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06-03-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
USHER SAYS HE 'RETIRED' NOT 'FIRED' HIS MAMA: Singer says he let her go last year to be a full-time grandma.
*Usher wants to make it clear that he did not fire his mother as his manager just days before Mother's Day last year. He simply "retired her," the singer says in Vibe magazine's July issue.
He admits to having disagreements with his mom, Jonetta Patton, over what he felt was her lack of support. (Their fall out led to her skipping his wedding to Tameka Foster last August.) But he says the separation from his mother was necessary for his mother's own sake.
"(I paid her) the ultimate compliment -- to retire her to be a full-time grandmother," said Usher, whose son with Foster is just over 6-months-old. "My mother and I decided to change her situation. There was a conversation. I didn't write her a letter or pink slip her."
The 29-year-old star admits the split was hard for him, but necessary for his career: "I hurt more than anything over these last two years when I felt my mother didn't really embrace my situation. My mother is an aggressive person. She makes hard decisions, and she caused me to make a hard decision as well."
KEY PROSECUTION WITNESS TESTIFIES IN KELLY TRIAL: Lisa Van Allen says she had three-way sex with singer and the victim three times; two were taped.
*The prosecution's star witnesses finally took the stand Monday in R.
Kelly's child pornography trial and told jurors about three sexual encounters she had with the singer and the alleged victim in the case.
Lisa Van Allen , 27, testified that she was 17 when she first met Kelly at the video shoot for "Home Alone" in late 1997 or early 1998. The two had sexual intercourse shortly after meeting, she testified, according to the Chicago Tribune.
After exchanging phone numbers, Van Allen began taking trips from her home in Georgia to Chicago to visit the R&B star, dividing her time between a hotel room paid for by Kelly and the studio where he recorded his music.
By the summer of 1998, the 17-year-old quit her job in Georgia and moved to Chicago to be with Kelly, she testified.
Van Allen said she met the alleged victim in late 1998. Their first encounter was sexual, she said, and took place with Kelly in the log-cabin themed room of his former home in Chicago with a video camera rolling, she said.
"He had a stand, and he set it up ... and directed it toward where we were," she said under direct examination from the prosecution. "[He] told us where to sit and basically what to do."
After the first encounter, Van Allen said she would see the girl periodically at Kelly's studio. Then a year later, she said, they all met up again at the singer's house, where the three engaged in intercourse on a black futon set up on the singer's basketball court. Van Allen said Kelly again set up a video camera and pointed it at the mattress. But this time, Van Allen started crying, she testified.
"I didn't want to do it," she explained. "[Kelly] stopped everything and put up the camera and we left."
The final encounter between the three took place in 2000 in Kelly's trailer at the video shoot for "A Woman's Threat" in Chicago, she testified.
She said Kelly recorded the encounter, as well, though it was interrupted when someone knocked on the trailer door.
"[The alleged victim] had to run into the bathroom naked" because Kelly did not want her to be seen, Van Allen said.
Prosecutors affirmed that none of the tapes mentioned in Van Allen's testimony were the tape shown to jurors during the trial. Van Allen said she had never seen that tape before prosecutors showed it to her last week. But her identification of the participants in the video was unequivocal: the alleged victim and Kelly.
She said the tape was probably made in 1998, the same year she was first filmed with the alleged victim and Kelly, because "they both looked exactly the same way." Van Allen also said that she recognized the room where the encounter between the alleged victim and Kelly took place as the log cabin-themed room. Van Allen testified that Kelly kept all of his tapes with him at all times and put them in a black duffel bag.
On cross examination, defense attorney Sam Adam Sr. tried to paint Van Allen as a schemer with a penchant for shady boyfriends whose current fiancé, Yul Brown, masterminded a plan to extort money from R. Kelly.
When questioned why she hadn't come forward sooner, Van Allen said, "I was young," She went on to say that she had just given birth to her daughter and had no interest in getting involved with a high-profile legal case.
Adam soon turned attention to Van Allen's various mates, as both her former boyfriend, defense witness Damon Pryor, and her fiance, Brown, were convicted on federal fraud charges. Adam went on to ask Van Allen whether she told Pryor, a defense witness, that the sex tape at the heart of the case was part of a scheme with two associates to extort money from Kelly.
Her part in the plan, Adam said, was to go to Kelly and arrange for payment.
Van Allen denied the allegations. She also denied approaching Kelly in July 2007 to get money for a tape purported to show her, Kelly and the alleged victim having sex. She said Kelly offered her $250,000 to help him "recover" the tape. She testified that she arranged for Kelly to get the tape but was only paid $20,000.
After the cross examination, the prosecutor rested its case. The defense is expected to start giving its case Wednesday. Today, Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis--who provided the police with the sex tape at the heart of the case--is expected to be questioned by Kelly's attorneys, reports the Tribune.
WE REMEMBER BO DIDDLEY: Rock innovator died Monday at the age of 79.
*Rock 'n' roll pioneer Bo Diddley, whose hits include such timeless classics as "Who Do You Love," and "Before You Accuse Me," died Monday of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. He was 79.
In May 2007, Diddley suffered a stroke during a concert in Iowa and was hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska. In August 2007 he had a heart attack in Florida.
More than 35 of his family members were at his home when he died at about 1:45 a.m. His passing was not unexpected, according to Diddley's grandson Garry Mitchell.
"There was a gospel song that was sang and he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at Diddley's deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he stated that he was going to heaven."
Diddley's career in rock-n-roll spanned more than five decades and was distinguished by his special rumba-like rhythm, which came to be known as the "Bo Diddley beat."
Toting a signature rectangle guitar, Diddley and contemporaries Chuck Berry and Little Richard were among a pioneering group of black recording artists who crossed the American racial divide with music that appealed to white audiences and was emulated by white performers.
The artist was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and collected a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 1998.
Born Ellas Bates in 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, he took the last name McDaniel from his adoptive mother, and played classical violin as a boy. He was given the nickname Bo Diddley as a teenager after moving to Chicago, where he started playing music on street corners in the 1940s.
His agency said public and private services are planned for this weekend.
WESLEY SNIPES RESEARCHING NEW FILM ROLE?: Witnesses spot him in Brooklyn preparing for part in new cop flick.
*While his tax case is on appeal, Wesley Snipes is apparently using his time out on bail to prepare for a rumored part in "Brooklyn's Finest," the infamous film written for a screenwriting contest by Staten Island Toll Booth operator Michael Martin.
According to the New York Post's Page Six, the actor was recently spotted interviewing cops in Brooklyn's Brownsville section to prepare for his potential role. The column says spies saw Snipes and confirmed co-star Ethan Hawke "stop a couple of cops patrolling the streets" and "begin asking them about the crime in the area and the type of guns they carry."
The source also said the actors were observing "the way the officers walked and talked" as well.
As previously reported, "Brooklyn's Finest" tells three intertwining stories involving Brooklyn cops.
AL REYNOLDS IS NOT THE NEW UNDER ARMOUR MODEL: Rep for sportswear line squashes online rumors surrounding provocative photo.
*The sportwear brand Under Armour had to hurry up and release a statement denying that it signed Star Jones' soon-to-be ex Al Reynolds to a modeling contract.
A recent black-and-white photo of Al exposing his Under Armour briefs underneath some basketball shorts hit the Internet last week along with rumors that it was part of his new ad campaign for the company.
Several Web sites had Al signing on as Under Armour's first non-sports star to serve as the company's spokesman and reported he would model a "30 piece line" for ads to begin running in magazines next month.
But Under Armour rep Tai Foster has come forward to deny the reports, saying in a statement: "I wanted to clarify what has been reported. Al Reynolds is not a spokesperson for Under Armour, nor is there any business relationship of any kind between the Under Armour brand and Al Reynolds."
Reynolds' rep, Howard Bragman, told the New York Post's Page Six: "Don't try to make a shirtless picture something it's not - that's my comment."
ARE DIDDY AND CAMERON DIAZ DATING?: New reports have them looking rather 'cozy' and 'affectionate' with each other.
*As the Diddy/Cassie rumors continue floating around cyberspace, talk has surfaced suggesting a new romantic situation between the rap mogul and actress Cameron Diaz.
According to the New York Daily News, the two had dinner last March in Los Angeles and "for some reason, felt it necessary to leave separately through the restaurant's kitchen," according to the paper's Rush & Malloy column.
"Last month, they were looking very affectionate in SoHo's Sub-Mercer lounge. According to witnesses, the pair disappeared into a private room for about 20 minutes while a guard stood outside the door," the column stated.
Diaz also attended Diddy's Beverly Hills party last month to celebrate his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but "more telling was their intimacy at Prince's house last Friday."
Here's how the Rush & Malloy column tells it:
Sly Stallone, John Legend, Eddie Murphy, Babyface and other guests were riveted by the 2 1/2-hour backyard concert the funkster gave to launch his book, "21 Days." But Diaz and Diddy seemed only to have eyes for each other. During the show, they laughed and held hands. At one point, while Diddy sipped a Grey Goose, Cameron told him he "must" try her bread pudding, which she proceeded to spoon-feed him. After some whispering, Diddy nodded toward Prince's mansion.
Once inside, he led Diaz by the hand through its labyrinthine corridors to Prince's basement. That's where we came upon the entranced twosome standing in the theater's doorway. Diddy was bringing his lips toward hers when he realized someone was approaching. Smiling, they closed the theater's door and locked it. We heard them giggling inside.
Diddy said he and Diaz did not go into a private room at the Sub-Mercer, adding, "It is ridiculous that two celebrities of the opposite sex can't just hang out with a group of friends without it being reported as more than that. We are just friends.”
Diaz's rep had no immediate comment, but the actress recently told InStyle that she loved dating again after her breakup with Justin Timberlake.
CHRIS ROCK WEIGHS IN ON S.A'S RECENT VIOLENCE: Comedian says poverty is behind attacks on foreigners in Johannesburg.
*In South Africa for his "No Apologies" comedy tour, Chris Rock commented Monday on the current wave attacks on foreigners in the country, placing the blame on poverty rather than xenophobia.
"It's broke-on-broke violence. It's broke people robbing each other," the 43-year-old actor said at a news conference Monday, according to the AP. "That's the sad thing."
More than 60 people have been killed and nearly 100,000 foreigners forced from their homes in the violence by South Africans who accuse them of taking jobs and blame them for crime.
Meanwhile, Rock is scheduled to open his "No Apologies" tour in the country this week. He said he intends to pay a visit to former President Nelson Mandela, who turns 90 on July 18.
"I wish him another 90 years," Rock said. "There is a lot of work to be done still.
DANNY GLOVER, THANDIE NEWTON PLAN FOR '2012': Chiwetel Ejiofor already booked for disaster movie about global upheaval.
*Danny Glover and Thandie Newton are in talks to join the cast of "2012," a disaster movie from Columbia that centers on the heroic struggle of the survivors of a global catastrophe.
Glover would play the President of the United States, while Newton is in discussions to play his daughter, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Oliver Platt is also angling to join the project as the president's chief of staff. Chiwetel Ejiofor and John Cusack already are on board.
The studio is planning a July 10, 2009, release, with filming set to begin next month -- unless there is an actors strike.
Glover's recent credits include "Be Kind Rewind" and "Honeydripper." Newton is currently filming Oliver Stone's "W," playing Condoleezza Rice.
ANITA BAKER TO START SUMMER TOUR THIS MONTH: Songstress schedules a handful of shows beginning June 13 in Vienna, VA.
Anita Baker has booked several live shows across the U.S. this summer, bringing her distinctive voice to fans in Colorado, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, California and Rama, Ontario.
The outing is set to begin June 13 in Vienna, VA. Details are listed below.
After a 10-year hiatus, Baker returned to the music scene in 2004 with her Blue Note Records debut, "My Everything," which reached No. 4 on The Billboard 200. The set spawned the R&B and adult contemporary hit "You're My Everything," as well as R&B/hip-hop singles "How Does it Feel" and "Serious."
The following year, the singer released her first holiday album, "Christmas Fantasy," which includes yuletide classics and three new songs written by Baker and her producer, Barry Eastmond.
Details of Anita Baker's summer tour are below:
June 2008
13 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap Filene Center 20 - Aspen, CO - Rio Grande Park
21 - Primm, NV - Star of the Desert Arena
July 2008
12 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
24 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live
31 - Rama, Ontario - Casino Rama
August 2008
15 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Concert Pavilion
16 - Portsmouth, VA - nTelos Wireless Pavilion
September 2008
26 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
'LOST'S' PERRINEAU FINDS ABC PILOT 'UNUSUALS': Actor cast in comedy-drama set at a New York police precinct.
*It's probably safe to say that Harold Perrineau will not be returning to ABC's "Lost" next season, as his character was blown to pieces in Thursday's season finale.
The actor, whose wife Brittany gave birth to a baby boy last month, quickly got himself a gig on another ABC project, titled "The Unusuals," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The comedy-drama is set at a New York police precinct and will star Perrineau as Det. Leo Banks, who is always agitated and never takes off his Kevlar vest as he worries that he might die.
Perrineau next stars in the Sony prison drama "Felon."
'AKEELAH'S' KEKE PALMER BOOKS NICKELODEON PILOT: Actress, 15, to star in project set in the fashion world.
*Akeelah and the Bee" star Keke Palmer has scored the lead role in Nickelodeon's new live-action pilot "True Fashion, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The project, described as "Big" meets "The Devil Wears Prada," centers on a 15-year-old (Palmer) tapped to head the teen division of a major fashion label. She has a passion for fashion but soon learns that corporate life has the same highs and lows as high school, complete with cliques and mean girls -- but also with such cool perks as designing for up-and-coming rock stars and casting cute models.
Palmer, who pocketed an NAACP Image Award for her "Akeelah" role, will next be seen on the big screen in "The Longshots." Based on a true story, the movie stars Palmer as the first female quarterback in Pop Warner football history.
NICOLE ARI PARKER, KEITH ROBINSON SCORE ABC GIGS: 'Soul Food' actress joins Damon Wayans comedy; 'Dreamgirls' actor on 'Good Behavior.'
*Pilot season has been very good to Nicole Ari Parker and Keith Robinson, as both have been added to pilots in production for ABC, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Parker will join the Damon Wayans comedy "Never Better," while Robinson, last seen on the big screen in "Dreamgirls," will star opposite Catherine O'Hara in the drama "Good Behavior."
"Never Better" stars Wayans as Keith, a recovering alcoholic who's trying to be a better husband and father to his family. Parker, last seen opposite Martin Lawrence in "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," will play the wife of Wayans' character.
"Good Behavior," an adaptation of the New Zealand series "Outrageous Fortune" from "Veronica Mars" creator Thomas, is about a woman's (O'Hara) efforts to get her criminal family to go straight after her husband is sent to prison.
Robinson, who's coming off FOX's "Canterbury's Law," will play a police officer who's friendly with O'Hara's character.
LIL WAYNE ON TOUR BEHIND 'CARTER III': Album due June 10th with producers Kanye West, Alchemist and Cool & Dre.
*Lil Wayne is currently on the road promoting the June 10th release of his new album "Tha Carter III," billed as the third and final album in the so-called "Tha Carter" trilogy.
Among the lineup of guest contributors and individual track producers are Kanye West, The Alchemist, Cool & Dre and others, reports Live Daily.
After several of the album's tracks leaked on the Internet last year, Lil Wayne put together a five-song EP, "The Leak," out of those cuts, releasing it to the public last December.
"One thing I noticed, when another person's album gets leaked, it's a whole thing; they're distraught," the rapper told VH1.com last year. "When my song gets leaked, people call and say, 'It's the greatest song. Can I have it for this album?' Or, 'Can I put it on this soundtrack? Can we get the ringtone?' It's never, 'Damn, dude, your music leaked.' So what we feel, we're gonna give you what you want. We're gonna give you the leak.'"
Below are Lil Wayne's remaining tour dates:
June 2008
8 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
10 - Baltimore, MD - Venue to be announced
11 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
12 - Indianapolis, IN - Venue to be announced 20 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
27 - Lafayette, LA - Cajundome
28 - Sunrise, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
August 2008
10 - Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course
DARRENT WILLIAMS MEMORIAL TEEN CENTER OPENS: Facility honoring late Denver Broncos cornerback held ribbon cutting Thursday.
*The Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center, named after the Denver Broncos cornerback who was killed in a drive-by shooting on Jan. 1, 2007, is officially open for business for young residents of Denver.
The collaboration between the Broncos and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver is said to reflect his desire to help youth in the same way he was supported as a youngster attending Boys and Girls Clubs in the Fort Worth, Texas area.
"This represents him," Denver cornerback Domonique Foxworth told the Associated Press. "He would have been very excited and the whole community would have been proud of him."
Foxworth said the project took more than a year to complete and began the week after Williams died. Champ Bailey, and Nate Jackson were also among the dozen or so Broncos in attendance at the ribbon cutting.
The opening came less than week after a statue of Williams was unveiled on the property.
"I look at the statue there and he looks about 7 feet, 2 inches," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "That's exactly the way he played and the way he looked at himself, even though he was only 5-8."
ITTY BITTY BITS: D.L. to host BET Awards; T.O. turned away from nightclub; Will wants 'Bad Boys 3.'
*BET Awards '08 has announced that D.L. Hughley will serve as host for the June 24 ceremony, to be broadcast live at 8 p.m. EST from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Artists recently added to the performance lineup include Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Chris Brown and Young Jeezy. They'll join opening act Usher, Nelly, and closing act Lil' Wayne.
*Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens was reportedly turned away at the door of Bank Nightclub at Bellagio in Las Vegas because his outfit wasn't up to par. According to the New York Post's Page Six, the athlete-turned-"actor" rolled up wearing a pair of shorts – which is a dress code violation at the popular hot spot. "Apparently, he has a hot temper both on and off the field. Harsh words were exchanged before he stormed off," one source told the column.
*Will Smith is hoping Martin Lawrence will join him in a third sequel to their "Bad Boys" film franchise. According to witnesses, the actor hit up director Michael Bay backstage at the MTV Movie Awards Sunday in Los Angeles before taking the stage and accepting the Best Male Performance award for "I Am Legend." He reportedly told Bay: "We need 'Bad Boys 3.' I was just watching 'Bad Boys 2' with my son and I told him you can't open a movie better. That's the best movie opening ever." Bay teamed Smith and Lawrence for the first time in 1995 and then again in 2003.
EVENT CALENDAR: Chaka at iTunes Fest; Alvin Ailey back in Brooklyn; Strahan's Golf Tournament; 'Black Women in Film.'
*Chaka Khan and N.E.R.D. are among the performers set for the 2nd iTunes Festival, a series of free concerts beginning July 1 at the 1,000-capacity Koko venue in Camden, north London. Tickets will be distributed by way of competitions on the iTunes Live Web site, according to Billboard. A total of 60 gigs will roll out across 31 evenings, with more acts yet to be confirmed.
*The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater temporarily leaves its Manhattan home to begin a guest run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave.), from today through Sunday, reports the New York Daily News. It was at the BAM where pieces such as "Masekela Langage" had their first New York performances with the promising new dancer Judith Jamison, now the company's artistic director. Tickets are $20-$70 and available at bam.org or (718) 636-4100.
*The 2008 Michael Strahan/Dreier LLP Charity Golf Tournament will be held June 29-30 and will feature a private concert by a Grammy Award-winning singer, an auction of sports memorabilia and a celebrity golf tournament to benefit abused and neglected children in the New York area and children suffering from AIDS in Africa. This year's event will benefit Children's Rights, a watchdog organization that advocates on behalf of abused and neglected children in the United States, and Keep A Child Alive, which provides medical care and life-saving drugs for African children suffering from AIDS. Last year's tournament raised more than $300,000 for children's charities.
*On Saturday, June 7, AMBI Skincare will present the "Black Women in Film" program at the 9th Annual Hollywood Black Film Festival in Beverly Hills. The exhibition will feature independent film projects that celebrate the unique talents of gifted female filmmakers, artists, writers and executives of color. This program is an incredible forum for discovering and celebrating female talent that so often goes unrecognized," states Denna Singleton, Product Director of AMBI. The program will begin at 5 p.m. at the Writers Guild Theater (135 South Doheny Dr.)
EUR DVD REVIEW: Semi-Pro
Hijinks and Hoops Featured in Ferrell Retro Comedy
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Will Ferrell brings his bawdy brand of tomfoolery to the world of basketball with this retro comedy, set in the Seventies. He stars as Jackie Moon, the player/coach/owner of the Flint Tropics, a fledgling ABA franchise.
As the film unfolds, his cellar-dwelling team looks like a horrible investment, given that attendance is down due to an economic recession.
A ray of hope arrives when the league's commissioner (David Koechner) announces an impending merger with the NBA.
The catch is that only the four best teams will be included in the deal, and the rest of the struggling clubs will simply be dissolved. So, what passes for tension revolves around whether the Tropics will manage to finish in fourth place by the end of the season.
True to the Ferrell formula, going for the joke trumps plot and character development at every turn, with much of the humor coming courtesy of nonsensical sight gags, slapstick and non-sequiturs, and via period fashion statements as cotton-candy afros, garish color schemes and loathsome leisure suits. Each Tropics team member is patterned after a familiar caricature, from the trash-talking showboat (Andrew Benjamin) to the aging veteran (Woody Harrelson) to the Eastern European import (Peter Cornell).
Kent Alterman makes a decent directorial debut here, though he underutilized a cast packed with comedians (Tim Meadows, DeRay Davis, Charlyne Yi, Rob Corddry and Andy Richter) plus pop diva Patti LaBelle. Not much is asked of them except for wide-eyed reaction shots to Moon's manic misbehavior. See Jackie urinate on himself in a dumpster! Watch him wrestle a bear, shoot someone else while playing Russian roulette, or almost successfully jump on rollerblades over a long row of cheerleaders! Ouch!
Another goofy spoof strictly for the Ferrell faithful who ostensibly never tire of such bottom-feeding fare.
Good (2 stars)
Rated R for profanity and crude humor.
Running time: 100 minutes
Studi New Line Home Entertainment
2-Disc DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, improv, "Love Me Sexy - The Story Behind the One-Hit-Wonder" featurette, "Recreating the American Basketball Association (ABA)" featurette, "Four Days in Flint" featurette, "The Man Behind Semi-Pro" featurette, behind the scenes footage with Bill Walton, Bob Costas and movie character Dick Pepperfield, "Love Me Sexy" music video, and theatrical teasers and trailers.
EUR DVD REVIEW: Flawless
Michael Caine and Demi Moore Whodunit Due on DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) was the first female executive at the London Diamond Corporation, England's leading importer of precious gems.
However, the 38 year-old American is still a disgruntled employee because she's been repeatedly passed over for a promotion to managing director.
This slight has not been lost on Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), the company's janitor.
Hoping Laura's angry enough about hitting the glass ceiling to take revenge, the elderly widower suggests they rob the jewel-filled vault in the basement.
The foolproof scheme sounds simple enough. All she has to do is give him the combination, and he will crack the safe during his overnight shift. And he promises to purloin only a tiny pouchful of priceless stones, so that no one will even notice the theft.
Everything is set when Laura has second thoughts because of recent upgrades in the site's surveillance system. Hobbs ignores her pleas to abandon the conspiracy, and proceeds as planned.
The plot thickens the morning after the robbery, when it is discovered that the place has been totally cleaned out, and the company has to announce losses in the hundreds of millions. Why did Hobbs lie and steal more than the agreed upon amount of stones? Did greed get the better of him or did he have a massive robbery in mind all along?
With the case having all the earmarks of an inside job, how long will he and Laura keep from arousing the suspicion of the investigating detectives? These are just a few of the questions raised en route to the surprising resolution of as intriguing a psychological mindbender as you could hope to wrap your head around.
A masterfully-constructed, multi-layered whodunit certain to keep you confounded and guessing about each succeeding twist from start to finish.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for brief profanity.
Running time: 109 minutes
Studi Magnolia Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Audio commentary, deleted scenes and a featurette.
STEVEN IVORY: Why I Could Never Run for President
*Terrell alone would cost me the nomination. I've known him more than 30 years, and I love him. He's one of the sweetest, most conscientious people you'd ever want to meet.
But Terrell is unapologetically sexist, and a straight-up racist. When I've got the energy, we'll have it out regarding his occasionally utterly surreal views on whites, Latinos and women. Sometimes, though, I just listen and wonder how any well-meaning person, which Terrell certainly is, could have it so wrong.
In any case, if I were running for President of the United States in these strange days, inevitably someone would come along and inform CNN that Terrell is a friend of mine, and I'd have to explain our friendship. Worse, I'd be charged with responsibility for TERRELL'S thoughts, and ultimately, his very existence.
Election '08, as the media handily refers to it, is so compelling because, like never before, the American public finds itself saddled with more than just figuring out whether a Presidential candidate can do the job.
Prejudice, fear and garden-variety absurdity has voters actually measuring candidates on the strength of pant suits as opposed to skirts and flag pin-less jacket lapels. We're inquiring what candidate briefly shared coffee with whom one time five years ago on a Tuesday--ANY discord, real or conjured, we can use to camouflage that many of us are shamelessly voting expressly along the worn, ragged lines of race, gender, religion and age.
The campaigns of Obama, Clinton and McCain have all been haunted by a strain of guilt-by-association that has approached lunacy. Frankly, were I running for President, I don't know if my life could withstand the scrutiny.
I doubt even Terrell would vote for me if he took into account that some of my friends happen to be gay and lesbian. I imagine the Smoking Gun site revealing that for many years I lived in West Hollywood--the capitol of Southern California Gaydom--leaving some uptight constituents to draw their own conclusions. That is, until I issue an emphatic statement of my tried and true straightness, and risk jeopardizing my Gay/Lesbian block votes.
My own Daddy could pose a problem for my campaign. When I was a child, I once heard him say "cracker." He was sitting in our living room one evening after work, his face stuck in the Oklahoma City Times, and he undertoned the epithet to himself, perhaps in response to something he'd just read in the paper. I didn't know what that version of a cracker was--I still don't, really, only that it is a derogatory term to describe whites.
Nevertheless, if I ran for President, one of Daddy's cronies from his old job out at Tinker Air Force Base could come out of nowhere to publicly recant things Daddy and buddies might have said about white people--the kind of routine, telling conversations whites and blacks often have about one another in private--and there goes my white vote.
Thankfully, cracker is all I ever heard Daddy say, and in a dramatic speech I'd make my plea: surely the nation could sympathize with a father's ancient lapse in moral judgment and my sentimental decision to remain his son all those years….
Uh-oh--as I write this, I recall once hearing Daddy also use the word “peckerwood." Shit. Daddy, you know I love you. But I'd really want that Presidency. Bad. So, under the bus you'd go.
Let's see...I haven't been to church in years, so as a Presidential candidate, I'd dodge that bullet at least. I once had phone sex in the presence of my dog Coco. I miss him, but thank God he's not around to run his mouth.
Then again, Janice could step forward. Janice and I went out a couple of times in the late '80s. During a reckless, wine-fueled evening, we ended up in bed and I couldn't make her reach orgasm more than once that night. That second time she was RIGHT THERE, damn it, just on the edge.
Alas, at the end of a long and exhausting day, I simply couldn't get the job done. Janice said it was cool, but she left kind of grumpy, and never saw me again. Her abrupt reemergence with details of my trifling performance years ago could foil my Frustrated Women vote.
But even if my campaign survived Janice's scorn, in my dark past are other indubitable facts voters could pettily hold to the light: I used to throw rocks at Miss Holmes' cat; during childhood summers, I peed while swimming in the pool at Washington Park (more than once); in grade school I wrote my own parental excuse notes.
Just the other day, when the dry cleaners destroyed a shirt of mine, while filling out the cleaners insurance form FOR A SECOND I considered fudging the shirt's value. I've spent time with Suge Knight.
And--this, I'm truly ashamed of--ten years ago I SHOOK HANDS with a stranger in a bar who told me that once, during a threesome with a man and his wife, his bare foot inadvertently touched the husband's knee. No, I could never run for President. Too much baggage.
However, should I ever decide to earnestly pursue political ambitions, I'll go for a gig from which my assorted indiscretions won't get me easily booted. Like, say, City Dog Catcher. Or Mayor of Detroit.
Steven Ivory's book, FOOL IN LOVE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) is in stores now or at Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com) Respond to him via STEVRIVORY@AOL.COM or MYfeedback@eurweb.com
The Bridge: What Obama Represents to White People
By Darryl James
*By now, it is clear to most thinking people in America that Barack Obama is more than just a “Black” candidate. He is a candidate of importance to a very broad audience.
Thinking people also realize that thanks to Hillary Clinton and her camp’s race baiting, Barack has had to deal with the issue of race in a direct, unexpected and unassailable fashion, demonstrating clearly that he is a statesman of presidential caliber.
Hillary and her now transparently racist husband had no idea what Senator Obama would come to represent to America.
And not just to Black America.
In fact, someone should outline what Obama represents to white America.
Okay, I’ll do it.
I knew that there was something different at work when Obama whipped On Clinton in Iowa, a state I understand after having attended college there (University of Iowa).
What I understand is that Iowa is largely made up of college towns.
And what I also understand is that Midwestern college towns typically hold progressive young students and surprisingly, many open-minded adults, even though, ironically, on the outskirts of many college towns, such as Iowa City, racism rears its ugly head on the red necks of dirt farmers who haven’t quite let go of Jim Crow sentiments.
Obviously, the educated are more apt to vote and more likely to understand the stakes of this election, which is why young whites joined blacks in Iowa in making a statement about the state of the nation.
They want change.
And they are happy to embrace that change in the form of a black presidential candidate.
Why?
Primarily, if we are honest with ourselves, we realize that America would change dramatically if it elects a Black president, because he or she would represent a sharp shift in racial attitudes and racial tolerance. Obama’s election would bring about more tolerance, but just as importantly, more national pride amongst Blacks, many of who still cast a distrustful eye at the nation’s actions and policies where people of color are concerned.
Secondly, perceptions of America would change across the world if a nation with the ugly history of racism that this country owns shows itself progressive enough to elevate a person of color to its highest office.
And, please allow me to point out the unavoidable fact that it took someone like Barack Obama to bring such potential.
Why?
Barack is not Jesse Jackson, nor is he Al Sharpton, two of the nation’s most self-serving poverty pimps. He is not a race-baiter, nor is he a religious figure who shouts and panders to racist ideas to garner media attention and personal gain. More importantly, he is an experienced politician.
As such, he represents something viable and real for whites understanding the healing potential for America embodied in a president of color.
White American racism and hypocrisy are known and hated the world over. A Black president would represent a diversion from white minority domination through racial preference and would allow whites in America to once and for all repent on the world stage for historical racism.
But they can do it without compromising any standards as everyone knew would have to take place in order to take Jackson or Sharpton seriously.
For whites who are outright racist or whites who have reservations about the ability of Blacks to run the nation, Obama would lay those reservations to rest with a qualified and positive presidency. To alter the racist stupidity of even a handful of ignorant whites would be powerful.
For Negroes who are mired in self-hate and self-doubt, Obama would allay their fears, some of which are mirror image of the fears of whites who have zero faith in the abilities of African Americans. To alter those foolish Negroes who would rather vote for Hilary than “place Obama in danger of being shot” would also be powerful.
Of course, there are some drawbacks.
While Obama would pay attention to the needs of African Americans, he would do so as any good president would do—without bias or imbalance.
Unfortunately, this may not sit well with some African Americans who want Barack Obama to be a “Black President,” which is not only impossible, but impractical.
For being the president of the entire land, he will certainly catch hell from some Blacks.
And, any of us would be morons to believe that there aren’t some racist boneheads who just can’t and/or won’t deal with a Black man at the helm of the free world.
But, really, that’s why Barack Obama is so important.
The closest America ever came to bridging such an important gap in its racial conflict and confusion came in the form of Colin Powell.
Obama is not only relevant but important to young whites who grew up in a world with African American friends, multicultural schools and more tolerance than any other generation.
He is important because his biracial heritage represents more Americans than does the rich, white Hillary Clinton.
And, Hillary has run into a wall that is really a backlash against radical feminism.
White men who see the damage of radical feminist propaganda are rejecting Hillary and are joined by young white women who see that feminism has run its course of productivity and is now destructive to relationships in far too many instances.
But more importantly, whites who see that Obama harkens back to the days of presidents with integrity have opened their minds to the real possibility that this Black man can really bring about a change.
So, in addition to the African Americans and other races who are riding the Obama train because they believe that this man of integrity can bring something good and something different, a significant group of white Americans have faith that an African in America can take charge of the nation and do what is best for all Americans.
Obama as president carries great meaning for many Americans.
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the forthcoming powerful anthology “Notes From The Edge.” Discounted Autographed and Numbered Pre-Release copies can be ordered at www.darryljames.com. He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and this year, will release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
TURNER'S TWO CENTS: America Must Learn From Black Anger by Cameron Turner
*Barack Obama made the right decision in leaving Trinity United Church of Christ.
The presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee has made it clear that the tone and substance of certain statements by former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright and visiting clergyman Father Michael Pfleger do not reflect his beliefs, but the media and much of the public at large seem determined to link Obama to anything and everything that happens at the church.
As the senator said last week, "It's clear that now that I'm a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will be imputed to me even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles."
It's unfair and ridiculous for Obama to be put in this position. There was no real need for him to leave his longtime church. But for the sake of his campaign and his unifying vision for America, quitting Trinity was expedient.
As one who has enjoyed the unique blessing of long-term membership in a great church, I feel for the Obamas. Leaving a church home must be deeply painful. On the other hand since Barack, Michelle and their kids will likely be living in DC for the next eight years they're going to need to find a new church anyway. See, all things work together for good!
Some people who were outraged by Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger may be breathing a self-righteous sigh of relief now that Obama has left Trinity, but I hope America will not miss the opportunity to learn from what has been exposed here. Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger expressed the legitimate and undeniable rage and pain felt by African-Americans all across our nation.
None of this is unique to Trinity United Church of Christ, or Father Pfleger's church, St. Sabina's. Go into just about any black church in America - or any black barber shop, beauty salon, lodge hall or living room for that matter - and you will hear many of the same things expressed in much the same way. The reason Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger's words were met with deafening applause is that they articulated what was on people's minds and in their hearts.
Words expressed in anger can make reconciliation and problem-solving difficult. But that doesn't give us the right to shut down and stop listening when someone gets angry. Anger often grows out of anguish and the frustration of not being heard or taken seriously. Certainly this has been and continues to be true for black folks in the United States. So, if America is serious about solving its problems then it must seek to understand the rage and pain expressed in churches and elsewhere in the black community.
Sen. Obama raised this point in his profound "A More Perfect Union" speech on March 18 of this year. Obama stated eloquently and lovingly:
"In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper."
Amen.
One last comment before I go. There was nothing "hateful" about Father Pfleger's sarcastic riff on Hillary Clinton. Nor was there any hatred in Rev. Wright's remarks. But there might have been something like hate at work when by Fox News commentator Liz Trotta laughingly wished for Sen. Obama's assassination. Former GOP candidate and ordained minister Mike Huckabee validated the hatred of others when he "joked" about Obama diving to the floor because somebody at the NRA convention pointed a gun at him. And John Hagee's non-Biblical claim that God sent Hitler as part of some divine plan to get the Jews back to the Holy Land was pure evil. Trotta, Huckabee and Hagee have been forced to explain themselves. But none of them has been held to the standard that Wright and Pfleger have. That's a big part of the problem.
Thanks for listening. I'm Cameron Turner and that's my two cents.
THINK! IT AIN'T ILLEGAL.YET!
Anthony Asadullah Samad
BETWEEN THE LINES: Psychological Warfare On The Notion of a Black President; Playing On Black Fear and White Lunacy
*The notion of the first black President in the history of the United States has become very real over the past couple weeks.
So much so that we are now beginning to see both Barack Obama's opposition (in both parties) and the media engage in a very vicious and mean-spirited word-smithing that seeks to subtly unearth some of the worse memories in American history, for the purposes of invoking fear and lunacy on the eve of a historical occasion.
Psychological warfare is a big part of politics.
Who has the most money, the most endorsements, the most votes, the most delegates, the most "momentum" plays large in positioning, or re-positioning candidates.
Those who hold psychological advantages have a different type of swagger than those who don't. When the obvious advantages are not apparent, candidates seek to create some not so obvious ones to justify their existence.
The obvious advantage we've witnessed in the last six years of the Bush administration is fear. The politics of fear, fear of "what might happen in a post-911 environment" got a highly unpopular President re-elected.
This time around, "fear" is a two-edged sword. White people's fear is what might happen if Obama is elected the first African American President of the United States. Black people's fear is what might happen to Barack if he's elected the first Black President of the United States.
For the most part, white fear is largely unfounded, based on historical xenophobia rooted in perpetual stereotypes of black inferiority some whites cannot seem to rid themselves of.
For the most part, black fear is solidly founded, based on historical tragedy rooted in America's lunacy of lynching, mobbing and targeted assassinations that have deferred African American equality dreams and full investiture in American society.
Much has been made of Hillary Clinton's recent assassination comments stated while comparing her decision to stay in the race with historical races that ran through June. As haphazard and nonchalant as she (and the media) tried to make them appear, it was the type of word-smithing that is rooted in a racial codification that signals endangerment and the threat of supremacist pathology of times past. Hillary's inference that the only way she can win is if "something happens" to Obama, and to wave the lunacy flag, "Remember RFK" as if to say "Remember The Alamo" is psychological warfare at its most blatant. Clinton's verbiage is not proper, just cogent in promoting fear.
John McCain's codification, while not as damning as Clinton's, is not much better. To suggest that Obama's "inexperience" doesn't make him suited for the Presidency, infers that Obama is not "smart enough" to be President.
It's on record that McCain has a real disdain for Obama, but experience is just one criteria for a leader. Both Clinton and McCain have very heavy "negatives" that most acknowledge are problematic across the electorate, yet they run even with Obama. Largely because some white people can't get over their "inferiority complex" as it relates to black people-any black person-and their fears play against supporting an obviously superior candidacy in Barack Obama. McCain's dismissive statements combined with Clinton and Huckabee's impolitic statements (both know threats against Barack's life are real) send subliminal messages to some lunatic that thinks they are being patriotic or standing up in some other symbolic way to save "the American way" of life. Assassinations have played out all an too real role in American history and to even infer one is possible sends the wrong "signal" if we say times have changed. Or sends a "right" signal to some lunatic waiting for a cue.
The mind games some people are prepared to play with America's political future are limitless (as we saw in the aftermath of the 2000 election). Psychological warfare and racial cueing are not mutually exclusive of each other. Both seek to find weaknesses to exploit. One in human frailty, the other in human fears. Both can produce lunacy.
Some words we can't let people play with and some assertions for staying the race are unacceptable. Not if you're waiting for someone to be killed just so you can win.
Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible." — Orison Swett Marden
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
June 3: Singer Deniece Williams is 57.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Ledge Magazine is the nation's premiere HIV/AIDS awareness and lifestyle publication written by and for today's Black college students. For more visit www.LedgeMagazine.com.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
June 3, 1904: Charles R. Drew was born on this day. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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