'The Black Godfather' is predictable and dated

Black Godfather (1974)
Starring: Rod Perry, Don Chastain, Jimmy Witherspoon, Damu King,and Duncan McLeod
Director: John Evans
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Career criminal JJ (Perry) sets about uniting black hoods and militants under his leadership so he can drive the mafia from the black neighborhoods and take over their criminal rackets in the name of black liberation and money for JJ.


"The Black Godfather" is a 1970s crime drama/action film of the blacksploitation school, with all the stereotypes that implies. Nothing that happens and nothing that is said is any surprise--except perhaps for the drag-queen assassin with the blowgun--and my guess is that you've seen what this film has to offer done better elsewhere. Plus, it's short on drama and action, but long on talkie bits espousing black power, coming from a guy who ultimately is just looking to enrich himself. (At least there's the counterpoint in the form of a thug who truly is devoted to the concept of black empowerment.)

The one thing this movie has going for is is a cast of actors who are better-than-usual for movies of this type and in this budget range. Despite the movie's sluggish pacing and cliched story and characters, these excellent actors manage to keep the viewers engaged. (In fact, I don't think there's anyone who appears in a speaking role who didn't deserve to be in a better movie than this.)

'The Tuxedo' is nothing but fun

The Tuxedo (2002)
Starring: Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt
Director: Kevin Donovan
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

When a super-spy is injured by a car bomb, it's up to a deeply insecure new agent (Hewitt) and his hapless driver (Chan) to use his gadget-filled tuxedo in order to stop a plot to poison all the water in the world.


"The Tuxedo" is a fluffy excursion into fun for fun's sake, a James Bondian-spoof that's lighter than even the lightest Roger Moore-starring entries into that series. It's not a movie you want to think to hard about, but just one to sit back and laugh along with the characters (or laugh at the characters, since Jennifer Love Hewitt's poor character--so eager to prove herself she ends up making mistakes--is the butt of many of the film's jokes). Basically, this is a live-action cartoon with the characters about as deep and the story as complex as that implies.

There's not much to this movie, but what's here is decent enough. Jackie Chan is amusing in his role as a guy who needs to rely on a hi-tech tuxedo laced with micro-computers and biometric to do the stunts and martial arts tricks his characters usually do by themselves. Jennifer Love Hewitt is cute (although occassionally obnoxious) as a young woman who is just a little too desperate to prove herself.

It's necessarily a movie to go out of your way for, but if you're looking for an action/comedy you can watch with younger kids, this film might fit the bill.

'Moonlighting' turns 25

Moonlighting: The Pilot Episode (1985)
Starring: Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis and Robert Ellenstein
Director: Robert Butler
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

After she left penniless by a crooked business manager, former model Maddie Hayes (Shepherd) attempts to recoup a little of her lost fortune by liquidating companies she still owns, among them a money-losing detective agency run by David Addison (Willis). Addison tries to persuade her that the detective agency can make money and ends up involving her in a case that involves a broken wristwatch that people are willing to kill to obtain.



This year, it's exactly 25 years since "Moonlighting" debuted on American television, turning Bruce Willis from an obscure struggling actor into a star almost overnight. It was almost a replay of the good fortune Peirce Brosnan enjoyed when his first starring role was in "Remington Steele", a show to which "Moonlighting owes a lot, not surprising given that it was created by one of "Remington Steele"'s co-creators.

Like "Remington Steele," "Moonlighting" tried to evoke the glamor and comedic tone of comedies from the 1930s and 1940s starring the likes of William Powell & Myrna Loy and Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn.

As far as capturing the look and feel of classic romantic/screwball comedies (while updating it for the 1980s), "Moonlighting" was only occasionally successful at it whereas "Remington Steele" hit every single note with perfect pitch until losing its way at the very end of the series. The biggest strength of the latter series was the fact that Remington Steele and Laura Holt were likable characters played by charming actors,while "Moonlighting"'s was fronted by charming actors playing the very unlikeable David Addison and the shrewish Maddie Hayes.

The personality defects of the lead characters in "Moonlighting" are present from this very first pilot episode. David annoying and obnoxious with very little in the charm department to make up for his behavior, while Maddie spends much of her time bitching for the sake of bitching. As the series wore on, it didn't improve much, making some episodes a little hard to sit through. It doesn't help matters that I don't feel like Willis and Shepherd ever really connect on screen. There simply isn't that Powell/Loy, Grant/Hepburn or Brosnan/Zimbalist chemistry; Willis and Shepherd are good individually, but their pairing does not add up to something great.

This pilot, however, shows that even if "Moonlighting" didn't quite manage to live up to its models, it was still lots of fun when it was its best. Shepherd is pretty and looks great in anything she wears--she actually was a retired model who turned to acting in real life--and Willis is quite funny in the role of David, something he never managed to consistently be in anything else he appeared in; when Willis turned to action films with comedic touches, he saved his career. The plot is a fast-paced and the mystery engaging.

While "Moonlighting" may not have been as good as the films it emulated (or even rival series "Remington Steele") it still ranks among both the best detective shows and the best comedies to grace the small screen. The pilot is a great introduction to the series that even works on its own as a stand-alone movie. It's worth checking out if you missed it Back In the Day.

'High Desert' suffers from low quality

High Desert (1993)
Starring: Edward B. Galinski, Ron Jason, and Alice Davidson
Director: Charles T. Lang
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

The homicidal leader of a motorcycle gang (Galinski) murders a camper and kidnaps his girlfriend (Davidson). Another biker (Jason) steps in with an attempt to rescue her.


"High Desert" is another one of those almost-decent films. It has an unspectacular but serviceable idea at its core that could have led to a Rambo vs. Rambo-type showdown (both the Good Biker and Bad Biker are Vietnam Vets), but instead we get run-time extending and budget-saving long sequences of hikes through a mountain forest, and we get a climax that isn't what it should have been (probably because it would have been too difficult for the amateur actors featured in the film to pull off, and possibly even too time and budget intensive) and that further ends up being unintentionally comic due to some very convenient stray bullets. (BTW, if anyone reading this knows John Kerry, tell him about this movie. He'd love it, because it features exactly the negative stereotype of Vietnam Vets that he helped popularize and that he built his political career on.)

The film is also marred by near-universal bad acting. Galinski, who needs to be the ultimate in meancing biker for this movie to work, seems like just another loudmouth jerk and everyone else comes across as if they're just running lines. The only exception to this is Ron Jason, who manages to get a bit of real acting in here and there. (It's probably no coincidence that he's the only actor involved with this project who has any other film credits whatsoever.)

'Presumed Innocent' is declared mediocre

Presumed Innocent (1990)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, John Spencer, and Paul Winfield
Director: Alan Pakula
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

As District Attorney Raymond Horga (Dennehy) fights for his political life, one of his prosecutors is brutally murdered. He assigns his chief deputy, Rusty Sabich (Ford) to investigate the case--an awkward situation for Rusty, as he recently ended an illicit affair with the murder victim. As evidence starts to emerge, Rusty and the homicide detective he is working with (Spencer) develop a theory that the prosecutor was murdered to cover up corruption in the D.A.'s office. However, even stronger evidence emerges that Rusty murdered the woman in a jealous rage, and he is soon arrested and made to stand trial. He hires Sandy Stern (Julia), a Perry Mason-like defense attorney, and together they pick their way through a maze of deceit, political double-dealings, and government corruption. Can even the mighty Sandy Stern find the key evidence to get hard-ass judge Larren Lyttle to dismiss the case against Rusty--particularly when evidence points to the judge possibly being one of the corrupt officials?


"Presumed Innocent" is a so-so courtroom drama, weighed down by a too-slow first act, and a cast that seems almost as if it is sleepwalking through the movie. Ford, Dennehy, and Bedelia seem particuarly listless. Out of the entire cast, only Spencer, Julia, and Winfield seem to display any energy at all--with the latter two being particularly fun in their roles once the movie shifts into the courtroom.

On the upside, "Presumed Innocent" plays fair with the audience as far as the "whodunnit" aspect of the film goes, and I always appreciate a film that's confident enough in its story to do that. The film gives the audience so many clues and hints that I guessed the identity of the murderer and why and how well before the movie gave us the "big revelation"... but that was actually okay, because it does a good job of giving enough alternate suspects that I doubted my conclusion. The ending also played so well that I minded solving the mystery at the beginning of the second act even less.

I'm a tremendous fan of courtroom dramas, and I enjoy watching them. "Presumed Innocent" had just enough problems to knock it down to the low side of average. It's a shame, because it should have been a full-fledged winner.

Sherlock Sunday: Holmes vs. Nazi Spies in America

Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Henry Daniell and George Zucco
Director: Roy William Neill
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When a British secret agent vanishes while on a mission to Washington, D.C., the British government sends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (Rathbone and Bruce) to the United States to uncover what happened to him and to learn if valuable secrets have fallen into the hands of the Nazis.


"Sherlock Holmes in Washington" is the final and best of the Universal "Holmes vs. the Nazis" trilogy of films. It features a well-crafted and suspenseful plot that takes full advantage both of Holmes' legendary deductive powers as well as the modern (early 1940s) setting, with the mystery revolving around missing documents that unbeknownst to heroes and villains alike have been duplicated on microfilm and hidden inside a matchbook that is then passed from character to character and almost lost for good on more than one occassion. The fact that the audience knows exactly where the documents everyone is looking for adds greatly to the suspense (and fun) of the film as it unfolds.

In addition to its expertly constructed plot, the film also features well-written dialogue that is delivered by a cast that are all at the top of their game. Rathbone's Holmes is the best I've ever seen itm Bruce's Watson is comedic but not annoyingly dimwitted, and Daniell and Zucco are excellent as the Nazi secret agents. From the film's opening scenes to the closing anti-fascism remarks from Holmes, this is a film that provides top-notch and classy entertainment. It's a move that fans of Sherlock Holmes and classic crime dramas will enjoy equally. (Heck, even if you're some sort of misguided moron who admires Nazis, you'll enjoy this flick. The ones in this story are smarter than the average bunch, be they fictional or real.)

Could the detective be the killer?

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Starring: Albert Finney, Martin Balsam, Lauren Bacall, Richard Widmark, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Jean Pierre Cassel, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset, and Vanessa Redgrave
Director: Sidney Lumet
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

While traveling westward on the Orient Express, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot (Finney) must solve the murder of an unpleasant passenger as the train is halted by a mudslide. The case is complicated by the fact that virtually none of his fellow passengers are telling the truth or are who they appear to be, and that Poirot is apparently the only person without an iron-clad alibi.


"Murder on the Orient Express" is an excellent adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's best mystery tales. It manages to streamline a very complex and tangled scenario while keeping Christie's original narraive mostly intact. It also features an excellent cast giving great performances, with Albert Finney as the Great Detective, Lauren Bacall as an annoying American widow, and John Gielgud as an acid-tongued gentleman's gentleman being particularly noteworthy.

The weakness of the film is that it's slow in getting underway and that when it's finally got a good head of steam going, the mystery is solved and the movie ends. It causes the viewer to swing from a "get on with it!" sensibility to a "wait... that's all?" mindset. I think that if the movie had been more carefully edited, losing perhaps as little as five or ten minutes of running time during its first act, the film would have carried alot more tension.

That's not to say that what's here isn't good... it's very good and it's definately worth seeing for fans of period films and "cozy" mysteries. (On a personal note, the solution to the mystery in this film really creeped me out as a child, and I partially watched it again to see if it had remained as impactful. I didn't have quite the reaction I remember, but it is well delivered.)