Cheadle’s ‘Talk to Me’ chronicles ‘60s D.C. DJ
Kam Williams
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. hails from Kansas City, Mo., where he was born on Nov. 29, 1964. His parents moved the family around a lot, and Cheadle ended up graduating from East High School in Denver before attending the California Institute of the Arts, earning a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
Cheadle’s path to Hollywood stardom began rather inauspiciously with a slew of guest spots on television shows like “Fame,” “L.A. Law” and “Hill Street Blues,” as well as an appearance as a dancer in the music video for Angela Winbush’s 1989 hit single, “It’s The Real Thing.” After landing a role in the 1987 Vietnam War film “Hamburger Hill,” Cheadle found his breakout part as Los Angeles gang-banger Rocket in 1988’s “Colors,” where he shoots a rival gang member in the movie’s memorable opening scene.
Full story
|
‘Cité Soleil’ a violent tale of Haitian hip-hop gangs
Kam Williams
If you want to get an idea of how much gangsta rap has influenced cultures around the world, check out “Ghosts of Cité Soleil,” a revealing documentary about a bloody turf war between rival gangs inside a notorious Haitian slum. The conflict’s dark twist — that the leaders of the competing posses, Winson “2Pac” Jean and James “Bily” Petit Frère, are brothers who have fallen in love with the same girl, a French missionary named Éleonore “Lele” Senlis — makes Asger Leth’s film all the more compelling.
The gangs operate with the tacit approval of outgoing Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose impending fall provides the backdrop for the film. In fact, these sadistic goons openly brag on camera that they’ve been armed by Aristide to intimidate and eliminate his political enemies, which might explain why the U.S. Marines were deployed to restore law and order. Full story
|
Blues legend B.B. King preps for tour, new album
Kam Williams
JACKSON, Miss. — B.B. King is afraid.
“Trying to come on stage after Etta James is frightening,” King joked during a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press.
King will embark on a 16-city summer blues festival tour July 24 with James and Al Green, who King says is equally as “frightening” to follow.
“I know both of them, they are really fiery on stage,” King said.
At 81, King isn’t slowing down.
Full story
|
Lee’s latest film highlights role of black soldiers in WWII
Marta Falconi
ROME — Filmmaker Spike Lee announced plans last Tuesday to work on a movie about the struggle against Nazi occupiers in Italy during World War II. The director hopes the film will highlight the contributions of black American soldiers who fought and died to liberate Europe.
The film will spotlight the courage of black soldiers who, despite suffering discrimination back home, offered a contribution that has so far gone largely unnoticed in other Hollywood movies, Lee said at a presentation of the project in Rome. Full story
|
