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Winnie Mandela
Film Review by Kam Williams

Winnie Mandela (Jennifer Hudson) is a controversial figure in the annals of South Africa history. For not only was she the first wife of freedom fighter-turned-President Nelson Mandela (Terrence Howard), but she was also convicted of ordering numerous human rights violations.

At the height of the anti-apartheid movement, she headed a goon squad which doled out street justice to blacks suspected of collaborating with the white establishment. With Winnie’s blessing, snitches would be sentenced to death by necklace, meaning by having a gasoline-soaked tire placed on their shoulders and set on fire.

And after the fall of Apartheid, she confessed before the country Truth and Reconciliation commission to “the murder, torture, abduction and assault of numerous men, women and children.” So, it’s understandably hard to put a sympathetic spin on such an infamous political figure.

That is the challenge tackled by director Darrell Roodt in Winnie Mandela, a warts-and-all biopic which focuses on its subject’s childhood, college days and marriage while making short shrift of her transition into a war criminal. Along the way, we learn that she was a headstrong tomboy who blossomed into the irresistible beauty that Nelson fell in love with at first sight.

Sadly, the two were separated for 27 years while he was imprisoned on Robben Island for treason because of his call for an end of Apartheid. And perhaps that was what led Winnie to rationalize resorting to fighting the government and stool pigeons by any means necessary.

As for the acting, Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard do their best to adopt appropriate accents, but they both sound fake since they’re surrounded by a cast comprised of actual South Africans. The production’s most glaring flaw, nevertheless, is that the poorly-scripted screenplay simply fails to give the audience much of a reason to invest in unlikable Winnie’s life story.

Winnie Mandela, less an honorable “Mother of the Nation,” than a disgraceful, “bad mother-[shut your mouth]!”

Fair (1 star)

R for violence and profanity

Running time: 107 minutes

Studio: RLJ Entertainment

Distributor: Image Entertainment

To see a trailer for Winnie Mandela, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGnc4FP6eII


Interviews
UserpicCuba Gooding, Jr. (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
03.09.2013

Cuba Gooding, Jr

The “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Show Me The Butler!

 

Cuba Gooding, Jr. was born in the Bronx on January 2, 1968, but raised in Los Angeles from the age of 4 on. Best known for his Oscar-winning portrayal of the charmingly-arrogant Rod “Show Me the Money!” Tidwell in Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, he first found fame in 1991 when he received critical acclaim for his performance in John Singleton’s coming-of-age classic Boyz n the Hood.

 

Cuba followed-up that success with roles in As Good as It Gets, What Dreams May Come, and the Oscar-nominated A Few Good Men. The versatile thespian’s repertoire also includes roles in pictures ranging from Red Tails to Radio to Men of Honor to Pearl Harbor to American Gangster to Shadowboxer to Boat Trip to Snow Dogs to Norbit.

 

Among his upcoming big screen projects are Don Jon and the sequel Machete Kills. On television, he played the title character in the award-winning Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, as well as in Firelight, the highest rated Hallmark Hall of Fame movie ever.

 

A decade ago, Cuba’s extraordinary achievements were recognized when he was awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here, he talks about his work opposite Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey in Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Cuba, appreciate the time.

Cuba Gooding, Jr: Anytime, Kam. How are ya, buddy?

 

KW: Great, and you?

CG: Very well, thank you.

 

KW: What interested you in The Butler?

CG: Well, to give you a little history, Lee Daniels and I had been friends even before he was a producer, manager or casting director. When he offered me the role of the shadowboxer in Shadowboxer, I was invited into the editing room. We’ve done this thing throughout his career from Precious on, where he sends me screenplays that he’s considering. So, I feel like this is an invested relationship I have with him. He sent me this screenplay about five years ago, suggesting that I might be the butler.

 

KW: Were you upset when you didn’t land the title role?

CG: No, one thing led to another in casting choices, and now I couldn’t imagine this movie without Forest Whitaker playing the lead and Oprah playing his wife. I think they’re both deserving of Oscar nominations. Their relationship in the movie’s so powerful, and so is Forest’s with David Oyelowo’s character.  

 

KW: You did a great job, too.

CG: Thanks. It just feels so good to be involved again with a movie that’s socially relevant. I recently met a 27 year-old white male who admitted that he didn’t know about the sit-ins until seeing this movie’s scene with the kids being refused service in a segregated diner. And it hit me how we can so easily forget, because I’m in my forties. There’s such a disconnect from the next generation in terms of all the brutality. That’s why it feels good to be a part of this film which revisits that time period and talks about what transpired.

 

KW: Especially because it tackles the material from a fresh perspective.

CG: It’s interesting, too, because when Django Unchained came out, so many people were alienated by it, while others who thought it was just a really cool ride from Quentin Tarantino said, “Get over it!” If you look at the latter group, a lot of them were really young kids who had a disconnect from slavery. To them, all they saw was their hero being freed, shooting back, saving the day and getting his girl. It’s funny, I started dating my wife, who’s Caucasian with blonde hair and blue eyes, in 1987. I got hate mail when I did Boyz n the Hood saying stuff like, “I can’t believe your girlfriend is white.” But I hadn’t grown up in the South back in the days when blacks were lynched for even looking at a white woman. And when you look at what I did today, it’s elementary compared to the attention being paid to the issue of same-sex marriage. So, we’ve moved away for the better, but we just can’t afford to forget all the sacrifices and trials and tribulations.

 

KW: How much research did you have to do to prepare for the role?

CG: Well, I’d been researching and gathering information on the subject for several years for both this script and for a Martin Luther King story about Selma. So, it’s a time period I’d already become pretty well-versed in.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How similar are you to your character in The Butler, Carter Wilson?

CG: I AM that guy! [LOL] Sometimes, I can be pretty goofy, and a bit of an exhibitionist. I don’t think I’m quite as free with the lips as he is, but I can tell a joke or two. Some of those lines I ad-libbed.

 

KW: How emotionally affected were you seeing the film for the first time?

CG: I was a wreck. I sat and hugged Pam [producer Pam Williams] like someone had died in the family. And, to be honest with you, Kam, it wasn’t so much the history lesson, but simply that my eldest son who’s 18 was going off to college, and I couldn’t get back to L.A. to see him off when he left because I was stuck in New York. The father-son relationship just hit me, man, especially the scene where Cecil Gaines says goodbye to his son departing for college. What I experienced wasn’t a feeling of sadness, but rather a realization of this higher calling in life, and how we’re all a part of this chain.    

 

KW: Speaking of your being in New York, Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How did you enjoy being on Broadway? What play were you doing, A Trip to Bountiful?

CG: Yes, sir, since February. I loved it. I actually started in theater, that’s where an agent found me in ’86, I was doing a Shakespeare festival. On the stage, if you don’t understand every word of what you’re saying, it is apparent in your countenance. So, I was always about living the character. Then I got stolen away by TV where I got my start as MacGyver’s sidekick for awhile which was easy to phone in. You know the guy, you know the peril, and you know how to save the day. So, I leapt at this opportunity to go back, and it reignited my creativity. Just to be across from Cicely Tyson on that stage every day, was great. My creative passion is back!

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

CG: That’s an interesting question I’ve never been asked. Just last night, literary, I was sitting around talking with some friends about those old movies with a Broadway theme. Maybe one of those.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

CG: Well, I smile a lot more on the red carpet.

 

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

CG: I would fly. I’ve been dreaming about flying since I was 5 years-old.

 

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

CG: Social work. Or maybe coaching kids sports. I’ve always been a people person. It would have to be something where I could help people.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

CG: The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is one of them. I have a few.

 

KW: Can you give me a Cuba Gooding, Jr. question to ask other celebrities?  

CG: Yeah, what still scares you?

 

KW: Thanks, and thanks again for the time, Cuba.

CG: My pleasure, Kam. 

To see a trailer for Lee Daniels’ The Butler, visit:

http://www.twcpublicity.com/video_popup.php?id=108


Best Kept Secret
Film Review by Kam Williams

Janet Mino teaches at JFK High in Newark, a public school for students with special education needs. By 2012, she had been working with the same small group of autistic boys for four years, which meant that they would all be graduating together in the spring.

Understandably, Ms. Mino had grown quite fond and rather protective of her class, given how autistic kids are generally sweet souls of unfathomable innocence. In addition, she knew that upon aging out of the system and receiving their diplomas, they would essentially be forced to fend for themselves in a hard, cruel world not inclined to lend a helping hand.

For that reason, she devoted much of their senior year to preparing them for life beyond the protective cocoon that she had so lovingly created. That’s why she asked them where they would like to work, whether in a fast food restaurant, a factory or elsewhere, with the hope that she might be able to help them avoid ending up vegetating at home, institutionalized, or even out on the streets.

Therefore, after school hours, she would visit various local establishments to pressure potential employers to take a chance on a child with autism. Otherwise, without the daily stimulation of a structured environment, they were likely to lose the communication and interpersonal skills she’d so carefully cultivated.

Ms. Mino’s heroic efforts are the subject of Best Kept Secret, as uplifting a documentary as you are likely to see this year. The picture was directed by Samantha Buck whose camera captures each of Janet’s pupils so intimately that you feel like you know them by the time that closing credits start to roll.

Furthermore, as the tears stream down your cheeks, you can’t help but worry about how each might be faring today. If this movie’s aim is to find the deepest spot in the audience’s heart, then bull’s eye!

A magnificent tapestry of touching relationships more like mother and child than student-teacher. When scientists figure out how to clone humans, they ought to start with Janet Mino.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 85 minutes

Studio: Argot Pictures

Distributor: IFC

To see a trailer for Best Kept Secret, visit


Things Never Said
Film Review by Kam Williams

Miserably-married Kalindra (Shanola Hampton) hasn’t yet found the strength to leave her abusive husband, Ronnie (Elimu Nelson), even though the last time the creep put his hands on her, she ended up in the hospital. Trouble is, it’s hard for her to figure a way out of the situation, given that she’s been struggling just to keep a roof over their heads on a truck stop waitress’ salary ever since her hot-headed hubby lost his job at a gas station after breaking a tardy co-worker’s (Yorke Fryer) arm in a fit of rage.

Beleaguered Kalindra copes by crying on the shoulder of her BFF Daphne (Tamala Jones) and by secretly dreaming of moving alone from L.A. to New York where she hopes to make it as a spoken word poet. Meanwhile, she tries to summon up the courage to test out some of her emotional rhymes down at the local café on open mic night.

Everything changes for Kal the day she meets Curtis Jackson (Omari Hardwick) at a slam. No, he’s not the rapper 50 Cent, but a gifted wordsmith, nonetheless, and willing to take her under his wings, literally and figuratively. Soon, the two are sleeping together, but the hunky Mr. Wonderful has no idea that his gorgeous new girlfriend has a husband with anger management issues.

This recipe for disaster is the ominous point of departure of Things Never Said, a poetry-driven drama marking the directorial debut of veteran TV scriptwriter Charles Murray (Third Watch). Unfortunately, between the campy melodrama and cheesy sex scenes, the film unfolds more like a television soap opera than a feature film.

Most problematical, however, is the lousy poetry that’s force fed on us at every turn. For instance, “Roses are red. Violets are blue. Get your ass up. I’m still working on the end.” Equally-underwhelming was this variation on “This Little Piggy Went to Market.” “This little piggy’s brokenhearted. This little lady turns to stone. This little lady Cupid darted. This little lady’s alone. This little lady goes ‘Wee! Wee! Wee!’ all the way to the poem.”

To this critic, the staccato-style of poetry performed in this picture is the equivalent of rap sans the music. Consider lines like “I am the wife of a piece of [expletive]” and “My [expletive for genitalia] does taste like chocolate.” So, if you have a strong stomach for crudity, the N-word and lots of cussing, this foul-mouthed flick might be right up your alley.

An uplifting tale of female empowerment tarnished by its crude method of delivering a positive message.

Fair (1 star)

Rated R for sexuality, ethnic slurs and pervasive profanity

Running time: 111 minutes

Studio: Ohio Street Pictures

Distributor: Codeblack Entertainment

To see a trailer for Things Never Said, visit


Reviews
UserpicGetaway (FILM REVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
25.08.2013

Getaway

Film Review by Kam Williams

 

Taken Meets Speed Meets Ransom in High-Octane Thriller

            Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) is a former racecar driver who recently moved with his wife, Leanna (Rebecca Budig), from the U.S. to her hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria. But any plans for a quiet retirement are rudely interrupted when she’s kidnapped at the height of the Christmas season.

            First, he gets a call from a mysterious madman (Jon Voigt) announcing that the only hope of seeing her alive again is to follow his instructions without calling the police. Then, he’s ordered to steal a specific, custom-built Ford Mustang parked in a nearby garage.

            Only after settling behind the wheel does he realize that the auto has already been outfitted with cameras and microphones. Soon, he finds himself being pressured by the mastermind of the diabolical plot to execute a series of dangerous maneuvers at breakneck speed through a crowded market, across a rink filled with skaters, up onto a stage and down a flight of steps.

            The one-car wrecking ball attracts the attention of the cops, of course, who set up a dragnet to try to put an end to the impromptu Demolition Derby. Brent, however, relies on his professional skills to elude the authorities, although he still has no idea of his wife’s whereabouts or what crazy stunt is coming next on her inscrutable abductor’s bizarre agenda. 

            So unfolds Getaway, a high-octane thriller that might be best described as Taken meets Speed meets Ransom, since it borrows popular elements from each of those adrenaline-fueled adventures. Unfortunately, the execution, here, leaves a lot to be desired, since the picture is basically an hour and a half of chase scenes punctuated by crashes and pyrotechnics.

            For some reason, director Courtney Solomon (Dungeons & Dragons) opted to forego character development in favor of incessant action and special f/x. Hence, the audience is never able to invest emotionally in the plight of the anguished protagonist or his imperiled spouse. Instead, we’re repeatedly treated to the sight of careening cars crashing, rolling over, almost hitting pedestrians, and my personal favorite, flying off a bridge in flames.  

            Along the way, Brent encounters the hijacked GT’s true owner (Selena Gomez), a spoiled rich kid who initially just wants her graduation present back. Lucky for him, the tech-savvy debutante turns sympathetic and is willing to use her laptop to help him find his spouse.

            Too bad the script’s abysmal dialogue never rises above trite lines like “Why is this happening?” “You’re running out of time. Tick-tock!” and “You don’t have to do this.” A frenetically-paced Selena Gomez vehicle, apt to satisfy her diehard fans, despite being full of sound and fury and ultimately signifying nothing. 

Good (2 stars)

Rated PG-13 for profanity, rude gestures, mayhem and pervasive violence

Running time: 94 minutes

Distributor: Warner Brothers  

To see a trailer for Getaway, visit:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBcVxXwFowI