Let’s be honest, hip-hop doesn’t make ‘em like A Tribe Called Quest anymore, and they don’t even come close. The quintessential socially conscious rap group blazed a trail for hip-hop with [...]]]>

The Tribe documentary gives fans some insight to the turmoil that plagued the band over the years, but ends on a positive note.

Let’s be honest, hip-hop doesn’t make ‘em like A Tribe Called Quest anymore, and they don’t even come close. The quintessential socially conscious rap group blazed a trail for hip-hop with a string of well received albums in the very late 80’s and early 90’s before fizzling out amid personal strife in the late 90’s. So, actor/director Michael Rapaport made it his duty to track down and chronicle the group as they played several dates on the “Rock The Bells” tour in 2008 and after that tour in an enlightening and informative documentary.

We catch up with the members of Tribe during their final show on the “Rock The Bells” tour in Seattle in 2008. Let’s just say during this particular show that there’s more harmony in Congress than there was with the group at that time. Rapper Phife Dawg is keeping his distance from fellow front man Q-Tip, while the latter is in a trailer going off on a tangent. When asked if we’ll see Tribe on stage together again, Q-Tip simply chuckles and says “maybe if we got put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something”. It doesn’t paint a very positive picture for the group’s future at the beginning.

However, the next hour and a half is a nice overview of the group’s origins and their different interests- which couldn’t be farther apart from each other and sometimes makes you wonder how Q-Tip, Phife and the group’s DJ Ali Muhammed were ever friends in the first place. But Rapaport tries to keep things to the music and the group’s evolution and what set them apart from the rest in a convincing fashion.

But as with every group that gets famous, there’s external issues that start to slowly tear the group apart- such as Phife’s worsening bout with diabetes and Q-Tip’s perfectionist ways. You get to see some of these tense moments, such as a fight between the two prior to a “Rock the Bells” shows seconds before they are about to go on stage.

But Rapaport (who sometimes has to play mediator throughout the documentary) does a good job showing everyone’s side of the story and lets you make your own decision on how you feel about the particular members of the group. The documentary does end on a good note and makes you wonder what exactly will be the future of the band (hint: it won’t end with them going on stage together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). But it shows the peaks and valleys of a personal and musical friendship.

Like I said before, hip-hop doesn’t make ‘em like Tribe anymore, and this documentary gives the band their proper respect and place in hip-hip history.

“Beats, Rhymes & Life” is currently showing at the Birmingham Palladium. Check out www.uptownentertainment.com for show times.

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen Rating: PG-13

The original “True Grit” is a classic in the western genre, and one of John Wayne’s last great flicks. So, it was imperative for the Coen Brothers, whom [...]]]>

In a season full of bad movies, "True Grit" comes out guns blazing...

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen
Rating: PG-13

The original “True Grit” is a classic in the western genre, and one of John Wayne’s last great flicks. So, it was imperative for the Coen Brothers, whom have had tons of great movies, not to screw up this classic in the brotherly directing duo’s first remake. It seems surprising that the well respected Coen Brothers would tackle a remake in fear of being called “sellouts”, but given the amount of western-related movies the brothers have done, “True Grit” seemed like the best fit for their first remake.

If you know the original story, it isn’t far removed from the 1969 movie: 14 year old Maddie Ross (played by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) is looking for justice for the murder of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She enlists the help of show no mercy U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and gets some unsolicited help from Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) and treks over the harsh plains, looking for Chaney and to provide some closure to the situation.

As with the original, Maddie provides the centerpiece and backbone of the story and is far more intelligent and independent than most of the adults in the story. In that same vein, Steinfeld provides more revelatory work in her movie debut. She displays the courage and strong willed behavior Maddie needed and more than holds her own with Academy Award winners Damon and Bridges- it would be a surprise if she wasn’t at least nominated for an Academy Award at the end of next month. Bridges has been nailing his roles lately, and his portrayal of Cogburn is no different. As the aging gunslinger and boozer, Bridges fires off dry wit with the best of them. Damon provides a subdued, but effective performance as the ranger who finds himself in and out of favor with Cogburn and young Maddie.

For being the third highest billed actor, Brolin is sorely underused as the murderous Tom Chaney. His role equated to about 5 minutes of screen time at best. But the character was not used much in the original, so I will respect the Coen’s faithfulness to the original script. If there is one unsatisfying part to the movie, it is the ending- which seemed way to easily wrapped up. Given the Coen Brothers’ history and well thought out and paced first 110 minutes, the last ten minutes seem too clean and tidy.

We all know there have been tons of bad and really bad remakes over the past decade or so, but the Coen Brothers make sure that “True Grit” falls nowhere near that pile of crap infesting the theaters and may be an Oscar player when award season rolls around.

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wylde, Michael Sheen Director: Joseph Kosinski Rated: PG

Back in 1982, “Tron” was seen as a technological marvel at the time, but the movie was a huge disappointment at the box office. Over time, the movie has gone on to become a [...]]]>

Yeah, you wish you were that close to Olivia Wylde...

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wylde, Michael Sheen
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rated: PG

Back in 1982, “Tron” was seen as a technological marvel at the time, but the movie was a huge disappointment at the box office. Over time, the movie has gone on to become a cult classic but I was still surprised to hear news that there was a sequel in the works.

28 years and a reported 150 million dollars later, “Tron” is back and gives the viewer a remarkable special effects show and a somewhat thin but entertaining plot that most viewers are probably checking out in 3D.

The story starts as a flashback with Tron creator Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) talking to his son Sam, sharing stories about “The Grid” in which Flynn created and came back from in the original movie. But Kevin disappears once again without a trace, leaving Sam without a father and direction in life. Fast forward 20 years, the younger Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is a bright albeit misguided twentysomething who spends his time wreaking havoc with the company that his father built from the ground up. But on a fateful night, Sam returns to his father’s old arcade and is sucked into the far more updated version of “The Grid” his father created and defeat his father’s evil creation Clu (Bridges, but in a computer enhanced fountain of youth version of him).

The plot of “Legacy” isn’t exactly rocket science (son enters weird world, meets hot chick, meets up with long-lost father, fights his evil computer generated twin, etc), but the movie doesn’t drag either. The special effects of the original movie were considered ground breaking at the time, the new special effects and colors used for the movie aren’t quite ground breaking, but set the proper mood and tone for the movie. Also, if you want to see it in 3D, there are a few cool scenes that 3D enhances the scene, but to be honest- most viewers would get the same effect in regular 2D.

Bridges does a fine job playing the two different characters- bringing forth that cool, Zen Master type vibe of Kevin Flynn and as the dictator Clu. The computer generated version of Bridges seems a bit odd (think a more human version of Tom Hanks in “The Polar Express”) and even comes off as a little spooky, even if the acting is fine. Hedlund and Olivia Wylde (playing the love interest Quorra) have chemistry and pull off their roles well. And you gotta give the Daft Punk musical score some big points as well, which sounds perfect at a club in the Grid- even if usually stellar character actor Michael Sheen goes a bit over the top as a David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust looking club owner during those scenes.

The new “Tron” isn’t going to win performance based Academy Awards or anything, but if you are looking for a dazzling light show and solid storyline, then “Tron: Legacy” provides a quality continuation of this long dormant story.

Just like the Kraken, Clash of the Titans 3D was released on the world this weekend and gods be damned did it suck. There is a lot gone wrong with this mythical mash-up, but we might as well start with the plot. Clash, a remake of [...]]]>

3D? 4D couldn't save this trash

Just like the Kraken, Clash of the Titans 3D was released on the world this weekend and gods be damned did it suck. There is a lot gone wrong with this mythical mash-up, but we might as well start with the plot. Clash, a remake of the 1981 version, starts with a voice over about how the gods overthrew their creators, the titans, created humans and now the humans are attempting to overthrow the gods. It’s the kind of story that has been told and retold for centuries and this is a visual recreation of the legend. Fine, I get that. But the storyline skips along too quickly over the plot elements just to get to the many mythical creature battle scenes. Which, I suppose is a good thing since the dialogue is boring, terrible and unoriginal. Regarding the acting, it’s not abominable, but with Liam Neeson (playing king of the gods, Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (his brother, Hades) and new blockbuster golden boy Sam Worthington (as Perseus, the half-human son of Zeus) in the cast, it could have been better. Now on to the worst part of the film. As far as the special effects, the only thing that really stood out to me was the smoke and ash cloud that circled Hades as he entered or exited a scene. The rest of the special effects seemed to be drowned out by the distracting 3D. Speaking of 3D, in Clash of the Titans, it was terrible. It should be a clue to viewers when a movie is delayed a few weeks so that it could be converted from 2D to 3D that it’s not going to turn out well. It’s now obvious that not all 3D is created equal.

A note to Hollywood regarding the new and growing fad of releasing everything in 3D – Please, please, please… enough with the 3D already. I totally understood why Avatar did so well. Despite the unoriginal garbage plot, the 3D technology used was amazing and worth the extra bucks to see it once, maybe twice. (I really don’t get the people that went 10 or how ever many times to see it but, whatever.) Avatar was shot in 3D with the intention of wowing audiences with its visually stunning technology. Clash was retrofitted so that it could cash in on the trend and what a huge mistake that was. Actually, I take that back. It was a huge gift to all of us so that the public can maybe see that 3D is not at all necessary. If there is a truly great reason to release a 3D movie, then by all means do it. However, Clash of the Titans, and for matter Alice in Wonderland, were not great reasons. To make things even more hopeless, before Clash of the Titans was a few trailers for upcoming 3D movies and I personally can not seeing any reason to keep the trend going. Step Up 3D? A dance movie in 3D? Is this necessary? You can also look forward to some movie about owls flying around and — wait for it — Piranha 3D. Really? Another remake of a low budget B-movie… in 3D? I pray to Zeus, release the Kraken on 3D!