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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
Page 8 The Skanner March 30, 2016 Arts & Entertainment Justin Hires: The “Rush Hour” Interview Kam Wil- liams: Hi Justin, thanks for the interview. Justin Hires: Thanks for hav- ing me, Kam. By Kam Williams For The Skanner News J ustin Hires is a very talented ac- tor, comedian, storyteller, dancer, video jockey and writer who will next be seen playing Detective Carter in the CBS-TV action-comedy series “Rush Hour,” based on the bud- dy films co-starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. The versatile entertainer has been an ensemble cast member on the sketch comedy series “Key & Peele,” and he’s also appeared in the box-office hit 21 Jump Street alongside Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, Justin was born in St. Petersburg, Florida where he was raised by a cou- ple of very supportive parents. Even as a young child, he exhibited a knack for making others laugh. While attending Clark Atlanta Uni- versity, Justin was cast in two feature films: Stomp the Yard and The Gospel. He was subsequently hired by MTV as a VJ on their college network, mtvU. Justin moved to Hollywood after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media- Radio, TV, and Film. In L.A., he started doing stand-up in comedy clubs, and began landing a variety of television and film roles, while accumulating over 13 million views of his personal sketches online. Here, the rising young star talks about “Rush Hour” which is set to pre- miere on CBS at 10 p.m. ET/PT Thursday. KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be Justin Hires mixing their ques- tions in with mine. JH: Sounds exciting… KW: Congratulations on landing the lead in “Rush Hour.” Were you a fan of the film franchise? JH: Absolutely! I grew up watching and studying those films. I’ve always been a huge fan of martial arts and comedy, so “Rush Hour” was the per- fect combination for me. KW: The trailer looks a lot like the first movie. How will the show be sim- ilar and how will it be different? JH: The pilot episode is a reboot of the original “Rush Hour.” So, there are some similarities there. However, all the episodes after that, 13 episodes in total, tell completely new and exciting stories that are not connected with the “Rush Hour” films, at all. See HIRES on page 11 “The wake of vanport” The Vanport multi-media project Digital narratives and storytelling from flood survivors and residents of Vanport g screenin 16 r e h t o n A Fall 20 coming UT O D L Sunday April 3, 2016 O S 1:30pm - 4pm Oregon Historical Society 1200 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205 Free to the public. Limited seating. Reservations required. Register online at Eventbrite: http://thewakeofvanport-2016.eventbrite.com “The Wake of Vanport” is so named to honor the death of a city and the viewing of its history through the collection of Vanport stories told by the voices of those who lived there. It is also a celebration of life after loss. Vanport is a lost city of Oregon with a rich history for all Oregonians. Join us for this screening of multimedia works produced during the Vanport Multimedia Project dedicated to collecting and preserving Vanport survivors’ stories. Community members, local historians, artists, media makers and educators collaborated to turn oral history interviews into short and powerful pieces of digital audio and visual narrative. SPONSORED BY: FILM REVIEW: ‘The Wake of Vanport’ Revisits 1948 Flood That Wiped Out a City Heartfelt documentary lets survivors of the Northwest disaster tell their stories By Kam Williams For The Skanner News V anport, Ore., was established in 1942 on lowlands located between Portland and the Co- lumbia River. At its height, the hastily-constructed public housing project had about 40,000 inhabitants, most of whom were hired by the mil- itary to work in shipyards in nearby Portland and Vancouver. “ disaster, as well as the wistful remem- brances of a number of survivors. Belva Jean Griffin, who was 21 at the time, recounts how her parents had received unreliable assurances that the dams would hold. Consequently, she lost everything she owned except an album of family photos. Regina Flowers, reminisces about how there was no racial strife among the kids in Vanport when she was growing up, although there was some among the adults. Paula Hartman re- calls that only whites received advance no- tice about the impending deluge in a handbill that read: “Remember: Dikes are safe at present. You will be warned, if necessary. You will have time to leave. Don’t get excited.” Lily Raxter recollects watching a Black lady with a couple of huge suit- cases being swept away by the all-con- suming current. And Marge White talks about immediately falling in love with Vanport upon arriving from Tallulah, Louisiana in the fall of ‘44. Together, this touching collec- tion of truly heartfelt remembrances paint a poignant portrait of a short- lived, idyllic oasis. Excellent HHHH Unrated Running time: 53 minutes Distributor: The Skanner Foundation To watch “The Wake of Vanport,” go to TheSkanner.com. Regina Flowers reminisces about how there was no racial strife among the kids in Vanport After the war ended, it proved to be an attractive destination for Afri- can-Americans families who appreci- ated that the town was integrated and that it offered a higher quality of life than what they’d experienced in plac- es like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Lou- isiana. A big negative, however, was the series of sluices slicing through the city serving as an ever-present re- minder of the precarious nature of its existence For, there was always the possibil- ity that a dike might give out, a fear that turned into a frightening reality at 4:05 pm on Sunday, May 30, 1948. Heavy snows followed by an unusual- ly warm spring combined to flood the town by nightfall, claiming 15 lives while leaving the rest of its citizens homeless. “The Wake of Vanport” is a very moving documentary featuring archi- val photographs of the Memorial Day
