Tag: Sterling K. Brown

Twofer Movie Review – ‘The Predator’ and ‘White Boy Rick’ – On the Hunt

Full disclosure, it’s been such a down year for movies (especially compared to last year) that I may be overrating both of these, but what are you going to do?

Directed by Shane Black
Written by Fred Dekker & Shane Black, based on characters created by Jim & John Thomas
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Yvonne Strahovski, Jake Busey, Niall Matter, Brian A. Prince
Soundtrack: Henry Jackman

Shane Black films are notoriously difficult to market because he has such a specific tone (and often suffers from studio interference), The Predator being no exception, but I think his fans get largely what they expect from him with this one, as the movie feels like a mix of John McTiernan’s 1987 original with another film from that same year, The Monster Squad, which seems appropriate given that Black and [Fred] Dekker wrote that one as well.

It’s a shame that the title is such soft reboot nonsense, because this is a legitimate sequel, keeping at least Predator and Predator 2 in canon (I’ve still not seen Predators even though everybody tells me it’s alright; I’ll get to it eventually).  Certain fan service moments feel a bit cringy, but overall I can’t fault Black and Dekker for wanting to make a movie for existing fans, while also putting their own stamp on it (and I really appreciated Henry Jackman’s adaptation of many pieces from Alan Silvestri’s scores from the first two, giving the film a nice throwback feel at least in the music).

Now, I’ve seen at least one person call the movie “a mess”, and I can understand why they would say that, because there are a number of elements that shouldn’t necessarily be in the same film together, but, nevertheless, I had fun, which is all I really wanted (and if nothing else it’s a more satisfying experience than Predator 2).

And I’m so glad it’s R-rated.

Rating: ★★★★☆

 

Directed by Yann Demange
Written by Andy Weiss and Logan & Noah Miller
Cast: Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, Rory Cochrane, RJ Cyler, Jonathan Majors, Eddie Marsan, Bruce Dern, Piper Laurie, YG, Taylour Paige, Danny Brown, IshDARR, Kyanna Simone Simpson, Kwon Haynes
Soundtrack: Max Richter

The synopsis for this movie is in big, bold letters right on the poster, so there’s no need to waste too much time on it, but suffice it to say it’s a story worth bringing to the silver screen.

White Boy Rick effectively rests on the shoulders of two actors, newcomer Richie Merritt and old hand Matthew McConaughey, and they carry it with aplomb.

Sure, the true life story is actually interesting, and I can’t think of a supporting actor who truly sticks out like a sore thumb, but without these two guys executing at the level that they do, the film would be much worse off.

Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention director Yann Demange (if he wasn’t already he’s definitely a director to keep an eye on now), who manages to bring together an entertaining yet poignant movie out of some pretty dark and dour material.  I’m sure some people will try to argue that the movie glorifies crime (like always), but I think it’s akin to Goodfellas in terms of a frank look at the lifestyle, the reasoning, and the consequences.

Lastly, composer Max Richter continues to do outstanding minimalist work, and his score for White Boy Rick is pitch perfect, appropriately apportioning synth-wave and traditional sounds with the right touch of melody and dissonance when needed.

And, again, I’m glad the movie’s R-rated.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Movie Review – ‘Black Panther’ – Rising Like Olympus

Directed by Ryan Coogler
Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Florence Kasumba, John Kani, David S. Lee, Nabiyah Be, Isaach De Bankolé, Connie Chiume, Dorothy Steel, Danny Sapani, Atandwa Kani, Ashton Tyler, Denzel Whitaker, Seth Carr, Alexis Rhee
Soundtrack: Ludwig Göransson

I don’t know if anybody had the vision in 1998 that in twenty years time Marvel would be eighteen movies deep into a run of who-knows-how-many dozens of connected films grossing billions-upon-billions of dollars at the box office, but I do know that it all started with Blade.

That’s right.  The financial success of Blade was enough to convince Marvel that this whole movie thing was worth getting into (after some, shall we say, false starts in the 80s and early 90s).  Ten years later, bing-bang-boom, we’ve got Iron Man, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is off to the races.  Ten years on from there, enter Black Panther.  In a way, you could say it’s all come full circle.

But enough about that.  Is the movie any good?

Yes, very much so.

Black Panther is decidedly among the better MCU films thus far, is refreshingly story-driven, and has the most stand-alone feel of its peers since the original Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.

More than that though, it’s got a lot of meat to it.

For one thing, the basic story is downright Shakespearean (King dies, Prince ascends the throne, and so on and so forth), but the film also delves into such real-world issues as the African vs. African-American experience, political isolationism, and violent vs. non-violent revolution, all naturally worked into the script without feeling like they were tacked on by some committee.

Of course, Black Panther is also a superhero movie, and a pretty good one at that.  I wouldn’t call it entirely perfect (some of the visuals felt a little lacking, and a few creative choices felt a bit off), but I liked that it was something of an origin story without starting all the way back at square one, and I particularly enjoyed the array of enjoyable characters (unlike some other movie).

If I have a couple of nitpicks, for one, it bums me out that seemingly everybody can put on an effective accent except for Chadwick Boseman as the titular character (although Forest Whitaker for some reason decided to sound like an Afrikaner…weird), and, second, I felt like Michael B. Jordan’s performance was a little too “I’m from the streets!”  I thought a little subtlety could have gone a long way there, but, like I said, these are nitpicks.

Overall, I have to hand it to Ryan Coogler for making yet another quality film that’s undoubtedly part of a larger franchise but also has enough legs to stand on its own, and credit to Marvel for letting him do it his way.  I was feeling pretty superhero-fatigued heading in, and I was worried there wouldn’t be enough to overcome that, but, in that respect, the movie triumphed.

Hail to the King, baby.

Rating: ★★★★☆

P.S.
Of course stingers, duh.

P.P.S.
As usual, thanks to Alamo Drafthouse for the glass.