Classic Movie Review House Party 3

House Party 3 (1994) 

Directed by Eric Meza

Written by David Toney, Takashi Bufford 

Starring Christopher 'Kid' Reid, Christopher 'Play' Martin, Bernie Mac 

Release Date January 12th, 1994 

Published January 17th, 2024

A third film in the charming and funny House Party franchise should have been an open goal kick. It should have been a sure bet to a sweet, funny, silly, celebration of fun and hip hop. And yet, somehow, they managed to muck it up. Whether stars Kid N' Play felt they need to prove how 'hard' they are after being labeled as soft based on the first two movies or the rappers got bad advice from the creative team of Eric Meza, David Toney, and Takashi Bufford, who went on to not work in feature films again, House Party 3 turned a charming franchise into a curdled exercise in toxic masculinity and male insecurity. 

House Party 3 centers on a bachelor party for the soon to married Kid (Christopher Reid). Having moved on from his college girlfriend, played in each of the first two films by Tisha Campbell, Kid is set to marry Veda (Angela Means). This is despite the protests of Kid's pal, Play (Christopher Martin), who can't stop talking about how Kid is giving up his freedom and will miss out on sleeping with an unending number of women he's been taking advantage of via their mostly failing music management company. 

That's truly the one joke that repeats throughout House Party 3, getting married is a mistake because there are so many other women to sleep with. It's the same pathetic joke over and over again ad nauseum. I've never understood these jokes about what a burden being married is. Do married men understand that getting married is a choice? You can choose to not get married. I've done it for 47 years. I've managed to go all of my life without being married. It's really not that hard. And yet, there are numerous movies, television shows and viral videos about men complaining about what being married prevents them from doing. 

But this lame joke isn't the only lame joke in House Party 3, it's merely the most prominent. The other jokes center on the memory loss that can come with old age as it appears Kid's grandmother is developing alzheimers and this is somehow a very funny joke to the filmmakers. She can't remember her grandson's fiancee, ho ho! She can't remember where the stairs are in her home, ha ha! She can't remember where she is when she's not home. Will the hilarity ever begin? It's not merely that the joke is insensitive, it's that this joke is never done in a way that's actually funny. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review Head of State

Head of State (2003) 

Directed by Chris Rock

Written by Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi 

Starring Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Dylan Baker, Nick Searcy, Lynn Whitfield 

Release Date March 28th, 2003 

Published March 27th, 2003

Just over a year ago rumors of two competing film projects about unlikely guys who become the first black President sparked rumors of a feud between the film’s respective creators. Both Chris Tucker and Chris Rock wrote and prepared to direct the competing projects and many wonder if there was some bad blood between the actors. Both quickly put those rumors to rest and now Chris Rock is the first out of the gate with Head Of State, a politically charged satire that combines Rock's biting stand up material with Farrelly Brothers style overstatement.

Rock is Mays Gilliam, an alderman from the poorest neighborhood in Washington DC. When Mays makes the news for saving an old lady and her cat from a house explosion, the headlines bring him to the attention of a shady Senator (James Rebhorn). The Senator needs a guy like Mays Gilliam because his party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates have just been killed; their planes ran into one another. Because the candidates were already pretty far behind in the polls and the other party's candidate (Nick Searcy) is the current Veep, a war hero and Sharon Stone's cousin, the party is ready to throw in the towel. They need a candidate that they can throw to the wolves and pave the way to the next election.

So Mays is the man and with the help of campaign advisors Martin Geller (Dylan Baker) and Debra Lassiter (Lynn Whitfield), he sets out to lose just like he's supposed to. That is until May's brother Mitch (Bernie Mac) sets his little brother straight. Stop reading the speeches you're supposed to read, quit sucking up to the special interests and just tell the plain simple and hard-to-accept truths. Once turned loose Mays actually starts connecting with voters to the dismay of the Senator and his opponent.

The film is not about its story, it's about the jokes and it's packed with laughs from beginning to end, all of them with Rock's searing satirical touch. The political humor that comes from May's speeches comes directly from Rock's standup and it's just as brilliant as it was in Bring the Pain and Bigger & Blacker. Some may be uncomfortable with Rock's take on white people in general, but it's done in a clearly satirical way and those who are too uncomfortable with it may just feel it hit too close to home.

Some critics are missing the point of Head Of State attempting to contextualize the film’s realistic characters and its over the top set pieces. None of the Head of State should be considered as reality. It's a satire with a serious point of view that takes some shots that will make many people uncomfortable. Some have compared Rock's political stances in Head Of State with those of Michael Moore and they aren't far off. They are the individual concerns of every American something Rock and Moore seem far more in touch with than any politician does.

While Rock's direction is definitely that of a rookie, he can only get better; his scriptwriting is pro level. It's funny and intelligent. The script and the film have respect for the audience’s intelligence and it will leave with as much of a smile on your face as it leaves you with issues to discuss.

Movie Review: Ocean's 11

Ocean's 11 (2001) 

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Ted Griffin 

Starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts

Release Date December 7th, 2001 

Published December 8th, 2001 

It's been years since I've seen the original Ocean's 11 starring the Rat Pack and there closest friends, but I can remember the film wasn't so great from the standpoint of filmmaking as art. It was great though as filmmaking from the standpoint of a filmed moment in history, the last gasp of a generation in Hollywood who knew their time to just have a good time was nearly up. The original Oceans 11 can be described as a heist movie but it's not really about the heist it was about how cool the Rat Pack looked pulling off the heist and that worked for me. 

The new Oceans 11 is as much about the heist as it is about how cool the cast, headed up by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, look doing it and for me it didn't work as well. Clooney plays Danny Ocean, a con man fresh from a prison stay in Jersey. He's ready to score and score big, but first he needs a crew. Cut to LA where cardsharp Rusty (Pitt) is showing some young WB stars including, Barry Watson and Josh Jackson, how to play poker for a movie. Enter Danny Ocean setting up a fun scene where the young actors smartly allow Pitt and Clooney to make them look stupid, while Topher Grace from That 70's Show shines with hilariously self-effacing humor.

From there we move to Vegas and filling out the crew with scenes that reminded me of Gone in 60 Seconds, a sort of where are they now ex cons montage. These scenes are slick and humorous but a little too familiar, which seems to be the problem with the whole film. The original Ocean's 11in retrospect has a sort of camp feel to it, of hepcats and martini's and oh yeah there's a movie in there somewhere. Mostly, they're just hanging out and drinking and the plot occasionally interrupts them. 

The new Ocean's 11 struggles with that, it wants to be a hang out and a movie. The new Ocean's 11 wants the atmosphere of cool and gets it for the most part, but it also wants to be a real movie as opposed to the filmed cocktail party that was the original. It's the movie stuff that gets in the way. The plot to take the casino in the original is where the actors hung their hats. In the new version we're given computers and cameras and electronic wizardry and the old video tricks seen many times before in many lesser films. 

On the bright side, the actors pull some of it off with the sheer force of their charm, especially Clooney who has grown into his star status like a comfortable suit. Brad Pitt shows a new side to his persona each time he's onscreen be it Ocean's 11 or an episode of Friends. The film's best performance however, comes from Matt Damon as Linus, the ace pickpocket and late addition to the crew. Damon has made it clear in previous films that he's not comfortable in comedic roles but he really is very funny and has a great scene with Bernie Mac late in this film that was by far my favorite in the film. 

Oh yeah, Julia Roberts is in the movie too. She plays Tess, the arm candy of casino owner Terry Benedict, played by Andy Garcia and she's also Danny's ex wife, thus adding an extra level to the heist but also a convenient way to shoehorn a huge star into a film already overflowing with star power. Roberts isn't given all that much to do, she has a scene with Clooney, set in a hotel lounge very reminiscent of a scene in Out Of Sight which was also directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred Clooney opposite Jennifer Lopez. The scene is well played but the chemistry of Clooney and Roberts pails in comparison to the chemistry of Clooney and Lopez who nearly set the screen on fire with sexual heat. 

The main problem with Ocean's 11 is not its cast, they are all great. It's just all been done before: the heist, the techno trickery, and the Robin Hood heroes. Ocean's 11just isn't very original. I expect more from director Steven Soderbergh. He's a brilliant talent who usually can spice up a genre piece like this with clever ideas. He did that in Out of Sight, a movie with similar goals as Ocean's 11. Sadly, it seems that Soderbergh is coasting on cliches in Ocean's 11 whereas in Out of Sight, he was having fun messing with genre conventions and delighting in what and his cast came up with.