Noah
Film Review by Kam Williams
Anybody with even a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible is undoubtedly familiar with the story of Noah and the Ark. That scriptural passage, found in Genesis, revolves around a righteous patriarch recruited by God to build a big boat before the arrival of a flood being meted out as divine punishment for man’s many wicked ways.
Heeding the word of the Lord, he proceeded to construct the mammoth vessel before herding two of each species of animal into the hold. It subsequently rained for 40 days and 40 nights, with water covering the entire Earth’s surface, thereby drowning all of humanity except for his family.
So, until now, the tale of Noah was basically a simple one about God’s decision to completely wipe the planet of sinners and start over. Leave it to Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky (for Black Swan) to come up with a novel and intriguing reinterpretation of the popular parable recasting Noah as a complicated soul wrestling with inner demons during his quest to do the Lord’s bidding ahead of the impending deluge. The movie also has an ecological angle, plus some computer-generated monsters ostensibly designed to holds the kids’ interest.
The film stars Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe (for Gladiator) in the title role, and features a talented supporting cast which includes fellow Oscar-winners Jennifer Connelly (for A Beautiful Mind) and Anthony Hopkins (for The Silence of the Lambs), three-time nominee Nick Nolte (for Warrior, Affliction and The Prince of Tides), as well as Emma Watson and Ray Winstone.
The picture opens with what is essentially a Sunday school lesson, a refresher course about the creation of Adam (Adam Griffith) and Eve (Ariane Rinehart) who begat three sons: Cain, Abel and Seth. The evil one, Cain, slew his sibling Abel, and those descending from Cain’s demon seed continued to do the devil’s work by generally exploiting the planet’s natural resources.
Noah, by contrast, as a son of Seth, learned how to live in harmony with nature. He and his wife (Connelly) raised their sons, Shem (Douglas Booth), Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll) and Ham (Logan Lerman), with the same eco-friendly philosophy.
Eventually, of course, Noah gets his marching orders from God, and the plot thickens when the steady drizzle develops into a neverending downpour. Suddenly, his nosy neighbors no longer see constructing an ark as such a nutty idea anymore, and it’s going to take a miracle like an army of animatronic angels to keep the desperate hordes from climbing aboard.
Meanwhile, a visibly-anguished Noah agonizes over what’s about to transpire, and consults his sage, berry-imbibing grandfather, Methuselah (Hopkins). But anticipatory survivor’s guilt ain’t about to alter God’s plan one iota.
An alternately introspective and breathtaking Biblical epic, every bit cerebral as it is panoramic!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive content and disturbing images
Running time: 138 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
To see a trailer for Noah, visit
Jews of Egypt
Film Review by Kam Williams
Did you notice that the ascension of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt a few years ago was followed soon thereafter by the torching of churches and the persecution of the Coptic Christians still residing in the country? This development would not be surprising to anyone familiar with the nation’s history, since Jews there had received even worse treatment at the hands of that fundamentalist group starting as far back in 1935.
Brotherhood spokesman Aly Naouito then proclaimed that, “When Jews live somewhere, they spread like cancer, and the economy only belongs to them.” His hateful propaganda campaign went on to accuse all Egyptian Jews of supporting the burgeoning Zionist Movement in neighboring Palestine.
Muslim Brotherhood-inspired anti-Semitism subsequently fomented widespread rage, leading to riots and the razing of synagogues. By 1948, a law had been passed directing Jews to convert to Islam. Those who failed to do so were jailed, lost their homes and businesses, and were pressured to apply for political asylum in Europe and elsewhere.
In October of 1956 the exodus escalated in the wake of a tripartite attack on an Egyptian port by England, France and Israel, ostensibly in response to the nationalization of the Suez Canal. At that juncture, any remaining Jews were stripped of their citizenship, and deported with no passport, nationality or birth certificate.
This harrowing ordeal is recounted in surprising detail via a combination of archival footage and present-day interviews in Jews of Egypt, a heartbreaking documentary directed by Amir Ramses. Most of the movie’s subjects are aging survivors who had been children when banished many decades ago. Yet, some still bemoan the fact that they remain barred from even visiting the once-beloved homeland where they spent their formative years.
The focus of this fascinating film is not merely the religious tensions in Egypt which unfolded over the course of the first half of the 20th Century. The picture devotes just as much attention to the considerable contributions made by Jews to the country’s cultural and industrial development.
A priceless history lesson for anyone interested in understanding the back story explaining how formerly-tolerant Egypt evolved into the religious state it is today.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Arabic and French with subtitles
Running time: 95 minutes
Distributor: ArtMattan Productions
To see a trailer for Jews of Egypt, visit
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
Film Review by Kam Williams
Born on June 27, 1915, Grace Lee was raised in New York by modest immigrant parents from a humble Chinese background. Her mother couldn’t read or write English, although her business-minded father did save up enough cash by 1924 to open up his own restaurant, Chin Lee’s, on Broadway.
Meanwhile, Grace was a precocious wunderkind who entered Barnard College at just 16. And after graduating, she went on to earn a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr in philosophy.
However, when she subsequently attempted to pursue a professional career, prejudice reared its ugly head, as she found her horizons severely limited by the fact that she was Asian and female. She ended up moving to Chicago where she could barely make ends meet, eking out a living on $10/ week as a librarian. As for housing, the best she could afford was a rat-infested basement apartment in the ‘hood.
That experience help served to radicalize Grace who developed a lifelong empathy for the downtrodden. In the Midwest, she also met and married Jimmy Boggs an African-American activist from the South who shared her progressive political agenda.
The couple settled in Detroit where, as local civil rights leaders, they lobbied on behalf of the poor. In addition, they brought such black icons to speak there as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Even after Jimmy passed away, Grace has, for decades, remained resolutely committed to both The Movement and her adopted hometown.
All of the above is lovingly chronicled in American Revolutionary, a reverential biopic directed by Grace Lee (no relation). Though now nearly 99, the incendiary centenarian remains as fiery as ever and has made precious few concessions to age.
The picture includes glowing tributes from fellow firebrands like Angela Davis and Bill Ayers. But what most makes the movie worthwhile is merely watching Grace wax romantic about the good ole days while walking around the ruins of a devastated Motor City.
A cinematic primer on how to make a mark on the world.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 82 minutes
Distributor: First Pond Entertainment
To see a trailer for American Revolutionary, visit
Why Every Black Woman Should Marry a Jewish Man
by Dr. Nazaree Hines-Starr
Book Review by Kam Williams
CreateSpace
Paperback, $16.99
202 pages
ISBN: 978-1490341972
“How many times have we heard successful African-American women complain they can’t find a good man? Everyone has an opinion on the black man shortage, but none of the so-called relationship experts offer real solutions…
Is it possible that we have been missing an important match? Yes! Jewish men make wonderful husbands… as well as fantastic lovers. This book… sheds light on why successful black women, and career gals in general, and Jewish men are very compatible…
In summary, to find Mr. Right, women must date with quality in mind, such as character traits and values, they should be open to interracial dating, and apply faith in dating.”
-- Excerpted from the Introduction (pages xiii-xiv)
Sometimes, a sister has to kiss a lot of frogs before finding her soul mate. In Dr. Nazaree Hines-Starr’s case, she had to date a lot of “scumbags,” as she puts it. As a black woman, she had trouble meeting single guys who were at her level “emotionally, academically or professionally. Unfortunately, most of the available African-American men she met “had managed to waste years that should have been spent in college or developing a career, chasing skirts, getting arrested, or playing video games.”
Moreover, many had “accumulated baggage” such as “rap sheets” and “baby-mama drama.” And even the rare brother who had his act together was never serious about settling down and starting a family.
So, rather than lower her standards by entertaining the advances of commitment-phobic losers from a lower socioeconomic class, Nazaree decided to expand her pool of potential suitors to include men who might not be Christian or African-American.
Lo and behold, she met her future husband over the internet at an online dating website. Although Michael was white and Jewish, love blossomed across the color and religion lines, and the couple has since married and even been blessed with the birth of a beautiful baby boy, Hayden.
Nazaree chronicles her perils in the battle-of-the-sexes and exactly how she emerged victorious with the perfect alpha male on her arm in Why Every Black Woman Should Marry a Jewish Man. The author, a gifted writer but a pharmacist by trade, is surprisingly forthcoming in her combination memoir/how-to tome whose title pretty much speaks for itself.
Begging with Chapter One, “Scumbag Files,” she takes delight in delineating the lessons she learned from a string of dates from hell. By Chapter Eight she’s done with dishing the dirt and is ready to extol the virtues of taking a dip in the snow, so to speak, meaning entering a relationship with a proverbial good Jewish boy.
Why? First of all, you don’t have to worry that he might be on the down-low, because Jewish culture isn’t homophobic. Secondly, Jewish men generally graduate from college, and they aren’t looking for someone to support them.
Furthermore, they “marry BEFORE making babies,” and “they don’t display their underwear in public.” Plus, they’re practical financially and don’t have a need to preen in macho fashion. And last but not least, they know how to please a partner in bed.
A proven approach for open-minded sisters in search of their Prince Charming.
To order a copy of Why Every Black Woman Should Marry a Jewish Man, visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1490341978/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
Guilty of Romance
Film Review by Kam Williams
Crime Saga Chronicles Descent into Depravity of Bored Housewife Moonlighting as Hooker
Written and directed by Sion Sono, Guilty of Romance is the final chapter of his “Hate Trilogy” which has already included the equally-dark offerings Exposure and Cold Fish. This installment is loosely based on a true tale ripped right out of the tabloids, namely, the 1997 strangulation of Yasuko Watanabe, a well-paid power company employee from a prominent Japanese family who had nevertheless been secretly moonlighting as a prostitute in Tokyo’s red light district.
The arguably-feminist flick film revolves around three independent women, a police detective, a hardened whore, and her late protégé new to the streetwalking trade. At the point of departure, we find officer Yoshida (Miko Muzuno) collecting clues at a grisly crime scene in Tokyo’s Red Light District.
On the ground lies the mutilated body of a woman which has been hacked in half, with her upper torso replaced by that of a department store mannequin. Furthermore, the victim was not only sexually assaulted, but her clitoris and labia have been removed, too.
As the story further unfolds, we are introduced by way of flashback to 29 year-old Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), a frustrated housewife married to a celebrated romance novelist (Kanji Tsuda) known for his steamy bodice-rippers. Too bad the couple’s bland love life bears little resemblance to the content of his salacious page-turners. Otherwise, Izumi might not be so driven to indulge the sordid urges she’s fighting so hard to suppress.
Her slow descent to depravity starts when she decides to take a job as nude model. And it isn’t long before she’s simulating coitus in front of the camera, and not long after that that she’s actually sleeping with strangers for money. At that juncture, she’s taken under the wing of Mitsuko (Makoto Togashi), a full-time professor/part-time prostitute with a good head for business.
Plenty of gratuitous nudity is on display onscreen as the plot marches inexorably back to the gruesome opening scene. Fortunately, the film does feature a humdinger of twist that makes up for the rest of the predictable developments.
A cautionary morality play offering a new take on the world’s oldest profession.
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
In Japanese with subtitles
Running time: 114 minutes
Distributor: Olive Films