He’s a Team-Workaholic. He’s the…
Vidiot
Week of January 22, 2016
Collaboration is the key to any duet. First
up…
Straight Outta Compton
Being a roadie for a rapper is easy because
you only have to carry around a milk crate of old funk albums.
However, as per this biography, personal
baggage counts as sound equipment.
In 1986 drug-dealer Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell)
and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) enter the studio of producer Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins)
who pairs them with DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.) and Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson,
Jr.). They subsequently release a hit single under the acronym N.W.A.
But when Eazy-E hires businessman Jerry
Heller (Paul Giamatti) to be their manager, his misappropriation of their
revenue tears the group asunder.
Spanning the social and racial issues of
the early nineties with great aplomb, this O.G. origin tale may whitewash some
harsher realities of the real-life situation but is ultimately a well-acted,
keenly directed hip-hop masterpiece.
However, not surprising is the fact that
all East Coast film critics dissed this movie.
Green Light
Jem and the Holograms
Holographic performers are only successful
in hip-hop because bullets faze right through them.
Unfortunately, the pop group in this drama
is intangible only in name.
Sent to live with their aunt (Molly
Ringwald) and foster cousins - Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) and Shana (Aurora Perrineau)
- after their father dies, Jerrica (Aubrey Peeples) and her sister Kimber
(Stefanie Scott) find solace in music.
When an online video of her singing under
the sobriquet Jem goes viral, Jerrica and her sisters are signed to Starlight
records. However, producer Erica (Juliette Lewis) wants Jem to drop the
Holograms, while her son Rio (Ryan Guzman) simple wants Jerrica.
More a follow-your-dreams commercial for
the Youtube generation than an homage to the ‘80s cartoon, Jem manages to
utilize the material but distorts it in a way that is unrecognizable to fans,
and unexciting to newcomers.
And well Jerrica may secretly be Jem; Jem
is actually Barbie with a keytar. Red
Light
The Intern
Nowadays, most retirees have to return to
the office in a janitorial position.
Thankfully, the widower in this comedy
doesn’t have any dependents living in his basement.
Feeling obsolete since retiring from his
job, former phone book publisher Ben (Robert De Niro) returns to the workplace
as a senior intern for an online fashion house.
Assigned to the site’s workaholic founder
Jules (Anne Hathaway), Ben quickly becomes an indispensable part of her life,
thanks to his sage wisdom.
But his ethics are tested when he learns a
secret about Jules’ husband that could send her into a tailspin, and her
website under.
In spite of its far-fetched premise,
obvious plot points and sitcom-esque situations, this coming-of-old-age comedy
is wryly writing and playfully acted by its charming leads, whose chemistry is
awkwardly comforting.
Although you do have to constantly reassure
senior staff that women are allowed to wear pants to work. Yellow Light
Everest
To capitalize off of inexperienced
climbers, Nepal should really open a funeral parlor on the side of Everest.
Case in point, the imperiled alpinists in
this fact based thriller.
When competing commercial climbing
companies descend on the legendary summit in the spring of 1996, team leaders
Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) and their cliental
(Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, John Hawkes) are not prepared for the storm that
strands them on the slope, sans oxygen.
Meanwhile, the wives of the marooned
mountaineers (Robin Wright, Keira Knightley) await word of their rescue,
expecting the worst.
While it’s hard to empathize with the
willing participants and their death wishes, you can’t help but feel for their
families, or deny the white-knuckle action or edge-of-your-seat excitement
emanating from this ill-fated expedition.
On the bright side, at least the Yeti
population now has a surplus of frozen meals for the week. Yellow Light
***Dr. Protégé***
8 Mile
White rappers have it harder than black
rappers because they can’t rhyme anything with the N-word.
Which is why the white-boy in this drama is
so respected when he spits.
White trash wannabe rapper B-Rabbit
(Eminem) not only has to cope with his alcoholic mother (Kim Basinger) and her
abusive boyfriend (Michael Shannon), but also life in a dead-end job.
His only refuge is the weekly rap battles
at a local club, where his nerves keep him from performing.
But when he catches his girl (Brittany Murphy)
cheating, B-Rabbit gets the confidence to compete in a battle royal arranged by
a gangbanger (Anthony Mackie).
With a surprising performance from Eminem
in a role that parallels his own upbringing, 8 Mile’s gritty realism and
follow-your-dreams mentality doesn’t come off as clichéd as with most urban
productions.
Furthermore, it’s not your pigment that
makes you a decent rapper; it’s your level of misogyny.
He’s Beet Boxing. He’s the…
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