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Actor and activist Danny Glover to receive Academy honor

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Actor and activist Danny Glover to receive Academy honor

Danny Glover is the 2022 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient from the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences.

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Occasions)

Danny Glover usually manifests on the entrance door, both a stranger or an previous good friend — an angel or a satan. Hat in hand, he knocks on a widowed mom’s door in “Locations within the Coronary heart” and finally ends up turning into a part of the household. He visits a long-lost good friend in “Beloved,” a survivor of the identical brutal trauma, bringing love. In “To Sleep With Anger,” he reveals up at his brother’s L.A. home grinning and ingratiating — Devil in a swimsuit and a smile.

In actual life, Glover has been a good friend and angel for numerous causes within the identify of justice and liberation — from the anti-apartheid motion in South Africa to communities exiting the jail system in Northern California. He’s profitable his first Academy Award quickly, not for any efficiency however for who he’s as a human, this yr’s recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

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“Now all people says ‘I’m an activist,’” stated Alfre Woodard, who will current her good friend and frequent co-star with the consideration on the Governors Awards. Glover was an activist “earlier than it had a reputation that means within the zeitgeist. You recognize, he simply stated, ‘Hey, have you ever heard about this? Have you ever heard about that? You recognize who’s in jail proper now in Zimbabwe?’ He all the time had his finger on the heart beat.”

Glover has served on quite a few boards, acted as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Growth Program and a UNICEF ambassador and traveled the world to locations of battle or inequality — providing not simply his cash and well-known identify however his time and sweat, too.

“It was simply an act of the universe blessing all people when his star began to rise,” stated Woodard, “as a result of that simply meant he had the power to have an effect on extra individuals, and to impact extra change and impact extra justice.”
Glover, 75, inherited his coronary heart from his dad and mom, who have been postal staff in San Francisco and members of the postal union. He watched his dad and mom be a part of the civil rights motion, and as a young person with a paper route he paid consideration to information popping out of the South in regards to the Scholar Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and activists akin to Bob Moses, who later grew to become a good friend.

“I keep in mind when [Moses] got here on the market in my senior yr in highschool and spoke at Stanford College, recruiting college students to go down for Freedom Summer time,” stated Glover. That’s when he and his friends started asking the query: “How did we see one other world?”

As a scholar at San Francisco State College, he joined a coalition of Black, Latinx and Asian college students for a months-long Third World Liberation Entrance strike and was arrested for his trigger. He acquired concerned in local people improvement and tutoring, catching a lifelong love for “grassroots, democratic motion by atypical residents … taking accountability for their very own rescue.”

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Glover by no means left his roots — actually; he nonetheless lives 12 blocks from the home the place he grew up in Haight-Ashbury. It breaks his coronary heart to see the undoing of the nice work he and others completed again within the Sixties and to stroll previous homeless individuals every single day, together with individuals he is aware of.

“Generally they don’t ask me for any cash,” he stated. “They’re simply saying: ‘You see us. You acknowledge our presence.’ They’re proper across the nook from my home. And I don’t stroll round them.”

Glover could have been solid within the “political cauldron” of Sixties San Francisco, Woodard stated, “however from the very starting he linked it to worldwide communities — not considering internationally, however he’d say, ‘You recognize what? Similar battle is happening over in Mozambique,’ or wherever he was speaking about. He’s all the time had a worldview, however he considered the world as his local people.”

Whereas working in metropolis authorities out of faculty, he took an curiosity in performing, impressed by the works of South African playwright Athol Fugard.

“Black artwork itself has all the time been an try to have the ability to elevate our story, to counterpoint our story,” stated Glover, who honed his craft on the stage and by 1981 was reserving elements on TV and shortly the films. His efficiency as Moze in “Locations within the Coronary heart,” a sort cotton farmer who helps a white widow in rural Texas solely to be attacked by the Ku Klux Klan, earned him accolades and launched his Hollywood profession.

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Actor Danny Glover

Danny Glover nonetheless lives inside blocks of his Haight-Ashbury childhood house.

(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Occasions)

“He was so younger and lovely and vibrant,” stated his co-star Sally Discipline. “And to me, to have what occurs to Moze within the movie, to that lovely younger man, was far more heartbreaking.”

Whereas filming in Waxahachie, Texas, in 1984, Discipline remembered Glover saying, even then, there have been native bars he didn’t really feel secure going to with the opposite forged members.

The actor noticed his Southern ancestors within the position, and he devoted it to his mom — who died earlier than she noticed the movie. “I do know my mother is smiling,” he stated.

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Glover has performed good cops — most famously within the blockbuster “Deadly Weapon” sequence — and dangerous cops, as he did in Peter Weir’s “Witness.” He’s been all the pieces from an embittered baseball coach who adopts two foster youngsters in “Angels within the Outfield,” to a sinister wife-beater in “The Shade Purple.”

When his grandmother noticed that 1985 Steven Spielberg movie, she stated: “I’m gonna get a swap after that boy!” he stated along with his hearty chortle.

Glover used the cachet of “Deadly Weapon” to get social dramas produced — akin to “The Saint of Fort Washington,” the place he performed a homeless man in New York. He additionally made certain to shine a lightweight on apartheid and different real-world points within the “Deadly” movies.

“They’re type of foolish in a whole lot of methods, these movies,” stated his “Deadly” companion, Mel Gibson, who’s at present creating one other entry with a component for Glover. “However on the identical time, there’s all the time just a little one thing in them that addresses some form of challenge, the place there’s an imbalance that requires just a little equilibrium.

“I simply have an amazing quantity of admiration for the man,” Gibson added, “as a result of he places his cash the place his mouth is. And he’s powerful. He’s per no matter he does.”

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Certainly one of Glover’s most acclaimed performances was in Charles Burnett’s “To Sleep With Anger” (1990), a low-budget indie that struggled for financing till the actor got here aboard and lent it his star energy. Burnett initially supplied him the a part of one of many younger males within the story, however Glover requested if he may play Harry, the old-timer who drifts into city and begins inflicting bother.

“It’s speculated to be an ambiguous form of a task,” stated Burnett, “as a result of he’s not positively evil, as such. It’s topic to at least one’s tackle it. Since you by no means see him do something dangerous, bodily — you already know, it’s extra a rumor you hear. And he comes out and he says very actually, up entrance, ‘You don’t know who I’m.’ Every part he does has a component of reality to it.”

Glover doesn’t remorse taking a single position. “Beloved” is crucial movie he ever made, he stated, “as a result of it brings a distinct form of care to ache, and historic ache, and what occurs to individuals after 250 years of bondage. How have they got to struggle by way of the thought of id? How do they restore their very own worth?”

Extra not too long ago, Glover has been in movies set in his hometown — together with “Sorry to Trouble You” and “The Final Black Man in San Francisco.” Jonathan Majors performed his grandson within the latter and marveled at how Glover “fashions vulnerability and empathy. He has the power to make you consider, immediately. And never all actors have that. A method that’s invisible.”

Glover by no means left San Francisco, at the same time as his star rose in Hollywood. He purchased his present home in 1975 for $62,500 when he was working for the town on a wage of $21,000. He shakes his head eager about how so a lot of his neighbors and even relations have been squeezed out.

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“It’s actually tough within the metropolis, however I really like the town,” he stated. “The tragedy, I feel, of actually the system, is that housing turns into a commodity, and since it turns into a commodity, then individuals are pushed to the facet.”

Glover reminisced about his childhood and about his grandparents and his father (“finest good friend I ever had”) and his 4 siblings, two of whom have died. Woodard believes his humanitarianism was bred at house.

“When he would speak about his mother, he would get a smile on his face, and he would all the time contact his chest,” stated Woodard. “He had that compassion, and the eye to element by way of seeing an individual and seeing an individual’s want.”

In the midst of an hour, Glover flitted from speaking about voting rights, math literacy, job safety, mass incarceration and a half dozen different points near his coronary heart, from injustices in his yard to these in Africa and Palestine.

“However one of many issues that’s constant, I feel, is making an attempt to have a imaginative and prescient of a greater world, and a distinct world,” he stated. “The query is, for us, what position can we play? Which facet are we on in that change? And I feel a part of my understanding of that might have been the identical whether or not I used to be an actor or not.”

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Nonetheless, he added, “artists aren’t absent from that discourse. And the audiences aren’t absent. They wish to know extra, they wish to study extra, they wish to see the potential for change — actually the change inside a personality, however the doable adjustments with out.”

What hasn’t modified for Glover is his optimism and humility, which others assist him keep. He nonetheless sees among the guys he used to play-fight with as a child: “I get a kick out of it, man. They’ll say, ‘You’ll have carried out some motion pictures, however you continue to a chump!’”

And he laughs that Danny Glover chortle.

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Movie Reviews

‘Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal’ movie review: A character-driven drama marked by its remarkable restraint

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‘Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal’ movie review: A character-driven drama marked by its remarkable restraint

A still from ‘Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal’

Everything inNarayaneente Moonnaanmakkalis marked by the not-so-common quality of restraint. It is something that punctuates the conversations, as well as Appu Prabhakar’s camera movements and director Sharan Venugopal’s approach to the material. That restraint, which is maintained throughout, is remarkable for what is being said in the film, weighty, emotional issues that could easily slip into the ever-familiar loud treatment.

It is thus a film which also stays clear of the big event. Rather it leans on its well-etched characters to pull off memorable moments which reveal their innermost feelings. This also means that the film does not hit any high moments, but director Sharan Venugopal, who also wrote the film, appears to be just content to remain in this space to tease out its myriad hues.

The setting has much in common with Aalkkoottathil Thaniye(1984), written by M.T.Vasudevan Nair and directed by I.V.Sasi, with the three sons of Narayani coming together with their families after a long time at the ancestral house as she is on her deathbed. Early on, we get a sense that there is some bad blood between the eldest brother Vishwanathan (Alencier Lay Lopez) and Bhaskar (Suraj Venjaramood), the youngest, who is coming back to their home after decades. Sethu (Joju George), the middle one, considered a loser by the other two, appears to be the most sensible of the three.

Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal (Malayalam)

Director: Sharan Venugopal

Cast: Joju George, Suraj Venjaramood, Alencier Lay Lopez, Garggi Ananthan, Shelly Kishore

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Runtime: 117 minutes

Storyline: As their mother lies on the deathbed, three brothers, who have been estranged for a long while, come together at the ancestral house, bringing back past memories and conflicts

But the film mostly views the family through the eyes of the younger generation — Athira (Garggi Ananthan) and her cousin Nikhil (Thomas Mathew) — who tries to make sense of simmering tensions within the family, while also struggling with their own boundary-less feelings and past traumas. The film also depends on them to build its mild conflict, which can elicit conflicting reactions from the audience depending on the way they look at it. But the screenwriter handles the situation somewhat adeptly by turning it into a gentle call for better understanding between humans, a call that especially goes out to the grown-ups in the film.

As more young filmmakers are doing these days, Sharan, even while critiquing, takes a non-judgmental view of the flawed characters, with an understanding of the social context in which they grew up. Vishwanathan, who still holds the pain of the casteist insults that a neighbour directed at his father, in another context reveals his regressive, communal face. But, in yet another scene, we get a more rounded sense of the man through his daughter’s words and from his act of passing a dish at the dinner table to a character he apparently despises. We then see someone who is attempting to break free from his ingrained bigotry but is not fully successful at it, especially when anger gets the better of him.

Garggi Ananthan along with Joju George succeeds in bringing a sense of depth to the characters through their performances, which holds the key in a not-so-dialogue-heavy film. Most of the other actors do bring to the table what was required of them.

In Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal, Sharan Venugopal hits the sweet spot between saying all that has to be said and keeping quite a bit unsaid. And, that makes all the difference. 

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Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal is currently running in theatres

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Willy Chavarria on some of his finest celebrity fashion looks

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Willy Chavarria on some of his finest celebrity fashion looks

Last month, award-winning Latino fashion designer Willy Chavarria brought his renegade sensibilities to the runway in France, finally making his long-awaited debut at Men’s Fashion Week in Paris with his fall collection, “Tarántula.” Chavarria tells the story of American fashion through a Chicano lens, creating now-distinctive oversize, sculptural silhouettes that pull from various eras of Mexican American style, from sharply angular zoot suits to blue-collar workwear.

Since launching his eponymous brand in 2015, the Fresno-born designer’s ability to weave together culture, politics and identity into the fabric of his clothes has made him one of the buzziest designers working in fashion today. At one point during “Tarántula,” models walked down the runway to the sound of Bishop Mariann Edger Budde, whose sermon at the Inaugural Prayer Service included a direct plea to President Trump that he “have mercy” upon immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

By drawing from his Mexican and Irish American roots, as well as his life as a proud gay man, Chavarria flaunts his progressive principles while creating new and novel experiences on the runway. It’s one reason why, despite his rising profile, Chavarria still relies heavily on street-casting for his shows, finding everyday faces to model his collection. “I like for us to see the magnificent beauty within ourselves, especially those of us who are used to seeing a stereotypically negative portrayal,” he tells De Los over email.

There were more than a few familiar faces to be found on the runway in Paris, including Becky G, J Balvin and Tokischa — just a few of the high-profile stars the designer has worked with. Chavarria understands the power of visibility, and he’s selective in who he chooses to work with, knowing that their celebrity will help amplify his message.

“The WILLY CHAVARRIA brand is a belief in human dignity and a right to identity,” he says. “When a celebrity chooses to wear the brand, it’s not just to look and feel sickening, but to share alignment with a belief in social justice. I’ve tended to attract the people I am attracted to, and we often become friends. I like to dress people who have worked hard to get where they are, and who are bold in their personal identity.”

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Here are some of the celebs who have boldly represented Chavarria’s brand on runways, red carpets or just out on the town.

Becky G

The singer, a longtime supporter of Chavarria, was almost unrecognizable in her vampy, chola-inspired makeup look, sporting a “Sad Mami” tank top as part of the “Tarántula” show. In an Instagram post after the show, she wrote, “[Willy Chavarria] was one of the first designers to move me to tears…few years ago I sat in a New York City church behind Madonna as the sounds of my childhood played while the models, who looked like my family, walked down the aisle. Willy’s fashion made me believe that I belonged. That there was actually someone who cared enough about us to create & dedicate art to our culture. Chicano culture.”

Kendrick Lamar

With their shared West Coast pride, it was almost inevitable that these two would link up. Chavarria first worked with the rapper on his Big Steppers Tour in 2023, and later dressed him for the viral sensation “Not Like Us” music video. Most recently, the duo announced a Super Bowl-themed capsule collection ahead of K.Dot’s upcoming halftime performance. “Kendrick performing is so monumental given his voice on the empowerment of brown and Black people and I love his pure L.A. heart,” Chavarria said in an interview with WWD. “Working with Kendrick is an important cultural moment for the two of us. We both have an unwavering voice when it comes to our people.”

Madonna

The buzz around Chavarria skyrocketed when Madonna sat front row at his spring menswear show during New York Fashion Week in 2022. Since then, he’s worked with the legendary singer on numerous occasions.

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Indya Moore

Indya Moore

The “Pose” actor and activist sported an expertly tailored funeral coat on the “Tarántula” runway — a fitting, dramatic choice for the show’s setting at the American Cathedral. “It’s difficult to integrate meaningfulness in fashion culture, it can be unkind, at times hostile, and unintentional,” they wrote on Instagram. “[I’m] grateful for Willy’s creative capacity to create garments that hold us in ways that engage our dignity, as opposed to just our egos.”

Billie Eilish

By now, Eilish has become known for her oversize looks, but the “What Was I Made For?” singer still managed to stun when she hit the 2024 Golden Globe Awards wearing a full Willy Chavarria fit that included a black blazer, wide-leg khakis and a black necktie. She doubled up with another of Chavarria’s busines- casual-inspired looks at the Grammys a month later.

Tracee Ellis Ross

The actress has become a familiar fixture in the front row of Chavarria’s shows, and has been seen on the red carpet and out on the town wearing his designs. “There’s an element of flamboyance, glamour and street that really matches my soul,” she said of his work in an interview with Elle.

J Balvin

Latin singer J Balvin walks the runway at Willy Chavarria's debut Paris Fashion Week show.

The Colombian singer has been a friend (and official muse) of Chavarria’s for years — so it was only natural that Balvin would pull double duty at the designer’s latest show. Not only did Balvin model one of Chavarria’s iconic suits, but he also gave an intermission performance.

Bad Bunny

Back in 2022, the Puerto Rican superstar modeled a satin set from Chavarria in a story for Vogue, and later wore a floor-length black coat from the designer’s Fall 2023 collection when he graced the cover of Time the following year.

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Venus Williams

The tennis superstar turned heads when she arrived at the 2023 U.S. Open wearing an Alaïa dress and a Chavarria blazer.

Ozuna

After making a surprise appearance as a guest at Chavarria’s 2024 New York Fashion Week Show, the singer upped his game this year and walked the runway wearing an oversize plaid button-down and a white cowboy hat.

Tokischa

When Chavarria was being honored as the CFDA’s Menswear Designer of the Year in 2023, he arrived with Tokischa and Rauw Alejandro, all wearing complementary outfits that featured oversize silk gardenias. This year, the Dominican rapper supported her friend by walking the runway in a retro bouffant and black funeral dress. “Your first Paris show was a powerful celebration of our culture, our roots, and the beauty of BLACK & LATINx Queer community,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for sharing such a loud and clear message with the world.”

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‘Loveyapa’ movie review: Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor toil in this shallow rom-com

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‘Loveyapa’ movie review: Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor toil in this shallow rom-com

A still from ‘Loveyapa’ 
| Photo Credit: @zeecafe/YouTube

Smartphone is the new villain in love stories. Screenwriters looking for new obstacles for love birds have discovered social evils on the web. After Muddassar Aziz used phone swapping to generate humour in Khel Khel Main, director Advait Chandan recycles the Tamil hit Love Today to create a romantic comedy about the ill effects of social media and artificial intelligence on relationships in Loveyapa.

Baani (Khushi Kapoor) and Gaurav (Junaid Khan) feel their romance is transparent till Baani’s father Atul (Ashutosh Rana) asks them to swap their phones before they exchange vows. As the phones get unlocked, it opens Pandora’s chat box with the video libraries and vaults of phones revealing secrets that both are not ready to overlook.

Written by Sneha Desai, the film makes interesting observations on how the young generation is losing touch with reality and how there is a distinct difference in their online and offline character. In this game of choices, there is no gender divide. It also touches upon the issues of online fat shaming and the emerging scourge of deepfakes.

Loveyapa (Hindi)

Director: Advait Chandan

Cast: Junaid Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Grusha Kapoor, Kiku Sharda

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Runtime: 137 minutes

Synopsis: Pushed by the girl’s father, when a couple exchange their phones, their relationship spirals into a crisis.

However, after setting the stage, Loveyapa comes across a skit bloated into a feature film with gaseous matter. It is like a video game with no second level and gradually reads like a visual essay on the ills of the internet. Ironically, the commentary on the emerging necessary evil in society uses the film to promote the latest model of a smartphone in the market.

Made for an audience that expresses its deepest emotions through ready-made emojis, the screenplay suffers from generation loss and a sense of ennui fills you after the popcorn break. One waits for the next box to be ticked followed by a few guffaws.

A still from ‘Loveyapa’ 

A still from ‘Loveyapa’ 
| Photo Credit:
@zeecafe/YouTube

Both Junaid and Khushi are earnest in their performance but if screen presence is something casting directors look for, both have a long way to go. They lack the charm that could tide over the blanks in storytelling. Learning on the sets, Khushi carries a consistent smile and sounds like her sister Janhvi. Junaid is a work in progress and is perhaps better suited for intense roles. His eyes twinkle like his father Aamir Khan’s gaze in the second half but there is not much heft in the story to employ them.

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As always, star kids bank on a strong support cast. Ashutosh Rana once again channelises his chaste Hindi to evoke awe. Grusha Kapoor and Kiku Sharda do the heavy lifting to accentuate the melodrama for those who love to drink new wine from the old bottle.

Loveyapa is currently running in theatres

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