Ridley Scott’s 2000 Best Picture directorial work Gladiator was a seminal moment in 21st century cinema. Oscar winner Russel Crowe’s broody Maximus made an impression on filmgoers. Gladiator 2 arrived in cinemas this week. It is best to leave well enough alone. This come twenty-four years later sequel is an out of sync spectacle.
Paul Mescal has some big sandals to fill as Lucius, the less brutal, more pondering vengeful son of Maximus. Not lacking in the spirit of role but lacking the grit, the Irish actor looked as if he was learned how to swim without an instructor for the first time.
Denzel Washington as Macrinus
Denzel Washington as the scheming Macrinus was relishing his role at times the twice Academy Award earner overshadowed a cast that came off as having taken a high dosage of Xanax.
The Wikipedia referenced script has the usual assortment of Roman Empire intrigue for the civic crown. I, Claudius captured these characters better.
Scott plays well with the visual, too bad the whole Gladiator 2 was just a lot of humdrum separate parts.
2.5/5 stars.
Gladiator 2 is in European Cinemas. Running Time: 2 hours 28 mins.
Luther: Never Too Much is the story of performer Luther Vandross. The crooner who was “Too Black”, “Too Big” got boxed in by the music business. The color codes of the industry meant the New York born native never gained wide stream acceptance, i.e. the White Audiences embrace. After stints on Sesame Street then music arranging for super star David Bowie, Luther embarked on a R&B solo career. However his success in a “defined” Black American genre came at a price. The eight Grammy Winner’s record label refused to allow him to cross over, despite working with mainstream artists Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Bette Midler.
Director Dawn Porter’s soft touch balances presentation with a touch of grievance. “Life is a perfect line of ironies” goes the expression.
Luther Vandross passed away in 2005.
Luther: Never Too Much is in cinemas and available on MAX.
Luther: Never Too Much was screened at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.
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From the Tribeca Film Festival there were more titles screening on the subjects of music and Climate Change.
Saddled with the description “Too Black, Too Fat,” this label would shadow the acclaimed singer for his entire career.
Singer Luther Vandross
Drew Porter pulls back the sparkling curtain, presenting a story of a singer whose zig zag rise to stardom did not come at a price, more from a silent suffering. Using archival footage with interviews from close friends, the documentary peels away the layers of Vandross move from a New York back-up singer ton the kids show Sesame Street, working with David Bowie and Bette Midler to becoming the top voice of RnB music. Luther: Never Too Much will inspire many to investigate Spotify.
After listening to the opening musical beats, I was hooked on yet another musical themed documentary. Anyone on the Spanish Isle of Ibiza during the summer knows Carl Craig. Form a set at one of the massive Beach Disco locales. The Detroit born techno music maestro is the center of Desire: The Carl Craig Story. As a major figure in the Motor City Music scene the DJ and director Jean-Cosme Delaloye embark on a personal trip beginning in industrial ruins to the global party going capitals.
Carl Craig
Subtle
Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play is one of those works with the subtlety of a 10lb brick in the face. Jeremy O. Harris goes behind the curtain to show the word his process for creating his controversial sexually charged Tony Nominated drama Slave Play. Many writers are great manipulators, able to play with emotions with a naughty wordsmith veneer. Many will have a problem dramatising a 280-year-old tragedy being reduced to carnal fetish. On the other hand, some will praise Harris’s vision. The world would be a boring place if everyone had the opinion.
Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play.
Effects on Kenya
The continued drought in Kenya is causing havoc on communities. Last year I screened a film on the violence caused by lack of water for farmers. This year another entry came on my screen, Searching for Amani. Once again, it is a story involving conflict over scare resources. Nicole Gormley and Debra Arko’s camera accompany a minor’s journey to understanding the reason for his father’s murder while trying to understand the fast-changing world around him.
There is a part of Nairobi Kenya where the raw Earth is no longer visible. The area is covered with fabric strips from discarded clothing dumped by global clothing brands in the capital neighbourhood. This shocking scene encapsulates fashions footprint on the environment. Japanese fashion designer Yuima Nakazato traveled to the African nation to see the piles of excess clothing waste. Kossai Sekine’s makes an environmental statement on how Climate Change consequences have been compartmentalized by consumers and the fashion business in his film Dust to Dust.
Once again on the Tribeca Film Festival platform I screened a movie on a musical artist who got cheated in three categories; historical, financial and recognition. BAM BAM: The Sister Nancy Story fills in the blanks concerning one of the most sampled musical pieces in history from a ground breaking performer, Jamaican songstress Ophlin Russell, better known as Sister Nancy.
BAM BAM:The Sister Nancy Story
The 62 year old recorded a 1982 low budget music track in Jamaica titled “BAM BAM”. A tune that would travel the world, earning millions, sadly, none for the singer. Director Alison Duke traces the roots of the Reggae beat from inception to Nancy’s new found global appreciation in this up-tempo documentary.
Claude Nobs
The second documentary based on a music subject, They All Came Out To Montreux is a homage to a Jazz Festival and the vision of its unconventional founder Claude Nobs. Using archival footage of stars ranging from Nina Simone, David Bowie to Prince, the film is an inspiring salute not only for melody lovers, but for creatives around the world.
1980’s Again
Being too hyped can be a curse, just ask a Brat Pack Member. For a few moments in the 80’s a handful of young actors dominated the entertainment headlines not for their acting work, but as celebrities supposedly living the Hollywood Dream. Andrew McCarthy’s Brats explores the youth phenomenal. Did the term hinder careers? As a member of the “It Click”, McCarthy along with Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy and Rob Lowe talk about the effects and pressures of having a label with a baggage. Thank Goodness there was no St Elmo’s Fire 2.
Are formal balls inspiring? An uplifting a path way to a different life or an out-of-date ritual in need of reinvention? The Debutantes charts young Black Women’s social coming out in Canton Ohio. The dedication and romanticism do not come easy during the countdown to the big day. There is no mystery about Contessa Gayles’ intentions: dignity, self-esteem and hope.
The Debutantes
Do Scandinavians have a sense of humor? After watching Eirik Tveiten’s short film of “Camping in Paradise”, Yes! This story of personal fragility braking down in a nudist camp is a cock-a-hoop laugh.
Camping in Paradise Learning English
Jean Liu’s short film Learning English used the perfect formula for modern comedy. The set-up, execution and pay-off should be studied in film schools. Learning a second language should be pleasurable.
Ruthless Blade
Blood, revenge and perhaps slightly personal, that is how I would describe Bo Zhang’s animation short Ruthless Blade. A cat’s tale with fantasies of being a warrior tiger packs some strong renderings.
All films were screened on the Tribeca Film Festival Online Platform.
The Hollywood Strikes hit the entertainment industry in 2023. Work stoppages caused disruptions along the chain from Hollywood to independent cinema. The film festival circuit did escape the five-month long actors and writer’s dispute. As I cover the Tribeca Film Festival there is a marked difference in the level of entrants. A number of foreign filmmakers along with titles from female directors made the cut this year. The New York City film event unveiled 114 narrative and documentary titles.
In Sexual Demand
Hot masculine top, athletic body, how hard would it be for a guy with this description on his profile to hook-up on Grindr? Nicolas Finegan’s Some Kind of Paradise short film handles the challenges of a Gay Life based on isolation, fast food sex and the ins and outs of emotional intimacy. John Brodsky makes a subtle impression of a sexually in demand man boxed in, suddenly tapping into awakening feelings.
Black Table
Since the fall of Jim Crow, African Americans have made inroads to higher education, however not without challenges. Recent headlines of the US Supreme Court tossing College Admission Affirmative Action Programs are the latest struggles. For People of Color, navigating certain spaces can be tricky, a balancing act of fitting in, yet trying to retain identity. Black Table, is the story not just about race but of social economic class attending Yale University in the 1990’s. The film is a soft chronicle of unconscious prejudices faced at an Ivy League Institution with the always hanging question, “Do You Belong Here?” Co-Directors John Antonio James and Bill Mack offer an honourable perspective about New Haven.
Survival
Recently, I noticed more filmmakers focusing on the plight of women in the Middle East. Once upon Beirut was called The Paris of the Middle East. A once prosperous city with a freewheeling spirit population made up of diverse groups. Now, the Mediterranean capital struggles with corruption, simmering conflict and citizens looking for an escape hatch. All if these elements come together in Mira Shaib’s first film Arze describes itself as a comedy drama of titular character Aze trying to stay afloat with a teenage son and an emotional challenged sister while dreaming of a way to earn more money by buying a scooter. The irony of making life easier turns into a nightmare when the moped is stolen. What follows is a tale of urban frustration rooted in survival.
Arze
How do you make a touching film short about hair lice? Hindu director Vindhya Gupta’s eloquently shot Lice shows the answer. The story of a blossoming friendship coming to life under ticklish circumstances.
Lice
All films were reviewed online. The Tribeca Film Festival runs until June 16th.
Prometheus gave man fire, and the Gods were not happy. Oppenheimer, the latest Christopher Nolan Film, is a war drama based on the Los Alamos Project, the race to acquire the Atomic Bomb. Based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of Robert J. Oppenheimer, the $100 million production follows Oppenheimer and his science team’s development of the ultimate weapon.
Cillian Murphy gets promoted from Nolan supporting player to lead as the conflicted egocentric work driven project head. The Irish actor makes of the most of his screen time by playing the man on an intense mission, unheeding the future consequences until too late. Emily Brunt as the bottle dependent Mrs. Oppenheimer had to have watched Deborah Kerr’s 1953 perfromance in the film From Here to Eternity for reference, drawing on the cruelty of her marital situation.
Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Jr clearly has set his eyes on the Oscar Nomination playing Opeenheimer’s intellectual inferior yet cunning adversary Lewis Strauss. Mat Damon as General Lesile Groves comes across as forced, a blustering perfomance in a military uniform that was too big for the wearer.
What Actor would turn down a call from one of the top directors of his time? Clearly none. Nolan assembled top talent and names for the above the line ensemble, but there laid the problem. The key supporting characters intricately involved in the plot were overshadowed, forgotten. Bennie Safdie as a H-Bomb developer Edward Teller and Sadie Stratton as Mary Washburn had screen time, why? It is a case of wasting talent, not performances, rather, stock pieces.
Oppenheimer is dazzling film making on many levels, yet at times dazzling dullish, dazzling flawed and dazzling overwrought. At 180 minutes, Nolan’s screenplay kept the tension tight while seemingly going in small circles. Production values are top, camera work, editing and sound departments will certainly attend the upcoming technical awards ceremonies.
At a time when movie goers are experince super hero fatigue Oppenheimer shows audience want more than men in tights. Mr. Nolan gains praise for his work.
Instead of the giving Oppenheimer the title of Prometheus, perhaps Empimetheus, the God of Afterthought, would be a better. After all, The Greek Titan had the key to the Pandoras box. Look what happened we he gave it away.
What is happening in Hollywood? It was suppose to be easy. The business model was based on acquiring Intellectual Properties, then turn them in media franchises across every platform. Simple. A movie here, a television show there, spin off’s in every directions. Audiences would pay to see their favorite characters in new adventures time and time again.
Apparently the audience did not read the memo. One major release after another has stumbled. The big studios have hit a box office wall of underperforming films or out and out flops. It was not suppose to be this way. It is one thing when a movie disappoints, it’s a panic attack when a eco-system faces collapse.
The Disney and Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES and THE DIAL of DESTINY recently opened with a soft $60 million weekend in take. The $300 million production needs to earn over $700 million to break even. That number seems unlikely given the drowsy reviews of the James Mangold film. Harrison Ford’s fifth and last outing as the iconic adventurer seemed set to be a spinoff for a more modern story. Unlikely given Disney could lose as much $500 million on the time traveling saga. Disney head Bob Iger’s having acquired George Lucas’s creations for over $4 billion in 2012 has fans asking what was the point? Four STAR WARS productions each one worse than the other, now the nail in the coffin, a below average Indy movie.
The Other Side of Burbank
The other Burbank powerhouse studio, Warner Bros finds itself moving into pray mode. The $200 million dollar THE FLASH struggled to cross the $100 million mark at the US box-office. The CGI heavy DC Comic production did not click with ticket buyers. Given that parent company Warner Discovery is in $50 billion debt, certainly alarm bells are ringing in the head office. After all, colorful tight pajamas were written in as a major revenue asset for the media giant.
It is looking more and more fatigue is taking hold of cinema goers. The lack of originality and pandering works have driven away ticket buyers to screaming on social media about Hollywood’s dismal releases.
Hollywood has learned, again, there is no such thing as a sure thing. Will this make studios change course? Disney announced new STAR WARS films. I would almost rather be on Alderaan watching the Death Star hover than sit through another instalment of the now soul less galactic saga.
