Tales from the Hood.

Review #2465: Tales from the Hood.

Cast:

Welcome to My Mortuary (framing segments): Clarence Williams III (Mr. Simms), Joe Torry ("Stack"), Samuel Monroe Jr. ("Bulldog"), and De'Aundre Bonds ("Ball")

"Rogue Cop Revelation" segment: Tom Wright (Martin Ezekiel Moorehouse), Anthony Griffith (Officer Clarence Smith), Wings Hauser (Officer Strom Richmond), Michael Massee (Officer Newton Hauser), and Duane Whitaker (Officer Billy Crumfield)

"Boys Do Get Bruised" segment: Brandon Hammond (Walter Johnson), Rusty Cundieff (Richard Garvey), Paula Jai Parker (Sissy Johnson), and David Alan Grier (Carl)

"KKK Comeuppance" segment: Corbin Bernsen (Duke Metger), Roger Guenveur Smith (Rhodie Willis), Art Evans (Eli), Tim Hutchinson (Councilman Rogers), Christina Cundieff (Miss Cobbs), John A. Cundieff (Funeral Priest), and Erika Hansen (Anchorwoman)

"Hard-Core Convert" segment: Lamont Bentley (Jerome "Crazy K" Johns), Rosalind Cash (Dr. Cushing), Ricky Harris ("Lil' Deke"), and Rick Dean (Racist Inmate)

Directed by Rusty Cundieff.

Review: 

"The title, Tales From the Hood, seemed to be the automatic way to put across the idea that it was an anthology, and also related to the black experience, whatever that was at the time. I wanted to make sure that the there was something socially relevant within each piece, and also create a situation where the horror and supernatural forces were things that you were rooting for as opposed to against. We didn’t have young co-eds who you wanted to stay alive. All the humans in Tales from the Hood do bad things and the supernatural is their comeuppance."

The movie's anniversary did slip past by me, but there's always time to redeem oneself. Rusty Cundieff was born and raised in Pittsburgh with an interest in the entertainment business from a young age, with horror being a genre he liked from his days watching Chiller Theatre on late Saturday nights going hand in hand with him participating in plays as a youth that had him liking comedy, and he started doing stand-up in his junior year of high school. He attended Loyola University for his freshman year at college before transferring to USC with an interest in their film and television department, although its lack of great features meant that he took filmmaking courses on the side; he graduated with degrees in philosophy of religion, journalism, and drama. He did a bit of acting and found the experience in working on School Daze (1988) to make him want to direct and write. In 1993, Cundieff wrote and directed his first film with the rap mockumentary Fear of a Black Hat. The basis for his second film came from a one-act play he performed called The Black Horror Show: Blackanthropy. Cundieff and Darin Scott co-wrote the film, which was made with Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. The movie had a mild impact with audiences but for whatever reason, it had a prolonged release on home media in the 21st century, where a DVD release occurred in 1998 that subsequently went out of print before a Blu-Ray release finally came out in 2017. Cundieff has directed for a variety of television shows (most notably Chappelle's Show) and a few films over the prevailing decades and was behind two sequels to Tales from the Hood in 2018 and 2020.

Within a 98-minute runtime features an eight-minute opening to set the stage of what is to come that might remind you of Tales from the Crypt (1972) or The House of the Dead (1978) in coffins and mislaid belief colliding together with a stranger (in this case a group trying to score some drugs); each of the four stories have its own length, with "KKK Comeuppance" running the shortest at roughly 18 minutes while the longest story is the last one at "Hard-Core Convert", which goes 27 minutes. It is clear pretty early that Cundieff wanted to make a movie that actually touched upon issues one could find in their community without being done for cheap scares or jokes that basically meant that the scariest things that could happen to someone if the human things that happen every day. Williams makes for a solid person to set up each of the stories in his daffy energy that is quite infectious and altogether entertaining. You get four pretty solid segments, all things considered. "Rogue Cop Revelation" deals with the fallout that arises when a Civil Rights activist is brutally murdered by a group of cops. It proves to be an interesting one for the eventual comeuppance for its key adversaries that are probably just as likely to exist in the real world as one thinks. Wright is a solid enough crusader from the grave (the best one is when he turns someone into a mural), and the overall endgame that comes from reckoning with action vs inaction is at least a curious one to end on. "Boys Do Get Bruised" deals with a young boy dealing with a monster in his closet that leads the teacher to learn what it really means to draw upon experiences at home. It probably fits the best in being a short segment when you consider that it is actually a segment about the perils of domestic violence, and Grier makes the most of a brief but terrifying enough role. Apparently, the movie was going to get an X rating until a chunk of the domestic violence scene near the end was trimmed. At any rate, it has a neat little ending. "KKK Comeuppance" (as "absolutely informed" by 1975's TV movie Trilogy of Terror) deals with an aspiring politician (and white supremacist) that deals with a few historical dolls. Coincidence or not, when actual racist-turned-politician David Duke ran for Governor of Louisiana in 1992, someone did an anti-Duke voodoo doll on display in New Orleans and a photo was taken of it. Bernsen makes for a delightfully hammy performance in extolling just the type of person that could have confidence in themselves to say what they say and not expect it to boomerang back to them. Sure, you know what is going to happen pretty early on, but it is still fun. Apparently, the last sequence, as done by the Chiodo Brothers in stop-motion animation, was only done because test audiences were not satisfied at the original ending. Clearly, they made the right decision. "Hard-Core Convert" deals with a murderer being given a chance to cure himself by seeing the consequences of his actions literally thrown at him. Amid the gang violence of the time that was depicted in movies such as Boyz n the Hood (1992) is a look upon a violent person seeing both a racist that wants to bond with him because of their apparent shared hatred of black people and then a montage of actual public lynchings and beatings. It probably is the standout segment of the four for how Bentley handles the scenario thrust upon him in all of its bravado and vulnerability as a murderer. In total, what we have is four pretty interesting segments that all want to look upon actual things that happen in people's lives (black or not), whether that involves domestic violence or a lust for violence and make it compelling to see it intersect with the supernatural for macabre effectiveness. In that regard, it is a nice little film that may be right up your alley.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next up: the match made for the Devil itself: Exorcist: The Beginning vs. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

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.

Movie Night: Phone Booth.

Review #197: Phone Booth.

Cast
Colin Farrell (Stu Shepard), Forest Whitaker (Capt. Ed Ramey), Katie Holmes (Pamela McFadden), Radha Mitchell (Kelly Shepard), Kiefer Sutherland (The Caller), and Paula Jai Parker (Felicia) Directed by Joel Schumacher.

Review
From what I've heard, this film was proposed to be made in the 1960's, but was denied due to not having a reason of keeping the person in the phone booth until the 1990's. Anyway, with the man who gave you "Bat-Credit Card" in the directing position, what could happen? Farrell is alright in this film, as you believe in the character and his metamorphosis as the film progresses. Initially, the film is a bit slow, but it does get better as it goes on. And yes, Sutherland is our "villain" in this film. Honestly, the film looks like that scene from Die Hard with a Vengeance (The one where McClane has to get to a pay phone and answer a riddle), and yet the suspense is enough to keep you interested. It may have a run time of 81 minutes (typical for a comedy but not thrillers), but it at least is entertaining just enough. Countdown to 200: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.