FILM REVIEW OF ''BLADE" (1998)

Actor-producer Wesley Snipes may have finally found himself an action movie franchise that he can sink his teeth into with British director Stephen Norrington's "Blade," (***1/2 out of ****)a well-made, imaginative, adrenaline-laced vampire chiller based on the Marvel Comics' super hero. Snipes heads a first-rate cast that includes Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff, N' Bushe Wright, Udo Kier, and Traci Lords. "Blade" synthesizes the exotic swordplay of the "Highlander" epics, the double-digit body count of a John Woo thriller, and the martial arts pandemonium of a Jackie Chan opus to spawn a horror movie several cuts above your ordinary vampire fare.

If the sight of blood, especially torrents of bogus blood, turns your stomach, avoid "Blade." "Blade" takes its cues from renegade vampire sags like Robert Rodriguez's "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) and Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" (1987) rather than those venerable classics such as either Tod Browning's "Dracula" (1931) with Bela Lugosi or Neil Jordan's "Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles" with Tom Cruise (1994). The Snipes hero must have chose the same guy who tailored "Mad Max" and "The Terminator" in what essentially constitutes an apocalyptic version of Fran Rubel Kuzui's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992). "Blade" qualifies as a tour-de-fang chiller with darker humor than "Buffy," top drawer special effects, and an infectious techno-pop soundtrack. Lowbrow escapism that it ranks as, "Blade" benefits chiefly from scenarist David S. Goyer's solid, seasoned writing skills and atmospheric, innovative helming by sophomore director Stephen Norrington.

Scenarist David S. Goyer provides an invigorating screenplay. "Blade" bristles not only with lively action and adventure, but also an intelligible plot that the characters go to extreme lengths of describe and discuss. When you consider that Goyer has penned scripts for "Dark City," "The Crow 2: City of Angels," "Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters," "Demonic Toys," and "Kickboxer 2," then you know he qualified as the ideal choice to pen the script. Goyer's revenge fantasy script never leaves you in the dark about a bloody new world where its embattled but immortal hero Blade wages a perennial war against vampires. Goyer shows impressive flexibility in co-opting vampire mythology. At one point, a half-blooded vampire smears on sun screen lotion to shield himself from the sun. Jealous vampires put one of their vampire enemies to death by gradually exposing him to sunlight at dawn. Meanwhile, our hero uses an ultra-violet light to singe unruly fangsters. About the only vampire trait neglected by Goyer is the ability to shape-shift into a bat.

A vampire infected our protagonist's pregnant mom, Vanessa Brooke (Sanaa Lathan of "Love & Basketball") with its venomous blood while she was carrying Blade in her womb. Delivered by Caesarean section from his dying mother, Blade emerges as neither totally human nor truly vampire. He can walk in sunlight without risk, and neither silver nor garlic can faze him. One villainous vampire admires Blade when he observes that Blade has "all of our strengths and none of our weaknesses." The filmmakers milk dramatic tension from Blade's growing tolerance to Whistler's (Kris Kristofferson of "Convoy") anti-venom serum. The chance that Blade may not revert to his vampire origins not only lurks in the background but also enhances the suspense. This element of uncertainty generates anxiety and endows the protagonist with an Achilles' heel that makes him seem more believable and charismatic. Blade cruises around in a 1968 Dodge Charger that looks very cool despite its late model make.

Legendary vampire hunter Abraham Whistler (a grouchy Kris Kristofferson with a gimpy leg) found Blade as a juvenile roaming the streets and living off the blood of derelicts. Transforming Blade into a super hero with injections of a blood substitute, he serves as Blade's stepfather and ordnance maker. Surprisingly, Whistler lasts longer than most sacrificial characters. Loosely modeled on the Roman god Vulcan who forged weapons for the deities, Whistler trains Blade to slay vampires with extreme prejudice. Blade approaches his crusade with the enthusiasm that Charles Bronson mustered for killing muggers in the quintet of "Death Wish" movies. Not surprisingly, more than enough vampires survive from other parts of the world for Blade to combat in the sequels. Wow, does "Blade" ever leave itself wide open in its wrap-up in Russia for a sequel! Anyhow, the vampires in "Blade" are not tooth fairies. Organized into a powerful, global underground syndicate, Dragonetti (Udo Kier) presides over them as a Corleonesque godfather. The scene in the shadowy conference room with vampires dressed in suits is effectively creepy. Kier's Dragonetti is a pure-blooded fangster in a world of full and half-blooded vampires.

In "Blade," the cities of the world have been practically undermined by vampires. Vampires have gained leverage in the business and politician arenas. These vampires own the police so they control the law. As the snotty, upstart Deacon Frost, actor Stephen Dorff plays the half-breed vampire who Dragonetti turned. Frost harbors greater ambitions than Dragonetti. The elder vampire prefers to co-exist with mortals and abide by their treaties. Frost demands that the vampires dominate humanity. Secretly, Frost has been translating the ancient vampire text, The Book of Erebus, which will enable him to resurrect vampire blood god La Magra. Frost wants to revive this demon, but he needs the missing link: Blade's blood. Frost calls Blade "day-walker," because the vampire bible has prophesied Blade's unique genetic make-up. If he can revive this blood god, Frost can control the House of Erebus that rules the undead, and vampires can emerge as the dominant force in the world. The splashy finale in a phantasmagoric vampire temple with skeletons bursting out of the mouths of vampires in a storm of jagged lightning bolts owes a little to "The Fifth Element" as well as "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958), but this scene is fully and logically integrated in Goyer's script.

Sure, "Blade" amounts to nothing more than bloody pulp fiction. Nevertheless, Goyer and Norrington have reinvented vampire thrillers. "Blade" is entertaining, somewhat cheesy, but technically proficient hokum done with considerable technical prowess. Congratulations Stan Lee!

FILM REVIEW OF ''PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE" (2009)

"Shadowboxer" director Lee Daniels deserves every award and honor that Hollywood and critics around the world can bestow on him for his electrifying African-American social problem movie “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” (**** out of ****) that casts newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as the troubled heroine. This R-rated, 110-minute urban nightmare probably could not have been made without the help of both Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Imagine what derisive comments must have greeted this venture when the filmmakers pitched their idea for a theatrical release chronicling a year in the life of an abused obese soul sister? Who would want to suffer through a thoroughly depressing, often offensive opus about a big fat loser trapped in the ghetto? Indeed, when you watch the trailer for this film, you want to cringe because everything about this poor girl’s hopeless existence is so dreadfully appalling. She contends with an incredibly monstrous mother who treats her as if she were own personal slave. Nevertheless, despite its uncompromising subject matter, “Precious” qualifies as an inspiring film that doesn’t rely on sugar-coating and a happy ending. The bisexual African-American poet and novelist Sapphire penned her 1996 novel “Push” in first-person and adopted a rough, stylized dialect to enhance its verisimilitude. Reportedly, “Push” was Sapphire’s homage to “The Color Purple.” Ostensibly, Lionsgate—the company distributing the Daniels film--changed the title from “Push” to “Precious” to avoid any confusion between this groundbreaking film and the lackluster science fiction epic “Push” (2009) that starred Chris Evans & Dakota Fanning.

"Precious" depicts in semi-documentary fashion the plight of an illiterate, grotesquely overweight 16-year old Harlem girl poised to give birth to her second child. Ironically, Claireece 'Precious' Jones (newcomer Gabourey Sidibe) has never had a boyfriend. Indeed, her first child was a four-year-old girl afflicted with Down’s syndrome, and her tyrannical, potty-mouthed mother Mary (Mo’Nique of "Soul Plane") despises the adolescent and forces her mother to keep her. At school, Precious’ classmates ridicule her Buddha-like physique, but she maintains a stoic imperturbability and ignores their insults. Meanwhile, Mary lets her incestuous boyfriend Carl (Rodney ‘Bear’ Jackson of “Inside Man”) rape her daughter while she stands in the background and observes this act of child abuse. No, these harrowing scenes contain no nudity, but the content may be disturbing enough to alienate some audiences. In fact, Mary has allowed her out-of-control boyfriend to take advantage of Precious since the girl was three years old when mother and daughter shared the same bed with him. As the film unspools, Precious finds herself expelled from her high school because she is pregnant again. The conscientious school principal arranges for Precious to attend an alternative school called Each One Teach One where drop-outs can earn their GED. Precious learns to read and write there under the tutelage of her instructor Blu Rain (Paula Patton of “Hitch”), a dedicated but kind teacher who inspires her to keep a journal about her life. Meantime, Mary never misses an opportunity to insult, torment, and batter her obsequious daughter. Precious takes everything that her wicked mother can dish out until our heroine comes home with her infant son Abdul. Mary knocks Abdul out of her arms and begins to assault her daughter. Precious fights back, seizes baby Abdul and flees. Precious is in such a hurry that she loses her footing and topples down the stairs. Moments later, the mother hurls her portable TV at her daughter. The television narrowly misses hitting Precious and smashes into a million pieces. Precious goes to stay temporarily with Ms. Patton. She discovers that Ms. Patton is a lesbian, but she doesn’t criticize her for her sexual orientation. If all this drama weren’t overwhelming enough, Precious learns from her mother that Carl has the AIDS virus. A brave social worker, Mrs. Weiss (pop singer Mariah Carey without make-up), helps Precious escape the abuse that her villainous mother doles out with a vengeance. Eventually, Precious embarks on a life of her own without her mother and plans to enroll in college. Indeed, it is through the intervention of both Ms. Rain and Mrs. Weiss that Precious is able to find a future beyond her mother. Sure, this melodrama sounds as depressing as you can imagine because there is nothing far-fetched about it.

“Precious” ranks as a compelling and gripping cinematic experience with its kitchen-sink realism about intolerance, incest and abuse. What takes "Precious" to another level of celluloid sophistication is that Daniels takes us into the head of his protagonist, and we see everything from Precious' perspective in terms of her dreams and aspirations. Precious yearns to have a light-skinned boyfriend, beautiful clothes, and fame. Daniels stages some incredibly surreal moments. We see Precious' thoughts turned into a movie that she is watching on her mom’s television, Vittorio De Sica’s “Two Women,” about Italian refugees during World War II that adds another dimension to her wretched predicament. Precious has to cook all of Mary’s meals and if Mary doesn’t like the food she makes Precious eat it. Apparently, Precious gained weight because Mary made her eat food even when she was not hungry. This abuse is alluded to in “Two Women” as Precious watches it from her warped perspective. Another extraordinary scene occurs in Precious’ bedroom as she is applying her make-up. The image reflected in the mirror is of a blond poster girl that occupies space on her wall. This ironic moment captures the escapist fantasies that fuel Precious’s life and she falls back on her imagination to evade the constant harassment of her mother and her ugly physical environment. Musician Lenny Kravitz appears a supporting role as a sympathetic male hospital nurse who takes care of Precious while she is in the hospital. Movies about social workers and the victims of parental abuse will never be the same after "Precious." Who would have thought that such an unrelentingly dire story with a first-time actress would have the sledgehammer impact that it delivers!

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE STRANGER'' (1946)

A patient, pipe-smoking Edward G. Robinson pursues an elusive Nazi war criminal Orson Welles in his third movie set after World War II. This tightly-knit, black and white, film noir thriller co-starring Loretta Young, Richard Long, and Billy House as Mr. Potter. The technical credits are beyond reproach, especially Russell Metty’s first-rate cinematography, Ernest Nims’ evocative editing, and top-flight performances by a uniformly superb cast. No, “The Stranger” (*** out of ****) isn’t as tour-de-force as “Touch of Evil,” but “The Stranger” ranks as one of Welles’ more palatable melodramas with intrigue and atmosphere galore. Anybody that enjoys a gripping cat and mouse nail-biter should find themselves wrapped up in this edgy yarn. It helps considerably that the hero is a rather ordinary fellow blessed with superior intuition that a cunning, cold-blooded villain challenges right up to his comeuppance. Robinson’s mousy detective, Orson Welles’ cornered Nazi war fugitive, and Loretta Young’s deceived wife who stands poised between them make this movie worth watching several times.

According to the Internet Movie Database, “The Stranger” represented the first Hollywood movie to show the infamous Nazi concentration camps. Furthermore, “The Stranger” remains Welles’ only film to make a profit, and the lean, mean, no-nonsense pacing underlines the brilliant simplicity of this film. Welles appears at his least pretentious, creating not only solid, three-dimensional characters with his hero, heroine, and villain, but also conjuring up the conservative mind-set in an entire community in a remote corner of Connecticut, far removed from the outside world. You feel like you’re watching a white-knuckled thriller in the setting of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Ironically, for all its virtues, Welles had little complimentary to say about “The Stranger.” Many sources quote him as saying the “The Stranger” qualifies as “the worst of my films. There is nothing of me in that picture. I did it to prove I could put out a movie as well as anyone else." This alone distinguishes Welles and makes “The Stranger” loom even larger in his oeuvre. Clearly, “The Stranger” isn’t something that you can easily dismiss, even when most copies are public domain prints.

A tireless government investigator, Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson of “Little Caesar”), with the Allied War Crimes Commission, Department 12 finds himself at the end of his tether. Wilson has been hot on the trail of a notorious Nazi officer, Franz Kindler, who--in Wilson’s words--evinced “the most brilliant of the Nazi minds” and conceived the theory of genocide, mass depopulation of conquered countries so that regardless of who won the war, Germany would emerge the strongest in Europe, biologically speaking.” Kindler disappeared after the war and destroyed all clues to his identity from Poland and Germany, and nobody has been able to find him. Wilson convinces his reluctant colleagues to release from prison convicted Nazi war criminal Konrad Meinike (Konstantin Shayne of "Vertigo") in hopes that the latter will lead Wilson to Kindler. Wilson is prepared to shoulder the burden of the blame if his plan backfires. Indeed, he is so committed that he smashes his pipe on a table to drive his fanaticism home. Afterward, Wilson repairs the pipe, wrapping tape around the stem, and uses it as if it were none the worse for wear.

Meinike believes that God intervened on his behalf so he could escape from the Allied War Crime captors, and he sets out to find fellow Nazi Franz Kindler. Studio executives slashed about 30 minutes from the film as Meinike searches for Kindler in South America. Welles took issue with their decision to eliminate this part. In all fairness, however, they have accelerated the pace and brought the film to its setting in Harper, Connecticut where most of the action occurs. Sources say that producer Sam Siegel authorized the deletion because that half-hour slowed down the action. Nevertheless, Meinike learns of Kindler’s whereabouts when he obtains picture postcard with the image of a church steeple. Presto, Welles fades to the church in Connecticut and Meinike looks for History Professor Charles Rankin who teaches at the Harper School for Boys.

After he arrives in Harper, Meinike stashes his suitcase at Mr. Potter’s store. Although Potter amounts to little more than a peripheral character, Billy House’s chummy performance makes quite an impression. Largely, it is the way that Potter runs his store. Potter remains seated behind the cash register while his customers serve themselves and then pay him. Occasionally, he lures Wilson and Rankin separately in games of checkers, dons his visor, and beats them. Potter and his method of transacting business is a different as well as distinctive touch in another otherwise fascinating but formulaic film. Anyway, Meinike suspects that he may have been followed and uses gym equipment to knock Wilson unconscious. Meinike visits Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young of “Ladies Courageous”) in his search for Rankin. The meeting between Meinike and Mary turns out to be crucial and Mary discovers later on that not only her life but the life of her husband hangs by the string of that encounter. She directs him to Rankin and the two ex-Nazis meet his deep in the woods so that nobody can see them. Rankin strangles Meinike and conceals the corpse. Welles shows his villainous character seize Meinike by the throat, but then Rankin lowers Meinike behind a large bush and kills him with his bare hands. As the director, Welles supplements the scene with suspense because several college students are playing a paper chase game and cavorting in the woods. Frantically, Rankin scrambles to move the paper trail that is dangerously close to Meinike’s body.

Not long afterward, the cold-blooded Rankin marries Mary Longstreet. Meanwhile, Wilson noses around Harper and masquerades as an antiques dealer compiling a catalog of Paul Revere silver. He meets Mary’s father, liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale of “Adventure”) and receives an invitation to dinner one evening. Wilson suspects Rankin may be the evil Kindler because clocks obsess both men. Furthermore, Rankin has been repairing a church clock that has been inactive for years. During the conversation at the Longstreet residence, Rankin makes a comment that incriminates him in Wilson’s eyes. Rankin makes a disparaging observation about Karl Marx that Wilson initially dismisses. Later, Rankin drives Mary’s dog Red away from digging up the corpse. When Rankin kicks Red, the film cuts to Wilson waking up to the realization that Rankin is Kindler. “Who but a Nazi would deny that Karl Marx was a German because he was a Jew? Earlier, Wilson was prepared to leave Harper, deciding that Rankin was “above suspicion.”

Eventually, Meinike’s body is found and Mary stands between her husband and justice. Wilson enlists the aid of Mary’s brother Noah (Richard Long of “The Big Valley”) and they keep an eye on her. Eventually, they discover the dead dog. Rankin begins to get nervous and concocts a story (not unlike the George Stevens’ movie “A Place in the Sun”) about a boating accident and the accidental death of a girlfriend and how a relative has tracked him down and tries to blackmail. Rankin confides in Mary that he had to kill the blackmailer and convinces her not to aid the authorities. Mary becomes the weakest link in the plot. She really believes that her husband is incapable of having committed heinous acts of genocide. Stoutly, she defends him against his accusers. Rankin realizes that Mary represents a threat so he tries to arrange it so that she will visit him in the church steeple and fall to her death while climbing a ladder to the belfry. Mary’s housekeeper distracts Mary so that she cannot keep her appointment with Rankin while he establishes his alibi by playing checkers with Mr. Potter. Instead, Wilson climbs the ladder and nearly dies. The indefatigable Wilson closes in on Mary. He shows the concentration camp films to both Mary and her father and tries to rattle Mary, but she stands by Rankin.

The biggest flaw in “The Stranger” is how did Rankin arrive in America and acquire a job as a college teacher. Sometime John Huston collaborator Anthony Veiller penned the screenplay that leaves out some important information that occurred during the missing South America scenes, but for the most part, Veiller and other writers who worked on “The Stranger” supply us with most of what we need to know. Veiller wrote “The Night of the Iguana,” “The List of Adrien Messenger,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Beat the Devil” for Huston. Previously, Veiller had contributed his writing skills to Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” series. Veiller’s collaborator on “The Stranger” was German born Victor Trivas who received an Oscar nomination for penning the original story that Veiller rewrote as the screenplay. The ending atop the church steeple is a corker!