The absence of the two featured female writers could not dampen the spirit of the mutli-ttle book launch hosted by Trailblazer Ink atthe Terra Nova on tuesday (March 24).
The two gentlemen, Dudley Earlington (author of The Fallacy of the Democratic System of the United States) and poet Victor Robertson, whose collection, This Bridge, was being launched, ably received a small but eager crowd of literati, alongside publisher-entrepreneur Joanne Simpson. Zoe Asher (I Woman: The Sacred Trust) and Melda Evans (Sweet & Sour Love) round out the four authors presented.
Simpson pointed out that while the publishing business in Jmaaica was not for the faint-hearted, books were still relevant to the Jamaican situation, and there was some evcidence that Jamaicans at home and in the Disapora would gladly accept books that spoke to our own indigenous experiences and values.
This was echoed by guest speaker (and Director of Culture in the Ministry of Information Youth,Culture and Sports)Sydney Barltey, deputizing for Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange. I na typically wide ranging address, he said that if more Jamaicans hada sense of our own heroes, the way that persons in Western civilization do, then this would be a very different (the clear implication is "improved") society.
He pledged the Ministry's support for Simpson's proposed jamaica Writers' Club, a writng-publishing co-operative, for which funding is presently being sought, and also urged the audience to support Jamaican and regional writers as frequently as they could.
A robust discussion session ensued, halted temporarily as emcee Rosemarie Chung brought the proceedings back to formal order, and resumed - in pockets - as soon as the formalities had ended.
end
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
4 New J'can books
Joanne simpson's Trailblazer Ink will launch 4 new titles by J'can writers Tues March 24 at the Venetian @ Terra Nova, starting 7:00 pm
The four cover a wide stylistic range, from Sweet & Sour Love, Melda Graham’s short story collection depicting the vagaries of life in rural St Elizabeth, to Dudley Earlington’s unsparing examination of America’s role as the world’s lone superpower, entitled – controversially enough – The Fallacy of the Democratic System of the United States. The other two titles are motivational expert Derrick Evans’ recollections, The Warm-Up, and Zoe Asher’s “neo-feminist” tract, I, Woman: The Sacred Trust.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A Tempest, Yes & Pupalick lead Actor Boy noms
The drama, A Tempest, the Father Ho Lung production, Yes, and Aston Cooke's comedy revue Jamaica 2 Rhatid: Pupalick, lead the nominations for the 2008 International Theatr Institute (ITI) Jamaica Centre's Actor Boy Awards.
In the nominations, announced on Tuesday evening at the headquarters of Jmaaica Trade & Invest(JTI), A Tempest and Pupalick each scored 11 nods(including double nominations in several categories), while Yes earned 9 nominations. All three are also up for Best Production, a field which also includes Basil Dawkins' Which Way IS Out? and the University Players' Art.
The Best New Jamaican Play award will be contested by Pupa Lick, Yes, Secrets (by Karl Hart) and Which Way Is Out. Hilary Nicholson, Dorothy Cunningham, Sakina Dear and nadean Rawlins (with 2 nominations) are up for Best Lead Actress, while the Leaqd Actor honour will be between Rooney Chambers, Jena paul Menou, Christopher McFarlane, Paul Skeen and Orville Hall.
The awards will be presented on March 31 at the Courtleigh Auditorium (former Island life Cinema). Keri Ki- Ki' Lewis - who emceed the nomination announcement and Chris' Johnny' Daley will preside.
next post: Guest speaker Peter Couch bats for dedicated entertainment venues.
Some 22 productions qaulified for review with a new judging system requring that each play be be marked in a number of categories with the top five scorers going on to get the nomination.
In the nominations, announced on Tuesday evening at the headquarters of Jmaaica Trade & Invest(JTI), A Tempest and Pupalick each scored 11 nods(including double nominations in several categories), while Yes earned 9 nominations. All three are also up for Best Production, a field which also includes Basil Dawkins' Which Way IS Out? and the University Players' Art.
The Best New Jamaican Play award will be contested by Pupa Lick, Yes, Secrets (by Karl Hart) and Which Way Is Out. Hilary Nicholson, Dorothy Cunningham, Sakina Dear and nadean Rawlins (with 2 nominations) are up for Best Lead Actress, while the Leaqd Actor honour will be between Rooney Chambers, Jena paul Menou, Christopher McFarlane, Paul Skeen and Orville Hall.
The awards will be presented on March 31 at the Courtleigh Auditorium (former Island life Cinema). Keri Ki- Ki' Lewis - who emceed the nomination announcement and Chris' Johnny' Daley will preside.
next post: Guest speaker Peter Couch bats for dedicated entertainment venues.
Some 22 productions qaulified for review with a new judging system requring that each play be be marked in a number of categories with the top five scorers going on to get the nomination.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Salman Hates 'Slumdog'
I'm being very selective here (dangerously so, perhaps) but I couldn't resist taking out this piece from an essay by author Salman Rushdie ( he of The Satanic Verses) in the UK Guardian. The piece is about film adaptations of novels, and Mr Rushdie is none too pleased about Oscar-winning 'Slumdog' nor the novel from which its taken (originally published as Q & A)
What can one say about Slumdog Millionaire, adapted from the novel Q&A by the Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup and directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan, which won eight Oscars, including best picture? A feelgood movie about the dreadful Bombay slums, an opulently photographed movie about extreme poverty, a romantic, Bollywoodised look at the harsh, unromantic underbelly of India - well - it feels good, right? And, just to clinch it, there's a nifty Bollywood dance sequence at the end. (Actually, it's an amazingly second-rate dance sequence even by Bollywood's standards, but never mind.) It's probably pointless to go up against such a popular film, but let me try.
The problems begin with the work being adapted. Swarup's novel is a corny potboiler, with a plot that defies belief: a boy from the slums somehow manages to get on to the hit Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and answers all his questions correctly because the random accidents of his life have, in a series of outrageous coincidences, given him the information he needs, and are conveniently asked in the order that allows his flashbacks to occur in chronological sequence. This is a patently ridiculous conceit, the kind of fantasy writing that gives fantasy writing a bad name. It is a plot device faithfully preserved by the film-makers, and lies at the heart of the weirdly renamed Slumdog Millionaire. As a result the film, too, beggars belief
What can one say about Slumdog Millionaire, adapted from the novel Q&A by the Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup and directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan, which won eight Oscars, including best picture? A feelgood movie about the dreadful Bombay slums, an opulently photographed movie about extreme poverty, a romantic, Bollywoodised look at the harsh, unromantic underbelly of India - well - it feels good, right? And, just to clinch it, there's a nifty Bollywood dance sequence at the end. (Actually, it's an amazingly second-rate dance sequence even by Bollywood's standards, but never mind.) It's probably pointless to go up against such a popular film, but let me try.
The problems begin with the work being adapted. Swarup's novel is a corny potboiler, with a plot that defies belief: a boy from the slums somehow manages to get on to the hit Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and answers all his questions correctly because the random accidents of his life have, in a series of outrageous coincidences, given him the information he needs, and are conveniently asked in the order that allows his flashbacks to occur in chronological sequence. This is a patently ridiculous conceit, the kind of fantasy writing that gives fantasy writing a bad name. It is a plot device faithfully preserved by the film-makers, and lies at the heart of the weirdly renamed Slumdog Millionaire. As a result the film, too, beggars belief
"Watchmen" put a US$55M lock on box office
LOS ANGELES – "Watchmen" clocked in with $55.7 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office, making director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of twisted superheros the biggest opening of 2009 so far.
Still, it was not quite as big as the $70 million take of Snyder's "300" in 2007.
Dan Fellman, head of distribution for "Watchmen" studio Warner Bros., said it was unfair to compare the two films.
"They're two different movies," Fellman said Sunday. "This is a movie that runs two hours and 45 minutes. That really only leaves the exhibitor with one showing a night. If you have an 8 o'clock show, the next show is at midnight. So with essentially one show a night, I think this is outstanding."
Fans of the subversive comic book series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons waited years for Snyder's big-screen version. The anticipation was complicated last year when Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox fought over who owned rights to the $125 million film. The studios eventually settled in January, keeping the March 6 opening intact.
Many "Watchmen" enthusiasts raced to IMAX theaters to see the exploits of Dr. Manhattan and company on the bigger screens. Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, said the movie sold out on all 124 IMAX screens it was playing on during the weekend and was the second largest opening in company history behind another superhero film, 2008's "The Dark Knight."
With no other new releases to compete against, "Watchmen" easily bumped off "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," which had held the top spot the two previous weekends. The Lionsgate comedy took in $8.8 million, good for second place, according to studio estimates Sunday. 20th Century Fox's "Taken," starring Liam Neeson, took the No. 3 position with $7.5 million.
For the year, movie attendance continues to soar, with revenue at $1.9 billion, up 16 percent through the same point in 2008. Even factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 14 percent higher than last year.
-AP
www.watchmenmovie.com
Still, it was not quite as big as the $70 million take of Snyder's "300" in 2007.
Dan Fellman, head of distribution for "Watchmen" studio Warner Bros., said it was unfair to compare the two films.
"They're two different movies," Fellman said Sunday. "This is a movie that runs two hours and 45 minutes. That really only leaves the exhibitor with one showing a night. If you have an 8 o'clock show, the next show is at midnight. So with essentially one show a night, I think this is outstanding."
Fans of the subversive comic book series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons waited years for Snyder's big-screen version. The anticipation was complicated last year when Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox fought over who owned rights to the $125 million film. The studios eventually settled in January, keeping the March 6 opening intact.
Many "Watchmen" enthusiasts raced to IMAX theaters to see the exploits of Dr. Manhattan and company on the bigger screens. Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, said the movie sold out on all 124 IMAX screens it was playing on during the weekend and was the second largest opening in company history behind another superhero film, 2008's "The Dark Knight."
With no other new releases to compete against, "Watchmen" easily bumped off "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," which had held the top spot the two previous weekends. The Lionsgate comedy took in $8.8 million, good for second place, according to studio estimates Sunday. 20th Century Fox's "Taken," starring Liam Neeson, took the No. 3 position with $7.5 million.
For the year, movie attendance continues to soar, with revenue at $1.9 billion, up 16 percent through the same point in 2008. Even factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 14 percent higher than last year.
-AP
www.watchmenmovie.com
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