February 14, 2018 The Skanner Page 9
cont’d from pg 8
St. Johns Library
Visit St. Johns Li-
brary for their first
ever film festival.
Every Sunday in Feb-
ruary from 2-4 p. m.
enjoy a movie that
highlights and uplifts
the Black experience
in America.
February 11: Afro-
Punk
February 18: Red Tails
February 25: Tupac Vs
Central Library
Sunday, Feb. 25,
2:30 – 4 p.m.: Oregon
Humanities presents
After Obama: Talking
Race in America
Today
Central
Library
hosts Oregon Human-
ities and writer and
professor Kim Single-
tary for a conversa-
tion that explores the
challenges and bene-
fits of discussing race
openly with our fami-
ly, friends and strang-
ers. The conversation
will also touch on best
practices for encour-
aging
constructive
“race talks” within
participants’ commu-
nities.
Albina Library
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 5:30
- 7:30 p.m.: Launch
Your Own Podcast
Today!
Have you ever want-
ed to have your own
radio show? Josh Boy-
kin will take you from
an idea to a real-life
podcast, using anchor.
fm directly from your
phone!
Most of ‘Basmati Blues’ was filmed in 2013, when a monsoon shut it
down, before Oscar-winner Brie Larson, had appeared on anyone’s
radar
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
D
r. Linda Watt (Brie
Larson) is a scien-
tist doing research
for Mogil, a lead-
ing agri-chemical com-
pany based in New York.
The young doctor is so
thrilled about genetical-
ly engineering a strain
of Basmati rice that
yields 22 percent more
grains per acre that she
spontaneously breaks
into song on Fifth Ave-
nue, right in front of the
iconic Flatiron building.
Mogil’s CEO (Donald
Sutherland) is just as
excited by her ground-
breaking
discovery,
but all he sees are dol-
lar signs. He decides to
launch the new product
over in India, where
about a billion and a
half people eat rice ev-
ery day.
But first, the farm-
ers have to be talked
into switching to Rice 9
from the reliable strain
they’ve used for genera-
tions. So, he sends Linda
over to the subcontinent
to market her invention
herself.
Trouble is, she’s a nerd
who’s far more comfort-
able working long hours
in a lab than address-
ing big crowds. Worse,
she has no idea that the
small print in the “Rice
9” contract will force
the signers to buy their
seeds from Mogil year
after year forever. The
question is whether Dr.
Watt will wise up to
the fact that she’s being
used to by her greedy
boss to ruin millions of
farmers financially.
Besides business, Lin-
da finds time for a little
romance during her
stay. First, sparks fly
with William (Saahil
Sehgal), the local yo-
kel serving as her tour
guide. Then, she devel-
ops a little chemistry
with Rajit (Utkarsh Am-
budkar), a rebellious
college student suspi-
cious of Mogil’s inten-
tions.
Thus unfolds “Bas-
mati Blues,” a musical
dramedy reminiscent
of “La La Land.” Unfor-
tunately, this relative-
ly-amateurish produc-
tion fails to measure up
in terms of plot, acting,
cinematography
or
soundtrack. The movie
marks the ambitious di-
rectorial debut of Dan
Baron, previously best
known for writing the
screenplay for a kiddie
comedy, “See Spot Run.”
Baron ostensibly bit
off more than he could
chew here, frustrat-
ing his A-list ensem-
ble by rarely allowing
them to play to their
strengths. For instance,
why make the audience
suffer through Donald
Sutherland’s
woeful-
ly-strained warbling?
Equally miscast are
six-time Emmy-winner
Tyne Daly and Golden
Globe-winner Scott Ba-
kula.
A
shaky,
Bolly-
wood-style
musical
worth a watch only to
see Oscar-winner Brie
Larson give it her all.
Good HH
Unrated
Running time: 106 min.
Production Studios:
Red Baron Films / Con-
sidered Entertainment
/ Zas Film AG
To see a trailer, visit
TheSkanner.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTTO PICTURES
Library
Arts & Entertainment
FILM REVIEW: ‘The Final
Film Review: Cross-Cultural Love
Triangle at Heart of Bollywood-Style Year’ Chronicles the Last
Days Inside the Obama
‘Basmati Blues’
White House
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, U.N. Ambassador
Samantha Power, Secretary of State John Kerry, and President
Brarack Obama in ‘The Final Year’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
B
esides granting a
record number of
pardons to non-vi-
olent felons con-
victed of drug offenses,
Barack Obama didn’t
accomplish very much
during his last days in
office. That’s not unusu-
al for a lame-duck presi-
dent, particularly when
the opposing party is in
control of both houses of
Congress.
Remember how the Re-
publicans refused to al-
low Obama to fill Justice
Antonin Scalia’s seat on
the Supreme Court, even
though he still had anoth-
er 11 months to go in his
second term? Well, that
was par for the course
in 2016, a year marked
by GOP obstruction of
the White House agenda
at every turn, including
its only override of a
presidential veto. Con-
sequently, all the Obama
administration’s
high-
lights, from saving the
economy, to passing the
Affordable Care Act, to
the gay marriage initia-
tive, came prior to 2016.
That didn’t discourage
director Greg Barker
from making “The Final
Year.” After all, he had
been afforded unusu-
al access at that time to
President Obama and
such confidantes as Sec-
retary of State John Ker-
ry, National Security
Advisor Susan Rice and
U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations Saman-
tha Power.
The film focuses mostly
on foreign policy issues,
although not much of
consequence or of inter-
See REVIEW on page 11