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Amy Review

Excellent

As with his Formula One documentary Senna, filmmaker Asaf Kapadia cleverly uses archival footage to explore the wrenching story of Amy Winehouse. It's a strikingly journalistic approach that refuses to let anyone off the hook even as it draws out their deepest emotions. Lyrically edited by Chris King, the film is both beautiful and achingly sad, especially as it engulfs the audience on a big cinema screen.

A naturally gifted musician, Amy started writing her own songs at age 14 and had a publishing deal by 16, performing in small clubs as well as with the National Youth Jazz orchestra. At 20, her debut 2003 album Frank caused ripples in the industry with its jazz-infused vocals. And three years later, her follow-up Back in Black catapulted her into global stardom, something she never wanted. To escape the clamouring paparazzi and ever-larger audiences, she retreated into her on-off relationship with Blake Fielder, including a two-year marriage. But their key escape was to use large quantities of alcohol and drugs, which began to take a toll on Amy's career, leading to rambling interviews and shambolic stage appearances. In her lucid moments, she still had that raw power, and a series of rehab stints helped her conquer drugs. But in 2011, her alcohol consumption finally stopped her heart, which had been weakened by decades of bulimia.

Kapadia recounts this story using a staggering array of home movies, performance footage and press imagery, letting her prescient song lyrics play out across the screen as she performs them in homes, recording studios, TV shows and a variety of stages. Meanwhile, she tells her story in voiceover taken from interviews, plus new comments from her family, friends and colleagues. All of this is assembled with skill by the filmmakers to recount Amy's story chronologically, never shying away from the hard truths while refusing to let those closest to her adjust the material to revise history. In other words, it's sometimes brutally honest, not in the way it assigns blame but in the way it creates a portrait of a system that feeds off artists without properly looking out for them.

Continue reading: Amy Review

Life Of Crime Review


Very Good

Although the plot itself is nothing special, this kidnapping comedy keeps the audience entertained by filling every scene with outrageous characters and twisty interaction. Based on an Elmore Leonard book, this free-wheeling movie is such a tangle of colourful people and riotous 1980s hairstyles that it can't help but be enjoyable. Especially once we realise that the story isn't the most important thing.

It's set in 1984 Detroit, where trophy wife Mickey (Jennifer Aniston) has finally had it with her chilly husband Frank (Tim Robbins). As she's thinking about taking their son (Charlie Tahan) and leaving, he's holed up in the Bahamas with his mistress Melanie (Isla Fisher) while preparing to serve Mickey with divorce papers. Just then, low-life criminals Louis and Ordell (John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def), kidnap Mickey and demand a $1 million ransom. Of course, Frank thinks his problem is solved until he realises that they also know about his dodgy business dealings. And things are further complicated by Louis and Ordell's Nazi-loving sidekick (Mark Boone Junior) and an amorous dork (Will Forte) who's in love with Mickey.

As the chaos escalates, writer-director Daniel Schechter keeps the focus tightly on the offbeat characters rather than the gyrations of the narrative. This makes it easy to identify with everyone on-screen, particularly Aniston and Hawkes, who have the most complex roles. They're the only people who have either emotional shadings or a story arc to travel, so watching them become increasingly aware of the opportunities around them is a lot of fun. Everyone else is here to get laughs, and it's amusing to see each of them reveal things about themselves that add to the mayhem, from Fisher's surprisingly savvy bombshell to Bey's womanising prowess. And of course each character approaches the various moral dilemmas from a distinct angle.

Continue reading: Life Of Crime Review

Begin Again Review


Excellent

Fans of the Oscar-winning 2006 Irish film Once (and its more recent stage-musical adaptation) may find this American drama a little derivative, but it's a strong story in its own right. This time writer-director John Carney has assembled a starry cast to nicely capture the rhythms of New York's streets. And the songs, while not quite as integral to the story, are gorgeous.

The opening sequence sets up the story from two perspectives, as music producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo) hears songwriter Greta (Keira Knightley) reluctantly perform at a bar's open-mic night. Both of these people are at their rope's end: always seeking offbeat talent, Dan is on the outs with his record label partner (Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def), and wants to reconnect with his estranged wife and teen daughter (Catherine Keener and Hailee Steinfeld). Meanwhile, Greta has just been dumped by her rising pop-star boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine), who got his big break from a song she wrote. To stop her moping, her pal Steve (James Corden) encourages her to start singing her own songs. In Greta, Dan sees the kind of artist he longs to make records with, so with nothing to lose the two set out to record her songs at locations around the city for a new album.

Like Once, this is a love story that doesn't actually involve romance: these two people need each other to discover their life's passions. So Ruffalo and Knightley get the chance to create some terrific chemistry without much of a threat that they'll fall for each other. Indeed, each has other fish to fry, as they try to sort out their emotional connections elsewhere. Their flirty friendship plays out in a fresh, effortless way that generates some complex emotions and ideas. Ruffalo is always great at creating these kinds of loose, slightly hapless characters, while Knightley delivers an even more earthy performance, letting her own sparky personality emerge on-screen for the first time along with some serious skill as a singer. And the supporting cast add texture in just the right places.

Continue reading: Begin Again Review

Jennifer Aniston Is The Unwanted Hostage In 'Life Of Crime' [Trailer]


Jennifer Aniston Tim Robbins Mos Def

Life of Crime sees Jennifer Aniston put in the awkward position of  unwanted hostage; her husband (Tim Robbins) wants rid so won’t put up the ransom, and the kidnappers have a dud payload on their hands.

Jennifer AnistonJennifer Aniston is faced with a troubling predicement

Robbins’ character is a business trip-taking, lascivious, adulterous pig, who has been indulging in a long-running affair while his wife stays at home. On one of these so-called business trips, a couple of chancer criminals attempt to extort a million dollars from him by kidnapping Aniston, only to find out he values her a big fat $0. 

Continue reading: Jennifer Aniston Is The Unwanted Hostage In 'Life Of Crime' [Trailer]

Life Of Crime Trailer


Frank Dawson is a filthy rich, arrogant real estate developer who regularly takes 'business trips' in order to continue an affair with his young lover Melanie Ralston. During one of his trips away, his wife Mickey is held for ransom in her own home by a gang of masked men who call Frank to demand he deposit $1 million into an offshore bank account if he ever wants to see his wife again. But there's just one tiny problem: he doesn't want to see her again. He's been racking his brains to find a way he might possibly be able to leave her without the costly disadvantages of alimony, divorce costs and child support and now it seems the solution has finally dropped into his lap. Mickey doesn't believe Frank would pay that much to save her but now it's down to his own morals.

'Life Of Crime' is a crime comedy full of unexpected twists and turns. Based on the novel 'The Switch' by Elmore Leonard, the movie adaptation has been directed and written by Daniel Schechter ('Supporting Characters', 'Goodbye Baby', 'The Big Bad Swim') and it is due to be released in UK theatres on September 5th 2014.

Click here to read Life Of Crime Movie review

Keira Knightley - Begin Again Red Carpet Interview


Video interview with Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley talks about working on her new movie 'Begin Again', in which she stars as a dejected singer-songwriter in New York alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine. Although not a natural singer, Keira had to pull off a few tunes of her own in the movie.

Continue reading: Keira Knightley - Begin Again Red Carpet Interview

Begin Again Trailer


Dan Mulligan is a former record executive who has just been spectacularly dismissed by the label he was employed by. Now penniless with nowhere to go and no-one to talk to apart from his hormonal teenage daughter Violet, he is desperate to find some musicians and get his career back on track. Meanwhile, a young singer-songwriter named Gretta has just been dumped by her co-musician boyfriend Dave after he manages to secure a major label deal for himself. Depressed and alone, she finds herself performing solo on a stage at a small bar where Dan happens to be drinking. Captivated, he decides to take her under his wing and help her achieve the success she so craves with his own unusual methods, and both find themselves transforming as people in almost every way.

Formerly entitled 'Can A Song Save Your Life?', 'Begin Again' is a touching comedy drama with a thrilling all star cast. It has been written and directed by John Carney ('Once', 'On the Edge', 'Zonad', 'The Rafters'), and is the story of how music can change many people for the better - and, sometimes, for the worst. The film is due for UK release this summer on July 11th 2014.

Click here to Begin Again movie review

Toronto Film Festival To Open With WikiLeaks Movie 'The Fifth Estate' [Trailer]


Benedict Cumberbatch John Hawkes Mos Def Jennifer Aniston Steve McQueen Chiwetel Ejiofor Michael Fassbender

The Fifth Estate, the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring biopic of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will be the opening film at at this years annual Toronto International Film Festival. The film festival will also feature advanced screenings of fellow Oscar teasers 12 Years A Slave and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, with Daniel Schecter's Life of Crime - which stars John Hawkes, Mos Def and Jennifer Aniston - closing the first night. The festival starts on September 5.

Watch the trailer for The Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate follows the end of the turbulent relationship between Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg at the height of WikiLeaks' infamy and mass exposure. Based on the books Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website by Domscheit-Berg himself and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by Luke Harding and David Leigh, the movie adaptation has been without Assange's consent. The film was directed by the Oscar winning Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Dreamgirls) and adapted for the screen by Josh Singer (The West Wing, Fringe). The film is due to arrive in time for Oscar season in January 2014.

Continue reading: Toronto Film Festival To Open With WikiLeaks Movie 'The Fifth Estate' [Trailer]

Mos Def's Guantanamo Bay Treatment - Rapper Endures Force Feeding


Mos Def Barack Obama

In an experiment designed to reveal the true extent of what Guantanamo Bay prisoners are going through, Yasiin Bey – better known by his previous rap pseudonym Mos Def – underwent the mandatory, standard practice of force-feeding.

Mos Def Yasiin Bey Bey is a keen political and religious activist

What followed were distressing scenes: Guantanamo doctors inserted a tube up Bey’s nose, feeding him a fluid, presumably with enough nourishment to keep hunger-striking inmates alive. Force feeding aren’t hunger strikes a new thing at Guantanamo, but Islamic tradition of Ramadan has polarized the practice, with Islamic groups lobbying the U.S government to stop doing it during this period. They have responded in kind, only force-feeding inmates at night.

Continue reading: Mos Def's Guantanamo Bay Treatment - Rapper Endures Force Feeding

Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap Trailer


Hip hop has always been more of a culture than just a genre of music. It represents a huge portion of the marginalised world of America and how they managed to create something from nothing; how their lifestyle and previously buried literary talents created a culture that has inspired millions. The frontman of rap/ metal band Body Count Ice-T takes his audience on the road to visit the founding fathers, the major superstars and the rising stars of the rap genre including Afrika Bambaataa, Eminem, Nas, Mos Def, Kanye West, Chuck D, Krs-One, Snoop Dogg, Run-DMC, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and discover the skill and feeling behind what has made them international music heroes. One of the frequent interviewees is Grandmaster Caz who we are taken to visit on several occasions as he writes a new set of rhymes called 'The Art Of Rap'.

Directed by Ice-T with help from Andy Baybutt, 'Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap' is a feature length music documentary delving into what goes into making the seminal hip hop records that have dominated music since the late '70s. It came about when producer Paul Toogood asked Ice-T the simplest of question which the star had never before been asked: How did he write seminal tracks such as '6 In The Mornin' and 'Colors'? 

Featuring: Common, Ice Cube, Chuck D, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Nas, Kanye West, Darryl McDaniels, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane

Continue: Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap Trailer

Mos Def

Mos Def Quick Links

News Video Film Quotes RSS

Mos Def

Date of birth

11th December, 1973

Occupation

Musician

Sex

Male

Height

1.77






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Mos Def Movies

Amy Movie Review

Amy Movie Review

As with his Formula One documentary Senna, filmmaker Asaf Kapadia cleverly uses archival footage to...

Life of Crime Movie Review

Life of Crime Movie Review

Although the plot itself is nothing special, this kidnapping comedy keeps the audience entertained by...

Begin Again Movie Review

Begin Again Movie Review

Fans of the Oscar-winning 2006 Irish film Once (and its more recent stage-musical adaptation) may...

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Life Of Crime Trailer

Life Of Crime Trailer

Frank Dawson is a filthy rich, arrogant real estate developer who regularly takes 'business trips'...

Begin Again Trailer

Begin Again Trailer

Dan Mulligan is a former record executive who has just been spectacularly dismissed by the...

Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap Trailer

Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap Trailer

Hip hop has always been more of a culture than just a genre of music....

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Brown Sugar Movie Review

Brown Sugar Movie Review

To completely understand Brown Sugar requires an appreciation of what hip-hop means to the lives...

Civil Brand Movie Review

Civil Brand Movie Review

Civil Brand might think that it carries an inspiring message about courage, hope, and sacrifice,...

Brown Sugar Movie Review

Brown Sugar Movie Review

Both a winning, friends-or-more romance with intelligent, down-to-earth characters and a melodious love-letter to the...

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