Michelle Rhee

The “Radical” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Reading, Writing and Rhee

            Michelle Rhee was born on Christmas Day, 1969 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A first-generation Korean-American descended from a long line of educators, she embarked on a career as a teacher in inner-city Baltimore soon after graduating from Cornell University with a BA in government.

            However, her star really started to rise after she earned a Masters Degree in Public policy at Harvard University’s prestigious Kennedy School. She was subsequently recruited by NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein to help handle his stalled contract talks with the teachers’ union.

            And on the strength of Michelle’s negotiations with UFT president Randi Weingarten, Klein recommended his feisty protégé for the top job in DC. Washington’s public schools were among the worst performing in the nation, and Rhee found a very receptive Mayor in Adrian Fenty, who gave his new hire free reign to overhaul his troubled system in accordance with her controversial reforms.

            She would spend a stormy three years in the public eye as the embattled Schools Chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools. Employing a “kids first” philosophy, Michelle chopped heads in the top-heavy administration, firing dozens of dead wood principals, laying off hundreds of extraneous office workers and closing over twenty underperforming schools.

            Although students’ test scores improved dramatically during her brief stint in the position, her anti-union stance proved unpopular. Mayor Fenty’s reelection bid was basically a referendum on whether the city wished to continue with Rhee’s scorched earth philosophy. When he lost, her days were numbered, so she handed in her resignation rather than wait around to be fired.

            Michelle, a mother of two, is married to former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who is now the Mayor of Sacramento, California. Here, she talks about currently serving as CEO of StudentsFirst, a political advocacy organization she founded in 2010 to advance the cause of educational reform.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Michelle, thanks for the interview. It’s an honor to have the opportunity.

Michelle Rhee: Thanks so much, Kam. It’s a pleasure for me.

 

KW: I really enjoyed reading Radical. It humanized you in a way I hadn’t expected, since you came to be presented in the press as such a polarizing figure by the end of your tenure in DC. I found it very informative and moving, especially where you talk about your family, your childhood and your education.

MR: I’m glad.

 

KW: For instance, I was surprised to learn that you had taken Black Studies courses as an undergrad at Cornell, since that was my major there.

MR: Yes, I took a fair number of courses in the Africana Studies department.

 

KW: Tell me a little about your new organization, StudentsFirst.

MR: I started StudentsFirst when I left DC, essentially because of what had happened to my boss [Mayor Fenty]. I had very naively taken the job believing that, if we worked hard for the kids and produced results, people would want it to continue. But I learned that that was absolutely not the case, that people were less focused on the results than on the process and the personalities. The problem was that we didn’t have any political muscle through which we could support and defend a person like Fenty. So, that’s why I founded StudentsFirst, to create an environment where we have a powerful political force advocating on behalf of children. We now have two million members across the country who are putting pressure on their elected officials to put the right laws and policies into effect.

 

KW: Where did you get the confidence that you could create a national organization from nothing?

MR: From a combination of things. Being able to announce the launch on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and saying that we were going to get a million members and raise a billion dollars in a year was huge. People thought I was crazy. But I have long believed that there are many people out there who are incredibly frustrated with the educational system. I felt that if we could capture that sentiment, and mobilize them to take action and organize others in their communities, then this could be a very powerful force.

 

KW: The cynic in me wonders whether your organization really has widespread grassroots support, or if it is basically being backed by some arch-conservative billionaires like the Koch brothers.

MR: This is driven by everyday people. Our average donation is $84. I get why the other side might try to frame it as a right-wing movement, but the bottom line is I am a life-long Democrat. My husband is a Democratic politician. I was appointed by a Democrat. The vast majority of the goals on our policy agenda are similar to what President Obama and his administration are advocating.    

 

KW: I tried teaching in an inner-city public school after I first graduated from Cornell, but was quickly disillusioned by things like social promotion and low expectations. So, I admire how you took a similar path, but stuck in there, perhaps because you came from a family of educators. 

MR: One of the reasons I wrote the book was to tell my story and to talk about my journey with educational reform, so people can understand why I have the views I have today. I have an absolutely unshakable faith in kids, grounded in the fact that I worked for three years in one of the worst public schools in Baltimore, with kids most people would write off because of their backgrounds. But, when I set high expectations, at the end of the day, these kids went from scoring at the bottom on standardized tests, to scoring at the top, despite their unfortunate circumstances. I actually saw what could happen with my own two eyes. That experience set a light bulb off in my head that any kids could do it, if you create the right school environment. That’s what drives me every day. Why wouldn’t we as a country want to do that?

 

KW: What do you think of school vouchers, charter schools, lotteries and heartbreaking documentaries like Waiting for Superman? 

MR: If you lived in a neighborhood with a failing public school, and you had an opportunity to take advantage of a voucher or other program that would allow you to send your child to a better school, there isn’t a single parent who would say “no.” That’s why movies like Waiting for Superman are so helpful. They show things from the perspective of inner-city families who would do anything to ensure a decent education for their kids. That shatters stereotypes in a very powerful way.     

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What was the biggest lesson you learned from your experience in DC?

MR: We were taking the right steps to fix a dysfunctional school system. But I didn’t realize at the time that how you do things is just as important as what you do.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: How can we empower educational systems on the local level that have such drastic financial concerns that they’re making very round corners?

MR: We are in tough economic times right now, and the first thing we have to do is look at how we’re spending the dollars that we have, and at what kind of return on investment we’re getting. Because I think it will show that spending more money without fixing the fundamental flaws in the system won’t produce anything different in terms of results. In DC, we were spending a whole lot of money on things that had no positive impact on students’ achievement levels.  

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: How committed are you to saving art programs in schools?

MR: Even though we closed 15% of the schools in DC my first year, we were able to put an art teacher, a music teacher, a P.E. teacher, a librarian, a nurse and a guidance counselor or social worker at every school in the district, whereas before, only the wealthy schools had art teachers, because that community could have an auction and hire art teachers on its own. We pooled the resources for all the schools and thereby broadened the resources available to all the students in the district, which I think was critical.  

 

KW: Are you a stereotypical Asian “Tiger Mom”? 

MR: [Chuckles] Do I hold high expectations of them? Yeah. But we all have to have more rigorous expectations of our kids in this country.

 

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

MR: I just see a mom. That’s who I am and what drives my actions and decisions every day.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MR: Being in nursery school, and hearing the teachers saying, “She’s slow.” I remember thinking, “You don’t know anything about me.”

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Michelle, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

MR: I appreciate it, Kam. Thanks.                      

To order a copy of Michelle Rhee’s memoir, “Radical,” visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062203983/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20

To order a copy of the PBS Frontline episode “The Education of Michelle Rhee,” visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B1E6CYW/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20

Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
TV Review by Kam Williams

Melvin James Kaminsky was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on June 28, 1926, but found fame under the stage name you know him by, Mel Brooks. He started out in showbiz as a jazz drummer while still in his early teens, but encountered more success on stage alone upon trying his hand at stand-up at the urging of the owner desperately in need of a fill-in comedian at a resort up in the Catskills.

After a stint serving the country in the army during World War II, he returned home and eventually found work as a writer for Sid Caesar’s TV series “Your Show of Shows” alongside such future greats as Carl Reiner, Woody Allen and Neil Simon. Mild-mannered Simon remembers how “He drove some of us crazy,” and even Mel confesses to having been “an arrogant, obnoxious, little [beep]-head who had patience for nothing but his own thoughts” back then.

So, it’s no surprise that after almost a decade in that capacity, he struck out on his own, thus launching a phenomenal career which would ultimately land him on the short list of the eleven entertainers (including Rita Moreno, Whoopi Goldberg, Sir John Gielgud and Audrey Hepburn) in history to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy. Mel Brooks: Make a Noise captures the 86 year-young genius in all his irrepressible glory as he reminisces about his many impressive accomplishments as a writer/director/actor/lyricist/composer/producer, ranging from Get Smart to The Producers to Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to High Anxiety and beyond.

Besides the larger-than-life public persona, this engaging documentary devotes equal attention to intimate aspects of Mel’s private life, such as revelations like “I was never religious but always very Jewish.” He also talks about how he met his late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, and how they enlisted a black stranger, Samuel Boone, to be the best man at their City Hall wedding on August 5, 1964.

As for Mel’s more introspective side, he concedes that having his father die when he was still a toddler “was a brushstroke of depression that never left me.” And he shows a surprising vulnerability to criticism in admitting, “Every bad review is a like a knife plunging through your heart,” concluding “I don’t even know if I’m talented. I’m not sure.”

A poignant profile of a bona fide Renaissance Man’s six decades and counting on the cutting edge of show business.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated TV: G

Running time: 90 minutes

Distributor: PBS

Mel Brooks: Make a Noise an American Masters profile is set to premiere nationwide on PBS on Monday, May 20, 2013 at 9 pm (ET/PT). [Check local listings]

To see a trailer for Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, visit

To order a copy of The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy on DVD, visit

Star Trek into Darkness
Film Review by Kam Williams

Star date: 2259. Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) has just been called on the carpet following an expedition to a primitive planet where, in the course of saving Spock’s (Zachary Quinto) life, he violated the Starfleet’s strict sanction against interfering with alien civilizations. Consequently, he is demoted in rank and summarily stripped of the command of the USS Enterprise.

He is replaced by his predecessor, Rear Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) who reminds his headstrong protégé about the importance of following the rules. Soon thereafter, however, Pike is slain by friendly fire in a gunship attack launched by John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a fellow officer ostensibly gone rogue.

The tragedy affords Kirk a second chance in the captain’s chair, as well as an opportunity to track down the intergalactic menace and to exact a measure of retribution for his late mentor. As it turns out, Harrison isn’t really a disgruntled colleague but, lo and behold, the reincarnation of Khan, a recurring villain who has appeared before in both television and movie Star Trek episodes.

Here, the slightly tweaked character is the recently-defrosted leader of a race of genetically-enhanced super-beings who’ve been cryogenically frozen for a few hundred years. The pseudo-scientific explanation of his dormancy and revival is of less import than the fact that he’s just fled to Kronos, home of the Klingons, another regular nemesis of Captain Kirk and his crew.

Thus unfolds Star Trek into Darkness, the twelfth big screen adaptation inspired by the classic, Sixties TV show originally starring William Shatner. It’s also the second installment directed by J.J. Abrams, who oversaw the reboot of the sci-fi series in 2009. Truth be told, Abrams’ semi-autobiographical thriller Super 8, which he shot between Star Treks 11 and 12, proved to be a far more scintillating summer blockbuster than either of those.

At least he did reunite the principal cast, including the aforementioned Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, along with Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty John Cho and Sulu and Karl Urban as Bones. Are the special f/x dazzling? Yes. However, the film’s fairly formulaic plot is apt to capture the imagination only of young’uns totally unfamiliar with Khan and the Klingons.

Still, Diehard Trekkies will probably appreciate all the inside jokes sporadically sprinkled into the dialogue for the benefit of loyal longtime fans. Overall, this safe sequel is certainly engaging and entertaining enough to recommend, though it fails to live up to the franchise’s daring, appointed mission “to explore strange new worlds” and “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated PG-13 for intense violence

Running time: 132 minutes

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

To see a trailer for Star Trek into Darkness, visit

Mel Brooks
The “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise” Interview
with Kam Williams

Mel Brooks, director, producer, writer and actor, is in an elite group as one of the few entertainers to earn all four major entertainment prizes – the Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar. His career began in television writing for Your Show of Shows and together with Buck Henry creating the long-running TV series Get Smart.

He then teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform the Grammy-winning 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and books. Mel won his first Oscar in 1964 for writing and narrating the animated short The Critic,and his second for the screenplay of his first feature film, The Producers, in 1968.

Many hit comedies followed, including The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, To Be or Not to Be, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. His film company, Brooksfilms Limited, also produced such critically-acclaimed pictures as The Elephant Man, The Fly, Frances, My Favorite Year,and 84 Charring Cross Road.

For three successive seasons, 1997-1999, Mel Brooks won Emmy Awards for his role as “Uncle Phil” on the hit sitcom Mad About You. Brooks received three 2001 Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards for The Producers: the New Mel Brooks Musical, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2006.

The Producers still holds the record for the most Tony Awards ever won by a Broadway musical. He followed that success with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, which ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009, and both musicals continue to be performed and enjoyed by audiences all over the world.

In 2009 Mel received The Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to American culture. His most recent projects include the Emmy-nominated HBO comedy special Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again, a follow-up HBO special Mel Brooks Strikes Back! and a career retrospective DVD box set titled The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection Of Unhinged Comedy.

Here, he talks about Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, an American Masters profile chronicling his illustrious career. The PBS special is set to premiere nationwide on Monday, May 20, 2013 at 9 pm (ET/PT). [Check local listings] And in June, Mel will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute (AFI) at a gala tribute airing on TNT.

 

Kam Williams: Hello, Mr. Brooks. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Mel Brooks: Thank you, Kam. Hey, what the hell is Kam short for?

 

KW: It’s short for Kamau, an African name.

MB: I’m so sorry to hear that. I thought it might be short for my last name, Kaminsky. I was hoping you just took my last name and shortened it to become part of the family. 

 

KW: [Chuckles] No, I took the name back in the Seventies during my brief career as a jazz musician. You started out as a jazz musician, too, right?

MB: I did, I did. We were both jazz musicians, so it’s like we already know each other. In the early Forties, before I went off to World War II, I was in a little five-piece group that played at those Borscht Belt resorts in the Catskill Mountains. One night, the comic at the Butler Lodge got sick, and his boss, Pincus Cohen, begged me to perform in his place. I told him, “That name is redundant. Pincus and Cohen, you don’t need ‘em both. We know you’re a Jew.” [Laughs] He said, “I’ve watched you doing rehearsals. I can tell you’re a funny guy.“ I knew all those dopey jokes, so I went up on stage, and that’s how I got into comedy. I was only about 15 at the time.      

 

KW: I’ve been to the Catskills a couple times. Do you remember the Nevele?

MB: The Nevele! It’s still there. That was a big place, a real hotel, not like the bungalows that Jews rented for the whole summer. In Yiddish, those cottages were called “kuchalein,” which translates to “cook alone,” meaning you do your own cooking. Those places always had a little playhouse that would seat about two hundred people. So, I’d get booked to play them for around fifty bucks, which was a pretty good salary for one night.

 

KW: Speaking of hotels, the first time I saw Blazing Saddles was soon after it was released at a hotel where you could rent first run movies. I was so captivated by it I had to watch it four times in a row, practically ignoring the woman I was supposed to be sharing a romantic evening with. True story.     

MB: That’s crazy! But it does sound like a true story.

 

KW: I have a million questions for you from fans, but let’s see how many we can get through. 

MB: Sure, sure.  

 

KW: These two people have related questions. Editor/legist Patricia Turnier asks: Where did you get the inspiration to make a musical comedy about Adolf Hitler? And Bobby Shenker asks: How did you manage to get backing for a picture as bold as The Producers?

MB: Those are  two good questions. I kinda backed into the number “Springtime for Hitler.” I worked for a guy who lived in his office. He wasn’t supposed to. But he had laundry hanging, a hotplate to make coffee, and he slept on the couch. I can’t tell you his name because he has grandchildren. But he was a great guy. I was like [the character] Leo Bloom. I had a job working fifteen hours a day for him, doing anything he needed. For instance, I put cards in barbershop and other store windows advertising Tito Guizar, a Mexican balladeer, who periodically played Town Hall. That’s where I got this story. He would raise more money than he needed to put on Off-Off Broadway plays, and he’d keep some of it to live on. Let’s say the play cost $2,500 to produce. He’d raise $3,000 and, if it did okay, he’d skim the difference off the top for living expenses. I once asked him, “Why don’t you put on a $100,000 play and raise a $1,000,000? You know every little old lady in New York. You could get the money?” He used to screw wealthy widows on the cracked leather couch in his office. True story. He was just like Zero Mostel’s character. You know what he said to me? “You’re going to go places. I don’t think that big.” But that was the seed of an idea for a play. And then I backed into Hitler after I asked myself, “What if somebody did do that, raised a million for a $100,000 play?” It would have to be a flop, because if it were a hit, they could never pay all those backers off. There came the idea that you can make more money with a flop than with a hit. Then I had to figure out what would be a surefire flop, and I brainstormed for days and days until I came with Hitler. I thought, nobody’s going to stand up and cheer for Hitler, especially not in New York with so many Jews. When I realized a scene of just him with his generals wouldn’t be festive enough, I decided it had to be a musical. And that’s when I wrote the song “Springtime for Hitler.”           

 

KW: Bobby also says: You married on of the most brilliant actresses of the 20th Century, Anne Bancroft. Is there a biopic in the works? Or at least a behind-the-scenes documentary about her outstanding performances in The Miracle Worker and The Graduate?

MB: So far, no. To be honest, Bobby, it’s certainly still too painful for me to be involved with it at all.   

 

KW: Ray Hirschman says: Hey Mel, how did you land such a beautiful wife? Was it your charm or your humor?

MB: I don’t know. I once asked her that. She said, “I never encountered anybody with so much energy. It’s daunting just to be with you.” When we were first married, she was a star and I was nobody.” I had been writing for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” which became “Caesar’s Hour.” Lawrence Welk was on at the same time and, strangely enough, he got the ratings, and we went off the air in 1959. So, I was basically out of work for a couple of years when I met Anne on February 5, 1961. She was on The Perry Como Show, and I was collaborating on a Broadway musical called All American with Charles Strouse, the great composer who wrote the music for Bye Bye Birdie, Annie and All in the Family.  I wrote the book, and he wrote the score. I thought it was a pretty good show but it never really made it. Anyway, he was playing piano for Anne at The Actors’ Studio where she was presenting a song as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, and he invited me to accompany him to a dress rehearsal. She came out onstage in a beautiful, white dress. She was gorgeous! My tongue was hanging out. When she finished, I shouted out, “Hey Anne Bancroft! I’m Mel Brooks. I think I love you.” Everybody stopped and looked, and I ran over to her and we talked. She said, “I have your new record. You’re a genius!” referring to the 2,000 Year-Old Man comedy album Carl Reiner and I had just released. Afterwards, she said she had to go somewhere, and I made believe I had to go there, too. For the next week, I would find out from friends what restaurants, clubs and theaters she’d be frequenting, and I’d show up, and ask, “What is this, Kismet?” until she finally said, “Okay, you can stop the B.S. Let’s hang out together.” It was all good. We were literally in love and together from that day until she passed away on June 6th in 2005. We had a nice, long run.     

 

KW: Film student Jamaal Green says: Hi Mel! I am a huge fan of your work from Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to Space Balls. But I would like to know, if you have any plans to do some new 2,000 Year-Old Man skits?

MB: Thank you for that question, Jamaal. However, I’ve become the 2,000 Year-Old Man now, and I have a 2,000 Year-Old Man brain. When I originally wrote it, I was in my thirties. I was young, and hip, and smart, and could think fast. I’m no longer there. Things have slowed-up incredibly. Synaptic connections are taking me to strange places in my brain. I think I probably could eke out one more. Carl, who recently turned 91 is hot to trot, but I’m not sure.    

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What was the hardest film to shoot because of laughing breaking out on the set?

MB: Blazing Saddles was pretty damn funny. The crew was constantly cracking-up and ruining takes. So, finally, I sent my assistant to Woolworths to buy a thousand white handkerchiefs. I gave one to everybody on the set. I told them, “If you feel like laughing at something, you stick one of these in your mouth, bite on it, and laugh through it.” Anytime I wasn’t sure whether a scene was working or not, I’d look over my shoulder, and if I saw a lot of white handkerchiefs, I’d know it was funny. That became my litmus test. The crew’s laughing could’ve ruined the picture, Bernadette, but we saved it with the white handkerchiefs. It also turned out to be a great way to test to see if something was funny.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Thank you, and Ann, for that incredible performance of “Sweet Georgian Brown” in Polish to open your re-do of “To Be or Not to Be.” On the NBC Today show, you said “Annie is funnier than I am,” and I remember that side-splitting, incredible thing with her eyes. How did she speak to and influence your projects?

MB: Harriet, she was incredible right from the first time I met her. I was writing The Producers. She immediately became my sounding board. I didn’t trust anybody else. I’d write something and show it to her. Then she’d mark it up with “This is brilliant!” or “Never let this go!” and once in awhile she’d say “This stinks!” [Chuckles] She was really responsible for getting the best out of me, like the trainer of a racehorse.

 

KW: Hollywood Hills realtor Jimmy Bayan says: Mel, you once said you and Anne were glued together from the day you met until the day she died. She obviously really "got you." Can you tell me, what made your marriage sizzle for so many years?

MB: I can’t, Jimmy. What is it, magic? Magnetism? Meant to be? Who the hell knows! We were very lucky. Fate may have had a hand in it.

 

KW: Roger Klein says: You are a great filmmaker. You are to movies what the Rolling Stones are to Rock & Roll.

MB: I was never recognized as a movie director, Roger. Never! They always talk about my being a great writer and comic, and an important producer, But I’ve never been saluted as a filmmaker, except by a few colleagues like Alfred Hitchcock. He once said to me, “Nobody appreciates your directing skills. High Anxiety is brilliant! The back lighting!” He thought of me as a wonderful director, but no one else did.

 

KW: Did it bother you?

MB: I never really got that upset about it because I was doing what I wanted to do. If you can do what you want to do in this life, the rest is gravy. Instead of going to work, you’re going to joy every day.

 

KW: And he was just as snubbed.

MB: [Laughs] Yeah, he was nominated for an Academy Award a number of times, but he never won one. And he might have been the best director who ever lived.

 

KW: Roger would like you to name some comedies that really make you laugh.

MB: Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, and Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last. Those are really my favorites. I thought The Hangover was really funny. But the sequel just exploited the first. 

 

KW: I gotta tell you, Mel, Get Smart is still my all-time favorite TV show. Was there ever a funnier sitcom?

MB: I don’t know. Buck Henry was very, very talented, and together we came up with some incredible ideas. He invented the Cone of Silence. And I think I invented the cell phone, because I dreamed up having Maxwell Smart talking on a shoe telephone.

 

KW: Harriet says: You set a very high standard for revamping old films, with To Be or Not to Be, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers. Do you have your sights on another old classic that you care to discuss?

MB: There’s a good-looking old lady who lives in Cincinnati that I have my eye on, but I’m not sure as far as show business. [Chuckles] Maybe musicalizing The Twelve Chairs, one of my overlooked films, for Broadway.

Or Blazing Saddles. They both cry out for music, and they both have good stories.

 

KW: Why do you think Blazing Saddles remains as fresh as ever?

MB: What makes it last so long is that there’s a black sheriff that everyone in that world of 1874 wants to see dead right away. But he endures and gains the respect of the townsfolk, especially the Waco Kid [played by Gene Wilder]. That’s the engine that drives it, and that’s why it’s still around. It’s around because there’s a tremendous amount of focused emotion in that movie.

 

KW: When I interviewed Quentin Tarantino about Django Unchained he attributed the demise of the Western to blazing Saddles. He said that you had parodied the genre so effectively that no one could take them seriously anymore. 

MB: [Laughs] I don’t know. Maybe he’s right. But I wouldn’t take credit for that.

 

KW: What’d you think of his movies?

MB: I love Quentin for what he does. He doesn’t give a [bleep]. Freedom… fantasy moviemaking. In Inglourious Bastards, he’s got Hitler and Goering and Goebbels all in a theater in France and he kills them all. With Django, I would have been a little upset if Abraham Lincoln was run over by a Buick on 43rd Street. But coming from Tarantino, I accepted it. He’s a genius who should be respected for his work.

 

 

 

KW: Harriet also says: The Critic is one my favorite works of art by you. How about getting it back out there so people who didn’t see it in 1963 can get a look at it on its 50th anniversary?

MB: Ooh, well thank you Harriet for being aware of it, for enjoying it, for getting it, and for understanding it. And, as a matter of fact, The Critic is in The Incredible Mel Brooks box set.   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008VIMLXM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: Harriet says: Remember the rock Dr. Haldanish put his hand on and said, “I’m a psychiatrist?” Well, I put my hand on that same rock and said, “I’m a life-long fan of yours!”

MB: That’s very funny! Harriet, I love you! I really appreciate it. 

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: Have you ever considered working with Monty Python alumni? I think that would trigger a comedic cosmic shift!

MB: We should’ve gotten together because Blazing Saddles and Life of Brian were on the same bill at the Baker St. Theater in London for three years straight. And they actually sent me a check. I couldn’t believe it.   

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: How does playing yourself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" compare to some of the amazing characters you’ve played like Moses and President Skroob?

MB: I have no judgment and no perspective. When I’m playing myself, I dissolve into the character as a person, so I can’t really criticize my performance. I don’t know whether I’m good or bad. But when I’m playing Tikon, the Russian servant in The Twelve Chairs, I would say, yes, that’s a fine performance. And when I was Goddard Bolt in Life Stinks, I think I was pretty good. It was close to me, but not me, in the performance. I also think I was wonderful singing “The Inquisition” in History of the World.     

 

KW: In preparing for this interview, I went back and watched a lot of your appearances on Johnny Carson. They were phenomenal!

MB: He was a great catalyst. He’d get the best out of you. And he was a great audience, too. Carson was the best.

 

KW: Patricia says: I have a passion for tap dancing that I did for almost 15 years. You have been influenced by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. How can tap regain the status in movies that it once enjoyed?  

MB: That’s a very good question, Patricia. When people ask me, what’s your favorite movie, I’d like to say Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion to make myself sound like such an intellectual. But my favorite movie is actually Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and then maybe Singin’ in the Rain. My very favorites are American musical comedies of the Thirties, and tap dancing was my favorite dance form. To see Astaire tap like a maniac with such grace and charm was very magical. It was very balletic. How can you forget the Nicholas Brothers? They’re very hard to beat. Or Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Shirley Temple’s duet up and down the steps. So, I agree with you Patricia. Tap is a glorious aspect of show business, and I’ll see what I can do about bringing it back.   

 

KW: Patricia also asks: What prepared you the most for your career in showbiz?

MB: I think the Show of Shows, because I didn’t spread my wings and do my movies until I had nine years of seeing the best comedy of its day with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, Howie Morris and Nanette Fabray under my belt, and, and of working with writers like Neil Simon, Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart. That set the stage for my going out on my own.

 

KW: Wow, what a group! I’d have to say Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple was my second favorite TV show of all time.

MB: Neil was one of my best friends.

 

KW: What is the best advice you can give to young people who would like to follow in your footsteps as a filmmaker?

MB: I have no advice for anybody. Something impels you, and you have to keep going. Something mysterious drives you, and you’ll have to take a thousand no’s before you get your first yes, and they let you do your stuff.

 

KW: Bobby says: One of my favorite comedies is Young Frankenstein. The casting was sheer inspiration. What could you tell us about your collaboration with Gene Wilder? With such a brilliant cast, was it a collaborative effort, or primarily carved out by you and Wilder?

MB: It actually came from Gene Wilder’s head. One day when we broke for lunch out in the desert during the shooting of Blazing Saddles, I saw him scribbling on a legal pad and on the top it says “Young Frankenstein.” And I said, “What the hell is that? What’re you doing?” And he explained to me his idea and asked me if I’d collaborate with him on it. I said, “Sure.” As far as the casting, there was a guy named Mike Medavoy who had in his stable of actors Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle and Marty Feldman. The only ones he didn’t have were Madeline Kahn and Teri Garr.  

 

KW: Wesley Derbyshire asks: For better or worse, how do you see comedy changing on the screen over the past half-century?

MB: That’s a good question, Wesley. I wish could answer it. Comedy is too vast a subject. I don’t know what it is. It’s reaching a place in us that is unrestrained. That place where we can no longer be a proper part of society, and just have to laugh. If you have the ability to reach it in yourself, you’ll reach it in others. But how it’s changed, I don’t know. All the sitcoms have gotten very sexual, but not necessarily funnier.

 

KW: I agree wholeheartedly, Mel. Thanks for being so generous with your time, and for sharing so many anecdotes, insights and remembrances. 

MB: It was my pleasure, Kam. Nice talking to you.

To order a copy of The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy on DVD, visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008VIMLXM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

Bidder 70
Film Review by Kam Williams

The Bush administration’s announcement in 2008 of its intention to auction-off the mining rights to many square miles of virgin land located in national forests ignited waves of protests by environmental activists. But when picketing, petitioning and the lobbying of politicians failed, the government proceeded with its plan to grant oil and gas mega-corporations access to the pristine parcels.

Crashing the auction was Tim DeChristopher, a frustrated college student who had participated in the pro-nature preservation demonstrations. He impulsively joined in the bidding and by the end of the day had purchased the rights to 22,000 acres of real estate in the Utah wilderness for $1.7 million with the hope of somehow saving some soil from fracking.

Trouble is, he had neither funds nor the wherewithal to extract any minerals, which was a technical violation of federal law. And since the energy industry doesn’t cotton to tree-huggers interfering its their profit margins and inclination to “Drill, baby drill!” it prevailed upon the government to throw the book at Mr. DeChristopher.

By the time the dust settled several years later, the outspoken economics major was convicted and carted off to prison to serve a two-year sentence. While Tim’s trials and tribulations are the front story of Bidder 70, this eye-opening documentary co-directed by Beth and George Gage simultaneously issues an urgent call for non-violent civil disobedience on the part of citizens truly concerned about global warming and the unchecked consumption of non-renewable carbon.

A powerful, empathetic portrait of a selfless, planetary patriot willing to sacrifice his liberty for the sake of Mother Earth‘s long-term prospects.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 73 minutes

Distributor: First Run Features

To see a trailer for Bidder 70, visit

Venus & Serena
Film Review by Kam Williams

Richard Williams was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana where he was left traumatized by having a railroad spike driven through his leg for refusing to behave deferentially towards a gang of white racists. Understandably, that experience played a significant role in shaping the youngster into the highly-ambitious and fiercely-overprotective father he would later become.

In fact, well before his daughters Venus and Serena were even born, he hand wrote a 78-page game plan for their lives. Its foundation was laid in childhood, where they would not only be homeschooled but forged into professional tennis players.

Achieving that dream would be no small feat, given that the girls were to grow up poor in Compton, an L.A. ghetto far removed from the privileged background considered necessary to compete on the championship level. Sadly, upon turning pro, rather than being immediately embraced by California crowds, elder sister Venus was called the “N-word” by local fans who preferred to root for her European counterparts.

Nevertheless, having been prepared by their dad for just such a reaction to the presence on center court, both young ladies miraculously managed to rise in stature on the circuit. All of the above is chronicled in captivating fashion in Venus and Serena, an intimate biopic co-directed by Michelle Major and Maiken Baird who were allowed to follow the pair around with a camera for over a year.

Besides detailing the ups-and-downs of the turbulent, 2011 tennis season, this riveting and revealing documentary treats the audience to an intimate look at the close-knit sisters with the help of home movies from their adolescence. Featuring appearances by Chris Rock, Bill Clinton and Serena’s ex-boyfriend Common, this flick is at its best when Richard Williams is given the floor in archival footage to make audacious predictions about turning not one but two of his daughters into world-class tennis players.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 99 minutes

Distributor: Magnolia Pictures

To see a trailer for Venus and Serena, visit

The Great Gatsby
Film Review by Kam Williams

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an era-defining, literary masterpiece convincingly capturing the decadence, debauchery and self-destruction of privileged elites living in the lap of luxury at the height of the Roaring Twenties. Set out on Long Island over the course of a very eventful summer, the tragic tale of love and betrayal unfolds from the point-of-view of social-climber Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a nondescript bond salesman who fancies himself a celebrated writer someday.

At the point of departure, we find him renting a modest cottage sitting in the shadow of a sprawling waterfront mansion owned by Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a self-made man given to throwing extravagant parties for fellow members of high society. Despite having his pick of a glittery litter of gold-digging flappers, the mysterious millionaire remains obsessed with Daisy (Carey Mulligan), an attractive young woman he had dated as a soldier before leaving the country to fight in World War I.

While he was overseas, she met and married Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), an abusive adulterer from an old money family whose own mammoth estate is located on the other side of the bay. Nick comes to play a critical role in the proceedings once Gatsby learns that he just happens to be a distant cousin of Daisy’s.

Soon, the lovelorn tycoon prevails upon his new, next-door neighbor to serve as a go-between by inviting her over for what she doesn’t know is a secret rendezvous with an ex-boyfriend. Sparks fly afresh, and it’s not long before all the morally-corrupted central characters end up taking a ride aboard an ill-fated, emotional roller coaster.

Perhaps more pertinent than recounting further the familiar plotline of a novel we all remember from high school is addressing its reimagining as a visually-captivating, ethereal fantasy by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge). The bodacious director not only shot the New York story in his native Australia, but infused the soundtrack with hip-hop tunes by the film’s executive producer, Jay-Z, and wife, Beyonce’.

Before you join the rush to indict the anachronistic inclusion of rap as blasphemous in a movie supposedly recreating the Jazz Age, consider the fact that historical costume dramas generally tend to tell us more about the period in which they were made than about the one in which they transpire. Why else would anyone see fit to mount a fifth version of Gatsby?

Reflecting the influences of both its producer and director, this riveting reinterpretation for the Hip-Hop Generation is apt to be best appreciated by fans of mind-numbing gangsta’ rap weaned on shallow videos featuring materialistic misogynists enjoying free-flowing champagne while surrounded by a bevy of gyrating beauties. Bravo to Baz for effectively lending his trademark lush and lurid touch to a cautionary classic chronicling the downside of the American Dream!

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated PG-13 for sexuality, smoking, violent images, partying and brief profanity

Running time: 143 minutes

Distributor: Warner Brothers

To see a trailer for The Great Gatsby, visit

Craig Robinson      

The “Peeples” Interview

 

Craig Is Good “Peeples”

Born in Chicago on October 25, 1971, Craig Robinson is currently appearing in the final season of “The Office” on NBC, where he portrays acerbic Dunder-Mifflin employee Darryl Philbin. He is definitely a world away from his original career intentions; before deciding to pursue a comedy career full-time, Robinson was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.

He had earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and a Master’s in Education from St. Xavier University. It was while studying education that he discovered his love of acting and comedy upon joining the famed Second City Theatre.

Craig made his mark on the comedy circuit at the 1998 Montreal “Just for Laughs” Festival. That year, he also won the Oakland Comedy Festival Awards and the Miller Genuine Draft 1996 Comedy Search. He soon went on to perform his act on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show” and on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

His rise to success with “The Office” and his stand-up prowess quickly brought him to the attention of comedy maven Judd Apatow. Robinson made audiences question their notions of vanity, playing the sensitive bouncer in Knocked Up. He then kept audiences glued to their seats as one of the henchman hunting Seth Rogen and James Franco’s bumbling stoner characters in Pineapple Express, and made fans squirm when he co-starred with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

In 2010, Craig starred alongside Rob Corddry and John Cusack in Hot Tub Time Machine. The story follows three men as they visit the hot tub where they once partied, accidentally discover it is now a time machine, and travel back to their raunchy heyday in the mid-1980s. Fans’ voices spoke loudly, and early negotiations are currently in progress for a sequel.

Here, he talks about his first leading man role as Wade Walker in Peeples, a comedy co-starring Kerry Washington.

Kam Williams: Hi Craig, thanks for the interview.

Craig Robinson: Thank you for getting the word out. I appreciate it, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in Peeples?

CR: When I met with [director] Tina Gordon Chism, I was impressed with her passion about the project. She had lived this experience of dating someone from a family with so many secrets, and watching them unravel. So, she knew what she was talking about. And when she let me know that Kerry Washington was playing the love interest, I went, “Okay, I’m in! Let’s go ahead and do it.”

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You’ve done some great cameo and support roles, but now landed a lead role here. Congratulations! So, in Peeples, your fans will see more of you. How was it playing a main character and working with [producer] Tyler Perry?

CR: I worked with Tyler before on Daddy’s Little Girls. He couldn’t be smarter or more laid back and cool. He’s always throwing out lines and is funny as hell. And he was shining his light on Peeples, too, lending his name to showcase Tina as a first-time director, and me as a first-time lead. I’m humbled and honored to work with him. He’s great!

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier would like to know what was it like to on the set with legendary actors like Diahann Carroll and Melvin Van Peebles?

CR: Diahann Carroll delivered a very moving speech at the start of the whole project, and Melvin pulled me aside on the set and told me to, “Stay strong!” in a way that carried considerable heft. These people are legends, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled about their participation in the movie and blessing it. It was superb.

 

KW: Patricia also says: Given that you are a singer, are you interested in recording an album one day?

CR: Yes I am. I have a sound. It’s called funk mixed with stank. That’s what I do.

 

KW: What’s it like having the same name as First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother?

CR: I was once dating a woman who got very upset after confusing the two of us when she found my picture next to his bio which indicated that he’s divorced with kids, and remarried. So, if you can imagine, that’s what it’s like.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: I'm just crazy about films with time travel.  Where there any special issues or tricky scenes when you played Nick in Hot Tub Time Machine?

CR: Yes, there was a special issue. Her name was Jessica Paré. She was topless with me in the hot tub. So, yes, that was a very special moment, and I watch the movie every night because of that scene. 

 

KW: Dinesh Sharma asks: Do you think that your role describes a challenge most black men face today, of trying to fit into upper-class black society? Or was the movie just Meet the Parents with an African-American twist?

CR: Peeples is definitely not Meet the Parents. It’s more a movie about family secrets. It does explore class issues somewhat, but it’s mostly about living your own truth. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

CR: I can bake the hell out of some chicken, my friend.

 

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

CR: Celestine Prophecies.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446671002/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

CR: Butterflies by Michael Jackson. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Q4JH/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

CR: JSLV, Just Live, it’s a company in California.

 

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

CR: Craig Robinson… I see growth.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

CR: To be able hug my deceased family members, friends and godfather.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

CR: Banging on the piano while my grandmother was watching me. I’d run up to her and ask: “How was that, Grandma?” And she’d say, “That was beautiful, baby!” And I’d run back to the piano and play some more. I’m sure that’s why I still play today, because I was encouraged from such a young age, 2 or 3.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

CR: Determination!

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question” asks: What was your best career move?

CR: Choosing my manager, Mark Schulman.

 

KW: PBS President Neal Shapiro asks: If you could really time travel and live in another period, which one would you choose? 

CR: The Sixties, because it was the beginning of Rock & Roll. All the songs sounded alike, since they were using the same three chords, which would make it easy to hop out and rock.  

 

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

CR: That’s a great question. I can’t think of one.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: Who do you really believe you are when you go home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

CR: The red carpet is weird because, when they don’t know who you are, you’re standing there posing and nobody’s taking pictures of you. And when they do know you, they’re calling your name from every which way and you don’t know in which direction to turn. For me, I’m more in control at home. On the carpet, I want to be in control, but it can be overwhelming.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would it be? 

CR: Rock star! Singing songs that the whole world knows, like my favorite band, Earth, Wind and Fire.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

CR: No, because I don’t make promises unless I know I’m gonna keep ‘em.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

CR: Invisibility!

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

CR: I would live like I’m already living. If I couldn’t get to my family, I’d hit my favorite restaurant. I’d seize the moment.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

CR: A whale.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

CR: The little things that let me know I’m on the right path, like running into an old friend, or getting into the car and catching an awesome song from the beginning.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

CR: I don’t get too close in relationships. I kinda have my arm out, like the Heisman trophy, because I don’t want to hurt somebody the way I was hurt.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in with an eye toward a particular role.

CR: Yeah, Cannonball Run.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you have a favorite charity?

CR: No, I don’t.

 

KW: The Nancy Lovell Question: Why do you love doing what you do?

CR: Because it brings me closer to people, and it lets me explore who I am. It’s a chance for me to be connected. Whenever I’m performing live, the first thing I look for is to make a connection.

 

KW: What is your favorite way of performing?

CR: I’m in my element when I’m alone on stage with a microphone and a keyboard.

 

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

CR: Be yourself, because you’re special. There’s only one of you. Second, be tenacious, visualize success, and then live it. And remember everything you learned in kindergarten.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

CR: As a joy!

 

KW: Thanks again, Craig. I really appreciate having this opportunity, brother, and best of luck with Peeples.

CR: Thank you. You are phenomenal, Kam.

To see the trailer for Peeples, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMEzaXX0xnU

Iron Man 3
Film Review by Kam Williams

This film represents the seventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series kickstarted by Iron Man 1 in 2008, and since followed in succession by The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers. The sensible question I suppose you’re probably interested in having answered is whether the franchise is showing any signs of running out of steam or if it’s worth investing in yet another episode.

Great news! The movie more than lives up to its billing as the first blockbuster of this summer season. Yes, the plot remains true to the basic comic book adaptation formula in that it pits a superhero against a diabolical villain bent on world domination.

However, Iron Man adds a little more to the trademark mix of derring-do and visually-captivating special f/x thanks to Robert Downey, Jr.’s bringing so much charm to the title character. Downey again delights, delivering a plethora of pithy comments, whether playing bon vivant billionaire Tony Stark or his intrepid alter ego.

Also reprising their roles are People Magazine’s reigning Most Beautiful Woman in the World Gwyneth Paltrow as Iron Man’s love interest Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as his best friend Rhodey, and Jon Favreau (the director of episodes 1 and 2) as chauffeur-turned-obsessive chief of security Happy Hogan. And critical additions include Ty Simpkins as Harley, Iron Man’s prepubescent, new sidekick and Sir Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, the maniacal spokesman for an international terrorist organization.

The point of departure is Bern, Switzerland on New Year’s 2000 which is where we find Tony Stark declining an offer to go into business being made by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a disabled scientist who ostensibly covets an experimental drug being developed by Stark Industries botanist Dr. Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall). The storyline immediately fast-forwards from Y2K to the present as a string of bombings are being ostensibly orchestrated by The Mandarin.

Against his better judgment, Tony dares the madman to a fight, and no sooner is his oceanfront home leveled by a barrage of incoming rockets. Fortunately, a number of Iron Man outfits were left unscathed and, with the help of precocious Harley and pal Rhodey (aka Iron Patriot), he proceeds to get to the bottom of who is really behind the attacks bombings.

Far be it from me to spoil the surprising developments which ensue en route to the big showdown, suffice to say brace yourself for an array of visually-captivating stunt work interrupted intermittently by comical, tongue-in-cheek comments courtesy of our smart aleck protagonist. Patient audience members willing to sit through the long (and I mean long) closing credits will be duly rewarded with a brief session of Iron Man decompressing on the shrink’s couch with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).

In sum, a worthy addition to the vaunted Marvel franchise.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated PG-13 for intense violence and brief sensuality.

Running time: 130 minutes

Distributor: Walt Disney Studios

To see a trailer for Iron Man 3, visit

Peeples
Film Review by Kam Williams

After dating for over a year, Wade Walker (Craig Robinson) is head-over-heels in love with his girlfriend, Grace (Kerry Washington). He’s ready to pop the question, and has even purchased a ring, but there’s a slight problem: he still hasn’t met her parents yet.

Because of her background, Grace is a little ashamed of her beau’s modest background. After all, she’s a high-powered Manhattan attorney with a proven pedigree, while he hails from the ‘hood and makes a living by performing at children’s birthday parties.

Concern about their class differences has Grace taking off alone to the tip of Long Island for a weekend getaway at her family’s waterfront mansion. Rather than sit at home licking his wounds, Wade decides to force the issue by crashing the gathering.

His unexplained presence gets under the skin of Grace’s father, Judge Virgil Peeples (David Alan Grier), an overbearing patriarch with a need to control. Furthermore, Grace is afraid to tell him the truth about the nature of her relationship with Wade, which serves to establish the familiar, sitcom scenario revolving around a big lie that must be kept hidden at all costs.

Written and directed by Tyler Perry protégé Tina Gordon Chism, Peeples is a fish-out-of-water comedy whose stock-in-trade is making fun of the contrast between po’ and bourgie black folks. Ala popular Perry TV programs like House of Payne and Meet the Browns, the production is littered with colorful, two-dimensional characters bordering on caricatures.

There’s Wade’s embarrassingly-ghetto brother (Malcolm Barrett) who also shows up announced. He’s an oaf who puts his foot in his own mouth by suggesting that Grace’s lipstick lesbian sister (Kali Kawk) “looks too good to be gay.” Wade conveniently loses his wallet upon arriving which means he looks like a total loser when he can’t pay for anything.

You get the idea. Is it funny? I suppose, provided you’re in the target demo and haven’t seen Jumping the Broom, another comedy set at a beachfront estate (on Martha’s Vineyard in that case) and pitting crass blacks from the wrong side of the tracks against the others with their noses in the air. From shoplifting to lip-synching to skinny-dipping to a sweat lodge to skeletons-in-the-closet, Peeples throws everything at the screen but the kitchen sink, and just enough sticks.

An amusing, if not exactly side-splitting, African-American-oriented variation on Meet the Parents.

Good (2 stars)

Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and drug use)

Running time: 95 minutes

Distributor: Lionsgate Films

To see a trailer for Peeples, visit

Unmade in China
Film Review by Kam Williams

Inspired by a Youtube video that went viral, Gil Kofman decided to make a movie about a lonely girl trapped in a basement. The L.A. director subsequently contracted to shoot the thriller, Case Sensitive, in China, the nation now with the third largest film industry behind the United States and India.

Unfortunately, Gil forgot to factor into the equation that not only is the government there thoroughly corrupt, but dissent is not allowed. Consequently, the production would be plagued by delays due to bureaucratic red tape and the presence on the set of government censors who demanded everything from seven, politically and cultural-correct rewrites of the script to the replacement of cast members with actors approved by the Communist Party.

Worse, Gil’s complaints about any of the above only fell on deaf ears, and he was even warned that he would lose should he try to assert any legal rights. The frustrated filmmaker failed to find any sympathetic shoulder among the locals since, as he puts it, “The whole country has been benevolently brainwashed.”

In the end, however, the picture was a hit, at least in China, where it was released on 2,000 screens. But Gil never saw a dime of that money. And to add insult to injury, bootleg copies of the film were being sold in Asian bodegas all over the U.S. within a few months, rendering it worthless theatrically upon his return to the States.

His anguish as a result of the extended nightmare is carefully captured in Unmade in China, a flick which is a horrible advertisement for entering any business enterprise with the Communists. Still, while watching this gullible American get rolled for his work product, you can’t help but wonder why he didn’t cut his losses and give up after the first week of being given so much grief.

A comical account of a year-long, money-burning party which ought to serve as a sobering warning for any equally-naïve entrepreneur considering investing in China.

Excellent (3.5 stars)

Unrated

In English and Mandarin with subtitles

Running time: 90 minutes

Distributor: 7th Art Releasing / Antidote Films

To see a trailer for Unmade in China, visit

Aviva Kempner
“The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” Interview
by Kam Williams

 

A child of a Holocaust survivor and a US Army officer, Aviva Kempner was born in Berlin, Germany after World War II. She was inspired by her heritage to produce and co-write Partisans of Vilna, a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis. She was also the executive producer of the 1989 Grammy-award nominated record, Partisans of Vilna: The Songs of World War II Jewish Resistance.

Ms. Kempner is the scriptwriter, director and producer of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, a film about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930's and 40's. It was awarded top honors by the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film received a George Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy, too.

In her documentaries, Ms. Kempner investigates non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focuses on the untold stories of Jewish heroes. Upset with the 2000 election results, she was inspired to make the short, Today I Vote for My Joey, from the script she wrote about Election Day in Palm Beach for the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women.

She produced and directed Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, a 90-minute documentary on America's favorite radio and television personality. Gertrude Berg was the creator, principal writer and star of the popular 1930's radio show and later the 1950's weekly TV sitcom, The Goldbergs.

Ms. Kempner writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post. She also lectures about cinema throughout the country. She started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1989.

 

Kam Williams: Thanks for the interview, Aviva. How has being the daughter of a Holocaust survivor shaped your life?

Aviva Kempner: As a child of a survivor born in post-war Europe, I had grown up fantasizing about being in the resistance during World War II. In late 1979, I had a roots awakening to explore my Jewish roots. Since then, I have devoted myself to countering negative screen images of Jews.

 

KW: How would you say Jews been stereotyped?

AK: Typically, Jews are portrayed by the suicidal, female Holocaust survivor, the nebbishy Jewish male and the domineering Jewish mother. I am committed to making documentaries which counter these negative portrayals by showing non-stereotypical images of Jews.

 

KW: How did you get your start in filmmaking?

AK: I was determined to make a film about my obsession: Jewish resistance to the Nazis. I incorporated the Ciesla Foundation which I named for my grandparents who had died in Auschwitz. Ciesla was their last name. I worked with Josh Waltetzky to make Partisans of Vilna in the Eighties, a film which examined the unexplored theme of Jewish opposition to Hitler.

 

KW: And how did you decide to do a documentary on Hank Greenberg?

Read the rest of this story »

Aroused
Film Review by Kam Williams

Have you ever been curious about how a woman became a porn star? Was it because of a drug habit? Or maybe out of desperation for money? How did she pick her stage name? Does she feel any shame about such a taboo line of work?

Is she really a nymphomaniac, or just a bad actress? Does she enjoy having sex with total strangers in front of the camera? Is there a stigma attached to her profession, or is she able to enjoy a normal romantic relationship in her private life? Is she worried about STDs? What does she think of her fans? Does she have an exit plan, or is she just winging it?

These are among the topics discussed by 16 of the most successful porn stars in Aroused, an intimate biopic directed by Deborah Anderson. Don’t be surprised if none of their sultry sobriquets rings a bell, since one of the fascinating factoids shared here is that their careers are of terribly short duration.

“The porn stars of 2005 are already gone,” one remarks. “They’re shot out,” which is how industry insiders refer to over the hill performers.

But the bevy of curvaceous beauties interviewed in Aroused represents the current cream of the crop. That includes Misty Stone, Ash Hollywood, Asphyxia Noir, Belladonna, Kayden Kross, Lisa Ann, Katsuni, Lexi Belle, Brooklyn Lee, Allie Haze, April O’Neil, Jesse Jane, Alexis Texas, Francesca Le, Tanya Tate and Teagan Presley.

The film is far from explicit, though it does feature each subject in a state of undress as she prepares for a still photo shoot for a relatively-tasteful coffee table book, clad in nothing but a pair of high heels by shoe designer Jimmy Choo. What proves far more compelling than seeing a little skin is hearing what makes each of them tick.

Money seems to be the common motivation, although they admit that once you go XXX you can’t go back, because being in pornography leaves a scarlet letter on you socially. It’s also interesting that most of these females crave attention more than casual carnality, with an absentee father during childhood being credited as a contributor factor.

They generally don’t date “civilians,” meaning people outside the porn industry, since ordinary people tend to be prudes about promiscuity, even when their mate explains that it’s just a job. By film’s end, you feel sorry for these females in denial, despite defensive-sounding statements like, “I get paid to have sex. Why doesn’t everybody do that?” Maybe because some of you admit to needing a steady flow of narcotics to mask the shame and the pain.

An eye-opening expose about the surprisingly-conventional concerns of some of the most hyper-sexualized women in the world.

Very Good (3 stars)

Unrated

In English and French with subtitles

Running time: 73 minutes

Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment

To see a trailer for Aroused, visit

Anthony Mackie
The “Pain & Gain” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in New Orleans on September 23, 1979, Anthony Mackie attended the Julliard School of Drama. He was discovered after receiving rave reviews for playing Tupac Shakur in the off-Broadway play “Up Against the Wind.”

Immediately following, Anthony made an auspicious film debut as Eminem’s nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson’s “8 Mile.” His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast him in “Sucker Free City” and “She Hate Me.” He also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” as well as in Jonathan Demme’s “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Anthony had five features on movie screens in 2006. In addition to “We Are Marshall,” he starred in “Half Nelson,” with Ryan Gosling, adapted from director Ryan Fleck’s Sundance-winning short “Gowanus Brooklyn;” in Preston Whitmore’s “Crossover;” in Frank E. Flowers ensemble crime drama “Haven,” opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton; and in the film adaptation of Richard Price’s “Freedomland,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Besides an impressive film career, the gap-toothed thespian has performed both on and off Broadway, making his Broadway debut as the stuttering nephew, Sylvester, alongside Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Next he was seen as the lead in Regina King’s modern retelling of Chekov’s “The Seagull,” in Stephen Belber’s “McReele,” and in the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play.”

More recently, Anthony participated in the Kennedy Center’s presentation of “August Wilson’s 20th Century.” As one of more than 30 renowned stars of stage and screen, he performed in three readings of Wilson’s cycle of ten plays chronicling the African-American experience, each set in a different decade of the 20th century. A true aficionado of live theatre, he hopes to return to the stage soon.

In 2009, he played Sgt. JT Sanborn on the big screen in Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” a film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. That same year, he reprised his role as Tupac Shakur in “Notorious,” the biopic of Notorious B.I.G.

In 2010, he took a break from film to return to Broadway where he starred in “A Behanding in Spokane.” He subsequently returned to Hollywood to appear opposite Kerry Washington in “Night Catches Us.” Then he appeared in “The Adjustment Bureau” and “Real Steel.” Last year, he made several movies, including “Man on a Ledge,” “10 Years” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

2013 is proving very productive for Anthony, with the horror thriller “Vipaka,” the coming of age drama “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” the crime thriller “Runner, Runner” and “Bolden” being among his offerings. Here, he talks about his new movie, “Pain & Gain,” a fact-based crime comedy co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Anthony, thanks for another interview.

Anthony Mackie: What’s going on, my man?

 

KW: Nothing much, brother. What an impressive resume you’ve compiled for someone so young: The Hurt Locker, The Manchurian Candidate, Notorious, We Are Marshall, Half Nelson, 8 Mile, American Violet, The Adjustment Bureau, Gangster Squad, Night Catches Us, etcetera, etcetera...  

AM: Thanks a lot, Kam. I’ve been very fortunate to land all the projects that I’ve done. I have a great team of people working with me.

 

KW: So, what interested you in Pain & Gain?

AM: It was the script. I was really psyched about Michael [director Michael Bay] doing a story with three-dimensional characters like these who you could real delve into to see what makes them tick.

 

KW: A Michael Bay flick with both that trademark action as well as some complex character development. It felt almost like I was watching a new genre of film.

Read the rest of this story »

The Big Wedding
Film Review by Kam Williams

This picture is such a wholesale disaster that it’s hard to decide where to start in critiquing it. I could talk about how it is just the latest case of Hollywood remaking a French farce (Mon Frère se Marie) which somehow lost all of its charm in the translation into English. Or I could point out how it’s a slight variation of Meet the Parents and even has Robert De Niro reprising his role as a macho father-in-law less inclined to reason than to threaten to bust a kneecap or tweeze a guy’s gonads off.

Or I could focus on how the production squandered the services of a talented cast including a quartet of Oscar-winners in De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Diane Keaton, as well as that of such seasoned comedians as Topher Grace, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried and SNL alum Christine Ebersole. Or I might mention the telling fact that the movie sat on the shelf for over a year before the studio made the ill-advised decision to pump up the marketing and dump it on the gullible public.

Then there’s the homophobia and racism, reflected in disparaging offhand, remarks about lesbian and Colombian characters. Equally-objectionable is the picture’s frequent resort to sophomoric sight gags ranging from projectile vomiting to sucker punches to the face.

Perhaps most offensive of all is the film’s coarse, off-color humor featuring a life-size sculpture of a nude woman masturbating, a seductive wedding guest pleasuring her seatmate under the table during the reception, and a relentlessly-lurid script laced with salacious lines like “I can’t believe I’m being cock-blocked by my own mom,” “Go [expletive] a yak!” and “My father had his penis in your mom.”

All of the above amounts to a bitter disappointment, especially given the pedigree of the elite ensemble. Blame for this fiasco rests squarely on the shoulders of writer/director/producer Justin Zackham, who ostensibly was trying to replicate the lowbrow nature of his only other feature-length offering, Going Greek, a raunchy teensploitation flick released back in 2001. 

As for the storyline, Mr. Zackham lazy relies on “The Big Lie” cliché, a hackneyed plot device popular on TV sitcoms since the Golden Age of Television. It basically revolves around characters going to increasingly great lengths to hide an embarrassing fact from someone until the ruse blows up in their faces and the truth comes out anyway.

Here, we have Missy (Amanda Seyfried) and Alejandro (Ben Barnes) on the verge of tying the knot in Connecticut, when they learn that his birth mother, Madonna (Patricia Rae), is unexpectedly flying in from Colombia to attend the wedding. Because she’s a devout Catholic, they don’t want her to know that the adoptive parents (De Niro and Keaton) have been divorced for a decade.     

So, instead of simply explaining the changed state of affairs to Madonna, everybody agrees to participate in an elaborate cover-up to make it appear that Don and Ellie are still together, even though he’s currently in a committed, long-term relationship with Bebe (Sarandon). What a patently-preposterous premise!  

The escalating concatenation of calamities adds-up less to a sidesplitting, screwball comedy than to an incoherent string of crude skits, the crudest being a scene where an undignified De Niro sheepishly sports a substance-eating grin after getting caught in the act of performing cunnilingus between a widespread pair of naked legs.

Look! A falling star! Make a wish!

Poor (0 stars)

Rated R for profanity, sexuality and brief nudity

In English and Spanish with subtitles

Running time: 90 minutes

Distributor: Lionsgate Films

To see a trailer for The Big Wedding, visit