The Sly Fox Film Reviews

I Hate Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:16:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Vardalos Makes Directorial Debut with Disappointing Sitcom

If there ever was the cinematic equivalent of a one-hit wonder, it’s Nia Vardalos. In 2002, she won the world’s heart when she co-starred in the charming screen adaptation of her play, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But judging by the junk she’s served up since then, you have to wonder how so much potential could have possibly vanished into thin air.
First, she wrote, produced and starred in the TV version of Big Fat which was so unwatchable it was canceled after only seven episodes. Then, she took credit for writing and co-starred in a thinly-veiled remake of Some Like It Hot called Connie and Carla which failed to measure up to the Marilyn Monroe classic.
After five years of ostensibly self-imposed exile, Nia has returned with back-to-back romantic comedies. My Life in Ruins was released in June, but was so poorly received that it’s already out of theaters. Now, she’s foisting the dreadful I Hate Valentine's Day on what’s left of her disillusioned fan base.
The picture marks not only Ms. Vardalos’ directorial debut but her screen reunion with John Corbett, who was her love interest in Big Fat. But don’t expect to see them regenerate any of that magic up, even though he’s again playing the object of her affection.
Set in NYC, the plot unfolds promisingly enough. Genevieve Gernier (Vardalos) is the owner of Roses for Romance, a flower shop located in lower Manhattan. At the point of departure, Greg Gatlin (Corbett), a bachelor from Georgia, is in the process of renovating a restaurant on the same block.
Sparks fly, yet Genevieve is reluctant to date the dapper Southern gentleman, because she thinks romance is overrated, the name of her store notwithstanding. But egged on by a gay Greek chorus comprised of her two effeminate employees, she decides to give it a go, only after laying down the law, namely, that the relationship must end after exactly five dates. However, she has a change of heart at that juncture, setting us up for the quite predictable happily ever after.
The plentiful problems with I Hate Valentine's Day rest not only in the leads’ lackluster liaison but in the insulting stereotypes served up as support characters. From Genevieve’s annoyingly-flamboyant assistants to a sassy sister who tells Greg to “Make that booty call!” to a deferential Asian woman who meekly puts up with being treated like a piece of meat by Greg’s best friend, you wonder how the same woman responsible for Greek Wedding could have written such a cringe-inducing mess.
A big fat Greek flop.

Poor (½ star)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality.
Running time: 89 minutes
Studio: IFC Films

Kiss & Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:12:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Video Vixen’s Victims Get Even on Damning DVD

A few years ago, Karrine Steffans undoubtedly ruined many a marriage and relationship by publishing Confessions of a Video Vixen, a tell-all memoir chronicling her affairs with plenty of celebrities, most from the world of hip-hop. Naming names and commenting on everything from her paramours’ performance in bed to penis size to generosity, she made so many enemies it’s amazing she’s still alive, given gangsta rappers’ penchant for settling their differences violently.
For this greedy groupie’s sexual conquests had their macho images to protect, being artists such as Ja Rule, Puff Daddy, DMX, Xzibit, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and Ice-T. And when not bedding down hip-hop icons she found time to spread her love with Shaq, Usher, comedian Bill Maher, Bobby “It’s My Prerogative!” Brown, rock star Fred Durst and Darius McCrary, that guy who played Eddie on Urkel.
Kiss & Tail, directed by Thomas Gibson, is a damning documentary which blows the cover off the practice of dancers trading sex for more face and booty shaking time in rap videos. But since most of these so-called “video hos” don’t kiss-and-tell, the expose’ reserves all of its wrath for Karrine, aka Superhead, which is the nickname she gave herself after starring in a porn video where she performed fellatio.
Having reviewed the Video Vixen book and having interviewed her on several occasions, I found this opportunity to hear her former Sugar Daddies’ side of the story very revealing and nothing short of fascinating, given all the rage and emotional pain her recklessness has wrought. Darius who now has a restraining order against Karrine after trying to serve as a father figure to her son, regretfully concludes, “you can’t make a housewife out of a whore.”
Meanwhile Ja Rule refers to her as “a sick individual” and R&B crooner Norwood Young describes her as “the epitome of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Even Superhead has nothing good to say about herself, admitting “I don’t have any friends” because “You always sleep your way to the bottom. No one sleeps their way to the top.”
Kiss & Tail is narrated by animated radio/TV talk show diva Wendy Williams who appropriately adds an exclamation point at the end with a matter-of-fact “What a slut!” I just pray Karrine saved enough to pay for all the years of therapy her son’s gonna need after being teased mercilessly about his mother over the course of his childhood.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 93 minutes
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Extras: Outtakes plus numerous featurettes, including: “Groupies” Then and Now,” “I’m Norwood Young,” “Principles of Pimping with Don ‘Magic’ Juan,” “Honey’s Breakdown,” “Get ’em Ma: How Ma Barker Really Feels about Superhead,” “The Tale of Nasty Fat Nasty” and “Sex, Cameras and Hip-Hop.”

Five Fingers DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:22:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Fishburne and Phillippe in Cat-and-Mouse Thriller

Upon landing in Morocco on a flight from Holland in order to start a foundation for needy children, Martijn (Ryan Phillippe) and his British guide, Gavin (Colm Meaney), are stabbed with a syringe and abducted from a bus before they had even reached their destination. When the drugged Dutchman comes around, he discovers they’ve been blindfolded and shackled to a chair by religious zealots who have mistaken them not merely for Americans, but for CIA agents to boot.

Soon, Gavin learns the hard way not to use a sarcastic tone with terrorists, when he dares them to kill him and they rise to the challenge. Frightened and alone, Martijn suddenly finds himself face-to-face with the ruthless Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne) who will stop at nothing to get to the truth of why this foreigner came to the country with a million dollars in cash in his luggage.

Martijn does his best to explain that his Moroccan girlfriend back in the Netherlands, Saadia (Touriya), can’t have any kids, and that’s what inspired him to do charity work with orphans from her homeland. Ahmat doesn’t dig the answer so he summarily chops off one of his captive’s fingers with a paper cutter.

That gives you a good idea where the title Five Fingers comes from, and also of the tactic most popular with the leader of this bloodthirsty terrorist cell. Unfortunately, other than an occasional break for a friendly game of chess with his prisoner, Ahmat is mostly interested in torture. He also enjoys playing good cop/bad cop by passing Martijn off to Aicha (Gina Torres), the seemingly-empathetic nurse brought in to bandage him up between sessions.

While we wait for the cavalry to arrive, the question this claustrophobic cat-and-mouse thriller poses is whether America ought to be bracing itself for a backlash by Muslim extremists in the wake of Abu Ghraib and other admitted violations of the Geneva Conventions. A thought-provoking mindbender unfolding in one room and narrowly focused on a grisly, gradually-escalating standoff.

Hey, I guess even in the Middle East, like Charlie Rich sings, “No one knows what goes on behind closed doors.”

Very Good (2.5 stars)

Rated R for torture, violence, profanity and sexual references.

Running time: 87 minutes

Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment

DVD Extras: A trivia track and “Endgame,” a behind-the-scenes featurette.

To purchase a copy of Five Fingers, visit Amazon.com

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:03:00 +0000

OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam's Kapsules:
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening July 17, 2009

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG for violence, frightening images, mild epithets and some sensuality) Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and company return for the sixth screen adaptation based on the famed J.K. Rowling series of children’s novels. This installment finds Harry starting another year at Hogwarts School where he discovers new dangers lurking in the castle’s shadows due to the return of his archenemy, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

500 Days of Summer (PG-13 for profanity and sexuality) Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel co-star in this wry comedy about an incurable romantic falling head-over-heels for a woman who doesn’t even believe in true love. Supporting cast includes Chloe Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler and Sid Wilner.

Death in Love (R for nudity, profanity, disturbing content and graphic sexuality) Boaz Yakin directs this dysfunctional family drama about a Jewish woman (Jacqueline Bisset) who survived the Holocaust by sleeping with a concentration camp doctor conducting human experimentations only to end up raising a couple of traumatized, emotionally-stunted sons (Lukas Haas and Josh Lucas). With Adam Brody, Stu Richel and Jacqueline Margolis.

Homecoming (Unrated) Mischa Barton stars in this revenge thriller as a jilted ex out to even the score with her high school sweetheart (Matt Long) when he returns from college for Christmas vacation with a new girlfriend (Jessica Stroup).

In the Loop (Unrated) Mockumentary-style political satire, based on the BBC-TV series The Thick of It, and revolving around a President of the United States and a British Prime Minister who conspire to embroil their countries in a war of choice over the objections of their top military advisers. Cast includes James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander and Chris Addison.

Off Jackson Avenue (Unrated) “Crash”-themed, ensemble crime saga, set in New York City, about the serendipitously intersecting fates of a Mexican woman (Jessica Pimentel) sold into prostitution by an Albanian pimp (Stivi Paskoski), a Japanese hit man (Jun Suenaga) hired by a Chinese mobster (Clem Cheung) to knock off his competition, and a petty car (John-Luke Montias) thief eager to find a legitimate line of work.

Somers Town (Unrated) Monochromatic dramedy, set in London, about a teen love triangle which evolves when a Polish immigrant (Piotr Jagiello) living with his father (Ireneusz Czop) and the runaway (Thomas Turgoose) he befriends become infatuated with the same French waitress (Elisa Lasowski). (In English and Polish with subtitles)

A Woman in Berlin (Unrated) World War II drama based on the memoirs of a German journalist (Nina Hoss) who was repeatedly raped by invading Russian soldiers following the fall of Hitler. (In German and Russian with subtitles)

Humpday

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:15:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Straight Guys Decide to Star in Gay Porn in Homoerotic Comedy

During their college days, Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) had a reputation on campus as party animals. But that was a decade ago and since then Ben has started a career, settled down and married, while slacker Andrew has remained as wild as ever and never really amount to anything. So, it’s no surprise that the two would have drifted apart and lost touch over the intervening years.
But then Ben and his wife (Alycia Delmore) get the shock of their lives one Friday evening when Andrew shows up at their house unannounced, looking for a place to stay. Understanding Anna agrees to let his old pal crash at their place, and even encourages them to hang out, never suspecting for a second that her faithful husband could possibly be tempted to get involved in any naughty mischief.
However, Andrew takes Ben to an orgy being run by a lesbian named Monica (Lynn Shelton) at a den of iniquity named after Dionysus, the Greek god associated with ecstasy and indulgence. Patrons there are into very kinky forms of copulating such as the woman who likes having a dog lick peanut butter off her.
Ben knows not only that Anna is home cooking pork chops but that they have an after-dinner date since she’s ovulating and they’ve been desperately trying to have a baby. This makes what he does next all the more bizarre when talk at the swinging soiree turns to an upcoming annual pornographic film festival.
For, under the influence and egged on by the rest of the degenerates at Dionysus to express their longtime love for each other, Ben and Andrew on a mutual dare decide to co-star in “Tender is the Butt,“ a gay porn flick, and to enter it into competition at the so-called Humpfest. And despite being straight, they kiss each other before making plans to rent a motel room to shoot what they refer to as a homoerotic art film. Of course, Anna is furious when Ben stays out late, so he doesn’t let on that he’s about to cheat on her with another man.
This is the wacky point of departure of Humpday, an offbeat farce directed by Lynn Shelton who also plays Monica. Riveting, if not exactly realistic, the sitcom’s shocking subject-matter alone is probably too much for the average audience to handle. Nonetheless, very open-minded viewers are likely to find enough laughs along the way to make this raunchy romp worth it while waiting see whether Ben and Anna’s marriage can survive man-on-man infidelity once he and the truth come out.
Gives ‘bosom buddies’ a whole new meaning!

Very Good (2.5 stars)
Rated R for graphic sexuality, pervasive profanity and a scene of drug use.
Running time: 93 minutes
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Michael Jackson- The King of Pop

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:13:00 +0000

by Jel D. Lewis Jones

Amber Books

Paperback, $29.85

320 pages, illustrated

ISBN: 978-0-9749779-0-4

Book Review by Kam Williams

“I have admired and adored Michael Jackson from the first time I heard his name and listened to his music. I have never been more fascinated by an entertainer before or since…

As a huge Michael Jackson fan and as a writer, I wanted to do something and give back to the entertainer for all the good feelings he has given to me and so many fans across this country and others. My gift to Michael is this positive book about his life and his music career.

The thought to write this book came to me out of the blue when I was reading a [positive] article about him [which] left me with good feelings, compared to the sick feelings I get when I listen to the television and radio and hear all the negative press about him. So, I decided to [do] my small part by putting out some positive information about the Superstar!”

n Excerpted from the Introduction (page xvii)

In the wake of Michael Jackson’s untimely passing, I’m sure his legions of

devoted fans are looking for a way to keep his spirit alive. They would do well to consider picking up a copy of Michael Jackson: The King of Pop, a comprehensive anthology comprised of interviews, song lyrics, dozens of color and b&w photographs, and more.

The literary equivalent of a bound fanzine, the book offers an uncritical peek at Jackson both from his own, self-serving perspective and that of the admittedly-adoring author. Despite her gushing, syrupy sweet tone, the tome is still fairly fascinating primarily because Michael comes off as a very sympathetic figure who clearly became bizarre because he never had a normal childhood. It’s sort of like how a dog or a cat is worthless as a pet if it’s weaned from its mother at too young an age.

Consider Jackson’s response when asked by a reporter from USA Today in 2001 whether he’s “resentful that stardom stole his childhood. “Yeah, it’s not anger, it’s pain,” he admitted. “People see me at an amusement park or with other kids having fun, and they don’t stop and think, ‘He never had that chance when he was little.’ I never had the chance to do the fun things kids do: sleepovers, parties, trick-or-treat. There was no Christmas, no holiday celebrating. So now you try to compensate for some of that loss.”

In another article, Michael takes on the paparazzi, saying “The tabloid press are bastards, and you’ve got to have rhinoceros skin to deal with that ignorant mentality… They simply make it up… I’m nothing like the way the tabloids have painted me out to be, nothing… They’re the ones who are crazy.”

He even sounds very convincing when he explains that his trademark crotch-grabbing dancing “isn’t sexual at all.”

A coffee table keepsake which makes a convincing argument that while Michael Jackson might have been the consummate performer onstage, as soon as the music stopped he always turned back into the naïve innocent who had never grown up and couldn’t hurt a fly.

To purchase a copy of Michael Jackson: The King of Pop, visit: Amazon.com

Soledad O'Brien: The "CNN Presents: Black in America 2" Interview

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:18:00 +0000

with Kam Williams

Headline: Soledad on Ice

Born on September 19, 1966 in Saint James, NY 1996, Maria de la Soledad Teresa O’Brien is the fifth of sixth children born to Edward and Estrella, immigrants from Australia and Cuba, respectively. She and her siblings excelled academically, and all attended Harvard University. But while her brothers and sisters pursued postgraduate degrees in either medicine or the law, Soledad settled on a career in journalism.

Ms. O’Brien bounced around the television dial for a few years, enjoying stints on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and at MS-NBC before finally finding a home at CNN where she co-anchored American Morning from 2003 to 2007, often going on location to report such disasters as Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand.

Last year, she anchored Black in America, a groundbreaking, two-part series focusing on the state of black society which was watched by over 13 million viewers. In 2008, she was also a member of CNN’s self-professed "Best Political Team on Television" covering the 2008 presidential campaign.

Among Soledad’s many accolades are an Emmy, the NAACP’s President’s Award, the Hispanic Heritage Vision Award, and even the Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award which was established in her honor by Morehouse College. Furthermore, the fetching freckle-faced (that’s right, freckle-faced) mother of four has been named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine and one of the “Top 100 Irish Americans” by Irish American Magazine.

Here, the perky, peripatetic journalist took a break from her very hectic schedule to talk about all of the above and about Black in America 2 which is set to premiere on CNN on Wednesday July 22^nd and Thursday July 23^rd at 8 PM ET/PT.

KW: Hi Soledad, I’m honored for the opportunity to speak with you.

SO: Not at all. How are you?

KW: Fine, thanks. I have a lot of ground to try to cover, because my readers sent in so many questions for me to ask you.

SO: Blast away!

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks what originally interested you in making Black in America?

SO: The first time around, we wanted to take a look at where we were 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, because the Black in America series actually started with a two-hour documentary on his assassination. This time around, we were really trying to answer a question that was put to us many, many times by people who said, “I loved the documentary, but what are we supposed to do?” So, really, Black in America 2 was an effort to answer the question “Now what?” by taking a look at what some people are doing very successfully and in ways that can be replicated.

KW: Are you bringing back that rapper introducing each segment with a poem?

SO: He will not be back this time because we’re doing something different. Did you like him or not?

KW: I hated him.

SO: Really? That’s interesting. I knew the guy personally and was fine with it. But it seems that people either loved or hated it. My mother loved it, my father hated it. My brother loved it, my sister and best friend hated it. And I mean hated. Hated! [Laughs] And they asked, “What were you trying to say with that?” or “Why is he rapping?” or “Why didn’t you have classical musicians playing?” I found it funny because it was something that I’d put very little thought into since I was so focused on the documentary itself. I just thought that as a nice, spoken-word poet he’d make an interesting artist to have introducing the segments. Here’s what was interesting to me about that, actually. With this entire project, people have a very personal attachment to the story in a way that other communities don’t. For instance, my own mother complained to me at the end of the first Black in America, saying “Oh, so no Afro-Latinos. Why none of your own people?” And I was like, “Give me a break, mom!” But I get it, everybody wants their story in there and a personal connection to the material.

KW: Speaking of your mother, was she accepted by your father’s family when they were married back in the Fifties? After all, she was a black, he was white, and interracial marriages were very rare and still illegal in most Southern states.

SO: I’ve asked them a lot about that for a book that I’m working on. They both had left their families to come to the United States. My mother’s from Cuba and Australians didn’t have any particular hostility towards black Cubans. Plus, Australians have very stiff upper lips, meaning, if there were a problem, no one would know. So, my mom says she felt very accepted by my father’s family.

KW: Were blacks even allowed to enter Australia at the time they were married?

SO: That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer to that. I know that when I asked them why they didn’t go back during that period, the answer was that my dad was working on his Ph.D. But they did eventually take the entire family at the first opportunity. In fact, my little brother was born there.

KW: It is very impressive that all six of you attended Harvard. What was your parents’ formula for raising geniuses who realized their potential?

SO: It’s less about the O’Briens are geniuses who all went to Harvard, and more about the importance of role modeling. I truly believe the reason we went to Harvard was because my sister, Maria, who was a great student, demystified it for the rest of us, and made it feel readily achievable. I didn’t see her as a genius, but as my sister who was a very hard worker. I could look at her and think, if she could go to Harvard and do well, I certainly could go there and do well. That has made me realize that you are at a giant disadvantage, if you don’t have role models in your life.

KW: Each of your five siblings is either a doctor or a lawyer. Does that make you the black sheep of the family?

SO: [Chuckles] Yeah, I’m the black sheep of the family, although I think they’d love to get on TV.

KW: When I think of you, I think of the Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand. Do you specialize in covering natural disasters?

SO: When I was a morning anchor, a story had to be big for us to do the show on location. And disasters kind of fit that bill, whether it might be the Virginia Tech shooting, Hurricane Katrina or something else. But it was less about disasters than a place from which you could anchor the show for a week. We traveled for many different types of stories. Sadly, the disasters just happen to be the more memorable ones.

KW: How do you feel about the fact that so many ethnic groups are trying to claim you as theirs? I’m on the NAACP Image Award’s nominating committee, and we gave you the President’s Award. You were also named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans and received the Hispanic Heritage Vision Award.

SO: My dad’s brother saw a photo of me receiving the NAACP Award and he said, [impersonating an Australian accent] “Oh, Solly, you look so Australian!” That was so funny. I think it’s great because I’m multi-cultural in a lot of ways. I invest a lot of my personal time and energy in different communities. Also, as a journalist, I think there’s a big benefit in being both an insider and an outsider on an assignment. There’s value being an insider in terms of compassion and credibility, whether the community you’re covering is women, working moms, black people or Latinos. And then, as an outsider, you have the freedom too ask the tough questions with credibility. So, I find myself to be comfortable in many situations which might be uncomfortable for most journalists. I kind of fit in everywhere and yet don’t precisely fit in anywhere. And that’s a really nice thing for me not only as a journalist, but as a human being.

KW: To what extent do you embrace your Irish heritage? And is it easier because of your last name?

SO: Funny, I never really think about my Irish heritage unless someone brings it up to me. It’s the same way when someone asks me if I’m black. I don’t have the time to think about it day in and day out. I just see myself as an overworked, crazed mother of four. But then I might meet someone who wants to know where in Ireland my father’s family is from.

KW: Like me. Which county were they from?

SO: I have an aunt who has traced our genealogy back to County Cork.

KW: Australia was settled as a penal colony. Were your ancestors criminals?

SO: Sadly, no. Down Under, having a convict in your family tree is the equivalent of coming over on the Mayflower in America. My relatives were just poor people who migrated there during the Potato Famine.

KW: How did it feel to make People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World list? Did you feel any pressure, since most of the women on it are starlets and pop divas?

SO: No, I agree with you. I’m not a starlet, so there was no pressure to live up to anything on that front. The greatest irony is that I was pregnant with my first daughter and threw up the entire time during People Magazine’s shoot for that article. I think it was God’s way of telling me not to get a big head. But it was certainly a very nice thing for People to pick me.

KW: How did you come to get the Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award? Is that Lou Gehrig getting Lou Gehrig’s Disease?

SO: That’s a terrible analogy! I was actually floored. It was such a surprise and an amazing honor for Morehouse’s School of Medicine to recognize my body of work and to establish an award in my name, mid-career, and hopefully not end of career, although I have been in the business for 22 years. I ran into Dave Chappelle at the Four Seasons the other day and he asked me how I was doing. When I complained about all the traveling and he said, “Don’t quit! Don’t quit!” I can’t tell you how many people tell me that.

KW: Dave told you that even though he quit his own show?

SO: That’s what I said to him. And he just smiled and said, “I should know, right?” It’s so incredibly helpful when I’m feeling spent from traveling to have someone say your work matters and we need you around.

KW: What’s it like raising four your children and being on the road so much?

SO: It’s really hard. I’ve been traveling as much as six days a week for this project. That’s impossible to maintain. That’s non-viable. So, we won’t do that again, because I’m a hands-on mommy. It’s really hard on the kids. Even though they understand what I’m doing, someone needs to be there to kind of run the ship at home, which is me. So, we will do things a little bit differently logistically, because I can’t work non-stop and then be off for three months. I have to create a more sane schedule. And that should be very doable.

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson wants to know what you think of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court.

SO: I think the fact that you’re looking at a Latino nominee is an indication of a demographic shift that’s actually been going on for a long time. Despite the hoopla around it, if you study the demographics, it’s really no surprise. That being said, her addition to the Court will be historic, although who knows what kind of a justice she’ll be. My sister has argued a case before her, and said that she’s very thoughtful and runs a tight ship. By all accounts she’s bright, smart and hard-working. To me, those things are more important than her being Puerto Rican. But from a history-making perspective, the fact that she’s Latino is obviously critical.

KW: Reverend Thompson was also wondering if you think her struggle with type1 diabetes should be taken into consideration.

SO: No, her diabetes shouldn’t be an issue at all, period.

KW: Laz Lyles asks, if the election of President Obama makes will Black in America 2 more relevant or less relevant, and what impact the show will have on the country?

SO: I don’t think Obama’s being President doesn’t affect the relevance of the show one way or another. When you examine the breakdown of viewers, the audience is not overwhelmingly black. It’s a mix. I didn’t create the show for anyone or to have an impact on the country. My job was to tell really good stories in a way which would stick with people.

KW: Do you see a declining significance of color in the Age of Obama?

SO: I talk to teenagers and they’ll just sort of roll your eyes when you talk about race, as if they don’t get it and as if race doesn’t matter. They look at me the same way I looked at my parents when they reminisced about saving up for their first mortgage. It’s as if I’m talking about something that’s completely irrelevant to their lives.

KW: Are they colorblind?

SO: They’re not colorblind, they see the differences, but they don’t matter. They just don’t see race the same way we see race. And in some ways I think that’s good in that race has become completely demystified the way Harvard was for me watching my sister go off to college. So, I have a lot of hope for my kids’ generation. My daughter looks black but is as blonde as could be. And so many of the children at my daughter’s school are just as diverse-looking.

KW: How do people react to your identifying yourself as black, given your appearance and Spanish and Irish names?

SO: Occasionally, someone will thank me, saying, “You don’t have to admit you’re black.” And I’ll go, “Really? Because I often travel with that beautiful black woman with an afro who’s my mother. What do I do about her?”

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

SO: That’s a really good question… No, but I’m going to have to think about that though.

KW: I’ll consider that a compliment coming from the consummate interviewer. The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

SO: I’m rarely afraid physically, because I don’t do stories that are dangerous. The only fear I have is of being inaccurate, of making an error or of getting the story wrong. Any journalist worth their salt should be afraid of that.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

SO: God, I’m so happy, and I don’t know why, because I literally have not slept in two days. But I’m a nauseatingly-optimistic and naturally-happy human being. I enjoy the company of others and feel very, very blessed. My kids are healthy and hilarious… I have a husband [investment banker Bradley Raymond] who is the most-amazing human being.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good belly laugh?

SO: I have a good laugh all the time. Half of it is so silly it would make no sense to you. I’m here in New Orleans to get an award from McDonalds, and I’m sitting next to my best friend C.C., my executive producer, who moved back here after Katrina to rebuild her home. And we were just laughing about the fact that I haven’t been to sleep for two days. I flew in from California in on the red eye, arrived at 5 in the morning and never went to bed. So, we laughed about the fact that my life is so chaotic and spinning out of control. Still, I have the best job in television news. I’m not bragging and I don’t mean to sound arrogant. It is such a luxury to be able to do stories that matter. Every day, literally, strangers come up to me and thank me for the work that I do. To hear people say that is so amazing. It’s a great gig!

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

SO: Oh my gosh! I’m in the middle of reading The Soloist by Steve Lopez. It’s fantastic! I didn’t see the movie. A better question would be, what movie did I see last?

KW: I interviewed Jamie Foxx for the film, but I didn’t read the book yet, because I had to review the movie. And whenever I read the book first, I end up hating the movie. The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you listening to nowadays?

SO: Anybody who knows me, knows I love Luther Vandross. That’s what I love to listen to. He’s my hero. I love him. He was supposed to be on my show, but canceled, just before he died. It was the saddest thing, because after he died I knew I’d never get to meet the person I was so in love with. I also listen to India.Arie and John Legend who I think I scared when I interviewed because I told him, “I love you so much, you’re the greatest!”

KW: What has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?

SO: What an interesting question! I don’t know. I’m not a big blamer of things on anything but myself. So, if there have been any failings in what I’ve done, it’s been in my not working hard enough.

KW: The Laz Alonso question: How can your fans help you?

SO: You know, you have some really fascinating questions. What I really appreciate is helpful feedback sharing what specifically moved or irked them about a story. I’m a student. I like to learn from what people have to say. And I’ll often write back to a fan and get a good correspondence going.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

SO: [Giggles] That’s so funny. When I look in the mirror, I’m always surprised that I have this face full of freckles. I’m 43 years-old, but feel the same as when I was 26 and just getting some traction as a reporter. So, I look like a mom, but I don’t feel like a mom. I look in the mirror and see a light-skinned black girl with a face full of freckles. And I go, “Oh my God! I’m middle-aged now! That’s crazy!”

KW: How do you feel about the passing of Michael Jackson?

SO: It’s interesting to me how many people of all ages and from all walks of life have been telling me how saddened they are by his death. Not many an icon’s passing would profoundly affect so many different subsets of people? That’s really an indication that he was truly a world pop star.

KW: We also lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays and Karl Malden.

SO: It’s been so sad, that’s a lot of loss in one week.

KW: Marcia Evans said that she found Black in America 1 “painful because it put us in a negative light.” Did you get a lot of feedback like that?

SO: I had some people say that, but I don’t think that that’s true. My job was to answer the question we had posed, namely, “Where are we today?” For instance, someone asked me why I had to talk about the black male dropout rate. My response was, why aren’t you screaming bloody murder about the low graduate rate? That’s insanity! You can’t have a successful country with a 29% black male graduation rate. And I was curious about why someone would find my pointing that out would reflect on them personally.

KW: How is Black in America 2 different?

SO: My approach this go-round was to focus on the anatomy of success.

KW: Did you ever make a faux pas on an open microphone like your colleague Kyra Phillips? Do you have a sister-in-law like her who’s a real control freak?

SO: [LOL] No, my sister-in-law is fabulous. She’s a dermatologist and she recently helped out when my son had a terrible rash. I emailed her a photo from my Blackberry and she diagnosed it for me. I get along great with all my siblings. We are a very tight-knit family, and my parents are alive and happy and well! I haven’t made a lot of open mic faux pas, but I am the same person on and off camera. So, you kind of get what you get with me.

KW: Vanessa Goldstein asks, what did you think of Henry Louis Gates' PBS series African-American Lives?

SO: I loved it. You know, Skip Gates was a professor of mine at Harvard, and I’m a big fan of his, both personally and professionally.

KW: Marcia Evans has a suggestion for Black in America 3. She asks, why don’t you cover what black America was robbed of and what America owes blacks?

SO: That’s an interesting suggestion. Certainly, the entire structure of economic disparity is built on generations and generations of people whose work went uncompensated. But I don’t see us doing that in the near future, because I want to cover current-day stories which are unfolding in front of us.

KW: What is your favorite meal to cook?

SO: [Chuckles] I don’t cook. I microwave. My mother will drop off food for us. She makes the best black beans and rice. I can make pasta sauce and tacos, but I really do not enjoy the cooking process, and I don’t do it very often.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

SO: My advice would be: stick it out! We’re see some great movement in terms of diversity, and a bunch of different voices are beginning to get heard. It’s been a battle to get those stories done. I would love to have someone say, “Soledad, you’ve done a great job, but you can retire because I’ve come to take over.” Those words would be music to my ears.

KW: And when you retire, how do you want to be remembered?

SO: As a really good mother who tried to include her children in her work, because she thought her work was important.

KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?

SO: My mom’s at the top of that list. She used to say to me when I was younger, “Don’t let anybody tell you you’re not black. And don’t let anybody tell you you’re not Cuban.” And she never cared what other people thought about her. Another thing I inherited from her is the idea that you “Do what you want to do, and don’t worry what other people are going to say about it.” When my parents were getting married in 1958, it was so controversial the ACLU contacted them to see if they wanted to be the couple that would test the ban on interracial marriage. But they were low-key and didn’t care about the crazy stuff or the fact that people would yell things at them when they walked down the street together.

KW: Where did they marry?

SO: They were living in Baltimore, and they had to go to Washington, D.C. to get hitched. Another hero of mine is Malaak Compton-Rock [Chris Rock’s wife] whose charity work is highlighted in Black in America 2.

KW: Well, thanks again, Soledad, and best of luck with Black in America 2

SO: My pleasure.

KW: If you’re inclined, maybe we can chat again after it airs, and I can come armed with a set of questions based on my readers’ reactions to the series.

SO: Absolutely! I’d love that. Perfect!

Local Color

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Portrait of a Young Artist as Apprentice

18 year-old John Talia, Jr. (Trevor Morgan) is an aspiring artist who is mostly misunderstood by his blue-collar father (Ray Liotta). John, Sr. thinks his son must be a homosexual because he enjoys drawing male nudes. After all, this is 1974, during decidedly less-enlightened times, especially in upstate New York.
Frustrated Junior decides to travel to Pennsylvania to ask his idol, aging master, Nicoli Seroff (Armin Mueller-Stahl), to take him on as an apprentice. But John has no idea that what he’ll find is an embittered old alcoholic who has lost not only his enthusiasm for painting but for living.
It seems that the cranky codger is still grieving the death of his wife even though she passed away ages ago in Stalinist Russia during the purge. He somehow remains sour in spite of the presence of a ready replacement ostensibly waiting in the wings in the person of his pretty neighbor, Carla (Samantha Mathis).
The plot thickens when the cantankerous coot grudgingly agrees to mentor John for the summer on the condition he follows an unorthodox training regimen with question. Next, however, Nicoli has his protégé painting his house instead of any canvases. Soon, John starts to wonder how the heck this will lead to his learning to paint beautiful landscapes.
Not to worry. If you’re familiar with the storyline of The Karate Kid, then you undoubtedly remember that the mentoring-style of sensei Mr. Miyagi (who was also mourning the loss of his wife) had more to do with housework than with the martial arts. Therefore, expect to see shades of that screen classic’s arc in Local Color, an autobiographical coming-of-age bio-pic written and directed by George Gallo.
Fortunately, this variation on the “ostracized teen trying to make it in a new town” theme does have a unique twist, an awkward love triangle. You see, the blonde John gets to go gaga over isn’t a girl his own age, but none other than Nicoli’s Carla, a cougar prepared to pounce, provided her young prey doesn’t turn out to be gay.
Simultaneously serving as a muse and as a sympathetic shoulder to lean on, the seductive single-mom inspires her blossoming boy-toy with simplistic, fortune cookie philosophizing such as: “Follow your heart!” and “Don’t let anyone talk you out of what you want to be.” Hey, don’t laugh Corny lines like that can sound like pearls of wisdom to the testosterone-blinded mind of a virgin with raging hormones, especially when coming from a woman he secretly desires.
Forget The Karate Kid, make room for The Painting Protégé!

Very Good (2.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity.
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: Monterey Media

Watchmen DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:28:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Underwhelming Comic Book Adaptation Comes to DVD

Watchmen is an underwhelming splatter flick bound to be as well remembered for its casual display of male genitalia as for its ubiquitous gore. Based on the popular DC Comics series of the same name, this eagerly-anticipated adaptation is plagued by a plethora of characters and a convoluted plotline that takes almost three hours to introduce, thicken and resolve.

Part of the confusion comes from the backdrop of the story, which is set in 1985 in an alternate reality where Richard Nixon is still president. Furthermore, America and the U.S.S.R. are at odds and teetering on the brink of mutual nuclear annihilation.

The point of departure is the mysterious murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a retired member of the Watchmen, a confederation of superheroes who once worked for the U.S. government. His body is discovered by Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), a former colleague who sports a mask with a constantly changing symmetrical ink blot. Rorschach decides its time to reassemble the old gang in order to get to the bottom of the crime, unaware that this endeavor will, in turn, embroil them in a subplot to save the planet from extinction.

Most notable among the motley crew coming out of mothballs are brainiac Ozymandias (Matthew Goode); techno-wiz Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson); curvy Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman); her lover Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup); and her mother, Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino). One can’t help but notice two things about the scene-stealing Manhattan: that he’s blue, and that he’s always naked.

The latter distraction tends to overshadow his amazing superhuman ability to bend matter with his mind, the result of the proverbial exposure to radiation in a lab accident. For, whenever the camera shoots him below the waist, we’re treated to the shocking sight of his dangling family jewels in all their glory.

Equally jaw-dropping is director Zack Snyder’s tendency to up the ante in terms of gratuitous violence. For instance, in the comic book, Rorschach killed a kidnapper simply by handcuffing him to a pipe, setting the house on fire, and calmly walking out. But in the screen version, Rorschach has inexplicably morphed into a sadistic vigilante who takes glee in hacking away at the same sicko’s head with the cleaver.

A morally-ambiguous parable designed to tap into homoerotic urges while satiating the bloodlust of the sanguine, post-Pavlovian Cyber Generation.

Fair (1 star)
Rated R for full frontal nudity, sexuality, profanity and graphic violence.
Running time: 163 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
2-Disc DVD Extras: Digital copy, director’s cut, video journals, music video and “The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics” featurette.

Push DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:24:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Sci-Fi Mindbender Released on DVD

Nick (Chris Evans) is a so-called Mover born with the ability to manipulate objects with his mind, a trait he inherited from his late father. 13 year-old Cassie (Dakota Fanning), on the other hand, is a Watcher, which means she can see far into the future.
The source of their superhuman powers is a Nazi scientific experiment gone haywire during the Holocaust in which kids were fed milk with radioactive iodine. Consequently, there’s a whole race of mutants roaming the Earth, including Pushers, who are capable of altering others’ minds; Bleeders, who can rupture eardrums by emitting high-pitched sounds; Sniffs, the psychic equivalent of bloodhounds; Stitchers, who can heal the sick instantaneously; Shadows, who can block the clairvoyant visions of Sniffs; Wipers, blessed with the ability to erase memories temporarily or permanently; and Shifters, masters at creating optical illusions.
Freaks with telepathic talents tend to attract the attention of despots with world domination in mind. So, it’s no surprise to learn that a clandestine U.S. spy agency called Division has been rounding up any rogue mutants.
Thus, just past the point of departure of Push, we learn that a team of agents led by Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) has tracked the trails of Nick and Cassie to Hong Kong and plans to bring them back to America to put them to work first in service of the government. The plot thickens when the two young expatriates decide they’d rather remain free, and proceed to pin their hopes on finding Nick’s ex-girlfriend, Kira (Camilla Belle), the only person known to have escaped the clutches of Division successfully.
So, the chase is on, and the surprisingly-cerebral sci-fi adventure which ensues unfolds in a fashion that’s not always easy to follow, adding up overall to an alternately thrilling and thought-provoking roller coaster ride which you’ll probably have to watch more than once to comprehend completely. For, although the “fugitives on the run” storyline might sound fairly conventional on its face, appearances can be deceiving when you’re your dealing with an ensemble of supernatural characters able to morph at will.
A harrowing mindbender which successfully blends elements of X-Men, The Matrix and Memento while adding some of its own unique sci-fi flava.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, teen drinking and intense violence.
In English and Cantonese with subtitles.
Running time: 111 minutes
Studio: Summit Entertainment
DVD Extras: Audio commentary by the director and cast, deleted scenes with director’s commentary and “The Science behind the Fiction” featurette.

Public Enemies

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:14:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Depp Does Dillinger in Grisly Gangster Saga

In 1996, Theresa Russell starred in a picture called Public Enemies, a mob saga glorifying Ma Barker’s reign of terror as the matriarch of a crew of bank robbers comprised of her own sons. So, it’s hard to fathom why director Michael Mann would now opt to resurrect the same name for a similarly-themed film also glamorizing the exploits of a Thirties crime boss, i.e., John Herbert Dillinger (1903-1934).

But that recycled title is the least of the problems of this derivative head-scratcher. Its biggest flaw rests with its failure to engage the audience emotionally in either Dillinger’s (Johnny Depp) bloody crime spree or his wooing of a gullible hat-check girl (Marion Cotillard). For in lieu of character development, Mann has ostensibly opted to focus on crafting a grisly splatter flick featuring more Tommy Gun muzzle flashes per minute than we’ve witnessed since such gangland-era classics as The Untouchables (1987) and Dillinger (1973).

While fairly faithfully following the latter’s plotline, Public Enemies squanders the services of a couple of consummate thespians in Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. With Bale playing legendary lawman Melvin Purvis one would think that his dogged pursuit of Depp as Dellinger would make for some really riveting movie magic. Think again. The chase in this case is about as compelling as any nondescript action sequence you can find by accident while channel surfing with a TV remote.

Equally-wasted is the rest of a stellar, A-list cast, starting with Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (for La Vie en Rose) who unsuccessfully tests out a variety of unrecognizable accents as Dillinger’s devoted gun moll, Billie Frenchette. Then we have Billy Crudup who fails to do J. Edgar Hoover justice in an uncharismatic interpretation of the feared FBI founder, and Stephen Graham who comes off as a cartoonish clown impersonating trigger-happy Baby Face Nelson.

And why was an accomplished actress like Leelee Sobieski signed on as an extra? Simply to look pretty strolling briefly down the street on the arm of the ill-fated protagonist? The same must be asked about rising star Channing Tatum, who makes a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo as Pretty Boy Floyd. Ditto for

Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and a host of other gifted character actors. The list of disappointing performances is endless.

Accentuating the positive for a moment, what Public Enemies does have to offer is an old-fashioned shoot ‘em up for filmgoers who enjoy that sort of mindless mayhem. More cerebral cineastes might find themselves offended by the way in which the production goes out of its way to paint Dillinger as an easy to root for folk hero with a code of honor and a lover that he remained faithful to.

This, unfortunately, conveniently flies in the face of common sense. Truth be told, in real life he was a worthless cop killer and a womanizer who had abandoned his wife for a bunch of floozies. Funny how Hollywood portraits of him have become increasingly empathetic over the years since 1945 when he was originally introduced as a cold-blooded murderer.

Hyper-romanticized revisionist history reflecting America’s ongoing love affair with gangsters.

Fair (1.5 stars)

Rated R for profanity and gangland-style slayings.

Running time: 140 minutes

Studio: Universal Pictures

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:28:00 +0000

OPENING THIS WEEK

Kam's Kapsules:

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams

For movies opening July 10, 2009

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Bruno (R for profanity, sexuality, pervasive crude humor and graphic nudity) Borat’s Sacha Baron Cohen is back with another shockumentary, this time posing as a flamboyant, gay, Australian fashionista primarily to expose a series of unsuspecting foils as homophobes. With cameo appearances by Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Sting, Elton John, Bono, Slash, Ron Paul and Paula Abdul.

I Love You, Beth Cooper (PG-13 for profanity, crude humor, sexuality, violence, drug use and teen drinking) Romantic comedy about a nerdy, high school grad (Paul Rust) who gets the surprise of his life after proclaiming his love an attractive classmate (Hayden Panettiere) during his valedictory speech when she shows up at his door hot-to-trot that very night. Supporting cast includes Lauren London, Maggie Ma and Alan Ruck.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Blood: The Last Vampire (R for graphic violence) Horror flick, set in Japan in the Seventies, about a mysterious vampire (Gianna Jun) with a magic sword who is called upon to save the day when an American Air Force base is invaded by a race of evil, shape-shifting demons. Cast includes Koyuki, Alison Miller and Liam Cunningham.

Deadgirl (Unrated) Suspense thriller about a couple of juvenile delinquents (Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan) who cut class to break into an abandoned mental hospital where they discover the body of a naked woman (Jenny Spain) who has been strapped to a gurney and covered in plastic.

Humpday (R for graphic sexuality, pervasive profanity and a scene of drug use) Buddy comedy about a couple of straight best friends (Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard) who decide to make an amateur gay porn flick together on a mutual dare during a drinking binge. With Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton and Trina Willard.

Lake Tahoe (Unrated) Minimalist Mexican drama, set in a coastal town on the Yucatan Peninsula, revolving around a 16 year-old boy’s (Diego Cataño) attempt to cope with the sudden death of his father. (In Spanish with subtitles)

Soul Power (PG-13 for mature themes and brief profanity) “Rumble in the Jungle” documentary, set in the Congo in 1974, revisits the three-day music festival leading to the historic Ali-Foreman heavyweight championship bout. Features concert performances by James Brown, The Spinners, the Crusaders, B.B. King and Miriam Makeba.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (Unrated) Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg) directs this bio-pic chronicling the career of radio and television pioneer Gertrude Berg (1899-1966), star and scriptwriter of a popular sitcom called The Goldbergs. Includes appearances by Norman Lear, Sara Chase and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Love Ethic

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:12:00 +0000

The Love Ethic: The Reason Why You Can't Find and Keep Beautiful Black Love
by Kamau and Akilah Butler
Foreword by Chuck D
Twinlineal Institute
Paperback, $14.95
176 pages
ISBN: 978-0-615-27519-2

Book Review by Kam Williams

“I think the notion of Black love in this book is an answer to the hatred that has taken place between Black men and Black women. Something has been poured in the waters of the Black community that has made hate and animosity more understood than love itself...
Reading this book will hopefully spark the necessary conversation needed to find the love within ourselves to connect to one another again… Any community dialogue involving healing, relationships, or renewal will find this book an essential tool, thus making it possible to find and totally unlock the love that has been missing between the Black man and woman.
Peace.”
 Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy in the Foreword (page 13)

I have read a lot of love advice books in my lifetime, but never one that
Offered such a compelling history lesson in the process of talking about how to have a successful relationship. When it comes to African-Americans, this approach might make sense, provided you buy the idea that the fallout from the trauma of slavery continues to radiate like a ripple on a pond and to have a profound effect on how black men and women interact with each other.
Those who would say that’s just an excuse since black folks have been emancipated for generations would do well to heed the sage words of William Faulkner, a white Southerner, who freely acknowledged: “The past isn’t dead. In fact, it isn’t even past.” This is the crux of the argument postulated by Kamau and Akilah Butler in The Love Ethic, a compassionate examination of the black battle-of-the-sexes viewed through the prism of the oppressive African-American ordeal in the U.S.
The authors bring a plethora of personal and academic insight to the project, for not only are they a happily-married couple raising a young son together in Chicago, but they are also each in the process of completing a Ph.D., Akilah in Sociology, Kamau in Social Service Administration. These skills add immeasurably to their ability to deconstruct and discuss in often vivid detail the ramifications of the dehumanization of Africans and the systematic breakup of the black family for centuries on end.
Thus, we see how the sexualization and rape of sisters by plantation owners and their being forced to mate with strangers for breeding purposes rather than for love when added to the inability of emasculated brothers to protect their females have contributed to a distance and distrust still in evidence. But not to worry, for The Love Ethic does provide the answer to the unfortunate standoff in 13 principles to be implemented by anyone eager to heal themselves in order to experience “the magnificent possibilities that Black love holds.”

Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:06:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Fifth Season of Hit HBO Series Released on DVD

If you every want to get a good idea of what it’s like to try to make it in show business, for better or worse, you might like to check out Entourage. For this Emmy, Golden-Globe and Peabody Award-winning slice-of-life drama offers a super-realistic, albeit often lighthearted look at the fortunes of a young Hollywood actor on the rise.
That fictional character, Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier), negotiates his way around the murky waters of Tinseltown with the help of his tough as nails agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), and surrounded by three childhood friends: his manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), his half-brother Drama (Kevin Dillon) who is also an aspiring thespian, and party animal Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). And rounding out the support players in Vince’s entourage are his publicist Shauna (Debi Mazar) and Ari’s long-suffering assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee).
Season Five also featured an impressive array of guest appearances, including by Giovanni Ribisi, rapper Bow Wow, Fran “the Nanny” Drescher, Oscar-winner Martin Landau, Lukas Haas and comedian Kevin Pollak. In addition, plenty of celebs made cameo appearances as themselves, such as since incarcerated gangsta’ rapper T.I., crooner Tony Bennett, golfer Phil Mickelson, actors Mark Wahlberg and Eric Roberts, and film critic Richard Roeper.
Faithful followers of the show will remember that the season opener picked up right where the previous one had left off, with an episode entitled Fantasy Island chronicling the aftermath of Vince’s movie Medellin’s bombing at the Cannes Film Festival. In subsequent installments we find him ironing out relationships issues with his girlfriend (Julia Levy-Boekin), hunting for a job just to pay the bills, and doing a photo shoot with a supermodel (Daniella Van Graas) he has a history with.
Overall, an alternately hilarious and plausible peek at life in L.A.’s fast lane.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated TV-MA
Running time: 325 minutes
Studio: HBO Home Entertainment
3-Disc DVD Extras: Behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, and three audio commentaries by the show’s writers, producers and cast members.

The Last Airbender

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies Present
A Blinding Edge Pictures/ Kennedy/Marshall Company Production
An M. Night Shyamalan Film
“The Last Airbender”
Co-Producer Jose L. Rodriguez
Executive Producers Kathleen Kennedy Scott Aversano
Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko
Produced by Sam Mercer Frank Marshall
Based On the Series “Avatar: The Last Airbender”
Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Written, Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Cast: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Dev Patel, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi and Cliff Curtis.

Synopsis: Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.

Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film “The Last Airbender” is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive.

Release: July 2, 2010

This film has not yet been rated.

CREDITS NOT FINAL AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE

“The Last Airbender” is a Paramount Pictures release

The teaser trailer for “THE LAST AIRBENDER” is now available for viewing at http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:06:00 +0000

OPENING THIS WEEK

Kam's Kapsules:

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams

For movies opening July 3, 2009

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG for crude humor and scenes of peril) Third installment in the animated family franchise finds Woolly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano) and the rest of his prehistoric pals on a mission to rescue Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) from a mysterious underground world where they have a close encounter with dinosaurs and a one-eyed weasel (Simon Pegg). Voice cast includes Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Bill Hader, Karen Disher and Jane Lynch.

Public Enemies (R for profanity and gangland-style slayings) Michael Mann directs this grisly crime saga, set in the Thirties, revolving around the efforts of the FBI to bring mobsters John Dillinger (John Depp), Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) to justice. With Christian Bale as the lawman leading the chase, Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, and Marion Cotillard as the gangsters’ gun moll.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

The Beaches of Agnès (Unrated) 81 year-old, legendary director Agnès Varda chronicles her own career as a member of French cinema’s Rive Gauche movement in this revealing auto-bio-pic. (In French with subtitles)

The Girl from Monaco (R for sexuality and profanity) Romantic comedy about a criminal defense attorney (Fabrice Luchini) who travels to Monaco to handle a murder trial only to end up competing for the affections of a perky, TV weather girl (Louise Bourgoin) with his own bodyguard (Roschdy Zem). (In French with subtitles)

I Hate Valentine’s Day (PG-13 for sexuality) My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Nia Vardalos and John Corbett reunite for this romantic romp revolving around a Manhattan florist who finds herself falling in love with a handsome guy opening a new restaurant right down the block. Support cast includes Judah Friedlander, Rachel Dratch and Zoe Kazan.

Lion’s Den (Unrated) Argentine crime saga about a pregnant, 25 year-old college student (Martina Gusman) who ends up raising her baby (Tomas Plotinsky) behind bars and falling in love with a fellow inmate (Laura Garcia) after murdering the father of her child and his gay lover (Rodrigo Santoro) in a jealous rage. (In Spanish with subtitles)

Local Color (R for profanity) Genius-protégé drama, set in 1974, about the mutually-beneficial relationship forged between a troubled 18 year-old art student (Trevor Morgan) and a retired Russian widower (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who lost his joy not only for painting but for living, too, following the death of his wife. With Ray Liotta, Ron Perlman and Charles Durning.

Nollywood Babylon (Unrated) “Lights! Camera! Action!” in Africa is the subject of this documentary examining Nigeria’s booming movie industry, now the third largest in the world after that of L.A. and Bombay.

Tony Manero (Unrated) Crime drama, set in Chile in 1978, about a fifty year-old serial killer (Alfredo Castro) whose hobby is impersonating John Travolta’s character from Saturday Night Fever. (In Spanish and English with subtitles)

Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:07:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Teen Sensations’ Concert Flick Finds Its Way to DVD

Walt Disney developed phenoms the Jonas Brothers seemed destined for the same phenomenal superstardom enjoyed by another one of the Mouse House Channel’s multi-level marketed pop idols: Hannah Montana. However, this 3-D concert flick flopped at the box office, showing that the siblings have a vulnerability not yet evidenced by the golden-touched Miley Cyrus.

Personally, I don’t blame their legions of young fans for failing to support this soulless enterprise during which they play to the camera as much to the adoring throngs in attendance. Honestly, the movie fails to measure up not only to the best of the genre like the Beatles’ Help, but even to similarly superficial vanity enterprises such as the Spice Girls’ Spice World.

Slick to the point of making me gag, Nick, Joe and Kevin’s transparent act is designed to melt the hearts of tweenyboppers in that first crush phase of life.

With vocal tones ranging from whiny to wounded quail, the Jonas’ stunningly-irrelevant, mega-decibel, heavy metal love ballads are so syrupy they’d make the average adult gag. Typical of their insipid lyrics are lines like: “I don’t want to hurt you, I want to kiss you.” Another ditty goes: “You’re the voice here inside my head, the reason why I’m singing. I need to find you.” Then there’s “She went away, leaving me stranding here, singing all these songs.”

In case you haven’t figured it out, the recurring “I am a relationship loser licking his wounds” theme is emotional red meat patently designed to keep all the pre-pubescent estrogen in the audience salivating. Even the chat between tunes is more of the same, lame lines like: “This song is for every person who’s ever felt alone.”

Fascinating only for the opportunity to observe the mesmerizing effect of a well-rehearsed, mass seduction on an auditorium filled with willing, adoring girls.

Fair (1 star)

Rated G

Running time: 89 minutes

Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

3-Disc DVD Extras: Blu-ray, digital and an extended version of the film including songs not seen in theaters, a backstage featurette and more.

To purchase a copy of Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, visit Amazon.com

Do the Right Thing DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: 20^th Anniversary Edition of Spike Lee Classic Out on DVD

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 20 years since the summer of ’89 when Do the Right Thing made such a splash upon arriving in theaters. Arguably Spike Lee’s best film (although some might make the case for She’s Gotta Have It, Four Little Girls, Bamboozled, School Daze or The Original Kings of Comedy), this refreshingly-frank exploration of black-white relations earned Spike his first Academy Award nomination (in the Original Screenplay category).

The incendiary tale unfolds in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn over the course of the hottest day of the year in New York City. The searing heat and high unemployment rate has some self-appointed leaders in the African-American community confronting the Italian owner (Danny Aiello) of a pizzeria about why he should have a restaurant in a neighborhood with so few black-owned businesses. And the simmering tensions eventually erupt into a sobering, thought-provoking finale.

Watching Do the Right Thing afresh in this presumably “post-racial” Age of Obama, one can’t help but wonder whether the issues raised remain relevant or if they can now only be appreciated for their nostalgic value. After all, the new debate as the euphoria over having the first black president subsides is the question if Obama is suddenly serving for self-satisfied whites as a symbol of integration and homogenization yet to be realized for the bulk of black folks.

Footnotes: Danny Aiello landed an Oscar-nomination for his stellar work as Sal, although the picture also features quite a number of powerful performances, most notably Spike’s as Mookie, Giancarlo Esposite as Buggin’ Out, Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem and Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Senor Love Daddy. The same can be said about John Turturro and Richard Edson who play Aiello’s sons.

Rosie Perez made her screen debut here as Mookie’s nasal baby mama, Tina, as did Martin Lawrence s Cee. And a couple of since-deceased legends are among the cast, namely, the venerable Ossie Davis and comedian Robin Harris.

A riveting drama which remains just as intense as when it debuted a generation ago.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for profanity, violence and ethnic slurs.

Running time: 120 minutes

Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

2-Disc DVD Extras: 11 newly-discovered deleted and extended scenes, director’s commentary, feature commentary with Spike Lee, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, actress Joie Lee and production designer Wynn Thomas, retrospective documentary with the cast and crew, storyboard gallery, 1989 Cannes press conference, interview with film editor Barry Brown, trailers, and “Behind the Scenes” and “The Making of” featurettes.

To order a copy of Do the Right Thing, visit Amazon.com

Daryle Jenkins: The One People’s Project Interview

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:44:00 +0000

with Kam Williams

Headline: Intrepid Klanbuster Discusses State of Hate Groups in the Age of Obama

When Barack Obama was running for President, an unspoken fear in the mind of the black community was the possibility of an assassination attempt by a deranged bigot. And even since he won, there have wider concerns about some sort of backlash, given the rumors of a rise in the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi and other white supremacists terror groups. Given the recent attack at the Holocaust Museum by an avowed racist, I figured it was time to track down the brother known as “The Klanbuster” for another interview. Writer/videographer Daryle Lamont Jenkins, a former columnist for the Bridgewater Courier-News in New Jersey, is the co-founder and spokesperson for One People's Project (OPP), a Philadelphia-based watchdog organization which monitors and reports on the activities of right-wing hate groups located all around the country. Established in 2000 in the aftermath of a racist rally in Morristown, NJ, OPP maintains records and databases of information not only on the groups themselves but on their individual members as well.
Mr. Jenkins has been the subject of feature stories in a number of newspapers, and has appeared on TV as a guest on Montel Williams, A Current Affair and the Fox News Channel.

KW: Hi Daryle, thanks for another interview.
DLJ: You’re very welcome. It is good to talk to you again.
KW: What made me want to speak to you again was the recent shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. by white supremacist James von Brunn. Were you already familiar with him?
DLJ: Not so much him, but rather his crowd. I was in D.C. for two days prior, and I had left the day before the shooting. The D.C. unit of OPP and I went to Williamsburg, Virginia on that Monday, June 8th, to do some research, and we are a little angry with ourselves because some of us should have stayed in town. June 8 was the 42nd anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War between Israel, and the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. An anti-Israel group called the Council for the National Interest (CNI), whose members have a history of associating with Holocaust deniers, was hosting events all over D.C. to observe the anniversary. The short story is this: Israel says they attacked the Liberty thinking it was an enemy vessel. Unfortunately, it was a U.S. ship and they ended up killing 34 crewmembers, injuring 171, and almost sinking the ship. While this has more or less been officially accepted as a friendly-fire incident, there are activists that feel otherwise. Being that Israel is involved, anti-Semites have been using the incident as a rallying cry. James Von Brunn was one of those anti-Semites. When the FBI searched his car, they found business cards advertising his website and another one claiming the Liberty was "brutally attacked" by Israeli forces. Also, the Holocaust Museum shooting happened on the anniversary of the last day of the Six-Day War. Being that he was from Maryland, we are all wondering if he participated in any of those events that CNI put on. This is just pure speculation, since there is nothing that has come out that puts von Brunn in any of those events. I am sure there is going to be a number of folks from the USS Liberty activist crowd that will make a lot of hay out of me suggesting such a thing, but let’s face it. They associate with the Von Brunn types too often for anyone not to wonder. The last time OPP went to a USS Liberty rally sponsored by the CNI, Ingrid Zundel, the wife of imprisoned Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel was a participant. If they are so worried about their image, it’s not us that’s making it look bad.
KW: Have you noticed an up-tick in the activities of the Klan and neo-Nazis since President Obama took office?
DLJ: This is going to be a rather long answer. See, I try not to lend credence to the regular posturing of that crowd because you knew they were going to try and get some mileage from the first black president being elected. We always hear some story about how the number of hate groups rose – when in truth, many of them are just some chump who started a blog calling himself a group – or that such-and-such recent event is going to “wake up white people”. Today’s white racist activists are nowhere near as strong or even as dedicated as the ones you might have seen maybe twenty years ago. They are always rather young, and where the hate mongers of generations past still had a connection to those older ones who were active and successful, the young activists of today don’t have that solid foundation their predecessors had. The older ones are now dying or just giving it up, so without that “guidance,” if you will, the young ones show themselves to be more of a psychological train wreck looking for an outlet, than some dedicated White Aryan soldier trying to create a whites-only homeland. And it doesn’t help matters much that those older activists that are doing things today have in the past few years tempered their activities to be a little more mainstream-friendly. The groups trying to gain respectability now will stay away from Nazi and Klan symbols, they prefer to hold meetings and conferences as opposed to public rallies, and the rhetoric has been tempered. In fact, to make reference to the Klan is rather antiquated because anyone who says they are in the Klan in this day and age is seen as a buffoon even among white supremacists. Some white supremacist groups have even had people of color within their ranks! Needless to say, that is part of a rather fierce debate amongst them, but it gives you an idea of the climate out there. Having said that, these groups still have managed to create a greater threat in regard to that aforementioned “psychological train wreck,” lashing out and killing people. That is where you have seen the up-tick. It was a rather interesting thing during the last administration to hear conservatives beat their chest about how there hadn’t been a terrorist attack on our shores since 9-11, which was meant to be some sort of endorsement of President Bush. Well, what’s curious about that is the fact that with the exception of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, most if not all of the terrorist attacks have been by right-wing extremists. The abortion clinic bombings of the 80s, the abortion shootings of the 90s, the Oklahoma City bombing, Eric Rudolph’s bombings, the shooting sprees of white supremacists Buford Furrow and Benjamin Smith in 1999 – all of those solidly right-wing. They quieted down while Bush was president, but as soon as Obama is elected we hear reports of all these loons across the country shooting people. The DC shooting was the second in as many weeks, and maybe the fourth or fifth since Election Day. Also, we can only imagine what we might be talking about today were it not for an abused wife killing her husband in Maine back in December. He was a racist who was reportedly building a dirty bomb at the time.
KW: Explain to my readers what your organization is and exactly what you do.
DLJ: One People’s Project has been around since 2000, and our mission is to research and report on the goings-on of those on the right, mainstream and fringe. We identify the players and let people know who they are, what they are about, and what to do about them. We believe that in order to solve a lot of our problems, those that are creating the worst of them need to have their ability to function diminished – effectively.
KW: About how many hate groups are you currently monitoring?
DLJ: I don’t have an actual number, so I guess the best answer to that is: all of them!
KW: What sorts of activities are they involved in?
DLJ: It ranges from simple internet blogging and activism, to protests and campaigns, to terrorism. It runs the gamut. There is a curious thing that happened while Bush was president that is now revealing itself with Obama’s tenure. For the record, I will not say that Bush was a racist. He was an elitist, which by default often lends itself to racism, but I don’t believe Bush could be considered someone that hated a person because of his or her ethnicity. But Bush was an incompetent, and he allowed those conservatives around him that did have a racist agenda to further themselves through him. We have seen white supremacists basically run the anti-immigration campaigns over the past few years. I have been to a number of anti-immigration rallies and conferences in that time, and there has never been one that didn’t have someone I couldn’t identify as being a member of a white supremacist group. And if that didn’t inject them into mainstream politics enough, they most certainly found an outlet in Ron Paul’s presidential run. Paul even received $500 from Don Black, the owner of Stormfront, and he didn’t see fit to either send it back or at the very least donate it to some non-profit like the Red Cross or United Way. Add that to the fact that he published a newsletter that was well-known in militia circles and included a number of racist articles, one slamming Martin Luther King, Jr., add that to him in 2004 being the lone dissenter of a bill observing the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Bill on the grounds that “the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty,” and you will have reason to wonder about Representative Paul. So the past eight years gave the wrong people a lot of license, and now that Obama is president some well-known people are saying interesting things. Ann Coulter dedicates three pages of her new book to defending the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), saying “There is no evidence on its Web page that the modern incarnation of the CCC (she says “modern” because the precursor of the CCC was the White Citizens Councils that attacked civil rights activists in the Sixties) supports segregation,” when the group’s Statement of Principles clearly states that they “oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind”. We have the New York Post, which has been known to stoke racial fires in the past, with the cartoon of the ape being shot. And while Pat Buchanan and Tom Tancredo are calling Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist (as Tancredo ignorantly put it, a member of a “Latino KKK”), both of them employ a guy named Marcus Epstein. It was One People’s Project who learned that Epstein will be in D.C. Superior Court on July 8 to be sentenced after pleading guilty to getting drunk, assaulting a random black woman in the street and calling her the n-word back in 2007. Epstein, who by the way is of Korean and Jewish decent, is one of those persons of color I mentioned that you can find within white supremacist circles. He has a number of racist writings online that have raised more than an eyebrow to those who have read them.
KW: What typically happens when you show up at a Klan rally?
DLJ: We actually have a particular article about how those things go titled “Anatomy of a Hate Rally”. It has become so formulaic that even when it breaks from routine you can predict what happens! At rallies, those representing OPP play the role of observers. We don’t get into the fray that often. Sometimes, I get called out by name because the boneheads know me, but that’s about as far as it goes. But as I said before, the rallies are few and far in between. What we have been doing in recent years is exposing the conferences, meetings and other events they might be holding, or putting them on blast at any mainstream rallies they inject themselves into. There is a video going around where I am dealing with a group of neo-Nazis at a Ron Paul campaign rally in Philadelphia. I think it is important to show people who they are amongst us more so than when they willingly put themselves on display at one of their rallies.
KW: Are you intimidated by the Klansmen and neo-Nazis you’re confronting and outing?
DLJ: Nope. Ultimately, they are more afraid of me and other antifa (short for anti-fascists) than we are of them. Our beliefs enhance our lives. Theirs will destroy them. Our presence speeds up that process.
KW: How do you measure your success?
DLJ: When those who promote and further hate politics are stymied in any size, shape or form, or when they decide that it isn’t the best approach to their concerns and give it up, that’s success to me.
KW: Do you have to live with death threats?
DLJ: Oh, I have been the recipient of a few, to say the least! Still, I remain under the radar enough to not be a primary target. Hal Turner even said as much on his radio show once, saying “If I killed Daryle Lamont Jenkins from One People’s Project, they’re gonna put me in jail for the same amount of time as if I kill Frank Lautenberg, US Senator, so why not get the most bang for the buck.” I met Lautenberg a few years back, and I don’t have any problems with him, but I have to admit, I felt a little dejected there.
KW: What steps do you have to take to ensure your own personal safety?
DLJ: Without getting into too much detail, let’s just say I am about as insane as those I go after.
KW: Are they still sabotaging your website, periodically?
DLJ: They are, but we have been able to get to them a lot easier. I seem to be destroying the site more than any of my detractors do with all my upgrades and modifications that keep turning off the thing.
KW: How do you feel about Barack Obama’s becoming President of the United States?
DLJ: It’s like you have a friend of yours running things. There is always going to be something that a politician does that gets your goat, and I don’t expect any less from Obama. Then again, I can say the same about my friends. Let me also say for better or worse, if you can’t get anything positive out of this administration, you are not a positive person to begin with. This is the first president born in the Sixties. He is of the generation that will establish the first half of the 21st Century. The political game is going to be restructured in a significant way, and truth be told, it was expected. The only thing I hope to see one day is a third party or independent candidate in the White House. We hold ourselves hostage with some rather limited notions about who should lead this country, but at least the race and also the gender factor is crumbling. After Obama was elected, someone noted that never again in a presidential campaign will you see just four white guys in the running. You will now see people of color, you will see women, and Lord knows what else we will come up with. Our political mindset until this year was stagnant, and did not evolve even though we as a nation did.
KW: Do you think neutralizing these racist terrorist groups will be on the top of the Obama administration’s agenda?
DLJ: That’s a bit of an understatement. When Eric Holder made the remark that we were a “nation of cowards” when dealing with racial matters, and the Department of Homeland Security put out the report on right-wing extremists, conservatives started a whole hue and cry about it, saying they were trying to stir up racial tensions. They didn’t pick up on the fact that they weren’t making these statements and putting out these reports for their health. It was their intent to do something about the situation. Just this week, Hal Turner, an internet radio host and a onetime friend of Sean Hannity who had made a name for himself with his penchant for threatening those he is against with death on his program, was picked up by the feds for leveling such threats against federal judges in Chicago. Just a few weeks ago he had turned himself in to Connecticut authorities for threatening state legislators there. He has been making these threats for years, but now the authorities see fit to deal with him about it. Meanwhile, Tom Metzger, a longtime racist activist had his home in Indiana raided. The next day, Dennis and Daniel Mahon, two members of his group, White Aryan Resistance, were arrested for the mail bombing of a diversity center in Scottsdale, Arizona where three people were injured. Meanwhile, another neo-Nazi, Bill White has been in federal prison since October awaiting trial which will begin Aug. 11 for obstruction of justice. Like Hal, he liked threatening people over the internet, including a juror in a trial of a fellow white supremacist convicted of conspiring to kill a federal judge.
KW: Are you lobbying the Justice Department to get involved?
DLJ: Attorney General Holder has called for the strengthening of hate crime laws, so it sounds like they are going to take this a lot more seriously than other administrations have, both Democratic and Republican. We have to do our part in fighting hate crimes as well – as well those who enable them. Last year, an immigrant named Luis Ramirez was beaten to death by five, white high school students in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Local anti-immigrant activists came out to support the killers, even holding rallies where they actually tried to blame Ramirez, saying, if he hadn’t been in the country, he would be alive today. A few months ago, two of the five were convicted only of simple assault, and the outrage is so bad, Gov. Ed Rendell himself is appealing to the Justice Department to pursue federal civil rights charges. I hope he is successful, but ultimately, something in the climate out there has gone awry if a jury thought they can pull an Emmett Till, and we need to do something about that. We just showed Jena, Louisiana that they can’t have two sets of justice. On Friday, five of the Jena Six pled no contest, but only have to serve seven days of probation and pay a $500 fine. That’s a lot better than the attempted murder charges they faced two years ago, which they would still be facing if 20,000 people hadn’t marched on the town two years ago. That kind of vigilance by the public is needed constantly.
KW: Do you think the Obama administration will devote some of the stimulus package to the fight against white supremacist hate groups?
DLJ: If it does, it should be as part of other concerns that need to be dealt with, such as in conjunction with an education program. These groups thrive in bad economic times, however, so the best way to fight them is to make the economy a priority
KW: How can people contact you, if they’re interested in donating to the anti-Fascist movement or joining you on the frontlines?
DLJ: You can contact One People’s Project by mail at PO Box 42817, Philadelphia, PA 19101, by email at dlj@oppforum, or by phone at (267)970-5889. Some of our members have set up accounts for One People’s Project on Twitter and Facebook, too.
KW: When did you know you know you wanted to grow up to be a Klanbuster?
DLJ: My thing has always been journalism. I always wanted to be someone that could effect social change, but that was because I was really into reading about the civil rights era and the abolitionist movement. But while being an activist is important, you have to be more than your activism. The thing that made those activists successful is the fact that before they were activists, they were the people you went to school with, worked and lived with. They were doctors, teachers, shop owners, what have you. If someone were to ask me what I am, I would say I am a writer. That’s what I am in the end. Being a person who chases neo-Nazis all over the place is secondary, no matter how prominent it may be in my life.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
DLJ: If you are never afraid, then when you find something you are afraid of, it will destroy you.
KW: What has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
DLJ: There are many obstacles. The biggest one is one I still have to overcome and that is the indifference I see from people when racial issues come up. Eric Holder was right when he said we were a nation of cowards on this issue, because it is the only one that can raise tensions simply by mentioning it. Getting past the cowards is a rather frustrating task. They try to pretend there is no issue, and when they can’t ignore it, they get mad at you for bringing it up and actually take the side of those we are going after only because they don’t want to deal with it. If we do indeed get past them and are successful in what we are trying to do, those same people thank us for “being around to deal with this problem!” Let me tell you, it would be less of a problem if folks stop with the games.
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
DLJ: That’s not an easy question to answer. There are times when I am on top of the world, but more often than not there is much that gets to me. I honestly don’t know how to respond, but I can say I enjoy my life.
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good belly laugh?
DLJ: I watch the Daily Show a lot, so I think sometime last week.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
DLJ: The last book I read was Guilty by Ann Coulter. Hate to sound provocative, but that’s the nature of the business. One read, and you come away wondering how the Right ever got into power with dingbats like her promoting them.
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
DLJ: Not really. If I am ever in a situation like that, I usually offer the answer anyway.
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you listening to nowadays?
DLJ: I love it all, but it’s that music you don’t hear on the radio that blows my system up. Stuff by Ozomatli, Toshi Reagon or a seriously underrated band like Chicago’s Sonia Dada. I love hyping people up to the stuff they overlook, so if you never heard any of those acts, trust me, you might want to.
KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?
DLJ: If it weren’t for my parents and their wisdom, me and my siblings could be just another part of that statistic that plagues the black community. What they did for their family as well as others in their lives is what drives me.
KW: What do you think about the passing of Michael Jackson?
DLJ: There was a line in the last Indiana Jones about how we were reaching that age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away. That’s what was going through my mind when Hot 97 made the announcement. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I can’t even bother with those who want to play up the tabloid nonsense of the past few years. He is getting in death what he didn’t get in life. The past few days just brought us back to what it is that made Michael the most influential artist in our time. Every black artist of the past 25 years - and a good sizable number of white artists for that matter – owe their careers to him. Hell, my group’s initials are OPP! What’s the sample being used in that Naughty by Nature song? When a beloved celebrity passes on, we recover eventually. It will be a while with this loss.
KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
DLJ: Always remember that the path those you admire may go on might not be the one that fits you. Don’t follow in the footsteps. Walk beside them. Bypass the trips and falls I made the mistake of falling into. And remember that one day those footsteps will come to an end. That is not the end of the journey, only the beginning of yours.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
DLJ: Aside from the 120 lbs., I need to lose, a pretty fit cat, mentally and spiritually!
KW: How do you want to be remembered?
DLJ: I really don’t know. All I know is that I had to do my part in this world. I will leave it up to the ages.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Daryle, and keep up the great work fighting the good fight for all of us!
DLJ: You’re very welcome.

My Sister's Keeper

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Fed-Up 11 Year-Old Sues Parents for Independence in Gut-Wrenching Saga

When their daughter Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) is diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at the age of 2, Sara and Brian Fitzgerald (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) are willing to do whatever it takes to save her life. And once her doctor explains that her best chance at beating the disease lies in finding a stem cell donor who’s an exact genetic match, they decide to have another child, knowing that they can achieve their goal via in vitro fertilization.
From birth, the test tube baby’s life becomes intertwined with that of her sickly sibling when tissue is taken from her umbilical cord. As time goes on, Anna (Abigail Breslin) is subjected to a series of increasingly-invasive procedures as she is stuck, poked and prodded for assorted extractions of platelets, blood and bone marrow.
By the time she’s 11, Little Miss Stem Cells is asked to donate one of her kidneys because by then both of her big sister’s are failing. However, the surgeon also states that after this operation she’ll have to be careful for the rest of the life, which means she will never be able to be a cheerleader or play soccer again.
Fed up with being expected to make so many sacrifices, Anna consults an attorney (Alec Baldwin) who sues her parents for Medical Emancipation. The pending lawsuit creates a rift between her parents which pushes them to the brink of divorce. For her mother, who abandoned her own legal career to care for Kate 24/7, suddenly sees Anna as selfish, and slaps the youngster right in the face. By contrast, her father, a hard-working fireman, proves far more understanding.
He knows that the family has focused so narrowly on Kate that their son Jesse’s (Evan Ellingson) dyslexia went undiagnosed for years. Now, seeing the toll that the situation is taking on Anna, he can’t help but be sympathetic, if torn.
Based on the Jodi Picoult best-seller of the same name, My Sister's Keeper is a character-driven drama of deceptive emotional depth. This remarkably-rich screen version was directed by Nick Cassavetes who went to great lengths to develop each of the principal player’s perspective of the fundamental, ethical life-or-death question at hand. Faithfully adapted (except for the ending) by Cassavetes with the help of scriptwriter Jeremy Leven, this gut-wrencher heralds the maturation of Cameron Diaz into a consummate thespian capable of handling the most challenging of material.
Her powerfully-grounding performance is matched in intensity by those of Abigail Breslin as the taken for granted Anna; Sofia Vassilieva as the wasting away Kate; Jason Patric as the stoic family patriarch; Evan Ellingson as the brooding big brother; Alec Baldwin as a vulnerable crusader for the underdog; and Joan Cusack as a judge concerned about the best interest of the plaintiff. Don’t forget to pack a box of Kleenex, because the floodgates will be open by the end of this heartrending saga.
Easily the most poignant picture of the year, and without resorting to manipulative soap opera devices.

To purchase a copy of the novel “My Sister's Keeper,” visit Amazon.com

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sensuality, mature themes, disturbing images and underage alcohol consumption.
Running time: 109 minutes
Studio: New Line Cinema

Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask: An Insider's Story of the King of Pop

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:48:00 +0000

by Bob Jones
with Stacy Brown
Select Books
Hardcover, $21.95
174 pp., illus.
ISBN 1590790723

[This is a reprint of a 2005 review of this book.]

Review by Kam Williams

"As the 'Bad' tour moved to St. Louis, a 13 year-old boy named Peter joined the entourage. This kid had been with us in New York and was now coming along for the entire tour. The tabloids had a field day with their questions about the boy and his parents. One tabloid reported that Michael had purchased the kid by giving the parents a Rolls Royce.
At Paris' DeCrillon Hotel, Michael had drawn a picture of Peter and himself [on a bed sheet]. Also written on the sheet was what amounted to a love note to the boy. Worried that if a hotel housekeeper got a hold of the sheet, it could end up in the hands of the media or law enforcement, we had our secretary pack it, taking it with us. That was my first tangible clue that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was up to no good..."
-- Excerpted from Chapter 3

If pop culture is the politics of the 21st Century, then Michael Jackson might be considered this emerging age's consummate politician. For politico wacko Jacko's lifestyle has remained the subject of our fascination regardless of how sick, sordid, or bizarre his behavior.
For instance, although he boasts about sleeping with boys, he still has millions of rabid fans who refuse to believe he is a pedophile. And they also never abandoned him after the radical blackendectomy and the series of elective surgeries which left him looking like one weird white woman.
In order to weather media storms successfully, any celebrity needs a good PR person who could carefully choreograph press and photo opportunities to their client's advantage. For over 34 years, Bob Jones was Michael Jackson's right-hand man. This brilliant publicist ran interference for his employer, always putting a good spin on whatever embarrassing predicament his boss found himself in, from being caught on camera canoodling with a boy, marrying Lisa Marie Presley as a publicity stunt, or writing anti-Semitic song lyrics.
Emerging from every escape unscathed, Michael must have come to see himself as a Teflon icon to whom no negative story could stick. So, for some dumb reason, he fired his dependable hatchet man, and without notice or any severance pay, despite the decades of loyal service. Jones was lucky he had never beeen asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, for hell hath no fury like an apologist scorned.
The upshot is the publication of the ultimate disgruntled employee's tell-all, namely, Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask. This book answers, once and for all, every question you've ever debated the self-proclaimed King of Pop. Like, does he suffer from self hatred? Yes. Apparently, he refers to his own people as "Splaboos"and uses any "excuse for not going with a black candidate" when hiring an assistant.
Does he like girls? No. Does he like boys? Yes, and has reportedly threatened to kill himself if he could no longer sleep with them. It is fascinating to hear Jones recount just how plenty of parents of 8 to 12 year-olds were bribed with bling and Benjamins to allow Michael to take their sons away from them on extended trips during which he would spend long unchaperoned nights alone with each in hotel rooms while on tour. Apparently, Jackson even has a kinky fascination with feces, saving soiled underwear as mementos.
The book never gets boring for a moment, with the author gleefully dishing behind-the-scenes dirt on everything from Michael's sham marriages, one for money, one to buy some babies who aren't even his, to his fear of flying to his playing the race card strategically to his personal hygiene and cosmetic habits. Still, the most compelling tales told here are the inside peak at his tender courtships of well-known child actors like Macaulay Culkin and Emmanuel Lewis.
Though Bob Jones never expressly says Michael Jackson is a pedophile, he paints enough of a picture that all any idiot has to do is connect the dots.

Away We Go

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Couple Searches for Place to Raise Child in Unorthodox Road Comedy

Verona (Maya Rudolph) is six months pregnant, but it doesn’t look like she put much thought into whether she was ready to bring a baby into the world. After all, she’s repeatedly informed her slacker boyfriend, Burt (Jon Krasinski), that she’ll never marry him.
The aspiring DJ is not exactly great father material, being an unemployed, 33 year-old college dropout who fritters away his days in such unproductive pursuits as whittling a piece of wood and taking a self-defense classes. Being older, African-American, and with a loudly-ticking, biological clock, Verona doesn’t entertain the idea of an abortion, since Burt does adore her, even if the feelings ain’t exactly mutual.
Besides, because the couple had moved to Colorado to be near his parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara), she reasonably expects to get their full support. Unfortunately, upon informing them of the impending arrival of their grandchild, Burt’s racist mom rudely asks “just how black” the infant will be, while her equally-insensitive husband impulsively announces that they’re moving to Belgium and have already put the house on the market.
With no reason to remain in the region, Verona and Burt decide to embark on a cross-country journey to find the perfect oasis to give their kid a wholesome “Huck Finn” childhood. And that wacky endeavor provides plenty of opportunities for levity in Away We Go, a screwball comedy directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (for American Beauty).
The ensuing adventure reads like a rudderless road version of Juno, as it revolves around a wisecracking mom-to-be and the unfit sperm donor she doesn’t really know or need. The difference with this baby mama drama is that the couple is approaching middle-age and planning to keep their little bundle of joy.
The peripatetic pair’s ports-of-call include Phoenix, Madison, Montreal and Miami. And along the way they encounter a menagerie of colorful characters ranging from Verona’s loose-lipped, Tourette’s syndrome afflicted ex-boss (Allison Janney) to Burt’s uptight, New Agey cousin (Maggie Gyllenhaal) with an Elektra complex. Meanwhile, they also confront the source of their own dysfunction only to discover that they are in fact meant for each other and to find the sweetest solution to their where to raise the baby dilemma.
Although the resolution feels far too rushed to be convincing, the wry ride there is nonetheless delightful enough to make the trip worthwhile.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity and sexuality.
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: Focus Features

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li DVD

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:17:00 +0000

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Abysmal Action Sequel Arrives on DVD

In 1994, the popular computer game Street Fighter was adapted to the big screen as an incoherent concatenation of poorly-choreographed, martial arts action starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Since the original bombed at the box office, one must wonder what might have prompted a studio to greenlight a sequel 15 years later, especially when you see that the results are equally-abysmal. This unmitigated mess of a movie was directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak who decided to overhaul the cast entirely, starting with Kristin Kreuk in the title role of Chun-Li.
At the point of departure, we learn via flashback narrated by Chun-Li that, when she was a little girl, her father (Edmund Chen) was kidnapped by some creeps in the Shadalao (pigeon English for “Shadow Law”) crime syndicate. Fast-forward to the present when we inexplicably find Chun-Li somehow an accomplished karate master and en route to Thailand where, rumor has it, her daddy has remained kidnapped in the clutches of the diabolical Bison (Neal McDonough) and his cohorts all these years.
Her arrival proves to be timely, since the merciless madman recently hosted a “Last Supper” during which he beheaded the boss of every competing crime family in Bangkok. With the Shadalooo gang on the verge of gaining complete control of the waterfront, it falls to Chun-Li, in league with Interpol Agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein), local detective Maya Sunee (Moon Bloodgood) and a secret society of ninjas led by a mysterious man named Gen (Robin Shou) to save the day.
The revenge-fueled plotline subsequently seizes on the flimsiest of excuses to embark on a series of clumsily-orchestrated fight scenes punctuated by sloppily-executed stunts, chase sequences, pyrotechnics and detonations. Unfortunately, only diehard fans of the legendary video franchise are likely to keep track of the body-count in the high attrition-rate enterprise.
For as the butt-kicking heroine sets about exacting her vengeance, the epic battle of good versus evil is so undermined by cheesy special effects and corny dialogue that the spectacle adds up to an experience that is best described as laughable. And to top it all off, this insult to the intelligence even has the nerve to end on a cliffhanger setting the stage for yet another sequel.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, not a chance.

Poor (0 stars)
Unrated
In Mandarin, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Gaelic and English with subtitles.
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
2-Disc DVD Extras: Unrated version of the film, audio commentary by producers and cast members, 14 deleted scenes, Fox trailers, sneak peek of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 video game, storyboard and production galleries, animated Street Fighter feature, plus four featurettes.

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Afghan Star

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:19:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Aspiring Afghani Pop Stars Risk Wrath of the Taliban in Uplifting Documentary

If you want to know why we’re fighting in Afghanistan, all you have to do is watch this uplifting documentary distilling one season on the country’s equivalent of American Idol down to a nail-biting hour and a half. Forget the fact that the contestants on the reality series Afghan Star are far less talented than even the also-rans routinely humiliated by judge Simon Cowell stateside, losers like William Hung and Sanjaya.
No, this film is as much about off-camera survival strategies as about onstage performances. Because of the resurgence of the Taliban in the region, the entrants risk life and limb simply by appearing on the show. This predicament persists even though the season finale is so popular that over a third of the nation’s population tunes in.
For remember, under repressive Taliban rule, singing and dancing were outlawed, and women were denied any education and required to cover themselves in basic black from head to toe. But once America deposed the religious zealots, some semblance of normalcy returned, in part prompted by the Western-style programming introduced by the Tolo TV network.
Directed by Havana Marking, Afghan Star focuses on the diverging fates of four of the finalists from among the thousands of hopefuls who initially auditioned. Rafi, 19, and Hameed, 20, are intrepid young crooners whose desire for fame outweighs their fear of a fatwa, aka a death sentence. But the guys’ bravery is easily eclipsed by that of Lima, 25, and Setara, 22, since what apparently really gets under the skin of the still-powerful Taliban mullahs is the idea of women as entertainers.
The plot thickens when Setara summons up the gumption not only to dance during her act but to uncover her hair to boot. This daring decision prompts Muslim fanatics to issue a fatwa. I wonder what would happen if they showed those nutty Neanderthals a couple of BET booty calls music videos. I bet they’d drop dead from apoplexy right on the spot.
Anyhow, Setara gets evicted by her landlord, is shunned by friends, and has to go into hiding while still on the show. And all this for hopes of landing a paltry $5,000 grand prize. I won’t dare reveal who emerges victorious, but I’m not sure there are any winners in a land where females lives are ruined just for exercising God-given freedoms as fundamental to the human condition as walking and breathing.
Proof positive you can’t bomb people back to the Stone Age, if they’re already there. A flick likely to leave you grateful and counting your blessings.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In English, Pashtu and Dari with subtitles.
Running time: 87 minutes
Studio: Zeitgeist Films

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

noreply@blogger.com (The Sly Fox) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:18:00 +0000

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Special Effects Overshadow Cast in Bay’s Bigger-Budgeted Sequel

This summer blockbuster has hit written all over it, given that Michael Bay freely admits that he makes movies aimed at teenaged boys. At the very least, his testosterone-sodden spectacular won’t disappoint that targeted demographic either in terms of its eye-popping special f/x or its gratuitous displays of appealing eye candy.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen generally amounts to a worthy sequel for several reasons. First of all, Bay has upped the ante (increasing the budget from $150 to $200 million) in terms of all the bombastic bells and whistles which have become his trademark. The explosions have become bigger, the locales more exotic, the morphing machines more imaginative.
Of equal importance is the fact that he brought back all of the principals, including Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Kevin Dunn and Julie White. For it’s the task of the human cast members to give the audience a reason to care about an otherwise impersonal showdown between sentient robots from the planet Cybertron: the good Autobots and their evil adversaries, the Decepticons.
At the point of departure, we find Sam Witwicky (LaBouef) headed east for a normal life at college, but regretting having to leave his girlfriend Mikaela (Fox) behind. But not long after meeting his new roommate, Leo (Ramon Rodriguez), an alien conspiracy buff, our unassuming hero already finds himself being pursued by Alice (Isabel Lucas), an ardent admirer who might be after something other than his bod.
Soon, Mikaela shows up and catches her boyfriend in a compromising position, but not to worry. Turns out Alice is just a Decepticon who is after the shard of the “All Spark,” the precious Transformer lifeblood that Sam had inadvertently brought with him to campus. This confrontation kickstarts a globetrotting adventure during which Sam, Mikaela and Leo team with both Autobots and the U.S. military. .
Since the pyrotechnics and CGI are givens in an action-driven saga such as this, what makes Transformers 2 work, mostly for better, but sometimes for worse, are its humorous asides. Early on, a lot of these arrive courtesy of Sam’s loudmouthed mom (White) who accidentally ingests Marijuana-laced brownies. Later, however, the jokes turn troubling when we’re introduced to Skids and Mudflap, a couple of twin robots who resemble apes.
Not only do these African-American-voiced characters played by a white actor (Tom Kenny) speak street jive, but they boast about being unable to read and one sports a gold tooth. Because they are aliens and not technically black people, perhaps it is an overreaction to complain about what appears to be a case of modern minstrelsy.
Regardless, Revenge of the Fallen earns hig marks as a high-octane, 2½ hour diversion certain to stimulate, titillate and satiate the blood and other lusts of the raging-hormone set.

Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, crude behavior, sexuality and brief drug use.
Running time: 150 minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures