Black Family Drama 'Of Boys and Men'

Recently watched the movie Of Boys and Men, an independently-produced family drama with Robert Townsend, Angela Bassett and Victoria Rowell.

Townsend plays a working-class father who struggles to keep his family together after his loving wife (Bassett) is killed in a car accident. Bassett essentially has a cameo, appearing in a handful of flashbacks laughing and horsing around with her husband and children. There’s also a scene where she appears apparently as a ghost to reassure her husband that her spirit will always be with him.

Rowell plays the opposite of her scheming character Drucilla on The Young & the Restless. In Of Boys and Men, she plays Townsend’s understanding sister who becomes a surrogate mother and guidance counselor, of sorts, to her niece and nephews.

The story centers around Townsend’s 10-year-old son, who falls in with the wrong crowd and starts acting out and robbing neighbors after his mother dies. The little boy has to decide if he wants to go live with his more stable, financially secure aunt or stay with his harried, overwhelmed father. Young actor Dante Boens does an excellent job of portraying the boy’s emotional conflicts.

Of Boys and Men is a movie worth watching that presents a three-dimensional portrait of an African-American family.

 

 

 

My Favorite 'Bond' Theme Songs

Looking forward to the new James Bond movie "Skyfall." Just heard Adele's theme song, and it's definitely classic 007.

My favorite Bond themes of all time:

"For Your Eyes Only" - Sheena Easton

"Die Another Day" - Madonna

"Goldeneye" - Tina Turner

"A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran

"Nobody Does It Better" - Carly Simon

"Another Way to Die" - Alicia Keys and Jack White

I'd Rather Be 'Courteous' Than 'Polite'

I'd much rather be described as "courteous" than "polite."

"Courteous," to me, means considerate, conscientious of others' feelings, that you think before you speak and act.

"Polite" has a negative connotation - basically that you're considered "nice," i.e., a pushover!

Not Ready to 'Rumble'

I paid $4.95 to watch the so-called "Rumble 2012," a debate between Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly.

I'd read a review that said Stewart really laid the smackdown to O'Reilly, but I found the whole event underwhelming - rather than a "rumble," a big yawn.

Neither Stewart nor O'Reilly had a moment where they threw down a zinger that left the other speechless. Each was forceful in arguing their positions. And each got applause at various points from the audience at George Washington University, although the applause did seem to be louder for Stewart.

Rather than shedding light on the issues that divide the nation going into the final days of the presidential election, what the "Rumble" actually did was demonstrate why the nation is so divided. At one point, Stewart and O'Reilly engaged in a "Yes, he did!"/"No, he didn't!" back and forth about something that the president supposedly did or didn't do - very much like two kids squabbling on the playground.

I doubt if during the 90 minutes in which they shared a stage, Stewart or O'Reilly enlightened each other about any of their views.

'Beasts' Is a Quirky Little Movie

Recently saw engaging indie flick Beasts of the Southern Wild with my bud Ramin.

It was oddly coincidental that we happened to venture to the theater to check this flick out just a few days before Hurricane Isaac swept through on the seventh anniversary of Katrina.

Beasts is a quirky, interesting little movie about a young black girl who lives in an area of New Orleans known as "The Bathtub," presumably because of its tendency to flood when hurricanes hit. The movie begins just before Hurricane Katrina descends on the region.

The little girl's father is raising her as a single parent, since her mother ran off without explanation.

The story mainly centers on how the residents of the Bathtub band together after Katrina hits, sharing food and supplies and huddling together in one of the community's ramshackle structures that wasn't badly damaged by the storm. The multiracial group of residents resist the government's efforts to round them up and put them in a shelter.

Seeing that her father is gravely ill, the little girl goes on a quest to pinpoint the source of a blinking light on the horizon that she believes to be some kind of signal from her mother. As they doggypaddle across the Gulf with only a small life preserver to keep them afloat, the girl and some of the other little girls from the Bathtub are picked up by a kindly boat captain who helps them complete their journey.

At a floating bar in the middle of the Gulf, the girl meets a pretty woman who may or may not be her mother. The woman gives her advice about life - that it's rough and to let go of childlike impressions that everything will be fabulous when she grows up - and invites the girl to stay with her. I won't spoil the movie by revealing what the little girl ultimately decides.

Intensifying the plot is that the little girl has visions that enormous wild boars are coming to attack the close-knit community she lives in and destroy the world as she knows it. It's unclear whether these "beasts" that the title refers to are real are just figments of the little girls imagination.

Beasts of the Southern Wild doesn't exactly have a linear plot with a beginning, middle and end - at least not in the traditional Hollywood moviemaking sense. Although it's a small movie made outside the studio system with an independent spirit, it's not free of cliches and stereotypes. Life in New Orleans is depicted in Beasts just like it's been depicted in dozens of other stories - as a multicultural melting pot where people with funny accents drink and party a lot and gobble up loads of crayfish.

Overall, I'd recommend Beasts.  It's a heartfelt, character-driven movie that held my attention, wondering what was going to happen next.    

Jamming With Ambrosia Was 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice'

Earlier this summer, an early birthday treat to myself was getting to see Ambrosia at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, a suburb of Dayton, on Friday, July 13. It may have been Friday the 13th, but I felt like one of the luckiest music fans in the world, getting to meet a group whose music I've loved and played nonstop for years and years.

I put Ambrosia's music in the "blue-eyed soul" category, similar to groups who also rose to fame in the '70s like Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and Darryl Hall and John Oates. Though these artists’ sound is often classified as "pop," "lite rock" or even "elevator music," it has a strong element of soul and R&B that have won them more than a few African-American fans like myself.

The tickets for Ambrosia were only $5, but fans could pay an extra $35 to gain access to a meet and greet with the band. Needless to say, as a diehard fan, I would have paid much more for this privilege.

To my delight, the guys in the band couldn't have been nicer or more down to earth when I met them. When it was my turn to be ushered in to the dressing room where the guys were greeting fans before the show, I shyly told them, "My name's Chris. I love your music."

They were all very friendly. The current lineup features original members, vocalist/guitarist Joe Puerta, drummer Burleigh Drummond and keyboardist Christopher North and “newbies” Doug Jackson and Rick Cowling.

While taking the photo, the band members told me, "Chris, stand next to Chris," so I wedged myself between Chris and Joe. Burleigh asked if I was a musician, to which I said no (although I've always wished I had learned to play a musical instrument).

The Fraze concert was a wonderful experience all-around -- perfect weather that was sunny and warm yet breezy and not too humid. And the wristband that granted me access to the backstage meet and greet also enabled me to sit in one of the first three rows (I chose to sit in the third row because there was an aisle seat, since my legs are long and I can get claustrophobic at times).

The band performed many of their songs from Anthology, their greatest-hits album that I've listened to over and over throughout the past decade. They opened the show with "Nice, Nice, Very Nice," an upbeat song with lyrics by famed writer Kurt Vonnegut. The number was very appropriate, since the weather was so pleasant and everyone onstage and off seemed happy to be there.

Highlights included an extended, intense version of the ballad "How Much I Feel" and an enthusiastic performance of the feel-good groove "Biggest Part of Me," which got the audience up and dancing, clapping their hands and snapping their fingers. Surprisingly, they performed "You're the Only Woman" early on in the set. One of their biggest hits (and one of my favorite songs of all time), I would have thought they would saved that gem for closer to the end.

After the show, I waited in line to have the guys sign my CD (they didn't sign autographs at the meet and greet before the show to keep things moving as quickly as possible before taking the stage). Once again, Burleigh asked me if I was a musician, to which I replied, "No, I play the radio." Keyboardist Chris pointed out, "If it wasn't for people who play the radio, we wouldn't be where we are today."

The coolest part of the experience was getting to tell the guys how I discovered - or re-discovered their music. As I related to them, in April 2003, I took my grandfather and father figure, whom I called "Daddy Bob," to buy an Easter hat for my grandmother, Pearl. Ambrosia's "You're the Only Woman" was playing on the Muzak at JC Penney in Eastland Mall.

I remembered that song and others by Ambrosia playing on the radio when I was a kid in the '70s. Hearing the soulful, jazzy "You're the Only Woman" on the store's sound system prompted me to go get their greatest hits from the library. I burned a copy of the CD of and proceeded to wear it out over the next few years until I finally broke down and bought an actual copy of the album, knowing it would be money well-spent and a prized possession for many years to come.

That shopping experience with my grandfather was one of my last memories of him, since he died the next year. The fact that I got to meet the band who performed the song that was playing that day in the store with my grandfather, and the fact that they're all so cool and down to earth was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.  

The only downside to meeting Ambrosia was that original lead singer David Pack, whose soulful voice is featured on "You're the Only Woman," "Biggest Part of Me" and many of the group's biggest hits, no longer tours with the band. Nonetheless, the experience, overall, was nice, nice, very nice.

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Recently stopped in a gas station and paid with cash – something I haven’t done in ages – because I’d just gotten a refund from items I returned to a store.

As I was waiting for the gas station cashier to ring me up, I glanced down at the register and noticed there was an open book beside it.

“What are you reading, if you don’t mind my asking,” I ventured.

As it turns out, this young man was very literate and recommended two interesting books that I plan to check out from the library – a fiction book called “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn and a nonfiction book called “The Tale of the Shaman’s Apprentice.”

I have to admit, I never would have guessed from initial assessment of this guy, who had tattoos going up his arm, was that he was a very literate person. Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.