Very Young Girls

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: NYC Documentary Shows It’s Hard Out There for a Ho, Too

Anyone with a pre-teen daughter ought to be required
to watch this revealing expose’. For, 13 is now the average age at which an unsuspecting girl becomes ensnared in a life of prostitution in the United States.
What is most shocking is the fact that most of these adolescents come from good families and were your average adolescents when they disappeared in an instant after being kidnapped by some sweet-talking pimp they met while alone on the street or in a public place like a bus stop or a train station. Perhaps because this is an age where pimps are a part of mainstream culture, being enthusiastically promoted on TV by everyone from rapper Snoop Dogg to comedian Katt Williams, impressionable females are apparently not being effectively schooled about how evil and seductive these monsters actually are.
Very Young Girls is an eye-opening documentary by David Schisgall and Nina Alvarez, although the filmmakers ought to share directorial credits with Anthony and Chris Griffith, since these sick siblings shot a lot of the footage. Believe it or not, the brothers are New York pimps who have videotaped themselves plying their trade hoping to interest BET or some other network into giving them their own reality show. So, we’re treated to the sight of these vultures roaming the city in their pimpmobile, boasting “We’re gonna find a new ho today.”
Just as compelling as the antics of these godless creeps are the heartbreaking stories of their victims. For instance, there’s Shaneiqua who was an A-student when abducted at the age of 12. She recounts how she was flattered that a 30 year-old man was showering her with attention.
However, two weeks after one took her virginity, his personality changed like Jekyll and Hyde. He suddenly announced for the first time that he was a pimp, raped her anally, and called her a dumb bitch before turning her out on the street.
The sad narratives of the other girls interviewed here sound similar. 13 year-old Dominique says she doesn’t understand why her pimp beat her and had other whores slap her, too. She admits to snorting coke before having sex in a crackhouse with a dozen guys who dumped her in the back of an abandoned car without any seats when they were through with her.
Kim wants to run away but is scared since she’s been threatened with death by her pimp. Staci wonders why her parents haven’t come to rescue her. 14 year-old Nicole, who says she was kidnapped and forced to sleep with 30 men in 5 days, was recently arrested, but treated like a criminal instead of a victim.
The picture drives home the point that the criminal justice system is not working since these teens are being carted off to jail when they obviously ought to be hospitalized or returned to their parents. The picture also highlights the efforts of one desperate mother, LaSharon, to rescue her underage daughter who’s been missing for a couple of months and is rumored to be under the thumb of a pimp.
Believe it or not, the cops callously refuse to intervene when LaSharon arrives at her local precinct with a fresh lead, since they prefer to treat the case as a runaway, not as an abduction. Fortunately, there is a group willing to help, the Girls Education Monitoring Services (GEMS). Founded by Rachel Lloyd, herself a survivor of sexual exploitation, the organization is relentless in its efforts to find young hookers in order to offer them shelter, protection and an avenue back to a normal life.
Yeah, it’s hard out here for the million plus hos currently caught up in the world’s oldest profession, but should we really be surprised about this explosion in human trafficking in the ghetto when it has been celebrated for over a decade in every other gangsta’ video?

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 83 minutes
Studio: Swinging T Productions
Distributor: Showtime Networks

To see a trailer of Very Young Girls, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fX6EaHuRCg

The Tracey Fragments DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Ellen Page as Another Troubled Teen

When we last saw Ellen Page, she was delivering her Oscar-nominated performance as Juno, a terminally-hip smart aleck who frustrated her parents by making light of her pregnancy after being knocked-up by a boy she barely knew. Now the talented young actress is back in another title role as another troubled teen from another dysfunctional nuclear family, except she’s not cracking any jokes.
As Tracey Berkowitz, she plays a clinically-depressed 15 year-old in crisis who hates herself, wants to be raped and murdered, and suspects that she might be going insane to boot. The source of her despair starts with her emotionally-distant mother (Erin McMurtry), a chain-smoking, substance-abusing couch potato and her failure of a father (Ari Cohen) who takes his daughter to a drag queen psychiatrist (Julian Richings).
Life is just as bad for Tracey at school where her cruel classmates call her everything from “Geek Girl” to “Slutty Pants.” Given all of the above, it’s not much of a surprise that at the point of departure we’d find her wrapped naked in a shower curtain and riding around Toronto on the back seat of a bus, claiming to be looking for the little brother (Zie Souwand) she’s hypnotized into believing he’s a dog.
But because The Tracey Fragments is a flashback flick, most of the movie is devoted to showing exactly why the waifish Ms. Berkowitz went berserk as she meanders about the metropolis mumbling to herself in a rage. Director Bruce McDonald deserves high praise for the chance he takes, here, departing from convention by experimenting with split screens for the duration of his claustrophobic psychodrama. The dizzying cinematic technique works, making for a viewing experience that is as convincing as it is unsettling.
Juno’s crazy twin sister!

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 77 minutes
Studio: THINKfilm Company
DVD Extras: “The Making of” featurette.

To see a trailer of The Tracey Fragments, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-TbdIKhvn4

Stop-Loss DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Drama about Iraq War’s Emotional Toll Released on DVD

After serving in Iraq, Staff Sergeant Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) returned to Texas a decorated war hero. However, all the accolades did next to nothing to ameliorate the deep emotional toll taken on his psyche by the months on end spent engaged in deadly battle.
So, now that the patriotic hoopla has died down, King finds himself plagued by flashbacks. And while his well-meaning parents (Ciaran Hinds and Linda Emond) might be happy to have their son back, they simply aren’t equipped to recognize the signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Fortunately, the about to be honorably discharged soldier does have several sympathetic shoulders to lean on in his best friend, Sergeant Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), and others from their squad also trying to make the challenging adjustment back to civilian life.
Whether designed with a pacifist agenda or simply intended to make the case for a return of the draft, Stop-Loss is a compelling saga which compassionately establishes that veterans of the Iraq conflict shouldn’t have to be wounded physically to be considered damaged goods. And as we find ourselves empathizing with the GIs plight because of the absence of treatment for their psychological trauma, the drama ups the ante by having Brandon informed that he’s just been stop-lossed, and must return overseas.
But instead of reporting back to the base, he impulsively goes AWOL, knowing full well he’s risking jail and a bad conduct discharge. Will the once-admirable patriot really abandon the US, ostensibly forever, or will he bite the bullet and re-up for another tour of duty in the name of God, mom and apple pie?
Well-scripted and convincingly executed, this raw, super-realistic thriller is made all the more riveting by the sense you get that very similar scenarios are likely currently unfolding all across America.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for graphic violence and pervasive profanity.
Running time: 111 minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Commentary by director Kimberly Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard, 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary, and “A Day in Boot Camp” and “The Making of” featurettes.

To see a trailer of Stop-Loss, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmePzcsegk4

Chop Shop DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: End of Innocence Flick Arrives on DVD

Siblings Ale (Alejandro Polanco) and Isamar (Isamar Gonzales) are orphans forced by circumstances to fend for themselves in an industrial section of New York City known as the Iron Triangle. Located in the shadow of Shea Stadium, this sprawling Queens neighborhood is comprised of nothing but acre after acre of junkyards, scrap heaps, garbage dumps and auto-body repair garages.
Kids grow up fast and living in such a godforsaken environment and, even though he’s only 12, Ale works full-time in a chop-shop, a front where stolen cars are purchased, quickly disassembled to be sold for parts. He’s also sees himself as the man of the family, and is very protective of his 16 year-old big sister with whom he shares a one-room dive above the shop. It ain’t much, but it’s home.
He even found a job for her as a cook in a mobile food canteen catering to folks employed in the area.
Despite their dire circumstances, Ale still dreams of going into business with his sis as the owners of their own deli van. However, Isamar, a budding beauty, is already attracting men interested in her for the wrong reasons. She discovers a way to make some fast money, although Ale is unprepared to handle it emotionally when he and his pal, Carlos (Carlos Zapata), catch her in a compromising position.
So unfolds Chop Shop, an engaging end-of-innocence flick directed by Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart). What makes this film fascinating is that it’s hard to know whether what you’re watching is acting or just a slice-of-life documentary. Consequently, you might start to feel uncomfortable to see children with such a hard knock life involved in so much antisocial and immoral adult behavior, whether they be thespians or hooligans.
Little Orphan Annie Latino-style, with an Oliver Twist.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 84 minutes
Studio: Koch Lorber Films
DVD Extras: Audio commentary with the director, cast and crew, rehearsal footage and the original theatrical trailer.

To see a trailer of Chop Shop, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjL8NLanOeg

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 July 11, 2008


BIG BUDGET FILMS

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (PG-13 for profanity, violence and sci-fi action) Ron Perlman reprises the title role in this horror sequel about a red-horned hellspawn who returns to Earth to save the day when the truce between humanity and the invisible realm is broken by a diabolical demon with an army of marauding creatures.

Meet Dave (PG for action, suggestive humor and mild epithets) Sci-fi comedy starring Eddie Murphy as a human-looking spaceship from outer space which lands in Manhattan where it falls in love with a widowed single-mom (Elizabeth Banks). Cast includes Gabrielle Union, Judah Friedlander, Scott Caan, Kevin Hart and Adam Tomei (Marisa’s brother).

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

August (R for profanity and sexuality) Dot.com bubble drama about a couple of brothers (Josh Hartnett and Adam Scott) struggling to keep their failing financial startup afloat on Wall Street during the month leading up to the 9/11 tragedy. With Rip Torn, David Bowie, Naomie Harris and Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Days and Clouds (Unrated) Dysfunctional family drama about a middle-aged housewife (Margherita Buy) living in the lap of luxury in Genoa who finds a job and romance after being belatedly informed by her husband (Antonio Albanese) that they’re in debt because he’s been laid-off for months. (In Italian with subtitles)

Death Defying Acts (Unrated) Fictional romance thriller, set in 1926, revolving around an ill-fated affair between Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and a Scottish psychic (Catherine Zeta-Jones) intent on fleecing the famed escape artist with the help of her daughter (Saoirse Ronan) during a fake séance.

Eight Miles High (Unrated) Bio-pic about the life of Bavarian Sixties icon Uschi Obermaier (Natalia Avelon), a free-spirited club kid-turned-fashion model-turned drug-addicted groupie who slept with Hendrix and the Stones. (In German, English and Italian with subtitles)

The Exiles (Unrated) Better late than never documentary, shot in the Fifties on a shoestring budget, just being released in theaters for the first time, about a group of young Native Americans just off the reservation adjusting to life in L.A..

Full Battle Rattle (Unrated) Surreal, simulated war games documentary follows an Army battalion training for a tour of duty overseas in a fake Iraqi village located in the middle of the Mojave Desert outfitted with IEDs and actors playing insurgents and innocent civilians.

Garden Party (Unrated) A day in the life ensemble drama about a 15 year-old (Willa Holland) who runs away from home to escape a pervy stepfather only to fall in with a fast crowd of kids under the spell of a sensual, pot-dealing realtor (Vinessa Shaw) with a kinky agenda.

Harold (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, crude humor and underage alcohol use) Spencer Breslin handles the title role in this chrome dome comedy about a teenager afflicted with male-pattern baldness who is helped to deal with being teased by bullies by the janitor (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) at his new high school.

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (PG for intense action and scary scenes) Brendan Fraser stars in this adaptation of the Jules Verne classic about a science professor who discovers a portal to the bowels of the planet while searching a cave for his missing brother.

La France (Unrated) WWI musical drama about a woman (Sylvie Testud) who disguises herself as a man in order to search for her husband (Guillaume Depardieu) on the Western Front after receiving a letter from him ending their relationship. (In French with subtitles)

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Unrated) Documentary revisits the question of consent surrounding the case of fugitive director Roman Polanski who eluded justice by fleeing America for good following his conviction for drugging and raping a 13 year-old girl. (In English, French and German with subtitles)

The Stone Angel (R for sexuality and profanity) Road saga starring Ellen Burstyn as a fiercely-independent senior citizen who runs away when her son (Dylan Baker) and daughter-in-law (Sheila McCarthy) try to force her to move into a nursing home.

Hancock

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Will Smith as Alcoholic Superhero in Need of AA and a New Image

John Hancock (Will Smith) is a superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public, and for good reason. First of all, he can usually be found passed out with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, draped across a bench in downtown L.A. He routinely antagonizes pedestrians, behaving no differently than a typical bum living on Skid Row, whether cursing curious little kids for waking him or trying to molest attractive women as they pass by.
And when he springs into action as his crime-fighting alter ego, Hancock tends to cause more trouble than he’s preventing. For instance, there’s the time he drunkenly intervened during a televised police freeway chase (reminiscent of O.J.’s) and overreacted after the abusive Cholos inside the white SUV called him an “a-hole.”
The epithet makes him lose his temper the way the Three Stooges did whenever they heard “Niagara Falls.” So, he impaled their auto on the spire high atop the Capitol Records building, ruining one of the skyline’s most recognizable landmarks in the process.
The cleanup of that messy arrest cost the city $9 million, prompting the fed-up chief of police (Greg Daniel) to urge the disgraced superhero to leave town. Just as Hancock hits rock bottom he is offered a chance at redemption by Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a man he rescues from a car sitting on the train tracks at a railroad crossing and about to be slammed by a locomotive with a full head of steam.
Grateful Ray just happens to be a public relations expert who diagnoses that all his well-meaning savior really needs is an image overhaul. So, he brings Hancock home to meet his wife (Charlize Theron) and young son (Jae Head), before convincing him to try alcohol and anger management counseling, and to don a superhero outfit, so that he can at least look the part.
The trouble is Hancock has a very big secret, which if divulged here, would entirely spoil the picture for the reader. Suffice to say that he’s suffering from amnesia, so he himself is initially unaware of the rabbit about to be pulled out of the hat.
In a summer blockbuster season boasting several spectacular comic book adaptations in Iron Man, The Hulk and Wanted, the last thing we need is a spoof of the superhero genre so unpleasant and unfocused. The fatal flaw is the fact that the protagonist isn’t even likable.
Who would opt to cast the ever-charming French Prince against type as a surly, foul-mouthed misanthrope? Nobody wants to root for an a-hole (there I called him one, too) who refers to women by the b-word, bullies children and makes a pass at the spouse of the only guy willing to help him.
Equally-annoying is the awkward, improbable and terribly twisted plotline which can only be comprehended with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight once all the pieces of the puzzle have finally been revealed. I’m not even sure how I would explain the resolution to an inquiring child incapable of such contorted mental calisthenics.
For better or worse, Will Smith is a name long associated with July 4th blockbusters. Unfortunately, Hancock is more on the order of Wild Wild West, than Independence Day or Men in Black. Don’t expect to laugh more than five times and you won’t be disappointed.

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for profanity and sci-fi violence.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: Columbia Pictures

To see a Hancock trailer, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQQgvhn4jg

The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History

The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism:
From Sacred Texts to Solemn History
Edited by Andrew G. Bostom, MD
Foreword by Ibn Warraq
Prometheus Books
Hardcover, $39.95
768 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59102-554-2



Book Review by Kam Williams

“Is Islamic anti-Semitism only a modern phenomenon? During the last fifteen years, certain Western scholars have tried to argue that, first, Islamic anti-Semitism -- that is, hatred of Jews -- is only a recent phenomenon learned from the Nazis during and after the 1940s, and, second,.that Jews lived safely under Muslim rule for centuries, especially during the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Both assertions are unsupported by the evidence…

While the West has recognized its own shameful part in the slave trade and anti-Semitic persecution… the Islamic lands remain in constant denial. Until Islamic countries acknowledge the realities of anti-Jewish persecution in their history, there is no hope of combating the continuing hatred of Jews in modern times.” -- Excerpted from the Foreword (pages 21-25)

Does Muslim intolerance of Jews emanate from the creation of Israel 60 years ago, or is it merely the reflection of a deep-seated prejudice which is part and parcel of their religion? This is the question relentlessly addressed in The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History an exhaustive study undertaken by Andrew Bostom, MD.
His 768-page opus, the result of years of scholarly research into the subject, makes a persuasive argument that, while the animosity currently exhibited by Muslims toward Jews might have been further fueled by the Arab-Israeli conflict, such hatred is a motif which has been around since the inception of Islam. Bostom, a physician and professor of medicine at Brown University, is an expert on the Middle East and author of another best seller, The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims.
This meticulously-annotated tome is comprised of entry after entry after entry of accounts of anti-Semitism culled from documents, journals, articles and even the Koran itself. Almost like a trial lawyer, Bostom builds his case simply by quoting from these historical sources, never editorializing, but just allowing the mounting evidence to speak for itself.
His aim, ostensibly, is to embarrass responsible members of the Muslim community into acknowledging this unfortunate aspect of their culture in the hope that initial steps will now be taken to eradicate an entrenched attitude accepting the widespread mistreatment of Jews. While Dr. Bostom might not want to hold his breath in that regard, he nonetheless deserves praise for having compiled a seminal treatise likely to enlighten intellectuals in search of the truth about anti-Semitism for generations to come.