Movie Review-I Loved Lucy

FLICK PICK: LUCY 

Luc: You've Got Some Explainin' To Do

I love offbeat sci-fi and this one, written and directed by Luc Besson, is mind blowing--literally. Great villains, interesting visuals and nice performances by leads and support cast. Scarlett Johansson is convincing as the victim of drug ingestion by smugglers, who don't realize their cargo turns our cutie into a mental giant (think T-Rex scale). And there are interesting moral questions posed as she gets smarter, some of which are tackled by Hollywood's ever-present sage, Morgan Freeman. There's great action and the bad guys are sardonic and lethal. Because I like Besson's pacing and nutty story lines, I forgive a few flaws, chief among them lack of a script extension that would explain or provide a hint as to what humankind is to do with seriously increased brainpower. Seems a straight-forward query but it's not as clear-cut as you might think. But from the mind who brought us La Femme Nikita, The Professional, and The Fifth Element . . . I expect a smidgen more thought.

Movie Review-J.B. Got It Done!

FLICK PICK: GET ON UP

Dead or Alive, Still Hardest Working Man in Show Biz

You know you've given a helluva performance when the crowd at the Smithsonian starts talking back to the screen. During certain portions of "Get On Up," the James Brown biopic, folks at this special preview went from urbane to old-school urban. And that's a good thing because Chadwick Boseman, star of the Jackie Robinson film story, "42," poured his heart and soul into the role. Boseman is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford, England. He needed every bit of academic training (and endless dance rehearsals) to conquer the character of the man who put "funk" in American music. The splits, yelps and mush-mouth are performed with dignity, not imitated. The music spotlights the scores of hits that have kept butts shaking for more than a half-century. The entire cast was wonderful, with special props to Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, and Brandon Smith, whose Little Richard cameo was infused with honesty, warmth and humor.