Page 6 The Skanner May 17, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
Kam’s Kapsules: Movies Opening Friday, May 19, 2017
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Alien: Covenant (R for
violence, profanity, sex-
uality, nudity and bloody
images) Sixth install-
ment in the sci-fi fran-
chise revolves around
a spaceship crew which
finds more than it bar-
gained for when it lands
on an uncharted planet
Kam
Williams
Kam’s
Kapsules
Movie
Reviews
Fassbender, Katherine
Waterston, Carmen Ejo-
‘Abacus: Small Enough to Jail’
from which it received
radio signals. Ensemble
cast includes Michael
go, Billy Crudup, Jussie
Smollett and Danny Mc-
Bride.
Diary of a Wimpy
Kid: The Long Haul (PG
for rude humor) Fourth
installment in the fran-
chise inspired by Jeff
Kinney’s children’s book
series features a new
cast and finds the Heffley
family embarking on a
very eventful road trip
to visit grandma on her
90th birthday. Co-star-
ring Jason Drucker,
Charlie Wright, Alicia
Silverstone and Tom Ev-
erett Scott.
Everything,
Every-
thing (PG-13 for mature
themes and brief sensu-
ality) An enchanting, if
bittersweet,
bildungs-
roman about the love
which blossoms between
a sickly girl (Amandla
Stenburg) growing up in
an antiseptic bubble and
the chivalrous Prince
Charming (Nick Robin-
son) who moves in next-
door. With Anika Noni
Rose, Ana de la Reguera
and Taylor Hickson.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Abacus: Small Enough
to Jail (Unrated) Justice
system exposé chroni-
cling the five-year legal
battle waged by Man-
hattan District Attorney
Cyrus Vance, Jr. against
Abacus Federal Savings,
the
Asian-American
community bank which
was the only financial in-
stitution to face criminal
charges in the wake of
the 2008 subprime mort-
gage crisis.
Devil’s Domain (Unrat-
ed) Revenge horror flick
about a victim (Madi
‘Alien: Covenant’
Vodane) of cyber-bul-
lying who makes a deal
with the Devil to get even
with her tormentors.
Cast includes Michael
Madsen, Linda Bella and
Zack Kozlow.
Fight for Space (Un-
rated) Pro-NASA docu-
mentary advocating for
a more ambitious U.S.
space program. Featur-
ing commentary by as-
tronaut Jim Lovell, physi-
cist Michio Kaku and Bill
Nye, the Science Guy.
Legion of Brothers
(Unrated) War on Terror
documentary recount-
ing the exploits of the
Special Forces unit sent
on a covert mission to Af-
ghanistan to track down
the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
leaders behind the 9-11
attacks.
The Survivalist (Un-
rated) Post-apocalyptic
thriller, set in the wake
of the collapse of civili-
Albina Jazz Festival Fundraiser:
The legendary
LLOYD ALLEN SR. and BAND
FRIDAY, JUNE 2ND, 7-10PM
Stingray Café
240 North Broadway, Portland, OR 97232
(across from the Moda Center)
DOORS OPEN: 6:30pm | SHOW STARTS: 7pm | COVER: $10
Full bar and Fresh beer, wine
Please come join us for a great evening of
electric home-grown jazz blues!
Presented by Albinajazzfestival.com and Portland Pioneers
of Color Walking Tours (on Facebook) All Rights Reserved.
Sponsors: KBOO
zation due to the exhaus-
tion of petroleum, about
a nomad ()Martin Mc-
Cann) whose tiny farm
hidden deep in the woods
is discovered by a couple
of starving women (Mia
Goth and Olwen Fouere).
Featuring Andrew Simp-
son, Douglas Russell and
Kieri Kennedy.
Wakefield (R for pro-
fanity and some sexual-
ity) Midlife crisis dra-
ma about a burnt out
attorney (Bryan Crans-
ton) who hides in the at-
tic from his family and
the rest of the world af-
ter suffering a nervous
breakdown. With Jenni-
fer Garner, Beverly D’An-
gelo, Victoria Bruno, Pip-
pa Bennett-Warner and
Ellery Sprayberry.
The Woman Who Left
(Unrated) “Hell hath no
fury” thriller revolving
around a recently-ex-
onerated inmate (Cha-
ro Santos-Concio) who
hatches a plan to exact
revenge on her ex-lover
(Michael De Mesa) after
spending 30 years be-
hind bars for a crime she
didn’t commit. Support-
ing cast includes Sha-
maine Centenera-Buen-
camino, John Lloyd Cruz
and Mae Paner. (In Filipi-
no with subtitles)
Amirah Vann: The
“Underground” Interview
With Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
A
n actress and sing-
e r/ s o n g w r i t e r
from Far Rock-
away,
Queens,
Amirah Vann began
performing at a young
age. Pursuing her pas-
sion for performing, she
completed her under-
graduate study in acting
at Fordham University
at Lincoln Center before
entering a graduate act-
ing program at NYU’s
Tisch School of the Arts.
Soon
thereafter,
Amirah began working
with The Continuum
Company under the di-
rection of Jim Calder. She
traveled with the com-
pany to Florence, Italy,
performing in “A Mid-
summer Night’s Dream,”
while collaborating as a
vocalist with Jonathan
Batiste (“The Late Show”)
to develop original music
for the production. She
also performed in the
company’s popular pro-
duction of “Pericles.”
Upon
graduation,
Amirah to participate in
a variety of developmen-
tal musical workshops,
including
“Kingdom,”
“Holler If You Hear Me,”
“Sweethearts of Swing,”
“The Lady Killers Love
Story” and “Cubamor.”
She made her Off-Broad-
way debut in “Laughing
Pictures” at the Flea The-
atre, and continued her
stage career in “Trouble
In Mind,” “The Moun-
taintop,” “Vanya and Son-
ya and Masha and Spike,”
“Wax Wings” and “Blue-
print.”
She began her televi-
sion career in roles on
“Girls” (HBO), “Believe”
(NBC) and “Mozart in
the Jungle” (Amazon).
Her film credits include
“Tracers,” “And So It
Goes,” “Don’t Worry
Baby,” “Once More with
Feeling” and “Three and
a Half Thoughts.”
Amirah was recently
nominated for a NAACP
Image Award for Out-
standing Supporting Ac-
tress in a Drama Series
for her work in “Under-
ground,” WGN Ameri-
ca’s critically acclaimed
hit series. Here, she talks
about her role on the
show as “Ernestine.”
Kam Williams: Hi
Amirah, thanks for the
interview.
Amirah Vann: It’s my
pleasure, Kam. Thank
you.
See INTERVIEW on page 7