Tuesday 23 February 2021

Retro Review: Trespass (1992)

Trespass
1992
Cast: Bill Paxton, Ice-T, William Sadler, Ice Cube, Art Evans, De'Voreaux White, Tommy Lister Jr., Stoney Jackson
Genre: Action
U.S Box Office Gross: over $13 million

Plot: A pair of firemen searching for loot find themselves in a standoff with a gang of drug dealers 
 
 


'Doesn't Hold Up, Despite A Solid Cast'

Written by Bob Dale and surprisingly Robert Zemeckis, director of Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump, and not to be confused with the Nicole Kidman and Nicholas Cage thriller of the same title, Trespass tells the story of two Redneck firefighters, Vince (Bill Paxton - Aliens, True Lies, Predator 2) and Don (William Sadler - Hard To Kill, Die Hard 2, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey) who are given a bundle that includes a Gold cross, an old newspaper article and a treasure map to the stolen loot. As they go in search of this loot, they find an abandoned warehouse whereby a bunch of crooks/gangstas, led by Ice- T's King James, kill a guy, which Paxton's Vince witnesses. After getting hold of the gang leader's brother, the firefighters find themselves caught up in a crossfire against the gangsters, of whom include Savon (Ice Cube) who knows nothing about the gold, but rather they just want to kill anyone who stands in their way and to rescue their younger brother, Lucky (De'voreaux White).  

Alums from Die Hard in De'voreaux White as a gang member and Art Evans as a homeless guy both feature, and whilst this is supposed to be an action thriller and a modern take on The Treasure of the Serra Madre, there is an absence of characterisation for a film that tries to and attempts to focus on the rivalry between the two firefighters and the gang members, whilst clocking in at under 90 mins. The ideas and themes never quite gel as a result of a cumbersome plot. Walter Hill was hired for his expertise in the action movie, action- thriller genre; however, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's underdeveloping characters and padded-out narrative outweighed any potential Trespass might have had, whilst Hill, himself, isn't quite able to infuse the film with enough good and excitable action to maintain the pace of Trespass's run-time. 

The film is adequately-made, performances are fine for the most part, but the lack of likeable & sympathetic characters meant I did not truly care about the ending or the aftermath of this movie; that and Trespass never gets going. The white characters represented by Paxton and Sadler are supposed to be the leads and yet one would be forgiven into thinking they are the heroes when in actuality, they are greedy and are as less empathetic and as cynical, and the Black characters through Ice T, Ice Cube, Art Evans and De'voreaux's roles as violent gangbangers, sadly fare no better.  

Having bombed at the box office back in 1992, it's not that it hasn't aged well, but Trespass doesn't hold up through today's viewing as it fizzles away. The pot-boiler thriller elements are underplayed, the story itself is uneventful and drone-worthy and alas, what should have been two firefighters engaging with and fighting it out with the crooks, becomes a rather tedious showing & fails to live up as a cat-&-mouse style thriller as all of this is sidelined. There is a little twist towards the end that would have been the ice breaker this film truly needed, but it all came too little too late and with that, Trespass amounted to zilch. 




Final Verdict

Trespass underwent a last-minute name change and was delayed due to the L.A riots and its ending was hastily rewritten after a disastrous test screening. Yet neither solutions worked as Trespass was dumped in cinemas on Christmas day of 1992 & later tanking in U.S movie theaters and as such was quickly buried. 

I didn't hate or loathed it, but I will say I was massively disappointed with it; plus it is also sadly forgettable and thus shown that this stand-off didn't truly pay off.    


Overall:

Tuesday 9 February 2021

Review: The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears (2021)

aka Framing Britney Spears
2001
Genre: Documentary

Synopsis: Her rise was a global phenomenon. Her downfall was a cruel national sport. People close to Britney Spears and lawyers tied to her conservatorship now reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life 




By Waiching 

'Shows The Media, The Press and The Entertainment Industry Spares No One... Unless One is Young, Male and White'

In this New York Times- produced, FX and Hulu docuseries, Framing Britney Spears delves into the proclaimed pop princess' career and conservatorship, and in such damning fashion, as well as of her mental health challenges and the incessant & ugly tabloid-hounding and s**t-shaming she has endured & her gradual loss of control. Since 2008, Britney's finances and decisions have been in the hands of her father, Jamie. Speaking of Jamie, it has been revealed by the director, Samantha Stark, that he and his team tried to intimidate The New York Times with lawyers, in their attempt to shut down the release of this documentary. 

The documentary centres its topics around the conservatorship (which she was placed into aged 26 & one she is trying to free herself from) & the 'Free Britney' movement, courtesy of the stars' impassioned fan base, that came out of it, but also it intertwines her pop career through archival footage and how sexism and misogyny were rampant & played a part in disparaging Britney as a young woman and as a person. 

If one was around in the 1990s, s/he would be familiar with Britney Jean Spears: a Louisiana native and ex-member of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show, Spears was a millennial icon, who sold millions of records, worldwide and topped the charts in several countries through songs such as the famous, 'Baby, One More Time', '(You Drive Me) Crazy' and 'Oops! I Did It Again!'. I was born in the same year as Britney, 1981 and so I was familiar with her career & songs from her breakthrough with 'Baby, One More Time' right into the 2000s with 'Stronger' and 'Lucky'. My favourite albums of hers are Baby, One More Time', Oops, I Did It Again, Britney, In The Zone and Femme Fatale

The film features several interviews from journalists bombarding Britney with questions about her sex life and sexuality, along with participants in former assistant and companion, Felicia Culotta (who can be seen in the Baby, One More Time music video) & a backup dancer, Kevin Tancharoen, as well as paparazzo Daniel Ramos, of whom many fans could have done without. 

The effectiveness of the documentary is revelatory and watchable in places, it was an eye-opener & informative; with clips of former NSYNC boyband star & pop star, Justin Timberlake, quiz show Family Feud, Jay Leno and Diane Sawyer and all of the other tabloid vultures all mocking her. Not to mention the foreign TV presenter asking Britney about her breasts, which boarded on filthy. They all humiliated her and used that humiliation as a form of entertainment to grind her down. 'What had the early 2000s come to?', many will say and by reflecting on supposedly harmless fun, is seen in today's lenses as mere bullying, and toxic behaviour of the highest order that would never be condoned in 2021. A mix of emotions flowed as I sat through this: of anger, disgust, of how it shouldn't have come to this - had Britney had the support network that she needed to help her navigate the difficult periods of her life. But alas, the people she surrounded herself with had let her down. 

What would have been seen as memorable at the time, would nowadays be considered as crude as they take potshots at the singer. It made me angry as I watched this, but also I was glad that the filmmaker, Samantha Stark made this and made this with the intention to show the other side of Britney Spears that mainstream media and press overlook. It was striking somewhat to see Britney being involved with her shows and music videos and having a say in the creative decisions; her associates and disparages assert that she possesses a strong work ethic and is not lacking in ideas; thus dispersing claims and the notion that she was a pop puppet who isn't or wasn't fully in control, musically and career-wise.

In addition to the much-publicised Britney break down/meltdown that led to the head-shaving incident & umbrella attack on a paparazzi's car, before all that happened, and following on from the 2002 infamous Britney and Justin break-up, came the ABC Diane Sawyer prime-time segment which aired in 2003. It was particularly odious, with Sawyer's barrage of comments defending Justin Timberlake and painting out that Britney cheated on him, which turned out to be unfounded. To make matters worse, she also scolded the singer by informing Britney that the wife of a governor that if she ''had the opportunity to shoot Britney Spears'', she would & even approved of it as well, which was unsavoury to watch. Timberlake was a prominent figure in Janet Jackson's downfall through the infamous wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl halftime show, as well as Britney's. Whilst Janet's career was cancelled, Britney's stalled, whereas Timberlake's went in the opposite direction, as he used both women to further his career.
''I think Justin Timberlake has some things to answer to, not just about Britney Spears, but about his role in sexualising and demonising Janet Jackson after the Superbowl, & we as a society, we have to look at why we treated a woman who was clearly in pain (& by the way she was suffering from post-partum depression when she shaved her head)'' Meghan McCain - The View 
As the film argues, framed as in being blamed, framed as being set up for failure or set up by building Britney up, - only to knock her down when the media and Hollywood feel like it, & framed by being painted as a b****, the villainess, who cheated with guys she dated and married. 

Despite it not featuring many of her songs and less emphasis is placed on her pop career and success of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Britney's story is an important one to watch because she was a pawn for moneymakers who never saw Britney for her talent but for her sexuality, who could help them make millions of dollars-, and yet they didn't have or show any genuine concern or interest towards her emotional and mental well-being. Yet in Framing Britney Spears, one notices how incredibly messed up and corrupt the entertainment and showbiz industries and Hollywood have been and can be, as they seek to dehumanise and chew the likes of Britney up and spit them out afterwards when they are no longer flavour of the month, and still profiting from their miseries. 


Final Verdict:

Whether or not you are a Britney fan or not, one needs to see this documentary to realise how society, or be it the media and the negative impact of the media and tabloids, can be soul-destroying & toxic: our obsession and relationship with the media and press when they stoop as low as they have done towards the likes of Britney Spears and countless other celebs need rethinking and re-evaluating completely, & immensely.


Overall: 


Saturday 6 February 2021

Mini Retro Review: The Donor (1995) #badmovies

The Donor
1995
Horror 



The actual term, 'donor' is a person who donates or provides blood, internal organs for transfusion, so having some woman rip out a guy's kidney, is not exactly a donor. Anyhoo... Made and produced in Canada, this horror B-movie has Jeff Wincott, without the martial arts antics, playing a film stuntman who is drugged and after being seduced the next day, he discovers that someone has removed one of his kidneys and he has to find out who did it. The mystery itself is not very well handled, nor inviting and whilst it tries to be a horror, this is inaccurate as The Donor is a) not shocking enough and b) it comes across more as a suspense mystery; with that, The Donor makes the mistake of not upping the ante & instead settles for lethargic. The film throws in a few red herrings, sex scenes, repeated flashback scenes which become more redundant with each turn, and scenes with women attacking male victims, & the actual reveal of the killer, with no real hints alluding to her involvement, makes practically no sense, whatsoever. This is one of those films where I never rooted for the hero, with out- of- place Wincott as Castle virtually unlikable... rather I rooted for the film to end. This is a poorly conceived attempt of a thriller-horror who-dun-it.


Is It Worth Watching?

Nah 


Overall:
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...