The Street God
Book
Review by Kam Williams
Book
Review by Kam Williams
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Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Marlon
Wayans Spoofs Romance Genre in Shocking Parody of Salacious S&M
Adventure
Ever since
Scary Movie (2000), Marlon Wayans has carved out quite a career for
himself writing and starring in a string of silly spoofs that
includes Scary Movie 2 (2001), Dance Flick (2009), A Haunted House
(2013), and A Haunted House 2 (2014). The latest offering in his
cottage industry of genre-bending parodies is Fifty Shades of Black,
a jaw-dropping lampoon of the already outrageous Fifty Shades of
Grey.
Released
just a year ago, Fifty Shades of Grey was based on the best-selling
erotic novel by E.L. James. That explicit adventure chronicled the
sadomasochistic sexploits shared by a handsome billionaire and an
impressionable, young college student .
This
relatively-kinky variation on the theme remains fairly faithful to
the source material's basic plotline, so it helps immeasurably if
you've seen the original. The major difference, however, is that the
two leads are African-American, and much of the humor revolves around
graphic nudity and stale racial stereotypes.
At the
point of departure, we're introduced to Hannah (Kali Hawk), a
Literature major at mythical Howell University. Since her
promiscuous, foul-mouthed roommate, Kateesha (Jenny Zigrino), has a
crippling case of Chlamydia, Hannah finds herself recruited as a
stand-in to interview filthy-rich Christian Black (Wayans).
She asks
"How did you get your money and can I have some?" His
answer: "Drug dealing, like most successful blacks." And
"Is you gay?" is met with "You're only gay if you
enjoy touching penises."
After that
dubious exchange, Christian tricks the naive virgin into unprotected
intercourse despite the fact that she's ovulating. That disturbing
date rape scene is a little hard to laugh at, especially in light of
the recent Bill Cosby revelations.
Furthermore,
when Hannah ends up pregnant, she takes him home to meet her
misogynistic step-father, Ron (Mike Epps). Instead of protecting his
daughter's honor, he sides with Christian's refusal to marry her,
saying "I like this N-word," before denigrating Hannah's
mother as a slut.
In other
skits, Christian waterboards Hannah (while shouting "Where's bin
Laden?"}, delivers an insulting commencement address at Howell
("Thank God, I'm not you!") and tosses his poop-filled
underwear in the face of a screaming fan during a gross homage to
Magic Mike. Still, the
movie's most tasteless moments arrive on those occasions when
Christian gratuitously exposes his genitalia.
A descent
into depravity far more shocking than funny that's
morally-objectionable in part for all.
Fair (1
star)
Rated R for crude sexuality,
graphic nudity, ethnic slurs, coarse humor, rape and pervasive
profanity
Running time: 92 minutes
Distributor: Open Road Films
To see a trailer for Fifty Shades
of Black, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBPoakMk_o
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Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Father and
Warrior Protect Baby Monster in Medieval Martial Arts Mash-up
Directed by
Raman Hui (Shrek the Third), Monster Hunt was released across Asia
last summer where it became the highest-grossing Chinese film of all
time. The version I watched was dubbed into English, which served to
turn the martial arts/comedy mash-up into a decidedly campy affair.
The
experience reminded me of the Japanese horror flicks from the Fifties
where the corny dialogue invariably failed to fit the movement of the
actors' mouths. This one even has its characters often speaking in
inappropriately-modern idioms such as "You are such a loser!"
Purists might be happy to know that the movie is also being made
available with subtitles, though I suspect it's far funnier
lip-synched.
Set during
an ancient dynasty, the picture features an unapologetically
exuberant mix of sentiment and slaps/tick that endeavors to tug at
your heartstrings while simultaneously tickling your funny bone. The
CGI-driven, costume fantasy unfolds in a mythical kingdom inhabited
by both humans and monsters.
The plot
thickens when the hamlet's male mayor, Tianyin (Jing Boran), is
miraculously impregnated by a malevolent Monster Queen. Next thing
you know, just about everybody around, human and monster alike, wants
half-breed baby Wooba dead, much to the chagrin of the glowing,
expecting daddy.
Lucky for
Tianyin, he forges a fast friendship with Hua Xiaolan (Bai Baihe), a
female warrior blessed with a winning combination of maternal
instincts and mad karate skills. She's determined to save the
radish-shaped bundle of joy, so what ensues is an overstimulating
kitchen sink adventure throwing everything up on the screen from
cartoon physics fight scenes to Bollywood-style song-and-dance
numbers.
Kid-friendly
fare amusing enough to entertain adults, too, provided their brains
are on pause!
Very Good
(2.5 stars)
Unrated
Dubbed or in Mandarin with
subtitles
Running time: 104 minutes
Distributor: Film Rise
To see a trailer for Monster Hunt,
visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR6JRIlf1jM
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DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
Bullock
Plays Dirty Tricks as Media Consultant in Political Campaign Dramedy
In 2002, Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada, a candidate for
the presidency of Bolivia, found himself floundering in the polls
with just a few months to go to election day. Since the desperate
multimillionaire had been raised in the United States, he was well
aware of how a political consulting firm was capable of influencing
the outcome of an election.
So,
he retained the services of James Carville, who had successfully
orchestrated Bill Clinton's presidential bid in 1992. And soon, the
flamboyant spin doctor descended upon Bolivia with a team of
seasoned, media-savvy strategists.
Still,
repositioning Goni would be no mean feat, given the fact that he was
an unpopular ex-president who'd already been exposed as a
pro-American, pro-globalization puppet controlled by powerful
corporate interests. Carville and company's only hope rested in
employing smear tactics against the two favorites in the race, one, a
socialist, the other, a centrist.
Ultimately,
the carpetbaggers did prevail, and that incredible feat was
chronicled by Our Brand Is Crisis (2005), a dispiriting documentary
illustrating just how easy it is for money to corrupt the democratic
process with the help of operatives parachuted in from Madison
Avenue. The picture also questioned the wisdom of fixing foreign
elections in this fashion, since very bloody, civil unrest
subsequently arose anyway in Bolivia, which forced Goni to flee the
country for asylum in the U.S. a year into his administration.
Directed
by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), Our Brand Is Crisis 2.0
serves up a relatively-sanitized version of the aforementioned
events. Names have been changed and characters have been conflated
and added to make the Yankee intervention appear almost benign.
Here,
courtesy of revisionist history, the socialist (Louis Arcella) and
capitalist (Joaquim de Almeida) candidates both rely on assistance
from American PR firms led by Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jane
Bodine (Sandra Bullock), respectively. The entertaining adventure
pits a flirtatious and crafty mercenary versus an idealistic,
ex-alcoholic in search of redemption in an escalating battle of wits
marked by deception and dirty tricks.
Instead
of making a pure political thriller, director Green has opted to
undercut the tension with moments of levity and sexual innuendo. The
upshot is that the movie works very well as formulaic Hollywood fare,
so long as you don't enter the theater anticipating an experience as
sophisticated as the thought-provoking documentary which inspired it.
A
lighthearted primer in how to mount a smear campaign and thereby
manipulate a banana republic to vote against its own self-interest.
Very Good (3
stars)
Rated
R for profanity and sexual references
In English and Spanish
with subtitles
Running time: 107 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Home
Entertainment Group
Blu-ray Extra: Sandra Bullock: A
Role Like No Other.
To see a trailer for Our
Brand Is Crisis, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZo_ILZhfk
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DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
Brit Costume
Drama Revisits Feminist Fight for the Right to Vote
Nowadays,
most females take access to the ballot box for granted. Nevertheless,
they owe a big debt of gratitude to the mostly unsung Suffragettes
who made great sacrifices for decades before securing that
hard-fought right.
In the
United States, women got the vote in 1919 via the 19th Amendment. The
year before, England granted the franchise to females over 30 who
were either landowners, college grads or married to a politician.
However, a decade later, it was finally extended to all British
citizens over 21 on an equal basis.
Directed by
Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane), Suffragette is a moving docudrama set in
London during the critical period leading up to Parliament's passage
of the Representation of the People Act of 1918. The film serves up a
substantially fictionalized version of events, as only a couple of
the characters here were real-life heroines, namely, Emmeline
Pankhurst (1858-1928) and Emily Wilding Davison (1872-1913),
portrayed by Meryl Streep and Natalie Press, respectively.
Streep
merely makes a cameo appearance as Pankhurst, a pioneer reduced by
advanced age to playing an inspirational role in the movement at that
juncture. Still, that doesn't mean the perennial Academy
Award-contender won't net her 20th Oscar nomination for delivering
yet another sterling performance. The picture's other historical
figure, Davison, was a fiery activist who was periodically imprisoned
for advocating arson, stone throwing and other violent tactics in her
zealous pursuit of the vote.
The movie
revolves around Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a protagonist primarily
a creation of scriptwriter Abi Morgan's (The Iron Lady) imagination.
Curiously, she's initially less a suffragette than a fed up, steam
laundry employee ostensibly motivated by a general desire to improve
women's lot, especially in terms of wages, sexual harassment and safe
working conditions.
In many
respects, Maud's persona is suspiciously reminiscent of Norma Rae
(1979), the feisty union organizer played by Sally Field in an
Oscar-winning turn. Might Morgan have deliberately crafted Maud for
Mulligan with an Academy Award in mind?
Who knows,
but the parallels are hard to ignore. Both characters are uneducated,
underpaid factory workers . Both have their consciousness raised with
the help of a colleague. And both have unsupportive husbands opposed
to their sudden embrace of political activism.
A poignant
reminder of just how far women have come over the past century.
Excellent (4
stars)
Rated PG-13 for
intense violence, mature themes, brief profanity and partial nudity
Running time: 107 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home Entertainment
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Marlon Wayans is a true multi-hyphenate: an actor/producer, comedian, writer and film director. His films have grossed more than $750 million in domestic box office, an average of nearly $50 million per outing. As a stand-up comedian, Marlon sells out theaters and clubs alike, nationwide. On the feature film front, he recently starred in and produced A Haunted House which grossed over $18 million on a $2 million budget. On the television front, he'll soon be shooting a pilot for NBC slated to debut next fall. Marlon's additional big screen credits include White Chicks; Scary Movie; Scary Movie 2; Mo’ Money; Above the Rim; Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood; The Sixth Man; Senseless; Dungeons & Dragons; Requiem for a Dream, The Ladykillers; Behind the Smile; Little Man; Norbit; Dance Flick; G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; Marmaduke; and The Heat. On TV, Marlon has appeared on In Living Color; Children's Hospital; Second Generation Wayans; and The Wayans Bros which was the highest rated comedy on The WB network. Here, he talks about his latest offering, Fifty Shades of Black.
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Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Cautionary
Documentary Warns of the Demise of the Middle-Class
MIT
Professor Noam Chomsky has been an outspoken critic of the
Establishment ever since opposing the Vietnam War way back in the
Sixties. At 87, the controversial firebrand is now decrying the
incredible gulf between the filthy rich and the rest of us.
He is the
subject of Requiem for the American Dream, a cautionary documentary
delineating the consequences lying in wait for a nation where wealth
is concentrated in the hands of the top 1/10th of 1% at the expense
of the rapidly-disappearing middle-class. Co-directed by Peter D.
Hutchison, Kelly Nyks and Jared P. Scott, the movie was culled from
interviews conducted with Chomsky over the past four years.
Nevertheless,
the talented trio managed to edit the footage into a very engaging
and enlightening monologue bemoaning the current state of the union.
The upshot is a fascinating film featuring a "less-is-more"
format reminiscent of the one employed by Errol Morris in his
Oscar-winning Fog of War (2003).
The picture
basically consists of close-ups of Chomsky shot against a black
backdrop as he talks about the Machiavellian manipulations employed
by the power elite. It also intermittently interweaves illustrative
file footage of suffering and decadence into the production to help
drive home the aging grass roots activist's salient points.
Chomsky
begins by waxing romantic about the Golden Age of the Fifties and
Sixties when the American Dream was still within the grasp of the
Average Joe. He says that was the period when the U.S. populace
benefited the most from the host of domestic programs implemented by
President Roosevelt. However, the affluent have always hated the New
Deal, especially Social Security and the Glass-Steagall Act, which
explains why they have repeatedly attempted to repeal those measures.
Chomsky
states that, in addition, the privileged have deliberately crippled
our democracy to such a degree that public opinion no longer has any
influence on politicians. Just consider how it has been impossible to
get Congress to pass a bill making it harder for the mentally ill to
purchase a gun, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of
voters support the common sense idea.
Overall,
what we have here is vintage Chomsky issuing a rabble-rousing,
rallying cry intended to rouse the masses before it's too late.
America redefined as a civilization in sharp decline and on the verge
of collapse because of the very greedy's systematic elimination of
class mobility from the society.
Excellent (4
stars)
Unrated .
Running time: 73 minutes
Studio: PF Pictures
Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
To see a trailer for Requiem for
the American Dream, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI_Ik7OppEI
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Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Soaring
Seafaring Saga Reenacts Daring Coast Guard Rescue
On February
18, 1952, one of the worst nor'easters in history hit New England. In
fact, the roiling waters off Cape Cod were so severe that a couple of
oil tankers totally split in half.
While the
SS Fort Mercer was able to issue an urgent S.O.S., the SS Pendleton's
fore section was swallowed too quickly by the ocean to broadcast a
distress call. The latter's captain went down with the shortwave
radio, too, leaving 34 sailors in the stern with no idea whether the
world was even aware of their perilous plight.
As luck
would have it, a tow truck driver (Matthew Maher) not only spotted a
light from the Pendleton listing off the coast of Chatham, but he had
the wherewithal to report it to the authorities immediately. Daniel
Cluff (Eric Bana), the officer in charge of the local Coast Guard
station, was a World War II vet who'd seen combat in the Pacific
theater. He didn't hesitate to order a rescue attempt, despite the
blizzard's frigid temperatures and gale force winds.
That
unenviable task fell to Bosun's Mate Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) who
hastily assembled a crew composed of Seamen Richard Livesey (Ben
Foster) and Ervin Maske (John Magaro), as well as Engineman Andrew
Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner). The rag-tag team left the harbor aboard a
modest motorized lifeboat seating only a dozen and offering scant
protection against the elements.
It would
take a yeoman's effort just to reach the sinking Pendleton, given
that the tiny Coast Guard cutter encountered waves as high as 70
feet-tall out on the open seas. Moreover, Webber was further
frustrated by the loss of his compass to one of the tsunamis.
Meanwhile,
the remaining sailors on the Pendleton were doing their best to keep
what was left of the ship afloat. With the skipper and his other
officers already swept to watery deaths down in Davy Jones locker, a
new leader emerged in Engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck), a salty
dog with nerves of steel and a wealth of naval knowledge.
The veteran
boat whisperer not only took command of the crew, but determined that
survival depended upon the electric pumps functioning long enough to
ground the vessel on a sandbar. A third plotline was unfolding back
in Chatham where the worried families of the brave Coast Guardsmen,
including Bernie's fiancee Miriam (Holliday Grainger), were wringing
their hands.
Directed by
Aussie Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm), The Finest Hours is a
gripping, seafaring adventure reminiscent of The Perfect Storm
(2000). It is also based on a best-seller recounting the real-life
exploits of some unsung heroes who rose to the occasion in the face
of seemingly insurmountable odds.
A
visually-captivating and remarkably-moving recreation of what, to
this day, remains the most daring Coast Guard rescue on record.
Excellent (4
stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense peril
Running time: 117 minutes
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
To see a trailer for The Finest
Hours, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQmllwTKtqU
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