While accepting the Oakland County GOP’s “Man of the Decade” award, Donald Trump spoke of a different honor: being indicted.
“Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists, and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of honor and badge of courage. I consider it both. Essentially, I’m being indicted for you,” Trump told the gathered crowd. The former president has been indicted twice since leaving office in 2021 — once related to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and once for alleged...
“Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists, and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of honor and badge of courage. I consider it both. Essentially, I’m being indicted for you,” Trump told the gathered crowd. The former president has been indicted twice since leaving office in 2021 — once related to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and once for alleged...
- 6/26/2023
- by Peter Wade
- Rollingstone.com
This post originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
- 1/19/2017
- by Mark Marino
- PEOPLE.com
Of all those who revolutionized TV in the last 20 years, David Simon was always the most political and least commercial. From The Wire to Generation Kill and Treme, he's consistently dived into the country's thorniest topics: the Drug War, inner city public schools, the invasion of Iraq, New Orleans post-Katrina. In his new HBO project, Show Me a Hero, he takes on his least likely subject for nightly entertainment yet: public housing. A true story set in Yonkers in the late Eighties/early Nineties, the six-episode miniseries stars Oscar Isaac...
- 8/11/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Speaking at a Maryland Film Fest panel, Taylor Branch, Ta-Nehisi Coates, David Simon, and James McBride — all of whom are working on adapting Branch's America in the King Years — revealed more details behind their HBO series, as well as how the show relates to the recent Baltimore protests and larger racial issues. The miniseries will focus on Branch's third volume, At Canaan's Edge, according to The New Yorker, and will cover the period from 1965 to 1968, which saw Martin Luther King Jr. angle the civil-rights movement toward economic equality. Simon said at the event that the show will "veer away from the idea of King," and "look around the edges for the most regular people." The writers added that they are particularly excited to bring the stories of C. C. Bryant, a barber in Mississippi; Fannie Lou Hamer; Amzie Moore; Kwame Touré (formerly Stokely Carmichael); King’s adviser...
- 5/12/2015
- by Sean Fitz-Gerald
- Vulture
A biopic of Martin Luther King Jr.has been trying to get off the ground for years by many different names; Paul Greengrass and Oliver Stone are just two that have been attempting to get King’s life story on the screen. Reports now indicate that the civil rights leader’s story is coming to the small screen via HBO and The Wire creator David Simon.
It will be a six-hour miniseries adaptation of Taylor Branch’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book trilogy America: In the King Years, Simon will spearhead the miniseries with his Treme co-creator Eric Overmyer. Oprah Winfrey is also attached to back and produce the series. It’s said that Simon will write at least the first episode, as well as the bible for the entire mini. America: In the King Years chronicles the life of the civil rights leader from his first sermon in 1954 to his assassination...
It will be a six-hour miniseries adaptation of Taylor Branch’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book trilogy America: In the King Years, Simon will spearhead the miniseries with his Treme co-creator Eric Overmyer. Oprah Winfrey is also attached to back and produce the series. It’s said that Simon will write at least the first episode, as well as the bible for the entire mini. America: In the King Years chronicles the life of the civil rights leader from his first sermon in 1954 to his assassination...
- 3/6/2014
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
TV news and notes:
- Sundance will premiere Season 2 of its critically acclaimed drama "Rectify" on June 19. The new season will have freed death-row inmate Daniel (Aden Young) becoming more engaged with the outside world and even allowing himself to think about the future. It will also delve more deeply into the lives of people affected by Daniel's return.
- Comedy Central has renewed "Kroll Show" for a third season. The sketch show starring and created by Nick Kroll has been averaging 1.1 million viewers in overnight ratings for Season 2; there's no word yet on when Season 3 will premiere.
- The cast of "Constantine" continues to grow. The new members of the NBC pilot include former "Lost" star Harold Perrineau, "True Blood" alum Lucy Griffiths and "True Detective's" Charles Halford. Griffiths will play Liv, the daughter of one of Constantine's deceased friends who becomes targeted by demons. Constantine saves...
- Sundance will premiere Season 2 of its critically acclaimed drama "Rectify" on June 19. The new season will have freed death-row inmate Daniel (Aden Young) becoming more engaged with the outside world and even allowing himself to think about the future. It will also delve more deeply into the lives of people affected by Daniel's return.
- Comedy Central has renewed "Kroll Show" for a third season. The sketch show starring and created by Nick Kroll has been averaging 1.1 million viewers in overnight ratings for Season 2; there's no word yet on when Season 3 will premiere.
- The cast of "Constantine" continues to grow. The new members of the NBC pilot include former "Lost" star Harold Perrineau, "True Blood" alum Lucy Griffiths and "True Detective's" Charles Halford. Griffiths will play Liv, the daughter of one of Constantine's deceased friends who becomes targeted by demons. Constantine saves...
- 3/6/2014
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
"The Wire" and "Treme" creator David Simon is said to be spearheading an HBO six-hour miniseries adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Taylor Branch's book trilogy "America: In The King Years".
Originally setup at HBO in 2010 with playwright Robert Schenkkan attached, Deadline reports that Simon is taking on the project which would cover many of the key moments of Martin Luther King's life - his relationships with Lyndon Johnson and the Kennedys, the freedom rides, the Birmingham and Selma campaigns, and the march on Washington he was organizing when he was killed.
Simon will write at least the first episode, as well as the 'bible' for the entire mini-series. Both he and his "Treme" co-creator Eric Overmyer will see the entire mini-series through completion.
Oprah Winfrey will produce the project which will cover all three books - "Parting The Waters," "Pillar Of Fire" and "At Canaan's Edge".
Originally setup at HBO in 2010 with playwright Robert Schenkkan attached, Deadline reports that Simon is taking on the project which would cover many of the key moments of Martin Luther King's life - his relationships with Lyndon Johnson and the Kennedys, the freedom rides, the Birmingham and Selma campaigns, and the march on Washington he was organizing when he was killed.
Simon will write at least the first episode, as well as the 'bible' for the entire mini-series. Both he and his "Treme" co-creator Eric Overmyer will see the entire mini-series through completion.
Oprah Winfrey will produce the project which will cover all three books - "Parting The Waters," "Pillar Of Fire" and "At Canaan's Edge".
- 3/6/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
That sound you just heard was a million The Wire obsessives, all emerging from their subterranean lairs at the same time (as most Wire fans burrow underground, subsisting on nothing but Wire marathons, YouTube clips and constant assurances that “you come at the king, you best not miss”). This natural phenomenon happens very rarely, but when it occurs, it can mean only one thing: David Simon has announced some new TV project. And, indeed, he has. As Deadline reports, the head writer/creator/showrunner of The Wire (and Supreme God-King amongst those strange, mole-like TV bingewatchers) is now working on a Martin Luther King Jr. miniseries for HBO. The series is based off of Taylor Branch‘s “America in the King Years,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the civil rights movement. Simon will be writing at least the first episode and the series bible (essentially, an encyclopedia of all necessary characters, settings...
- 3/6/2014
- by Adam Bellotto
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
“The Wire” mastermind David Simon will lead HBO's Oprah Winfrey-produced miniseries about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a person familiar with the project told TheWrap. Simon is expected to write (at least) the first hour of the six-part miniseries, which is based on the book “America: In the King Years,” written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch. Simon will guide the project along with his “Treme” co-creator, Eric Overmyer. Also read: The Amazing Story of How Mlk Ad-Libbed the ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ Winfrey brought the project to HBO. The series will feature the freedom rides, King's relationships with presidents Kennedy.
- 3/5/2014
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Back in 2010, HBO started developing a Martin Luther King Jr. biographical miniseries based on the three-volume America in the King Years by Taylor Branch. Guess what? We are still waiting for that miniseries. Now Deadline reports that David Simon (The Wire, Treme) is taking the reins, and will write "at least the first episode as well as the bible" for the rest of the episodes; Oprah remains attached as a producer. Branch's books — the Pulitzer Prize-winning Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge — cover King's life and work between 1954 and his assassination in 1968. Game on, David Simon!
- 3/5/2014
- by Margaret Lyons
- Vulture
David Simon, creator of The Wire, has found his next project: a Martin Luther King Jr miniseries. Simon is attached to an upcoming HBO miniseries based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning history books America: In The King Years, by Taylor Branch. Oprah Winfrey‘s Harpo Productions owns the rights and will produce. Simon will reportedly write the first episode and oversee […]
The post ‘Wire’ Creator David Simon To Do Martin Luther King Jr Miniseries For HBO appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Wire’ Creator David Simon To Do Martin Luther King Jr Miniseries For HBO appeared first on /Film.
- 3/5/2014
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
How many Martin Luther King projects does Hollywood need all at once? And Oprah Winfrey, she's got two on the move at the same time. Last week it was revealed that she is throwing her producer weight behind Ava DuVernay's "Selma" over at Paramount, and now at HBO, she's got another biopic brewing on the civil rights leader. Winfrey has good taste, rounding up "The Wire" and "Treme" scribe David Simon to write the first installment of a six-hour series about Martin Luther King, with Simon to pen the book for the show as well too (with "Treme" co-creator Eric Overmyer pitching in). And before you wonder about conflict of interest, let us just remind you that "Selma" is focused on the Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, while the mini is going to tackle King's entire life. The HBO effort will be using Taylor Branch's acclaimed book trilogy...
- 3/5/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Exclusive: For years, I’ve been writing about all the futility involved in attempts to bring the life of iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr to the screen. So here’s a big one. I’m hearing that David Simon, the architect of the HBO series The Wire, Homicide and most recently Treme, will spearhead the HBO six-hour miniseries adaptation of America: In The King Years, based on the celebrated book trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winner Taylor Branch. Just as will happen with the Ava DuVernay-directed Selma, Oprah Winfrey will be backing this project as well in a producing capacity. Winfrey’s Harpo banner originally set up the three books at HBO in 2010 with the plan that it would be overseen by The Kentucky Cycle playwright Robert Schenkkan. While I’ve been trying to confirm the Simon part to no avail at HBO for weeks, I’m told...
- 3/5/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: For years, I’ve been writing about all the futility involved in attempts to bring the life of iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr to the screen. So here’s a big one. I’m hearing that David Simon, the architect of the HBO series The Wire, Homicide and most recently Treme, will spearhead the HBO six-hour miniseries adaptation of America: In The King Years, based on the celebrated book trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winner Taylor Branch. Just as will happen with the Ava DuVernay-directed Selma, Oprah Winfrey will be backing this project as well in a producing capacity. Winfrey’s Harpo banner originally set up the three books at HBO in 2010 with the plan that it would be overseen by The Kentucky Cycle playwright Robert Schenkkan. While I’ve been trying to confirm the Simon part to no avail at HBO for weeks, I’m told...
- 3/5/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
The Weinstein Company has confirmed its acquisition of North American rights from StudioCanal to Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth, previously reported on Screendaily.
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard will star in the age-old drama about political ambition.
See-Saw Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producing and StudioCanal is the financier and handles international sales.
Film4 developed and is partnering on the project. Jacob Koskoff and Todd Louiso adapted the screenplay from Shakespeare’s original.
Strand Releasing has acquired select rights to Andrew Muscato’s Schooled: The Price Of College Sports, described as “a comprehensive look at the business, history and culture of big-time college football and basketball in America.”
The film is an adaptation of The Cartel by Pulitzer Prize Winning Civil Rights scholar Taylor Branch and his October 2011 article in The Atlantic, The Shame Of College Sports.Muscato closed the deal with Strand’s Jon Gerrans.
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard will star in the age-old drama about political ambition.
See-Saw Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producing and StudioCanal is the financier and handles international sales.
Film4 developed and is partnering on the project. Jacob Koskoff and Todd Louiso adapted the screenplay from Shakespeare’s original.
Strand Releasing has acquired select rights to Andrew Muscato’s Schooled: The Price Of College Sports, described as “a comprehensive look at the business, history and culture of big-time college football and basketball in America.”
The film is an adaptation of The Cartel by Pulitzer Prize Winning Civil Rights scholar Taylor Branch and his October 2011 article in The Atlantic, The Shame Of College Sports.Muscato closed the deal with Strand’s Jon Gerrans.
- 10/23/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Universal Pictures will make Memphis, the drama about the assassination of Martin Luther King written and directed by Paul Greengrass. The picture is being produced by Scott Rudin, the Oscar-nominated producer of Best Picture candidates The Social Network and True Grit. Production on the film is slated to begin in June. It reunites the studio with Greengrass, who last made The Green Zone for Uni and who withdrew from making a fourth installment of The Bourne Identity. Even though that last picture came in at a high budget and didn't succeed at the box office, Greengrass turned in two hit Bourne sequels and the Oscar-nominated United 93. Memphis steps in front of several pictures that were being mobilized about Dr. King. There is a Ronald Harwood-scripted DreamWorks project that has the backing of King's heirs, and Selma, an indie that Lee Daniels was working on with funding from...
- 2/23/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Winfrey would play madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo.
By Jocelyn Vena
Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Soul Brother/ FilmMagic
According to a new report, talk-show maven and pop culture tour de force Oprah Winfrey is considering a dramatic acting role. Deadline Hollywood reports that Winfrey is in talks to star in an HBO Films adaptation of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Ruined."
Winfrey and Kate Forte will act as executive producers for the film, with the playwright adapting the script. The story follows Mama Nadi, a madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo. Nadi tries to keep herself and her women from getting into trouble with the government and rebel armies.
Winfrey recently made a cameo on "30 Rock." She has taken on dramatic roles in the past, including 1998's "Beloved," directed by Jonathan Demme, and Steven Spielberg's 1985 drama "The Color Purple." Winfrey is also attached to show her more...
By Jocelyn Vena
Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Soul Brother/ FilmMagic
According to a new report, talk-show maven and pop culture tour de force Oprah Winfrey is considering a dramatic acting role. Deadline Hollywood reports that Winfrey is in talks to star in an HBO Films adaptation of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Ruined."
Winfrey and Kate Forte will act as executive producers for the film, with the playwright adapting the script. The story follows Mama Nadi, a madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo. Nadi tries to keep herself and her women from getting into trouble with the government and rebel armies.
Winfrey recently made a cameo on "30 Rock." She has taken on dramatic roles in the past, including 1998's "Beloved," directed by Jonathan Demme, and Steven Spielberg's 1985 drama "The Color Purple." Winfrey is also attached to show her more...
- 12/8/2010
- MTV Movie News
Winfrey would play madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo.
By Jocelyn Vena
Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Soul Brother/ FilmMagic
According to a new report, talk-show maven and pop culture tour de force Oprah Winfrey is considering a dramatic acting role. Deadline Hollywood reports that Winfrey is in talks to star in an HBO Films adaptation of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Ruined."
Winfrey and Kate Forte will act as executive producers for the film, with the playwright adapting the script. The story follows Mama Nadi, a madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo. Nadi tries to keep herself and her women from getting into trouble with the government and rebel armies.
Winfrey recently made a cameo on "30 Rock." She has taken on dramatic roles in the past, including 1998's "Beloved," directed by Jonathan Demme, and Steven Spielberg's 1985 drama "The Color Purple." Winfrey is also attached to show her more...
By Jocelyn Vena
Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Soul Brother/ FilmMagic
According to a new report, talk-show maven and pop culture tour de force Oprah Winfrey is considering a dramatic acting role. Deadline Hollywood reports that Winfrey is in talks to star in an HBO Films adaptation of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Ruined."
Winfrey and Kate Forte will act as executive producers for the film, with the playwright adapting the script. The story follows Mama Nadi, a madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo. Nadi tries to keep herself and her women from getting into trouble with the government and rebel armies.
Winfrey recently made a cameo on "30 Rock." She has taken on dramatic roles in the past, including 1998's "Beloved," directed by Jonathan Demme, and Steven Spielberg's 1985 drama "The Color Purple." Winfrey is also attached to show her more...
- 12/8/2010
- MTV Music News
Exclusive: Oprah Winfrey is in talks to star for HBO Films in Ruined, an adaptation of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Ruined, which won an array of awards during its 2009 off-Broadway run, focuses on a brothel in war-torn Congo and the struggles of its madam, Mama Nadi, to keep herself and the women working for her from getting caught between the government and rebel armies. Nottage is writing the script and Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte will be executive producers. Ruined has been a top priority project for Harpo since Winfrey and Forte moved the company over from ABC to HBO. They have set up several projects so far, including a 7-hour miniseries adaptation of America: In the King Years, based on the Taylor Branch book trilogy. Winfrey, who last played an onscreen starring role in the 1998 Jonathan Demme-directed Beloved, attached herself earlier this fall to an untitled feature...
- 12/7/2010
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films will produce a film for HBO – an adaptation of the bestselling non-fiction novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, which tells the story of Lacks, a poor African America Baltimore mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 31, and whose cancerous cells from her body, removed and cultured for medical research by doctors at Johns Hopkins (without her family’s knowledge), led to “significant breakthroughs in medical research, ranging from aiding the development of the cure for polio to AIDS-related treatments.”
Oprah reportedly loved the book so much that she “couldn’t put it down,” and read all 384 pages in one sitting. The adaptation is said to be high on HBO’s priority list, thanks to her encouragement.
This is the second announcement in recent days of an Oprah/HBO-teaming to produce and distribute a non-fiction book adaptation; last week,...
Oprah reportedly loved the book so much that she “couldn’t put it down,” and read all 384 pages in one sitting. The adaptation is said to be high on HBO’s priority list, thanks to her encouragement.
This is the second announcement in recent days of an Oprah/HBO-teaming to produce and distribute a non-fiction book adaptation; last week,...
- 5/12/2010
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Deadline reports that Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films is teaming with HBO for a 7-hour miniseries about Martin Luther King. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, who wrote four episodes of HBO’s The Pacific,...
- 5/5/2010
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films is reportedly teaming up with HBO to produce America: In the King Years, described as “a 7-hour miniseries” about Martin Luther King Jr that’s based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy of books by Taylor Branch – Parting The Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan’s Edge.
This announcement makes it 3 Mlk projects that are currently in the works.
There’s Lee Daniels’ Selma, which we’ve given plenty of coverage on this blog, with David Oyelowo, Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Lenny Kravitz and Cedric The Entertainer attached to star.
And the other Mlk project is the DreamWorks/Steven Spielberg biopic, being the only one that has received official recognition and assistance from the King estate, run by his children, who’ve been fighting for control of it.
Oprah’s people are apparently saying that this will be “the seminal Civil Rights era film.”
Casting...
This announcement makes it 3 Mlk projects that are currently in the works.
There’s Lee Daniels’ Selma, which we’ve given plenty of coverage on this blog, with David Oyelowo, Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Lenny Kravitz and Cedric The Entertainer attached to star.
And the other Mlk project is the DreamWorks/Steven Spielberg biopic, being the only one that has received official recognition and assistance from the King estate, run by his children, who’ve been fighting for control of it.
Oprah’s people are apparently saying that this will be “the seminal Civil Rights era film.”
Casting...
- 5/5/2010
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Exclusive: In their first substantial project since moving from ABC to HBO, Harpo Films' Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte are teaming with HBO to mount America: In the King Years, a 7-hour miniseries about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr based on Taylor Branch's celebrated book trilogy. Robert Schenkkan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of The Kentucky Cycle who most recently wrote four episodes of HBO’s 10-part mini The Pacific, will write seven hour-long episodes. HBO acquired rights to Branch's Pulitzer Prize-winning Parting The Waters, as well as Pillar of Fire and At Canaan’s Edge. The HBO-Harpo mini means that, 42 years after his [...]...
- 5/4/2010
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline Hollywood
At the beginning of his first term, President Bill Clinton invited his friend, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, to embark on an ambitious project that would continue for Cinton’s eight years in office. Branch was granted singular access to record and chronicle the president’s unfiltered, first-hand accounts of his presidential experience. The resulting 79 dialogues have now been compiled in Branch’s new book, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (Simon & Schuster), to be published this month. In this exclusive, pre-publication audio excerpt, Branch recalls the morning of January 21, 1998—the day the Monica Lewinsky affair broke in The Washington Post—from Hillary’s stoicism to its lasting effects on Clinton’s legacy. Listen to the podcast after the jump.
- 9/24/2009
- Vanity Fair
Spike Lee's first feature-length documentary is an uncharacteristically restrained effort by this major filmmaker, lacking the intense style and outlandishness of much of his earlier work. But it tells a powerful story simply and movingly and thus serves as an important cinematic document of one of the most heinous crimes of the civil rights era: the 1963 Birmingham, Ala., church bombing that resulted in the deaths of four young children. To be shown on HBO early next year, "4 Little Girls" is receiving its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum.
Lee uses a fairly conventional combination of talking heads and archival footage to tell the story and eschews the flashy camerawork and editing that mark his fiction films. He quite rightly concentrates on the victims and does a powerful and effective job of making us feel the loss of these four innocent lives. There is a great deal of testimony from the little girls' families and childhood friends, as well as many photographs that vividly remind us of exactly who they were. The director also doesn't hesitate to shock us by using autopsy photos of the girls' bodies, which many viewers will find difficult to take.
Alongside the archival footage that graphically illustrates the violent clashes of the period, there are informative interviews with public figures of the time, including civil rights leaders (Andrew Young, the Rev. Jesse Jackson), politicians (former Birmingham Mayor David Vann, former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley) and journalists (Howell Raines of the New York Times, Taylor Branch). In a clear bid to up the celebrity quotient, Lee also includes less-than-compelling testimony from the likes of Walter Cronkite and Bill Cosby.
The most compelling interview, however, is with George Wallace; the obviously mentally and physically debilitated former governor of Alabama, barely coherent and not easily understood (subtitles are used), attempts to demonstrate his lack of prejudice by making constant, patronizing references to his black personal aide, repeatedly referred to as his "best friend."
As usual, the director has provided the film with highly evocative musical accompaniment, beginning with Joan Baez's rendition of the elegiac "Birmingham Sunday" and including both period songs and a haunting original jazz score by Terence Blanchard.
4 LITTLE GIRLS
HBO
and 40 Acres and a Mule
Director-producer Spike Lee
Producer-editor Sam Pollard
Director of photography Ellen Kuras
Music composer Terence Blanchard
Associate producer Michele Forman
Color/stereo
Running time -- 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Lee uses a fairly conventional combination of talking heads and archival footage to tell the story and eschews the flashy camerawork and editing that mark his fiction films. He quite rightly concentrates on the victims and does a powerful and effective job of making us feel the loss of these four innocent lives. There is a great deal of testimony from the little girls' families and childhood friends, as well as many photographs that vividly remind us of exactly who they were. The director also doesn't hesitate to shock us by using autopsy photos of the girls' bodies, which many viewers will find difficult to take.
Alongside the archival footage that graphically illustrates the violent clashes of the period, there are informative interviews with public figures of the time, including civil rights leaders (Andrew Young, the Rev. Jesse Jackson), politicians (former Birmingham Mayor David Vann, former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley) and journalists (Howell Raines of the New York Times, Taylor Branch). In a clear bid to up the celebrity quotient, Lee also includes less-than-compelling testimony from the likes of Walter Cronkite and Bill Cosby.
The most compelling interview, however, is with George Wallace; the obviously mentally and physically debilitated former governor of Alabama, barely coherent and not easily understood (subtitles are used), attempts to demonstrate his lack of prejudice by making constant, patronizing references to his black personal aide, repeatedly referred to as his "best friend."
As usual, the director has provided the film with highly evocative musical accompaniment, beginning with Joan Baez's rendition of the elegiac "Birmingham Sunday" and including both period songs and a haunting original jazz score by Terence Blanchard.
4 LITTLE GIRLS
HBO
and 40 Acres and a Mule
Director-producer Spike Lee
Producer-editor Sam Pollard
Director of photography Ellen Kuras
Music composer Terence Blanchard
Associate producer Michele Forman
Color/stereo
Running time -- 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/11/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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