Black Dynamite review

"Black Dynamite" is the kind of little known picture that I wish could've had a stronger distribution so people would know what it was. It's perhaps the best example of the things that made blaxploitation great and horrible in the 70's and early 80's. Granted not all blaxploitation was bad. "Shaft" is a great cop action picture and movies like "The Mack", "Coffi", "Foxy Brown" and hell even "Truck Turner" are fun as hell movies to watch. But as time went on Hollywood does what it does best, which is water things down to save money and release poorly made schlock for whoever was interested in watching it in the genre. "Black Dynamite" makes great fun of all this through it's intelligent satirical senses. Not since "Walk Hard" have I seen a parody movie made this well, this smart or this funny.

Written, co-produced and starring Michael Jai White ("Spawn", "Kill Bill" and "Why Did I Get Married?") he plays the archetype character of those films. He is Black Dynamite, a lover, a killer and all around badass that can solve anything and go anywhere; and does it in style. All the ass kicking and blood shed is kicked off by the murder of his drug addicted brother Jimmy by the mob. Dynamite wants revenge and to know why Jimmy was killed... but there's always more to the story. The film is also filled with characters who have hilarious names like Cream Corn (Tommy Davidson), Chocolate Giddy-Up (Cedric Yarbrough), Chicago Wind (Mykelti Williamson), among the many others. And the movie goes out there... way out there.

It really seems like this crew knew they're blaxploitation and better yet, knew how to use it well in the film; all of which was spearheaded by White. Michael Jai White has an interesting cinematic history. After "Spawn" one would think a good looking, charismatic action actor like himself would've blown up, but things didn't work out that way. So he mainly hit the straight-to-DVD circuit in addition to becoming a stunt coordinator and action director himself. Later he voiced the Green Lantern on "Justice League", had an awesome deleted scene in "Kill Bill" and popped up in "The Dark Knight". Hopefully with this as well as next years "Sucker Punch" by Zack Snyder, he can get to the star power he's deserves. In this he's hilarious and nails almost every joke perfectly. His fighting skills are still really damn good and it's funny seeing him try to look like he can't fight in some sequences.

Now as much as I really love this movie, a lot of people won't. Mainly because they won't really get it. In truth it kind of is one of those things where if you've seen Jim Brown movies or some of these other guys from back then, you'll get some of this stuff. Actually if you've seen movies from back then, you'll get some of this stuff. I'd actually love to see a sequel to this with some real movie money behind it so we can still get that humor, but with the action ramped up to another degree. I'm very eager to have this one in my DVD collection.

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever

I've got a sorted history with "Cabin Fever". In fact I've got sorted history with Eli Roth. I watched the first film back in 2004 upon it's DVD release, as I skipped it in theaters. I watched it and hated it. Hardcore hated it. Hated it like I hated "The Grudge" which I had seen on DVD around that same time. Then "Hostel" came around. Hooray more shitty "Saw" inspired torture porn. But something was different. In fact this is something I've argued with people about. I actually like the "Hostel" films. I find them gross and often hard to watch and furthermore hard to enjoy, but I think they're funny. And then I started thinking... maybe this is what I missed with Roth's "Cabin Fever". At the time I wasn't jumping to find out, but as more time passed I started reading Roth's stuff and watching him in interviews and talk film and... well... I like the dude's personality. His movies are nothing to call or write home about, but his opinions and thoughts on cinema are actually really sound and he gives off that mild doucebag look, but without taking himself seriously in the least. I can dig that.

So after all this, I did go back and watch "Cabin Fever" again and I liked it. I found it funny and bloody and while the pacing and some of the tone was a bit off, I liked where some of the stuff ended up going. But most importantly I liked the gore effects. Even when I hated the film, that was something I was impressed by. So we come to "Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" directed by Ti West, an indie horror fan and critic favorite whose "The House of the Devil" is still on my list of need to watch pictures. West's style is great and very much in keepings with the 80's horror cinema look and feel. The major downside to the very watchable, but very dismissible sequel is the story and the lack of real gory violence which is what these pictures are all about.

The film picks up right where the first left off, but destroying the lead of the last film in it's opening (a very nice scene it was). The flesh eating virus has made its way into the water system and said water has been bottled up and delivered to various places, like the local high school. So what West and company attempt to do is make a teen dramedy with a horror twist. Ok, that's something I can dig, however West's plan has it's drawbacks. There's several generally awkwardly paced out pieces of the movie through its conversational parts and much of that bloody nasty stuff with skin pealing away and all that jazz has been tossed out for the most part. Instead we have some very 80's inspired blood puking and decay going on, on the multicolored dance floor and the military is moving in.

Here again is a chance to do some really cool stuff "Planet Terror" style or "The Crazies" style, but alas very little is done with the this piece. Is it a set up to a third picture? Sure, but why do that while leaving this one fairly incomplete? Then again I feel like I'm attempting to give a lot of credit to a straight-to-DVD flick. In short "Cabin Fever 2" is watchable and has a few cool moments and a great look to it, but doesn't do much in the way of wowing you over to convince you that it's anything of real worth. Great example of a throw away movie.

Shutter Island review

The sole regret I had after watching "Shutter Island" last night was that more thrillers couldn't have a little of this kind of artistry or this kind of eeriness. There are stomach tightening moments of tension almost throughout the entire 137 minutes of the film and the perfect finale that's emotional and gives you that wonderful fork in the road train of thought, to think about it in different ways. Martin Scorsese has also brought us a film with some of his finest imagery. There are scenes of sheer poetry and horror and all played out in a 60's noir film style. After all the hype and release date shuffling, it was damn well worth the wait.

You've all seen the billions of ads for the film so it's no mystery as to why Teddy (DiCaprio) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are headed to Shutter Island. It's also no mystery that everything there seems to either be hiding something or are just being purposely illusive while being interviewed. Ben Kingsley plays the head doctor, Dr. Cawley. First off I want to mention that this is a great role for him after seeing such a great actor in shit comedies like... "The Love Guru" or mediocre action fair like "Lucky Number Slevin", finally we see that old Kingsley that could make you believe anything he says. Cawley isn't as illusive as you might think, in fact he's pretty forthcoming on some levels... but there's always something just out of reach for Teddy and Chuck while talking to him. Then there's the head of the board Dr. Naeharing played by Max Von Sydow. He's a German doctor which begins cementing Teddy's feelings of what's really going on at this mental home.

Like all great film noir, our protagonist is flawed. In the case of Teddy he is constantly haunted by images of his time in World War II. He sees flashes of the frozen dead bodies by train cars and of a Nazi who attempted suicide, but failed and Teddy watched him slowly die in his office. He sees Dolores, his deceased wife. He tries to hold on to her memory as hard as he can, but she always leaves him. He feels some unsung sympathy for this missing patient even though he doesn't know her and her crimes were quite horrible. But in reality there is another reason Teddy has come to that island. This... along with a shit ton of other things I can't tell you. In fact no one should tell you because you need to see it. You need to take this eerie as hell, masterfully made journey.

I will say however that "Shutter Island" may not be for everyone. This isn't for that crowd who goes to see shit like "Prom Night" or "One Missed Call"... yes I know they're very different movies from this, but they both attempt a heavy stroke of mystery to make their films work and they also turn quite a profit to be so shitty. "Shutter Island" is for those who like actually dark movies. Not Tim Burton crap, but movies about killers or monsters, real monsters. This is for people who like "Zodiac" and "Se7en"; for those who can still watch and love Hitchcock pictures and read Kafka. For everyone that digs into Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby", hell probably even his new film "The Ghost Writer".

What Martin Scorsese has done is made a masterful piece of mystery cinema. Seriously the kind of stuff we might get once a year, twice if we're lucky and often goes unnoticed by audiences. Finally though I feel like through the massive promotions and star power behind it, we'll have a mystery flick that'll shine up the box office. DiCaprio gives probably my second favorite performance of his, second only to his Frank Weller of "Revolutionary Road", which was damn find work and his emotional pitch was perfect. In a lot of ways I see Weller in Teddy Daniels, but with that 50's noir scowl making him more movie real, than real life. Ted Levine is one of the dozens of supporting people that I must highlight. In his small role as the warden, he provides a humorous, but creepily insightful dialogue with Teddy about his violent perspective of the world. Michelle Williams provides the best work in the supporting cast as Teddy's wife. Her performance is subtle and coupled with Scorsese and cinematographer Robert Richardson's dream sequences creation makes her moments on screen kill time after time. It just works, even at it's most oddly placed sections.

At the end of the day, when it's all said and done I'm interested to hear what people think. Some will be thrown by the finale; others will love it (like myself), but the key is to make you think for a change. So far this year we've seen some great genre pictures and "Shutter Island" is another great one. In fact I'd wager to say that it's the best film of the spring thus far and had it come out in 2009, would've made it in the ten Best Picture category. Movies like this are why we even bother to go at times. Sure it's not a bunch of giant effects and all that, but it's those stories and that wonderful artistry behind them that make us remember moment after moment. Needless to say I'll be seeing "Shutter Island" again this weekend.

From Paris With Love review

Easily I could sit here and tell you how retarded almost every second of "From Paris With Love" is. I mean so much of it is idiotic violence and John Travolta flying off the handle and going Chow Yun-Fat on a room of bad guys. But yeah you should've gathered that from the trailer. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Travolta's young blooded, less than a rookie partner, who's trying his best to keep up with all the crazy, blood letting being done by Travolta's Charlie Wax. It's filled with typical spy action cliches including a final act which has a hilarious revelation about a relationship one is having and one of those crazy, impossible shots that the hero must make to stop the bad guys. And yet I had lots of fun with this. No surprise considering the glee I get from watching fairly stereotypical junk food movies like this, but sometimes junk food can do the trick and this does the trick and throws in another for good measure.

Now some of you might wonder exactly why or how could I like this, despite all it's generalizations and been there before moments and yet might hate a fan favorite like... oh... I don't know... "The Boondock Saints"; yeah let's roll with that one. The reason is all in how things are done. Both are violent movies that follow pretty road weary ideas, have lots of jokes and character dynamics very familiar to us. However "From Paris With Love" has that euro-action energy. The kind of stuff that's not quite the same in the states anymore and that's probably because we did that so much in the 90's, but writer-producer Luc Besson (aka Euro-Bruckheimer minus all the kiddie crap) and director Pierre Morel know how to make basic action movies still fun enough that it's worth your time.

Morel began as a director of photography and camera man and has worked his way into the action filmmakers position quite well with "District 13", which I think is still his best film, last year's sleeper hit "Taken", which I think is good, but nothing more than that. And now this which is a great throwback to the stuff we might have seen Shane Black write. Movies like "The Last Boyscout" or "The Long Kiss Goodnight" that were over the top, run of the mill stories, but were made fun because of the characters and the vision behind it. Personally I love loud mouth Travolta more than quiet, subtle, real Travolta. It's because he seems like he's having more fun like that and able to really let loose, and he lets loose here big time. From banging hookers to doing cocaine in the Eiffel Tower, to swinging through a window to off some bad guys all while insulting everyone in his way; he's just having a blast. Meyers plays the nervous, young guy pretty well, but is faced with a really tough choice at the end of the film. In fact it's a choice that really was important to everything and it's unclear whether or not it was the whole hearted right choice.

The shoot outs were done with an almost old school John Woo like skill, which is to say it's almost effortless looking. This is something that Morel began with in "District 13" with the parkour and did very well in the rough and tumble fight scenes of "Taken". It's not all blood and guts, but the blood there is something a lot of 'those' other R-rated actions for some reason often lack unless for a big moment, but then skims over the rest of the movies violence. The other great thing about euro action is that at no time does it ever attempt of even think it's anything more than an outlandish action picture. That's what makes it fun. That bravado and mood so you're always aware that the makers are aware how ridiculous it all is and that everyone's just out to have fun and there's nothing wrong with that.

After seeing this my two biggest questions are A: could this become Besson's second American produced franchise, as it does have the moves to become more than one film if handled properly. And B: just what will Morel's next picture feel like. I should mention that said next picture is going to be big. Not just big, but mega, super giant big. Morel is taking a stab at bringing the classic sci-fi adventure novel "Dune" to the big screen (it was done in the 80's by David Lynch and it didn't work out too well). However he has also decided that he will write it was well, so I'm really interested in hearing his literary voice mixed with his visuals and seeing what his "Dune" world will look. And considering he's a massive fan of the book (something he's proven in interviews) I'm expecting big things.

If I Rated Games the Way I Rate Movies...

A recent conversation got me thinking about this more than usual. Generally I don't talk a lot about video games and all that despite having worked for two companies that sold them. Two different ones, with differing thoughts on customer service and selling techniques. Let's just say time spent with the first company was fantastic and short as it was it remains the job I miss most. The other... eh... I was in it for the money and it's location. However working at both started teaching me more and more to think of games in different ways, so I'm going to share that with you.

When I watch films and write my little half-hearted attempts to seem witty and 'cool' by reviewing them, I try to look at the film for what it is and I try to find reason why I should like it. So sure I'll say I like some stupid movies. I enjoyed "Ninja Assassin", I've developed a love for "Bad Boys II", a film I thought was so-so for a long time. And probably the stupid movie I'm going to watch in an hour will be something I like too. What makes it work is if A: it realizes it's stupid and doesn't attempt all out seriousness and B: it keeps me entertained and enjoying what's on screen. With games I like to think (now at least), I'm harsher than that. And I believe that stems from the lack of originality out there and the sixty-plus dollar price tag you pay to buy them. Renting is a great choice if you're unsure and something people should do more often then dishing out that much money on a gamble, but hell who hasn't done it?

With video games it feels like the market is often filled to the brim with clones of games that set some sort of bar in the industry and everyone wants to capitalize on it. Fair and understandable; it's something that happens in every industry. But the difference I find between me viewing a movie and me playing a game is... well with movies you sit, watch, react and think and with games you do all that, but you always go through the motions and make the choices you are lead to make or chose to make. When you add that to the mix things get a bit different.

And here's my beef, stories and characters. Despite how far we have come in that world there's still such a lack of strong plot lines and interesting characters with depth. You get a few a year, but gameplay is the major focus and everything else falls to the side. So yes "Heavy Rain" is a big deal for me. That's something that looks and feels different, brings something we rarely see the the table on a more mainstream level instead of being one of 'those' games people bring up here and there. Naughty Dog's "Uncharted" series is terrific and performs fantastic cinematic moments with it's characters which along with it's story are written to perfection. And Rockstar, one of the few companies that still in my eyes has it all figured out. They use the sand box, open world genres to enhance the stories they tell and also deliver characters that are attempting more than needless killing. They have reasons and purpose and emotional attachments they try to provide. General smart storytelling mixed with superior details in it's action sequences and design. Then again maybe they're attempting to just play into the meatheaded guys who play games, think that '300' is the greatest film of all time, listen to Nickleback and plays simply to cuss and kill things. But I'm attempting to remain positive and think that's not it.

Now for the B-teams. Normally this would be filled up with games a galore, but I want to focus on a couple that have left an impression on me. "Battlefield Bad Company" being one. A perfect example (like "Saint's Row" to 'GTA') of game exploitation that works. Built on the blocks of "Modern Warfare", it plays similar, but instead of just giving big blockbustery moments every few levels, it attempts to make all the action fast and fun enough AND make it funny with characters with personality and a story that's interesting enough to keep you wanting to see where it leads. "Gears of War 2" I put here as well. I picked the sequel because I was never all that blown away by the first. It had moments of good value, but overall it got very old and stale. The sequel moved faster and had a slightly better look to it. It too attempted some emotional character moments, although with a lower quality of writing and some terrific action set pieces that were interesting and fun enough.

Alright, now here's where I draw my line. Games that go in on hype and attempt to make you believe that this will change everything you play and... guess what... it's just another general genre game. Sure I liked "MW2", but it's just another first person shooter. Just like the drab ripoff that was "Halo 3: ODST". I did not like "Bio Shock" and am not interested in it's sequel. Another game with nice moments here and there, but boring gameplay, a poor ending (either way) and visuals that get tiresome after a while kill it for me. "Resident Evil 5" is maybe one of the biggest let downs in recent memory; coming off of 4 which did change the series and the survival horror genre, the fifth game was short, dull and clunky. Almost at a "Bionic Commando" level... well... maybe it wasn't that bad.

In any case I may start updating this would different reviews of games I've played and liked. Currently on playing "Mass Effect 2" and liking it quite a lot. Seems like this is the closest we'll get to a good "Star Trek" game. I'll say now that while the action tends to get repetitive, but the plot, visuals, ideas and character interactions are more than enough to make it an exciting and worth while game to have. I'll post some other stuff as it comes to me.

Oscar Nominations!

2009 was a terrific year for cinema and I'm more than happy to see some of the more popular and well known films getting there due this award season in some of the more important spots.

BEST PICTURE
'Avatar'
'The Blind Side'
'District 9'
'An Education'
'The Hurt Locker'
'Inglourious Basterds'
'Precious'
'A Serious Man'
'Up'
'Up in the Air'

-Personally I think eight of these belong here. "Up" was a good film, but I fail to see why it's getting quite the love it's gotten as it looks and feels just like 95% of all Pixar released movies. And "The Blind Side"? Really, for Best Picture? I don't see it. In anycase my money has it between "Inglourious Basterds" and "The Hurt Locker" and really it's "Hurt Locker" for the win. Any time a war film is compared to Oliver Stone's "Platoon", the last war film to win best picture, I think that means something.

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, 'Crazy Heart'
George Clooney, 'Up in the Air'
Colin Firth, 'A Single Man'
Morgan Freeman, 'Invictus'
Jeremy Renner, 'The Hurt Locker'

-Despite Bridges deserving this award for his years of fantastic work, I have a feeling he won't win it this year. But neither will Clooney. Often with big ensemble films like "The Hurt Locker", if someone is nominated, they won't win. Especially if the film is winning everything else. However I think Jeremy Renner as underdog might happen OR Colin Firth with an underdog win.

BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock, 'The Blind Side'
Helen Mirren, 'The Last Station'
Carey Mulligan, 'An Education'
Gabourey Sidibe, 'Precious'
Meryl Streep, 'Julie & Julia'

-I've been hearing raves about Carey Milligan in "An Education", but rare is it for the youngin' to win. That tells the same to Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious". However I actually think as much as it pains me that Bullock will win. But I'm rooting for either of the previous two.

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, 'Invictus'
Woody Harrelson, 'The Messenger'
Christopher Plummer, 'The Last Station'
Stanley Tucci, 'The Lovely Bones'
Christoph Waltz, 'Inglourious Basterds'

-Waltz all the way. No one else will win, plain and simple.

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, 'Nine'
Vera Farmiga, 'Up in the Air'
Maggie Gyllenhaal, 'Crazy Heart'
Anna Kendrick, 'Up in the Air'
Mo'nique, 'Precious'

-Penelope Cruz might have had a chance with a nod for Best Actress in "Broken Embraces", but not for "Nine". Mo'nique has killed with this award at just about every venue and while I think it could go the way of Eddie Murphy and "Dreamgirls" here... I believe it won't. She'll walk away with this one and hopefully continue doing work of this caliber.

Best Animated Feature Film

'Coraline'
'Fantastic Mr. Fox'
'The Princess and the Frog'
'The Secret of Kells'
'Up'

-"Up" will win whether I like it or not, but I'd flip if "Fantastic Mr. Fox" won. It or "Coraline" deserves it far more.

Best Foreign Film

Israel - 'Ajami'
Argentina - 'El Secreto de sus Ojos'
Peru - 'The Milk of Sorrow'
France - 'Un Prophete'
Germany - 'The White Ribbon'

-I've heard nothing but greatness about Hanke's "The White Ribbon".

Best Original Screenplay

Mark Boal, 'The Hurt Locker'
Quentin Tarantino, 'Inglourious Basterds'
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, 'The Messenger'
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 'A Serious Man'
Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy, 'Up'

-This is one of the few things I could see "The Hurt Locker" not winning. Sadly though I could see "Up" winning, but I'm rooting for Tarantino big time or the Coen's "A Serious Man", which is their best comedy, drama, mystery since "Barton Fink".

Best Adapted Screenplay

Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, 'District 9'
Nick Hornby, 'An Education'
Jesse Armstron, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, 'In the Loop'
Geoffrey Fletcher, 'Precious'
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, 'Up in the Air'

-It'd be cool as hell if "District 9" won and as an underdog vote, I could see it happening. I'm going to see "In the Loop" FINALLY in the next few days and I've heard greatness from it, but I doubt it'll pull this off. Look for Hornby with the win and possibly Reitman and Turner for "Up in the Air".

Best Documentary Feature

'Burma VJ'
'The Cove'
'Food, Inc.'
'The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers'
'Which Way Home'

-"The Cove" all the way.

Best Original Score

'Avatar'
'Fantastic Mr. Fox'
'The Hurt Locker'
'Sherlock Holmes'
'Up'

-Despite being a major fan of Giachinno's work, the music for "Up" never got to me the way it did in "The Incredibles" or "Ratatouille" or even "Star Trek". "Avatar" was definitly not Horner's best music, but honestly I loved Hans Zimmer's very original music for "Sherlock Holmes". That's my vote.

Best Original Song

'Almost There' from 'The Princess and the Frog,' Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
'Down in New Orleans' from 'The Princess and the Frog,' Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
'Loin de Paname' from 'Paris 36,' Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
'Take It All' from 'Nine,' Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
'The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)' from 'Crazy Heart,' Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

-"Crazy Heart" will probably win it, although none of these songs are mind blowing in the least. My vote, bring back Springsteen's "The Wrestler" for a second go at it.

Best Film Editing

'Avatar'
'District 9'
'The Hurt Locker'
'Inglourious Basterds'
'Precious'

-"The Hurt Locker" I feel will have this. Super slow motion in HD=heavy, golden statue.

Best Cinematography

'Avatar'
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
'The Hurt Locker'
'Inglourious Basterds'
'The White Ribbon'

-"Basterds" and the God of cinematography Robert Richardson. The man that made me research what they did in films after watching his work on "JFK".

Best Costume Design

'Bright Star'
'Coco Before Chanel'
'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'
'Nine'
'The Young Victoria'

-From what I've seen and heard "Coco Before Chanel" has got it clamped.

Best Director

James Cameron, 'Avatar'
Kathryn Bigelow, 'The Hurt Locker'
Quentin Tarantino, 'Inglourious Basterds'
Lee Daniels, 'Precious'
Jason Reitman, 'Up in the Air'

-Kathryn Bigelow all the way. I'd love for QT to win, but this is her year plain and simple and she earned it.

Achievement in art direction

• "Avatar"

• "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"

• "Nine"

• "Sherlock Holmes"

• "The Young Victoria"

- "Avatar" with a big win for this.

Achievement in makeup

"II Divo"
"Star Trek"
"The Young Victoria"

-Hey, "Star Trek" made it for something! But "II Divo" will win.

Achievement in visual effects

"Avatar"
"District 9"
"Star Trek"

-I could see "District 9" winning due to what it accomplished with his small budget, but "Avatar" is much more deserving of it. When you can see $200 million dollars... well... that's something special onto itself.

Achievement in sound mixing

"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

- Again, "Avatar".

Achievement in sound editing

"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Up"

- War films tend to take this, so I'm saying "Hurt Locker" over "Avatar" and "Basterds".

Ok, so this will be my offical score card come awards night. I always like seeing how well/shitty I can pick em'. We'll see what happens on March 7th.