The Book Of Clarence

It's an interesting experience to watch this movie.

Now speaking as a non-religious individual who was raised in a christian centric background, I'm not the one to determine if this is a good religious film. But I can tell you if I thought this was a good film or not. Split into three acts or Books in this instance the story follows an atheistic everyman at the height of Jesus' influence who seeks to make something of himself, and tries to pay off some debts being a charlatan messiah. That's pure bare bones and a fair bit happens, but I like the more imaginative and revisionist (Perhaps?) history stance the film takes. Now will I admit that the movie has a tremendous tone problem? Yeah. The humor barely hits and it mainly focuses on being a drama, so when those moments occur it doesn't work great. But when the drama and the big moments hit, I mean it's harrowing at times and hits you like a damn frieght train! I really couldn't say enough good things honestly about this cast, and finally we see a black Jesus. Sorry to break it to you humans, but an israeli born man in the city of David that resides in Jerusalem is not going to be wonderbread white. LaKeith Stanfield is a rock solid lead as wannabe apostle Clarence, and I find it kinda brilliant to make him an atheist at that period of history in 33 A.D. and the character journey that unfolds does not feel slapdash, stupid, or insulting. Great stuff! RJ Cyler, my friggin' man from the recent Power Rangers movie how great it is to see him in another film as Clarence's partner in crime Elijah, he gets his moments of humor and emotion and sells it being a stalwart friend to the end. And I will not lie to you for even a second, I didn't think we were going to see Jesus in this movie or at least his face anyway but when that moment comes and it is a powerful ass moment, and I looked in the face of Nicholas Pinnock the only words I could form were, "Holy fuck that is Jesus of Nazareth.". I'm so not even kidding, I bought every second of it, he did such a great job and you barely even see him in the movie! That's talent. Anna Diop as Clarence's sweetheart Varinia though more of a side character gives humanity and groundness to his character, seeing past his scoundrel qualities and admiring the man underneath. Personally I think he has terrific taste, the woman has a good head on her shoulders, is charming and caring, and shockingly gorgeous without a doubt. I actually will admit though my absolute favorite characters are Joseph and Mary, they're in the movie for one scene but I absolutely adored them and they made me have a good laugh, so Alfre Woodard and Brian Bovell have my absolute love. The film looks pretty dang good too, I mean I don't think they genuinely filmed in Jerusalem but it coulda fooled me, the costumes are great, the effects for the more miraculous stuff do the job, and the makeup is a little too good at points. But the interesting part is how my perception changed as the movie went on. Book I, I think the movie is completely middle of the road average aside from the production values. Book II, I'm kinda getting into it and near the end I feel the movie is decent. Book III, alright it's a good film. I don't think I've ever had that kind of movie watching experience in my life! So if you think you're not feeling the movie before the halfway point just stick with it. It was fascinating watching the number rise as the movie kept playing but what did it end on? I think a solid 3 stars, 7.5/10! So not a bad stint at the movies but oh we got one more, a movie I saw in my downtime that was too good not to talk about. What could it be? You'll have to see.

In Retrospect: Power Rangers (2017)

Yep, this movie is still pretty good!

I love Power Rangers, it takes the most absurd things and pairs them together but still takes itself so seriously. It reminds me alot of the Adam West Batman show, and the movie still has that aspect. It doesn't have half of the sheer cheesy awesomeness of the original show but it does have it in small doses but still takes itself incredibly seriously. People compare this to The Breakfast Club meets superpowers, but I find that sort of unfair. True it has elements, troubled teens slowly learning more and more about each other and becoming good friends, but I find much more to the movie than a semi-Breakfast Club clone. I really enjoy these kids, and yes Billy is still the greatest in my eyes, and I can surprisingly find myself more easily attached and liking these kids than the originals from the show. Don't get me wrong, they're cool, they're nice (a little too nice), but something about the kids actually being you know....kids, teenagers with attitude and real problems just gets me very interested. I want them to become the Power Rangers and save the world. It is still great to have Bryan Cranston as Zordon even though he is mostly used for exposition but then again, isn't that what Zordon was like in the show? So I guess I can't complain too much there. I can still complain about Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa though. Just....doesn't seem like Rita to me, she still gets a bit over the top and yes I do agree she poses a real threat but, something about the casting choice doesn't rub me the right way. Also, what is up with recent movies having more organic looks and feels in movies? Now let me be perfectly clear, I LOVE the suits! They are incredible! They look just right, classic but updated. I like the Zords, they basically still look like giant robot dinosaurs so I can't complain there, but the Megazord just....no. It looks so flimsy, and stupid. It doesn't look like a robot built of smaller robots. It looks so alien, I mean I know that's the point but it just doesn't scream giant robot to me. Also, that is not Goldar. Just wrong. He's like a friggin' ape in gold armor that has wings, a flying monkey from Oz in kickass armor. Not a giant, melty, boring gold monster. But I still freaked right the hell out when I saw Tommy AND Kimberley side by side in the same scene. Like whoa dude. I love fanservice. Yeah, I'm a grown man and I am proud to own the new Power Rangers movie. If you're a fan you would probably buy it anyway, but if not you could rent it and give it a shot. It's a fun reboot to a beloved nostalgic series. What's not to love? Well the criminal underuse of the theme song makes me sad, but small potatoes! Until next week, friends.

Power Rangers (2017)

Alright, that was a good movie!

Power Rangers are back and I love it. The movie was a lot of fun, had good effects, and yeah it had faults, more nitpicky than major but we'll get to that. Okay positives, the kids are great. I actually love how they made them these sort of bad kids, like they are not infallible teenagers who always do the right thing because they're such goody two shoes, they have problems, Jason screwed his scholarship by letting pranks get out of hand, Billy lost his dad and is on the autistic spectrum, Kimberley did some bad things like knocking this guy's teeth out and leaking a solicit picture of one of her classmates, Zack is taking care of his terminally ill mom, and Trinni is a distant closed off kid. And that's the beauty of it, they are not these perfect little kids, they have issues and act like, oh I don't know TEENAGERS! Also I love the fact that they can't fully fight, when they morph they are very competent fighters but martial artists they are not. But truth be told, Billy is my favorite, both in the show and this movie, he is Billy Badass to me. The Zords looked great, classic Zords with updated technology. Bryan Cranston was pretty good as Zordon, and he always does good performances in supporting roles which makes me wonder how amazing he would be in a lead role (No, I have not watched Breaking Bad yet!). But not everything went smoothly. Okay, Elizabeth Banks you were not a bad Rita but you could not top the original, I'm happy you had fun with it and gave her a good menacing character with a history but didn't work for me all that much. The Power Coins were...useless. Now for those of you who are new, Power Coins are what allows the teens to morph into the Power Rangers, that is how their technology works. In this movie they do nothing! They never use them, oh sure they find them and that automatically makes them Rangers material but they replace it with this nonsense, "You must be at one with each other in order to morph." so they never really morph until the end. Which doesn't make any sense because they sell the Morphers and the Power Coins toys in store, so I fully expected them to use their Morphers. They never did! That sucks. Also, criminal underuse of the theme. You know the theme. They use it once, when all the Zords roll out and it is magnificent, I waited until the end of the credits to hear the theme in it's entireity. Never did it happen. The music is good though, my favorate pieces is when they all finally morph, it sounds very Tron Legacy, it's awesome! And for fans or hardcore fans of the show, there are easter eggs and little nods, it's great fun and make me geek out in the theater. They do set up a bit of sequel bait, nothing major like (I wish) Lord Zedd would come down and start wrecking stuff, but it makes me excited at the prospect of a future film. Also quite an ingenious decision to have the after credit scene a little after the credits begin, since kids don't have the patcience to wait until after all the credits have rolled, so nice touch guys. Oh, and did you know the original producer of the television show, Haim Saban helped produce this movie? Awesome! I would recommend this movie, especially to fans, and maybe others who want a fun movie that might interest you in a global phenomenon over 20 years old and still going. The majority of the people in that theater were little kids, like before they even reached 12 years old, the fans are still there for the Power Rangers, generation after generation. And you know what? I want to watch the show all the way through now. So when I buy the movie when it hits video, I can have more fun with it. Well that's it for today but tomorrow, something big is coming.