Six Million and One
Film Review by Kam Williams
Children Retrace Steps of Late Father in Holocaust Survivor Bipoic
When he was alive, Joseph Fisher never shared with his children any of his experiences while being interned in concentration camps during World War II. So, you might imagine their surprise to find a diary recounting his nightmarish ordeal among his personal effects after he passed away.
Only one of his offspring, David, could bring himself to read the memoir, a heartbreaking account of a struggle to maintain sanity in the face of unspeakable horrors ranging from forced labor to starvation to torture to rape to cannibalism to murder. The incredibly revealing reflections ("It's as if you have no skin to protect you.") posthumously erased an emotional boundary that had existed between the son and his understandably-traumatized, if emotionally-distant parent.
David immediately felt compelled to travel to Europe to retrace his dad's footsteps from Auschwitz to Gusen to Gunskirchen. And he soon succeeded in convincing his very hesitant siblings to join him on the trek. The upshot of that undertaking is Six Million and One, as moving a documentary about the Holocaust as one is ever apt to encounter.
At the site of the death camps, we hear poignant passages from Joseph Fisher's journal about being ordered to remove bodies of other prisoners from the extermination block and about having to eat grass and snails to stay alive. He also talks about how, upon being liberated, "I felt guilty about surviving. I've felt this way all my life."
By film's end, expect to weep as much as all four Fisher kids. A bittersweet tale of survival, as well as a priceless history lesson for the ages illustrating man's capacity for inhumanity to his fellow man.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Hebrew English and German with subtitles
Running time: 93 minutes
Distributor: Nancy Fishman Film Releasing
To see a trailer for Six Million and One, visit
Won't Back Down
Film Review by Kam Williams
Jaded Teacher and Single-Mom Join Forces in Uplifting Tale of Female Empowerment
In 2010, California passed the nation's first "Parent Trigger Law," a bill which enables a neighborhood with an underperforming public school to fire the principal, replace the staff and convert it to a charter, provided a majority of the parents with students attending it sign a petition. The legislation has proved very controversial thus far, with opponents alleging that the measure is merely anti-union, whereas the sponsors call it an overdue reform intended to give kids stuck in so-called "dropout factories" a fair chance.
Consequently, Won't Back Down is opening under a cloud of controversy, which is unfortunate since the film is otherwise a quite engaging and entertaining tale of female empowerment. The reason why the picture has generated so much suspicion is that it was produced by Walden Media, the same studio that just a couple of years ago released Waiting for Superman, an incendiary documentary that came under attack for blaming teachers' unions for the broken educational system.
Although based on actual events that transpired in Los Angeles, Won't Back Down is set in the City of Pittsburgh, where we find an exasperated Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) struggling to just to survive. Between selling used cars by day and bartending at night, the single-mom barely has any energy left to attend to the academic needs of her dyslexic daughter, Malia (Emily Alyn Lind).
Convinced that the lagging 8 year-old hasn't learned to read out of neglect, she enters the little girl in a lottery for one of the few coveted spots opening up at Rosa Parks, a highly-regarded, nearby charter school. But when Malia's name isn't called, the frustrated mother decides to do something about the school they're still stuck with.
Inspired by the state's new "Fail Safe Law," Jamie morphs into a tireless child advocate hell-bent on wresting the reins of control from an administration and staff with low expectations. Along the way, she enlists the assistance of Nona Alberts (Viola Davis), a jaded teacher who had all but gone to acceptance.
Initially, Nona is reluctant to get involved, because she could very easily get blacklisted for trying to bust the union. Furthermore, she's an emotional wreck, being overwhelmed by the prospect of having to raise her son (Dante Brown) on her own in the wake of her estranged husband's (Lance Reddick) recent departure.
Nevertheless, Jamie and Nona bond and, over the objections of bureaucrats, not only garner the requisite number of parental votes but even talk the teachers into surrendering job security for performance-based salaries. An uplifting, overcoming the odds Hollywood saga suggesting that the solution to public education's host of woes might be as simple as a couple of women on the verge of a nervous breakdown picking up picket signs.
In the tradition of Norma Rae and Erin Brockovich, say hello to Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes and mild epithets.
Running time: 121 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Walden Media
To see a trailer for Won't Back Down, visit
Viola Davis
The "Won't Back Down" Interview
with Kam Williams
Voila! It's Viola!
Viola Davis was born on August 11, 1965 on her grandmother's farm in St. Matthews, South Carolina, but raised by her parents in Central Falls, Rhode Island. After earning a degree in theater from Rhode Island College in 1988, she went on to do post-graduate work at the prestigious Juilliard School prior to embarking on a critically-acclaimed professional career.
Ms. Davis made a memorable mark on Broadway, winning Tonys for stellar performances as Tonya in King Hedley II and as Rose in the revival of Fences. She's also been nominated twice for an Academy Award, for her powerful portrayal of stoic Aibileen in The Help and for her equally-sterling interpretation of Mrs. Miller in Doubt.
Viola's other noteworthy screen credits include impressive outings in Traffic, Nights in Rodanthe, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Eat Pray Love, Madea Goes to Jail, Antwone Fisher, World Trade Center, Trust, Knight & Day, Get Rich or Die Tryin' and State of Play. And her upcoming films include Enders Game with Harrison Ford, Beautiful Creatures with Emma Thompson and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby with Jessica Chastain.
Here, she talks about her new film, Won't Back Down, a female empowerment saga, where she plays Nona Alberts, a jaded teacher who joins forces with a frustrated single-mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to turn around an underperforming public school.
Kam Williams: Hi Viola, thanks for the interview.
Viola Davis: Thank you, Kam.
KW: Music teacher Steve Kramer asks: What interested you in Won't Back Down?
VD: My interests in the film were two-fold: the backdrop of education and also the human story within it about a woman who, when she was in her twenties, had all these high ideals and hopes of taking the world by storm as a great teacher and also as a great mother. But all of that was just blown to bits, and we find her at a low point where she's totally disillusioned. For me, the movie is about her story of coming back to life again. And that journey is a very human one. It intrigued me, and I saw it as a very interesting challenge as an actor.
Looper
Film Review by Kam Williams
Hit Man Turns Fugitive in Riveting Time-Travel Thriller
Dateline: Kansas City, 2042, which is where we find 25 year-old Joseph Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gainfully-employed as a novel type of hit man called a "looper." The grisly line of work basically involves waiting at a designated clearing in a cornfield for the delivery of a blindfolded kidnap victim involuntarily teleported back in time.
As soon as each person spontaneously materializes, Joe blows them away on the spot with a big blunderbuss, before incinerating the body to eliminate the evidence. This modernistic equivalent of filling cement shoes has become the mob's preferred method of assassination since loopers can commit the perfect crime by killing people who technically don't even exist yet.
Despite the great pay, Joe's job has one major drawback, namely, that he will eventually be expected to close his own loop by shooting his future self (Bruce Willis) dead in the killing field. In the interim, he copes with the prospect of committing suicide via drugs and denial, getting high while making plans to retire to France that ostensibly amount to an exercise in futility.
The moment of truth arrives the fateful day he finally finds himself face-to-face with his 55 year-old alter ego. However, Joe is unable to pull the trigger, a failing which doesn't sit well with his short-fused boss (Jeff Daniels) who immediately dispatches an army of thugs to finish off both fugitives.
That is the absorbing premise of Looper, a riveting sci-fi thriller directed by Rian Johnson. The movie marks the third collaboration between him and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a reteaming lending credence to the age-old maxim: three times a charm.
The picture's inscrutable script is as confounding as Chris Nolan's Memento, and visually the production is rather reminiscent of the best of Steven Spielberg. Nice company. Again and again, just when you think you've unraveled the convoluted plot, the story takes yet another intriguing turn into uncharted waters.
Great performances abound here, starting with Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as the same character. Also deserving of accolades in substantial support roles are Paul Dano, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo and Jeff Daniels.
A mind-bending masterpiece that's a must for more cerebral fans of the time-travel genre.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexuality, nudity, drug use and graphic violence.
Running time: 118 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
To see a trailer for Looper, visit
Hotel Transylvania
Film Review by Kam Williams
Mortal Courts Dracula's Overprotected Daughter in Animated Romantic Comedy
I know it's a little early in the season, but if you're ready for a Halloween-themed flick that's going to be lot of fun for the whole family, have I got a cartoon for you. More romantic and funny than spooky and spine-tingling, Hotel Transylvania is a tenderhearted tale that milks most of its mirth by turning a basic scary movie convention on its head.
For, the picture unfolds from the point-of-view of Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) and a beleaguered brotherhood of peace-loving creatures who have not only been unfairly-demonized as monsters but are actually more afraid of humans than we are of them. Who knew? Victims of bad press and paranoia, they naturally shy away from making any contact with humans.
After his wife's untimely demise at the hands of an angry mob, an understandably overprotective Dracula restricted his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), to the safe confines of the family's hilltop mansion, far removed from any prejudiced townsfolk armed with torches and pitchforks. Inside that protective bubble, "Daddy's Little Ghoul" was raised on misleading nursery rhymes in which all the evil villains were people.
Figuring his fellow social outcasts might also enjoy a sanctuary of tranquility safe from humanity, Dracula transforms his sprawling estate into the Hotel Transylvania, a swanky, 5-stake (ala "5-star") resort catering strictly to fellow monsters. The plot thickens when he lowers the drawbridge over the moat to the castle to welcome his friends to celebrate Mavis' birthday.
A hiker who just stumbled upon the place slips in alongside Frankenstein (Kevin James), The Mummy (CeeLo Green), The Werewolf (Steve Buscemi), Quasimodo (Jon Lovitz), The Invisible Man (David Spade) and the other invited guests. Jonathan (Andy Samberg) may be a mere mortal, but the clueless party crasher's just the right age to appreciate the blossoming beauty of a rebellious teen vampire with raging hormones.
It's cross-species love at first sight, much to the chagrin of an exasperated Count Dracula whose desperate efforts to discourage his suddenly-defiant daughter prove futile. His cries of "You're barely out of your training fangs!" and "There are so many eligible monsters!" fall on deaf ears, as Mavis opts instead to heed her late-mother's sage suggestion that "A zing comes along only once in a life."
A tyke-friendly, Halloween adventure teaching a universal message of tolerance via the oft-repeated maxim that monsters are people, too!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for action, rude humor and scary images.
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
To see a trailer for Hotel Transylvania, visit