One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day
Film Review by Kam Williams
Anyone who grew up watching The Little Rascals remembers that some of the best episodes were where the kids attempted to put on a show, like the time they did Romeo & Juliet, and Buckwheat had to serve as a last-minute stand-in for Darla as Juliet, much to Alfalfa’s consternation. Well, if you can appreciate that sort of impromptu entertainment, then you are likely to enjoy One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day.
Co-directed by Trish Dalton and Elisabeth Sperling, the movie chronicles a Herculean, coordinated effort to write, cast, compose, rehearse and perform four musicals in less than a day. And it’s all for a good cause, too, The Exchange, a charity which supports innovative theater artists.
The movie stars a number of recognizable stage and screen actors, most notably, Richard Kind, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cheyenne Jackson, Tracie Toms and SNL alumna Rachel Dratch. And it also prominently features the playwrights and composers operating under pressure to produce scripts and scores, respectively, with little time to revise.
They began working at 8 PM and by 8 AM they handed over a quartet of freshly-minted musicals to the directors and cast members. What ensues is a sort of opening night bedlam, but greatly amplified, since they only have a few hours to memorize lines, lyrics and melodies.
Initially, I was admittedly a little put off by the assorted backstage banter and hysteria, especially since I was more than a little cynical about the ambitious endeavor’s prospects. Yet, all was forgiven when the pieces of the puzzle ultimately came together by show time. I couldn’t believe how polished and professional the final product was.
Rome might not have been built in a day, but One Night Stand proves that a captivating, Broadway-quality musical can be mounted in 24 hours. Who knew?
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 74 minutes
Distributor: Fathom Events
Studio: Incubation Films
To see a trailer for One Night Stand, visit
Special One-Night Event Nationwide:
One Night Stand will be in theaters on Jan 30, 2013 at 7:30pm local time
Movie 43
Film Review by Kam Williams
Movie 43 is a shallow shocksploitation flick which revels in raunchy lowbrow humor. What is supposed to elevate this terminally-crude comedy above your typical bottom-feeder is its A-list cast topped by Academy Award-winners Halle Berry and Kate Winslet, as well as Oscar-nominees Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard.
However, the picture fails miserably in this regard, as it merely ends-up dragging the entire ensemble into the mud. This scatterplot sketch flick features a dozen directors, including Peter Farrelly (There's Something about Mary), Brett Ratner (Rush Hour trilogy), Bob Odenkirk (The Brothers Solomon), to name a few.
The film is essentially a series of skits being pitched by a writer (Dennis Quaid) to a skeptical Hollywood producer (Greg Kinnear). After Charlie sets up each scene, the screen cuts away to an enactment of a fully fleshed-out production of his idea.
For example, the first vignette, "The Catch," revolves around a socialite named Beth's (Winslet) blind date from Hell with Davis (Jackman), a successful, eligible bachelor with a distracting drawback, namely, a hairy scrotum hanging from his neck in place of an Adam's apple. The sight gag serves as fodder for a running joke since Beth, inexplicably, is the only person in the restaurant able to see the deformity.
So, while Davis looks perfectly normal to everybody else, the poor woman finds herself forced to suffer such indignities as posing for a picture with sweaty gonads in her face. The subject matter goes from gross-out fare to incest and pedophilia in the next segment, "Homeschooled," which is about a mother's (Watts) taking her son's (Jeremy Allen White) virginity. Worse, the 13 year-old's perverted dad (Liev Schreiber) comes on to the kid, too.
Halle Berry's breasts co-star in "Truth or Dare," another bit about a blind date. In this tacky tableau, her character first exposes herself after accepting a challenge to make guacamole with her bosom. The oversexed exhibitionist bares her gargantuan mammaries again at the end of the evening, even though she's supposedly not attracted to Asian men.
Dating is also the theme of "Super Hero Speed Dating" where Batman's (Jason Sudeikis) sidekick Robin (Justin Long) attempts to charm both Super Girl (Kristen Bell) and Wonder Woman (Leslie Bibb). And "Middleschool Date" milks its mean-spirited mirth from a 7th grader's (Chloe Moretz) being mercilessly teased about getting her first menstrual period while sharing a kiss with a classmate (Jimmy Bennett) she has a crush on.
More creepy than comical, Movie 43 represents a disgusting, cinematic descent into depravity destined to leave its victims, sitting slack-jawed and speechless in stunned disbelief.
Poor (0 stars)
Rated R for violence, drug use, pervasive profanity, graphic sexuality, frontal nudity, crude humor and coarse dialogue.
Running time: 90 minutes
Distributor: Relativity Media
To see a trailer for Movie 43, visit
Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary
Film Review by Kam Williams
Wesley Cook, aka Mumia Abu-Jamal, was born on April 24, 1954 in the City of Brotherly Love. There, he founded a branch of the Black Panthers at the age of 15 after being kicked by a cop at a rally for segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace.
After attending college in Vermont, he returned to Philly to pursue a career in journalism. He proceeded to provide a voice for the voiceless as a politically-progressive reporter while simultaneously moonlighting as a cab driver, until the fateful night in 1981 when he and his brother William crossed paths with a police officer named Daniel Faulkner.
The cop was killed during the traffic stop, when the bullets from a gun registered to Mumia were emptied into him at close range. Faulkner managed to get off a few shots, wounding Mumia.
At trial, the jury deliberated only a few hours in what seemed like an open-and-shut case, and the defendant was convicted and subsequently handed a death sentence. However, because of Mumia's previously clean record and his having served as such an articulate mouthpiece for the poor and disenfranchised, he soon became something of an international cause célèbre.
Was he indeed a murderer or had he been railroaded to prison because of his radical views? The left and the right would disagree strongly on the issue. Eventually his sentence was commuted to life with no parole, and the fundamental question of guilt or innocence was essentially left unanswered.
The same can be said after viewing Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary, a documentary which doesn't seek so much to clear the controversial figure's name as to showcase his intellect and longstanding defiance of The Establishment.
To director Stephen Vittoria's credit, he hauls out a long line of luminaries like Dr. Cornel West, Ruby Dee, Hurricane Carter, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Dick Gregory and Amy Goodman to take turns heaping praise on his sympathetic subject.
While their heartfelt testimonials leave no doubt about Mumia's commitment to the struggle and considerable talents as a writer, none of them were eyewitnesses to the murder. Thus, this is not a biopic which seeks to poke holes in the prosecution's case or to indict the State of Pennsylvania for a rush to judgment.
Rather, it merely endeavors to highlight the squandered potential of a gifted, if fatally-flawed individual. Love him or hate him, no one watching this inconclusive piece can deny that Mumia has a way with words.
A film that wisely leaves the damning evidence on the back burner in favor of focusing on everything about Mumia Abu-Jamal except for what exactly transpired at the corner of 13th and Locust in the wee hours of December 9, 1981.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In English and Spanish with subtitles
Running time: 120 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features
To see a trailer for Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary, visit
Opens February 1st at Cinema Village in New York City, with special appearances by the filmmaker and people appearing in the film.
Les Miserables
Film Review by Kam Williams
Published by Victor Hugo in 1862, Les Miserables is generally recognized as one of the most important novels of the 19th Century. The socially-conscious, 1900-page opus explored a plethora of themes, particularly power, justice, monarchy and religion.
The moving morality play specifically shed light on the plight of the poor, especially women and children, with the hope of raising awareness about the insensitivity of a callous legal system. I digress by way of introduction only to remind readers that Les Mis' source material was a relatively-profound examination of France's prevailing issues of the day.
Directed by Academy Award-winner Tom Hooper (for The King's Speech), the screen adaptation is based on the long-running Broadway production which won 8 Tony Awards back in 1987. The film version has landed just as many Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Hugh Jackman), Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway) and Best Original Song ("Suddenly").
Understandably, the novel's labyrinthine plot has been simplified considerably into a tale of love and redemption. Unfolding in Paris in 1815, the movie basically revolves around Jean Valjean (Jackman), a recently-paroled ex-con intent on turning a new leaf after serving 19 years in prison for the theft of a loaf of bread.
On the road to redemption, he promises a prostitute on her death bed (Hathaway) to raise her about to be orphaned young daughter (Amanda Seyfried). Meanwhile, he finds himself mercilessly haunted by a ruthless policeman (Russell Crowe) intent on putting him back behind bars. Officer Javert believes once a crook, always a crook, and accordingly devotes his days to a dogged pursuit of Valjean.
Les Mis is a cinematic rarity in that virtually every line of dialogue is sung. Furthermore, I suppose it might mean something to theater purists that the director eschewed dubbing in favor of having the cast sing live on set.
Entertaining enough to garner this critic's stamp of approval, Les Mis nevertheless pales in comparison to so many of those enchanting classics from my childhood like West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Guys & Dolls. I guess they don't make musicals like they used to anymore.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, mature themes and suggestive material
Running time: 158 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
To see a trailer for Les Miserables, visit
The Pirogue
Film Review by Kam Williams
Senegalese Peasants Set Out for Spain in Seafaring Tale of Survival
You might find the title of this movie a little misleading, since to most people a "pierogi" is a puffy Polish delicacy stuffed with potatoes, sauerkraut and ground meat. However, the similar-sounding "pirogue" is also the name of the flat-bottomed, wooden boat used by West African fishermen for centuries.
Directed by Moussa Toure, the fact-based drama revolves around 30 Senegalese peasants, 29 men and 1 woman (Mame Astou Diallo), who make a break for Spain by sea in search of a better life. Because of their country's bad economy, even the fishing industry is dying, which means some ship owners have turned to using their vessels to smuggle needy refugees to Europe.
The story was inspired by the over 30,000 souls who attempted the transoceanic voyage between 2005 and 2010, and it is dedicated to the 5,000 of them that perished in the financial freedom flotillas. The captain of the pirogue at the center of the adventure is Baye Laye (Souleymane Seye Ndiaye), a married man who requests that his wife be paid his fee of a million Francs before his departure on the dangerous journey.
The boat is outfitted with a radio, a GPS device, 260 gallons of gasoline, 80 gallons of water and 300 pounds of rice. And the passengers have brought along musical instruments like bongos, bells and a kalimba to break up the monotony of what they expect to be long boring days.
Not so fast, kimosabe. After passing the point of no return, they encounter a host of horrifying ordeals ranging from homesickness to madness to sexual tension to infighting to a hurricane to leaks to starvation. Ultimately, their plight becomes so overwhelming that they end up praying to Allah for divine intervention.
A compelling cross of Life of Pi and Lifeboat, a seafaring tale of survival sans the Bengal tiger and Tallulah Bankhead.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated: Unrated
In French with subtitles
Running time: 87 minutes
Distributor: ArtMattan
To see a trailer for The Pirogue, visit