DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DJ Does Hip-Hop Remix of Birth of a Nation

Listen, if it’s okay in the world of pop music for DJs to remix snippets of classic songs in order to rap over them, why shouldn’t a hip-hop era filmmaker be able to do the same thing with an old movie, especially if its copyright is expired and its now part of the public domain? That’s precisely what we’re dealing with in the case of Rebirth of a Nation, a sophisticated overhaul of D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. That controversial silent flick from 1915 is frequently credited with setting the tone for the persistence of lynchings and other forms of oppression and intimidation of blacks during the 20th Century up until the triumph of the Civil Rights Movement.
Where the original movie was unabashedly racist, filmmaker Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, now cleverly turns that tribute to intolerance on its head by adding his own running commentary exposing Griffith’s bigoted agenda. Spooky explains how he had manipulated reality via an array of images designed to distort the truth. For example, there’s a Mammy in the movie still serving her master who calls a free African-American arriving on the plantation “black trash” before kicking him in the butt with, “Dem free [N-words] f’um de N’of sho’ crazy.”
Generally, Griffith depicted any blacks who weren’t subservient to whites as savages in need of taming by any means necessary. Hence, his championing the Ku Klux Klan’s coming to the defense of Caucasian females whom he suggested were suddenly damsels-in-distress due to lascivious emancipated blacks celebrating the legalization of mixed marriages.
As augmented by DJ Spooky’s rectifying voiceover, I found myself actually enjoying Griffith’s creepy picture for the first time. Ironically, if this remix has a mild failing, it’s in its subdued, ethereal soundtrack, which plays more like a Philip Glass modern classical score than the urban-oriented fare one might expect ala Puffy, Common, DMX or 50 Cent.
Can Spooky’s version of Gone with the Wind be far behind, edited so that Rhett Butler and the rest of the Rebels get exactly what they deserve?

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: Starz Productions

Year One

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Crude Caveman Encounter Biblical Events in Raunchy Road Comedy

There’s only one line in Year One which made me laugh, albeit unintentionally. It’s where Jack Black asks, “Why am I talking?” precisely echoing my sentiments while watching him embarrass himself with joke after joke which completely falls flat.

For this sleazy Harold Ramis-directed Judd Apatow production is unfunny from beginning to end, starting with the moment when Black’s character informs us that he’s slept with his own mother. But such behavior is ostensibly okay since he-man Zed (Black) is a Neanderthal, and the same can be said of his sidekick, Oh (Michael Cera), who conks a woman on the head with a club in order to have his way with her.

This is how we’re introduced to the crude cavemen at the point of departure, shortly before they are run out of their hometown, population 60, not for these crimes but because Zed takes a bite out of a piece of forbidden fruit dangling from a golden apple tree. In case you missed the allusion to Adam (Harold Ramis) and Eve (Rhoda Griffis), a snake soon materializes and slithers around Oh’s neck, choking him to death, at least until the next scene when he’s inexplicably alive again.

Not to worry, that’s not the only time Oh dies (he’s also killed by a cougar) or the only Biblical tale this mess of a movie takes poetic license with. For next, we find the pair right in the midst of the sibling rivalry which led to the first documented case of fratricide. Unfortunately, again there’s simply nothing humorous about the way in which they fail to intervene as Cain (David Cross) bashes his brother Abel’s (Paul Rudd) brains in.

Subsequently, Zed and Oh’s lighthearted look at the Old Testament has them crossing paths with such religious figures as Abraham, Isaac and Lilith on their testosterone-sodden sojourn to the city of Sodom. There, the plot thickens when the horny boys discover that the objects of their affection (June Diane Raphael and Juno Temple) are slaves. So they hatch a cockamamie scheme to free them.

What ensues is a cinematically-tragic mix of slapstick and bodily function fare, a horrifying insult to the intelligence, given all the big names connected to the project, including Bill Hader, Horatio Sanz, Hank Azaria, Vinnie Jones, Oliver Platt and that kid who played McLovin’ in Superbad.

Might not be Jack Black’s best film, but it’s definitely his worst.

Poor (0 stars)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor, slapstick violence, brief profanity and sexuality.

Running time: 97 minutes

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Dead Snow (NORWEGIAN)

(Død snø)
Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Nazis Gnaw on Norwegians in Zany Zombie Flick

When a group of med students make plans to spend their Easter break together in a mountaintop cabin far removed from civilization, they never expect to find themselves in a fight for their lives against an army of ghouls dressed in Nazi uniforms. After arriving at the isolated ski lodge, they learn that they don’t have any cell phone reception, and only then does it occur to them that their predicament sounds a lot like the typical plot of high attrition-rate horror fare.
They start joking about Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, April Fool’s Day and other scary movies they’re reminded of, knowing full well that they’re in Norway, not some rural American setting normally associated with such grisly goings-on. But that is precisely what ensues in Dead Snow, a low-budget splatter flick which tends to follow the genre’s conventions, except that the black guy doesn’t die first because there aren’t any brothers for miles around this lily-white enclave.
At the point of departure, we’re introduced to seven members of the ill-fated ensemble. Each of the males fits a familiar archetype. There’s squeamish Martin (Vegar Hoel) who feints at the sight of blood, nerdy Erlend (Jeppe Laursen), horny Roy (Stig Frode Henriksen) and macho Vegard (Lasse Valdal) whose girlfriend Sara (Ane Dahl Torp) owns the cottage.
We don’t meet her until later, because she chose to travel by skis through the snow instead of by car like the rest of the revelers. The three other females are nondescript damsels-in-distress: Chris (Jenny Skavlan) who secretly has the hots for Erland, her cousin, Hanna (Charlotte Frogner), and Liv (Evy Kasseth Rosten).
While relaxing with beer while playing a game of Twister, the party is interrupted by a grizzled geezer (Bjorn Sundquist) who warns that these very same hills are said to be cursed ever since it was the site of a slaughter during the Second World War. Needless to say, the newcomers ignore the local lore at their peril which soon arrives in the person of the late Colonel Herzog (Orjan Gamst) and his ghoulish henchmen.
Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Dead Snow is a derivative affair with nothing special to offer besides the novel sight of Nazis as zombies. Still, it’s well enough executed to recommend for fright fans, provided you have a strong stomach for gratuitous gore.
Hitler of the dead!

Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
In Norwegian with subtitles.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: IFC Films

House of Payne, Volume 4 DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Spike Lee’s Favorite TV Show Comes to DVD

In a recent TV interview with Ed Gordon, Spike Lee blasted fellow director Tyler Perry, comparing his TV shows to Amos n’ Andy and other demeaning programs from less-enlightened times. Is that criticism far? You can judge for yourself by checking out this 3-Disc DVD containing episodes 61-80 of House of Payne.
Mr. Lee notwithstanding, the sitcom has met with both critical and popular acclaim, between winning four NAACP Image Awards (including best comedy series) and being the highest-rated cable sitcom of all time. So, is this just a case of sour grapes, or does Spike have a legitimate complaint?
Here’s my take. Yes, some of the characters certainly behave in a buffoonish fashion which would be embarrassing if they were the only examples of African-Americans to be found on television. But we’re not still in the Fifties when the handful of black faces included the likes of Beulah the maid, Rochester the chauffeur, Little Rascals Buckwheat and Stymie, and the aforementioned Amos and Andy. It’s not even the Seventies when the insulting Good Times with its racist theme song suggested that black people are docile and happy about the host of woes visited upon those unfortunate enough to be stuck living in the projects.

“Keepin’ your head above water…
Making a wave when you can.
Temporary lay offs… Good Times!
Easy credit rip offs… Good Times!
Scratchin’ and surviving… Good Times!
Hangin’ in a chow line… Good Times!
Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em… Good Times!”

We’ve come a long way from such minstrel shows. Over the intervening years, we’ve not only had Bill Cosby, but witnessed a plethora of other African-American actors playing an array of respectable roles on TV and in film. Listen, when a black man has become president of the United States, it’s obvious that kids now have a host of positive role models to emulate. So, I’d say it’s okay to laugh with your children at Curtis Payne, so long as they understand not to mimic any of the antics of that jive character.

Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 440 minutes
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
3-Disc DVD Extras: Bloopers, “CJ” character profile and “Welcome to My House” featurette.

The Pink Panther 2 DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Brings Steve Martin Back as Bumbling Inspector Clouseau

Here’s the nagging question I kept asking myself while watching Pink Panther 2: Is Inspector Clouseau supposed to be this annoying or is it just Steve Martin? Shortly after 9-11, France fell into disfavor because of its underwhelming show of support of the Bush Doctrine and the War on Terrorism. So, for a few years, Hollywood had a field day at the expense of the French, routinely portraying them mostly in some unflattering combination of evil, cowardly, rude and uncouth.
When the Pink Panther franchise was revived a few years ago, it never occurred to me that Steve Martin might have been reinterpreting the character instead of merely doing a poor man’s impersonation of Peter Sellers. Even though the picture was roundly panned by the critics, I guess the movie must have done well at the box office because they decided to make this even sorrier sequel.
If memory serves me right, Peter Sellers’ approach to Clouseau was marked mostly by mime-like, self-deprecating slapstick, not by poking fun at others. This cuts a sharp contrast with the version of Martin who is not above hurling ethnic insults. For instance, he refers to a Japanese colleague as “my little yellow friend.” And in another scene, Asians are again the butt of the joke when he suggests that they are all bad drivers.
To me, this sort of offensive humor isn’t funny and certainly shouldn’t be rated a kid-friendly PG, for that suggests that it is somehow okay for impressionable young minds to be exposed to hateful ethnic stereotyping. In this unifying Age of Obama, irrelevant Steve Martin should go back to his stand-up act where he shoots an arrow through his head, rather than mar the memory of a beloved icon by trading in ugly racial slurs.

Poor (0 stars)
Rated PG for comical violence, suggestive material, ethnic humor and mild epithets.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
2-Disc DVD extras: Pink Panther classic cartoon collection, gag reel, trailers, plus a couple of featurettes.

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam's Kapsules:
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening June 26, 2009


BIG BUDGET FILMS

My Sister’s Keeper (PG-13 for profanity, sensuality, mature themes, disturbing images and underage alcohol consumption) drama about a girl (Abigail Breslin), conceived as a bone marrow donor for her leukemia-stricken sister (Sofia Vassilieva) who sues her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for medical emancipation when they want a kidney, too. With Alec Baldwin (brother of Stephen, William and Daniel), Joan Cusack (sister of John), Mary Jo Emily and Deschanel (mother and sister of Zooey, respectively), and Al Quinn (no relation to Anthony).

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13 for violence, profanity, crude behavior, sexuality and brief drug use) Sci-fi sequel features Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox who team with the Autobots for another epic battle againsd the Decepticons, a race of evil robots returning to Earth with revenge in mind. Cast includes John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Rainn Wilson, Anthony Anderson, Hugo Weaving and Isabel Lucas.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Afghan Star (Unrated) Post-liberation concert flick chronicles the nationally-televised competition entered into by thousands of aspiring, Afghani pop stars including several women willing to risk incurring the wrath of the Taliban by appearing unveiled on their country’s equivalent of American Idol. (In English, Pashtu and Dari)

Cheri (R for sexuality and brief drug use) Stephen Frears directs this romance drama set in Paris in the 1920s and revolving around a spoiled teenager (Rupert Friend) who embarks on a steamy affair with a considerably-older, retired courtesan (Michelle Pfeiffer) only to have his gold-digger of a mother (Kathy Bates) interfere by arranging his marriage to a virginal heiress (Felicity Jones).

The Hurt Locker (R for violence and profanity) Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty co-star in this Iraq War saga, set in the summer of 2004, as members of an elite bomb squad, assigned to defuse Improvised Explosive Devices, who are alarmed by their reckless new Staff Sergeant’s (Jeremy Renner) utter disregard for military protocol. Support cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and David Morse.

New York (Unrated) Bollywood-produced drama examines the effect of 9/11 on the lives of a foreign student (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and a couple of his friends (John Abraham and Katrina Kaif) also attending NYU at the time of the terrorist attack. (In Hindi and English with subtitles)

Quiet Chaos (Unrated) Romance drama about a grieving widower (Nanni Moretti) who mourns the sudden loss of his wife (Ester Cavallari) by hanging out all day in the park across from their ten year-old daughter’s (Blu Yoshimi) school. With a cameo by fugitive pedophile Roman Polaski. (In Italian and French with subtitles)

The Stoning of Soraya M. (R for brutal violence and brief profanity) Female empowerment flick, set in Iran in 1986, about an ill-fated mother of four (Mozhan Marno) falsely accused of adultery by her husband so he can marry a much younger woman. With Jim Caviezel as the curious French journalist who cracks the case. (In Persian and English with subtitles)

Surveillance (R for drug use, pervasive profanity, graphic violence and deviant sexuality) Crime thriller about a couple of FBI Agents (Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman) who try to track down a serial killer in Santa Fe with the help of three eyewitnesses (Pell James, Ryan Simpkins and Kent Harper).

Phoebe in Wonderland DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Elle Fanning as Mentally-Troubled Child

At first blush, little Phoebe Lichten (Elle Fanning) looks like your normal nine year-old. Sure, the precocious fourth grader tends to talk out of turn in class, but that disruptive behavior might easily be deemed as natural for any curious child with a creative mind. Phoebe’s case proves to be a little more complicated than just nervous energy when her acting out escalates to spitting on a classmate. This incident lands her in hot water with the principal (Campbell Scott) who informs her parents (Bill Pullman and Felicity Hoffman) of the infraction.
However, their well-meaning intervention involves sending their daughter to counseling with a lame shrink (Peter Gerety) who snap-diagnoses Tourette’s Syndrome as the source of the outburst, even though that doesn’t really explain all of her symptoms. Tragically, Mrs. Lichten is too busy between writing a book about Alice in Wonderland to give Phoebe the attention she needs.
As fate would have it, a guardian angel appears in the person of a drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson) whose protective instincts kick-in when she senses that Phoebe’s a kid in crisis. Sympathetic Miss Dodger decides to cast her in the title role of the next school production which just happens to be Alice in Wonderland.
Unfortunately, Dodger’s openly encouraging Phoebe’s flights of fancy during rehearsals only seems to accelerate the deterioration of the girl’s mental state. Soon, we find the child further and further divorced from reality, and engaging in conversations with the White Rabbit, the King of Hearts and other characters from the Lewis Carroll classic.
So unfolds Phoebe in Wonderland, a serious examination of mental illness which doesn’t offer any pat answers or serve up a syrupy sendoff. The picture is worthwhile for the powerful performance of Elle Fanning alone, an emerging star steadily rising out of her sister Dakota’s shadow. Elle proves to be unusually adept here at holding you in her thrall while conveying both the innocence and the angst of a desperate adolescent trapped inside of a brain gradually coming apart at the seams.
It’s ‘Fanning’tastic!

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and brief profanity.
Running time: 100 minutes
Studio: Image Entertainment