A Rage in Harlem.

Review #2513: A Rage in Harlem.

Cast: 

Forest Whitaker (Jackson), Gregory Hines (Goldy/Sherman), Robin Givens (Imabelle), Zakes Mokae (Big Kathy), Danny Glover (Easy Money), Badja Djola (Slim), John Toles-Bey (Jodie), Tyler Collins (Teena), Ron Taylor (Hank), Samm-Art Williams (Gus Parsons), Stack Pierce (Detective Ed "Coffin Ed" Johnson), Willard E. Pugh (Claude X), Helen Martin (Mrs. Canfield), Wendell Pierce (Louis), T. K. Carter (Smitty), Jalacy Hawkins (Jay "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins), Beatrice Winde (Clerk), and George Wallace (Detective "Gravedigger" Jones) Directed by Bill Duke.

Review: 

“I’m not interested in making ‘Black’ movies. I’m interested in making movies that reflect my reality as I perceive it.”

Honestly, this movie was lightly on my mind for a few years. You might remember that Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972) were loosely based on the works of Chester Himes involving Harlem detectives that had Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques as the stars.  But first, let's talk a bit about this being the feature film debut of Bill Duke. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Duke was curious about writing from a young age, mainly because he wrote a journal from a young age because in his words, he wasn't a good verbal communicator but his poems were liked by a teacher of his. He attended Dutchess Community College and was encouraged to enroll in drama that saw him want to do acting. He studied at Boston University and subsequently New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before getting a role on Broadway in 1971 with "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death.”  Duke broke into film with Car Wash (1976) before eventually coming onto the need to study film, which he did with the AFI Conservatory. Duke became a director for a variety of television shows in the 1980s that ranged from Falcon Crest to Knots Landing. Duke made his directorial debut with the made-for-PBS The Killing Floor (1984) before moving into film with this movie. William Horberg got the rights to the Himes novel and eventually got the efforts of Stephen Woolley to get the idea of doing a film sold to Miramax Films. John Toles-Bey and Bobby Crawford were credited as having written the film. Apparently, halfway through the production, Woolley claimed that the film was meant to be a comedy and that Duke disagreed with that sentiment. At any rate, the movie made roughly $10 million. Duke's next film was with Deep Cover (1992).

You've got a movie wrapped in the vibrant atmosphere of Harlem (okay it was filmed in Cincinnati but still) that has a carefully wound-up game of wits and oddball characters for a few interesting moments (and, arguably, a few chuckles, so maybe Woolley wasn't too far off). Its tale of lust and larceny isn't too far off from a B-movie or, say, those 70s movies I had mentioned earlier that makes for a decent first effort. It doesn't exactly have every plot beat down to a T, mainly because the chemistry between the characters work far better than any motivations involving gold and sheer hokum. Of course, it also is an off-kilter romance (when not dealing in clash of street/book smart) that basically lends itself to a handful of curious moments of who really is in control of their own desires and sense of self. In that sense, Whitaker and Hines make for a couple of entertaining leads to counteract each other as if one was in a hardboiled buddy film (with perhaps a bit of a coming-of-age sprinkled in, neo-noir style). This was the first prominent film role for Givens, who previously had been featured in Head of the Class for television. She makes for a quality femme fatale, one with sultry grace that manages to have the right time of timing to make the tenuous dynamic between her and Whitaker a compelling one. There are a wide variety of characters to come and go with charm to spare, whether that involves a cross-dresser played by Mokae or with heavies in Glover and Djola (or Williams, but he is only in it for a while). In general, the film is quick on its feet to make its 115-minute runtime feel like a breeze worth passing through to see it play all the way to the finish that manages to hit most of the right notes for a fairly satisfying first effort.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars. 

Another Movie Night Song of the day

Redux: Predator.

Redux: #325: Predator.

Cast: 

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dutch Schaefer), Carl Weathers (George Dillon), Elpidia Carrillo (Anna), Bill Duke (Mac Eliot), Jesse Ventura (Blain Cooper), Sonny Landham (Billy Sole), Richard Chaves (Poncho Ramirez), Shane Black (Rick Hawkins), R. G. Armstrong (Homer Phillips), and Kevin Peter Hall (The Predator) Directed by John McTiernan (#014 - Die Hard, #018 - Die Hard with a Vengeance, #080 - The Hunt for Red October)

Review: 

"Terrifying in a lot of ways, and a learning experience in a lot of other ways." - John McTiernan

The key to understanding Predator, released on June 12, 1987, is that it is a triumph of arrangement and dedication from top to bottom that delivers a multi-genre success for its makers and star. Jim Thomas and John Thomas (raised in Bakersfield, California and each serving a variety of odd-jobs before trying to be writers) were inspired by old mythological tales told to them by their parents such as The Brothers Grimm when it came to the script, which would see what would happen when one hunts the hunter; the script was finished in 1983 and sold in early 1984; it should be noted however that one other inspiration, quoted in a magazine detailing the production in 1987, was a joke that had circulated around Hollywood involving Rocky IV (1985) where the title character would probably have to fight an alien for the next bout. At any rate, producer 20th Century Fox handed Joel Silver (fresh off hits like 48 Hrs (1982) and Commando (1985)) the script in 1985, which he liked, and he served as a co-producer with John Davis and Lawrence Gordon (un-credited script work was apparently done later by David Peoples and also Shane Black). You have to consider that this was the big hit for its main director in John McTiernan. From a career that went from 1986 to its untimely "end" in 2003, he directed eleven feature films. Born in Albany, New York, he studied at both Juilliard School and the American Film Institute, graduating from the latter in 1975. He did a variety of commercials to start his career before his first film with Nomads (1986). That movie was not a success with critics or audiences, but it did attract one fan: Arnold Schwarzenegger, who liked the tense atmosphere created on a low budget. Commitments from its star meant that shooting was not started until 1986, and it proved to be a grueling shoot that saw dedicated work had to be done with effects, which needed work from R/Greenberg Associates to pull off the effect of a creature in thermal vision and a chameleon-like invisibility, which meant someone had to run around in a red suit and a second take with a 30% wider lens to make one optical shot). Plans to use a creature designed by Richard Edlund of Boss Film Studios resulted in an ungainly result that needed a new designer: Stan Winston, who took a suggestion made while sketching (James Cameron) that resulted in a creature with mandibles. While it was not exactly a critical darling on release, its reputation has improved in later years, and it was an audience hit in 1987. The success of the film would lead to a sequel in 1990, which had the Thomas brothers return to write the film. Each sequel has seen a different cast and locale: the second film was set in Los Angeles during a heat wave and drug cartel war, Predators (2010) was set on an alien planet with trained killers being hunted, and The Predator (2018) matched soldiers against Predators on Earth while Prey, set to be released in 2022, will apparently match the creatures against Commanche warriors in 1719. 

We have a movie that starts out as an action feature with plenty of macho trimmings that warm one up to the surroundings before it eventually segues into a sci-fi horror feature that keeps the interest high. Apparently, the original script involved just one man up against a predator before changes were made, and it is a wise one, since the picking off the crew makes for a capable thriller that McTiernan can arrange with suitable staging that makes the 107 minutes pass by with quick engagement. Yes, it has some of the little quips that come from select Schwarzenegger features, but it also sees him look at the very least vulnerable enough to where one might really think the character could not make it. In other words: he had improved himself quite a bit from his bodybuilder image and stuff like Conan the Barbarian (1982). For a movie inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the result works well in turning what was a would-be rescue operation into a fight of survival. You have a cadre of actors here (a mix of veterans and younger actors) that make an impression on you with little charming moments, such as Ventura (a Navy man and WWF star at the time) practically chewing lines of bravado or with a joking but efficient Black. Chaves lingers his ground with the rest of the bunch. Landham makes a calm and collected presence of fire to accompany the bunch, while Duke and Weathers seal the tandem up with their own brand of distinct charm and habits. Carrillo is the distinct middle ground between all the hunters, which is spent mostly in calm terror that works to the moments required for a movie where the jungle comes alive. The creature would be played by Kevin Peter Hall (a height of 7 feet and 2 two inches), replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme (5'9) to wanting a more imposing actor for the cumbersome suit, which does look quite menacing enough to work on the level that it needs to be seen. Given that Hall couldn't really see out of the suit, he makes the best of it by making the climax work as well as it does because one finds this to be a suitable presence to counteract Schwarzenegger with all the buildup the movie has done: two warriors, having found out aspects about the other in how to hide and how to entrap, now find themselves combatting in the dark, as opposed to just having a firefight with shots being fired to no particular location. With a distinct musical score by Alan Silvestri (fresh off scores for films such as Back to the Future) and interesting special effects that show well in the jungle landscape shot in Mexico, it all adds up to a quality adventure that uses its strong cast and surroundings for an efficient movie of its time. As a whole, Predator works because of its arrangements from start to finish: director, actors, design, nnd more to make for a quality action adventure.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Car Wash.

Review #1637: Car Wash.

Cast: 

Franklyn Ajaye (T.C./Theodore Chauncy Elcott), Sully Boyar (Leon 'Mr B.' Barrow), Ivan Dixon (Lonnie), Bill Duke (Duane / Abdullah), Antonio Fargas (Lindy), Michael Fennell (Calvin), Arthur French (Charlie), Leonard Jackson (Earl), DeWayne Jessie (Lloyd), Jack Kehoe (Scruggs), Lauren Jones (Marleen), Henry Kingi (Goody), Melanie Mayron (Marsha), Garrett Morris (Slide), Clarence Muse (Snapper), Leon Pinkney (Justin), with Richard Brestoff (Irwin Barrow), Carmine Caridi (Foolish Father), George Carlin (the Taxi Driver), "Professor" Irwin Corey (The Mad Bomber), Lorraine Gary (the Hysterical Lady), Richard Pryor (Daddy Rich), and The Pointer Sisters (The Wilson Sisters) Directed by Michael Schultz.

Review: 

"In many films, I want to tell a story everybody can understand. But more importantly, I want an audience to come out of a film with more than what they went in with—thinking, feeling, laughing, crying."

There are quite a few directors and actors who made a name for themselves within African American cinema in the 1970s, and Michael Schultz belongs in the conversation for that era. He attended the University of Wisconsin before dropping out to work in a steel mill and then moving on to study and graduate at Marquette. He made his debut as a stage manager in The Old Glory (1964) Having already been involved in theater productions in high school, he was well-suited for when he moved on to attend Princeton University, where he directed his first play in 1966 (he would manage or direct numerous performances from 1964 to 1974). His staging of To Be Young, Gifted and Black resulted in success alongside a re-staging for television two years later. Alongside entering television for several series, he also moved into films with Together for Days (1972) and Honeybaby, Honeybaby (1974), although his breakthrough would come with Cooley High (1975) with audiences that has been noted as a classic by future directors like Spike Lee. Although Schultz's career moved down a tick with the noted failure Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), he continued his work in film and television, and he can still be found in the latter category to the present day.

How many movies are there that involve a slice-of-life portrayal of a job that could be described in the same way one could say about future films about crabby lines of work? Or for that matter, how many are ones that were thought of as intended to be a musical? When the production head at Universal Pictures was pitched the play idea, he hated it, but told producers Art Linson and Gary Stromberg to just get the writer behind Sparkle and make a movie instead. Car Wash is certainly that one, a film that actually had its soundtrack recorded before the film started production in order for the actors to listen to it, complete with using a real car wash (Figueroa Car Wash in Los Angeles) for filming. The soundtrack was done by Rose Royce, and the title song became a number one hit while the soundtrack won a Grammy Award (the film has been argued to be one of the first disco-infused films). Believe it or not, the film was written by Joel Schumacher, who had just one prior writing credit (Sparkle, released the same year), having moved up from costume and set design to writing to eventually directing by 1981 (but not before writing another famed film with disco influence with The Wiz). What we have here is a trove of ensemble fun, one that settles in like a series of sketches as the day (90 minutes) goes by, with an assortment of fair highlights among a few noteworthy check-ins and an interesting closure. Those familiar with films like American Graffiti (1973) will have a fine time with an ensemble piece with radio-infused style and narration. There are some charmers in the cast when it comes to lovable crass folks, such as Ajaye (known for his brief string of comedy albums) and his carefree range of buzzy charm, which goes along with other fun-loving sly folks like Fargas or Kehoe or beleaguered ones like Boyer; on the other side of focus is Dixon (best known for his lead role in Nothing But a Man (1964) and support in Hogan's Heroes), who provides shining struggle to go with the coarse Duke (in his debut film role) that shows the reality of what they do (meager job, meager pay, but one has to do it).

And then of course there are the small bit from notable folks. Carlin (a well-known comic of the counterculture with his second film role) has an interesting time spent with wandering amusement that rambles for a short time. The same goes for Corey and his nutty small turn to set up a gag with a bottle in the air, while Gary plays hysterics to that key breaking moment. Believe it or not, Pryor (a stand-up comic in his prime) making a cameo appearance in the film was not actually planned at first. For one, it was intended to be a fellow named Reverend Ike (who would be playing a character inspired by himself), but when he turned it down, Pryor stepped in (Schultz and Pryor gave differing assessments on the performance, as the former noted the actor as doing numerous variations on one theme that a director has to guide/pick while Pryor thought he should have known better but was under the influence of cocaine at the time to notice) - for me, it's the most interesting appearance, one with a music group to make prime flim-flam benevolence. Be thankful one can see the film in its full form and not have to live in a time with edited TV versions circulating, one of which that takes out the raunchy elements alongside adding/deleting characters (Lindy out for a character played by Danny DeVito, who is all but deleted from the original version except in the background). At any rate, what we have is a deserving favorite by the audience that have warmed up to it in the four decades since its release, one that has a charm worth looking into.

Next Time: Sure, this director has been covered plenty of times before. But it is his portrayal of the life of one of the most famous jazz saxophonists that merits discussion, especially since it wasn't given its due upon release with its key lead performance from Forest Whitaker. Rock the beat for Bird (1988).

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Payback (1999).

Review #1191: Payback.

Cast:
Mel Gibson (Porter), Gregg Henry (Val Resnick), Maria Bello (Rosie), Lucy Liu (Pearl), Deborah Kara Unger (Lynn Porter), David Paymer (Arthur Stegman), Bill Duke (Detective Hicks), Jack Conley (Detective Leary), John Glover (Phil), William Devane (Carter), James Coburn (Justin Fairfax), Kris Kristofferson (Bronson), and Trevor St. John (Johnny Bronson) Directed by Brian Helgeland (#372 - 42)

Review: 
The strangest thing about films can be the ways that it can sometimes transition into numerous forms before a final shift into the form that goes to audiences. This film is a particular example of where a director's vision can verge differently from ultimately made it to the screen. Brian Helgeland was making his directorial debut after meeting up with Gibson on the set of Conspiracy Theory (1997), a film that he had written for. During the post-production stage for that film, Helgeland happened to have the script with him when Gibson inquired about the pages he had with him, for which he read the first act of. A few weeks later, Gibson agreed to finance the film with his production company Icon Productions provided they could shoot within 12 weeks. The film is as adaptation of the 1962 novel The Hunter by Richard Stark (pen-name for David E. Westlake), the first of 24 novels from 1964 to 2008 with the character Parker as the main lead. It had already been adapted a movie in 1967 as Point Blank, featuring Lee Marvin, and other novels had been given film adaptations.

Before I talk about the circumstances that led to Helgeland's dismissal from the film, let's talk about how the movie is first. For a neo-noir, it certainly is a decently entertaining one. It maybe a bit routine in terms of its story and action, but it is a road worth walking onto in part because of its dark charm, which in some ways feels like a guilty pleasure. Gibson is certainly up to task in delivering a character worth following with a subtle grin in a film with oddball people basked in noir types. Henry is fairly adept at showing menace for his time shared with Gibson. Bello does fine with her material, sharing her time with Gibson quite well. Liu (playing a dominatrix) is quite quirky. Paymer plays his role with a good deal of sleazy ooze that is pretty amusing. It is amusing to see Coburn briefly, but interesting to see Kristofferson all of a sudden in the film appear; he isn't really too menacing as the big bad but he is at least neat to watch. The movie moves with a dynamic pace to try and garner up excitement along with a chuckle, and it works out fine for the most part, playing to the noir type handily. It is sometimes a bit wobbly with its plot motivations (and its action violence on occasion), but the final product works out mostly because it manages to distract itself enough to where while you can see where "producer's notes" may have stepped in, you can at least find something to watch without too much disapproval. It has a bit of fun with its aspects of revenge without being too demanding.

Helgeland's version of the film was felt to be too dark for a mainstream audience in terms of story, tone, and look. he was fired from the project, which occurred two days after winning an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work for L.A. Confidential (1997). Thirty percent of the film was re-shot (with new material written by Terry Hayes), with John Myhre (production designer) doing un-credited directorial work. Helgeland would have his version of the film (referred to as Straight Up: The Director's Cut) released on DVD in 2007. His version differs from the theatrical version in several ways, such as a shorter length (90 minutes as opposed to the 101 in the theatrical), a female Bronson un-seen by the audience that is voiced by Sally Kellerman, the removal of the narration by Gibson, and the restoring of the look of the film from a bleached tone to one more normal. Honestly, the look is okay as is (even if sometimes it may seem better in black-and-white by simply taking the color out of the screen manually), but at least there exists two versions to compare. I don't have too much interest in watching the other cut, but if you are curious about what makes a movie go in different directions, I'm sure it is right up your alley. The film as is just fine, not being any kind of big statement as a neo-noir action flick, but it will serve just alright for the tastes of people wanting some entertainment.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Commando (1985).

Review #324: Commando.

Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger (John Matrix), Rae Dawn Chong (Cindy), Alyssa Milano (Jenny), James Olson (General Kirby), Dan Hedaya (Arius), Vernon Wells (Bennett), Bill Duke (Cooke), and David Patrick Kelly (Sully) Directed by Mark L. Lester.

Review
Conan-*Record suddenly changes* What? Oh, right. Commando was an 80s flick (right in the middle of it, no less), and it is easy to tell. But does that make it just a regular "meh" action film? Not entirely. Schwarzenegger does a fine job, it's almost like he is doing a satire version of heroes. The supporting cast is fine, ranging from decent to...odd. It does has a decent length, running only an hour and a half. Surprisingly, there is a good amount of decent humor. Actually the whole film feels like it has some sort of subtlety, with action put in. And of course like most action films, it has...well, action. Is it any good? I kinda like it, it doesn't necessary have much realism (I wonder if the main character is wondering how all those soldiers missed hitting him considering his size and the fact he's nearly right in front of them.), but it isn't something that hurts the film. I do like some of the lines in the film ("Remember when I promised to kill you last?  I lied" "And if you want your kid back, then you gotta co-operate, right?" "Wrong!"), which are a (welcome) fixture for Arnold by this point. In the end, the film is allright, not bad, not great, but...good. Fun stuff. Kind of a guilty pleasure.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.