SCHWARZFAHRER (BLACK RIDER)

Here's a review on a German Oscar winning short film called...


The film takes place on a tram car and an old lady sits next to a black man and she starts making racist remarks on him and different races. The film is 12 minutes and 19 seconds long, so this will be another short review. First of all, the atmosphere is really great and the cinematography, jazz score and the film being in glorious Black & White give the film a really great urban feel. The actress who plays the heckling racist old lady, is outstanding as her character and she really comes off as someone very unlikable. I just love the people's reactions and the silence going on as they listen to her. Even the man sitting next her, is in silence as he's being hated on. I won't tell you the ending but I will tell you that it's very satisfying and made the film for me! Overall, the film has fine acting, wonderful cinematography, a great atmosphere, and is very interesting and shocking with it's topic of racist people in society. I'll be honest the film didn't wow me but it's still a highly good film.

RATING 4/5

DISNEY'S CINDERELLA

Cinderella tells the story about a young women who's forced to work and slave over her evil Step Mother and evil Step Sisters. However, she has animal friends who help her out and try to make her happy. One night, there's a ball being held at a Castle but Cinderella is unable to attend. However, Her Fairy Godmother makes her wish come true until Midnight. At the Ball she meets a Prince and the two fall in love but Midnight strikes, Cinderella runs away but leaves her glass slipper behind. The Prince finds the slipper and his Father decides to find the girl he danced with by using the slipper. Alright, if you have any problems with the Fairy Tale don't blame Disney, blame the writer. Me personally, I don't find really that much of a bother in plot wise because it's a Fairy Tale and anything can happen in it.



Cinderella is another Princess character that society now a days are frowning upon since she just does nothing except clean and dream and in the end gets it all. First of all, this is a traditional Fairy Tale story and again if you have a problem with it, blame the writer. Second of all, I think there's something behind the working and dreaming. Her character is kind and while being under control she tries to find happiness in life instead of just crying about it. While she's working in almost every scene she's in, I feel like the message behind all this is to be kind to others, find good when life isn't good to you, work hard in life and in the end you'll be rewarded for it. Personally that's something I live by and from being kind to people, trying find good in life and working hard for what I dream about has gotten me somewhere. Well, that's what I got from the story and character and I hope others would get that from the story too instead of just seeing this character as a lazy role model or maid figure to girls.


I'm going to say this about a few of the supporting characters, even though Cinderella is the star and focus, I always thought the King, the Duke and the Mice (Epically them) were the stars of the film. While being fun supporting characters, the story is mostly told from their point of view. The Mice are the ones who have more screen time then our lead as well as helping her and observing the situations. As for the King and Duke, not only are they a funny duo, they too are also observers as well as being more of the focus then the Prince, I mean come on how often do we see the Prince? By the way, I just love how these two characters make fun of some of the aspects and logic of the story. Of course the rest of the animals are very cutesy and fun and  being the second Princess film by Disney, this is the first time when any one of the animals talk. As for the Fairy Godmother, while being very warm hearted and humble, I love the humor that they give her.



Our villain, the evil Step Mother, my god do I want to just give her at least one knock out punch! She's hateful, she has an evil smile, she has scary moments and on top of it she does what ever she can to keep Cinderella under her control. The more I see her, the more pity I feel for Cinderella because she's just pure pure evil. The Step Sisters are not only ugly and funny but boy are they as hateful as their Mother. They spend most of the film yelling, nagging and doing what ever they can to keep poor Cinderella down. I hate them so much that I just want to kick these two right in their big fat butts! Finally we have Lucifer, who I like to call the Devil cat. Again, nothing likable about him, brings nothing but hate and pain and is completely as evil as the Step Mother and her daughters. These villains are so bad, that you just got love to hate them!

Now the songs. Who can forget the classics such as the Fairy Godmother's song "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo", Cinderella singing "Sweet NightnGale" as she's cleaning. and the animals working song "Cinderelley". One of my favorite tunes in a Disney film is "A Dream Is A Wish" and if you think that song's promoting laziness well 1; you're forgetting the fairy tale aspect of the film and 2; (Just like "When You Wish Upon A Star" in "Pinocchio") I always saw it as a symbol of hope and something to help you get through your hard times which helps our main character. Other songs like the films theme song and "So This Is Love" while matching the tone in atmosphere, they still are forgettable.



As for the Animation, it's great, it's beautiful, it's spectacular and literally looks like a Fairy Tale. The designs for the characters are great, the use of magic from the Fairy Godmother is magically, the details to scenery like the inside of the Castle is gorgeous, the film is colorful and the stuff in the mice's point of view looks gigantic. You can just tell that there was a lot of hard work and effort being put behind this film and it all really really shows. It's indeed one of Disney's best animation.

Overall it's a great take on a Fairy Tale, the characters are great, the songs for the most part are memorable and the animation is fantastic. For those who think it promotes laziness, clearly you're not looking at the film or story hard enough.

RATING 5/5

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART 3

 Well here we go, the last "Back To The Future" film of the trilogy.


In 1955, after Marty successfully completes his mission; the hover Delorean gets struck by lightning causing the time circuits to over load, thus sending the Delorean and Doc into the year 1885. Marty then receives a letter from Doc stating that he's living happily in 1885, and leaves the time machine in a cave for Marty so he can travel back home. However, it turns out that Doc gets killed by gun slinger Mad Dog Tannen a few months in that time period and Marty goes back to save him. However, the Delorean gets damaged during his travel, and now Marty can't bring the Delorean up to 88 Miles per hour to send him "Back to the future". Doc and Marty must now figure out a way to get the Delorean to work. Meanwhile, Doc finds love; Mad Dog is getting ready to kill both Marty and the Doc; and Marty is now in deeper trouble to being name called. Again, well written and never ever runs out of plot. However, people seem to dismiss this film because of its setting in the wild west. Is it a sequel that will damage the whole trilogy? Before I get started, I will NOT be reviewing it in time periods since the majority of the film takes place in the west.



Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are once again great at reprising their roles as Marty and Doc and to still have the same magic and comedic timing that they had in the previous films definitely shows how much they're willing to make a third film as good as 1 & 2. It also shows that no one and I mean no one can play these characters as well as Fox and Lloyd. On top of it, this is also the closet that Doc and Marty have ever gotten. They spend time figuring ways to get back to the future; they help each other in bad situations; they spend most of their screen time together; they give the same comedy we know and love between them; and they even switch places. In other words, Marty acts more like Doc, while Doc acts more like Marty. It's very fun and enjoyable to see them closer than they were ever before and it's one of the main aspects that make the movie good.



Aside from the relationship between Doc and Marty, there's another great relationship in the film and that's the love between Doc and Clara (Mary Steenburgen). Some people find Clara annoying and find the love story to be a plot device for filler, but to be honest I don't see any of that. Mary Steenburgen as Clara isn't just perfect for the part, but she makes the character very fun, lovable and interesting. The chemistry between her and Lloyd is so beautiful and heartwarming that you can feel the love between them as well as knowing that the two are made for each other. It's a beautiful subplot of the film and really gives Doc more personality as well as bringing us a fresh new character that's just as interesting as him.



The films main villain Mad Dog Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) is an awesome villain. He's mean, he's tough, he's always ready to kill you, and of course carry's the same idiotic personality that the different versions of Biff have. He's so mean that he kills Marshall Strictland in a deleted scene in front of Strictlands kid, man give this villain some freaking credit. Mad Dog is just as great as all the different variations of Biff and to see him as a western gunslinger makes him even more awesome.






While some people dismiss the film for its Western theme, my question is have you ever seen the film? Granted, maybe it's not as great the previous two because the film does suffer from a few problems. For example, while the film has some great jokes and pays great homage to western films, most of the jokes are mostly rehashed jokes from the first two films only portrayed in a different way. To me it just feels like the writers are running out of ideas and jokes, and I guess are making these jokes to just reference the previous films then trying to write new ones. There's also this song by ZZ Top (Who by the way make a cameo in this film) called "Double Back" and while being a good song, it's not as great or memorable as the songs by Huey Lewis. Anyway, those are my problems with the film. Now here are the things I do like about this film aside from main characters. Again, while rehashing most of the jokes from the previous films, the new jokes are really funny, my favorite being the "Wake Up Juice" that they use on Doc. The action is very promising and the whole climax really held me on the edge of my seat like the Clock Tower scene from the first film for example. The Western setting works really well here and really gives the film its western feel and look with its score, atmosphere, homages to the Western classic and seeing the characters living there. Even Pat Buttram plays one of the residents in the town, can't get any more Western than that. It's also nice and interesting to see the history of Hill Valley and learning about the character's ancestors. The character who I find very enjoyable and fun throughout the whole film is Doc because he spends most of the film inventing stuff and talking about science which is always fun to hear from him. The film also nicely ends the trilogy with its morals on the future (Especially with Marty's subplot on being called a name).

While kind of lacking the full enjoyment that the previous films had, it's a great cap to the trilogy and should get more appreciation for what it achieves. However, there are people who seem to either love or hate the third film, all I can say is, if you hate the third film then you must of not enjoyed the second film either.

RATING 3/5

OVERALL ON THE TRILOGY

This trilogy is one of the best trilogies ever made! The characters and performances are unforgettable; the jokes are great; the different time periods our heroes go to is creative; its methods of time travel are very realistic; and the stories are solid! In fact, these films have so much going for it that people can countlessly talk about not only the characters, scenes and jokes, but also the little details that are shown; the behind the scenes stuff; it's overwhelming impact on popular culture and more! It's a trilogy that gets better and better every time I see it and to me it's one of the best film trilogies of all time.

RATING FOR THE WHOLE TRILOGY 5/5

Well, I reviewed every movie and spin off of "Back To The Future", did I miss anything?

GREAT SCOTT, THIS IS GOING TO BE HEAVY!

THE JAZZ SINGER STARRING NEIL DIAMOND

For those of you who are wondering why, I'm not waiting till next year to review the remake, I decided to screw waiting to review remakes, sequels and seasons from shows and films for next year, because I feel like it's holding me back. From now on, if I feel like reviewing a sequel, a season or remake the same year as I review the first film, last season or original, I'll do it! So just recently I changed two rules and I'm happy with it and I hope you're happy with it too.


 

Not to along ago, I did review on the first popular "Talkie" film "The Jazz Singer" starring the great Al Jolson. I found the film amazing with its story, lead, use of sound and music, catchy songs and cinematography. When I heard of the remake starring the great Neil Diamond, I was both upset, but interested in seeing it. So is it a good modern remake or is it a remake that should have never happened? Well, let's take a look at...




Neil Diamond plays Jess Robinson, a Jewish cantor who sneaks to play at clubs to sing rock, to going to California to make it to the top. Along the way he meets a woman named Molly (Lucie Arnaz) who promotes him and is accompanied by his friend Bubba (Franklyn Ajaye). However, his father (Laurence Olivier) wants him to stay and continue his singing as a cantor and stay with his wife. While carrying some of the aspects of the original classic, it actually could have been better if it was entirely different film. First of all, our main character doesn't sing Jazz, so the film's title shouldn't even be called "The Jazz Singer"; remake or not. Second, most of the plot devices that are taken from the original film, feels forced, corny and is just trying to either poorly homage it or just make the reference. None of the plot devices that were used in the original film doesn't feel needed here and feels a bit dated. In fact, if the writers just take away the plot devices from the original and just make it about a musician who starts from the bottom and makes it big, while probably having conflicts with his girl, friends, band and family; and star our main lead while giving the film a different title, it could work.


Neil Diamond as our main character Jess Robinson, come on, he's not acting; he's playing himself and I have to admit, even if he was in a film playing himself, I still don't think his acting can cut it. It's not terrible, but it's very one sided and bland. The character he plays is not likable at all. In the original, Jolson's character pursued his dream and left his family because his Father forbidden him to sing and whipped him for it; and when Jolson makes it to the top, he tries to please his Father when his Father doesn't want him and in the end redeems himself to his father by singing as Cantor in the synagogue, while his Father is dying and is happy to hear his son giving up a performance for him. Here, the character neglects his Father, while the Father wants him back; becomes a bit of an asshole when he becomes famous; leaves his friends and new wife to just hit the road so the film can have some time killing filler; and he only goes back to his Father because his Wife tells him too. See what I'm talking about people? Here it's a different side of the coin, I feel bad for the Father not our main character! It should be the other way around.




Let's now talk about the songs. Well, it's been said that Neil has been called "The Jewish Elvis", well here it shows whenever he performs. His voice is great; his style and songs are both soothing and rockin'; and his stage presence brings an Elvis like feel. In fact, his songs such as "America", "Love On The Rocks", "Jerusalem", "Hello Again" , "Hey Louise", "Songs Of Life" and even his Razzie nominated song "You Baby" are all great and wonderfully sung and performed by Diamond. While, praising the music and his stage performance, I still have problems with it. The songs are great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like the film's trying to put as many of Diamond's songs as possible to promote the soundtrack than the actual film. While, his on screen concert and recording performances are good, it makes me wish that this was a concert film or a film with a completely different plot because as I said earlier, the films take on the classic is poor. By the way, if you hate Jolson's blackface performances in "The Jazz Singer", well Neil actually puts on blackface at the beginning of the film when he first performs. Not only is it a poor "Homage" or one of the aspects taken from the classic that feels dated, but it's also done more for comedy, while Jolson's was a metaphor on the suffrage of different race performers. As a result, his song "You Baby", became a Razzie nomination for Worst Song because of this scene.

   

Now for the supporting characters. The great Laurence Olivier as the Father is completely awful. I'm sorry, but it's true. His acting is a bit over the top and lame; his Jewish accent is more funny than serious; his relationship with Diamond's character is corny; and on top of it, the character as I said earlier is all backwards when being compared to the original. He doesn't hate Jazz, I mean rock; he doesn't abuse his son; he just wants him to stay in N.Y. with his Wife, take care of him and continue his singing as a cantor then being a Jazz, I mean rock singer. He's not even mean, he's innocent, helpless and sweet. The only reason why he leaves Diamond is when he sees his new wife, which causes him to throw a hysterical fit, that's it. He doesn't even die at the end, the two get back together because he has a kid now, that's it, not because he sings as a cantor for one night (In fact, he doesn't give up a performance to cantor either). Lucie Arnaz as the love interest Molly, may have a bit of spirit to her role and may have better acting skills than Diamond and surprisingly Olivier in this film, but her character doesn't interest me and the scene when she tries to make Diamond cheat on his wife  made me hate her even more. Franklyn Ajaye as Bubba is actually the only character I like in this movie, but sadly he doesn't save the movie.

Overall, the film is an absolute poor remake on a classic. The acting (Especially from Diamond and Olivier) is no where near good; the characters aren't likable or memorable; and the film's music is only there to promote Neil and the film's soundtrack. Overall, buy or download the soundtrack, look up clips of Neil performing, and stay away from this bomb.

RATING 1/5