Saturday, April 9, 2022

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Lethal Weapon Films Ranked no.2: Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 03:25 PM PDT

 

#2 in my ranking of the Lethal Weapon franchise.

 

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This series was never great, but it's nice to see it return to some level of entertaining after the pits of the third entry. Giving the writing reins to Channing Gibson, who had a solid professional relationship with producer Joel Silver (meaning he did what Silver wanted), Richard Donner helmed a moderately entertaining action flick that seems to be more in line with the apparent desire to make this franchise some kind of James Bond-esque series of action spectacle, but in Los Angeles.

 

The film begins with another action sequence that doesn't tie into the rest of the movie at all, with Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) encountering a man in an armored suit with a flamethrower in the middle of a street, ending with Murtaugh stripping down to his underwear to act as a distraction while Riggs shoots the guy, sending him flying and exploding. It's an amusing bit where Riggs and Murtaugh reveal that they know secrets about each other, that Lorna (Rene Russo), Riggs' girlfriend, is pregnant, and that Rianne (Traci Wolfe), Murtaugh's daughter, is also pregnant.

 

 

We skip ahead nine months (probably should have been eight at the most, but whatever), and we get to the actual story: Chinese nationals in Los Angeles are sneaking Chinese immigrants into America to act as slaves to those who brought them in. Riggs and Murtaugh get involved when they're out on Murtaugh's boat, get into a firefight with the boat carrying the immigrants, and find a dead body washed up on shore, killed at close range, that puts the issue in their jurisdiction. I will say that I think this mystery and investigation is probably the best of the whole series. Just in terms of the bad guy's plan, the flow of the action from one set piece to the next, and the way Riggs and Murtaugh go through figuring out what's going on, it's the most cohesive and easy to follow of the four movies. It may not be great (both Riggs and Murtaugh break just all the rules for police in their investigation, which is no change), but it's solidly built.

 

 

Of course, the appeal of these movies is supposed to be the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh, and this is probably the first movie since the original entry where they're together for most of the film. So, we get plenty of time of their bickering like an old couple, like when Riggs keeps putting up an old news article about the events of the first sequence to embarrass Murtaugh. It's nice stuff. The problems on the character front are Chris Rock and Joe Pesci. Rock's character of Lee Butters was added very late in the scriptwriting phase, and they changed his character halfway through adding him. He was supposed to be a gay detective and then changed to Rianne's secret husband (which doesn't make too much sense, but whatever). So, that's weird, but the bigger problem is that he was pasted into scenes without being able to contribute much, so there are times when he's just let loose to be Chris Rock, essentially delivering a couple of Chris Rock standup routines at random moments throughout the film.

 

 

The other is Joe Pesci's Leo Getz. I know Getz is supposed to be annoying, but when that's all he is without really contributing anything else to the film that's hard to take. The writers have tried to give him little things to do, but they always feel insubstantial. At least in this fourth entry his contributions are more than placeholder with him distracting a dentist by getting an unnecessary root canal while Riggs, Murtaugh, and Butters interrogate someone in the other room, but that's about it. It's worse when, late in the film, this joke of a character is suddenly given a moment of deep catharsis that he was never working towards. I really don't like Pesci in this film.

 

 

Anyway, the actual plot of the film is about Benny Chan (Kim Chan) bringing in a particular Chinese immigrant as leverage to force another of his slaves to craft counterfeit Chinese currency plates, orchestrated by his enforcer Wah Sing Ku (Jet Li). Li is a great addition to the film, and it was done purely to take advantage of the burgeoning fad of kung fu in movies in the late 90s. It's no more crass than James Bond following action trends, and I'm okay with it. But Li has a great presence, especially in his first role as a villain, and his speed in action set pieces so completely outmatches both Gibson and Glover that he feels like a real physical threat. That the finale between the three ends up so bloody is a great way to use him in a high stakes showdown.

 

In terms of action, this is really good stuff, especially the freeway chase in the middle of the film that ends with Riggs driving through and out of a building several stories up. The action has never really been a problem in these films, but I think this might be my favorite from purely an action standpoint.

 

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

 

I have to talk about cohesiveness, though. I find the most satisfying stories are those where everything feeds into a central idea, where every character motivation, plot turn, and thematic idea feed into the central idea at play at the center of the film. Usually no more than just a couple of words long (like, "communication" or something), it's what ties everything together into a whole. Aristotle called it Unity of Action. The only one of these films that comes close to a Unity of Action is the first film, and the rest have felt like committee writing assignments where the writer is throwing in different ideas from different agendas into one thing and hoping it's entertaining enough to not matter. Lethal Weapon 4 is absolutely no different in that the ideas of Riggs' and Murtaugh's children and grandchildren, the gay panic stuff with Butters near the beginning, the plot of the Chinese counterfeiters, Riggs' and Murtaugh's parallel sense of getting old, questions of getting married before having children, and saying goodbye to lost loves are all present and do nothing to feed each other or any central idea. They clash with each other, and I find it distracting as it feels like we go from one story to another. A lot of people don't care about this sort of cohesiveness, but I really do think it leads to better stories in general.

 

 

Anyway, the movie's a bit of a mess with its competing ideas and pointless side characters, all while providing high quality action, a decent mystery and investigation, and giving us plenty of time with our main characters together. It's almost enough for me to outright recommend, but just not quite. It's pretty okay, is what I'm saying.

 

Rating: 2.5/4

 

Originally published here.

The post Lethal Weapon Films Ranked no.2: Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Disney Employee Running for Congress Speaks Out Against Company’s Politics

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 01:15 PM PDT

 

Despite Walt Disney Company's rabid disapproval of Florida's recently passed Parental Rights in Education bill (HB 1557), employee and Florida congressional candidate Jose Castillo claimed not everyone at Disney agrees.

 

After Disney commended LGBTQ+ content and reinstated a same-sex kiss in Pixar's upcoming LIGHTYEAR movie, Castillo said that the "silent majority" of Disney employees agreed with the Florida bill.

 

 

"There is immense pressure to toe the company line," Castillo told Fox. "However, the reality is that those drawing attention to this issue are in the minority. The Disney cast members who support the parental rights defended by HB 1557 far outnumber those who are protesting against it.

"I think that is a terrible miscalculation because it's clear that the democratic process produced this law," Castillo added in response to Disney's support of the minority of their staff.

"Florida's HB 1557, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law," Disney said. "Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that."

 

 

HB 1557 has been causing a stir around the country as Hollywood pressured the Walt Disney Company to bow to LGBT pressure.

The post Disney Employee Running for Congress Speaks Out Against Company's Politics appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Robert Downey Jr. Producing 2 New Sherlock Shows for HBO Max

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 10:55 AM PDT

 

The "Sherlock Holmes" film universe is expanding into TV, with HBO Max currently in early development on two shows tied to the films, Variety reports.

 

The potential shows would be set in the world of 2009's Sherlock Holmes and 2011's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow starring Robert Downey Jr. as the master detective and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, which were inspired by the books of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. According to sources, the two shows would each focus on a new character that would be introduced in "Sherlock Holmes 3."

 

Downey Jr. and Susan Downey will executive produce the shows along with Amanda Burrell of Team Downey. Lionel Wigram of Wigram productions will also executive produce, with Warner Bros. Television producing.

 

The Downeys first discussed creating "Sherlock Holmes" spinoff shows in 2020, though no details about the characters the projects would focus on has come to light.

The post Robert Downey Jr. Producing 2 New Sherlock Shows for HBO Max appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Groomer-Gate: Disney Has Pushed LGBTQ Content on Kids for Years

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 08:25 AM PDT

 

Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently stated that the company will continue to oppose Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, as well as any similar legislation in other states, that would prohibit the teaching of sexuality and gender ideology to children in kindergarten through third grade, which is now prohibited by Florida law. 

 

But Disney has made no secret of putting gay and transgender messaging into its children’s products for the past several years. In fact, Disney and their franchises have openly and fully embraced the LGBT+ movement, from Pixar to Marvel to Star Wars, and have proclaimed they will only increase these efforts, especially with their streaming services providing another avenue into the minds of young children.

 

So this is not a new trend. David Ng of Breitbart recently highlighted no less than fifteen instances where Disney openly promoted the gay agenda in their films, television series, and other programming aimed largely at children. 

 

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1. Disney+ hosts LGBTQ Pride concert with drag and gender non-binary performers

Last year, Disney+ hosted This Is Me: Pride Celebration Spectacular, a musical special on YouTube starring drag queen Nina West, with performances of popular Disney songs re-imagined with LGBTQ themes. Among the performers were gender-fluid singer Alex Newell and gender non-binary performer Jesse James Keitel.

 

2. Pixar's Out (2020)

This animated Pixar short tells the story of a young man named Greg who doesn't want his parents to discover his relationship with his boyfriend, Manuel. The movie culminates with a gay kiss. "I'd never seen two guys kissing in a Disney movie," said writer-director Steven Hunter in an interview.

Out was released last year on Disney+  and on YouTube to celebrate Pride Month.

 

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3. Pixar looking for minors to cast as "14-year-old transgender girl"

In a casting notice that surfaced last year, Pixar is looking to cast the role of a "14-year-old transgender girl" in an upcoming animated project. The studio is looking for minors age 12 to 17 who "can authentically portray" the character "Jess," who is described as "compassionate, funny, and always has your back."

 

 

4. Disney+'s Ironheart series casting a "transgender woman" of color

The upcoming Marvel superhero series reportedly announced it is looking to cast a "Black, Latina, or Afro-Latina transgender woman" who is around 18 to 22 years old. The casting call describes the character as "smart, confident, and with a mystical bent and unique sense of humor."

 

 

5. Disney+'s Loki series embraces gender fluidity

The new Marvel series on Disney+ revealed that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is gender fluid in a trailer that dropped last year. A brief glimpse of the Time Variance Authority's official file on Loki shows that his sex is marked "Fluid."

 

 

6. Disney Channel's The Owl House introduces gender non-binary character who uses "they / them" pronouns

Last year, the children’s animated series unveiled the character Raine Whispers, the gender non-binary Head Witch of the Bard Coven. Whispers is voiced by non-binary actor Avi Roque, who revealed that both the actor and the character use "they / them" pronouns.

 

7. Disney parks go genderless by removing "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" from greetings

The decision to instate genderless greetings took effect last year, as Breitbart News reported. Newly leaked internal videos confirmed the choice to replace "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" with "Hello, everyone," or "hello, friends."

 

 

8. Disney's Jungle Cruise (2021) features gay coming-out scene, sort of.

The studio's live-action movie, based on the enduring theme park ride, featured a main character who is gay — MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall), the brother of Emily Blunt's protagonist. In one scene, he comes out of the closet — sort of — by explaining that he will never get married because his "interests lie elsewhere."

 

The brief exchange angered LGBTQ activists who felt Disney didn't go far enough and that the studio should have cast a gay actor in the role.

9. Pixar's Onward (2020) features lesbian character

The animated movie features a lesbian character — a Cyclops police officer named Officer Spector, voiced by openly gay actress Lena Waithe. "It just kind of happened," the film's producer, Kori Rae, told Yahoo Entertainment. "The scene, when we wrote it, was kind of fitting and it opens up the world a little bit, and that's what we wanted."

 

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10. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) climaxes with lesbian kiss

The final installment in Disney's Star Wars trilogy culminated with a lesbian kiss between Commander Larma D'Acy (Amanda Lawrence) and pilot Wrobie Tyce (Vinette Robinson) after the Resistance defeated the First Order.

As Breitbart News reported, Disney censored the scene in Singapore in compliance with the country's rules around LGBTQ content.

 

 

 See Ng’s remaining damning examples here of the pro-LGBTQ material inserted in Disney’s children’s content. Then ask yourself, “is this really considered appropriate content for young children?”

The post Groomer-Gate: Disney Has Pushed LGBTQ Content on Kids for Years appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Easter Mockery: Marvel Comics Suggests Jesus Was a Mutant

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 06:15 AM PDT

 

Bounding Into Comics told of the latest head-shakingly ridiculous path taken in the X-Men, as Jesus Christ is portrayed as a mutant, as though it weren’t already implausible enough Moira MacTaggart were subjected to the same:

 

In a move that surely has no possibility of backfiring, Marvel has confirmed in the premiere issue of Immortal X-Men that, at least within their 616-continuity, the miracles performed by the Christian savior Jesus Christ were not the result of his Holy existence, but rather a latent X-gene.

 

It’s also written by Kieron Gillen, the same writer who nearly a decade ago retconned Tony Stark’s background so Iron Man was no longer the son of Howard and Maria Stark. So now, he’s mocking religious history, as though that’s going to solve anything. This does nothing to improve upon Gillen’s past record of shameless retcons, as now he’s venturing into what could be considered even more religious/political territory that’s not bound to appeal to anybody.

 

 

What it does make clear is that Gillen’s another bad writer at Marvel who needs to be let go, along with Dan Slott and Jason Aaron, to name but some more bad writers in their stables. Unfortunately, nepotism to date’s ensured that no matter how wretched their writing is, the editorial won’t take them off the payroll.

 

Related: DC Comics Insults Christians With Comicbook Mocking Christ

 

Originally published here.

The post Easter Mockery: Marvel Comics Suggests Jesus Was a Mutant appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

WAR: Mickey’s Copyright in Jeopardy Over Disney’s ‘Political Agenda’

Posted: 08 Apr 2022 04:45 AM PDT

 

Could Disney lose their most famous mascot in a political war? There appears to be growing support for finally punishing Disney for getting so political, and members of Congress are leading the way.

 

The current copyright to Mickey Mouse expires on January 1, 2024, and now it may be in jeopardy of being renewed. In a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) stated that he will attempt to revoke Mickey Mouse’s copyright renewal due to the megacorporation’s LGBT push and given its opposition to Gov. Ron Desantis’ Parental Rights in Education Act.

 

 

During recent Fox News appearance alongside Christopher Rufo, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) discussed a letter he had sent to Disney CEO Bob Chapek. This includes a reminder that “Disney loses its Mickey Mouse copyright on January 1, 2024.” To renew it, as Congress has stepped in to do multiple times, is not something the congressman can support.

 

“Given Disney's continued work with a Communist Chinese regime that does not respect human rights or U.S. intellectual property and given your desire to influence young children with sexual material inappropriate for their age, I will not support further extensions applicable to your copyrights, which should become public domain,” Rep. Banks wrote in his letter.

 

Speaking to Laura Ingraham, Rep. Banks said “this is probably a long time coming,” pointing out “at the end of the day we take our kids to Disney World for family vacation, not indoctrination.” Ingraham suggested that “they just take it for granted that they’re going to have their copyrights extended forever,” also adding that “I think Congress has to start examining this across the board for a lot of companies.”

 

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The letter also rebuked Disney for how it “has sought to expand business in China by kowtowing to its Communist regime,” leading to a closeness with the Chinese Communist Party. As we’ve reported before, Disney filmed its 2020 film “Mulan” in Xinjiang province, where the genocide and forced slave labor against Uyghur Muslims is taking place. To add insult to injury, Disney gave a special thanks to the local CCP authorities in the movie credits. Rep. Banks also told Ingraham that he hadn’t ever witnessed Disney attacking any Chinese laws. Banks said he wouldn't vote to provide Disney the special laws it enjoys since it had been "attacking American values on a regular basis."

 

Longtime Disney beat commentators, Clownfish TV also weighed in on the copyright threats.

 

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a former Florida state legislator, has also weighed in, suggesting that the legislature has several options with dealing with the formerly family-friendly company that now uses its influence to inappropriately indoctrinate children.

 

 

The attack on Florida's law to protect parents and children is much less popular than the support for it, especially with parents, 67% of whom support the law. Along with other power-grabs in public schools like Critical Race Theory and ethnic studies, requiring sexualized curriculum in kindergarten exposes the pseudo-scientific arrogance and intolerance of the "woke" activists.

The post WAR: Mickey’s Copyright in Jeopardy Over Disney's 'Political Agenda' appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Lethal Weapon Films Ranked no.3: Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Posted: 07 Apr 2022 03:25 PM PDT

 

#3 in my ranking of the Lethal Weapon franchise.

 

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I had some small issues with the first Lethal Weapon film, and I have more with the second. The first was a combination of very strong character work that helped to elevate a less than stellar second half punctuated by quality action. The second movie in the franchise still has some strong character work, but the overall structure feels off while the mystery, which is never much of a mystery, ends up feeling a bit haphazard with the sorts of personal connections that just makes one roll one's eyes upon the reveal.

 

 

The movie begins with a chase as Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are chasing after a pair of cars. They eventually run down one of them, overturning the car they're pursuing, and losing the driver while the trunk reveals a stash of golden coins. Something big is going on here. However, they're not really taken off the case or anything, they're just given the new babysitting assignment of looking after Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), a protected informant who has information on some drug dealers. At no point is it made obvious that Riggs or Murtaugh feel that Getz has anything to do with the South Africans they had chased at the beginning of the film. That wouldn't be a problem except that Riggs and Murtaugh decide to go out and investigate the drug dealers who had recruited Getz into their scheme (he's on the banking side of it) for no real reason other than maybe they're bored? It's weird. Of course, Getz was working for the same South Africans, led by Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland), a South African diplomat with immunity.

 

 

Now, I cannot imagine a diplomat of a nation imposing Apartheid and being increasingly unpopular in its host nation getting into massive trouble with a police force in a major city of the host nation being able to simply skate with a call to the US state department. It'd make even less sense with potential drug connections coming up, and, if I were an Los Angeles police officer of some rank, I would welcome the involvement of the state department in expelling these people from the nation altogether. I wouldn't shy away from the state department's involvement unless I considered them to be part of the problem, something that never comes up. What I'm saying is that this film's use of diplomatic immunity seems kind of silly. I'm largely okay with waving this sort of thing away, but it just kind of bugged me as the thing went on.

 

Anyway, the South African diplomats have been selling heroin in the US and are planning on taking back giant stacks of cash back to Capetown by boat. How does this all get figured out? Just like in the first movie, the actual investigation by our main character police officers is kind of a joke. Riggs sneaks into the South African consulate, gets into Rudd's office, finds a document talking about a meeting with "Alba Varden", and then, out of nowhere, Murtaugh has an epiphany where he gets his home videos from his time with his boat and freeze frames it to find that "Alba Varden" is a shipping vessel. I mean…this is just lazy stuff. I know it's not the point of the film, but it's just so very lazy.

 

 

The character side of things is really around two subplots. The first is just the continuation of the Riggs and Murtaugh friendship, mostly done at the beginning when they gather with Murtaugh's family to watch his daughter's television debut and it turns out to be for a condom commercial (actually pretty funny stuff). There's also the wonderful bit where Murtaugh's toilet has been rigged with an explosive and Riggs has to help him get off without exploding. Riggs also meets and falls in love with the pretty blonde South African secretary Rika (Patsy Kensit), continuing his journey back towards humanity after dealing with the death of his wife. This stuff is pretty boilerplate Hollywood romance with two people instantly falling in love. I mean, Mel Gibson is charming as hell and Patsy Kensit is really pretty, but the romance just feels thin. And when Rika dies at the hands of the South Africans, and then we get the reveal that it was the South Africans who killed Riggs' wife, I just end up rolling my eyes. It's just too much.

 

 

The overall point of these movies though is largely the action, and that's fine stuff here. The car chase in the beginning, the pulling down of a house on stilts with a truck, and the final fist fight between Riggs and the bad guy (it actually makes thematic sense this time, yay!) are well filmed and exciting. Gibson gives another quality performance while Glover is his same exasperated self. Kensit is pretty, and Ackland is actually wonderfully threatening.

 

It's a bit of a mixed bag of a film. I see some thin entertainment mixed with some decent character work while all thrown together in often very odd ways, betraying the tortured screenwriting process that went from the rumored masterpiece of a first draft by Shane Black through several drafts by other writers, ending with a draft fully credited to Jeffrey Boam. It's a small mess that manages to entertain to some degree while having obvious room for improvement.

 

 

Rating: 2.5/4

 

Originally published here.

The post Lethal Weapon Films Ranked no.3: Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Ron Howard Working on Documentary of Muppets Creator Jim Henson

Posted: 07 Apr 2022 10:55 AM PDT

 

Filmmakers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are teaming up to produce what is described as the "definitive portrait" of Muppet creator Jim Henson, who died of pneumonia in 1990.

 

The venture has the cooperation of the Henson family, who relayed their endorsement in a statement saying, "It will be thrilling to see the story that emerges from these materials in the hands of a truly great filmmaker like Ron Howard, who has the perfect spirit and personality to tell Jim Henson's story."

 

 

According to Deadline, Howard will direct and produce the Disney Original Documentary with Grazer and his company Imagine Documentaries producing as well. Deadline reports the yet-to-be-titled movie:

"…will present a fascinating and intimate look at Jim's illustrious career creating treasured characters and revolutionizing television and film. With never-before-seen personal archives, the film will give audiences an exciting first-person view into the life of one of the world's most inspiring and iconoclastic creators through exclusive home movies, photographs, sketches and Henson's personal diaries."

 

Howard says of his involvement in the project:

"Jim Henson transcends generations through his iconic characters, and it's one of the many reasons why I have been a lifelong fan," Howard said in a statement. "I can't wait to share a side of him and his career that people have never seen before. Henson's limitless imagination and restless creativity is like few others and has influenced so much of our world as we know it. I'm humbled to be able to share a deeper look into his life and story."

The post Ron Howard Working on Documentary of Muppets Creator Jim Henson appeared first on Bleeding Fool.
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