Post XI - Chappelle's Show

I haven't written in such a long while I forgot I had a voice. Busy life, busy living. University, work, and even more lessons on top of all that, I have really made my days full and a lot of times even 'overfilling'. This is not an excuse though I suppose, because if you have a voice, you must speak. If you have something to say you must not keep it for yourself, and this is my belief.

Wait a second! A man who has something to say? A man who must talk, this quote alone brings a person in mind. A person who had something to say, a person who filmed a show so great, so silly, so fun, and yet a show with so many things to say and touch upon, that it was cut-short. I speak for no other man, and for no other show, than Dave Chappelle and the Chappelle's Show.

Dave Chappelle is undoubtedly one of the finest talents in Stand up and Comedy in general. Capable, in my personal opinion, to compete with even the talent that is Richard Pryor. Of course the reason I made the choice to put Dave Chappelle next to Richard Pryor is because they did have a similar 'touching point' in their comedy, and that was the Black culture, the people, and the way they were treated by other races, mainly the white.

Both comedians had an excellent view of seeing the subject that can be considered controversial even to this day, as racism is a word that even alone can still forge arguments between individuals. What made Richard Pryor, and of course, Dave Chappelle so great, was the intelligence with which they would touch upon this point and subject, although today we are focusing mainly on Dave Chappelle's approach.

Why is that? Because Richard Pryor was a FANTASTIC talent, a brilliant comedian who made history on the genre, and he will always be one of my favorite talents on the field. Even so, Richard Pryor had a great way to approach the subject of racism against the Black community, but it is Dave Chappelle's vision of how he sees the issues of racism, and the intelligence he puts into touching those issues, that made me fall in love with both his style and show.

A lot of you will disagree with my decision of believing Dave Chappelle did a better job than Richard Pryor in this specific field, but this is my opinion, and I stand by it.

Now... Let's start the show.

"WHAT?"

Chappelle's Show ran for two seasons, and was concluded by a third season consisting of three episodes titled "The Lost Episodes" which although feature Dave Chappelle in the sketches, the episodes themselves are presented by Charlie Murphy(Eddie Murphy's brother and fellow comedian) and Donnell Rawlings.

The story goes that Dave Chappelle was unhappy with the way the media and producers, and people in the show business in general treated him, therefore he took his leave. If you watch the very last sketch of the show you will get a better idea of what I am speaking of. 

The show itself was simply stunning, with sketches that will make you laugh so hard you will get a hernia(at least that is what Charlie Sheen claims). With humor that at first you might consider silly and random, but the more you dwell into it, the more you realize how much thought has been put into their entire creation. The sketches were silly when they where meant to be, but with serious arguments and points throughout specifically written and shot in a way, that in the end, made the final work coordinated to near perfection.

Of course Dave Chappelle was aware of when the show was meant to be silly, and you can see this for yourselves in one of the shows many brilliant moments, when he replies to an actual newspapers article accusing him of having an immature sense of humor full of shit jokes, by getting a group of ballad singers and singing a song by the title "Diarrhea". What is the outcome? A crowd of people in the studio laughing their asses of and you at home laughing like a little child, while listening to a song about diarrhea. And this is true comedy, picking anything and making something out of it. 

"Oil, what is this oil shit bitch, you cooking?

Dave Chappelle in many of his sketches, touched the point of racism and how Black community in general is seen and treated in a humorous approach without offending anyone, but of course, some did get offended. 

Maybe because they are over-protective or absolute babies? Who knows, but a minority of people did disagree with his approach, and most bizarre must be the fact that Dave Chappelle got offended with himself! This is absolutely true, as it is known that Dave Chappelle himself said that he started feeling like he was more than anything boosting the racism and racist stereotypes he was against of. 

The show is hilarious, with sketches that will stick with you for a long while, if not forever. They are just that good, and I am saying this with no over-exaggeration whatsoever. Specifically about the sketches I must not forget to mention, as Doug Walker(most known for playing the Nostalgia Critic in That Guy with the Glasses) pointed, an amazing aspect of all those sketches is the editing work. Every single sketch cuts at the perfect moment, not a moment later or sooner, just there where it's meant to, making every single sketch all that funnier.

Dave Chappelle playing a white News Spokesman

In conclusion, the show that managed to define Dave Chappelle's enormous and unbeatable talent, and the show that as it seems, ended his career. Isn't that alone proof of the shows greatness? A show that was so good it ended up being controversial? They say good things never end well, might that quote be the proof of how good the Chappelle's show was?

Proof of how good the Chappelle sh.... What am I saying. There is no need for proof. 

A stunning work, a hilarious tour, and a sad but brilliant conclusion to a true talent's career.

THE END

Post X - Justice

Nicolas Cage has two different 'on-screen' persona's. One is the over-the-top highly entertaining Nicolas who we all love and enjoy watching, and the other is the proper Oscar-worthy(and let's not forget, Oscar-winning) actor who played in such movies as "Leaving Las Vegas, "Adaptation" and "Raising Arizona".

"Nic Cage looking good in a beard."

In Justice, Nicolas Cage starts by playing himself, but oddly enough, he makes a turn to a more serious approach. After the initial introduction and opening sequence, he is actually playing a character, and yes, you stop seeing Nicolas Cage in the screen but the character he is portraying. It has been a while to be honest, and it is a fun change I have to admit, plus you actually get to see Nicolas Cage's proper acting skills.

Anyhow, the film itself, is actually very good. Surprisingly good!

When I saw the DVD on Blockbuster I thought "Cage..." and like the zombie I am when it comes to taking my dose of Nicolas Cage, I decided to spend my precious(and few) pounds to rent the film. I got home, undressed and showed my beautifully sculptured body of a Greek God to the four walls of my room, put the DVD on my XBOX 360, lied on the bed to relax my hard-working legs, and pressed "Play" on the controller.

"Trivial Fact: In this scene the character is exercising, in the post they used this photo as if to show he was running from someone. Epic Photoshop is epic."

At first you see Nicolas Cage acting like Nicolas Cage, so all is good, exactly what I was expecting. Then the plot takes off and.... Nicolas Cage is gone. Where did he go? He was gone Ladies and Gentlemen, all that was left behind was the character struggling to escape from the bad people who are after him.

Who's the bad people? I will tell you!

You see Will Gerard(Nicolas Cage) goes through a lot when he finds his wife in the hospital after she was abused by some bastard, and in his wrong Judgment, he agrees to a group of vigilantes who are 'Seeking Justice', to take care of the guy who did this to her, but only if he agrees to do a favour for them sometime in the future. And he does. But then he welcomes a very nasty surprise when he realizes that this "Organization" now asks for him to become one of them, a vigilante and murderer.

And that is the plot.

The first act is great, same goes for the second act, and the third act is an alright conclusion, although it could have been done a bit better(There will be no spoilers do not worry my friends...Dumbledore dies).

As far as the acting goes, other than the very good job done by Nicolas Cage, the rest of the cast is able to stand face to face with 'The Cage' and deliver a more than decent job, and no one feels mis-casted. Also, Guy Pearce is a freakin nice villain in this film, and him against Nicolas Cage make a nice 'Nemesis Couple'.


Bottom line, Justice is a nice surprise, watch it.

Justice is a 7.5/10

Meme Rating

Official trailer of "Justice"

Post IX - The Raven

The Raven is a film based on the final days of Edgar Allan Poe. Of course since none of us have any idea why the great poet was found dead on a bench, Hollywood decided to give its own fictionalized tale as to what happened to him and how he met his end. The idea sounds great, the premise(a murderer becoming a copycat of fiction and killing his victims as described in murder stories written by the great author) sounds okay, nothing special, a bit redundant, but still a basis for a very good film.

In the end though, something went terribly wrong.

"You don't say?"

John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe himself, and he does a pretty decent job. His performance is enjoyable and he seems to have fun playing the role, and it is true, at times, he really tends to shine. So clearly, John Cusack was not the problem with this film, but I am afraid to say, he was the only good thing in it. 

Luke Evans plays Detective Emmet Fields, and he does an okay job, but at times he does end up overacting or just missing the mark when it comes on delivering his lines. At times he just seems to yell for no other reason but just to build up the tension in the scene, and not really because he has something to say. This reminds me specifically of a scene where Edgar Allan Poe(John Cusack) and Dec. Emmet Fields(Luke Evans) are having a tense conversation in a room, and at some point Allan Poe raises his voice which makes perfect sense considering the conversation going on, but Dec. Fields bursts as well and by the end of the scene you have two characters "barking" like dogs at each other and you are just sitting there in the theatre thinking "???????". 

Most of the rest of the cast did well though, like Kevin McNally, who's always a joy at the big screen wherever he plays, and Brendan Gleeson, but I must also admit before I move on from the Acting aspect of the film, that Emily(Played by Alice Eve), the other half of Edgar Allan Poe and romance vehicle for the film, was such a boring and uninteresting character. As if this character had no reason to be there, and this, brings me to the next failed aspect of the film.

 

"Any ideas?"

"Yes, I think she's dead."

 The story and plot of "The Raven". 

As I mentioned when I started this review, the concept of a copycat killer basing his murders on fiction work is a bit 'overdone' and just too generic for a film based on Edgar-Allan-Fucking-Poe!

Even so, I believed that the film would manage to make something out of this backbone of a story, but in the end it only managed to fail to a whole other level. The plot is badly written and given with unnecessary characters and situations all the way through until the very end credits. I know it sounds a bit harsh, but sadly for me and for all of us, it's true. The Raven is simply boring, uninteresting and with a very, very, very bad pace. I always say that even if a film has some negative aspects to it, if it has a good pace at least it goes on enjoyably until it's over. This one though, misses most marks as a movie and on top of that, is told in a very bad way, like a drunk missing his steps on his way home. Scene after scene with no rational connection, events just happening until the end credits roll.

The Raven was a disappointment, even more so because I was waiting for it to be released since I first saw the film being in pre-production. The problem is not that the film is not as good as it could have been, the real shame is that its just bad. 

The film was also directed by James McTeigue, the man who gave us 'V for Vendetta'. A film directed by the person responsible for one of the finest films of our generation, you "did" expect a much better work than what we got.

I could give it a 5/10 based on the efforts they put into it, and the good visual style and representation, which I did not mention earlier in the review. But if I have to rate this film based on how much I enjoyed watching it, I will have to go even lower than that.

The Raven is a 3/10

Meme Rating

Official trailer of "The Raven"