Isn't it Romantic

 

Film Review by Kam Williams

Rebel Wilson Headlines Disappointing Romantic Musical Comedy

Natalie (Rebel Wilson) is a dynamic, young professional trying to make her mark on Manhattan. But between a fledgling professional career and a dating life that isn't faring any better, the Australian architect is close to bottoming out.

It's a miracle her optimistic spirit hasn't been crushed, since she was raised by an emotionally-abusive mom (Jennifer Saunders) who said she'd never amount to anything. 

 

She has nevertheless made a few friends since moving to the States, including BFF/colleague, Josh (Adam Devine), as well as hunky Blake (Liam Hemsorth), a billionaire who is one of her company's clients. And her buddies include a motley crew of colorful characters. 

 

Anybody familiar with Rebel Wilson's work knows that she's committed to over-the-top fare as seen in her biggest hit, Picture Perfect. While this offering fails to measure up in terms of generating laughs per minute, it does at least recreate the ambiance of her typical farce. 

 

The movie is directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, a hack who has cranked out a string of mediocre comedies such as Larceny, Naked but Funny and Stevie TV. Not a picture this critic feels comfortable recommending to any demographic. Consider that a fair warning.

Fair (1 star)

Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, and a brief drug reference

Running time: 88 minutes

Production Companies: Netflix / New Line Cinema

Distributor: Warner Brothers

To see a trailer for Isn't it Romantic, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZwgoVmILQU

Mary Queen of Scots

 

Film Review by Kam Williams

Saoirse Ronan Plays Beleaguered Monarch in Flamboyant Costume Drama

Mary Stuart (1542-1587) is a tragic figure whose life story does not naturally lend itself to the big screen. After all, despite being King James V's only legitimate offspring at the time of his death, she spent most of her childhood exiled in France and over 18 years of her adulthood imprisoned in England before being beheaded at the behest of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. 

 

But that hasn't discouraged filmmakers from periodically taking liberties with the facts in order to mount an entertaining, if fanciful, biopic about the ill-fated aristocrat. Katharine Hepburn played Mary in a 1936 version directed by John Ford, while Vanessa Redgrave landed an Academy Award nomination for her rendition in a 1971 remake which netted a half-dozen Oscar nominations. 

 

Now, Saoirse Ronan stars as the beleaguered queen in a visually-captivating costume drama marking the directorial debut of Josie Rourke. The movie is based on John A. Guy's 2004 biography, “Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart,” though the production seems less concerned with historical accuracy than with flamboyant hair and makeup.

You can forget about the book's assertion about being “true.” For example, Mary and Elizabeth (Margot Robbie) never met in real life, yet this picture's climax revolves around their rendezvousing for a face-to-face showdown fabricated for dramatic effect. Equally disconcerting is that the film hypes female solidarity as a hot button issue, a glaring reminder of how a movie often tells you more about the period in which it was made than the one it is supposedly about. 

 

Even if you're inclined to forgive all of the above, perhaps the picture's most annoying flaw is that it opens with the heroine's execution, and is then followed by a series of flashbacks leading back to Mary's demise. Why spoil the ending by assuming everyone in your audience is a history buff who knows how the story's going to turn out?

An anti-climactic overindulgence in pomp and pageantry designed for fans of British royalty.

Fair (1 star)

Rated R for violence and sexuality

Running time: 124 minutes

Production Companies: Focus Features / Working Title Films / Perfect World Pictures

Studio: Focus Features

To see a trailer for Mary Queen of Scots, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnqjSgMU36U

Nobody's Fool

Film Review by Kam Williams

Classy and Trashy Sisters Square Off in Fish-Out-of-Water Comedy

Danica (Tika Sumpter) and Tanya (Tiffany Haddish) may have been raised by the same mother (Whoopi Goldberg), but they're still as different as night and day. The former is a successful businesswoman who was recently promoted to Vice President of a leading, Madison Avenue advertising firm. By contrast, the latter has spent the last five years behind bars while her sis was climbing the corporate ladder. 

Against her better judgment, Danica decides to take Tanya under her wing when she's paroled. So, she not only lets the hot ghetto mess move into her upscale crib but helps her land a gig as a barista at a trendy coffee shop. 

 

Trouble is, the prison-hardened Tanya is so rough around the edges that she has no idea how to behave in polite society. Consequently, she can often be found cursing, flirting, menacing and hurling racial slurs behind the counter indiscriminately.

Tanya should thank her lucky stars that her gentlemanly boss, Frank (Omari Hardwick), has a crush on her sister. Otherwise, her job might be in jeopardy. Too bad Danica's already in a relationship with a shady character (Mehcad Brooks) she's never met and has only interacted with over the internet, or she might give Mr. Right a chance.

Thus unfolds Nobody's Fool, a fish-out-of-water comedy written and directed by Tyler Perry. Tyler's films invariably feature a sassy, trash-talking sister, whether played by him in drag as Madea or, as in this case, by an actual actress, the irrepressible Tiffany Haddish.

Haddish has been hotter than a pistol since stealing every scene in Girls Trip a year ago. Since then, she's hosted Saturday Night Live and co-starred in Uncle Drew, The Oath and Night School.

The problem with Nobody's Fool is that it feels like Tiffany briefly parachuted in to do her crude shtick and split without worrying about developing any chemistry with the rest of the cast. Yes, she is the comedienne of the moment and, if all you're looking for is her coarse act, there's plenty of that lowbrow fare to enjoy.

But when Haddish is not lighting up the screen with her over-the-top antics, what's left is just a predictable, poorly-plotted, Tyler Perry morality play.

Fair (1 star)

Rated R for sexuality, drug use, ethnic slurs and pervasive profanity

Running time: 110 minutes

Production Studio: Tyler Perry Studios / BET Films / Paramount Players

Studio: Paramount Pictures

To see a trailer for Nobody's Fool, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTxSbKLVnvQ

God Bless the Broken Road

Film Review by Kam Williams

Military Widow Loses, Regains Faith in Cliche-Ridden Tale of Redemption

Sergeant Darren Hill (Liam Matthews) was just days away from finishing up a tour of duty in Afghanistan when he died during an ambush of his unit. The shocking news devastated his wife, Amber (Lindsay Pulsipher), and their young daughter, Bree (Makenzie Moss). 

 

In fact, Amber was so embittered, she Amber stepped down as her church's choir director, moaning, “Look where my faith in God got us.” And pep talks from Pastor Williams (LaDainian Tomlinson) and her BFFs, Bridgette (Jordin Sparks) and Karena (Robin Givens) fail to bring her back into the fold.

Two years later, and we find the grieving widow struggling to keep a roof over her head. Waitressing at the local diner simply doesn't pay enough to keep the bank from threatening to foreclose on her house.

When Amber's served with a notice to vacate the premises, she borrows $800 from a loan shark at a usurious rate, a short-term fix certain to come back to bite her. It takes hitting rock bottom for her to rethink turning her back on God. 

 

Thus unfolds the opening act of God Bless the Broken Road, a faith-based drama directed and co-written by Harold Cronk (God's Not Dead 1 and 2). Unfortunately, the cliche-ridden, modern morality play is less concerned with character development than with hammering home a heavy-handed message about the virtues of Christianity.

Quite predictably, Amber's fortunes do improve, but only after her faith in the Lord is restored. Meanwhile, the screen is littered with one-dimensional caricatures who bear no resemblance to real people. 

 

A simplistic, sermonizing parable strictly for the Bible-thumping demographic.

Fair (1 star)

Rated PG for combat action and mature themes

Running time: 111 minutes

Production Studio: 10 West Studios / A Really Good Home Pictures

Studio: Freestyle Releasing

To see a trailer for God Bless the Broken Road, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlDNPY-Qyog

Carter & June

Film Review by Kam Williams

Bank Heist Dramedy Has Shades of Baby Driver

Baby Driver was this critic's pick for the #1 movie of 2017. It never takes very long for idea-bereft Hollywood to imitate a big hit. Exhibit A: Carter & June, a bank robbery flick which fails to measure up to Baby Driver, whether or not that cinematic masterpiece served as the source of director/co-writer Nicholas Kalikow's inspiration. 

 

A la Baby Driver, Carter & June revolves around a waitress and mobster under the thumb of a Machiavellian villain. But where the former film featured an A-list cast with Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey and Ansel Elgort, the latter's ensemble doesn't have any matinee idols.

Michael Raymond-James and Samaire Armstrong co-star as the title characters Carter & June, respectively, an action-driven dramedy set in New Orleans. Like the protagonist of Baby Driver, Carter is a small-time crook looking to go legit. Trouble, is he's indebted to Spencer Rabbit (Timothy Omundson), a vicious crime boss operating with impunity in the city because so many crooked cops, including the police commissioner (Paul Rae), are on the take. 

 

At the point of departure, we find Carter losing a load of Rabbit's cash during a drug deal gone bad. That means the only way to get back in the kingpin's good graces and out of his unsavory line of work once and for all is to participate in an elaborate heist of a cool half-million dollars from the New Orleans Bank & Trust. Of course, that will prove easier said than done. 

 

Unfortunately, for the audience's purposes, the screen is littered with more sidebars and support characters than you might care to keep track of. For instance, there's a compromised cop (James Landry Hebert) with a greedy wife (Lindsay Musil) who's secretly sleeping with a local preacher (Will Beinbrink). And June just happens to be in the midst a bitter custody battle with her vindictive ex over their young daughter. 

 

An overplotted mess that throws everything but the kitchen sink up on the screen.

Fair (1 star)
Unrated
Running time: 87 minutes
Production Studios: Sacred Bull Media / Octane Entertainment
Distributor: Freestyle Digital Media


To see a trailer for Carter & June, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lziv1wI3fvk

Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero

 

Film Review by Kam Williams

Kiddie Cartoon Recounts "True" Story of Canine War Hero

Ads for Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero bill the film as "The Incredible True Story of America's Top Underdog." Yet, the movie itself features this contrary disclaimer, albeit at the end and in small print: "Although based on historical events, all characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental." 

 

I suppose that in this age of fake news it was just a matter of time before we'd be wrestling with whether or not a picture passing itself off as factual might actually be phony. What's weird about this animated adventure is how it goes out of its way during the closing credits to authenticate the tall tale via archival photos of the decorated pooch and the soldier who purportedly adopted him.

The faux World War I memoir, narrated by Margaret Conroy (Helena Bonham Carter), unfolds in New Haven, Connecticut in 1917 which is where we find her brother Robert (Logan Lerman) enlisting in the Army out of a sense of patriotic duty. During basic training, the young buck private starts feeding a mangy stray that looks like a mix of Bulldog and Boston Terrier. 

 

When it's time for the soldiers to ship out, Robert bids his pet adieu, but the industrious canine somehow stows away aboard the vessel headed overseas. When discovered, Stubby is lucky that Colonel Ty (Jim Pharr) makes him the brigade's mascot and issues him a set of dog tags.

Upon landing in France, the doughboys are immediately dispatched to the Western Front. While stuck in the trenches, Robert and Stubby are befriended by a grizzled French vet (Gerard Depardieu) who shares his survival tips and some home-cooked cuisine. 

 

Then, when the Germans attack, Stubby exhibits extreme valor, between fighting the enemy and saving wounded soldiers. We only have a blow-by-blow of all of the above because Robert reportedly was a prolific writer whose sister Margaret presumably preserved all his letters home for posterity. 

 

And now, thanks to director Richard Lanni, the decorated pooch's battlefield exploits have been belatedly adapted to the big screen. Honestly, it's hard for this critic to know what to make of this movie. 

 

Is it merely an innocent, inspirational buddy flick or is it an Army recruiting tool targeting innocent tykes? Who knows? regardless, this supposedly 'true story' is the cinematic equivalent of not just fake news, but very fake news. 

 

Wag the dog!

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG for peril, action and mature themes
Running time: 85 minutes
Production Studios: Fun Academy Media Group
Distributor: Fun Academy Motion Pictures


To see a trailer for Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv_vO182_kA

Paul, Apostle of Christ

Film Review by Kam Williams

Faith-Based Biopic Chronicles St. Luke and St. Paul's Close Relationship

I distinctly remember learning in Sunday school when I was a child that Jesus had 12 Apostles: But none of them was named Paul (James Faulkner). In fact, while Jesus was alive, the future saint was still a Jew who took a perverse pleasure in persecuting Christians. 

 

But he famously had a change of heart after experiencing a blinding vision of Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Upon regaining his sight three days later, he converted to Christianity and became one of the fledgling religion's staunchest advocates.

He proceeded to preach all across the ancient world for several decades, sharing his heartfelt conviction that Jesus was the Messiah. However, Paul's proselytizing did not sit well with the Roman Emperor, Nero, who had the troublemaker tried for treason, convicted and tossed into a dank prison cell to await his fate. 

 

That is setting of this depressing biopic, unfolding in Rome in 67 A.D. Co-written and directed by Andrew Hyatt (Full of Grace), the picture basically revolves around a jailhouse friendship allegedly forged between Paul and Luke (Jim Caviezel), a physician and fellow believer.

According to this speculative docudrama, the good doctor visited Death Row daily in order to secretly record Paul's pearls of wisdom before his beheading. If the suspect storyline is to be believed, the upshot of that effort was the New Testament's Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Luke. But I can't help but wonder whether there's any proof that the two religious icons ever even met.

Regardless of the liberties that might have been taken with the truth, I was turned off by the pall cast over the production by Paul's relentlessly-dire plight, and it didn't help matters any that the movie has way more talk than action. 

 

What does it tell you when a movie's most-memorable moment involves Nero's roasting Christians alive at the stake for fun, and referring to them as "Roman candles." I bet you thought the term was coined for the firecracker. 

 

Overall, a faith-based, snuff flick with little appeal beyond the Bible-thumping demographic.

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for disturbing images and some violence
Running time: 108 minutes
Production Studios: Affirm Films / Outside Da Box
Distributor: Columbia Pictures


To see a trailer for Paul, Apostle of Christ, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyOqQZUDdO4

Wonder Wheel

Film Review by Kam Williams


New Woody Allen Pic Proves Terribly Disappointing

I suppose Woody Allen was due for a dud. After being distracted during the Nineties by a bitter divorce and custody battle, the four-time Oscar-winner had enjoyed quite a resurgence since the turn of the century with a string of critically-acclaimed offerings that included Small Time Crooks (2000), The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Match Point (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011) and Blue Jasmine (2013).

While Wonder Wheel might not be Woody's best film, it's certainly his worst of this millennium. The film is set in the Fifties on Coney Island, where the first thing you notice is that everybody's white, whether on the beaches or in the amusement park.

Yes, movies made back then were often lily-white productions which gave no hint that African-Americans even existed. But it's a bit of a head-scratcher to witness a director taking his cues from a less-enlightened era, as if there's still a reason, today, to hide the fact that there were plenty of black Coney Island patrons.

Besides constantly asking myself "Where the black people at?" the picture had this native New Yorker cringing at many of the characters' inauthentic Brooklyn accents. The most distracting was Jim Belushi's vaguely-familiar staccato. It took me half the movie to figure out that he was imitating the classic Chicago accent appropriately adopted by Dan Aykroyd to play opposite John Belushi in The Blues Brothers (1980).

Equally-unconvincing, if not as annoying, were the manners of speaking of co-stars Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet and Juno Temple. Bensonhurst-born Steve Schirripa was the only lead actor to have the local cadence correct. Perhaps Woody shoulda also let Steve serve as the cast's voice coach. 

 

Besides all of the above, the unengaging script left a lot to be desired. At the point of departure, we learn that a middle-aged waitress (Winslet) is cheating on her carousel operator husband (Belushi) with a young lifeguard (Timberlake). The plot thickens when her miserably-married stepdaughter (Temple) moves back home unexpectedly, and proceeds to fall head-over-heels for her hunky lover, too. 

 

This critic couldn't figure out why Timberlake was intermittently breaking the fourth wall to address the audience directly. Worse is the absence of any trademark Woody Allen humor, unless unintentionally funny moments count. Overall, a cinematic disaster that makes The Room (2003) look like Citizen Kane (1941). 
 
Fuhgeddaboudit!

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, smoking and mature themes
Running time: 101 minutes
Production Studios: Amazon / Gravier Productions
Distributor: Amazon Studios


To see a trailer for Wonder Wheel, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFM0UqX9MJ8

Contemporary Color

Film Review by Kam Williams




Concert Flick Features Elaborate Performances by Ten Color Guard Teams

Color Guards are carefully-synchronized teams which often appear on the field during halftime of high school and football games. Not to be confused with marching bands or cheerleading squads, these highly-choreographed dance troupes wave flags, toss rifles and spin sabres instead of playing musical instruments or executing daredevil acrobatics. 
 
Because this so-called "Sport of the Arts" has operated in relative obscurity for ages, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne decided to do something about it. So, in the summer of 2015, he staged a concert at Brooklyn's Barclays Center featuring ten of the best Color Guard troops around. Furthermore, he recruited ten colleagues, including Lucius, Nelly Furtado, Zola Jesus, Money Mark and Ad-Rock to write original tunes to accompany the groups' performances.

The upshot of those collaborations is Contemporary Color, a concert flick co-directed by siblings Bill and Turner Ross. Unfortunately, their haphazardly-edited film jumps back and forth between the elaborate parades and behind-the-scenes badinage around the arena so frenetically that you're never afforded an opportunity to appreciate even one complete presentation from beginning to end. 
 

That attention-deficit approach prevents the viewer from ascertaining whether Color Guards are really entertaining enough to draw an audience on their own, as opposed to merely serving as a sideshow to a gridiron contest. Consequently, Contemporary Color is reminiscent of being forced by your proud, if tipsy, aunt to watch a shaking-camera home movie of a cousin's poorly-recorded school play or chorus recital.

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for brief profanity
Running time: 97 minutes
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories


To see a trailer for Contemporary Color, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l364FyVc6I

Keanu

DVD Review by Kam Williams


Key & Peele Co-Star as Slumming Geeks in Fish-Out-of-Water Comedy


Rell (Jordan Peele) was so inconsolable after being dumped by his girlfriend that getting high didn't help ease the pain. But then, while crying on the shoulder of his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key), a cute, little kitten appeared on his doorstep.

Seeing this as a sign of divine intervention, Rell adopted the adorable stray, which he proceeded to feed, bathe and name Keanu, Hawaiian for "cool breeze." But after bonding for the next couple of weeks, his newfound state of bliss ended abruptly with the kidnapping of Keanu during a break in by members of the 17th Street Blips.

The Blips are a ruthless drug gang from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. So, Rell realizes that to rescue his pet he's going to have to venture into the heart of the ghetto.
This is a tall order for a nerd from the burbs totally unfamiliar with the ways of the 'hood. for some reason, he enlists the assistance of his equally-geeky cousin, whose wife (Nia Long) and daughter (Jordyn A. Davis) very conveniently just happen to be going away for the weekend.

Rell and Clarence adopt gangsta' alias, Tectonic and Shark Tank, respectively, before confronting Cheddar (Method Man), the Blips' bloodthirsty kingpin. They also deliberately abandoned their bourgie black accents for grammar-butchering Ebonics laced with profanity, the N-word and lots of double negatives.

Of course, retrieving Keanu proves to be quite complicated, as not only Cheddar but a Latino crime boss (Luis Guzman) has staked a claim to the cat (which he refers to as Iglesias). And it is very important that the cousins never admit their middle-class roots lest they risk being exposed as lacking street cred.

Thus unfolds Keanu, a one-trick pony or, should I say, a one-trick kitty directed by Peter Atencio, director of 54 episodes of the Key and Peel TV show. This fish-out-of-water comedy repeatedly relies on the theme that these guys have no idea how to survive in the slums on the run from myriad maladroit morons. That running joke gets tired after about 10 minutes, but the stretch-o-matic skit format insists on beating the dead horse for another hour and a half. 
 
That's irritainment!



Fair (1 star)
Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, drug use, inncessant ethnic slurs and pervasive profanity
Running time: 100 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Extras: Deleted scenes; gag reel; and Keanu: My First Movie.

To see a trailer for Keanu, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9zy27apgI8

To order a copy of the Keanu on Blu-ray, visit: 

 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

[Ultimate Edition] DVD Review by Kam Williams



Patience-Testing Adventure Pits the Man of Steel against the Caped Crusader

Let's face it, Christian Bale's Batman was going to be a hard act for any actor to follow, especially Ben Affleck who had already proved underwhelming as a superhero when he played Daredevil back in 2003. And the departure from the franchise of Chris Nolan, the legendary director of the critically-acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy, only served to lower expectations even further. 
 
Thus, it's no surprise that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would indeed prove to be a bitter disappointment. The picture was directed by Zack Snyder who also helmed the 2013 reboot of Superman, called Man of Steel.

The first problem with this terribly-flawed, second offering in the DC Extended Universe series rests in its interminable 2-and-1/2 hour running time that could have easily been trimmed down to less than 90 minutes. For example, why bother revisit the backstory about what inspired Bruce Wayne to become Batman, when the murder of his parents had previously been addressed in numerous other episodes?

The second issue with the production has to do with Batman and Superman's (Henry Cavill) being cast as adversaries for the bulk of the film. Yes, the source of the tension between the two is adequately explained, but the audience nevertheless grows increasingly impatient since we'd much rather see our beloved heroes quickly resolve their differences in favor of joining forces to fight a real villain. 
 
After all, there is an eminently detestable adversary waiting in the wings in the person of the diabolical Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Too bad this tortoise-paced blockbuster takes forever to arrive at that epic showdown. Instead, we're forced to endure the meaningless machinations of a convoluted adventure less concerned with coherency than with atmospherics, action and special f/x. 
 
Besides those superficial bells and whistles, director Snyder exhibits an annoying fondness for support characters with nothing much to do, from Clark Kent's colleague Jimmy Olsen (Michael Cassidy), to his boss Perry White (Laurence Fishburne), to Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons). The film also features a plethora of cameo appearances by celebrities Neil deGrasse Tyson, Anderson Cooper, Brooke Baldwin, Soledad O'Brien, Nancy Grace and Dana Bash who merely distract from rather than advance the plot. 
 
More enjoyable are the relatively-purposeful roles played by Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). But by the time the long-awaited battle royal with Luthor and his henchman Doomsday (Robin Atkin Downes) finally rolls around, you're so tired of peeking at your watch that you just want it over and done with as fast as possible. Make it stop!
A classic case of moviemaking excess resulting in a patience-testing blockbuster adding up to way less than the sum of its parts. 
 

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for intense violence, pervasive action and some sensuality
Theatrical Version Running time: 151 minutes
Ultimate Edition Running Time: 182 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Extras: Uniting the World's Finest; Gods and Men: A Meeting of Giants; Accelerating Design: The New Batmobile; Superman: Complexity & Truth; Batman: Austerity & Rage; Wonder Woman: Grace & Power; Batcave: Legacy of the Lair; The Might and the Power of a Punch; The Empire of Luthor; Save the Bats; and The Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder.

To see a trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WWzgGyAH6Y

To order a copy of the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:  

Central Intelligence

Film Review by Kam Williams


Suave CIA Agent Enlists Assistance of Nerdy Accountant in Odd Couple Comedy

Back in high school, Calvin (Kevin Hart) was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" while his chubby pal Bob (Dwayne Johnson) was being bullied by classmates because of his weight.. But that was a couple of decades ago, and a lot has changed since then. 
 
Today, we find Calvin wondering whether he might have peaked during his glory days at Central High when he and his childhood sweetheart Maggie (Danielle Nicolet) were voted 
Homecoming King and Queen. Yes, the two did marry, but the relationship's been so rocky she's currently insisting they enter therapy. Things are even worse for Calvin at his accounting firm, where he's just been passed over for a promotion to partner. 
 
By comparison, Bob's fortunes have improved immeasurably over the intervening years. He's not only shed all that unwanted baby fat but he's re-sculpted himself into a veritable Adonis by pumping iron a half-dozen hours a day. Furthermore, he's flourishing in an enviable career as a crack CIA Agent well-versed in the tools of international espionage. 
 
The pair's paths cross for the first time in years at their 20th high school reunion where Calvin is impressed by both Bob's new physique and his daring line of work. So, it's no surprise that the suave spy is able to enlist the jaded pencil pusher's technical assistance on his latest assignment. He also could use a little help apprehending the assassin who murdered his partner (Aaron Paul). 
 
That's the point of departure of Central Intelligence, an unlikely-buddies comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (We're the Millers). Kevin Hart has proven himself quite the master of the genre, given the success of such box-office hits as The Wedding Ringer, Get Hard and Ride Along 1 and 2, to name a few. Unfortunately, Kevin and co-star Dwayne Johnson fail to generate any chemistry, despite sharing the screen in scene after scene of silly slapstick.

The bulk of the picture's pathetic attempts at humor revolve around contrasting buff Bob's bravery with weak-kneed Calvin's cowardice. But sadly,  the laughs are few and far between during this decidedly-underwhelming action-adventure. 
  
Too bad whoever directed the promising trailer probably didn't direct the movie.




Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, nudity, crude humor and brief profanity
Running time: 107 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

To see a trailer for Central Intelligence, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxEw3elSJ8M

Captain America: Civil War

Film Review by Kam Williams


Avengers Split into Adversarial Factions in Clutttered, Over-Ambitious Action-Adventure


After overkill during an Avengers mission gone horribly wrong in Lagos, Nigeria exacts a terrible toll in terms of collateral damage, the U.S. Secretary of State (William Hurt) calls the team of superheroes on the carpet. He proceeds to chew them out for behaving like vigilantes with unchecked power, before suggesting they agree to be supervised in the future by a United Nations panel. 
 
While a remorseful Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) is willing to submit to the Anti-Hero Registration Act, Captain America (Chris Evans) is much more suspicious of these Sokovia Accords ratified by 117 nations. Next thing you know, the Avengers have split into factions over whether or not they should abide by the governmental regulation. 
 
What ensues is a visually-captivating battle royal in which the allies-turned-adversaries inexplicably fight each other rather than resolve their ethical differences civilly. What does that tell you about whether they might need to be reigned in? 
 
Among those siding with Iron Man are Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland), And Captain America's freedom lovers include Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ant Man (Paul Rudd), 
 
Fans of the franchise are certain to delight in seeing so many of their favorite superheroes together in the same episode. Regrettably, that is both the primary strength and weakness of this 13th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series. For, co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: Winter Soldier) have cluttered the screen by introducing and then failing to develop over a score of prominent characters, unless engaging in combat counts.

Too bad they couldn't come up with anything more interesting for the shattered, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. confederacy to do besides battling each other. Clocking in at 2 and 1/2 hours, even the eye-popping special f/x-tend to gets a little tedious once the wow factor wears off.

An underwhelming exercise in sound and fury strictly for brains on pause. .



Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem
in English, German, Russian, Romanian and Hausa with subtitles
Running time: 146 minutes
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures


To see a trailer for Captain America: Civil War, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrVegVI0Us

Keanu

Film Review by Kam Williams


Suburban Nerds Masquerade as Hardened Gangstas to Retrieve Cat from the 'Hood


Rell (Jordan Peele) was so inconsolable after being dumped by his girlfriend that getting high didn't help ease the pain. But then, while crying on the shoulder of his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key), a cute, little kitten appeared on his doorstep. 
 
Seeing this as a sign of divine intervention, Rell adopted the adorable stray, which he proceeded to feed, bathe and name Keanu, Hawaiian for "cool breeze." But after bonding for the next couple of weeks, his newfound state of bliss ended abruptly with the kidnapping of Keanu during a break in by members of the 17th Street Blips.

The Blips are a ruthless drug gang from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. So, Rell realizes that to rescue his pet he's going to have to venture into the heart of the ghetto.

This is a tall order for a nerd from the burbs totally unfamiliar with the ways of the 'hood. for some reason, he enlists the assistance of his equally-geeky cousin, whose wife (Nia Long) and daughter (Jordyn A. Davis) very conveniently just happen to be going away for the weekend.

Rell and Clarence adopt gangsta' alias, Tectonic and Shark Tank, respectively, before confronting Cheddar (Method Man), the Blips' bloodthirsty kingpin. They also deliberately abandoned their bourgie black accents for grammar-butchering Ebonics laced with profanity, the N-word and lots of double negatives.

Of course, retrieving Keanu proves to be quite complicated, as not only Cheddar but a Latino crime boss (Luis Guzman) has staked a claim to the cat (which he refers to as Iglesias). And it is very important that the cousins never admit their middle-class roots lest they risk being exposed as lacking street cred.

Thus unfolds Keanu, a one-trick pony or, should I say, a one-trick kitty directed by Peter Atencio, director of 54 episodes of the Key and Peel TV show. This fish-out-of-water comedy repeatedly relies on the theme that these guys have no idea how to survive in the slums on the run from myriad maladroit morons. That running joke gets tired after about 10 minutes, but the stretch-o-matic skit format insists on beating the dead horse for another hour and a half.

That's irritainment!



Fair (1 star)
Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, drug use, inncessant ethnic slurs and pervasive profanity
Running time: 98 minutes
Distributor: New Line Cinema / Warner Brothers


To see a trailer for Keanu, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9zy27apgI8

Fifty Shades of Black

DVD Review by Kam Williams


Wayans Plays Filthy-Rich Playboy in Parody of Erotic 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 and 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: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Extras: Unrated deleted scenes; and Meet Mr. Black.


To see a trailer for Fifty Shades of Black, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBPoakMk_o

To order a copy of the Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:

The Benefactor

DVD Review by Kam Williams


Moralizing Melodrama Stars Richard Gere as Rich Control Freak


Filthy-rich Francis Watts (Richard Gere) is every bit as flamboyant as he is altruistic. But the Philadelphia philanthropist also has an annoying personality flaw: a need to interfere in the affairs of the recipients of his charity.

For instance, the meddling bachelor has purchased a home for Olivia (aka "Poodles") (Dakota Fanning) and Luke (Theo James), newlyweds expecting their first child. Furthermore, he has not only paid off the husband's medical school loans, but secured the physician a position at a children's hospital where he serves on the board. 
 
In this case, there's a logical reason for Franny's Iargesse, namely, his overwhelming regret about having caused the car accident that claimed the lives of Olivia's parents. Still, that doesn't explain why the creepy control freak feels entitled to crawl into bed with the couple or to pressure the young doctor to write him illegal prescriptions for the painkiller he's become addicted to. 
 
That is the intriguing point of departure of The Benefactor, a moralizing melodrama marking the writing and directorial debut of Andrew Renzi (unless you count Fishtail, a documentary he made about life on a Montana cattle ranch). Here, unfortunately, Renzi squanders the talents of A-listers Richard Gere and Dakota Fanning in service of a disappointing script that even their considerable talents couldn't help salvage.

Gere's Franny is an ostentatious dandy sporting a flowing silver mane who alternates between making bizarre and generous gestures. However, there is obviously a big hole in his soul but the picture doesn't deign to divulge the source of his angst . No, that's saved for the silly soap opera's big reveal which, quite frankly, wasn't worth the wait. 
 
Meanwhile, Fanning isn't given much to do beyond a variety of vapid reaction shots to Franny's over-the-top antics. Oh, and her belly keeps expanding as her pregnancy progresses, too, if wearing different rubber suits counts as method acting. 
 
An unconvincing melodrama indicting money's power to manipulate as the root of all evil.



Fair (1 star)
Unrated
Running time: 92 minutes
Distributor: Entertainment One


To see a trailer for The Benefactor, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1990TMAF9I

To order a copy of The Benefactor on DVD, visit: