March 20, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 5
Arts & Entertainment
Kam’s Kapsules:
Movies Opening
Friday, March 22
FILM REVIEW: Elba
Makes Directorial
Debut with ‘Yardie’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
D
‘Us’
WIDE RELEASES
Us (R for violence, ter-
ror and profanity) Jordan
Peele wrote and directed
this suspense thriller,
set in Santa Cruz, about
a vacationing family
that finds itself haunt-
ed by identical strang-
ers. Co-starring Lupita
Nyong’o, Winston Duke,
Elisabeth Moss and Anna
Diop.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Dragged Across Con-
crete (R for profanity,
sexuality, nudity, grisly
images and graphic vi-
olence) Action thriller
about a couple of cops
(Mel Gibson and Vince
Vaughn) who turn to a
life of crime after be-
ing suspended without
pay for police brutal-
ity caught on camera.
With Don Johnson, Fred
Melamed, Michael Jai
White and Jennifer Car-
penter.
El Chicano (Unrated)
Crime saga, set in East
L.A., about twins (Raul
Castillo) who choose to
live their lives on oppo-
site sides of the law. Cast
includes Jose Pablo Can-
tillo, Aimee Garcia and
Marlene Forte.
Hotel Mumbai (R for
profanity, bloody images
and pervasive violence)
Fact-based drama re-
counting the 2008 ter-
rorist attack at the Taj
Mahal Palace Hotel by
radical Islamists which
claimed 174 innocent
lives. Co-starring Dev
Patel, Armie Hammer,
Amandeep Singh and Ja-
son Isaacs. (In English,
Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi,
Greek, Russian, Arabic,
Urdu and Persian with
subtitles)
Maze (Unrated) Histor-
ical drama, set in North-
ern Ireland in 1983, rec-
reating the infamous
jailbreak of 38 IRA mem-
bers from a maximum-se-
curity prison. Ensem-
ble cast includes Barry
Ward, Martin McCann,
Tom
Vaughan-Lawlor,
Eileen Walsh and Aaron
Monaghan.
Kam
Williams
ennis “D” Campbell (Aml Ameen) had the mis-
fortune of growing up in the slums of Kings-
ton, Jamaica in the ‘70s at a time when the ‘hood
was infested with drugs. Orphaned at an early
age, he was raised by an older brother he admired,
Jerry (Everaldo Creary).
Besides serving as a surrogate father, Jerry was
a peacemaker who risked his life pressuring the
gangs ruining the community to end their bloody
turf war. But Dennis was left traumatized at 13 when
his sibling was senselessly shot dead by Clancy (Ra-
heem Edwards), a young member of the Tappa crew.
Fast forward a half-dozen years and we find D
doing the bidding of King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd),
the leader of Spicer, Tappa’s rival gang. When he is
asked to smuggle a kilo of cocaine on a plane bound
for London, he leaps at the opportunity because not
‘Yardie’
only does Clancy live there now, but so too does Den-
nis’ daughter (Myla-Rae Hutchinson-Dunwell). So,
the risky assignment will afford him an opportunity
to avenge his brother’s murder while reuniting with
loved ones.
That is the intriguing set up of “Yardie,” a coming-
of-age drama marking the noteworthy directorial
debut of Idris Elba. Adapted from Victor Headley’s
1992 novel of the same name, the film is narrated by
its intrepid protagonist, a conflicted soul eternally
torn between good and evil.
See YARDIE on page 7
Kam’s
Kapsules
Movie
Reviews
Ramen Shop (Unrat-
ed) Coming-of-age dra-
ma revolving around
a grief-stricken young
chef (Takumi Saitoh)
who travels from Japan
to Singapore in search
of his late parents’ reci-
pes only to also uncover
some deep family se-
crets. With Seiko Matsu-
da, Jeanette Aw and Tsuy-
oshi Ihara. (In Japanese,
Mandarin and English
with subtitles)
Sunset (R for violence)
Character-driven drama,
set in 1913, about a young
woman (Juli Jakab) who
ventures to Budapest
hoping to secure a job at
the hat store once owned
by her late parents, only
to be turned away by the
shop’s new owner (Vlad
Ivanov). Cast includes
Susanne Wuest, Bjorn
Freiberg and Urs Rechn.
(In Hungarian and Ger-
man with subtitles)
Trading Paint (R for
profanity) Action adven-
ture about a legendary
father (John Travolta)
and son (Toby Sebastian)
car racing team who end
up facing each other in
a high-stakes contest
following a falling out.
With Shania Twain, Mi-
chael Madsen and Kevin
Dunn.
Triple Threat (R for
profanity and pervasive
graphic violence) Ac-
tion thriller about three
down-and-out mercenar-
ies (Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais
and Tiger Chen) recruit-
ed to protect a billionaire
heiress (Celina Jade) from
a team of professional
assassins (Scott Adkins,
Michael Jai White and
Michael Bisping) hired
to take her out. Support-
ing cast includes Michael
Wong, Daniel Whyte and
Selina Lo. (In English,
Mandarin and Thai with
subtitles)
by
John Henry
Redwood
“Well done, strong subject”
“Deep! Powerful storytelling”
“Incredible!”
“Fantastic. As always! Your
productions are always incred-
ible & informative in powerful
ways!”
“Wonderful! Intense! Thought
provoking!”
“Fantastic script & acting”
“Excellent Production- heart-
felt, thought provoking. Each
cast member is incredibly
talented.”
“Very well done! Not what I
was expecting-very powerful
& moving!”
Directed by
William Earl Ray
March 14–April 14, 2019
Sunday 3:00 p.m. / Friday & Saturday 7:30 p.m.
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC)
5340 N Interstate Ave, Portland
TICKETS: JP’s Framing and Gallery 418 N.E. Killingsworth or PassinArt.org
Ronni
Lacroute
For information call 503.235.8079 or email passinart@yahoo.com
PassinArt.org
PassinArtTheatreCompany