On Top of His Game

I have to say that one of my favorite actors in the world is Robert DeNiro. He is one of the greatest actors of his time.

I’m saying this because he plays roles in various genres and has done an outstanding job in every genre he has dived into.

You cannot pigeon hole him in one particular niche he does various things very well.

He is brilliant.

I recently watched him in a movie in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Can you imagine DeNiro playing the creature? Well DeNiro played the creature very well I might add.

I place DeNiro on my list of greatest actors of all time. I’m going to see Righteous Kill tonight. So be on the look out for my critique of the movie.

Let me share flicks that I think he did an outstanding job in.

Heat

Analyze This

Analyze That

Meet the Parents

The Score

15 minutes

A Bronx Tale

Good Fellas

Once Upon a Time in America

Men of Honor

Taxi Driver

The Fan

Cape Fear

There are too many to name here but I believe you get the picture. Robert DeNiro, I salute you on your accomplishments as an actor, a producer and a director.

Balxploitation Nation

I’m sitting here in my office listening to 98.7 Kiss fm as they play music from movie soundtracks. These songs are infusing me with inspiration to pen these words today. In the early 1970’s a wave of films were made that targeted black audiences. They starred black actors and usually took place in urban areas.

In the year of 1971 Hollywood financed the movie Shaft which starred Richard Roundtree a tough as nails private investigator. Shaft probably is the grandfather of the genre.

Blaxploitation movies received a lot of flack from various civil rights organizations which called for an end to the genre and by the late 1970’s this genre was terminated.

Politics aside these films were pretty good.

They served a very powerful purpose by speaking to the issues affecting and effecting the black community. I want to salute those films because they opened up my eyes as well as my mind to a lot of things.


Now here is a list of my favorites in no particular order.

Cooley High

Buck and the Preacher

Claudine

Uptown Saturday Night

A Piece of the Action

Let’s Do it Again

Car Wash

Willie Dynamite

Black Caesar

Hell up In Harlem

Across 110th Street

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Sparkle

JD Walker

Super Fly

The Mack

Mahogany

They Call Me Mr. Tibbs

Blackula

Foxy Brown

Three the Hard Way

Cornbread Earl and Me

Three the Hard Way

The film genre may be non existent today, we still live in a blaxploitation nation wheter we like it or not.

Fun Movies

When was the last time that you watched a nice fun movie?
A fun movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a comedy.

It can be a movie that you just enjoy watching that brings a rush of excitement, enjoyment and fulfillment to you.

I want to talk about movies that I found to be fun. You know the ones that leave you smiling long after leaving the theatre. They magically transform you into an enthusiastic spokesman on a mission. Declaring to the world this film is a must see.

Here are choice movies that did it for me. The most important thing is having fun.

Grease

Purple Rain

Little Shop of Horrors

The Outsiders

Two Can Play that Game

Dirty Dancing

Cocktail

Strictly Business

Remember the Titans

Star Wars Saga

Roadhouse

The Matrix

Stand By Me

Wedding Crashers

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Porky’s

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Midnight Madness

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Rat Race

The Blues Brothers

Old School

School for Scoundrels

Bad Santa

Me, Myself and Irene

Soul Plane

Airplane

Gremlins

E.T.

Superman II

The Last Star fighter

House Party

The Bad News Bears (Original and New School)

How to be a Player

Bustin Loose

Trading Places

Harlem Nights

Coming To America

Do the Right Thing

Which Way is Up

The Temptations

Night Shift

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Strange Brew

The Naked Gun

Sin City

X-Men Trilogy

The Hulk

What's Love Got to Do With It?

What’s Love Got To Do With It? Everything!

One of the most powerful forces on the planet is love. Love is the undisputed heavyweight champion of persuasive power. Are you in love now? Have you ever been in love before?

Remember how motivated, infatuated and animated you were about the way it made you feel. What about the things it made you do? They say you do silly things when you are in love.

Lord knows I have been there doing some wild and crazy things for love. Things I can laugh about, some I can cry about and others where I question myself in disbelief.

I dedicate this post to my firstborn son Arthur my pride and joy.
It seems like yesterday when I was only seventeen years old and he was born.

Before his birth I was a wild rambunctious teenager in love, but after his birth his existence help transform my life for the better.

Thank God for that. I guess children really are a gift from the Lord. I really understand that statement better than ever before.

I like to sit in Central Park several days out of the week watching the couples walking together and talking together. In my observations I can tell which couples who are sad, angry, coping or settling and the ones who are in love.

The ones who are in love have this glow about them radiating their entire being. The way the couples in love look at each other is different than the way other couples look and interact with each other.

For the past week or so if I could give my life a premise/theme it would have to be LOVE. I say that because everyday my love is being tested for the people and the things closest to me. Love is never out of season.

I thought what better way to start the week than by talking about movies driven by the galactic spaceship LOVE.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Have you ever been there? When your mind just can’t shake that special someone no matter what you do to rid yourself of the memories. I know that I have been there before.

In some cases no matter what you do to remove someone you love from your mind it just does not work. True love never dies and feeling buried alive never die. If you don’t know now you know?


Pretty Woman
I wonder how many hookers watched this flick hoping that they could have a Julia Roberts moment. Only in some cases you can turn a whore into a housewife. Let me stop. This picture was cute.

Claudine
When a hardworking sanitation man links up with a woman with a ready made family of will love conquer his fear to pursuer this relationship deeper? This is a really good picture from the blaxploitation era.

Mahogany
Billy Dee Williams and Diana Ross light up the screen with this gem of a flick. This movie is really good.

Rocky
When most people look at the Rocky franchise they look at it from the boxing standpoint
However, it happens to contain a great love story subplot between a street thug Rocky turned professional boxer and a homely Adrian who is not in touch with her feminine side. If you watch this movie again with fresh eyes it will sweep you off your feet.

Reign Over Me
Adam Sandler’s performance is brilliant. In fact, it is hard to say goodbye to those you love especially when you lose them to tragedy. This movie is a really good one to watch.

An Officer and a Gentleman
This movie plot goes deeper than just a navy boot camp flick. It shows you angles of 2 romantic relationships that two buddies have with two women who are friends. It contrasts three distinct relationships between the navy, romance, and friendships.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? Everything!

Dysfunctional Family

How many of you have dysfunctional people in your family?

I know some of you are not going to answer that truthfully.

What about those who come from a dysfunctional family?

I love my family a great deal; no matter how much I deny coming from a dysfunctional family. It always sneaks upon me taps my shoulder reminding me where I come from.

Today I have been pretty much in a Twilight Zone haze. After receiving a phone call with some news that forever changes my life. I guess alls fair in life, love, movies and everything in between. No it isn’t.

There is just too much stuff going on in my life right now.

A number of things are coming from different angles so I dip, dodge, duck what I can and juggle the rest. I guess what I’m saying is I’m working hard to keep a level head despite this pulsating headache.

I still love my crazy family. The good book says "the truth shall set you free." So I'm free right now.

While we are on the subject of dysfunctional families I want to share some dysfunctional poeple and families I enjoy watching on the silver screen.

Girl Interrupted

Juno

Moonstruck

Little Miss Sunshine

American Beauty

The Planet of Junior Mars

Sideways

The Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Why Did I Get Married?

Panic

Trust the Man

Criminal

Happy Endings

Dan in Real Life

Turning Back Time

If you could turn back time to go to any place you wanted where would you go?

Think about it for a moment by taking yourself to that very time and place that you would enjoy.
Did you think about it?

I know exactly what year I will go back to. I know whose company I will be enjoying, watching the tangerine sunset together. Her eyes sparkling with excitement from being in my presence adoring this very moment in time.

What we going to do now is go back.

Back to an era where mortals tiptoe through the portals of time in hopes of recapturing stolen moments they hold near to their hearts. Sit back relax and enjoy these movies that turn back time.


The Family Man

It’s a Wonderful Life

Back to the Future Trilogy

The Black Knight

Cocoon

The Butterfly Effect

Click

The Terminator Saga

Time Bandits

Donnie Darko

Groundhog Day

Next

The Time Machine

18 Again

13 Going on 30

The 12 Monkeys

Déjà vu

Time Cop

The One

Venemous Villians 2 Die 4 Part II

Here is the second installment of villains to die for. Some of you may be familiar with and some you may not. At any rate, let’s get down to business.

T1000 (T2 Terminator 2) Robert Patrick
Just when you thought that Arnold played a great villain in the original Robert Patrick comes in and changes the game completely.

Darth Vader (Star Wars) David Prowse/James Earl Jones (Voice)
Between David Darth is one of the greatest villains on the silver screen.

Alonzo Harris (Training Day) Denzel Washington
Denzel crossed over to the dark side he was brilliant, scary and cunningly convincing. He puts the Vill in Villian.

Tommy DeVito (Good Fellas) Joe Pesci
Tommy was a trigger happy ride or die wild cowboy. Somebody you would never think of want to cross.

Gabriel (The Prophecy) Christopher Walken
Plays a fallen angel on a mission from Hell. Walken is a master of bringing this villain to life.

Kevin O-Dog (Menace II Society) Larenz Tate
O-Dog plays one of the most feared gangsters in the hood with nothing to lose. He is only a teenager and as ruthless as they come.

Blake (Ricochet) John Lithgow
Blake is a straight menace who devises a master plan to etched in the blood of revenge. Can you say spooky?

Clubber Lang (Rocky III) Mr. T
Clubber Lang is what I call a super villain. He gave Rocky Balboa a thorough Philadelphia ghetto beat down. It was fast brutal and without mercy. But before that he disrespects Rocky by inviting Adrian to come see what a real man looks like. Clubber Shoves Mickey to the floor like an unwanted rag doll tossing him into a heart failure situation.

Stansfield (Leon the Professional) Gary Oldman Nobody wants to come into contact with a crooked cop. Stansfield is one of the worst kinds. He’s a DEA agent who takes gangster to a whole other level.

Ryan Gaerity (Blown Away) Tommy Lee Jones
First and foremost I love Tommy Lee Jones. As a villain he is the epitome of evil he doesn’t care who he takes out and he does it with bombs.

Henry (Henry: The Portrait of a Serial Killer) Michael Rooker
I stumbled on this movie when I used to rent movies in Brooklyn at this little video store at the corner that has since gone out of business. Michael Rooker is very scary killer who just happens to be working on his diabolical masterpiece.

Mad Dog Cole (Mobsters) Nicholas Sadler Anyone with the street name of mad dog has to be out of control. I mean have you ever seen a mad dog? I have and believe me you want to stand clear of its way because they are untamable and usually have to be put to sleep.
Mad Dog Cole makes many of the wildest gangsters look like Sunday school kids. He is

Allison “Allie” Jones (Single White Female) Bridgette Fonda
What happens when you tornado twist fatal attraction between two women who are not gay by the way? One is just looking for a roommate to stay with her and help her pay the bills. While the other woman is psychotic, looking for a twin soul, and will do anything that she needs to do to get what she wants.

Mrs. Mott/Peyton Flanders (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) Rebecca De Mornay Revenge is a dish best served cold they say. Well if you have never seen how lady villains get down take notes because this chick is working a master plan to take over everything in the house.

Regan MacNeil (The Exorcist) Linda Blair
The scariest female villain I have ever seen on the silver screen. Made me afraid to go in my room, be in the dark and made me feel that even if your parents are home you can still get got. People say all the time that the devil made them do it. Regan will scare the hell out of you, beat the hell out of you, and kill you under his influence.

Annie Wilkes (Misery) Kathy Bates
Annie makes you afraid to think of having a number one fan. In fact, she has to be one of the scariest female villains since Linda Blair in the exorcist. What kind makes her scary is she isn’t possessed by the devil just psychotic and obsessed.

The Dark Knight Review

Hello cinemaniacs,

This past week anxiety flooded my soul as I shipped out a 6,000 piece direct mailing. I know that I missed you for a couple of days. Whew! I’m glad that it is finally over and I'm back.

Back on my grind doing what I enjoy. Write.

I usually check a movie out the first week it comes to theatres. This is not the case with the Dark Knight. The movie was out for a whole month or so before I went to see it.

What did I do all this time before going to see the movie?

I began reading articles from colleagues/mentors upon the Dark Knight. Listening to my Friends and co-workers singing praises about Heath Ledger and the movies greatness began to get to me. The Batman buzz became a terrifying thunder that could not be ignored.

So on a warm Saturday night at an 11:00 pm I met up with my lady and her two boys at the local AMC theatre to view the Dark Knight for myself. I am a Christopher Nolan fan who believes in his skills as a writer/director. It goes without saying that I have enjoyed every movie that Chris has written that I have seen.

In fact, I can recall the day I sat in my bedroom eating a veggie burger, sipping on ice cold lemonade and watching Batman Begins on DVD. I was literally blown away.

Chris stirred up in me a newly found love for Batman. I think that he really captured the essence of Batman such as never before seen on the silver screen.

The Dark Knight was an ok picture that you could upgrade to good because of its star power. The special effects were good and it rocked in IMAX. I think that the storyline was alright but I expected more from all of the hype about the flick. I think the movie is choppy. It seems to be missing smooth transitions.

The publicity for the movie was phenomenal. In the end I was subliminally persuaded to join in with the hundreds of thousands movie attendees to become a part of the Dark Knight experience. I got caught up in the hype. This is the second highest grossing film of all time. Chris Nolan disappointed me with this one. There were a few things he left undone from Batman Begins like whatever happened to the Bat cave and why was he operating from another location?

Now as far as Heath Ledger played a good Joker. Heath’s version was reminiscent of Caesar Romero’s version of the Joker on the Batman television series. Chris Nolan allowed the Joker to be as destructive and diabolical as he is supposed to be.

In my opinion Christian Bale is the best Batman that the cinema franchise has. He is followed by Michael Keaton. This is not to take anything away from anyone who has played batman in the past. I say this because he is the only one who truly captures the true essence of Batman.

In closing, the Batman franchise has now surpassed the Superman franchise on a cinematic scale and it seems that Batman is the new man of steel of the box office. LOL

What’s up with that DC?

P.S. Maybe you need Chris Noland to write and direct the script for the next Superman movie. That is of course if you have any plans of releasing another one.

Venemous Villians 2 Die 4 Part I

A great villian is an attention magnet. When they work their wicked magic on us we either become fans or haters of their campaigns of destruction.

Whatever side we choose to be on their wicked ways compel us to question how they became that way.

Here's an array of low down dirty rotten scoundrels who have solidified themselves as venemous villians. I'm not numbering them at this particular time, but I'm quite sure this subject will come up again.

Norman Bates (Psycho) Anthony Perkins
The first time I watched this picture as a kid I watched it through my fingers. After that I was hooked and I never watched a scary picture through my hands again.

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) Christian Bale
A Yuppie psycho serial killer who is well versed in music, style, with a huge appetite for bloodshed.

Michael Myers (Halloween)
John Carpenter brought fear to doorsteps of the suburbs while scaring the hell out of us.

Jason Vorhees ( Friday the 13th)
My favorite psycho serial killer because he delivers the best kills in the business.

John Ryder ( The Hitcher) Rutger Hauer
Makes you think twice about being a good samaritan by picking up a hitchhiker. Rutger is brilliant.

Anton Cohigurh (No Country for Old Men) Javier Bardem
A sadistically evil villian nobody wants to come into contact with or across. I think one of the sickest that we have seen on film in a long time.

Max Cody (Cape Fear) Robert DeNiro
Max Cody is a man on a mission out to get even. He is a beast.

Gil Reynard (The Fan) Robert DeNiro
Just when you think DeNiro couldn't get any more psychotic in a role he does it again in a whole new way.

Hannibal Lecter (the Silence of the Lambs) Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins nailed this on the head. He is simply so convincing in this picture.

Science Fliction

Yesterday, I rested from all work including writing because it was Labor day.

In case you are wondering if my title is a typo, it's not.

What is science fliction?

Science fliction is my way of saying science fiction flicks that rock.

I can say that some of my favorite pictures fall into this category. In fact, some of them are just plain unforgettable in every way. Here is a list in no particular order.


The Terminator Trilogy(soon to be Saga because a part IV is about to drop)

Gremlins

E.T.

Predator

AVP

The Matrix

Children of Men

Outbreak

Total Recall

Star Wars Saga

Starship Trooper

The Last Starfighter

Pitch Black and the Chronicles of Riddick

I, Robot

Hollow Man I & II

The 12 Monkeys

The Butterfly Effect

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Back to the Future

The Thing

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Minority Report