Get On Up Review

Intro Spiel

            I’ve come to realize that I’m a 50 year old trapped in an 18 year olds body. Last spring when my local library hosted a jazz concert during the city’s annual festival of the arts, I was the only one there in a crowd of 10 who didn’t have an AARP card. That was until my dad and sister came halfway into the show to support and convince me that I wasn’t alone in my interests.

            Get On Up was the only movie I anticipated to see this summer. I knew I was going to see it by myself because most of my friends aren’t James Brown fans and when I asked my dad if he was interested his response was “Redbox.” I was still determined to see this film so I went to the theater and paid my $10.50 (which I will address in an upcoming post) and I sat in the theater which had 8 people all paired up. I was fortunate enough to sit in front of two cackling, elderly African-American women who have probably went to their fair share of James Brown concerts back in the day, which would explain why one of them fell asleep and snored throughout the second half of the movie.

Review

            This film made me feel like I was riding a James Brown themed simulator at Universal Studios, travelling from the 30s to the 70s witnessing the highs and lows of James Brown’s life and career.

            Now I understand where history and english teachers are coming from when they complain about covering a vast curriculum in a short school year. It’s impossible to cover a legend’s triumphs and failures within 2 hours. The best way to handle it is through a miniseries which did well for the Temptations. As a result of all the condensing the film had a fast pacing and a lot of milestones in Brown’s life and career were given brief honorable mentions. A perfect example of this is Brown’s T.A.M.I. performance, a scene that disappointed me because I didn’t think they did the “cape routine” proper justice.  

            My two biggest gripes were the makeup and Boseman’s physique. The makeup in this movie looked cheap, as if it came from the Nutty Professor kit. As for Boseman’s physique James Brown was never a slender guy. He always had a toned stockiness to him and a fatter face. I don’t know how long Boseman had to prep for the role before filming began but he should’ve been put on a workout/diet plan to look the part more.

            So what did I like about the film? Everything else! I loved how the movie was cartoony at times and made sense because James Brown was such a colorful character in real life. I thought the script was great, shoutout to the Butterworths for that. Lastly, I enjoyed the nonlinear plot. It kept things interesting and made me pay close attention to how things ended.

            This movie is great, 4 stars! Big ups to Nelsan Ellis and Chadwick Boseman for yet another fantastic portrayal of an American icon. I really hope he becomes a household name one day. A Michael Jackson cameo would’ve been neat considering his and Brown’s mutual admiration for each other, but I can see why it wasn’t done.

Bottom Line: See this movie!

            This is way off-topic but am I the only one who hopes the Richard Pryor biopic can finally go into production after seeing this movie?  

Purge: Anarchy Review

                In case you were waiting for me to tell you if The Purge: Anarchy is worth seeing in theaters the answer is yes. This movie is so much better than its predecessor. So much so that it’s hard to believe both movies were written and directed by the same guy. This doesn’t mean that the movie was completely flawless. It still had one too many clichés and the dialogue was still clunky at times, but those are minor compared to this major improvement.

                Anarchy follows a rag tag group of strangers and their efforts to make it through the night while being hunt down by menacing mercenaries and a guy named Big Daddy. A significant standout in this film is the inclusion of government conspiracy talk and a rebel army headed by Michael K. Williams doing his best Samuel L. Jackson impression. It’s also worth noting that the black bum from the first film makes a brief cameo.

                What makes this movie better than the first? For starters, the characters are actually likeable and the villains aren’t so cartoony. There’s more gun fights and plenty of intense action scenes that made me jump in my seat with excitement. This is closer to what I imagined a Purge being—strangers dodging maniacs and battling in the streets for a whole night. There’s actually a moral to this story and the ending is decent. It’s refreshing to see a movie’s sequel besting its predecessor. It’s like taking that first bite of a burger and tasting more bun and fixings than meat. But then you take a second bite and that’s when all the meat and everything else comes together to create a sensational experience.

                Studio head pimps have been whoring out movies from the start. If it doesn’t originate from a book, sequels are either rehashes of the original or desperate attempts to make more money. In a time in which Hollywood’s creativity well is running dry it’s easy for sequels to fall in these categories. Here are two steps to avoid that fate. 

Deion’s Steps to a Successful Sequel

1. End the first film with a follow-up – Convince people that a sequel is a continuation of the story rather than a money grab. Anarchy didn’t do this but they used the same conflict and showed how other people respond to it.

2. Expand- Include things that you wanted to do in the beginning but weren’t able to. The Expendables 2 are the most recent example. Sylvester Stallone wanted Chuck Norris in the first movie but he couldn’t commit. When the sequel rolled around, Chuck was on board. Go to greater lengths but don’t nuke the fridge.

                Sequels that are better than the original are rare. Those that are are heralded as classics. Shrek 2, The Godfather Part 2, Star Wars Episode V and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are considered classics. Anarchy is not a classic, but it’s a great date night flick!