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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2013)
Arts & Entertainment Kam’s Kapsules: For Movies Opening June 14 with subtitles) BIG BUDGET FILMS Man of Steel (PG-13 for profanity, sci-fi violence and intense action sequences) Henry Cavill stars as Clark Kent in this reboot of the Superman series about an alien raised from infancy by adoptive parents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) in Kansas where, as a young man, he’s called upon to save Earth from extraterrestrial invaders from his home planet, Krypton. With Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Lau- rence Fishburne as Perry White, Rebecca Buller as Jenny Olsen, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. This Is the End (R for crude humor, coarse sexual- ity, graphic nudity, drug use, violence and pervasive pro- K AM ’ S C APSULES Movie Reviews by Kam Williams they’re partying at James Franco’s house. With Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Michael Cera, Rihan- na, Emma Watson, Kevin Hart, Craig Robinson, Mindy Kaling, Channing Tatum and Jason Segel. INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS 20 Feet from Stardom (PG-13 for profanity and sexuality) Backup singers belatedly get their due in this overdue documentary This Is the End fanity) Ensemble comedy about celebrities forced to face their mortality when the apocalypse arrives while paying tribute to some of the best in the business, including Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Darlene Love, 20 Feet from Stardom Claudia Lennear, Tata Vega and Lynn Mabry. With appearances by Bette Midler, Mick Jagger and Sheryl Crow. Aliyah (Unrated) Dramat- ic thriller, set in Paris, about a 27 year-old drug dealer (Pio Marmai) who’s consid- ering making a fresh start working in a relative’s restaurant in Tel Aviv in order to escape his burden- some, deadbeat brother (Cedric Kahn) and a love life complicated by an ex (Sarah Lepicard) and a new girlfriend (Adele Haenel). With Guillaume Gouix, David Geselson and Olivier Desautel. (In French with subtitles) The Bling Ring (R for profanity, sexual references, drug use and underage alco- hol consumption) Sofia Coppola co-wrote and directed this true tale about a gang of computer-savvy teenagers who embark on a crime spree burglarizing the homes of Hollywood stars by using the internet to monitor the celebrities’ whereabouts. Featuring Backup Singers Belatedly Get Their Props in Pop Music Documentary siderable contributions to the annals of rock, soul and other genres. For most of the backups are black and female with gospel o the names Merry Clayton, Lisa backgrounds, and have stories to share Fischer, Darlene Love, Claudia about being underpaid, underappreciated Lennear, Tata Vega or Lynn Mabry and/or outright exploited. In fact, Darlene ring a bell? Probably not, yet you are confesses to having to clean houses as a undoubtedly very familiar with their stellar maid between gigs in order to survive at a work as backup singers for a variety of low point in her career. musical icons. Most backup singers are For example, it’s Merry’s frustrated artists who spend powerful voice which adds years helping others shine a memorable touch of soul while waiting for that big Twenty Feet from to the Rolling Stones’ clas- break that might never come Stardom sic “Gimme Shelter” in the that could catapult them into Excellent IIII brief interlude where she the limelight. Finally, Rated PG-13 for makes the most of the thanks to Twenty Feet from profanity and sexual- opportunity to belt out the Stardom, these neglected ity bizarre lyrics “Rape! Mur- sisters are finally getting Running time: 91 der! It’s just a shot away!” their props, if not the for- minutes The same can be said of tune and mega fame that has Distributor: Darlene who not only han- eluded them for so long. Radius-TW dled backup duties on hun- Directed by Morgan dreds of hits by everyone Neville, this very entertain- from Elvis Presley to The ing and illuminating docu- Beach Boys to Tom Jones to mentary includes Sonny & Cher, but even anonymously ghost testi monials by the likes of Sting, Spring- recorded the lead vocals on such Sixties steen, Bette Midler, Sheryl Crow and other anthems as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “He’s a greats freely paying tribute. A reverential Rebel” and “It’s in His Kiss,” without get- retrospective representing the first tip of the ting credit or decent compensation. cap to backups I can remember since Lou Sadly, despite their amazing talents, folks Reed warbled “And the colored girls go!” pursuing this profession generally have pre- on the gritty ditty “Walk on the Wild Side.” cious little to show financially for their con- “Twenty Feet from Stardom” Film Review by Kam Williams D Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Leslie Mann and Israel Broussard. Call Me Kuchu (Unrat- ed) Chilling, equal rights documentary chronicling the aborted efforts of mur- der victim David Kato (1964-2011), Uganda’s first openly gay citizen, to lobby against the proposed law making homosexuality a capital crime in his country. The Guillotines (R for graphic violence) Qing Dynasty drama revolving around the daring exploits of a top secret squad of five, sword-wielding assassins assembled by the emperor (Andrew Lau) to eliminate his political opponents. With Ethan Juan, Shawn Yue and Xiaoming Huang. (In Mandarin with subtitles) Hatchet III (Unrated) High body-count horror sequel finds the revenge- minded heroine (Danielle Harris) attempting to break the curse of the seemingly- Far Out Isn’t Far Enough (Unrated) Rever- ential biopic about the life and times of prolific chil- dren’s book author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer, a subversive artist committed to challenging the status quo. (In English and French invincible sociopath (Kane Hodder) who has been ter- rorizing her haunted Louisiana swamp for decades. Cast includes Car- oline Williams, Derek Mears and Zach Galligan. In the Fog (Unrated) World War II saga set dur- ing the height of Nazi occu- pation on the Western Front where a man (Vladimir Svirskiy) wrongly accused of collaborating with the enemy must fight to save his name. With Sergei Kolesov, Vladislav Abashin and Nikita Peremotovs. (In Russian with subtitles) Call Me Kuchu Check Out The Skanner Turn-the- Pages Web- Paper www.theskanner.com home page: click the ‘Full Print Version Online’ button to view our full newspapers, just as they are printed, on-line. Just click to turn the pages and click to zoom. June 12, 2013 The Seattle Skanner Page 5
