Float Like A Butterfly - Sting Like A Bee - R.I.P Muhammad Ali

Back in St. Louis, Missouri, our house sat right in back of a drive-in movie theater.  We would hop over the fence, turn up the speakers that weren't being used, grab some lawn chairs, popcorn, snacks, blankets and watch the movie with our whole block sitting on the lawn. One of the films I remember vividly watching was "The Greatest" with Muhammad Ali.  Ali was bigger than life in generosity, kindness, boxing skills and personality.  He truly was "The Greatest of All Time".

Muhammad Ali lost his battle with Parkinson Disease.  Even after his organs failed, his heart continued to beat strongly for 30 minutes, which is so indicative of how strong-willed the spirit of this champ was for the decades.  He never gave up.  His sheer presence on this earth taught me personally that impossible is not a fact it's an opinion.

Ali denounced his “slave name” (Cassius Marcellus Clay, which was also his father’s name), the Christian religion and famously refused to serve in the Army stating “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”A life decision which was not popular, but when did Ali ever care about what was popular and what was not.  He lived his life on his terms...without regret.

Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for his refusal to comply with the draft, Ali was fined $10,000.  With his boxing license revoked and not allowed to box in the very prime of his career, the State Department even took away his passport to restrict him from fighting outside the country.  Yet, Ali once again bounced back.

After a trilogy of infamous Frazier/Ali fights and a devastating final loss, to the much-younger Trevor Berbick, the champ retired in 1981 after 61 fights, with 56 wins.   Muhammad Ali was not the greatest "black boxer", but simply the greatest athlete to grace that sport.

His life has been documented on film several times, most famously in the bio pic Ali, which earned Will Smith a Oscar  nomination.  In my opinion, he was an OG rapper..  Check him out, spinning rhymes as only Muhammad Ali could do.

Check out these films, which illustrate the spirit and dogged determination of a man we came to know and love for decades as the "Greatest of All Time"  R.I.P. Muhammad Ali

Here are a few other flicks about the champ...

The Greatest...  Thus was the one time Ali attempted to act by portraying himself in a story of his very colorful life.  The song, "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded by George Benson, but was immortalized by the late, great Whitney Houston.

There was a documentary released early this year on Ali, which features interviews and commentary from his daughter Laila Ali, Common, Sugar Ray Leonard and many more...

 RIP DEAR BROTHA' MUHAMMAD...You really ARE the GREATEST OF ALL TIME❤️

Top 10 Flicks From the 2016 Cannes Film Festival

Well peeps, I wasn't to able to cross the ocean to France for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival once again.  However, Variety,  Peter  Debruge and Owen Gleiberman keep me in the know and if  I am in the loop - then so do you... Here is what Variety says are the Top Ten to look for...

I, Daniel Blake

It’s not just another Ken Loach movie. The Palme d’Or-winning drama about a Newcastle carpenter (Dave John) with heart disease who discovers that he’s being dropped from the welfare rolls has a raw, elemental outrage. It’s really about how the social safety net has been fraying around the world, and it asks: Are we going to repair it — or let it fray more?

2.  Elle

Paul Verhoeven (whose "Basic Instinct" and "Hollow Man" were stunted-teen sex fantasies) is literally the last filmmaker on earth I'd trust to handle the hyper-sensitive issue of rape with any level of psychological depth. As it turns out, there's no one better, especially when paired with the great Isabelle Huppert, who gives her most fearless performance since "The Piano Teacher." — Peter Debruge

3.  American Honey

In Andrea Arnold's extraordinary handheld youthquake of a road movie, Star (Sasha Lane), fleeing an abusive home, joins a roving cult of pierced and tattooed hip-hop wastrels who survive by using their hustle and beauty to sell magazine subscriptions. Shia LaBeouf, as the group's recruiter, is like a rat-tailed nihilist James Dean, and the whole movie — think "Spring Breakers" as shot by the Dardenne brothers — is a dance between exhilaration and despair.

4.  Paterson

In cinema, as in poetry, there are epic tales of conflict and heroism that take hours to relate, and then there are tiny, observational doodles that uncannily manage to cut to the essence of life via a handful of short, repetitive stanzas. In the context of Cannes, Jim Jarmusch's "Paterson" may not seem ambitious enough, but it zeroes in on what is true and relatable in a New Jersey bus driver's weekly routine, so that we might better understand ourselves.

5.

Toni Erdmann

Much as Andrea Arnold did with "American Honey," German director Maren Ade shot enough footage to make a film twice as long as her nearly-three-hour competition entry. After a year spent in editing, she emerged with this wince-inducingly authentic look at a strained father-daughter relationship, which builds to a series of astonishing quasi-comedic set pieces, including the best use of a Whitney Houston ballad since "The Bodyguard.

6.

Hell or High Water

Chris Pine and Ben Foster are gripping as West Texas brothers who go on a spree of petty bank robberies — but not because they’re simple crooks. They’re very complicated crooks (well, one of them is), and we survey their actions with a mesmerizing mixture of sympathy and dismay. Jeff Bridges, as the Texas Ranger who wants to hunt them down, does a great piece of character acting. Directed by David Mackenzie, the movie is funny and explosive but surprisingly rich.

7.

Toni Erdmann

Much as Andrea Arnold did with "American Honey," German director Maren Ade shot enough footage to make a film twice as long as her nearly-three-hour competition entry. After a year spent in editing, she emerged with this wince-inducingly authentic look at a strained father-daughter relationship, which builds to a series of astonishing quasi-comedic set pieces, including the best use of a Whitney Houston ballad since "The Bodyguard."

8.

The Salesman

In "A Separation" director Asghar Farhadi's searing drama, a couple in Tehran (Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidootsi) find their lives upended by a random intruder. The movie builds in Farhadi's slow-boil way, but once the perpetrator is revealed, it becomes a suspenseful meditation not just on the ethics of revenge, but on the psychological sources of it.

9.  The Neon Demon

Disney might take issue, but the brothers Grimm would surely approve of Nicolas Winding Refn’s twisted fairy tale, a hyper-stylized plunge into Los Angeles’ cult of beauty, wherein a not-entirely-innocent blonde ingénue (Elle Fanning) cracks the city’s ultra-competitive modeling scene. As allegories go, Refn’s cynical take can seem facile at times, but like “Suspiria” or “The Black Swan,” surrealist horror is absolutely the right genre to capture said phenomenon.

10.  Endless Poetry

Well into his 80s, the violent cult surrealist Alejandro Jodorowky ("El Topo") has reinvented himself as a maker of shaggy-dog Felliniesque memoir, and this one is far more disciplined and moving than his first, "The Dance of Reality" (2013). It's about how Jodorowsky joined the bohemian demimonde of Santiago as a young poet. In his baroque way, the former midnight sensationalist has become a true storyteller who turns every scene into an adventure.

8.  After Love

One of these days, Belgian director Joachim Lafosse will find his way into competition at Cannes. In the meantime, his piercing studies of relationship dynamics (which include "Our Children" and "Private Property") stand out as the best of their respective sidebars. Bérénice Bejo has never been better than she is as a working mom who can no longer stand to live with the father of her children, but can't bring herself to kick him out.

BLACK GIRL

  In 2015, Cannes Film Festival screened and re-released a digitally restored version of Ousmane Sembene’s first feature film from 1966 -  Black Girl.  Black Girls single-handedly opened the way for African cinema in the West.

Diounna is a girl from Senegal.  Diounna is stylish, classy, sophisticated and a woman on a mission to help her family have a better life.  That opportunity presents itself when she is invited by her mistress to leave Dakar and move to France.  However, the "glamourous life" Diounna envisioned becomes a cruel form of modern-day slavery.  Diounna's dreams are never realized and depression becomes her daily existence.

While African-Americans here in the America were fighting for equal "civil" rights, our brothers and sisters across the ocean were fighting undercover modern-day slavery.  How could this be allowed to happen and why?  Who thought this was a good idea and why was this considered Ok?Why were white people so fascinated by people of color in terms of our women and how we cook, but then afraid to go to Africa for fear of being caught up in a "civil war"?

Not much has changed, only now the fascination is with our style and our music.

Yes, I was fascinated and infuriated at such behavior.  When will folks learn that we are ALL HUMAN BEINGS!!!!  We are not property to be coveted and bragged about.  We have families, feelings and want the best for our loved ones like anyone else.

Can we really say that this behavior has changed much from 1969 to 2016?  Yes and No...the answer is totally subjective depending on who you are and what your experience in life has turned out to be.

Black Girl recently screened at BAMcinematek during May in New York and can now be streamed online via YouTube and purchased on DVD.

ROOTS 2016: Slavery Saga or History Lesson

There is a lot of talk about Roots today and will be for the rest of the week and the other episodes hit the airwaves  For those of you who are not award, please let me educate you and make you think.

Alex Haley's Roots inspired millions of Americans (not just people of color) to look into their ancestry as a means to discover the origins of their family history.

In my own personal quest, I connected with  and remain close with a cousin who now lives in Japan, discovered some historic info about my family and learned that some of my relatives made their living as bee keepers.  All as a result of searching my own "roots".

Historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. even had a show on NBC called "Who Do You Think You Are", in which numerous celebrities had their ancestry researched and aired on national television.  Some results were downright stunning.

Genealogy is the origin from which Roots was born and inspired from, so it is very difficult to listen to masses of people complain about it being a story about slaves.  Slavery is definitely at the forefront of the story, but NOT the main subject.  Roots is a story about how despite the odds, Kunte Kinte, a Mandinka warrior snatched from his homeland, rose above adversity to create a positive legacy for his family.  A family that included Alex Haley.

So, on the subject of slavery, Ima need folks to calm down!!!

Do you hear people of Jewish descent complaining about a holocaust film every other year?  No. Why?  They understand that for history NOT to be repeated one needs to be aware and remember its existence.  There are actually some schools in this country that are trying to rewrite slavery in America calling it a "migration of Africans to America seeking a better life". Really???!!!  I think not!  This is simply a bold-faced lie.  A migration would suggest Africans were NOT chained like animals on a ship, branded and sold as property.  Let there be no mistake about it...Slavery was anything BUT a migration.

I was one of the 130 million that watched Roots the when it aired on ABC all those years ago.  Back then, you couldn't re-watch it on a DVR, live-stream or even catch it on the internet.  If you didn't see it in real time...you simply missed out.  When I tell you,  going to school the next day was one of the most uncomfortable days in my life...is NO exaggeration.  Roots was the talk of every workplace, school and social settings, just as it is now.

The only difference now is simply the internet.  After the first episode aired last evening, the "twitterers" and internet were buzzing with opinionated reviews of Roots.  Here's my opinion and before you get you pants in a wad...remember this is just that..an opinion.

Roots, which aired its first episode last night simultaneously on A&E, Lifetime and the History Channel pulled in 8.5 million viewers.  The original, which aired on ABC pulled in 130 million viewers.  Not only that, but Roots single-handedly birthed a new genre of television in the 70's (Lonesome Dove, The Thornbirds, Rich Man - Poor Man).

The new look at Roots, which begins with the abduction in Africa of Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) and spans decades to include the American Civil War, is unfolded over four consecutive nights, with a different director helming each night, including Phillip Noyce, Mario Van Peebles, Thomas Carter and Bruce Beresford.

In an era dealing with young black men randomly being gunned down, Black Lives Matter and Donald J. Trump promising to build a wall to "keep the Mexicans/illegals" out  of American, films like Nate Parker's The Birth of a Nation,  WGN America's Underground and the reboot of Roots are more timely than ever.

Shot in various locations including South Africa and Louisiana, you heart can't help but break when Kunta Kinte is being whipped for refusing to abandon his Mandinka name for the slave name "Toby".  That one scene clocks in at four minutes.  Four minutes of watching  blood splatter to the ground, skin being burst like over ripe fruit, others slaves, overseers, etc... looking on yet turning away in horror and in silence.  Seeing this scene now, with so much life experience behind me than when I watched as a teenager, stirred up feelings that had been suppressed for decades.  I pray that this generation of people watch and watch intently to learn of a history that is slowly disappearing from America.  A history that should never be forgotten.

The first episode felt a little slow in some spots, but was still compelling mostly due to the performances of Malachi Kirby and Forrest Whittaker.  The producers (Mark Wolper, LeVar Burton and Will Packer) make a point in stating a disclaimer reminded viewers that there is "intense language of the time period" involved.

I trust that LeVar Burton (the original "Kunte Kinte" actor who was an unknown when shooting the 1977 miniseries) will treat the legacy Alex Haley left with the dignity, honor and respect it deserves.  Will 85% of households be watching this time? No, but this time around Roots will have a different impact.  Roots is not just about slavery, the "N-word" or pain.  It's about the courage and survival of a group of people who are resilient.

Please watch with your family, friends and every young person you can gather.  Make sure they know now that slavery, just like the holocaust and Pearl Harbor are events that should always be remembered.  If you missed last night, no worries...each episode will re-air right before the current one

Keep your eyes peeled for Emayatzy Corinealdi and Anika Noni Rose in the future installments. These young women are forces to be reckoned with and will no doubt re recognized for their brilliance along with their co-stars Malachi Kirby and Forest Whitaker.

Don't be silent on this one.  Le me hear from you and what  you feel.  Let's keep the conversation going for the next generation.  Remember I will respect and honor your opinion in the same manner in which you have allowed me to express mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxmw4gccqnA

Tribeca Film Festival 2016: Audience Award - The Return

[embed]https://youtu.be/zcXTs4EYuI0[/embed] Many of us know someone, have a relative or have accidentally met an individual who has been incarcerated.  There are fewer of us who know someone who has had "three strikes" and even fewer who have had someone released as a result of the passing of Prop 36.

In 2012, California voters passed Prop 36 to reform Three Strikes - the first time in American history that citizens shortened sentences of the currently incarcerated. Overnight, thousand of lifers became eligible for release

The Return gives a bird's-eye view of two newly released lifers as they attempt to avoid the usual pitfalls of released prisoners back into a society and familial relationships that are drastically different.  Their struggle not to succumb to old triggers, insecurities and restoring the relationships is real, raw and heartbreaking.

Bilal Chatman and Kenneth Anderson were both lifers.  Chatman wanted a second chance to turn his life around and spend more time with his ailing mother.  Anderson wanted a second chance at being a business person, father, grandfather, husband and drug free.

Chatman was freed  by the people who fought for Proposition 36, which requires eligible non-violent drug offenders to serve their time in a drug treatment program instead of in prison. After The Return's screening at Tribeca, Bilal (who recently celebrated 33 years clean and sober) spoke of not allowing mistakes nor the people who hurt him in his past, to define his present life.

Kenneth Anderson was released and moved back in with his family after well over a decade. With a 25-to-life sentence over a purse snatching,  Anderson's last blunder included a struggle with drug abuse brought on by stress over his failed janitorial business.

Welcomed back by his ex-wife, now-adult children and several grandchildren he’s never met, he’s fortunate — but still encounters insurmountable hurdles.

Bilal Chatman had no spouse or children to return to. After 11 years’ (his “third strike” was selling $200 in drugs to an undercover agent), he headed straight from prison to Home of the Loving Father Re-Entry Facility, a halfway house in San Jose.

Their "second chance" journey is different - yet similar.  Both have no desire to return to the life conditions of their former selves, yet both men face a fate in society that will never let them forget their past.

The filmmakers also follow the release petitioning for Lester Wallace, a diagnosed schizophrenic who became California’s very first “Three Strikes” conviction after an attempted car-stereo theft. We never actually hear from Wallace, only a  glimpse him in court as his case is being  argued. Wallace's case was argued as him being raised in a frequently homeless, drug-addled family, which made him the perfect candidate for what Director Michael Romano says was too often “the solution for a generation” to problems of poverty, addiction and mental illness: Lock ’em up and throw away the key.

Prop 36 gave men like Chapman, Wallace and Anderson a new lease on life and allowed them all an opportunity to be placed in rehab programs to kickstart their new life.  Often times, these men, regardless of their crimes, are released from prison with a paper jumpsuit, $200 dollars in their pocket and no real plan for the future.  This is the major reason so many of them find themselves back behind bars.  They are released into a society that has no empathy for ex-cons and many of them spend the rest of their lives trying to prove they are changed and reformed men or women.

The Return is a lesson for all that everyone is capable of making a mistake, but should that mistake be thrown up in your face  and follow you for the rest of your life?

For more information of drug rehab services through Prop 36, click on  http://www.caldrug.org.

The Return won the Audience Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and will make its debut on PBS.

Remember Our Troops: Memorial Day Flicks To Watch

Memorial Day is often confused with Veteran's Day.  Many of you are probably wondering what the difference is?  Memorial Day is to honor those slain in the line of duty or as a result of wounds sustained in battle while serving their country.  Veteran's Day is the day in which we take time to thank ALL veterans for their service to our country. Now, if your plans to commemorate those who lost their lives include a picnic, cookout or some type of party - BE SAFE.  However, if you choose to do so quietly at home with loved ones or friends, here some flick you might want to check out...

STRIPES

While on a USO/DOD tour, having just performed for the troops, we were invited to attend a screening of Stripes.  It was hilarious!!!  The guys would laugh at stuff that clearly was an inside joke and when they shared it with us we chuckled too!  Baby, when Bill Murray says "Razzle Dazzle" we would howl!!!  If you haven't seen it, the film kinda makes fun of all the serious things one identifies with regarding the military.  Unlike some of the other films, I mention, this one will really bring a smile to your face.

THE MESSENGER

Having several members of the military in my family, but never having lost any of them to war - this film was probably the hardest for me to watch.  I can't even imagine being the family that receives this type of news, however, have you ever thought of the anguish and sorrow that comes along with the person delivering the news.  Woody Harrelson gives one of his many stellar performances in this film.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Steven Spielberg, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks and the storming of Normandie...that is all

PLATOON

Before Charlie Sheen's shenanigans and being known for "winning", he gave an award worthy performance in Oliver Stone's war masterpiece...

GLORY

Denzel Washington earned his first of two Oscar wins alongside Matthew Broderick and Morgan Freeman in this unforgettable flick about the first all-black company to fight in the Civil War

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects almost 30 percent of the 834,467 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans treated through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Consumed by anger and traumatic memories long after their return, soldiers often resort to drugs or suicide to end their suffering.

Filmmaker Laurent Bécue-Renard provides a searing account of how the disorder has affected veterans and their families in Of Men and War. The film offers an unparalleled look at the enduring consequences of PTSD and the role treatment can play in helping soldiers reclaim their lives. An Official Selection of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the documentary has its national broadcast premiere during the 29th season of POV(Point of View)on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2016 at 10 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.)

Of Men and War is a production of Alice Films.

Of Men and War Trailer

THE UNKNOWNS

THE UNKNOWNS reveals the training of the elite group of soldiers at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. These Sentinel's guard the Tomb 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through snow, heat, and rain to honor those that have fallen in the line of duty to grant us the freedoms that we enjoy today.

THE UNKNOWNS is produced by Army Veterans Ethan Morse and Neal Schrodetzki. Because they both had the honor of serving at the Tomb, they were given an unprecedented level of access from the US Army, allowing them to bring a unique perspective to the rigorous and intricate training process that soldiers must endure to be stationed there. The film is also produced by Matthew Little and executive produced by Mark Joseph (Reagan, The Vessel, America: Imagine the World Without Her).

#FLASHBACK FRIDAY: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch

It won a Pulitzer Prize, made Gregory Peck a superstar, instantly became an American classic and made it's author infamous.  To Kill A Mockingbird in many ways was the pre-cursor to John Gresham's "A Time to Kill' starring Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey.  Centered around lawyer Atticus Finch, the audience is educated as Finch defends a black man in southern America circa 1963.

Based on Harper Lee's novel of the same name, you can only imagine the controversy stirred by this prolific tale. Crafted brilliantly and told through the eyes of  six year-old Scout, who can forget Boo Radley or the famous words spoken by Atticus,  "You never know someone...until you step inside their skin and walk around a little."

Just as in 1963, Harper Lee caused a stir once again when she announced a prequel she had kept under wraps would be published.  Fans lost their minds!!!  Just a few months later Lee would pass away at the age of 89.

The film received numerous Oscar nominations, taking home the gold for Horton Foote, Gregory Peck and for Best Art Direction/Set Direction.

Take a look back at a 56-year-old classic...To Kill A Mockingbird

https://youtu.be/KR7loA_oziY

#TBT Beauty and the Beast

Susan egan as belle in broadway's beauty and the beast

Toni Braxton as Belle on broadway in beauty and the beast

When Grammy winner Toni Braxton went into the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, I, for one was ecstatic!  Toni is one of my favorite vocalists and she seemed a perfect fit for the hit show.  However, this would not be my first run in with a Belle.  I happened to be at a voice-over audition with the Original Susan Egan (who is absolutely adorable) and is the living embodiment of Belle. )

Before Toni and Susan took this classic to the stage it was a Disney animated film that featured the voices of Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara in the title roles.  Benson, was a 70's heart-throb mostly know for the film Ice Castles and O'Hara a "Broadway Baby" having played such roles as Fantine in the hit musical Les Miserables.  Both make a very good living as  animated voice-over artists these days.

For those of you who have been under a rock for the last 20 years, this Disney classic tells the story of Belle.  Belles' father is imprisoned by the Beast and she offers to switch places with her Dad not realizing that the Beast is really a handsome Prince.  Sound familiar?  It's a lovely story and the title song is sung by Angela Lansbury in the film and was made into an R&B hit with Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson.  Beauty and the Beast won two oscars...both of them going to Alan Menken, whose name has become synonomous with Disney through Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Newsies, Tangled, Hercules,The Little Mermaid and the list goes on.

Beauty and the Beast went on to become a television series a few times and a feature film and this week celebrates its 25th Anniversary.  Take a trip back and experience the Disney magic of Beauty and the Beast.

On May 9th, The Oscars hosted pre-screening discussion celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the first animated feature film to be nominated for Best Picture, featuring voice actors Angela Lansbury, Richard White, Paige O’Hara and Robby Benson, producer Don Hahn, director Gary Trousdale and supervising animators Andreas Deja, Mark Henn and Glen Keane, key story artist Brenda Chapman. Presented in nostalgic 70mm as it was originally shown in its premiere engagements.

https://youtu.be/IekzVSf1AUs

https://youtu.be/xD5pcGp62ec