8. The Bourne Identity
6. Friday After Next
The original Friday is the best of the bunch, but Ice Cube made up for comedians Chris Tucker and Bernie Mac (R.I.P.) being M.I.A. by surrounding himself with Mike Epps, John Witherspoon, Don "D.C." Curry, Rickey Smiley, Sommore and Katt Williams. It's Christmas -- California-style.
4. Brown Sugar
Inspired by Common's song "I Used to Love H.E.R.", Brown Sugar's hip-hop references may be laid on a little thick but the central relationship is top-notch.
3. The Pianist
2. Hart's War
While Saving Private Ryan highlights (among other things) why WWII was so personal for Jewish soldiers, Hart's War explores the predicament in which African-American soldiers found themselves -- unwelcome by enemy combatants and American servicemen alike.
When two pilots and members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen are shot down near a Nazi prison camp -- Stalag 6A -- they are soon subjected to at least as much hostility and disrespect from the white American POWs as from their German captors. Denied the deference due to officers (both pilots are second lieutenants), one, Lamar T. Archer, is shot to death by the guards after being framed with a weapon. The other, Lieutenant Lincoln A. Scott, is accused of murdering a fellow-prisoner -- Staff Sergeant Vic Bedford (who framed Archer).
When the camp commandant, Colonel Oberst Werner Visser, agrees to allow the Americans to convene their own court-martial of Scott, Colonel William McNamara, the highest-ranking American prisoner, fully intends to do everything in his power to insure the trial lasts as long as possible and ends in a guilty verdict. Such a verdict would call for a sentence of death -- to be carried out by Visser's men. Under the colonel's direction, the Americans have been slowly and painstakingly tunneling out of the camp and the hope is that the legal proceedings will serve to distract the Germans.
All of the events are seen through the eyes of officer's aide, First Lieutenant Thomas Hart, who was captured driving a Jeep near the Battle of the Bulge -- the last major offensive by the Germans, during which at least 19,000 Americans were killed. Because Hart attended Yale law school for two years before joining the Army, he's drafted by McNamara to defend Scott. The idea is that the inexperienced Hart can't possibly win. Meanwhile, Visser supplies Hart with the U.S. Army manual on court-martials as a means to antagonize McNamara.
Hart's War is a mystery story as well as a war movie so I won't give away the ending for those who have yet to see it.
1. I Spy
I Spy is a loose adaptation of a 1960s television show of the same name starring Bill Cosby in his first tv series. It was also the first weekly television drama to star an African-American. The premise was that two intelligence operatives -- one white, the other African-American -- conducted espionage missions posing as a tennis player and his trainer, respectively.
The operatives undergo a sort of race reversal in the movie, with Murphy as Kelly Robinson (the white spy from the show) and Owen Wilson as Alex Scott (the African-American tennis trainer from the show). Also, this time around there's no tennis. Robinson is now an actual middleweight world boxing champion, whom George W. Bush personally requests to provide cover for BNS (Bureau of National Security) screw-up Scott, who poses as Robinson's personal assistant. Robinson's participation is important because his 56-0 boxing record has earned him legions of fans, one of whom is Scott's target -- an international arms dealer who plans to auction a stolen prototype stealth fighter at Robinson's upcoming title fight. The partners don't gel, the mission doesn't go as planned, and the boxer ends up in the middle of the action.
Scott is more or less the opposite of James Bond -- a not-very-confident spy who's nervous around the girl he has a crush on (ironically, played by Bond girl Famke Janssen).
Much of the humor is derived from Robinson, whose outsized persona was probably inspired by the legendary Muhammad Ali and undefeated champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (who retired with a record of 49-0). In a comedic take on the outsider's view of his 1980s and 90s "Eddie Murphy Posse", Robinson is followed everywhere he goes by a large entourage that caters to him. Upon learning that Robinson has agreed to participate in the "secret mission", a groupie asks, "So you're gonna be like 007?" His response: "Yeah, except I'm gonna be more like 009 and a half. That's a little innuendo."
If for no other reason, I Spy is worth watching to see Eddie Murphy back in top form. He's that good. His Kelly Robinson is his funniest performance in the 21st century. Yes, he's even funnier than Donkey from the Shrek movies. This is manic, trash-talking Murphy. Think: Axel Foley; Reggie Hammond; and Buddy Love.
Fistfights, car bombs, shootouts, car chases and trash-talking? Eddie Murphy has made a lot of bad movies over the years. This isn't one of them.
3. The Pianist
2. Hart's War
While Saving Private Ryan highlights (among other things) why WWII was so personal for Jewish soldiers, Hart's War explores the predicament in which African-American soldiers found themselves -- unwelcome by enemy combatants and American servicemen alike.
When two pilots and members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen are shot down near a Nazi prison camp -- Stalag 6A -- they are soon subjected to at least as much hostility and disrespect from the white American POWs as from their German captors. Denied the deference due to officers (both pilots are second lieutenants), one, Lamar T. Archer, is shot to death by the guards after being framed with a weapon. The other, Lieutenant Lincoln A. Scott, is accused of murdering a fellow-prisoner -- Staff Sergeant Vic Bedford (who framed Archer).
When the camp commandant, Colonel Oberst Werner Visser, agrees to allow the Americans to convene their own court-martial of Scott, Colonel William McNamara, the highest-ranking American prisoner, fully intends to do everything in his power to insure the trial lasts as long as possible and ends in a guilty verdict. Such a verdict would call for a sentence of death -- to be carried out by Visser's men. Under the colonel's direction, the Americans have been slowly and painstakingly tunneling out of the camp and the hope is that the legal proceedings will serve to distract the Germans.
All of the events are seen through the eyes of officer's aide, First Lieutenant Thomas Hart, who was captured driving a Jeep near the Battle of the Bulge -- the last major offensive by the Germans, during which at least 19,000 Americans were killed. Because Hart attended Yale law school for two years before joining the Army, he's drafted by McNamara to defend Scott. The idea is that the inexperienced Hart can't possibly win. Meanwhile, Visser supplies Hart with the U.S. Army manual on court-martials as a means to antagonize McNamara.
Hart's War is a mystery story as well as a war movie so I won't give away the ending for those who have yet to see it.
1. I Spy
I Spy is a loose adaptation of a 1960s television show of the same name starring Bill Cosby in his first tv series. It was also the first weekly television drama to star an African-American. The premise was that two intelligence operatives -- one white, the other African-American -- conducted espionage missions posing as a tennis player and his trainer, respectively.
The operatives undergo a sort of race reversal in the movie, with Murphy as Kelly Robinson (the white spy from the show) and Owen Wilson as Alex Scott (the African-American tennis trainer from the show). Also, this time around there's no tennis. Robinson is now an actual middleweight world boxing champion, whom George W. Bush personally requests to provide cover for BNS (Bureau of National Security) screw-up Scott, who poses as Robinson's personal assistant. Robinson's participation is important because his 56-0 boxing record has earned him legions of fans, one of whom is Scott's target -- an international arms dealer who plans to auction a stolen prototype stealth fighter at Robinson's upcoming title fight. The partners don't gel, the mission doesn't go as planned, and the boxer ends up in the middle of the action.
Scott is more or less the opposite of James Bond -- a not-very-confident spy who's nervous around the girl he has a crush on (ironically, played by Bond girl Famke Janssen).
Much of the humor is derived from Robinson, whose outsized persona was probably inspired by the legendary Muhammad Ali and undefeated champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (who retired with a record of 49-0). In a comedic take on the outsider's view of his 1980s and 90s "Eddie Murphy Posse", Robinson is followed everywhere he goes by a large entourage that caters to him. Upon learning that Robinson has agreed to participate in the "secret mission", a groupie asks, "So you're gonna be like 007?" His response: "Yeah, except I'm gonna be more like 009 and a half. That's a little innuendo."
If for no other reason, I Spy is worth watching to see Eddie Murphy back in top form. He's that good. His Kelly Robinson is his funniest performance in the 21st century. Yes, he's even funnier than Donkey from the Shrek movies. This is manic, trash-talking Murphy. Think: Axel Foley; Reggie Hammond; and Buddy Love.
Fistfights, car bombs, shootouts, car chases and trash-talking? Eddie Murphy has made a lot of bad movies over the years. This isn't one of them.
Originally Posted 5/18/20
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