Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam's Kapsules:
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening December 31, 2010

BIG BUDGET FILMS

None

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Another Year (PG-13 for profanity) Six-time Oscar-nominee Mike Leigh wrote and directed this British sit-dram revolving around four seasons in the life of a happily-married, middle-aged couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) who find themselves surrounded by relatively-morose friends, relatives and colleagues in emotional crisis. With Lesley Manville, Oliver Maltman and Peter Wight.

Biutiful (R for profanity, nudity, disturbing images, drug use and some sexuality) Bittersweet redemption drama, set in Barcelona, about the effort of a tormented, terminally-ill, career criminal (Javier Bardem) with a couple months to live to reconcile with his philandering, bipolar ex-wife (Maricel Alvarez) and to provide for his kids’ care in the wake of his demise. With Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella and Eduard Fernandez. (In English and Spanish with subtitles)

Blue Valentine (R for profanity, a beating and graphic sexuality) Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling co-star in this slice-of-life drama deconstructing the disintegration of the once-blissful marriage of an increasingly-contentious couple with a young child (Faith Wladyka). With Ben Shenkman, Jen Jones and Mike Vogel.

The Red Chapel (Unrated) Behind the Bamboo Curtain documentary about a couple of subversive Danish comedians (Jacob Nossell and Simon Jul Jorgenson) who get permission to tour of North Korea on the pretense of performing their peripatetic vaudeville act as a gesture promoting cultural exchange. (In Danish, English and Korean with subtitles)

The Way Back (PG-13 for violence, a nude image, depictions of physical hardships, and brief profanity) Fact-based bio-pic, based on Slavomir Rawicz’s memoir chronicling his undertaking a grueling 4,500 mile trek from Siberia to India following an escape with a half-dozen fellow prisoners from a Russian gulag in the Forties. With Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Dejan Angelov and Yordan Bikov.

The 10 Best Black Books of 2010 (Non-Fiction)

by Kam Williams


1. The Grace of Silence: A Memoir
by Michele Norris

Quite frankly, this heartbreaking memoir in which the author wistfully recounts her family’s quiet and dignified way of dealing with racism and discrimination, moved me to tears. NPR’s Michele Norris describes lives painfully limited by the color line, including a litany of humiliations endured by relatives well before she was born, such as the indignities suffered by her maternal grandmother while employed by Quaker Oats as a traveling Aunt Jemima.
Particularly poignant is the painstaking lengths Michele goes to resurrect the besmirched name of her late father. For following his honorable discharge from the military after serving in World War II, he’d returned to his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, reasonably believing he’d earned the right to vote by fighting for his country.
So he and other black veterans began making treks to the courthouse downtown to attempt to register. However, in an incident which was subsequently covered-up by a falsified police report full of lies, her father was shot while wearing his Navy uniform by a police officer who charged him with attempted robbery and resisting arrest. The truth just unearthed by his intrepid daughter during a recent return to Birmingham belatedly clears his name, even though his innocence had been impossible to prove back in the Jim Crow South.
A very intimate, riveting and revealing cultural keepsake apt to resonate deeply with any African-American family inclined to reflect honestly on the oft-unspoken legacy of generation after generation of ancestors who had to cope in a world where bigoted whites could get away with anything.


2. Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority
by Tom Burrell

Ever since the dawn of the nation when the Founding Fathers deliberately rationalized slavery by spreading the big lie that black people were inferior, African-Americans have suffered from serious self-esteem issues. But why has this phenomenon continued to persist so long past emancipation and the elimination of the Jim Crow system of segregation?
This is the nagging thought which inspired Tom Burrell to write Brainwashed. After all, as an advertising executive with 45 years in the business, he was well aware of the power of propaganda. So he knew that American society has done such a good job on the minds of blacks that they have not only internalized but have willingly participated in the perpetuation and further dissemination of nearly every negative stereotype propagated about them by the media.
Mr. Burell explores his subject-matter at considerable length and depth with the hope of helping to eradicate self-destructive behaviors. He believes that people have to heal from the inside-out, so his solutions start with each individual’s recognition that you’ve been brainwashed, and that you can reprogram your mind because it is ultimately under your control.
A potentially-transformative, seminal treatise provided readers are receptive to contemplating commonly-accepted cultural practices like the use of the N-word, corporal punishment and hair relaxers as possibly the vestiges of a deep-seated self-hatred implanted in the brain by white supremacist notions.


3. Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family
by Condoleezza Rice

Given all that Condoleezza Rice went on to accomplish in life, it’s hard to
believe that she was born in Birmingham, Alabama in the Fifties during the repressive reign of Jim Crow segregation. But somehow, despite spending her formative years in a city where state-sanctioned discrimination served to frustrate the aspirations of most other African-Americans, she miraculously managed to overachieve with the help of her doting parents.
The former Secretary of State pays tribute to their herculean effort in this remarkably-revealing memoir by a very private, public figure who has until now played her cards pretty close to the vest. But you had a sense something might be up when she was spotted playing piano behind Aretha at a concert in Philadelphia last summer. And after reading this intimate autobiography it’s clear that underneath that seemingly-steely veneer beats the heart is an introspective sister yearning to recognize and return to her roots.
An evocative opus fully humanizing a once-inscrutable Madam Secretary. I just have one question: May I call you Condi at the homecoming party?


4. The Next Big Story
by Soledad O’Brien
with Rose Marie Arce

In this engaging autobiography, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien revisits her challenging formative years in order to illustrate how overcoming childhood adversity perhaps served to shape not only her personality but her compassionate approach to her career as an award-winningtelevision journalist. Whether it was being asked “Are you black?” by a portrait photographer at the age of 11, being teased “If you’re a [N-word] why don’t you have big lips?” by an 8th grader in the hallway at school, or having to hear “Why do I have to sit next to the black girl?” coming from the sister of a friend, Soledad suffered a host of indignities on the path to the peak of her profession.
Fortunately, once in a position to make a difference while covering disasters like the Great Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina or the Haitian Earthquake, this intrepid reporter has kept the pedal to the medal in an indefatigable quest to shed light on the plight of the least of her brethren. As for her private life, we learn that the freckle-faced, dedicated mother of four was an ugly duckling who never dated in high school before blossoming in Boston where she met her husband, Brad.
A moving memoir which does justice to the effervescent spirit and unbridled intellectual curiosity of a truly empathetic soul my faithful readers already know just might be the brightest person I’ve had the privilege of interviewing.

5. Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness
by Randal Pinkett and Jeffrey Robinson

As a journalist privileged to have access to many celebrities, a question I often like to ask in interviews with African-American captains of industry is how they managed to flourish in a predominantly white environment where so many other talented blacks have simultaneously failed to do so. Now, we finally have a satisfactory answer to that query thanks to Dr. Randal Pinkett, winner of Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice.
For, in conjunction with his longtime business partner, Dr. Jeffrey “J.R.” Robinson, Randal has written a viable blueprint for blacks trying to make it in corporate America. Here, he and J.R. serve up sage advice culled from a combination of their own experiences and those of dozens of equally-accomplished black contemporaries they interviewed for the project. In a nutshell, their sacred 10 Commandments range from a stress on excellence to seeking out the wisdom of mentors to maximizing synergy and scale.
A helpful handbook designed for the average African-American armed with credentials yet in a quandary about how to flourish in the midst of a corporate culture tainted by intolerance in terms of skin color.

6. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander

Now that the bloom has fallen off the rose of the Obama Administration, most black folks are beginning to wake up to the fact that his election isn’t about to turn the country into a post-racial utopia any time soon. To the contrary, attorney Michelle Alexander argues that in recent decades America has increasingly, and ever so subtly, adopted a color-coded caste system where minorities are targeted, stigmatized and marginalized by the criminal justice system.
Alexander, a Professor of Law at Ohio State University, makes her very persuasive case in this scathing indictment of the widespread practice of selective enforcement of draconian drug laws. Ostensibly, the aim of the U.S. government has been not only to warehouse masses of African-American males behind bars, but to relegate them permanently to a subordinate stratum of society even after they’re paroled.
If the author holds out any hope for our future, it rests in raising the country’s collective consciousness about the role the Apartheid-like legal system plays in perpetuating oppression along the color line. Her goal, as delineated in this sterling text, is to work towards that end by generating some frank dialogue leading to a social movement on behalf of the vast underclass of unfairly-criminalized social pariahs.


7. Black Business Secrets: 500 Tips, Strategies, and Resources for the African-American Entrepreneur
by Dante Lee
Foreword by Randal Pinkett

During these dire economic times when the overall unemployment rate in the U.S. has dipped to 9.8%, you can be sure that that figure is at least double in the African-American community. And after the Democrats took what even President Obama referred to as a “shellacking” on Election Day, they’ve already capitulated to the Republican demand that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy be extended.
Therefore, if you’re presently out of work, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the supposedly-stimulative effect of that windfall for the rich to trickle-down to you in the form of a job. Instead, may I suggest perusing this invaluable how-to tome designed with ambitious self-starters in mind.
The book was written by Dante Lee, the CEO of Diversity City Media and a bona fide success story in his own right. He shares a cornucopia of practical advice based on his experiences about what’s involved in getting a profitable money-making operation off the ground.
A plausible primer for financial success aimed at any aspiring entrepreneur equipped with a viable business plan and the requisite amalgam of guts, determination and common sense to make their dream a reality.


8. Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work
by Edwidge Danticat

This inspirational opus is a collection of essays based on a series of lectures tackling a variety of universal themes apt to resonate with any immigrant reflecting about the oppression they left behind in coming to the United States in search of fundamental freedoms, particularly Freedom of Speech. A 2009 winner of a MacArthur Genius Fellowship, author Edwidge Danticat’s focus is explained by the fact that she was born in Haiti and had to spend her formative years under the thumb of the ruthlessly repressive Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier regimes.
The book opens with a gripping description of a public execution in the Sixties of a couple of Haitian political dissidents in a crowded Port-au-Prince town square aired live on TV, on a specially-declared national holiday when schools and businesses were closed in order to enable everyone to observe the grisly deaths by firing squad. But Edwidge points out that the true purpose of Duvalier’s turning the event into such a spectacle was to discourage the populace from ever voicing their discontent with the status quo.
Obviously, in the case of Ms. Danticat, such attempts at intimidation ultimately backfired, for the inveterate firebrand grew up to stake her career on exposing injustice and challenging authority. The magical musings and flowery phrasings of a gifted wordsmith who, it must be noted, writes not in her native French but in the English of her adopted homeland.



9. A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond
by Craig Robinson

This heartfelt homage by Craig Robinson credits his parents, Marian and the late Fraser Robinson, III, with making countless selfless sacrifices on behalf of him and his little sister Michelle while instilling them both with “fundamental values like love, discipline and respect.” What makes the book so compelling to his critic is that after having read so many mediocre unauthorized biographies about the Obamas, we finally have a legit opus by a person who you tend to believe when he says he grew up sharing the same bedroom with his little sis who is now the First Lady. Sorry, nobody can question the cred of anyone that close to her.
And when you factor in that Chicago witnessed 40 gang-related shootings on the Southside over a recent weekend, the deteriorating state of affairs in the Windy City makes this uplifting success story about how a couple of kids miraculously made it out of that very same ‘hood all the more remarkable, refreshing and eminently worthwhile.


10. The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
and Race, Class and Crime in America
by Charles Ogletree

Everybody remembers how President Obama invited both Harvard Professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates and the police sergeant who arrested him for breaking into his own home down to the White House to bury the hatchet over drinks in the Rose Garden. That photo-op was dubbed Beer-Gate, but the nagging question left unanswered was whether what had transpired back in Cambridge was really an isolated incident unlikely to reoccur or merely a reflection of a longstanding, police pattern of profiling African-American males all across the country.
Shedding considerable light on the issue is Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree in this dissection of the matter from a predominantly legal perspective. Granted, as Dr. Gates’ attorney of record, Ogletree definitely had a horse in the race, so one might question his impartiality when he makes mincemeat here of Sgt. Crowley’s rationale for jailing his client.
However, what’s of far more interest and ultimately dispositive are the anecdotal accounts offered in the book by over a hundred well-educated, highly-accomplished brothers about their own run-ins with the law. It seems that everyone has a nightmare to share, from civil rights pioneer Julian Bond to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to actor Blair Underwood to Bay State Banner Editor Howard Manly to Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan to former Clinton aide Keith Boykin.
Proof-positive that, yes, Obama may be in the White House, but a post-racial utopia remains yet to be realized.


Honorable Mention


11. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson



12. Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture
by Thomas Chatterton Williams



13. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
by Wes Moore



14. The History of White People
by Nell Irvin Painter



15. Children of Fire: A History of African-Americans
by Thomas C. Holt



16. Damn Near White: An African-American Family’s Rise from Slavery to Bittersweet Success
by Carolyn Marie Wilkins



17. SistahFaith: Real Stories of Pain, Truth and Triumph
Edited by Marilynn Griffith



18. Decoded
by Jay-Z



19. The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House
by Roland S. Martin



20. Do I Have to Be a Starving Artist in the 21st Century?
by Hisani Dubose



21. The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom
by Daymond John



22. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
by Barack Obama



23. Before Truth Set Me Free
by Vanessa “Fluffy” Murray-Yisrael



24. America I AM: A Journal
Edited by Clarence Reynolds



25. Why Do I Have to Think Like a Man?
by Shanae Hall

This Week’s DVD Releases

by Kam Williams

Headline: Top Ten DVD List for December 21st 2010

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps


Easy A


The Films of Rita Hayworth


Soul Kitchen


The Andy Griffith Show 50th Anniversary: The Best of Mayberry


Salt


The Big Shot-Caller


The House of Steinbrenner


D.C. Sniper


Step Up 3



Honorable Mention

The Heavy


Beautiful Kate


Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo


Rivers Wash over Me


Billy the Exterminator: Season One

Dulé Hill: The “Psych” Interview

with Kam Williams

Headline: “Psych”-ing Out Dulé

Dulé Hill stars as Burton ‘Gus’ Guster on the USA Network series Psych which airs on Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT and at 9 PM CT. Best known for his work as Charlie Young on “The West Wing,” Hill first came to prominence as The Kid opposite Savion Glover and Jeffrey Wright in the Broadway production of "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk."
His stage credits also include "Black and Blue," "Shenandoah" and "The Little Rascals." In 2007, he returned to the stage where he starred in “Dutchman,” Amiri Baraka’s Obie award-winning play about a white woman who seduces a naïve, bourgeois black man on a subway train with terrifying results.
Born to Jennifer Garner and Bertholomu Hillshire in Orange, New Jersey on May 3, 1975 and raised with his elder brother, Bert, in nearby Sayreville, Dulé began attending dance school when he was 3 and received his first break in 1983 as the understudy to Savion Glover in “The Tap Dance Kid" on Broadway. He went on to perform the lead role in the musical’s national tour alongside Harold Nicholas.
In 1999, he joined the cast of the acclaimed NBC series "The West Wing," playing the personal aide to the President (Martin Sheen) and, subsequently, deputy special assistant to the chief of staff (Allison Janney). During his 7 seasons on the series, Hill garnered an Emmy Award nomination and 4 NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, as well as receiving 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ensemble in a drama series.
On the big screen, Hill appeared opposite William H. Macy in an adaptation of David Mamet's “Edmond,” and Andrew Davis' “The Guardian.” His film credits also include “Holes,” an adaptation of the award-winning children's novel by Louis Sachar, plus “Sugar Hill,” “She’s All That” and the independent film “Sexual Life.”
Here, he talks about Psych, a lighthearted, crime-solving series where he plays a private eye whose partner (James Roday) pretends to be clairvoyant.

Kam Williams: Hey, Dulé, thanks for the time.
Dule Hill: Oh, it’s my pleasure.

KW: I’d like to start right in with questions sent in for you by my readers. Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you believe people have psychic powers? Have you ever experienced anything psychic in real life?
DH: I do believe that there are a few of those rare folks out there with a sixth sense who really do have psychic powers. But I think the majority of people who claim to be psychics are frauds. As for myself, I’ve never experienced anything personally, except on one occasion when I was a kid with a friend of mine who has passed away since. He was spending the night over at my house and tried to wake him up because he was mumbling to himself in his sleep. I asked him what he was talking about and he said, “Oh, man, I had this dream that your little cousin was here and bothering me by climbing on my back.” It turned out that later that day one of my cousins did come over and start messing with him. That was definitely strange. But besides that, I haven’t had any psychic experiences.

KW: I guess Miss Cleo of Psychic Friends Network infomercial fame ruined it for real psychics once she was exposed as a fraud.
DH: Yeah, any Jamaican could’ve told you from the first time they saw the commercial that she was a fake, because her accent was terrible. [Laughs]

KW: FSU grad Laz Lyles says: I love Psych. I just really want to know how they've been able to keep it so darn funny and fresh for this long. The show is hilarious!
DH: For one, you have to take your hat off to Steve Franks, the show’s creator, and to the writing staff that he’s assembled. They’re very good at seeing where we’re going both onscreen and as actors, and getting in that lane and taking it further. They also give us a lot of freedom, which is good. They’re not so strict about sticking to the script. If we come up with something really funny to do while we’re on the set, they’ll allow us to go off on that tangent, and 80% of the time it’ll end up on the show. Having that freedom to move within the structure helps a lot. It’s kind of like jazz or any kind of improv. It’s a great collaborative effort, which helps the show to be so funny. But it’s impossible to say exactly what makes it all click. When lightning strikes, you just have to enjoy it and hope it continues a while longer.

KW: I’d guess that the key is the chemistry and comic timing of the stars, you and James Roday, because you guys seem very natural and give the feeling that you really like each other.
DH: Well, James and I have been good friends ever since we joined the cast. There’s a mutual respect there for each other’s talent, artistry and humanity. Plus, we have a good time on the set, and enjoy being around each other. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. That goes a long way, because we don’t have to manufacture a sense of camaraderie when the cameras start rolling. We come to work looking to have a great time everyday. We get our job done, but the set is a fun place to be.

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Has your role on Psych evolved, and how do you see it evolving further?
DH: The role has definitely evolved since the pilot season. Steve Franks had always promised that it was going to expand. If you compare the first few episodes from the first season to recent ones, you’ll see that the quality of Shawn and Gus’ interaction is richer, and that Gus stands up for himself a little more. It’s a fuller friendship at this point. As for where the development of my character is headed, I can’t say. But I’d really like to see Gus date more. He doesn’t necessarily have to succeed at dating, but just step out there, especially now that Shawn and Juliet’s relationship is really kicking off. Gus has to start asking, what am I going to do with my life?

KW: Nick Antoine asks: Are James Roday and Maggie Lawson dating in real life?
DH: I believe that’s public knowledge, now, so I think it’s safe for me to say, “Yes, they are.”

KW: Nick also asks: How much would you say you’re like your character, Gus?
DH: I don’t think I’m like Gus at all, really. I don’t store lots of trivia in my brain. He knows something about everything, like all these random facts about the Eighties. I think I’m not as hyped as Gus is. I’m smoother and more laidback. I do like to have fun and to play games; otherwise, I don’t think I’m too much like him.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I did tap dance for over 12 years which is one of my passions. Tap dance was very popular in the past with people like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers. Later, Paula Abdul and Gregory Hines were among the few people who modernized tap. As an expert in tap dance, what would you say needs to be done to put this genre of art back on the map?
DH: That’s an excellent question, although I wouldn’t call myself an expert tap dancer. [Laughs] Something I’m constantly turning over in my head is a way of getting tap back into the public eye. I tried to take some baby steps by doing a tap episode on Psych this year. But I don’t think it’s going to be an overnight revival. It’s probably going to be something that starts small and builds into a multi-faceted groundswell. It might have to begin on the theater side, on the stage, before working its way to television more widely. The internet can play a big role, too, in educating the masses as a whole about what really good tap dancing is.

KW: Patricia also says: Your parents are from Jamaica. Marcus Garvey is one of the greatest heroes from your parents' country. If Garvey were alive today, what do you think he would have said about the fact that we now have an African-American president?
DH: Wow! I would hope that he would be proud of the country’s taking that major step forward. But I think he might also say that the race doesn’t stop there. We still have further to go to open the floodgates and create more opportunities for our people to achieve that same level of success in other fields so they can fully realize the American Dream.

KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles says: Psych reminds me of the TV series I Spy, with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. Have you ever gotten that before and what do you think of the comparison?
DH: I have heard that before, but I don’t know much about I Spy. I’ve figured out that they were detectives, and that there’s a black and white connection, but I’ve never seen a full episode. So, I can’t say whether I see any similarities. Maybe I should try to download it.
KW: Harriet also says she read that you were recently denied membership on a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) committee because you couldn't prove residency. Do you think someone might one day object to your running for president on this basis?
DH: That information she received may be a little off. I don’t think that’s true, because I served on several SAG committees just last year. I actually asked to be pulled off some committees this year because of my schedule. I didn’t want to serve, if I couldn’t devote my time to it. So, I pulled myself off the committees.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
DH: I would say something about falling short of the bar I set for myself, or about my faith, because I’m a Christian.

KW: So, how important is faith to you, and how often do you fall short of the bar you set for yourself?
DH: Faith is the number one priority in my life, above all, and trying to live up to my potential. At the same time, I know that in my personal life, I fall short often. To me, it’s always about not repeating my mistakes and about trying to improve each day. That’s what I work on in quiet moments of reflection.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
DH: Yes, there are times when I’m afraid, but I don’t allow myself to dwell there. Whatever the situation is, whether emotional or physical, I don’t react to it, I just rest in it. I don’t reside in that area of fear. I try to rise above it and keep moving forward.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
DH: Yes, very happy.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?
DH: I laugh every day, but I’d probably say I had my last really good one about three days ago.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
DH: My guiltiest pleasure? Video games and the spa. [Chuckles]

KW: The “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan’s question: Where in L.A. do you live?
DH: I live in the Valley.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
DH: Right now, I’m reading “The Enough Moment,” a book by John Prendergast and Don Cheadle about all the atrocities going on in Africa in places like Darfur, Uganda and the Congo.
And the last book I finished was “Desperate Networks.”


KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What are you listening to on your iPod?
DH: Mostly reggae, gospel and some jazz. But I’d say about 85% reggae music.

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
DH: [LOL] That’s a loaded question, because you’re implying that I can cook. When I do cook, I make French toast and scrambled eggs. That’s my wife [actress Nicole Lyn] in the background who’s saying “Don’t lie!” [Laughs some more] The key word there is “when” and those occasions are few and far between.

KW: What is your favorite dish to eat then?
DH: I love sushi, and two Jamaican entrees: Escovitch fish and jerk chicken.

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?
DH: Off the top of my head, I’d say I like Ben Sherman and Mark Ecko a lot.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
DH: I see a good brother who’s trying to make it happen. I may not be the greatest man, but I’m a good guy.

KW: How do you feel about being nominated for an NAACP Image Award seven times but never winning one?
DH: I’m sort of like the Susan Lucci of the NAACP Awards. {Laughs] So, whenever I get a nomination, I never take it too seriously. It’s all good, though.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?
DH: One wish… Oh man… It would be for everyone to be met at the place of their greatest need.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
DH: I think it was going with my parents to look at the house I grew up in. I must have been about 2½ or 3. We were living with my aunt and uncle at the time.

KW: Larry Greenberg says: I read that you grew up in Sayreville, NJ. I was recently at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville for the first time. Did you
ever perform there when you lived there?
DH: No, I never even heard of the Starland Ballroom. [Chuckles] It probably was called something else back then.

KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?
DH: That’s a good question. [Pauses to think] Hero’s a strong word. I’d have to say my maternal grandmother, Ivy Hayes, who has passed away, because she was always there, always about her family, and she sacrificed for her family. And Berris Hill, my grandfather on my dad’s side. Unfortunately, he’s deceased too.

KW: What has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
DH: When my family lost the house in Sayreville after 14 years. That time period taught me a lot.

KW: Can you come up with a good generic question I can call the Dulé Hill question when I interview other celebrities?
DH: Yeah, do you think that the success you’ve achieved in your career is because of you, because of a higher power, or because of a mixture of both?

KW: That’s a good one, thanks. What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
DH: I’d say, set a vision and go for it, because there’s power in commitment. And you have to be disciplined, and willing to take risks and to put in the effort. I stayed the course when I was struggling in L.A. even after my dough got low and my agent had dropped me. I only had enough money to cover about another month and a half of my bills at that point. I remember sitting in my living room and saying that I was determined to be an actor, that I was either going to be successful at it, or spend the rest of my life trying.

KW: The Flex Alexander question: How did you get through those tough times?
DH: It’s really about having faith in yourself. The mind is a powerful thing. You really have to challenge yourself to stay the course, even when everything seems to be saying, “Pack up shop.” When God told me to go to L.A., he didn’t say there wouldn’t be any struggles. He told me to keep pressing through. So, I had to get my mind right.

KW: The Tavis Smiley questions. First, how introspective are you?
DH: I think I’m pretty introspective. There are those moments when I’m spontaneous, but I generally think things through, especially during my quiet time.

KW: You know who you remind me of interviewing you? Ang Lee. You have a similar energy. Have you ever met him?
DH: No I haven’t, but now I definitely would like to.

KW: The second Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?
DH: As a man who cared about others, who really put himself out for others.

KW: Well, thanks again Dulé, and best of luck with the season finale this week. And I’m already looking forward to next season and seeing your character further developed on Psych.
DH: Thanks a lot, Kam. I really appreciate it.

The Fighter

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Wahlberg Stars as Real-Life Rocky in Overcoming-the-Odds Bio-Pic

Veteran boxing fans are undoubtedly familiar with the exploits of “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), the light-welterweight pugilist from Lowell, Massachusetts best remembered for a trio of memorable matches against the late Arturo Gatti. In fact, two of the gladiators’ epic battles (one in 2002, the other in 2003) were dubbed “The Fight of the Year” by Ring Magazine.
But don’t expect to see any of those classic showdowns in The Fighter, an overcoming-the-odds bio-pic which culminates a couple of years earlier with Micky’s first world championship bout in London against the division’s then reigning titleholder, Shea Neary (Anthony Molinari). For cinematic purposes, director David O. Russell (Three Kings) was far more interested here in recreating the rampant dysfunction marking his protagonist’s personal life than with merely chronicling the aspiring contender’s rise inside the ring.
Consequently, the character-driven plotline proves particularly compelling, thanks to its examination of Micky’s angst as he contemplates cutting the ties to the albatross hanging around his neck, namely, his smothering tight-knit family. Reminiscent of the cast of Jersey Shore, except with thick New England accents, the trashy clan is run with an iron fist by his domineering mom, Alice (Melissa Leo), a meddling matriarch who doubles as his business manager.
Meanwhile, she’s directed her other son, Dicky (Christian Bale), to serve as Micky’s trainer. But that hasn’t been working out at all because he’s a washed-up boxer with a crack pipe dream of mounting a comeback, despite a bad drug habit and regular run-ins with the law. The boys also have seven sisters, gum-smacking, couch potatoes sporting mullets who function as a veritable Greek chorus inclined to rubber stamp their momma’s every wish, however unreasonable.
Micky finally summons up the gumption to do something about his family’s always frustrating his potential after he falls in love at first sight with Charlene (Amy Adams), a college-educated bartender offering him the kind of encouragement and support that he really needs. The proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back arrives when he brings her home to meet the folks only to have them tarnish her name with unsubstantiated gossip designed to wreck their budding romance before it even has a chance to blossom.
That unwarranted attempt at sabotage has a salutary effect on Micky who steels his resolve to find a capable corner man to replace Dicky in order to begin his inexorable assault on the boxing crown. A fitting tribute to a real-life Rocky and Adrian featuring a quartet of inspired performances by Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, sexuality, drug use and pervasive profanity.
Running time: 115 Minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Blacktrospective 2010

by Kam Williams

Headline: Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema


Ten Best Black Feature Films

1. Just Wright
2. Why Did I Get Married Too?
3. Prince of Broadway
4. Brooklyn’s Finest
5. Lottery Ticket
6. For Colored Girls
7. Night Catches Us
8. Blood Done Sign My Name
9. Frankie and Alice
10. Takers


Best Black Documentaries

1. We Need to Talk
2. Biracial, Not Black, Damn It!
3. Neshoba
4. The Other City
5. Waiting for Superman
6. The Lottery
7. A Place Out of Time
8. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
9. Ghettophysics
10. To Live and Die in Amerikkka


Best African Films

1. Africa United
2. White Wedding
3. Soul Boy
4. Bouncing Cats
5. Soundtrack for a Revolution


Best Actor (Lead Role)

1. Nate Parker (Blood Done Sign My Name)
2. Prince Adu (Prince of Broadway)
3. Bow Wow (Lottery Ticket)
4. Don Cheadle (Brooklyn’s Finest)
5. Common (Just Wright)
6. Anthony Mackie (Night Catches Us)
7. Tyrese (Legion)
8. Denzel Washington (Unstoppable)
9. Terry Crews (The Expendables)
10. Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid)


Best Actor (Supporting Role)

1. Diddy (Get Him to the Greek)
2. J.B. Smoove (Date Night)
3. Samuel L. Jackson (The Other Guys)
4. Chiwetel Ejiofor (Salt)
5. Wesley Snipes (Brooklyn’s Finest)
6. T.I. (Takers)
7. The Rock (The Other Guys)
8. Ving Rhames (Piranha 3D)
9. Keb’ Mo’ (Who Do You Love)
10. Morgan Freeman (Red)


Best Actress (Lead Role)

1. Queen Latifah (Just Wright)
2. Sonequa Martin (Toe to Toe)
3. Kerry Washington (Mother and Child, Night Catches Us)
4. Thandie Newton (For Colored Girls)
5. Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married Too)
6. Letoya Luckett (Preacher’s Kid)
7. Janet Jackson (Why Did I Get Married Too?)
8. Kimberly Elise (For Colored Girls)
9. Halle Berry (Frankie and Alice)
10. Jill Scott (Why Did I Get Married Too?)


Best Actress (Supporting Role)

1. Paula Patton (Just Wright)
2. Loretta Devine (For Colored Girls)
3. Sharon Leal (Why Did I Get Married Too)
4. Keyali Mayaga (Prince of Broadway)
5. Kerry Washington (For Colored Girls)
6. YaYa DaCosta (The Kids Are All Right)
7. Zoe Kravitz (It’s Kind of a Funny Story)
8. Phylicia Rashad (For Colored Girls)
9. Janet Jackson (For Colored Girls)
10. Tessa Thompson (For Colored Girls)


Best Director (Feature Film)
1. Sanaa Hamri (Just Wright)
2. Tyler Perry (For Colored Girls, Why Did I Get Married Too?)
3. Erik White (Lottery Ticket)
4. Antoine Fuqua (Brooklyn’s Finest)
5. Tanya Hamilton (Night Catches Us)


Best Director (Documentary)

1. Janks Morton (We Need to Talk, Guilty Until Proven Innocent)
2. Carolyn Battle Cochrane (Biracial, Not Black, Damn It!)
3. E. Raymond Brown (Ghettophysics)
4. Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed (To Live and Die in Amerikkka)
5. Nabil Elderkin (Bouncing Cats)


Worst Film

1. Harlem Aria
2. Grown Ups
3. Our Family Wedding
4. Death at a Funeral
5. The Losers


Worst Actor

1. Damon Wayans (Harlem Aria)
2. Chris Rock (Grown Ups, Death at a Funeral)
3. Forest Whitaker (Our Family Wedding, Repo Men)
4. Lance Gross (Our Family Wedding)
5. Martin Lawrence (Death at a Funeral)


Worst Actress

1. Zoe Saldana (Death at a Funeral, Losers)
2. Maya Rudolph (Grown Ups)
3. Anna Maria Horsford (Our Family Wedding)
4. Regina Hall (Death at a Funeral)
5. Eyde Byrde (Harlem Aria)

Holiday DVD Gift Guide

by Kam Williams

Headline: A Potpourri of Suggested Stocking Stuffers

Christmas Themes

The Night before Christmas and More Classic Holiday Tales


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Natalie Cole
Live in Concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir


Coopers’ Christmas


Yes Virginia


Bikini Bloodbath Christmas


Super Why: ‘Twas the Night before Christmas


Barbie in a Christmas Carol


The Dog Who Saved Christmas


Educational for Younger Kids

Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics


Sing-Along Travel Kit


Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus


A Pocket for Corduroy


The Rosemary Wells Collection



Assorted Adult

Humphrey Bogart: The Essential Collection


Get Him to the Greek


NBA A-Z Bloopers


Scott Pilgrim vs. The World


The Bing Crosby Collection


Robin Hood


Charlie St. Cloud


Welcome to Earth