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Film Review: ‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’

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Octavia Spencer in the sci-fi thriller "The Divergent Series: Insurgent."

Octavia Spencer in the sci-fi thriller “The Divergent Series: Insurgent.”

 

By Dwight Brown
Syndication Film Critic

(NNPA) – Up until now, The Divergent Series couldn’t hold a candle to The Hunger Games franchise, though they are both cut from the same cloth: teen girl hero, sci fi adventure, mean overlords and hunky boyfriends. The Divergent Series: Insurgent doesn’t change that dynamic much, but during its final minutes, it ups the visuals to a level that almost compensates for a weak beginning.

The rehash: The world, 200 years from now has been neatly divided into five classifications or “factions.” The “Divergent” group doesn’t neatly fit into any of the other sectors. They are hunted like deer by the very jealous Erudite faction, which is run by the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet). The mean queen, who looks like she has swallowed a whole lemon, has confiscated a magic box with unknown powers. Evidently the only way to open it and reveal its treasures is to get a Divergent to go through a treacherous five-stage simulation, which often results in death at stage three.

Jeanine has sent her army out to capture the perfect victim. Meanwhile Tris (Shailene Woodley) and her man Four (Theo James), who are Divergents, are dodging the mean queen’s soldiers, led by Max (Mekhi Phifer). They try to talk other factions into joining them to overthrow Jeanine. Will they be successful?

The first half of this installment doesn’t bode well. The sets, feigning Chicago, look like Legos, the costumes look like hand-me-downs from a high school production of Les Miz and the cast seems bored.

Octavia Spencer plays Johanna, the leader of the peaceful faction Amity, where Tris, Four, her meek brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and their duplicitous friend Peter (Miles Teller, Whiplash) have taken refuge. Johanna, as interpreted by Spencer, stares vacantly like a Charles Manson follower. Woodley has two emotions, cry and fight. And watching her fight grown men takes a huge leap of faith, as her arms are the size of pencils. Elgort is so wimpy you want him to join the Marines. And Teller is way too obviously untrustworthy; you wonder why the other three would trust him with their rent money, much less their lives.

As the film progresses, the chase scenes, action sequences and weak subplots—turns out Four has a missing mom (Naomi Watts) that he can’t trust—unload like debris falling off a slow moving truck. Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback’s ho-hum screenplay feels like it is leading nowhere. Robert Schwentke’s direction makes the fight scenes look over-choreographed and under his guidance the actors are about as animated as robots. For this installment, the writers and director are new. Which begs the question: “Why did the producers pick them?” They are not up to the task.

Fortunately for all concerned, director of photography Florian Ballhaus (The Book Thief) and production designer Alec Hammond (RED) have a deep bag of tricks, which they unleash in the last third of the movie. The visions they conjure are amazing. The decor in the closed glass room where the magic box sits and Divergents are tortured is sleek and artsy. The simulation sequences are mesmerizing to watch: Buildings disintegrate. People too. Tris is haunted by her mom and will do anything to save her; that spirit drives her to be courageous in unique ways. She swings from a rope attached to a burning cinder block room that inflames her mother as it floats in the air above an eerie city skyline. Nice image.

Yes, there is the silly adventure stuff and chest-heaving emotional romantic scenes for the teen girl audience. That’s the first act. The second act is only slightly better as plans for a revolution are made. The visually pleasing third act saves this movie from oblivion, as it progresses to a surprisingly fulfilling ending.

The Divergent Series still lacks the va-va-voom of The Hunger Games. But eventually, it may find its own cannon.

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

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Arts and Culture

In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map

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Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.
Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.

That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.

And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.

Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.

In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.

According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.

As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?

She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.

“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”

In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.

The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.

Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”

If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.

With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.

For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.

Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.

This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.

“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam

c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

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Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.
Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.”

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com

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