Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)



I have a younger brother. We tend to live out lives on opposite schedule's so when we get a chance to chill we tend to maximize our time. After talking about what's been going on we decided to watch a movie. I only  had two rules, nothing too serious, and something under 90 minutes. He came back with The Sorcerer and the White Snake. There will be a spoiler alert below.

A master monk tries to protect a naive young physician from a thousand-year-old snake demon. A contest of psychic powers results in mayhem.
Summary
The first scene of this movie is how I thought The Last Airbender was going to be throughout. Magnificent battle scenes using magic while flying through the air. We introduced to a monk --Abott Fahai (Jet Li)-- and his assistant-- Xu Xian (Raymond Lam)-- and what it is they do. They capture demons who harm/would harm humans. 

Next we meet a green snake and a white snake. They take the form of a woman's head and torso and a long flowing snake body. They are playing on there own in a forest when they take a moment to rest on a cliff and see some humans digging for herbs.The green snake knocks a man into a river and the white snake transforms into a human to dive down and rescue him. 

The white snake is smitten with this herbalist, and her and the green snake go to celebration in town to seek him out. He is there but so are the two monks seeking out another demon. The White Snake manages to get time with the herbalist and reminds him of who she his. She only is in human form with him and thus he never really knows her true identity. During this time the Green Snake and the young monk talk a bit and joke, but then the monk has to get down to business. He goes to fight a bat demon. He successfully kills the minions, but the demon grabs him and bites him, forcing him to call of the help of his master.

The next morning the young monk wakes to learn he his transforming into a bat demon himself. Abbot Fahai knows of his plight, but let's him go off on his own.

From here it gets a bit boring. A lot of plot that doesn't necessarily advance the storyline. One thing of note is that the Abbot Fahai visits the herbalist about a village that is falling ill. The herbalist pledges to try to find a blend of medicine that will help the villagers. The White Snake hear's this and sets out to help her now husband. She uses her life source force in the blend. This helps the village, but she is weakened. 

When the Abbot goes to the village to see the recovery of the people he immediately knows that magic is involved. He gives the herbalist a special knife and tells him to be careful. He then warns the White Snake off and tells her to leave. Despite her doing good, she is still a demon and must leave, before he makes her do so.
That night see goes home and her husband unknowingly poisons her with a traditional wine that wards off snake bites. The Abbot and his disciples then use magic to capture her in the house. Weakened she forms into her true snake form. Her husband, not knowing it's her stabs her with the knife given to him. 

There long is strong and a back and forth ensues, with them trying to save each.


Thoughts
The movie came off as a spoof. I don't think that was intended, however, the first half of the movie seemed to be like Kung Fu Hustle.

I'm not sure if it's how the movie was written or the editing, but the movie had such a staccato pattern. Jumping from idea to idea and adding attributes to the story that were unnecessary. The movie was right around the 90 minute mark, but it could have easily been shorter, if the story had been tighter. 

Given personal experience, this movie spoke to me on a difference level. It seems to be kind of a commentary on interracial relationships. Mainly the intolerance for them. Abbot Fahai is a conservative traditionalist, and refuses to believe that the relationship between the herbalist and the White Snake, could ever work. He bases this belief on those demons what have done the world wrong, however, if the White Snake's friends (woodland creatures who can talk) are anything to go by, demons are all around the world, and don't seek to trouble others. Yes there are those who do, but that can be said for the humans as well. There is never a real resolution to this. It seems that humans and demons can live side by side, but the idea of loving each other is still taboo. 

The problem with this may stem from the word demon. Such a harsh word, in encompassing those things that are born magical and different. 


Spoiler Alert
The herbalist goes to the monks temple to get a special root that will save her. He finds it but a bunch of demons enter his body. A mouse demon take the root to the White Snake. The monks try to restore the herbalist. The White Snake, now recovered, comes to get her love. The monks won't let her, since they are doing a ritual that can't be interrupted. She becomes an even larger snake and her and the Green Snake wreak havoc on the village where the monks live. The herbalist is free from the trance, but doesn't remember her at all. Furious, the White Snake seeks vengeance on the Abbot. The Abbott beats her and seals her into a temple. Realizes the trouble she has caused she asks Buddha forgiveness and the chance to see her husband once more. This chance is granted to her. She kisses him and he remembers her. She then this pulled back into her tower, where she is sentenced to be for the next 1000 years. The herbalist, makes a new home outside her temple.

The movie ends with the Abbot and his young assist (that turned into a demon) finding a way to live in peace and help each other.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Luv (2012)




Expectations

I haven't really watched a "black movie" in awhile. I want to support the actors and actresses doing good things on behalf of the community I belong to, but I also will not support watching caricatures presented in Hollywood as gospel. It does nothing to advance the race and people outside of cities never get a chance to understand who we are and the struggles we go through. So in the Netflix indie category I found Luv and decided it was time to try again.

So, according to IMDb:

An 11-year-old boy gets a crash course in what it means to be a man when he spends a day with the ex-convict uncle he idolizes.



In a Nutshell

The film takes place in Baltimore, Md and starts with a young boy -- Woody (Michael Rainey, Jr.) -- going through his morning routine with a bit of a voice over. He then goes down for breakfast with his grandmother (Lonette McKee) and Uncle Vincent (Common). Within the first five minutes you start to understand the world you are about to be immerse in: 
  • Vincent is recently out of jail. 
  • The paper Vincent's reading tells of a gangland rivalry heating up and becoming deadly.
  • Woody idolizes his cool "Unc". 
  • Woody's mother is in North Carolina, for reasons we don't know, but can speculate are because she's dealing with personal issues. 
  • Woody's grandmother is getting too old to take care of him. 
  • Vincent, now out of jail is looking to get a loan and start a business; he doesn't want to be beholden to a boss, but run things himself.
Vincent is a loving but hard-edged uncle. He jokes with his nephew and asks him questions about his life (and the world at-large since he was away eight years), but expects Woody to be a man. Unafraid, proper disposition, and good with the ladies. Vincent takes Woody to school and upon Woody posturing about "shorties" he "hollas at" and then not being man enough to talk to the cutest girl at school, Vincent drives off. He tells Woody not to lie to him and that they would hang together today so that he can teach him how to be a man and how to handle business. Woody becomes Vincent's shadow.

This journey begins mild enough with trips to a tailor and visiting an old friend (Charles S. Dutton) to get a fake ID, which he then takes to a bank. Vincent is hoping to refinance his mother's house so that he can open a crab shack on the harbor. Good music. Great vibe. Upon hearing from the bank manager that the house is leverage up to its eyes and needs a payment of $22,000 before Monday to stay foreclosure, Vincent starts making moves. He begins to re-enter a circle of friends he had left behind for jail.

He goes to see Mr. Fish (Dennis Haysbert) for the initial money to pay the house down. He's not home, but his older brother Arthur (Danny Glover) tells where he can be found. It's obviously Fish runs things. Legit and illegal. Before Fish will even think about helping Vincent, he expects him to do a run for him like back in the day. Vincent's determined to make this happen and agrees. This movie then descents into Vincent exposing his nephew to this drug world. Picking up the drugs, almost being killed making a drop off, old rivalries with guys who wonder how he got out of jail 12 years early.Through all this Vincent takes time out to teach Woody how to shoot a gun, drive a car, and to not wear skinny jeans too tight so he can "protect his balls".  

I really don't want to give away too much because I want to encourage everyone to see it. No spoilers from me.

I will say this, Woody's last lesson in this movie is about how to crack a crab. Having lived in Northern Virginia most of my life and having family in Maryland. I have indulged in crabs every summer since I was five. Cracking crab is a lesson that not just a man should know, but everyone.


Extras

Throughout this movie it's easy to get caught up in Vincent and his story, but don't. This is a coming-of-age tale for Woody. You have to remember to see things from his eyes. As an 11-year old boy, people often talk over him or not at all. You won't get all the answers, because Woody doesn't have all the answers.

While the ending came a little fast, hard and leaving me with questions about these characters, I really loved this movie. All the acting was brilliant. There were moments when actors were truly distraught and I was too. The ending leaves a little to be desired, but you can't always tie endings into a neat package.

As for this being a "black movie", I don't want to condescend and put this movie into a box it doesn't deserve. This a great movie with a black cast. I do wish it weren't told around the tale of drugs and gangs, however, everyone needs their story told. For someone out there, I have no doubt this is their story -- if not slightly fictionalized. These characters weren't over written or over acted. The presence of some of the smaller roles wasn't embellished to make this world seem more dangerous. Quite the opposite. I believe the danger was embellished by the quiet that was used.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

The Stuff (1985)


Expectations

I'm back! So, I think I've mentioned this but horror movies aren't my thing; however, after missing last week I felt kind of obligated to find something within the genre. I watched the most ludicrous B horror movie: The Stuff. Came out the same year I was born, and yes, it is painfully obvious that this is an 80s movies. So according to IMDb:


A delicious mysterious goo that oozes from the Earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation. But the sugary treat rots more than teeth when zombie-like snackers begin infesting the world.


The name of the movie alone helps you understand how generic and lazy this movie is, not to mention once you start watching and realize why it's named "The Stuff". Since I know some people are into old 80s horror, there will be no spoiler today.

In a Nutshell

The movie gets started quickly, with the first ten minutes introducing characters and foreshadowing how it's about to get freaky.

The movie starts with a worker walking through some industrial area where it's snowing. As he's walking he sees some white stuff moving around, that's clearly not snow. He touches it with his finger and then does the most logical thing possible.  He eats it. He discovers this white stuff taste pretty good.

Cut to a young boy, Jason (Scott Bloom), about 10 waking up in the middle of the night and going down to the kitchen to get a snack. He opens the refrigerator door to find a carton of "The Stuff" (now referred to as, TS) spilled out of the container and moving around. A second later his father appears and TS is back in the container, still, albeit turned over.

A quick commercial about TS, with a woman saying how she now loves TS more than ice-cream now.

Next up, we see business men on a yacht out on the cusp of some harbor. They're ice-cream men and are worried about their profits with TS coming into grocery stores and winning consumers over. They bring on Mo (Michael Moriarty) to help them with a little company espionage. They tried to go through the regular routes of asking the FDA, but mysteriously everyone that helped get TS approved is unavailable for some reason or another.

Just so you can have a visual, TS looks kind of like Fluff.

Dafuq?

Now it starts to get "good". We follow Mo and Jason as they are both ever more skeptical about TS and searching for answers about what it does, where it comes from, and resisting eating it.

Mo enlist the help of Nicole (Andrea Marcovicci) the ad/pr/marketing exec who helped launch TS. Jason? Well Jason resist eating it at any cost. He's even in the grocery store and flips out in a big way. He goes through wreaking displays, breaking the glass to the coolers and allowing displays to be spilled all over the floor. Once at home, he fakes eating it, by filling a carton with shaving cream instead.

Mo goes around to chemist, the one FDA official available, and going through to the small town where TS was originally found. He meets Chocolate Chip Charlie (Garrett Morris) down here. CCC was drove out of business because of TS.

Little by little we start to see how TS is making people crazy. This low-fat, delicious choice is making everyone neglect all else. No real food. They don't get tried and are neglectful of everything that doesn't help them get more of TS.

Eventually Mo, Andrea, and Jason, go to Georgia to go to the plant and figure out what's really going on. Yup. They bring a 10yr old along. Safest place? Debatable. 

Let me say this. My thoughts might be choppy, but that's because the movie is edited that way. Very choppy. Also, I'm not really sure how this is a true horror movie. More of a cheap thriller. I'm use to horror movies that scare you (psychologically or with gore) within the first 20 at the most. This movie never really got scary. At times, it even seemed like a propaganda piece about American consumerism and eating.

Once down in GA, the three realize that TS comes right from some weird geyser in the earth. They're out of their depth when it comes to getting rid of it all so enlist the help of  Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears (Paul Sorvino). Spears is an army colonel who lives with his troops off the beaten path. He's also, fascist, racist, conservative and paranoid about the government he works for.

I'll stop there.  I don't want to give too much away. There's still a fun-filled 30mins I haven't described yet.

Extras

For those who enjoy terrible old horror movies, I can't recommend it. This movie manages to move fast but still too slow where the action is concerned. Plus no questions are answered. 

There are a lot of famous people in this movie. Fun fact. Three Law and Order alums appear in this movie. Michael Moriarity, Paul Sorvino and Eric Bogosian (who initially went uncredited). I can't imagine why they all did this movie. I don't know if they were slumming it, or if they genuinely thought this move was to be an awesome horror movie.