April 26, 2010