War of the Worlds (2025).

Review #2481: War of the Worlds (2025).

Cast: 

Ice Cube (Will Radford), Eva Longoria (Dr. Sandra Salas), Clark Gregg (Donald Briggs), Iman Benson (Faith Radford), Henry Hunter Hall (Dave Radford), Devon Bostick (Mark Goodman), Michael O'Neill (Walter Crystal, United States Secretary of Defense), Andrea Savage (Sheila Jeffries, FBI Agent), and Jim Meskimen (the President) Directed by Rich Lee.

Review:

This is the debut feature of Rich Lee, who had spent two decades directing music videos for various bands after first doing work at Scenic Technologies doing sets/sculpting and also did work with previsualization for a few feature films. Not exactly the worse resume for a movie that might go down in infamy as one of the most ineffective feature film debuts ever. At any rate, let's start carefully. The screenplay was credited to Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hyman, with a story by Golde as based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells (which apparently is in the public domain now). Evidently, the first rumblings of making this film started in 2020 that would use "screenlife technology" (as, as popularized by films such as Searching (2018), which shares a producer with this film in Timur Bekmambetov. So yes, they wanted to make a film that looked like an event but with the budget of a small thriller. Apparently, post-production lasted for two years after the film was shot over the course of fifteen days and had a handful of edits made over and over again. Actual footage of disasters (such as a fire) had CGI put over it to serve for this film. Universal was originally set to release it, but it was later sold to Amazon, who released it onto Prime Video. You might wonder why this film gets a pass then despite being on a streaming thing. Well, I do love a good target, especially one that claims to not be deterred by bad reviews.

The following things are namedropped or shown: Spotify, FaceTime, VISA, Zoom, the Mac, Tesla, the Push button ("that was easy"), Amazon (drones are totally cool) and gift cards, commentators such as Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson. Bekmambetov apparently believed that the best way to experience the action through the lens of phones and computers that surely would be a modern spin of the novel akin to the Orson Welles radio broadcast from 1938. I cannot imagine someone trying to pretend to be immersed in the film actually portraying an invasion and people rising above it to tell truths by displaying an image that says: "Let's Disrupt Some Shit". You have got to be kidding me with this movie, right? There is no desire in my mind to give the film the "so bad it's good" treatment, there is only a desire to bury this movie into the ground for all of the genuine terrible quality that comes through in 89 minutes of what barely even counts as a film. How can you call this a movie where you are basically paying attention to small rectangle rather than the whole frame? How can you call this a movie where you already know the outcome and the characters are still badly developed? How could this have passed for a film? Is that all there is, movies being made for "content"? To call this a movie is an insult to movies made on a shoestring budget or even Neil Breen. You can't believe anything you see or hear with the film from hacking to the art of needing a thumb drive as delivered by a drone. Ice Cube can't even make this tolerable to watch because he just sounds bored by what he is doing here, a movie where he was filmed without the director or actors around. Gregg can't even sell the idea that he cares about the perils of trying to seize a higher place of power in disaster because he has the commitment level of someone stuck in an unending phone call. The "Disruptor" stuff is just cringe and unconvincing in actually making you believe in the film besides the invasion. The effects, aside from the probable tastelessness (debate for yourself) of taking actual suffering and putting CG over it, don't even heighten the drama because the visuals just aren't interesting to look at. In the end, you could stick with the 1953 or 2005 version of War of the Worlds, end of story. This is an insult to moviemaking, and it honestly deserves to be buried into the ground for sheer audacity in wasting the time of its audience with no sense of tension, interest, or soul in any shape or form. Laughing at it isn't enough, giving it a 0 is what it deserves.

Overall, I give it 0 out of 10 stars.

Well, we tried our best to do a quality Turkey Week. Six Novembers of having some pretty bad movies to close out the month has been pretty enjoyable, and I look forward to further years of ridicule. At any rate, presented here were the finalists: 

Doolittle / Killing Me Softly / National Lampoon's Movie Madness / Gotti / Driven / Date Movie / H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Barbershop.

Review #2351: Barbershop.

Cast: 

Ice Cube (Calvin Palmer Jr.), Anthony Anderson (J.D.), Cedric the Entertainer (Eddie Walker), Keith David (Lester Wallace), Michael Ealy (Ricky Nash), Sean Patrick Thomas (Jimmy James), Eve (Terri Jones), Troy Garity (Isaac Rosenberg), Leonard Earl Howze (Dinka), Jazsmin Lewis (Jennifer Palmer), Lahmard Tate (Billy), Tom Wright (Detective Williams), Sonya Eddy (Janelle), Jason Winston George (Kevin), and DeRay Davis (Ray Ray) Directed by Tim Story (#011 - Fantastic Four and #013 - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

Review: 

Barbershop was the first prominent movie directed by Tim Story. A Los Angeles native who made home movies from a young age, he graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts before turning his attention to filmmaking, which debuted with One of Us Tripped (1997), a $30,000 movie that he made when he read a story about how Clerks (1994) was made on its modest budget; his second film failed enough for him to have to music videos before Barbershop came along. Over the course of his career, Story has directed fifteen movies of varying quality, ranging from the Fantastic Four films (2005, 2007), to the Think Like a Man features (2012, 2014) to a few Kevin Hart concert films and The Blackening (2022). Mark Brown (previously a writer on Two Can Play That Game and How To Be a Player) wrote the story for the movie and co-wrote the screenplay with Don D. Scott and Marshall Todd. Producers George Tillman Jr and Robert Teitel (who had previously worked together on Soul Food [1997]) spearheaded the production and brought in Story, who impressed them with his prepardness. Incidentally, the dialogue expressed by the character played by Cedric the Entertainer about Civil Rights leaders apparently stoked a bit of controversy because it is apparently true that Jesse Jackson cannot take a joke at his own expense (the bit about Rosa Parks is a bit funny for those who are truthers about Claudette Colvin); predictably, calling for a boycott of a movie (cough cough Al Sharpton) did little to hurt the film. As it turned out, this was the first of four films in what you might call a franchise, with two direct sequels (and a spinoff) coming out between 2004 and 2016; some of the cast reprised their roles for those films, although each had a different director behind it.

You've got your movies or shows about bars or the neighborhood, but it does help to see one come around about the odds and ends of a barbershop. For me, I don't know a lick about barbershops, but I'm sure you get the gist of a workplace with plenty to look and listen about. For the most part, this works out to a casual work comedy, having a worthwhile ensemble for 102 minutes of generally interesting stuff. It comes and goes in amusement that has a familiar haircut (Car Wash comes to mind), which is generally helpful for those who like their movies to have a little bit of insight sprinkled with gags and subplots. Cube has the commitment required to sell the movie as one to look within oneself and realize again what community means besides the money (don't get it twisted, the money matters, particularly for its latter half, but, well, there's more to life than daydreams and schemes). He maneuvers the movie with general commitment that plays it straight enough, at least when compared to Cedric, who manages to sell the wayward "elder statesman" part with good timing. The rest of the ensemble (Ealy, Thomas, Eve, Gairty, Howze) are also pretty game in being pretty distinct in that certain kind of worker group that one can see in all the facets that matter (opinionated, argumentative, useful, what have you). Anderson and Tate play the long reaching subplot of the film (an ATM that can't quite find a place to be opened in peace) for a bit of physical jokes that are serviceable. David makes for quite the craven figure to pop in and out of the background, that much is for sure. The movie coasts along with a laid-back style of entertainment that manages to not override its welcome because of a game cast that have at least some part of it that will remind someone of a memory long ago or to just have a neat chuckle for the hell of it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Anaconda .

Review #2123: Anaconda.

Cast: 

Jennifer Lopez (Terri Flores), Ice Cube (Danny Rich), Jon Voight (Paul Serone), Eric Stoltz (Dr. Steven Cale), Jonathan Hyde (Warren Westridge), Owen Wilson (Gary Dixon), Kari Wuhrer (Denise Kalberg), Vincent Castellanos (Mateo), with Frank Welker (Anaconda snake) and Danny Trejo (Poacherck) Directed by Luis Llosa.

Review:

Look, you know what you are getting into with a film like this, especially one released in the late 1990s. The film utilizes a mix of computer-generated imagery and animatronics for its title creature (apparently, one can see an animatronic from the film at the California Academy of Sciences). Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr wrote the screenplay, although it has been stated that Mark Haskell Smith provided a "production draft". The film was directed by Luis Llosa, a Peruvian film critic-turned-director (of course, being a cousin of noted novelist Mario Vargas Llosa is something to note). He got his start as director with Peruvian television shows such as Gamboa and Carmin before becoming a feature director with (where else?) Roger Corman productions such as Hour of the Assassin (1987) and Crime Zone (1989). Perhaps to the surprise of no one, there were follow ups; only Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) was released theatrically, although it retained no original cast members from the first film. Plans to make a reboot film are apparently in motion, which I'm sure is interesting news to those who are familiar with recent creature features such as The Meg (I still can't get over that title). 

Honestly, the film almost overrode my low expectations. You have Ice Cube making a reference to his own songs for a line. You have Jon Voight putting on a Paraguayan accent because, well, okay, sure. You have a snake that reminds me of a gummy worm when it comes to the CG moments to go with an amusingly long snake (with sound effects by Frank Welker). Top it all off, you have a character swallowed up and regurgitated that shows a shot of them blinking right before they are shown dead. Imagine all of this coming in a film about a National Geographic crew looking for an obscure tribe in the Amazon. It sure isn't Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), but it is the kind of goofy film that would fit just right from one of Corman's old features such as Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957). It probably goes without saying that a handful of sea creature features all seem to owe something to Jaws (1975), whether that involves POV shots or making creatures out to seem more dangerous than they are in the actual wild. Granted, the idea of going out in the jungle is a bit spooky, so having to deal with the idea of a snake that may eat or bite you is at least an idea I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. But this is about as scary as, well, looking at a snake in a picture book. It is cheesy in every way you would expect that I can only cite as a light negative assessment. Lopez doesn't exactly have much to really do when overshadowed by obvious presences in Cube or Voight, because even being a screamer would be part of a personality. The cardboard "PG-13" folks are there just to come and go, which seems hollow when compared to other cheesy movies. Stoltz is probably given the most thankless role of the whole film, since he is basically put out of commission for half of it, which makes him pale in comparison to the ones that at least get to act in fear of the gummi snake. Undeniably, Voight seems to be the only one giving it his all when it comes to ridiculous mannerisms, a preening cliche if there ever was one to the very end that I'm sure Vincent Price would've blushed at. Hyde probably is the only one of the body-count to make an impression, even if it is a mild laugh. I do appreciate the time taken to build up a killer snake only to have one victim of the film fall at the hands of a guy who chokes a person out with their legs while tied to a board. One can do better or worse with creature features, and this is not exactly a winner, but with its evident qualities of being exactly what you expect from a 90s product that stands more of its time than older-aged films of its ilk (for better or worse), well, you get what you think you get. 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Next: you might be wondering why Thursdays this month featured Dracula and Frankenstein films. Hell, why not? For the fourth and final time, let's get a doubleheader, starting with Blacula.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

Review #2083: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

Cast: 

Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr (Michelangelo), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Brady Noon (Raphael), Ayo Edebiri (April O'Neil), Jackie Chan (Splinter), Ice Cube (Superfly), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), John Cena (Rocksteady), Seth Rogen (Bebop), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Natasia Demetriou (Wingnut), Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman), and Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko) Directed by Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears.

Review: 

“The first tentpole we planted in the ground was authenticity. We wanted it to be a real coming-of-age teenage movie. Past versions of the Turtles have been muscular and ripped, and few teenagers are as jacked as many of the Ninja Turtles have been. They need to look like real teens. Lanky. Awkward. Maybe not comfortable in their bodies yet.”

Admittedly, my familiarity with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is pretty limited in the art of actually watching it. I vaguely remember viewing the two first live-action films in 2011 and 2013 and that is essentially it. As you may already know, it all started as a comic created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1983 with the original idea of doing a one-off parody of comics of the time, which happened to involve teenage mutants, animals that talk, and, well, ninjas; they self-published the comic, to shocking success. There have been a handful of television shows (yes, one for pretty much each decade of adolescent) and now seven feature films. Interestingly enough, this is only the second animated film, with the only other one being TMNT (2007), which also featured a handful of name actors in supporting roles...but this is the first one of any of these to feature a primary cast of teenage actors for the lead four characters. The film had five credited writers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit (of note is that while each did the screenplay, the latter of the five was not responsible for the story); it is Rowe who has noted that the script required a good deal of re-working when it came to the structure of the main characters being in high school at a certain point. You may or may not recognize Rowe as the co-director behind The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), having previously done work on Gravity Falls and Disenchantment; as for Spears, this is his feature directorial debut. The inspiration for the film was multi-layered, with the evident one being to find their "North Star comic book look" (as described about what made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) so successful), which led to plenty of inspiration from sketches that one would make as a teen that led to a result involving fiddling with the frame rate and other ideas that were meant to look like it was done on purpose. 

Perhaps there is no better reference material to show clips of Internet videos about martial arts training to go alongside clips of Jackie Chan kung fu films. Admittedly, coming-of-age stories are a dime a dozen, but it never hurts to have one that tries to cut a message involving acceptance that makes for a solid film for those who know exactly what to look for within entertaining animation and a few decent jokes and action sequences. I appreciate the heart the film has, one that manages to show an interesting quartet of youths that will likely please people already quite familiar with turtles in a half shell while also seeming interesting enough for those less familiar (ones who aren't "green with envy", you might say). The credit for the film can go to the filmmakers first or second, but the fact that the leads (Abbey-Brown-Cantu-Noon) make fun with improv and charm as raw youths (who want to be high schoolers, go figure) that makes me chortle rather than bristle, but I suppose one has their own varying milage when it comes to cliche patience. Besides, they make a good grouping with Chan, who basically reflects with Cube when it comes to the presentation of "our makeshift family vs. the world", and on that note, Cube makes a solid threat in hardened scorn that isn't just a goofy threat (well, Superfly is only a name). The rest of the cast is generally fine in not being just a noted goofy voice, as noted by folks such as Edebiri that keep the film on the level (for all I ragged Rogen on for The Super Mario Bros Movie, he is fine here). The action is done with clear energy that doesn't lose itself in murky staging, and the city landscape sure does look pretty well here, particularly when it comes to the final fight with its big freaky monster (involving horses). 100 minutes is a desirable length to spend with a serviceably executed film that plays it well with maintaining something to care about in youthful folks to go in a familiar story that is high energy silly fun. It's the kind of thing to switch on for those looking for a bit of mayhem with neat animation that will make ideas of seeking further adventures seem like a shell of a good time.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Friday (1995).

Review #1806: Friday.

Cast: 

Ice Cube (Craig Jones), Chris Tucker (Smokey), Nia Long (Debbie), Bernie Mac (Pastor Clever), Tom Lister Jr (Deebo), John Witherspoon (Willie Jones), Anna Maria Horsford (Betty Jones), Regina King (Dana Jones), Paula Jai Parker (Joi), Faizon Love (Big Worm), DJ Pooh (Red), Anthony Johnson (Ezal), Tony Cox (Mr. Parker), Kathleen Bradley (Mrs. Parker), Yvette Wilson (Rita), and Angela Means (Felisha) Directed by F. Gary Gray (#517 - Be Cool)

Review: 

"I didn’t grow up studying Orson Welles. All the greats, I learned about them after the fact, because I had already started making movies, and I was embarrassed to do interviews where they would bring up these great filmmakers and I wouldn’t know any of them."

It's interesting to consider the trajectory of a film director when it comes their debut features, black or white. Of course, this is a bit of window dressing to demonstrate the interesting lines one can take with showing the talents of a fresh director that made their debut in their mid-twenties about growing up in Los Angeles. Last year we covered John Singleton and his debut with Boyz n the Hood (1991), but now we turn our eyes to another side of a film set in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles and the debut of F. Gary Gray. He had been born in New York City, but he was raised in South Los Angeles. Strangely enough, when he planned to become a filmmaker at the age of 16, he thought it would take him until he was 45 to make his first feature. He started work as a camera operator right out of high school (he also had a bit role in Major League (1989)) before getting his chance to hone directing skills with music videos, most notably directing the 1993 video for "It Was a Good Day" (sung by Ice Cube). Friday would be the first of ten films that Gray has directed, ones with varying genres (on purpose) that have generally been audience favorites, such as Set It Off (1996) and Straight Outta Compton (2015). The film was written by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh, both natives of Los Angeles. Pooh was a record producer and mixing engineer, producing albums with several legendary rappers (such as LL Cool J and 2Pac). Cube had starred in Boyz n the Hood (1991), and he wanted to make what he called a "hood classic", one that would take experiences he had growing up in his block that would serve as a counter-act to the perception of South Central as just a violent place to live in, depicted in films such as the aforementioned Boyz and Menace II Society (1993). Cube, who grew up with films such as the Cheech and Chong films, Car Wash (1976) and Hollywood Shuffle (1987), had his choices of inspiration when it came to wanting to make a comedy (incidentally, Singleton was the one who encouraged him to take up writing scripts), and Gray expressed interest before the script was even done; New Line Cinema was interested in making the film with Cube as a star, although they wanted someone with more experience for the second lead role (Pooh was initially slated to play the role) - Chris Rock and Tommy Davidson were initially considered the role before Tucker (who had exactly one film credit with House Party 3 and performances on Def Comedy Jam) was tapped to do the film.

The twenty-day shoot for $3.5 million turned out a hit on release. It would inspire two sequels: Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next (2002) alongside an animated series that ran for a couple of months in 2007. Gray and Cube managed to make a buddy film of the hood with 91 minutes of casual warmth that has a resourceful cast (either experienced in film or not) and the right type of atmosphere fit for a coming-of-age movie. It lounges around without becoming a shell for cheap jokes (i.e. saying vulgar words is fun, but it isn't just one roll of them for a movie), which works well for a film with a majority of improvisation. Cube and Tucker make a capable pair together, since they match each other well when it comes to repertoire that is free-flowing, with Cube's casual engagement mixing in with the high-laced energy from Tucker (who elected not to star in the sequels for religious reasons). Lister (nicknamed "Tiny" but also known as "Zeus" when dabbling in wrestling) had been a shot-put champion in college before turning to acting, primarily as a "heavy", with this being his most noted role, and he makes the most of it with an imposing goon nature that can draw a chuckle or a curious eye. Long provides the soothing contrast to some of the proceedings. Even the folks with one or two scenes are still interesting. Bernie Mac plays a pastor with the right sense of flighty hypocrisy, while Cox chases him with zippy energy to go with a briefly electric Bradley to make one amusing triangle for a scene. Witherspoon pulls in the eccentric angle with the right touch of familiarity that makes his moments with Cube just right. The climax is a bit sudden, for which Gray reflected grounds the film but done with "inelegant" execution, but the movie manages to stay on the level when it comes to showing the different degrees of what one defines is a man when it comes to confronting a challenge with a choice that doesn't need a soapbox. Whether one is interested in the sequels or not is fine, because the film holds well on its own. As a whole, Friday is an engaging comedy with plenty of interesting moments spent in a neighborhood that Cube and Gray have re-created from their memories to result in a casual classic. 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Baby Boy.

Boyz n the Hood.

Review #1640: Boyz n the Hood.

Cast: 

Cuba Gooding Jr (Jason "Tre" Styles III), Ice Cube (Darren 'Doughboy' Baker), Laurence Fishburne (Jason 'Furious' Styles Jr), Morris Chestnut (Ricky Baker), Nia Long (Brandi), Angela Bassett (Reva Devereaux), Tyra Ferrell (Brenda Baker), Redge Green (Chris 'Little Chris'), Regina King (Shalika), Whitman Mayo (The Old Man), with Dezi Arnez Hines II, Baha Jackson, Donovan McCrary, Nicole Brown, and Kenneth A. Brown (age 10 of Tre, Doughboy, Ricky, Brandi & Chris) and Jessie Lawrence Ferguson (Officer Coffey) Written and Directed by John Singleton (#545 - Shaft (2000))

Review: 

"I was a smartass film student who thought he knew everything about movies. When it got green-lit is when I got scared."

If anybody should look up to a director that made their mark while they were young, John Singleton would be a good choice to start with. The Los Angeles native made nine feature films before his death at 51, but his first feature certainly rocked the doors for audiences in its time. He grew up inspired by films like Star Wars (1977) and the works of Steven Spielberg to go with study at USC School of Cinematic Arts (choosing filmic writing over computer science) - one influence that does come across is Stand By Me (1986), since both involve emotional coming of age stories (and one other moment near the credits, but see for yourself). By the time he graduated, he already was signed by the Creative Artists Agency, and Columbia Pictures eventually came calling. Singleton noted that one of the questions asked by the school was pitching one's own ideas for a film and this was one of the pitches, for which Singleton based it on his experiences growing up in L.A. (such as his experiences growing up with his mortgage broker father after his mother sent him to live with him at 11), complete with filming there. In the era of films with hits like Hollywood Shuffle (1987) and Do the Right Thing (1989), it would only seem sensical for Columbia Pictures to desire a hit of their own to ride the wave with audiences. He wanted to do the film his way, with nobody else in mind to direct (because of his perspective of you know, actually living in the area), noting the fact of someone directing a neighborhood film without being from the area with Colors (1988), which took the perspective of white police officers in South Los Angeles when dealing with gangs. Ultimately, while Singleton's subsequent works may not have reached the heights raised by his debut work, he managed to make important distinctions in cinema - he was the youngest director to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and he was also the first African American director to be nominated for the award (he also received a nod for Best Original Screenplay). 

You bet this was a film beyond the headlines. Singleton wanted to make a film with authenticity that turns the coming-of-age story on its head with hard-hitting realism that proves to be quite sobering and relentlessly consistent - a year later, Los Angeles would go through a serious of riots only a year after the release of this film (after the acquittal of officers that had beaten Rodney King during an arrest that happened right before this film was released, and Singleton would do a documentary on television about the riots 25 years later). Released with the tagline "Increase the Peace", it shows the danger of cyclic violence without bashing one's head with anything too obvious or false in notes that also deals with other aspects of life within urban streets, such as the nature of masculinity and prejudice. Singleton would later refer to himself as the first filmmaker from the hip-hop generation, using the aesthetic to cover a culture that made it into all of his films. There would be a variety of films involving what one would call the hood film that would come out in the wake of this film (such as South Central (1992) or ones with comedy such as Friday (1995), which Singleton encouraged Cube to write), but there is still something powerful about this feature that three decades cannot diminish. Wrapped in all this is a tremendously talented cast, one that makes these characters come alive with energy that makes a worthy composition about life in the neighborhood come across in all of its layers - it works as a drama, but there are moments too with these folks that makes one crack a smile to go with the gasps.  The film was the first major role for Gooding Jr (who believe it or not actually started in breakdancing before moving focus to acting) alongside Long and Bassett, and it was also the debut role for Cube (known for his rapping with N.W.A. before moving into solo performing) and Chestnut (who naturally came into acting through TV fare like Freddy's Nightmares). The unifying force for 112 minutes in terms of its time spent with the youth and growing teenage folks turns to Fishburne, who provides the best performance among everyone with crisp influence, one that is conscious in his confidence that resonates deeply from the first few moments on screen; there are a variety of highlights one could list, such as a scene in Compton and neighborhoods being taken advantage of, but the scene with a silent Gooding Jr and Fishburne, staring at the choices made and not made for the climax that hits just as hard. In that sense, Gooding Jr makes a quality lead to follow along with, curious in his surroundings with responsibility with perseverance alongside tension that doesn't get swept away. Cube carries his part well, brash but always on the moment for what needs to occur with perspective and timing. Chestnut fills well with potential, smooth in his balance of family and life beyond the field that makes a worthy rapport with Gooding Jr count until that key moment near its end, which results in an impactful sequence for shock without being exploitative. Long and Bassett each fill their time spent with Gooding Jr in key necessities that spark maturity and curiosity, while Green, Gobert, and Sykes fill the edges with useful timing, although Ferguson will likely stick with you in his own way with bitterness with just two scenes as the only cop figure in the film. As a whole, the film establishes itself quite quickly in an engaging and sobering atmosphere that keeps itself in perspective with regard to youth and responsibility that muses on issues that still seem prevalent today with violence that makes for a usefully entertaining feature. For a debut, it is a tremendous one, and for its era it is an enduring one for Singleton and the stars and moments that came from it.

Next Time: 1992 seems like an interesting year to do some films with, so we will start with the first one up in release with a first-time director in Juice.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

The Book of Life.

Review #1571: The Book of Life.

Cast: 

Diego Luna (Manolo Sánchez), Zoe Saldana (María Posada), Channing Tatum (Joaquín Mondragon Jr), Ice Cube (The Candle Maker), Ron Perlman (Xibalba), Kate del Castillo (La Muerte), Christina Applegate (Mary Beth), Héctor Elizondo (Carlos Sánchez), Ana de la Reguera (Carmen Sánchez), Danny Trejo (Luis Sánchez), Grey Griffin (Grandma Anita Sanchez), Carlos Alazraqui (General Ramiro Posada / Dali / Chuy), and Plácido Domingo (Jorge Sánchez) Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez.

Review: 

"From day one, I felt the weight of all of Mexico behind me, but it’s sort of a weight I’m used to carrying. That’s what I’ve always done in my career; I’ve always wanted to showcase my culture"

Mexico has resulted in a variety of filmmakers over the prevailing decades, ones who aspire to get out into the world and make their own projects over time, whether that means in live action or animation. Jorge Gutierrez was born in Mexico City and raised in Tijuana, and he had a clear love of his culture that carried over to his work in animation, which included study at the California Institute of the Arts; his 3D short Carmelo (2000) was a breakthrough in some respects. He did character design alongside writing on a variety of animated series before getting the chance to do his own series with the Adobe Flash-animated El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, which ran for one season. Gutierrez developed the idea for this film over the span of a decade, with original plans of optioning at Dreamworks before it fell into the hands of Reel FX Creative Studios (behind features such as Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away), with 20th Century Fox Animation serving as a fellow producer. Others would join soon after to help produce, such as Guillermo del Toro. He wanted to make sure he made a movie about the culture of Mexico with his own brand of magic, to the point that he mandated that the animation crew not go to Mexico for research, believing that they would only find things that would make a "tourist version of a culture." 

It could be inevitable to think about this film in relation as one of two animated features released worldwide dealing with the Day of the Dead, both involving trips to the underworld alongside trying to avoid being kept under (or worse yet forgotten about), with the other being Coco (2017). One can watch either before the other and still find plenty to find satisfaction with however, regardless of the clear distinct difference in quality. It might seem a bit unfair to pick on this film, because it is a nice looking movie, achieving the basic ambition set out by its director to capture vivid animation within Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Its picking of cast that mixes familiar voices here and abroad do fine in keeping a good head above underworld waters, at least for the most part. Luna does fine with what he is offered, which namely involves a bit of posturing and silly moments. Saldana does alright with balancing some humor involving this main trio, taking charge that surpasses Tatum, who seems a bit miscast in actually lending the right degree of banter to go with the others. Ice Cube fares about as much as one could expect from casting first-time voice acting meant for comedy - decent, but curiously placed in a film that desires something more involving. Perlman and del Castillo do make a fair pair together, while Applegate tells the story with patient timing. The others are alright, but one basically tries to lose themselves in the animation before being reminded of a silly joke or songs that come along for the ride, which again could have worked with more original songs. It has nice designs at times (such as with La Muerte), and a case could be made that it doesn't overstay its welcome at 95 minutes, and that will surely be more than enough for some. It is the structure that comes from the film in trying to have both a world of creative whimsy and ties with clichés from other films of its ilk that clouds the overall result, particularly when it comes to its unnecessary singing to tell new threads in an old-fashioned fable that could do with more mystery and less wringing overall (telling the story to an audience is one thing, literally showing an audience of kids being told this is another), which goes down from overcoming fears and achieving your own distinct destiny and yada yada yada you know where it's going from there. Ice cream can come in many flavors, but if you find it a bit runny, it isn't going to make the result better than the ice cream truck down the road. I thought the film was fine when it stuck to depicting a view upon a culture that Gutierrez obviously has a passion for with charm and vibrant nature, and if that seems more than enough for young audiences, it likely will hit the note needed for a watch. It isn't anything great, but it suits the basic needs for those who desire said enjoyment from a fable of old and new cloth.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Three Kings.

Review #1521: Three Kings.

Cast: 
George Clooney (Major Archie Gates), Mark Wahlberg (Sergeant First Class Troy Barlow), Ice Cube (Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin), Spike Jonze (Private First Class Conrad Vig), Cliff Curtis (Amir Abdullah), Nora Dunn (Adriana Cruz), Jamie Kennedy (Specialist Walter Wogeman), Saïd Taghmaoui (Saïd), Mykelti Williamson (Colonel Ron Horn), Holt McCallany (Captain Doug Van Meter), and Judy Greer (Cathy Daitch) Directed by David O. Russell.

Review: 
"I just love real characters; they're not pretentious, and every emotion is on the surface, they're regular working people. Their likes, their dislikes, their loves, their hates, their passions; they're all right there on the surface."

Some people are cut out for writing and others are cut out for directing. David O. Russell found his way into both through filmmaking that elevated him to rising star in the 1990s. A graduate of English and political science from Amherst College, he had worked a variety of odd jobs after graduation that ranged from community work to teaching. He did some work with documentaries and shorts (having found inspiration from classics watched such as Chinatown), such as with Bingo Inferno: A Parody on American Obsessions (1987). He was given grants to do a feature involving fortune cookies and microphones in a Chinese restaurant that he would instead use to do Spanking The Monkey (1994), debuting in feature films at the age of 36. The film was originally written by John Ridley (a standup comedian who later turned to writing for television along with novels), who wanted to experiment in making and selling a script in very little time; the script was done in a week and it was bought eighteen days later. However, Russell (brought in for his first major studio film) would do his own writing changes to the draft, and Ridley had to go through arbitration to get a story credit.

There had been quite a share of war films over the 1990s, but this sticks out as one involving the Persian Gulf War (1990-91); a war film involving a heist has been done before with films such as Kelly's Heroes (1970, which involved AWOL soldiers getting gold bars out of a bank vault). Russell accomplishes a distinct war film with its look, involving vibrant color though Ektachrome transparency stock (noted for its distinct look used for photographers like National Geographic) and one-shot explosions that was shot in the desert of several states such as Arizona that featured Iraqi refugees as advisors and extras. It is a reckless film that makes the best out of touching upon the consequences and spoils of war with a balance of humor and humanity that makes for a fairly clever movie that benefits from a formidable main quartet that shows its disconnect between war and the reality that comes from its perceived end without becoming absorbed in cliché or lingering on the soapbox too long. Clooney got the part after actors of various age targets were thought of/approached (such as Clint Eastwood and Nicolas Cage). He does a commendable job here, curious in a burnt-out stage of cynicism and lost values that we gravitate to with smoothness in a journey that means most to filling in the layers the film seeks to show through heist and war. Wahlberg does fine with being the middle man, an observer of being done from war on both ends with a careful brow. Rapper-turned-film star Cube makes the most of his time in conviction in handling the tension presented in faith handily. In the same year that Jonze debuted as a feature film director with Being John Malkovich, this was his first (and so far only) prominent role as an actor, doing so in a part that was written for him as a way to shake things up from the established actors, which he does in adequate comic relief. Curtis does well with providing perspective for what we know (or think we know) about the people around a simple trek for gold, which applies just as well for Taghmaoui in his scenes against Wahlberg. Dunn provides hard-edged zeal as the eyes of a fleeting moment, while the others in the cast do fine when needed.

On the whole, the film pulls itself off well within 114 minutes in delivering a clever film on the other sides of war beyond just the battlefield through a game cast and well-timed movement in pace and timing that make it as bitingly endurable as fellow war film M*A*S*H (1970) with its own style and presence worthy for its time of 1999 that still sticks a punch now.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Are We There Yet?

Review #661: Are We There Yet?

Cast
Ice Cube (Nick Persons), Nia Long (Suzanne Kingston), Aleisha Allen (Lindsey Kingston), Philip Daniel Bolden (Kevin Kingston), Jay Mohr (Marty), M. C. Gainey (Al), and Tracy Morgan (Satchel Page Bobblehead) Directed by Brian Levant (#491 - Jingle All The Way and #577 - Beethoven)

Review
It's been almost ten years since this film was made, and in that span a sequel and a television series was made following this movie's...success. I guess this was made in an age where anyone thought they could do a family film no matter what they were before (Such as Vin Diesel with The Pacifier or Dwayne Johnson with The Game Plan), but whatever. This is classified as a "Christmas film" by Wikipedia, but I would compare this to giving your distant relative a fruitcake the day after Christmas. It seems this movie was made with good intentions, but it ultimately fizzles into boredom. The characters seem like they'll make a connection to you, but really you're just going through the motions and wondering how much longer it'll last. At least Ice Cube is decent, though he can't save a movie with stale jokes. The kids may seem nice, but really they just get on your nerves, and while later scenes try to make them look more sympathetic, it doesn't work. It's fitting that the movie has a bobble head in it that talks, because at this point, anything goes. It's a forgettable movie that bores you to the point where you truly wish it was Thanksgiving, because then you could go to your relative's house and forget all about it. And then remember it again after too much turkey.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: 21 Jump Street.

Review #568: 21 Jump Street.

Cast
Jonah Hill (Morton Schmid), Channing Tatum (Greg Jenko), Dave Franco (Eric Molsen), Brie Larson (Molly), Rob Riggle (Mr. Walter), DeRay Davis (Domingo), Ice Cube (Capt. Dickson), Dax Flame (Zack), and Chris Parnell (Mr. Gordon) Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (#540 - The Lego Movie)

Review
21 Jump Street is based off the television series of the same name, and is not a remake this time, so at least that's going in the movie's favor. The movie even features cameos from Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise, the two original stars from the show, trying to connect the two together, and it works. But how is the movie? It works pretty good. Hill and Tatum are a good duo together, both with their own characteristics, neither getting more screentime than the other, they have good scenes together (Such as the scene where they both try to jump a car, also the scene where they celebrate their first arrest), and they make a good team, they're funny to watch and they never get on your nerves. The movie is a deconstruction of cliches, it has a good deal of bite and a good deal of fun with the source material, never wearing its welcome. It's a movie with a good supporting cast (Ice Cube is a pretty decent actor who can be funny at times with the right material, such as this movie) and just the right amount of fun to make this tolerable and fun to watch.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.