The New York Film Festival celebrates its 54th year by trying something new. For the first time in history, its Opening Night World Premiere will be a documentary. Even more noteworthy, this non-fiction film is by director Ava DuVernay (Selma) and it focuses on America’s deep problem with its criminal justice/penal system and […]
There are points in time when free speech, facts, passion and history collide. It happened in real life to Deborah Esther Lipstadt, an American historian and lecturer who holds a Ph.D. in Jewish History. Her personal and professional challenge stems from an entanglement in a British libel trial involving the history of the Holocaust […]
In the original 1960s The Magnificent Seven, seven gunfighters assembled to help a Mexican peasant village fight off villains. That’s the basic premise. This 2016 version is an update that blends old classic Westerns with a new Western genre. What’s on view in this kick-ass cowboy movie are solid production elements, alpha male acting, […]
There are film festivals all over the world. Few however, take over an entire city and engage locals and visitors on the level of the Toronto International Film Festival. An estimated 480,000 filmgoers attend screenings, eyeball celebrities and scout out the up-and-coming filmmakers at TIFF. As participants take in the festivities, they tour the […]
For 41 years the Toronto International Film Festival has attracted the world’s best films and built and audience. At the 2016 festival, 480,000 film lovers filled seats, screened movies and experienced the festivities. Credit TIFF’s Artistic Director Cameron Bailey and his discerning team for assembling a high quality and culturally diverse program that […]
“Thought he was just another smooth talking brother?” says an inquisitive Chicago mom. She’s repeating the words her daughter used to describe a colleague she’s meeting for a first date. Never have eight words been so inaccurate. That “he,” is a twentysomething Barack Obama. The daughter is Michelle LaVaughn Robinson. As this very romantic […]
“Every boxer is someone’s hero.” It’s a saying that’s been hard to attach to Roberto Durán. Most people assume that he is just an infamous Panamanian boxer who walked out on a match against Sugar Ray Leonard, uttering the words, “No Mas (no more).” There’s more to him than that controversial moment. This very […]
The seventh annual Richmond Jazz Festival ran from August 11th to the 14th, in venues around town and culminated at the lush 100-acre Maymont Park with a two-day outdoor fest. Musicians like Herbie Hancock, Stephanie Mills, The Roots and Diane Schuur thrilled music fans. And when festival goers weren’t lapping up the music they […]