The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: ALL EYEZ ON ME

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on ALL EYEZ ON ME (2017, 139 minutes, R)

I sought enlightenment… and was disappointed.

Gangsta Rap became popular just after my time in high school and my exposure to the lesser known Hip-Hop performers.  My limited contact included some of the original inspirations and some of the founding members, the ones who paved the way to made it fashionable… from the Run DMC beginnings to NWA’s blossoming (yeah, word choice on a topic like this can be fun).  All that happened after seemed to begin to spiral away from the core message I had come to understand, kind of like this kneeling during the National Anthem kerfuffle.  It evolved into lyrics about the ‘ladies’ (translation… b%$ches and hoes) and money… and street cred.  Don’t think me too far from the hardcore, I will always appreciate Ice-T’s Body Count.  Not one to promote the shooting of cops, but his message was quite topical and a splash of cold water on the clueless masses.  He ruffled a few feathers and it was needed.

As an attempt for a much-needed biopic on things that need to be brought into the light, this one was way too ‘clean’ and fails to give any credence on the true struggle.  It held no sense of realism to the actual nature and life of Tupac and the things he experienced.  There were only quick glimpses and probably plenty of ‘white-washing’ of what really transpired.  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON was a victim of said ‘scrubbing’ but it was still an entertaining story and you felt the vibe in the soundtrack.  The one thing I saw as eerie though, Demetrius Shipp Jr. was the spittin’ image of Tupac and he was about as genuine as you can get with this limited script.

With ALL EYEZ, I was hoping to understand more about the shift in the mainstream Hip-Hop.  I just don’t think this film captured Tupac’s life story and the message he really was conveying, something they tried to pound into you in the dialogue.  After thinking on it, I just couldn’t shake the sense that the story was full of holes, and not the ones typically found in a life story film.  The one thing I DO want now is a full, unedited biopic of Suge Knight.  I believe his crazy-ass story cannot avoid the ‘thug life’ found in that period’s music.  This is the biopic we deserve.

Grade: C-

“The Thoughtful Stories You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX and HULU”

“The Thoughtful Stories You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX and HULU”

NETFLIX:

LITTLE EVIL

(2017, TV-MA, 95 minutes, BLUEGRASS FILMS/MANDALAY PICTURES)

 

This little tale is about a ‘newly-indoctrinated’ stepfather discovering his stepson may be the antichrist.  Writer/director Eli Craig, a veteran of atypical comedic-horror stories - TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL and ZOMBIELAND, does not let you down with his simple vision.  Adam Scott (of STEP BROTHERS, “Parks and Recreation”, THE AVIATOR) teams up with Evangeline Lilly (of “Lost”, ANT-MAN, THE HOBBIT series) to make the cutest couple and are a perfect pairing.  With other familiar faces to round out the cast, and young, capable actor Owen Atlas as Lucas, the devilish boy in question, keeps you engaged and waiting to see how the mess will end.  Just don’t think too hard on how he married Lilly before getting to know the young child, something I ask even now.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY

(2017, NR, 123 minutes, NEXUS FACTORY/RAFAELLA PRODUCTIONS/SND FILMS)

Dystopian films can be a fun break from your normal viewing pleasures, but do not be hasty with this one.  Noomi Rapace (of PROMETHEUS, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGONN TATTOO) takes on a demanding role, playing septuplets, which I would feel not beyond her talents.  The future is overpopulated and, just like China, there is a one-child per household policy.  Grandfather Willem Dafoe (of SPIDER-MAN, FINDING NEMO, PLATOON) takes the children after his daughter dies giving birth to them and teaches them how to survive under these unfortunate circumstances.  As is always the case, we are given too many subplots that converge on the ultimate demise of the government’s Child Allocation Bureau.  Sometimes I wish writers and studios would be more daring and not always think ‘big picture’.  There is enough drama and conflict with this unique family dynamic without having to go find a way to crumble the entire establishment.

HULU:

DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY

(2016, TV-14, Season 1 - 8 episodes approx. 30 minutes each, 3 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT)

Yes, I am catching-up on this one.  It was worth the wait to provide my undivided attention, and you should check it out if you haven’t already.  Creator Max Landis (known for writing CHRONICLE, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, MR. RIGHT, and the coming remake of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) brings to life Douglas Adams’ quaint series.  As an Adams’ work, this is a fantastic piece.  The characters are brilliant and the story is unlike anything you would expect.  Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, “Wilfred”, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER) and Samuel Barnett (of “Penny Dreadful”) lead the way in this unpredictable whodunit.  Hannah Marks (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, THE RUNAWAYS) and the other cast members are all stand-outs, completing this character-driven, Picassoesque presentation. 

 

-- James S. Austin

"SKumm’s Thoughts" - IT

"SKumm’s Thoughts"

IT (2017, R, 135 minutes, WARNER BROTHERS/KATZSMITH PRODUCTIONS)

Stephen King books have not had a great reputation at the box office.  Sure, there were a few gems: SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, MISERY, and THE SHINING (even with its controversial elements) (don’t get me started…).  CREEPSHOW and THE MIST were also well executed.

But when you consider the breadth of the man’s works… somehow, certain elements of the terror he elicits on the page get lost in the translation.  His works are character-driven dives into the depths of personal horror, and it can be difficult to portray that onscreen.

Enter director Andy Muschietti (MAMA).  Working with a screenplay hashed out by three writers, he offers up a visual representation of a book that, if you ask any King fan, is canon in the author’s universe of masterpieces.  And he pulls it off.

For those not familiar with the tale, a group of kids in the town of Derry, Maine, take it upon themselves to rid the town of an evil which has plagued it for generations.  Children are disappearing, and it is up to this mixed bunch of adolescents to save the other youths of the small town from the clutches of evil—that evil most notably represented by a maleficent doppelganger named Pennywise the Dancing Clown.  The entire cast of kids is great, but most effective are “Stranger Things” alum Finn Wolfhard as wise-cracking Richie Tozier, and Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh.  As the comedy relief and the conscience of the story, this would be an entirely different film if those roles had gone to other actors.

That is part of the charm of the film; the cast works well together, and plays off each other just as a group of real-life friends would.  Also notable is the fast-talking Jack Dylan Grazer as the “frail” Eddie Kaspbrak, whose delivery and acting ability solidifies the group in a way the character in the actual book never did.  This is one of the nuances of this interpretation of the source material that secures the film as a marvelously executed compliment to the book.

Notice, though, how I keep using the word “interpretation”?  There is a reason for that.  Anyone going in looking for a visual duplicate of King’s bold and scary tale may be disappointed.  Yes, the house on Neibolt Street is there, and is just as creepy as King created it.  The Barrens are there as well; described in the book as a place where our heroes hang out and play in, it is reduced to a background location here, as are the sewers.  If you take those two elements out of the book, half of the drama and the scares are gone.  But again, this is an interpretation.  It is set in the eighties, whereas the book takes place in the fifties.  The childhood scares have changed a bit, as well—with the changing of times, so changes the fears of generations.

Smart and frankly creative moves on the parts of the screenwriters, and vivid visualizations by Muschietti, make this a shrewd and affective tale.  There are new scares here, and some of them are downright chilling.

And then there is Bill Skarsgård (“Hemlock Grove”) as Pennywise. There are a few moments in the film when he is a very effective antagonist.  But there are other times—frequent ones, unfortunately—when his maliciousness is so overt to almost seem comical.  And the voice… at times it works, but mostly it just sounds like he is having trouble with the English language because his mouth is full of cotton candy and peanuts.  His performance isn’t horrible, but it does nothing to set him apart from typical boogeymen.  Which is why the tone set by Muschietti is so important.  The creepy score by Benjamin Wallfisch (MOON, BATMAN V SUPERMAN) adds to the ambiance, as does Chung-hoon Chung’s (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) cinematography, which occasionally pulls you in too close for comfort—an effective tool when it comes to several of the scares.

This is a two-part film; there is no release date for the second, and, if the producers hold true to the way the first half of the book was translated (not to mention the fact that the next film will see the kids all grown up and facing the same terror again), we may see a different director at the helm. But what Muschietti and crew set up with this first chapter is something to be appreciated for what it is: a film a helluva lot better than MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE and the remake of CARRIE ever were.

Grade: B+

-- T.S. Kummelman