We're the Millers
Film Review by Kam Williams
David (Jason Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer with a big problem. He’s just been robbed of all of his cash and stash, leaving him indebted to an impatient drug kingpin (Ed Helms) to the tune of $44,000.
Now, David’s only hope of wiping the slate clean rests with accepting a proverbial “offer you can’t refuse” from skeptical Brad, namely, to smuggle a couple of tons of marijuana across the Mexican border. Figuring a family in an RV would look a lot less suspicious trying to get through customs than a single guy with a panel truck, he starts looking for folks down on their luck willing to pose for a few bucks as his wife and kids.
All he can find on such short notice are Kenny (Will Poulter), a naïve, home alone kid who lives down the hall; Rose (Jennifer Aniston), a struggling stripper at the local gentlemen’s club; and Casey (Emma Roberts), a streetwise teen runaway. But will the faking foursome be able to pass themselves off as a typical suburban family over the course of their 4th of July weekend jaunt?
That is the intriguing premise of We’re the Millers, a raunchy road comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball). Of course, the faux family has a really hard time maintaining their cover, such as when supposed mother and daughter are spotted making out by a DEA Agent (Nick Offerman) they unwittingly befriend en route.
While certifiably funny in spots, consider this a fair warning: much of the movie relies on a coarse brand of humor apt to shock fans of co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis, given the relatively-tame, TV fare they’re known for. For instance, there’s the hilarious, if graphic, sight gag featuring a swollen testicle that’s been bitten by a tarantula.
The dialogue can be crude, too, especially when characters discuss their sexuality and bodily functions. But betwixt and between the bottom-feeding jokes, director Thurber continues to ratchet up the tension as we watch the Millers do their best to deliver the weed despite alarming the authorities and being trailed by a vicious mobster (Tomer Sisley) with a claim on the contraband.
Picture Cheech & Chong on a National Lampoon Vacation!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for pervasive profanity, crude sexuality, drug use and full-frontal male nudity
Running time: 110 minutes
Distributor: New Line Cinema
2 Guns
Film Review by Kam Williams
DEA Agent Robert Trench (Denzel Washington) and Naval Intelligence Officer Michael Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) have both infiltrated a drug syndicate run by Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos), a creep who carries the head of a decapitated adversary around in a bowling bag. Therefore, the imbedded lawmen are careful to make sure their cover isn’t blown while bringing down the ruthless kingpin.
However, neither of the narcs is at all aware of other’s true identity, which means they aren’t prepared to serve as backup in a sticky situation. Worse, when an operation does go bad, they are initially suspicious of each other.
But once they clear up the mutual case of mistaken identity, they conspire not only to crack the cartel but to relieve it of $43 million in ill-gotten gains sitting in a bank vault. This development doesn’t sit well with Earl (Bill Paxton), Papi’s accomplice holding the key to the emptied safe deposit box.
Directed by Iceland’s Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband), 2 Guns is basically an adrenaline-fueled buddy flick featuring a high body-count designed to satiate the bloodlust of the lovers of gratuitous gore. Here a body, there a body, everywhere a body-body.
The picture has its share of titillation, too, most of it coming courtesy of an inscrutable moll played by pretty Paula Patton, real-wife of crooner Robin Thicke. The problem is that the preposterous plot never pretends to be plausible, a failing perhaps forgiven by diehard Denzel Washington fans eager to see him trading quips with Mark Wahlberg or cavorting carnally opposite a topless Ms. Patton.
As for standouts in the supporting cast, Edward James Olmos and Bill Paxton do great jobs of portraying a couple of readily-detestable villains. But their never-developed characters are so simplistically drawn that the audience’s job is just to sit back and wait for these bad guys’ inevitable demise.
A remarkably unengaging adventure, given its incessant attempt at overstimulation.
Fair (1 star)
Rated R for profanity, brief nudity and pervasive violence
Running Time: 109 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Snoop Dogg
The “Turbo” Interview
with Kam Williams
Calvin Cordozar Broadus was born on October 20, 1971 in Long Beach, California where he was nicknamed Snoopy by his parents because of a striking resemblance to the Peanuts cartoon character. A promising rapper from an early age, he began performing in the 6th grade but was waylaid by brushes with the law in high school.
After a stint behind bars for drug possession, he took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg and launched his recording career with the help of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. His 1993 debut album, Doggystyle, featuring his trademark, laidback vocal phrasings, was well-received and quickly went quadruple platinum.
Over the course of an enduring showbiz career, Snoop has released a dozen solo CDs and sold more than 30 million records. Last year, he tweaked his alias to Snoop Lion when he recorded a reggae album in Jamaica called Reincarnated.
A talented thespian, he’s also acted in a score of movies, most notably, Training Day, Baby Boy, Old School, Starsky & Hutch and, most recently, Scary Movie 5. Here, he talks about his latest screen outing as Smooth Move in Turbo, an animated adventure about a snail who dreams of entering the Indianapolis 500.
Kam Williams: Hi Snoop, thanks for the interview.
Snoop Dogg: My pleasure, Kam.
KW: What interested you in Turbo?
SD: Well I’ve wanted to do a family movie for a while now. Being able to watch a movie with my family and some of the kids from my Snoop Youth Football League has always been a goal of mine, so when [director] David Soren reached out to me about Turbo I was all for it. And my character is a smooth little snail…I thought it was a cool concept.
KW: How would you describe Smoove Move?
Rising from Ashes
Film Review by Kam Williams
Bike Racing Documentary Chronicles Rise of Rwanda Cycling Team
Over the course of a hundred days in 1994, the East African nation of Rwanda experienced an ethnic cleansing which consumed the lives of nearly a fifth of the population. The mass slaughter came as a consequence of a revolt by the majority tribe, the Hutus, against the Tutsis, a minority which, with the help of the country’s European colonizers, had enjoyed a higher social and economic status for centuries.
A few years after the cessation of the civil war, American bike racing legend Jock Boyer was looking for a chance at redemption in the wake of being paroled after serving time in prison for lewd behavior. He found that opportunity he needed upon moving to Rwanda at the suggestion of a friend.
There, he took on the unenviable challenge of coaching the national cycling team. And over the next six years he trained them while teaching them how to compete on the level of World-Class athletes with the hope of one day qualifying for the Olympics.
That seemingly impossible quest is the subject of Rising from Ashes, an uplifting, overcoming-the-odds documentary directed by T.C. Johnstone. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, the film introduces us to the ragtag crew of raw recruits, including prima donna Abraham, mischievous Nathan and strongman Nyandwi, that Jock had to try to whip into fighting shape.
But besides athleticism, the intrepid coach had to worry about his young protégés equipment, since they were riding on quarter century-old, brakeless, wooden bikes ordinarily employed as taxis or to deliver huge sacks of produce. An even bigger hurdle had to do with the fact that each was also still suffering from deep, psychological turmoil caused by the mass slaughter they’d witnessed of a million fellow citizens.
For instance, the team’s star, Adrien, had lost sixty members of his family, including six brothers and everyone on his mother’s side of the clan. For that reason, besides salaries, health care and education, some of the squad’s funds were devoted to addressing daunting mental health issues.
An inspirational illustration of how the Olympics came to serve as a unifying step in terms of exorcising the demons ever haunting Rwanda’s grisly killing fields.
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
In English and Kinyarwanda with subtitles
Running time: 80 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features
To see a trailer for Rising from Ashes, visit:
The Wolverine
Film Review by Kam Williams
Jackman Journeys to Japan for Latest Adventure as Metal-Clawed Mutant
Logan, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), is a mutant with retractable claws and a self-healing, metal skeleton. As a member of Marvel Comics’ X-Men, he has appeared in all five of the franchise’s prior screen adaptations, most notably, the eponymous installment exploring his origin.
At this episode’s point of departure, we find him in Alaska and awaking from the clever cinematic contrivance of a nightmare within a nightmare. In the haunting dream, he’d been confronted by Jean Grey, aka Phoenix (Famke Janssen), the lover/colleague gone bad he’d been forced to stab to death in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Here, she makes him feel so guilty about gutting her belly and aborting their baby that he promises never to hurt anyone ever again. Trouble is, Logan has anger management issues which cause him to morph into feral Wolverine whenever he loses his temper, and he proceeds to break the vow the very next day in a bar fight with a bunch of inconsiderate local yokels.
However, the film’s setting changes from the Yukon to the Orient soon after the arrival in town of bottle red-head Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a capable bodyguard sent by Ichiro Yashida (Haruchiko Yamanouchi), the terminally-ill CEO of Japan’s biggest corporation. Since Logan saved Ichiro’s life when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, you’d think he was being summoned for a grateful, fond farewell. Think again.
The old man suddenly wants to live forever and has hatched a plan to steal Wolverine’s secret to immortality. And he’s assisted in this diabolical endeavor by and army of ninjas as well as by Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), an evil temptress with an immunity to toxins.
Meanwhile, Logan is lucky that Yukio has decided to shift loyalties from her boss to him. At this juncture, the picture launches into a ballet-like display of non-stop martial arts fare, the highlight being a breathtaking Kabuki dance to the death atop a careening locomotive.
When the dust settles, Logan of course not only emerges victorious but will have to choose whether to ride off into the Land of the Rising Sun’s proverbial sunset with two-fisted, tomboy Yukio or with gorgeous Mariko (Tao Okamoto), Ichiro’s granddaughter. Provided you’re not suffering from blockbuster fatigue in this summer of sequels, this engaging and enchanting Asian adventure definitely deserves to be added to your “Must See” list.
Crouching Viper, Hidden Wolverine!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity and intense violence
In English and Japanese with subtitles
Running time: 126 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox