Music: Pioneering record label founder Phil Chess dies at 95

This comes on the heels of yesterday's post on the re-emergence of Chuck Berry at 90, with a new record.

-Chicago Sun-Times

Phil Chess, co-founder of Chicago’s legendary Chess Records, a label credited with helping to invent rock ‘n’ roll, has died in Tucson, Arizona, at 95.

Mr. Chess and his brother Leonard Chess arrived in America as little boys, two Jewish immigrant kids from Poland. They started Chess in 1950, recording Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and other top musicians who spread the gospel of the blues. Teens in England and around the world heard the so-called “race music” Chess helped popularize, and the cross-pollination helped birth rock.

As Waters once put it, “The blues had a baby, and they named it rock ‘n’ roll.”

Chess could be described as the midwife. In 1951, the label released what some consider the first rock record: “Rocket ’88,” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, including a young Ike Turner.

In 1977, a Chess record went to outer space. The Voyager mission carried recordings including Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

Mr. Chess died Tuesday evening at his 30-acre ranch in Tucson, said his daughter, Pam. For decades, he kept in touch with many Chess artists, she said. “He talked to B.B. King all the time on the phone. He ran into Ramsey Lewis six or so years ago in San Diego,” she said. “He talked to Chuck Berry.”

The music scene would have been very different without him and his brother, Chicago bluesman and club owner Buddy Guy said Wednesday.

The Chess Records story also was dramatized in the 2008 movie “Cadillac Records,” featuring Beyonce, Adrien Brody, Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright.

Before founding the label, the Chess brothers owned the Macomba Lounge at 39th and Cottage Grove, said Phil Chess’ son, Terry. When one of the club’s performers was asked by someone else to record their music, “My father and my uncle looked at each other and said, ‘Why don’t we do it?’ ” Terry Chess said.

Neither played an instrument or knew much about music. “The Chess Brothers didn’t literally make the music in the studio, but they got it out the door and reaped the rewards,” Nadine Cohodas wrote in a book about Chess, “Spinning Blues Into Gold.”

Blues and R&B classics poured out of Chess, performed by countless artists who put their own spin on the songs. While at Chess, Willie Dixon wrote “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” for Waters, as well as “You Need Love.”

Film: A "Gold Standard" gangster flick passes its Silver Anniversary

On this day in 1990, the Martin Scorsese-directed Mafia film Goodfellas, starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco and Joe Pesci, opens in theaters around the United States. The movie, which was based on the best-selling 1986 book Wiseguy, by the New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, tells the true story of the mobster-turned-FBI informant Henry Hill (Liotta), from the 1950s to the 1980s. Goodfellas earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Pesci won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as the psychotic mobster Tommy DeVito.

Martin Scorsese, who was born on November 17, 1942, in New York City, received critical acclaim for one of his earliest films, Mean Streets (1973), which marked the first time he worked with Robert De Niro. The two men also collaborated on Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and The King of Comedy (1982). FollowingGoodfellas, in which De Niro played the Irish mobster Jimmy Conaway, the actor collaborated with Scorsese on Cape Fear (1991), which co-starred Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange, and Casino (1995), which was co-written by Pileggi and co-starred Pesci and Sharon Stone. Scorsese’s movie credits also include Gangs of New York(2002), The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006), which earned him his first Best Director Oscar after five previous nominations in the same category.

Prior to co-starring in Goodfellas, Ray Liotta, who was born on December 18, 1954, appeared in such films as Something Wild (1986), with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels, and Field of Dreams (1989), with Kevin Costner. Liotta’s later credits include Cop Land (1997), with Sylvester Stallone, Hannibal (2001), with Anthony Hopkins, and Narc (2002).

Joe Pesci, who was born on February 9, 1943, appeared in such movies as Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) before his award-winning performance in Goodfellas. His later film credits include the blockbuster Home Alone (1990), in which he played a bumbling burglar; the comedy My Cousin Vinny (1992), with Marisa Tomei; and A Bronx Tale (1993), which marked Robert De Niro’s directorial debut.

Lorraine Bracco, who was born on October 2, 1954, earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Goodfellas as Henry Hill’s wife, Karen. Bracco, who began her career as a model, later appeared in such movies as Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Radio Flyer (1992), The Basketball Diaries(1995), with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). She is perhaps best known for her role as Tony Soprano’s psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the hit HBO series The Sopranos, which originally aired from 1999 to 2007.

Culture: [Nick] Cannon Fires for Kingston, dancehall

Dancehall music has engaged mainstream attention this year, once again, and so it is either fortuitous or prescient that a new feature film centered on the music and dance culture of modern Jamaica debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival this week. King Of The Dancehall stars first-time director Nick Cannon, Canadian singer Kreesha Turner, Collie Buddz, Busta Rhymes, Lou Gossett Jr.,, Whoopi Goldberg, and the stunning Jamaican actress Kimberly Patterson in a breakout role. Beyond the plot, which loosely engages the international drug trade and Jamaican street politics, King Of The Dancehall is above all a story about loving another person, and dance. Sure, there are cameos from contemporary musicians like Beenie Man (who narrates), Barrington Levy, and Ky-Mani Marley, but the soundtrack is secondary to the movements of young dance crews, choreographed with the help of Toronto's Jae Blaze. This film builds on the legacy of others like Dancehall Queen, that situate the social and cultural lives of young Jamaicans squarely within the dancehall.

This year's TIFF featured many offerings from black filmmakers, and Cannon called it "an honor" to be able to premiere his first original movie at the fest. "It's our job to take control of our narrative and tell our stories," he said, on the red carpet. "It feels like a new renaissance in filmmaking." The FADER spoke with Cannon and Kreesha Turner about why it was important to make this film, and the legacy of Jamaica in pop culture today.

What side of Jamaica did you want people to see with this film?
KREESHA TURNER: People know Bob Marley, reggae music, jerk chicken, and they only see the resorts. When I lived in Jamaican I lived in Kingston, in Spanish Town, and when I go there the only place I want to go is Kingston because that’s where the culture is the richest. On Monday nights, I wanna go to the dancehall at Susie’s and make sure I learn the hottest new dance. I understand why people don’t get to go see it because often you need a local to show you these places, but in this instance I got this opportunity through film.

America loves dance films; why did you want set this one in Jamaica?
NICK CANNON: Why not? I mean, why hasn’t this been done before? That’s what I felt as soon as I stepped foot in Jamaica. I couldn’t understand how such a rich culture had never been shared with the whole world before, especially when you think about everyone who has borrowed from it: the number one song from Drake today, Justin Bieber's video, all the dance moves mass media falls in love with from Beyonce stem from what’s going on in Kingston. And then when you think about the passion that’s involved wth Jamaican culture, it's like, they’re not sitting around waiting for things to get all pretty: they want it raw and dutty. That should be shared in the way of Dirty Dancing or Saturday Night Fever. It doesn’t get any more passionate than Kingston, Jamaica.

What is something new that people will learn about Jamaica or dancehall culture from this film?
CANNON: You're gonna learn the history first and foremost. I take a unique approach in how I chose to tell this story because I used real footage, real artists, and it’s based on a true story too. In Jamaica they dance to a different beat — the upbeat, and so you're going to see me do a lot of stuff! Also, dance brings us all together, and I talk about that in the film. I show that no matter what class you’re from — uptown or downtown — when you’re in the dancehall everyone’s equal, and it’s how you choose to express yourself that makes you stand out.

Kreesha, this seed of this movie started with a trip you and Nick took to Jamaica. What was it like to walk into a club with him there?

TURNER: You know, Jamaican’s don’t business! They’re like, 'Oh, ah Nick Cannon dat? Alright!' So they were cool and that allowed him an opportunity to witness an environment without too much disturbance; like viewing something in its natural habitat without any foreign obstacles. Jamaicans behaved the way they normally do.

How do you think this film will enhance how we talk about dancehall in 2016?
TURNER: As a cultural ambassador — someone from Edmonton, Alberta and Jamaica — I’m so excited. It’s brilliant and really coincidentally timing! Jamaica is one of the most musically influential nations in the world. Throughout the entire globe, there are pockets that are constantly in touch with what goes on in the dancehall community, from Germany to Japan, to different parts of Africa like Ghana. There’s a love for reggae and dancehall that many people don’t even know about. And because Caribbean music is now coming back into the mainstream, there are so many things that make this the perfect time to educate people on where this music, this vibe, and these dance moves come from.

Brands: When Spike met Mike

A span of four weeks in summer 1986 was important in reshaping the shoe endorsement for good. When future music mogul Lyon Cohen helped take Adidas executive Angelo Anastasio to Run-D.M.C’s Madison Square Garden leg of theirRaising Hell tour on Saturday, July 19, it led to a pioneering hip-hop and sportswear endorsement deal that resulted in its own series of shoes and apparel. It was a particularly high-risk move, not least because of the controversy after violence during the tour’s stop at Long Beach Arena on August 19. 11 days earlier, Spike Lee’s confrontational indie film about sex, empowerment, and identity was released. This wasn’t the squeaky-clean brand connection of old — as with Anastasio’s Adidas work, it was something of a step into the unknown.

She’s Gotta Have It would earn a staggering $7 million at the domestic box office. The Jordan fixation definitely didn’t end there. Lee’s next film, School Daze, was made for a comparatively colossal $6.5 million and shot in the spring of 1987. An unorthodox musical drama about racial divisions and college life, it’s a confrontational piece of work. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot Nike Dunks (it is set at college after all) and, in a scene set in Larry Fishburne’s character dorm, one of his friends is seen lovingly cleaning his Air Jordan IIs.Wieden+Kennedy’s legendary copywriter and creative director Jim Riswold was key to bringing Spike and Mike together to advertise the next Air Jordan — a pivotal reboot of the line that would help send the franchise global. According to Riswold’s account of the project’s genesis on W+K’s blog last year, seeing a commercial for She’s Gotta Have It in 1986 piqued the attention of he and producer Bill Davenport enough to make them make a trip to the cinema to see it a little later. Those shots of Mars’ feet made enough impact for them to phone Spike to see if they could potentially work together.

Filmed in December 1987 and debuted in February (the same month that School Daze was released), the commercials featuring Mars, now a hyper enthusiastic super fan, and his hero were uniquely irreverent and integral to showing viewers a side of Jordan that might have gone unseen. A perfect accompaniment to the Air Jordan III’s offbeat looks, it offered an extension of the She’s Gotta Have It universe that assumed the viewer was, as Mars would put it, already down.

A year later, a TV spot ahead of the February 15, 1989, release of the Air Jordan IV even brought Nola back. The other object of Mars’ affection was seeing Michael Jordan — a twist ending of sorts, three years after that movie ended.

Speaking to an African-American audience rarely acknowledged, but integral to turning performance shoes into must-haves, Spike’s work with Jordan set the standard culturally. We exist in a world where constant social debate regarding the money that Kanye West’s influence brings to a burgeoning brand shows no sign of stopping. There were, by all accounts, numbers to back up the impact of the Jordan and Spike ads. That blitz of late 1980s campaigns that Riswold was key to (including Bo Knows) were reportedly key to expanding an industry market share that was 3 percent ahead of Reebok in 1990.

Looking back at She’s Gotta Have It, that it would sow the seeds for something that would ultimately shift a lot of shoes was no surprise. Tracy Camilla Johns, who was so magnetic as Nola, only having six acting credits to her name on the  on the Internet Movie Database is a total mystery. Hollywood’s subsequent preference for hood-took-me-under cliché over angry auteurs or creativity when it came to black American cinema was a depressing inevitability. But Spike Lee’s impact on what kids lineup for today is entirely understandable.

Movies: Sweatin' with Cannon, Dancehall Style

- from The Hollywood Reporter, at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival

Nick Cannon wrote, directed and stars in this musical drama woven around the influential Jamaican dance scene, which also features Busta Rhymes.

Even if you don't know your Dutty Wine from your Hottie Hottie Bogle, your Pop Di Collar from your Row Di Boat, or your Wave from your Wacky Dip, chances are you'll recognize the pulsating moves and sounds in King of the Dancehall as the frequent inspiration for artists like Beyonce and Rihanna. As writer, director and star, Nick Cannon immerses himself in the vibrant Jamaican dance scene to return those bold syncopated beats and motorized bumps and grinds to their Kingston street-culture origins. If his raggedy storytelling skills don't match his affection for the subject, the unpolished craftsmanship is as much a part of the movie's kick as its humor and hot rhythms.

What it is, basically, is an entertaining mess that benefits from Cannon's relaxed charisma as well as from the extensive exhibition of his sculpted physique. Tank tops are tossed with abandon, including one hilarious nude-look mesh number in rasta colors that comes off to showcase the rippling muscles of his character Tarzan Brixton in triplicate, as multiple images of him are shown practicing dance moves on the Jamaican shore. Call it a vanity project if you will, but there's something inherently likeable about Cannon's chutzpah, both in front of and behind the camera.

Among his inspirations, Cannon has cited City of God, which is reflected in the restless energy and saturated tropical colors; as well as Saturday Night Fever and Dirty Dancing. Unfortunately, it's more the latter film's contrived 2004 ersatz sequel, Havana Nights, that this formulaic string of clichés evokes. But hey, who doesn't love a dance-off? Clearly not Cannon, for whom the element of competition has been a unifying career thread, from his breakout role in Drumline to his comedy improv battle series, Wild 'n Out, to his 2014 directing debut, School Dance.

The film is based on a true story and, not that the plotting-by-numbers supplies much authenticity, it's punctuated throughout by documentary-style commentary from Moses "Beenie Man" Davis, who also provides some soundtrack tunes.

The story begins with Tarzan's release after five years in prison. Returning home to his ailing mother (Whoopi Goldberg, barely awake) in Brooklyn, he learns that she spent everything she had on his legal fees and is unable to afford healthcare. Having stashed away $5,000 before he went inside, Tarzan travels to Jamaica to team up with his cousin Allestar, aka "All Star Toast" (Busta Rhymes), to move high-grade low-cost ganja at huge profits.

The veteran hip-hop star's flair for broad comedy in helpfully subtitled thick patois is the best thing about this early section, and the blast of a time he appears to be having is quite infectious. In the midst of a spat with his lady, Allestar has temporarily moved back in with his no-nonsense mother (Dorothy Cunningham, hilarious) — "It was Christmas 1979 the last time she smiled," says Tarzan in one of his too-frequent voiceover notes — so the two grown cousins sleep on bunk beds like outsize kids.

A local stunner named Maya instantly catches Tarzan's eye, played by Kimberly Patterson, who applied to the makeup department but was recruited instead to be Cannon's leading lady. She's the daughter of a stern holy man (Louis Gossett Jr.), but her wild sensuality on the dancefloor suggests anything but prayer.

We learn that dancehall originated in the 1970s but has roots as far back as the '40s, and as dancers of all colors, shapes and sizes shimmy and pop and limbo and leap, Tarzan observes, "Down here, they put the 'nasty' in gymnastics." It's one of the cardinal rules of filming dance that the camera should never forget the feet, but cinematographer Luis Perez more often opts for the bouncing booty shot, a choice pretty much dictated by the sexually provocative moves. The dance scenes become somewhat repetitive but the athleticism on display is off the charts.

Maya explains to Tarzan that dancehall prowess is an essential part of bad-boy currency in Kingston, and that if he wants to make headway with her he had better learn to feel the beat. She gives him lessons in Daddy's church, of all places, but keeps it strictly terpsichorean. "I consider myself a queen," she tells him. "A man has to be a king before he can enter the castle." To prepare him for that inevitable coronation, she hooks him up with the best underground dance crew in town, the All-Star Blazers.

Tarzan spends months refining his dance skills, while also building up his weed operation. But he ruffles the feathers of Young Dada (Colin "Collie Buddz" Harper), the white son of a crime kingpin, by intruding on his turf and getting mixed up with Dada's sizzling half-sister, Lady Kaydeen (Kreesha Turner). She and Maya are old enemies, and their rivalry is played out on the dancefloor as their respective crews, the Dutty Gyals and the Ladyeez, do battle.

Dada's goons and the corrupt cops on his payroll put a serious crimp in Tarzan's operations, and things look grim until Maya's father uses his connections to help. Determined to go straight and honor a promise made to his mother, Tarzan sees the cash prize in a dance clash as his key to a fresh start. But while things get serious with Maya, Kaydeen doesn't take rejection lightly, calling in her sociopathic gangster father (Peter Stormare, in a bonkers performance) to dole out punishment.

To his credit, Cannon chooses not to wrap it all up with an improbably happy ending, but instead to anoint Tarzan as a legend in a bittersweet conclusion that carries on his legacy. Even on the rare occasions when the story does take an unpredictable turn, however, there's a rote feel to the proceedings, with the lack of shading in the characters and performances robbing the romantic thread of much depth. Some truly awkward closeups don't help in that regard.

Cannon favors the busy cutting and frenetic pace of music videos, while handling dialogue scenes with more obligation than interest. That means the dramatic stakes never feel terribly real, even when Dada is out for blood. But the movie comes alive on the dancefloor, which is where it matters most, and the film partly compensates in scrappy charm for what it lacks in sophistication.

Film Biz: More wind, little action (yet) on proposed Goodyear film lot

As the following from the Observer indicates, there's still a lot of prelim surrounding the already much talked-about proposal to develop a film production lot on the former Goodyear Jamaica factory iin the eastern parish of St Thomas.

A lease is yet to be signed, for the property, on which sits the old tyre factory, shuttered now for some 18 years:

 "The project has been moving forward and the investors/project developers have recently concluded negotiations on the terms of a lease agreement with the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ)," Anthony Hylton, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, told the recently concluded sectoral debate.

"It is anticipated that the design phase of the project will be completed in the second quarter of the financial, allowing for the handover," Hylton continued.

David Mullings, chairman of the RealVibez Group, confirmed that his company has an interest in the project. He said he chose Jamaica because of its historical links with film-making and its central location in the Caribbean.

"It was an easy choice to have the facility here," he said.

Born in Kingston, Mullings started his first company at 20, while studying for his MBA at he University of Miami. That project was RealVibes.net later renamed Realvibez.tv, a leading online destination for reggae, dancehall and soca videos.

Mullings also heads Random Media, an integrated media and entertainment firm, which is focused on Caribbean entertainment and culture.

He said he is hoping to sign a long-term lease with the FCJ for the 23 acres of land on which the old Goodyear factory sits to construct the facility. The plant has been closed since 1997.

He said that it will have post-production and audio facilities, workspaces, live music venues, rehearsal spaces for theatre and space for movie sets.

localjoe.myorganogold.com

Fast Furious to a Billion

"When you're dead, you got it made"

-Jimi Hendrix

That eerily (and tragically) prescient emark may now apply to the cast and producers of  Universal's “Furious 7″ which in the wake of the death od beloved star Paul Walker last year, crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office Friday, becoming the studio’s first film to reach that milestone.

“Furious 7″ has grossed $735.2 million overseas in 17 days and $273.7 million in North America after 15 days — making it the fastest movie to reach $1 billion. “The Avengers,” “Avatar” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ had all crossed $1 billion in 19 days. Universal said the seven films in the franchise have totaled $3.392 billion in worldwide grosses.

“Furious 7″ is directed by James Wan and stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham and Ludacris.It is the 20th film to take in $1 billion, with “Avatar” leading the list at $2.79 billion, followed by “Titanic” at $2.19 billion. Paramount’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction” had been most recent addition to the list last year with a $1.09 billion worldwide gross, which leaves it in 10th place.

“We’re incredibly proud to watch ‘Fast & Furious’ take its place as the only original live-action franchise to reach these kinds of results at the box office,” said Nick Carpou, U’s head of domestic distribution. “Our cast, filmmakers and all of our Universal and ‘Fast’ family deserve credit for working so hard to make ‘Furious 7′ a huge success, and we look forward to continuing to watch the film grow over the next few weeks.”

“What started as a small film about the street racing sub-culture of East Los Angeles has become a global phenomenon, with ‘Furious 7′ shattering records in so many territories around the globe,” said Duncan Clark, president of international distribution.

Universal said “Furious 7″ chalked up the record for second-biggest worldwide opening weekend at $397.2 million behind only “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” It was the studio’s highest-grossing domestic launch at $147.2 million and international opening at $250 million.

“Furious 7″ also set records as the highest opening weekend in 29 territories and has become Universal’s highest-grossing film in 26 territories. Its $63.5 million opening day in China set a record, demolishing the previous record of $36 million for “Transformers 4.”

Ron Meyer, vice chairman of studio parent NBCUniversal, sent out a congratulatory note to the staff.

“At Universal we have had franchises with strong results at the box office, including ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Despicable Me’ and the ‘Bourne’ series, and although we take great pride in these accomplishments, what distinguishes ‘Fast and Furious’ is that it is an original live action concept with an entirely diverse cast,” Meyer noted. “It is the only franchise of its kind to reach a total of more than $3.39 billion and counting.”

Meyer also noted the unique circumstances created by star Paul Walker’s death in late 2013.

“When our friend and colleague Paul Walker tragically passed away in the middle of production, our team, led by Jeff Shell and Donna Langley, and the filmmakers, along with the cast and crew, did what they do best: They focused on family first; then talked to the fans; then got to work on making a great film that we can all be proud of,” he said. “We were all saddened and honored to be a part of Paul’s final career performance and to celebrate his defining role in our live

Movies: From "40 Acres" to Amazon Studios for Spike Lee

Having previously secured the services of Woody Allen, Amazon Studios have another coup in the form of Spike Lee

Spike Lee is making his next movie for Amazon Studios and the Oscar-nominated filmmaker is courting Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Piven, Common and Kanye West for the ensemble cast of “Chiraq,” multiple individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.

Representatives for Common and West did not respond to multiple requests for comment, while a representative for Amazon declined to comment.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but “Chiraq” became synonymous with Chicago as the city became increasingly plagued by gun violence in recent years.

Piven and West are both from Chicago, and the duo are in talks for the film, though neither has a deal in place yet. Piven’s involvement will depend on his schedule, as he’s preparing to shoot another season of “Mr. Selfridge.”

A longtime collaborator of Lee’s, “Avengers” star Jackson is expected to cameo in “Chiraq.” The duo previously worked together on “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever,” among other films. Jackson, who is currently filming Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Hateful Eight,” will soon be seen in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” He’s repped by ICM Partners and Anonymous Content.

West recently moved from CAA to UTA and he has been looking to increase his profile in the feature world. He previously had a cameo in “Anchorman 2” and he’s currently filming a role inBen Stiller‘s “Zoolander” sequel.

Piven next stars in the “Entourage” movie, which hits theaters in June. He’s repped by CAA.

Common recently won an Oscar for “Selma” and co-starred in “Run All Night.” He’s also repped by CAA.

Lee turned to Kickstarter to finance his last film, “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.” He’s represented by ICM Partners.

Movies: Hollywood's "Fast and Furious" Girl Drops Down A Gear...Sort of

From nj.com

Michelle Rodriguez doesn't just play tough women. She is one.

Growing up - first in San Antonio, then the Dominican Republic, then Puerto Rico, then Jersey City -- she got kicked out of five schools. When, a couple of years into her career, someone groped her at a wrap party, she pulled a knife. She considers the speed limit just a suggestion, and hard and fast rules about anything - including her own sexuality - made to be ignored.

"I've gone both ways," she told Entertainment Weekly two years ago. "Men are intriguing. So are chicks."

Her rebellious life and say-anything stance won her a lot of fans in action movies - but couldn't quite cover the pain she felt when long-time friend and co-star Paul Walkerdied in 2013, in the midst of filming the latest "Fast and Furious" film, "Furious Seven" (opening Friday). For awhile, she wasn't sure the movie should even go forward - and,she's admitted, she went a little to pieces.

"You lose a buddy you had for 14 years..." she says, her voice trailing off.

But the cast found a way to finish the film, and as always Rodriguez, 36, found a way to go on. And go further.
Q: The "Fast and Furious" films have become such a huge franchise, and with a really devoted fan base. What do you think is the reason? Because there are plenty of action movies out there, plenty of car chases.
A: Well, we're antiheroes being heroes, you know? It's kind of Robin Hood-esque... But also I think it has a lot to do with the multicultural cast. People in this country - or in Spain, in Africa, in Asia - they can buy a ticket and see somebody who looks like them, and someone who isn't necessarily a stereotype but an individual, a character who's kind of blue-collar but also in this heroic position. It's still pretty rare to have characters like that you can identify with. And after all this time, it's crossing generations. I have six-year-kids running up to me and talking about Letty, which is really cool.

Q: It seems like the fans are a lot more invested in this than they are in some other franchises.
A: People feel like they're a part of it, and Vin (Diesel) makes people feel like they're a part of it on Facebook and social media and everything. And I think the studio being open-minded enough to integrate that into the series makes a hell of a difference. The audience, they wanted me back? They got me. They wanted Jason Statham? They got Jason. Having a studio be open to their input makes them feel they're a bit of the franchise.

Q: Letty's athletic, she's outspoken. She likes to drive a little too fast. Obviously you twohave a few things in common. But what do you like most about her?
A: Letty is kind of like a wild animal, but she's been tamed by the love of her life, and now she's found this familiar safe place with him and this crew. They're a family. They just live a lifestyle where maybe they walk on the other side of the tracks, but they earn their freedom every day... She's like a lot of the girls I grew up with, living in the city, living in the ghettos of New Jersey - you know, those girls, it's tribal, it's territorial, but it's really all about loyalty. I mean, I knew such great, solid humans growing up - people who'd take a bullet for you. Really, there's a love to the death there you don't get outside that world

Q: Growing up in Jersey - is that still a big part of who you are?
A: It's helped me so much. Jersey is such a melting pot, so many different cultures - we grew up with Indians, Arabs, Puerto Ricans, Italians, you got it all. I wouldn't have the tools to do what I do, and evolve as I've evolved, without that background. And I still come back to see family, but you know what's so great about freakin' Jersey? You find Jersey people all over the world. You'll be in Romania and you'll find someone from Jersey.

Q: You were still living here the first time I met you. "Girlfight" had just won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
A: Oh man, that was such a crazy time. I mean, I'd been doing extra work for about two years. I wanted to get a life so bad it hurt, I was dying to get a career going. Or just make some money, and prove myself to my brother that I was going to be all right, you know? That I'd found my place in the world? And then I landed that, my first audition, and that came out. And I did another indie, and then I called my agent and said, 'They're making a freakin' movie out of "Resident Evil," my favorite video game? I gotta do this!' And then everything fell into place, thank you, lucky stars.

Q: You were still, though, only 21, 22. Didn't you get people trying to push your career in a certain way? Coming at you with a lot of well-intentioned advice?
A: Well, I don't know how well-intentioned it was! But you know, here's the thing - I have such a strong sense of self, there are certain lines I just won't cross. I'm really picky about the parts I choose. I can't be the slut. I cannot be just the girlfriend. I can't be the girl who gets empowered because she's been raped. I can't be the girl who gets empowered and then dies. So I just said to myself, look, you're going to just have to create your own archetype, doesn't matter if you go broke doing it. And I almost did go broke, twice! But people finally got it: OK, Michelle is not malleable, you're not going to influence her by shining fame and money at her, and they stopped offering me that sort of stuff. But you know, it's a Catch-22. It's helped me and it's screwed me. I've stuck to my guns and I'm proud and people get it. But I also haven't carried a movie since "Girlfight."

Q: You mention the clichés of the woman who gets empowered because she's been raped, or the woman who gets empowered and then dies. And that's something writers don't do with male characters; it's almost as if there's something so threatening about a powerful heroine they've got to find a way to diminish her, or take her down.
A: I remember this script that came over my desk and it's - I'm not even going to name it, it'll just get me in more trouble - but I was reading it and at first I wanted to say no, because she's Latina and she's a drug dealer, and that's like the only time you see Latin-Americans in Hollywood pictures. But I kept reading and I thought, well, some of it is based on truth, and she's kind of an interesting person. And then I turn the page and they've stuck in this rape scene. Which didn't even happen in real life, they just stuck it in there, this made-up thing and I thought, why? Why it is necessary to take her down like that? I mean, like "Million Dollar Baby" - why's she got to die at the end, man? I mean, I get the tear-jerking, but would you do that to a male character? ... I mean like 80% of the writers out there are men, and of course you're going to write what you know. But it's our fault as women for not penetrating that market, you know? I can't complain about the scripts that are out there until I start writing some myself.

Q: I have to ask you - it's getting ready to hit theaters, and the early word of mouth is great, but did you ever have second thoughts about finishing "Furious 7"? After Paul died, was there ever a question in your mind about whether to go forward with this movie at all?
A: Well, look, at the end of the day, the powers that be, there's a big conglomerate, and they have this responsibility to shareholders and everything, and they made the decision. But I tell you, once we went forward, I was really, really surprised at the class that everybody showed, and the dedication that everybody showed, and the way it really became about the maintenance of a legacy. This business can become a machine, you know. But everyone came at this like, 'This is the last time we'll see this guy on the screen and this is going to be in every way dedicated to him.' And when I finally saw the movie, I gave like this big breath of relief, and I was really proud, because it really did turn into this homage. Which is where we all are right now - not trying not to look ahead, or at what the next thing is, but just take a moment to look back and reflect and take all those memories in. And hold on to them.

For the original report go to http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/03/michelle_rodriguez_on_furious_7_paul_walker_and_fr.html

Movies: Os Sensei! The Karate Kid is 30

It hardly seems more than yesterday. The former teen heartthrob Ralph Macchio swirled and kicked and strutted his way into the hearts of moviegoers worldwide as the Karate Kid.


Recently, a retrospective was held in LA featuring most of the cast (the hit spawned a sub-standard sequel, of course). take a look, and a listen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjfNyjlLa88&curator=MediaREDEF

Earth's Biggest Studio? Amazon readies its Hollywood takeover

The online retail giant may roll out its first film this year, vice-president Roy Price says on CNN’s “Reliable Sources”

Online retail giant Amazon aims to produce 12 movies a year once it ramps up, Amazon Studios vice-president Roy Price said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”

Amazon is pushing rapidly into Hollywood and last week announced that it would make and acquire movies for theatrical release as well as offering them for streaming online. Amazon is battling Netflix, Hulu and others for dominance in the booming video-on-demand sector.

Price said the first release could come this year, and that the movies will appear on Amazon roughly every month. He also said that replacing movie theaters was not the goal.

“We’re definitely not trying to squeeze out the theaters,” he told host Brian Stelter. “I think there’s a very happy, symbiotic relationship. They have their role and we have ours.”

Wins at the Golden Globes for its original series “Transparent” and starJeffrey Tambor, and a deal for Woody Allen to produce his first TV series, have given Amazon momentum recently.

Amazon’s Prime Instant Video, it primary streaming platform for entertainment, has a long way to go before it threatens Netflix’s dominance. But the online titan’s push into TV and movies raises the financial stakes and, like similarly aggressive recent plays by its deep-pocketed streaming competitors, it’s good news for Hollywood creatives.

-from The Wrap

"Taken" slays box office; Hollywood old guard slays "Selma"

Finale to Fox’s vengeance franchise powers to $40 million triumph as Oscar hopeful “Selma” stumbles in expansion

Liam Neeson and “Taken 3” went out with a loud bang at the box office this weekend, opening to a better-than-expected $40.4 million as the highly regarded civil rights drama “Selma” stumbled in its national expansion.
The final installment of the EuropaCorp vengeance movie franchise that turned the 62-year-old Neeson into an action star knocked “The Hobbit” out of the top spot after three weeks with the second-best January opening ever, and easily outpaced the weekend’s other wide opener, the awards hopeful “Selma.” And with another $41 million in grosses from overseas, “Taken 3″ had an $81 million weekend globally.
Paramount Pictures expanded “Selma” from 22 to 2,179 theaters and it wound up second with an estimated $11.2 million three-day total, under the expectations of analysts and the studio. By comparison, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” opened to $24.6 million last year, but that was in far more theaters (2,933) and August, a less-competitive slot for awards hopefuls.The underwhelming debut capped a tough week for the Ava DuVernay-directed drama, which was overlooked for top honors at the British Academy Film Awards nominations Friday, after being similarly snubbed by the Producers Guild earlier in the week.

“Selma” was expected to land in the mid to high-teen millions by analysts and the studio. It had performed strongly and earned $2 million in limited release since opening in 23 theaters on Christmas Day. But making the mainstream leap may take some time for the historical drama based on the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches in Alabama. The film has been drawn into a controversy after questions surrounding the historical accuracy of the relationship between Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson.

Scoring Bolivar

Alberto Arvelo entrusted the film score for “The Liberator,” Venezuela’s Oscar entry, to a young composer who’d never before written music for film — but it was a pretty safe gamble on the part of the director, because the first-timer happened to be Gustavo Dudamel, the musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and one of the most vital and exciting figures in the world of classical music.

His presence at screenings and events certainly helped raise the profile of the epic film, in which actor Edgar Ramirez plays the South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar. And when the nine-film foreign-language shortlist was announced on Dec. 19, “The Liberator” was perhaps the most surprising to make the cut – as well as a movie that qualifies Dudamel in the Best Original Score category, too.

Both native Venezuelans, Dudamel and Arvelo had been close friends for more than a dozen years, and the maestro originally came to “The Liberator” as a musical advisor. “My wife was pregnant and we were expecting the baby soon, so I cleared my calendar for a month,” he told TheWrap. “I was there with the family, but at the same time I had a piano and I was reading the script. So I started writing a few little things.

“I played him some things and said, ‘I’ll give you these ideas, and then you can talk to somebody who can write the score,’” he added with a laugh. “And he said, ‘No, you are the composer.’”

All of those initial themes, he said, ended up in the score, which he completed from hotel rooms on the road a year later, while touring the United States with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra. The Bolivar orchestra, a former youth orchestra that Dudamel has been conducting since he was a teenager, recorded the score.

“When you are coming from my world, where you are used to interpreting all of the great composers, you see the genius of the orchestration and the power of the phrase,” said Dudamel. “But you have to be very careful what you give to a movie. You should bring a color, an atmosphere—but if the music becomes a main character, it is too much.

“I might come from the world of Wagner and Mahler and big orchestrations, and I started out writing full symphonic things. But in the end what I wrote was very simple.”

from TheWrap.com

Even for a "Godfather" [II], Life begins at 40

From TIME magazine:

Francis Ford Coppola didn’t want to make a sequel to his 1972 Oscar-winning blockbuster, recommending Martin Scorsese, fresh off Mean Streets, for the job. He finally said yes when Robert Evans of Paramount Pictures agreed that Part II could include extensive flashbacks of the young Vito Corleone, played by Mean Streets comer Robert De Niro. Marlon Brando was out because he wanted too much money, and the Clemenza character got dropped because Richard Castellano wanted his dialogue to be written by a friend. Director Elia Kazan, the first choice to play Hyman Roth, spent so much time with his shirt off during a conversation with Coppola that when Lee Strasberg was hired for the role, Coppola insisted he play one scene topless. That’s Francis’s mother Italia in the casket as the deceased Mama Corleone — actress Morgana King thought it bad luck to lie in a coffin — and his Uncle Louie, a dead ringer for Brando, in the Havana cake scene.

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Coppola provided these anecdotal nuggets in a commentary on the 2001 five-disc DVD of the saga he made from Mario Puzo’s novels:The Godfather in 1972, The Godfather Part II 40 years ago (its New York premiere was Dec. 12, 1974; it arrived in theaters about a week after) and The Godfather Part III in 1990. Third time was not the charm, but the first two were sensationally popular, influential and cherished. Both won Oscars for Best Picture — the first and only time that’s happened — and made enduring stars of De Niro, Al Pacino (as Michael Corleone), Diane Keaton (Michael’s wife Kay), James Caan (his brother Sonny) and Robert Duvall (Consigliere Tom Hagen).

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In TIME’s Godfather Part II review, titled “The Final Act of a Family Epic” — who knew, back then, that every movie epic had to be a trilogy? — Richard Schickel described the Lake Tahoe scene of a party celebrating Michael’s son’s First Communion and noted:

What happens at this point is that delicious sensation of letting-go familiar to readers of huge 19th century novels, but much less readily available to a moviegoer today. A skilled popular artist — the kind of man who can blend subtly observed details with a gift for socko showmanship — takes over to lead a guided tour of an exotic yet humanly recognizable and completely realized world. That’s really entertainment.

This is a much colder film, with austere aspirations — not fully realized — to transcend its melodramatic origins and to become an authentic tragedy. … As Michael plots his careful, lethal moves, the recurring, unforgettable image is of his eyes growing colder, until they finally go dead to the horrors around him.

The Godfather was its year’s box-office champ — its $135-million take at North American theaters would be nearly $700m today — and, in real dollars, still in the all-time top 25. Part II was sixth on the 1974 chart (Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles was No. 1) and is widely considered the darker and stronger of the pair. Together they formed a bold mural of America: crime infiltrating big business and Washington politics, all intersecting with the Corleones’ family values.

God I and God II had both immediate and lasting impact. They helped define machismo for a couple generations of young males, maybe females too. The films spawned countless Mafioso movies, and of course The Sopranos — in fact, every vaunted TV drama about loving families with a dirty secret. (They’re vampires, they’re polygamous, they run a meth business, they’re Commie spies.) True Blood, Big Love, Breaking Bad, The Americans and countless other were forged from the Corleone template.

On the Internet Movie Database’s all-time Top 250, “as voted by regular IMDb users,” the two Godfather films rank second and third, behind only The Shawshank Redemption (a terrific film but… come on). And who wouldn’t rate Michael’s New Year’s Eve takedown of his traitorous brother Fredo (John Cazale) as one of the greatest movie kisses? That “You broke my heart” moment was both passionate and chilling, like the films themselves. Part II’s final shot, closing in on Michael as he ponders the sins that brought him his power, left viewers to determine his admixture of hero and monster.

Forty years on, the films’ core stars are still prominently around. After seven Oscar nominations (two for The Godfathers), Pacino finally won Best Actor in 1993 for Scent of a Woman. De Niro matched his Supporting Actor Oscar for The Godfather with a Best Actor for Raging Bull. Keaton was Oscared for Annie Hall (one of her four nominations) and Duvall for Tender Mercies (one of his six). To these and Caan, add Francis’s sister Talia Shire (Connie Corleone) and his director daughter Sofia (“Child on Ship” in Part II). Also two legendary 88-year-olds: B-movie mogul emeritus Roger Corman (“Senator #2″) and that supreme hangdog character actor Harry Dean Stanton (“F.B.I. Man #1″).

As for Coppola, he had a great 1970s — The Conversation andApocalypse Now as well as the first two Godfathers — but found it increasingly hard to raise financing for films he wanted to make. “It’s ironic that people should look back decades later and celebrate films I was given a lot of trouble on,” he said on the DVD commentary, “but that nobody wants me to make a movie right now. Talking to me about The Godfather is like talking to me about my first wife when I’m sitting next to my second one. I’d rather get some encouragement on what I’m doing now than celebrate old projects. It was no fun 30 years ago, and I’m still doing it, and I didn’t want to.