Tag Archives: Kelsey Grammer

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, directed by Brett Ratner)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Just as the world seems to be finally on the verge of accepting mutants, industrialist Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) announces that he has developed a shot that will suppress the X-gene, therefore “curing” mutants of their mutation. Magneto (Ian McKellen), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), and a host of other mutants break out of prison to try to stop Worthington from offering up his cure. Meanwhile, at Charles Xavier’s school, Rogue (Anna Paquin) wonders if maybe she should take the shot and become a “normal” person.

Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) have an even bigger concern than Magneto and the cure. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), thought to have died at the end of the previous movie, has returned but has given in to her dark side, the so-called Phoenix. She’s already destroyed Scott (James Marsden), and it doesn’t take her long to disintegrate Professor X. Can Logan and the Beast (Kelsey Grammer) rally what’s left of the X-Men to defeat both Magneto and the Dark Phoenix?

I can still remember seeing X-Men: The Last Stand on the day that it was first released. As an X-Men fan, I was excited to see how the Dark Phoenix storyline would be adapted for the big screen. It’s difficult to put into words how disappointed I was when Jean killed Scott. That one scene told me that X-Men: The Last Stand was not going to do the story justice. In the comic books, Jean and Scott’s relationship was the heart of the X-Men. When Jean became the Dark Phoenix, she proved herself capable of destroying an entire planet, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill Scott. She chose to destroy herself rather than him. (Marvel being Marvel, Jean was resurrected a few years later.) The X-Men films never really knew what to do with the characters of Scott and Jean. They weren’t as flamboyant as Logan or even Rogue, but fans of the comic knew who Scott and Jean were and understood their importance to the series, and having Jean destroy Scott showed that, unlike the previous two films, the third X-Men film was not being made for the fans.

A large part of the problem was that director Brett Ratner didn’t seem to be interested in the characters. X-Men: The Last Stand is a collection of action scenes with none of the small character moments that made the first two films memorable. Kelsey Grammer is a welcome addition to the cast as the Beast. (The Beast always was basically Frasier Crane with blue fur.) Otherwise, this is the most forgettable of all the X-Men films.

Even though the Dark Phoenix saga is one of the key X-Men storylines, it’s never really been given its due onscreen. A second attempt to tell the story, in Dark Phoenix, also failed to capture the drama and emotion of Jean’s transformation. The X-Men are now officially a part of the MCU, so I imagine the story will probably be told again. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Scenes That I Love: The Rumble from Money Plane

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Andrew Lawrence’s birthday!

Who is Andrew Lawrence?  He is the director of the greatest film ever made, Money Plane!  Today’s scene that I love comes from that 2020 masterpiece.  In this scene, Kelsey Grammer gives what may be his greatest performance.

Embracing The Melodrama: The God Committee (dir by Austin Stark)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

First released (after being delayed by the COVID lockdowns) in 2021, The God Committee tells the story of a group of doctors faced with a difficult decision.

They’re the so-called God Committee, the ones who have been tasked with deciding which one of their patients will be receiving a new heart.  When the original “next name on this list” suddenly dies while being prepped for surgery, it comes down to three other possibilities.  One is a cranky old woman who has said that she doesn’t even want a new heart.  Another is a middle-aged, obese Black family man who suffers from bipolar disorder and who, years earlier, attempted to commit suicide.  And finally, there’s a young white guy who is famous for his addictions and his wild lifestyle.  He’s just arrived at the hospital, in critical condition.  Normally, his history of cocaine addiction would rule him out as a possible recipient but his father (Dan Hedaya) is rich and the hospital is in desperate need of money.

“I’m not going to let a good heart go to waste,” the brilliant Dr. Andre Boxer (Kelsey Grammer) says and he has a point.  Most candidates for a heart transplant die before a suitable heart is found.  This heart, taken from a teenage boy was hit by a car while returning home from a date, is a good one but it won’t stay viable forever.  Boxer, who is scheduled to leave the hospital in another month to set up his own private practice, is torn between the candidates.  Dr. Valerie Gilroy (Janeane Garofalo) and Father Dunbar — a disbarred lawyer-turned-priest — both feel the heart should go to the patient whose father can afford to fund the hospital.  Even if the decision is made just for the money, it’ll still do some good.  Dr. Jordan Taylor (Julie Stiles), who is Dr. Boxer’s former lover, is not so sure.  Psychiatrist Dr. Allen Lau (Peter Kim) recuses himself from voting for personal reasons and Nurse Wilkes (Patricia R. Floyd) eventually casts a vote that takes everyone by surprise.

While the God Committee debates who should get the heart, the film occasionally flashes forward.  Dr. Boxer, who is now dying and in need of a heart transplant himself, is working on a project that, if successful, will revolutionize the organ transplant business.  But will he survive long enough to see it completed?  Dr. Taylor, now in charge of the God Committee, tracks him down and asks him if he’s ready to see his son.  Though it takes a while for us to understand why and how, the decision that Doctors Boxer and Taylor made in the past will continue to have repercussions in the present.

The God Committee is based on a play.  Even if I didn’t already know that, I would have guessed as much from watching the film.  The God Committee is type of melodrama that tends to work better on stage than on film.  The artificiality of the stage allows for a story to be a bit overbaked and heavy handed.  On the other hand,  as a film, The God Committee‘s arguments are stacked so heavily to one side that it weighs down the plot.  It’s not enough for the rich candidate to be a former drug addict.  He also has to beat his pregnant girlfriend and leave her with a roadmap of cuts crisscrossing across her face.  It’s not for the good candidate to simply be a nice guy with a family.  Instead, he’s presented as being almost saintly.  There’s nothing subtle about it.

Fortunately, the talented cast steps up and keeps the story from going off the rails, with Julia Stiles, Colman Domingo, and Kelsey Grammer especially bringing some much-needed shading and nuance to their roles.  Grammer especially does well as the genius who can save lives and change the world but who struggles to connect with anyone on an emotional level.  In the end, The God Committee works due to the strength of its performers, all of whom bring their characters to multi-layered life and who remind us that it’s never easy to play God.

Icarus File No. 21: Reach Me (dir by John Herzfeld)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2011 film, Reach Me, opens with a rapper named E-Ruption (Nelly) appearing on a morning show and talking about how, while he was serving a prison sentence, he read a self-help book called Reach Me.  It asked him to consider whether or not his childhood self would be happy with his adult self.  The book was written by a mysterious man named Teddy Raymond.  No one knows who this Teddy Raymond is.  He’s never appeared in public.  People film themselves reading the book online and then upload to YouTube as a way of sharing Teddy’s wisdom.  I honestly can think of nothing more annoying and boring than watching someone else read a self-help book but whatever.  I live in Texas.  The movie takes place in California.

Tabloid editor Gerald (Sylvester Stallone) takes a break from action painting to order one of his reporters, Roger King (Kevin Connolly), to track down Teddy Raymond.  Roger wants to write the great American novel.  He doesn’t care about self-help.  He meets Teddy’s associates, Wilson (Terry Crews) and Kate (Lauren Cohan) and Wilson talks about how Teddy magically cured Kate’s stutter.  Roger then wanders around the beach, asking random people, “Teddy Raymond?  Are you Teddy Raymond?”  Oh look!  There’s a guy named Teddy (Tom Berenger) who reluctantly cures Roger of his smoking addiction by ordering Roger to yell at the ocean …. over and over and over again.

Collette (Kyra Segdwick) has just been released from prison.  Reading Teddy’s book has inspired her to try to become a fashion designer.  Collette’s daughter, Eve (Elizabeth Henstridge), is an aspiring actress who was earlier groped by a sleazy star named Keating (Cary Elwes).  Collette and Eve literally crash their car into a car being driven by Wolfie (Thomas Jane), a sociopathic undercover cop who enjoys killing people and who goes to confession after every shooting.  (At the start of the movie, he guns down Danny Trejo.)  The alcoholic priest, Father Paul (Danny Aiello), refuses to hear any more of his confessions.

Meanwhile, wannabe mob boss Frank (Tom Sizemore) is upset because another mob boss, Aldo (Kelsey Grammer), doesn’t treat him with any respect.  Frank sends two of his hitmen, Thumper (David O’Hara) and Dominic (Omari Hardwick), to kill a man who owes him money and to also shoot the man’s dog.  Thumper has been reading Teddy Raymond’s book and doesn’t want to shoot the dog.  Dominic realizes that his heart isn’t into the mob life so, taking the book’s message to heart, he calls Frank and says, “My heart’s not in it.”

(Don’t try that with any real mobsters.)

Eventually, all of the characters do come together.  They don’t exactly come together in a plausible manner but they do all end up at the same location so let’s give the film credit for that.  Let’s also give this film credit for leaving me seriously confused.  I have no idea whether this film was meant to a parody or a celebration of the self-help industry.  At first, I suspected that it meant to be a parody because all of Teddy Raymond’s advice was painfully shallow and the type of basic crap that anyone could come up with.  I actually found myself losing respect for the people who claimed that Teddy had changed their lives.  But at the movie progressed, I realized that I was supposed to take Teddy and his advice seriously.  This was a film that I guess was meant to have something to say but who knows what exactly that was.

That said — hey, everyone’s in this movie!  Director John Herzfeld was a former college roommate of Sylvester Stallone’s and, once Stallone agreed to appear, that apparently convinced a lot of other “name” actors to take the risk as well.  There’s a lot of talent in this film but little of it is used correctly.  Kelsey Grammer as an Italian mobster instead of the editor?  Sylvester Stallone as the editor instead of the Italian mobster?  Thomas Jane as a sociopath who has a girlfriend by the end of the movie, one who smiles and tells him, “Try not to shoot anyone?”  Kyra Sedgwick as an ex-con?  These are all good actors but just about everyone, with the exception of the much-missed Danny Aiello, is miscast.

It’s a true Icarus File.  It was a just a little more self-aware, this would have been a Guilty Pleasure.  But, in the end, self-help cannot help itself.

Previous Icarus Files:

  1. Cloud Atlas
  2. Maximum Overdrive
  3. Glass
  4. Captive State
  5. Mother!
  6. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
  7. Last Days
  8. Plan 9 From Outer Space
  9. The Last Movie
  10. 88
  11. The Bonfire of the Vanities
  12. Birdemic
  13. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection 
  14. Last Exit To Brooklyn
  15. Glen or Glenda
  16. The Assassination of Trotsky
  17. Che!
  18. Brewster McCloud
  19. American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally
  20. Tough Guys Don’t Dance

Down Periscope (1996, directed by David S. Ward)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After being passed over twice as a result of both a “brushing incident” with a Russian submarine and an embarrassing tattoo, Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer, playing Dodge as being the laid back opposite of Frasier Crane) has finally been promoted and given his own submarine to command.  The catch is that the submarine is a rusty piece of junk from World War II and he’s been assigned a crew of misfits.  Captain Dodge is to take part in a war game.  Admiral Winslow (Rip Torn) wants Dodge to prove that even an out-of-commission submarine can be dangerous by infiltrating Charleston Harbor undetected and then blowing up a dummy warship in Norfolk Harbor.  If Dodge is successful, he’ll get a nuclear submarine to command.  If he fails, he’ll be assigned of desk job and probably leave the Navy.  While the sympathetic Winslow encourages Dodge to “think like a pirate,” the antagonistic Admiral Graham (Bruce Dern) pulls out all the stops to make sure Dodge fails.

I imagine that Down Periscope was probably pitched as Police Academy In The Navy and it follows the general rules of the Police Academy films, right down to casting Lauren Holly as the one woman on the submarine who has to overcome her own insecurities and prove herself to all the men.  Unfortunately, none of the misfits on the crew are as memorable as the cadets from Police Academy and the movie’s attempts to mix juvenile humor with suspenseful naval action are not at all successful.  Having Rob Schneider go totally over the top as Dodge’s second-in-command while having William H. Macy give a serious performance as the captain assigned to prevent Dodge from reaching the harbor indicates that Down Periscope has a definite identity problem.

Harry Dean Stanton plays Howard, who is the submarine’s chief engineer and who uses whiskey as a fuel to keep the submarine moving.  Toby Huss has a few amusing moments as the electrician who keeps electrocuting himself.  Grammer, Dern, and Macy have more than proven their talents in other projects and Rip Torn will always be remembered for bringing Artie to profane life on The Larry Sanders Show.  Director David Ward also directed Major League and wrote The Sting.  A lot of talent went into making Down Periscope so it’s a shame the film wasn’t more memorable.

The Films of 2024: Wanted Man (dir by Dolph Lundgren)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Johansen (Dolph Lundgren) is a San Diego cop who remains on the force despite the fact that most of his old friends and former partners have retired.  When he’s filmed beating up a Mexican man on the highway, he becomes the latest target of the Defund The Police movement.  It doesn’t matter that the man was a human trafficker who was driving truck full of kidnapped women.  Johansen has become an embarrassment.

Normally, you would think this would lead to Johansen being fired or, at the very least, suspended.  Instead, his bosses decide to send him to Mexico to escort two prisoners back to the United States.  Rosa (Christina Villa) and Leticia (Daniela Soto-Brenner) are two sex workers who witnessed the murder of a group of DEA agents.  Their testimony could be key to identifying the killers.  Despite his friend and former partner, Brynner (Kelsey Grammer), telling him that he should just retire rather than allow the police department to continually push him around, Johansen heads down to Mexico.

It turns out that bringing the women back to the United States is not going to be easy.  A roadside ambush leaves Leticia dead and Johansen severely wounded.  Though Rosa’s initial instinct is to abandon Johansen in the desert, she eventually takes him to the home of her cousin, a police officer named Miguel (Rocko Reyes).  As Johansen recovers, he discovers that the people who want Rosa dead are not going to give up and that he cannot trust anyone.

Let’s give some credit where credit is due.  Dolph Lundgren knows how to direct an efficient B-movie.  He has an adequate visual eye, he makes good use of the arid desert setting, and he gets believable performances out of the majority of his cast.  Christina Villa especially does a good job as the tough but ultimately kind-hearted Rosa.  The movie has a bit more going on underneath the surface than the typical B-action film.  Johansen is forced to reconsider his own prejudices while the film’s villains argue that they were forced into their actions by a society that refuses to take care of those who are expected to risk their lives to protect the status quo.  It’s not a dumb movie, though it does feature a lot of characters doing rather dumb things and the big twist demands that the viewer accept one too many coincidences.

Lundgren not only directed but co-wrote the script.  Apparently, he first came up with the idea of the film in 2006.  Interestingly, it’s obvious that the film went into production when Defund The Police was still a strong and powerful political movement and the film itself ultimately suggests that the police should be, if not defunded, at least massively reformed.  Of course, by the time the film was released in January, the Defund movement was considerably less powerful and was being blamed for the sharp increase in crime across the nation.  Chants of “Defund the police” have been replaced by cries of “Fund the police, for the love of God!”  That’s the danger which trying to make a film with a political subtext in an age with a 24-hour news cycle.  What was popular when a film goes into production will often be a spent force by the time the film actually gets released.

As for Wanted Man, it’s an efficient B-movie that gets the job done.  If nothing else, the sight of Dolph Lundgren and Kelsey Grammer playing best friends is just weird enough to keep things watchable.

Scenes That I Love: Kelsey Grammer in Money Plane

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Kesley Grammer’s 69th birthday.  In order to celebrate this event, here are three scenes from one of my favorite films, 2020’s Money Plane!

All of these scenes are short.  They only last a handful of seconds.  But all of them also feature Kelsey Grammer bringing the film to life as only he can.

And since I don’t do odd numbers, here’s a bonus clip of Frasier Crane reacting to Money Plane.

Retro Television Review: Dance ‘Til Dawn (dir by Paul Schneider)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1988’s Dance ‘Til Dawn!  It  can be viewed on YouTube.

It’s prom time and the seniors at Herbert Hoover High School are excited!  Patrice Johnson (Christina Applegate) is especially excited because not only did she organize the prom but she’s also the leading  contender to be elected prom queen.  She’s looking forward to having a wonderful night with her boyfriend, Roger (Matthew Perry).

Patrice is especially excited because her only real competition for prom queen, Shelley (Alyssa Milano), has broken up with her jock boyfriend, Kevin (Brian Bloom).  Shelley has declared that she will instead be attending a very mature and very fun college fraternity party.  Meanwhile, Kevin will be attending prom but he will be coming with Angela (Tracey Gold), who has a reputation for being a bit nerdy.  Kevin only asked Angela to prom because he was under the false impression that she’s easy but he soon finds himself falling for her for real.

Meanwhile, Shelley doesn’t really have a party to attend.  Instead, she decides to spend prom night avoiding her friends and watching an old movie at the town’s movie theater.  Shelley is convinced that no one from school will be at the theater.  Instead, she runs into nerdy Dan (Chris Young), who also came to the theater because he didn’t have a prom date.  Dan and Shelley end up having a fun time hanging out together.

While this is going on, all of the parents are having dramas of their own.  Patrice’s embarrassing parents (Cliff de Young and Mary Frann) relive their own youth.  Dan’s father (Alan Thicke) is convinced that Dan is not only the most popular kid at school but that Dan is also having a wonderful prom.  And Angela’s parents (Edie McClurg and Kelsey Grammer) are so paranoid about the idea of Kevin trying to sleep with their daughter that they actually sneak into the prom to try to keep them from getting too close.  Of course, they are mistaken for waiters and are immediately put to work.

I watched this two weeks ago, when I was still struggling to process the shock of Matthew Perry’s passing.  Unfortunately, Matthew Perry is not in much of the film and it’s not really until the end of the film that he really gets a chance to show any of the sardonic wit for which he was best known.  That said, Christina Applegate appears to be having fun as the snooty mean girl and she and Perry do make for a cute couple.  Actually, all of the couples in the film are cute, with Alyssa Milano and Chris Young especially making for an adorable couple.  This is a pleasant and, for many, nostalgic diversion, as long as you’re willing to accept that there is absolutely nothing go on beneath the film’s slick and occasionally colorful surface.  The humor is broad, the messages are obvious, and, as always, it’s amusing to watch Kelsey Grammer running around in a panic.

Dance Til Dawn doesn’t really bring anything new to the high school genre but it’s still worthy of the name of Herbert Hoover.

Here’s The Trailer For The Space Between

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, along with the trailers for Shang-Chi and Annette, we also got the trailer for The Space Between as well.

In this film, a young record company employee is sent to try to get an eccentric and washed-up rock star to break his contract. The rock star is played by Kelsey Grammer, which is …. well, it’s interesting casting. Grammer can sing but he still doesn’t seem like the former rock star type. Then again, who would have thought that Grammer would have been perfectly cast as a gangster nicknamed The Rumble? Seriously, I dare anyone to say anything about Grammer’s performance in Money Plane.

Anyway, here’s the trailer for The Space Between. This film opens on April 23rd and will start streaming on June 15th.