Attorney Derek Cho (Steven Yeun) was a rising star working his way up the corporate ladder at Towers and Smythe when he was blindsided by a false accusation of making a million-dollar mistake. He was callously fired on the spot by the sadistic director of operations (Caroline Chikezie) and escorted by the heartless Grim Reaper (Dallas Roberts) to the basement of the building where he was pressured to sign a confession as a condition for receiving a severance package. It’s obvious he’d been stabbed in the back by a colleague at the cutthroat law firm. But he has no idea…
Author: Kam Williams
Bride-to-be Alex Martin is in a rush to return home where she and her fiance’ (Dermot Mulroney) are getting married in the morning. The only reason the dedicated photojournalist was even in Idaho so close to her wedding was out of a sense of duty to cover a potentially-incendiary demonstration by skinheads and neo-Nazis. Elsewhere in the same airline terminal, Dr. Ben Bass (Idris Elba) is just as eager to get to Denver where he’s urgently needed to perform potentially life-saving surgery on a critically-ill child. So, it’s easy to imagine both passengers’ frustration upon learning that their commercial flight…
DVD Review by Kam Williams Sprinter Eric Liddell’s Life after Olympic Glory Chronicled in Bittersweet Biopic Chariots of Fire (1981) chronicled the real-life exploits of Eric Henry Liddell (1902-1945), aka “The Flying Scotsman,” a world-class sprinter who won the gold medal in the 400-meter track race at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. What made his feat amazing is that he had only qualified to run the 100-meter dash but refused to compete when he learned that it would be staged on a Sunday. You see, he was a devout Christian raised by missionaries who had instilled in their son…
Film Review by Kam Williams Woody Allen Pic Proves Terribly Disappointing I suppose Woody Allen was due for a dud. After being distracted during the Nineties by a bitter divorce and custody battle, the four-time Oscar-winner had enjoyed quite a resurgence since the turn of the century with a string of critically-acclaimed offerings that included Small Time Crooks (2000), The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Match Point (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011) and Blue Jasmine (2013). While Wonder Wheel might not be Woody’s best film, it’s certainly his worst of this millennium. The film is…
Denzel Delivers Oscar-Quality Performance as Attorney with Asperger’s Roman J. Israel (Denzel Washington) is a high-functioning savant on the autism spectrum who has been practicing law in L.A. for the past 36 years. The brilliant attorney has spent most of his career under the radar, writing legal briefs in a rear office for indigent criminal defendants, while his partner, William Henry Jackson, served as the face of the firm, whether cultivating clients or arguing their cases in the courtroom. This unorthodox arrangement worked well for Roman who, besides his disorder, is a longtime political activist dedicated to a progressive agenda,…
Documentary Revisits Police Shooting That Launched Black Lives Matter Movement On August 9, 2014, Mike Brown was shot a half-dozen times by police officer Darren Wilson on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, a predominantly-black suburb of St. Louis. Because several eyewitnesses said the 18 year-old had his hands up at the time, the incident triggered nationwide civil unrest which gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. But Wilson was not even indicted by the grand jury which deemed his testimony credible. He claimed to have pulled the trigger in self defense after Brown had punched him and tried to…
SNL’s Kyle Mooney Stars as Clueless Kidnap Victim in Poignant Character Portrait Brigsby Bear revolves around an age-old premise that’s tough to establish and maintain convincingly, namely, the plight of a sheltered protagonist blissfully unaware of reality. Four films come quickly to mind which succeeded at plausibly presenting just such a plotline. In Room (2015), we witnessed a little boy being imprisoned with his mother in a shed by the rapist who’d fathered him. In Life Is Beautiful (1997), we found a concentration camp internee doing his best to shield his young son from the horrors of the Holocaust. In…
War for the Planet of the Apes is the 9th episode in the legendary film franchise that began almost a half-century ago with Planet of the Apes. The groundbreaking sci-fi adventure was based on the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle, who also wrote “The Bridge over the River Kwai.” The original was adapted to the screen by a couple of consummate scriptwriters in Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone) and two-time Oscar-winner Michael Wilson (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, It’s a Wonderful Life and A Place in the Sun). So, it’s no surprise that…
George Lopez’s multi-faceted career has encompassed standup comedy, TV series, feature films, and hosting and guest appearances on television. For two seasons, he starred on TBS’ “Lopez Tonight,” a late-night television talk show. Previously, he co-created, wrote, produced and stared on the groundbreaking sitcom “George Lopez,” which enjoyed a six season-run on ABC. The series remains a hit with viewers in syndication on both broadcast stations and cable’s Nick at Nite. In 2006, George received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition, Time magazine has named him one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America. Here,…
Alien: Covenant is the 9th episode in the enduring, sci-fi franchise launched back in 1979, provided you count the trio of Alien vs. Predator spinoffs. This installment is a sequel to Prometheus (2012) which devoted fans know was a prequel to the original. Covenant was directed by the legendary Ridley Scott who also made the first and the previous picture in the series. As the futuristic tale unfolds, we find the spaceship Covenant hurtling through the ether on a mission to colonize a distant star with its cargo of 2,000 cryogenic humans and 1,140 frozen embryos. The crew, under the…