Respect

 Respect (2021)

Starring Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige

Directed by Leisl Thomas

Written by Tracey Scott Wilson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - The Heat

The Heat (2013)

Starring Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demian Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rappaport, Jane Curtin, Spoken Reasons, Dan Bakkedahl, Michael McDonald, and Taran Killam

Directed by Paul Feig

I think I may be the one critic that thinks The Heat is worse than Identity Thief.  I compare the two simply because they were both released in 2013 and have Melissa McCarthy playing similarly tough broads.  Then again, does McCarthy ever play any other movie characters other than a tough broad?  The shtick is getting old and I'm not buying into it anymore.  Her characters from This Is 40, Identity Thief, and now The Heat are really indistinguishable and, quite frankly, she's ruined any good will she earned from the film that put her on the map -- Bridesmaids.  (I will note, however, that her Identity Thief character at least was given an opportunity to have a bit of an emotional heart at its core...if only that could continue carrying over...)

Here, McCarthy's Bridesmaids director Paul Feig returns to direct his newfound star who plays a Boston cop named Mullins who is forced to partner up with a more polished and well-mannered FBI agent named Ashburn (played by Sandra Bullock) in order to hunt down a drug kingpin.  With not much of a story stretched out to nearly two hours, The Heat wears out its welcome pretty quickly with seemingly every other joke gleaning its laughs from a curse word -- there's really only so many times the F-word can be used as a punchline before it becomes irritating.  There's also a tendency by McCarthy here to repeat something over and over again in order to emphasis to the audience that "This is supposed to be funny, so you better all be laughing!  Oh, you're not?  Let me say it again and maybe you will this time.  Still not?  Let's give it one more try!"  Ugh.

Honestly, it pained me to sit through this one and it pains me even more to try and come to grips with how this was a success.  Personally, I'm saying it was because of Sandra Bullock's charms because beyond her presence, there's nothing positive to say about this one.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

The Personal Canon - Requiem for a Dream

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I previously reviewed Requiem for a Dream a little over two years ago (that review will contain a bit more of a summary of the film than this blog post if you're interested) and I resolutely stated that Darren Aronofsky's film is a bit of a masterpiece.  I firmly stand by that notion and am still in awe of the director's choice of camera techniques in order to place the viewer squarely in the mind of a drug addict.  Not only do we see Jared Leto's Harry or Jennifer Connelly's Marion snorting or popping or injecting their drug addiction into their systems, but we then get quickly edited, close-up shots of dilating pupils and crazed blood cells reacting to this foreign substance coming into their bodies.  Although difficult to necessarily convey on paper (or on a computer screen), these moments are visceral, breathtaking, and scary.

The reason these moments take on frightening tones comes from the fact that as we get to know these characters, it's obvious that their lives are not heading to a more peaceful place.  As Harry and Marion run out of money in order to support their addiction, the lengths to which they stoop to get their necessary kicks is devastatingly painful and a happy ending never seems to be in any of their futures.  However, illegal drugs aren't the only topic of discussion here.  Harry's mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), is desperate to lose some weight and begins to start a regimen of diet pills -- an addiction which slowly but surely spirals out of her control.

And it's perhaps the segments of the film dealing with Sara and her "legal" addiction that is most difficult to witness.  Here was a lovely Jewish woman who only wanted what was best for her family slowly plummeting into emotional horrors she likely never thought existed.  As her reality begins to twist and turn and her daily life becomes proliferated with hallucinatory visions of her favorite television show, one can't help but feel empathy for this woman.  Sure, we feel bad for her coke-addicted son, too, but there's a certain feeling that he brought that upon himself.  Sara, although somewhat responsible for her newfound predilection to pills, isn't necessarily finding the happiness in drugs that her son is, but she is hooked and simply unable to stop.

Certainly making the viewer feel for Sara is a stunning performance from Ellen Burstyn.  What starts off so innocently and perhaps caricaturish in her portrayal of a loving Jewish mother shifts into a woman who has lost complete control over everything.  Confused, scared, and unable to cope with her daily routines, Burstyn's Sara begins to be cut off from reality, forced into a dream-like (or perhaps nightmarish) state that is heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to Darren Aronofsky, as the film progresses the viewer also finds themselves increasingly unable to escape the horrors of the characters onscreen.  The final thirty minutes is constantly ratcheting up the tension and he does this by incessantly switching back and forth between our four main characters (which also includes a wonderful turn from Marlon Wayans as Harry's friend Tyrone).  Every one of the quartet is finding themselves in horrifying situations they never would have dreamed possible and, much like the characters, we the viewers are never given a moment to breathe.

Kudos must also be given to the always fantastic Clint Mansell (Aronofsky's go-to composer) whose intense score for Requiem has become quite well-known and well-utilized in the cinematic world.  And this film certainly wouldn't be what it is without the awe-inspiring editing from Jay Rabinowitz.  His quick cutting and split screens are genius and certainly bring to life the aesthetic vision of the director.

This certainly isn't an analysis of Requiem for a Dream although there would certainly be plenty to write a college paper on.  Instead it's a rather "random thought" appreciation of a film that certainly won't appeal to everyone.  It's a difficult film to sit through and an even more difficult film to say you "enjoy."  All I know is that watching a brutal film like this would turn anyone off from experimenting with drugs and there's certainly something to be said for that.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Check out previous Personal Canon flicks -- like Saving Private Ryan and Once -- by clicking on this link.

Movie Review - Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Simply put, one of the best films of the past decade. No doubt about it.

Top-notch acting here across the board. How Ellen Burstyn lost the Oscar to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich is incomprehensible (and Roberts was quite good, but she's no match for Burstyn). The scene where she's watching the television in her apartment and the tv version of herself begins dancing around the drug-addled version of herself is frightening -- who knew a refrigerator could be so scary. Add to that, some great performances by Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly, along with a surprising turn from Marlon Wayans (buddy, if you've got the talent [and if this film is any indication, you do have the talent], why waste it in movies like Dance Flick?).

Darren Aronsofsky's direction is something special, too. This was my introduction to the guy and it immediately intrigued me. His utilization of quick cuts to symbolize the drug-induced highs that each of the four main characters experience was really unlike anything I had seen at the point of its release. It was new and visually stimulating -- just amazing. And while I don't think his two films released after this (The Fountain and The Wrestler) match the uniqueness on display here, he's a director that undoubtedly fascinates me and has me longing to see his next movie. [I have been told I should watch The Fountain again...and I will.]

The final 30 minutes of this film -- some of the most nerve-wracking and unnerving moments I've ever seen on film. As we jump back and forth between three storylines focusing on the four main characters, the tension just builds as eveything spirals completely out of control for everyone.

I hadn't seen this movie since 2001 and I wondered whether it would hold up so many years later. Had my tastes changed in nearly a decade? Well, I'm thrilled to say that this is still one of my favorite movies of all time. An amazing movie. Sad, disturbing, disheartening, depressing, but gripping and sensational. If you haven't seen it, watch it...if you have seen it, watch it again...

The RyMickey Rating: A

Movie Review - G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Starring Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller, Christopher Eccleston, Jonathan Pryce, Rachel Nichols, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Written by Stuart Beattie and David Elliot
Directed by Stephen Sommers

So we're into August and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is going to be the last "big" action movie (I guess there's Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, but I don't know if that'll fall into the same "category"). We've seen one great action flick in these past four months (The Hurt Locker), two good ones (Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation), one less than average one (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and one of the worst movies I've seen this entire year (Transformers 2). Where does G.I. Joe fall? It's filled with some really crappy CGI stuff, incredibly stupid dialogue, and two of the worst acting performances I've seen this year...but it's not even close to Transformers levels of heinousness.

Some evil mastermind has created these nanobots (or something like that) that eat away at everything they touch, effectively destroying both living and non-living things. He plans to release them in order to gain power...same old stuff any other evil mastermind plots to do. The G.I. Joe team of special agents is going to stop him. There's more story than that (an unrequited romance, a brother-sister relationship, two Ninja Warriors who hate each other), but none of that matters despite the fact that the filmmakers try to make us think it's important.

And the reason none of that matters is because the whole point of this movie is simply to move from one action sequence to the next. And there were several action-filled sequences in this movie that completely throw logic and reality to the wayside...which is fine, but after the second such scene, it gets old quickly. And when your action sequences are so blatantly CGI'ed, it bums me out.

As far as the acting goes, there's nothing really good to say. Red-haired Rachel Nichols (who I remember thinking was hot on Alias when she took over for a pregnant Jennifer Garner) and the blond and brunette Sienna Miller were both a treat for the eyes, but I wouldn't exactly call them good actresses (sorry, ladies, but I think you were aware of that when you signed onto this and got fitted for the skintight gear). Marlon Wayans is the Silly Black Guy. Christopher Eccelston is Diabolical Evil Mastermind (complete with Token Foreign Accent -- this time, Celtic!). Joseph Gordon-Levitt is okay in a role that is quite different for him, but he was certainly directed to be over-the-top and oddly shaky and twittery.

And then there's two of the worst acting performances I've seen this year -- Dennis Quaid is horrifically awful as the head of the G.I. Joe "branch." I actually really like Quaid most of the time (he's my mom's favorite actor, so there's some family loyalty there, I guess), but his stereotypical gruff Army guy was just dumb. The less that can be said about the lead actor in this movie, Channing Tatum, the better. He is so emotionless and vacant onscreen...and he needs to open his frickin' mouth when he talks instead of just mumbling. Mumbling doesn't equal "Tough Guy." Oh, and there's a ridiculous cameo for some completely unknown reason by my favorite actor working today (please note the sarcasm) -- Brendan Fraser.

So I've pretty much bashed this thing completely, but it's definitely not the worst thing I've seen this year by a longshot. In terms of those action movies listed above, it falls below Wolverine, but way above Transformers. It's just mindless and silly and stupid (a la Crank: High Voltage but not nearly at that level of ridiculosity) and, while I wouldn't recommend it, if you've got a choice between this and Transformers, Funny People, The Collector, or Aliens in the Attic which are all currently in wide release, this is better than those...how's that for a ringing endorsement?

The RyMickey Rating: D+