The South Side

For cover photo, visit: http://astore.amazon.com/thslfofire-20/images/1137280158

For photo of the author, see attachment

The South Side

A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation

by Natalie Y. Moore

St. Martin's Press

Hardcover, $27.99

270 pages

ISBN: 978-1-137-28105-2

Book Review by Kam Williams

“Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emmanuel have touted Chicago as a 'world-class city.' The skyscrapers, the billion-dollar Millennium Park, Michelin-rated restaurants, pristine lake views, [the] vibrant theater scene, and stellar architecture tell one story.

Yet swept under the rug is another story: the stench of segregation that permeates and compromises Chicago... It's clear that Chicago is defined by it.

In this intelligent... narrative, Chicago native Natalie Moore shines a light on contemporary segregation in the city's South Side... [his book] highlights the impact of Chicago's historic segregation--and the ongoing policies that keep the system intact.”

-- Excerpted from the Bookjacket

It was recently reported that Chicago lost more millionaires last year than any other American metropolitan area. What I found particularly fascinating is the fact that the Windy City's black millionaires are participating in the mass exodus, too. The reasons for fleeing most frequently cited are the rise in racial tensions and the skyrocketing crime rate.

This development made the idea of reading "The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation" all the more appealing. This intriguing examination of the city's black community was written by Natalie Moore, a native who was raised in Chatham, a solidly middle-class African-American enclave.

Moore, a reporter for WBEZ, the city's NPR radio station, puts both her journalistic and memoir writing skills on display here, fashioning an opus that mixes history lessons with many of her own personal reflections. In a chapter devoted to her childhood in Chatham, she recounts her father speaking of a de facto "black tax." This segregation tax exacted a heavy toll from folks living in African-American neighborhoods as reflected in public safety concerns, higher-priced goods and lower home values.

Nevertheless, the author bristles when the term "Chiraq" is used in reference to the South Side. In a chapter entitled "We are not Chiraq" she explains that she feels the conflating of Chicago and Iraq is racist because "it plays on fear" by suggesting that the black community is a war zone. Consequently, people who don't live on the South Side tend to internalize the negative images of it being incessantly disseminated by the media.

Overall, an alternately anecdotal and academic analysis making a misunderstood and marginalized-sector of Chicago more accessible.

To order a copy of The South Side, visit:

 

Nina

Film Review by Kam Williams


Saldana Successfully Channels Simone in Controversial Biopic


Most of the pre-release buzz surrounding this controversial biopic has swirled around the debate about Zoe Saldana's darkening her skin, donning an afro wig and wearing a prosthetic nose to portray Nina Simone (1933-2003). Apparently, in these politically-correct times, some consider the casting of Saldana as the dark-skinned title character to be a case of cultural appropriation, since she is of Dominican and Puerto Rican extraction and thus, by implication, not black enough to play an African-American. 
 
The beleaguered actress was so beat up in the press that she's even publicly acknowledged the micro-aggression, admitting "I didn't think I was right for the part." However, I suspect anyone who actually sees the film would find Zoe's Africanized features to be less of a distraction than her singing. 

For, while she certainly manages to hold her own, Nina's fans will undoubtedly be more disappointed by the absence of the haunting strains of The High Priestess of Soul's distinctive voice than by her impersonator's performing in blackface. Again and again, it's frustrating to have to settle for second-rate renditions of such Simone classics as "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Feeling Good," "Black Is the Colour," "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," "I Put a Spell on You," and "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)." 
 
Thankfully, Zoe does a better job in the acting half of the role, convincingly capturing Nina's mercurial personality, from the imperious air, to the violent mood swings, to the substance abuse, to the bouts of depression and self-doubt. The movie marks the writing and directorial debut of Cynthia Mort who reportedly distanced herself from her own production, at one point suing over the final cut because she had lost creative control over the editing.

The story unfolds in North Carolina in 1946 with an adolescent Nina exhibiting promise as a classical pianist. From there, the film fast forwards to New York in 1965 where we learn that the once-promising prodigy has been reduced to playing jazz in nightclubs after having dropped out of Juilliard. 
 
The narrative quickly shifts to L.A. in 1995, where we find her already on the downside of an illustrious career. She's just been committed to a mental hospital after being diagnosed as an alcoholic, paranoid, manic-depressive.

As luck would have it, Nina was assigned an empathetic nurse (David Oyelowo) who would take a special interest in her welfare. Not only did Clifton Henderson help her escape the facility but he quit his job to accompany her to France where he would serve as her personal assistant.
 
It is that relationship which would endure until the end of Nina's life that is the focus of this warts-and-all biopic. Clifton spends as much time simply cleaning up the verbally-abusive, chain-smoking, substance-abusing fading star's act, as he does trying to find her gigs, given her well-earned reputation as a difficult diva.

Ignore all the blackface haters, singing aside, Zoe Saldana delivers a decent enough Nina Simone impersonation here to make you wonder what all the brouhaha was ever about.



Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 90 minutes
Distributor: RLJ Entertainment


To see a trailer for Nina, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BElZ7FMp5uY

The Lady in the Van

DVD Review by Kam Williams




Maggie Shines in Screen Adaptation of Play She Originated on the Stage


For a half-dozen seasons, Dame Maggie Smith has been delighting television viewers as dowager Violet Crawley on Downton Abbey. Younger fans of the show might be unaware that she's a two-time Oscar-winner (for California Suite and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) who had already enjoyed an illustrious career prior to appearing on the the hit PBS series. 
 
In The Lady in the Van, she's been cast as a character practically the polar opposite of the imperious aristocrat we've come to love. For, Margaret Shepherd is a down-and-out homeless woman humbled by having to live out of a van which she parks on the street in the Camden Town section of North London.

At the point of departure in the early Seventies, we learn that Margaret's miserable plight is substantially one of her making,. She's been on the run for five years since leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run car accident. 
 
And while the devout Catholic has confessed the sin to her priest, she could never quite bring herself to surrender to the authorities. Consequently, she's forever looking over her shoulder, fearful that her arrest might be imminent.

The plot thickens when she can't afford to fix her misfiring jalopy sorely in need of a tune-up. Most of the owners in the upscale neighborhood where the van is sitting would simply like to see the eyesore towed away from the block once and for all.

But, for some reason, Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) feels compassion for the ostensibly overwhelmed octagenarian, perhaps because he has a mother also of advanced age. So, against his better judgment, the famous writer allows " Miss Shepherd" to park her disabled car in the driveway on the express understanding that this will be a temporary arrangement. 

However, Alan proves to be such a soft touch that the cantankerous old coot ends up squatting on his property for the next 15 years. Can a Tony Award-winning playwright and a feisty pensioner coexist peacefully in such crazy conditions?
That is the question at the heart of The Lady in the Van, a heartwarming dramedy inspired by actual events. The film was adapted from Bennett's 1999 theatrical production of the same name which also starred Maggie Smith. 
 
Smith looks oh so relaxed onscreen in the role she originated onstage, whether cadging for alms on the pavement or exhibiting pangs of remorse about the crash which left her in dire straits. Just as effective is Alex Jennings' interpretation of Bennett as a terminally-conflicted soul constantly carrying on an inner dialogue with himself. 
 
A touching tale of empathy blessed by a couple of equally-endearing performances that are nothing short of inspired.



Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for a disturbing image
Running time: 104 minutes

Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

To see a trailer for The Lady in the Van, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA8tMziteZM

To order a copy of The Lady in the Van on Blu-ray, visit:

The Revenant

DVD Review by Kam Williams



DVD Features DiCaprio's Oscar-Winning Performance as Legendary Frontiersman


Hugh Glass (1780-1833) was a legendary frontiersman who explored the American West in the early 19th Century. He's been previously portrayed on the big screen by Richard Harris in Man in the Wilderness (1971) and by Dewitt Lee in Apache Blood (1975). 
 
Glass' life story has also been the subject of several books, most recently, The Revenant, a harrowing tale of survival published by Michael Punke in 2002. That best-selling page-turner was adapted to the screen by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who won 2016's Best Director Academy Award for his efforts..

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio who finally landed the Oscar that had eluded his grasp five times before. The veteran thespian never disappoints in this star vehicle featuring him in virtually every scene. He delivers again and again in a compelling performance which keeps you on the edge of your seat as you pull for his character from beginning to end. 
 
At the point of departure, we are introduced to Hugh and his orphaned, Pawnee son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), as they escort a hunting party of fur trappers across the Rockies. Along the way, the expedition is tested at every turn, whether by "Injun" ambush, animal attack, frigid weather or the challenging terrain. 
 
Unfortunately, one member of the crew, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), is a cowardly racist with no reservations about cavalierly murdering Hawk and leaving the boy's badly wounded father behind to die in the forest. Instead of perishing, Hugh exhibits an incomparable will to survive, if only to pursue his son's killer to the end of the Earth, or at least back to the fort. 
 
What ensues is a visually-captivating spectacular chronicling our intrepid hero's determination to exact revenge in honor of his dearly-departed offspring. Despite the host of hurdles in his path, Hugh remains resolute as he stalks Fitzgerald across a vast expanse of the Wyoming wilderness in a deliberately-paced game of cat-and-mouse. Credit co-star Tom Hardy for serving up the sort of sniveling villain in the backstabbin Fitzgerald.that an audience just loves to see get his due. That makes it easy to endure the 2+ hour build-up to the fierce finale.

A relentlessly-gruesome, gritty and grim adventure reminiscent of how the West was won.



Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity, graphic violence, gory images, ethnic slurs, brief nudity and a rape
In English, French and Native American dialects with subtitles
Running time: 157 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Blu-ray,/DVD Combo Pack Extras: Documentary: A World Unseen.



To see a trailer for The Revenant, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRfj1VCg16Y

To order a copy of The Revenant Blu-ray,/DVD Combo Pack visit:  

 

Fifty Shades of Black

DVD Review by Kam Williams


Wayans Plays Filthy-Rich Playboy in Parody of Erotic Adventure


Ever since Scary Movie (2000), Marlon Wayans has carved out quite a career for himself writing and starring in a string of silly spoofs that includes Scary Movie 2 (2001), Dance Flick (2009), A Haunted House (2013), and A Haunted House 2 (2014). The latest offering in his cottage industry of genre-bending parodies is Fifty Shades of Black, a jaw-dropping lampoon of the already outrageous Fifty Shades of Grey. 
 
Released just a year ago, Fifty Shades of Grey was based on the best-selling erotic novel by E.L. James. That explicit adventure chronicled the sadomasochistic sexploits shared by a handsome billionaire and an impressionable, young college student .
 
This relatively-kinky variation on the theme remains fairly faithful to the source material's basic plotline, so it helps immeasurably if you've seen the original. The major difference, however, is that the two leads are African-American, and much of the humor revolves around graphic nudity and stale racial stereotypes. 
 
At the point of departure, we're introduced to Hannah (Kali Hawk), a Literature major at mythical Howell University. Since her promiscuous, foul-mouthed roommate, Kateesha (Jenny Zigrino), has a crippling case of Chlamydia, Hannah finds herself recruited as a stand-in to interview filthy-rich Christian Black (Wayans). 
 
She asks "How did you get your money and can I have some?" His answer: "Drug dealing, like most successful blacks." And "Is you gay?" is met with "You're only gay if you enjoy touching penises." 
 
After that dubious exchange, Christian tricks the naive virgin into unprotected intercourse despite the fact that she's ovulating. That disturbing date rape scene is a little hard to laugh at, especially in light of the recent Bill Cosby revelations. 
 
Furthermore, when Hannah ends up pregnant, she takes him home to meet her misogynistic step-father, Ron (Mike Epps). Instead of protecting his daughter's honor, he sides with Christian's refusal to marry her, saying "I like this N-word," before denigrating Hannah's mother as a slut.

In other skits, Christian waterboards Hannah (while shouting "Where's bin Laden?"}, delivers an insulting commencement address at Howell ("Thank God, I'm not you!") and tosses his poop-filled underwear in the face of a screaming fan during a gross homage to Magic Mike. Still, the movie's most tasteless moments arrive on those occasions when Christian gratuitously exposes his genitalia. 
 
A descent into depravity far more shocking than funny and morally-objectionable in part for all.



Fair (1 star)
Rated R for crude sexuality, graphic nudity, ethnic slurs, coarse humor, rape and pervasive profanity
Running time: 92 minutes
Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Extras: Unrated deleted scenes; and Meet Mr. Black.


To see a trailer for Fifty Shades of Black, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBPoakMk_o

To order a copy of the Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:

Top Ten DVD Releases for 4-19-16

by Kam Williams

 This Week’s DVD Releases

The Revenant

Lamb

Magical Girl

The Lady in the Van

Ip Man 3

Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None

The Sex Trade

Veep: The Complete Fourth Season

Daniel Tosh: People Pleaser

Dominion Creek

Honorable Mention

Silicon Valley: The Complete Second Season

Goldie & Bear: Best Fairytale Friends

Norm of the North

Kam's Kapsules for Movies Opening 4-22-16

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams

Opening This Week

BIG BUDGET FILMS

The Huntsman: Winter's War (PG-13 for action, violence and some sensuality) Chris Hemsworth reprises the title role in this Snow White sequel which finds the Huntsman and his warrior wife (Jessica Chastain) defending the Enchanted Forest from the Ice Queen (Emily Blunt) and her sorceress sister (Charlize Theron). With Nick Frost, Sam Claflin and Sophie Cookson.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Compadres (Unrated) Unlikely-buddies action thriller about a disgraced ex-cop (Omar Chaparro) who joins forces with a young hacker (Joey Morgan) to exact revenge on the mobster (Erick Elias) who kidnapped his girlfriend (Aislinn Derbez) and framed him for a crime he didn't commit. With Kevin Pollak, Eric Roberts and Hector Jimenez.

Dispatches from the Gulf (Unrated) Matt Damon narrates this documentary taking stock of the environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico a half-dozen years after Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Elvis & Nixon (R for profanity) White House drama recounting the historic, 1970 meeting of Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) and President Nixon (Kevin Spacey) in the Oval Office immortalized by the most requested photograph in the National Archives. Cast includes Colin Hanks, Johnny Knoxville and Alex Pettyfer.

Hockney (Unrated) Reverential retrospective chronicling the career of David Hockney, one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century.

A Hologram for the King (R for sexuality, nudity, profanity and brief drug use) Adaptation of Dave Eggers' novel about a broke American businessman (Tom Hanks) who tries to recover by making a sales pitch to Saudi Arabia's monarch. With Ben Whishaw, Sarita Choudhury and Tom Skerritt. (In English and Arabic with subtitles)

How to Let Go of the World (Unrated) Eco-documentary chronicling the efforts of environmental activists dedicated to reversing atmospheric warming trends.

Love Thy Nature (Unrated) Environmental documentary, narrated by Liam Neeson, celebrating humanity's connection to Mother Earth while warning of the ecological crisis threatening the survival of our species.

The Meddler (PG-13 for brief drug use) Romance drama about a grieving widow (Susan Sarandon) who moves from New Jersey to L.A. to be near her daughter (Rose Byrne), only to unexpectedly find romance with a retired cop (J.K. Simmons). With Cecily Strong, Jason Ritter, Lucy Punch, Casey Wilson and Jerrod Carmichael.

Nina (Unrated) Zoe Saldana plays the title character in this controversial biopic chronicling jazz singer Nina Simone's (1933-2003) rise to fame, her troubled private life and her dependency on her business manager (David Oyelowo). Featuring Mike Epps as Richard Pryor and Ella Thomas as Lorraine Hansberry. (In English and French with subtitles)

Precious Cargo (R for sexuality, violence and pervasive profanity) Crime thriller about a mob boss (Bruce Willis) who pressures a seductive thief (Claire Forlani) to recruit her ex (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) for a heist of rare gems. With John Brotherton, Daniel Bernhardt and Lydia Hull.

Streit's: Matzo and the American Dream (Unrated) New York City documentary about the family-owned company that has been continuously manufacturing kosher food on Manhattan's Lower East Side since 1925.