Ramaa Mosley - Movie

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Ramaa Mosley - Movie

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

 

Ramaa Mosley

Makes Her Directing Debut With “The Brass Teapot!”

Photo by Magnolia Pictures

Ramaa Mosley Director Of The Brass Teapot

 

 Directing a feature film for the first time with established professional actors can be a trying situation but if you are totally prepared for the opportunity it can be just another day at the office. Ramaa Mosley makes her film directorial debut with the independent “The Brass Teapot.” 

            
  Mosley’s background includes her start with making films at age 16 and graduating from Bennington College in Vermont where she studied theater, literature and photography. Following college, the Dutch government hired Mosley to direct a documentary on the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and that led to producing commercials for top commercial companies such adidas, Powerade, PGA, Pedigree, Wallmart, ESPN and others. Mosley also began directing music videos for artists like the B-52s, Brendan Benson, Creed, Five for Fighting and more.

Michael Angarano (John) and Juno Temple (Alice)

     “The Brass Teapot,” the movie was modeled after the comic book of the same title and that is based on an ancient fable about a mythical teapot that had magical powers to give its owner(s) cash money in exchange for pain inflicted on them. The greater the pain, the more money it produced. Kind of like the goose that laid golden eggs. The movie centers on the theme of temptation and greed for a young couple who runs across the teapot just as they are in the middle of a personal financial crisis. The couple is played by Juno Temple as Alice and Michael Angarano as John.

 

The magical teapot gives money for pain

    There are people who not only actually believe that this mystical, magical, money making teapot has actually existed since the time of Christ; there is an organization created in the late 1800’s whose mission is to actually find it. 


     How did Mosley get involved to the point of making a movie about this teapot? She explains, “There’s a whole team of people called the “Theosophist Society” in China who are searching for the lost teapot. They believe it’s the Holy Grail so they’re searching for it. I was doing research on the brass teapot and I met Dr. Ling over the phone who is an archeologist in China and he tells me all about of the previous people who had the teapot from Gangues Khan to Hitler. 

Alice sleeps with the teapot because it is paying so well

 
   We’re working on the comic book and Dr. Ling thinks we were making a documentary, he doesn’t understand that we are making a movie. There was a lot lost in translation but we’re working on the script and he gives me permission to use his name. Then we finish the movie and now he’s really angry and he started protesting. He thought we were making a documentary and he thinks that what I’ve done is gone and taken the whole story and turned it into entertainment and his mission is to find the teapot. He doesn’t want it to be trivialized.”

   

The Teapot money makes John and Alice Rich!

  As a result of this type of hassle or negative reaction from making a film with a lot of real world, non-creative baggage attached to it, will Mosley be more selective with her future film projects? She laughs, “You know what? I don’t think I could do another movie unless it lived beyond just the screening. The thing that has been so exciting for me is that the movie lives on a TV screen, lives on the theater screen hopefully but it also lives in this other world which is the internet. The element of the mythology for me and learning about it then bringing it to life was as much fun as making the movie. So as I go forward in my next project, that’s where my head is at. It has to big idea because the idea of making a movie isn’t as exciting as building a world and going into that world and making it alive.”

L-R: Juno Temple, Ramaa Mosley, Michael Angarano at The Brass Teapot Hollywood Premiere

     Mosley is definitely a fresh new film director with a clear vision of her purpose and the direction for the path she has set to take. We will be hearing great things about her!

© 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

 

Lily Tomlin - Movie

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Lily Tomlin -Movie

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist 

Lily Tomlin

The Iconic Actress Is Still In The Driver’s Seat!

Photo Courtesy Focus Features Films

     Icon is a word that is sometimes loosely thrown around. However, in the case of veteran actress Lily Tomlin, the title is as deserving as it is apropos. Tomlin has not just been there, done that; but the awards she has garnered over the years attest to a true and marvelous set of talents. Her trophy mantel houses, a Grammy, six Emmys, a Tony and many more major awards in and out of the biz. In her latest film “Admission,” Tomlin plays the eccentric mom Susannah to Princeton University admissions officer Portia played by Tina Fey. Playing a mom is nothing new to Tomlin and she is pretty darn good at it. Susannah in this film is a little over the top in attitude and her values on life.

Lily Tomlin as Susannah

     In describing her character Susannah, Tomlin says, “Susannah was intellectual and wrote a book and being very brainy while thinking a lot of stuff through, she was wed to that mythology that she created for herself when she has sex with some guy on a train out of sheer attraction or lust, whatever. But she doesn’t want to admit that’s how she got pregnant. She wants to think that she commanded her own destiny and so she’s built this idea or as I said mythology around her and she has imposed it on her life and on her daughter’s life and I understood that.” 

Tomlin as Susannah working on her bike

     The question here is does Susannah not give a damn or is she just super radical? Tomlin laughs, “First of all she’s not 30 anymore she’s 70 and a lot of life has gone under the bridge. Plus she has a grown daughter that she really doesn’t have a relationship with. So we all make these choices in life and many of them we regret.”

Tina Fey as daughter Portia

     In real life Tomlin has no children so where does she draw her mother instinct from? Flashing that famous broad smile, Tomlin explains, “You just have to be a human being. I probably feel as much a mother to my cat as I do to Tina. I mean it’s just human relationships. We’re not all so different. You don’t have to know very much to understand it. You just have to be open to what you’re living and what part of life is.” 

Paul Rudd (John) & Tina Fey (Portia)

     What was Tomlin’s relationship like with her real life late mom? She reflects, “Somewhat more parental. I was that kind of open assertive kind of kid, free in the neighborhood, lived in an old apartment house. My mother and dad were blue collar. My daddy worked in a factory, my mom was a nurse’s aid they’re from Kentucky so every summer I’d go to rural Kentucky and then the rest of my life I’m living in inner city Detroit. It was an explosion of cultures in an old apartment house where all of these different people lived. I was just fortunate because you learn. I saw so many human beings and saw how they acted and they were pretty much all the same no matter if they were real political, radical, conservative, if they were White, Black or Jews; if they were anything, they were so much alike. They did despicable things, beautiful things, they were funny, tragic and I know that is what made me be so accepting of the species. I mean I’m not bragging or slapping myself on the back for it. As my Hungarian dress maker used to say, I lived it in the skin.”

 © 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

Gospel Goes To Hollywood Awards Luncheon - Charity

 

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Gospel Goes To Hollywood Awards Luncheon - Charity

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment columnist

 

Second Annual “Gospel Goes To Hollywood Luncheon

Honors Professionals In The Faith!

Photos Enf

Host Wendy Raquel Robinson

     The setting was the beautiful Taglyan Complex in Hollywood for the Second Annual Gospel Goes To Hollywood Benefit Awards Luncheon. The gala was hosted by actress Wendy Raquel Robinson and comedian D. Ellis Mr. Entertainment! The elegant affair was a celebration of the untold stories of faith in Hollywood honoring Hollywood couple Terry & Rebecca Crews, Marla Gibbs, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kym E. Whitley and Sony Exec Devon Franklin.

     The afternoon's entertainment was rendered by Erica Campbell of Mary Mary; Singer Ami Rush and J. Kingdom.

 The event was a benefit on behalf of battered women and their children via the HELPPPPing Hands Foundation and a donation was made to Haven Hills, Inc. This event was produced by Tomeka Holyfield of the Helpppp Agency based in Atlanta, GA, and Gary Taglyan of the Historical Taglyan Cultural Complex.

 © 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

 

Reason To Believe Gala - Charity

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Reason To Believe Gala - Charity

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment columnist

Reason To Believe Gala

Honors Stars and Benefits EPA.

Photo wdb

Louis Gossett, Jr.

     The recent Inaugural “Reason to Believe Gala” held at the beautiful Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles, honored Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr. (EPA Lifetime Achievement Award), 6-time NAACP Image Award Winner actress and singer Keke Palmer (EPA Rising Star Award), R&B singer-songwriter Johnny Gill (EPA Longevity Award) and California State Senator Curren Price, Jr. (EPA Reason to Believe Award).  The entertainment for the evening was provided by comedian Tommy Davidson, R&B “Superwoman” Karyn White, and honoree Johnny Gill, along with former NBA All-star Cedric “DJ Ced” Celballos spinning the sounds on the turntables.  

 
     The lavish affair was hosted by CNN Showbiz Tonight contributor Kita Williams. Comedian Tommy Davidson put on a side-splitting stand-up set while sex siren, platinum singer Karyn White delivered a sultry performance which included material from her latest album “Carpe Diem” (Seize The Day) and her mega-hit “Superwoman.” Then soul master Johnny Gill close out the entertainment with a set that fired up all the ladies in the room especially when he sung his signature platinum hit “My, My, MY.” Gill came off the stage onto the ballroom floor and the women made a circle around him as he laid it on them. It was indeed a magical moment.


   The Inaugural Reason to Believe Gala is a charity fundraiser to introduce the Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance (EPA), a non-profit public charter high school opening in South Central Los Angeles in Fall 2013. The raised funds will go to complete renovations needed to launch the school; and to highlight the mission of EPA which is to close the financial literacy gap within the minority community by providing a high-quality college-preparatory educational experience.  The goal is to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs by educating students on the importance of proper money management, wealth building and investment to ensure a successful life. For more information on the school or to make a donation please visit www.ExecutivePrep.org and keep in touch by following on Twitter @ExecPrep and Facebook.com/ExecutivePrep

© 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook