Red Tails

Red Tails, a movie that portrayed the lives of the Tuskegee Airmen as they fought for their rightful place in the sky to be amongst other pilots as America went to war with German in 1940.  The film was aligned with stars such as Cuba Gooding Jr. (The Hit List, American Gangster, Daddy Day Camp), Terrence Howard (Law & Order: LA, Iron Man, Pride), Nate Parker (The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Pride), & David Oyelowo ( Rise of The Planet of the Apes, A Raisin in the Sun, The Last King of Scotland). You would think with such talent in this film it would be a hit. Not so. I was counting the second until I saw the ending credits of this film. If it wasn't the horribly  thick portrayal of country accents, It was Goodings role as Major Emanuelle Stance that put you in the mind frame of Robert De Niro role as Master Chief Billy Sunday from Men of Honor, (I just wanted to break that pipe) and if that didn't do it for you it was Shaffer Smith (Ne-Yo) accent that made him sound like an old country man  they would call Cookie from those old westerns. Of course the only thing to out shine the bad accents was the bad and out dated dialogue. For there to be so many actors with great accomplishments under their belts they all came across as new actors and this was their first big role. There was even a scene where Ne-Yo told a White Pilot " When you cold, you Blue, When you scared, you Yellow, When you sick, you Green, and you have the nerve to call us colored". I heard that joke from one of Richard Pryor stand ups. I doubt that joke was that old for one of the Tuskegee airmen to be using it in a bar in 1940.But aside from all of that you would think a movie that had a budget of $58 million dollars you could afford more than two women; Daniela Ruah (NCIS: Los Angeles) who played Sofia and Tina D'Marco who played Sofia's mother. Oh and Tears. Yes, tears. There were more than a couple of scenes where you would have thought the actors could had shown a hint of emotion, but never the less every eye stayed dry. Not even a single GLORY tear.  But all is not lost...for Nate Parker who played the role of Marty 'Easy' Julian, this was his entry into Hollywood as a man. Forget the fact that his character looked like Denzel Washington from Malcolm X,  this role is a far separation from his last films and I believe we haven't seen the last of him yet. For his sake and ours I hope that is true.

I grade this movie: Rent It

Underworld Awakening

I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. When I first heard about the creation of this film I had no hope of it being a success. I'm glad I was mistaken. From the first kick to the ribs of a human to the last bullet being shot through the head of a Lycan this movie was everything the other 4 was not. And then some. Set pretty much 12 years in the future of the last movie, Selene is awaken from a cryogenic sleep into a world she does not know, and to a war she is unable to win. But with the help of a young Vampire who wants to be a Death Dealer, a human cop who knows way too much about Vampires and their history, and a 12yr old hybrid daughter she doesn't even know, Selene was able to push back waves of Lycans (believed to have been wiped out in the cleansing) and a giant Lycan who would put William (The first Lycan) to shame. I know what you're thinking in all of this where is Michael? For that you'll have to see for yourself. But I will give you this one little hint...There will be another movie.

P.S. Don't bother seeing it in 3-D, with all the good points the one down side is it isn't 3-D worthy.

My vote: Go see it!

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise was indeed an OK movie. It wasn't the best "gospel" movie I've seen, in fact if you close one eye and turn your head side ways you'll see that Joyful Noise looks a hell of a lot like Sister Act 2. To be honest watching the end of movie I thought for a moment I was watching Sister Act 2 only instead of Whoopi Goldberg they had Queen Latifah. If that wasn't bad enough the side stories were so long you forget the movie was about singing and not about everything else that was going on. But I will end this on a good "note", the two best part of the movie was the sight of Keke Palmer all grown up before our TV eyes, no longer the little girl we remember from Akeelah and the bee. No she has become a grown up movie star. But the main note was the fact of people of all colors, ages, gender, and background singing the message of GOD. Marvin Sapp once said "Take a good look, this is what Heaven will look like." Joyful Noise took those words and made a movie.

My Vote: Rent It!

The Devil Inside

From the opening scene all your attention is focused to even the slightest movement of the movie, to either A: keep from being caught off guard by a sudden scare or B: To prove to yourself (and your date) that there is nothing to be scared of. Either way both attempts will fail you. If it's not the screaming old woman, the large dog suddenly braking through the gates, then it's the theater BOOM of something unseen happening that will have you jumping in your seat. The Devil Inside was filmed as a documentary, best I've seen yet. It had the feel of a real documentary gone wrong and everything was caught on film. the four main characters (A Priest, Exorcist, a Film maker, and a young woman looking for answers) end up biting off more than then they can chew when trying to perform an exoticism on the main antagonist who happens to be the mother of the young woman. To say anymore will give away the movie, but I will say this abandon all hope, you who wish to exist this movie with a smile on your face. A scary movie? No. But you will leave feeling very uneasy.

I give this movie: Go see it!