Cool As Ice

[TVFan]

From IMDB:

A rap oriented re-make of "Rebel Without a Cause," with heavy emphasis on the fact that rap star Vanilla Ice has assumed the James Dean role.



I know we've all seen the screencaps and such from irishkale, but has anyone seen this movie?

[boxman]

Apparently, it's an *excellent* movie! ;D

Check out all the positive reviews at Amazon.com!!!

[boxman]

From Amazon.com:

Ranks with the best of Cocteau, Altman or Scorcese, December 14, 2002
Reviewer: A viewer

"Cool as Ice" has a distinct class struggle undertone redolent of "The Discreet Charm of the Burgeoisie" or the best of 1950s French cinema. Vanilla Ice is the classic rebel outsider and loner, although I think his performance is drawn more from early Brando than James Dean. In one sense he reminds this reviewer of the classic Ernest Hemingway "code hero" such as lieutenant Henry in "A Farewell to Arms" or the fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" - a person who does not need the approval or validation of outside society to prove his self worth and inner, spiritual integrity.

Earlier that same year (1991) Vanilla Ice rapped "Go ninja! Go ninja! Go!" in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze - while the turtles fought on the dance floor. Ice was demonstrating the utopian vision of man existing spiritually within and outside of nature, a vision first put fort in such early, first generation romantic works as Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" or "The Ruined Cottage" or even Blake "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell". I also found parallels between Kat's father )portrayed by Micheal Gross) and Alexei Karenin, Anna's estranged husband in "Anna Karenina".

"Cool as Ice" is an absolute masterpiece, a snapshot of America in the important, epochal year of 1991 - a nation caught between the end of the Reagan boom years of the 80s and election of Bill Clinton in 1992.

[boxman]

Another positive review for this 20th-century masterpiece:

Breathtaking., November 9, 2001
Reviewer: pablo neruda (MA)

Throughout the ages, cultures have been defined by the peak artistic creations spawned by the ideas and tenets that the civilization held dear to them. The Renaissance had the Sistine Chapel and the Mona Lisa. The Baroque era had the Bach Concertos and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. To truly define our era, the 20th century, one need not look at trivialities like Gone With The Wind or Citizen Kane to ask themselves the true question, "Who am I?" Truly no other movie captures the strength and longevity of our times, our lives, our cultures as good as "Cool As Ice". The sheer artistry puts any Astaire/Kelly routine to shame. The plot, epic in its scope, yet humbled to represent the common man and his plight through a wicked society, seemed to have been crafted by Hawthorne, so brililant and deep were the emotions. The poignancy of such lines as "It ain't where you from, it's where you at" symbolize the rugged individualism that America represents. You can almost feel the red, white, and blue oozing out of Vanilla Ice. His stirring performance makes James Dean seem like a square. He transcends the film medium as well, as his musical score, rife with emotional turbulance not seen since Stravisky's "Le sacre du printemps", captures the essence of how our troubles can be washed away by believing in oneself. Vanilla Ice is America, and America is Vanilla Ice.

[boxman]

The film is rich with symbolisms, deep storylines, and spiritual character development. The movie "Cool As Ice" probably has given a lot of inspiration the Cold Case writers too. Notice the similarity of the words "Cool" and "Cold". I'm simply ecstatic that Kathryn had a part in this monumental film:

Feminine Symbolism in Cool as Ice, January 23, 2001
Reviewer: Jamie (Chicago)

During the 20th century, Vanilla Ice starred in "Cool as Ice," based on a short story about a lower class rebel. Ice shows up on a neon-yellow motorcycle, which is an allegorical representation of society's image of the rebel. The setting of the story is in modern day America: a place where harsh attitudes and cynicism make a rebel an essential character in society. Vanilla utilizes his attitude in the film to evoke emotions, especially feelings of sympathy and compassion, in hopes that the viewer will both identify and empathize with his character, Johnny. Vanilla Ice personifies the rebel as a maternal figure. Through a clear understanding of the feminine symbolism deeply embedded in the rebel, the viewer is able to comprehend a specific theme, addressed by Vanilla, concerning the relationship between change and love. The theme is that spontaneous change demonstrates that even the strongest bonds of love are hardly ever guaranteed and that a disruption in that can have disastrous results, including death. A deeper analysis of the text of the film reveal that the character of Johnny not only is a hero, but a martyr. Johnny's ever-popular catch phrase, "Drop that zero, and get with the hero" symbolizes Vanilla's true life experience with rejection in society. Before the viewer can understand the correlation between change and love, he/she has to recognize that Vanilla Ice's portrayal of the rebel unequivocally symbolizes Ice himself.

[michelle]

Yes, but how much screen time does Kathryn have?

[boxman]

michelle said:

Yes, but how much screen time does Kathryn have?

Normally, that would concern me. However, since this film was Kathryn Morris' cinematic debut--and what a priviledge it was for her to be a part of it--I am not too concerned by how much screen time she had. This is history we're talkin' about!!

[KathrynFan]

i have screencaps

screencaps-movies.fotopic.net/c517043.html

[boxman]

Thanks for the screencaps, KathrynFan!

I was thinking of getting the video, not only to see what Kathryn's role in it was, but also as a cheesy Americana memorabilia thing to have. The video sells for $19.99 used! An unopened copy is even being asked for $199.99!!! It must really be a good movie.... he he he..

[irishkale]

KM's screen time is very small... probably 20 seconds or less. You only hear her say about 3 lines She doesn't even share a shot with Vanilla Ice!

I bought my copy on Ebay as a "Bootleg" DVD that someone had recorded from the "Cool as Ice" laserdisc.

[TVFan]

Thanks for the screentime update irish. I'm thinking this is one of those times when she's better off.

[byrdman9802]

Hello boys and girls!

Hi there, it's the Byrdman coming at you on this lovely Saturday afternoon! I hope that you are all doing well, and that you are rocking and rolling too!

Well, I nearly flipped out when I saw on my TiVo that this movie will be shown over the upcoming week! It will be shown on Friday, July 20 at 5:30 am (6:30 am Eastern Time) on Cinemax (channel 512 on DirecTV). Plus, I do not even get that channel, I am just praying that a free weekend could be upcoming for the movie networks.

But I just wanted to let you all know about this, so you can see KM in one of her first onscreen roles! Have a great day and weekend, boys and girls!

[irishkale]

Thanks Byrdman! Some fun stats for this film:

1) it made just over a million dollars www.the-numbers.com/movies/1991/0CASI.php
2) it was released in theaters on October 18, 1991
3) It debuted on VHS tape on December 19,1991 (just in time for the Christmas season!)

[longislanditalian2]

I haven't seen this movie ever , but that's some cool facts.

[coldcasegirl]

HEHA! I wasn't even born when this movie premiered! (although I was 12 days later ) No wonder I haven't heard of it, but if it got Kathryn's career started better, heck, I'm all for it! ((((Just another "fun fact" ))))

[scillylove]

Oh my gosh, she looks so young in those screencaps! (Well, obviously, that's because she was young, but yeah)

So, byrdman, did you get to see the movie? Did you enjoy it?

[riche]

This is the latest post in my "the things I do " series. I almost feel like I should apologise for dredging this thread up from the depths but hopefully you'll agree it is worth it, just.

I managed to find a copy of Cool As Ice. Not great quality but it will do. I haven't watched it. I'm not going to watch it. Skimming through to spot Kathryn (thanks to KathrynFan's caps on KMO for making it easier) I got a reasonable idea of the plot. Girl likes boy. Boy is a bit of a jerk. "Bad boy" comes along. Girl likes Bad boy. Bad boy not so bad.

My goal with the video was not just Maximum Morris, but Zero Of The Hero. And I'm very pleased to say that I managed both. Not only have I got every frame of "Kathy Morris", but I've got absolutely nothing of Vanilla Ice.

What can I say about Kathryn in this: what a cutie she was (and still is of course ). I'd like to think that if I had the misfortune to watch this movie when it came out, long before knowing anything about KM, that I'd have singled her out from her 50 seconds of fame. During some of that time on screen Kathryn looks quite disgusted. Can't tell if it is with what is going on in front of her or with herself for agreeing to star in this nonsense

Here are some caps, they are slight bigger than those on KMO, but far from good quality. As for the video, I think you know where that is by now: podcast.

[cellogal]

Wow...I would never in a million years have guessed that was her.

[longislanditalian2]

Kathryn has such a baby face there, but she still looks young now. It's nice to see how much her acting career has advanced. Who knew that she would one day land up as a lead on role on such a great show.

[LillyKat]

Classic, RichE! Haven't seen this, and now thanks to your screen caps, don't really need to.