Devonte Swag, Turnstyle News
I was never really into Captain America comics as a kid. He definitely gave off a wonder bread kind of vibe; square, white, and around before color TVs.
Captain America first hit the scene as a Star-Spangled Avenger from New York, promptly finding and whooping Hitler’s ass in 18 pages. After Cap becomes a part of Marvel, his nemesis, a supremely evil power hungry nut job with a red skinless face, aptly named The Red Skull comes into play.
Marvel has done a pretty good job at making each origin story both entertaining for regular movie goers and accurate enough for comic readers; First Avenger is no different, taking us back to the 1940s to tell the story Steve Rogers (Captain America). Don’t expect any crazy alien invasions in the middle of Times Square. This is essentially a war story with a Super Soldier.
The film isn’t loaded with action and when the action comes, you may be a bit disappointed (especially if you’re wearing 3D glasses). I preferred the action Tim Roth got as a super soldier in Incredible Hulk than what we got to see Chris Evans do as Captain America.
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Young people flooding into the "Big Apple" for adventures in dance, music, media, and other things know that Brooklyn is the cool place to live. It’s got parks that aren’t as crowded, a huge hipster scene, local markets, two Chinatowns, concert venues, and more affordable living than Manhattan. However, it wasn’t always like that.
Bay Area native, Nick Thurston, stars in a movie called, “White Irish Drinkers,” set in Brooklyn in 1975 - a time when people like Thurston’s character, Brian Leary, would do anything to get out of town. Thurston, 23, is the youngest member of the cast. The movie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is premiering on the West Coast in Berkeley, CA on April 22.
In the story, Brian Leary is a painter, but feels like he can't share this artistic passion with anyone else. As Thurston puts it, the Leary brothers identify with being white, Irish, drinkers. They have a, “Don’t mess with us,” attitude and they enjoy being part of a community that is not afraid to fight.
“Brian Leary doesn’t belong where he’s living. He’s a painter, and he can’t do that at home, he has to go somewhere else,” said Thurston. “Everyone can relate to that - the story of someone who is making a sacrifice to pursue what they want to do,” he said.
Thurston himself had to make a sacrifice when accepting the role of Brian Leary in the movie. At the time, he was a junior at the University of Southern California (USC) studying theater. The school told him that if he accepted the role and left school, he might not graduate. “I had no idea whether it would go to theaters, but I knew it was a chance to do what I wanted to do,” said Thurston.
Have dreams of becoming a big film star? Forget moving to Los Angeles. You might be better off where you are right now. Over the years, Los Angeles has lost a lot of revenue due to runaway film/television production. Total productions in the city have declined 21.4% last year, with a 37.4% decline in feature film production. That's according to Film LA, the agency that handles production permits for all projects in Los Angeles. More and more producers and studios are heading to other locations, taking money and jobs with them. Now the Los Angeles City Council has declared a "crisis" and formed a committee to explore the feasibility of an LA Film Commission. The commission would promote Los Angeles as a go-to destination for filming. The commission would also work to undo some of the red tape and hassles that lured producers and studios outside of Los Angeles.
Competing with other cities to cement Los Angeles as a go-to destination for filming projects is a dangerous game for the city to play. Sure, production jobs within the city’s film industry have shrunk, but I wouldn’t call it a crisis. Spending more money to woo production back to the city, however, takes away resources in an already cash-strapped budget. Los Angeles hasn't been the primary destination for production in over a decade. That's according to Phil Sokolosk, the Manager of Communications at FilmLA. Read more...
I have to say that Kanye and Where the Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze did an awesome job with their short film. Mr. West plays a great drunken caricature of himself, looking erratic and emotionally unstable in the club. There was a cameo by Spike Jonze himself mistaking Kanye West for Lil Wayne and then getting ruffed up by Fonzworth Bentley and some other dapper gentlemen. Trust me I didn't give much away.
A documentary about the genius behind the rhythm and blues classics "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Just The Two Of Us" is coming to the big screen
For an artist like Withers who started his career at at age 30, it's no surprise that at age 70 he'd catch his second wind. His song "Use Me" helped promote HBO's new series Hung, and he's one of the featured musicians (next to the late great James Brown) in the documentary film Soul Power about the 1974 Ali - Foreman fight in Zaire.
So isn't his name mentioned with the likes of Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, or Brown? Why isn't he guest judging on American Idol or Dancing with the Stars? Because he made the choice to leave superstardom behind for a much quieter life of fatherhood. I'm sure you all, like me, want to know what kind of man up and walks away from fame.
"Still Bill", a look Withers' life is told by himself along side author and civil rights activist Cornell West and includes interviews with Sting, Angelique Kidjo and a host of others.
For all my Bay Area folks, there will be a special screening of "Still Bill" October 8th @ the Oakland International Film Festival.
I found this podcast series on Bill Withers that will hold you over until you see the film.
Last week, I attended a media junket in Beverly Hills for the animated movie "Coraline." It was so amazing getting to meet and ask questions to these great people. It was kind of shocking sitting in a room with the radio reporters who do this as their job. It was about 10 people in total, and it made me feel like I was a part of something. It was a great feeling to be able to do what I did. I felt very professional. Read more...
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