Rych McCain Hollyhood Notes : 2014-02-23

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Mike Epps - Film

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Mike Epps - Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Rych McCain, www.twtter.com/rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)

Mike Epps

Dazzles In Repentance!

Photo by Lionsgate/Codeblack Films

Mike Epps as Ben Carter

He has been a funny man comic for a minute and you might expect to hear humorous lines from him on the big and little screens when he is acting but for his last several movies, Mike Epps has been showing us that his range is way grater than just comedy. In the re-make of the movie “Sparkle,” Epps shocked everybody with his portrayal of “Satin” who was the ruthless, thug, pimp comic and abusive boyfriend to “Sister” whom many saw as a sell-out to Blacks with his anti black jokes he told to his white audiences. As if that wasn’t off kilter enough, Epps’ character Willie Earl ended up being the voice of reason in “Jumping The Broom.” Now in his latest offering as Ben Carter in “Repentance,” Epps surprises us again with a solid performance as an ex-con, jilted brother who has always played second fiddle to his educated, successful book writer, therapist/spiritual advisor brother Tommy Carter who even took his girlfriend and married her.

Because this role and the movie were pretty serious and scary, how long did that role hang with Epps mentally? He laughs, “I have to go get a hair cut, take a couple of baths; you know the thing about doing these types of roles is that because I’m comedian, it’s a real challenge for me. When I stepped on the set and I saw Forest Whitaker I was like damn, I’m really in it. I’m real shocked they used me in it too.” When asked why? Epps says, “In Hollywood people have to believe in you to take a chance on you. They had to see something in me to say, you know what, he can do that. And not very many people are able to have an eye for it. I’ve done a couple of movies and stuff like that but I really, really feel like I have some layers to myself so it takes a very special person to be able to see something in a person.”

As far as praises for this cast, Epps couldn’t express himself enough saying, “It’s amazing. I’m really thankful that I got such an opportunity to work with such great actors in Forest Whitaker, Anthony Mackie and Sanaa Lathan. I’m just really thrilled that I’m getting these opportunities because I do comedy all the time. I’ve done a lot of comedy movies with Ice Cube and stuff but to be able to break out of a mode and get a chance to challenge yourself and be versatile: it means a lot. It’s kind of like money vs. respect. I’ve been making a lot of money but I’ve been getting opportunities to do some stuff that could possibly keep me around for a long time.”

This movie has the type of psycho violence that we don’t usually see from Black people. What is Epps’ take on that? He laughs again, “The thing about this movie is that it was a European movie “The Guru & The Gypsy” written by Philippe Caland which was shot previous to us doing it. I think when you get great actors together like Forest, Anthony and Sanaa, the color just disappears. You don’t look at it as an African-American film anymore, you look at it as a great film. I think the violence of it is what the film is and it keeps everybody on their toes walking around on egg shells.

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Garcelle Beauvais - Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)

Garcelle Beauvais

Rides Love Merry-Go-Round!

Garcelle Beauvais

The subject of the hurt and pain that love can produce is grist for the mill in many romance books, TV shows and movies. Ghanaian film maker Leila Djansi who brought us “Ties That Bind,” starring Kimberly Elise has a new movie “And Then There Was You” coming out this week on RLJ and One Village DVD starring Haitian born beauty Garcelle Beauvais who is no stranger to TV and Movie fans who know her work as Fancy Monroe on WB Network’s “The Jamie Foxx Show;” Assistant DA Valerie Heywood on ABC-TV’s “NYPD,” the movie “White House Down” and many others to numerous to name. Beauvais plays Natalie Gilbert who becomes jilted by her husband who secretly has another family that she eventually finds out about. She then jumps into another situation which is just as bad. Will her luck on love ever turn for the better? The story has some interesting twists and turns and you’ll need to see it to find out how it all turns out.

Beauvais character Natalie went through a lot of heavy emotions in this film. How did Beauvais envision an interpretation to do this role? She smiles, “She did go through a lot and it was a lot of work. When I read the script, what I loved about it was that I thought everybody could relate to it. The fact that this woman is putting her life back together; opening her heart, but what I really loved at the end is that not only did she forgive but she took responsibility of her part in the relationship. Which I think so many times you want to blame but we don’t see that we had a part in it. So that’s what I loved about it.” Beauvais does a lot of crying in this film and the tears were real. How much of a physical toll did that take? She breaks out laughing, “It was exhausting at the end of the day but as an actor, that’s what you have to do. You have to use something that you have, something that you can think of. You just have to conjure that emotion and bring it to life.”

Leon (hubby who walks out)

This role allowed Beauvais the opportunity to work with several children and she bonded with them well. A gleam sparks in her eyes and she says, “I have three kids of my own so I love kids. So that was great, I had no problem with that. That was easy.” This film was an Indy so what was the shooting process like? Beauvais laments, “We shot for 17 days and the hours were grueling but we got it. It was a labor of love.”

L-R: Beauvais, Greg Vaughan, Leila Djans Film's Director

In adding to what Beauvais said, the film’s director, writer and co-producer Leila Djansi explains how she came up with the concept for this movie. Djansi says of the script, “It was not personal. My mom is a doctor so growing up in West Africa (Ghana); I’ve always been like a third eye when she’s with her patients because sometimes I would help her out. And a lot of the patients are women and interestingly, most of the problems that they come with are child or marriage driven. And so I’ve always wanted to tell different kinds of stories about women. So I told this story about a woman who could not have a child and what that means to a woman. Because for a woman, most of the time your validation is in being married and having a child. Hopefully in 2014 it’s no longer like that but that is what it used to be. So what does it mean for a woman who can not validate herself?” She also says the desires and wants of women in the U.S. are basically similar to the women in Africa because a woman is a woman first regardless of what part of the world she lives.

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Kathy DiFiore - Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Kathy DiFiore

Life Of Dedication Helping Young Girls

Photo Courtesy of Roadside Attractions & Day 28 Films

Kathy DiFiore and her shelter babies

“Gimme Shelter” is a newly released movie based on the real life circumstances of pregnant teenage girls who have run away from abusive home situations. Whereas the films stars major Hollywood starts i.e., Vanessa Hudgens, James Earl Jones, Rosario Dawson, Stephanie Szostak, Emily Meade, Ann Dowd and Brendan Fraser while being written and directed by Ronald Krauss; the subject matter is all too real and based on true life facts. This columnist had to run a feature on the main inspiration for the movie Ms. Kathy DiFiore because the situation on the streets is past critically urgent and attention must be drawn to it now.

Krauss met DiFiore at the UN where she was being honored for her work with her girl’s teen shelters. He arranged a visit to one of her shelters. What he saw awed him so greatly that he was moved and inspired to make the movie. DiFiore herself has a background story to tell worthy of its own film. As a wife and mother, she broke free of an abusive marriage and found herself homeless and on the street. Fortunately she had her college degrees and state certifications to fall back on and she got back on foot. DiFiore’s assertive return back into the mainstream fueled a strong desire to help others turn their lives around.

Ron Krauss writer/director

When DiFiore made her home a shelter for pregnant women, the State of New Jersey raided it and levied huge fines for running an illegal boarding house. A devout Catholic, she decided to reach out to none other than Mother Teresa. Together they fought the state and managed to change to law. DiFiore currently runs five shelters in new Jersey that give people a chance to get back on their feet by providing them with education and helping them get jobs. Her shelters are run on 100% donations without any public funding and it has been like that for 35 years.

When asked how could a runaway teen hook up with one of her shelters, DiFiore says “There are about 550 shelters in the United States for pregnant women. They are on my website www.lifecall.org . The shelters are listed by state with all of the information i.e., their website, address and phone. We also have listed 2200 crisis pregnancy centers by state.” She than asks is that enough? Then she answers her own question – No, it’s not enough, we need more and adds, “So on that website, you’ll see a how to open a shelter kit. Over the years I’ve helped people open about 10 or 12 shelters. I wish it were more. But I have had people as far away as India and China write to me for that kit which I though very intriguing.”

L-R: Kathy DiFiore, James E. Jones, Vanessa Hudgens and Ron Krauss

For those reading this article who want to financially undergird DiFiore’s shelters you can go to the above mentioned www.lifecall.org website or she has another website www.severalsources.net . DiFiore says, “It talks about the organization more and what makes us tick including our work overseas. It will also talk about my new book which will be coming out in about a month or so which talks about the making of the movie at the shelter, nine “Apples” referring to the nine women at the shelter titled ‘Gimme Love, Gimme Hope, Gimme Shelter.’ The reason I did that was to inspire people to open shelters. This will be a great resource for someone who’s never worked to help pregnant women.” DiFiore attributes her dedication to this line of work from the joy she receives and the blessings of God. For anyone reading this interview who knows of a young lady who is pregnant (or not) and in dire need to get off of the streets, contact DiFiore through her website.

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