John Leguizamo Page 4

Keanu Reeves picks up his supremely efficient hitman immediately where the 2015 original left him: regrouping with his new, as-yet-unnamed dog after taking down the New York mob that he used to work for. Director Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad have created another unusually satisfying action thriller, with sharply developed characters and a plot that holds more water than most of these kinds of movies. Obviously, it can't be as fresh as the first film, but it's thoroughly entertaining.

Reeves' John still just wants to be left alone, but after taking care of one loose end, he is contacted by Italian mafioso Santino (Riccardo Scamarcio), who calls in a blood oath. Unable to refuse, John heads to Rome to carry out a hit he knows will make his life exponentially more precarious, especially as it puts him into conflict with his old friend Cassian (Common). Sure enough, he now has an army of goons chasing him, led by mute thug Ares (Ruby Rose). So he returns to New York and gets in contact with an underground guru (Laurence Fishburne) who might be able to offer some respite from the hordes trying to kill him. And manager Winston (Ian McShane) is also willing to help John, as long as he abides by the rules of the criminal underworld.

The film is another superb mix of cool imagery and coherent action that moves briskly from one brutal encounter to the next. Vicious gunfights and car chases abound in this movie, and all are staged with bracing energy and a heightened sense of realism. Through all of this, Reeves maintains a sense of weary dignity in finely tailored suits that are refreshed after each messy encounter. How he keeps walking and fighting after each bruising fight is another question.

Continue reading: John Wick: Chapter 2 Review

With its fifth feature-length adventure, this franchise continues its preposterous journey at full tilt. As before, it's the zippy writing, lively vocal work and colourful animation that hold the interest. The story is merely a framework on which the cast and crew can hang a series of rapid-fire jokes, pop culture references and nonsensical action sequences. And it's still mindless fun.

After their previous escapades, the expanding herd of prehistoric critters is living a happy life together, thinking about love. Mammoths Manny and Ellis (voiced by Ray Romano and Queen Latifah) are struggling with the idea that their daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) has fallen for the too-cheerful Julius (Adam Devine). Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) has just been dumped and feels like he'll never find a partner. And tigers Diego and Shira (Denis Leary and Jennifer Lopez) worry that their violent nature will make them terrible parents. Then suddenly there's a bigger issue to worry about: a giant asteroid is heading for Earth, threatening them with extinction. With the help of nutty weasel Buck (Simon Pegg), they come up with an idea to save the planet. They also discover a magical place called Geotopia, ruled by the groovy Shangri Llama (Jesse Tyler Ferguson).

Yes, the plot is utterly insane, especially as it is driven by the antics of franchise star Scrat, who discovers a flying saucer in the ice, activates it and heads into space, where his acorn-hunting antics trigger all sorts of mayhem back on Earth. But then this series has never had anything to do with science or biology, throwing random animals together (the dinosaurs make another appearance) for comical value while cranking up whatever suspense the writers can think of to add some momentum. They also of course pack scenes with sweet "family values" moments, plus a sideswipe at climate change deniers who refuse to acknowledge the possibility of impending doom.

Continue reading: Ice Age: Collision Course Review

The social and economic strife in New York in the sixties and seventies gave birth to one of the most influential and popular subculture's in recent memory; hip-hop grew out of poverty, segregation and division, with DJs, MCs, breakdancers and graffiti artists providing a positive creative outlet for the troubled neighbourhoods all over the big apple. The South Bronx is incredibly important in the emergence of hip-hop culture, but before there was the abundance of music that exists now there were the Rubble Kings.

Directed by Shan Nicholson, this documentary tells the all-important story of the Ghetto Brothers, a historical gang active in the 1970s. They were one of many, and Rubble Kings touches on a host of other groups that were also active in this period, with first-hand experiences relayed from a variety of talking heads that were in the midst of the street culture some 40 years ago. The gritty imagery of tagged trains, neighbourhood riots and the anti-police attitude that was an undercurrent felt by all those growing up in the Bronx is showcased from the outset; drawing parallels between Walter Hill's 1979 motion-picture The Warriors, the famous 'can you dig it' scene actually went down in reality. 'Yellow' Benji Medendez, a founding member of the Ghetto Brothers, as well as Carlos 'Karate Charlie' Suarez (who held a formidable reputation) speak with intelligence about the conditions that saw gangs grow in popularity, and sparked a multicultural revolution against the authoritative powers who disregarded the interests of the poor and troubled.   

The 60s is widely known as the peace era, but clearly America wasn't entirely populated by hippies and liberal thinkers; the violence and hardship in New York's boroughs was on a steady incline, reaching a catalyst in the early 70s, where the majority of Rubble Kings' story takes place. The South Bronx was a symbol of early decay. The situation emerged out of the shambolic Cross-Bronx expressway, a major freeway that cut up areas and divided neighbourhoods without consideration for residents. As they always do, the poor felt the squeeze, and landlords burnt down their own properties for insurance money, resulting in black families being left homeless and in severe poverty. Homicides increased, and the majority of income earned in the BX was acquired through criminal activity; street gangs that took influence from the Hells Angels ran the area, sporting swastikas and other offensive anti-establishment imagery like the rebels before them. Hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaata speaks about the pride gangs members had for their crew, and with poor living conditions breeding increased violence, gangs were spreading up like wildfire throughout New York, comprised of all creeds and colours; the segregation went beyond race to class and social standing.

Continue reading: Rubble Kings Review

From their inspired pairing on Saturday Night Live and their hysterical 2008 comedy Baby Mama to their riotous hosting of the Golden Globes, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are one of the funniest double-acts in recent memory. So even if they make a film as limp as this one, it's still packed with plenty of laughs. With a simplistic premise and obvious gags, the film isn't nearly as clever as they are. But they make it watchable.

As the title suggests, they play siblings: Kate (Fey) is a single mother with no job and nowhere to live, while Maura (Poehler) has never quite recovered from her divorce. Then their parents (Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) announce that they're selling the family home in Orlando, so Kate and Maura return to clean out their childhood bedrooms. And they're inspired to throw one last epic house party, inviting all of their old high school friends (including John Leguizamo), their school arch-nemesis (Maya Rudolph), a beefy drug dealer (John Cena) and a cute new neighbour (Ike Barinholtz).

Unsurprisingly, once the alcohol starts flowing, things get way out of hand.

Continue reading: Sisters Review

The fourth picture in Romero's "Dead" series,it takes place in a decimated world where a handful of rich elitists livein a self-contained, weakly defended luxury skyscraper and a lower classof humanity scrapes by in the streets behind protective walls and electricfences. But unbeknownst to all of them, the zombies in the wasteland outsidehave begun to think and organize.

This sounds like a fantastic -- and wholly original --concept that could take the genre to a scarier new level. But "Landof the Dead" fails to exploit the refreshing plot point any furtherthan is necessary to bring the undead through the city's pathetic ramparts,led by the moaning-groaning influence of a single zombie who has developeda primitive ability to reason.

The movie has nothing new to offer, although it is madea tad more watchable by something old -- Romero's simple, straightforwardcinematography that makes all the action (especially the mediocre scares)much clearer and eerily more immediate than the shake-shake, chop-chopstyle applied to most modern horror flicks. Its other great asset is thebody-decay makeup on the legions of walking corpses and the dead staresand lumbering gaits of some of the key zombie actors.

Continue reading: Land Of The Dead Review

Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows pulled it off because1) they gave a certain tenacious chemistry to their characters' head-buttingmarriage, 2) Gleason had a gift for finding humor and humanity in unsympatheticroles, and 3) it was a simpler time, when idiotic get-rich-quick schemesweren't quite such a tiresome excuse for cheap laughs.

But none of this is true of the big-screen remake starringCedric the Entertainer as conniving New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden,who spends the whole movie lying to his waitress wife Alice (GabrielleUnion) while emptying their bank account to buy an antique train car (hethinks fitting it with tires is enough to create a money-making tour bus)or to race a stray greyhound at the local track.

Cedric may split sides with his stand-up routines and politicallyincorrect topical rants in the "Barbershop"movies,but here he's sleepwalking through a routine script full of uninspiredexposition ("All we need is $20,000 for the down payment..."),stereotypical characters (loud-mouthed mother-in-law), shopworn physicalgags (cayenne pepper ends up in someone's food), contrived conflicts (Ralphhas a falling out with Ed, his dim-witted plumber best pal played by half-stonedMike Epps), pop culture references ("You're just a regular UPN sitcom,ain't 'cha, Alice?"), lucky coincidences, and insultingly easy resolutionsto all life's problems.

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The sixth line of my notes from the "Summer of Sam" preview screeningreads, "if Spike Lee wants us to sit here for 137 minutes, he'd betterpick up the pace."

An hour later, without a hint of an upswing in the movie'stempo, noticed I was near the back of the theater where there was a littlebit of light, so I pulled out the press kit and started reading it, justto have something to do.

Continue reading: Summer Of Sam Review

Any chance that "Empire" might be all that different from other drug- dealer- trying- to- go- straight movies is lost with the opening voice-over, in which heroin mini-kingpin Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) rattles off a dozen street life clichés in 60 seconds, starting with the line, "Damn, if I'd known then what I know now! It's all about making money, baby."

Never mind that the plot includes the hero losing his shirt and his boss's drug money in a Wall Street scam perpetrated by a savvy, Caucasian, uptown con artist. That only serves to prove that Victor is a sucker, not that his story is any different from those of drug dealers depicted in scads of other movies from the last 15 years -- October's "Paid In Full" or 1994's "Sugar Hill," for example.

Universal Pictures even admits as much in the film's press kit, which compares it "in theme and execution" to a "list of urban gangster films" but goes on to trumpet the fact that "Empire" is the first time this recycled story "has been told from the point of view of a Latino character."

Continue reading: Empire Review