Some of the most anticipated shows during this Christmas season, and every season, are It’s Christmas Charlie Brown, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Very Murray Christmas.
Wait what?!
That last title probably raised eyebrows. What’s A Very Murray Christmas? Why, that would be Netflix’s nod to televised yule fabrications of Christmases past (think Bing Crosby and Dean Martin) starring Bill Murray. Yes, Bill Murray now his very own Christmas special for all the world to stream on Netflix. Before anyone starts to speculate that Murray just makes a cameo in the special, let me be first to tell you he’s all over the fifty-six minute special. He’s a laconically dominant presence amid a cast that includes George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, and Miley Cyrus (just to name few). Is the special cheesy? Yes, but aren’t most Christmas specials cheesy? But make no mistake that this special is much more than cheese – it’s funny , touching, and strikes the right balance for what audiences want to check out over the holiday season.
A Very Murray Christmas presents Murray as a T.V. version of himself, a famous person who somehow was talked into doing a live Christmas Eve Special by very talkative producers (Amy Poehler and Julie White). He isn’t happy about this at all. Anybody who likes Murray being “Bill Murray” – extremely self-effacing with a desire to try and be sincere while always being the smartest person in the room – will think this is brilliant. A Very Murray Christmas is not for those overly chipper holiday T.V. viewers (we all have one or ten of them in our family). It’s for people who just want an escape from holiday stress.
Now that you all have a good idea of what you are getting yourselves into it, the show opens with Murray and his piano player, Paul Shaffer (he was also Nick’s piano player during Murray’s lounge singer act on Saturday Night Live), doing a soulful, but relatively dead-pan “Christmas Blues” in his suite at New York’s Carlyle Hotel. Murray laments “God hates me,” as a snowstorm seems to have disrupted plans for his Christmas Eve special.
Murray seems to be a dislocated man trapped in a fancy hotel, very similar to the character he played in Lost in Translation. This was no coincidence. The special’s director is Sofia Coppola and she co-wrote the script with Murray. Mitch Glazer (Scrooged) rounded out the writing team.
Various plot twists include Micheal Cera as an agent trying to sign Bill Murray, Phoenix (the band that features Coppla’s husband Thomas Mars), and Rashida Jones as bride whose wedding has been ruined. Murray is at the pinnacle of snarkiness when he suggests to the distraught Jones that she should take a picture with him because “that really seems to cheer people up.”
Everybody but Micheal Cera sings in A Very Murray Christmas. George Clooney even belts out a few notes with Miley Cyrus in a very elaborate dream sequence. The most effective performances during the special is Maya Rudolph singing “Christmas ( Baby Please Come Home)” and Rilo Kiley dueting with Murray on “ Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
Overall, A Very Murray Christmas isn’t some deep Christmas special, but it really shouldn’t have been to begin with. Murray is fun, engaging, and quite the showman on stage. Will A Very Murray Christmas become a time honored classic ? Maybe … Maybe not. But later on that night when you are frantically stuffing those stockings by the chimney with care, and you hear a raspy voice trudging through “Do You Hear What I Hear?” you will immediately ask your better half, “Is Bill Murray singing Christmas Carols with Chris Rock?” And the answer will be, “Yes.” It will be at that point that you experience the magic of A Very Murray Christmas.
Back in October we published a report that filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who made a name for himself with Fruitville Station and just released Creed, is being pursued by Marvel to direct Black Panther, according to Heroic Hollywood.
Since then, Creed has made $51 million in its first full week of release, with a $35 million budget. Now, Birth.Death.Movies is reporting that talks are heating up between Coogler and Marvel Studios.
No official comment has been made by Marvel Studios or Coogler’s representative.
Earlier this year director Ava DuVernay passed on the project because of creative differences.
Joe Robert Cole is rumored to be the one Marvel wants to write the script.
All we know for sure is that Chadwick Boseman has the lead in the film that will be out on February 16, 2018.
DAREDEVIL (2015) #1
Published: December 02, 2015
Rating: Rated T+
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Ron Garney
Back in black and on his home turf, Daredevil begins again in New York City as a new enemy emerges. Meanwhile his alter ego, Matt Murdock, is on a new side of the law in the District Attorney’s office. Fighting crime in the shadows, prosecuting bad guys in the light, it’s a whole new chapter for our man without fear—including the arrival of the devil’s advocate. Welcome to Hell, Blindspot.
Daredevil has had a new slew of popularity thanks to his excellent new Netflix series. Like most comic book superheroes, the comics will make changes to the character to make him more like their current media adaptation. And now Daredevil’s outing in the “Post Secret Wars” Marvel Universe (which is ironic, because Secret Wars is STILL not over) has made its debut. It’s a darker, grittier, “noir” soft reboot of The Man Without Fear that’s more akin to the Netflix Series than his last series. However, how does the new book hold up? Is it a good step for the character’s evolution? Or has Daredevil taken a blind leap back?
I’d like to make a few disclaimers about this review, as I’d like to reveal any and all biases I may have before I get into the actual review.
First, Daredevil is my favorite Marvel character of all time. Quite possibly my favorite comic book character ever. So, I hold his comics to a higher standard than I do with most other comics. This is just how I am, and how I treat the character. I imagine that most superhero fans have that one character that they are the most anxious about, and have the most love (and criticisms) towards.
Second, I have not read the new Secret Wars crossover event, and I absolutely refuse to read it. I know people have said that it’s pretty good, but it doesn’t interest me at all. So, if there’s any specific information revealed in Secret Wars about Daredevil or the new universe Marvel created, then I don’t know what it is.
Third and last disclaimer. I was a HUGE fan of Mark Waid’s previous ongoing series, and will be referring to that as this new series is supposedly a continuation of that Daredevil. So there will be a lot of spoilers ahead. With all that being said, let’s take a look at Daredevil #1 written by Charles Soule and drawn by Ron Garney and Matt Milla.
YOU HAVE TO READ THIS COMIC!
Spoilers Ahead
The first thing to note about the book is the artwork. While I’m not a huge fan of Daredevil’s new black and red costume (what is with the spikes on his emblem?) and a lot of the characters look the same in their facial features, Ron Garney, and Matt Milla’s art is fantastic. It’s a nice change of pace from most of Marvel’s current cartoonish style (which isn’t bad by any means) by creating a grainy muted look. It looks like how an old pulp, noir story should look. The backgrounds are specific and unique, there’s a great use of negative space in certain scenes, and the color red is highlighted to give an artistic pop to the dreary atmosphere the book creates.
However, my praise for the book begins and ends with the art.
The story is cluttered, confusing, and raises so many questions. This where I have to go back to the Mark Waid run of Daredevil, because there’re a lot of inconsistencies with the current story. At the end of Mark Waid’s run, Matt Murdock revealed his identity to the world, and even wrote an autobiography detailing his life as a costumed vigilante. He embraced both sides of his identity and worked hard to beat his depression. Foggy Nelson beat cancer, and strengthened his friendship with Matt Murdock even further. He even had a fun, intelligent, and hilarious new girlfriend Kristen McDuffie, who won the “I dated Daredevil and didn’t go insane or die” award.
So. In this new book, Daredevil has his secret identity again, Kristen McDuffie is gone, and Foggy Nelson is at odds with Murdock. Now if this were a new universe with new rules (à la DC’s “New 52”), I wouldn’t have any questions, because hey it’s a new universe. But, this book has a scene with Foggy and Daredevil talking about how Daredevil somehow got his secret identity back.
Foggy is not happy.
So, what the hell happened?
Did Daredevil make some deal with Mephisto? Did something happen in Secret Wars? Did the editors get drunk and stop caring about established continuity? Charles Soule never gives us a straight answer (possibly because Marvel’s editors haven’t figured out the story yet), and I wouldn’t harp on this so much if Marvel’s editorial didn’t constantly mention that everything that has happened after Secret Wars is not a reboot. So since this a continuation of Matt Murdock’s story, then it seems like it would be wise to give long reading fans some information that fill in the gaps.
I don’t mean to add fire to the ever-burning “Marvel vs. DC” fire, but DC did something similar and a lot better with one of their crossover events. After the book Infinite Crisis ended, all the current issues jumped one year in the respective DC timeline. However, they showed what happened in that year with the excellent 52, which not only filled in all the gaps, but told a fantastic story that focused on most of DC’s smaller characters. Perhaps Marvel should have done something similar with Secret Wars.
But, admittedly everything written about the continuity is just coming one bitter fan. And established continuity isn’t always the deciding factor with a comic in most cases. Hell, I would be disappointed if Charles Soule didn’t try his own unique story with the character. That’s exactly what Mark Waid did. (Although he did take the established continuity into account, I digress).
So, instead let’s look at this book as a potential jumping off point for new readers. Perhaps readers who were huge fans of the show Daredevil. This book still doesn’t work as it creates an unlikeable Matt Murdock who is no longer a defense attorney, but an assistant district attorney. His outlook seems colder and uninterested in the lives of those who may be affected by crime. And as mentioned before, Daredevil’s friendship with Foggy Nelson is nonexistent. It’s a complete contrast to what’s been set up in the show, and the only real connection at this point is that the artists smartly designed Matt Murdock to look like Charlie Cox.
Also, I just can’t help, but think his design is really boring.
There’s also a new vigilante named Blindspot, who has like three lines of dialogue altogether and the ability to turn invisible and is being trained by Daredevil. A new generic Asian themed gang, and a big reveal at the end that Blindspot has something to do with the villains, we’re not sure who he is as a character, so it doesn’t really have any weight behind it. And while the story may move on, it doesn’t really feel like it’s going anywhere at this moment. There’s not much else to say about this comic, because it just doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything different or evolving the character of Daredevil. And if the point of this book is to introduce Blindspot (which would be awesome to introduce a new Asian superhero into the market) then it failed at that too, because Blindspot was blander than the color of my living room in this book. Diversity and representation are important guys, so don’t half-ass it!
It feels like Charles Soule is trying to go back to the grim and gritty style Daredevil is known for, but it feels like something is holding him back from making this his own work. Maybe it’s because of the continuity earlier, or the Secret Wars mumbo jumbo, or that everything that’s supposed to be unique about the book just come off as generic and uninteresting. The new vigilante is dull and underused, the villains have no weight behind their threats or actions, and the conflict between Daredevil and Matt just feels random. While this could have been a unique story that brought in new readers, it just feels off-putting as it references past stories without giving enough details, changes the public consciousness of the character, and reimagines him as an unlikeable, boring, vigilante with nothing new for him.
Overall, this comic has great art, but not a great plot to work with and definitely needs some changes to keep new readers.
Shane Black is back behind the camera with The Nice Guys, a noir comedy thriller starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a pair of mismatched detectives. This first trailer for the Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 director (and writer of Lethal Weapon and Hawkins in Predator and so many other great things) is most certainly NSFW, but it is the funniest thing you will see all day.
Without further delay, The Nice Guys:
Here is a synopsis as well:
“The Nice Guys” takes place in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Gosling) and hired leg-breaker Jackson Healy (Crowe) must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.
I can’t decide which part of the trailer is my favorite, but the scene with Gosling on the toilet is the leader in the clubhouse right now. The Nice Guys hits theaters May 20.
Krampus, the new holiday horror comedy from Trick r’ Treat director Michael Dougherty, tells the German folktale about a pagan, hoofed demon who visits children (and adults) that have been bad or have denounced the spirit of Christmas in some way. Rather than St. Nick dropping off a lump of coal for you, in this nightmare fairy tale it is Krampus who visits, bringing with him a legion of demon elves and all manner of supernatural abilities to possess toys and cookies. Yes, even cookies.
Dougherty brings this ancient tale to the suburbs, to a modern family of cynics, blowhards, drunk aunts, and horrible kids. The center of this story is Max (Emjay Anthony) an earnest little boy who just wants Christmas to be fun again. His parents, Tom and Sarah (Adam Scott and Toni Collette) are nice enough, but distracted with life, and his sister Beth would rather be spending time with her boyfriend. Home for Christmas too is grandma, Omi (Krista Stadler), the wise German grandmother who knows what’s happening from the get go.
Things take a turn for the worse when relatives arrive in the form of the oppressively obnoxious Howard (David Koechner), his wife Linda (Fargo‘s Allison Tolman), and three weird and annoying kids. Not the infant though, the infant’s ok. Along for the ride as well is Aunt Dorothy, played by the great Conchata Ferrell who is right at home playing a bawdy, drunken loudmouth.
It isn’t long before cynicism takes control of this dysfunctional unit and all hell breaks loose. A blizzard overtakes the neighborhood and wipes out the power. Krampus does not kill and maim himself so much as he delegates to his rogues gallery of possessed toys, gingerbread man assassins, and steadily imposing snowmen. This is where the film stalls at first, then ramps up to wonderful and horrific levels of unbridled insanity. Too much searching and discovery feels like filler early in the second act, but an attic attack by a teddy bear, a robot, and one of the more terrifying Jack-in-the-Box’s of all time elevate things. All of this is handled with some genuinely frightening moments, sold by bemused performances from Scott, Koechner, Collette, and Tolman. The parents are never as shocked or saddened by the events as they would be in the real world, helping to soften the blow of some of the more horrific events. This is most certainly not for young kids.
Krampus is truly in the spirit of 80s horror comedies, and it’s willingness to take the nightmare visuals to the extreme are something you don’t see much more in this age of homogenized Hollywood. There is definitely a thread back to Gremlins, and Dougherty is even somewhat of a new-era Joe Dante in his ability to mix comedy and fright. All of it may feel like a diversionary holiday fright fest in the end, but perhaps it will build a cult following for years to come.
Creed is not just another Rocky movie. Rocky Balboa is in the movie, and it evokes the spirit of the original film, but it stands on its own perfectly. My girlfriend, who has never seen a Rocky movie, can watch Creed and love it without missing a beat (please don’t tell her that; I need leverage to get her to watch Rocky).
Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film has everything that made the Rocky franchise great before it turned into a parody of itself (looking at you, Rocky IV). It has heart; it appeals to viewers’ fear of failure. Ludwig Göransson composes an outstanding score that doesn’t just mimic the original. Perhaps the best technical aspect is Maryse Alberti‘s cinematography, which actually trumps that of the originals, creating a gritty Philadelphia, and helps build the tension leading up to the final bout. Yes, the plot is eerily similar to Rocky, but no one cares because it doesn’t detract from its majesty. Creed has a great story, but it isn’t about that. It’s about the characters, and they don’t disappoint.
The titular Creed, Apollo’s illegitimate son Adonis (“Donnie”), is the anti-Rocky. He’s riches to rags, whereas Rocky was rags to riches. He’s physically fast, whereas Rocky was famously slow. And the biggest difference? He’s proud. Rocky was overly humble, accepting his life as a street thug and initially declining his shot at the title. Donnie, on the other hand, needs a little humility in his life. He seems to jump in the ring without thinking about the consequences. Yet, the audience still roots for him. They want him to succeed, and wants the world to see that he’s as great as he thinks he is. Michael B. Jordan brings enough charm and heart to the character that his arrogance becomes a likable trait.
Rocky is as humble as he’s ever been. Stallone delivers a performance both heartwarming and gut wrenching, that is sure to get him an Academy Award nomination. He reminds the world why they fell in love with him almost 40 years ago, and that he’s still capable of playing more than just a caricature of himself. And his chemistry with Michael B. Jordan makes their scenes together the highlight of the movie (honestly, ask anyone what their favorite scene is and their most likely response will be “whenever Donnie and Rocky are together”).
The only detraction is the love story between Donnie and Bianca, played by Tessa Thompson. Not because it was bad; Thompson does an outstanding job. It just didn’t seem to contribute to the story; Donnie didn’t fight for Bianca like Rocky fought for Adrian. He fights for himself. Bianca just seems to be there to give Donnie someone to vent to and show his character progression. Which is fine; the film is good enough that even its weakest aspect is still enjoyable.
Creed is just like its protagonist. It’s grown up in the shadow of its father figure, and runs the risk of always being compared to it. But it fights to make a name for itself, while honoring the legacy of that which came before it. In the short time it’s been in theaters, it’s already proven to fans and critics that it isn’t just part of the Rocky franchise, but the start of something new and brilliant. Make sure to head to see it before that other holiday movie comes out and steals the show.
At the beginning at the summer season I began my watch of Prison School. Currently there isn’t a word that can describe all of my feelings for this show, which is sad because I think there should be. When I watched Prison School I feel that everything I was feeling was all flowing in the same direction, like a river. The thing that made this river of feeling pay off was the ending waterfall that would collapse every now and then, causing me to twist and turn while staring at the screen with my cheeks beat red. So safe to say that the waterfall was intense, but so was the river. I don’t think even the best rafters could have braved this river and lived to tell about it (But I did). The analogy I’m failing to make is that Prison School felt like a struggle to keep my sanity while on this wild river of a show, and every so often it would break that threshold and turn into a waterfall I would just lose it. Now I know that might not sound like the best experience but I loved every second of it.
Prison School is Uncomfortable
While I said earlier that there really wasn’t a way to fully encompass my emotions while watching Prison School, there is a pretty good word to describe the show itself. That word is uncomfortable. Everything in Prison School is maxed out to 11 in how just “euhwh” it makes you feel. They miraculously manage to do this in a way that they can just drag all their characters through the dirt and still make you care whats happening to them. Of course you’re not suppose to be sympathetic or anything, but your sense of empathy should kick in, where you start to feel what they’re feeling.
They go to these extremes to make you feel these uncomfortable feelings, sometimes in the worst ways. It’s not just the way the characters act that helps this either. The glossy art style is a perfect example to help show what’s going on without ever having to hear anything from the characters. The glossiness makes it look greasy, almost dirty. I don’t think it’s just a style choice. I think that the characters are drawn with that sheen because they are legitimately sweaty for most of the time. What could be going on to make them so sweaty and greasy you ask? well high school of course.
Everything Is More Tense in High School
Prison School really couldn’t take place anywhere but high school for a number of reasons. Mainly because it deals with a lot of situations that are exclusive to high school boys that happen in high school. And not those high school boys from light novel adaptations. Real high school boys with uncensored high school boy thoughts. Which is something we may get in inner dialogues from other shows, but rarely do they act upon it, and with such extremity no doubt.
Now the setting gives itself to max out the hornyness of these five boys right of the bat. They’re the only five boys being integrated into an all girls school. So what is the first thing they think about? Its girls. But don’t get me wrong they’re not creeps or anything, they can’t help that every thought in their high school mind goes to wanting to see the baby making parts of, literally any girl. From the very first episode we are brought to the realization that most of the things that will get these boys in trouble will be their dicks. Do they know the things they’re doing are wrong? Sure do. Do they know they will most likely suffer for their actions? You bet’cha. Knowing this they do it anyway, because to these boys having almost any sexual interaction with girls is the most important thing in the world. And since they have that mind-set the show tends to reflect that in the situations that go down. Basically every time they will try something in this show the situation will be treated like the end of the world, because for these boys the stakes are as high as they can be.
It’s not just the boys who are experiencing tense moment either, a lot of the time the underground student council vice president is found in a constant state of sweating. These instances of sweating accompanied by the drastic faces she makes gives off a similar feeling of something is happening that you don’t want to happen. I think a lot of these instances stem from just personifying the concept of embarrassment. Which makes a lot of sense because its high school. With the student council vice resident as an example, she’s constantly looking for the approval of her senior (president), but she tends to mess up and let her emotions get the best of her causing her to sweat so much. In the same respects it’s a lot like the boys since it deals with her kinda self inflicting these instances of embarrassment on herself. Either way it’s just as much fun to watch as with they boys, and you feel everything they feel.
For me it wasn’t too hard because I seem to be eternally trapped in that high school boy state of mind (at least sexually anyway). Now once you’ve connected with that inescapable hornyness mindset of our five main characters the show opens you up to all of its emotions, both good and bad. I think that’s the true key to enjoying this show or finding it dumb. Because once you understand just how these seemingly trite situations would feel to a high schooler, you’ll begin to understand why they are reacting the way they are. Sure its a bit exaggerated for comedic effect. But I think its just giving form to what would be running through their minds in those situations. Due to them not holding any bars and just exuding the raw emotions it triggers something in you. Rarely do I get a show that will seriously have my heart racing, and Prison School managed to do that every single episode.
Prison School Brings the Pain
Now of course I can’t write an article about prison school without talking about the horrendously graphic and painful displays of violence. Now of course its nothing that actually on-screen looks too bad. To be honest most of the violence is rather tame, to the eyes that is. But Prison School is Prison School, and it has its way to bring all those kicks and punches seem so real, to the point where your clutching your balls overtime a main character gets kicked in his. So why does the physical pain hit home so well in Prison School? well there’s a couple of reasons that all work in tandem.
For one Prison School is very aware of the parts they want to stand out and know the comedic timing well enough to make sure they don’t hit it with these painful scenes. They hold back things either just early or late enough to catch you off guard to keep things from being funny and instead just downright painful or gross. Now with that timing is also accompanied by some visuals to keep you on your feet. The show will pull out some weirdly deformed art style for still shots all the time. But somehow I never was prepared for it. This art style is ugly, but its made to look that way. It’s not bad technically but it takes you out of your comfort zone just enough to make yo venerable to whats happening on-screen.
This is why the “torture” scenes in Prison School feel so engaging. Theres a sense that you can feel it and its so real because you are so invested in whats going on that instance. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the characters or the situation (but if you are invested in those it can help immensely). It all has to do with Prisons School’s ability to capture a moment and make it seem like it’s the only thing that matters and it forces you to care about it.
Verdict
One of the reasons I latched onto Prison School Like I did with Monster Girls is that its uncompromising in what it sets out to do. It’s completely unapologetic and genuine in its feelings. So often do we get shows that like to tread the line into perversion or intensity, but play it safe and secure. Prison School doesn’t play it safe or secure. It goes nuts and is what made me go nuts over this show. I was on board the moment I finished the first episode, and if I had any reservations, Prison School didn’t care and just dragged me through regardless. I’m not gonna lie that there were sometimes I was scared to watch the next episode, but Prison School is like a drug in that way. Once it grabs hold its almost impossible to resist.
Once again the masters of making fun of movies over at Rifftrax have put together a special screening to delight and entertain. The trio of Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, and Michael J. Nelson showcased a plethora of different forgotten Holidays specials and by mocking them, made it an incredibly entertaining night. As always, if the description of the specials sounds weird and obscure it means more jokes were able to be made at their expense.
The first short of the evening was Santa Claus’ story. In it Santa Claus talked about monkeys while the movie flashed to nature films of monkeys in human clothing, which really has no point except to show monkeys in human clothing. Then Santa tries to do the legendary “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus” article but sadly the impact is lost by the fact the audience is still laughing about Santa talking about monkeys while the children on his lap gave him weird looks as if to say “What is he talking about?”.
From their they showed, The tale of Custard the Dragon which looked liked it was film in a Saturday afternoon with the director’s kids. The original story they narrate was written by Ogden Nash, a children’s storybook creator many may not have heard about before. Watching this short won’t create any new fans of his work from the audience.
Next there was Santa’s Enchanted Village where the audience visits one of Santa’s many offices (Yes, they say office in the special) where they watch a Wolf Foreman berate his lazy worker, a Skunk for skipping out on work. The costume work is so bad you’ll begin to wish for the wardrobe guy from The tale of Custard the Dragon to come back. Don’t think it could be so horrifying? Take a look!
Yeah, pretty bad huh? Also, the Santa in this short has no dialogue and just begins laughing hard everytime the camera is on him, even as the Wolf is trying to talk to him in a serious fashion.
Finally it’s time for Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, where Santa gets stuck on a beach thanks to his Reindeer wandering off with no way to get back to the North Pole. Luckily some children are there to bring him an entire petting zoo to try to move his sleigh. Though the sleigh doesn’t move, Santa “entertains” the kids with the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, a short which is stuck in 70s in a very bad way. Finally, as all hope seems lost, the Ice Cream Bunny appears, says nothing (including explain, why he is called the Ice Cream Bunny) and gives Santa a lift back to the North Pole. It is so entertaining with its terrible acting, costumes, and quality, it’s hard to keep from laughing while writing this review.
For those interested in more Rifftrax, there will be an Encore screening of Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny on December 15th in theaters which run Fathom events. Also, in January, there will be encore performances of classic riffs from the previous years including Starship Troopers on January 14th and legendary bad movie, The Room on January 28th. Grab a friend and check them out. You will be entertained.
For similar entertainment try supporting the Kickstarter to bring back the TV show responsible for all the riffing, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Only a few more days left but every bit helps them to make more entertainment by watching bad movies and making of them. Because classics such as Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny should be remembered as the trainwrecks they truly are.
If it could stand alone, if somehow The Godfather, Part III didn’t have to exist in the same world as two seminal masterpieces, this would be a great film for any other filmmaker. But the final tale of Michael Corleone’s failed attempt at redemption is not allowed such freedom, and as the part of a larger whole, it’s undeniably inferior. When held up against the previous two entries, something doesn’t feel right about The Godfather III from the very opening, and that strange, off-kilter aesthetic remains unshakable until a final shot that almost redeems everything with its perfection. Digging deeper into Francis Ford Coppola’s stepchild of the saga, there is still much to enjoy, appreciate, and marvel at; but it’s never quite enough to get the film entirely on track.
The story picks up several years after the somber final notes of The Godfather, Part II, almost two decades after Michael had his own dimwitted brother, Fredo, murdered at his Tahoe estate. The fact so many years have passed was mostly because Coppola forever denied Paramount’s request to finish out the story with a third film. Coppola had washed his hands of The Godfather as far as he was concerned, but a string of Paramount duds and suddenly he found himself indebted to the studio – how very “mafioso.” So then, reluctantly it seemed, Coppola returned to the Corleone family, and could never nail down the magic he had captured in the 70s.
The structure of The Godfather III is all off. It begins like the other two films, with a large party scene, but this one is dull and lifeless. On the one hand, having the life drained from the Corleone family – and Michael himself, even though he is working doggedly to legitimize the family name – is a good thematic move. There is no more joy in Michael, his soul has been squandered. But this listless opening party sequence feels less like a thematic decision and more like poor imitation. Cinematographer Gordon Willis, a master of shadowy storytelling, is back for the third installment, but his composition lacks any of the draconian dread lurking in those shadows. The screen has been homogenized, making it less threatening and more sterile, almost like a TV movie in this opening scene. While Willis finds his groove in certain moments, especially near the end, too often the look of this film doesn’t appropriately match its predecessors.
Beyond this opening scene, where Michael attempts to buy his soul back from the Vatican in the form of a healthy donation, the story is murky and disjointed. It’s never clear what is happening and, more despairingly, it doesn’t matter. We go from here, to the Vatican, to Michael’s fractured family life, his flaccid attempts to make amends with Kay, but we bounce around without any of the connective tissue that was so crucial and executed so expertly in the second film. Even jumping from one era to another in the second film carried with it a certain dichotomy of wealth, power, and impending doom. Here, scenes happen on their own merit, without much regard for a forward thrust, or what came before and after. It makes everything stop and start too often, masking the most powerful moments in a fog of unmotivated storytelling. Intimacy has been replaced with formality. This is a story told in boardrooms, not bedrooms. Well, except maybe one bedroom, the controversial love story between cousins, Michael’s daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola), and the bastard son of the late Sonny, Vincent (Andy Garcia). More on them later.
There are grand moments, some of which are the best of their kind in the trilogy. Michael’s confession to the priest in Vatican City stands out, a captivatingly raw, emotional moment in the trilogy. It’s framed beautifully, and Michael’s catharsis is heartbreaking. Pacino is giving it his all, as he will do, and the faults of this film do not lie at his feet. Consider one of the most famous lines in this trilogy, after the totally over-the-top and mishandled assassination-via-chopper scene atop the hotel; it’s here where Michael, crumbling beneath the stress of pushing the boulder up the mountain only to lose it at the top repeatedly, says “Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in.” It’s delivered perfectly, full of anger and self-hatred, and it’s this third film at its finest moment. But again, it came on the heels of that ill-conceived big action moment, and the big action moment was an abject failure of poor choreography, excess, and way too many oranges to stay in the spirit of that wonderfully subtle visual cue.
And of course, there is the story of Vincent romancing his cousin, Mary. Much of the surface disdain for The Godfather III lies with both this subplot and the performance of Sofia Coppola. Never mind she was Francis Ford Coppola’s third choice for the role, Sofia’s performance is an eyesore. There’s really no way around that. In her defense, or in the film’s defense perhaps, Mary could very well be an ill-fitting part in this Corleone family, a valley girl who’s spent many years away from her family and has trouble re-acclimating. That’s a hopeful diagnosis at best, but even that doesn’t get her off the hook. And the relationship between her and Vincent was, and still remains, controversial. But in the traditional Old World Italian families, incest was not as frowned upon. Even Michael’s disapproval of their relationship is motivated more by Vincent taking over the criminal empire and putting Mary in danger, less by their blood ties. Sure, it was still (rightfully) taboo, but more common than some may realize. Regardless of this historical context, the love story is weird and distracting.
The final moments of The Godfather: Part III work feverishly to redeem the first two thirds of aimless hopelessness. The opera house sequence, reminiscent of the assassinations in the original film as Michael is at his godson’s baptism, involves an assassin trying to get into position to kill Michael. For what, I can’t really remember. This is part of the problem, but taking the final act on its own accord it works better than anything else in the film. Willis masters the look he had lost for two hours prior, and the suspense builds as Coppola cuts back and forth between assassin and potential victim. When the initial attempt is foiled, we convene outside for the final scene on the steps of the opera house.
Even here, Sofia Coppola’s poor acting nearly ruins what is an effective and incredibly emotional moment in the film. Having Pacino’s scream muted, showing the reactions of those around him, is truly powerful. And then we see those memories of Michael, dancing with the women in his life, and just as he and Kay dance into the shadows, we transition to Michael, old and alone. His death is arguably the only perfect moment in the film, shot from a distance to enhance his isolation. And so the Corelone legacy ends with Michael’s face in the dirt, his only company what appears to be a stray dog. It’s a fittingly bleak, depressing closure for a character who systematically destroyed his life and the lives of those he loved most in the world.
Despite this pitch perfect closing to the Godfather trilogy, The Godfather: Part III cannot get out of its own way too often. It’s one of those movies where people remember not liking having not seen it in years and years, so for that it deserves a second look. The biggest obstacle of the film is the ability for us to divorce ourself from the previous films, and appreciate what works in this one as a standalone. The Godfather: Part III is necessary, I’m sure of it, but it still creates less closure, and more longing for what could have been.
At the last second my friend goes, ‘Hey, you want go see STP tonight?’ Godsmack was awful, but Scott Weiland made up for it.
The man who help define a music generation, Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, died in his sleep Thursday night. He was 48.
In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots gave us ‘Plush’ and ‘Creep,’ with the album Core grunge had another musical giant to sit alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. ‘Plush’ won a Grammy in 1994 for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Stone Temple Pilots ‘Plush’
Stone Temple Pilots ‘Creep’
Just imagine 1994 without ‘The Big Empty’ on The Crow soundtrack. The album reached number one on The Billboard 200, featuring The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Violent Femmes, Rollins Band, Helmet, Pantera, For Love Not Lisa, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Medicine, Jane Siberry, and Machines of Loving Grace.
Stone Temple Pilots ‘The Big Empty’
Weiland had a short-lived solo project The Magnificent Bastards, in 1995 he contributed ‘Mocking Girl’ to the Tank Girl soundtrack.
The Magnificent Bastards ‘Mockingbird Girl’
The summer of 2003 rocked with Velvet Revolver’s ‘Set Me Free’ from Ang Lee’s Hulk. Velvet Revolver was a supergroup consisting of Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, and Weiland. The band won a Grammy in 2005 for ‘Slither.’
Velvet Revolver ‘Set Me Free’
Velvet Revolver ‘Slither’
Velvet Revolver ‘Fall To Pieces’
Scott Weiland, best known as the lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, passed away in his sleep while…
