Review: "Malibu’s Most Wanted" Still Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual humor, language and violence
DIRECTOR: John Whitesell
WRITERS: Fax Bahr, Adam Small, Jamie Kennedy, and Nick Swardson
PRODUCERS: Fax Bahr, Mike Karz, and Adam Small
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin
EDITOR: Cara Silverman
COMPOSER: John Van Tongeren

COMEDY

Starring: Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, Blair Underwood, Damien Dante Wayans, Ryan O’Neal, Bo Derek, Jeffrey Tambor, and Snoop Dogg (voice)

The subject of this movie review is Malibu’s Most Wanted, a 2003 comedy co-written by and starring Jamie Kennedy. The film focuses on the character “B-Rad,” which Kennedy initially used in his stand-up comedy act and later featured on his hidden camera television series, “JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”

Brad Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy) is B-Rad, a white Jewish boy from Malibu who is a wannabe rap star and “acts like he’s from the ‘hood.” The problem is that his father Bill (Ryan O’Neal) is a California gubernatorial candidate, and B-Rad’s thuggish behavior might cost him the election.

Tom Gibbons (Blair Underwood), his father’s campaign manager, hires two actors to scare the black out of B-Rad. If Julliard-trained Sean (Taye Diggs) and Pasadena Playhouse thespian P.J. (Anthony Anderson) can convince B-Rad that they’re carjackers, they just might put the white back in Brad’s act. However, B-Rad ain’t having it; before long he’s in love with Sean and P.J.’s accomplice Shondra (Regina Hall), an ambitious young woman with business dreams.

First, let me say that Malibu’s Most Wanted is simply hilarious. I laughed as much as I did at any other recent film including Bringing Down the House. Malibu Most Wanted, like the latter film, involves a traditionally, but especially of late, touchy subject: the portrayal of African-American (or just plain black folks) and black culture in Hollywood films. The film allegedly pokes fun at white kids who embrace hip hop culture, but who also embrace it with such relish that they try to “act black.”

However, the film makes a point of differentiating between poseurs and whites who are really into that chocolate flava. A friend of mine called white poseurs, “Negro lite” – all the style and coolness without the persecution of being black. When it comes down to it, there’s nothing wrong with white people embracing hip hop culture or black language, style, fashion, attitude, and lifestyle. People of different backgrounds and cultures cross pollinate; the Romans certainly enjoyed copying the Greeks.

Some people seem to think that it was beneath African-American actors to participate in movies like Malibu's Most Wanted and Brining Down the House. Black actors just go where the work is. Lord knows that Taye Diggs, handsome, talented, and possessing a deft comic touch, should be a leading man fighting off producers who constantly beat at his door to have him be the star of their next film. That’s not happening. And Anthony Anderson is no less funny than Seann William Scott (American Pie and Dude, Where’s My Car?), so he should also have many comic vehicles coming his way, shouldn’t he?

Regina Hall is sexy and beautiful, capable of being more than just the black girl with an attitude. After seeing her in Malibu's Most Wanted, I left the theatre wondering why I haven’t seen more of her; then, I pass by a poster for the overexposed Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and a Ho. Oh, nothing on Reese. I love her, and all things being equal, Regina came into the world with the exact same chance for opportunity as Reese, right? So they go where the work is. Besides, I love the subtle, sly, and wink-wink/nudge-nudge performances by Diggs, Anderson, and Blair Underwood.

Jamie Kennedy, his writers and the director, John Whitesell (a veteran director of various episodes of many television programs) do a good job with what could have been a one-note joke that dies quickly. The script is pedestrian in a number of ways, but especially in the story’s resolution. B-Rad justifies himself and his interest in hip hop, connects with the black folk, and makes up with his dad, but there are also lots of nice touches. Hell, he even gets the black woman, which I thought the filmmakers would avoid like the plague. Even the predictable material has a nice, funny spin on it. The main point of this movie is to be funny, and it’s damn funny. Its secondary nature is to make a lot of good points, and despite Malibu Most Wanted’s often tactless script, it does that, too. When all is said and done, Malibu’s Most Wanted is funny, and in the long term, it’ll be an important work in the canon of films about black culture.

How many people notice that for all the parody of hip hop that is done in this film, B-Rad is absolutely and honestly in love with hip hop? For all the whining that many people do about how “black culture” is ignored, they should notice the adoration, even when it is disguised as a sow’s ear.

6 of 10
B

"Only God Forgives" Due July 19, 2013

Radius/TMC PRESENTS

ONLY GOD FORGIVES

An official selection of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

A film by Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm

IN THEATERS JULY 19th

Ryan Gosling and the director of DRIVE, Nicolas Winding Refn, are back with this visionary Bangkok-set thriller. Julien (Gosling) is a drug kingpin tasked with avenging his brother's death, but a mysterious, unhinged policeman is following his every move.

What's neon without a little flicker?

Follow @RadiusTWC to see an animated version of the poster.

#OnlyGodForgives
#WannaFight

Check out the redband trailer on Yahoo! Movies: http://movies.yahoo.com/trailers/red-band/?cache=clear

Review: "Bulletproof Monk" Not a Misfire

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bulletproof Monk (2003)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Paul Hunter
WRITERS: Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (based upon the Flypaper Press comic book)
PRODUCERS: Terence Chang, Charles Roven, Douglas Segal, and John Woo
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stefan Czapsky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Robert K. Lambert
COMPOSER: Eric Serra

MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION with elements of adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Karel Roden, and Victoria Smurfit

The subject of this movie review is Bulletproof Monk, a 2003 martial arts and fantasy film starring Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott. The film is a loose adaptation of a three-issue comic book miniseries published in the late 1990s.

After I first saw trailers and television commercials for Bulletproof Monk, I was sure that the movie was going to be a giant turkey bomb. The fights looked like cheesy, Matrix, bullet time, rip-offs, and the idea of a kung-fu mentor looking for a “chosen one” rang all too familiar. Worst of all, the film had Chow Yun-Fat spouting instant pudding Far East mystical mumbo-jumbo. The ads turned out to be quite misleading (in fact, those responsible shouldn’t necessarily lose their jobs if this film flops because of poor ads, but they should, at least, get demerits from their bosses), and the film is quite good, although the film still has one of those chosen one characters and lots of mystical quasi-Buddhist wisdom dialogue that even fortune cookie makers wouldn’t touch.

Somewhere in Tibet is an ancient scroll wherein is written the secrets to great power. Every sixty years, a new monk is chosen via prophetic signs to protect the scroll. In 1943, the Monk with No Name (Chow Yun Fat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) takes responsibility for the scroll. 60 years later, the monk is in New York running from Strucker (Karel Roden), a sadistic Nazi holdover from the Forties who wants the secrets of the scroll. His granddaughter Nina (Victoria Smurfit) now leads the chase to capture the Monk with No Name. During one of those chases, the monk meets Kar (Seann William Scott), a young pickpocket who just so happens to possesses some formidable martial arts skills. Of course, the relationship between the two begins as an edgy one, but soon it’s sometimes difficult to tell who is the mentor and who is the “mentee.”

Director Paul Hunter, known for his music videos, shows great ability in creating a sustained rhythmic style in Bulletproof Monk. The material is old hat; Hunter just makes the film exciting and energetic. He creates a sense of drama, suspense, mystery, and intrigue through the flow of the film. He even stages the mystical and philosophical musings so that they seem interesting and move the story forward. Rather than just being the standard dialogue you’d hear in a martial arts flick, the wit and wisdom of the monk actually serves the story.

The acting is good. Fat has never seemed more comfortable and relaxed in an English language film than he does here. He’s the coolest silent, stoic hero since Clint Eastwood, and the camera loves him. There’s just something heroic and, well, mystical about his visage when it appears on a giant movie screen, and like Eastwood, his best work needs to be seen in a theatre. Seann William Scott, forever burdened with the Stifler character from the American Pie films, proves himself to be a screen idol in the mold of Keanu Reeves. Like Reeves, the camera loves Scott; he has a naïve and goofy, but charming look that can sell him as a part time rogue, but a rogue destined to be a hero. His performance and his character’s transformation really remind me of both Reeves performance and of the character Neo’s transformation in The Matrix.

Bulletproof Monk is pure fun and very entertaining. You don’t have to check your brain at the door because the film isn’t that simpleminded. There’s chemistry between the leads that is actually heartwarming and inspiring. The evolution of the teacher/pupil relationship here is one that rings true. They are the center of the story, and when their dynamic works and the fight scenes are good, then, the movie is probably good.

Bulletproof Monk does have some shaky moments, and sometimes, the characters don’t always ring true. The villains are such stock characters that the actors precariously balance appearing both pathetic and dangerous, although Ms. Smurfit plays her part with absolute relish. Still, Bulletproof Monk is a good action film with some excellent fight scenes in the spirit of The Matrix, and the soundtrack is also pretty cool.

Though I do wonder why, after centuries of having Asian protectors, the protectors of the scroll all of a sudden have to be white people. Would predominately white audiences accept Jet Li as King Arthur?

6 of 10
B

"Iron Man 3" Kicks Off Capetown Film Fest

ADVANCE SCREENING OF MARVEL’S “IRON MAN 3” WILL KICK OFF THE ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY CAPETOWN FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORED BY TNT’s FALLING SKIES AT THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE ON APRIL 30TH

Screening Offers Festival Goers a Sneak Preview of Marvel’s Highly Anticipated Iron Man 3

Entertainment Weekly announced that a complimentary advance screening of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” will kick off the EW CapeTown Film Festival (CapeTown) at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 30. The inaugural film festival, co-presented by Entertainment Weekly and American Cinematheque, and sponsored by TNT’s Falling Skies, will host a screening of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” before the film opens in theaters on May 3. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session with Kevin Feige, producer of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” and Marvel Studios’ President.

Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.

Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard, Alan Fine, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Twitter: @SidGrauman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/egyptiantheatre

Tumblr: http://amcinematheque.tumblr.com/

Tuesday, April 30
8:00pm Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” Complimentary Fan Appreciation Screening
Special guest: Kevin Feige

Review: "Dirty Harry" is a Famous Mediocre Film (Remembering Don Siegel)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 126 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dirty Harry (1971)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Don Siegel
WRITERS: Harry Julian Fink & R.M. Fink and Dean Reisner, from a story by Harry Julian Fink and R.M. Fink
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bruce Surtees
EDITOR: Carl Pingitore
COMPOSER: Lalo Schifrin

DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, Andy Robinson, John Larch, and John Mitchum

The subject of this movie review is Dirty Harry, a 1971 crime film from director Don Siegel. The film stars Clint Eastwood in what would become a signature role for him, that of San Francisco Police Department Inspector Harry Callahan A.K.A. “Dirty Harry.” Dirty Harry would yield four sequels, beginning with 1973’s Magnum Force. Writers Jo Heims contributed to the story and John Milius contributed to the screenplay, but respectively did not receive screen credits.

After a decade of political assassinations, the Vietnam War/conflict, social upheaval, rising crime rates, etc., perhaps America was ready for Dirty Harry, the police thriller starring Clint Eastwood in his seminal role as Inspector Harry Callahan, also known as “Dirty Harry.” Harry is a tough-talking, streetwise, pop-a-cap-first homicide detective who is a far-right wet dream. In this first film in the (thus far) five-part “Dirty Harry” series, Inspector Callahan must learn the identity of a rooftop sniper known as the Scorpio Killer (Andy Robinson), who has killed two people. Scorpio eventually buries a young woman alive and threatens to let her suffocate if the city of San Francisco doesn’t pay him a $200,000 ransom. Harry is determined to nail the killer – even if he has to break some police rules and violate some inconvenient Constitutional rights.

The film plays loosely and sloppily with police procedures and what are the rights of criminal suspects and the accused, doing what most films do – change real life facts for dramatic impact. The screenwriters (and for all I know the director and star) go to ludicrous extremes to show that murderers can get away with murder if an aggressive cop doesn’t get a warrant or read some criminal “his rights.” When Clint Eastwood says the word “rights,” it’s like he has fecal matter on his sneaky tongue. Less than a decade later, presidential candidate and later President Ronald Reagan (via his speechwriters and puppet masters) would play up the idea that criminals had more rights than victims to good effect, as the U.S. public just sits back and watches the country increasingly become a police state.

As for the film, it’s neither a good police procedural nor an effective right wing political screed simply because the script is garbage in spite of its good central concept. The characters (with such well-thought out monikers as The Mayor and The Chief) are wispy, and Harry, except for a few revealing moments, is little more than a cipher. In fact, it is Andy Robinson’s intense, passionate, and crazy performance as Scorpio that gives life to the cop/suspect dynamic. Eastwood handles his half of the cop/villain conflict with his signature acting style for this film – a snarl and half-whispered lines delivered through bad teeth – lines that usually end with the word “punk.” Don Siegel’s direction doesn’t help much; the first half of the film is a listless detective film, while the second half struggles drunkenly to be a good police thriller, which it occasionally is.

Although Eastwood’s best work as an actor is in westerns, a genre for which he seems tailor made, Dirty Harry is the role for which many film fans still fondly remember him. However, this first Dirty Harry film is little more than a cultural curiosity and a sign of its times. Except for a few moments that stand out as exceptional, Dirty Harry is a famous, but mediocre film.

4 of 10
C

NOTES:
2012 National Film Preservation Board, USA: National Film Registry

New "Star Trek Into Darkness" Kirk Poster - April 16 2013

IN SELECT THEATERS IN IMAX 3D MAY 15th


IN THEATERS EVERYHWERE MAY 17th

WWW.STARTREKMOVIE.COM

#StarTrek #IntoDarkness

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

"High School of the Dead" Arrives on Neon Alley

VIZ MEDIA PARTNERS WITH SENTAI FILMWORKS TO PREMIERE HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD ON NEON ALLEY

This Friday, Hordes Of Flesh-Eating Zombies Descend Upon North America’s 24-Hour Console-Based Anime Channel For PS3 And Playstation® Network, And Xbox 360® And Xbox Live®

San Francisco, CA, April 18, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, partners with Sentai Filmworks to unleash a frightening new world of the living dead as it premieres the zombie action of HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD on Neon Alley this Friday, April 19th. Episode 1 (English dubbed) of the high-octane anime action series will debut in High Definition at 10PM EST / 7PM PST, replaying at 2AM EST / 11PM PST, and will air again throughout the week. New episodes will premiere every Friday. Check the Neon Alley program guide or NeonAlley.com for more information and additional airtimes.

Based on the ultra-violent manga (graphic novel) originally created by Daisuke Sato, directed by Tetsuro Araki (Death Note, Black Lagoon) and produced by the internationally famed studio MADHOUSE (Death Note, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D-Bloodlust, Wicked City) HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD (rated TV-MA) is distributed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and combines hordes of flesh-eating zombies with state of the art animation to deliver one of the most action packed anime series ever!

A deadly new disease is ravaging the world, turning the populace into mindless zombies and the number of infected victims is skyrocketing by the second. As their fellow classmates and teachers succumb to the infection around them, a small group of students at Fujimi High School must fight for their lives after surviving the initial outbreak. It’s up to Takashi Komuro to unite the group of weary survivors and try to escape the horrors that surround them. In this new world of the living dead...will they escape?

“We’re thrilled to welcome Sentai Filmworks as a content partner for our innovative anime content delivery service, Neon Alley,” says Brian Ige, VIZ Media Vice President, Animation. “HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD is the newest anime series to join Neon Alley’s expansive schedule for Spring 2013, and fans won’t want to miss this action-packed tale of survival when it debuts Friday!”

“HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD is a riveting story that combines plenty of visceral action with compelling, multi-faceted characters and some sexy fan service,” says David Del Rio, VP of Licensing, Sentai Filmworks. “We look forward to the series finding a brand new audience of avid fans on Neon Alley and to viewers joining Takashi Komuro and his cohorts as they face a stark and dangerous world.”

Neon Alley is VIZ Media’s 24-hour, subscription-based anime channel available for the PS3 game console and Playstation® Network, and Xbox 360 and Xbox Live®. The platform features the world’s best titles (dubbed in English and uncut), presented in HD (when available), for a low monthly subscription rate of $6.99, and a limited time only, a one-week free trial is available to all fans that sign up at NeonAlley.com.

Neon Alley’s schedule includes a dynamic mix of action, adventure, sci-fi, supernatural, fantasy, and horror anime, including new debuts this season of weekly exclusive episodes of ACCEL WORLD, FATE/ZERO and ZETMAN. Fans also can catch other favorite blockbuster anime series from the beginning, including BLUE EXORCIST, DEATH NOTE, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, ONE PIECE, TIGER & BUNNY, VAMPIRE KNIGHT and more.

Neon Alley is specially designed to be studio agnostic, featuring titles from other anime producers and content distributors, including Aniplex, FUNimation, NTV, Taiseng, and Anime News Network. Members can also share real-time thoughts and status updates using social media technology from Tout (Tout.com), some of which will air on the network.

More information on Neon Alley is available at NeonAlley.com.

Additional information on Sentai Filmworks HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD is available at: http://www.sentai-filmworks.com.


About Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks celebrates its 5th Anniversary as one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, producing hit series like Persona 4, Girls und Panzer, Devil Survivor 2, Bodacious Space Pirates, Majestic Prince and High School of the Dead as well as high profile theatrical films such as Grave of the Fireflies, K-ON! and Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks’ programs are distributed through Ingram Entertainment, Diamond Comic Distributors, Section23Films and Waxworks through retailers Amazon, Best Buy, Fry’s, FYE, Hastings, Sam Goody, Suncoast, The Right Stuf, Wal-Mart and other good and fine stores.

Digital product offerings may be found at Amazon, Anime Network, Crunchyroll, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, PlayStation Network, Rovi, Vudu, XBOX Marketplace and YouTube.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.