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	<title><![CDATA[Movies ]]></title>
	<copyright>Copyright 2010 Copyright © 2009  Los Angeles Wave.  All rights reserved. </copyright>
	<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies</link>
	 			<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<language>en-us</language>
	<pubDate>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:49:53 PDT</pubDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Movie Review: 'Waiting for Superman']]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Education-film--103489254.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">103489254</guid>		
			<pubDate>Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:27:53 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	

					
											
																															
													



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																																																						<video>stream.tribeca.vidavee.com:80/vidad/tribeca.vidavee.com/bim/lawave/DD6EE1D10D70F6F6AACB19409304BCC8.flv</video>
																										<description><![CDATA[

Anger, despair, hope.

Three words that describe a powerful documentary about the nation&rsquo;s failing public education system chronicled by the same filmmaking team who produced the Oscar-winning environmental movie, &ldquo;An Inconvenient Truth.&rdquo;

In &ldquo;Waiting for Superman,&rdquo; which opens in New York and Los Angeles Sept. 24, this vast, seemingly intractable issue is illuminated in an engrossing &mdash; and judging by the number of dry eyes at the end of a recent screening &mdash; heartbreaking way.

Written by Davis Guggenheim and Billy Kimball, directed by Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott, the film is never dull or didactic. It presents its historical case, with often funny archival footage and condenses a mass of educational research using some intriguing animated techniques to highlight the reality of the situation.

According to the film, the legacy of the modern American education system, born in the 1950s, was that 20 percent of kids who went through it would become CEOs, doctors and lawyers, another 20 percent would work in offices and the rest would toil in the factories.

Nevertheless, with full employment, that system met the nation&rsquo;s economic needs until America engaged Russia in superpower politics and other nations like Japan and China emerged as economic threats.

Since then, successive presidents from &mdash; Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to George W. Bush&rsquo;s &ldquo;No Child Left Behind&rdquo; and Barack Obama&rsquo;s &ldquo;Race to the Top&rdquo; &mdash; have promised to fix education.

But today, the system seems like a Kafkaesque, bureaucratic nightmare, with tens of thousands of local school districts, city regulators and state and federal oversight.

Refreshingly, Guggenheim doesn&rsquo;t shirk away from going for the political jugular, noting that teacher union clout has exerted massive pressure on both parties, especially the Democrats.

&ldquo;We have often been called a special interest and I will never apologize for that because our special interests are the students we teach, they&rsquo;re worth fighting for with every weapon in our arsenal,&rdquo; said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers.

However, on some levels that would seem to be an oxymoron.

The film exposes long entrenched school practices like &ldquo;The Dance of the Lemons,&rdquo; the process by which school principals pass their most poorly performing (but tenured) teachers onto other schools because they can&rsquo;t fire them; an inside look into the absurdities of the &ldquo;Rubber Room,&rdquo; where teachers under investigation are sometimes paid for years to sit and do absolutely nothing.

But at the emotional core of &ldquo;Superman&rdquo; is the story of five children whose future hopes and dreams are held hostage to decades of well-meaning but ineffectual solutions to prepare the country for the global challenges ahead.

For instance, among 30 developed countries, the U.S. is ranked 25th in math and 21st in science. By the year 2020, 123 million American jobs will be high skill/high pay, but only 50 million Americans will be qualified for them.

Thus we meet the five kids' Anthony, a Washington D.C. fifth-grader who lost his father to drugs; Bianca, a Harlem kindergartner whose single mom can no longer afford Catholic school tuition; Daisy, an L.A. fifth-grader who dreams of college even though her parents didn&rsquo;t finish high school; Emily, a Silicon Valley eighth-grader who is unwillingly put on a non-collegiate track; and Francisco, a Bronx first-grader whose school cannot motivate him to excel.

Unlike the film&rsquo;s originator &mdash; who explains that he was moved to act when taking his young children to their expensive private school, bypassing their horrendously performing public counterparts &mdash; the only way out of their predicament is sheer luck.

That comes in the form a surreal aspect of the public education system' lotteries that select students for the new breed of public and private charter schools that in some instances are transforming the educational prospects of urban students.

So Anthony is one of 61 applicants vying for 24 spots at SEED Charter School, where nine of ten students go on to college; Francisco and Bianca have a 5 percent chance of getting into the Harlem Success Academy, Daisy&rsquo;s one of 135 applying for 10 places at KIPP (Knowledge is Power) L.A. Prep and Emily has a 24 percent chance of getting into Summit Preparatory Charter High School.

Harlem Success is the brainchild of Geoffrey Canada, who captivated the nation by creating the Harlem Children&rsquo;s Zone, an area of 97 square blocks where high school and college graduation rates have sky-rocketed.

He also provides the film&rsquo;s title, recalling' &ldquo;One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me &lsquo;Superman&rsquo; did not exist. Cause even in the depths of the ghetto you just thought he was coming &hellip; She thought I was crying because it&rsquo;s like Santa Claus is not real. I was crying because no one was coming with enough power to save us.&rdquo;

The documentary builds with thrilling intensity as emotion is etched onto the faces of these young children as they sit and wait with their families for a ball to be dropped or names to be pulled from a box.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Bokeem Woobine gets a little devilish]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Bokeem-Woobine-gets-a-little-devilish-102494364.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">102494364</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 8 Sep 2010 17:58:40 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	


																																						<description><![CDATA[

It might be wise to avoid getting in an elevator with actor Bokeem Woodbine anytime soon because he might be the devil.

Not that the native New Yorker, known for his onscreen intensity and martial arts skills, has done anything reprehensible but his latest film might cause one or two fearful looks.

Woodbine, 37, stars in the genre-bending supernatural/horror/suspense/mystery &ldquo;Devil,&rdquo; set to be released Sept. 17, which is the first installment of a series of darkly-themed stories &mdash; &ldquo;The Night Chronicles&rdquo; &mdash; conceived by &ldquo;The Sixth Sense&rdquo; writer/director M. Night Shyamalan.

The premise &mdash; five strangers enter an elevator in a Philadelphia office tower &mdash; has a screenplay by Brian Nelson (&ldquo;Hard Candy,&rdquo; &ldquo;30 Days of Night&rdquo;) and was directed by John Erick Dowdle (&ldquo;Quarantine,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Poughkeepsie Tapes&rdquo;).

Outside of that short hook and a trailer that hints at some major frights, the powers-that-be are keeping things pretty close to their vest. And of course, to increase the intrigue &mdash; and hopefully not because it might be a bit of a letdown &mdash; the film has not been screened for film critics.

&ldquo;Unfortunately, I can&rsquo;t say too much about it other than I&rsquo;m one of the five people [he plays a security guard] who would never normally interact with one another,&rdquo; said Woodbine in a telephone interview this week.&rdquo;

Asked directly if he&rsquo;s the devil, Woodbine deflected' &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, we shot it so long ago I don&rsquo;t remember.&rdquo;

Having done his best to throw a reporter off the scent, Woodbine actually revealed that the movie was shot last fall in Toronto and his involvement was fairly straight-forward.

&ldquo;I got the script from my agent and went in and read,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I had a chance in hell for the role because there were more prominent actors and rappers up for the part. So I dismissed it out of hand and a couple of months later I was on a shoot and got the call.&rdquo;

Woodbine also kept mum on which rappers were in the running for a potential Satanic unveiling. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel comfortable saying [anything on that],&rdquo; he added.

However, Woodbine, who entered showbiz at the age of 19 as an extra in Ernest R. Dickerson&rsquo;s &ldquo;Juice,&rdquo; did sing the praises of Shyamalan, the former critical darling who seems to have lost his touch in some of his recent films.

&ldquo;He was a very hospitable host and spent time with us individually, discussing the specifics of our characters and the film overall,&rdquo; said Woodbine. &ldquo;He gave me some very poignant notes and he was always there to reach out to if we needed him.&rdquo;

Photo' Bokeem Woodbine stars in &quot;Devil,&quot; based on a story by filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Credit' Kerry Hayes/Universal Pictures]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA['Soul Kitchen' serves up eclectic mix of food, music]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Searching-for-Soul-102025688.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">102025688</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 1 Sep 2010 17:48:29 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	

	
											
																															
													



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																																																			<description><![CDATA[What is soul? How do you get it?

Well, if Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin's interpretation is right, then it can be found virtually anywhere there is a homey environment with tasty food — whether it be fried fish and collard greens or traditional Indian and Spanish delicacies — and soul stirring music in the form of soul, funk, R&B and rock n' roll.

Returning to his roots in native Hamburg, Akin's new film, 'Soul Kitchen,' surrounds a young restaurant owner, Zinos (Adam Bousdoukos), who serves up a number of heart-clogging dishes to neighborhood regulars who enjoy their meals with classic sounds. Nonetheless, the business is on the verge of collapse, and his girlfriend Nadine (Pheline Roggan), whom he adores, moves to Shanghai. Zinos believes that if he finds a manager to oversee the facility and flies to China, he can have both. 

Naturally, the plan is easier devised than executed. With a new chef on board  known for his gourmet displays of food, the concept detracts loyal customers who want the usual fare. After revamping the place to meet the needs of customers who may not be sophisticated themselves but have mature palates, it proves to be a success. Now Zino can fly to China and leave the restaurant in the hands of his ex-con brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu). 

Both decisions, however, turn out to be catastrophic' Illias gambles the restaurant away to a shady real estate agent (Wotan Wilke Mohring) and his girlfriend finds a new lover. It will take guts to get one or both back.   

'The idea for 'Soul Kitchen' has been there for a while now. I always think of my old friend Adam Bousdoukos and his Taverna in the Ottensen quarter of Hamburg,' Akin said in press notes for the film. 'This was more than just a restaurant for us' It was a playground for adventure, a collecting tank, a place to celebrate, a home. I wanted to capture that feeling and way of life that I so deeply connect with…It's about drinking, eating, partying, dancing and about home. I wanted to make a film about home, not one that is defined by any nationality, not Germany or Turkey. Home not as a location, but as a state of being and an attitude.'

Akin's journey to make the film began in 2003. At the time he was just testing out his new word processing program. Bousdoukos, he said, had just broken up with his girlfriend. Akin typed in a few simple words' 'Adam is heart-broken, the restaurant could be running better.' Within five days he had 20 pages of script and a complete first version. 

However, the project was shelved in favor of others that were higher on his list of priorities. Akin had released 'Head On' and 'The Edge of Heaven,' both serious films that won accolades but placed further pressure on him to do similar work. 'Soul Kitchen' may have been too lighthearted for his new fans. Nonetheless, Akin continued to develop the story line.   

''Soul Kitchen' is not the third part of my love, death and devil trilogy. The first two parts of the trilogy — 'Head On' and 'The Edge of Heaven' — were extremely strenuous and grueling, demanding a lot of sacrifice,' Akin said. 'With 'Soul Kitchen,' I wanted to recover. It was supposed to be a finger exercise, something to remind me that life is not only about pain and introspection…I also wanted to make 'Soul Kitchen' before it became too late for it to be credible.'

But Akin found that 'easy,' though it was in his vocabulary was not attainable. 'Soul Kitchen' ended up being the most strenuous, most expensive, most complicated and most time-consuming of any of his projects.  

'There is a strange philosophy in filmmaking that says' If you don't suffer while you're making the film, then it won't turn out too good,' he said. 'Up until 'Soul Kitchen,' that was just all talk to me, but making the 'easy' film had clearly taught me that lesson.' ]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[L.A. actress pays homage to theater legends Horne, Dandridge and Dee]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/actress-homage-theater-legends-Horne-Dandridge-and-Dee-101182514.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">101182514</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:26:20 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge and Ruby Dee — three legendary Black actresses who blazed a trail on stage and on screen.

Now in particular their theater exploits are to be celebrated in 'Trailblazers from the Past,' a one-woman play by Los Angeles based working actress Millena Gay.

Gay, a Washington D.C. born former modeling pageant winner who eschewed a career in law to train and study in New York before moving to L.A. in 2005, has numerous television, theater, commercial and independent film credits.

Her TV work has included roles in 'NY Undercover,' 'General Hospital,' 'All My Children,' 'One Life to Live' and BET Networks show 'Played by Fame,' while also treading the boards here in productions like 'Commitment vs. Phobia,'  'The Power of My Will' and 'To Know Him Is To Love Him.' 

Originally scheduled to perform 'Trailblazers' as part of the NAACP Theater Awards at the end of this month,  Gay will play the three actresses in their younger heydays; Horne in 'Stormy Weather,' Dandridge in 'Carmen Jones' and Dee in 'A Raisin in the Sun.'

'Except with Dee, there will be a unique twist because I'll play her in both her younger and older days. How? You'll just have to come and see,' said Gay.

According to Gay, with the NAACP Theater Awards postponement what was planned as a ten minute piece she is now considering expanding to half an hour.     

She has submitted the piece to 'An Evening with the Sistas' theater festival in October and will be updating all and any performance information on her website www.mymillena.com.

'The inspiration for me to do the production came just a few weeks ago in light of the NAACP Theater Festival,' said Gay.

'Members of the theater committee came to see 'To Know Him Is To Love Him,' where I played Estelle  and I had gone to a friend's play at Stella Adler where I saw some of the members there and they gave me a flyer for the awards night.'

She added' 'I think there are some female legends out there that have never been fully acknowledged and recognized for their contributions to entertainment, especially Ruby Dee, who is over 80 and just got her Academy Award. 

'In doing the research I had no idea how many awards and accolades she had won singularly as well as with Ossie Davis. Its things we're just not exposed to and information I want to share and educate people with.'

Gay, who herself has written and directed off Broadway and off off Broadway shows, has assembled a top team including award-winning playwright Mildred Dumas, theater-nominated director Angela Duckett Batravil, vocalist Arthur Richardson, choreographer Efe and celebrity stylist Larry Sims.

'They are all people I've worked with in the past and I just called them up and they said 'okay, let's go,' and they are helping me realize this dream,' said Gay.

Having formed her own production company called 'Honey Peach Productions,' Gay is on her own trailblazing path, developing two features, three shorts, a webisode and the one-woman show.

'If you want to work you have to create your own. I've written ever since I was 5 or 6 and been in the game long enough to know you've got to use every resource available to you,' she said.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Crossroads of a controversy]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Crossroads-of-a-controversy-101123849.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">101123849</guid>		
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:06:57 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	

	
											
																															
													



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																																																			<description><![CDATA['This battle is just so vicious and the evil is so powerful and so brutal that I really think God is doing everything he can…I just don't think it's going to be pretty.'

When Anne Lotierzo spoke these words, she wasn't referring to the war in Afghanistan, she was talking about the abortion rights battle raging in America. With more than 4,000 pro-life crisis pregnancy centers versus 850 abortion clinics estimated to be in the states, ground zero may be found at an otherwise sleepy intersection at 12th and Delaware Avenue in Fort Pierce, Fla.
 
And filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady put viewers in the middle of the ferocious conflict with their latest documentary, '12th & Delaware,' which is airing all this month on HBO.

On one corner stands A Woman's World, an abortion clinic, and directly across the street is the Pregnancy Care Center, an ambiguously named pro-life site committed to steering women away from the clinic. 

Ewing said she and Grady attempted to give a fly-on-the wall view of the 'ideological trench warfare' that takes place at the crossroads every day. It is not just a battle between the two parties, she said, but an emotional struggle for expecting mothers who find themselves in the throws of a life changing decision. 

'The film became a chronicle of the raging battle occurring between two neighbors locked in a bitter personal and ideological struggle,' Grady said. 'We had to confront the very difficult task of cutting through the personal gripes of the protagonists and portraying as fairly as possible the daily realities of both sides of the street.'

In the film, pro-life volunteers offer a terrifying portrayal of abortion to their clients. They instill fear and invoke the moral consequence. Pregnant women arrive to the abortion clinic and are met with signs with anti-abortion slogans and pictures of bloody fetuses, as protesters claim to speak for unborn children.
 
They strategize and scheme, sometimes disingenuously. In a number of instances they distribute literature that claims abortions cause cancer, and even encourage women to view graphic videos of the procedure. They also offer free ultrasounds on the idea that if embryos can be seen, and heartbeats heard, a woman's decision can be swayed. In some cases, they are shown misleading women about the number of weeks they have been pregnant.

'They look at this as a war,' Ewing said. 'They will use whatever tools they have…For pro-lifers this work is their life. They think that abortion is murder and that drives them every day to get up. It is their social life. I have never seen a group of people so dedicated. For them they believe it's the most important thing they can do with their lives. It's their number one cause.'

The abortion clinic — however immoral in some eyes — attempts to give the women a right to chose and consult with their clients to ensure their decision is final.           

Ewing and Grady received unequivocal access to both the abortion clinic and the crisis pregnancy center, but only after hard work and determination. The duo settled on the location after contacting more than 100 facilities on both sides of the debate.

In their research, the co-directors found that many crisis pregnancy centers were set up directly across the street from abortion clinics. 'That's part of their allure,' Ewing said.

But 12th and Delaware Avenue was unique. 'This location was truly cinematic,' Ewing added. 'It all sort of came together on this street corner. We knew when we saw it that it had the makings of a powerful film.'

They then had the task of convincing both the pregnancy center and the abortion clinic to let them film, sit in on consultations, and conduct interviews with staff members.

They had to think long and hard, Ewing said, but 'were both very anxious to tell their story because there's been a standoff on this corner for so many years.'

And while much of this insidious war has just been vocal, Ewing and Grady were able to film in the same year abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his church. This, Ewing said, underscores the real safety hazards that face many abortion doctors.  

In the film, workers at A Woman's World are shown in fear for their doctors' lives, and go to the extent of picking them up from undisclosed locations on each work day, then placing a white sheets over them to hide their identities.

Although this debate has raged for decades, the filmmakers see their work as timely; according to a recently-released Gallup poll, more Americans today identify themselves as pro-life than pro-choice, for the first time since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. 

Two years ago, when the pair began shooting the film, Ewing 'thought that the younger women would be more decisive about what they wanted. I thought that younger women had come to terms with the abortion issue,' she said. 'What I realized is that women still feel very much ashamed and stigmatized for choosing abortion. I saw that over and over again. I felt guilty. I also found that women in their 50s and 60s felt more open to talking about abortion than those in their 20s or 30s. It seems that the culture has shifted, where women are sweeping this issue under the rug again and are afraid to talk about it.'      ]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Public enemy number one]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Public-enemy-number-one-101120399.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">101120399</guid>		
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:18:16 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	

	
											
																															
													



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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Everyone either loves — or, more precisely, loves to hate — a villain. 
No matter which way you slice it, emotions are stirred. On film, it is often better when based on a true story.

'Mesrine' Killer Instinct' (which opens Aug. 27) and 'Mesrine' Public Enemy #1' both delve into the rise of one of history's greatest gangsters' Jacques Mesrine. The two-part film — based on the Mesrine memoir 'Book L'instinct de mort' — explore the man behind the icon, charting the outlaw journey of the legendary French gangster who reigned terror in the 1960s and '70s, becoming famous for his bravado in a series of daring prison escapes, robberies, kidnappings and murders. 

But writer and director Jean-Francois Richet needed an actor to display Mesrine's intensity. He found it in Vincent Cassel.

Short-tempered by nature, Cassel immediately set out to tap into that side of himself for the role. It was difficult however, because 'when you get angry in life, after three minutes you are tired,' said Cassel during an interview this month at the French Consulate in Beverly Hills. 'On a movie like this you have to be on a nervous scale everyday for like 12 takes. He is not a comfortable character to play. He is always nervous, he is always violent. It was very tiring to play that guy. ' 

Not only was Cassel challenged emotionally, he was tested physically. He and the cast shot for nine months — an average of 12 hours a day — across Canada, the United States, France and Spain. And if traveling or shooting were not enough, Cassel had to pack on 40 pounds for the role.

'He was much bigger than me, so I had to get there at some point,' he said, 'otherwise the audience would be a little disappointed.'

The French native skipped the gym and consumed fatty, sugar-filled foods — including, bizarrely, beer with syrup. (The calorie overload came back to bite him. Every morning for months, he found himself in the bathroom vomiting. He had hit a wall and began taking medication to regulate his blood sugar.)

The strategy worked' Mesrine's daughter burst into tears when she saw Cassel on set in costume; the resemblance was too much. And Mesrine's son, Bruno, has inadvertently called Cassel 'dad,' and sends Christmas cards every year.

With such a toll taken on his body and mind, it is natural to wonder why Cassel would put himself through such torment to play a character he admittedly despises.

The answer, as the French-born actor explains it, is simple' He only needed to understand Mesrine's actions, not agree with them. In fact, with many of his own friends counted among fans of the Mesrine legend, Cassel hoped that by exposing Mesrine's evil deeds, they too would come to loathe him.

'I put a lot of effort into not glorifying him. I thought people would hate him afterwards and they don't,' he said. 'They don't care.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Movie Review: Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Movie-Review-Hugh-Hefner-Playboy-Activist-and-Rebel-101093389.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">101093389</guid>		
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:38:55 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	

	
											
																														
													



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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Robert Downey Jr. may now want to start practicing his Oscar speech.

The 'Iron Man' star, whose life and career has already been the stuff of legends, is often mentioned as the man to play media and pop culture icon Hugh Hefner in any Hollywood biopic.

And that particular juggernaut gets a significant boost with the recent release of an illuminating documentary, 'Hugh Hefner' Playboy, Activist and Rebel,' written, produced and directed by Canadian filmmaker Brigitte Berman.

Having sent jazz aficionado Hefner a copy of her award-winning feature documentary 'Bix' 'Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet'' about one of his favorite musicians, jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, Berman developed a friendship with the publishing mogul and was invited to his momentous 80th birthday party at the Playboy Mansion in 2006.

In a masterful and engrossing 124 minutes, Berman, who was given unprecedented access to the man known simply as 'Hef,' unravels a story few people knew and will leave a legacy that sharply divides his fans and foes.

To his critics, Hefner is a monster who began the moral turpitude of America by 
peddling smut that objectified and degraded women, while contributing to the liberal hedonism that foreshadowed the 60s revolution of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Meanwhile, others see him as an American hero, a free-thinking renegade who liberated society from the dark forces of Puritanism and was influential in preserving First Amendment rights and championing racial and social justice.

For instance, in the late 1950s, Hefner debuted his Playboy Penthouse television series, a precursor to the late night chat shows that featured Black entertainers who were banned elsewhere.

And in the early 1960s, when Playboy clubs in Miami and New Orleans would not allow Black patrons into the establishments, Hef used his own money to buy back the franchises taking a financial hit.

Within the next two decades, he also defied the McCarthyite blacklist by employing great writers like Dalton Trumbo, vehemently opposed the Vietnam War, provided legal teams to fight anti-abortion laws that eventually led to Roe v. Wade and campaigned against censorship and for the individual's right to freedom of expression on all fronts.

Meanwhile, in the 1980s he had to fight his own battles against the Reaganite religious right, when a government commission dubbed his magazine 
pornography and took steps toward to ban it. He also dealt with personal anguish following the brutal killing of Playmate Dorothy Stratten, which led to a debilitating stroke.

In expertly edited interviews that weave a tight narrative through Hefner's life, a veritable 'Who's Who' of famous names, including Tony Bennett, Dick Gregory, Pat Boone, Joan Baez, Jim Brown, James Caan, Reverend Jesse Jackson, George Lucas, Gene Simmons and Bill Maher, expound on his cultural relevance.

Hefner's story was that of many American youth of his generation. Born and raised in Chicago to conservative parents, he found early escapist fantasy in jazz music and cartoons in high school, and, his curiosity piqued in areas of the human psyche, studied philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

A few years out, he was a copywriter for Esquire magazine, and by this time, married with a young child had seeming acquired the American dream' stability and abject boredom.

'I recalled standing on the Mackinac (pronounced Mack-in-naw) Bridge and looking out over Lake Michigan thinking is this all there is,' Hef revealed.

Well cometh the hour, cometh the man and shortly afterwards Hefner came up with the idea of publishing his own very different men's magazine.

He originally wanted to call it 'The Stag Party,' after a popular local club, but a legal 'cease and desist' letter put an end to that, and the Playboy empire was born.

Now in most success stories, luck and timing can play a key role and Hef's double dose came when he persuaded a Chicago photographer who owned the copyright to a nude photo of a model named Marilyn Monroe to let him use it for his first centerfold.

Thus, Playboy's launch in December 1953 featured the alluring charms of what would become Hollywood's most enduring sex symbol and the magazine achieved instant notoriety and success. Its initial 2,000 copy print run ended up selling 7,000 issues.

In one of the best lines in the film, when thinking of Hef today with his trademark silk robe and matching blonde girlfriends, Dick Cavett opines' 'He gives wonderful hope to men over 100.'
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			<title><![CDATA[Lee accuses oil company of corruption in Katrina follow-up documentary]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Lee-accuses-oil-company-of-corruption-in-Katrina-follow-up-documentary.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">100490109</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:16:59 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Many Americans might be surprised to hear that 70 percent of the country's domestic oil and gas comes from the great state of Louisiana — and the region provides a large part of the seafood consumed across the nation.

But as New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu laments in Spike Lee's 'If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise,' a follow-up to 2006 Hurricane Katrina-themed documentary 'When the Levees Broke,' a dismissive perception exists.

'They think we're crazy and ignorant,' he says, 'and don't know how to read or write,' he says.

Returning to document what has happened in the city after Katrina's devastation, the city's unfolding story is bookended by two momentous events; the historic Super Bowl win by the New Orleans Saints football team and the devastating British Petroleum oil spill, which killed 11 oil rig workers and, like the hurricane, has further decimated the economy and ecology of the area.

In between, Lee's film crew (whose four-hour movie airs the first of its two parts Aug. 23 on HBO) uncover ambitious and controversial plans to reinvent the city — particularly addressing the issues of affordable housing for the primarily Black residents of the devastated Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard's Parish.

The four large public housing developments have been shuttered, and rents have soared, with the average fair-market value of an apartment rising from $578 in 2005 to $881 in 2009. Only 38 percent of the private homes destroyed in the hurricane have been rebuilt.

'If God is Willing' also details the FBI investigations into allegations of brutality and cover-ups by the New Orleans Police Department that have resulted in indictments of current and former police officers in connection with a number of incidents. 

Included is the notorious unprovoked shooting on Danzinger Bridge, captured by a NBC news crew, that killed an unarmed teenager and a severely mentally disabled man and wounded four others.

More than 300 people share their stories in the new documentary, including former La. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, current and former New Orleans mayors, Landrieu and Ray Nagin, historian Douglas Brinkley activists actors Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, Houston mayor Anisse Parker and community organizer Tanya Harris.

In addition, there are longtime New Orleans residents such as Phyllis Montana-Leblanc, Kimberly Polk and Shelton 'Shakespeare' Alexander, whose compelling testimonies were told in 'When the Levees Broke.' 

Poignantly, we also see jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who composed the music for both documentaries, show his mother around the new home he built for her.

Nevertheless, in a two-hour press screening of parts 1 and 4 of the film, it is BP, a company that painted itself as a modern, environmentally sound oil company who dubbed themselves 'Beyond Petroleum,' that comes in for blistering criticism.

In one scathing litany, a spoken word artist re-imagines what BP could stand for, including Bush Pimps, Beyond Predatory, and inducing much laughter, B**** Please.

'Yeah, the BP disaster definitely changed the structure of the film because the fourth hour is all about that,' said Lee, speaking to journalists in Los Angeles last week. 'I think it's very obvious that BP is very powerful. They can tell the U.S. government what to do; they can dictate to the Coast Guard and tell the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] what to do.

'There's no other industry on this planet that makes more money than the oil and gas industry. They have money; they can buy whoever they wanna buy.'

Lee added' 'I mean we're in the midst of the greatest oil disaster in the history of the world and last week government scientists are saying the oil is gone. How? Where did all that oil go? BP is buying up experts, donating million dollars to university science departments.'

Asked whether he tried to get BP's side on camera, Lee pointedly replied' 'What could they say? The only thing BP could have done is lied on camera. It's all about money and greed.

'The rig blew up because BP was three months behind and they were glossing over safety procedures because they were leasing the rig from Trans Ocean. Now 11 people are dead and instead of the half a million dollars they could have spent on blowout equipment Obama says you've gotta pay $20 billion or more. That's beyond petroleum.'

And in a retort to ousted BP Chairman Tony Hayward, Lee said the one question he would have asked him is, 'Did he get his life back?'

In maybe preventing such disasters in the future and looking to the future stewardship of the planet, Lee urged the Black community to 'get up on this economy thing.'

'We live on this planet and just can't leave it to White Americans,' he said. 'We've got to stop driving these SUVs, start recycling and going green.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[50 Cent packs punch as superdrug dealer to young manhattanites]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/50-Cent-packs-punch-as-superdrug-dealer-to-young-manhattanites-99990899.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99990899</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 4 Aug 2010 17:37:00 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Prejudice can sometimes make us feel very smug and secure.

Confession' I've never seen an episode of 'Gossip Girl,' the CW drama about over-sexed, over-privileged, young and pale Manhattanites. 

Fortunately, I can forgo the TV dial on that one but when the premise transfers over to the big screen it's something that a Hollywood entertainment reporter can't avoid.

But this isn't for a teenage reboot of 'Sex and the City,' but rather a cringingly self-indulgent, narcissistic exercise in pretentious filmmaking entitled 'Twelve.'

Based on a bestselling novel by Nick McDonell that skewered his own wealthy and obnoxious teenage clan on the Upper East Side, the movie stars Chace Crawford as White Mike, a James Dean-ish drug dealer who sells high-grade weed to his partying friends.

However, Mike draws the line at dealing the newest and deadliest kick — a superdrug called Twelve, which is the particular draw for his supplier, Lionel, menacingly depicted by Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson.

And although his role is more of an extended cameo, it's only Lionel who packs any punch at all in this redundant tale of clueless rich kids at play.

Directed by Joel Schumacher ('St. Elmo's Fire,' 'Flawless'), it's written by Jordan Melamed and showcases other young magazine faces, including Emma Roberts, Emily Meade, Rory Culkin and Billy Magnussen.

As we're told in a seemingly pointless voiceover (Kiefer Sutherland), White Mike is mourning the death of his cancer-stricken mother while running his successful operation.

He has basic contempt for all his Paris Hilton-like customers and a large dollop of self-pity, mournfully standing on the rooftop of his hideout, wondering whether to jump. 

He never does, of course, but it gives Schumacher a chance to do a bit of showy dreamscape, as White Mike imagines being buried with his mother and taking a walk in the park with his former nanny.

And while we're on the subject, it's never entirely clear why White Mike is engaging in such a dangerous pursuit in the first place. 

He's obviously bright and was apparently heading to Harvard; there's a mention of his father's restaurant going bust, but White Mike later takes a pivotal phone call from dad in the restaurant.

The only bright spot in his life is Molly (Roberts), the studious, lower middle-class, good girl who's been in love with him since they were childhood friends. 

Meanwhile, White Mike's cousin, whom he looks after, is really strung out on Twelve. 

Then an ill-advised, attempted jacking of Lionel will see the streets and Park Avenue collide in the kind of bloody mayhem that fans of the New York Post's must-read gossip column Page Six would dine out on forever.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Movie Review: 'The Expendables']]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/The-Expendables-99521209.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99521209</guid>		
			<pubDate>Tue, 3 Aug 2010 16:37:45 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																						<video>stream.tribeca.vidavee.com:80/vidad/tribeca.vidavee.com/bim/lawave/0FF458894EC6814D269D355196428B88.flv</video>
																										<description><![CDATA[Bringing together an all-star cast to make a film can result in either a god-awful flick that once seen fails to fulfill expectations or a box-office hit that once it heads to DVD will fly off shelves for months, even years, to come. For better or worse, 'The Expendables' should be nothing less than that brand of juggernaut.

The film surrounds a group of mercenaries — leader and mastermind Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone); former SAS blade expert Lee Christmas (Jason Statham); hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang (Jet Li); long barrel weapons specialist Hale Ceasar (Terry Crews); demolition expert Toll Road (Randy Couture); and precision sniper Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) — who live their lives on the fringes of the law. While on what appears to be a routine covert, CIA-funded operation to enter the South American country of Vilena and overthrow its dictator Gen. Garza (David Zayas), it becomes clear that they are on a suicide mission. The event can either help them redeem their souls or destroy their brotherhood forever. 

'The Expendables' is action-packed from beginning to end, with a number of  bone-breaking, gut-splitting fight scenes that channel mixed martial arts and virtually every other form of butt-kicking. And when you couple that with heavy artillery and explosives, you've got a film that will send your synapses into overdrive.

Many parts are overly dramatized — Stallone hanging from the side of a fighter jet by his bare hands with tons of wind and water pressing against his body, or the top halves of bodies blown to smithereens while the lower half remains in position — but if you think of how action films routinely featured such elements in the 1980s and '90s, then this film suits that genre. 

Between cringe-worthy scenes of gore, there are chunks of comic relief' one of the mercenaries receives a text message in the midst of a rescue; and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who makes a brief appearance, busts through a pair of double doors with a bright light behind him, causing him to appear larger than life. 

One new spin, that may not have been seen before in any other movie besides 'Predator,' is the use of neon lighting — to resemble heat-activated sensors — during one of the fight scenes. It almost looks like the negatives from a film reel, except the colors are bright yellow, orange and red. 

Stallone, 64, proves that he can run — literally — with actors half his age. His role was truly physically demanding, and also mentally exhausting. Not only did Stallone star in the film, but he co-wrote and directed it.

As director, Stallone is able to present scenes creatively — through unexpected angles and focus — without it looking too busy and overwhelming.

The script itself, though, could have been more balanced. The fight scenes are so plentiful that they failed to capture the full essence of each character. To be frank, there was little character building. The audience only had insight into small portions of their lives. 

Unlike Statham and Li — who both had a considerable amount of screen time, more than everyone besides Stallone — Mickey Rourke, who plays an ex-mercenary named Tool, was able to show off his acting chops. The Harley-Davidson riding, pipe-smoking character relives his days as a mercenary. 

Taking lives, said his character, stripped away what good was left in him and he is searching for a chance to redeem his soul. 

Rourke's performance is flawless and captivating. With the camera tight on his face — slightly above him — and a tinge of pale, blue lighting, Rourke has his moment. As he tells the tale, his misty eyes are focused downward and are somewhat fixated. He takes the necessary pauses one would naturally have when divulging something so painful. Rourke's lips quiver, he sucks his teeth and bottom lip softly before firmly placing three of his fingers over the top of his lips. 

Statham and Li, however, left more to be desired. But what they lacked in acting, they more than made up for in athletic ability. Their quick, precise moves were nothing less than entertaining.

Gunner, on the other hand, is a bit psychotic and developmentally challenged. He is purely irrational. And in some ways he is child-like. Lundgren completely embodies the character, giving the audience this sense of not knowing what he was going to do next. You see that he struggles between his loyalties, but you are not sure whether he will choose the right or wrong path.

Crews and Couture were seen but not introduced in the beginning of the film, and were not inserted fully until closer to the end of the film. This did not work in their favor. While their stunts were good, they did not feel a part of the group, rather they felt like props that were brought in.

Though the film was packed with A- and B-list stars, they don't seem to be competing for the spotlight. Some may have had more screen time than others, but each character was given a scene that emphasized his individual talents.
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			<title><![CDATA[Lindsay Lohan released from jail]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Lindsay-Lohans-released-jail-99694454.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99694454</guid>		
			<pubDate>Sun, 1 Aug 2010 17:07:29 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[LYNWOOD -- After about 13 days behind bars, actress Lindsay Lohan was released from jail Monday under cover of darkness, avoiding the waiting cameras of photographers hoping to capture her exit from the Century Regional Detention Facility.

The 24-year-old actress was released at 1'35 a.m., according to county Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Lohan was jailed July 20 for violating her probation on a pair of DUI cases. Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel sentenced the actress to 90 days in jail, but Lohan served about 13 days.

Whitmore said earlier that non-violent female offenders generally serve 25 percent of their sentences, but Lohan was also expected to get good-behavior credit and have more time shaved from her sentence due to the department's early release program to reduce jail overcrowding.

Revel ordered Lohan to report to a 90-day inpatient alcohol- rehabilitation program within 24 hours of her release from jail.

The website RadarOnline reported that Lohan went immediately into rehab at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Earlier reports had indicated that Lohan would be doing her rehab stint at Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach.

A witness at the Lynwood jail said a black Escalade pulled up to the facility about 12'30 a.m. with a driver in a suit and security. The car headed to the back area of the jail, the witness said.

On May 26, 2007, Lohan was in a Mercedes-Benz that crashed into a hedge along Sunset Boulevard near the Beverly Hills Hotel, and two months later she was arrested in Santa Monica on suspicion of driving under the influence.

That August, Lohan pleaded no contest to two counts each of drunken driving and being under the influence of cocaine, and one count of reckless driving. She was sentenced to one day in jail -- but spent a total of 84 minutes at the Century Regional Detention Facility -- and was placed on three years probation.

Lohan's probation was later extended for a year after she missed some alcohol-education classes while making a movie in Texas.

Lohan ran afoul of the judge again when she missed a scheduled court hearing in May because she was at the Cannes Film Festival in France. She said her passport had been stolen.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Valhalla Rising]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Valhalla-Rising-99520739.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99520739</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:36:47 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[On the surface, 'Valhalla Rising' may seem like just another proto-medieval period piece, but writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn said in an interview this week that rather than adding to an already well-stocked canon, he was instead trying to 'fill a void.'

Based in Scotland, 1000 AD, 'Valhalla Rising' explores a world torn between the brutality of the past and the civility of the future. One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is a mute Scandinavian savage that has been kept caged like an animal, only brought out by his owner to fight for money. Aided by Are (Maarten Stevenson), a young slave, One Eye kills his captor and together they embark on a long journey home. While en route, they team up with a group of Viking Christian warriors who want to conquer Jerusalem. But when their ship becomes engulfed by fog, it becomes clear that they have entered an unknown land, one that is unforgiving. Each must confront their demons as they battle for their lives.

'When I was five years old, my mother read to me an old pulp comic book about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. In a cave, they discover a man-made coffin,' Refn said in a telephone interview from a rental home in Hollywood where he is staying while shooting another film. 'And this is as far as my memory goes. I remember nothing about the reason for the coffin being there or what happened next. I believe this to be the genesis of my obsession with the unknown — something which has been a driving force in much of my work.'

Refn admitted that he was not fascinated with Vikings nor did he have any interest in making a period movie. Working in such genres, he said, is difficult. Rather Refn attempted to make a modern film that while it is set in the past, actually focuses on the future. Strangely, he said, this was a way for him to make a science fiction movie without the science.

Despite this, there still needed to be some elements of realism. For this, Refn relied on co-writer Roy Jacobsen, an established novelist and historian. Jacobsen provided factual details about the Viking era, which Refn incorporated into all aspects of the production.

But Refn made sure that his point of view was also seen. For Refn, the overriding theme was the rise of mythology and religion and how those dual forces have shaped the evolution of humankind.

It took close to two years to fuse these ideas together. Shot in Scotland in under nine weeks — six hours of shooting a day — the environment, said Refn, was remote and hostile. The most difficult part was finding 'a location that was so far away from civilization that it would add to the realism of the film.'

And with few CGI effects — they were used only to enhance scenes of bloodshed — Mikkelsen and the other actors  'had to give a performance that carried the whole film,' he said.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Predators]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Predators-99519694.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99519694</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:26:36 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[In 1987, 'Predator' introduced one of the most enduring and popular characters in sci-fi film history — an extraterrestrial warrior whose superhuman-like abilities and unfathomable technology allowed it to wreak havoc in the jungle. Now, 23 years later, director Nimrod Antal, along with writer and producer Robert Rodriguez, are hoping to dazzle audiences with a remake they say will remind the audience of the original.

'Predators' — signaling that there are multiple creatures this time around — stars Oscar-winner Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who leads a group of elite warriors that have been brought together on an alien planet to be hunted like prey. With the exclusion of a shamed physician, they are all cold-blooded murderers — mercenaries, convicts and death squad members. In its first two weeks, the film collected about $40 million at the box office.

Sixteen years ago, Rodriguez was approached by 20th Century Fox to write a script for the film. Rodriguez, who is a fan of the original, knew he wanted the setting to appear to be off the planet Earth and out of its jungles. By placing the characters on another planet, he said, a similar environment could be created, while also giving it a new feel. Also by doing this, Rodriguez said he would give audiences insight as to why the Predator was attracted to the Earth's jungle; that being because of its familiar terrain.

'The idea with 'Predators' was to not make it feel like it is the fifth or sixth movie in a series, but the first,' Rodriguez said. 'This isn't a reboot or re-imagining. Chronologically, you could see this right after the first 'Predator' film and have a clear through-line of story. ... I knew I wanted to go back to a character-based movie. And it was very important to me that each character feel like he or she could be a star of his or her own film. And if you saw our picture without having seen the other, that would work, too.'

Rodriguez's ambiguous nature and license to explore led him to throw in whatever innovative ideas he had. And he did so without considering budget restraints or logistics. He figured he would leave it up to production to figure it out. But it came back to haunt him years later — after the script was somehow lost then dug up — when he had to take a more hands-on approach.

Due to a packed schedule, Rodriguez came back to the project as a producer and worked with new writers to update the script and hired a director — Antal, also a big fan of the original film — who would be charged with collaborating with the group to make his ideas come to life.

What's different about this film, Antal said, is that it provides a certain discomfort for the characters, who were used to being human predators on earth but are now the prey. And with a different environment, they have no idea what to make of their circumstance.

'There were a lot of things that we wanted to incorporate,' Antal said. 'One was bringing back old-school hunting techniques, like driving and flushing. We also wanted to bring back the jungle and make sure that was a character in itself, something that would be threatening. We also used lighting. We didn't want this place where you want to get a margarita and hang back. We wanted a threatening location where a simple image would feel threatening.'

The film was shot in Hawaii, before making its way back to Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, where the jungle-like terrain was created. The cast had more to think about than their lines and embodying their characters; they also had to worry about the weather.

While in Hawaii, temperatures reached 95 degrees, coupled with high humidity. The biggest predators that never made it into the film, according to the cast, were the mosquitos. Then after making their way back to Austin, warm weather only persisted for two days before dropping down to as low as 30 degrees. And because they had to present a wet environment, the cast was sprayed down with water before every shot. To say the least, it was both physically and emotionally challenging.

'There is more to it than physical abilities,' said Brody, who lifted heavy weights to beef up for the part. 'It is always surprising to me how much of an emotional and psychological transformation ensues with the physical transformation. It was one I also experienced with 'The Pianist.' I restricted my diet in a way and my lifestyle in an effort to harness everything I had in my power to be ferocious and keep that contained.'

Brody said he also used books on Eastern philosophy to help him cope with the mental and physical transformation and to control his inner and outer self. 
When all is said and done, 'their journey brings out their humanity,' Antal said.
As for another future Predator, Antal and Rodriguez want to keep everyone guessing.

But, in the realm of science fiction where characters are thought to have died only to come back to life, anything is possible.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Black director Culpepper is one to watch]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/Black-director-Culpepper-is-one-to-watch-99517544.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">99517544</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:40:08 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA['Within,' a spooky thriller in the vein of 'The Sixth Sense' debuts on the Lifetime cable channel this Saturday with a couple of memorable performances from its two adolescent female leads.

But the movie is also a significant coming out party for their big sister, filmmaker Hanelle Culpepper, who shows she is a Hollywood talent to watch with her debut feature as director and producer.

The film stars Mia Ford as sweet but troubled Rachel Weiss, a young girl who, after witnessing the brutal murder of her mother, moves with her workaholic father to a small town outside of Los Angeles.

There she makes fast friends with a classmate, Michelle Lowe (Sammi Hanratty), who turns out to be not as sweet as she seems and will expose Rachel's gift — or curse — for being able to see the evil that lurks within human beings.

Working from a screenplay by Rebecca Sonnenshine, Culpepper displays a sure-handed and inventive eye in crafting a surprisingly effective chiller that keeps you guessing to the end.

And Culpepper, who developed a passion for storytelling as a child in Alabama and graduated from the master's program at the USC Annenberg School of Communications in the early 1980s, especially loved the script.

'I was immediately drawn to the lead character because she feels a little out of place where she is and I sort of felt that way growing up,' she said. 

'The opportunity came about after I made a short in 2003 called 'A Single Rose' in 2003 that won a number of awards. That got me into a touring campus at the Berlin Film Festival, which brings over artists, writers, directors, composers, producers …  I met Rebecca, who just happened to live in L.A., and told her I was looking for a low-budget script for my first feature. She pitched me a number of ideas, including 'Within.''

After optioning the script, Culpepper shopped it to producers and found a home at L.A.-based Filmmakers Alliance, an artist's cooperative dedicated to the advancement of true independent filmmaking through community action.

The FA subsequently partnered with Bigfoot Entertainment, a production company based in the Phillipines, which financed the project and sold it to Lifetime.

'Lifetime is going a little more edgy with their content and so we hope it works really for them,' she added.

Culpepper, who fought her way up the ranks and worked for the likes of Neal Israel ('Bachelor Party') and Callie Khouri ('Thelma & Louise,' 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'), said directing the feature was akin to 'an adrenaline rush.'

'It was amazing … that's such a trite and stupid word, but it's the only way to explain it,' she said. 'It's exhausting … the days are so long. You get up early, shoot all day, come home and try to watch your dailies and work on your shot lists [for tomorrow]. But … oh my god.. I'm making this movie.

'I loved coming onto the set, seeing the trucks set up and people there just to help bring your vision to the screen. I can't see myself doing anything else.'

And with Hollywood finally losing its veneer of male superiority following Kathryn Bigelow's directing Oscar for 'The Hurt Locker,' Culpepper is ready to take on the gender and color bars that still permeate in the industry.

'I started off just having this dream to direct, but in following the likes of Kasi Lemmons ['Eve's Bayou'], I do see that I am kinda leaving a little sub trail of African-American directors who are doing mainstream concepts like supernatural or horror films,' said Culpepper.

'Not that many Black directors are doing mainstream films period. [But] that's more reflective of the industry than us. It's just a matter of the fact that our names don't come into their minds when they are thinking who can direct these projects.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[L.A. writer's animated short honors Mandela's 92nd birthday]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/LA-writers-animated-short-honors-Mandelas-92nd-birthday-98973724.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:13:36 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[A local writer poised to break out into the mainstream has had a weekend to remember with the scheduled debut of a short work that celebrates one of her heroes.

Florida-born Rene Rawls, who lives in the historic West Adams district of Los Angeles, wrote and produced 'Sule and the Case of the Tiny Sparks,' an animated short that celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela in 'making an imprint to change the world around them.'

The film is one of five entries chosen last year for a competition sponsored by 46664, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and New York's Tribeca Film Institute's Tribeca All Access program, which awarded five $10,000 grants for short film concepts to mark the first annual Mandela Day Tribeca All Access Award.

Taken from Mandela's prison number, 46664 is an initiative to inspire individual and collective action towards an AIDS-free world. 

The entries were uploaded to the Tribeca website Monday, a day after Mandela celebrated his 92nd birthday on July 18.

The short introduces Sule as a young Sherlock Holmes, a wise and brash African child who helps other kids solve their problems and learn life's lessons through the meaning of proverbs.

Rawls, who has optioned a feature script, 'Homecoming Queen,' slated to begin production this year, teamed up with twin animation directors, Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs, an Oakland-born duo who she met through the Organization of Black Screenwriters.

'We met up with Rene in October and she asked us if we would be interested in working on the project,' said Shawnee. 'The story of this tiny little detective was such a cool idea. There are few stories set in Africa. It's a really inspiring, positive message.'

She added' 'After seeing our reels and bios, they approved us and we started gathering a team of artists to work on the character designs, storyboards and animation.

'We only had a few months to get it done, but we were blown away by the team's work.'

Meanwhile, Rawls, a recipient of the renowned Guy Hanks and Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellowship, has also traveled to various cities across the country teaching screenwriting and filmmaking to high school students.

'I found out about the competition this time last year and immediately knew I would submit something because I have so much love and respect for Nelson Mandela,' said Rawls, who has an English degree from Hampton University and a graduate degree in communications from Georgia State University.

'I used to teach high school English and one of my favorite books to teach was [Nigerian author Chinua Achebe's] 'Things Fall Apart,' a book full of proverbs. I'd talk to my students about proverbs and they would get the meanings. One student came to class one day and said, 'Yeah, we're proverb slayers.' That stuck in my mind, and two or three years later I birthed this character Sule, a young proverb detective and initially did a picture book. Then, when I heard about the competition I knew he'd be right for the story.'

Taking to her laptop, Rawls wrote the script in an 11-hour writing session and then traveled to Florida to see her mother.

'I got an e-mail notification and instead of the 'Thanks for entering your work,' it said, 'Congratulations, your script has been chosen,'' recalled Rawls.

'I was jumping up and down and screaming. But my mother was like, 'Just give thanks to the Lord, baby.''

To get the look and feel of an African village, Rawls drew on a trip she made to Ghana and also ran it by a Nigerian friend.

'For me the main theme of the story is to do what you can and that may influence others,' added Rawls.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Chris Rock and Adam Sandler to produce Richard Pryor biopic]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/97834169.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:59:35 PDT</pubDate>
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																										<description><![CDATA[(CNN) -- Comic legend Richard Pryor has inspired legions of comedians and now he's inspiring a big-screen movie.

         Pryor's life will be turned into a biopic produced by Chris Rock and Adam Sandler and starring Marlon Wayans. "Richard Pryor' Is It Something I Said?" will tell Pryor's story from his childhood at his grandmother's Peoria, Illinois, brothel to his rise on the comedy scene to his struggle with drug addiction.

         Eddie Murphy, who co-starred with the groundbreaking comedian in 1989's "Harlem Nights," was originally attached to the project, but reportedly passed because of "creative differences." Meanwhile, Pryor, who died in 2005 at age 65, had selected "The Hangover" star Mike Epps as his personal choice. But Rock, 45, says it was "Scary Movie" and "G.I. Joe" funny guy Wayans who was born to play the role.

         "Marlon Wayans, he did a screen test and it was just unbelievable," Rock told MTV News. "It's not just doing the comedy of Richard Pryor. He captures the vulnerability of Richard Pryor."

         Bill Condon will direct the film -- once he's finished working on the two-part "The Twilight Saga' Breaking Dawn" -- and Sandler, 43, says shooting will begin "hopefully, soon. It's all being worked on."

         In the meantime, Wayans, 37, is confident he will make Pryor proud. "You need to be lucky in life, but it's also what you do with your luck," he told the L.A. Times. "I'm ready."]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Pharrell Williams scores ]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/97545014.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:59:54 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Pharrell Williams has had his thumb on the pulse of popular music since the early 1990s, but what the 37-year-old music and fashion icon really wants is to stay in close touch with the side of himself that will never grow up.

It was this confession, shared years ago with Universal Pictures music director Kathy Nelson, that led him to the set of the animated 'Despicable Me,' which opens this week and features a hip-hop-flavored score by the creative force behind the Neptunes production outfit and the progressive-minded rock duo N.E.R.D.

The story goes like this' After teaming up on two 'The Fast and the Furious' movies, Nelson casually told Williams that she was working with Jack Johnson on an animated 'Curious George' movie, for which the mellow rock singer would provide the score and compose original songs. 

'I was so envious. I was honest about it,' Williams, who admits to eating breakfast cereal at 2 a.m. and watching cartoons during his leisure time, said in an interview this week at a conference room in West L.A. 'That is a big part of my personality.

'I was hurt. I was like, 'Why wouldn't you ask me? You ask me for hip-hop records but you don't ask me to do this,'' he added. 'I think everybody has the means to be diverse, but only some of us are adamant about it…We are Black, and yes we read Essence, Ebony and Jet magazines, but that does not stop us from picking up Rolling Stone or Time. I didn't feel typecast by not getting it, I was just saying, 'Don't you know enough about me? We are friends. I am a big, huge kid. I am the first person you should ask.''

Nelson saw the sincerity in his eyes and promised to reach out for her next animated project, which happened to be 'Despicable Me,' about a delightfully wicked character named Gru, who — armed with minions, shrink and freeze rays and battle-ready vehicles for land and air — tries to steal the moon.

Despite Williams' passion for the material and creative ideas, it was not an easy task. When producing for an artist, Williams said he works to identify what is missing in their body of work and finds ways to present them anew. For the movie, he had to get in sync with the emotional ups and downs of the characters, and use those feelings to convey the story through lyrics and music. 

After writing and producing a song, Williams had to go back and watch clips of the film to see if his work matched the particular emotion at the time. If not, it was back to the studio. 

Fortunately, Williams was not alone; he was given a team of veterans who helped guide his hand while providing him the freedom to explore. Part of that exploration' resisting the obvious temptation to write songs celebrating the main character's comic treachery.

'When you look at Gru, you understand that he is a guy that has issues,' said Williams. 'Personalities are weathered entities, if you will, that have been weathered by their environs, their parents, things that have happened to them. Basically, we are all walking molds. You can look at us and tell what we've been through and where we've come from, how it has affected us and how we are carrying it with us today. Gru was much like that. He was so mean but he also had a lot of fun. And I thought at first that he had this 'Grinch' type of feel but then you realized that the Grinch just did it to be dastardly. Gru did it because he thought it was the way, it was the way he was treated as a child…It was the way he saw his mother behave with him.'

Taking this into account, Williams took strides to incorporate those themes into his songs. But strangely, he found more inspiration driving on Los Angeles' congested roads. 

'When you think of the crazy, crazy traffic that you guys have here in L.A., I can just see anyone getting out of their car with a rocket launcher,' said the Virginia Beach, Va. native. 'I can just totally understand that, and that's a guy having a bad day. I just thought of it from the perspective of someone sitting in traffic and that's where Gru's theme comes from — except he had a bad day every day.'

Despite this, the film provides an essential life lesson that is further complemented by the filmmakers' use of perspective. Rather than give the point of view of various supporting characters, said Williams, the film uses them to provide greater insight into Gru — exploring how he came to be so mischievous, and what it takes to reverse negative habits and behaviors.

'I realized that this was the best film for any bad child,' he said, 'because a bad kid can look at this and say 'I understand where he's coming from,' and then they begin to realize that there is some correlation between their behavior and things that happened when they were growing up.' 

With this project completed, Williams is back in the studio with N.E.R.D, which is expected to release its fourth album this fall. And while he could not give exact details, he is currently working on two film projects that are in development' 'Super Freak' The Rick James Story' and 'Zoom.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Jennifer Hudson: I was secluded from everything]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/97409464.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:39:18 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[(CNN) -- In September 2008, Jennifer Hudson was on top of the world with a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a debut album under her belt, not to mention a handsome man in her life.

         But less than a month later her world came crashing down with the shocking deaths of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. The actress opened up about this tragic turning point in her life for the first time last night during her "Behind the Music" special on Vh1.

         "It was all like a blur, it was surreal. It was like I was outside myself," Hudson said, adding that she spent two weeks straight inside of her room. "I was secluded from anything that was going on."

         Hudson understandably had to take a step back from her blossoming career. When she was asked to do a film, she turned it down saying, "I have to adjust to who I am. I can't be another character."

         It wasn't until the 2009 Grammys that Hudson felt ready to make a public appearance. Not only did she win the award for Best R&B Album, she accepted the award from her life-long idol, Whitney Houston. "I really cannot put into words how special that moment was for me," Hudson told VH1.

         Now the still-healing Hudson is an adoring mother to her son, David Daniel Otunga Junior. "He makes me feel like the most special person," she said.

         As she continues to push forward, Hudson said her lost family members still shine through in her life. "My brother drives me in my music, my son reminds me of my nephew, and being a mother reminds me of my mother."]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA['Stomp the Yard' filmmakers come full circle]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/97276699.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:00:33 PDT</pubDate>
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																										<description><![CDATA[(CNN) -- To the creator of the American Black Film Festival, it feels like things have come full circle.

         Jeff Friday, who is also the chief executive officer of Film Life, said he's awed by the fact that in 1998, Will Packer and Rob Hardy had to flip a coin to determine which one of them would bring their film "Trois" to the film festival currently running in Miami.

         "We gave them a platform and it makes me proud," Friday said. "Now they have a $40 million film which opened the festival and is being distributed by Screen Gems, and 'Stomp the Yard' Homecoming' is our centerpiece film. It's astounding how far they have come."

         The pair head up Rainforest Films and Hardy said they were excited to "come back home and get some of that love" at the ABFF.

         "Will and I got our start here and it's really a launching pad for us," Hardy said. "To be able to be back with not just one, but two films is a huge deal for us."

         "We have to, as filmmakers, we have to give back," said Packer, who won the coin toss all those years ago. "This is the premiere event for directors, writers, actors and producers of color. We would be remiss if we didn't take our work and show it here."

Video' JET magazine's Miki Turner talks to Idris Elba, executive producer of the film "Legacy."]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Sean Combs bitten by the comedy bug]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/95467869.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 2 Jun 2010 17:21:43 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Not content with using his oversized persona to become a music mogul, fashion impresario, perfume designer, restaurateur, beverage supplier and Broadway star, Sean 'P Diddy' Combs can now add comedian to the resumé.

Diddy, who spoofs himself as a crazed record label boss in the R-rated comedy 'Get Him to the Greek,' has been winning early praise in the latest laddish caper from the Judd Apatow stable.

He plays a character called Sergio Roma, who entrusts his lowly music executive Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) to deliver outrageous British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to Los Angeles' Greek Theater for a lucrative revival concert in 72 hours or else.

The film is a spinoff to the hugely successful 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall,' which reunites Brand, Hill and Marshall director Nicholas Stoller. 

The role gave Combs a chance to release his inner child — first imparting to Green how to control an artist by 'mind intercourse,' then engaging in some Chaplinesque Vegas slapstick where he becomes intimately familiar with a car windshield.

'The [back] story to my character is that he's been in the music industry since he was 6,' said Combs, recently promoting the film in L.A. 'He used to road manage Pink Floyd, was an assistant hairdresser to James Brown at 10, scored women and drugs for Rick James at 12 and used to take care of Prince's guitar.

'Sergio's just been in the industry for such a long time, he knows the ins and the outs and feels like he has these magical super powers that give him the ability to manipulate your mind to do whatever he wants.'

Art imitating life? 'Yeah, I've definitely met the Sergios, Aldouses and Aarons,' he said. 'These characters truly exist in the record business.'

As for Combs' own aura, he learned of the film through the grapevine and was so determined to get the gig he flew himself out to the audition, preparing diligently with his acting coach. 

'But when I got there, they just said forget the script, we're just gonna improvise some scenes,' said Combs, recalling his introduction to the Apatow comedy factory. 'They give you so much freedom. You can walk round with your pants down and they'll let you do it, it just better be funny.'

And according to Combs, he was just happy to be part of the mix.

'Aw man, these guys are like the Yankees of comedy,' he said. 'They're the champs, they do it the best and to be able to be just an understudy and learn from these guys was a blessing.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Russell Brand re-creates his party monster]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/95464759.html</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 2 Jun 2010 16:38:29 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[The boxing ring and the comedy stage both have painful karma in common — when you bomb it can be a literal and metaphorical punch in the guts.

Last year, British fighter Ricky Hatton, a beloved hero to his hometown fans of Manchester, in the north of England, endured the literal form when he was knocked out cold in Las Vegas by Manny Pacquiao's fists of fury.

Ringside were the usual showbiz suspects — and next to P Diddy, who jumped off his chair when Hatton hit the deck in the second round, was outrageous British stand-up comedian and actor Russell Brand. 

The emerging film star was getting to know the music/fashion/perfume/vodka mogul for their dual star turns in the Judd Apatow-produced comedy, 'Get Him to the Greek.'

In the film, Brand, who like any successful stand-up comic must have taken quite a few metaphorical punches, reprises his 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' role as self-styled rock god Aldous Snow, whom fellow 'Marshall'' alum Jonah Hill, playing lowly record company executive Aaron Green, has to deliver to Los Angeles' Greek Theater for a lucrative revival concert.

The mission is ordered by Green's clownish, hyperactive record boss, Sergio Roma (P Diddy), who critics — this one included — were probably sharpening their quills to tear asunder, but delivers a riotous, rendition of mock self-importance.

But it's the lanky, long-haired, London-born comic who steals the show. 

And Brand, famous here for the his aforementioned first outing as Snow, his 2009 risqué hosting of the MTV Video Music Music Awards where he mocked the Jonas Brothers' virginity pledge and being engaged to 'I Kissed a Girl' pop star Katy Perry, has already led quite the rock-and-roll life.

Across the pond, art imitated life, as Brand's notorious party monster lifestyle spiraled into a haze of alcohol and drugs, while he became a tabloid dream for bedding every model and TV actress he could get his hands on.

Implosion was imminent, and when he and fellow media personality Jonathan Ross made an X-rated crank call to one of Brand's ex-girlfriend's, the daughter of renowned actor Andrew Sachs, everything hit the fan and public outrage resulted in his resignation from BBC Radio.

To his credit, Brand did get clean and sober — and by all accounts,  including his own, cannot wait to walk down the aisle.

However, he still has tons of that cockney wit, which he has been displaying on a long promotional tour for the movie, first in London, then Vegas and last week at The Greek, which May 25 hosted a star-studded premiere.

For instance, in recalling his first meeting with Diddy, did they bond over Faust or go for a good old pint?

'No there wasn't a Faustian discussion, but there was an immediate Faustian pact, where Puff took me and Jonah individually to Vegas,' said Brand.

Here for the purposes of transatlantic humor, one should note that the North/South rivalry in England is much like the East/West Coast beef.

'Ricky was fighting Pacquiao and Puff asked me to get us some tickets. And when Puffy asks you something, it makes you wanna say yes. I got Ricky's cell number, but it was two days before the fight and I guess he was busy. But in the end one of me mates came through.'

He added' 'So there's Ricky, bless him, a folk hero, on the deck and Puffy jumps on a chair with like 25,000 Mancs [Manchester folk] in the room. Well, I was a bit self-conscious. Jay-Z's here, Puffy's there, jumping out of his chair, Ricky's on the floor, I'm here and there's 25,000 Mancs. That was not a good look.'

Nevertheless, channeling his inner rock muse came naturally to Brand, especially with his coterie of famous mates from the music scene.

'I do hang out with rock stars, just 'cause they're my friends,' he said. 'Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Pete Doherty (Babyshambles), [Amy] Winehouse, she's me mate and Car Barât (The Libertines), he's on the soundtrack.

'From Noel, I learned this inherent, rock nonchalance. So I asked him one day, 'Noel, where do you get this nonchalance, then?'

'And he said, 'I know that anywhere I go, no matter what people say about me, as long as I've got the guitar and the ability to play it, people will pay ten quid to see me.' [Well,] Aldous knows that people will pay him money for his gift, whereas comedians, we tend to be more neurotic about that stuff.'

With his Greek gig, two big animated movies coming out later in the year, a sequel to his best-selling writing debut, 'My Booky Wook' A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Stand-Up,' called 'My Booky 2' This Time It's Personal,' Brand doesn't seem to have much to be worried about.

In fact, next month he'll be moving to New York to take on the role one of his comic heroes, Dudley Moore, made famous in 'Arthur.'

'The love interest will be reprised by Liza Minnelli,' he cracked, 'and I'm gonna turn her spine to chalk.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA['Little Obama' movie explores chapter of president's childhood]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/94844209.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">94844209</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 01:35:49 PDT</pubDate>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>																	


																																						<description><![CDATA[Do you think he was just any little boy?

Aptly misquoting a line from "Lawrence of Arabia," one of President Barack Obama's favorite films, Obama's adolescence has been turned into a movie entitled "Little Obama" about his childhood years in Indonesia.

The film, written and co-directed by Damien Dematra, documents Obama's life in Jakarta with his mother and stepfather from the age of six until he was ten years-old.

It will premiere there June 17 to coincide with Obama's planned visit to his former home.

The young Obama is played 12-year-old actor Hasan Faruq Ali, a New Mexico native, who like his inspiration, moved to Indonesia as a toddler.

"It feels great to play Obama, " the young actor said. "I was shy about it at first...But then it became easy and fun, especially acting as a very important character who left here to become president."

The movie is based on Dematra's fictionalized biography of Obama, "Obama Anak Menteng" (literally, Obama the Menteng Kid), and was filmed in the city of Bandung, about 110 miles southeast of Jakarta.

"It's not about politics, it's just the story of a boy," said Dematra. "It's about his friendships, his hobbies, just a childhood story."

-- Olu Alemoru]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Diddy gets ready to geek out]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/93731724.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">93731724</guid>		
			<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 16:09:46 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[It might not totally rehabilitate his ego-sized reputation, but there's positive buzz surrounding P Diddy's turn in the Judd Apatow comedy universe, "Get Him to Greek."

An outrageous spinoff of the comedy hit, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," where louche Brit Russell Brand reprises his rock God persona Aldous Snow and Diddy portrays a record boss who orders his geeky assistant to deliver Snow to a revival concert, the film is tracking high before its June opening.

With a couple of x-rated trailers titillating the viral community, activity at Flixster, the world's biggest online movie community and leading mobile movie-information provider, has been brisk with direct title searches up 72 percent from last week.

And judging by the shrieks of laughter at last week's Los Angeles press screening, the Diddyman holds his own with a comic fraternity that includes Brand, Jonah Hill, Colm Meaney and Elizabeth Moss.

In fact, a reporter who's viewed P Diddy's self-aggrandisement with ever mocking surety, was pleasantly surprised by his delivery.

As just one snippet, when berating his minions for not un-earthing any hit acts, illustrated' "Do you know how many Air Jordans six Black kids wear."



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			<title><![CDATA[Star power, in films big and small]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/92932454.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">92932454</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 5 May 2010 21:18:16 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Synonymous with his halting delivery and any number of cool looks — from the Jheri-curled Jules Winfield in 'Pulp Fiction' to the blonde villain in 'Jumper' — Samuel L. Jackson has notched up a lifetime's worth of larger-than-life characters.

Of course, for comic book and movie blockbuster fans alike, he makes a telling appearance as Nick Fury in this weekend's 'Iron Man 2.' 

But for those of a mind to see Jackson's theater-trained dramatic chops, then the independent drama 'Mother and Child' might be the best way to experience his skill as an actor.

As the title suggests, the film is a female-driven story that connects three characters, Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), Karen (Annette Bening) and Lucy (Kerry Washington) as, respectively, an adopted child, the mother of that child and a woman going through surrogacy. 

Jackson portrays Paul, the senior partner in the law firm that employs Watts' character, a cold-hearted lawyer who will stop at nothing to reach her goal of becoming a judge.

In the film, Jackson plays against type' Paul is a calm, regular guy who is putty in the hands of a dominant woman — especially when she decides to seduce him.

But, as Jackson joked in a recent question-and-answer session with entertainment reporters, the honestly depicted sex scene with Watts might bring him more kudos. 

'I might get some new fans,' he said, talking about the film in Los Angeles last week. I've done a couple [of sex scenes]. 'I sort of had one in 'Eve's Bayou' and there was one with Juliette Binoche in 'In My Country.'

And even the traditional, cinematic awkwardness of shooting a love scene just after actors have first met, didn't seem to slow the Jackson swagger. 

'It's easier to do it that way to see if they've got any chemistry,' he said. 'Fortunately, she was in charge. As the guy, I just showed up and asked the requisite questions — where can I not touch, and sorry if I get excited.'

In finding the key to his character, a widower with a large family circle, Jackson said he approached the role no differently than as if he was battling giant snakes on a plane.

'Hopefully, you approach the work the same way,' he explained. '[First of all] it was there on the page. But the bigger moving feast, is the bigger moving feast. Maybe you get better craft service and a bigger trailer. 

'But in those big budget films like 'Iron Man' and 'Star Wars,' there's an expectation of superheroism that's already out there and you don't have to worry  about it. You just go in there and be a little boy.'

He added' 'This story [though] is about real people, real emotions and you've got to work that out so when people look at it they can have honest feelings about who these people really are.'

Of course, that shouldn't be a problem for Jackson, who as the self-styled 'hardest working man in showbiz' knows exactly who he is.

Yet Jackson, who boasts 10 projects in development on the IMDB film database — not to mention his multi-picture deal for the Nick Fury character — confesses to one fear.

'I get scared sometimes when I'm not working, when I don't know what I'm doing for the next one and a half to two movies,' he said. 'I'm like, aww shucks, is it over, [are] they done with me now? I'm not one of them damn vampire kids. What am I gonna do?']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Feel the Fury]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/92536609.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">92536609</guid>		
			<pubDate>Sat, 1 May 2010 15:17:39 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[With the box office set to be owned by "Iron Man 2" next week, Samuel L. Jackson will add another iconic character to his blockbuster film stable that includes "Jurassic Park," "Stars Wars" and "The Incredibles."

Jackson will make a noted screen appearance as Marvel Comics' Nick Fury, who in its Ultimates series morphed from a Caucasian colonel to a bald African-American general with an eye-patch.

His role is a complete 360 from another film the prolific star, dubbed "the hardest working man in showbiz," features in next week entitled "Mother & Child," an adoption drama where he plays the boss of a law firm.

The character, which appeared in a post-credit scene in 2008's "Iron Man," was specifically tailored to the actor with Jackson's permission and he signed up for nine films that will accompany Marvel's planned Avenger series.

"I think there's a truth in all the worlds you work in," said Jackson.

"There's a 'Star Wars' truth, a Nick Fury Truth, and an 'Incredibles' truth. I'm having fun [with Fury] and establishing who he is in a way that's a little more real now."

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			<title><![CDATA[Brawl for one]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/91764199.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">91764199</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:04:27 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[With her star turn in the highest grossing film in history, another headliner with three of the funniest comics in Hollywood and boldly going into a cool, new frontier, Zoe Saldana would be considered anything but a loser.

However, that seemingly impossible hot streak — which encompassed 'Star Trek,' 'Avatar' and 'Death at a Funeral' — shows no signs of letting up with her latest action role in 'The Losers,' playing a bad-ass operative with a mysterious past.

Based on a series of graphic novels, the movie also stars Idris Elba ('The Wire,' 'Obsessed') and Columbus Short ('Armored') and directed by Parisian native Sylvain White ('Stomp the Yard').

In a 'Predator' meets 'Mission Impossible' riff, an elite Special Forces team, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan ('Watchmen'), Chris Evans (the 'Fantastic Four' films) and newcomer Oscar Jaenda, are dispatched to the Bolivian jungle to take out a drugs kingpin.

Of course, things go awry, and they are betrayed by their sinister-sounding CIA handler Max (Jason Patric), who planned to turn it into a suicide mission. 

But the crack unit led by Clay (Morgan), Roque (Elba), Pooch (Short), Jensen (Evans) and Cougar (Jaenada), survive and hang low for a minute, sampling the local dating scene and watching cockfights.

It's not long before Clay is quite literally bowled over by Aisha (Saldana), an alluring figure who both seduces and smacks him around in his bedroom before their intense lovemaking antics burn the hotel down. 

The consolation for the fugitives is that Aisha offers them a way to get back into the U.S. and visit a bloody revenge on Max. 

Thus, she may not be all that she seems but she can handle a rocket-launcher with Bond-like efficiency.

'Aisha is a badass chick,' said Saldana, while speaking to the entertainment press at the swanky Beverly Wilshire Hotel. 

'The stunt coordinator on 'The Losers' [Garrett Warren] also worked on 'Avatar.' He's the one who has beaten me up and knows exactly what my body can do — at times when I didn't even know myself.

'By the time we got to Puerto Rico [where the movie was filmed], I had to substitute the bow and arrow for the gun and knives.'

Written by Peter Berg ('Friday Night Lights') and James Vanderbilt ('The Rundown'), the movie is produced by the iconic Joel Silver, who ushered in the 1980's high concept, wisecracking actioners like the 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Die Hard' franchises.

And Saldana, 28, the New Jersey-born hot commodity of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, couldn't wait to mix it with the boys. 'It felt good to kick Jeffrey's ass,' she laughed. 

'When you're the only girl in the cast there's a level of…[trepidation]. You have to work twice as hard because you don't want to be singled out. You don't want to be the one who says I can't do that.

'So I really toughed it out and wanted to impress them. I like being around men and felt I could really hold my own. There were a couple of moments in the fight scene when Jeffrey…[winced]. But it was fun and he was absolutely terrific'

Chiding Hollywood for its often decorative depiction of women, Saldana paid tribute to her pioneering heritage. 'I feel Hollywood has made a living of portraying women to be weak and have to be rescued all the time,' she said. 

'The reality is that women are doing so much more. I grew up in Queens in the '80's where women were the caretakers and the soldiers. I'm in that phase now. I like holding the gun and participating in saving the day.'

Quipped Morgan, who is on a bit of a streak himself with upcoming starring roles in crime thriller 'The Fields' and a remake of 'Red Dawn'' 'I thought my year was good, until Zoe's,' he said. 'Now, I'm just riding her coattails.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Movie Review: 'Why Did I Get Married Too?']]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/89636662.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">89636662</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:43:44 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[With all the marriages-in-trouble making headline news — the ongoing Tiger Woods sensation, Sandra Bullock's woes and the McCourts' hundred million dollar divorce — Tyler Perry seems to have chosen an opportune time to release his relationship sequel 'Why Did I Get Married Too.'

In fact, the sequel to the 2007 film opens just three days before the U.S. Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta where the media and the world will wait with bated breath as Woods competes for first time since his multiple affairs came to light. 

And Perry, who revealed on the '07 press tour that he began writing the sequel as soon as the first film came out, must have done a bit of crystal ball gazing — because one of the most dramatic scenes features a golf club and some very expensive living room furniture.

For purposes of avoiding a spoiler, that particular perpetrator shall remain nameless. 

But in reviving his romantic dramedy Perry reunites a cast that includes Janet Jackson (Patricia), Jill Scott (Sheila), Sharon Leal (Dianne), Tasha Smith (Angela), Malik Yoba, (Gavin), Richard T. Jones (Mike), Lamman Rucker (Troy), Michael Jai White (Marcus) and Perry (Terry) himself, where they left off in the first 'Married.'

Heading to their annual one-week relationship retreat — this time in the Bahamas — not a great deal seems to have changed. 

Superficially, Patricia and Gavin seem to have a good marriage, but their lack of communication hints at a deeper trouble; Terry and Sharon make an Oscar-worthy show of affection but her career comes first and then she whispers a colleague's name in bed; frumpy Sheila married Troy and moved him to Atlanta from Colorado — but now he can't find a job.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Angela bicker like there's no tomorrow, and Patricia's cheating ex-hubby, Mike, unexpectedly joins the mix when he turns up to enjoy the delights of the paradise isle.

Perry, who has endured more than his fair share of critical flack for his lucrative Madea movies, may have hoped this dramedy franchise (the inevitable 'Why Did I Get Married Again' is sure to be in the works) would gain him some peer respect.

But while the first movie showed definite touches of nuance and style, he seems to have gone backward in three years and the movie starts to run out of steam by the end of the first act.

A scene on the beach, when Mike arrives to see the fellas talking about what's new, is as cinematically stiff as it gets; like a tipsy uncle was taking too long to get that family vacation picture.

In trying to script a tight story and keeping the motivation plausible, Perry does a serviceable job except with his own storyline because he only half-heartedly suggests that Dianne is tempted to stray with a work colleague.

As for the various subplots, Perry really overcooks the Jackson/Yoba thread giving the singing superstar free reign to do a Bette Midler in 'The Rose' and Mike's nice guy pay-off is conveniently hacky.

While we await the second sequel — or possible prequel; 'Why Did I Get Her Number' — most people with an interest in how real-life marital strife would be better served training their eyes toward the first tee at Augusta.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Face off]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/89084697.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">89084697</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:04:46 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Pegged by some as a 'social issues' or 'feminist' filmmaker, director Emily Abt does not shy away from those classifications. She embraces them — a stance exemplified in her third feature film, 'Toe to Toe,' which tackles female sexuality, substance abuse, poverty and the racial divide.

In the film, Jesse (Louisa Krause) is a privileged White girl from the suburbs whose promiscuity and substance abuse problems lead her down a path to self-destruction. Her well-traveled, working mom and absentee father brew her longing for attention, which she subsequently tries to find in young boys. 

Tosha (Sonequa Martin), on the other hand, is a fiercely determined Black girl from Anacostia — one of Washington, D.C.'s most impoverished neighborhoods.  She dreams of attending Princeton as a way of getting out of the 'hood' and helping support her siblings and over-worked mother.

The two girls form a bond while playing together on their prep school lacrosse team, but their friendship is tested by a brewing romantic rivalry and a racial incident that threatens to change both their lives forever.

Long intrigued by 'race relations and social tensions,' Abt said in an interview that she was further inspired to take on the project after reading an article suggesting that interracial friendships end at age 14 for nearly 87 percent of Americans. 

'I see great social value in race-related conversations, so I created the characters in 'Toe to Toe' to dramatize the subtle yet insidious tension that threatens interracial alliances,' said Abt. 'Through Jesse and Tosha's relationship I hope to create a road map for how authentic dialogue between races could sound. These girls don't shy away from conflict with each other, they get it out in the open where it can be resolved. As audiences observe Tosha and Jesse … they will hopefully be inspired to take a deeper look at their own interracial friendships or lack thereof.'

Through Jesse, the filmmaker also takes an uncompromising look at teenage sexuality and promiscuity, which has caused one in four American girls to contract a sexually transmitted disease. She hopes to contribute to a discussion about a growing youth health crisis.

'I very much wanted to make a film that challenged the status quo on both race and sexuality,' she said. 'I feel like nowadays in pop culture there is such a plethora of images of young girls partying and every pop song has lyrics about getting messed up and hooking up with boys. With Jesse's character I wanted to show the darker side to that mentality and how her behavior is actually rooted in loneliness.'

More importantly, however, the film is meant to look at how these issues go virtually ignored in areas such as Washington, D.C., where one in five residents live at or below the poverty line and crime rates are high. 'D.C. is very segregated and it was even more pronounced than where I am from, which is Boston, and I felt there was this color line,' she said. 'So, I thought it would be the best place to set a race relations story.'

While working for the public defender's office, Abt canvassed crime scenes and took witness statements in Anacostia. She 'was struck by the rich culture of urban D.C. and also deeply affected by the harshness of it. That time left me with fond memories and … much darker [memories] that included images of Black men gunned down in streets only blocks from our nation's capital.' 

Prior to this, while working as a caseworker in New York, Abt became witness to the impact of welfare reform, inspiring her to take a firsthand look at the issue in her debut documentary 'Take It From Me.' Subsequently, she produced the documentary, 'All of Us,' about a young doctor's fight against HIV/AIDS among African-American women.

Now, Abt, who was recently selected as one of Variety Magazine's 'Top 10 Directors to Watch,' is working on a script entitled 'Better Isn't Good Enough' — about a woman who vies for local office.]]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[On location]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/89077912.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">89077912</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:52:46 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[Indie filmmakers the world over seem to go through the same dance when they have a gem of a project up their sleeve' everyone tells them they have a fantastic script but commercially no one will want to go and see it and the powers that be take a polite pass.

That fate could well have befallen Columbia Film School graduate Aaron Woolfolk, which makes it even more impressive that his debut feature 'The Harimaya Bridge,' executive-produced by Danny Glover, became the first movie to be financed and shot on location in Japan by an African-American filmmaker.

The film is a poignant and poetic journey by a Black father who travels to the city of Kochi, located in a deeply traditional enclave of rural Japan, to retrieve some personal belongings of his late, estranged son.

Carrying deep resentment due to his own father's death fighting the Japanese during the Second World War, the father, played by veteran film and stage actor Ben Guillory, becomes a lightning rod for understanding and forgiveness as he uncovers secrets about his son that he never knew.

Superbly acted, with a terrifically nuanced script that combines humor and pathos and unravels at its own unhurried pace, it is equally matched by arresting images crafted by Woolfolk and his cinematographer Masao Nakabori.

The title of the film evokes a popular, ancient legend known throughout Japan about a forbidden love affair between a monk and a village girl — sentiments that are paralleled in Woolfolk's engaging drama. 

Shot on location in Kochi in the summer of 2008, with one week's photography in San Francisco, 'The Harimaya Bridge' was met with critical acclaim on its nationwide theatrical release in Japan in 2009.

It then went on to garner official selection at numerous film festivals including The Hawaiian International Film Festival, The San Diego Asian Film Festival, The African Diaspora Film Festival and The Pan African Film Festival, where it won the First Time Narrative Feature Award for Directing.

The film will have its U.S. theatrical release March 26 at L.A.'s Laemmle Music Hall 3, where it is currently scheduled for a one-week run.

'The story is inspired by my own experiences,' said Woolfolk, 41, said in an interview last week. 'After studying at Berkeley I joined the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and taught junior high school English in Kochi. I was very impressed by the local culture and wanted to make a cross-cultural story. 

'I found a good parallel in the legend of the Harimaya Bridge in exploring this rift between a father and son and what happens when the son dies and the father attempts to get closure.'

Returning to attend film school at Columbia, Woolfolk worked on his idea and finished a first draft of the script in the late '90s and anticipated the challenges in getting it made.
'OK, me going over to Japan at that time to make a feature film … that was never going to happen,' he recalled. 

'I thought I'm going to have to show people I could do something like that and so for my thesis film at Columbia I made two shorts — 'Eki (The Station)' and 'Kiroi Hitsuji (Black Sheep)' — that featured the son's life in Japan. They served as a prologue to the feature and did really well and kinda sent me on my way.'

But unfortunately not well enough for Hollywood to put financing behind it. That's where screen star Danny Glover came in.

'I took it to all the studios, production companies and wealthy private individuals,' said Woolfolk, 'and they all said, 'We love the script, but …''

Nevertheless, in 2000 Woolfolk was able to get a Walt Disney development grant made through The Robey Theatre Company, the pioneering nonprofit founded in 1994 by Glover and Guillory.

'Through getting the grant I got to know Danny and he really liked my work and my voice,' said Woolfolk. 'So with 'The Harimaya Bridge,' it was something he'd never seen and was different from the kind of images Hollywood has for African-Americans.'

Thus, the first bit of money for the film was raised in the U.S., but the bulk of the financing came when Woolfolk met his co-producer, Ko Mori, who heads the Japanese film distribution company, Eleven Arts Inc.

He added' 'Ko Mori also really liked the script and said he wanted to get it made. But the Second World War is a very sensitive subject and people thought we were crazy. However, the script doesn't hit people over the head. It makes it clear that the ultimate bad guy is war itself.'

Woolfolk also wanted to honor the memory of African-American sacrifice in the Pacific Rim.

'At Columbia I did a class project where I talked to a group of the first Black Marines who fought there. They had the same experiences as anyone, but you don't see that in movies. It's amazing how many people don't know African-Americans fought in World War II. I wanted to show we did have a part and there are families who went through the same kind of loss.'

As he looks forward to the Laemmle premiere, Woolfolk hopes the Black community will embrace the film and in particular young people will be inspired to alter their horizons.

'I want them to see that there is a world that exists beyond their neighborhoods, city limits or even their borders,' he said. 'That there is more to the African-American experience than we see in Hollywood movies. There's a big world out there which they can take part in.']]></description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Grind it out]]></title>
															<link>http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/88285032.html</link>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">88285032</guid>		
			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:42:36 PDT</pubDate>
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																																																			<description><![CDATA[In the re-imagining (director Werner Herzog swore off calling it a remake or sequel) 'Bad Lieutenant' Port of Call New Orleans,' relative newcomer Lucius Baston gets to go toe-to-toe with movie star Nicholas Cage.

The 2009 release wasn't his first feature film but four years into a full-time acting career it has provided a significant boost to this Florida-based former U.S. Air Force communications technician's career and one of those handy anecdotes the press loves to devour.

The film opened the 66th Venice Film Festival and Baston found himself by the red carpet watching Cage, Herzog and co-star Eva Mendes being escorted into the theater.

'My tickets were supposed to be left at the concierge desk at the hotel,' recalled Baston. 'But lo and behold, nobody had them and I stood outside for two-and-a-half hours talking to anyone who would listen. Finally, I remembered I had Nic's phone number so I sent him a text saying I was stuck outside.

'He called me back in within five minutes asking where I was. I said, 'I'm out front,' so he said, 'Go down to the dock, I'll pick you up in the boat and take you to the afterparty myself.' 

'It was an amazing night, the party was on this big yacht in the bay. I'm glad I didn't have my ticket because it ended up being a better experience — and if I'd been a woman it would have been a great love scene.'

In his early 30s, Baston reflects on the incident with the kind of humorous perspective that should stand him in good stead for the vagaries of a fickle industry.

A native New Yorker from Richmond Hill, Queens, he followed his father and one of his two brothers into the military at 19 and stayed for 11 years finally settling in Tampa Bay.

Working in the electronics field as a civilian he tired of a nine-to-five routine and gravitated toward a career in radio using skills he had honed as a teenage disc jockey in the early days of 1980s hip-hop.

Nevertheless, he was bitten by the acting bug when a friend showed him a set of her headshots and said she wanted to be an actress. It prompted him to enroll in the Performers Studio Worshop, where he studied for four years.

But unlike most showbiz wannabes who seek out the bright lights of Hollywood, Baston is content to stay put for the time being.

'My thinking is that I'm watching what the business is doing and there are these big tax incentives to bring productions to the Southeast so I thought why not build up my credits here at home,' he said. 

'I can travel to Louisiana and Georgia and work that market and be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, because if I went out to L.A. I'd be competing with everyone and their mother.

'Most of the leading roles come out of L.A. or even New York — that's a given. But if you're non-union and don't have credits under your belt, in most cases they won't even look at you.'

And Baston, who will be featured on the season finale of Tyler Perry's 'House of Payne,' playing a shady Realtor, believes his approach is paying off.

'I had just signed on a Saturday with my agency in Atlanta and they said I needed to drive up there for the 'House of Payne' audition,' he said. 'It was a seven-hour trip, but I'll get on the road to do what I need to do. I arrived on Monday afternoon and was one of the last to read. I spoke with the casting director and the producer and it was very comfortable. I got the call the next day and was working that Wednesday.'

However, as it turned out the experience was tinged with sadness.

'The day we shot [the episode], [Tyler Perry's] mother passed away,' explained Baston. 'It was like a spiritual experience. We all wished him well and we started the day in a prayer circle, which set a wonderful tone for the day. Being on set was a unique experience.

'You don't normally shoot a whole episode in one day, but they've got it down to a science. And to know his story is so inspiring, it lets you know that anything is possible as long as you stay spiritually grounded and understand you have a purpose and to live it.'

Along with the Tyler Perry gig, Baston recently had meetings with 'The Wire' producer David Simon about a role in his new HBO series, 'Treme,' set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

'I'm still on the grind,' said Baston. 'Always looking for the next job.']]></description>
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