A Few Words About THE BOOK OF CLARENCE

I watched THE BOOK OF CLARENCE over the weekend and I loved it.

LaKeith Stanfield (Get Out, Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems, Knives Out, and Judas and the Black Messiah) stars as the twin brother of the disciple Thomas. While Thomas leaves the family to follow Jesus, the atheist Clarence stays home with their mom.

Sic Transit Gloria - A few words about RUSHMORE

Rushmore is the story of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a brilliant teenage underachiever who has coasted on the wave of privilege, perks, and patience that being labeled a gifted student at an early age has afforded him.

Chief among these benefits is his continued attendance at the prestigious Rushmore Academy, situated among the children of the wealthy elites despite being the son of a humble barber.

When Max and his new friend Herman (Bill Murray) become infatuated with the same pretty young first grade teacher (Olivia Williams), hijinks ensue.

Movies That Should be Comics #19- Meet Dave

For reasons i'm still at a loss to explain, I watched the sci-fi comedy Meet Dave starring Eddie Murphy (48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming To America, Boomerang, Dreamgirls) on television the other day. I'm a big fan of Eddie's old movies and stand-up, and while I did enjoy the first Daddy Day Care (there was a kid who spent the ENTIRE FILM dressed as the Flash... I'm sorry, that's funny!), I am extremely perplexed by Eddie's family comedies. Eddie is still a phenomenal talent. He's funny, good looking, and has super star charm. he's just waiting to work with a great director, in a great film...

This movie's A Hot Mess... But I liked it anyways

I recently watched Observe and Report on DVR. It's an example of a movie that I enjoyed watching, but that I would not classify as 'good'...

Movies That Should Be Comics #15: The King of Kong

I just finished watching the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters about the battle for the Donkey Kong world record. Not being much of a gamer myself, I was only minimally interested in watching this when it came out a few years ago. This week, I received an illustrating gig that would parody some of the events in the film (however, any similarity to any real people living or dead is purely coincidental, of course), so I sat down and watched it.

Movies that SHOULD be comics #12: Zombieland

after weeks of self-imposed deadline-related exile, i went to the the sneakeasy* with my man Corance (creator of Champion of Children and 1/5th of the mighty Ghostwerks crew) and saw two totally different movies (namely Zombieland and The Informant!) and really enjoyed them both, for different reasons, of course.

Dental Hijinks

I really enjoyed the Ricky Gervais (The Office) anchored romantic comedy Ghost Town, about a dentist who gains the ability to hear and see ghosts after a near-death experience. Gervais is in full British Bastard mode as the easily-annoyed Dentist hounded by ghosts who want his help with their unfinished business. One of those ghosts is a blackberry-addicted, adulterous fast-talker played by Greg Kennier (Flash of Genius, Little Miss Sunshine), who convinces Gervais to help him wreck the impending marriage of his widow, played by underrated actress Tea Leoni (Spanglish, Bad Boys, Deep Impact).

Do the FATBOYS Run This Mutha..?

I just got done watching Run Fatboy Run on satellite, and while it was not a great movie, i'm pretty sure you could make it into one with just a few changes. first, change the star. Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is funny in the role, and does his level best to carry the romantic and heartfelt scenes, but he fell short of ever nailing it. The supporting cast all did their jobs well enough. Thandie Newton (Traffic, Pursuit of Happyness, W) shines as Pegg's long-suffering ex/baby mama, while Hank Azaria is her over-acheiving new BF. Dylan Moran and Harish Patel, Pegg's quirky friends who train him to win his ex back by running a marathon, perform admirably too...

3 Quick Reviews

after finishing a big project this week, and smashing another dope live art event, i decided to zone out and hit the local sneakeasy with my boys. so here's my brief reviews of Up, Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation. don't be surprised if i review them at length later...

Next Day Air Lost the Package...

I went out and caught Next Day Air starring Donald Faison, Mike Epps, and the mighty Mos Def tonight. the good news is Mos Def is awesome in the film. the bad news is, he's only in two scenes. but i'm getting ahead of myself...

Faison's character in Next Day Air is a weeded delivery guy who can't seem to do anything right on the brink of getting fired by his mom (Debbie Allen), when he accidentally drops a huge box of drugs off with a couple thugged-out goofballs (played by comedian Mike Epps and Wood Harris from The Wire), and or course hyjinx ensues.

Hancock

I caught an advance screening of this movie, with an expectation that it would be really bad (the trailers don't make it look real good). It was okay though. in fact, i really liked it. Will plays a jerk, but a believable, even lovable jerk. the story took turns i found wholly unexpected and appreciated. Jason Bateman is great as a hopelessly idealistic public relations guy who decides to help Hancock work on his public image.

I Know Kung Fu...

okay, so me and the wife finally went to see Kung Fu Panda yesterday. it's a dreamworks movie, so i had not thought it would be as good as the average Pixar joint, but they did a GREAT job on this one...

Where there's Smoke, theres's FIRE!

it took me awhile, but i finally got around to seeing Smokin' Aces recently... HO-LEE-CRAP! this is my favorite big-budget movie in a long while! the movie has a fabulous cast, a mixed bag of character actors, veterans, and newcomers (including the big screen debuts of both Common and Alicia Keys) scrambling around to find a spot in a crazy story reminiscent of Snatch or Pulp Fiction. speaking of stories, this one revolves around Vegas magician-turned Vegas gangster-turned Vegas snitch Aces Israel played intriguingly and economically by Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Runaway Jury, Family Man) that just about EVERYBODY else in the movie wants dead!