PHILLY FILM FEST: AKEELAH & THE BEE

Dir. Doug Atchison

Perhaps the greatest detriment of AKEELAH & THE BEE is that it's exactly what you'd expect it to be; an uplifting underdog story with roots sowed deep into the same formulaic soil that's nourished a million sports films from ROCKY to HOOSIERS. But where AKEELAH differs from the norm is in its protagonist (a young, black girl straight outta Compton), and in tracing her journey from sheltering a hidden talent to standing in the bright glow of exaltation, AKEELAH is practically bulletproof. It helps that newcomer Keke Palmer is a star in the making, as she shoulders the entire film without a hint of kid actor annoyances. And while Laurence Fishburne could do this Mr. Miyagish stuff in his sleep (his character even has a horticulture fetish, for chrissakes!), Angela Bassett shows her great versitility as Akeelah's working-class mother. Returning to the same streets she mined with Fishburne way back when in BOYZ IN THE HOOD, Bassett's fiery realism helps ground the film even when it feels half-assed in capturing the essence of the community it tries to entrench itself in. Still, the fact that the relationship between Akeelah and her mom provides the film with its emotional core rather than that of Akeelah and Fishburne's coach speaks volumes, more so because it showcases people we rarely see in mainstream cinema; mother, daughter, black.


http://www.akeelahandthebee.com/
Opens nationwide on April 28th.

For more on the Philly Film Festival, visit phillyfests.com

Doom

Guest writing for Sketch Element today is the ghost of his twelve-year-old former self.

Doom is a zombie movie sort of based on the game. The Rock plays Sarge, a grizzled combat leader who only wants to follow his orders. The Zombies are created because the scientists on Mars experimented with some DNA which was supposed to make them super-human, but mostly it just turns them into Zombies. In the game, it's just demons from the slipgates the scientists are working on that the soldiers are fighting.

One of the best quotes was when one of the soldiers picks up his giant gun and says, "Daddy's Home." One of the best scenes is when the Grimm character has to move through the tunnels in the Martian facility and we get around 5 minutes of first person perspective -- just like the game. It's awesome -- the gun moves around like it does in the game, and he shoots everything that moves, and the blood splattering is just like the game.

Right, so it's a sci-fi action zombie movie, in essence. Not a great one -- it's kind of slow here and there and there were times when I really wanted the action to get going -- but, overall, it delivered what I expected.

I Ask You Why?

Kitchen Confidential

Curtain Call

A feature length documentary about more than just the rift between ideals and reality in arts education today:

In South Philadelphia, one arts program challenges its students to create an entire show of musical theatre...on their own. Guided by committed (and under-funded) teachers, we follow their efforts in a relevant and meaningful documentary by director James Doolittle.

The film premieres April 7, 2006 as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival. Mr. Doolittle (A/K/A, the Wookiee) is a friend (thanks to Gwynnie) and someone whose talent ought to be recognized. See the trailer.

The Corporation

This disturbingly foreboding documentary should be watched. It's long, but does an excellent job telling the complicated story of the modern corporation (with a definite progressive viewpoint) without the rabble-rousing and grandstanding that the well meaning Michael Moore (who comes across as more sincere in the interviews in the film than he does in his own work) tends to utilize.

From the film's website:

THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda, illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.

The "redemption" of Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, a company that makes carpet tiles (that I, unfortunately, shilled for a short while), was, in my mind, one of the more interesting stories. His company's stated goal at this point is to become sustainable by 2020.

The Constant Gardener

I thought this was an excellent movie. First, it simply looked amazing. The cinematography of César Charlone was terrific, capturing the breathtaking beauty of the setting in Kenya, the ugliness of the poverty in the villages, and the general sense of unease that pervaded the story. And second, the story was full of complexity and subtlety with well developed characters and a compelling storyline.

Congrats to Rachel Weisz for getting the Oscar. Though it is puzzling to me that the film garnered only 3 other Oscar nominations.