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| Tanisha Scott, Tre Armstrong, Romina D'Ugo and Rutina Wesley at the Los Angeles Premiere of Paramount Vantage "HOW SHE MOVE" on January 14, 2008 at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. |
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Tré Armstrong
The How She Move Interview with Kam Williams
Headline: Accomplished Dancer-Turned-Actress Takes Center Stage
Tracey Tré Armstrong has been dancing as long as she can remember. During her childhood in Toronto, she used to get up and groove to her mother's music and eventually she started taking lessons at a place called the Dance Factory. She later attended Erindale School of Dance and also trained with Luther Brown at Do Dat Entertainment. Lithe-limbed Tré landed her first big break when she was chosen from over a thousand hopefuls to perform on the Missy Elliott concert tour. Then, she subsequently appeared in music videos for Rihanna, Sean Paul, Robbie Williams, Seal, Ashanti and Shawn Desman. Meanwhile, she made her screen debut been in HONEY as one of the principal dancers. She then again appeared as a dancer in CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN, SHALL WE DANCE, BREAKIN' IN: THE MAKING OF A HIP HOP DANCER, and STEPPIN' UP: SAVE THE LAST DANCE II, where she enjoyed her first speaking part. Now, the multi-talented cutie pie has parlayed her winning combination of acting chops, charisma, charm and, of course, dancing ability, into a co-starring role as the nemesis in HOW SHE MOVE. Here, Tré talks about all of the above and more.
KW: How long have you been dancing?
TA: I started off dancing when I was five.
KW: Do you see your future with acting or with dancing or with both?
TA: With acting. I'm a little character. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm bouncing off the walls all the time. I would love to play an action hero.
KW: You remind me of another dancer, Columbus Short, who has that same boundless energy. He made the jump over to acting successfully, and had a big hit starring in Stomp the Yard.
TA: Yes! We actually appeared together in Save the Last Dance II. I love the fact that he's made that move. He's a great role model for me, because that's exactly where I want to go, except adding on choreography, too.
KW: Well, this is as good a time as any to ask the Columbus Short question. Are you happy?TA: Am I happy? I am ecstatic! People have been telling me that I don't look happy because I have to control myself to contain myself. If I let myself go, my erotic self will come out and I'll do something.
KW: Is there a question that nobody has asked you, that you wish somebody would?
TA: Yeah, will you ever quit dancing?
KW: Okay, will you ever quit dancing?
TA: Never. Dancing is part of my life.
KW: Are you at all like your character in How She Move?
TA: That character, Michelle, is inside me, my inner self. I contain her. But if you tick me off, Michelle will come out more than you've ever seen her.
KW: Do you still live in Canada, or have you moved to Hollywood?
TA: I love Canada, But I'm making the move to L.A. in February.
KW: This is a good time for the Jimmy Bayan question. Where in L.A. will you live?
TA: I'll probably stay in North Hollywood, though, to be honest, I'd rather stay in West Hollywood.
KW: Do you have your next project lined up yet?
TA: Actually, no.
KW: Who would you like to act opposite?
TA: I'd like to make movies with some up and coming actors.
KW: Any advice for those who'd like to follow in your footsteps?
TA: You have to believe in yourself first for anyone else to believe in you. And once you've done that, you have to follow your energy. Everybody has a divine-inspired energy. Accept it, don't reflect it.
KW: Is there a way fans can get in touch with you?
TA: Yes they can visit my new website at www.tre-lystikz.com.
KW: Thanks for the time, Tré, and I hope when you break big, I'll able to get another interview with you.
TA: You know what? I'll make sure that happens. Thanks you so much!
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A Quintet of Quick Questions for the Queen
The Mad Money Interview with Kam Williams
Dana Elaine Owens, aka Queen Latifah, was born in East Orange, New Jersey on March 18, 1970. Soon after launching her showbiz career as a human beat-box for the rap group Ladies Fresh, she struck out on her own, releasing All Hail the Queen in 1989, the first of her half-dozen solo albums thus far.
Latifah's film career followed two years later, starting with a supporting role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. She's since added about another forty acting credits to her resume', including an Oscar nomination for Chicago, and appearances in such diverse productions as Hairspray, House Party 2, Bringing Down the House, Brown Sugar, Barbershop 2, Beauty Shop, Taxi, Last Holiday, The Perfect Holiday, and The Cookout.
She was recently awarded a Golden Globe for her stellar work in Life Support, a made-for-TV movie chronicling the real-life struggle of a crack-addicted, HIV+ single-mom, thereby shedding light on a seldom examined plague taking a devastating toll on the black community. Upon winning the award, Latifah said, "I am so thrilled. Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association... Life Support is such an important film which addresses such important issues and I'm so proud to be recognized for my work in it. I only hope that the film helps in our fight against AIDS and HIV. My partner Shakim Compere and I were so passionate about Life Support that we signed up to produce it and never imagined it would go this far. So, thank you to the HFPA, HBO, Nelson George, Shelby Stone, Jamie Foxx and the entire cast.'Here, she talks about her new film, Mad Money, a crime caper co-starring Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes as employees of the Federal Reserve Bank who conspire to steal millions of dollars in currency about to be destroyed.
KW: Tell me a little about your character, Nina Brewster.
QL: Nina is a mother of two, and she works at the Fed shredding money, all day, every day. The way she kind of gets involved in this plot is that she really desires to send her sons to a better school than the one in their neighborhood, and to just have them live in a better place in general. And that's sort of the pressure and the enticement that Bridget's character [played by Diane Keaton] uses to get her to be involved in it.
KW: Were you familiar with the fact that the Fed routinely destroys old bills?
QL: I don't know if I ever have just consciously thought about money in the sense of the process that it goes through. I only assumed that they had to destroy some. I knew that they must destroy money, because they create new money. You couldn't just put that new money into circulation without throwing off the entire economy. So, yeah, I did realize that they had to get rid of all that ripped up, beat up, dirty money somehow. Would I want to do that for a living necessarily? Nah.
KW: How was it working with Diane Keaton?
QL: It has been a blast. It's been a lot of fun. I've been a fan of Diane's for a really long time, so just to be able to work with her and watch her do her thing was amazing. Her energy is just unbelievable, and her skills. And she's just fun to watch. And Katie [Holmes], too! Katie gets to play this crazy, aloof character [Jackie] who wants my character to have lots and lots of sex, which is always fun, because she really cares. It's not that she's being nasty or throwing it out there for shock value, she really cares about it and wants my character to be happy. It's funny. She does have some of that free-spiritedness naturally, so it seems only right that she's the person that plays this role.
KW: How do these three women feel about the crime they're committing?
QL: I don't think they really get into the economics of it all. The only one who seems to think about it is Don [Bridget's husband, played by Ted Danson] But in their minds, obviously, this is not enough money to really make a big splash. It's found money. It's not going to exist after they destroy it. Who's getting hurt? They figure this is like a crime that's not really affecting anyone. So, why not?
KW: Does the money make a difference in these women's lives?
QL: For my character, Nina, for sure. She has some really basic things that she needs to happen in her life. She needs to put her sons in a better position so that they don't get caught up in the traps of growing up in the 'hood, which is where they live. So, her being a caring parent, that's her desperation. But once she doesn't have to worry about that anymore, you get to see her flourish. You get to see her have a personal life and be a woman, and just enjoy the company of a man. And just kind of come out of her shell. Money helped that happen. It doesn't sustain it. Once you get going, you still gotta do what you have to do. But it did help.
http://www.madmoneymovie.com/
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Charlie Wilson's War
Film Review by Kam Williams
Headline: Bio-Pic Has Hanks as Texas Congressman Single-Handedly Toppling the Soviet Union
Have you ever hear of Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), who served Texas’ 2nd District from 1973 to 1996? Neither had I, despite the fact that he was virtually single-handedly responsible for toppling the Soviet Union. Apparently, it was through his funding of a covert CIA operation in response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan that the mujahedeen managed to defend themselves successfully while simultaneously bankrupting the U.S.S.R.
What is ironic is that Wilson, the architect of the operation, was not only a liberal Democrat, but a loose cannon who didn’t let the fact that he was married get in he way of his boozing and womanizing. And among his many mistresses was socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), the sixth richest woman in his home state.
Their lustful liaison was proof of the age-old maxim that politics makes strange bedfellows, literally and figuratively, for she was a conservative, Christian fundamentalist who prevailed upon her well-connected boy-toy to get the CIA to intervene in the Middle East conflict in the name of freedom of religion. What neither of them anticipated, however, was that in the process of sending the Soviets to defeat they would be creating a new monster, a militarily-equipped radical Islam.
This is the arc of Charlie Wilson's War, a relatively lighthearted romp about a real-life James Bond. Fearless, suave and debonair, the film presents its misogynistic protagonist as very likable even though he hired his all-female staff members by breast size, because “You can teach ‘em to type, but you can’t teach ‘em to grow [T-words].”
Based on the best-selling biography of the same name by George Crile, the movie was faithfully adapted by Oscar-winner Mike Nichols (The Graduate), a director who has no problem delivering a warts-and-all depiction which has Charlie cavorting naked in a hot tub with coke-snorting strippers. For the message is clear, specifically, that the patriotic cad’s service to his country outweighs his countless sexual indiscretions.
Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in a typically-sound performance as second banana Gust Avrakotos, the CIA Agent through whom Wilson secretly funneled over a billion dollars to the Afghan freedom fighters. But make no mistake, this is a Tom Hanks vehicle, and the two-time Oscar-winner (for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump) is nothing short of inspired in the title role as a gun-running, skirt-chasing bon vivant.
Unless somebody’s taking liberties with the truth here, history will one day confirm that all it took to bring an end to the Cold War was the valiant efforts of an otherwise unprincipled party animal who knew his way around Washington well-enough to be unburdened by red tape, bureaucrats or democracy. Charlie Wilson, a real American hero, belatedly revealed.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity, nudity, sexuality and drug use.
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Honeydripper
Film Review by Kam Williams
Headline: Danny Glover Stars in Saga Set in Segregated South
It is 1950, in Harmony, a hardscrabble Alabama town whose name gives no hint that its color-coded caste system relegates blacks to second-class status. But despite the limitations of living under oppressive Jim Crow segregation, Tyrone “Pinetop” Purvis (Danny Glover) has managed to eke out a decent living, at least till now.
He’s the proprietor of the Honeydripper Lounge, a juke joint which flourished during its heyday by selling cheap booze while catering to the tastes of a clientele which appreciated the blues. However, the establishment has failed to adapt to the changing times. Consequently, the bulk of Pinetop’s business has drifted over to its prime competitor, a shady shack featuring performers of a new genre of music that’s a precursor to R&B.
Finding himself on the brink of bankruptcy, Tyrone decides to book an out-of-town act in a last gasp effort to save the nightclub. Unfortunately, Guitar Sam fails to arrive on the train from New Orleans as arranged. So, the embattled owner comes up with the bright idea of hiring a drifter, Sonny Blake (Gary Clark, Jr.) to impersonate the legendary guitarist, since nobody knows what he looks like, anyway.
This is the overarching premise of the Honeydripper, the latest offbeat offering from the iconoclastic John Sayles. The front story of this music-driven, costume drama is curiously less compelling than the picture’s electrifying score and wince-inducing recreations of tableaus of a bygone era marked by subjugation and intolerance.
For example, we see how the hobo Sonny, upon his arrival in Harmony, is arrested on the spot by racist Sheriff Pugh (Stacy Keach), who charges the stranger with “gawking with intent to mope.” Without benefit of a lawyer or trial, the young vagrant is convicted by Judge Gatlin (Danny Vinson) who takes personal custody of the young man and puts him to work on his farm without pay, and indefinitely.
Sadly, such routine mistreatment and exploitation of blacks represents a generally unacknowledged aspect of America’s legacy. Due to a deep cultural denial, sensitive subject-matter of this nature is ordinarily only touched upon humorously in cinema, ala Life, the Southern chain gang comedy co-starring Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy.
Danny Glover’s engaging turn as the protagonist of Honeydripper is matched by the equally-measured performances by Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mary Steenburgen, Kel Mitchell, Sean Patrick Thomas and YaYa DaCosta. Plus, the production has been blessed with country cred courtesy of some gifted blues musicians, such as Keb Mo’ and Mable John, whose talents add immeasurably to the comfy auditory ambience.
Kudos to two-time Oscar-nominee Sayles (for Lone Star and Passion Fish) who has tackled themes of interest to the African-American community previously, both in his comic cult classic Brother from Another Planet and in the relatively cerebral Sunshine State. Here, he’s to be commended for again serving up a thought-provoking slice of African-Americana sans the shucking and jiving which Hollywood typically attaches to black-oriented fare.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for brief violence and suggestive material.
Running time: 123 minutes
Studio: Emerging Pictures
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Denzel Washington
The Great Debaters Interview
with Kam Williams
Headline: Denzel on Directing, Acting, Fathering and Mentoring
Denzel Washington stepped behind the camera for the second time to make The Great Debaters, an inspirational bio-pic about Professor Melvin Tolson, the debate coach at a small black college in the South, whose inexperienced team, in 1935, shocked the world by taking on some seasoned nationally-ranked competition. Here, Denzel, who also plays Tolson in the picture, opines on everything from acting to directing to being a role model.
KW: How do you feel about directing?
DW: I have a new career. In the last seven years, I’ve directed two films, and I’m passionate about that. To get the opportunity to do that, and to enjoy a measure of success, and not just success but to hear people respond in a positive way to the film is a great feeling for me. They say that 80% of a director’s job is casting.
We found four great young actors and gave them the opportunity of a lifetime as far as their acting careers are concerned. There are some brilliant performances by these young actors. They’re well on their way.
KW: What sold you on the script of The Great Debaters?
DW: It was a great read on many levels. I think it’s a really wonderful story about language and education. And, like I’ve been telling people, I also look upon it as a sports movie. They’re the little train that could, and they go up against Goliath. And it’s set at a time in our country when there was a lot of turmoil and racism and poverty and the Depression. But they came through all of that and were able to find a way to focus their energy, come together as a unit, and go up against the big boys and knock ’em off the pedestal.
KW: Do you think that the old-fashioned values that Melvin Tolson instilled in his students will lost on the youth of today?
DW: In my opinion, we live like a fast food society. Get there quick. Do it fast. Everything’s fast-fast-fast. But faster is not necessarily better. There’s a process to reaching a goal and, unfortunately, a lot of kids find that out when it’s too late. In many ways, in our society, it’s our responsibility, if not fault, that we’ve sold our kids a bill of goods for a dollar, basically. I think the way that these young people are being taught by Tolson and Farmer [James Farmer, Sr.] in The Great Debaters is still going on now as well. I don’t know that it’s always news. It’s not always popular, but it is effective.
KW: But how could you expect today’s role models to try to reach kids who embrace gangsta rap and the materialism, misogyny and self-destructive associated with that thug mentality?
DW: Young people join gangs because that’s where they find love and support and people who believe in them. That means somebody dropped the ball, and they look like you and me. We’re adults. We’ve dropped the ball. So, we have to reach out, we have to not give up on our youth. I struggled as a teenager, and got into trouble, but my mother never gave up on me. So, I think they’re our responsibility as adults.
KW: Why did you want to bring The Great Debaters to the big screen?
DW: It’s history, that’s why I wanted to capture it. I said, “We can’t miss this.” There’s a lot there, and we need to pass that on. These things need to be shared and celebrated.
KW: What’s the picture’s storyline?
DW: In 1935, there was a little school with 360 students, Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. They had four young debaters, three guys and one girl. They came together as a team, and beat everybody in America, basically. It’s also the story of one of the kids [James Farmer, Jr.] who’s played by a young actor by the name of Denzel Whitaker, if you can believe that. His character is learning about becoming a man. He sees this one professor, Melvin Tolson, who seems to be the cooler guy. And he sees his father who sometimes seems to kow-tow or shrink in the face of racism. But he begins to understand, as he matures, what his father was doing to actually protect him. So, he’s becoming a man, and learning about love. It’s about a 14 year-old who falls for an 18 or 20 year-old girl. We’ve all been through that. The movie’s also about another character that’s brilliantly played by Nate Parker, Henry Lowe, this drinking and carousing kid who matures in the process of the story. And at the moment when he’s about to achieve the greatest victory in his life, he makes a sacrifice and gives the opportunity to this other young boy. And it’s the story of one of the first female debaters, black or white, played brilliantly by Jurnee Smollett, who overcomes her fear of debating and is able to get up there and stand her ground as a debater and as a young woman. And, of course, it’s about a couple of guys that Forest [Whitaker] and I play who helped them to do those things.
KW: How would you describe your character?
DW: Mel Tolson, he’s the coach. I make the speeches, kick ‘em in their butt, push them out the door. They do what we taught them to do. And I sort of stand back on the side, and watch them achieve their goals. It’s about passing on knowledge, responsibility and power. In 1935, African-Americans understood the importance of education as a way out.
KW: What do you think of today’s black kids having a higher high school dropout rates than those of a generation ago?
DW: I’m a parent. I think we’re responsible for the problems that young people have. I believe that. I don’t blame them for any of it. I blame us for what we haven’t done as mothers and fathers, not sticking together as a unit. I think we’ve done a terrible job, a shameful job. So, I try to take advantage of every opportunity I get to share what I know with young people.
KW: Why did you decide to cast Forest Whitaker as your co-star?
DW: Needless to say, Forest is one of the great actors of our time, and a wonderful human being, so I basically begged him to be in the movie. I’m just grateful that he was willing to play this part, to give the film an anchor. Once I knew I was going to be in the film, I needed someone with an equal strength and weight because, as I was saying, this young boy is torn between these two powerful men in his life. So, I appreciate the presence of an actor who had that weight. Forest could easily have played either part. The only reason I’m playing Professor Tolson is because they made me in order to get the money to do the film. [Laughs] But I also think it’s good casting, and that I’m the right guy for the job.
KW: Sounds like you were a little hesitant about appearing in the film at all.
DW: In the movie, my character says, “You do what you have to do, so that you can do what you want to do.” What I wanted to do was direct, so what I had to do was act in order to do that. Life does not work the other way around. As I tell my kids, “You pay now, or you pay later, but you gotta pay.”
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I Am Legend
Film Review by Kam Williams
Headline: Will Smith as Last Man on Earth in Adaptation of Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Adventure
Written by Richard Matheson in 1954, I Am Legend was a harrowing tale of survival pitting the last human alive against the horde of blood thirsty vampires who had taken control of Earth. The book’s hero, Robert Neville, relied on a combination of garlic, mirrors, stakes, sunlight and crosses to keep the cannibals at bay while he simultaneously tried to come up with a scientific explanation for the plague which had turned everybody else into zombies.
The Last Man on Earth (1964), starring Vincent Price, was the first film adaptation of the apocalyptic best seller. That, in turn, was followed by The Omega Man(1971) with Charlton Heston and, more recently, by I Am Omega (2007), a straight-to-video rip-off released just last month.
Now, we have I Am Legend, a relatively-realistic, modern update of the original which reflects present-day sensibilities by having its apocalyptic scenario result from a man-made virus. The picture is a Will Smith vehicle in the purest sense, given that he spends more than half of the movie on screen alone (ala Tom Hanks in Cast Away), unless you count the omni present Samantha, his trusty, tag along German Shepherd.
Thus, the production represents a true test of Smith’s star power, as its fortunes are fated to rise or fall to the extent that he convinces his audience to invest emotionally in his lonely protagonist’s desperate plight as he perambulates the eerie exoskeleton of a de-populated Manhattan.The point of departure is 2009, which is when one, Dr. Alice Crippen (EmmaThompson) announces the discovery of a cure for cancer to the world, not knowing that the vaccine also causes rabies.
Fast-forward three years, and we find New York in chaos. The healthy few are in the midst of being quickly evacuated, while all the infected folks are morphing into ghouls and being left behind. And although Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Smith) has been given a clean bill of health, he gallantly opts to stay in the city to work on an antidote. You see, he’s a virologist, and has a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art lab in the basement of his brownstone bordering Washington Square Park. So, after he tearfully bids his wife (Salli Richardson) and daughter (Willow Smith) adieu, he proceeds to divide his time between scientific research and blowing away the occasional nocturnal creature he encounters after dark.
Not surprisingly, Will Smith comes across as quite the macho charmer in his familiar role as the hero having to save the planet. After all, he’s successfully played this sort of character plenty of times before, most notably in such CGI-driven spectaculars as Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997) and Men in Black II (2002). But who knows how a holiday season release of this summer-style block buster will be met?
I Am Legend is actually at its best early on, while Will is solo and captured starkly against the breathtaking backdrop of the vast, urban wasteland. Unfortunately, the second-rate special effects leave a lot to be desired, so the arrival of the cheesy mansters he has to wrestle with fails to measure up to the tension built in anticipation.
The movie has a couple of other annoying flaws, neither of which could be discussed without spoiling the fun. Suffice to say that the first involves the introduction of two new characters near the end, and the other revolves around the movie’s revised resolution which delivers a distinctly different message from that of the book.
Nonetheless,it’s got a great performance by Will Smith and just enough edge-of-your-seat entertainment to remain recommended, even if the cinematic house of cards collapses during the third act.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and mature themes.
Running time: 100 minutesStudio: Warner Brothers=
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Will Smith
The I Am Legend Interview with Kam Williams
Headline: Will Is Legend
Will Smith’s stratospheric stature in showbiz has only been further enhanced by I Am Legend’s record-setting $76.5 million weekend debut for a December release. The sci-fi adventure marked his seventh straight flick that has opened in the #1 slot at the box office, a run which started with Ali and has also included The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, Bad Boys II, Men in Black II and I, Robot.
I Am Legend is the third big-screen adaptation (one, starring Vincent Price, the other, Charlton Heston) of Richard Matheson’s post-apocalyptic best seller from 1954 about the desperate struggle of the last man on Earth to survive a scourge that has turned the rest of humanity in a cannibalistic race of zombies. Here, Will shares his thoughts about the demands of playing virologist Robert Neville, a challenging role which placed him alone on screen for very long stretches at a time.
KW: Did you have any hesitation about approving a script that would have you carrying so much of the picture alone?
WS: That was the terrifying part about even taking on this film, the idea that there were probably 80 pages of just me and a dog. I thought that although people had enjoyed me in a movie theater before, this might be a little too much Will for anybody. So, I looked at it, and worked with Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich, the writers of the script. We studied POWs and a guy who had been in isolation in prison, and we found the things that could really create the texture of what that truly means to be by yourself. And the one thing we found that was across the board was schedule. The only way to maintain sanity is that you had to have a regimented schedule. That was the basis of how we tried to create my character in the movie, and then also the idea of his internal monologue. When you have no external stimulus, you lose the stimulus-response concept with your thoughts and feelings. A guy told us you that you forget the names of simple things, when you no longer have the stimulus and response.
KW: Did you think this film might be scary enough to warrant an R rating instead of the PG-13 it got?
WS: Fortunately, the MPAA gets to make that decision. So, you just show them the movie, and they decide what the rating is.
KW: Why did you decide to release a summer blockbuster-type action film during the holiday season?
WS: That involved a difficult decision-making process for me creatively. Akiva Goldsman and I posed some questions to one another. Why do the big movies come out in the summer, and the good movies come out in the Fall? Why are they separated? Is there any possibility that you could take both and marry those ideas? Take a big concept, yet put a person at the center of it, and follow a character through the reality of whatever that situation is. So, it was difficult, because we tried to commit to the small, artistic version that stayed true to the feeling and energy of the source material, and yet have that blockbuster package. We knew that people were going to be a little shocked by it in the theater, but hoped that that’d turn out to be a good thing.
KW: Did you feel that it was financially risky to release a big-budgeted, CGI creature feature at Christmastime?
WS: I’m a student of the patterns of the universe. If I can figure out how something is seemingly risky, but I have the numbers on my side, I get really comfortable taking a leap. When I first came to Hollywood, I said to my manager, James Lassiter, “I want to be the biggest movie star in the world!” He said, “Okay, we should probably figure out what they do, and plot a course.” So, he went and got the top ten movies of all time. We watched them to try to figure out what were the patterns. And ten out of ten of them were special effects movies. Nine out of ten were special effects movies with creatures. And eight out of ten were special effects movies with creatures and a love story. So, Independence Day was not really a hard call to make when you look at the numbers. Therefore, I Am Legend, in concept, is not a hard call to make.
KW: If you really were the last man on Earth like your character, what would be the one item you’d want to have?
WS: A pistol, because I’m out of here [Laughs].
KW: Did you read the book or watch either of the earlier screen adaptations of I Am Legend?
WS: Yeah, I looked at both of them. And there are a couple versions of the book, also. The idea of being alone and the fear of the dark is such a primal concept. Every four year-old has thought about being separated from their family, and being alone, and it being dark, and what comes out of the dark. So, to me, the idea, in general, is in the collective unconscious. We’re all keyed into these fears. As far as the other film versions, I felt we would be able to bring something new with this film because in the past there’s never been this level of technology available to support the weight of this story.
KW: Who inspired you to believe in yourself as a child?
WS: My grandmother thought that I was just the greatest. She always had us playing the piano and kept us in the shows at church. And there was a look of pride that my grandmother would have in her eyes that became the fuel that I need for life.
KW: Would you describe yourself as a spiritual person?
WS: I believe absolutely, unquestionably that there are forces at work in the universe that science can’t explain. And I think that there is an end to human knowledge. And at that end of human knowledge, beyond that into the unknown, we have to call it something in order for us to be able to talk about it. And if people didn’t have to attach specific names to it, and want to argue and fight about it, I think that all across the board we could agree to call the unknown beyond what we know, say, The Higher Power… the X-Factor… God… Allah…. Let’s just agree that there’s something beyond what we know. Things happen that we can’t control. There are things like Karma. Not to anthropomorphize, but there are mysteries that seem to have human qualities beyond what we understand. So, I absolutely believe, and I try to tap in and to become a surfer of the dial, to find that energy, whether it’s prayer, or other things people do to try to connect to an energy that we all know is out there. So, yes, I believe there’s an energy, yes, I try to connect to it, and yes, I try to use it and be in the good graces of that energy to have things in my life go the way I would like them to go. |
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Train Ride, one of the best movies on DVD, has EVERYTHING that comprises what stellar award winning films are made of from a great beginning, talented cast, dangerous deception, taboo twists, lies and unsuspecting psycho-induced suicide or murder (you decide) to enticing layers of authentic imagery and scenes to keep viewers engaged in the surprise hit of the year directed and written by Rel Dowdell. Great movies are made from great writing, and Train Ride is magnificent!
There are lessons to learn that will pinch at viewer’s nerves second-by-second, especially every parent who sends their child away to college. The greatest lesson to learn will trigger emotions in every college student who may encounter peer pressure and be faced with some of the toughest decisions as the cast of actors in some of the most pivotal roles had to face. Train Ride takes film direction to the limit and challenges each actor to make a split decision where one wrong move, can alter each of their lives forever.
The movie begins with a flash forward scene of a rifle aimed at Will, the college student with a bright future ahead of him, but has risked all by slipping a toxic drug in a college girl’s drink which immobilizes her body.
This scene smoothly transitions to the college campus grounds of Saunder’s University where Will, Ellis and Ron are navigating the premises to find college girls to invite to their gathering. Katrina, played by M.C. Lyte is confronted by Will who despite her wanting to focus on her studies, convinces her to take his number with that "macho-like" talk, and she obliges by bringing 2 of her college peers along, Stephanie and Candy.
The naivete of all the girls allows the fellows to play a grown folks version of "Spin the Bottle," but there isn’t a bottle to spin, just promiscuous peer pressure driven dares from performing lap dances, touching private parts and sipping straight shots of vodka. It’s a scene all too familiar for campus life travesties that begin with these kind of dares.
Will manages to woo M.C. Lyte with more charm then the other fellows. As soon as the other friends leave, Katrina is left behind with the fellows. She winds up following Will up to his bedroom, and hasn’t a clue that he has spiked her drink with a drug that immobilizes her body and zaps her memory of all that happens next.
Will tricks his friends, Ellis and Ron, to perform a "TRAIN RIDE" while she is immobile. Only Ellis has an idea that he has administered a drug, but not Ron. What appears to look like Katrina is the lady who invited a "Train Ride," turns out to be rape against her will. Meanwhile, Will cleverly videotapes his friends in the act of unknowingly raping Katrina.
The next day, Katrina returns to her dorm room and acts erratic. Her own friend, Stephanie believes some rumors she has heard that Katrina allowed the guys to film her and the guys "doing the do.". Will has shown the video to all of his friends in college, but lied and told Ellis and Ron that the video tapes were destroyed.
Things heat up when the fellows find out that there is a tape circulating around campus and so, they visit Will’s dorm to steal and trash the tape in not wanting to be accused of rape or drugging Katrina. Katrina finally lets Stephanie know the truth about having a drink, but she can’t remember anything after the drink was administered to her. The only signs she knows that something happened is when her college peers leave art depictions of video tapes in a college classroom and snicker while she is in class. M.C. Lyte’s performance as Katrina is beyond exceptional and worthy of an Oscar.
What happens to Katrina is sad, dehumanizing and pitiful, but now that the fellows have been snitched on for doing the unthinkable, they have a score to settle with Will who leaked out the tapes, but realize that they need to stick together now that authorities know what happened. Ron wants to confess and changes their course to devastation.
Viewers will question why didn’t Katrina’s father just listen and let her come back home when she cried out to him on the phone without really revealing what went down, and if the ladies would have been better off not going to the PARTY. These scenes leave a lot for every women to ponder and ask, "Is one night of fun really worth it?"
Rel Dowdell makes a very brief appearance in the movie and wears a shirt that clearly is labeled, "Danger, Intelligent Man on Board," and very much unlike the character’s roles which no man today should ever portray unless they want the circumstances to follow.
Train Ride is an explosive, high impact A+ production and a masterfully produced and directed "MUST SEE" movie of the year. Rel Dowdell has created a masterpiece to be commended and celebrated. Disilgold Soul honors Rel Dowdell.
For Immediate Release: Rel J. Dowdell Writer/Director and Award- Winning Film Maker of " Train Ride," a Full-feature Length Film Released by Sony Pictures is now on DVD and Available at Amazon.com.
TRAIN RIDE is a riveting thriller that takes place on an all-Black college campus. Will (Wood Harris of HBO’s The Wire, Paid In Full and Remember The Titans) is an upperclassman who, after a night of partying, convinces freshman Katrina (MC Lyte) to stick around and have a drink. What Katrina doesn't realize is the drink has been spiked with a drug that renders her unconscious. Soon, Will invites his two best friends to unknowingly take part in a gang rape--a "Train Ride," that he captures on videotape. These actions, combined with the guilt, shame, anger and fear that follow take everyone involved on a different journey destined to spiral out of control.
Train Ride is based on Boston University and Fisk graduate Rel J. Dowdell’s is a riveting thriller that takes place on an all-Blackcollege campus. Will (Wood Harris of and ) is an upperclassman who, after a night of partying, convinces freshman Katrina (MC Lyte) to stick around and have a drink. What Katrina doesn't realize is the drink has been spikedwith a drug that renders her unconscious. Soon, Will invites his two best friends to unknowingly take part in a gang rape--a "Train Ride," that he captures on videotape. These actions, combined with the guilt, shame, anger and fear that follow take everyone involved on a different journey destined to spiral out of control. is based on Boston University and Fisk graduate Rel J. Dowdell’s award winning short film of the same name. After the success of the short, Rel was courted by a number of Hollywood players to adapt his movie into a feature-length film. It wasn't long before Rel was back in his hometown of Philadelphia yelling "Action" on his first feature film. Complications arose and finishing funds shriveled when bosses at two major studios committed to the project, were replaced. Train Ride soon gained legendary status within Black independent film circles. Internet buzz grew. Those that were fortunate enough to see early rough cuts gave it a 10 out of 10 rating on the Internet Data Base. Curiosity piqued among insiders for this small little movie out of Philly that also boasted the late Esther Rolle's final film appearance.
Watching Train Ride in 2005 reveals a still topical well crafted and tastefully treated examination of its topic. Loaded with twists and turns, it involves audiences and is guaranteed to spur discussion, especially among those who share the Black college experience. Still in his early 30s, Mr. Dowdell has stayed busy writing screenplays and teaching others the craft as a professor at Boston University while maintaining residence in Philadelphia. He never lost faith that his debut feature would see the light of day and that more doors would open for him. Late last year, Philly's own RUFFNATION FILMS (Snipes) became an angel of sorts, when it acquired all rights to Train Ride. They improved the image added a new soundtrack and director's commentary. The film is a full-feature length film released by Sony pictures is currently available at www. Amazon. com where it was recently a top-ten worldwide best-selling African-American film.
Your review is personally requested on www. Amazon.com as soon as possible. Here is where a copy of the DVD may also be purchased and shipped to your home in a few days to support the writer/director. Be sure to include your email. Your receipt of purchase will be all that is necessary to receive a special letter of thanks from Rel J. Dowdell himself and be added to the" Train Ride" mailing list for upcoming news and announcements about the Writer/Director. Thank you for joining the "Train Ride" review team. Your time and care in expediting a review will be noted from a link to all reviews on the home site of Rel J. Dowdell. Your review may also, be forwarded to rel @reldowdell.com . Thank you once again. Please contact me at 1.718.547.0499 if you will be issuing a review this week for spotlight monthly mailings and promotional press releases.
Rel J. Dowdell is available for speaking appearances, interviews television shows, radio shows, book club and organization engagements which may include signing of his DVD. Mr. Dowdell can share insight on breaking into the film industry, working with a cast of actors, and his expertise on the making of a film. Please indicate full details about your event, guest expectancy, dress code, security provisions and about the event planning team. Forward all information to Customer Service & PR at: rel@reldowdell.com.
Read the Latest Reviews For Train Ride!
"Train Ride" is one of the best, June 16, 2005 Reviewer: T. Wilson (Birmingham, AL)
"If you are a relative or friend of someone who is starting college soon I highly recommend that you buy this DVD for them as a gift. Also, if you are looking for a black film that is entertaining, thought_provoking and full of suspense, this is the perfect movie for you. Although it is a black film, I think everyone will be able to relate to it. I couldn't help but wonder if the same thing that happened to MC Lyte's character happened to the 18 year old young lady (Natalie Holloway) from Alabama who is missing in Aruba. When I bought the DVD I didn't watch it for few weeks because I had low expectations. I thought it would be like some of the other black films that I have seen but I was very wrong. In my opinion, "Train Ride" is far superior to some of the more popular black films released in the last several years. I honestly cannot think of 10 black films of the past decade that are better than this one."
Read the Latest Reviews From Top Film Critic in the Country In Film Culture Column in The Boston Phoenix
The Lion and the Lamb MGM’s Louis B. Mayer, local talent Rel Dowdell BY GERALD PEARY
If people still remember Louis B. Mayer, studio head of Metro Goldwyn Mayer during Hollywood’s golden era, it’s as the ultimate studio mogul/philistine, the Jewish immigrant whose low-level populism and star worship connected MGM with the movie-loving public. In his well-researched 592-page biography, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer (Simon & Schuster, $35), Scott Eyman strives to present a deeper, shrewder Mayer, a brilliant CEO, a genius at judging people and talent. He was the most rabid Republican of studio heads, and MGM was built around his obsession with family values: movies that were decent and non-violent, movies to which you could bring your kids and your mother. Here’’s the studio of The Wizard of Oz, The Yearling, Meet Me in St. Louis, and, most beloved by both Mayer and the public, the endless Andy Hardy movies.
MGM under Mayer’s tutelage became the white-cloud residence of opulent movie stars, "More stars than there are in Heaven." You’d find, under lucrative contract, Garbo, the Barrymores, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Jean Harlow. A sublime place to be an actor, if Mayer liked you. He kept dapper, handsome, right-wing Robert Taylor under MGM contract for 25 years, even though Taylor was a marginal screen presence. The rule at MGM: performers were most important, then producers, then, down the chain and expendable, writers. Last and least were directors. If you were an "auteur," you could take your aesthetic pretensions to Paramount or RKO. A director’’s job at MGM was to listen to the producers and make the actors look good. And glamorous! The ideal movies, according to Mayer? "Andy Hardy! Clean, wholesome, and with heart. Not one goddamn message in them!"
"REL DOWDELL is a former Boston University graduate film student who commutes from Philadelphia (he says it’s cheaper there than here) to teach BU screenwriting classes. Boundlessly energetic and hypermotivated, this African-American filmmaker in his early 30s is an example of how to navigate in the film world. He’’s taken his thesis short, "Train Ride," winner of BU’s Sumner Redstone Award for Best Student Film, and made it into a 90-minute feature. Train Ride, longer and better and much more professional, is now available on DVD through Sony Music. It’s one of the best American movies so far this year, on screen or on video.
is a former Boston University graduate film student who commutes from Philadelphia (he says it’s cheaper there than here) to teach BU screenwriting classes. Boundlessly energetic and hypermotivated, this African-American filmmaker in his early 30s is an example of how to navigate in the film world. He’’s taken his thesis short, "Train Ride," winner of BU’s Sumner Redstone Award for Best Student Film, and made it into a 90-minute feature. , longer and better and much more professional, is now available on DVD through Sony Music. It’s one of the best American movies so far this year, on screen or on video.
Dowdell is a filmmaker with an urge to preach, to take on the big issues, in the way of John Singleton and Spike Lee. Train Ride is a potent sermon against the immoral behavior of today’s male college students, but Dowdell makes his story more pointed by setting it —— like Spike Lee’s School Daze —— at an unnamed all-black university. There, after an intimate party filled with flirting and sexual innuendo, a male student slips some Rohypnol into a female student’s drink and then rapes her. Two other male students, seeing this young woman asleep and vulnerable, join in the "fun." The victim is played against type by hip-hop superstar MC Lyte, utterly convincing as a fragile, sensitive undergraduate who, desperately confused about what happened to her, lies helplessly in her dorm room, unable to venture out to class.
Wood Harris, star of HBO’s The Wire, is sublimely villainous as the sexual predator who denies he’s done anything wrong. When the rape victim’s female friend confronts him, he presents himself as the victim and his accuser as a meddler, a bitch, a whore. Train Ride also features the last screen performance of the veteran African-American actress Esther Rolle (TV’s Maude and Good Times), in a cameo as the university dean, who’s irate about what’s happening on her campus. Rolle, mortally ill with acute diabetes, was so enamored of Dowdell’s script that she came from LA to do her part. She died soon after the shooting."
is a former Boston University graduate film student who commutes from Philadelphia (he says it’s cheaper there than here) to teach BU screenwriting classes. Boundlessly energetic and hypermotivated, this African-American filmmaker in his early 30s is an example of how to navigate in the film world. He’’s taken his thesis short, "Train Ride," winner of BU’s Sumner Redstone Award for Best Student Film, and made it into a 90-minute feature. , longer and better and much more professional, is now available on DVD through Sony Music. It’s one of the best American movies so far this year, on screen or on video.
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"Train Ride" Makes Top African American Cinema List on Amazon.com"
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Read an article on Train Ride by Molly Secours of The Tennessean.com
Tuesday, 04/05/05
Molly Secours:Take a searing look at the realities of date rape
By MOLLY SECOURS
If you've been meaning to call Oprah and have been waiting for just the perfect excuse, look no further.
Tonight, an extremely talented Fisk University graduate named Rel Dowdell is screening his latest film called Train Ride on the Fisk campus during the two-day Carlton Moss Film Festival. The film adeptly takes on a subject that everyone needs to know about but doesn't want to discuss: the epidemic spreading throughout college campuses involving the date-rape drug rohypnol.
If you think your son or daughter is immune to being drugged by a stranger or so-called ''friend'' while away at college, think again. According to research by the University of South Florida, FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, drug-induced rapes are on the rise. The studies revealed that 25% of college women have been victims of rape, and of those, 84% knew their attacker and 44% have considered suicide as a result. And those are only the rapes reported. Often times shame and humiliation prevent young women from every reporting the rape.
If you think your son or daughter is immune to being drugged by a stranger or so-called ''friend'' while away at college, think again. According to research by the University of South Florida, FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, drug-induced rapes are on the rise. The studies revealed that 25% of college women have been victims of rape, and of those, 84% knew their attacker and 44% haveonsidered suicide as a result. And those are only the rapes reported. Often times shame and humiliation prevent young women from every reporting the rape.
Rohypnol, GHB and Ketamine are known as ''date rape drugs'' or ''predatory drugs'' because they are used to incapacitate someone for the purposes of committing a crime, often sexual assault. These drugs are odorless and colorless and are particularly dangerous when combined with alcohol. They can cause dizziness, disorientation, loss of inhibition and a loss of consciousness. And there's more bad news: These drugs are easy to come by.
In Train Ride, Dowdell incorporates two things: the date rape drug rohypnol —— which is easy to slip into someone's drink without him or her knowing —— and the rampant use of video tapes for recording sexual activities performed once under the influence of the drug.
According to Dowdell, video has become a lethal weapon. ''If they get you on tape performing a sexual act, it can hurt you down the road. If you want to get into broadcasting or politics —— anything in the public eye —— you might be inhibited from fulfilling that dream.'' Worse than that, warns Dowdell, is the destruction of one's reputation and self-respect and the permanent emotional scars left by such humiliation.
Consider the Girls Gone Wild videos —— which are widely advertised on television. They depict college-age women performing wild sexual acts in various states of intoxication. What is equally disturbing is that the video is reported to have grossed over $90 million dollars in sales which means that young women caught drunk and reckless on video is big business.
Dowdell says ''what most people refuse to believe is that whatever you do in college has permanent repercussions on the rest of your life.''
After seeing what happens to Katrina, Train Ride's leading actress (played by rapper M.C. Lyte), most would agree. Katrina is a college freshman —— and by all definitions a ''good girl'' —— who gets charmed and snared into the malicious master plan of a ''cool'' senior named Will (played by Wood Harris, star of HBO's The Wire). After being drugged, Katrina is raped by Will and his two friends who have been convinced by Will that Katrina requested having sex with all of them (aka a ''train ride'') before falling asleep. After lying to his friends, Will then video tapes the two young men having sex with Katrina.
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