This week a report ran that Oprah Winfrey had been "ambushed" by her "secret son" after a taping of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this month.
Winfrey, 61, is now speaking out about the incident and the man that she had once tried to help in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
In the sit down chat, the former talk show host details how she met Calvin Mitchell in the early 90's while she was filming the TV movie There Are No Children Here. She describes herself as being taken by the boy and wanting to help when she found...
Winfrey, 61, is now speaking out about the incident and the man that she had once tried to help in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
In the sit down chat, the former talk show host details how she met Calvin Mitchell in the early 90's while she was filming the TV movie There Are No Children Here. She describes herself as being taken by the boy and wanting to help when she found...
- 10/30/2015
- by Naja Rayne, @najarayne
- People.com - TV Watch
Real talk. When Oprah Winfrey was “ambushed” by a man claiming to be her “secret son” in NYC earlier this month, the talk show titan didn’t have much time to react. But on Thursday, Oct. 29, the media mogul set the record straight about her relationship to Calvin Mitchell and what really happened that night. “I met Calvin around the early ‘90s, I think it was 1992,” Winfrey, 61, told Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell. “I was doing a film for television called There Are No Children Here. [...]...
- 10/29/2015
- Us Weekly
Chicago – On Sunday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will name what they consider to be the Best Documentary of 2011. They will be wrong. How do I know? Because it’s not even nominated. The actual best documentary of last year (which was a Very good year from the form with everything from “Into the Abyss” to “Tabloid” to “Pearl Jam Twenty” to “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”) was not nominated. That title goes to Steve James’ “The Interrupters,” which was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD and is simply a must-see.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The people profiled in “The Interrupters” are true heroes. They have been through a darkness that most of you reading this can’t even imagine and they didn’t come through it shell-shocked or afraid; they came through it wanting to make a difference in the world. Where most people see a lost cause or something that demands a forceful response,...
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The people profiled in “The Interrupters” are true heroes. They have been through a darkness that most of you reading this can’t even imagine and they didn’t come through it shell-shocked or afraid; they came through it wanting to make a difference in the world. Where most people see a lost cause or something that demands a forceful response,...
- 2/22/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
One of the stars of the critically-acclaimed documentary "The Interrupters," called "the most necessary film of the year" by Slatelast year, was interviewed Wednesday on "The Colbert Report" a matter of weeks before the film makes its Feb. 14 television debut on PBS's Frontline.
Ameena Matthews is one of the "interrupters" who work with Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire, an innovative organization that aims to decrease the brutal violence that continues to disproportionately impact the city's poor, urban neighborhoods through a peer-based public health-oriented approach. CeaseFire's model, pioneered by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, has been replicated in a number of other cities around the world who also struggling with street violence, most recently in Philadelphia, Baltimore and London.
"She should have Michelle Pfeiffer teach them poetry," host Stephen Colbert suggested as he introduced Matthews.
Colbert, finding common ground with Matthews, said he, too, is an interrupter, before he noted that interrupting violence is...
Ameena Matthews is one of the "interrupters" who work with Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire, an innovative organization that aims to decrease the brutal violence that continues to disproportionately impact the city's poor, urban neighborhoods through a peer-based public health-oriented approach. CeaseFire's model, pioneered by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, has been replicated in a number of other cities around the world who also struggling with street violence, most recently in Philadelphia, Baltimore and London.
"She should have Michelle Pfeiffer teach them poetry," host Stephen Colbert suggested as he introduced Matthews.
Colbert, finding common ground with Matthews, said he, too, is an interrupter, before he noted that interrupting violence is...
- 2/2/2012
- by Joseph Erbentraut
- Huffington Post
One of the stars of the critically-acclaimed documentary "The Interrupters," called "the most necessary film of the year" by Slatelast year, was interviewed Wednesday on "The Colbert Report" a matter of weeks before the film makes its Feb. 14 television debut on PBS's Frontline.
Ameena Matthews is one of the "interrupters" who work with Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire, an innovative organization that aims to decrease the brutal violence that continues to disproportionately impact the city's poor, urban neighborhoods through a peer-based public health-oriented approach. CeaseFire's model, pioneered by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, has been replicated in a number of other cities around the world who also struggling with street violence, most recently in Philadelphia, Baltimore and London.
"She should have Michelle Pfeiffer teach them poetry," host Stephen Colbert suggested as he introduced Matthews.
Colbert, finding common ground with Matthews, said he, too, is an interrupter, before he noted that interrupting violence is...
Ameena Matthews is one of the "interrupters" who work with Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire, an innovative organization that aims to decrease the brutal violence that continues to disproportionately impact the city's poor, urban neighborhoods through a peer-based public health-oriented approach. CeaseFire's model, pioneered by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, has been replicated in a number of other cities around the world who also struggling with street violence, most recently in Philadelphia, Baltimore and London.
"She should have Michelle Pfeiffer teach them poetry," host Stephen Colbert suggested as he introduced Matthews.
Colbert, finding common ground with Matthews, said he, too, is an interrupter, before he noted that interrupting violence is...
- 2/2/2012
- by Joseph Erbentraut
- Aol TV.
Chicago – Life was a happy song at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards night, which celebrated the best cinematic achievements of 2011, while presenting honorary awards to some very special guests. The event was held January 7 at the Broadway Playhouse, and was highlighted by appearances from some of the brightest talents in show business.
Jason Segel, the exuberant star of “Freaks and Geeks,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “How I Met Your Mother,” was honored with the Comedia Extraordinaire Award for his triumphant efforts to resurrect the late Jim Henson’s waning franchise by co-writing and acting in “The Muppets.” At a press conference prior to the awards show, Segel was characteristically humble and self-deprecating while reflecting on his own work. In the case of his “Muppet” co-stars, he had nothing but praise.
“Working with [Amy Adams] and Chris Cooper, I realized why those people get nominated for awards and I don’t,” said Segel.
Jason Segel, the exuberant star of “Freaks and Geeks,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “How I Met Your Mother,” was honored with the Comedia Extraordinaire Award for his triumphant efforts to resurrect the late Jim Henson’s waning franchise by co-writing and acting in “The Muppets.” At a press conference prior to the awards show, Segel was characteristically humble and self-deprecating while reflecting on his own work. In the case of his “Muppet” co-stars, he had nothing but praise.
“Working with [Amy Adams] and Chris Cooper, I realized why those people get nominated for awards and I don’t,” said Segel.
- 1/10/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Steve James’ documentary "The Interrupters" has been garnering praise since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, with many calling it the best documentary of the year. Below James shares a scene from his film (produced by James and Alex Kotlowitz, whose original New York Times article inspired the film), and offers a glimpse into his method. Honor Roll is a daily series for December that will feature new or previously published interviews, profiles and first-persons of some of the year's most notable cinematic voices. Today we're revisiting a first person in which Steve James shared a scene from his doc 'The Interrupters.' The Film For "The Interrupters," Alex and I had both been haunted by the persistent violence in communities like the ones I profiled in "Hoop Dreams," and he in his book “There Are No Children Here.” We felt that through the violence interrupters at CeaseFire we.
- 12/9/2011
- Indiewire
Just about every year around this time, many filmgoers complain that it has been disappointing experience at the cinema. Here at The Film Stage we’ve handpicked our select favorites in an attempt to disprove that theory. We count down the best films we’ve seen in the first eight months in order to give you a must-see list before we head into the busy awards season. We also count down a few awards contenders coming in the next few months that we’ve already had a chance to check out. See the list below in alphabetical order (and selection limited to Us theatrical releases) and let us know if we missed any of your favorites.
The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi)
Based on a short story by philosopher and sci-fi poet Philip K. Dick (he inspired Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall), writer/director George Nolfi attempts to inject...
The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi)
Based on a short story by philosopher and sci-fi poet Philip K. Dick (he inspired Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall), writer/director George Nolfi attempts to inject...
- 8/17/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
They are the shock troops in the city's battle against endemic street violence – peacemakers who once lived by the gun. As a documentary on their work reaches cinemas, we visit Chicago to see the campaigners in action
On the stoop of a house on a dilapidated block in Englewood, the south side Chicago neighbourhood that tops the city's statistics for murder, drug addiction, teen pregnancy and most of other indices of social dysfunction, are eight young African-American men and two or three women. It's an oven-hot summer afternoon and the group is kicking back, drinking, shouting and laughing.
"I don't like crowd scenes," says Shango, a member of the city's anti-violence project, CeaseFire, as we pull up outside. He explains that such gatherings increase the chances of becoming a victim of a drive-by shooting.
The street we're in stands in the middle of a few blocks that have seen three murders in recent days,...
On the stoop of a house on a dilapidated block in Englewood, the south side Chicago neighbourhood that tops the city's statistics for murder, drug addiction, teen pregnancy and most of other indices of social dysfunction, are eight young African-American men and two or three women. It's an oven-hot summer afternoon and the group is kicking back, drinking, shouting and laughing.
"I don't like crowd scenes," says Shango, a member of the city's anti-violence project, CeaseFire, as we pull up outside. He explains that such gatherings increase the chances of becoming a victim of a drive-by shooting.
The street we're in stands in the middle of a few blocks that have seen three murders in recent days,...
- 8/8/2011
- by Andrew Anthony
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago is plagued with a violence epidemic, a corrosive force infecting its inhabitants. Murder rates grow while a generation of young people disappears. City officials declared their own town a war zone, asking the federal government to send in the National Guard. Ironically, the city that gave us Barrack Obama and his “Audacity of Hope” campaign has seemingly run out of it. What is to be done when the institutions can do nothing but watch murder itself become an institution?
The Interrupters, the new film from acclaimed storytellers Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, return to the city that birthed both of their major works (Hoop Dreams and the book There Are No Children Here, respectively) to follow along with a group of felons and ex-convicts who hit the streets to intervene in conflicts, trying to fight back the wave of violence with a series of small ripples. The Interrupters is a visceral,...
The Interrupters, the new film from acclaimed storytellers Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, return to the city that birthed both of their major works (Hoop Dreams and the book There Are No Children Here, respectively) to follow along with a group of felons and ex-convicts who hit the streets to intervene in conflicts, trying to fight back the wave of violence with a series of small ripples. The Interrupters is a visceral,...
- 7/28/2011
- by Mike Anton
- The Film Stage
In the 1986 action thriller "Cobra," Sylvester Stallone had this great line about the evil of crime. "You're the disease," he tells a crook, "and I'm the cure." In the context of "Cobra," the line is ridiculous: Stallone's idea of a cure for crime is just murdering a lot of people (I guess that's one way to fight urban overcrowding). But maybe beneath the layers of machismo and right-wing paranoia there's a kernel of truth there. Maybe crime really is a disease. And maybe the right way to fight it is to treat it like it's a disease, by trying to stop the infection at the point of transmission.
That's the radical idea behind the Chicago organization CeaseFire and their group of so-called "violence interrupters." They work to prevent violence in their community before it happens by mediating disputes and counseling the victims of attacks before they can retaliate. The new...
That's the radical idea behind the Chicago organization CeaseFire and their group of so-called "violence interrupters." They work to prevent violence in their community before it happens by mediating disputes and counseling the victims of attacks before they can retaliate. The new...
- 7/26/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
The trailer is out for a harrowing and haunting documentary about violence in Chicago, The Interrupters, from doc veteran Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Alex Kotlowitz (author of There Are No Children Here), which debuted at Sundance and went on to win critics' raves as well as the special jury award at the Sheffield Doc/Fest and grand jury prize at Miami Film Fest. Here's indieWIRE's review. The film documents the Violence Interrupters, a community group dedicated to stopping violence in Chicago. Run by a collection of ex-prisoners and the daughter of a prominent gang member, the Interrupters attempt to save their community from the violence they once employed. Even the trailer tugs at emotional strings, with tragic headline news of shootings, scored by a beautiful ...
- 7/13/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
Trailer for The Interrupters directed by Steve James. The Interrupters is an epic tale of courage and hope from acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here). The film tells the moving and surprising story of three Violence Interrupters in Chicago who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed. The Cinema Guild documentary opens on July 29th in New York and expands nationwide from August and September 2011. Produced by Kartemquin Films and Rise Films.
- 7/13/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Trailer for The Interrupters directed by Steve James. The Interrupters is an epic tale of courage and hope from acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here). The film tells the moving and surprising story of three Violence Interrupters in Chicago who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed. The Cinema Guild documentary opens on July 29th in New York and expands nationwide from August and September 2011. Produced by Kartemquin Films and Rise Films.
- 7/13/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Trailer for The Interrupters directed by Steve James. The Interrupters is an epic tale of courage and hope from acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here). The film tells the moving and surprising story of three Violence Interrupters in Chicago who with bravado, humility and even humor try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed. The Cinema Guild documentary opens on July 29th in New York and expands nationwide from August and September 2011. Produced by Kartemquin Films and Rise Films.
- 7/13/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
U.S. rights for Sundance documentary favorite, The Interrupters, have gone to the The Cinema Guild. The film, from director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and author, producer and collaborator Alex Kotlowitz (bestseller, There Are No Children Here and author of the 2008 Nyt article that inspired the film, Blocking the Transmission of Violence), follows three "Violence Interruptors" in Chicago--former gang members who intervene in violent situations as they unfold in order to protect their community. The film will have a theatrical release this summer, followed by a PBS Frontline broadcast and a digital release by PBS Distribution in 2012. The Interrupters premiered at Sundance and won the Doc Grand Jury Prize at the Miami International Film Festival and True/False's 2011 True Life Fund. The Cinema Guild's ...
- 3/28/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
From Chi-Town to Tinsel Town, film and TV actor, Cory Hardrict has been making his mark on the big and small screens. As a young professional, Cory’s journey to Hollywood success is anything but typical. Hardrict’s story embodies what every actor needs to make it in entertainment: talent, intelligence, training, heart, and thick skin.
In this interview, Cory’s words will motivate and educate those who aspire to become working film professionals. He also shares a little about his character "Corporal Lockett" in the upcoming blockbuster, "Battle: Los Angeles," and what it was like working with director Jonathan Liesbesman.
Iae: So tell us where you’re from and what inspired you to pursue a career in acting?
Ch: I’m from Chicago Heights (Il) and what inspired me to get into acting was my mother. She took me to an open call in Chicago for this Oprah Winfrey...
In this interview, Cory’s words will motivate and educate those who aspire to become working film professionals. He also shares a little about his character "Corporal Lockett" in the upcoming blockbuster, "Battle: Los Angeles," and what it was like working with director Jonathan Liesbesman.
Iae: So tell us where you’re from and what inspired you to pursue a career in acting?
Ch: I’m from Chicago Heights (Il) and what inspired me to get into acting was my mother. She took me to an open call in Chicago for this Oprah Winfrey...
- 12/21/2010
- I Am Entertainment Magazine
Today, fifteen years after I first saw it, I believe "Hoop Dreams" is the great American documentary. No other documentary has ever touched me more deeply. It was relevant then, and today, as inner city neighborhoods sink deeper into the despair of children murdering children, it is more relevant. It tells the stories of two 14-year-olds, Arthur Agee and William Gates, how they dreamed of stardom in the NBA, and how basketball changed their lives. Basketball, and this film.
Photo copyright by Roka Walsh. Used with permission
"Hoop Dreams" observed its 15th anniversary Wednesday night at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Agee and Gates were both there. Gates, now a minister, observed that in one period of time he buried 20 victims of gang violence, 16 of them under 16. Agee said when he looks at his friends in the film today, "ten of them are no longer with us." Yet there they sat,...
Photo copyright by Roka Walsh. Used with permission
"Hoop Dreams" observed its 15th anniversary Wednesday night at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Agee and Gates were both there. Gates, now a minister, observed that in one period of time he buried 20 victims of gang violence, 16 of them under 16. Agee said when he looks at his friends in the film today, "ten of them are no longer with us." Yet there they sat,...
- 11/8/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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