Lethal Weapon 4

Year 2, Day 218 - 8/6/10 - Movie #584

BEFORE: As long as we're on the topic of buddy-cop films set in L.A., there's this one. I know I've seen "Lethal Weapon" (who hasn't) and back in 1989 I saw WAY too much of "Lethal Weapon 2", while working at a movie theater. "Lethal Weapon 3"? I'm about 75% sure I've seen that one. But I know for a fact that I never saw the 4th installment.

THE PLOT: With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crimelord trying to get his brother out of prison.

AFTER: You probably thought I'd use this space to denounce Mel Gibson for his latest round of racist and misogynistic comments, with new recordings surfacing almost every day, as recorded by his Russian girlfriend. Why would I, when they're so much darn fun? Though they kind of make me long for the days of calling female cops "Sugah Tits" - good times, good times. Anyway, in Hollywood you're only as good as your latest hit movie, or as bad as your last scandalous behavior. Anyway, this is how I choose to remember Mel Gibson, the days of "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films.

The storyline here involves Chinese gangs, guilty of both slavery and counterfeiting, while cop team of Riggs (Mel Gibson, last seen in "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome") and Murtaugh (Danny Glover, last seen in "Predator 2") are on the verge of becoming a father and grandfather, respectively.

This is a solid action film, though the franchise by this point had gotten weighed down with all the excess characters that signed on in Parts 2 and 3. You wonder if they made Rigg's girlfriend pregnant so we wouldn't have to see her for most of the picture...

Another plot point is the police department's loss of insurance (can that happen?) so our heroes are promoted to police captains, to keep them off the streets where they tend to damage things. I'm not sure why this was added to the plot, since it doesn't keep them from damaging things - they run a car right through a freakin' office building in the movie's car chase scene. So, since L.A.P.D. had no insurance at the time, I guess the city went bankrupt.

I'm not exactly an action-movie junkie (or a fan of karate movies, for that matter), but this one certainly kept me awake and interested - so it's loud, anyway. The stunts are quite a bit over the top, but no less entertaining for it. And there was enough light comedy in it to keep it light in places.

Also starring Joe Pesci (last seen in "Raging Bull"), Rene Russo (last seen in "Get Shorty"), Chris Rock (last heard in "Madagascar 2"), and Jet Li (last seen in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor") with cameos from Darlene Love and Richard Libertini.

RATING: 7 out of 10 romance novels

Hollywood Homicide

Year 2, Day 217 - 8/5/10 - Movie #583

BEFORE: So I was reading the Sunday paper today (yes, I know it's Thursday...) and I saw an article about a guy walking across the country, from Rockaway Beach, NY to Rockaway Beach, OR. I remembered my co-worker telling me about her friend, who's walking across the country, so I showed her the article. Turns out it's not the same guy, there are (at least) two people who decided to hoof it from coast to coast - perhaps inspired by the movie "Forrest Gump", who knows. Maybe they just need some alone time to clear their heads. My feet are still hurting from walking up and down the convention center in San Diego - but really, aren't we all just walking across the country, in our own symbolic ways? Me, I'm 583 movies in, with 383 still on my list. Which means that, metaphorically, I'm over the Rocky Mountains, but the Pacific is not yet in sight. But I keep adding new films to the list, so the coastline keeps getting further away. Wrapping this up before the end of 2011 is still a possibility, so then I'll have at least one year to relax before the end of the Mayan calendar.

Gangs, drugs, shootings, dogs and cats living together - it's been sort of depressing these last 2-3 weeks. I'm looking for a cop film with maybe a lighter tone - and since last night's film took place in east L.A., let's swing by and see how they fight crime in Hollywood, at least according to Hollywood.

THE PLOT: Two LAPD detectives who moonlight in other fields investigate the murder of an up-and-coming rap group.

AFTER: Well, I got what I was hoping for - while not a laugh-out-loud comedy, it did have some very comedic elements. It's a spin on the grizzled veteran and hotshot rookie buddy cop film - the veteran cop is also a real-estate agent on the side, and the rookie has aspirations to become an actor. I guess they're both in the right town.

And in between selling houses, rehearsing lines, and bedding numerous women along the way, they do find time to do some police work - a tiny bit, anyway. And there's a great car-chase climax as a bonus. While investigating the shooting of a rap group, the cops encounter a famous movie producer, a yoga class, Internal Affairs, a hot radio psychic, record producers, and a famous Motown background singer. I think they could have pushed the Los Angeles stereotypes a little more - yeah, they talk on their cell phones, and make out with women in hot-tubs, but where are the no-foam decaf lattes and sushi?

My quibble with the plot is that the motivations of the people responsible for the shootings are somewhat questionable - mostly they allude to past events that involve the central characters, but happened years ago. So we have to imagine the reasons for people to have grudges against our heroes - which is murky storytelling at best.

Still, it was exciting and entertaining - maybe not on the level of "Beverly Hills Cop", but not dark and depressing like "Clockers" either. I'm feeling generous tonight because they kept it light, and gave me what I was looking for.

Starring Harrison Ford (last seen in "Firewall"), Josh Hartnett (last seen in "30 Days of Night"), Bruce Greenwood (last seen in "Passenger 57"), Isaiah Washington (last seen in "Clockers"), Keith David (also in "Clockers"), Lena Olin (last seen in "Chocolat"), Martin Landau (last seen in "City Hall"), and Dwight Yoakam, with cameos from Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Lou Diamond Phillips (last seen in "La Bamba"), Andre Benjamin (last seen in "Be Cool"), Robert Wagner, and Eric Idle.

RATING: 7 out of 10 cheeseburgers

Colors

Year 2, Day 216 - 8/4/10 - Movie #582

BEFORE: I'd like to watch "Heat", but it's got a long running time - 2 hours and 52 minutes, and I do need to get up and go to work tomorrow, so I think I'll save that one for the weekend and go with this film tonight instead.

THE PLOT: An experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.

AFTER: Well, I got my car chase tonight, a couple of them in fact. See, it doesn't take much to put a little action in the film - big words make head hurt...

This is a variation on a regular theme, the pairing of a rookie and a veteran cop - the film "Training Day" being a recently-watched example. But it's nice to see what two capital-A actors like Robert Duvall (last seen in "A Civil Action") and Sean Penn (last seen in "The Assassination of Richard Nixon") can do with the material.

The action focuses on the L.A. gang-banger scene, which Officer Hodges (Duvall) knows quite well. Officer McGavin (Penn) wants to bust into the ghetto and arrest every two-bit drug dealer he sees, but Hodges knows that method doesn't work very well, and that they're better off interacting with the gang members, earning their trust, and waiting for the big scores to go down.

The officers are part of L.A.'s C.R.A.S.H. unit (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) and for all I know, this is an accurate portrayal of the constant battle between the Crips and the Bloods - and a third faction seen here, which is largely Latino but also has some Caucasians and Blacks in it as well.

I don't know, I think all of these crime films are starting to wear on me, I'm sort of losing interest...

Also starring Don Cheadle (last seen in "Devil in a Blue Dress"), Maria Conchita Alonso (last seen in "Predator 2") and Damon Wayans (last seen in "Blankman").

RATING: 6 out of 10 bandannas

Q & A

Year 2, Day 215 - 8/3/10 - Movie #581

BEFORE: Digging back into my wife's VHS collection for this cop film -

THE PLOT: A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector.

AFTER: This is a film directed by Sydney Lumet, who also directed "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon" (as the VHS sleeve reminds me...).

Like last night's film, it's about a shooting, and a false claim of self-defense - (nice coincidence) only this time, the shooter is a cop, Det. Michael Brennan, played by Nick Nolte (last seen in "The Prince of Tides"). Assigned to the case is a young Assistant D.A., former cop Aloysius Reilly, played by Timothy Hutton (last seen in "The General's Daughter").

The case looks pretty cut-and-dried, until the witness's statements don't match the shooters, and a connection is revealed to crime boss Bobby Texador, whose common-law wife happens to be the ex-girlfriend of the investigating D.A. Seems to me this is the point where a certain D.A. should have recused himself due to a conflict of interest, but what do I know? This is one of those coincidences that can only happen in a movie - 8 million people in NYC, and your ex turns up in a relationship with your witness? I guess it's possible, but what are the odds?

Reilly sets out to get the scoop on Brennan, which involves a trip to Puerto Rico and a tour of NYC's drag-queen underworld - seems Brennan likes to beat up on trannies when he's not shooting small-time crooks. But who is Brennan working for, and how far up does the corruption go?

Unfortunately, there's action at the start and a climactic finish, but a lot of talky-talky in between. Yes, it's a complicated, cerebral story, but come on, guys, how about a car chase or something? Think of it this way - there's an event, and there's the discussion after the event - which one do you think would be more exciting to watch? I need to see more action and less investigation. It's like Lewis Black recently said about Twitter - "If you're Twittering about it, then you're NOT DOING IT!"

So I have to deduct the number of times I dozed off from 10 to get the film's score. Plus 1 point off for a truly horrible theme song, and while I'm at it, 1 point off for Nick Nolte's soup-strainer moustache.

Also starring Armand Assante (last seen in "American Gangster"), Charles S. Dutton (last seen in "Alien 3"), Luis Guzman (last seen in "The Taking of Pelham 123"), and Dominic "Uncle Junior" Chianese (last seen in "All the President's Men")

RATING: 4 out of 10 late-night phone calls

Clockers

Year 2, Day 214 - 8/2/10 - Movie #580

BEFORE: I started out watching "The Score", with Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando, then after about 10 minutes, the movie started to seem very familiar. I'm almost sure I've seen that film before, so I'm crossing it off the list and moving on... I'm calling an audible and moving this film up on the list.

THE PLOT: Strike is a young city drug pusher. When a night man at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike's older brother turns himself in as the killer. Det. Rocco Klein doesn't buy the story, however, and sets out to find the truth.

AFTER: Well, at least I haven't seen this one before, which is the whole point, right?

I'm not a big Spike Lee fan, though his work was critically bullet-proof when I went to NYU. At the time he was the biggest thing to come out of NYU film school since Scorsese, and in the eyes of my teachers, he could do no wrong. This is an adaptation of a novel by Richard Price - and I'm thinking the novel probably explained things a lot clearer than Spike's film does.

I think it's safe to assume that the central character, Strike, committed the murder - though I suppose that since we don't actually see it happen, it's open to some interpretation. I question the decision to not include the actual footage of the shooting - was that done to keep us guessing, or is it a glaring omission? Strike's brother Victor confesses, but the police find inconsistencies in his story. Honestly, I've seen bigger plot twists in just about any episode of "Law & Order".

The interesting part here is the lengths to which Det. Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel, last seen in "Be Cool") goes to try to get the right man to confess to the murder. He discredits Strike in the eyes of his gang, and then implies to the head dealer, Rodney, that Strike has flipped on him. I suppose the implication is that most cops would take a confession and close the case, but Klein keeps putting the squeeze on Strike, until prison actually seems like his best option.

I'm having trouble seeing the big picture here, what the overall message is about life on the streets - "Do the Right Thing" had a message, albeit a simple one (Racism bad, fight the power) but here things are quite muddled. Maybe the answers aren't as simple as you first thought, Spike? And the symbolism is quite simplistic - a fish restaurant named Ahab's? Are you saying that fighting the drug problem on the streets is like Ahab chasing Moby Dick? And Harvey Keitel is Captain Ahab? There's some symbolism for the NYU professors to chew on...

I've got more drug-related films coming up in a couple of weeks - I probably should have tied this one in to "French Connection" or something...

Starring Mekhi Pfifer, Delroy Lindo (last seen in "Get Shorty"), John Turturro (last seen in "The Taking of Pelham 123"), Isaiah Washington, Keith David (last seen in "Superhero Movie"), and Michael Imperioli (last seen in "Jungle Fever").

RATING: 4 out of 10 milkshakes

Public Enemies

Year 2, Day 213 - 8/1/10 - Movie #579

BEFORE: You might have heard the cast of a recent Jersey-based TV show talking about their "GTL" schedule - gym, tanning, and laundry. I much prefer my weekend schedule of TLC - that's television, laundry (I'd prefer lounging, but laundry has to happen) and comic books. It seems that bagging comics, organizing them and keeping track of their values has taken a backseat to my movie project. It's a big job, and I've fallen behind - hopefully I can work on this a little each night until I catch up.

Sticking in the 1930's for this crime film, which I got off of premium cable last week - great timing! I've got more Johnny Depp films coming up in October, and I toyed with the idea of delaying this film until then, but I think it fits into this chain best.

THE PLOT: The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

AFTER: This is a rich, complicated period piece - and it did a good job of capturing the feel of the 1930's. However, at 2 hours and 20 minutes, it's a bit too long, and in the end it doesn't really get into Dillinger's head, it just scratches the surface.

Johnny Depp (last seen in "Donnie Brasco") plays Dillinger, and the best parts of this film detail the cat-and-mouse game between him and FBI agent Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale (last seen in "The Prestige"). This is what I've been looking for, someone to root for - though I suppose if you want to root for Dillinger, that's your right. But since I knew who triumphs in the end (and that crime doesn't pay...) I'd rather back a winning horse.

Dillinger is stuck in the pattern of pulling bank jobs, then hiding out until the coast is clear - repeat as necessary. His associates all have plans to leave the country after their next big score, but Dillinger has no such ideas - either he never makes the big score, or he just loves what he does too much to leave the life of crime. We find out so little about his personality here - as he says to his prospective girlfriend, "What more do you need to know?" Umm...something, anything?
Why does he rob banks? Why not get a steady job, settle down? The film does OK with the WHO but falls short on explaining the WHY.

The movie suggests that Dillinger was able to hide in plain sight, either by wearing disguises, or by depending on the silence of people who viewed him as a modern-day Robin Hood. I guess those people didn't lose any money in the banks that Dillinger robbed... I suppose he was aided by the fact that the FBI didn't have sophisticated surveillance equipment yet, or DNA testing, or cell phones, or GPS locators. But Dillinger's crimes led to the formation of FBI task forces, and tougher interstate crime laws.

A few years ago, we went to Chicago and took this "Mob Tour", which I highly recommend. These two guys dressed as 1930's gangsters led a bus of tourists around the city, pointing out locations like the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and the Biograph theater, which is the place where agents took Dillinger down. (Not really a spoiler, since it's in the history books) Good times...

Also starring Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup (last seen in "Mission:Impossible III") as J. Edgar Hoover, Stephen Dorff (last seen in "World Trade Center"), Lili Taylor (last seen in "Say Anything"), Giovanni Ribisi (last seen in "The Postman"), Rory Cochrane (last seen in "Dazed & Confused") and Leelee Sobieski (last seen in "88 Minutes"). Oh, and character actor Peter Gerety (last seen in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop")

RATING: 7 out of 10 fedoras

Mobsters

Year 2, Day 212 - 7/31/10 - Movie #578

BEFORE: I spent today catching up on television - spending 5 days in San Diego meant that my DVR was near its capacity, and I had 2 weeks of "Jeopardy!" and "Late Show with David Letterman" to watch, plus a week of "The Daily Show", episodes of "Last Comic Standing", "America's Got Talent", plus all the silly TV I like to speed through, like "Wife Swap", "24-Hour Restaurant Battle", "Chopped", "Chefs vs. City", "Man vs. Food", "Dinner: Impossible" and "Kid in a Candy Store". Essentially, if a show is a food-based reality show or challenge, I'm there. I'm really looking forward to August, because it seems like all the new and premiering shows are outside of my comfort zone (except for "Rescue Me", "Futurama" and "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations"), and hopefully this will give me a shot at catching up on the TV I've stored on tape since March, which includes a lot of "Law & Order", "CSI", "Simpsons", "Family Guy", "Kitchen Nightmares", and "Smallville". I wasted some time today watching a ridiculous History Channel show called "Apocalypse Island", which I'll discuss further after watching the movie "2012".

Tonight it's another film about the Mafia, which is silly, since as we all know, no such organization exists.

THE PLOT: The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime...

AFTER: This film shows the early days of organized crime, and suggests that it wasn't as organized as you might think - since all the various bosses were usually trying to kill each other. The film is set from 1917 to 1931, depicting the bootlegging of the Prohibition era, the first attempts to infiltrate the American unions, and the formation of the "Five Families" of the mob.

Again, I'm struggling to enjoy a film where every character is a criminal. I can't wait to get back to cop films, where I feel there's (usually) a better definition of good vs. evil, and it's easier to root for a rookie cop than, say, an up and coming mobster.

This film centers on the friendship between Charles "Lucky" Luciano, played by Christian Slater (last seen in "Broken Arrow"), and Meyer Lansky, played by Patrick Dempsey (last seen in "Enchanted"). We're meant to root for this pair of thugs, not just because they're young and good-looking, but because Luciano is Italian and Meyer is Jewish, so they're progressive, and therefore somehow less evil. But the film just doesn't completely sit right with me, since it justifies and glorifies the gangster lifestyle. Racial acceptance and religious tolerance don't make up for bootlegging, murder, and other vices.

Yes, I realize that some of the best films ever made, including the "Godfather" films, feature anti-heroes like Michael Corleone...but those are deep, rich, complicated films, and this, by comparison, just seems like a shoot-em-up. There's plans within plans, and vengeance for past hits, but the motivations are still pretty simple - making money by whatever means are necessary.

Another drawback is the way the movie skips over a lot of details - we see the four main characters celebrating that they've made their first million dollars together - how? We presume it was made from illegal liquor sales, but how does one grow an illicit business, what hurdles did they have to overcome? I'm reminded of "The Untouchables", which was set in the same era, and we got to see Eliot Ness's first, unsuccessful attempts at stopping bootleggers - which made his later successes feel more deserved.

There are a few little parts that get inside the heads of these characters - explaining why Luciano avoided most romantic entanglements, and why the married Lansky preferred to stay in the background, but these moments are unfortunately few and far-between. A lot of details seem to have been glossed over here in order to bring the picture in at a neat 105 minutes. And I guess all it takes to rise to the top of organized crime is just to play rival crime-bosses off against each other. Can it really be that simple?

Also starring Richard Grieco (last seen in "A Night at the Roxbury"), Costas Mandylor, Michael Gambon (last seen in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"), Lara Flynn Boyle, F. Murray Abraham (last seen in "The Sunshine Boys"), Christopher Penn, Anthony Quinn (last seen in "Jungle Fever"), with cameos from Seymour Cassel (last seen in "Animal Factory"), and Titus Welliver (from "Lost") as Al Capone.

RATING: 6 out of 10 tommy-guns