One of the greatest actors to come out of the 1990’s is Denzel Washington (Malcolm X) who is money when it comes to his films. He has a movie called Fences coming out on Christmas which is gaining a lot of critical acclaim, but to celebrate his career, I decided to check out He Got Game. Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel)has been in jail for six years after the death of his wife which has forced his son Jesus Shuttlesworth (NBA Legend Ray Allen) to be the man of the house. You see Jesus is also an unbelievable basketball player for his high school who hasn’t made a decision as to where he wants to go or do after high school. Jake is given a chance to exit jail to try and convince his son to go to a certain school so that his sentence can be cut short. The film also stars Milla Jovovich (Zoolander 2) as Dakota Burns, Rosario Dawson (Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis) as Lala, Hill Harper (CSI: NY) as Booger, Zelda Harris (The Baby-Sitters Club) as Mary Shuttlesworth, Ned Beatty (Deliverance) as Warden Wyatt, Jim Brown (Mars Attacks) as Spivey, Joseph Lyle Taylor (The Dark Knight Rises) as Crudup, Bill Nunn (Spider-Man 3) as Uncle Bubba, John Turturro (The Color Of Money) as Coach Sunday, Roger Guenveur Smith (American Gangster) as Big Time Willie, and the film was written and directed by Spike Lee (Malcolm X).
This was one of those films that you are kind of glad they only made one just because one of the main actors was kind of awful. The film’s story is actually a very good story that kind of takes a look into what happens when someone from a poor area has some talent and has to deal with vultures trying to get theirs. But as I said before, Ray Allen is kind of an awful actor who has his moments in the film, but is also one of those guys who shouldn’t have transitioned into films.Now Denzel on the other hand puts on one heck of a performance as he always does as a man who is desperate to get his son to sign, but he is also enjoying his time out of prison. He also touches other peoples lives to wake them up to realize their potentials or what they are missing out on. His interaction with Milla Jovovich are awesome as she plays a prostitute that he feels bad for in a way. The film features some gritty moments and plenty of T&A as one college tries to persuade him to come to their school. I can imagine that those things happened in real life and I am kind of mad I never took sport serious enough in high school. The ending of the film to me is a little rushed and it sort of doesn’t make sense to me in a way while in a way it does. It just seems a little too quick that he spends years hating his father, but forgives him what seems quick. It was a decent film that any basketball fan may enjoy. I am going to give a B+ only because Allen and some other performances bothered me a little. Enjoy the cameos in the film from NBA coaches and players like Dean Smith, Lute Olson, John Chaney, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Shaq, etc.
Over the past couple of years, we have seen Hollywood transition from remakes to now coming up with sequels some 15 to 20 years or so after the original films (e.g. Dumb And Dumber Too). That is definitely the case with today’s film Zoolander 2 which brings back Ben Stiller (Mystery Men) as everyone’s favorite male model. The world has changed over the last fifteen years and someone is trying to kill off all the beautiful people in the world forcing Derek Zoolander and Hansel (Owen Wilson) out of hiding. Together the two of them will travel to Rome to find Derek’s son and help fashion police officer Valentina Valencia (Penélope Cruz) find whoever is behind these heinous crimes before the fashion world is ruined forever. The film also stars Billy Zane (Titanic) as Billy Zane, Justin Bieber as himself, Sting as himself, Kiefer Sutherland as himself, Jon Daly (The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty) as Agent Filippo, Christine Taylor (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) as Matilda, Will Ferrell (Daddy’s Home) as Jacobim Mugatu, Justin Theroux (American Psycho) as Evil DJ, Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) as Katinka, Kristen Wiig (Despicable Me 2) as Alexanya Atoz, Kyle Mooney (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) as Don Atari, and Fred Armisen (Easy A) as VIP.
I think there should be a window of time that you have to come out with a sequel to a film because 15 years is a long time to wait to do one. That’s why I felt the Dumb And Dumber sequel suffered because they waited too long and comedy changes over time. What was funny in 1994 isn’t funny in 2014 or in this case what was funny in 2001 isn’t necessarily funny in 2016. This may have been a really funny film if it was released in 2002 or 03, but not 15 years after the fact. I have to admit that I liked the overall story of the film and I loved a lot of the acting in the film, but it just wasn’t laugh out loud funny in my opinion. One of the most annoying characters in the film is hipster Don Atari (Mooney) and I suppose I should be commending him cause isn’t that the point after all, hipsters are annoying. The always beautiful Penélope Cruz was definitely a nice addition to the cast of beautiful people, but it just wasn’t enough to save the picture. One thing I didn’t understand was the point of the orgy (made up of Kiefer Sutherland and others) unless I am missing something from the first film. As much as I don’t like Justin Bieber, he was a good sport to die in the opening minutes of the film and what a glorious death it was for the Bieber. The film isn’t boring, it’s just not that funny if you get what I am saying. As I said before, it’s a film that would have been funny if it came out 10 years ago, but they waited too long to strike. I am going to give the film an B- only because it’s better than Kindergarten Cop 2.
For today’s film, I felt like watching a Sci-Fi movie and there was one for some reason that I had never seen before. The Fifth Element was one of those films that I had never seen and took the chance to see it for today. The film stars Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as a retired special Ops agent Korben Dallas, a man that is hired to protect a supreme being named Lola (Milla Jovovich) and retrieve some important stones. You see in the film, they explain that supreme beings have come to Earth to protect human beings from evil forces as the evil forces come every 300 years. It’s 300 years in the future and the evil forces are coming and they need the stones to protect the Earth from the evil forces. The film also stars Chris Tucker (Friday) as Ruby Rhod, Ian Holm (The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring) as Father Vito, Luke Perry (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) as Billy, Brion James (Blade Runner) as General Munro, Tommy “Tiny” Lister (No Holds Barred) as President Lindberg, Lee Evans (There’s Something About Mary) as Fog, Charlie Creed-Miles (Harry Brown) as David, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, and the film was directed by Luc Besson (Lucy).
I am definitely happy that I finally took the time to watch this film. All I have to say is that Milla Jovovich is amazing hot and she was nice to look at. The film has it all from action to suspense that kept you on the edge of your seat to some comedy with Chris Tucker who while his character is annoying, he was funny. This film was like Die Hard meets any of the great Sci-Fi film we all love. Bruce Willis brought that bad ass mentality to the film that he made famous in the Die Hard series. The cinematography and special effects were absolutely awesome and I love the costume designs especially with some of Milla’s outfits. I don’t remember what they were called, but some of the aliens looked goofy and awesome. The last 30 plus minutes of the film is where all the magic happens on screen and it was worth the watch. One thing that kind of confused me is that Luke Perry had his name in the opening sequence credits and he’s only in the film for maybe fifteen minutes. I guess he was a big enough name at the time that he could get those. The other thing that I could have done without was Tommy “Tiny” Lister as president of the territories, but that’s how it goes. This is definitely one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies that I have seen and that is why I am giving the film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 