Gabby Sidibe: The "Precious" Interview

 

 

with Kam Williams

 

Headline: Gabby’s Precious Gabfest

 

 

GABOUREY "Gabby" SIDIBE was born in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1983 to R&B/Gospel singer Alice Tan Ridley, and Ibnou Sidibe, a cab driver from Senegal. After her parents separated, Gabby was raised in Harlem by her mother who supported the family by teaching Special Ed and by singing in the subway. 

A graduate of Washington Irving High School, Gabby was pursuing a degree in psychology at Mercy College and working as a telephone company customer service representative when she decided to try out for the title role in the movie Precious. Her audition so wowed director Lee Daniels that he had no hesitation about picking her over the 400 other actresses answering the casting call.

Here, Gabby talks about the film and her critically-acclaimed performance, both of which have Hollywood humming with early Oscar buzz.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Gabby, I loved the film and was blown away by your performance. .

Gabby Sidibe: Thank you! 

KW: Tell me a little about your background.

GS: My dad’s from Senegal, and my mom’s from Georgia. But oddly, her roots trace back to Senegal, too. I was born in Bed-Stuy, and I lived there until right before I turned 8. That’s when we moved to Harlem.

KW: Do you know where Medgar Evers College is in Bed-Stuy?

GS: Yeah. My mom went to Medgar Evers.

KW: What a coincidence! That’s where I went to high school before it was turned into a college. Where did you go to high school?

GS: I attended Washington Irving High School. 

KW: Another coincidence, that’s where my mother went.

GS: Really?

KW: Yep. What interested you in auditioning for the role of Precious?

GS: I’m not sure I had a serious interest. To be honest, my mom had told me to go audition for the part. In a weird way, I think I just kind of ended up there. Just the thought that I could be in the film was really, really interesting. I guess that’s part of the reason why I auditioned. But I auditioned with the absolute belief that I wasn’t going to get it.  

KW: Lee told me that he had to audition over 400 actresses before he found you, and that the role of Precious was the most challenging one to fill. What do you think sold him on you?

GS: He said that he saw a lot of girls who were just like Precious, and that the difference with me was that I wasn’t anything like her, and that I was obviously acting. He didn’t want to be seen as possibly exploiting a girl similar to Precious, so I think that played a part in his decision, along with my giving a really good audition.

KW: What was it like acting opposite big stars like Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz?  

GS: It was amazing! I felt very fortunate to get to work around people that I idolized.

KW: Did they live up to your expectations?

GS: As it turned out, every one of them was so much more awesome than I expected.

KW: And how’d you like being directed by Lee?

GS: Lee is just adorable, cute and so much fun! He’s a disarming genius with a very creative mind.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

GS: No one’s ever asked if I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

KW: Okay, do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?

GS: Yep.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

GS: [Chuckles] Yeah, I’m afraid of a lot of stuff, although I’m not really the nervous type. Like, I want to see the movie Paranormal Activity, but I’m afraid to go because I’ll believe it’s real. [Laughs]

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

GS: Earlier today, after reading to grammar school students with Paula Patton and Mariah. As we were leaving, a little girl yelled at me from across the schoolyard, “Gabby, I saw you on Ellen. You’re a really good dancer.” I thought it was just the cutest thing how she was so excited. That made me laugh pretty hard, and I’ve been doing impressions of her all day.”   

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

GS: “Addicted” by Zane.

 

 

KW: I met Zane on a party aboard a boat recently. She’s really nice.

GS: Oh, I bet she is.

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you listening to nowadays? 

GS: At the moment, I’m listening to a lot of R&B. I really like Trey Songz. I also like Lady GaGa a lot. She certainly helps on car rides when I’m on my way to an interview or a photo shoot. I listen to a lot of what’s on the radio. I’m afraid I don’t stray away from the popular. 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

GS: Ooh! I see myself! Usually, I’m really happy with what I see when I look at myself. I look into the mirror and I give myself pep talks, and coach myself to make it through the day, which isn’t hard to do. I congratulate myself for making it this far in life and for being the person I want to be.  

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

GS: There’s this weird thing that I’ve been doing lately. I live with roommates who are all boys, and if I ever do cook, it’s usually Top Ramen. Isn’t that terrible? [Laughs] I’ll add an egg to it, or maybe hamburger meat, and peas, or corn, or broccoli to go with it. But Top Ramen is pretty much always the starch dish. I like to tell people I’m a good cook, but I’m probably not. Sometimes, I make breakfast for everyone, and my roommates say they like it, but I’m not sure.   

KW: The Flex Alexander question: How do you get through the tough times?

GS: By counting my blessings.

KW: The Mike Pittman question: Who was your best friend in childhood?

GS: My best friend still is Crystal Hawthorne. She and I met in the 5^th grade, and we’ve been best friends ever since. I have an endless amount of memories with her, and I know for sure that she’ll always be there for me.

KW: Lester Chisholm asks, why did you agree to portray this role?

GS: The short answer is to get out of college. [Giggles]

KW: Laz Lyles asks, when did all of this become real for you? When did it hit you that Precious was really taking off?
GS: I try to not let it become real to me. Because whatever state I’m in right now, is the best feeling ever. It doesn’t feel real to me. What does feel real is when people who’ve seen the film, like at the premiere the other day, come up to me and thank me. I don’t feel like I’ve done a service, but I appreciate that they think I’ve given them something. And then I’ll see Will Smith walk by and it becomes unreal again.   

KW: Laz also asks, was there a kind of kinship among all the actors?

GS: Yes, we absolutely loved each other. I certainly had the best time of my life making some great relationships while filming this movie. 

KW: Carmela Reimers asks: where does your happiness come from?

GS: From naps, sushi and watching “Oz.”

KW: Carmela has a follow-up. How do you think this sudden success will influence your future?

GS: I don’t know. I hope positively. I hope I can continue to act. I hope that I’ve shown Hollywood that even though I’m not blonde or a size 2, I’m still worthy of carrying a film. 

KW: Do you consider yourself an intellectual?
GS: Intelligent? Yes, thank you. But an intellectual? Probably not. I’m way too goofy to be an intellectual.

KW: Carmela’s final question is, do you intend to pass on your good fortune? And by that she doesn't mean money.

GS: That’s cool, because I have no money. I absolutely do intend to. First of all, I have younger sisters. It’s amazing for me to be able to show them that someone from our neighborhood can achieve anything.

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls was curious about what kind of internal emotional resources came into play when you created the character of Precious?

GS: Compassion. I had a lot of compassion for the character. 

KW: Attorney Bernadette was wondering whether you read the book before reading the script.

GS: Yes, I read it about 4 years prior, and it split me open, emotionally. 

KW: Bernadette asks if you think your studying psychology impacted your performance.

GS: I hope so. I hope I got something out of those 4 years I spent in college. I had read some books about the anatomy of a victim, and I certainly tried to carry that knowledge into Precious.

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks, how did you prepare spiritually to do this role? 

GS: We prayed every day on the set. And I even prayed alone by myself during every moment of downtime on the set. I was actually on the worship team at my church, but had to take a leave of absence while making the film. 

KW: Reverend Thopson asks whether you could see yourself as a spokeswoman on the issue of domestic violence.
GS: I don’t really have any experience as a spokesperson, but I’m willing to help out that cause in any way I can. I’m very fortunate not to have any experience in that area, but I do have experience in learning how to love myself and knowing what makes me happy.

KW: What is your long-term career goal?

GS: [Laughs] My goal is just to have a career. I hope to be able to do a lot of different types of films. To do a comedy, to play a romantic lead, and to do a lot of other different things.

KW: The good Reverend’s last question is: what is your source of inspiration?
GS: A lot of times it’s music. It’s also life in general: my friends, my roommates, my mom, my family.

KW: Marcia Evans asks: how have you matured from making this film?

GS: [Giggles] I’m pretty much about as mature as I was before. I operate on the level of about a 19 year-old. So, I probably haven’t matured much at all, which I think helps.  

KW: Marcia also asks whether you were emotionally affected by the role.

GS: No, what I felt most was a responsibility to tell this girl’s story the best way I could. The fact that Lee Daniels chose me spoke volumes, and I wanted to measure up to what he thought I could be. 

KW: Marcia concludes by saying that Precious will help to heal many young women who have been abused. She asks, if you realize that you are now a voice for the unspoken?

GS: Oh, “thank you” is all I can say to that.

KW: How do you feel about all the Oscar buzz Precious has been getting?

GS: It’s scary, and a tad premature. I’ve never been here before, so I don’t really know what it’s like to be in an Oscar-worthy film. It’s unnerving, but I’m also so grateful that anyone would consider associating our film with an Oscar or any other award.  

KW: Well, best of luck with Precious, and I hope to speak with you again during awards season. 

GS: Thank you so much.

The End of Poverty?

Headline: Globalization Documentary Discusses Paradox of Poverty in Era of Unparalleled Wealth

Why have so many Third World countries remained impoverished and underdeveloped even after gaining their independence from the European nations which had conquered and colonized them? This is the basic question addressed by The End of Poverty, an incendiary expose’ directed by Philippe Diaz. In essence, this damning documentary is a history lesson about the ugly underbelly of Western Civilization from 1492 up to the present.
For not long after Columbus “discovered” America, European countries began descending on the so-called New World, using both the bullet and the Bible to bend assorted indigenous peoples to their will. The Dutch focused primarily on Asia while the English assured themselves that the sun would never set on the ever-expanding British Empire. Even the Pope got into the act, awarding Africa to Portugal and South America to Spain by papal decree.
The basic thesis of the luminaries lending their insights to this thought-provoking project is that for 500+ years, white people have extracted the resources and oppressed the natives living in lands located in the planet’s Southern hemisphere. And that unfair economic relationship never changed substantially at the end of the era of colonization, since in most countries a handful of families continued to own the bulk of the business interests and the majority of productive real estate.
Former CIA consultant Chalmers Johnson indicts that Agency for serving as the private army of a succession of American presidents. He specifically alleges that the CIA was behind the assassination of a long list of populist leaders, like Lumumba in the Congo, Arbenz in Guatemala, Roldos in Ecuador, Torrijos in Panama, Qasim in Iraq and Mossadek in Iran. Similarly, John Perkins, author of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” owns up to his role in the overthrow of numerous Third World rulers in order to replace them with corrupt puppets handpicked by the U.S.
The situation has degenerated to the point where over a billion people around the world are currently trying to survive on less than a dollar a day, and their prospects are only getting worse, given that the ownership of natural resources has become increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. In concluding, the picture suggests that this imbalance can only be corrected if the poor rise up and insist on reforms like the nationalization of land, mineral and water rights, and the taxation of the $11.5 trillion hidden by the rich in offshore accounts.
Solutions seemingly incompatible with capitalism, an economic system dependent on escalating expansionism and the incessant exploitation of cheap labor. So, why does poverty persist in the midst of unparalleled wealth? In a word, greed!

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In English, Spanish, Portuguese and French with subtitles.
Running time: 106 minutes
Studio: Cinema Libre Studio

Four Seasons Lodge

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Moving Documentary Chronicles Annual Gathering of Holocaust Survivors

I have a couple of friends with parents still alive who survived the Holocaust but have never written their memoirs or even spoken much about the host of horrors they had witnessed while interned in the concentration camp.
But after watching Four Seasons Lodge, I now fully understand why there just might not be words to describe what it was like to escape the mass genocide which claimed the lives of one’s entire family.
Just such a predicament is repeatedly recounted in this poignant picture directed by Andrew Jacobs. He shot his heartbreaking documentary on location at the aforementioned Four Seasons Lodge, a bungalow colony in the Catskills Mountains where a tight-knit group of Holocaust survivors have gathered ever summer for decades.
The season during which he shot was shaping up to be their final reunion, not only because their numbers were dwindling due to advanced age, but because the owner had finalized plans to sell the 46-acre, Borscht Belt resort to a real estate developer. Although director Jacob’s subjects seem concerned with more mundane matters like dancing, playing cards or the impending loss of their beloved retreat, he gently prodded them to reflect upon their World War II experiences.
Lola Wenglin recounts how she was liberated at the age of 19 after 5 years in the death camps only to discover that her parents, brothers and sisters had all gone to the ovens. Tobias Buchman says that his being a teenager probably saved him, since younger children and older folks were the first to be exterminated.
When Genya Boyman finds it difficult to speak, Basie Adelman immediately comes to her defense, protectively stating that she “doesn’t like to talk about it, because it affected her in a different way.” The best Genya can muster up is a story about how her granddaughter Jennifer always asks, Tell me a story… tell me a story! ”I tell her, ‘one day…” Then Genya’s voice trails off as she futilely shrugs in frustration, “All of us live with it.”
Ostensibly scarred by Hitler for life, each deals with the ongoing trauma in his or her own way. This one is still angry. “I am swallowing the tears. I cannot show them.” Meanwhile, that one wistfully asks why, “Of my 300 relatives, did only I survive?” Another wonders aloud “Why did God let it happen?” Yet another shares papers retrieved from Auschwitz detailing how Dr. Mengele had experimented on him.
Perhaps most poignant is the piercing wail of Cesia Potok emanating from a bedroom at dawn as her husband Carl patiently explains that this is how she often awakens. By contrast, Hymie Abramowitz probably proves the most eloquent when matter-of-factly summarizing why Four Seasons Lodge has so much meaning to him after so many years. “We survivors, we stick to each other. We just want to be together. We need it.”
Pack the Kleenex. One of the most emotionally-evocative documentaries about Holocaust survivors.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In English, Yiddish, Hebrew and Polish with subtitles.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: First Run Features

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Reporter Uncovers Top Secret Psychic Unit in Conspiracy Theory Comedy

If you listen to the radio in the middle of the night, perhaps you’ve tuned in to Coast-to-Coast AM, that nationally-syndicated, radio talk show which gives credence to guests with wild theories about all sorts of paranormal activities. Well, if you’re entertained by patently preposterous discussions of ESP and mental telepathy, then The Men Who Stare at Goats is likely to be right up your alley.
The movie is based on the best seller of the same name by Jon Ronson, a British journalist claiming to have uncovered a top secret U.S. Army unit comprised of psychics capable of walking through walls and killing animals simply by staring at them, hence the self-explanatory title. The film version, directed by Grant Heslov, has been adapted to the screen by scriptwriter Peter Straughan as more of a comedy than a piece of investigative journalism.
The picture features a stellar cast, starting with Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton, a depressed reporter desperate to find the meaning of life after being unceremoniously left by his wife (Rebecca Mader) for his boss (Todd La Tourrette). Then, while covering the war over in the Middle East, Bob stumbles upon a big scoop, when he encounters Lyn Cassady (George Clooney).
For Cassady reveals via both demonstrations and a series of vivid flashbacks that he is a member of the New Earth Army, a motley crew of metaphysical monks first founded by Vietnam vet Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) as a force for peace, not war. Over the course of the ensuing improbably adventure, Lyn explains the powers they have attempted to harness, such as communicating telepathically with submarines, seeing into the future, optimal trajectory, phasing, cloud bursting and psychic projection. Bob remains impressed, despite the fact that Lyn meets with varying degrees of success, proving better at predicting the flip of a coin, than at subduing the enemy with his mind after they’re kidnapped by terrorists.
The Men Who Stare at Goats is a one-trick pony, or should I say one-trick goat, which relies heavily on a slight variation of a running theme which gets stale pretty fast. What we have here is basically a bunch of delusional wackos being indulged by the U.S. government on the remote chance that they might actually be onto something. But how many times can you expect an audience to laugh at different versions of the same joke, whether the wannabe psychics are trying to bend a spoon, walk through a wall, drive blindfolded or elsewhat?
A flawed flick strictly for the paranoid conspiracy theory crowd.

Fair (1 star)
Rated R for profanity, drug use and brief nudity.
Running time: 93 minutes
Studio: Overture Films

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Bio-Pic Chronicles the Life and Times of Late Civil Rights Lawyer

William Kunstler (1919-1995) was one of the most reviled figures of the 20th Century. For he was an attorney who not only represented controversial causes and unpopular people, but his approach in the courtroom involved exposing the racism and classicism permeating the legal justice system.
Always ahead of his time, Kunstler’s lifelong commitment to civil rights began when he went to Mississippi to defend Freedom Riders being arrested for trying to integrate lunch counters and other public accommodations. No hypocrite, he cared just as much about equality in his hometown of Rye, New York, where he successfully sued on behalf of a black couple trying to move into the lily-white enclave in 1960.
Over the course of his career, his services were retained by everyone from Malcolm X to Dr. Martin Luther King to H. Rap Brown to Stokely Carmichael to Abbie Hoffman to the American Indian Movement to Adam Clayton Powell to the Berrigan brothers. But he really first became a household name in his own right during the trial of the Chicago 8 who were arrested in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That’s when he grew his hair long to match the manes of the hippies being railroaded, and when he was held in contempt of court for calling the judge a bigot.
Kunstler hated racism, and fundamental to his political philosophy was the notion that “lawyers shouldn’t be immune from the oppression” affecting their clients. Consequently, he gave his all, and was willing to put his own life on the line. Unfortunately, this approach took a toll on his family, especially his daughters, Emily and Sarah, the co-directors of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe.
In this bittersweet bio-pic they not only recount their father’s exploits, but how they had to grow up with the specter of daily death threats and demonstrations in front of their home. Sadly, their father would only be posthumously vindicated for his spirited representation of innocent Harlem teens accused of raping the Central Park jogger.
But it is of little comfort to the African-American defendants that their names were belatedly cleared only after they’d already served lengthy prison terms. There had been a rush to judgment at the time of the trial which had the boys tried and convicted in the court of public opinion by everyone from Mayor Koch to Donald Trump who called for the death penalty in a full page ad in the New York Times.
A very moving tribute to an underappreciated hero who spent his life as a tireless defender of the defenseless.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 85 minutes
Studio: Arthouse Films

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (LIBERIAN) DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Documentary Chronicling Pacifist Feminists’ Triumph in Liberia Arrives on DVD

Liberia was founded in 1847 by former U.S. slaves shipped back to Africa by the American Colonization Society. Unfortunately, these repatriated blacks considered themselves superior to the indigenous peoples they encountered, and so they formed a society in which the descendants of African-Americans enjoyed elite class status.
The tensions which ensued between the two groups essentially remained unaddressed until everything came to a head in 1989. That was when the first of two civil wars erupted which combined would claim over 200,000 lives and last until 2003.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell recounts the story of how a ceasefire was finally achieved, namely, through the determined efforts of a coalition of Christian and Muslim women fed up with having to beg for food and to raise their children amidst incessant slaughter, raping and looting. Led by Leymah Gbowee, a mom with a toddler, and armed only with T-shirts, signs and a willingness to die for their cause, this intrepid sisterhood stood toe-to-toe with both President Charles Taylor and with the Sierra Leone-based rebels attempting to topple his oppressive regime.
What makes this documentary so compelling are the reams of archival footage which allow us to witness, firsthand, the fighting, the peace demonstrations and the negotiations which led to the ouster of the corrupt Americo-Liberian Taylor. Ultimately, he was replaced by native Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, sub-Saharan Africa’s first elected female head of state.
A salute is in order to director Gini Reticker for this glorious tribute to a bi-partisan band of unarmed women who succeeded where government and UN intervention had failed miserably. For against the odds, they somehow managed to turn chaos into calm by marching en masse and refusing to compromise on their non-negotiable demand that the madness end once and for all.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 72 minutes
Studio: Fork Films
Distributor: Passion River Films
DVD Extras: Leymah Gbowee on Billy Moyer’s Journal, her acceptance speech receiving the JFK Profile in Courage Award, and a theatrical trailer.

The Ugly Truth DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: “Ugly” Sitcom Comes to DVD

Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is the producer of a TV morning show in Sacramento suffering from poor ratings. Morale in the studio is so low that crew members have begun bickering with each other, even co-hosts Georgia (Cheryl Hines) and Larry Redding (John Michael Higgins) who happen to be married to each other.
Faced with the prospect of having her program cancelled, Abby grudgingly agrees to let her boss (Nick Searcy) make several programming changes. But she would never have guessed that the first person he’d hire would be a sexist like Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a womanizer with a popular relationship advice show on public access television.
It turns out that just the night before, Abby happened to tune in to an episode of “The Ugly Truth” by accident. And she’d been so outraged by Mike’s misogynistic musings that she was prompted to call in to confront him on the air about his pronouncement that all men are shallow and only interested in a woman’s looks. Unfortunately, he got the better of the exchange, putting the anonymous caller on the defensive by insinuating that she was a lonely spinster.
Romantically-challenged Abby’s love life has admittedly been a disappointment, between focusing on her career and saving herself for the sort of perfect gentleman that macho Mike claims doesn’t exist. Of course, the two butt heads from the moment he arrives at the station the following morning, especially when he goes over her head to get approval for segments featuring everything from female Jello wrestling to a couple of brainless bimbos billed as “The Fun Bag Twins.”
So unfolds The Ugly Truth, a predictable battle-of-the-sexes comedy directed by Robert Luketic. Only in a formulaic Hollywood fairytale could an infuriated feminist like Abby eventually fall for a creepy cave man like Mike. The script (written by a trio of ostensibly self-hating females, by the way) has her going gaga over a date-rape advocate who believes that “Just because she says no doesn’t mean she means no.”
But worse than the implausible and patently offensive plotline is the picture’s relentlessly-raunchy brand of humor designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator in a decidedly-coarse fashion. Ugly, and that’s the truth!

Fair (1 star)
Rated R for sexuality and profanity.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: 6 deleted scenes, 2 alternate endings, gag reel, select scene commentary by the director and producer, and a couple of featurettes.