Bad Boys For Life Review

For those of you that know me, you would know that Bad Boys (1995) is one of my favorite movies of all time.  It truly is a perfect buddy cop/action comedy with two great leads and its a wonderful mix of comedy and action.  On top of that, it is so rare to see a buddy copy movie with 2 Black leads and both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence shine brightly in this movie.

Now if you also know me, you know that I hate( might not be strong enough of a word) Bad Boys 2.  Whereas the first movie played to the strengths of each of the lead actors, Bad Boys 2 is an overbloated Michael Bay crapfest with a thin plot and an even thinner since of purpose and direction.  The 8 years between the movies might as well had been 80 years as nothing survived from the original that made it special.

So when I heard there was going to be a Bad Boys 3, I was 100% against it.  There are reasons: One this seemed like a Will Smith vehicle to try to get back to his movie star status which had been diminished greatly over the past 10 years.  Also, have you seen Martin Lawrence recently?  I love the dude but he looks like the dude that ate Martin Lawrence.  It just seemed like a desperate money grab for dudes looking for a payday so I dismissed this movie from the jump.

Well the quarantine and pandemic will have you watching anything and everything for new content and Bad Boys 3 was up to stream so I gave it a watch and I was terribly wrong about the movie.  Thankfully they left Michael Bay somewhere in Miami and out of this movie as the director and this new direction gave Bad Boys 3 and more grounded feel; much like the original.

The plot, Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery been partners for over 20 years cleaning up the streets of Miami.  And much like their real life counterparts, they are old; well at least Marcus, played by Martin Lawrence, is old.  Its time for him to retire, especially now that his daughter just had his first grandchild.  Lowry, played by Will Smith, is that Peter Pan dude who, no matter what, refuses to get old.  He still wants to drive fast cars, date all the pretty women, and feels that he is bulletproof.

Well, Mike is definitely not bullet proof as a tragedy bring back old enemies who are targeting Miami Police officers who were involved in case that was solved over 20 years ago.  After Mike recovers from his shooting, he wants to get revenge and seeks out his partner who refuses to help. Marcus is on a new path now enjoying his life as a retired cop.

The movie hits levels of emotional depth missing from the previous two entries and you can see the active parallel; especially with Will Smith in the sense of: If I don't have this, what do I have? And with Martin, who in real life, is perfectly content with where his life is and doesn't feel the need to upset that by getting involved in any more craziness.

Of course they get back together and of course they look to track down and take out the people behind the assassinations.  Along the way, the new task force(AMMO) is helping track down the killer.  There are cameos from previous movies, cameos from some of Miami's most famous residents, and all the shootings and explosions you come to love from Bad Boys.   Its just not so over the top as Bad Boys 2( this is a good thing)

There are jokes all around about being old and getting old and how to transition from being the young hot shot to now being the old man on the block.  The movie hits on an action, comedic, and emotional level.  There is a plot twist that I hate so much that it almost ruined the movie for me, but I will allow you to make that decision on your own.

Overall, lots of fun playing in a very familiar sandbox with old friends.  A great piece of nostalgia that left just enough crumbs for another sequel.

The Producer

The Wedding Year Review

During this Coronavirus lock down we have all been watching more tv than usual.  Whether you watching cable tv, Hulu, Netflix, or Disney Plus, the search for content is continuous as the lockdown has stretched from days, weeks, and now a month plus.

So as I was loading up my Amazon Prime a few weeks ago, the preview for this movie, The Wedding Year popped up and it caught my interest.  For one, it was a romantic comedy; a genre that is pretty much dead in movie theatres now and only exists on streaming services.  Second, there was an interracial couple; something you never see in a romantic comedy. Lastly, I immediately recognized the stars as Tyler James Williams, from Everybody Hates Chris and Sara Hyland, from the recently ended Modern Family, were the stars.

The trailer seemed kinda cute and dumb in the classic romantic comedy way so I set aside some time to watch this.  Confession: I love romantic comedies. I do!  Its probably a by product of loving my wife and her love of these movies, but I lean into them pretty strong with her as a moment for us to bond and laugh.  Throw in that we watched both Everybody Hates Chris and Modern Family and this was a bonus to watch two kids we saw grow up on television stretch their acting wings and move into more adult roles.

The plot of The Wedding Year is that of a typical Romantic Comedy:  Two people from different backgrounds meet up and fall in love.  Mara, played by Hyland, is a aspiring photographer in LA who is biding her time working in a fashion boutique.  Her life consists of getting high and looking for men on Hook Up apps to take her out to expensive dinners.  Jake, played by Williams, is a southern kid who moved to LA to open up his own restaurant but for now is working at a local diner.  They meet on this Hook up App and try to have dinner but its way too much money for Jake and they wind up leaving having pancakes at Jake's diner.  The hook up leads to dating, dating leads to moving in together, and into a relationship that neither expected.

And being in a relationship brings couples expectations and a part of that is attending weddings together and in the course of one year, they have to attend seven weddings of various friends and family.  Each wedding brings out a different side of their growing relationship but also begins to pull apart their closeness as Mara actively seeks out to sabotage her potential relationships before they become too serious.

This all comes to a head at Jake's brothers wedding as his family presses Mara about when her and Jake are going to get married, have babies, and move back to Virginia.  This is not the life Mara has planned for herself and when she and Jake talk about it, it leads to them breaking up.

Of course this is a romantic comedy and they wind up back together, but I am not going to spoil how that happens.  The Wedding Year is fun and cute and will definitely appeal more to the 20-30 something audience.  The jokes are typical and it the movie stays in its lane as a light comedy to help you get a laugh.  Overall, a fun movie for lovers of classic romantic comedies.

The Producer

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey Review

Confession: I did not like Suicide Squad.  That is probably not that shocking of an admission if you have listened to our podcast or read anything I ever written.  I am a Marvel Hack and a MCU stan so for me, DC is always playing from behind( outside of their animation which is far superior to Marvel/Disney superhero animation).

With the DC movies, I kinda liked Wonder Woman and Aquaman.  I really liked Shazam, but the rest have been trash to me.  From Man of Steel, to Justice League, its been an endless stream of disappointment and I never go out of my way to see/watch those movies.  Suicide Squad was the same way. I saw it on a bootleg copy first and then later saw it on DVD and both times I was extremely underwhelmed.  But out of that, if there was a silver lining, was the portrayl of Harley Quinn by Margo Robbie.  Her and Will Smith were the only true standouts in that 2 hour crap fest so it was no real surprise that there was talk of spinning Harley off into her own movie.

Confession #2:  I am not really much of a Harley Quinn fan( with one exception).  So since Harley Quinn got this huge push( wrestling term) from Suicide Squad, the comics reacted in a way that tried to bring Harley Quinn to a level that she was not ready for, in my opinion.  She headlined the awful Heroes in Crisis Event and DC had her even defeating the Trinity which is just ridiculous.   But I chalk that more up to writer error, than the character.

So a movie starring Margo Robbie as a character I do not like, made by a company whose movies I do not like... this seemed like a recipe for disaster.  But it wasn't.  Now do not get me wrong, I think Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey is a movie with severe flaws.  The first being that they made it rated R; under the assumption, much like Deadpool, people would buy into the kooky character who uses overt violence and jokes to become popular.  I think this limited the number of people( young girls in particular) who could go and see the movie.  But to me, that is one of its minor flaws that's not related to the content of the movie.  The larger flaw, is that they movie could not decide what it wanted to be.  Is the movie, Camp, playing into and with its over the top character and allowing the audience to get in on the laugh and shenanigans? Or is this a serious movie, with an over the top character and you are not sure where to laugh or how serious you should take this movie? Birds of Prey landed somewhere in the middle for me and I was unsure when I was to laugh and when I should take the movie seriously.

The plot, Harley finally breaks away from the Joker and sets out on her own to be taken seriously.  She falls into this plot to steal a diamond that has account information of a former crime family that was killed in Gotham.  Then a little kid steals the diamond and pandemonium breaks loose as we get introduced to the supporting characters: Black Canary and Huntress, along with Rene Montoya. Whereas Black Canary's intro is played very seriously, Huntress, the more serious character of the two, is played for laughs throughout and it was head scratching as to why.  On top of that, each of the supporting Birds of Prey get very little to do in this movie and the acting is so over the top in some points that its almost laughable.  Ewan McGregor, plays our villain, Black Mask, so over the top you would think he was being bad on purpose with his acting.

Regardless, the movie has some great action pieces with Robbie as Harley Quinn and there are some genuine big laughs as the movie plays out.  The set pieces are gorgeous and you really get a different feel of Gotham than the typical Batman's Gotham that we have seen for the past 30 years.  But overall, like most DC movies, you get the feeling that there is a better version of this movie somewhere.  Now I am not talking release the Snyder cut nonsense, but a much tighter version of the movie with better pacing and editing.  A movie with a more singular vision as opposed to trying to put everything in the movie and seeing that sticks.  Or a version that went full Deadpool with it being way over the top, much like the Harley Quinn show on DC Universe streaming.  THAT show( my one exception for Harley Quinn) gets who  Harley Quinn is  and runs head first into the insanity the character lives in and allows that to play for laughs and is a much better representation of the character.

I waited to see this movie on streaming because I had been burned so much by DC.  The early reviews from people I know/trust/love were over the top on how much they enjoyed the movie.  I did not see the same movie, I guess.  Is it fun and enjoyable? Yes at times, but mostly is bland and boring and could've been better.  If you really enjoy Harley Quinn, watch the DC animated show.  Its so much better!

The Producer

Farewell to Con Season

SDCC Cancelled


With the news yesterday that San Diego Comic Con was cancelling itself for the first time in 50-plus years, it was the strawberry on the top of the end of comic con season for 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

It was the right call and no matter how disappointed you or your crew of nerds are, there is no way you could pack that many con goers into that convention center and not expect an outbreak of sick people.  Add to the fact that comic cons, under normal circumstances, are incubators for illness( Con Crud, anyone?), this is really was a no brainer.  The people to most feel sorry for are the creators who use the conventions to make money selling their drawings, writings, etc.  Plus the vendors who use the conventions to sell merchandise.  This is a true loss for them in their pockets.

All across the country, cons have been either cancelled or postponed.  My two local conventions, MegaCon Orlando and Florida Supercon, both moved off their original start dates and, honestly, with a later start date in the summer, I am not sure I will risk being around thousands of people just to satisfy my geekly habits.  I have the Con of Thrones(Game of Thrones Con) this summer in July and I wonder if that will even happen or if I will even go at this point.  As consumers, we have to way the risk v reward in these situations. Yes, I would love to mingle and hang with fans of a show that I love.  But is that worth risking getting sick and bringing that illness back to my family; no matter how small the chance is.

For me, my year is built around attending DragonCon in Atlanta on Labor Day Weekend and I have to wonder if by late August/ early September we will be past this.  DragonCon is like a family reunion for me as I get to see people I have not seen in a whole year.  We laugh, we drink, we takes pictures, and hang out for 3 whole days and just celebrate our Black Nerdness. Missing DragonCon would hurt more than the others.  Regardless, the safety of all trumps the wants of many and I hope the people of DragonCon make the best decision for all in this instance.

The Producer

When the Lead Leaves the Show: John Amos and Esther Rolle

This is going to be a series of articles about when a Black lead character leaves a television show and the aftermath of that event.  I will look at the events leading to the departure, how the character was written off the show, and the aftermath to the show they left.

First up, John Amos and Esther Rolle, stars of Good Times that ran on CBS from 1974-1979 and was a huge ratings hit for the network.  Created by Mike Evans and produced by Hollywood heavy weight, Norman Lear, this spin-off of Maude focused on the Evans Family and their daily struggles living in the projects in Chicago.  The Evans family consisted of patriarch James Evans, played by John Amos, matriarch Florida Evans, played by Esther Rolle, and their three kids JJ, Thelma, and Michael.

Rating Success

The show portrayed the typical struggles of a family living in poverty.  Shows about unemployment, hustling, and surviving, were not just in the theme song, they were the theme of the show, but told with humor and heart. The show, much like All in the Family, was to examine taboo topics with humor and looking to build a dialogue about difficult topics. The show was a ratings hit ranking in the top 25 shows on network television in year one and in the top 10 shows by year two, and not appearing outside the top 30 through season four.

John Amos Departs

So what went wrong?  While the show was a hit and tackling topics rarely seen on network television, the shows focus started slowly moving away from Florida and James Evans and focused more on JJ, played by Jimmy Walker.  JJ had become such a popular character on the show and him screaming DY-NO-MITE became a huge cultural phenomenon and JJ often became the focus of the show; not the serious topics the show had been dealing with.  Amos voiced his frustrations to the producer Norman Lear which lead to constant arguments about the script and the shows direction.  At the end of season 3, the decision was made to kill off James Evans off camera as he was looking to get a job and finally move the family out of the projects.  His death lead to this great bit of television and now meme/gif history.

Esther Rolle Departs

Rolle was much more verbal with her disgust with the JJ character becoming the focus of the show. Rolle, in an interview, called  the JJ character, "stupid" and thought he was bringing negative racial stereotypes to young Black youth watching on television. After John Amos was not brought back, she worked to get herself written off the show and by the end of season 4  she married character Carl Dixon and moved off to Arizona leaving the Evans kid to live on their own.



The Aftermath

Losing the two leads of the show tanked the ratings as the producers decided to have the show continue without the two parents who provided much of the heart of the show.  The show shifted its focus to Wilona, played by, Janet Dubois,  looking after the kids who now lived alone and stories focused on JJ and the kids and Wilona.  After Amos leaves, the shows rating dropped to 26.  After Rolle leaves, the rating drops to 55 for season 5.  Producers realized they made a mistake and did everything they could to get Esther Rolle back to give the show back its heart.  Rolle reluctantly agreed to return with a list of demands which included more money and to make JJ less of a buffoon and knock off the racial stereotypes.

Rolle comes back for season 6 and even with the focus on new characters and her return, the show was too far gone to come back.  Season 6 tanked and ranked 91 on broadcast television shows and was cancelled.

So what do you think?  Should they have cancelled the show after John Amos left? After Esther Rolle left?  Leave a comment in the comments section.

The Producer

Star Wars: Darth Vader #1

Star Wars: Darth Vader( 2019) by Greg Pak and Raffael Ienco

As my continued disappointment with the Star Wars movie universe continues, I have deep dived into the comic book world for continued tales of Skywalker's.  Last month, we read the Kylo Ren book as it took a dive into the unknown time after the failed assasination by Luke Skywalker as untold from the Last Jedi.  This month, we look at an untold tale of Darth Vader which occurs in the events after Luke learns he is Vader's son in The Empire Strikes Back!

As Luke falls off and makes his escape on the Falcon with Lando, Chewbacca, and Leia, we get to see what the next step is for Vader.  While he makes a communication with Luke via the Force in the movie, we do not see Vader again until Return of the Jedi.  This book picks up after that moment as Vader is joined with Death Troopers as they set out to not find Luke Skywalker, but all the people who hid Luke from him and made him weak.


So we are off to Tattoine and, even though I enjoyed this book, this is where I always get a little weird about Star Wars comic books.  As writers look to flesh out the universe outside of our main characters, we get introduced to these wonderfully formed characters in the books who you know have only been created to die.  It creates a dissonance for me when reading the books because I cannot invest emotionally in a character that, if they were that important, woulda made it into one of the 10 Star Wars movies.

On Tattoine, Vader begin the Annakin Skywalker tour and even gets to visit some of his old stomping grounds. We get to see where Clegg Lars and Shimi Skywalker lived and we get the flashback of that scene from Phantom Menace.  The art plays across very little dialogue and is dependent upon the reader having fairly high knowledge of the movies.

The story unfolds through a wacky droid, Zed Six Seven, a Star Wars staple in comics and movies.  Vader sees that Luke grew up in the same house as Anakin did and sees that his son grew up with Owen and Beru Lars and had a similar love for flying and tinkering like Anakin did. We even get a flashback of Padme from Attack of the Clones.

We even get the callback to when Anakin gave into hate and killed the Sand People and gave us our clear path to Anakin becoming Darth Vader. Padme does his best to save him as we saw in the movies but the book draws the parallels of Vader losing Luke and Padme and the emotional toll these events had on Darth Vader.

And remember what I said about the characters introduced to die?  Well, we get two characters who were looking to rob the imperial troopers while on Tattoine.  They get the drop of some empire ships and take shots at Vader.  But when you come for the King, you best not miss.  They did and we get to see Vader use the Force like we only got to see at the end of Rogue One.  And these moments often bother me because we see the Jedi super powerful in the prequels and presented as old me when we get to A new Hope.  So to retcon Vader being this powerful comes off a bit awkward but its still pretty awesome to see.

Of course Vader kills all the Red Shirts( Star Trek reference) and upon leaving Tattoine, Vader and his crew head off to Corusant and the apartment of Padme Amidala as Vader is looking for clues as to who else knew that Padme was pregnant.  Through some flashbacks and finding a tracer droid, Vader and his crew make it to another planet and find Jar Jar Binks protecting a hidden figure as they are attacked by these monster looking creatures. Vader comes in for the safe before we get a secret reveal that we wont spoil here.

Overall, this book was a lot of fun seeing the flashbacks to tie the movies into the book.  Vader, at the time of Empire Strikes Back, was such a mysteriou character, even after the reveal in the movie.  Our watching of the prequels filled in more of the blanks to his origin and there is such more to explore and Pak does a great job laying the foundation built upon the movie foundation.  Good fun, great art, and playing in the pool we already can swim in.  Highly recommended for all Star Wars fans!

The Producer

Florida Supercon Review

I was fortunate enough to receive a media badge for Brothascomics to attend SuperCon in Miami this year and wanted to give you a little wrap up of the event.  This is my 3rd Supercon, but my first covering as media and the first time attending in Miami; the last two years the event had been held in Fort Lauderdale.

I live about 2 hours north of Miami so I made the commute each day instead of staying in a host hotel and that was probably my mistake.  In events like this, especially if you are coming a long way, its best if you stay closer to the event.

The Badge Process

I arrived right at the opening and parked at the Miami Civic Center garage.  Getting to the civic center is filled with traffic and you should leave early.  The badge process can really sink the con going experience and its vital that you buy your badge ahead of time if you are doing multiple days.  I went to pick up my media badge and it was in the same area as fan arrivals.   The Badge process was pretty easy and there were plenty of workers to help you get though the lines. Again, buy your badge early and print your confirmation.  If you purchase on site, the lines are much longer and you will be delayed making entrance into the con.

Con Size and Vendors

SuperCon is a fairly large con. Its not as big as MegaCon in Orlando but its not a small con either and you need to be prepared to walk a lot around the convention center to find who or what you are looking for. The SuperCon app is a great way to find your way around and keep up with the schedule if you are moving from the floor, to panels, to signings.  Its very organized on the floor, but its very easy to get turned around and you can lose your way trying to find something you may have seen before.  The Vendors offer a wide variety of products for all your nerdly pleasures.  Are you into anime, comics, toys, etc... whatever floats your nerdly boat, SuperCon has all of it for you!


Guest List
The Guest List was probably not as famous as previous years in Fort Lauderdale.  It may have been because Supercon this year fell on the 4th of July weekend.  If you were looking for a major movie.tv star, this year may have been lacking for you.  If you are into great comic creators or voice actors from anime, then you would have been super happy. I was able to get some interviews with some great creators and artists and get their insight into the creations.  My daughter was excited to meet Danielle Pannebaker from Arrow and we waited in line to get a picture with her and attend her panel which was a thrill for my daughter.  Plus, me and my best friend got a chance to get a picture with Jerry The King Lawler

Cosplay

Brothascomics always looks for great cosplay and looks to highlight cosplayers of color and SuperCon did not disappoint.

Family Friendly
All cons are not family friendly so you should always be wary on the convention floor.  SuperCon attracts a teenage and older crowd.  Smaller kids are there for sure and the con is family friendly but many of the costumes and booths may be a bit much for younger kids and making your way around the convention floor with very young kids will probably exhaust you as a parent.  I have a teenage daughter and after wlaking the floor for a few hours, even she was tired.  SuperCon is also one of the few cons that serves beer and alcohol on the convention floor. I personally enjoy that but not sure how some fans feel about it.

Overall

Really grateful for the oppurtunity to cover SuperCon this year as media.  It gave me a chance to meet some of my favorite creators and interview them for Brothascomics and I look forward to coming again in 2020.

The Producer

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