Arts & Entertainment
kam’s kapsules: Movies Opening Friday, May 22
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Chocolate City (R for
profanity, brief violence,
partial nudity and pervasive
sexuality) Inner-city saga
about a cash-strapped col-
lege
student
(Robert
Ri’chard) who moonlights
as a stripper at a neighbor-
hood nightclub on ladies’
night.
Ensemble
cast
includes Vivica A. Fox,
Tyson Beckford, DeRay
Davis, Carmen Electra,
Ginuwine and Michael Jai
White.
Poltergeist (PG-13 for
intense horror fare, mild
profanity and suggestive
material) Remake of the
1982, haunted house horror
classic about the abduction
of a little girl (Kennedi
Clements) whose family is
being terrorized by malevo-
lent spirits. Starring Sam
Rockwell,
Rosemarie
DeWitt and Jarred Harris.
Chaplin, Ian Tracey and
Peter McRobbie.
Tomorrowland (PG for
brief profanity, mature
themes, action, violence and
scenes of peril) Sci-fi
adventure about a preco-
cious teen (Britt Robertson)
and a jaded genius (George
Clooney) who embark on a
dangerous mission to a far-
away place in another
dimension. With Hugh Lau-
rie,
Kathryn
Hahn,
Keegan-Michael Key and
Tim McGraw.
(Dis)Honesty (Unrated)
Truth-telling is the subject
of this documentary explor-
ing the toll that lying takes
on us, both individually and
collectively, as a society.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Aloft (R for profanity and
sexuality) Tale of redemp-
tion about a journalist
(Melanie Laurent) who
orchestrates the reunion of a
renowned artist/healer (Jen-
nifer Connelly) with the son
(Cillian Murphy) she’d
abandoned 20 years earlier.
Support cast includes Oona
The Farewell Party
(Unrated) Dark comedy, set
in Jerusalem, revolving
around the compassionate
friends of a terminally-ill
retiree (Shmuel Wolf) who
build a self-euthanasia
machine for him and other
residents of their old folks
home. With Ze’ev Revach,
Levan Finkelshtein and
Ruth Geller. (In Hebrew
with subtitles)
Gueros (Unrated) Social
satire about a troubled teen
(Sebastian Aguirre) sent by
his overwhelmed mother to
live with his big brother
(Tenoch Huerta) attending
college in Mexico City. Fea-
Poltergeist
turing Ilse Salas, Leonardo
Ortiz Gris and Raul
Briones. (In Spanish with
subtitles)
Love at First Fight
(Unrated) Romantic romp
revolving around a conven-
tional carpenter (Kevin
Azais) who falls head-over-
heels for a paranoid
survivalist (Adele Haenel)
preparing for Armageddon.
With Antoine Laurent,
Brigitte Rouan and William
Lebghil. (In French with
subtitles)
See MOVIES on page 11
Books: ‘Michelle Obama: A life,’ by Peter Slevin
more complicated points
than the simplistic sound
bites she’s been reduced to.
For that reason, it is appro-
priate that her biography
opens with an in-depth
analysis of a very emotional
speech she delivered to
Anacostia High’s graduat-
ing class of 2010.
She pointed out the irony
in the fact that this public
school located in a neigh-
borhood marked by poverty,
violence and inequality was
also just a stone’s throw
away from the U.S. Capitol.
She went on make parallels
between that ghetto and the
one where she was raised on
the South Side of Chicago.
Then, Michelle started to
cry while recalling the sacri-
fices on the part of her
parents which enabled both
her and brother to attend
Princeton. And when she
finished, it was apparent
that her salient message
about the power of perse-
verance had resonated with
all in attendance.
In Michelle Obama: A
Life, author Peter Slevin
paints an unapologetically
rosy picture of the First
Lady, opting to play down
or entirely avoid any contro-
versial
subjects.
It’s
important to note that she
never cooperated with the
project, although he report-
edly did get to interview a
number of folks close to
her.
A titanic, 400+ page tome,
complete with 16 pages of
color pictures, for fans who
prefer to read an opus about
the First Lady that accentu-
ates the positive.
Author Peter Slevin paints an unapologetically rosy
picture of the First lady, opting to play down or
entirely avoid any controversial subjects. It’s
important to note that she never cooperated with
the project, although he reportedly did get to
interview a number of folks close to her.
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
Michelle Obama: A Life
by Peter Slevin
Knopf
Hardcover, $27.95
448 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-0-307-95882-2
“Here is the first compre-
hensive account of the life
and times of Michelle
Obama, a woman of
achievement and purpose—
and the most unlikely First
Lady in modern American
history... The journey winds
from the intricacies of her
upbringing as the highly
focused daughter of a gre-
garious water-plant worker
afflicted with MS to the
tribulations she faces at
Princeton University and
Harvard Law School during
the racially charged 1980s.
And then returning to
Chicago
where
she…
embarks on a search for
meaningful work that takes
her back to the communi-
ty… even as she struggles to
find balance as a mother
and a professional—while
married to a man who wants
to be president.
[The book] deftly explores
the drama of Barack’s his-
toric campaigns and the
harsh glare faced by
Michelle in a role both
relentlessly public and not
entirely of her choosing.”
— Excerpted from the
Bookjacket
M
ichelle Obama has
been catching a lot
of flak again, this
time for her remarks during
a recent commencement
address at Tuskegee Univer-
sity. The First Lady has
been under the gun ever
since the 2008 presidential
campaign, when her detrac-
tors
playing
“gotcha
politics” quoted something
she said out of context to
suggest that she hates the
United States.
But Michelle was making
May 20, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7