The Criterion Voyages (Spine #1105): MENACE II SOCIETY -- A Harrowing Look at a Life of Crime1/26/2022
By Dan Skip Allen
Menace II Society takes place in Los Angeles in the wake of the riots that happened in the early '90s. The Hughes Brothers — Albert and Allen — show a world of drugs and crime and hard streets and neighborhoods where teens tend to grow up fast. Criterion has branched out and started getting the rights to some of these more urban films with different takes on inner-city life. This Hughes Brothers film is that.
The film focuses mainly on two young men Caine (Tyrin Turner) and O Dog (Lorenz Tate, Girls Trip) They get into all kinds of trouble from robbing convenience stores to selling drugs on the street and holding up people for basically nothing. They hang with a gang of guys that do the exact same thing. This lifestyle leads them down the wrong path and death follows. The film has some very famous actors in supporting roles as well. Samuel L. Jackson plays Caine's father Tat Lawson in flashback scenes from the 1970s, who gave him this idea of a life of drugs and crime. Jada Pinkett Smith (The Matrix) plays Connie, a young mother who is interested in Caine. He cares about her as well as her young son. Charles S. Dutton (Rudy) is a teacher, Mr. Butler, who tries to give Caine a new perspective on life from a religious point of view, using the Muslim religion to help get him out of the neighborhood.
The Hughes Brothers get to the heart of what it's like for Black youths and the citizens in general in Compton and South Central L.A. As the song says, it's hard out there for people in these neighborhoods. Caine has people that love him and want to rescue him from this lifestyle. It means leaving his friends and grandparents behind though. And that's not an easy decision for him. He's a young man with a lot on his mind and his plate. Things aren't easy for him any way you slice it.
The film has a great soundtrack that goes along with the film as well. Songs from various rap groups and labels of this time period rang throughout the film, like "Straight Up Menace", "Packin' a Gun", and "Only the Strong Survive" are all anthems for the world this film takes place in. Artists such as D Quick, Too Short, and MC Eiht sing songs that talk about the gangster lifestyle and growing up in this world of drugs, guns, and crime. The music perfectly fits the film's feel and vibe. Menace II Society captures the feel of this world faultlessly. The blood and violence of this world are too hard for some people to escape. Tiger Williams wrote a great script depicting this lifestyle. If this film isn't a tragic look at why this kind of life doesn't pay, I don't know what will. The Hughes Brothers made a film that transcends. Any kid from any neighborhood in any state in America can relate to this kind of story. Almost thirty years after it came out, it's still relevant today.
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By Dan Skip Allen
Mulholland Drive is a famous street above Los Angeles and has a mystique like no other in Hollywood. So go figure one of the most mysterious filmmakers in Hollywood, David Lynch, would make a movie named after this street. The film lives up to the name because it's a weird film, not unlike Lynch's other films and television work like Twin Peaks and Eraserhead.
The film starts with a memorable credits scene with a car driving down Mulholland Drive. The car stops and the men inside tell a woman (Laura Harring) to get out. At that moment, two cars are racing down the street and one of them runs into the limo, sending it careening into a nearby ditch. The woman crawls out of the car and stumbles around, eventually walking down a hill and falling asleep by a bush. She wakes up and goes into another woman's home while she's gone. That's the beginning of this crazy Hollywood story. It's even wilder than it sounds, though. When the woman's niece (Naomi Watts) comes to stay in the house, she helps the woman who now has amnesia find out what is going on. They work together to uncover this mystery. The film also focuses on a film director (Justin Theroux) and a bunch of shady gangsters and assorted other weirdos in darkened rooms and cowboy figures. This film is one of the weirdest David Lynch has ever done, but it's done very well like all of his movies are except Dune. Lynch infuses this film with everything including the kitchen sink. It has a noir feel to t even though much of it is set during the daytime. Lynch knows how to add odd moments like when the two women visit a theater with a trumpet player and then the room turns blue or when the director visits a cowboy at a horse ranch. He talks to him in weird language or riddles if you will. All Lynch's trademark tropes are in this film. The 4K version helps all the colors stand out as well.
The technical aspects of the film are very good as well. The score by Angelo Badalamenti is moody and helps set the atmosphere while it has a song sung at the theater that is breathtakingly amazing. The cinematography by Peter Deming and production design are both very good. This film goes to a bunch of locations and they all look gorgeous and have a vibe all their own. Only David Lynch could have made this wild, outside-the-box (pun intended) film. It has so much craziness in it it's hard to describe it and what's going on.
The cast has some amazing cameos full of stars viewers might recognize like Robert Forster as a police detective, Billy Ray Cyrus who's having an affair with Justin Theroux's character's wife, Michael J. Anderson as the man in the darkroom, and Dan Hedaya as a gangster. That's just the tip of the iceberg of all the weird and interesting casting choices. Lynch always picks interesting people for roles in his film. This one is no different. Mulholland Drive is among a plethora of David Lynch films in the Criterion Collection. Among them, this one might be the most metta considering it's a film about making a film. It has a lot of other aspects as well: a noir, a mystery, and a love letter to Hollywood. Lynch shows in this film how much he loves Hollywood in his weird and offbeat way... the only way he knows how to make a film. Lynch was nominated for the best academy award for his work on the film. It was very deserved. The Criterion Voyages (Spine #1101): UNCUT GEMS -- The Safdies' Vision That Transcends Filmmaking1/12/2022
By Dan Skip Allen
Uncut Gems was like a whirlwind when it came out in 2019. It showed people Adam Sandler was more than the SNL goofy comedy guy. He was now considered a serious actor in a lot of people's minds, enough so that he was being tapped as an Oscar contender. This is with great respect. He wasn't nominated, but the role of Howard Ratner is such a realistic portrayal it's scary.
Adam Sandler plays the owner of a jewelry shop that deals in rare gems, watches, and other rare antiquities. He gets in over his head with a loan shark and it causes him problems with his family, mainly his wife (Idina Menzel), and his other business associates. A long-term deal that he had been working on could be the answer to all his problems. Adam Sandler has a skittish nature to his character. The slick nature of Howard Ratner plays into Sandler's sensibilities as an actor. Sandler is used to playing the everyman that people can relate to or quirky oddballs in his film career. This is totally different for him in his career. He played into the script perfectly. His style melded with the script like they were meant to be together. The Saftie Brothers (Good Time) have the reputation of guerilla filmmaking and quick cuts and fast-paced storytelling. This film has that. The story moves very fast and it's hard to keep up with at times. This world of these shady people keeps the film moving and it's not clear where or when it'll end. It is like a merry go round and they create a film like nothing I've seen in my entire life. This is a seminal film.
The cast in this film is amazing besides Sandler and Menzel. Lakeith Stanfield, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Judas and the Black Messiah last year, plays a hustler and business associate of Sandler's character. Boston Celtics champion NBA legend Kevin Garnett plays himself and he is great in the film as an athlete acting even if he's playing himself. The revelation in the film is Julia Fox. She is incredible as a gumar of Sandler's character.
This transfer by Criterion is incredible. The colors pop so well in this version. Various shirts and items in the film shine and jump out in 4K. The framing sequences are gorgeous. Along with that goes the grain of the film. It has a gritty look to it that reminds me of '70s films. The cinematography by Darius Khondji is some of the best of 2019. I can't say enough how incredible this transfer is. The film has some good music choices as well, from the Weeknd playing himself singing a song to some techno music and various other forms of music from Daniel Lopatin. It has a sound that jumps out while watching the film. The score and music both play into the uneasy nature of the film's storyline and plot. At times it's very frantic, and other times it's very soothing and relaxing, all depending on what's going on in the film. Sanders's character is his own worst enemy. He does everything wrong until he finally does something right. This film shows how people can be a detriment to society. This entire world of jewelry and rare gems is explored very thoroughly by the Safdie Brothers. The look and feel of the film are so beautiful. This 4K Criterion is a nice addition to anybody's collection for sure. The Criterion Voyages (Spine #1104): CITIZEN KANE -- A Film That Deserves the Moniker of Masterpiece1/5/2022
By Dan Skip Allen
Citizen Kane is widely considered by many to be the best movie of all time. It's the magnum opus of legendary filmmaker Orson Welles. It is quite an achievement for Criterion to get this great film. Now it's available as Spine #1104, the first 4K Blu-ray in the Criterion Collection. The format lends itself to this great film quite nicely.
The film is about the life of Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). Newspaper reporters have found out that the last word from Kane before he died was "Rosebud", so they try to figure out what that word means. They go from person to person trying to get to the bottom of this mystery, from his ex-wives to his best friend, Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotton), with whom he built his newspaper empire. That famous word is part of what made this film an absolute masterpiece in the eyes of so many people. Welles's filmmaking style is also what helped make this film so great. He has some amazing camera shots in the film. One, in particular, is where he's looking into a stand-up mirror and it seems like it keeps going forever. Other tracking shots and camera movements throughout the film are done impeccably. Fade-ins and so forth are used perfectly to pass time throughout the film. Welles is a master with the camera and framing shots.
Citizen Kane has various forms of music in it, from one of Kane's ex-wives singing opera to the score by Bernard Hermann, one of the greatest composers of all time. The film has amazing moments of music throughout using various forms of strings and the piano to create moments of joy and or depression. Even bands in the background create a sound for the film.
Kane spent a lot of his fortune on his property known as Xanadu in Florida, as well as expensive trinkets which he littered throughout the expansive property grounds. He built it for his second ex-wife Susan (Dorothy Comingore), an opera singer. It turns out it was just a giant place where he ended up all alone in his final days. Millions of dollars worth of property, art, statues, and everything under the sun that couldn't buy him happiness. Citizen Kane is often claimed to be a film about newspaper magnate William Randolf Hearst. Welles was ruined for years after the film came out in 1941. Hearst considered it an insult and kept Welles from ever becoming the great filmmaker he was destined to be because of Citizen Kane. He was in a few other films and directed a few as well, some of the most notable of which are The Third Man, Touch of Evil, and The Magnificent Ambersons. Even Netflix acquired a lost Wells film, The Other Side of the Wind, that was preserved. People have always devoured anything from Welles. He is such a magnanimous personality and a terrific director.
By Dan Skip Allen
When J.K. Rowling created a book series about a boy wizard it was just that: a book. That is until it grew into a phenomenon that spawned a series of movies, the first of which is called Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone in Great Britain). Twenty years ago, this movie series started and it's one of the most popular and profitable in movie history.
From that moment that Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) uttered those famous words, "You're a wizard Harry," in that dank house on an isolated island who knows where, I was all in on this series of films. Of course, I had read the book already by then, so I was excited to see this book I loved being made into a big-budget feature film. Chris Columbus was already a successful film director by the time Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was going to be in production, but he wanted to direct this film. His career from working with Macaulay Culkin on the Home Alone films, Adventures in Babysitting, and Mrs. Doubtfire prepared him to direct this film about a bunch of kids in a wizarding school. He has great experience making family films of this ilk. He was a great choice to direct this film. The casting process of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was quite arduous, but David Heyman, the producer, found the perfect three leads to star in this film. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) we're all terrific as these three characters. They embodied these three young wizards perfectly. I couldn't see anybody else in these roles. That being said, the films had other characters that had to be cast and these roles weren't given to newcomers. They were won by some of the great British actors of this era the film came out in. Richard Harris (Albus Dumbledore), Maggie Smith (Professor McGonigal), and Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) were all phenomenal as these iconic characters. I could hardly remember other roles these great actors were ever in. That means they were cast perfectly. I love them all in the roles.
The production as a whole was quite successful. The sets worked as well as they could to embody the place envisioned in Rowling's books. The grand scale of the castle, train station, Gringotts, and various locations in the film looked amazing on screen. The behind-the-scenes people from the set production team, camera people, and costumes, and hair and makeup teams are all first-rate. This film looked amazing from that perspective.
With all the great production value and other crafts departments also comes the music of the film. Herman and Columbus enlisted the talents of probably the greatest composer of all time, John Williams. I'm a little biased on that because I have great memories of him as the conductor of the Boston Pops as a child, as well as some of his most memorable scores such as Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Empire Strikes Back, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Raiders of the Lost Ark which were etched in my brain at that time. He created a wonderful score with great melodies and a beautiful timeless sound to it. The fact remains that when someone creates something like Harry Potter, such as J.K. Rowling, that millions of people around the world are so enamored with it's hard to create something that lives up to the expectations of what people want to see in this material. All of that is set aside when this film is finally released. This film lived up to the expectations perfectly. It was a critical and financial success by anybody's standards. Twenty years after this film was released, we've gotten all the sequels and plenty of physical media releases and television airings of this film and the rest of them. They continue to be watched by millions of families all over the world. They have made billions of dollars and spawned a stage production as well. As a fan of watching movies and reading books, I can honestly say this was the perfect combination of a literary work being turned into a great film. I loved this movie and I've watched it countless times. I never get sick of this film. |
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