Showing posts with label Paul Haggis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Haggis. Show all posts

Friday, November 11, 2022

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 6th to 12th, 2022 - Update #6

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Actress Ellen Pompeo will depart ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" as a full-time cast member on the episode that airs Feb. 23rd, 2023.

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  A New York jury today found Oscar-winning filmmaker, Paul Haggis ("Crash"), liable on all three counts of rape and sexual abuse in his treatment of Haleigh Breest, who left a party in Manhattan with him in 2013 and then, sued him in 2017, claiming he repeatedly forced sex on her in his apartment that night. 

TELEVISION - From DeadlineNexstar, new owner of The CW television networks, says that The CW will shed most content from Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, the former owners, after the 2023-24 broadcast season.  Some things may remain, but Nexstar is looking for better financial deals going forward.

CELEBRITY - From YahooLife:  In the last weeks of her life, the late Queen Elizabeth reportedly became close to movie star/icon, Tom Cruise.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 11/4 to 11/6/2022 weekend box office is Warner Bros. Pictures' "Black Adam" with an estimated take of 18.5 million dollars.

From Here:  Leroy Douresseaux's review of "Black Adam."

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  I'm not a rapist says Oscar-winner Paul Haggis.

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BRITTNEY GRINER:

From NBCNews:   Brittney Griner will enter a system of isolation, grueling labor and psychological torment when she is transferred to a penal colony, the successor to the infamous Russian gulag, to fulfill a nine-year sentence handed down Tuesday in Moscow, former prisoners and advocates said.

From NBCNews:  A Russian court has rejected Brittney Griner's appeal of her nine-year prison sentence on (fake) drug charges.

From Reuters:  Russia says that it is ready to talk prisoner swamp for Brittney Griner and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, but also scolds the U.S. Embassy.

From TheDailyBeast:   Legendary NBA bad boy and champion (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls), Dennis Rodman claims that he has been given permission to go to Russia and help free imprisoned hostage, WNBA star, Brittney Griner.

From Vox:  Vox's Jonathan Guyer talks the Brittney Griner case with Danielle Gilbert, a Dartmouth professor who is writing a book about states and rogue actors that take hostages.

From ESPN:   A Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison Thursday, Aug. 4th.  Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for bringing cannabis into the country and pleaded guilty July 7, though the case continued under Russian law.

From ESPN:  The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

From RSN:  "Will Support From LeBron James, Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, and Other Celebrities Help Free Brittney Griner From a Russian Prison?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via Substack

From ESPN:  Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so "inadvertently" while asking the court for mercy.

From CBSSports:  The Brittney Griner situation explained.

From RSN:  According to The Washington Post Editorial Board: "Brittney Griner is a hostage, plain and simple."


Saturday, June 25, 2022

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 19th to 25th, 2022 - Update #21

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

ROE V. WADE - From NPR:  The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has overturned "Roe v. Wade."  It's gone, boo.

From GoogleDocs:  "Roe v. Wade": What you can do.

From RSNNewYorker:  We're not going back to the time before Roe. We're going somewhere worse.

From RSNVanityFair:  Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer's wrote a withering dissent to the court's conservative majority. Their conclusion: this opinion is "the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens."

From TruthoutRep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) led a group of 20 Black Congresswomen who urged President Biden to to take urgent action to protect abortion rights.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning actor, Billy Porter, and Food Network star, Guy Fieri, are joining the road trip comedy, "80 for Brady," which is being produced by NFL star and Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady.

MUSIC/POLITICS - From YahooEntertainment:   Grammy-winning recording artist and rock music legend, John Mellencamp, slams politicians for not doing more to prevent gun violence.

MOVIES - From FilmBookSteven Spielberg‘s semi-autobiographical drama, The Fabelmans, is scheduled to open Nov. 23rd, 2022.  However, the star-studded film is now scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles on November 11th, to help build buzz on the film, which is vying for Oscar consideration.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  At CineEurope in Barcelona, Spain, Universal Pictures shows off its upcoming film slate, including a glimpse of "Fast & Furious X."  James Bond producer, Barbara Broccoli, also introduced a behind scenes look at the, "Till," the MGM drama about lynching victim, Emmett Till, and his mother.

From Deadline:  At CineEuope, Warner Bros previewed its films and offered a behind the scenes look at "Meg 2: The Trench" and touted its DC Comics films, like "Black Adam" and "The Flash." 

SCANDAL - From Variety:  Oscar-winning screenwriter and producer, Paul Haggis ("Crash"), has been arrested in Italy on sexual assault charges.  Haggis is currently being sued over a rape allegation and has been accaused by three other women of sexual misconduct.

From Deadline:  A Santa Monica jury in a civil trial has decided that Bill Cosby sexually abused Judith Huth in the 1970s when she was a minor and awarded her $500,000 in damages.

CELEBRITY - From Variety:  Actor-producer-director, Bradley Cooper's success at nabbing Oscar "noms" is apparently a source of irritation for some people.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 6/17 to 6/19/2022 weekend box office is "Jurassic World: Dominion" with an estimated take of 58.6 million dollars.

From WeGotThisCovered:  "Top Gun: Maverick" sets a box office record only surpassed by "Avatar."

NETFLIX - From THR:  The sequel to "Knives Out" (2019) has a title.  It is "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" and it is due for release this holiday season.

From Deadline:  Netflix is suspending production on its series, "The Chosen One," after two actors were killed and six injured in an auto accident involving the cast and crew on June 16th in Mexico.

DISNEY - From DeadlineGuy Ritchie will director a live-action version of Disney's 1997 animated hit, "Hercules."  The film will be produced by AGBO, the production company of brothers, Joe & Anthony Russo of "Avengers: Endgame."  Ritchie directed the billion-dollar live-action version of "Aladdin."

OBITS:

From ESPN:  Former NFL player, Anthony "Tony" Siragusa, has died at the age of 55, Wednesday, June 22, 2022.  Nicknamed "The Goose," Siragusa was a "defensive tackle."  In 1990, Siragusa was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colt.  He came to fame with the Baltimore Ravens where he was a member of the team that won Super Bowl XXXV on January 28, 2001.  After he retired, Siragusa was an NFL sideline analyst for Fox Sports from 2003 to 2015.  Siragusa also appeared on four episodes of HBO's "The Sopranos."

From NPR:  Television political commentator, Mark Shields, died at the age of 85, Saturday, June 18, 2022.  Shields his best known for providing political analysis and commentary for "PBS NewsHour" from 1988 to 2020.

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UVALDE, TEXAS MASS SHOOTING:

From YahooAP:  An 18-year-old gunman slaughtered 19 children and two teachers on Tues., May 24th, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.  All 21 victims were in the same 4th grade classroom at Robb Elementary.

From TheDailyBeast:  Texas's top law enforcement official, Department of Public Safety Director Steve McGraw, has said that the school shooter in Uvalde, Texas could have been taken down in three minutes.

From TheDailyBeast:  Police officers responding to last month’s mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school never even tried to open the door to the classroom where young children were trapped with the gunman, according to a new report. 

From Jacobin:  "The Uvalde Massacre has exposed the lies that once justified police militarization" by Branko Marcetic

From Truthout:  We don’t need more evidence that police can’t be trusted.

From Truthout:   44 percent of GOP voters view mass shootings as part of living in “Free Society”

From ABCNews:  Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher who survived the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, calls the local police "cowards" because of slow response to an active shooter at his school, Robb Elementary.  All of 11 students in his class were killed.

From DallasNews:  Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, has died of a heart attack two days after the murder of his wife.  They had been married for 24 years and had been high school sweethearts.

From Axios:  Texas gubernatorial candidate, Beto O'Rourke, interrupted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's gaslighting press conference on the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting.

From USAToday:  Beto O'Rourke's outburst at Gov. Greg Abbott's Uvalde news conference shows the spine Democrats need.

From BostonGlobe:  Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, asks "When are we going to do something?"

From NBCNews:  A Robb Elementary teacher describes "the longest 35 minutes of my life" and the terror she now feels.

From NBCNews:  The Uvalde school district had an extensive safety plan, but 19 children were killed at Robb Elementary anyway.  Even security plans that appear to be up to the latest research-based standards may have gaps and fall short of preventing the worst-case scenario, experts said.

From MSN:  Angeli Rose Gomez, the mother who was handcuffed outside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, was able to get inside the school and rescue her two children.

From YahooNews:   Daniel Defense, the maker of the rifles used by the Uvalde massacre killer, has used "incendiary ads" in the past, including one in which a toddler holds one of its rifles.

From TheIntercept:  The police aren't obligated to protect anyone NOT in their custody, as the Supreme Court has ruled twice.

From RollingStone:  Right wing lies about the Second Amendment and why they tell them are killing America's childrne.

From Vice:  The law enforcement personnel in Texas that arrived at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on Tues., May 24th did the opposite of what their own training documentary videos show.

From Vox:  Uvalde police keep changing their story.

From TheDailyBeast:  The families in Uvalde, Texas who lost loved one in the Robb Elementary massacre say that the cops there are "Nothing more than cowards" and that they need to pay for doing nothing while a gunman rampaged through the school last Tues, May 24th.

From TheNewYorker:  Thoughts and prayers, Uvalde, Texas. This is the America that Republicans and the right wing have being thinking about and praying for all these decades.

From ABC:  Sources say that Uvalde police and school district no longer cooperating with Texas probe of shooting of the May 24th massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

From GuardianUK:  Canada plans to freeze all handgun ownership.

From RSNWashPost:  Is it time to show the true horror of mass shooting - in pictures?

From MSN:  Angeli Gomez, the Uvalde mother who rescued her two children from the Robb Elementary shooting massacre, says that a police officer threatened to arrest her if she did not stop telling her story.

From RSNTheAtlantic:  The Uvalde police chose dishonor. Where was there courage?

From RSNWashPost:  Brenda Bell:  I hid from the Texas Tower sniper (Charles Joseph Whitman) in 1966. His successors have found us all.

From RSNTheIntercept:  "AR-15s Were Made to Explode Human Bodies. In Uvalde, the Bodies Belonged to Children" by Murtaza Hussain

From RSNNPR:  The tragic history of police responding too late to active shooters.

From VICE:  There is likely bodycam footage of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, but the public may never see it.

BLM-BUFFALO:

From ABCNews:  A 18-year-old white MAN shot 13 people, killing 10 at a Buffalo, New York Tops Friendly Markets supermarket on Saturday, May 14, 2021.

From RSNAP:  The white male suspect in the Buffalo Tops Supermarket shooting, Payton Gendron, was charged with federal hate crimes on Wed., June 15th and could face the death penalty if convicted.

From Truthout:  The racist attack in Buffalo at the Tops Friendly supermarket was crafted to terrorize us.  We can fight back, and here’s how we fight back.

From WGRZ:  Who are the victims of the Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets grocery store shooting. This comes from local station WGRZ Channel 2 and includes video and some victim photos.

From BuffaloNews:  One of the 10 Black murder victims of the Buffalo massacre was Katherine "Kat" Massey.  She was a leader in her community and civil rights activist and advocate for education.

From NewYorkPost:  One of the 10 Black murder victims of the Buffalo massacre was Andre Mackniel. He was at TOPS Supermaket to pick up a birthday cake for his son.

From Truthout:  The racist attack in Buffalo, NY at the Tops supermarket was crafted to terrorize us, so here is how we fight back.

From CNN:  What is known about the 18-year-old MAN, Payton Gendron.

From NPR:  198 mass shooting this year ... so far.

From Truthout:  White supremacist massacre of 10 people in Buffalo, NY shows that the “Alt-Right” ideology leads to murder.

From RollingStone:  Buffalo rampage killing is "Straight Up Racially Motivated Hate Crime."

From InformedComment:  Rene Binet, the originator the "great replacement" was a French Nazi, and he saw all American as "Negroes," an "impure mestizo 'race'."

From WashPost:  Only 22 people saw the live-stream of a white terrorist kill Black shoppers at the Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets supermarket, but millions have seen it since...

From GuardianUK:  Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets shooter may have been motivated by "eco-fascism," a focus on overpopulation and environmental degradation.

From RSN:  "What Lessons Have We Learned From the Buffalo Shooting?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

From Truthout:  “Innocent” White People Are Also Complicit in the Anti-Black Murders in Buffalo by George Yancy.

From Truthout:  "Black Lives Matter" cofounder discovered that Alicia Garza has learned that her name is mentioned in the Buffalo Tops supermarket killer's manifesto.

From GuardianUK:   Cornell West says, "Trump isn't out there with a gun, but he's enabled this war against Black people.

From Slate:  From the Tulsa Race Massacre to the Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets shootings: the legacy of anti-Black violence.

From Truthout:  After mass shootings, Republicans shield white supremacists from scrutiny

From MSN:  Angeli Gomez, the Uvalde mom who rescued her children from the school shooting at Robb Elementary, says that local police have threatened to have her arrested if she does not stop telling her story.

UKRAINE:

From TheDailyBeast:  Russian soldiers allegedly raped and killed a 1-year-old Ukrainian boy and have reportedly raped or sexually abused children as young as 9 months old.

HATE WATCH:

From NPR:  31 members of the white nationalist Patriot Front arrested near a "Pride Month" event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  They are believed to have been planning to riot held at a local before moving on to rioting downtown.  They were not the only haters trying to sour the "Pride in the Park" event, which included families with children.

From SpokesmanReview:  The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office released the names and photos of all 31 "Patriot Front" members who are suspects in a planned riot at the "Pride Month" event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.


Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 22nd to 31st, 2019 - Update #26

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

REVIEW - From Patreon:  My review of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

STAR TREK - From ThePlaylist:  Actor Simon Pegg, who plays Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, is not sure if he and the other cast of the current Star Trek film franchise will be in director Noah Hawley's planned "Star Trek 4" film project.

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SPORTS - From NBA:  National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar, LeBron James, currently a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, has been named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Decade.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  President Barack Obama names his favorite films and TV shows of 2019.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 12/27 to 12/29/2019 weekend box office is "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" with an estimated take of 72 million dollars.

From Variety:  It's official's Universal Pictures' film adaptation of the famous Broadway musical, "Cats," is a flop.  Directed by Oscar-winner Tom Hooper, the film may rack up 100 million dollars in theatrical losses.

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SCANDAL - From Variety:  A New York court finds that rape is a "hate crime."  This ruling concerns a lawsuit against Oscar-winning filmmaker, Paul Haggis, brought by a woman who claims that Haggis raped her in his apartment in New York in 2013.

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POLITICS - From RSN:  Robert Reich on "How American Oligarchy Works."  First essay: billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management hedge fund

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STREAMING - From LaurenceFuller:  Actor, writer, and producer Laurence Fuller is sharing his new short film, "Echoes of You."

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SCANDAL - From Deadline:  One of the men who accused Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct has died by suicide.  Ari Behn was an author and the ex-husband of Norway's Princess Martha Louise and reportedly took his life Christmas Day.

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STREAMING - From Variety:  The Rio de Janeiro headquarters of the Brazilian comedy troupe, "Porta dos Fundos," was hit by a Molotov cocktail.  Porta dos Fundo created "The First Temptation of Christ," a comedy Christmas special that suggests that Jesus Christ is gay.  Netflix has been streaming the special, although there has been a petition to have it removed.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  The site has a page where you can read movie scripts, including titles like "Knives Out" and "Honey Boy."

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Gal Gadot and her husband, Jaron Varsano, are producing a film adaptation of the 2014 Hebrew novel, "Borderlife."  The novel has been banned from school reading lists by the Israeli government because it depicts an Israeli-Palestinian.

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SCANDAL - From THR:   NBC Sports has indefinitely suspended its NHL (National Hockey League) analyst, Jeremy Roenick, for making inappropriate (but damn funny) comments about NBC colleagues.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Kobe Bryant is hosting a screening of director Destin Daniel Cretton's critically acclaimed death row drama, "Just Mercy," in Los Angeles on January 6, 2020.  The film stars Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, and Jamie Foxx.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Stephen King's debut novel, "Carrie" (1974), is the subject of another adaptation, this time as a TV miniseries for FX.

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BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 12/20 to 12/22/2019 weekend box office is "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" with an estimated gross of 175.5 million dollars.

From Variety:  "The Rise of Skywalker" tops the international box office in its debut with an estimated take of 198 million dollars.From Patreon:  My review of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

From Variety:  At the Chinese box office, "The Rise of Skywalker" is beaten by Chinese martial arts, historical, action movie, "Ip Man 4: The Finale."

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  After the film adaptation of the legendary musical, "Cats," debuted, Universal Pictures sent out a "new version" of the film with "improved visual effects."

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MOVIES - From Boston:  A look at 10 New England towns that are perfect settings for Christmas movies.

OBITS:

From Variety:  Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman died at the age of 88, Thursday, December 26, 2019.  A two-time Tony Award winner, Herman was the composer and lyricist "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame," and the composer for "La Cage aux Folles."

From THR:  The television producer Lee Mendelson has died at the age of 86, Wednesday, December 25, 2019.  Mendelson produced more than 60 animated TV specials featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the "Peanuts" gang, winning six Emmy Awards.  For the legendary "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965), Mendelson wrote the lyrics for the song, "Christmastime is Here."  Mendelson died at Christmas day.

From Variety:  Former actress Sue Lyon has died at the age of 73, Thursday, December 26, 2019.  Her career ran from 1959 to 1980, but Lyon was best known for playing the title character in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, "Lolita," based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same title.

From Deadline:  Radio talk show host and "shock jock" Don Imus has died at the age of 79, Friday, December 27, 2019.  Over a nearly 50-year period, Imus interviewed a number of important figures in American politics.  Imus' peak period ended in 2007 when CBS Radio and MSNBC fired him after he made derogatory and racist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team - calling them "nappy headed ho's."

From Variety:  The songwriter Allee Willis has died at the age of 72, Tuesday, December 24, 2019.  A member of the "Songwriters Hall of Fame," she is best known for writing songs for "Earth, Wind & Fire" like "September" and "Boogie Wonderland."  She also co-wrote the theme song, "I'll Be There for You," for the NBC series, "Friends," and the song score for the Broadway production of "The Color Purple."  Willis was also a two-time Grammy Awards winner.

From Variety:  ESPN reporter Ed Aschoff has died at the age of 34, Tuesday, December 24, 2019, after a battle with pneumonia.  Aschoff joined ESPN in 2011, where he covered college sports.

TRAILERS:

From SlashFilm:  Here is the first official trailer for Christopher Nolan's next mind-bending film, "Tenet," with a breakdown of the contents of the trailer by the article's writer.  "Tenet" opens July 17, 2020.

From EW:  Marvel Studios releases the first official teaser trailer and a poster for its next feature film, "Black Widow," which is set for release, May 1, 2020.

From THR:  The first official trailer for the next James Bond movie, "No Time to Die," makes it debut.

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 23rd to 30th, 2019 - Update #25

Support Leroy on Patreon:

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  The winner of the 6/28 to 6/30/2018 weekend box office is "Toy Story 4" with an estimated take of 58 million dollars.

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BOND - From YahooEntertainment:  Actor Idris Elba says he was "disheartened" by the reaction to him, a Black man, possibly playing James Bond.

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DISNEY - From Variety:  Melissa McCarthy in talks to play "Ursula" in Disney's planned live-action remake of its 1989 film, "The Little Mermaid."  Rob Marshall of "Mary Poppins Returns" is set to direct.

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SCANDAL - From PageSix:  The website notes that Oscar-winning filmmaker, Paul Haggis ("Crash"), is still partying despite a rape allegation against him.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Paul Rudd ("Ant-Man" films) has joined Jason Reitman's "Ghostbusters classic" film.

From Variety:  Mark Wahlberg is replacing Chris Evans in director Antoine Fuqua's upcoming film, "Infinite."

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BLM - From YahooFinance:  Slavery reparations could carry a $17 trillion ($17,000,000,000,000) price tag.

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MOVIES - From EW:  Jordan Brewster is returning to the "Fast & Furious" franchise.  She will appear in the ninth film  (currently filming in London), after sitting out the eighth installment, "The Fate of the Furious."  She has played, Mia Toretto, the love interest of the late Paul Walker's character, Brian.

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STAR TREK - From Deadline:  Pulitzer Prize winning author, Michael Chabon, has been named the showrunner of CBS All Access' "Star Trek: Picard."

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  Mary J. Blige signs first-looks TV development deal with actress-singer, Mary J. Blige.

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AWARDS - From Deadline:   The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild said Wednesday that it will hold its 2020 awards ceremony on Saturday, January 11th, 2020.

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MUSIC - From YabooEntertainment:  The biological father of Grammy-winning rapper and recording artist, Eminem, died earlier this week.  Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. was 67.

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JAMES BOND - From Variety:  First behind-the-scenes footage from "BOND 25" has been released.

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STREAMING - From Variety: Amazon will carry "Small Axe" in the U.S.  "Small Axe" is an anthology series from Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave").

From EOnline:  Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Ariana Grande join Ryan Murphy's adaptation of the Broadway hit, "The Prom," for Netflix.

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ANIMATION - From TVSeriesFinale:  There is a new Scooby-Doo animated series coming to Boomerang, "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?"  Actor Jaleel White is reviving his Steve Urkel character, from the old ABC series, "Family Matters" (1989-1998), for an episode of "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?"

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STREAMING - From Variety:  Viacom partners with Tyler Perry for "BET Plus" streaming service.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 6/21 to 6/23/2019 weekend box office is "Toy Story 4" with an estimated take of 118 million dollars.

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MOVIES - From FlickeringMyth:  "Hidden Figures" actor Aldis Hodge has joined the cast of Blumhouse's Universal Monsters remake of "The Invisible Man."

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ECO - From Deadline:  Oscar-winning actor, Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), has quit the Royal Shakespeare Company over the theaters sponsorship with oil company, BP.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Lena Waithe Criticizes Black Movie Stars For Not Financing Indies From Black Filmmakers

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STREAMING - From Deadline:  James Marsden is vying for the role of Stu Redman in "The Stand," the CBS Studios/CBS All Access limited series adaptation of the classic Stephen King horror novel.  This streaming series would be the second miniseries adaptation of King's novel, following ABC's 1994 miniseries.

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STREAMING-TELEVISION - From Vulture:  "15 Fantasy Adaptations We’re Excited to See on TV Soon" by Devon Ivie

OBITS:

From EW:  Actor Billy Drago died Monday, June 24, 2019 at the age of 73.  Drago is best known for portraying real-life gangster, Frank Nitti, in Brian DePalma's film, "The Untouchables" (1987). He was also a recurring character in The WB's series, "Charmed" (1998-2006).

From Variety:  The actor Max Wright has died at the age of 75, Wednesday, June 26, 2019.  Wright was best known for playing the role of Willie Tanner on the NBC TV series, "Alf" (1986 to 1990).  Will Tanner was the head of the family that took in a back-talking alien, Alf.  Wright appeared in numerous TV series, including "Friends" and "Murphy Brown."  He received a 1998 Tony Awards nomination for his performance in "Ivanov."

From Deadline:  The New Orleans musician, composer, arranger, and record producer, Dave Bartholomew, had died at the age of 100, Sunday, June 23, 2019.  Bartholomew is best known for his partnership with pianist and singer-songwriter, Fats Domino.  He co-wrote such Domino hits as "Ain't That a Shame" (1955) and "I'm Walkin'" (1957).  He also wrote the song "Blue Monday" (1954) that was first recorded by guitarist, Smiley Lewis, and then, became a hit for Domino in 1956.

From Deadline:  The bestselling author and journalist, Judith Krantz, has died at the age of 91, Saturday, June 22, 2019.  Although she had a long career in magazine journalism, Krantz is best known for her career as an author of bestselling novels, including her debut, "Scruples" (1978).  Many of her novels were adapted into television miniseries.


Saturday, January 6, 2018

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from January 1st to 6th, 2018 - Update #35

Support Leroy on Patreon.

STREAMING - From ScreenDaily:  Kiernan Shipka will be the star of the untitled "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" series that is based on the horror comic book, "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina."

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SCANDAL - From THR:  Four women accuse Oscar-winning filmmaker, Paul Haggis, of sexual misconduct, including two rapes.

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COMICS-FILM - From Local10:  Black Panther movie causing excitement around the country.

From Comicsverse:   This Is Everything You Need to Know About 2018 Comic Book Movies and TV Shows Coming Out in 2018.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Ridley Scott in talks to direct "Merlin Saga" for Disney.  The movie would be based on the book series by T.A. Barron.

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CULTURE - From TheNewRepublic:  "Water in the raw," the latest stripped-down lifestyle scam.

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  Marvel Studios' "Captain Marvel" has cast DeWanda Wise (Netflix's "She Gotta Have It") in an unspecified supporting role.  The film stars Oscar-winner Brie Larson and Oscar-nominee Jude Law and is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.  The movie is scheduled to open March 8, 2019.

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STREAMING - From TVLine:  Hulu is reviving "Animaniacs."  The animated TV series originally aired for 1993 to 1998, first on Fox Kid and Kids' WB, neither of which exist anymore.  Steven Spielberg will return to executive produce.

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CANNES - From Variety:  Cate Blanchett has been named Cannes Jury President for this year's film festival (the 71st edition of the festival), which begins May 8th and ends May 19th, 2018.

----------
STREAMING - From ShadowandAct:  The sequel to the Will Smith Netflix's film, "Bright," directed by David Ayer and co-starring Joel Edgerton, is official.  Max Landis will not be returning as writer.  [By the way, this film is not in theaters; viewers can stream it on Netflix.

----------
STREAMING - From ShadowandAct:  Hulu developing a period comedy/drama about drag queen icon and celebrity, RuPaul, entitled "Queen."  J.J. Abrams is producing.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From ShadowandAct:  Grammy-winner Kendrick Lamar and TDE are producing the "Black Panther" soundtrack.  The soundtrack album will contain music featured in the film and inspired by the film.  This is the first time that Marvel Studios will integrate multiple original songs in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

----------
SPORTS - From ESPN:  What does NBS star hope to find with the Boston Celtics?

----------
STREAMING - From Variety:  Netflix's stock reaches an all-time high, $206.21 per share before closing at $205.05, coming off good news about the Will Smith-David Ayer film, Bright.

----------
MOVIE - From Variety:  Will Smith and James Lassiter's production company, Overbrook Entertaiment, has decided not to re-up its first-look deal with Sony Pictures.

----------
STAR TREK - From Variety:  It's the 25th anniversary of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

----------
CULTURE - From Wired:  Teens aren't partying anymore.

From TheNewYorker:  What If Parents Loved Strangers’ Children As Much As Their Own?

----------
JAMES BOND - From BleedingCool:  The next actor to play James Bond, after Daniel Craig, could be black or a woman, says Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.

---------
HEALTHCARE - From MotherJones:  Go Fund Yourself - crowdfunding personal medical crisis.

----------
BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" wins the four-day New Year's Day weekend, 12/29/2017 to 1/1/2018 with an estimated take of $68.4 million.

From TheWrap:  For the first time since 1959, the top three movies at the North American box office feature female leads - "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Wonder Woman."

---------
MUSIC - From Variety:  Actor-recording artist Justin Timberlake announces a new music album to be released Feb. 2nd, 2018.  Entitled "Man of the Woods," it is first studio LP since the two-set "The 20/20 Experience."  The first single arrives Friday, Jan. 5th.

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MUSIC-CULTURE - From TheNewRepublic:  Have the richie-poos taken over the British pop music scene.

----------
STREAMING - From BleedingCool:  Stephen King says that he is in the dark about the development of "Castle Rock," the Stephen King-theme series on Hulu.

----------
TELEVISION - From ShadowandAct:  30 highly anticipated projects from featuring African-Americans in front of or behind the camera that were announced in 2017.

---------
STREAMING - From ShadowandAct:  "She's Gotta Have It" gets a second season from Netflix.  The film is based on Spike Lee's 1986 film.

----------
POLITICS - From NYT:  Nigerians live in huts.  It can no longer be denied - President Trump is a racist and a bigot.

----------
POLITICS - From TIME:  Robert Redford: The GOP 'Tax Scam' Is a 'Dirty Deal' for America.

----------
MOVIE - From TheWrap:  Jodie Foster says big-budget, superhero blockbusters are ruining movie.

----------
BLM - From NewYorkMagazine:  An interview with the late Erica Garner, the anti-police brutality activist and civil rights activist, who died recently.  She was the daughter of Eric Garner, who died as the result of police brutality.

----------
CELEBRITY - From THR:  Zac Efron shares the story of his phone call with the late Michael Jackson that had both of them in tears.

--------------------------

VIDEO:

From BleedingCool:  Shannon Tindle, the creator of "Kubo and the Two Strings" has been working on an animated series based on Disney's "The Haunted Mansion," to which Disney still has not committed.  Tindle shared a 60-second animated teaser for the potential series.

From BET:  The cast of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" on the importance of diversity.

OBITS:

From TMZ:  Actor and comedian, Jerry Van Dyke, has died at the age of 86, Friday, January 5, 2018.  Jerry is best known for his supporting role in the former ABC series, "Coach" (1989 to 1997), alongside series star, Craig T. Nelson.  Jerry is also the younger brother of legendary entertainer, Dick Van Dyke.

From Newsweek:  Singer and child actor, Jon Paul Steuer, has died at the age of 33, Monday, January 1, 2018.  Star Trek fans know Steuer as the first actor to play the child Klingon, Alexander, the son of Worf in "Star Trek: The Next Generations."  He also appeared in the ABC comedy series, "Grace Under Fire."

From CBS:  In a video, CBS Sunday Morning Says "Hail and Farewell" to those we lost in 2017.


Saturday, May 31, 2014

Review: Ken Watanabe Carries "Letters from Iwo Jima" (Happy B'day, Clint Eastwood)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 99 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA; Languages:  Japanese/English
Running time:  140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic war violence
DIRECTOR:  Clint Eastwood
WRITERS:  Iris Yamashita; story by Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis (based upon the book Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by Tadamichi Kuribayashi and Tsuyoko Yoshido)
PRODUCERS:  Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tom Stern
EDITORS:  Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
COMPOSERS: Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens
2007 Academy Award winner

WAR/DRAMA

Starring:  Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura, Hiroshi Watanabe, Takumi Bando, Yuki Matsuzaki, and Luke Eberl

The subject of this movie review is Letters from Iwo Jima, a 2006 war film from director Clint Eastwood.  Set during World War II, the film is almost entirely in the Japanese language and tells the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers.  Eastwood also makes contributions to the film’s score which was created by his son, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens.

Letters from Iwo Jima is director Clint Eastwood’s companion piece to his film, Flags of our Fathers.  The films form a two-part examination of the ordinary men who fought on both sides of World War II during the crucial battle for a small island.

As tens of thousands of Allied troops storm Iwo Jima, Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) knows his men are outnumbered, running low on supplies, and have no hope of troop support or even rescue.  The Japanese troops prepare to meet their fate – to die in battle or to die by their own hands.  Gen. Kuribayashi and a soldier named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) often pass the time writing letters to their wives, although they realize that the letters may never reach mainland Japan.

Eastwood directs Letters from Iwo Jima with stark simplicity that makes even its bloodiness seem eloquent and the drama never heavy-handed.  For a war picture, Letters from Iwo Jima is surprisingly both quiet and thoughtful.  Even the battle scenes come across as a time for reflection.  If there are still any doubts about Clint Eastwood as a talented director who has the ability to weave intimate character dramas, then, Letters from Iwo Jima should put that hogwash to rest.

Eastwood is also quite good at directing actors and getting strong dramatic turns from both his leads and his supporting cast.  Letters’ cast is strong, but Kazunari Ninomiya and Ken Watanabe stand out, in particularly the latter.  Watanabe has a regal air about him, but there is substance in all his performances.  He’s old Hollywood – a “face,” but he also has the dramatic chops to bury himself in characters and bring them to life.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards:  1 win for “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman); 3 nominations for “Best Picture of the Year” (Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Clint Eastwood), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Iris Yamashita-screenplay/story and Paul Haggis-story)

2007 Golden Globes:  1 win for “Best Foreign Language Film” and 1 nomination: “Best Director-Motion Picture” (Clint Eastwood)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Updated: Saturday, May 31, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.


Monday, November 11, 2013

Review: "Flags of Our Fathers" a Haunting Look Back

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Running time:  132 minutes (2 hours, 12 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage and for language
COMPOSER/DIRECTOR:  Clint Eastwood
WRITERS:  William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis (based upon the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers)
PRODUCERS:  Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tom Stern (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Joel Cox, A.C.E.
Academy Award nominee

WAR/HISTORY/DRAMA

Starring:  Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Paul Walker, Jamie Bell, Barry Pepper, John Benjamin Hickey, Robert Patrick, Neal McDonough, and Tom McCarthy

The subject of this movie review is Flags of Our Fathers, a 2006 war film from director Clint Eastwood.  The film examines the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II and its aftermath from the point of view of American servicemen.  The film is based upon the non-fiction book, Flags of Our Fathers, from authors James Bradley and Ron Powers and first published in 2000.  Eastwood also composed the film’s score with assistance from his son, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens.

In Clint Eastwood’s film, Flags of Our Fathers, a son attempts to learn of his father’s World War II experiences by talking to the men who served with him and discovers that friendship and brotherhood meant more to the men than the war itself.

The son, James Bradley (Tom McCarthy), knows that his father, John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), was in the famous photograph, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” which was taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945 and which became the most memorable photograph taking during WWII (as well as winning the Pulitzer Price for photography).  The photograph depicted five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi on the tiny island of Iwo Jima, and “Doc” Bradley was that corpsman (medical personnel).  The battle for that tiny speck of black sand, which was barely eight square miles, would prove to be the tipping point in the Pacific campaign against the Japanese during the war.

Through the recollections of the WWII vets, the son hears harrowing tales of Iwo Jima, and for the first time learns what his father went through there.  The military later returns “Doc” Bradley and the two other surviving flag-raisers, Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) to the U.S. and where they trio becomes props in the governments’ Seventh War Bond Drive.  This particular bond drive is an attempt to raise desperately needed cash to finish fighting the war.  However, Bradley, Gagnon, and Hayes are uncomfortable with their celebrity and find themselves at odds with being America’s new heroes.

Flags of Our Fathers is the first of Clint Eastwood’s unique two-film take on the war movie.  The second film, Letters from Iwo Jima, depicts the Japanese side of the war.  Flags runs hot and cool – hot when Eastwood keeps the film on Iwo Jima and cool when the flag-raisers are back in America and dealing with public situations that make them uncomfortable.  The narrative, like Billy Pilgrim, the hero of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five, becomes unstuck in time, dancing back in forth in the wartime and post-war past, with an occasional foray into the present.

Flags of Our Fathers is at its best when Eastwood focuses on Iwo Jima and the veterans nightmarish flashbacks, in particularly “Doc” Bradley’s flashbacks while he’s on the bond drive tour.  He transforms the horrors of war into a taut thriller, in which the monster of violent death stalks the Marines on the battlefield.  Eastwood also makes his point at certain times with beautiful subtlety.  In one scene, Ira Hayes (played by Adam Beach who is, like Hayes, a Native American) is refused service at a restaurant because the owner “doesn’t serve Indians.”  After all of Hayes’ dedication, the routine bigotry he faces is stinging and heart-rending, and Eastwood captures that moment (and so many others where bigotry is as common as air) in an understated fashion that turns that quiet scene into a blunt object he slams into the viewer.

Flags is by no means perfect.  It lacks any great performances, and Jesse Bradford and Beach can only deliver soft performances since their characters are so thin.  “Doc” Bradley isn’t a stronger character, but Ryan Phillippe jumps between that haunted look or playing stoic, which gives Bradley more traction in the narrative.  Still, Flags of Our Fathers proves that Clint Eastwood is truly a great movie director, and that even his missteps here can’t hide this engaging look at brotherhood on the battlefield and surviving after war.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards:  2 nominations: “Best achievement in sound editing” (Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman) and “Best achievement in sound mixing” (John T. Reitz, David E. Campbell, Gregg Rudloff, and Walt Martin)

2007 Golden Globes:  1 nomination: “Best Director-Motion Picture” (Clint Eastwood)

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Updated:  Monday, November 11, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Review: "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners" Reveals Angela Davis

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 74 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2012)
Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Shola Lynch
PRODUCERS:  Carole Lambert, Shola Lynch, Carine Ruszniewski, and Sidra Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Sandi Sissel and Bradford Young
EDITORS:  Lewis Erskine and Marion Monnier with Sheila Shirazi
COMPOSER:  Vernon Reid

DOCUMENTARY – History, Politics, Crime

Starring:  Angela Davis, Leo Branton, Deacon Alexander, Bettina Apthecker, Judge Richard E. Arnason, Lowell Berman, Margaret Burnham, Earl Caldwell, Elisabeth Coleman, Fania Davis, Robert McCartin, Stephen Shames, and Doris Walker

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners is a 2012 documentary film from writer-director Shola Lynch.  The film focuses on a young college professor named Angela Davis and how her social activism led to her being implicated in a botched kidnapping and being placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.

The film opened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and made its theatrical debut in the United States in April 2013.  Free Angela and All Political Prisoners gained some notice because director Shola Lynch received financial backing to make the movie from actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who later brought in her husband, actor Will Smith, and recording artist and businessman, Jay-Z, as additional backers.  Oscar-winning filmmaker, Paul Haggis, was also a supporter of the film.

Born January 26, 1944, Angela Yvonne Davis, best known as simply “Angela Davis,” is an American political activist, scholar, and author.  During the 1960s, Davis returned to the United States after spending time in Germany.  She became a nationally known activist and radical; she was also a leader in the Communist Party USA.  It was her close relations with the Black Panther Party (although she was never an official member of the party) and her work for prisoner rights that brought her to prominence and earned her notoriety in establishment circles.

On August 7, 1970, at the Marin County court house, a botched kidnapping attempt ended with a shootout that left four people, including a judge, dead.  Davis was a close associate of one of the dead kidnappers, so the state of California brought conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder charges against her – all of which were punishable by the death penalty.  Davis became a fugitive and, at the time, the third woman to have her name appear on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List.

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners gives an account of the kidnapping, Davis’ flight from arrest, the FBI manhunt for her, her arrest and imprisonment, and the subsequent trial.  The film also chronicles Angela Davis’ life as a youth, a young scholar, and as a controversial young college professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The pivotal events of Free Angela and All Political Prisoners begin with events that took place in 1969, when Davis was hired by UCLA.  Her time as a professor is not the film’s central narrative, although this is not to say that the film is dry and boring for a time.  However, this documentary does not really come to life, in a way that reflects the fiery young radical that Angela Davis was, until it starts to recount the various events related to Davis that occurred in 1972.

In early 1972, Caruthers, California dairy farmer, Rodger McAfee (or Roger McAfee), with the help of a wealthy businessman, paid just over $100,000 in bail money to get Davis released from the county jail, while she awaited trial for the Marin County courthouse incident.  For me, this is when Free Angela and All Political Prisoners becomes energized as a narrative.

The elements of which director Shola Lynch makes best use in her film are the interviews, both new and archival.  As by chance or by destiny, the subjects of the new interviews are either good storytellers or are exceptionally good at conveying information.  I could listen to many of these interviewees for hours.

Archival interviews and news footage are also illuminating.  Then California governor (and future President), Ronald Reagan, does not come out looking like a good guy in this film.  He comes across as a pro-segregation-pro apartheid type who believes that Black people are second class citizens who don’t have full citizenship, and that outspoken people of color deserve imprisonment or even death.  As for President Richard Nixon, the side of him that is an authoritarian, paranoid psycho is fully in evidence.

Simply because of the story it tells and the incidents it recounts, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners should be treated like an important book – available in every public library in the United States.  All African-American parents should make sure that their children see this film.  Even conservative Black people whose Uncle Tom tendencies might make them act as if what happened to Angela Davis never happens to black people should show this film to their children.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, November 05, 2013


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

"The Descendants" Wins USC Libraries Scripter Award

The Descendants Ascend with Scripter Win

Authors and screenwriters of the family drama take the 2012 USC Libraries Scripter Award

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Author Kaui Hart Hemmings and screenwriters Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash won the 24th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award for their creative contributions to The Descendants. Selection committee co-chair Naomi Foner announced the winners at the black-tie ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 18.

“This is such a wonderful honor and to be part of something that celebrates and puts books on a pedestal and none of this would have been possible without Kaui’s wonderful book,” said Rash. “It was such a wonderful journey for us to fall in love with the book and have the opportunity to turn it into the film.”

Hemmings noted that the collaboration has been a positive experience for her.

“An adaptation can sometimes bring so many more readers that I never would have had and to have those readers say that they love both the book and the film and that they work so well together is such a blessing,” she said.

Payne—who was unable to attend—has been a Scripter finalist twice before for his work on the adaptations About Schmidt and Sideways. Payne also directed The Descendants. Faxon acknowledged Payne’s critical decision-making skills in his acceptance speech.

“I am thankful to Alexander Payne for directing such a beautiful film and I think he was right in the end—it was a good call casting George Clooney and not me,” Faxon joked. “That ended up being a benefit.”

The Descendants’ Scripter win adds to its many accolades. The film has been named the American Film Institute’s Movie of the Year and the best film of the year by the Los Angeles, Dallas, Florida, Kansas City, and Southeastern film critics associations, among others. It was named the best drama of the year at the Golden Globes and is nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Scripter gala, presented by the Friends of the USC Libraries, honors each year’s best cinematic adaptation of the written word. Scripter is the only award of its kind that honors screenwriters as well as the author of the work upon which the adaptation is based.

With filmmaker and USC alumnus Taylor Hackford (‘67, International Relations) and Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren serving as honorary dinner chairs, USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan welcomed the attendees to USC’s historic Edward L. Doheny Memorial Library.

“The authors and screenwriters of these books, plays, stories, and screenplays embody the stellar, transformative accomplishments our libraries inspire and make possible.” Quinlan added that by supporting the libraries, all who attended were “supporting the academic and artistic excellence of the entire university.”

The other finalists for the 2012 Scripter Award, in alphabetical order by film title, were: screenwriter Christopher Hampton for A Dangerous Method, adapted from the nonfiction book A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein by John Kerr and the 2002 stage play The Talking Cure by Hampton; screenwriter Moira Buffini for Jane Eyre, adapted from the 1847 book by Charlotte Brontë; screenwriters Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin for Moneyball, based on Michael Lewis’ book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game; and screenwriters Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan and author John le Carré for the thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Co-chaired by Golden Globe-winning screenwriter Naomi Foner and USC screenwriting professor and vice president of the Writers Guild of America, West, Howard Rodman, the Scripter selection committee chose The Descendants as the year’s best adaptation from a field of 109 eligible films.

The 32-member selection committee included film critics Kenneth Turan and Leonard Maltin; Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman and chief executive officer Tom Rothman; screenwriters Eric Roth, Geoffrey Fletcher, and Gale Anne Hurd; author Michael Chabon; and USC deans Catherine Quinlan, Elizabeth M. Daley and Madeline Puzo.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis accepted the 5th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Literary Achievement Award. Haggis’ credits include the screenplays for films such as Crash, Million Dollar Baby, and the two James Bond films starring Daniel Craig, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

During his acceptance speech, Haggis spoke about the influence his parents had on his writing career.

“They encouraged me from a young age largely because they saw I wasn’t good at much else,” Haggis joked. “You have to be a little emotionally unstable to be in this kind of profession—it’s a ridiculous profession, writing.”

“I’m very proud to be here with my daughters tonight—all three of whom grew up to choose ridiculous and difficult careers, in writing, in art, and in music,” Haggis explained. “I’m trying to learn the lesson my parents taught me—to encourage your children to be ridiculous to take on ridiculous challenges, choose ridiculous careers. Only by doing that do they really have a chance to be great.”

Haggis—along with author F. X. Toole—also captured a USC Libraries Scripter Award for Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

This year’s in-kind sponsors included Esquire Bar & Lounge (Pasadena, Calif.); the Wine of the Month Club; John and Dana Agamalian and Blue Ice Vodka; Barry Eggleston II of the Exotic Car Collection by Enterprise; Final Draft Inc., Movie Magic: Screenwriter; Paperblanks; and thinkThin.

For more details on Scripter—including additional images from the ceremony—visit http://scripter.usc.edu/.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Review: 2006 Oscar-Winning Best Picture "Crash" Still Powerful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Crash (2004/2005)
Running time: 122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, sexual content, and some violence
DIRECTOR: Paul Haggis
WRITERS: Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis; from a story by Paul Haggis
PRODUCERS: Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, Bob Yari, Mark R. Harris, Robert Moresco, and Paul Haggis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: J. Michael Muro
EDITOR: Hughes Winborne
Academy Award winner

DRAMA

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Philippe, Larenz Tate, Michael Peña, Keith David, Loretta Divine, Tony Danza, Nona Gaye, Yomi Perry, Daniel Dae Kim, Bruce Kirby, and Bahar Soomekh

The lives of a diverse cast of characters from various ethnic backgrounds, of different skin colors (also known as “different races”), and including immigrants: a Brentwood housewife (Sandra Bullock) and her District Attorney husband (Brendan Fraser); two police detectives who are also lovers (Don Cheadle and Jennifer Esposito); an African-American television director and his wife (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton); a Mexican locksmith (Michael Peña); two carjackers (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Larenz Tate); a rookie cop and his bigoted partner (Ryan Philippe and Matt Dillon) collide over a period of 36 hours.

Crash is one of the very best films of 2005 and one of the best films about America in ages not just because co-writer/co-producer/director Paul Haggis (he wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby) deftly connects so many Los Angeles-based characters of different “racial” or ethnic backgrounds to a single event with such glowing intensity. It is also great because the film shows the acute problem this country has with such diversity. American’s have created so many stereotypes that they have attached as belonging to particular ethnic, religious, “racial,” and even professional groups. Those stereotypes, in turn, affect how we judge people in those groups, how we interact with others, and what we believe about others. In the end, all that pre-judging and predestination causes us nothing but trouble.

Haggis and his co-writer, Bobby Moresco, give us so many examples of the problems these characters make for themselves because of prejudice and because they make assumptions about people that are often wrong (and sometimes even dangerous), and Haggis and Moresco still manage to make a solid, engaging, and enthralling beginning to end linear (for the most part) narrative. They’ve created so many scenarios, characters, events, actions, and attitudes with which we will personally connect because every American can lay claim to bigotry and prejudice. Crash is as if Haggis and Moresco have turned the American film into a mirror and pointed it at us.

Of the many great scenes, one in particular defines why Crash is such a great American film. A Persian storeowner who is obviously an immigrant goes to a gun store with his daughter to purchase a gun that he really believes he needs to protect himself, his family, and, in particular, his business. The gun storeowner is not patient with a Persian who doesn’t speak English well, and though his daughter tries in vain to mediate the transaction, it goes badly between Persian and the “native” American storeowner – a white guy. The storeowner calls the Persian an Arab (all people from the Middle East are not Arabs), and makes the most ugly, most bigoted remarks about 9/11 connecting all Middle Easterners and/or Arab-types to the terrorist act that I’ve ever heard.

Watch that scene alone, and you’ll understand the power Crash holds in its bosom. If the film has a message, it is that sometimes we should stop and think. Despite differences in what we believe, in skin color, or in customs, we are more alike than we’d like to believe. The static of difference between us can be the thing that stops us from helping or understanding. Allowing the static to remain can lead to tragedy when we crash into each other.

That a message film can come with such powerful ideas and not be preachy, but be such a fine and intensely engaging film is what makes Crash a great one. Add a large cast that gives such potent performances (especially Matt Dillon, who redefines his career with his role as a conflicted, bigoted patrolmen, and Terrence Howard, who adds to his 2005 coming out party with this) and Crash is a must-see movie.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 3 wins: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman), “Best Achievement in Editing” (Hughes Winborne), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Paul Haggis-screenplay/story and Robert Moresco-screenplay); 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Directing” (Paul Haggis), and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Kathleen York-music/lyrics and Michael Becker-music for the song "In the Deep"), and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Matt Dillon)

2006 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Thandie Newton) and “Best Screenplay – Original” (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco); 7 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (J. Michael Muro), “Best Editing” (Hughes Winborne), “Best Film” (Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, and Bob Yari), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Don Cheadle), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Matt Dillon), “Best Sound” (Richard Van Dyke, Sandy Gendler, Adam Jenkins, and Marc Fishman) and “David Lean Award for Direction”( Paul Haggis)

2006 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Matt Dillon) and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco)

Wednesday, January 4, 2006

-------------------------


Thursday, June 24, 2010

Review: "Quantum of Solace" Finds James Bond with a Hard-On for Payback

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Quantum of Solace (2008)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Marc Forster
WRITERS: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade
PRODUCERS: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roberto Schaefer (director of photography)
EDITORS: Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson
MAIN THEME: “Another Way to Die” performed by Alicia Keys and Jack White and composed by Jack White
BAFTA Awards nominee

ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, David Harbour, Jesper Christensen, Anatole Taubman, and Joaquín Cosio

The 2006 version of Casino Royale rebooted the James Bond film franchise. The follow up film, Quantum of Solace (the 22nd Bond film), is a rough and tumble, rip-roaring action movie that is probably more Jason Bourne than it is James Bond. Still, this is a very good action thriller.

Quantum of Solace continues immediately after the events of Casino Royale. James Bond (Daniel Craig) rushes the captured Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to Siena, Italy, where Bond and M (Judi Dench), his M16 superior, will interrogate White. The interrogation is interrupted, however, by a double agent. Bond follows the trail of the double agent to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), the charismatic leader of an ecological organization called Greene Planet. Behind Greene Planet’s seemingly legitimate business interests and benevolent aims hides Quantum, a powerful terrorist organization plotting to overthrow the government of Bolivia.

For Bond, this mission is as much about vengeance as it is about duty. Quantum is also connected to the death of the woman Bond loved, Vesper Lynn, (who betrayed him and died in Casino Royale). In Bolivia, Bond is joined by Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko), a young woman hunting the murderer of her family, Bolivian general, Medrano (Joaquín Cosio), and a co-conspirator of Greene’s. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, Bond leaves a pile of bodies in his wake, and soon the CIA and his own agency are hunting him.

By now, moviegoers are used to the fact that the Daniel Craig James Bond is not the “shaken, not stirred” Bond of the past. Bond is now as much an ass-kicking action hero, leaping and running all over the place, as he is a cool secret agent (if not more). And Quantum of Solace is certainly kick-ass. It isn’t more of the same; the film simply takes the cool action scenes of Casino Royale and multiplies them.

Craig is ultra-cool as the ruthless “blunt instrument,” and his performance here – balancing a broken heart with a barely concealed hard-on for revenge – is tasty. Mathieu Amalric is smashing as Dominic Greene; rarely has such a weasel of a villain been so attractive. Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright deliver their usually good performances.

From the opening rollicking car chase (one of the best I’ve seen in a long time) to the desert hotel showdown, this Bond packs a wallop. Quantum of Solace lacks the smart elegance of the typical James Bond movie (which even Casino Royale had), but I’ll take solace in this quick, sweet, brutal gem of an action movie.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2009 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (James Boyle, Eddy Joseph, Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith, and Mark Taylor) and “Best Special Visual Effects” (Chris Corbould and Kevin Tod Haug)

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Review: James Bond is Refreshed and Thuggin' Out in "Casino Royale"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 238 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Casino Royale (2006)
Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content, and nudity
DIRECTOR: Martin Campbell
WRITERS: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis (based upon the novel by Ian Fleming)
PRODUCERS: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phil Méheux, BSC
EDITOR: Stuart Baird, A.C.E.
THEME SONG: “You Know My Name” performed by Chris Cornell (written by Chris Cornell and David Arnold)
BAFTA Award winner

ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Mads Mikkelsen with Jeffrey Wright and Judi Dench, and Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, Ivana Milicevic, Simon Abkarian, Sébastien Foucan, and Jesper Christensen

Back in 1995, director Martin Campbell launched the first Pierce Brosnan James Bond film, GoldenEye. Eleven years later, Campbell helms another re-launch of the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale, the 21st James Bond movie. This new film takes Bond back to early in his career, and we get a new actor playing Bond, Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Munich), who brings a bit of the thug to the venerable secret agent.

In his first big mission as 007 (Double 0 means the agent has a license to kill… but you knew that), James Bond tackles terrorism. M (Judi Dench), the head of British Secret Service, M16, is unsure of her new agent, who tends to leave a pile of bodies in his wake. Still, Bond travels to Madagascar where he engages in a pulse pounding chase of the would-be bomber, Mollaka (Sébastien Foucan). This is the kind of hard work Bond must do to learn that the key figure in a terrorist money laundering scheme is Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker to the world’s terrorists.

In order to stop Le Chiffre and bring down the terrorist network, Bond eventually has to face Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game (Texas Hold ‘em) at Casino Royale (located in an unnamed town in Montenegro). In his corner, Bond has a beautiful British Treasurer official named Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), and of course, their initial disinterest in each other becomes a mutual attraction that goes farther. Meanwhile, dark forces have gathered around Le Chiffre, and Bond is finding that some of his own allies may be on Le Chiffre’s side.

How is Daniel Craig as James Bond? Imagine Sean Connery, but darker, edgier, and much more dangerous. Personally, I like it, but having Bond as a cold, killing machine is a bit off-putting. Still, Craig has an absolutely magnetic screen presence, and it’s hard not to focus on him even in a crowd scene. And he has a rock hard body.

Meanwhile, the overall film is pretty good. Almost gone are the sci-fi elements that have been a staple of Bond films, to one extent or another, since the beginning. Casino Royale is like the Jason Bourne films (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy), but darker still. The film has several dry spots, but the narrative makes up for that with several edge-of-the-seat action sequences – each one mesmerizing. Martin Campbell does an excellent job keeping up the heart-pounding thrills by taking us from Europe to Madagascar to the Bahamas to Miami and back to Europe again (to an eventual explosive finale in Venice). In fact, Campbell does an excellent job staging the thrills so quickly and pacing them so well that the bad moments in Casino Royale seem like a figment of the viewer’s imagination. Even the poker game, which makes up the middle act of Casino Royale, is great.

While Craig is quite good, the rest of the cast is mostly average. Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd hardly registers as a Bond girl, and Mads Mikkelsen is a half-menacing and half comic stock villain. Judi Dench, however, has a lot of bite in her as M, and Dench, a truly fine actress, hits the right note in each of her scenes – so much so that her M is missed whenever she leaves.

I’m reluctant to compare Casino Royale to other Bond films because it is so different, but judged on its own, this is a fine film. Whether this new direction will stand firm over the long run is a question for the future, but right now, Casino Royale is a good thing.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

NOTES:
2007 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Sound” (Chris Munro, Eddy Joseph, Mike Prestwood Smith, Martin Cantwell, and Mark Taylor); 8 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Martin Campbell, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (David Arnold), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Steven Begg, Chris Corbould, John Paul Docherty, and Ditch Doy), “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Daniel Craig), “Best Cinematography” (Phil Meheux), “Best Editing” (Stuart Baird). “Best Production Design” (Peter Lamont and Simon Wakefield), and “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis)

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