'RAPE' FILM REVIEW by Jazz MaGee

Rape is the crime of having intercourse with a man or woman forcibly and without his or her consent is the definition displayed in the opening credits of Director, Bob Bryan’s film 'RAPE.' Most state legislation on rape have various statues. For example, rape/sodomy, rape/torture, threatening, bodily injury or any number of special circumstance clauses, including rape with foreign objects. Rape is never about the sexual act itself. This film is depicting the mindset of the rapist, the protagonist in this film. We get to see perpetrator as victim.

Rape is vile and heinous. The thought of it enrages us. 'RAPE' allows us to look closely, not just at the act of rape, but more so, the instigator of it; who this person is and why is this happening. We see human frailty. The irony in this film is not the victim’s horrific experience. The lens is on the criminal. Shot in closed framing POV of the characters allows us a degree of intimacy with him and her.

Surprisingly, the sex-induced scenes are not hard to watch. Perhaps it is because of the erotic imagery of bound and gagged intercourse or the acceptable American cultural art form of Japanese bondage. There is little to no blood in the scenes. From the beginning, 'RAPE' leaves us to surmise if it is pleasure or pain that we’re watching. It is the character dialogue that makes the distinction.

The nuances in this film are how the director is marrying mental illness with the act of rape. In addition, the black and white shadowy silhouettes add a subtle psychotic element to 'RAPE.' Psychosis, as we know it, denotes mental illness, one of three prevailing themes in this film. Power and control, real or imagined, are characteristic of rape. We see cause and effect in the first half of the film relived through childhood sexual abuse. The adult neurosis magnifies anxiety, phobia and an inability to deal with reality. It is not unusual to see adult victims of childhood abuse take on chameleon-like personas or split personalities. This defense mechanism is a coping skill for untreated abuse. In 'RAPE,' one scene is indicative of that when Raymond, the lead, starts to simulate verbally and physically the sexual innuendos perpetrated against him by becoming the abused child. That raw turning point flashed my mindset back to a couple of films where split personality disorders were portrayed, and well I might add. Actress, Halle Berry in the film (2010) 'Frankie and Alice' and actor, Edward Norton in (1996) 'Primal Fear' both cleverly played up their dysfunctional roles in those films.

Sound and music create ambiance and affects the psyche and interpretation of films. Filmmakers use music to create, contrast, allude, infer, mask or parallel themes and the tone of scenes. There is an interesting choice of music dancing with the sex in 'RAPE.' It is slow, subtle, almost mesmerizing, sultry even, an unintentional hint of sensuality and is probably why we can watch at least one of the rape scenes in this film without flinching. One of the lyrical verses sweetly croons: Love letters straight from the heart…Keep us so near while apart…I memorized every line…I kissed the name you sigh…Love letters straight from the heart …

Not surprisingly, halfway through, our antagonist, Celeste, uses her own brand of psychological manipulation to get back at her rapist. While most victims of rape would like some kind of sweet revenge, and they get it, usually by reporting rape crimes that lead to arrests resulting in lengthy incarceration.

Celeste, we infer, believing in the spiritual law KARMA: Kick Ass, Remain Mute, then Attack, in other words, an eye for an eye, retaliates against Raymond, her rapist. He suffers yet again, this time, reliving that abusive childhood at her hands. The idea that the victims of rape can find some solace by inflicting the abuse against them upon someone is a temporary notion at best. Here again, the director is trying to get us to look at mental sickness within the context of sexual abuse.

Rapists are mentally ill criminals and many were sexually-victimized themselves. We get this ugly truth! This is what the film is screaming at us. Both the victim and the perpetrator need treatment. Handcuffs and throwing away the key is not the one-size-fit-all remedy. Psychiatric medical research coupled with viable mental illness diagnosis and recovery must marry, so that both victims of rape can heal.

Film Review: 'DJango Unchained'

Film Director Quentin Tarantino wild wild west film ''Django Unchained'' depicts some surrealism-a grittty semblance of a historical time. Tarantino carefully fictionalizes the film using nonfiction connotations. Not the first to do so, but many entertainment artists don't even get close to telling history like history was and is. 'Django Unchained' is well cast. The stellar performance of Samuel L. Jackson's character reeks a stunning portrayal of the ugliness of internalized racism perpetuated by the superb characterization of Leonard DiCaprio's charismatically-sweet ignorant attitude. Both actors embody their roles exceptionally. When comparing and contrasting the film's themes and poignant scenes that hold this film together, most surmise that slavery is the major component, but the main themes of the film are power, honor, courage, heroism and slavery and ignorance are underlying themes that shape the tone and setting of this film. And yes people really did act (Europeans) and had to live (Blacks) like this pre and post civil war, yet it's Jaime Foxx's character that is the major protagonist going up against all the forces in this film. Great analogies are used as the film plays up some of the ignorance of the time period, hence the hooded sheets scene of the men on the horses getting together to raid, yet not a clue as to who or what they're standing for or against-or the horrific scene where the dogs decapitate a man as the onlookers foam and revel as if at sporting event and the most profound play up of blatant ignorance is depicted in DiCaprio's self-proclamation of heroism in the infamous The Three Musketeers novel, authored by Alexandre Dumas, a French-African man born to a black slave. The film also contrasts well the major correlation of outside (field) working slaves and the indoor (house) working slaves, thereby historically confirming the complete degradation and genocide of African-race people and their offspring. The subtle symbolism used in the film are small moments to behold as the director entwines clever nuances helping us to grasp the depth of this westernized film with valuable historical content.

"Sparkle" Movie Meetup and Review

• OPENING WEEKEND Friday, August 17, 2012 
  
  

  

  Tristar Pictures presents "SPARKLE", a 1970s classic remake loosely based on the 1950s grammy-nominated singing group “The Supremes” and their coming-of-age musical life with Motown, America’s 3rd African-American owned and operated record label. "SPARKLE" stars the late-great Whitney Houston in her sparkling finale singing and acting performance as the mother and strict disciplinarian to three pretty daughters that can really saaaaaaang. Their talent blossoms as the three sultry sisters start showcasing their musical talent on the local club scene where they meet one of their biggest fan’s (played by Derek Luke, “Antwone Fisher”) and a fast-talking hustler who poses (played by Mike Epps “Jumping the Broom” ) a triple threat to the new found famed sister singing group.
  [http://sparkle-movie.com/site/]
  

  

  It is with great pleasure that I make an effort to watch films the  opening weekend of their release. For this particular film I play film host for (SAACC) Southern Cal African American Cinema Connection (meetup.com), a savvy group of film lovers that meetup regularly to watch and critique a variety of black cast, directed and produced films. I challenged my film colleagues to pay homage to "Sparkle" by attending a Whitney Houston Karaoke Happy Hour commemoration, opening weekend at KDB Kitchen, Den and Bar  at Cinemark at the Pike in downtown Long Beach on August 17. This "Sparkle" remake shines! "Sparkle" is a coming-of-age young girl-to-womanhood film where one, many and all make wrong and right choices-good and bad decisions that are both embraced and regrettable. The idea of one following their own personal passions in contrast to just living in a box that society has predetermined is the eyebrow-raiser of "Sparkle." A slightly funny-almost tearjerker, yet not as gritty and edgy as the original movie, "Sparkle" captures and hones stylish glitz and glam cinematography with great ambiance. "Sparkle" is also a put-on-your-big-girl panties and show us what your made of film. I didn't expect it, but we also see some snapshots of that sexy-sultry attitudinizes from the sisters, (Jordin Sparks, Carmen Ejog, Tika Sumpter) that were depicted in the original ("Sparkle" 1976) from film sisters, Lonette McKee, Irene Cara and Dwan Smith. The backdrop of "Sparkle" is neat. The external and internal elements of this film: the house, the cars, the clubs, the people, the scene at the dinner table with Houston and Epps, the dressing room fiasco, all clean cut, much like the varied camera angles depicting some good close up shots that reel us in imagining that we're party participants as opposed to onlookers. Wardrobe was banging too, the cleanest and sexiest (sexy equating to confidence) in its subtlest form-classically and intricately woven threads befitting to the actors/actresses persona and roles.
  
  The music score was a HUGE part of the original movie, much because of iconic singers Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield musical contributions to the film. I had a vivid flashback of songwriter/singer Betty Wright bellowing out one liners from her classic hit song, 'Tonight is the Night,' ..."I like the music!!!...and you know the melody is real nice, but I know you're not going to sing that song" were my thoughts as Ejog stood out in her teasingly-leazy portrayal of beautifully lip-syncing Aretha Franklin's 1976 classic 'Giving Him Something He Can Feel'. And we really feel the heart of the singing with Sparks's ending solo performance and of course the late Whitney Houston's vocals. Did we expect anything different? Not from Houston! (Muah)

Citizen Kane: A Film Review and Analysis

The 24-year-old film director, Orson Welles playing the role of Charles Foster Kane, a flamboyant sarcastic narcissist entrepreneur, the protagonist in the film Citizen Kane, is just one facet of this award-winning film where camera angles, sound and set nuances invoke implicit imagery and illusions during a time in the 1941 making of this movie when innovation and experimentation were limited in the coming-of-age film industry. Welles was given free reign to produce Citizen Kane, a first for any director in Hollywood.

Welles’ depiction of Kane is a split between two personas executed into one role. On one hand, the gentle giant businessman appeals in such a way to purport a dutiful obligation to help the less fortunate, yet the moral and social ineptness he obliges by defeats that purpose. One of the glaring themes in Citizen Kane is ambition. Possession of any sort seems to be a key element of Kane’s ambition. As reckless as Kane is in his selfish quest for worldly possessions, he also haphazardly neglects his responsibility as publisher of two prestigious newspapers while flying absentmindedly around the world to accumulate artistic statuettes for the mere purpose of just having them.  Kane had an insatiable appetite. Greed is a secondary theme in Citizen Kane.
What cause and effect from Kane’s childhood manifests in the man? Kane never fully comes to terms with his past hurts. His childhood separation from his parents relegates him to mourn rebelliously. Walter Parks Thatcher, the banker, taking on the responsibility to raise Kane, is despised for his good-heartedness. One of the underlying themes in Citizen Kane is grief. Kane’s grief manifests into selfish pride and indignant ambition.

What issues prompt Kane to use unsavory mischievous business practices and place unscrupulous demands on others? Kane’s goal was never money, property and prestige, in contrast, he cared little about any of it as evidenced by the way he treated his possessions with little or no respect. He treated people like his possessions. He had no inclination to run a newspaper business ethically. The notion of him being a political savior was shortsighted. Just as Kane thought it “would be fun” to run a newspaper, wishful thinking of the power of a political figure was attractive to him.

The mostly character driven plot in Citizen Kane is revealed through one of the antagonists, the second wife, Susan Alexander, whom Kane prods to choose a career with no merit as seen through Jedediah Leland’s perspective, an employee and colleague of Kane who wrote terribly truthful reviews of Alexander’s singing debuts that eventually incites Kane to fire him. Alexander’s own perspective is one of bitterness and loneliness. The irony in that is Kane spent his last days as such. The political opponent, Jim Gettys, whom Kane smeared, established a significant turning point in the film by making good on what Kane thought was a bluff. All of these characters, including Mr. Bernstein, Kane’s right hand man at the newspaper and Thatcher all depict their relationships with Kane via the flashback story-telling narration strung together in small connected episodes.

Theirs’ and other omniscient narration make up the entire structure of the story. The nondiegetic sound elements: the heavy-laden background music and sound effects, such as the distinct click sound heard from the newspaper journalist’s camera bulb are effectively realistic and are woven into the diegetic components of the film through the story’s narration. Having no real experience with using sound in a film, Welles only familiarity was his experience with theater radio where he honed his skills at RKO Radio pictures. The ambiance of sound in Citizen Kane added another of layer of clarity. Every scene had a purpose. The characters’ articulation of words carried a greater depth of sound than what was usually seen in film in that era. It can be likened to watching live theater where sound is expounded with emphasis on expressions via the characters. The audibleness and closed shot framing created deeper characterization with the overlapping dialogue and the medium close up shots as seen through much of the back story narration using the locus of the characters perspectives vividly. Unlike omniscient point of view where filmmakers and cinematographers frame shots wider and away from most of the action, Citizen Kane is filmed subjectively from the POV of the characters.

Working with a limited amount of space to begin with, it’s innovative as well as visionary that Welles uses the set and sound in such a way that it makes the characters personable. One such scene where the framing works well in relation to background sound is evidenced in the first half of the movie at the eye-level desk shot of Thatcher, who is completely out of the shot except for his hands holding the newspaper in a close up shot of the front page framing the bold headlines in a closed shot. Within that same scene another shot pushes to Thatcher in a medium close up with about ¼ of his body turned towards the camera looking dead on while sitting at a desk. The expression on his face speaks volumes without an utterance from him while in the foreground the hustle and bustle of the newspaper business bellows out on the screen.

Another scene demonstrates the use of the set in a two shot of Thatcher and Kane in the newsroom. It begins with a medium over-the-shoulder shot of Thatcher framed from the waist up with his backside to the camera and slightly off screen as he hovers over Kane in a medium close up shot seated at a desk. This frame of Thatcher remains static until the cut moves to a two shot of both at the desk seated catty-corner from each other. It’s a good open framed shot of them and the auditory levels add depth to the shot along with the intensity of their conversation, Thatcher being straight-forward and Kane matter-of-factly. Film historian and critic David Thomson adds some credence to the use of sound and setting in Citizen Kane, or lack there of as he comments in a film discussion titled Moguls, Millionaires & Movie Stars: Hollywood Between the Wars “Citizen Kane in Retrospect” that aired on FORA Television [www.FORA.tv.com], he stated, “Welles made up for a lack of setting through sound.”

It’s also not coincidental that the camera angles give the look of a low ceiling structure hovering over the newsroom. This alludes that the working environment in a newsroom is confining. Its purpose is two-fold. The newsroom ceiling shots are also metaphorically befitting to the picturesque limitations of the news room in that it makes Kane look bigger-than-life, a semblance of power.

These long to medium shots of the newsroom ceiling gives an illusion of what a print media conglomerate feels and looks like: cramped with a slew of papers and typewriters coupled with an aura of pressure that signifies the inevitable tight deadlines that are all too prevalent in a newsroom environment. 

Citizen Kane is a great film. What makes it particularly so is the film's development through limited technical mechanisms that are now common in the film industry. There is also a semblance of true-to-life characters that the audience connects with. Some film critics think that Welles told bits and pieces of his own life in this film, while others stated newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst was the premise for this film. As a journalist, I delved inside the film hoping to see components of good journalism. Unfortunately, Citizen Kane makes a mockery of professional journalism. I will say though, with each viewing of the film, I glean a different perspective of the mise-en-scène elements working together in telling the story.

    

The Expendables: A Film Review

(Clapping) Sylvester Stallone’s first go at directing a feature film is LOUD, wild and over-the-top with cleverly sarcastic dialogue. ‘The Expendables’ captures the imagination with CIA cover-ups and covert mercenaries battling wits and bodies that drop like flies in this heavily-stunted action drama. There is a lot of testosterone flying around, including Mickey Rourke's character, which exudes this super sexy persona that is uncommon for him. The subtle tattoo shot just above his crotch is hot! Strong characterization in a movie is important to film directors. It can make the difference on whether or not the audience connects to the film. ‘The Expendables’ is connectable for the most part, although Jet Li and Terr Crews are not the best picks for this flick. In terms of having characters portray strength with the persona they give off, I would have taken Jackie Chan over Li and swapped Michael Duncan Clark for Crews. Chan and Clark both have a stronger acting presence for a film of this type. The funniest one liner quote from the movie: "Don't talk to me cockroach!," says Dolph Lundgren, the human wrecking machine that kicked Stallone’s ass in the ‘Rocky IV’ movie. The cameos of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis added nothing to the movie except their star presence. It’s definitely a go-seer if you like stunt and grunt action.

Brooklyn's Finest: A Film Review

'Brooklyn's Finest', a good cop gone bad movie that is a really bad film with great actors. What a poor rendition of Training Day (part 2). Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes are fine actors, but their roles in 'Brooklyn's Finest' lack luster and simply were not believable.

The scenes were predictable and the same old shoot'em up-bang bang over used drug dialogue was prevalent. Drug movies are hard to do simply because it requires a new twist for an age old problem, otherwise people just end up beind desensitized to drug dealers and crime.

Since Snipes has not did any new work lately, I was sooooo looking forward to a good back-to-film role for him. Not! His New Jack City image does not play out well for the now older Snipes in this film, neither does Cheadle doubling as a drug dealer gangster and cop.

Even Gere, who is a passionate actor, hardly spoke five complete sentences throughout this almost 2 1/2hour. His persona was extremely dull, including the hot sex scene he was having with a prostitute, whom he wants to whisk away. Sounds kind of Julia-like-Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'? It is, only she is Latina.

And Hawke, what can I say? Rookie turned crooked cop who ends up letting the job do him, instead of him doing the job, just like actor Denzel Washington in the first 'Training Day' film.