"21 Jump Street" Good from Jump Street

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 77 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


21 Jump Street (2012)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence
DIRECTORS: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
WRITERS: Michael Bacall; from a story by Michael Bacall and Jonah Hill (based on the television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell)
PRODUCER: Neal H. Moritz
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Peterson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Joel Negron
COMPOSER: Mark Mothersbaugh

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, DeRay Davis, Dax Flame, Ellie Kemper, Chris Parnell, Holly Robinson Peete, Caroline Aaron, and Joe Chrest with Peter DeLuise and Johnny Depp

Right up front, I must say that I like Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. I haven’t seen all the movies in which each actor has appeared, but I try to see as many as I can. I don’t plan on watching two of Tatum’s biggest hits, Dear John or The Vow, unless someone pays me. No one is going to pay me to see either movie.

21 Jump Street is a crime comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The film is based on 21 Jump Street, the television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell and which aired from 1987 to 1991 on FOX and in first-run syndication (in the series’ final season). The movie follows two underachieving cops who go undercover at a high school in order to break up a drug ring.

Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) were high school classmates, but Morton the geek and Greg the cool kid weren’t friends. They became friends after they entered the police academy, where they made up for each other’s weaknesses. After graduating from the academy, they are assigned to park patrol, where they screw up so badly, they’re almost kicked off the police force.

Their last chance is a recently revived police department specialty division, 21 Jump Street, which uses youthful looking police officers to infiltrate high schools. The division head, the profanity-spewing Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), sends Morton and Greg to Sagan High. There, they must find the dealers of a new synthetic drug, H.F.S., but their ultimate goal is to find out the identity of the suppliers behind the dealers. While trying to fit in and not look like narcs, Morton and Greg learn that much has changed since their own high school days a decade ago.

21 Jump Street turned out to be much funnier than I thought it would be, and I thought that it might be a guilty pleasure or, at least, mildly amusing. There is nothing guilty about this pleasure. First, I think that it is a sarcastic send up of action comedies, especially of the buddy-cop variety, and it’s quite good at that. It is smart and dead-on about generational shifts in culture, especially concerning attitudes on identity, sexuality, and technology. Mostly, the movie seems to be about friendships: how they develop, what keeps people together, what can cause strife, etc. The dynamic of friendship between two young men, one that seems to have the potential to last a long time, plays out between the film’s jokes about demanding bosses, eccentric teachers, socially-conscious students, and a group of geeks who really want the new guy to like them.

I think 21 Jump Street works so well as a cop comedy because the relationship between Morton and Greg, with all its odds and ends, seems genuine in the context of a fictional union created for a movie. This movie is worth watching because of Morton and Greg and the way that Hill and Tatum, respectively, portray them. I liked the two enough to be very happy when I learned that a sequel to this movie is in the works.

I don’t want to make 21 Jump Street sound like a “bromance.” There is some ridiculous and crazy shit that happens in this movie, and almost all of it is very funny. It’s never over the top, even in the way Rob Riggle’s character, Mr. Walters, tries to save a special body part near the end of the film.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Actor and NFL Great, Alex Karras, Dies

Professional football player Alex Karras played his entire NFL career with the Detroit Lions. After starring for four years at the University of Iowa, the Lions drafted Karras with the 10th overall pick in 1958. He was a four-time All-Pro defensive tackle, making it to the first team in 1960, 1961 and 1965, and he was also a four-time Pro Bowl selection. After 12 seasons with the Lions (1958 to 1970), he retired in 1971 at the age of 35. Karras was also selected to the 1960s All-Decade NFL team.

Alexander George “Alex” Karras died today (Wednesday, October 10, 2012).  Here's the Yahoo.com obituary.

Karras’ football career was long over by the time I started watching NFL games, so I best remember him as an actor. From 1983 to 1987, he was actor Emmanuel Lewis’ adoptive father, George Papadapolis, in the sitcom, Webster. I’ll never forget the shocking murder of Karras’ character, Hank Sully, in Against All Odds (1984).

To me, however, Karras will always be Mongo, the not-so-bright bruiser in Mel Brooks’ classic spoof of Westerns, Blazing Saddles. I fondly remember the scene in which Mongo slugged a horse and also his classic line, “Mongo only pawn in game of life.” [Another favorite moment is when Cleavon Little’s Sheriff Bart announces, “Telegram for Mongo!” during the scene in which Bart tries to capture Mongo.]

I offer my condolences to Mr. Karras’ family. Rest in peace, Alex Karras.

"Argo" Soundtrack Now Available

Argo Soundtrack Coming October 9th

Preview the Album, Featuring Original Music by Alexandre Desplat, at the WaterTower Music Website

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On October 9, 2012, WaterTower Music will release Argo: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack at all digital retailers. The original music was composed by four-time Academy-Award® nominee Alexandre Desplat.

The film’s director Ben Affleck said, “We needed to find a theme that we would use throughout—obviously different instrumentation and tempo, but still the same piece of music.” He turned to composer Alexandre Desplat. “Desplat was amazing at crafting an atypical score, incorporating uncommon instruments, many Middle Eastern in origin. It doesn’t feel too literal or cliché, but he created a sound that instantly puts you in that place.”

Desplat received his most recent Oscar® nod for his score for the Best Picture winner “The King’s Speech,” for which he also won a BAFTA Award and earned a Golden Globe nomination. He previously garnered Oscar® and BAFTA Award nominations for his score for the animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; Oscar®, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; and Oscar® and BAFTA Award nominations for Stephen Frears’ “The Queen.” In addition, Desplat won a Golden Globe Award for John Curran’s “The Painted Veil,” and also received Golden Globe nominations for his scores for Stephen Gaghan’s “Syriana” and Peter Webber’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

Desplat more recently created the scores for “The Tree of Life,” directed by Terrence Malick; George Clooney’s “The Ides of March”; “Carnage,” for director Roman Polanski; Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”; and the two-film finale of the Harry Potter film franchise, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Parts 1 and 2.”

Oscar® winner Ben Affleck (“The Town,” “Good Will Hunting”) directs and stars in “Argo,” opening nationwide on October 12, 2012. Based on real events, the dramatic thriller “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis, focusing on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood played — information that was not declassified until many years after the event. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top “exfiltration” specialist, Tony Mendez, to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with GK Films, a Smokehouse Pictures production, “Argo.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Affleck directed the film from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape,” by Joshuah Bearman. The film is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney. David Klawans, Nina Wolarsky, Chris Brigham, Chay Carter, Graham King and Tim Headington are the executive producers, with Amy Herman co-producing. “Argo” also stars Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman.

The Argo - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on WaterTower Music will be available digitally on October 9, 2012, and can be previewed at www.watertower-music.com.

www.argothemovie.com

Hollywood Film Awards to Honor Cast of "Argo"

Hollywood Film Awards to Honor 'Argo' Cast. Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman will accept the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award at the first awards show of the season.

The 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Times, is pleased to announce that the feature "Argo," directed by Ben Affleck, will receive the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award."

"We are very proud to recognize the ensemble cast of "Argo," for their dramatic and outstanding performances," said Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Awards.

The 2012 Hollywood Film Awards has also announced that it will honor director David O. Russell with the "Hollywood Director Award"; Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award"; Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard with the "Hollywood Actress Award"; three-time Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams with the "Hollywood Supporting Actress Award"; producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner with the "Hollywood Producers Award"; writer/director Judd Apatow with the "Hollywood Comedy Award"; actor John Hawkes with the "Hollywood Breakout Performance Award" for "The Sessions"; and Quvenzhané Wallis with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Other honorees include cinematographer Wally Pfister, editor Dylan Tichenor, production designer Sarah Greenwood, and visual effects supervisors Janek Sirrs and Jeff White. In addition, director Peter Ramsey's "Rise of the Guardians" will be honored with the "Hollywood Animation Award," along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 22, 2012. The event honors cherished stars and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance.

"We are very gratified to be the first stop of the awards season. In the last nine years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards," said de Abreu.

Last year's awards show reached a total TV audience of more than 41 million media impressions, in addition to more than 300 million online and print readers' impressions.


ABOUT ARGO:
"Argo" is a dramatic thriller based on true events. Ben Affleck leads an ensemble cast that also includes Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, and Kerry Bishé.

On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top "exfiltration" specialist, Tony Mendez, to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS:
The Hollywood Film Awards were created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera, and launch the awards season. The criteria are: recipients are selected to be honored for their body of work and/or a film(s) that is to be released between January 1 and December 31 by an advisory team. In addition, for the recipients of our "film awards craft categories" (aside from evaluating their body of work), our Advisory team takes into consideration the recommendation of their guilds/societies. Last year alone, our recipients received 12 nominations and 5 Oscars. In the last 9 years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to our honorees.

Review: "Pan’s Labyrinth" is a Fantasy Film Masterpiece (Happy B'day, Guillermo del Toro)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 95 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
El Laberinto del fauno – Spanish title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Mexico/Spain/USA; Language: Spanish
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic violence and some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
PRODUCERS: Álvaro Augustín, Alfonso Cuarón, Bertha Navarro, Guillermo del Toro, and Frida Torresblanco
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Guillermo Navarro
EDITOR: Bernat Vilaplana
COMPOSER: Javier Navarrete
2007 Academy Award winner

FANTASY/DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergí López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo, Manolo Solo, César Vea, and Roger Casamajor

The subject of this movie review is Pan’s Labyrinth, a 2006 Mexican fantasy film. The film is directed by Mexican director, Guillermo del Toro.

Set in post-World War II Spain during the regime of Francisco Franco, El Laberinto del fauno (or Pan’s Labyrinth) is director Guillermo del Toro’s adult fairy tale that blends classic folklore with 20th Century political themes in a manner similar to del Toro’s Spanish Civil War-set The Devil’s Backbone (2001).

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a dreamy girl who loves to read fairy tales, finds herself moved to a forest military outpost with her pregnant mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), at the behest of her stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergí López). Ofelia feels powerless and lonely, and except for her mother, makes one new friend, the outpost’s housekeeper, Mercedes (Maribel Verdú).

While exploring the forest, Ofelia stumbles upon a decaying garden labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun, Pan (Doug Jones). Teasing and enigmatic, he tells Ofelia that she is really the lost Princess Moanna, who rightfully belongs in another world. Pan offers Ofelia a chance to prove herself – three tasks that will prove that her time in the mortal world has not washed away all of her immortality. As difficult as the tasks are, Ofelia must not only face the monsters of magical world, but also the ones in her daily life, especially Vidal and his brutal campaign against a band of anti-Franco rebels who hide in the forest.

Although many directors are called visionary, Guillermo del Toro certainly deserves the label, and I like to think of him as a Latin parallel to director Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). His devotion to gothic horror has resulted in dark, dark fantasy films that are both colorful and moody, as well as being filled with daring and innovative imagery.

Pan’s Labyrinth weighs against blind obedience to ideology, and favors devotion to friends and loved ones. It advocates sacrifice in place of unyielding selfishness and cruelty. Del Toro works these themes through the film using two narratives about two worlds. There is Ofelia’s harsh real world where her mother suffers a difficult pregnancy and her stepfather is a monster. The other world is one of the fantasy quest, which one can see as either literal or simply a figment of Ofelia’s vivid imagination. While both narratives may seem unconnected, they come together. One portrays the danger of belief that one’s ideology makes one superior to others and therefore has the power of life and death over them. The other deals with doing something that feels wrong out of desperation for reward – the end justifies the means.

The lovely performances and ingenious production add beauty to this ambitious and successfully executed story. In the end, Pan’s Labyrinth’s ideas do outweigh its grand imagination, and considering the visuals, that’s quite a feat.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 3 wins for “Best Achievement in Art Direction” (Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta), “Best Achievement in Cinematographer” (Guillermo Navarro), and “Best Achievement in Makeup” (David Martí and Montse Ribé); 3 nominations for “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Javier Navarrete), “Best Foreign Language Film of the Year” (Mexico), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Guillermo del Toro)

2007 BAFTA Awards: 3 wins: “Best Costume Design” (Lala Huete), “Best Film not in the English Language” (Alfonso Cuarón, Bertha Navarro, Frida Torresblanco, and Guillermo del Toro), “Best Make Up & Hair” (José Quetglás and Blanca Sánchez); 5 nominations: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Edward Irastorza, Everett Burrell, David Martí, and Montse Ribé), “Best Cinematography” (Guillermo Navarro), “Best Production Design” (Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Guillermo del Toro), “Best Sound” (Martín Hernández, Jaime Baksht, and Miguel Ángel Polo)

2007 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film”

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

--------------------

Adele's James Bond Theme Song Now Available

Adele's "Skyfall", Official Theme Song To Latest James Bond 007 Feature SKYFALL(TM), Globally Available On iTunes Now

"SKYFALL" RELEASE TO COINCIDE WITH 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JAMES BOND 007

NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records -- Following Adele's premiere of her latest recording "Skyfall," the official theme song to the upcoming 007 adventure of the same name, globally via her official site (http://adele.tv) at 0:07 BST/London time October 5th, the track is now available to purchase as a download at iTunes (http://smarturl.it/AdeleSkyfall). October 5(th) marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. No, and thus the James Bond film franchise, and will be celebrated as Global James Bond Day.

After a 90 second clip of the track leaked earlier this week, fans and critics have lined up to praise the "Skyfall" theme, with the Evening Standard calling Adele the "Best Bond singer since Shirley Bassey," The Daily Telegraph describing it as "A Bond song that stirs the heart", and the LA Times saying, "Though only about 90 seconds, what's available of Adele's 'Skyfall' seems to hint at the classic Bond themes of yore," whilst The Guardian called it "A deliciously languid ballad."

The lyric video to "Skyfall" can also be seen at http://adele.tv.

After reading the script for the film, Adele enlisted Paul Epworth to co-write and produce the theme song to "Skyfall(TM)." Adele admits, "I was a little hesitant at first to be involved with the theme song for Skyfall. There's a lot of instant spotlight and pressure when it comes to a Bond song. But I fell in love with the script and Paul had some great ideas for the track and it ended up being a bit of a no brainer to do it in the end. It was also a lot of fun writing to a brief, something I've never done, which made it exciting. When we recorded the strings it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I'll be back combing my hair when I'm 60 telling people I was a Bond girl back in the day I'm sure!" Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, "Skyfall" features the lush accompaniment of a 77-piece orchestra.

"Skyfall" is the first recording by Adele since releasing her massively successful album 21 in early 2011. To date 21 has sold over 24 million albums worldwide and garnered Adele 6 Grammy Awards, 2 BRIT Awards and 2 Ivor Novello Awards.


"Skyfall(TM)" the movie will be released on October 26, 2012 in the UK and on November 9, 2012 in the U.S.


About SKYFALL(TM)
Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in SKYFALL(TM), the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In SKYFALL, Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The film is from Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Sam Mendes. Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan.

Web Site: http://www.columbiarecords.com

Review: "Bram Stoker’s Dracula" Still a Stand-Out Dracula Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Running time: 128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexuality and horror violence
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
WRITER: James V. Hart (based upon the novel by Bram Stoker)
PRODUCERS: Fred Fuchs, Charles Mulvehill, and Francis Ford Coppola
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Ballhaus
EDITORS: Anne Goursaud, Glen Scantlebury, and Nicholas C. Smith
COMPOSER: Wojciech Kilar
Academy Award winner

HORROR/FANTASY/ROMANCE with elements of drama

Starring: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Bill Campbell, Sadie Frost, Tom Waits, and Monica Bellucci

The subject of this movie review is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a 1992 vampire movie and Gothic horror film from director Francis Ford Coppola. The film’s screenplay essentially takes the familiar Dracula story and emphasizes romantic and sensual elements. The film’s lavish production values helped it earn many honors, box office success, and some favorable attention from film critics.

Francis Ford Coppola’s lavish and colorful gothic extravaganza, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is a three-time Academy Award winner. Dazzling, lush, and sensuous, the film affirms Coppola’s place as imaginative and brilliant filmmaker. The film also testifies to the talents of all the cohorts. Eschewing the (then) burgeoning use of computers to add special effects to films, the SFX, cinematographer, makeup, sets artists, and designers used old-fashioned craftsmanship and artistry to create an amazing movie that harks to the past while looking out of this world impossible.

The film’s story is similar to previous adaptations of Bram Stoker’s novel (although most films are actually based on an early 20th century stage version of Stoker’s novel than the novel itself), but the attraction here is the visual interpretation. Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), a young lawyer, travels to into the gloomy misty land of Eastern Europe, Transylvania, to meet a mysterious client, Count Dracula (Gary Oldman), who is buying several tracts of property in London. Dracula, a vampire, later imprisons Harker when he discovers that Mina Murray (Winona Ryder), Harker’s fiancée, exactly resembles is late human wife, Elisabeta (Ms. Ryder), who killed herself centuries ago. Dracula travels in secret to London where he seduces and drains the life out of Mina’s friend, Lucy Westenra (Sadie Frost). However, the cautious Dr. Jack Seward (Richard E. Grant) summons his old mentor, Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) who immediately recognizes Lucy’s ailment and subsequent death as the work of a vampire. Van Helsing gathers Lucy’s friends to destroy Dracula, but the undead count has in eyes on Mina, and she, surprisingly, as her eyes on him.

The film is very entertaining, a stunning visual treat, and a unique horror film that hypnotizes you into watching it over and over again. Gary Oldman is one of the best screen Dracula’s ever; he is magnificent and alluring, but also fearsome and awe-inspiring. Winona Ryder is simultaneously demure and spirited as the brave Mina who is also secretly a naughty girl. The rest of the cast is mostly hit or miss. Anthony Hopkins gives a mostly annoying performance as Van Helsing, in which he only occasionally makes the character the brave and resolute leader he was in the original novel. Keanu Reeves is wooden, stiff, and nearly undead himself as Jonathan Harker. How could Mina not choose an undead monster with romantic inclinations over a pebble like Reeves’ Harker. The rest of the cast is functional and has its moments. The attraction here is the amazing work of Coppola and his filmmaking crew, as well as the screen duo of Oldman and Ms. Ryder; they’re the reasons you see this film.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
1993 Academy Awards: 3 wins: “Best Costume Design” (Eiko Ishioka), “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Tom C. McCarthy and David E. Stone), and “Best Makeup” (Greg Cannom, Michèle Burke, and Matthew W. Mungle); 1 nomination: “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Thomas E. Sanders and Garrett Lewis)

1994 BAFTA Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Costume Design” (Eiko Ishioka), “Best Make Up Artist” (Greg Cannom, Michèle Burke, and Matthew W. Mungle), “Best Production Design” (Thomas E. Sanders), and “Best Special Effects” (Roman Coppola, Gary Gutierrez, Michael Lantieri, and Gene Warren Jr.)