‘David Lynch altered our brains’: fellow directors, friends and fans remember a titan of cinema

-
His unique, twisted visions shocked and seduced generations of filmgoers. Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Coralie Fargeat and more pay tribute • Ranked: David Lynch’s films and TV shows • Cigarettes were Lynch’s magic wand – and his undoing Paul Schrader, director Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/GMHZC9Q via IFTTT
Post a Comment

‘It has become a sort of silver bullet’: why are rap lyrics being put on trial?

-

In compelling documentary As We Speak, a controversial legal practice that uses rap lyrics to secure convictions is explored

In September 2001, McKinley Phipps Jr, also known as the rapper Mac, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter. It had been a year and a half since gunfire erupted outside a club where he was slated to perform in Slidell, Louisiana, resulting in the death of 19-year-old Barron Victor Jr. Phipps, then 22, maintained his innocence, and the case against him was weak – there was no gun linking him to the crime, several witnesses recanted their testimony and another person confessed to pulling the trigger. And yet, prosecutors had their trump card: Mac, a former New Orleans rap prodigy who began releasing music at the age of 13, had rapped about murder.

“Murder, murder, kill, kill”, Phipps recites in As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial, a new documentary on the criminalization of rap lyrics. Prosecutors spliced that line with one from a different song – “Pull the trigger, put a bullet in your head” – to create the portrait of a killer; Mac’s art was the evidence that DNA, solid confessions, or a missing weapon couldn’t provide. An all-white jury bought it. Phipps served over 21 years in prison before being granted clemency in 2021.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/gqiNoyp
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘I lied to get the part’: Melvyn Hayes on his ‘angry young man’ beginnings – and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum

-
He was tipped to be the next Richard Burton – but ended up as crossdressing Gunner Gloria in the now controversial sitcom. As his breakthrough classic returns to the screen, Hayes looks back One day in 1957, Melvyn Hayes was on the set of a film called Woman in a Dressing Gown when a man sat down next to him. “I was getting paid £5 a day and I’d been on location for three days,” the actor recalls. “All I had to do was walk up to a house and put a newspaper through a letterbox. That was my part. Finished. I said to this bloke, ‘I can’t believe the waste of money on this film. Take me. You could have got a newspaper boy on £1 a day to do what I’m doing.’ Then I said, ‘What do you do then, you lazy bugger?’ And he said, ‘I’m the producer.’” Hayes, now 89, giggles at the memory of the cheek of himself at 23. Back then, £5 a day was a decent whack. His first job in showbiz, in the early 1950s, was as assistant to The Great Masoni, a magician who tasked Hayes with “disappearing twice daily...
Read more

The Exorcism review – Russell Crowe v the Devil in cursed horror about a cursed horror

-
The actor plays an actor struggling with a demonically bad film shoot in a well-made yet increasingly messy chiller Like many other dethroned A-listers of his generation, Oscar winner Russell Crowe has found himself a steady career hustling far further down the food chain, headlining B-movies he once would have balked at. The last few years have seen the famed actor crop up in gonzo road rage thriller Unhinged , shepherd the other Hemsworths in war drama Land of Bad , lead the barely released crime thriller Sleeping Dogs earlier this year and become the pope’s exorcist in The Pope’s Exorcist . The latter became something of a surprise hit, first theatrically and then on Netflix, albeit in a rather jokey way, the film most easily remembered for the many memes of Crowe on a scooter. Its success was such that it not only guaranteed a sequel (The Pope’s Exorcist 2 is coming), but it also led to another of his exorcism movies getting saved from streaming hell and being delivered to th...
Read more

Karan Johar RRR stars Jr. NTR Ram Charan Siddharth Roy Kapur and Mani Ratnam invited by The Academy to join as members

-
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended invitations to 398 distinguished artists and executives to join the organization in 2023. As per the official website, the membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion, and equity. Amongst them are filmmakers Karan Johar and Mani Ratnam, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur and RRR stars Jr. NTR and Ram Charan. Amongst actors Jr. NTR and Ram Charan’s names crop up who’ve had an illustrious year with the massive success of RRR globally followed by an Oscar win for ‘Naatu Naatu’. Karan Johar has been named in the producers’ category whereas Mani Ratnam’s name is mentioned amongst the directors. "The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines, and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide," ...
Read more