November 21, 2018 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
FILM REVIEW: ‘Amazing Grace’
Follows Live Recording of the Best-
selling Gospel Album of All Time
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AL’S RECORDS AND TAPES
thing.”
Behind his pulpit is
The Southern Califor-
nia Community Choir,
directed by Alexander
Hamilton. The singers
have more enthusiasm
than fans at a Beyoncé
concert. On the side of
the pulpit, Franklin’s
band warms up: Gui-
tar: Cornell Dupree. Or-
gan: Kenny Luper. Per-
cussion: Pancho Morales.
In Amazing Grace, Aretha is a conduit who channels a spirit from above into the hearts of those who
listen. With the premiere and distribution of this film, she can do that for eternity.
By Dwight Brown
NNPA News Wire Film
Critic
B
ack in the day, if
you couldn’t get to
church on Sunday
to hear the pas-
tor’s sermon, you’d put
on Aretha Franklin’s
“Amazing Grace” album,
the best-selling gospel
record of all time, and
she would give you your
spiritual fix. After a long
delay, and its share of
controversy, this uplift-
ing documentary that
preserved her live re-
cording of that album is
finding distribution. It’s
as if Franklin is sending
a message to us from
the great beyond. Thank
heaven.
With the best of inten-
tions, director Sydney
Pollack and his crew
filmed the Queen of Soul
Review
cont’d from pg 6
the apprehension and
imprisonment in New
York City of the evil Gel-
lert Grindelwald (Johnny
Depp). However, while
being transported across
the proverbial pond to
Europe, the dark wizard
escapes his captors with
the help of his minions.
Next thing you know,
he’s hatching a diabolical
plot to establish a new
world order by breed-
ing a race of pure-blood
witches and wizards to
rule over all “muggles,”
aka ordinary people.
Ultimately, the hope for
saving humanity will
rest on the shoulders of
the picture’s protagonist,
Newt Salamander (Eddie
Redmayne).
This good wizard is a
as she performed over
two days, January 2nd
and 3rd, at the New Tem-
ple Missionary Baptist
Church in Watts, Los An-
geles in 1972. The smooth
transition from her live
recording to the now
historic double album
culminated with a Gram-
my Award for Best Soul
Gospel
Performance.
The making of the docu-
mentary traveled a much
rougher road. Apparent-
ly, Pollack and his crew
had problems syncing
the sound. It was a chal-
lenge that didn’t get re-
solved until producer
Alan Elliot bought the
rights from Pollack in
2007.
Elliott then had two
problems to solve. 1.) Fix
the technical hitches and
make a cohesive docu-
mentary. 2.) Overcome
Franklin’s
resistance;
she successfully sued to
stop the distribution of
the film in 2011 and 2015.
After she passed away,
her estate gave permis-
sion for the film to be re-
leased, and it premiered
at the DOC NYC Film
Festival in New York on
Monday November 12,
2018. So, was it worth the
wait?
The master of ceremo-
nies at the recording ses-
sion is the legendary Rev-
erend James Cleveland,
whose rich baritone is
somewhere between the
soulful tones of Barry
White and Teddy Pen-
dergrass. Cleveland in-
troduces the lady of soul
with such reverence that
you’d think a queen was
walking into his church.
And she is. Says the rev-
erend with great pride:
“She can sing anything.
‘Three Blind Mice.’ Any-
“magizooligist,” mean-
ing he has an army of
supernatural animals at
his disposal. Trouble is,
Newt has been grounded
by the British Ministry of
Magic since inadvertent-
ly making such an em-
barrassing mess in the
Big Apple during FB1.
Following a successful
appeal of the harsh sen-
tence, the unassuming
hero’s wand and travel
rights are restored, set-
ting in motion a series
of events leading to an
inevitable
showdown
with the megalomani-
acal Grindelwald. Still,
the deliberately-paced
tale takes a number of
nostalgic detours prior
to the monumental clash
of good vs. evil, thanks to
Newt’s fervent desire to
remain neutral.
So, we’re first treated
to a string of extraneous
subplots, like distract-
ing sidebars revolving
around reunions with
Professor Dumbledore
(Jude Law) and Newt’s
old flame, Leta Lestrange
(Zoe Kravitz). Diehard
fans of the franchise are
apt to appreciate such
time-filling
folderol
while average audience
members might grow in-
creasingly impatient for
the visually-captivating
action sequences.
Overall, FB2 proves to
be an entertaining ep-
isode ending on an en-
gaging enough note to
keep you curious about
the next offering in J.K.
Rowling’s incomparable
Wizarding World series.
Very Good HHH
Rated PG-13 for action
Running time: 134 min.
“
written and formerly
sung by Marvin Gaye
“Wholy Holy.”
Then
“How I Got Over” rocks
the church to its core.
The gospel standard
“Precious Memories” is
so solemn it could bring
tears to anyone’s eyes.
Playfully she blends the
Carol King song “You’ve
Got A Friend” with the
very traditional “Pre-
cious Lord (Take My
The smooth transition from
her live recording to the
now historic double album
culminated with a Grammy
Award for Best Soul Gospel
Performance. The making of
the documentary traveled a
much rougher road
Drums: Bernard Pur-
die Bass: Chuck Rainey.
The audience is a mix of
parishioners, music fans
and some well-known
guests: Clara Ward, Are-
tha’s father Reverend
C.L. Franklin, along with
Mick Jagger and Charlie
Watts from the Rolling
Stones.
Franklin floats into the
room with an aura befit-
ting Cleopatra. At the pi-
ano or standing in front
of a mic on the podium,
she launches into classic
and contemporary gos-
pel songs that show her
versatility and musician-
ship. Her voice is at the
peak of its powers. Clear.
Piercing.
Emotional.
Divine. She settles into
a modern gospel song
Hand),” displaying an
equal feel for pop and
gospel stylings.
Easily the most dramat-
ic performance from the
two days of singing has
got be her intense ren-
dition of “Mary Don’t
You Weep.” It’s a classic
spiritual that dates back
to the Civil War when it
was sung by slaves as a
coded message that said
that times will get bet-
ter, oppressors will get
their due, persevere and
resist. In lyrics that the
overseers could not fully
understand, the chorus
goes: “(Soloist) Pharaoh’s
army. (Choir) Pharaoh’s
army. (Soloist) I know
you know that story
of how they got drowned
in the sea one day, oh
Friday, Nov. 23rd
Saturday, Nov. 24th
Sunday, Nov. 25th
Saturday & Sunday
Friday plus Saturday OR
Sunday
All 3 Days
yeah. (Choir) Drown in
the Red Sea.” Franklin
caresses the melody and
draws extra meaning out
of every word of a song
that became popular
again during the ‘60s civ-
il rights movement.
There’s more on view
than just a memorable
performance by one of
America’s most famous
vocalists. Also on ex-
hibit is a musical form
that has been an integral
part of the black com-
munity since Africans
first arrived in America.
What audiences witness,
through song and on dis-
play, is a rich resilient
culture that has an unde-
niable affinity with mu-
sic. Also, the love on view
in this house of worship
in Watts is not unique. It
plays out on Sundays in
black churches all over
the country. It’s a con-
tinuous affirmation of
customs. A spiritual call-
ing. A communion with
neighbors. And a front
row seat to the evolution
of black gospel music
that started in fields and
has grown into a very so-
phisticated art form with
choirs, instruments and
amplification. Spirituals
have come a long way.
Kudos to Alan Elliott
for managing and bring-
ing to fruition a creative
process that has stymied
others for years. He does
his best, considering
some of the original foot-
age is out of focus. Editor
Jeff Buchanan magical-
ly weaves together the
performances,
anec-
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