Crum on Showbiz

Published Dec. 7, 2006 in Kansas City’s Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune newspapers. 

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By Steve Crum 

Movies set in Africa, telling of warring factions, poverty, genocide and corrupt governments, have proven to be both forceful political statements and strong box office. Last year’s Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda is an example. This year factor in the critically acclaimed The Last King of Scotland, Tsotsi and Catch a Fire. Now add director Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond, a solid action-adventure tale set in 1994 Sierra Leone. 

Zwick and screenwriter Charles Leavitt mount fiction upon fact via three central characters on their own personal quests who become webbed with diamond smuggling and terrorism. It all works well in a complex, riveting and disturbing way. The film suffers only in pacing: it seems longer its 134 minutes.

Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe who has been into diamond smuggling for arms over the past few years. In a role that Errol Flynn or Gary Cooper would have fit years back, Archer is a hard-drive con man who uses charm and muscle to achieve profit. His dream is to find a golf ball sized pink diamond of the film’s title, which will buy him a new life outside of Africa.

Such a dream has nightmarish connections, as local fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) discovers. After his village is raided by government forces, he is taken to the diamond fields as a virtual slave. His wife and daughters end up in a refugee camp while his middle school-aged son, Dia, is trained to be a murderous child soldier. His first kill task involves being blindfolded and forced to fire a machine gun straight ahead as a prisoner is pushed in front. Then his blindfold is removed as fellow soldiers cheer his first kill. The homicidal brainwashing has begun. Each young boy is also given a killer nickname, further shaping his new identity. (A postscript at film’s end chillingly states there are currently more than 200 thousand child soldiers in Africa.)

Meanwhile, Dia’s father has found and hidden a large gem. He is recaptured by opposition forces and imprisoned, which is where he meets cell mate Archer. Despite Vandy’s tight lips, news of his diamond spreads, followed by Archer arranging to free himself and his new cash cow friend. Archer, of course, wants the diamond for himself; Vandy wants it to locate his family and finance a new life. 

Into the foray enters American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), who equals Archer in getting what she wants—in this case the story of who is behind the diamond smuggling. The three soon team to help Solomon find his family, regain his son and locate the gem.

Zwick films typically have a textured, lush look to them—exemplified by Glory and The Last Samurai. Blood Diamond has it too. Credit Eduardo Serra’s Oscar-worthy camera. While passing out awards, both DiCaprio and Hounsou are likely candidates. 

Above all, it is the film’s vital human message that lingers—the sacrificial “blood” of the title. 

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GRADE on A-F Scale: B

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Published Nov. 16, 2006 in Kansas City’s Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune newspapers. 

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By Steve Crum 

Good news—maybe—for 007 fans: James Bond is back in Casino Royale as a buff, no nonsense, licensed kiler as played by Daniel Craig. The maybe is for die-hard fans like yours truly who expect certainties in our Bond flicks. After 20 movies, why not? Then again, accept this 21st as truly retro Bond since the screenplay (Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade) is closely based on Ian Fleming’s original Bond debut novel of the same name. 

Many frills are missing, like Q’s ingenious gadgets. Don’t expect to see exploding watches, jet backpacks and car ejector seats. (However, 007 does drive a nifty Aston Martin DBS.) In fact, forget about inventor Q himself. He is not even referenced. Very missed is a John Barry score, which greatly enhanced the mood and action in the Sean Connery and Roger Moore vehicles. Composer David Arnold, with his fourth Bond score, again suggests Barry’s music rather effectively. Grunge singer Chris Cornell sings the OK theme song, “You Know My Name,” over the animated opening, which he also scored. 

Nearly absent is Bond’s smooth, ultra-sophisticated persona. He does appear in tuxedo, particularly during the second act in the high stakes poker sequence. More often, Craig’s Bond is shirtless and bloody, usually after chasing a bad guy up and down endless structures. He is even tortured while bound and nude. 

As for the animated opening, Casino’s is among the best of the series, and most surreal. It might be the most colorful, depicting images of 007 warding off gigantic playing cards that bleed. 

Do expect healthy doses of Bond women, extraordinary stunt work, and international locales. Dame Judi Dench returns as M, head of the British Secret Service, who continues her love/hate relationship with her most trying agent. Speaking of agents, Jeffrey Wright does a fine turn as CIA operative and Bond buddy Felix Leiter.

A James Bond movie must have a strong villain, and Casino Royale supplies one via Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a terrorist banker and sadistic poker player who literally bleeds through his tear ducts. Now that is evil.

As mentioned, there are characters and gimmicks missing in Casino, since the story occurs at the beginning of Bond’s secret agent career. Early in the story, he is told he cannot be a full-fledged 007 until he has had at least two clean kills, which he accomplishes with aplomb. M has misgivings about her fledgling agent,, and James is an unknown to his adversaries since he has zero reputation. Previous entries in the Bond series make one wonder how he could call himself a “secret” agent. Here, he truly is. 

Although this marks the beginning of the Bond saga, practicalities of our world and current events influenced the writers. Retro or not, this Bond uses a call phone, computers, and does his best to stop the funding of terrorism. Nothing really needs to be added to the plot overview except that our hero becomes romantically involved with treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). 

Undoubtedly, having second-time Bond director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) helps in franchise continuity. Casino Royale is a definite see for Bonders like myself who can accept the hard-hitting Craig…Daniel Craig. 

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GRADE on A-F Scale: B

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Published Feb. 22, 2007 in Kansas City’s Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune newspapers. 

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By Steve Crum 

Ghost Rider is the perfect movie for middle school and high school-aged kids. Let me amend that to include MOST teen males. They will absolutely love it. Being five times removed from that demographic, this critic liked the movie very much.

Ghost Rider is definitely a comic book movie with dialogue and pop morality to match. No mind stretch here, but what hot visuals: a flaming skull, blazing cycle, and a three-alarm, 20-yard chain used like a whip.

This is the good guy battling not only the devil (Peter Fonda), but his snarling son and cohorts. It looks, especially at first, like a not-so-obvious hero versus obvious villains. Not far into the story however, we get used to the scary, smoldering skull guy (Nicolas Cage) and discover his humane side. He only snuffs out dangerous criminals while protecting innocent citizens.

Here is a classic example of style over substance, a usually negative criticism that works fine here. The flick is packed with visual fun. Just do not expect introspection like in the A-Class Marvel adaptations Spider-Man and X-Men. 

Ghost Rider is second-tier Marvel, played fast and flashy. Do I sound like a 13-year-old or what?

Director/screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil) opens the saga in flashback as 20-ish Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) makes a deal with Mephistopheles (Fonda) to cure his ill, motorcycling dad (Brett Cullen) of cancer. Both Johnny and his father are teamed in an Evel Knievel-type stunt act. Things do not turn out as promised, and Johnny’s plans to marry his girlfriend Roxanne (Razuel Alessi) are thwarted.

Jump to present, and Cage’s mature Johnny has stayed with daredevil cycling, even jumping over blade whirling, parked helicopters. He tries to hook up again with Roxanne (now played by Eva Mendes), who is a TV reporter. Satan reappears, demanding Johnny do his bidding as the avenger, Ghost Rider. He is to flame-on and rid the world of rogue demons, particularly the devil’s son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), and sidekicks. Even Johnny’s cool motorcycle transforms into a sleek bomber bike aka the Hellcycle. Awesome scenes include Ghost Rider gunning his chopper through city streets and across the desert in blazing glory. 

However, our hero is careful not to injure innocents; he will often stop in pursuit of bad guys to help the needy. Oh yes, the transformations always occur at night, no doubt because it is much more spectacular. 

A neat plus is Sam Elliott’s Caretaker, who has his own reason to link with Johnny and his Ghost Rider persona. Without spoiling too much, just think more fire and retribution.

Definitely think Kevin Mack, whose pyro-wild special effects pretty much steal the picture. Cage and crew obviously enjoy their campy work, as will most audiences. 

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GRADE on A-F Scale: B

Published Jan. 18, 2007 in Kansas City’s Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune newspapers. 

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By Steve Crum 

It is not long into Notes on a Scandal that one discovers Dame Judi Dench is delivering one of the best acting turns of her illustrious career. Make that one of the best in film history. She is superb as Barbara Covett, a matronly British teacher who befriends and ultimately blackmails fellow instructor Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett in a strong supporting performance). 

Director Richard Eyre weaves Patrick Marber’s adapted screenplay slowly but steadily from the beginning of the new high school term in inner city London. We find veteran teacher Barbara arriving late at the opening faculty meeting and obviously at odds with the headmaster and paperwork protocols. Probably burnout is the best way to describe her demeanor. She is determined to do things her way, as she has done for decades, and she is proud of it. When the new art teacher Sheba is introduced, we hear Barbara’s piercing thoughts about her.

In fact, we hear those and other sarcastic musings, mostly about fellow faculty members, from the film’s opening. It seems Barbara is an avid journal writer, entering daily observations (hence the movie’s title) at home in the company of her pet kitty. Barbara has never married, but she keeps writing and pressed memorabilia of past close female relationships in dozens of filled diaries. Lesbianism is never specified in Notes on a Scandal, but it is obviously Barbara’s sexual preference. 

In contrast, Sheba is a free-spirited hetero, married to a man (Bill Nighy) 20 years her senior. They have a son with Down syndrome as well as a teenaged daughter. When Sheba befriends Barbara, it is not only a professional courtesy but out of need for friendship. 

When Barbara spies Sheba having sex with a 15-year-old student (Andrew Simpson) after hours in the art room, she soon contacts her new friend with warning of criminal prosecution. Now the story turns grim and threatening. Essentially blackmailing Sheba, Barbara makes her promise to end the affair immediately. In return, Barbara demands closer involvement in Sheba’s life in and out of school. That means becoming a frequent dinner guest with Sheba’s family, which rapidly wears thin with the husband. 

A particularly good sequence involves Barbara showing up on the sidewalk in front of Sheba’s home, demanding Sheba be with her that second instead of driving away to see her son’s play with the family. That is just the beginning of Sheba’s nightmare, which grows wickedly worse when Barbara discovers Sheba is still seeing her student.

In a role which would have suited Bette Davis in her Baby Jane persona, Dench’s psychotic Barbara is in contrast a layered and mannered portrayal. Her creepiness grows as the story unfolds. Her voice, at first tempered and low, becomes loud and erratic by film’s end. Barbara’s body language shows bolder with arms flailing, as she trudges while walking.

Is there a moment when Blanchett becomes Joan Crawford and has fisticuffs with Barbara? Close. This seductive psychological thriller is loaded with anticipation and payoff. 

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GRADE on A-F Scale: A-

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Published Jan. 25, 2007 in Kansas City’s Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune newspapers. 

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By Steve Crum 

No filmmaker wants his or her mistake displayed on huge movie screens or via DVDs for home viewing. But it happens all the time. Errors in continuity, factual dates, and props are among the most common, which does not mean they are that easy to spot. However, what fun to try.

In one of my favorite movies, Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant’s character is on the run after being framed for murder. In a crowded restaurant located atop Mount Rushmore, his girlfriend (Eva Marie Saint) pulls out a gun and shoots him. Before she pulls the trigger, however, a young boy extra (looking the other way) can be seen in the distance placing fingers into his ears in anticipation of the sound. Perhaps the kid had already read the script?

Here is a sampling of some kind-of-recent and not-so-recent movies with fun/sad errors. 

•In Martin Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED (2006), Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bill Costigan is having coffee, holding a cup near his mouth. Where did the toothpick go that was in his lips a second ago? Let’s hope he didn’t swallow it.

•NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2006) features a prehistoric slip, among many glitches. A caveman’s footprints leading to an open window suddenly disappear in the next shot. 

•Would a classic, standing-the-test-of-time movie like THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) have even one mistake? There are dozens, among them Dorothy’s pigtails. They increase and decrease in length when she first meets the Scarecrow. Frightened follicles maybe?

More of my favorite movie errors, predating internet listings, include:

•MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961)—Confederate prisoners escaping in a balloon encounter a downpour when they are above the clouds. Now that’s mysterious. 

•BULLITT (1968)—The Dodge Charger chased by Steve McQueen up and down the streets of San Francisco clearly loses three hubcaps. Soon after, the car crashes as three more hubcaps take flight.

•ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (1940)—Raymond Massey does a fine turn as President Lincoln, so much so an extra who was supposed to join the crowd in yelling, “Goodbye, Mr. Lincoln!,” instead shouts, “Goodbye, Mr. Massey!”

•DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)—Fred MacMurray is taunted by Barbara Stanwyck in this classic Billy Wilder murder tale. Even though his character is a confirmed bachelor, he wears a wedding ring throughout. 

•JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)—During the dynamic prison dance/singing sequence of the title, Elvis Presley’s uniform number changes from 6239 to 6240. Wasn’t 6240 the address of Heartbreak Hotel on Lonely Street? Nah.

•Finally, little did I realize when attending 1968’s volcano disaster movie KRAKATOA: EAST OF JAVA (at the long gone Capri Theater in downtown Kansas City) that in fact, Krakatoa is WEST of Java. 

Who in lava land wants to know the correct location for this forgettable movie anyway?