Kam Williams « INSIDE BLACK HOLLYWOOD MAGAZINE - BLACK CELEBRITY GOSSIP, INTERVIEWS, MOVIES, MUSIC, FASHION AND MORE…INSIDE BLACK HOLLYWOOD

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Weekly Movie/DVD Review

Written by Kam Williams in film and arts at 5:28 pm on Mar 5th, 10

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Green Zone (R for violence and profanity) Paul Greengrass directs this Iraq War thriller about a rogue Army Officer (Matt Damon) who relies on faulty intelligence while searching for Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction all across the desert. With Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan and Brendan Gleeson.

Our Family Wedding (PG-13 for brief profanity and sexuality) Cross-cultural comedy about a couple of feuding family patriarchs, one black (Forest Whitaker), one Mexican-American (Carlos Mencia), pressured to put aside their differences after two of their kids (Lance Gross and America Ferrara) announce their engagement. Ensemble cast includes Charlie Murphy, Fred Armisen, Lupe Ontiveros, Taye Diggs and Warren Sapp.

Remember Me (PG-13 for violence, sexuality, profanity and smoking) Romance drama about a grieving young rebel’s (Robert Pattinson), struggling to recover from his brother’s suicide, who finds himself falling for the supportive beauty (Emilie de Ravin) whose shoulder he leans on. With Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin and Martha Plimpton.

She’s Out of My League (R for profanity and sexuality) Romantic comedy about an Average Joe (Jay Baruchel) working as an airport security guard whose own insecurities threaten to doom his new relationship with the gorgeous girl of his dreams (Alice Eve) even before it has a chance to blossom.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Children of Invention (Unrated) Dysfunctional family drama abut a couple of abandoned siblings (Michael Chen and Crystal Chiu) who are forced to fend for themselves as squatters in an unfinished apartment complex when their overworked, single-mom (Cindy Cheung) disappears after falling victim to a pyramid scheme. (In English, Cantonese and Mandarin)

Delta (Unrated) Atmospheric adventure revolving around the forbidden love which evolves between a Prodigal Son (Felix Lajko) and the sister (Orsolya Toth) he never knew when he returns home to live in their late father’s dilapidated beach house located along the Danube River. (In Hungarian with subtitles)

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Book Review: Brainwashed

Written by Kam Williams in film and arts at 1:36 pm on Feb 24th, 10

Brainwashed:
Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority
by Tom Burrell
Smiley Books
Paperback, $15.95
310 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-1-4019-2592-5

Book Review by Kam Williams

“These pages examine the roots of why, more than 140 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many of us still think like slaves… In Brainwashed, we will question why we still think so little of ourselves, why our grandmothers still put their savings in a special offering plate to help pay for the pastor’s new luxury automobile, why our children answer when called ‘ho’ and ‘nigga’… and why we, all too often, avoid critical thinking about any of this…

Even at this unprecedented and powerful point in American history, friends, colleagues, and well-wishers still express their frustration with black America’s ever-worsening dependency on handouts, corporate sponsorships, and our kids’ lack of respect for anything and anyone, especially themselves. They finally convinced me that my advertising-based discoveries about the brainwashing of my people, and my ideas about how to finally reverse its effects, could fill a book.

Well, here it is.”

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Cornel West: The “Brother West” Interview

Written by Kam Williams in interviews at 8:38 am on Dec 4th, 09

One of America’s most provocative public intellectuals, Dr. Cornel Ronald West has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz.

Though currently the Class of 1943 Professor at Princeton University, Dr. West first burst onto the national scene in 1993 upon the publication of his best seller, Race Matters, a searing analysis of racism in American democracy. In his long-awaited autobiography, BROTHER WEST: Living and Loving Out Loud, he now offers a compelling exploration of his heart behind the human mind.

Here, he answers questions from readers and talks about the book which explores such themes as Faith, Family, Philosophy, Love and Service.

Kam Williams: Hi, Dr. West, nice speaking with you again. I loved your autobiography. But do you know how hard it was for me to track you down for another interview?

Cornell West: I appreciate your deep loyalty and commitment.

KW: Why did you decide to write your memoirs?

CW: Tavis Smiley, my dear brother, raised the question of my writing one when the prostate cancer hit 8 years ago. I thought and thought about it and decided maybe I could tell my story to help somebody, so they could see how the power of love and education in my life had transformed me from a gangster with raw rage.

KW: Where did that thug you refer to in the book as “Little Ronnie” come from, and how did you get past that phase?

CW: I was just mad, a born rebel. I had loving parents, a loving church and loving friends, yet I was mad, and I needed constructive venues to express that rage. I was able to find them owing to the power of love and education. So, it became a righteous indignation against injustice. It became a holy anger against unfairness. And I’ve had it ever since.

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks, where should we look to reclaim the prophetic voice regarding the war in Afghanistan? Should the Obama administration send thousands of more troops there?

CW: No, no! Obama can’t get the Nobel Peace Prize and be a war President. He’s got to be able to promote peace in an international, multilateral way. We don’t need an American occupation; we don’t need more American troops there. If he does send more, then we’ve got to take to the streets.

KW: Reverend Thompson also asks, with the rise in black-on-black teen crime, what should the religious community be doing differently to address this issue? Is “The Church” merely irrelevant in the lives of our youth? Many have said that our youth have little or no regard for God, church or religion since prayer was taken out of public schools.

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Weekly Movie/DVD Reviews

Written by Kam Williams in film and arts at 5:04 pm on Jul 8th, 09

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)

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Movie Review: My Sister’s Keeper

Written by Kam Williams in film and arts at 11:45 am on Jun 28th, 09

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.

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