Recently, the writer of Understated Heroes has been on a writer’s strike. Therefore, unfortunately, this production will no longer be showing.
However, the focus has been shifted into a new direction. To see what her strike has lead her to, go to http://kanzashikween.wordpress.com/
She hopes to see you there!
Understated Heroes will be on a temporary hiatus, possibly until the end of this dreaded holiday season.
My stress level has risen to extreme levels, and my beloved movies don’t even seem to help. Therefore, I do not want to give this site any unfair reviews based on my moods.
I will return to my regularly scheduled blogging only as soon as I feel that I could be fair to my films.
Besides, nobody reads this site anyway. So, nobody really even gives a fuck!
Ciao, but only for now…
Beauty Shop (2005)
Starring: Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone, Andie McDowell, Alfre Woodard, Mena Suvari, with Kevin Bacon, and Djimon Hounsou
Directed By: Bille Woodruff
When the best stylist in a very posh salon gets pushed too far by her egotistical boss, she leaves and opens her own dream salon. Along with this new venture, she inherets an opinionated group of stylists, a very interesting clientele, and a very sexy upstairs neighbor. This is where the fun begins.
The cast in this movie is an all-star excellent ensemble. First off, Kevin Bacon is so wonderfully funny. This role is such a great one for him, you can tell that he just had a ball playing this charactor. And, I don’t know if it was done by the camera or not, but his amazing blue eyes seemed to glow throughout this film. Wow! And now let’s talk about Djimon. This man is absolutely HOT! He not only has a fine body, but he also has a beautiful face which smiles alot in this movie. Another WOW! Other than the eyecandy in the movie, the actresses are really good too. I especially like Alicia’s charactor. Her accent and personality are charming. She’s cute and funny, typical Alicia.
Queen Latifah plays the main charactor, Gina. The one thing that I love about her is that throughout this movie, she seems to make almost everybody she comes in contact with feel good. Whether it be about themselves or just in general. I really do love that about her. She is just such a great charactor, she makes me wish I knew her personally.
Now, the music in this movie is pretty diverse. I love the piano pieces that are played, and, surprisingly, actually like the soundtrack songs as well. Typically, if it’s not Beck, Bowie, or any other kind of rock and/or alternative; I generally don’t like it. However, this film’s soundtrack really catches me. I really enjoy it.
Another surprise I find is the fact that I have a brand new respect for a poet. The poet, Maya Angelou, is recited quite often by Alfre Woodard’s charactor. And I have to say, I am really interested in researching this woman. The pieces that are spoken (I’m not sure if they are full or just excerpts from poems) are just wonderful. I really feel like I can relate to what she is trying to convey, and just love what she is expressing in her words.
And speaking of words, the dialogue in this movie is funny. The 1-line jokes are great and really make me laugh out loud. To myself, no less.
The dance club scene is one of my favorites. It’s alot of fun and high-spirited. In the somewhat short scene, ALOT happens to the story with its clever surprises. Another favorite scene is the special gesture of friendship towards the end of the film. The content is so endearing and sincere, it usually provokes tears when I am really getting into the movie. It truly is a heartfelt scene.
And then there is the last two scenes of the movie. There are two really great reveals included in these scenes. I think it’s the perfect way to end the movie, on a happy and funny note.
I love this movie!
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Melonie Diaz
Written and Directed By: Michel Gondry
An amateur film director must find a way to save the local video store from being closed down after his best friend becomes magnetized and erases all the movies in the store. Using an outdated video camera and their own special effects, the two start something huge by remaking all the movies themselves.
First off, I love that this movie has a story within the story. And along that line, I love that jazz and Fats Waller play a really big part in this film.
The cast is wonderful. Mos Def (Mike) and Danny Glover are so sweet in their characters. And Jack Black (Jerry) is, well, Jack Black. He is so ridiculous, yet funny and outrageous. The best scene between them is when they are trying to break into the power plant. Their outfits are camouflaged to match the background so perfectly that they become hard to see. It is just hysterical.
Another great scene between the two of them is when they discover that Jerry has been magnetized. It is so funny watching the interaction between the two of them during that moment.
After the initial idea of “Sweding” the movies is concieved, this movie becomes extremely entertaining. Their ”sweded” movies are clever, fun to watch, and pure ingenious. Along with the scenes of some of their films, there is a montage of the making of some of their “sweded” movies. All I could do while watching this scene is shake my head at how smart and clever they are in the making of their movies. I especially like the “Boyz N The Hood” clip. The gunshot to the head is so stupid, it’s actually surprisingly funny as well. It’s great.
After a good time passes, the movie takes on a whole new feeling. The humor is surpassed by sadness. When the truth about the history that has been told throughout is revealed, the mood becomes something completely different. This changes their “sweded” movies into a real community-driven home movie about the late jazz musician Fats Waller. Their film “Fats Waller Was Born Here” is great. So brilliantly made, it’s wonderful.
As I mentioned earlier, there are two stories running alongside each other. The humorous “sweded” side, and then the underlying story side. They are both fantastic on their own, yet when brought together, this movie is a heartfelt and very sincere story. This movie really touches my heart.
I love this movie!
Batman Begins (2005)
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
When his parents get killed, Bruce Wayne travels the world in search of a way to fight injustice and to turn fear against those that use it against the fearful. With the help of his butler Alfred, detective Gordon, and his ally Lucius; Bruce returns to Gotham City as his alter ego Batman. Using his strength, intellect, and a whole lot of high-tech weaponry, he fights the enemies of this city.
First off, the boy that portrays Bruce Wayne as a young child is just adorable, so cute. And this film has many flashbacks in which this actor is used, good for him.
As for the rest of the cast, they all did such a great job in their roles. I hate the bad guys, and like the good. Even one of my favorite actors (Cillian Murphy) portrays one of the villians, yet I hate him as his charactor of Dr. Crane/Scarecrow.
Now onto the action, which there is plenty of. The first sequence that I find worthy of mentioning is the training montage. I love this scene for a couple of reasons. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful, and the lessons learned by Bruce are excellent. Another scene that I find really well done is when Bruce enters the cave that he just discovered is alot bigger than he ever knew. When he shines the light, hundreds of bats fly all around him, yet not attacking him. Visually, I love this scene. But the best scene in the movie is the car chase between the Batmobile and the police. The scene itself is such a great fun ride, I was cheering for all the destruction that was involved. What fun!
The first real fight that Batman has is awesome. But the voice that he has is terrible, just horrible! Now, I get it that Bruce Wayne has to hide the fact that he is Batman, but, NOBODY ever recognizes the bottom half of his face? The people that are supposed to know him intimately don’t even know it’s him? I mean, come on, really?
Now folks, please keep in mind that I am not a comic strip super-hero fan by any means. As a matter of fact, I bought this movie simply for the fact that Cillian Murphy is in it. However, even I have to admit that this film has the perfect ending for those that know the charactors to this series and to those that really do enjoy this type of movie.
I like this movie.
Badder Santa (2003)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, with John Ritter, and Bernie Mac
Directed By: Terry Zwigoff
Willie T. Stokes plays Santa Claus. However, his holiday tradition is to rob from the shopping malls that he works in. This year, his plan is messed up by a store detective, a bartender, and a kid that truly thinks he is the real Santa Claus.
From the start, this movie is set up to give the idea of what the whole movie is like. So, I knew right from the beginning that I was going to love it. With its beautiful classical piece playing as the opening music, and its dialogue, the scene itself is funny. Surprisingly, the classical music appears just at the right moments, adding to the fun.
The cast is absolutely perfect. Every person in this movie is so wonderfully great in their roles, I really can’t even imagine any others in this movie. Billy Bob plays such a snide drunk, I want to believe it when I read that he admits to being truly drunk through the filming. And then there are John Ritter and Bernie Mac, R.I.P…they are so good in this movie. The scenes that they do together are so funny, I just can’t help but laugh aloud to myself. The facial expressions that John makes are priceless and the expessionless moments of Bernie are too much.
Now I want to talk about the content of this movie. I think the best line in this movie, by far, is the following…”I’m an eating, drinking, shitting, fucking Santy Claus!”
The interaction that he has with the kids is just down-right brutally mean. However bad he is, it is still funny to watch him with them. And then there is Thurman, THE kid in the movie. I just fell in love with Thurman. Partly because he is treated so terribly by “Santa”, but mostly because he is just adorable, vulnerable, and so sweet. As “Santa” and him start getting to know each other, the kid just keeps asking “Santa” questions. This dialogue is so funny, for the answers given to each question is so quick and short, yet somehow manage to be smart. I love this part of the movie. Hence, this builds upon the inevitable relationship between “Santa” and Thurman. In the report card scene, this relationship becomes obvious, and always seems to well up my eyes and the tears start to form. Damn him!
Another one of my favorite scenes is quite a harsh, yet funny one. A mother brings her son to talk to Santa while he is on his lunch break in the food court. Needless to say, and without saying too much, Santa is not too pleased that he is being interrupted. I love this small but funny scene.
Towards the end of the movie, more and more surprises turn up in the storyline. And the ending, as a whole, always shocks me because I always forget about it. After the initial shock value and the end starts to play out, the last scene is the absolute perfect ending to the movie. Perfect!
And now, I would just like to share with you all some nice little trivial facts that I had found about this movie. This unrated version of the film furthers the record for the most profanities in a Christmas film, including 170 uses of “fuck”, 74 uses of “shit”, 31 uses of “ass”, 10 uses of “bitch”, and 1 use of “bastard”, in variable forms.
I love this movie!
