DVD Review: Undercover Brother (B)

Undercover Brother (2002)
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee
Starring Eddie Griffin, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards and David Chappelle
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

Do you like blaxploitation movies? How about wacky comedies? You say you like both? Then this movie is for you. Undercover Brother combines the two genres and the results are way better than even I expected. Wisely avoiding the bathroom humor that has dragged down the Austin Powers franchise, director Malcolm D. Lee (Spike Lee's cousin) has come out of the gate with a possible comedy franchise of his own with Undercover Brother. The jokes are light hearted and even though there is a little bit of skewering going on, everything is kept in a very positive light.

Eddie Griffin stars as the Undercover Brother, a secret agent that is enlisted to bring down The Man. He is backed up by fellow agents Sistah Girl (Aunjanue Ellis) and Conspiracy Brother (Dave Chappelle) and their organization known as The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood finds out that The Man is an actual person that runs an evil organization to keep African Americans down. There is a pretty funny scene where the Brotherhood tries to explain all of this to the Undercover Brother: Anton Jackson: Are you telling me there really is a 'The Man'?
Conspiracy Brother: What do you think? Things don't just happen by accident! Sometimes people - mostly *white* people - make things happen!
Anton Jackson: So the conspiracies we've believed for all these years are true? The NBA really did institute the three point shot to give white boys a chance?
Conspiracy Brother: Of course!
Anton Jackson: Hollywood really *is* out to get Spike Lee?
Conspiracy Brother: Come on man! Even Cher's won an Oscar! Cher!
Anton Jackson: Then O.J. really didn't do it?
[Everyone looks away and mumbles]

Based on the web based Flash cartoon of the same name, Undercover Brother has a very slick look to it. The clothes (fresh 70's garb) and funky music (handled by Stanley Clarke) combine to provide a nice background for the proceedings. Undercover Brother is fast paced and well acted. Its not that insightful but it is packed full of laughs.

Looking for a nice, light comedy that has great music and a lot of style? Undercover Brother should do the trick.

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DVD Review: Possession of Nurse Sherri, The (D)

The Possession Of Nurse Sherri (1977)
Directed by Al Adamson
Starring Jill Jacobson, Geoffrey Land and Marilyn Joi
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: D

Review by Bobby Nashville

Everybody knows by now that I love bad movies. While The Possession of Nurse Sherri definitely qualifies as a very bad movie it unfortunately is not bad enough to work as a comedy. Certainly at times there are some hilarious moments (like when people are shown driving around for minutes at a time for no reason), but for the most part this one is just a stinker.

The Possession of Nurse Sherri is one of those crappy 70s drive in horror films that has been repackaged and released under a new name. In fact, you might have already seen The Possession of Nurse Sherri under any of the following titles:
Black Voodoo, Hands of Death, Hospital of Terror, Killer's Curse, Beyond the Living, or my favorite: Terror Hospital.

The basic story here, if you can call it that, entails a nurse being possessed with the evil spirit of a recently deceased cult leader. This guy was a cross between Wink Martindale and Satan. Anway he dies and some weird blue vapors escape him in search of a new body. Sherri gets the funk and immediately wanders around the hospital trying to kill people with a knife, mumbling about how she "feels kind of funny". That certainly made two of us at that point.

The doctors at Nurse Sherri's hospital seem more interested in sorting out their love lives than trying to figure out exactly what's going on and apparently there are no police in their town. The dialogue is stupid, the acting is laughable and the lame attempts at eroticism are not even close.

Usually I like movies this bad, but the bad bits in this one were a little too few and far between to keep my interest. Avoid checking into this hospital of terror. There are certainly better bad movies out there (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers anyone?) for a few laughs and chills.

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DVD Review: Mighty Wind, A (B+)

Mighty Wind, A (2003)
Directed by Christopher Guest
Starring Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban, Fred Willard, Ed Begley Jr.
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

The Spinal Tap "mockumentary" tradition continues to be served well by director and actor Christopher Guest. The hilarious film A Mighty Wind is another well acted ensemble comedy that is highly recommended.

This time around, Guest's story concerns a reunion concert of some of the leading folk music acts, including The Folksmen (basically the Spinal Tap band as a folk group) and Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara). The quirky characters developed by Guest and the rest of the ensemble are fascinating. Levy's character has obviously done way too much acid, Parker Posey's character seems like a cheerleader on too much caffeine and Fred Willard's character (a washed up tv star) is obsessed with some obscure catch phrase that never was that popular to begin with (Wha' Happened?!).

Similar to the hilarious Best In Show and Waiting for Guffman, this ensemble comedy is a refreshing change of pace to the mindless comedies that the major studios keep foisting on the public. Guest is to be commended for this fantastic indie comedy. Highly recommended.

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