Set in and around Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s, at the start of the civil rights movement, The Help offers up a powerful statement of selflessness, tenacity, and strength among southern black women who work in the homes of southern white women. They cook, clean, take care of the little white babies, and just about everything else around the house. I couldn’t help but initially wonder if this was going to be a black version of Steel Magnolias. It was not!

The stellar cast of Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis, along with smaller but great performances from Cicely Tyson, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, and True Blood’s Nelsan Ellis all add to the excellent writing of Tate Taylor (screenplay) and Kathryn Stockett (novel).

While the movie definitely shows the ugliness of the day, it instead focuses on the optimism of those who are considered the help.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune said it best, “But as filled with contradictions as it is — genteel but prejudiced, mannered but mean, home to the most civilized brand of cruelty you ever did see — it’s built on tradition.”

In the documentary film entitled Thing With No Name producers Sarah Friedland and Esy Casey present a touching portrait of two HIV/AIDS afflicted women as they live out their final months in the province of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

Thing With No Name may be dull and boring for those who are unwilling to read the subtitles for the people in the documentary do not speak English. The English subtitles, however, convey staggering statistics regarding HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and, specifically, in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa which are astounding enough to compel one to watch the entire film. For instance, did you know that of The World’s 39.5 million HIV/AIDS infected people that 63% live in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Also, did you know that in Kwazulu Natal, one in six people is HIV/AIDS infected. Because of this documentary’s ability to educate its viewers about HIV/AIDS, I would recommend this film as a vehicle with which to improve HIV/AIDS awareness amongst children as well as amongst adolescents and adults.

On a scale of from one to twelve roses, therefore, I give Thing With No Name eleven roses.

In Sin Nombre, Sayra (Paulina Gaiton) and El Casper (Edward M. Flores) join forces to battle the ever present and far reaching hand of the Mexican gangs. First and foremost, this is a film about gang violence. On a secondary level are the subplots of child abuse and the corruption of youth as told through the eyes of Benito (Smiley).

Third, however, is the theme of immigration to the United States and what the promise of this dream means for Sayra, the members of her entourage (her father and her uncle), and for El Casper. Beautifully filmed by Adriana Goldman as well as well directed by Cary Joli Fukunaga, who also wrote the brilliant script, as we watch the story of El Casper’s involvement in a gang called El Mara, Fukunaga contrasts Sayra’s journey with her father and her uncle across the Latin American Countryside from Honduras to The Mexican Border.

Although the film uses subtitles which are displayed too rapidly to read in some instances,uses frequent obscene language, and extreme violence is depicted (rape, murder, mutilations, armed robbery, and savage beatings) Sin Nombre is a first-class film worthy of the honors bestowed upon it thus far.

One of my favorite books as a child was Maurice Sendak’s classic 1963 children’s book entitled Where the Wild Things Are. Today, children and adult fans of this classic will get the chance to see the book on film. The book, which chronicles the imaginary adventures of a little boy named Max, has been the recipient of many awards in literature. The story begins rather innocently with Max’s mother sending him to his room for an apparent punishment without dinner.

There is a thing called loosing with grace and somehow the grace in the dancing was lost in the post show interview available at www.mtv.com The eliminated Rhythm City’s Alonzo came out bashing Massive Monkees’s performance. Insisting RC had done better Alonzo did not understand why they were eliminated. And I agree that RC had a better performance and within the context of the show is the better crew, but I think he got rather nasty and I was dissapointed to see a crew losing without any grace or dignity but instead complaining like children

Last week held a lot of controversy for contestant Leiomy and Judge Lil Mama. Both are controversial figures. Many fans of the show have said since season one that Lil Mama should not be a judge on the show and there is plenty to back that up. Her lack of speaking skills, age, and sometimes even her manner are usually the reasons for fans having such strong displeasure with her place of authority on the show. Leiomy a transgendered woman from New York City and member of the all gay Vogue Evolution was having more issues than just her sexuality on the show. One week was marred by a consistently bad attitude that went so far as to walk out of rehearsals.

My dear HHR readers I am so sorry I missed last week’s Dance Crew Blog. Life catches up to you when you are a full time college student looking for work and attempting to fulfill a personal goal for an all expenses paid trip to Puerto Rico. In other words…. I was busy busy busy. But let’s do a little recap.

So the other night marked the season premiere of ABDC season 4. By and large the show was lack luster and knowing some of the crews that had auditioned this certainly was not overall, the best of the pickins. Compared with previous seasons that provided out of this world good performances the other night was kind of hum drum.

Tyson: Portrait of the Pugilist as a Young (and Old) Man By Javier E. David  Witnessing the grotesque spectacle he’s managed to make of his life, it’s almost difficult to imagine that Mike Tyson was once a singularly fearsome fighter who bestrode the boxing world and pummeled opponents into submission. His turbulent personal life and [...]

by Angela Severiano  Since the Tribeca Film Festivals inception in 2002, it has been a playground for New York’s top celebrities. This year was no exception. From the jurors to the filmmakers to the actors, there was no shortage of celebrity excitement in Tribeca.  Here are a few Red Carpet Highlights from Tribeca’s Official Website.  [...]

  By Javier E. David Upon hearing the title of the recently released comedy-drama, “Sunshine Cleaning”, one might be forgiven for confusing this small-budget film with a 2006 film with a similar name, the light-hearted yet over-praised “Little Miss Sunshine.” Aside from their sunny titles, both of these films share (or suffer from, depending on [...]

 By Javier David Most movie-goers this weekend are likely be transfixed by the spectacle of teenage vampire angst in “Twilight” (Transylvania 90210, if you will). Reasonable adults who like their entertainment mindless but not necessarily pre-pubescent should repair to the theater showing Quantum of Solace, the latest installment of the James Bond 007 series. Be [...]