Bamboozled (DVD)
Spike Lee turns up the controversy notch once again with BAMBOOZLED, a sizzling satire on race and racism within the modern media world. Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a struggling television network, suggests the most absurd idea for a pilot that he can possibly imagine, hoping it will convince his tyrannical boss, Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), to terminate his contract and fire him. However, his plan backfires and his idea--MANTAN THE NEW MILLENNIUM MINSTREL SHOW--finds great success. The show is a stereotypical and racially charged depiction of the tap-dancing Mantan (Savion Glover) and Sleep `n` Eat (Tommy Davidson), two lazy, homeless black men who spend their days in a watermelon patch. As the show becomes a national sensation, Delacroix, his assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett), as well as her older brother, aspiring rapper Big Black Af` (Mos Def), begin to see the harm the show is causing the community, triggering outbursts with deadly consequences. Shot on digital video, Lee uses his basic premise to mock and accuse today`s entertainers (including Chris Rock, Ving Rhames, gangsta rappers, and Lee himself) for being modern reincarnations of the stereotypical caricatures that were so offensive in the past. The result is a biting commentary that is at turns hysterical, absurd, and poignant.R"
Director: Spike Lee
ACTORS: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Michael Rapaport, Tommy Davidson, Jada Pinkett Smith
Black Punisher (VHS/EP)
Lieutenant Malone is on the hunt for a Serbian group terrorizing the U.S.NR"
ACTORS: Fred Williamson
True Crime (DVD)
In TRUE CRIME, based on Andrew Klavan`s novel, Clint Eastwood plays Steve Everett, a capable reporter whos nearly destroyed his career with alcohol and philandering. When hes assigned to do a human interest sidebar on Frank Beechum (Isaiah Washington), whos about to be executed for murder, Everett casually looks into the crime and quickly begins to see how shaky the evidence against Beechum is. As a director, Eastwood is a confident old hand here, and before he builds up the suspense (and dont worry, he will), he takes the time to delve deep into the lives of his characters and explore the sharp contrast between the cynical Everett, who neglects his family for his job, and the circumspect Beechum, whose greatest torment is not the proximity of his own death but the trauma hes causing his loving wife and daughter. Eastwood gives a wonderfully rich performance, and his rapport with James Woods and Denis Leary, as his newspaper bosses, gives the movie a welcome comic jolt. But the scenes of Beechums family dealing with his fate are where the movies overwhelming power lies. Eastwood and his screenwriters pull no punches, and its difficult to bear witness to the painful, simple truth expressed in these scenes.R"
Director: Clint Eastwood
ACTORS: Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, Lisa Gay Hamilton, James Woods
Flirting (DVD)
Set in 1965, FLIRTING follows the life of a free-spirited young man (Noah Taylor), who`s an outcast in an Australian all-boys prep school. When he meets a sophisticated South African girl (Thandie Newton) attending the school across the lake, their interracial romance blossoms, and though they face intense prejudice, they persevere in this sequel to THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE. The film is a beautiful and honest depiction of first love by director John Duigan, with outstanding performances by Taylor and Newton.R"
Director: John Duigan
ACTORS: Noah Taylor, Thandie Newton, Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew Rose, Felix Nobis
Kept (DVD)
When studly architectural student Kyle Griffin takes a job at a high-class firm as a means to get himself out of dire financial straits, he finds himself almost immediately becoming involved in an affair with Barbara Weldon, the wife of the firm`s owner. Soon realizing that Barbara has some nasty secrets, Kyle is caught off guard when a dead body pops up, and the case detectives are slowly deciding that Kyle himself may be the culprit.R"
Director: George Santo Pietro
ACTORS: Ice-T, Michelle Flotow, Christian Oliver, Yvette Nipar
