What really makes this movie work is the chemistry between Keke Palmer and SZA. I honestly hope that these two will be paired in more movies in the future. They play off each other perfectly and it is just so fun to watch these two share the screen. Because of this you simply enjoy spending time with these characters and therefore enjoy the film despite its flaws.
For an over-the-top comedy, the humor can be a bit hit and miss. There are many times where the comedy simply falls completely flat. There are moments here when I was left wondering how they were supposed to be funny (the thief at the drive-thru for instance). However, when the humor hits, it is absolutely hilarious. Everything with the two trying to get a loan and their trip to the blood bank are laugh out loud funny. I wish there were more of these truly funny moments but the parts that made me really laugh make me glad I saw this movie.
One of the saddest truths about war is that those fighting and those in power aren't the only people who suffer. Just ordinary citizens living their lives suffer too. This documentary focuses on those living in Gaza, while this current war is going on. Many of us not living in the middle east, especially those of us in the U.S. and other countries across the ocean, when we hear news about what is happening on the other side of the world, we feel emotional disconnected from it. After watching this film, it is hard to feel the same sort of emotional disconnect. This forces us to face that the harsh realities that we hear about are happening to real people, not much different than us. I left the theater feeling completely and emotionally drained with my heart aching for everyone living in the middle east while this war goes on.
This movie is told in a brilliant way. This is a feature film that is created from 22 short films created by Palestinian filmmakers that are currently living through what is going on. These short films are based off their own personal stories. This creates a more personal feel to this movie that makes it even harder to ignore that these horrors are happening to real people.
This is a movie that is challenging to watch and about midway through you will already be emotionally drained. Yet that is just what makes this an important film to watch for anyone. It makes one have to see that these harsh realities are happening to real people and therefore will make them care about what is going on.
The storyline here is a very simple and familiar action movie storyline. However, what makes it kind of makes it work is the chemistry between the two main characters. While these characters aren't all that interesting on their own, they work off together very well. There is a surprising (at least for me as I have never seen the first movie) emotion sincerity to their relationship and the way they grow to care about and respect each other. The chemistry between the actors Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr. also adds to the sincerity and effectiveness of the relationship. The movie also has some very well-crafted action and suspense scenes that are quite a bit of fun.
Like many movies today, this film is simply much longer than it needs to be. Nearly two and a half hours is too long for such a simple action movie story. This can cause the movie to really drag at times and parts of this film can honestly get quite boring. Also, the storyline is familiar to the point where there is nothing we haven't seen done before in other movies, which adds to how long this film feels at times. The attempts at humor also fall completely flat here and all the supporting characters are very boring.
The lead characters, the performances and the action can make this movie worth watching. If only it was about an hour shorter.
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing In the Sweet By and By. This song came about because of a friendship between composer, Joseph Webster and poet, Dr. Sanford Fillmore Bennett. One day Webster was depressed and Dr. Bennett recognized this. Dr. Bennett asked his friend what was wrong. Webster replied, "Oh nothing. Everything will be alright by and by." These words brought up an idea in Bennett and he wrote down three verses and a chorus to this song as soon as he could. He handed it to his friend saying, “Here is your prescription, Joe.” Webster loved the lyrics and wrote music for them in practically no time at all. Dr. Bennett later said, “It was not over thirty minutes from the time I took my pen to write the words before two friends with Webster and myself were singing the hymn.” The hymn was first published in 1868 and went on to great fame since. This version of the song comes from Roy and Dale's 1973 gospel album, In the Sweet By and By.
This is followed by Carson Robison and his Buckaroos with their 1935 recording of Big Ranch Boss.
Afterwards is Waylon Jennings singing Precious Memories on his 1976 album, Are You Ready For The Country. Though this is a sweet uplifting song, it was based upon a tragedy. In 1922, John Wright lost his five-year-old son. Wright would later say about this song, “’Precious Memories’ was born in the midnight hours as I bathed by pillow with tears, likewise all my songs came through life’s severest tests.” Though this is a very famous hymn, John Wright only received $36 for writing it. He would remain a janitor that was always struggling to make ends meet for his entire life. Though Waylon did not record a great many gospel songs, he more than proved himself as an incredible gospel singer. The pure soul, emotion and power in his voice could not be more perfect for gospel music. Personally, Waylon's version of Precious Memories remains my favorite version of this classic hymn.
Then comes Chris Tomlin and RaeLynn with Chase Me Down. This recording comes from Chris Tomlin's 2020 album, Chris Tomlin and Friends. With this album, this Christian singer performed songs with various popular country singers.
Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Dwelling in Beulah Land. This song was written by Austin Miles (who also wrote In the Garden) in 1911. The melody of this song is the same as The Fiji National Anthem, God Bless Fiji. The lead singer on this recording is Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye at this time), during his last year as a member of the band.
Now for Kitty Wells with There's No Greater Time Than Now. This recording comes from her 1965 gospel album, The Kitty Wells Family - Gospel Songs.
Afterwards is Johnny Cash with This Train is Bound for Glory. This wonderful recording comes from John's 1979 album, A Believer Sings the Truth. This was a double length gospel album and Columbia Records felt that such an album from John could never be successful. However, Columbia allowed John to release the album on its own and it was successful earning a spot in the Country Top 50. A shorter version of the album called I Believe would be released in 1984, which would feature a select few songs from the double album. A Believer Sings the Truth would not find its way to CD until 2012.
Today’s musical selection ends with Bill Monroe with Get Down on Your Knees and Pray.
Now for an episode of Roy Rogers' TV show.
Now for a message from the reverend Billy Graham.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 John 1:2
Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. Jeremiah 33:6
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some more classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Bugs Bunny in Frigid Hare (1949). This is the first of two theatrical cartoons where Bugs Bunny is paired with a little penguin. This penguin would later be known as Playboy Penguin. The other short film with this character would be 8 Ball Bunny (1950). Both of these shorts were directed by Chuck Jones.
Next comes the Tom and Jerry short, Barbecue Brawl (1956). As the 1950's progressed more of the Tom and Jerry cartoons would feature the supporting characters in larger and more important roles. Here Spike and Tyke are just as much the stars of this film as Tom and Jerry. The ending gag in this short is very similar to the one in the earlier Tom and Jerry short, Pup on a Picnic (1955).
With how much I am not a fan of the Gene Dietch Tom and Jerry cartoons, I was surprised to learn that I actually like his Terry Toons shorts quite a bit. When Dietch was given control of the Terry Toons studio, he had little interest in the films, the studio had been making. Because of this he abandoned nearly all the Terry Toons characters to that point and replaced them with new characters. One of these new characters was John Doormat and here is John Doormat in Shove Thy Neighbor (1957).
Next comes one of my favorite early Mickey Mouse cartoons, The Karnival Kid (1929). This film is famous for featuring Mickey Mouse's first spoken words. Though Mickey's earlier shorts had been sound pictures, they mostly revolved around music instead of dialogue. Though Walt Disney was excited about moving in this direction, his distributor, Pat Powers was not. Powers felt that an English-speaking mouse would have less appeal in countries where English is not the common language. To be fair the mouse does not receive a great deal of dialogue in this cartoon. His first words are the immortal, "Hot Dogs! Hot Dogs!" (in a scene animated by future Donald Duck director, Jack King). The voice is not the familiar high pitch falsetto, but a plainer undistinguished voice. I do not know who provided this voice. Carl Stalling speak about the early voices of the mouse in a 1969 interview, “all the animators were taking a shot at it, those who wanted to.” Of course, later on Walt himself would become the voice of Mickey. The cartoon features some men who would soon have a great input on Disney's animated films. Ben Sharpsteen (supervising director on the Disney features Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941)) animates the opening shots of the fairgrounds, the monkey playing all the instruments and the barker (a forerunner of Kat-Nip from the Mickey Mouse comic strip) pulling Mickey's nose. Burt Gillet (who would direct the most popular Silly Symphony, Three Little Pigs (1933)) animates the scene with the merry-go-round, Mickey playing the hot dogs like musical instruments, the emergence of Minnie and Mickey tipping his ears to her ("The Big Mooseketeer" Roy Williams stated that this scene inspired the Mickey Mouse ears that all of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club wore). Les Clark (one of Walt's nine old men and one of the greatest Mickey Mouse animators) receives very little footage in the cartoon. He animates Mickey catching a runaway hot dog and giving it a spanking, Mickey briefly strumming the guitar and the final shot of the movie. Les Clark's ending was originally going to be longer with Mickey riding the bed like a horse. The legendary Ub Iwerks (who co-created Mickey with Walt) animates the two cats' duet. Despite the forward-looking ideas in this cartoon borrowed a major gag from a previous Disney short. Mickey chasing and spanking the hot dog was originally done by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in All Wet (1927).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a classic silent Out of the Inkwell film, The Clown's Little Brother (1920).
And now here is Mr. Know-it-All.
Stephan Bosustow, cartoon producer and one of the founders of the UPA studio (home of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing) had a strong interest in creating an animated feature film based on the work of writer James Thurber. However, he could not get the funding for this, so he asked UPA director William T. Hurtz to adapt one of Thurber's stories as an animated short film. Hurtz took this idea very seriously and studied nearly every drawing Thurber made. The result was A Unicorn in the Garden (1953). Bosustow was reportedly disappointed with the end result. Because of this he refused to submit the cartoon for consideration for an Academy Award and changed plans for the studio's first feature to one starring Mr. Magoo. Cartoon fans certainly aren't disappointed by the result. This short is not only beloved by cartoon fans but received the 48th spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
Let us close with one of the greatest commercials in the history of TV.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
An excellent character study boosted by a wonderful lead performance.
This movie gives Pamela Anderson the greatest role of her career. She plays an aging Vegas showgirl, who has pushed aside so much in her life (including her own daughter) for her career. However now the show is ending its 30-year run and she is forced to come to terms the consequences of what she threw away as well as the realization that she is not the great artist she thought she was. Pamela is truly wonderful in this role. This is a rare dramatic role for this actress, and she puts her heart and soul into every moment. Her performance allows us to feel every heartbreak she is going through. However not only is her performance that makes this character work so well. Kate Gersten's (this is amazingly the first feature film she has written (though she has written for such TV shows as Mozart in the Jungle and The Good Place)) script paints a very complex portrait of this woman. This character can be very sympathetic in many scenes, yet she has a very selfish side that can show itself at other times. Yet there is not a scene when we don't relate to her, even if we don't want to. This film is also helped by its visual style. Director Gia Coppola (granddaughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola) imbues this film with a look reminiscent of old Hollywood movies, giving this an almost nostalgic feel that works perfectly with our main character.
My one complaint about this film is that the supporting characters are all quite bland and often feel more like plot points than real people.
