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Cinema, Reviews

CINEMA REVIEW: COCAINE BEAR (2023)

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CINEMA REVIEW: COCAINE BEAR (2023)

Directed by Elizabeth Banks

Written by Jimmy Warden

Produced by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Aditya Sood, Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman and Brian Duffield

Main Cast: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale and Ray Liotta

*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***

Every now and then a film title hooks you in immediately. Snakes on a Plane (2006) anyone? Now, another beast driven movie comes along and says, “Hold. . . My. . . Bear!” Enter based-on-a-crazy-true-story Cocaine Bear (2023)! Yes, incredibly, the B-movie comedy-horror film is based on the real-life events in 1985, when a drug smuggler chucked themselves, and over forty bags of cocaine, out of a mechanically flailing aeroplane. When his parachute failed to open the smuggler plummeted to his death. The raining coke fell into Georgia forest terrain, only to be found by a black bear who, thinking it was food perhaps, tucked into the white powder.

Cocaine Bear (2023) imagines what happened next to this bizarre but somehow tragic series of unfortunate events. Let’s just say that P.E.T.A would certainly not approve of what happens to the bear in this film. Although they may enjoy the many grisly and bone-crunching deaths that occur to the mostly two-dimensional human characters on show. But while the cast, notably Alden Ehrenreich and Keri Russell, do their best with the material, the film lacks the wit and ensemble acting strength of a far superior movie involving an apex predator gone rogue, Lake Placid (1999).

Safe to say that Cocaine Bear (2023) is a pretty terrible movie. It is, however, very entertaining in a stupid way. It is deliberately intended to be that way by the writer, Jimmy Warden and director Elizabeth Banks. The flimsy characterisation, over-acting and half-witted plotting place the film on the verge of parody, without reaching the richly, gag-heavy scripts of say the Naked Gun series. There are some fantastically funny scenes involving the kids finding the cocaine and the realistic CGI bear causing carnage killing dumb teenage gang members and bickering gangsters. So, go into Cocaine Bear (2023) with low expectations and you will be rewarded with a funny and bloody B-movie monster flick. Ultimately, it has a great trailer and clickbait title, and contains enough crowd-pleasing carnage and dumb fun to make it worth a trip to the cinema.

Mark: 6.5 out of 11

Cinema

GREAT ENSEMBLE FILM CASTS #6 – AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2013)

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GREAT ENSEMBLE FILM CASTS #6 – AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2013)

Directed by: John Wells

Screenplay by: Tracy Letts

Based on: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

Produced by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler

Cast: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard, Misty Upham, etc.

Cinematography: Adriano Goldman

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***

Unsurprisingly, the play, August: Osage County, from the typewriter of Tracey Letts – the formidable playwright behind Killer Joe and Bug – about a family suffering loss of a “loved” one was not going to be a feelgood and uplifting affair. Instead, over the period of a month we are introduced to a whole host of characters with a variety of anger, addiction and attitude issues. Brought together by apparent grief, when patriarch, Beverley Weston (Sam Shepard) drowns, the extended Weston family fight and vent spleen at each over current and past dramas, with many a secret soon to be revealed.

Winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2008, Letts play was subsequently adapted into the dark, feel-bad and tragi-comedy film in 2013. Directed by John Wells, August: Osage County (2013), brought together an unbelievable ensemble cast of actors who did spectacular work with Letts acerbic and razor-sharp dialogue. Given that many of the personalities in the narrative are dominant matriarchal characters, the casting of Meryl Streep and Margo Martindale in the roles of Violet Weston and Mattie Fae respectively, is certain to create sparks on the screen. So, it proves.

Streep has delivered so many memorable characterisations over the years, but as Violet Weston I’m not sure she’s been so bilious and cancerous, both literally and symbolically. Her daughters, portrayed by Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis and Julianne Nicholson, all have their own issues to deal with, but with such a vicious mother it’s a surprise they aren’t in a psychiatric ward. As harsh truths and bitter revelations unfold over the dinner and kitchen table conversations, Letts shows the complex nature of family existence; how it traps us with people we have nothing in common with. Women are seemingly in charge of the Weston family as the men, represented by Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Shephard and Chris Cooper, appear more passive and bullied.

Altogether, August: Osage County (2013), is a difficult to watch as there’s not a lot of love shown in the Weston household. Nonetheless, as an acting and writing tour-de-force there are few films that can best it. I guess we all have family problems and many ups and downs to deal with in life. What we can learn from this play and film is that this is definitely NOT the way to behave to people you’re meant to love and care for.

Reviews, Television

FX/BBC TV REVIEW – MRS AMERICA (2020)

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FX/BBC TV REVIEW – MRS AMERICA (2020)

Created by: Dahvi Waller

Producers: Tanya Barfield, Boo Killebrew, Sharon Hoffman

Writers: Dahvi Waller, Tanya Barfield, Boo Killebrew, Micah Schraft and April Shih, Sharon Hoffman, Joshua Allen-Griffiths, etc.

Directors: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, Amma Asante, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Janicza Bravo,

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Kayli Carter, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, John Slattery, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tracey Ullman, Sarah Paulson, and many more.

No. of Episodes: 9

Original Network: FX on Hulu / BBC (UK)

*** CONTAINS HISTORICAL SPOILERS ***

“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.” — Gloria Steinem

I just won’t ever understand this world and the people in it. We are capable of wonderful moments of love and compassion and just being good to one another, but equally just as capable of negativity, division and dispute. Take for example the Equal Rights movement. First proposed by the National Woman’s political party in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was to provide legal equality of the sexes and prohibit sex discrimination.

Initially failing, the E.R.A. was revived in the late 1960s, and throughout the 1970s tireless work was done to get it ratified. Here was a group of people striving for gender equality and generally fighting for better working conditions. This for me is a noble cause. However, unbelievably there were women, not just men, in America who were AGAINST the Equal Rights Amendment. Of course, it is a constitutional right to freedom of speech and to protest your point of view, however, arguing against something that is looking to improve lives is hard to credit.

FX’s historical biopic, Mrs America (2020) is set against the backdrop of the 1970s and it dramatizes the amazing fight by those individuals and groups seeking to ratify the E.R.A. across the disunited states of America. Leading political activists such as Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale) and Jill Ruckelshaus (Elizabeth Banks) were just a few of the people struggling to get the E.R.A. over the line. While it seems like a no-brainer to me, the 1970s was clearly another country when it came to gender roles and the treatment of women. Thus, the amendment, while slowly gathering momentum in various states, faced much opposition. The mini-series represents the major source of opposition in ultra-conservative spokesperson, Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), an activist and lobbyist who started the No E.R.A campaign group. The battles between her group and the feminist legion gives way to much incisive drama, comedy and entertainment.

Presented in nine brilliantly written, acted and directed episodes, Mrs America (2020) is television of the highest quality. The ensemble cast is one of the finest ever assembled in my opinion and there are so many amazing performances. Cate Blanchett is magnetically charismatic as PhylIis Schlafly. Blanchett gives a complex characterisation of a formidable woman who, while striving to be taken seriously in the world of law and politics, finds she is undermined by the men she is fighting for. Sarah Paulson also gives another nuanced and exquisite rendition of a housewife on a slow journey of self-realisation. There are just too many great acting portrayals to mention, but Tracey Ullman steals every scene she is in for sure.

Overall, Mrs America (2020) takes a potentially dry subject and infuses it with the intricacies of both political intrigue and powerful personality. The script fizzes with wit, style and verve, and is supported by an amazing soundtrack and some jaw-dropping acting. No doubt many liberties have been taken with the events for dramatic purposes. But if that means bringing to prominence this important struggle then I am all for it. Rather incredibly, the E.R.A., at the time of the programme’s release this year, still had not been ratified by the number of States needed to make it law. I know it’s too complex an issue to be resolved so easily, however should this political matter still remain unratified today? It remains a sad indictment of humanity that equality for all was seen as such a negative thing in the 1970s, especially by individuals it sought to protect.

Mark: 9.5 out of 11