Film Review: THE GLASS SHIELD (1994, Charles Burnett)

Stars: 3.8 of 5.
Running Time: 109 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Michael Boatman (CELEBRITY MOLE HAWAII, HAMBURGER HILL), Lori Petty (POINT BREAK, TANK GIRL), Ice Cube (GHOSTS OF MARS, THREE KINGS), Bernie Casey (IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, SHARKY'S MACHINE), Richard Anderson (THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, FORBIDDEN PLANET), Michael Ironside (TOTAL RECALL, EXTREME PREJUDICE), M. Emmett Walsh (BLOOD SIMPLE, STRAIGHT TIME), Erich Anderson (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV, MISSING IN ACTION), Wanda de Jesus (BLOOD WORK, THE INSIDER), Don Harvey (CREEPSHOW 2, DIE HARD 2), Tommy Redmond Hicks (SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, JOE'S BED-STUY BARBERSHOP). Cinematography by Elliot Davis (SHAKES THE CLOWN, OUT OF SIGHT).
Tag-line: "In a world filled with violence... his only weapon is the truth!"
Best one-liner: "Puttin' in a little overtime, Fields?" (malevolently uttered by Michael Ironside)

Charles Burnett is one of America's greatest, most underrated independent filmmakers. His film KILLER OF SHEEP has recently undergone a critical rediscovery, and his masterpiece, TO SLEEP WITH ANGER, is a work of great power and possibly the finest entry in the "houseguest from hell" subgenre. Seriously, I can't recommend TO SLEEP WITH ANGER enough– it weaves FAUST, Southern folklore, realistic family dynamics, and Danny Glover's finest, most devilish performance into a corn-whisky-stained tapestry of down-home tension (with frequent humor!). Not available on DVD, I was able to finally see TO SLEEP WITH ANGER at the Museum of Modern Art's (in NYC) retrospective of Burnett's work. So rent the VHS, because it's worth it.

Anyway, that leads me to my next point. After ANGER failed to achieve the financial success that it deserved, Burnett decided to try something a little more commercial. Enter THE GLASS SHIELD. A muck-raking, Southern Cali true-crime tract in the mode that would define such later films as L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, TRAINING DAY, and DARK BLUE, THE GLASS SHIELD tells the tale of a black rookie cop who discovers terrifying levels of corruption in the Sheriff's office where he's been assigned. Marketed as an Ice Cube vehicle (which it's really not), it's a crime drama packed with talented character actors... including Michael Ironside. And so, a fan of Burnett's, I swung by the Museum of Modern Art once more- to see a Michael Ironside movie at the MOMA. It was truly a momentous occasion, and I don't foresee it happening again, at least until MOMA does a HIGHLANDER retrospective (fingers crossed).

On the whole, THE GLASS SHIELD isn't quite as hard-hitting as it wants to be, but it's still quite an enjoyable film. We've got Michael Boatman as the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed recent academy graduate who's about to enter a racially-charged quagmire of dirty cops and dirtier D.A.'s where no one can emerge unsullied.


As the corrupt buddy-detectives, we have M. Emmet Walsh

and Michael Ironside.

Seeing these two giants of character acting playing evil buddies truly warmed my heart. Walsh is a terminally ill good-ole boy wanting to provide for his family. He plays it with that standard 'goobery Walsh élan' which the man is well-known for. Ironside fans will find a lot to like as well: we see him holdin' a baby, making a ship in a bottle, saying "about" in such a manner that betrays his Canadian origins, and headlining his own bowling team called the 'Rough Riders.'

MICHAEL IRONSIDE IS KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU

As a team, Walsh and Ironside make a pretty fantastic, villainous peanut gallery, and, as a mind-blowing coup de grâce of things one should never see, Michael Ironside and M. Emmett Walsh share a make-out session. Well, actually, that's something of a lie: Michael Ironside performs CPR on M. Emmett Walsh, but you have to admit it sounds a little more newsworthy when I phrase it the other way. Anyways...

Then we got that staple of the early 90's: Lori Petty playing Lori Petty... that is to say a misfit, no-nonsense, spunky l'il lady with a short haircut.

I have to mention that she and Michael Ironside also co-starred in 1993's FREE WILLY, and he chose her to star in the only movie he's ever directed, 1999's THE ARRANGEMENT. They had to have been buddies. I like to imagine Lori Petty in a redneck bar, perhaps uttering something smart-assed and offensive, drawing the ire of like a dozen lead-pipe-wrench-slinging guys in Confederate flag bandanas. They circle her and chuckle, nefariously. Then Ironside shows up and starts beating the hell out of them as Lori Petty gulps purloined Black Label, straight from the tap. If somebody wants to turn this into a buddy movie, I will gladly pay to see it.

Then there's Ice Cube as a fall guy. Mr. Cube brings some genuine pathos to the role- as films like THREE KINGS and even GHOSTS OF MARS have indicated, he's got some acting chops and an innate likability even when he's playing sort of unlikable characters.

On the right there is Don Harvey as a redunkulously racist, simple-minded cop. You may remember him as the Kevin Bacon-meets-Peter Weller villainous sidekick from "Ol' Chief Woodenhead" in CREEPSHOW 2.

Then there's some nice, featured-supporting turns for Elliott Gould (as a crime victim...or is he?), Bernie Casey (as a severe defense attorney), Sy Richardson (as Ice Cube's father-in-law), Tommy Redmond Hicks (as a crusading preacher), and Richard Anderson (as the corrupt police chief). The cinematography by Elliot Davis is moody, shadowy, and possessing a deep, rich color palette. Also of note is Stephen James Taylor's minimalist score, full of ominous tones and disquieting screeches.

There are some scenes that ring rather false, and there's use of that old standby corrupt cop movie cliché "Dont...trust...anybody," but on the whole, it's entertainment + muck-raking in a tight, well-constructed package. I have no problem giving it nearly four stars.

-Sean Gill

Music Review: ST. IDES MALT LIQUOR JINGLE (Ice Cube, 1992)

Stars: 4 of 5.
Running Time: 22 seconds.
Best line: "The S. T. Period. I. D. E. to the S.!"

A lot of prominent rappers performed original songs for St. Ides commercials in the early 90's. According to a September 27, 1994 Entertainment Weekly article,

"The St. Ides brand has made use of celebrity endorsements in the past. Ice Cube was one rapper who was almost certainly compensated by St. Ides; he had an endorsement deal with the company and even wrote and performed several rhymes for St. Ides commercials. Other rappers who performed original songs for St. Ides commercials include 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, MC Eiht, Scarface, Wu-Tang Clan, Project Pat, King Tee, DJ Pooh, The Notorious B.I.G., Eric B & Rakim, EPMD, Method Man & Redman, Cypress Hill, RBL Posse, and The Geto Boys. Chuck D appeared in a St. Ides advertisement once, but sued the brand's then-owner, the McKenzie River Brewing Company, for using his voice without his permission; he had long taken a strong stance against malt liquor advertising."

I feel as if, however, this particular contribution to the genre by Ice Cube manages to plumb some very specific heights and depths of not only malt liquor advertising jingles, but perhaps music itself, managing (not unlike malt liquor itself) to distill into a mere twenty-two seconds a tremendous amount of moody lyricism, unexpected poignancy, and even some tips and recommendations on how life ought to be lived. Giving the piece some extra weight right off the bat is the fact that the beats used come from Cypress Hill's hit 1991 single "How I Could Just Kill a Man." You don't see Coca-Cola using beats of that magnitude to shill their shanty sugar water. Ice Cube is not a mere huckster here, he's a purveyor of truth- but don't just take my word for it, let me show you.

The song begins with Mr. Cube exiting his car with furrowed brow. He begins: "Once again this song/I'm goin' out the front door/Ice Cube in the glass house headed for the sto'/to get a beer that's better than the rest/ the S. T. Period. I. D. E. to the S!"

Cube begins with a brief window of insight into his life as a celebrity. "Once again this song"- he's always asked to perform the same songs over and over, and it becomes tiring in the sense of existential ennui. He refers to leaving his home, the "glass house" in which there is no refuge from the media, the fans, the masses...and where does he go, but to the sto' (shortened form of 'store'). The sto' is the only place that he can find sanctuary from the demands and stressors of his tortured and all too public life. And the reason the sto' offers respite is because the sto' offers St. Ides Malt Liquor. His joy at obtaining St. Ides is so evident that he sings a little jingle within a jingle in its honor. The exhilaration is so evident that the final 'S' in St. Ides even does a little twisty dance in tune with the undulating beat.

Cube continues: "And it'll put hair on your chest/in the black can/ so whydon'cha grab a six pack and/ Get your girl in the mood quicker/ Get your jimmy thicker/ with St. Ides Malt Liquor." Now I can see already that you're bristling. There are a lot of claims made in that last couplet. I think Cube means it on a more of a theoretical level, as I found no claims on the official or FDA pages that denote St. Ides has the capacity to increase chest hair growth, get your girl in the mood quicker, or make your jimmy thicker, though I feel several of those lines are open to poetic interpretation. Left unexplained are exactly which of your girl's moods will be hastened or to what exactly 'Jimmy' refers.

It is also interesting that Cube recommends the six-pack instead of the classic 40 oz. option, as it is common knowledge that canned St. Ides is far less smooth and more metallic in flavor than its glass-encased brother. Also flummoxing is the fact that Cube gives a less than helpful pointer for finding St. Ides, encouraging the listener to grab 'the black can.' Unfortunately, this could refer to any number of malt liquors from 'Evil Eye' to 'King Cobra.' More helpful might have been 'look for the can or bottle with the crooked "I" and the evocative graphic of windblown grain.'

It is for these slightly misleading statements that the song rates only a 4 out of 5. But consider the fact that in a mere 22 seconds, Ice Cube offers an analysis of his life, fame, and the respite that is St. Ides; and then proceeds to give some pointers on how to obtain it, and the effects that may or may not result from drinking it. In that respect, Cube perfectly fulfills his roles as poet, singer, salesman, and purveyor of cultural observations. Bravo, Mr. Cube. Four stars.

-Sean Gill

Coming soon:
As Junta Juleil continues its exploration of all aspects of relevant culture-
Some bona fide food and beverage reviews!