REVIEW: GENE-FUSION (2011)
Gene-Fusion (2011), is an animated feature about a sport in the year 2310 in which specially trained athletes called “Fusers” design their own super-creature that combine three forms of animal DNA. The creature creations then battle in a gladiator-type setting, their fusers in the ring directing their creature in battle. The creator of gene-fusion, Eddie Leechur, is a money-driven showman whose only goal in life is to continue making loads of money and further his already incredibly popular unique sport in gene-fusion. Leechur and Gorath went with Bam to Mexico fifteen years ago to obtain a powerful gene from an alien being that looked like it was supposed to represent an ancient Mayan god or deity. This alien surrounds itself with powerful flying lizards, almost gargoyle-looking in nature, and their is some sort of deal that went on between Eddie Leechur and the alien creature that ended up going bad. It resulted in the Leechur stealing the alien DNA, which I believe is what Gorath has fused in to him which made him such a superior fighter.
In present day times, these flying lizard aliens attack a school and kidnap four young individuals for some sort of gene-fusing I am assuming. Gorath, Leechur, and Bam go back to Mexico, rescue the kids, and lie to them about why they were chosen to be kidnapped by the alien monster and offer them a chance to be trained as fusers, which all of them agree to immediately. As far as I could tell from watching Gene-Fusion, that is the gist of the plot. After watching it twice, I am still not 100% sure what exactly was the origin of the alien deity, as it looked like some sort of Mayan god or emperor, but I guess it does not matter because the movie was entertaining, but the plot was average at best. The CGI animation totally reminded me of that cartoon ReBoot, of which I have only caught portions of episodes because I am more of a fan of Japanimation and standard cartoons. I am not sure how much I like the CGI animation trend and style that seems to be here for the long-run until a new type of digital animation looms upon the horizon. Watching the film I just kept being reminded of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, both of which are card games which the users create and collect different creatures and powers to defeat other opponents. That really was the vibe of Gene-Fusion, except the creators threw in some ancient Mayan alien from Mexico to stir things up by being cast as the supremely evil villain, as well as an underground group of extremists that feel the whole world should be able to be fusers and gene-fusion should not be limited to being controlled by just Eddie Leechur and his company.
The film was directed by Francois Brisson, known for directing Les exploits d’Arsene Lupin, an animated French-Canadian tv series from the ’90s. The film is based off of a comic-book created by Jeff Amano, a very talented comic-book cover artist as well as having worked on Yu-Gi-Oh. Amano has done the covers for Red Warrior: Assassin for the Thieves World (2006), Terminator 3 (2003), and Robin Hood of the 47 Samurai (2005)-as well as a handful other comic-book covers. Gene-Fusion was written by Gabriel Benson (Fade from Grace, The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty) and produced by Shaun McLaughlin (Batman Beyond, Justice League Unlimited), as well as starring Nicolas Canuel, Mark William Hauser, Kaniehtiio Horn, and Alison Louder. The characters in the film follow the typical protocol and characteristics to offer the plot some contrast and conflict. We have a meathead jock, a nerdy tech-geek, a hot and ditzy blonde cheerleader, and a smart yet athletic gymnast. Talk about a stereotypical choice of characters. I guess I can’t fault the filmmakers for this because this movie was intended for children to be watched on a Saturday morning while wolfing down a bowl of sugary Fruit Loops. One particular writer who has reviewed this film also, mentioned that the characters could have easily been replaced by Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Fred. That really is the perfect analogy to this film’s character traits of the four young fusers.
I am a semi-avid comic-book collector and total nerd for all things drawn, love animated features and cartoons, and for the most part, was generally entertained. Aside from myself being confused as to the origin of some aspects of the film (I may have just been enjoying the animated action sequences and focusing more on the art than the actual dialogue), I did enjoy this feature. It is not some ground-breaking piece of digital animation like Avatar was, but it still think it’s a pretty solid feature that entertains. I kind of am bringing my intellect down to a 7 or 8-year olds level when I am saying that last sentence. I think that if I was not in my early 30′s and instead was a young boy I would really have enjoyed this feature. Again, my only complaint would be that I would have wanted to see some skimpier outfits on the women and have their be some longer and more violent action sequences. I think that these additions to Gene-Fusion would have been my needs and wants at 7 years old, especially if I was that young in THIS day and age.
I think that when I compare its entertainment value, to old-school cartoons like G.I. Joe or Transformers, Gene-Fusion falls far below them, but those were some of my fondest memories of cartoons I enjoyed while growing up. At least those cartoons had some smarter humor with a little bit of an edge to them, if not possessing the technology (I am referring to the original G.I. Joe and Transformers from the ’80s). They also had some kick-ass toys to accompany them which always makes watching the cartoon funner in the eyes of a young boy.
The MTI Home Video release of Gene-Fusion on dvd includes trailers, Closed Captioning, a 16:9 widescreen format, 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound, and optional Spanish subtitles.
I really would be curious to sit down with a young kid while watching it and see what his or her take on the movie would be. I think that more action sequences would be called for to keep the viewer attentive and continually stimulated. I felt that more gladiator battle sequences would have helped out movie greatly, as well as the level of violence being upped and some sexual innuendo thrown in, as so many modern day cartoons do in programs generally intended for adults. Overall, I say animation buffs have probably seen much better animated features spawning from comic-book titles and series and would put my money on those rather than Gene-Fusion.
REVIEW: Chicago Overcoat (2009)
The Mob. The Outfit. The Mafia. There are many names for (La) Cosa Nostra (the FBI added the “la” to the title), but all of them instill fear into those who have dealt with them and gotten to be on their bad side. Their enemies ended up riddled with machine gun bullets are or found swimming with fishes-their bodies chopped up nicely like the cuts of beef your mother picks up at the local butcher to bring home for dinner.
Newcomer Brian Caunter makes his directorial debut with Chicago Overcoat, an extremely well cast and well-shot independent Action/Crime Drama starring an array of actors and actresses typecast for starring in Italian gangster films. Chicago Overcoat begins with the Chicago Outfits’s top mob boss Stefano D’Agnostino, played by Armand Assante (American Gangster, Hoffa) locked up in the pen and serving time and is awaiting his trial date. His lawyer informs him that he could cut a deal with the D.A. and get out of serving a longer sentence and possibly serve no time at all. When a high-profile union representative is arrested for tax fraud, D’Agnostino orders a hit on key witnesses before the government can build its case up uncovering a conspiracy that involves dirty cops, city officials, and mob affiliates. D’Agnostino is old-school and does not rat out or snitch on anyone, even to save his own ass and, instead, decides to put a hit out on key witnesses and prosecutors involved in the case. The job is up for any mobster to take, but the job only paying gang-banger prices. Veteran mobster and aging hit man Lou Marazano, portrayed by Frank Vincent (Goodfellas, The Sopranos), troubled with his daughter’s mobbed-up ex-husband’s lack of financial support for their boy, he really could use the money as well as reliving some of his old glory days as one of the most notorious and deadly murder-for-hires on the streets of Chicago.
Frank Vincent carries Chicago Overcoat
Acting street boss Lorenzo Galante (Mike Starr, Goodfellas, Dumb & Dumber) begins to get fed up with Marazano’s behavior once things begin to heat up with him and his daughter’s ex Joey Casso (Mark Vallarta), who also happens to be part of the Cicero crew and soon to be “family”, warning him that once certain things between the two outfits go through, things better be squashed from there on out. As Marazano gets back to doing what he does best, reliving his glory days as a leading hit man and killing off the key witnesses and sending flowers to the family of the murdered, an aging, burnt-out cop Ralph Maloney (Danny Goldring) and retired cop Ray Berkowski (Stacy Keach, W., American History X) recall a string of hits performed 20 years ago where the killer delivered flowers to the victim’s family as his calling card.
With the money from all three hits, Marazano plans to retire out West to Las Vegas, where it’s dry and warm, with his girlfriend Lorraine Lionello (Kathrine Narducci, A Bronx Tale, The Sopranos) but when Galante decides enough is enough and the again hit man needs to take a permanent vacation, Maranzano decides to grab his Tommy Gun hanging on the wall in his apartment and show his outfit how the “Chicago Typewriter” got its name.
Mike Starr (middle) runs the Chicago Outfit in Chicago Overcoat
The charm and appeal that Chicago Overcoat had for me was that it was entirely filmed in and around Chicago, from the neighborhood of Pilsen to the abandoned factories on the South Side, to Little Italy and the South Loop. So many movies use Chicago as their film’s setting, but don’t actually film the movie in Chicago for most of the picture, instead shooting key location scenes and then filming the rest in a studio in Hollywood or go up to Canada to shoot in Toronto (a lot of film productions use Toronto and other areas of Canada as the setting for Chicago, New York, etc.) mainly because the city somewhat resembles the Windy City and is far cheaper to film in the country of our friendly neighbors to the North.
One of the more famous locations and establishments shot at was The Green Mill (4802 N. Broadway Avenue, Uptown, Chicago) where many other films with local talent from Chicago also filmed, while casting such big named locals as Vince Vaughn and John Cusack, in films such as High Fidelity, The Break-Up, and The Dilemma or others just using parts of Chicago such as The Lake House, Kissing a Fool, Public Enemies, Goodfellas, The Untouchables, Adventures in Babysitting, The Fugitive, and so-on and so-forth.
The scenes containing mob boss D’Agnostino locked up in prison were shot in Joliet Prison, in Joliet, IL. This prison has been used in such famous films as John Landis’ The Blues Bros., starring Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi, as well as season one of Fox’s television drama Prison Break. Joliet Prison was shutdown in February of 2011, originally intending to be shut down once the construction and opening of Statesville Prison in Crestville, IL was completed in 1925. This never happened and both prisons ran and operated simultaneously until Joliet Prison’s closure in 2011.
Another location used in Chicago Overcoat was Rosa’s Lounge (3420 W. Armitage Ave), located on Chicago’s near north side, in the neighborhood of Logan Square. Rosa’s Lounge is a family-owned and operated blues club by an Italian immigrant who came to Chicago in 1978 after meeting Jr. Wells in Milan. Rosa’s opened in 1984, named after Tony’s mother who followed him here to Chicago to help.
One of the charms to Chicago Overcoat was the films use of Blues music throughout the film, adding another bit of Chicago’s history, past, and culture to a film whose subject matter is The Chicago Outfit, one of the city’s most infamous mob outfits in current times. Chicago has always been known as a “gangster city”, with Al Capone putting the city on the map with crime and murder, helping the rest of the world to easily associate the Windy City with the negative connotations of guns, crime, and gangsters. Sadly, much of this is true, but another part of Chicago’s history was its blues and jazz clubs, excellent food, and the talented artists who resided within the city’s confines.
The film follows some suit from some other well-done and much larger budgeted mob-films, such as Goodfellas and A Bronx Tale (to name just two), by having the lead character, in this case Frank Vincent, narrating the story as the action and drama ensues. I loved it in Goodfellas and I love it in Chicago Overcoat. Besides, Frank Vincent is the true definition of what I consider the way in which a mobster acts, talks, walks, and behaves. Caunter cast everyone in this film perfectly, as all the cast members have been in plenty of films either being portrayed as members of an Italian family rich in its ethnicity, a criminal Italian family deep in mob activity, or just very ethnic Italian-Americans.
Chicago Overcoat, produced by John W. Bosher (Broke, Devil’s Dominoes), and shot on an estimated budget of 3.2 million, does not look like one of your “run-of-the-mill” indie features. The film was very well-shot by cinematographer Kevin Moss, who has only shot some 35mm film shorts, PSA’s, and a music video. Chicago Overcoat looks to be his first full-length film feature. The screenplay, written by Josh Staman (Deadfall Trail), Andrew Dowd, John W. Bosher, and Brian Caunter, moves along at a swift pace, full of action, historical references, and Chicago nuances and phrases integrated within the films’ story (“There are only two seasons in Chicago- Construction and Winter.”) It was small contributions such as this that make this film a unique and memorable film that the city of Chicago can be proud to have its name associated with.
The film debuted at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2009 taking “Best of the Fest“. It also won “Best Dramatic Feature” at the 2010 Garden State Film Festival, “Best Cinematography” at the 2010 Midwest Independent Film Festival, and “Best Male Performance” (Nomination) at the 2010 Milan International Film Festival Awards and premiered on the Showtime Network on cable on December 6th, 2010.
For those who are fans of mob films, the city of Chicago, and hard-edged crime dramas with solid acting from an array of names in Hollywood that are generally associated with gangster pictures, Chicago Overcoat is an indie treasure amongst a sea of low-budget pictures that are lacking in story, acting, and overall content. Frank Vincent, always giving a solid performance (I absolutely loved his performance in Goodfellas, as short as it was) carries the film as the lead character, Lou Marazano, in Chicago Overcoat. I may be just a little bit biased in my review of the film, being a native of the Chicagoland area my whole life, but not since The Untouchables have I seen a gangster film taking place in Chicago utilize actual shot locations in the city so well or in the current television broadcast The Chicago Code, span across so many neighborhoods while staying true to Chicago’s way of life. Granted, parts of Goodfellas and Public Enemies, all take place, at times, in the beloved Windy City, but Chicago Overcoat portrays a major modern crime organization with the city’s flavor and attitude that it is most famous for.
Special Features included on the dvd two behind-the-scenes documentaries- “What is a Chicago Overcoat?” and “The Tommy Gun Shootout”, along with deleted scenes, trailers, and optional Spanish subtitles. Shot on a 16:9 widescreen format with a 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound, the film looks and sounds beautiful. Chicago Overcoat is one of the best films MTI Home Video has released in recent years. I highly recommend picking up this gritty gangster drama with an all-star cast, especially for current and past natives of Chicago and fans of the city.
CITIZEN DUANE (2006)
Sometimes one comes across a film that has much more of an impact on one than initially expected or inconceivably thought to ever occur to one to ever have such a lasting effect upon. That film may, or may not be, Citizen Duane. Nonetheless, Michael Mabbot’s indie comedy about a modern-day, teenage Don Quixote, Duane Balfour, whom has a personal grudge against the mayor, her mean-spirited and rich grandson, and the whole tiny town of Ridgeburg really got me to thinking. Partly, because I have heard the name Don Quixote but never was familiar with what some refer to as the “most influential work of literature in the Spanish Golden Age in the Spanish literary canon.” Sadly, I have not read Don Quixote and when while reading the many plot synopses for Citizen Duane the story and name Don Quixote was referred to several times, I had to read a quick overview of what the story was all about.
Apparently, the reference is in regards to the main character of Citizen Duane, Duane Balfour played superbly by Douglas Smith (Blast from the Past, Santa’s Slay), whom decides to go on a personal conquest to destroy one particular thorn in society (in his head, anyways) and stop at nothing to destroy his life. Unfortunately, Duane Balfour is not physically endowed enough to beat the shit out of Chad Milton, nor do any of his hair-brained antics such as mounting his brother’s (Devon Bostick) Schwinn with saw blades, iron spikes, axes, and sharp knives and using it to ram into Chad Milton’s SUV, ever seem to work out just as planned.
The film goes on with one retarded plot falling apart after another, but one has to sympathize with Duane Balfour, for his father was shot and killed by Ridgeburg police while brandishing a shotgun on top of a rocky cliff while ranting about how the igneous rock upon which the town is built around is going to collapse and cave in upon the new building site that the rich and powerful Milton family have chosen to build a new housing site right on top of. Duane’s father, whose raving antics about death and destruction befalling upon the tiny town of Ridgeburg, had earned him the title of “town doomsayer” and ultimately to his untimely death really had a negative impact on Duane Balfour, or so we think.
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| Duane Balfour (Douglas Smith) and Miss Houston (Vivica A. Fox) |
The plot that has the most lasting effect on him, his mother, brother, uncle, and at times his girlfriend- are when he decides to run for mayor of the town and take the town back from the Milton’s (Chad Milton’s grandmother is Ridgeburg’s mayor and has been for 6 years running) grasp. The life-lessons Duane learns about people and their nature help him to see the bigger picture in life and cause him to reevaluate his prior choices and decisions in life he made. Plenty of things go wrong throughout the campaign and many of the mishaps give those watching the film a chuckle here and there.
I think what is most important about this film and one of the most redeeming values in it is the film’s less than subtle message, at times so eloquently stated in the film by none other than ebony heartthrob Vivica A. Fox (television and film actress whom I remember fondly as playing the part of Vernita Green a.k.a. “Copperhead” as a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad in Kill Bill Vol.1). Miss Houston (Fox) is the one teacher in Duane’s life that sees him for possessing some real potential for making a difference in life and outgrowing the constraining small-town mentality that Ridgeburg is comprised of. Miss Houston tells Duane that in his ever on-going crusade to destroy Chad Milton he should remember this:
“The Chad Miltons of the world will stay in this town for the rest of their lives. For them, the world is a small place….You are going to graduate and leave Ridgeburg and eventually do whatever it is that you want to do. The world is a big place for you Duane-not for Chad. He’ll look back at high school as his glory days. Set your sights higher, Duane.”
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| Miss Houston (Vivica A. Fox) spiting out some worthwhile knowledge |
Damn, I wish I had a teacher or high school counselor that broke it down that way to me in regards to the rich, stronger, or far more popular bullies, jocks, and “preppies”. Granted, I stayed out of fights at school and did not get into too much trouble on school grounds, I remember how much I hated high school and envied the rich and popular kids who had everything handed to them on a fucking silver platter. (Can one see the scathing vapor and steam trails that are being released from my skin as I’m typing this review?)
The bottom line and moral of this story in this film is that in the end, high school sucks and those that one perceives as having it all may only be for a very short period in life and in the end their lives’ are going to suck very hard and won’t be a life ANYONE will be envying. I do know for a fact that sometimes this does not always happen and so that had it all during their high school years sometimes go on to having it all in their adult years as well.
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| Duane (Douglas Smith) having some beers with Uncle Bingo (Donal Logue) |
I think that this movie entertained me so much because not only did it have a redeeming message and some value in its message, but it also was supported by believable performances, underlying sarcasm and sophomoric humor, and well-shot scenes, engaging dialogue, and a competent cast of characters filling the screen. Granted, I had never heard of this film before and was more than pleasantly surprised at the outcome of the film’s finale, which may have been not much of a surprise, but was a welcomed one.
Some of the more humorous scenes involving the conversations that Duane and his boozing, track-betting, Uncle Bingo (Donal Logue) have (who also happens to own and run a local drinking hole) when Duane needs some “fatherly” advice that his mother can’t fulfill due to the fact that she has a vagina and thinks like a woman. A father, whether a stellar role-model or a total deadbeat, goes a long way in influencing a young man, whether that be in a negative or positive way. In some levels, maybe Citizen Duane is not only the tale of a young, driven man set out on fighting the good fight and not ever allowing himself to be suppressed by the Chad Milton’s of the world, but also a story on how one teenager deals with the loss and shame of his father being shot down while shaming the family’s name with his insanity.
The film, having worked on the many levels that one’s intellect, heart, and humor thrive upon, was a film that is both inspiring and uplifting. I felt a little twinge of hope for humanity and the common good of man (only a twinge, mind you!). Citizen Duane is another indie film that MTI Home Video has released and really surprised me with. I am glad to have spent my time watching this film for its lessons, entertainment, and morals. Now if there had been senseless violence, gore, and sex-it would have been a masterpiece!
