Drama, Rated R.
Director: Wayne Kramer. 
Writers: Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah. 
Cast: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello.

“The Cooler” is the story of Bernie Lootz, an unlucky man whose string of misfortunes hang over his head like a dark cloud, infecting anyone within arm’s reach.  Working at Vegas’ rundown Shangri-La casino, whenever a gambler is on a hot-streak, Bernie jinxes them, simply by standing nearby.  It’s what he does best, tried and true, there’s nobody better at cooling people down than Bernie, that is until the magical day when he falls in love and his own luck changes from bad to good.

William H. Macy (“Fargo,” “Door to Door”) portrays the loveable loser Bernie, a nice enough guy, who has seen the pitfalls of women who didn’t love him, a deadbeat estranged son who doesn’t respect him, and a pet cat that would rather be homeless than live with him.  Bernie’s only friend is his boss, the Shangri-La’s criminally inclined manager, Shelly Kaplow, intensely played by Alec Baldwin (“Ghosts of Mississippi”).  Maria Bello (“Duets”) is a spiritual cocktail waitress named Natalie Belisario, the woman who not only becomes the love of Bernie’s life, but also changes his bad luck streak, much to Shelly’s dismay when the casino starts losing profits because of Bernie’s good fortunes.  The movie becomes a tug of war between Shelly and Natalie struggling to control Bernie’s karma, with him in the middle, delicately weighing the issues of love versus friendship, happiness versus devotion, and the general question of whether there is such a thing as Lady Luck.

Macy, Baldwin, and Bello are all excellent actors and provide a lot of textured characterization to a script that needed some more polishing.  In addition to those three, “The Cooler” is rounded out by a fine supporting cast, including: Ron Livingston, Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren, Joey Fatone, and Paul Sorvino.  And, though, Macy nicely portrays the title character, it’s really Baldwin who stands out, as he sinks his sharp teeth into the role of the heavy, making you cringe at his every violent mannerism.

Wayne Kramer directed and co-wrote “The Cooler,” a movie that constantly walks a fine line between drama and romantic comedy.  For one moment would show Macy and Bello lovingly interlocked, when the next would be a literal bone-breaking scene with Baldwin behind the R-rated carnage.  It’s an uneven balancing act that doesn’t always succeed.  Kramer also doesn’t give his audience enough credit, as he spoon feeds symbolism and provides tired plot points and cliched characters and settings.  Luckily, for Kramer, he obtained a talented cast that was able to parlay his penny ante into a winning jackpot. 

Bottom line.  Should you see “The Cooler”?  Yes or No?  Yes. 

Review by Chad Goldich

Drama/Thriller, Rated R.
Director: Gus Van Sant. 
Writer: Gus Van Sant. 
Cast: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson.

“Elephant” is a fictional retelling of the real life murderous rampage that occurred on April 20, 1999 when two high school boys shot fellow students and faculty alike at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.  That day in April was an event that changed the way Americans looked at their children.  The movie “Elephant” disappointedly attempts to recreate that tragic day by statically following an array of students in their daily routines up to and during the point when the killings take place.

The movie is mostly cast with newcomers, instead of mainstream billboard names, to portray the stereotypical angst-ridden students of the fictitious school.  This lends “Elephant” a semi-real authenticity, along with showing these students trudging along, conversing in mundane dialogue as they mill about in the pre-killing daily activities.  The actors are neither good, nor bad, but rather just there, as the screenplay and direction lazily permit nothing more than the surface to be scratched on any one of them.  The back of one student’s head is endlessly followed by the next, in a series of long, tracking shots throughout the school, which end up being more annoying than artistic, especially when the events are told out of sequence and repeated by different points of view.  This is the style in which the story vignettes are sewn together, not that there’s much of an overall story to begin with.

Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho”) directed “Elephant” from his original screenplay, which apparently allowed the actors to improvise the bulk of their scenes.  Van Sant seems to sit back, bucking conventional terms like plot and story-arc, and intentionally sits on the fence when it comes to providing a perspective or statement about violence.  He doesn’t pick out heroes or villains, he just allows the characters to exist, giving you no one to root for, giving you no one to care for.  It’s an interesting idea, but it doesn’t succeed.  And by filming one long uncut sequence after another, refusing to zoom in or tinker with camera angles, “Elephant” seemed more like an experimental student film than the work of a seasoned talent.  It meandered endlessly and aimlessly, and felt like it was never going to end, which is sad considering the film’s running time was only a slight 81 minutes. 

Bottom line.  Should you see “Elephant”?  Yes or No?  No.

Review by Chad Goldich.

“She is having an elephant!” a doctor screams. “Are you trying to say my wife ***censored*** an elephant?” Petey’s dad responds. You know you have something special here from get go. That’s right. Rudy Ray Moore is back and this time he is the devil’s son in law! 

Here is the plot. Petey Wheatstraw is a comedian/kung fu master (Has he ever not been?). He learns kung fu from this brotha off the street. He gets murdered. He deals with Lucifer and takes on the task of marrying his butt ugly daughter in exchange for restoring his life. Of course it doesn’t end here. Petey cooks up a plan to trick Lucifer to avoid the wedding. Things heat up when he is pursued by the devil’s men. Pretty simple.

This is perhaps the most entertaining Rudy Ray Moore film ever made. You might think he is a genius. Rudy Ray Moore is basically playing Rudy Ray Moore. Just like he did in the Dolemite films. What makes this film a little better than others? Well, so many outrageous memorable scenes are contained in this film, which is a little over 90 mins. Shots running in reverse, ***censored*** for no reason, satanic hoes buffet (my personal favorite), Satan in a glowing red Jogging suit, and the devil’s special hotline to name some.

Just like any other Rudy Ray Moore films, most of what you see doesn’t make much sense. But I don’t think he gives a ***censored***. You just have to dig it. If you don’t, I don’t think he gives a ***censored*** either. That’s what makes his films legendary, especially this treasure.

You might ask where the ***censored*** is The Creeper? That funky mothafucka best known as Hamburger Pimp? I knew this wasn’t a sequel to Dolemite but I couldn’t help but hoped he would pop up at one point. Unfortunately he didn’t.

Well, a film like this is so hard to come by these days. I will not be surprised if his professional attempt ended up with an amateurish masterpiece becoming a legend like Star Wars. You must see it to believe it.

(Note: You learn the devil’s first name in the film. I didn’t know he had one. It’s Lou. It’s useless knowledge but hey, how often do you get something out of Rudy, right?)

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Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Someday he will have a website that we can link to.

Director: Jim Sheridan
Cast: Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Djimon Hounsou

Although I know things were often tight financially, I can’t remember a time when my parents were unable to pay our bills. If there was such a time, they didn’t let us know about it. They didn’t want to concern me or my brother about it. They let us be children. In America brings back the blissful ignorance that comes with the innocence of childhood. It’s so easy to become all consumed by finances, social statues, and career that many of us forget the ties of family.

In America, the latest film from directory Jim Sheridan, is a story about an Irish family immigrating illegally to the United States after the loss of a son. They find a run-down little apartment in Manhattan where they start their new life. The mother, a tender-hearted woman played by Samantha Morton, finds a job in the local ice cream parlor. Her husband drives a taxi to pay the bills while trying to get his acting career off the ground. The father, brilliantly played by Paddy Considine is the cornerstone of the film, keeping the family afloat yet neglecting his own needs for healing. The two girls are delightful. The oldest has found a way to view the world through the video documentation of her surroundings while her younger sister searches for a friend that she can share secrets with.

While trick-or-treating in their apartment building, the two sisters meet Mateo (Djimon Hounsou), an African man who lives downstairs. His door bears a sign reading “Keep Out!” as he is battling great depression and anger. Even though he yells “Leave me alone!”, the girls persist in their knocking. Finally, he angrily opens the door. However, his anger quickly fades away when he sees the two little girls in the costumes made by the loving hand of their mother. Gradually, Mateo joins the family and begins to regain his sanity through them.

Sheridan brings a warm and vibrant visual energy to the film. The handheld camerawork (including the daughters video footage) paints an intimate portrait of the family. He contrasts this intimacy with the harsh world around them to great effect. In one scene the parents send the girls out for ice cream so they can have some time to themselves. Sheridan juxtaposes the parent’s lovemaking with the violent depressive rage of Mateo. The blend of two such different emotions —sweet love and violent rage—is strange and unique. It’s a nice contrast and a good example of the creative mind behind the scenes.

In America is a blend of returning to the playful nature of children, recovering from the loss of a family member, starting from scratch in an unforgiving town, becoming family with the most unlikely of characters. It’s a movie about returning to the things that matter in life, relationship with family and friends.

Review by Leah Sharpe.

“That mothafucka caught me in bed with his wife and now he wanna try to take my life,” he screams in a getaway car. Rudy Ray Moore reprises his role as Dolemite in The Human Tornado! and he will not disappoint you. He grabs your attention from the very first frame. What an opening title credit sequence.  It absolutely tells you two things. One, this is something else. Two, he is clearly making this film for himself.

The plot is again simple but quite hard to follow. Dolemite is on the run. Shady white folks plan to shut down Queen Bee’s club. Dolemite comes to rescue. Oh, yeah, believe it or not there is a witch. Briefly, but there is. If you carefully follow the plot, you will notice this time he does what he supposed to do. Takes out all the shady white mothafuckas.  And he is badder, tougher, and meaner. Still dress like pimp, get down with hoes, and on top of that he gets paid to do his thing. I can dig it.  And who pays for his service? White girls.  And his kung fu… He does say something funky, something so-not-from-this-world when he kung fu. Perhaps he uses some kind of Voo Doo when he does. It doesn’t really register you for seconds. Makes you absolutely speechless. ***censored***, I have never seen anyone kung fu as outrageous as Dolemite in my life.

This is a decent sequel to the super cool original. It is legendary but the thing that made the original a true classic blaxploitation is missing. I am talking about the Creeper, heroin addict, best known in this world as Hamburger Pimp. No characters in this film have his energy. But then, most of films out there don’t have a character quite like him. He was truly a rare thing.

If you love Dolemite, I am sure you have seen this outrageous sequel. If you have seen Dolemite and don’t want to see any more of it, I understand. But remember, if you crave satisfaction, this is the place to find that action.

(Note: He uses super power that sexually arouses women. How cool is that? But beware ladies because when he does, tornado will hit you).

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Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Someday he will have a website that we can link to. Read the rest...