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11-28-07 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
NFL PREPARES TO REMEMBER SEAN TAYLOR: No. 21 to be worn on all helmets Sunday; suspects still at large.
*A big number "21" was painted on a lawn outside of the Washington Redskins practice facility in Ashburn, Va. to mark the passing of Redskins safety Sean Taylor.
The 24-year-old died early Tuesday morning after he was shot in the groin during a break-in at his Miami home. So far, police have no suspects in the killing.
The NFL will remember the former University of Miami standout with a moment of silence before every game on Sunday. Also all helmets throughout the league will feature a No. 21 sticker, and Redskins players will wear a No. 21 patch on their jerseys.
"It is with deep regret that a young man had to come to his end so soon," Sean's father Pedro Taylor said in a statement on behalf of the family. "Many of his fans loved him because the way he played football. Many of his opponents feared him the way he approached the game. Others misunderstood him, many appreciated him and his family loved him."
A No. 21 will also be painted outside of FedEx Field in Landover, Md., where the Redskins are still scheduled to face the Buffalo Bills at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Fans met outside of the practice facility in Ashburn at 6 p.m. last night for an informal vigil.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who flew to Miami Monday with running back Clinton Portis to be with Taylor's family, joined coach Joe Gibbs for a press conference Tuesday afternoon at Redskins Park.
"All of us here are going to work together, go forward together and I think each person here has to deal with it in his own way," Gibbs told reporters. "I don't know how we'll deal with it, except we'll all do it together."
• "It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," said Portis, who attended the University of Miami with Taylor. "But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."
• I am devastated over the loss of Sean Taylor," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "When he was a student at the University of Miami, I got to know him as a person and as a football player. He was passionate about everything he did and was a great friend to his teammates. My thoughts are with his family."
• "Sean has been a close friend of mine since our days at the University of Miami," New York Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma said in a statement. "He was a great teammate and an even greater person. It is so hard for me to fathom that I am not going to be able to pick up the phone to call him."
• Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said: "When you lose a young man like that, in the prime of his life, it sets you back. You think about the things you really feel bad about, and you figure out, 'You know what? That's really not too important in the grand scheme of it.'"
• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: "We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Sean's family, friends, teammates, and the Redskins' organization. This is a terrible tragedy involving the loss of a young man who leaves behind many people struggling to understand it. Our office is staying in close contact with the Redskins to provide all appropriate support to the club and Sean's family. We also are working to determine the facts surrounding this tragic event. We will honor the memory of Sean Taylor at all games this weekend."
• Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell said: "I just wish that everyone had the opportunity to get a chance to know him, because if you just sit down and talk to Sean one-on-one, he was a special person. He will truly be missed by all of us. I'll hold him close to our hearts. It's just a tough situation right now, and ..." Campbell became too emotional to continue.
DONDA WEST'S HAIRDRESSER RELEASES VOICEMAIL: 'Inside Edition' nabs message left on answering machine and retrieved day after her death.
*A message left by Donda West on the answering machine of her hairdresser was obtained by "Inside Edition" and featured on its Web site Tuesday. (Click here to listen or scroll down to read.)
Charlay Thomas said the message was left one day before she underwent plastic surgery from Dr. Jan Adams. But Thomas didn't listen to the message until the day after West's death on Nov. 10.
In the message, Donda West was attempting to make an appointment for Thomas to cornrow her hair before going in for surgery.
The message is as follows:
"How are you? It's Miss West. How's everything going? I hope you get this message soon because it's possible I need something from you, like, immediately. I hope everything is going great for you and the girls. I just decided at the last minute that it would be nice if my hair were cornrowed.
I am going to go have my procedure done tomorrow and I'm getting every single thing from my neck to my knees. So, anyway, call me. I'll tell you about that. Call me back. Call me so we can talk about it. Bye."
The following day, Dr. Jan Adams performed a tummy tuck, liposuction and a breast reduction on Donda West. Dr. Adams has denied any wrongdoing in West's death.
USHER AND TAMEKA WELCOME BABY BOY: 'Multiple sources' tell People magazine that the stork came Monday night.
*People magazine is reporting that Usher's wife Tameka Foster gave birth to their son on Monday night in the ATL.
As of press time, there was no official confirmation from reps for the couple. The magazine reported the story based on information from "multiple sources."
One source told the mag that Usher was with Tameka and the baby Tuesday at an Atlanta hospital, and the family is expected to head home sometime today.
People reports that these same "multiple sources" said the couple planned to name their son Usher Raymond V. No other details were available.
Usher, 29, and Foster, 36, announced the pregnancy in June. The couple were married in a quiet civil ceremony in Atlanta on Sept. 1.
FOXY BROWN BACK IN GEN-POP: 'Punitive segregation' ends early for rapper due to good behavior.
*She may still be in prison, but Foxy Brown is back among the general population at Rikers Island after officials there ended her "punitive segregation" 36 days early.
According to reports, the rapper's 76-day detention was suspended after only 40 days due to good behavior.
The Web site reports: "We're told that she was one of four female inmates given early release among the 20-plus in the unit, and our source stressed that she received neither celebrity nor holiday treatment."
Foxy, born Inga Marchand, was initially banished to solitary for shoving another inmate and refusing to give a urine sample.
DEA AGENT UNHAPPY WITH 'AMERICAN GANGSTER': Cease and desist letter sent over 'false and defamatory statements' made in the film.
*A New York Drug Enforcement agent is trying to shut down Denzel Washington's hit film "American Gangster" because of the way his DEA
counterparts are portrayed on screen, reports TMZ.com.
The Web site got its hand on a cease and desist letter sent by Dominic Amorosa, attorney for DEA agent Gregory Korniloff, to the General Counsel of NBC Universal, and cc'd to the President of the studio.
The movie revolves around Frank Lucas, a notorious 1970s drug
kingpin, and how he was finally brought to justice.
Korniloff, one of the officers who worked on the case, is threatening to sue Universal for 'false and defamatory statements' made in the movie.DJ STAR & BUC WILD RETURN TO RADIO: Fired NY back on NY station to be revealed at news conference today.
DJ STAR & BUC WILD RETURN TO RADIO: Fired jocks back on a NY station to be revealed at news conference today.
*Don Imus isn't the only high-profile disc jockey to get a new radio gig after being fired for using racial slurs on the air.
DJ Star, whose real name is Troi Torain, and his half-brother, Timothy "Buc Wild" Joseph will host a morning show on a New York FM station to be disclosed at a press conference scheduled for today, said Bryan Pierce of 5W Public Relations.
In May 2006, Star was fired from his syndicated "Star & Buc Wild Morning Show" gig on Clear Channel Radio's Power 105.1 FM after making threatening racial and sexual remarks about a rival's wife and 4-year-old daughter. At the time, Star offered $500 to any listener who could provide information about the rival DJ's daughter's school and used racial slurs when talking about his wife, who is part Asian. He said he wanted to sexually abuse the daughter and urinate on her.
Torain, who is in his early 40s, was charged with child endangerment for a brief period before prosecutors decided to drop the case, saying they wanted to spare Casey's daughter further attention.
A spokeswoman for Clear Channel Radio said Monday that Torain would not return to any of its stations, according to the Associated Press.
KANYE, EVIL KNIEVEL SETTLE LAWSUIT: Famous daredevil and rapper met privately in Clearwater, Fl.
*Famed daredevil Evel Knievel and rapper Kanye West have quietly settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in West's 2006 video for "Touch the Sky," reports the Associated Press.
Knievel sued West and his record company last year, claiming West's character of "Evel Kanyevel" attempting to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon mocked his own failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974. West's attorneys argued the video amounted to satire, covered under the First Amendment.
Knievel, 69, said he and West worked out a settlement recently at his Clearwater condo, and both have agreed not to publicly discuss the terms.
"We settled the lawsuit amicably," Knievel said Tuesday. "I was very satisfied and so was he."
After claiming in his lawsuit that the video contained "vulgar and offensive" images and that Kanye was "promoting his filth to the world,"
Knievel said his opinion of the artist changed after meeting him in person.
"I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman," he said, adding that he is concerned about West as he grieves the sudden death of his mother Donda West earlier this month.
"I know he's had some tough times the past few weeks, and I hope things work out," Knievel said.
B.I.G. LAWSUIT ADDS THREE LAPD DETECTIVES: Cops were accused of hiding evidence in first mistrial.
*Three Los Angeles Police Department detectives accused of covering up evidence in the investigation of the still-unsolved murder of The Notorious B.I.G. can be added as defendants in the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
The development was announced Tuesday in a statement from the estate of the slain rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace. The Brooklyn-born artist was gunned down on March 9, 1997, while leaving an industry party in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that Detectives Stanley Nalywaiko and Stuart Maislin of the Los Angeles Police Department's Risk Management Group, along with Detective Steven Katz, whose concealment of evidence led to a 2005 mistrial, can be added as defendants in the Wallace family's lawsuit.
The family alleges that "in their capacity as supervisors in the Risk Management Group, [Nalywaiko, Katz, and Maislin] failed to supervise or directly participated in the concealment of evidence in this case."
In 2005, Judge Cooper declared a mistrial in the wrongful death case after finding that Detective Katz hid statements linking B.I.G.'s killing to rogue cops David A. Mack and Rafael Perez. Noting that "the attempted concealment of evidence and failure to respond to officer wrongdoing is a central issue in this case" -- and that such evidence did not come to light until "after the 2005 mistrial" -- Judge Cooper said there was no reason not to grant the family's request to amend its lawsuit to add the three detectives as defendants.
The Wallace family's lead attorney, Perry R. Sanders, Jr., has long maintained that the case involved an LAPD cover-up. "Judge Cooper's ruling today gives the family a chance to prove to the world that police were involved in the murder -- and that high officials have covered up for those officers," Sanders said. "The family is extremely pleased to have the opportunity to hold accountable some of the key the people involved in the cover-up."
The Wallace estate says Judge Cooper's 11-page ruling denied on technical grounds the family's request also to add other defendants, noting that separate suits could be brought against those individuals. As previously reported, Judge Cooper allowed the addition of former Death Row CEO Marion "Suge" Knight and other defendants after ruling the lawsuit could be amended because of newly discovered evidence.
NAS 'NI**ER' ALBUM PUSHED BACK: Controversial set now due during black history month.
*Nas upcoming album "Ni**er," originally due in December from Def Jam, has been pushed back to February for a release during Black History Month, reports MTV News.
Nas said the first single, due sometime in January, is not the recently leaked track "What It Is." In that song, he spits: "Racist neighbors flinchin'/They don't know if I'mma rob them/ Or if I'm Russell Simmons/ They thought it was me, just like Mike Bivens/ They pray for my downfall like the mom of Robin Givens."
Nas told MTV that "What It Is" features vocals he recorded, but the track is from origins unknown.
"I never rhymed to that beat," said Nas.
A final track list for "Ni**er" is still being finalized, his camp told MTV. So far, Atlanta's DJ Toomp (T.I., Ludacris) and longtime Nas collaborator Salaam Remi have contributed beats. Diddy and his new Hitmen are also tapped to donate music before production closes in the next week or so.
TYRA'S 'TOP MODEL' TOSSES TWIGGY: Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova will replace veteran at judge's table.
*Citing scheduling conflicts, 1960s supermodel Twiggy will not return for the upcoming 10th cycle of Tyra Banks' CW program "America's Next Top Model."
The vacated seat at the judge's table will be filled by another veteran cover girl, Paulina Porizkova, when the show begins its next season.
"We are thrilled to have Paulina as a part of this cycle's judging panel," ANTM executive producer Ken Mok said in a statement. "The show and participants will benefit a great deal from her vast modeling knowledge and expertise."
Porizkova will join Banks, runway diva Miss J. Alexander and photographer Nigel Barker on the judging panel. Twiggy leaves the show having put in work for five cycles. She was brought in during Cycle 5 to replace one of the original judges, Janice Dickinson.
"We would like to thank Twiggy for her great contributions to the show," Mok said. "Having an icon like Twiggy lend us her considerable expertise has elevated our show to a whole new level. We wish her well in her endeavors and hope to collaborate with her in future Cycles of ANTM as well as other projects."
DON CHEADLE HONORED FOR DARFUR WORK: Actor and his 'Ocean's Eleven' co-star to receive award from Nobel Laureates.
*The upcoming 8th World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates will recognize actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney for their work on behalf of victims of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
The "Ocean's Eleven" co-stars will receive the group's 2007 Peace Summit Award, to be presented by Nobel laureate and former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev, whose foundation co-hosts the annual event, and Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome.
Clooney and Cheadle have traveled to Africa to meet with refugees from the war-torn country and raise international awareness of the plight of the more than 2.5 million people who have been displaced by the ongoing conflict between government-supported militias and the region's ethnic tribes. More than 200,000 have been killed since fighting began in 2003.
Last December, the pair also joined a small delegation of activists to Egypt and China—two of Sudan's major trade partners—to personally press government officials to intervene.
Additionally, Cheadle has further increased awareness through the recent documentary "Darfur Now," which examines the crisis from multiple points of view, including those of an International Criminal Court prosecutor and an antigovernment rebel within the country. The film features both actors and shows Cheadle addressing United Nations officials about the dire need for action.
VIRGINIA SETS JURY TRIAL FOR MICHAEL VICK: Jailed QB to face felony dogfighting charges in April.
*A Surry County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday set April 2 for the start of Michael Vick's trial on two state felony dogfighting charges.
The jailed Atlanta Falcons quarterback did not attend the 5-minute hearing, during which his lawyer, Lawrence Woodward, requested that Vick's trial take place before a jury.
Vick is being held at a Warsaw, Va., jail after surrendering on Nov.
19 to begin serving time for a federal dogfighting conspiracy conviction. He faces up to five years behind bars at the Dec. 10 sentencing for the federal case.
The two state charges — beating or killing or causing dogs to fight other dogs, and engaging in or promoting dogfighting — are also punishable by up to five years in prison each.
Vick's lawyers said they will fight the state charges on the grounds he can't be convicted twice of the same crime.
The athlete and three co-defendants - Quanis L. Phillips, Purnell A.
Peace and Tony Taylor - pleaded guilty to the federal charge in U.S.
District Court in Richmond. In an Aug. 27 plea agreement, Vick admitted financing a dogfighting ring and providing gambling money, as well as helping to kill six to eight dogs.
JANET JACKSON SIGNS WITH WILLIAM MORRIS: Entertainer will be repped by agency in all areas.
*Janet Jackson has signed with the William Morris Agency in preparation for a number of projects on deck for 2008.
The entertainer comes to the agency fresh from her role in Tyler Perry's hit film "Why Did I Get Married?" She's looking to star in more projects next year, and she's also planning a world tour to promote her new album due in February.
"Janet is one of the most iconic female entertainers of our time."
said WMA president Dave Wirtschafter, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
A team of William Morris agents will represent Jackson in all areas, including film, touring, licensing and merchandising, television, theater, publishing and new technology.
Jackson said she chose WMA because of its successful track record. She continues to be represented by managers Johnny Wright and Kenneth Crear as well as attorney Don Passman.
MARY J. BLIGE TO PERFORM IN HONOR OF BET EXEC: Singer tapped for Lifebeat benefit honoring Stephen Hill.
*Mary J. Blige has agreed to perform at an upcoming benefit for Lifebeat that will honor Stephen Hill, executive vice president of entertainment and music programming at BET.
"Live Beats: A Night of Musical Mayhem and Tonal Terror Fashioned by Fun(k)," scheduled for Dec. 4 at New York's Highline Ballroom, will recognize the Lifebeat board member for efforts in the fight against AIDS/HIV.
Funds raised at the event will go to Lifebeat, which works to mobilize the talents and resources of the music industry to raise awareness and to provide support to the AIDS community. A related contest will give the winner a chance to play onstage at the venue with Blige's 10-piece backing band.
More information is available at www.Lifebeat.org.
JERMAINE CONFIRMS JACKSON 5 REUNION RUMORS: Singer tells BBC Radio 'Michael will be involved.'
*Jermaine Jackson has reportedly told BBC Radio that he and his famous brothers, including Michael, will come together for a Jacksons reunion tour as early as next year.
"Michael will be involved," Jermaine told the radio host, according to AFP, adding that concert dates have even been discussed.
"We feel we have to do it one more time. We owe that to the fans and to the public," Jermaine reportedly said.
The last time Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael hit the road together – along with their brother Randy – was in 1984 for the "Jackson's Victory Tour." Jermaine said the reunion tour would've happened much sooner, had Michael not gotten caught up in (and eventually acquitted of) child abuse charges.
"There's been so much going on, getting over all the hurdles that we all were faced with during Michael's trial," said Jermaine. "But we are stronger than ever. I'm gonna say thank you, thank you, thank you so much to all the fans and the supporters of my family all over Europe, all over the UK especially, who came out to show their love and their support."
BLACK ENTERPRISE SHOWS US WHO'S 'HOT': Tyra, Blige, Diddy, Fiddy, LeBron make magazine's annual Hot List.
*Black Enterprise has announced its annual Hot List of America's Most Powerful Players Under 40, a group that includes achievers in the fields of media, music, entertainment, and sports.
The tally, which appears in the magazine's new December issue, includes such under-40 superstars as Tyra Banks, Mary J. Blige, Sean "Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent and Nick Cannon.
"These celebrities have shrewdly leveraged their fame to build multimillion-dollar empires that will sustain them beyond their careers in sports and entertainment," says BE Editor-at- Large Carolyn Brown. "Plus, this year's list goes outside the box to include business executives, top-ranked money managers, and medical researchers whose impact on our world is undeniable."
The issue is available for the first time in BE history under five different covers featuring LeBron James, Chris Brown with Kirk Franklin, Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean with John Legend, and Venus Williams.
BISHOP DON JUAN SPREADING HIS PIMP JUICE: Character gives The Game sneakers; speaks about fling with James Brown's ex.
*Bishop Don Magic Juan, the famous ex-pimp who totes a bedazzled chalice and hangs around various gangster rappers, made headlines recently in two separate stories.
On Tuesday, TMZ.com mentioned how the Bishop rolled up on Melrose Ave. in a lime green Rolls Royce and proceeded to give a pair of one-of-a-kind lime green Emerica sneakers (with alligator skin and gold
detailing) to rapper The Game, who was on the famous Los Angeles street showing off his new Can-Am Spider motorcycle.
The Game autographed the kicks and handed it to a TMZ cameraman for the Web site to auction off for charity. His personalized shoes are now available for bidding on eBay with all of the proceeds benefiting "A Place Called Home," a South Central L.A. non-profit organization dedicated to help at-risk kids achieve their dreams through educational enrichment.
Meanwhile, Digital Spy reported last week that the Bishop and his rumored flame, James Brown's widow Tomi Rae, have given each other diamond rings.
"She says I'm the only one to make her cry and smile at the same time," the Bishop reportedly said, adding that he's been keeping their relationship on the low because her lawyers feel that any link to the former pimp would hurt her ongoing custody and estate battles in court.
The Bishop said: "They won't let us have it that way, and I understand."
Tomi Rae, meanwhile, claims her relationship with the ex-pimp is strictly platonic.
"I gave him a ring, but it was just a gift. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the Godmother of Soul and I have no intentions of being with anybody else," she reportedly said.
ITTY BITTY BITS: 'Christmas' 'Rush' at the box office; Whoopi's upset; Larry Johnson's b'day; Badu at Barbados Jazz Fest.
*"This Christmas," a holiday film starring Regina King, Chris Brown, Idris Elba and Loretta Devine, earned $27.1 million over the weekend to place second at the box office behind Disney's "Enchanted" at $35.3 million.
Meanwhile, Terrence Howard's "August Rush," about a kid who uses music to find his long lost parents, placed 7th with 13.3 million.
*"The View's" Whoopi Goldberg has a bone to pick with John Edwards and Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, for possibly suggesting that the morning show doesn’t support its striking writers. As previously reported, Mrs.
Edwards and Mrs. Obama released statements saying they would not appear on "The View" because they didn't want to cross the Writers Guild picket line.
"It could have been handled differently," a peeved Whoopi told the audience on Monday's show. "Because what they said made it look like we don't care."
*Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson celebrated his 28th birthday in New York recently at hotspot Cain. "I got [last] Monday and Tuesday off, so I got time to party," the NFL star told the New York Daily News' Rush & Malloy. Also on hand was New England Patriot Donte' Stallworth.
*Erykah Badu has been booked to perform at the 2008 annual Barbados Jazz Festival, joining a lineup that includes Bob James, Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci, Stefan Walcott, Andre Forde, Venessa Rubin, Kenny Garrett, Lee Retenour and more. The Festival, now in its 15th year, will be staged Jan. 14 through 20 at various venues around the island, including Sunbury Plantation House, Heritage Park at the Foursquare Rum Refinery, The Crane Resort & Residences and Farley Hill National Park.
Tickets are available for purchase at www.barbadosjazzfestival.com.
OLD WHITE WOMEN HEAD TO KENYA FOR BOOTY CALLS: Tourist Board says new UK fad is 'something we frown upon.'
*Reuters is reporting that older white women in southern England have taken to traveling to Kenya in search of sex with young men.
Local people on the coast estimate that as many as one in five single women visiting from rich countries are looking for sexual encounters, according to Reuters.
"It's not evil," said Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, when asked about the practice. "But it's certainly something we frown upon."
Kenyan officials are also concerned with health risks after learning that many of the women instruct the men not to use condoms -- finding them too "businesslike" for their exotic fantasies.
Grieves-Cook and many hotel managers say they are doing all they can to discourage the practice of older women picking up local men, arguing it is far from the type of tourism they want to encourage in the east African nation.
"The head of a local hoteliers' association told me they have begun taking measures -- like refusing guests who want to change from a single to a double room," Grieves-Cook said. "It's about trying to make those guests feel as uncomfortable as possible ... But it's a fine line. We are 100 percent against anything illegal, such as prostitution. But it's different with something like this -- it's just unwholesome."
Read the entire article here:
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2007-11-26T001811Z_01_L14342169_RTRIDST_0_LIFESTYLE-KENYA-SEXTOURISM-COL.XML
EUR FILM REVIEW: August Rush
Musical Prodigy Plays Manhattan in Enchanting Variation on Oliver Twist
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Although Charles Dickens isn't credited, Oliver Twist obviously served as the source of inspiration for this hyper-romanticized, musical overhaul of his beloved literary classic.
To refresh your memory, the novel's protagonist is an innocent young lad raised in an orphanage who runs away after being ostracized by the other kids.
Oliver then makes his way from the country to London where he's befriended by a street urchin nicknamed the Artful Dodger who, in turn, brings him to a den of pint-sized thieves under the thumb of the diabolical Fagin.
The naive newcomer is welcomed into the lair and is unwittingly manipulated by the duplicitous ringleader into partaking in the gang's shady shenanigans.
Although Oliver eventually wises up, he still finds it hard to extricate himself untl his plight comes to the attention of a relative in a position to help.
August Rush, by contrast, is set in America instead of England. This variation on the theme revolves around 11 year-old Evan (Freddie Highmore), a music-loving wind whisperer who hears the harmony in all of nature.
Institutionalized since birth at the Walden County Home for Boys in upstate New York., he sneaks off to Manhattan in search of his mother and father when he can't take his bunkmates' teasing about having been abandoned anymore.
Evan ends up in Greenwich Village, where he encounters not the Artful Dodger, but Arthur (Leon G. Thomas, III), a black street musician his own age performing for tips. Arthur takes Evan home with him to the abandoned theater which once housed the Fillmore East. Presently, the place is inhabited by an army of adolescent beggars being exploited by a Fagin-like figure known as Wizard (Robin Williams).
There, Evan picks up a guitar for the first time and, without needing any lessons, discovers that he can already play like a virtuoso. In fact, he doesn't need an actual instrument, for he has been blessed with the uncanny ability to elicit beautiful sounds out of any everyday objects he simply concentrates on. This development isn't lost on Wizard, who dubs the prodigy August Rush and puts him to work in Washington Square Park. (Was Oliver Twist named after a 19th C. England British beverage?)
But as much as the blossoming boy enjoys exploring his just-unearthed talents, he never forgets that his true mission is to find his long-lost parents. During the film's opening scene, which is set a dozen years prior, the audience gets a hint that Evan/August might be the product of a rooftop one-night stand between Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), a Juilliard-trained classical cellist, and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Myers), the singer/lead guitarist of a struggling rock group.
Sadly, August's parents parted company without exchanging numbers, and when his mom turned out pregnant, her intermeddling father (William Sadler) duped his daughter into believing the premature baby had perished during child birth. Truth be told, Evan obviously had been made a ward of the state, and only through a serendipitous series of coincidences (augmented by the assistance of Terrence Howard as a concerned caseworker with Child Protective Services) will he manage to be reunited with the folks responsible for his being born with such magnificent musical genes.
All in all, a fanciful fairytale blending elements of Oliver Twist, Ferris Bueller, Peter Pan and The School of Rock likely to entertain and enthrall preteens for a couple of hours.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for slight violence, mild profanity and mature themes.
Running time: 114 minutes
Studi Warner Brothers
EUR DVD REVIEW: The Namesake
East Indian Assimilation in U.S. Examined in Generation-Spanning Drama
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*When Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) Ganguli arrived in the United States in the late Seventies, they had to adjust not only to America but to each other.
For the pair had just wed via an arranged marriage and then left their native Calcutta for the proverbial land of opportunity.
And the ongoing of these strangers in a strange land effort to adapt and to coexist is the driving force behind The Namesake, a cross-cultural drama adapted from Jhumpa Lahiri's best seller by Mira Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala.
The plot of this decades-long epic thickens stateside after the couple settles in New York City and start a family, first a son, Gogol (Kal Penn), named after his father's favorite writer, and later, a daughter, Sonia (Sahira Nair). Raising the kids prove to be something of a challenge for old-fashioned throwbacks who would prefer that their offspring be inclined to observe traditional Indian customs. Understandably, their children are thoroughly Westernized and, as second-generation citizens, they feel little connection to their roots back on the Subcontinent.
The film focuses mostly on Gogol's anguished soul, and his lifelong effort to find his place in the only country he has ever known. Despite attending Yale, he frustrates his folks when he starts dating a rich white girl (Jacinda Barrett), not that it's easy for him in the face of social ostracism and parental pressure to embrace his heritage.
Ironically, he does later fall for the Bengali beauty (Zuleikha Robinson) he meets on a blind date arranged by his intermeddling mother. But through her, Gogol ultimately only learns another lesson, namely, that a relationship based upon having things in common can't sustain itself on that familiarity alone.
In sum, a magnificent meditation on what it means for many to be American in the 21st Century.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, disturbing images, brief profanity and drug use.
In Hindi, Bengali, French and English with subtitles.
Running time: 122 minutes
Studi 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD Extras: Audio commentary by director Mira Nair, alternate and deleted scenes with optional commentary, "Behind-the-Scenes" and other featurettes, a theatrical trailer, Fox previews and more.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be." - David Viscott: Was a psychiatrist, author, businessman, media personality
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Nov. 28: Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is 78. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law and Order") is 55. Actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon ("NYPD Blue," "The Jamie Foxx Show") is 41. Singer Dawn Robinson (En Vogue, Lucy Pearl) is 39. Musician apl.de.ap of Black Eyed Peas is 33. Rapper Chamillionaire is 28.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The Tag Team Black Business Network is a black-owned, membership-based organization matching Black businesses with Black consumers around the world. www.BlackBusinessNetwork.com/theone
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Nov. 28, 1961: Ernie Davis becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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