Release Date: December 11, 2009
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: John Musker, Ron Clements
Screenwriter: John Musker, Ron Clements
Cast: Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Jenifer Lewis, John Goodman, Bruno Campos
Genre: Animation, Musical
Website: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/
Synopsis: Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the musical THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators
of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin”, Ron Clements and John Musker, comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE), a frog
prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. The film has Oscar® winning composer Randy Newman who created a musical set in the greatest city of them all, New Orleans. The Princess and the Frog marks Disney’s return to the timeless art form of traditional animation to tell the most beautiful love story ever told with frogs, voodoo, and a singing alligator.

What I Liked The Most:

The Princess and the Frog will challenge most serious film reviewer to find any really glaring faults. For what I liked most in the film I could start with the many memorable
and easily singable songs like Anika Noni Rose’s soulful “Almost There”, Keith David’s haunting “Friends On The Other Side” or equally good “Dig A Little Deeper” with Jenifer
Lewis featuring the Pinnacle Gospel Choir. Or I could start with breaking down film’s smart and highly likeable characters like Tiana, Prince, Louis the Gator, Mama Odie and
my favorite Ray the Cajun firefly. There are funny action scenes with the hungry Cajun frog hunters. The film’s witty writing gives us Ray saying with attitude “Don’t make me
light my butt!”, which entertains without sacrificing the natural New Orleans and bayou accents. Screenwriter Rob Edwards’s snappy dialogue for the film was not predictable
or dumb down for just children. The plot was well thought out and using the “standard quest” format to find Mama Odie to return Tiana and Prince Naveen to human form
keeps the story moving. And it was refreshing to see once again Disney’s original hand-drawn artwork and 2-D animation light up the screen. There really is no one standout
thing that makes The Princess and the Frog a great film, but rather many multiple cinematic elements that combine to create a new Walt Disney Animation Classic.

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“”The only frame that we had on this movie was the 1930s theme,”said Dre. “We had to remember we were in a certain time period, but we still had to remember to keep up OutKast as well.”…Andre “3000” Benjamin

“It was a certain type of class; it wasn’t so relaxed where you’re slouched in your seat. I mean, you sit up with your back straight and you walk with your head high and it’s  really like a distinguished gentleman – from the wardrobe down to the cars down to how they were dancing back then.”…Antwan “Big Boi” Patton

A musical set in the Prohibition-era American South, where a speakeasy performer and club manager Rooster (Big Boi) must contend with gangsters who have their eyes on the club while his piano player and partner Percival (André Benjamin) must choose between his love, Angel (Paula Patton) or his obligations to his father (Ben Vereen). Summary written by CCC…IMDB.com

I want to start off my review of Idlewild by saying I loved its new “Swap” dancing and new hip-hop/jazz music. And I loved the vibrant, colorful and Matrix cinematography. If you are a diehard OutKast fan you will love this film because it is a culmination of years of hard work and devotion to one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all-time. The list of top hip-hop groups in their prime of their popularity who get to make a $15 Million period piece musical is pretty damn short. Run DMC made Krush Groove—which was okay. And they made Tougher Than Leather—which was whacker than whack. Public Enemy made a “Fight The Power” video for Do The Right Thing. And besides various hip-hop concert films like The Show, Fade to Black, or Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, there are not many innovative hip-hop groups that could get a big budget film made and distributed. And to be honest Idlewild was greenlit almost two years before Andre and Big Boi’s breakout debut acting roles in Four Brothers and ATL. Yes, if you are an OutKast fan than Idlewild is a hit for merely existing and testament to the group’s unwavering creativity and unique artistic vision.

Some film reviewers might call Idlewild a “black” Moulin Rouge or a “black” Chicago. But this will be quite an understatement of its own originality. Idlewild’s main theme is more of what “can” happen at anytime or anywhere–than a film following a linear narrative path set to music. Idlewild is more in the tradition of a retro-renaissance Purple Rain. Andre “3000” as Percival is obviously like Prince’s The Kid—a tortured, misunderstood and under-appreciated musical prodigy waiting to explode. Big Boi as Rooster is like Morris Day—a flamboyant, stylistic ladies man and all around hustler. Terence Howard as Trumpy is sort of like Billy, Purple Rain’s First Avenue manager. Ben Vereen is –just like Prince’s estranged and emotional father. And Paula Patton is unquestionably Apollonia. Angel’s sudden entrance in Idlewild is straight out of Purple Rain. Angel basically serves the exact same role and function as Apollonia. Angel steals Percival’s heart and wants both of them to become big music stars.

One might seriously check me on comparing Terence Howard’s Trumpy to Billy in Purple Rain. Terence is way more over the top as a mob boss and a cold blooded murdering thug than the slightly shady and laidback Billy. Yet both Trumpy and Billy are primarily utilized in their films–to create mischief in their perspective nightclubs. If Billy was not trying to throw The Kid out of First Avenue and Trumpy was not trying to extort money from Rooster and take over The Church–there would be no central conflict to resolve in either Idlewild or Purple Rain. Both films would have had non-stop music playing with no end in sight.

Furthermore, I did not find it odd that Billy in Purple Rain never put a real move on Apollonia because Prince and Morris were always fighting for her affection. But I did find it extremely odd that Trumpy- the most powerful black gangsta in Idlewild—did not make one—not even one attempt to seduce the lovely and sexy Angel. Back in the depression days if an ultra-fine light skin honey suddenly popped into a backwoods Southern joint like The Church I would expect all hetro-males to try and shoot game at Angel. I especially expect the film’s lead villain to step up to Angel. There is no way Trumpy would see Angel and not think he could take her heart or her virtue as easily as he killed Spats (Ving Rhanes) and “Sunshine” Ace (Faizon Love). And I imagine Trumpy’s thugs would be all trying to get at Angel as well. And to be on the real side—even Rooster—who regularly cheated on his wife would have had to make at least one credible or legit playa pass at Angel. Nope! No man in Idlewild falls for Angel besides Percival. And Angel on cue throws herself at Percival every chance she gets. Angel should’ve had to beat off men at every turn in Idlewild. Paul Patton’s enchanting performance really perked up the film. I was wishing Taffy (Macy Gray) had some juicy confrontational scenes with Angel after she replaced her as the star female singer at The Church. But catcalls from the side of the stage; is what Taffy was reduced to in the end. Lots of promise with Taffy and no delivery.

Just like majority of the scenes in Purple Rain took place in First Avenue, the same majority of scenes in Idlewild take place in a nightclub called The Church. It would seem simply cinematically naïve to say that Idlewild is a direct remake of Purple Rain. Idlewild is not that focused. The music in Purple Rain is a road map to the film’s main storylines. While in Idlewild music pieces stop and go without any true set up. There are not smooth dramatic arcs or transitions to why we are hearing songs in The Church or outside The Church. For example, we hear Percival singing an imaginative and lively directed Clocks song interlude. But then we go right back to his character acting boring, dry and unemotional. What was the purpose of the light Clocks song if there is not some type of payoff to show Percival’s mood or outlook in life has changed. Also, perplexing in Idlewild is that Rooster is The Church’s top

singer until Angel arrives. We have no reason how or why Rooster is even a star singer/rapper. The first fifteen minutes of Idlewild clearly establishes kid Rooster as the gangsta one and Percival is the one forced to study music 24/7. Rooster acts like performing is a breeze and does not have any true concern or ambition to be a music star himself—even though the crowds at The Church love him as a performer. Even the most mesmerizing singing and dancing number in Idlewild happens during the end credits of the film. Bryan Barber had to clearly know that this is Andre’s best musical number and it should have been at the conclusion of the film. Not as some throwaway track that audiences have to watch as others leave the theater or others walk back to their seats to finish watching Andre do his thing to perfection. I blame Bryan Barber for not knowing how to end Idlewild on a truly high note. Could you imagine watching Prince sing Purple Rain while the film’s credits ran on the side?

All I can truly say the routine wrap-up montage finale in Idlewild is that expected more from what will go down eventually the greatest hip-hop group of all-time. I expected Andre and Big Boi would speak to each for more than five minutes of screen time. And be in scenes totaling more than fifteen minutes of screen time together. I did not have a stopwatch, but I know those times are being lenient. I shudder to think how powerful and dynamic Idlewild would be if I just saw a few more scenes where Andre and Big Boi were having fun. You can tell the screen chemistry between these “supposed” best friends was way off. Andre and Big Boi on a rare joint press circuit for Idlewild told reporters that they intentionally chose not to do a lot of scenes together because they felt their fans or the public would think it be too obvious or cliché. They felt audiences or their fans would respect them more if they showcased their individual acting talents as opposed to trying to act together in much of the film. I don’t buy OutKast’s excuse of lack of screen time for a second. I do not know if the constant rumors of OutKast splitting up effected their performing a lot together in Idlewild. And I don’t actually care if Andre and Big Boi keep making split OutKast albums. All I cared about in Idlewild was what it gave me to care about.

And one might wonder why there was such a long delay with the release of the Idlewild. Earlier in the Spring when I did a press roundtable for ATL, a reporter asked Big Boi when was Idlewild going to be released. He said in late August. All the reporters, except for me, sighed and felt sorry for OutKast. Big Boi asked why they looked upset. And the reporters said typically Hollywood dumps its losers or less important films at the end of the summer—Snakes On A Plane, Beerfest, Accepted, etc,. Big Boi was not daunted by the reporters’ pessimism and told them that OutKast preferred to have Idlewild released in late August. Idlewild could be in put 2,500 plus screens as opposed to being released earlier in the summer and getting fewer theaters. Idlewild was actually released in 973 screens for its opening weekend. Big Boi was lead to believe a late August release was the best move to give Idlewild a huge opening weekend. I hope he is right because I know what Hollywood thinks about late summer releases.

HBO and Universal could have easily HBO marketed Idlewild as a story about Rooster and Trumpy and no one would really disagree. Rooster and Trumpy’s beef was the only storyline that kept my attention. Everything about Andre’s performance was quite predictable. And the final outcome between him and Angel is so obvious that it is not worth mentioning. I cannot comment much on Malinda Williams as Rooster’s wife because she seems no more impressed that Rooster is The Church’s biggest music celebrity than buying a loaf of bread. You would think after Rooster took over The Church Malinda would have had way more to do or say as a club owner’s wife. But Bryan Barber could only give her big scenes like firing a shotgun at tramps chasing after her man. I could into get breaking down how prohibition ended in America two years before Idlewild takes place, but this would radically change all the many Rooster and Trumpy violent subplots. I could get into the fantasy 1935 of Idlewild’s, black Southern community and the real black Southern communities at that particular time, but I’ll save these topics for a Money Train’s Two Cents column.

Like I say I do not blame HBO or director Bryan Barber for what lacks story-wise in Idlewild. I hold OutKast accountable because they should get all the praise if the film is a runaway smash and they should get all the blame if it is not. Either way. I–on the other hand–wanted more from OutKast and left my LA press screening wanting more from Idlewild. This may be the last chance to see OutKast together in a film. There is a far better chance at Tom Cruise getting a new, big multi-million production deal at Paramount-before seeing Andre and Big Boi in another major theatrical film. It is a shame, but anything could change if Idlewild is a super hit. If you like OutKast, then this is a must-see-film. And if you are a true hip-hop fan you will definitely enjoy and recommend Idlewild.

I give Idlewild:

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

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This film is not the year’s Best Picture. It’s only going to win the Golden Globes and Oscars because of politics… It’s all about politics…  -Unknown woman

There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it. -Annie Proulx

Love Is A Force Of Nature…

An epic love story set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, Brokeback Mountain tells the story of two young men – a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy – who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love…Focus Features

Before I get into my review of Brokeback Mountain I want to replay the conversation I heard from a couple sitting directly behind me at a local multi-plex. We were both watching the film’s end credits and I could not help but overhear their brief, but telling exchange.

all about politics.”

Yes, after watching Brokeback Mountain and then seeing all the hype and hoopla from film critics and watching the film be labeled as the front runner to sweep the Golden Globes, Film Critics Awards, SAG, DGA and Oscars, I would have to reluctantly agree that it is about politics. I firmly believe that Brokeback Mountain is a well made, touching and engaging male love story. But is the film all that? Is the film so much better than Cinderella Man, King Kong, Syriana, Munich, Capote, The Brave New World, etc,. The answer is most likely a resounding no—in my opinion.

Its just that it is hard to separate appreciating Brokeback on its own merits when it is garnering a lot of press and media accolades for non-stellar standout acting scenes, ordinary writing and not a highly interesting story. I get the fact that what makes Brokeback Mountain more important than say watching and memorizing all the combined seasons of Queer as Folk and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, is its persistent and consistent efforts to try to never mention the word homosexual or have its lead characters of Ennis Del Mar, Keith Ledgar, and Jack Twist, Jake Gullheim acknowledge they are gay. Thus a typical or straight movie viewer is less pre-disposed to reject Brokeback as a normal romance. Jack and Ennis are trapped in a deadly homo lynching 1960’s West–that does not understand them or their love for each other. I would’ve bought much of Brokeback’s story and liked the film on many levels until Ang Lee did something so contrived and silly that if defies explanation—even more so than his inept and myopic directing of The Hulk.

At some point in the early part of Brokeback we see that Jack and Ennis have not seen each other for several years since their brief—yet passionate love affair atop Brokeback Mountain. And when Jack does finally track down Ennis, the secret and only true love of his life, they proceed to wildly kiss each other under the stairs of Ennis’s crib. This impulsive act of unbridled manly lust is caught by Ennis’s wife Alma, Michelle Williams. If Alma does not see Ennis tongue down Jack, then she would probably have never suspected or flat out known her husband was gay—or on the “Yosemite Sam Down Low”. I can’t believe that Ennis was so overtaken with emotion that he would kiss a man in by his house, in broad daylight and in the near vicinity of a public laundry room. Why go through the trouble of being afraid to expose who they really are? When a big public kiss will destroy their lives on the spot. This scene is important because if Alma does not see Ennis and Jack’s kiss, then she would not have divorced Ennis. This in turn would mean Jack would have been forced to accept that he and Ennis had to hide their true feelings—instead of blaming Ennis for not running away with him to live together–after Ennis was no longer married to Alma. With no divorce–Brokeback is just a film about infidelity.

You do have to highly respect Keith Ledgar’s and Jake Gullheim’s performance in Brokeback. But one does have to question how Michelle Williams got Golden Globe nominations for doing absolutely nothing. Michelle barely had one dramatic scene in Brokeback and it did not deserve her getting a nomination at any awards show on the planet. But it is the piling on praise from critics and winning shiny statues on awards shows that will make a lot of regular people—the ones who sat behind me—think that the no one in Brokeback got them legitimately. It’s almost ironic that Hollywood sets itself up to be the fall guy for conservatives. When surely Passion of Christ should have been nominated in all the major Oscar categories and not lesser ones like best cinematography or make-up. It will be too silly to suddenly see Brokeback get a zillion nominations and then win them as well. No one in Hollywood would dare say Brokeback was mediocre or less than deserving.

There was another historic male bonding and culturally revolutionary film thirty plus years ago. It was called Midnight Cowboy with Dustin Hoffman a John Voight. It was the only Hollywood film to be rated “X” and still win Oscars in 1970 for writing, directing and best picture. Ironically, Hoffman and Voight lost best actor to another real cowboy legend. John Wayne won best actor for his gritty performance in True Grit. Just like in Brokeback, John Voight played Joe Buck—an ordinary cowboy–the greatest image, symbol or icon of American or Western manhood. It was a cowboy that came to tame the big urban landscape and in the end he was forced to do things to make money and survive that no real hetro-cowboy would want to unless he got kicked in the head by a bull. The point in Midnight Cowboy was to stand our beliefs on their head and make us deal with issues like male bonding and traditional ideas of a “real” man. Dustin Hoffman and Voight gave electric and exciting performances and the script’s writing truly captured the time of a changing America. No longer were the simple Leave It To Beaver lifestyle films going to suffice for 1969 audiences. Just being a rough, tough man like John Wayne—like Joe Buck—no longer guaranteed one could conqueror a fast changing world.

We end up thirty-seven years later with Hollywood on the verge of giving another sweeping round of Oscars to another momentous societal and cultural male redefining film. The only difference is that Brokeback Mountain is no Midnight Cowboy in the acting, directing or writing departments. Brokeback Mountain is surely a meaningful and serious film that I strongly recommend one seeing. But I do also greatly understand that insightful woman sitting behind me that also thought sincerely that Brokeback Mountain was “okay—but not all that”. There will come a time in the near future when a homosexual romantic film will be accepted as easily or treated as normally as a heterosexual romance film. And when that happens everyone will attribute Brokeback as a pivotal film that broke down many homophobic barriers.

I give Brokeback Mountain

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

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1. Idlewild Review