Arts & Entertainment

Film/TV pg 17, 18 | Theater pg 19 | Jazz pg 24

Your Stars

‘Interview with the Vampire’—AMC’s wonderfully bold remake

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

I confess, we accepted AMC’s seven-day trial offer just to watch (and rewatch) the remake of Anne Rice’s novel “Interview with the Vampire,” shaped into a new series constructed with care. The new series is wonderfully bold and steps into tackling a crucial question in act one. Set 50 years after the events in the film version, the interviewer Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) is now old, not the kid we met inside a San Francisco hotel room, but those audio tapes remain of his interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac. Now, set in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, Louis (Jacob Anderson) reaches out to Daniel to open their conversation again with the hope that both men have wised up.

Race and sexuality are a big part of this retelling which gives this version a depth the movie missed. Here, the series deliberately reframes Louis’ story where he was a plantation owner (a mixed man) whose view of a new world and new life with the vampire Lestat (Sam Reid), his maker, is complicated.

Told in episodic installments, the relationship between the two is electrifying and like all love affairs, deeply conflicted, as we examine their every shifting mood.

Circa 2022, the modernday Louis lives in a Dubai skyscraper that sways, a specific and deliberate construction design. In rehashing his life, he pulls us back to his life as a cunning businessman in New Orleans and it’s clear that he’s a family man with a strong love for his kind sister (Kalyne Coleman), troubled brother (Steven Norfleet), and suspecting mother (Rae Dawn Chong). But Louis is a tortured soul and is always fighting what his heart wants and needs and what he’s allowed to have as an African American man in America and now, as an immortal vampire, and of yes, as a homosexual man—we can now clearly see that this modern life of Louis is filled with conflicts.

It’s genius recasting Louis’ character with such delicious complexities. It makes the story deeply entertaining and rich with storytelling possibilities, and when Louis performs a rather barbaric kill, it jump-starts a reaction that causes havoc to the very people (BIOPOC people) he cares to help.

In the chaos of the moment, Louis finds a dying young girl and begs Lestat to turn her, Claudia (Bailey Bass), into his vampire “daughter” which he does but keeps his distance.

The director attributed to this new series is Alan Taylor (“Game of Thrones”) with production designer Mara Lepere-Schloop, and costume design by Carol Cutshall. Let’s call these creatives the “holy trinity” because they complement each other perfectly.

“Interview with the Vampire” debuts new episodes every Sunday, at 10 p.m. ET.

Scenes from AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” (Courtesy photos)

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

“Black Adam,” with Dwayne Johnson as the DC superhero, is action-packed and if you love movies like this (and I do), this is a winner.

Here’s the story: Black Adam has been in lockdown for 5,000 years and is considered a nearly invincible global threat because he’s more impactful than an atomic bomb. When he wakes up, the Justice Society of America, or JSA, enlists an elite group to help “contain” him that includes Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).

In the film he’s called Teth-Adam and he is clearly angry, with a built-in instinct to un-alive anyone that makes him unhappy. But in all that tightly packed anger he’s still basically reasonable, which serves him later when dealing with a deeper and much more dangerous character who wants to liberate the fictional country, Kahndaq, that feels like the Middle East where the film takes place.

Naturally, we get to see the dignity of the locals who want the ancient hero to help them stop the cruel, white mercenaries from taking their Eternium. And what’s amazing about the mineral is its power to transform a human being—with the help of well practiced magic—into an almost godlike state.

Growing weary of living in a state of oppression, a group of liberators, lead by Adrianna (Sarah Shahi), go on a quest to find a legendary crown made of Eternium. Adrianna and her team recover the famed crown and in doing so, unleash Teth-Adam from his imprisonment. He is equipped to deal with bad guys by blasting blue light from his fists and bouncing bullets off his body, so equipped as a moving weapon that even a bazooka can’t stop him.

This world has an interesting twist because it’s seen through the eyes of Adrianna’s young, comic book-obsessed son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) who idolizes Teth-Adam.

The politics of Kahndaq are complex and therefore believable so when Amon, who carries the crown in his backpack for a while, is kidnapped by Ishmael (Marwan Kenzari), we get a sense of the bravery of the people.

In fact the citizens don’t wait around for Black Adam to save the day, they stand up to the bad guys including teenager Hurut (Jalon Christian) who is featured in the film’s ancient-history prologue. I offer again, there’s dignity to the citizens of this fictional country.

It’s not a perfect film and a question looms over the insertion of the JSA members. Why do they show up at all? What harm, exactly, is Teth-Adam doing?

The screenplay is co-written by Sohrab Noshirvani, Rory Haines, and Adam Sztykiel and delivers solid action sequences laced with strong story and world building. Black Adam didn’t wake up to negotiate. He woke up to exact revenge, and this viewer gets the feeling that Black Adam will be back and will be faced with a more deserving adversary—and therefore a new franchise is born.

“Black Adam” (Courtesy photo)

‘The Redeem Team’ on Netflix—not just for sports fans

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

“The Redeem Team”—currently playing on Netflix—is produced by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Jon Weinbach. You don’t have to be a sports fan to be absorbed by this documentary that focuses on the 2008 United States men’s Olympic basketball team and their thirst to recapture the winning gold medal that comes with the feeling of accomplishment.

This is the stuff that makes great docs because NBA’s biggest stars set aside their egos and allowed a strong coach whip them into shape.

The late Kobe Bryant’s voice is heard in the doc which opens with the late NBA legend sitting beside LeBron James where he shared that to win Olympic gold meant more to him than any league championship.

To place the story into con-

T“The Redeem Team” (Image courtesy of Netflix)

text, the film retraces the history of America’s Olympic basketball teams, which lost two games between 1936 and 1988, with the last defeat in Seoul, Korea. This embarrassment inspired the NBA to allow its gifted players to participate in the games and inspired the creation of the Dream Team.

But the fact of the matter was that with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson doing their thing they were promoting the sport to an international market and enticing gifted and motivated players who wanted nothing more than to go toe-to-toe with the best in the sport. To wit, it wasn’t very long before some of the NBA’s top draft picks were hailing from countries like Argentina and Spain.

The filmmakers utilized a rich archive of vintage footage (courtesy of NBA Entertainment) with the top-of-the-line interviews from those involved in the 2008 “Redeem Team” that includes Bryant whose voice is prominent in the doc. For a moment, too fleeting, it seems that he was still alive.

The manner that the doc is stitched together is the story of how America’s premiere athletes stood under the same flag for a moment—united—in their desire to win for a country.

It’s interesting to see how the power of natural pride is shined up and the film shines because the members of the 2008 team are wonderfully charismatic who love sharing those inside stories of their time together. Their memories quickly become our memories and it’s interesting how the legendary Duke coach, Mike Krzyzewski, inspired them to be their very best.

Then the tone shifts—dramatically—when Bryant joins the team at a tender moment in his professional career. The history of how he interacted with Shaq in LA is shown, and how he caused some issues for the Lakers, when he enters into the picture at a moment when he’s wrestling his younger self. It’s such an interesting moment watching the amount of energy that he brought.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the surviving members of the Redeem Team speak freely about Bryant, sharing about the issues he brought and the hard work he put into getting himself together.

There’s a lot to like and love about “The Redeem Team” and if you love the sport and the NBA then this is the documentary made just for you.