Category: TV & Movies

I wish I’d written this piece while James Shigeta was still alive; it’s best to appreciate people in the here and now. But a posthumous appreciation will have to suffice. Bottom line: Shigeta, who died yesterday at 81, was a marvelous performer, and his work as Nakatomi Corporation President Joseph Takagi in the original 1988 “Die Hard” is one of my favorite examples of how an imaginative actor can sketch out a life in just a few scenes and lines.

Shigeta was a versatile actor and musical performer. He was born in Honolulu and cut his performers’ teeth entertaining his fellow Marines in variety shows during the Korean War. He became a recording star in Japan after the war despite not speaking a word of Japanese, won first place back home in the United States on the 1950 competitive variety series “The Original Amateur Hour,” was marvelous in Samuel Fuller’s 1959 film “The Crimson Kimono,” shared the 1960 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer with George Hamilton, Troy Donahue and Barry Coe, and played Wang Ta in the 1961 film version of “Flower Drum Song.” His speaking voice was a deep tenor with a hint of a quaver, as …read more

“Life Itself,” the acclaimed documentary directed by Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters”), returns to The Virginia Theatre, 203 W. Park Ave., in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, from Monday, July 28th, through Friday, August 1st. The film opened Ebertfest (The Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival) at the venue this past April after premiering at Sundance (click here to read Nell Minow’s report on the film’s memorable Ebertfest screening). Apart from being nestled in the town of Ebert’s alma mater, the theatre has served as the location of the legendary critic’s annual film festival, welcoming filmmakers and cinephiles from around the world.

The Virginia Theater has undergone an extensive restoration by the Champaign Park District. Roger and Chaz Ebert through Ebertfest also played a role in championing the preservation of the historic venue, which hosts everything from live performances (comedian Mike Birbiglia will be there in September) to classic film screenings (Hitchcock masterworks such as “North by Northwest” and “Rear Window” will play there in October). In 2011, Ebert wrote, “The preservation of theaters like this is invaluable; such buildings will never again be constructed, and most of our filmmakers will never have seen …read more

“The Maze Runner”: Yes, the filmmakers know that they face a hurdle in producing yet another teen story set in a dystopic future. “That YA label on our back is a little bit of a target,” acknowledged director Wes Ball. But this is not “The Hunger Games” or “Divergent.” It’s “very original, unique, very cinematic,” Ball said, the story of a boy about to become a man, with a “mystery that drives the movie…more of a shipwreck story about kids who have to create their own world, their own society—plus balls-to-the-wall action, kind of “The Goonies” or “Jurassic Park.” Spectacle alone is not enough without characters you care about.” But this film is “not bogged down in romance and being a teenager.” Author James Dasher said he was grateful to have been “treated like an important part of this from the beginning…The only part of the movie I hated was when it ended.”

“The Book of Life”: Guillermo del Toro is producing a new animated film about an epic quest through mythical worlds. The storyline recalls Orpheus and Eurydice but the inspiration is the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday with an international flavor that is …read more

Editor’s Note: This is one person’s view with recommended films that
represent a range of perspectives as an invitation to constructive
dialogue, and we welcome respectful comments. Given the sensitivity of
the issues, we will remove any comments we find inappropriate. And we
invite other people who are familiar with the films that address these
issues to develop their own lists for us to publish.

Read the first three parts of Omer’s series here, here, and here.

In the Palestinian narrative, the central issue is their Expulsion and Occupation. Islam is part of it, as is Christianity. Religion is not, however, the dominant issue.

From the beginning of the 20th century through World War I, the British were at the height of their Colonization, dividing and conquering. Meanwhile, the once great Turkish Ottoman Empire, which ruled the Middle East for half a millennium, was in its final years.

The British were negotiating with the Arabs, promising them independence if they would revolt against their fellow Muslim Ottoman masters. This is the story of T. E. Lawrence.

“Lawrence of Arabia” (1962, David Lean)

David Lean’s monument is one of the greatest of all …read more