E-MAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVESBy Christopher Stipp
February 20, 2004
FIGHT THE POWER
The Hughes brothers, Cuba Gooding Jr., John Singleton, Mario Van Peebles, Kid ‘N Play, Damon Wayans, Ice-T, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, David Allan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, and even the entire crew of Full Force.
My cinematic lexicon would have been a pale shade of pink had it not been for the accomplishments and generous gifts that these black actors, directors, and movie makers have given me. It’s easy to point out the megastars out of the bunch that went on to command millions and millions of dollars per picture. Some have even lost their comedic edge and swiftness they once had in lieu of the easy payday, but I don’t begrudge them one bit. I’ll call them out and make them pay for every petty piece of pap they try to pass as their next “artistic” project, but I would do the same damn thing. So would you.
I’ve always been a nerd when it comes to my copious consumption of all things PBS (except anything having to do with antiques, old homes, or anything directed by Ken Burns. Who has that kind of viewing time on their hands?) and it was my pleasure to catch a program called Beyond the Color Line. It dealt with a few topics about blacks in contemporary America, but it was their special on the issue of race in Hollywood that caught my attention. To make a very long program, and thesis, very short, Henry Louis Gates Jr., the host at the center of the series, posited that blacks who were more crème colored found much more success than those of darker skin tone. For example, in the realm of women, names like Halle Berry and Alicia Keyes were put up as evidence to support his theory and he suggested that perhaps there is a prejudice, not of a blatant nature, but more of a preferential system of discrimination whereas it’s better to get a woman of a lighter skin tone of perhaps lesser talent than to put a darker woman in an acting role.
Is he crazy? Is he right? Is there still an uphill battle to fight or are a handful of whiners crying over sour grapes that they didn’t win the big boobs and nice ass lottery and are now being given their twenty million a picture deal like everyone else? I would hate to think of where my thinking would be today had I not seen the graphic depiction of street violence in NEW JACK CITY, awed by the social commentary by John Singleton, and oh yeah, laughed at the sight of Gerard’s dad in BOOMERANG, which still holds a place in my top list of favorite comedies.
I know I’m not making twenty million every two weeks at my day job and so I wonder if this isn’t all something to do with economies of what will bring in the bucks and butts and has nothing to do with race. If a certain segment of the population could bring in $150M a picture, would that change Hollywood’s perceived bias against minorities? I believe Hollywood looks at what it can exploit, make for cheap and earn a profit on.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts if you have them. In the meantime, let me celebrate the last remaining moments of Black History Month with a few views into some upcoming movies. Yes, I realize The Rock was born in Hawaii but his dad does have African in him (I’m thorough in my research) and so I found a way for him to make my list this week. Besides, I like the fun factor the film has. And let’s give it up to Denzel who made my number one pick of the week with his new flick MAN ON FIRE. It’s sweet, looks gritty and, the best part, Dakota Fanning may bite it in the end. I’m so there.
Director: Kevin Bray
Cast: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough
Release: April 9, 2004
Synopsis: In Walking Tall, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Chris Vaughn, a retired soldier who returns to his hometown to make a new life for himself, only to discover his wealthy high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous lumber mill and turned the town’s resources towards his own criminal gains. The place Chris grew up is now overrun with crime, drugs, and violence. Enlisting the help of his old pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), Chris gets elected sheriff and vows to shut down Hamilton’s operations. His actions endanger his family and threaten his own life, but Chris refuses to back down until his hometown once again feels like home.
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Progonosis: Oddly enough, positive.
There have been a few people who have tried to be “the next” bankable action hero. Steven Segal tried to do it for a while before he started to slip down a road paved with hot doughnuts and bad county/western music. Jean-Claude Van Damme gave it a go before he got involved in activities that weren’t unlike some of the bad asses he was ass kickin.’ Hell, even Fred Ward thought he could muster enough support to give REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS a go, but guess what, none have been able to sustain a fairly good mix of brawn and semi-tolerable voice talent. (I intentionally left out acting, because c’mon, we all know that’s not what they’re being paid for…)
Duane “Candy Ass” Johnson is looking good filling the shoes that the governor of California has vacated.
I know I’ve already dogged The Rock for his incredibly unwatchable THE SCORPION KING, but if I was thirteen again I might have found the combination of sword-fighting, fire arrows (that makes the third week in a row that I’ve given a nod to this cinematic staple) and Kelly Hu in a fairly small amount of clothing, enrapturing. So, with that said, and my surprising, very surprising, enjoyment of THE RUNDOWN (maybe it was the low expectations that helped) that has me possibly queuing up to see WALKING TALL.
It was actually a critic who said of the Rock’s performance in THE RUNDOWN that it was “a strictly formulaic action picture that suggests some of Mr. Schwarzenegger early, low-budget vehicles, like COMMANDO and RAW DEAL.”
No shit. How long did it take you to make that connection, Kreskin?
The Rock is early in his career as an action star, studios are not handing over their pocketbooks to him just yet and so he has to make do with what he has. And you have to admit he has something. Being a WWF wrassler, The Rock understands the meaning of being a showman and an entertainer. While I never once watched his exploits, I can see the charisma that compelled young boys to want to emulate the man. The trailer for WALKING TALL shows his ability to completely dominate a character, make it his own and make me believe what he’s sellin’. I genuinely hope if there was a race to replace Arnold’s vacuous void in action pictures it would be by a guy like Duane and not by someone like Vin. We all know the fix would be in on that.
Neal McDonough also makes an appearance in this thing. The man was solid in Boomtown, a great series, and did a memorable job in MINORITY REPORT. The rest of the cast, however, is not really that noteworthy.
You have Johnny Knoxville who, so far, has only convinced me he should have stuck with the program where people shoot bottle rockets out of their ass, a director who is responsible for unleashing a Whitney Houston video on the populace and a writer whose last project was CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE. There will be more needed here than just the people’s elbow.
JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION (2004)
Director: Christopher Erskin
Cast: Cedric The Entertainer, Bow Wow, Vanessa Williams, Steve Harvey, Solange Knowles
Release: April 7, 2004
Synopsis: AAA can’t help the roadside emergency that is the JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION. Even the onboard navigation system has a meltdown on Nate Johnson (Cedric The Entertainer) and his family’s cross-country trek to their annual family reunion/grudge match. Reluctantly along for the ride are Nate’s wife (Williams), who’s only in it for the kids; their rapper-wannabe son (Bow Wow); their teenage daughter (Solange Knowles) who’s fashioned herself as the next Lolita; and their youngest (Gabby Soleil), whose imaginary dog Nate just can’t seem to keep track of. Can the Johnsons survive each other and all the obstacles the road throws at them to make it to Caruthersville, Missouri? Can they find Missouri?
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Progonosis: Negative.
I’ll break this one down for all you out there.
One of the first jokes lobbed in this trailer is of Cedric telling his daughter he doesn’t like her skimpy outfit.
Déjà vu of the crap variety.
Most every lame, tired, played out, redundant, sucky, crappy, clichéd and altogether evil family sitcom has, at its core, the eternal struggle of parents thinking their little girls are virtually nude when leaving the house. Great. Super. Change your clothes. We get it. Is there nothing else left in the comedic canon?
Next we get the old battle of wills when it comes to rap music. Wow. The originality factor is getting better with each passing second.
There is a reprieve from the suffocation one suffers when watching this thing when Cedric slams a cop with a shake, a black one at that as it helps to deliver the joke later, and proceeds to call him a “chocolate C.H.i.P.”
That one actually made me giggle for a moment before I was dragged back into unbridled insipidness.
Old Cedric passes up a nun in need of a ride before stopping to assist a hitchhiking Shannon Elizabeth who, oddly enough, can you believe the irony, looks like the antipodal archetype of a nun. This ranks right up there with a car chase that invariably ends up with some assholes who just happen to be carrying a 30-foot piece of glass in the middle of an intersection. It doesn’t help that it is at this point when we are reminded that Bow Wow (For those still using L’il please stop because he is growing as an entertainer and is trying very hard to shed that image. Thank you for your diligence in this matter.) and Beyonce’s sister, Solange, are in this production as well.
Obviously it does not look good up until this point. However, it does show some signs of life.
Steve Harvey shows up on the scene, thank god, and saves this from being a miserable failure of a trailer. I would want to see this film simply based on the snippet of action between Harvey and Cedric. The trailer seems to not know who this film wants to sell itself to. Families? Adults? Kids? All of the above? If it is the latter then this trailer does a miserable job of selling itself. From what I can tell so far this movie only wants to get in good with the comedically challenged.
Director: Kate Lanier
Cast: Queen Latifah
Release: November 24, 2004
Synopsis: You thought you’d heard it all in the barbershop, but you haven’t heard anything yet – the women get their own chance to shampoo, shine, and speak their minds in BEAUTY SHOP. From the filmmakers that brought you BARBERSHOP and BARBERSHOP 2, Queen Latifah stars as Gina, a hairstylist who opens a shop of her own.
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Progonosis: What do you think? Ok. I’m a good sport. I’ll play along.
Here’s a trailer ready to pimp the new film BEAUTY SHOP. I’ve got an open mind and, as such, I watched with great care and attention. I looked at the nuances of camera technique, lighting, style, et al. I watched as I suspended my disbelief so I could understand the director’s point of view.
After it was over I asked myself what the hell did I just watch?
As an explanation for what happens when ladies get together in a salon, it’s super. Based on her work in this trailer Queen Latifah would do a great job shilling for Great Clips if they needed a spokesperson to give a detailed breakdown of the goings on in a hair cuttery in a playful, yet serious, manner. I almost wondered if she was going to tell me about premature female alopecia. She wasn’t. She’s trying to sell me on wanting to see BEAUTY SHOP.
For those keeping score, yes, it is being written by the same guy who penned BARBERSHOP, BARBERSHOP 2, and BARBERSHOP 3: ATTACK OF THE CLONES.
After figuring out that this film has yet to even shoot a foot of film makes we wonder what exactly, then, is the point? Is to whet an appetite for those that want more Latifah after seeing Barbershop? Most likely. Does it do a good job showing me its titular character? Yes. It still does not forgive it for being a dreadful trailer. Hell, when the trailer starting running for LAST ACTION HERO miles before the film debuted to the scorn of people everywhere, it was selling a film I wanted to see. There was commotion, cops, a little bit of uncertainty, but it was attractive. It was sexy and it sold me to want to see more.
Queen Latifah walking around telling me about how a beauty shop works wouldn’t even get my wife interested, much less get me thinking, “oh yeah. Can I sit for an hour and a half and listen to a pack of cackling yentas prattle on how men suck and all they really want out of life is….” You all get the point.
Director: Ernest Dickerson
Cast: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez
Release: March 26, 2004
Synopsis: Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone…King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette) an aspiring journalist who knew him just a few minutes but upon whose life he would forever have an impact. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – had recorded the story of his recent exploits on audiotape, leaving behind an often-poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution his actions have spawned has come back on him full circle, as he suspected it might all along…
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Progonosis: Could go either way.
This movie does itself a slight disservice by the way it sells itself.
What you have here, initially, is a whole of DMX and then some more DMX. Just when you thought this movie was only about him, his voice comes in and starts to sing the music that goes along with the trailer. This is, perhaps, a mild annoyance when trying to sell a movie that, obviously, has other people who show up to help carry it along. David Arquette is also in this, but you wouldn’t know that by watching DMX looking “all street” as he scowls and looks tough for the camera and as he does the voiceover that sets up where this movie is going. Ok, I get it, you’re a tough badass and don’t crap from anyone. Thanks, now can we get to someone else?
What really makes me interested, though, is the work I’ve had to do AFTER I watched this. It would have received a completely negative review had I not seen the adulation that the source material has been given.
The premise is a very good one: a real bad dude records his exploits on an audiotape, telling us how the wheel of life was somehow going to catch up with his violent past. Now that’s a movie I want to see. That is not the movie I was shown. Judging by the trailer all I see is people blasting their guns, bee-yatches in scintillating poses (not that it’s a bad thing), and, again, a whole lot of DMX. This film doesn’t do much to separate itself from the likes of EMPIRE, EXIT WOUNDS, and on and on down the line.
I guess it does cut out the one thing that might be confusing to most of the male demographic this appeals to, the story, and amplifies the periphery of what actually happens between the opening and ending credits, but I can’t help but feel there is something else they could have done to accentuate that there might actually be a story hidden inside the film.
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, Rachel Ticotin, Mickey Rourke
Release: April 23, 2004
Synopsis: Denzel Washington stars as a government operative / soldier of fortune, who has pretty much given up on life. In Mexico City, he reluctantly agrees to take a job to protect a child (Dakota Fanning) whose parents are threatened by a wave of kidnappings. He eventually becomes close to the child and their relationship reawakens and rekindles his spirit. When she is abducted, his fiery rage is unleashed on those he feels responsible, and he stops at nothing to save her.
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Progonosis: Positive.
Boom.
Right away this mo-fo gets started quickly and that’s a good thing. Denzel looks scruffy, disheveled, and predatory. This, as well, is a good thing. Then, well, there’s Dakota Fanning. Look, I’m sorry I don’t appreciate this diminutively small chica, but she is, if you ever had the displeasure of having to endure UPTOWN GIRLS, not very appealing as a little girl as let’s say, a Natalie Portman or an Anna Paquin who have gone on to do some really commendable work. That aside, and seeing how this is a kidnapping movie where Denzel needs some redemptive saving in his life, it is my guess that we won’t see Dakota donning a Columbian necktie.
Tony Scott is the director that will be brining this grittily shot film to the multiplex and that couldn’t be more pleasurable. While his last theatrical was the very good, but quietly received SPY GAME, he also did some recent noteworthy work on the BMW film series, HIRE. The writer of this movie is Brian Helgeland. Yeah, I didn’t know who this dude was either until I checked his work and found he was responsible for giving us L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, MYSTIC RIVER, CONSPIRACY THEORY, and even such classics as NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER, 976-EVIL, and HIGHWAY TO HELL. Luckily all the latter films were before he found success outside of the horror genre and went on to win an Oscar for his work on L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. Point of fact, he won both an Oscar for L.A. and a Razzie for THE POSTMAN in the same weekend and was one of only a few people who actually accepted the award publicly. The way the trailer sets the story up in MAN ON FIRE it has the earmarks of some very engaging material.
I wish there were more Denzel out there to really talk about. He has kept himself moderately busy lately, and he’s an actor who elevates every production he’s on to another level. Do I think he should have won an Oscar for TRAINING DAY? No, but he made me believe that he is capable of some very evil, dark and sinister things. Not many actors can play both sides of the bad guy/good guy fence but he does it with surgical, to lift a word from the film, precision. So, in him playing a man ready to wetwork any group of people getting in the way of his goal, the safe rescue of Dakota to her family, is a great role to be playing because, judging by the trailer, he has great support and will be able to flex some of that Denzel charm while getting King Kong on some kidnappers.
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