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

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       

King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis

Film Review by Kam Williams

Oscar-Nominated, 1970 Documentary Chronicling Career of Dr. Martin Luther King Returns to Theaters

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person. Four days later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the recently-ordained minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church decided to organize a boycott of the city’s buses.

“When the history books are written in the future,” he predicted that evening that “somebody will have to say, ‘There lived a race of people, of black people, who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights.’” After citing both the Constitution and the Bible as the source of inspiration, the 26 year-old pastor explained to the congregation that embracing a philosophy of non-violent resistance was critical in order to be able to live with white people as brothers “when the day comes that segregation is completely crumbled.”

And with that, the Civil Rights Movement was launched. A wave of Ku Klux Klan bombings simultaneously ensued, but Dr. King remained confident about his prospects for success, even after his own home had been blown up. He did hope, however, that future generations would appreciate “that these new privileges did not come without somebody suffering for them.”

The most powerful, cinematic reminder of those many sacrifices is King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis. Produced by Ely Landau and associate Richard Kaplan, this poignant account of Dr. King’s tireless crusade was nominated for an Academy Award in 1971 in the Best Documentary category.

The monumental, B&W epic is a compelling collage cobbled together from a mix of newsreels and rare footage of marches, speeches, protests and arrests. This newly-restored, HD version co-produced by the Library of Congress and the Museum of Modern Art was narrated by a number of celebrities, including Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee and Paul Newman, to name a few.

But those luminaries merely played a support role in service of the stirring story of how the Birmingham boycott blossomed into a nationwide effort to end Jim Crow segregation. Whether it’s the sit-ins, freedom rides or voter registration drives, again and again, we witness a determined people undeterred by police dogs, teargas, billy clubs, firemen’s hoses and the constant threat of state-sanctioned, vigilante attacks.

Dr. King’s followers were perhaps comforted by their charismatic leader’s mild-mannered assurances that, “Once you conquer the fear of death, you’re free.” The picture’s high points are invariably his words, whether in a letter written behind bars in a Birmingham jail, in a spellbinding speech delivered before hundreds of thousands at The March on Washington, or in a prophetic address in Memphis on the night before his assassination in 1968.

A timeless tribute to a selfless martyr who led his people to the Promised Land by holding fast to his fervent faith that their willingness to endure suffering along the way would exceed their enemies’ capacity to inflict suffering.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 181 minutes

Distributor: Kino Lorber / Kino Classics

To see a trailer for King: A Filmed Record, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDGX-TIZ9I

To check local listings for theatrical screenings of King: A Filmed Record in your area, see below, or visit: http://www.kingdocumentary.com/

Alabama

Crescent Theater Mobile AL August 28th ONLY

Hollywood Stadium 18 Huntsville AL August 28th ONLY

Mobile Stadium 18 Mobile AL August 28th ONLY

Arizona

Sedona Film Society Sedona AZ August 28th ONLY

The Loft Cinema Tucson AZ August 28th ONLY

Arkansas

Market Street Cinema Little Rock AR August 28th ONLY

McCaine Mall Stadium 12 North Little Rock AR August 28th ONLY

California

L.A. Live Stadium 14 Los Angeles CA August 28th ONLY

Jack London 9 Oakland CA August 28th ONLY

Colorado

Sie Film Center Denver CO August 28th ONLY

Chief Theater Steamboat Springs CO August 28th ONLY

Florida

O Cinema Miami FL August 28th ONLY

All Saints Cinema/Tallahassee Film

Society Tallahassee FL August 28 and September 1 ONLY

Waterford Lakes Stadium 2 Orlando FL August 28th ONLY

River City Marketplace St Jacksonville FL August 28th ONLY

Southland Mall Stadium 16 Miami FL August 28th ONLY

Georgia

Atlantic Station Stadium Atlanta GA August 28th ONLY

Gem Theater Calhoun GA August 28th ONLY

Illinois

City North Stadium 14 Chicago IL August 28th ONLY

Indiana

Circle Center 9 Indianapolis IN August 28th ONLY

DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Notre Dame IN October 12th ONLY

Louisiana

Citiplace Stadium 11 Baton Rouge LA August 28th ONLY

Maryland

Majestic Stadium 20 + IMAX Silver Spring MD August 28th ONLY

Massachusetts

Fenway Stadium 13 & RPX Boston MA August 28th ONLY

Montana

Roxy Theatre Missoula Missoula MT September 20th – 23rd

New York

Film Forum New York NY August 28th ONLY

Cinema Arts Centre Huntington NY August 28th ONLY

North Carolina

Grande Stadium 16 Greensboro NC August 28th ONLY

North Hills Stadium Raleigh NC August 28th ONLY

Starlight Stadium 14 Charlotte NC August 28th ONLY

Oklahoma

Circle Cinema Tulsa OK August 28th ONLY

Oregon

Clinton Street Theater Portland OR August 28th ONLY

Pennsylvania

Riverview Plaza 17 Philadelphia PA August 28th ONLY

South Carolina

Columbiana Grande Stadium Columbia SC August 28th ONLY

Tennessee

Hollywood Stadium 27 - Nashville Nashville TN August 28th ONLY

Texas

Texas Theatre Dallas TX August 28th ONLY

Greenway Grand Palace Stadium Houston TX August 28th ONLY

Cielo Vista Stadium 18 San Antonio TX August 28th ONLY

Virginia

Macarthur Center Stadium Northfolk VA August 28th ONLY

Short Pump 14 Stadium 14 Richmond VA August 28th ONLY

Washington

Grand Cinema Tacoma Tacoma WA August 28th ONLY

SIFF Cinema Seattle WA August 28th ONLY

Washington DC

Gallery Place Stadium 14 Washington DC August 28th ONLY

The Grandmaster

Film Review by Kam Williams

Majestic Costume Drama Chronicles Career of Legendary Martial Arts Fighter

            Yip Oi-dor (1893-1972), aka Ip Man, was a legendary martial arts teacher perhaps best remembered for some of the prominent protégés who attended his kung fu school, most notably, Bruce Lee. But this influential icon has finally been getting his due in recent years as the subject of several reverential biopics.

            The latest, The Grandmaster, directed by Wong Kar-wai (In the Mood for Love), is a majestic epic chronicling Ip Man’s life from the womb to the tomb. He’s very capably played by Tony Leung who just happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to President Obama, for what that’s worth.

            At the picture’s point of departure, we learn that Ip hailed from Foshan, a city in Guangdong province where he started studying martial arts at an early age. By the time he was a young man, he had already developed a reputation as a formidable fighter, and was enlisted by his region’s elders to represent all of Southern China in a match against Gong Yutian (Wang Qingxiang), the best from the North.

            Yip prevails in a showdown more mental than physical by employing an innovative combination of his trademarked “Spade,” “Pin” and “Sheath” techniques which prove to be far simpler than the 64 moves relied upon by his aging opponent. Soon thereafter, Gong finds himself dealing with dissension in the Northern ranks, between betrayed by an aggressive heir apparent (Zhang Jan) and being disappointed by his daughter’s (Zhang Ziyi) decision to practice medicine rather than follow in his footsteps.

            That enables Yip Man to fill the void and eventually emerge as the greatest grandmaster in all of China. Director Kar-wai resorts to flying harnesses, slow motion and other state-of-the-art trick photography to showcase his hero’s considerable skills. If you’re familiar with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then you have a decent idea what to expect in terms of gravity defying kick and fisticuffs.

            The overly-ambitious production’s only flaw rests with its occasionally-confusing editing, which unnecessarily resorts to flashbacks in recounting the decades-spanning tale when the movie might have worked just as well if allowed to unfold chronologically. Regardless, this comprehensive combination history lesson, love story and action flick features all the fixin’s necessary to entertain any fan of the martial arts genre.

            Yip Man lives!

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, smoking and brief drug use

In Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese with subtitles

Running time: 108 minutes

Distributor: The Weinstein Company 

To see a trailer for Grandmaster, visit:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO1yfTfozhk