By Brian Lafferty

September 25, 2010 (San Diego)--Bran Nue Dae is a film so dreadful I felt embarrassed just watching it. Everything about it literally made me cringe. Only the completionist in me got me staying until the end. Once the end credits began to roll, I didn’t just walk out of the theater. I ran to the nearest exit. No, I’m not making this up.

DON'T BELIEVE DECEPTIVE POLITICAL ADS, FACTCHECK.ORG WARNS CONSUMERS
By Sylvia Hampton

By Brian Lafferty

September 24, 2010 (San Diego)--I watched Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole in a packed theater. Much of the audience consisted of parents and kids, many of them ranging between three to seven years old. There was an air of excitement in the theater during the half hour before the screening. But within the first fifteen minutes all the fun was sucked out. By the end, the atmosphere was cold and joyless. I left the screening depressed, manipulated, angry and appalled. This movie is based on a series of children’s novels but it is definitely not for kids. I will feel sorry for parents who will be understandably misled and take their kids to see a movie that will leave their young ones with tears and nightmares.

By Brian Lafferty

September 17, 2010 (San Diego)--The Town opens with Ben Affleck and his crew robbing a bank. The action here is standard but one shot stands out. Rebecca Hall, playing a Bank Manager, is forced to open the safe. She shakes as she tries several times to get the correct combination. She’s under pressure because the cops are on their way and because she has a gun to her head. She finally manages to get it open. This looked promising; Affleck, who also directed and co-wrote, shows a knack for directing suspense despite the otherwise ordinary robbery.

Nothing but the Truth!
 

By Will Power

September 13, 2010 (San Diego) -- Since it is clear banks and brokers would rather lay people off then hire them, it is time the U.S. Government provide entry-level jobs in public service to stimulate the economy. This worked before, when the CCC and WPA provided millions of unemployed US citizens with jobs and training that helped the U.S. out of the Great Depression.

By Brian Lafferty

September 13, 2010 (San Diego)--“I don’t want to play the character of Joaquin Phoenix anymore,” says Phoenix, the subject of this documentary. “I want to be whatever I am.” That is his explanation for why he chose to give up acting in favor of a rap music career. I’m Still Here, helmed by Phoenix’s brother-in-law Casey Affleck, is a film that you simply cannot prepare for. There are many images you will never unthink. These are not criticisms; as hard as it was to watch, I liked it. I didn’t necessarily enjoy it as I normally would. The documentary sets out and accomplishes what it wants to do and conveys what it wants to communicate. It doesn’t work as entertainment but then maybe that wasn’t the point.

Jack guest blogs for his owner, Dawn Celapino this week

ON THE SILVER SCREEN: PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 A SATISFYING CONCLUSION TO MESRINE SAGA

By Brian Lafferty

September 6, 2010 (San Diego)--Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1, released last Friday, is the second of a two-part series. Killer Instinct emphasized action while this one focuses more on character exploration. Vince Cassel showed us in the first movie how he could rob banks. The movie contains action but not as much as the first. Instead, Cassel is given the opportunity to flex his acting muscles this time around, giving us a glimpse of one of France’s most notorious outlaws when he’s not on his latest crime spree. It is here that we get a portrait of the criminal artist as an older man.

By Dawn Celapino

By Walter Davis

Editor’s note: This memoir, submitted this week, provides eyewitness insights into turbulent times in our nation's history as well as the strength of a remarkable woman and her son.

July 1, 2010 (Birmingham, Alabama)--In 1915 when Mrs. Davis was a little girl, she could not go into the front door of most restaurants and public places like bus terminals. When traveling her family was not allowed to use the public restrooms in gas stations along the way because of the pigment in their skin. Finding a hotel was a challenge and crooked police could stop, search, rape, and kill as they pleased.

By Nancy Clement & Dawn Clement

Share creative ideas to assist people of all ages on tips to save money and improve their lifestyle!

August 28, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) —Want to save money on your college textbooks? Why buy when you can rent? Now you can rent textbooks from Bookrenter for a semester. Check their website to see if the book you are interested in is available--with 3 million titles, chances are good that it will be. They offer free shipping to your door and at the end of the semester, UPS comes and picks it up so you do not have the hassle of re-selling a textbook you no longer need.

The Kid: Chamaco, which he produced, opens Friday for a one-week engagement

By Brian Lafferty

August 26, 2010 (El Cajon)--“The quality of writing will get you through the door,” says East County film producer Vernon Mortensen. His newest film, The Kid: Chamaco, opens Friday for a one-week showing at the Reading Gaslamp.  “To get to the door, half the time you need to know somebody," he told me over lunch in El Cajon.

By Brian Lafferty

August 22, 2010 (San Diego)--Cairo Time is a film best appreciated as art. Forget the simplistic, nearly nonexistent plot involving a budding affair between an American woman and her husband’s Egyptian friend. I admired this film for it’s cinematography and it’s visual style which included such lyrical imagery as the Pyramids, the mosques, the streets, the desert, and the Nile. The script, not unlike the characters, wanders almost aimlessly but I liked where it took the characters and I enjoyed where it took me.

By Dawn Celapino

Share creative ideas to assist people of all ages with tips to save money and improve their lifestyle!

By Nancy and Dawn Clement

August 13, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Free is cool! For a short time Cali Comfort  Restaurant in Spring Valley is offering a special deal: Kids eat free every Friday for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This special will only be available until August 21, so mark your calendar to be sure you do not miss out. Some other restaurants that offer Kid’s Eat Free meals are in the list written below; many of them are located in East County.