Filed under: Previews, News, Trailers
Coming out this is 'The Mechanic,' starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, and Christa Campbell.
Arthur Bishop (played by Jason Statham) is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (played by Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead.
His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (played by Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.
A great documentary-winner of the 2009 American Film Institute/Discovery Silverdocs Best Music Documentary Award-is airing on Wednesday, January 26 as a part of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. The film's called 'RiseUp: Reggae Underground' by Luciano Blotta. It's airing at 7 PM EST Wednesday (and re-airs across the country through January 30) as part of the AfroPoP series.
'RiseUp' is a journey into the heart of Jamaica-the island that gave birth to the worldwide cultural phenomenon of reggae. In a society where talent abounds and opportunity is scarce, three courageous artists fight to rise up from obscurity and write themselves into the pages of history. With music and appearances by legends Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, RiseUp follows artists who demonstrate the raw power of hope and courage in a land which is largely unseen, but certainly not unsung.
AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange is a documentary series consisting of contemporary stories from across the African Diaspora. It's produced by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and co-presented by American Public Television.
Out on Blu-ray is the acclaimed film 'The Color Purple,' starring Whoopi Goldberg Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey Margaret Avery, Akosua Busia, Adolph Caesar, Willard Pugh, Rae Dawn Chong, Larry Fishburne, Dana Ivey, Leon Rippy, Bennet Guillory, and James Tillis.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and directed by Steven Spielberg, 'The Color Purple' spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (played by Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (played by Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (played by Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds champions in her daughter-in-law, the take-no-mess Sofia (played by Oprah Winfrey) and the glamorous Shug Avery (played by Margaret Avery), a local girl-turned-juke joint singer.
Bonus features on the Blu-ray include Conversations with ancestors: The Color Purple from book to screen, A collaboration of spirits: Casting and acting The Color Purple, and The Color Purple: The musical.