News

Pharrell will launch a new multi-day music festival, Something In the Water, this spring featuring performances from Missy Elliott, Migos, Janelle Monáe, Travis Scott and more. The festival will take place on the beach in the musician’s hometown, Virginia Beach, Virginia, April 26th through 28th.

The lineup for Something in the Water boasts a diverse array of artists including J Balvin, Sza, Lil Uzi Vert, Diplo, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals, Kaytranada, Jhené Aiko, Maggie Rogers, Mac DeMarco and Jaden Smith. The lineup also boasts a handful of Virginia artists including Pharrell,...

Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Mahershala Ali, Tony Hale, Bill Hader, Christian Slater, Common, Randall Park, Rami Malek, Portia Doubleday, Thomas Mann, Anna Deavere Smith, Miranda Cosgrove, Melissa Rivers, Kevin Frazier and many more will participate in “Eif Presents: Xq Super School Live,” a special one-hour telecast which will invite the public to help rethink the future of American high schools.

They will join Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, who also serve as executive producers, in the all-star telecast, which will air live from Los Angeles on all four major U.S. networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – on Friday, Sept. 8 at 8:00-9:00 Pm Et live/Pt tape-delayed.

In September 2015, Xq: The Super School Project launched an open call to rethink and design the next American high schools. Since then, thousands of communities across the country have come together to reimagine high school education. “Eif Presents: Xq Super...

"We are witnessing a massive shift in the boundaries of possibility," a talk radio host suggests midway through the first season of Luke Cage. In that moment, the host is discussing Luke Cage the man: super-strong, bullet-proof vigilante, waging a one-man war on crime in Harlem. But she could just as easily be discussing Luke Cage the Netflix/Marvel drama that debuts Friday, and what it and predecessor Jessica Jones have tried to do with the now-ubiquitous superhero TV show. Just as Jessica Jones — the show that introduced Mike Colter as Cage, as part of Netflix's elaborate plan to introduce their own team of street-level superheroes — found new life in a very familiar genre by filtering the cliches through an explicitly feminist lens (Jessica is a rape survivor, literally and metaphorically), Luke Cage does it by placing things in an unapologetically black context. Cage's new base of operations is Harlem,...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.

The festival runs from January 27-February 7.

Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.

World Premieres

A Better You, USA

Directed by Matt Walsh

Cast: Brian Huskey,...

A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...

PBS will air the first Ted Talk produced for television, an education special featuring Bill Gates, Geoffrey Canada and Sir Ken Robinson, the network announced. "Ted Talks Education" will air Tuesday, April 16, the same night PBS will air the film "The Central Park Five," about five young men falsely accused in an attack on a jogger in 1989. Microsoft founder and philanthopist Gates, author and educator Robinson, and social activist and educator Canada will record the special on April 4 at the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on...

PBS and Wnet have teamed up to produce Ted Talks Education, the first original Ted public television education special set to air April 16. The series, announced today at TCA by Wnet VP Stephen Segaller, will feature thought leaders on the topic of learning, including Bill Gates, author and educator Sir Ken Robinson, and social activist and educator Geoffrey Canada. Ted is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” It is not, joked Segaller, “Seth MacFarlane’s potty-mouthed teddy bear.”...

Renowned Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. has helped a number of celebrities discover integral aspects of their family origins, now he's taking on tracking down the family history of media legend Barbara Walters.

In an episode on his PBS series "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.," Gates uncovers the ancestry of both Walters and social activist and educator Geoffrey Canada. Prior to their appearance on the show, both Walters and Canada had been unable to access information about their families because of name changes in the past.

"Finding Your Roots" is the fourth installment of Gates' franchise, the first three drew a combined 25 million viewers, The Washington Post reports.

Walters and Canada are among a star-studded group of individuals looking to dig into their genealogy, including Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Corey Booker.

Find out what the two discover Sunday night at 9 p.

On May 14, 2012, multi-faceted entertainer Steve Harvey and co-host Soledad O’Brien of CNN will host The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation Gala presented by Screen Gems in New York, honoring Bet Networks’ Chairman and CEO Debra L. Lee, director/producer Spike Lee and best-selling author/activist Tonya Lee, Capital Preparatory Magnet School founder and CNN contributor Dr. Steve Perry, and Victory Junction Gang founders/Nascar icons Richard and Kyle Petty, with The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation’s Helping Hand Award.

Marking the gala’s third year, The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation Gala (formerly The Steve Harvey Foundation Gala) will converge at Cipriani Wall Street for an unforgettable evening with Title Sponsor Screen Gems, Print Sponsor Essence and sponsor Coca-Cola, and feature the dynamic vocal talents of Rachelle Ferrell, with special guest Bill Cosby and event chairs Madeline Nelson, Julius Erving III, and more showing support.

Honoring Debra Lee,...

For genealogy buffs and those who just can't get enough of celebrities, there's plenty of cause to celebrate in 2012 as there will be four solid months of famous roots on air. Barring any schedule adjustments, the heritage of one to three celebrities will be explored every week from Feb. 3 to May 20.

NBC will launch first with its third season of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring a stellar line up of 12 stars: Jerome Bettis, Paula Deen, Edie Falco, Helen Hunt, Rashida Jones, Rob Lowe, Reba McEntire, Martin Sheen, Jason Sudeikis, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood and Rita Wilson. Slotted for 8:00 on Friday nights starting on Feb. 3, this will be the longest season to date.

On Sunday evenings beginning March 25, Henry Louis Gates Jr. returns for his fourth season on PBS with Finding Your Roots. With a format that blends two notables each week and places greater emphasis on genetic discoveries,...

New York parents are slamming the civil-rights giant for its role in a turf battle that could put 7,000 eager students out of classrooms. John Avlon on why the group is on the wrong side of history this time.

It was an inspiring sight: a protest rally 3,000 strong in the heart of Harlem. Students, parents, and teachers wielding signs and slogans, all standing up for their right to pursue a quality public-school education.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Obama's War on Schools

But the target of their anger was unexpected: the NAACP.

In a role reversal, the esteemed civil-rights organization-which helped secure equal access to education a half-century ago in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education-is now decidedly on the wrong side of history.

This past Friday, the New York chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit with the United Federation of Teachers to stop the expansion of 19 charter...

The winners of the 2011 Glyph Awards have been announced. Recognising the best in comics made by, for, and about people of colour in 2010, the awards were presented at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philadelphia. Geoffrey Canada and Jamar Nicholas's Fist Stick Knife Gun was named 'Story of the Year'. The book's star Geoff - a character based on the author - was declared 'Best Male Character', and Nicholas took the 'Rising Star' award. Vertigo's (more)...

The key players of "The King's Speech" - Tom Hooper and Colin Firth

The Time 100 list always fascinates me, the whos and whys of the list never failing to hold my interest. First point of reference though is, okay, who from our world of film made it… James Cameron? Morgan Spurlock? Johnny Depp? Who???

For those of you who are similarly inclined, here are the folk from film on this year’s list, do you agree with their inclusion???

Amy Poehler – although known primarily for her work on “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation,” she is, of course, a familiar face on film. “Baby Mama,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “Blades of Glory” and “Mean Girls” come most easily to mind.

Geoffrey Canada – not quite a known entity in film, this incredible educator is featured heavily in a film of which we’re fans, Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman.

The key players of "The King's Speech" - Tom Hooper and Colin Firth

The Time 100 list always fascinates me, the whos and whys of the list never failing to hold my interest. First point of reference though is, okay, who from our world of film made it… James Cameron? Morgan Spurlock? Johnny Depp? Who???

For those of you who are similarly inclined, here are the folk from film on this year’s list, do you agree with their inclusion???

Amy Poehler – although known primarily for her work on “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation,” she is, of course, a familiar face on film. “Baby Mama,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “Blades of Glory” and “Mean Girls” come most easily to mind.

Geoffrey Canada – not quite a known entity in film, this incredible educator is featured heavily in a film of which we’re fans, Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman.

The Time 100 for 2011 illustrates how powerful media and movies are in turning folks into trending influencers. For example, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's profile was hugely improved and enhanced by the success of Oscar-winner The Social Network, as was producer Scott Rudin's; Arianna Huffington's constant presence on the airwaves has turned her into a recognizably high-profile media mogul; educators Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Ree might not have been included without Davis Guggenheim's education expose Waiting for Superman; last year poet rocker Patti Smith starred in a feature documentary as well as publishing her well-reviewed bestselling memoir Kids; Matthew Weiner went to media war to stay onboard his series Mad Men for another two years; Tom Ford expanding from fashion to movies (A ...

Academy Award® Best Picture Winner The King’S Speech Is Now The Family Event Of The Year

The Weinstein Company Implements Youth Education Initiative

As The King’S Speech PG-13 Is Now In Theaters Nationwide

New York, NY, April 2011 – Geoffrey Canada endorses The King’S Speech PG-13, which opened nationwide this past weekend. Canada, president of Harlem Children’s Zone, went on record at the time of the MPAA hearing for Academy Award® Best Picture winner The King’S Speech, in support of making the film accessible to a broader and younger audience. Last week he spoke out about the benefits of the new release of the film. Canada, is the first major educator to publicly support The King’S Speech.

Canada said: “I feel that if young people can see the King of England struggle and ultimately overcome his personal challenges, it will help open them up to the...

Elizabeth Taylor died today and that's sad in that somewhat disconnected way that celebrity deaths tend to be. There's very few celebrities I feel strongly enough about that when they die I feel genuinely shocked or upset; they more exist somewhere in the abstract realm where you know of them, you know what they do, what they wear, and what they sound like, who they've married and/or dated, etc., but you've never met them or interacted with them and their death won't affect your life in any significant way. However, Ms.Taylor was loved by many people who will surely miss her and they have my condolences. Here's your Wednesday night TV:

8:00pm: "American Idol" on Fox. There's another singing contest starting up soon called "The Voice" so we can add that to the pile along with "America's Got Talent" and the upcoming State-side version of "X Factor...

A thorough documentary takes a journalistic look at an issue by investigating it from all possible angles, removing the emotional component from the discussion and using the gathered information to draw a logical conclusion. A popular and successful documentary heightens an emotional issue by emphasizing the plight of the downtrodden while demonizing the oppressors, all while making their point of view easily understandable to the masses. Waiting for Superman is a fantastic example of a documentary which attempts to be thorough while being successful and wildly engaging. Of course, it helps that director and writer Davis Guggenheim has two other films under his belt (It Might Get Loud and An Inconvenient Truth) that join Waiting for Superman on the list of 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time. Rather than solve global warming, this time around Guggenheim tries to tackle an equally frustrating issue: educational reform in America. Hit the jump to read my Blu-ray review.

Continuing the momentum of the Social Action campaign begun during the theatrical release of director Davis Guggenheim's landmark documentary Waiting for Superman, Participant Media is encouraging people to purchase the DVD or Blu-ray and join thousands of people across the United States gathering for home viewing parties. The House Party initiative hopes to continue the discussions sparked by the award-winning film about public education and encourage people to get involved in helping to improve the nation's educational system. In addition to over 1,000 people across the country committing to hosting screenings in their homes, Participant has partnered with a number of groups, including United Way, Stand for Children, The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, America's Promise and the U.S. Chamber to encourage screenings and discussions in communities nationwide. In all it is anticipated that over 5,000 House Parties will be held by the end of May.

To launch the initiative,...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son – Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas

I Am Number Four – Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron

Unknown – Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

Movie of the Week

Unknown

The Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

The Plot: A man (Neeson) awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.

The Buzz: Liam Neeson rocks. So happy to see his career is still in full swing. There have been a couple missable films on his most recent filmography (Clash of the Titans, The A-Team), but those were smaller roles, and he’s had his fair share of ‘must sees’ over the past few years (Taken, Five Minutes of Heaven, Chloe). The trailer for Unknown was thoroughly enticing.

Four months into the release of Waiting for Superman, glimmers of possible change in public education illuminate the horizon.

(A charter school lottery in Waiting for Superman.) by Terry Keefe (Note: I spoke to Davis Guggenheim, and wrote this article, a few weeks ago, when Waiting for Superman was considered by many a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination. It didn't receive that Oscar nomination but would have nonetheless been well-deserving of it. The article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine.)

Waiting for Superman director Davis Guggenheim might be wishing for a few super-powers of his own with the virtual non-stop schedule he's been keeping to promote his documentary about the crisis in American public schools, since its release at the end of September. A front runner for the Best Documentary Academy Award, Waiting for Superman has already scooped up the top feature doc prizes from the National Board of Review,...

Documentaries became a box office factor with the rise of such films as "Hoop Dreams" and "Roger & Me." Before then, there were hit music documentaries like "Woodstock" but most other nonfiction films could expect short runs in few theaters before dutiful audiences. What a small but growing minority of Friday night moviegoers is beginning to discover is that there's a good chance the movie they might enjoy most at the multiplex is a doc.

In alphabetical order, these were the best documentaries I saw in 2010:

"45365" is the zip code of Sidney, Ohio. The brothers Bill and Turner Ross were born there perhaps 30 years ago. They knew everybody in town, and when they spent seven months of 2007 filming its daily life, their presence must have become commonplace. Their film evokes what Winesburg, Ohio might have looked like as a documentary.

The film is privileged. No one is filmed with a hidden camera.

Always good to get back in the groove after break. Here’s what’s happened:

Episode Guides:

Fantasy Colbert League Weekly Episode 7001 – Guest Ed Rendell Episode 7002 – Guest Geoffrey Canada Episode 7003 – Guest Atul Gawande Episode 7004 – Guest Ronald DePinho

No Fact Zone features:

Eye Candy: John Legend backstage at the ‘Colbert Report’ The No Fact Zone State of the Union address for 2011

Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist:

Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – The Best of 2010, part 1 Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – The Best of 2010, part 2 Update to Stephen Colbert/Evelyn McGee-Colbert Luna Stage performance Fan Art: Stephen Colbert tattoos

Klassic Kolbert:

Video: Stephen Colbert performs “Raven” from ‘Wigfield’ International House of Stephen (12/28/2010)

Six Degrees:

Eric Drysdale’s “The Man With F.E.E.E.T.” Contest!

To keep up with the latest news about Stephen Colbert and “The Colbert Report”, please subscribe to the RSS feed, via reader,...

Episode Number: 7002 (January 4, 2011)

Guests: Ron Paul & David Leonhardt, Geoffrey Canada

Segments: Native American Overlords, Gold Faithful

Videos: Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Oh, how I chuckle when Stephen gets amazingly politically incorrect about Native Americans. Stephen’s Indian monologue (How!) was cringtastically delicious. I also found the Gold dialogue and interviews with Ron Paul and David Leonhardt to be quite informative. It’s interesting to me the logic that Stephen brought verses the arguments that Ron Paul brought, and the comparison of all of that to Leonhardt’s fact-checking of all of it. I also loved the ending line about whether they would want to worship a cow of paper or gold. It made me think of “Kneel before your God, Babylon!”

When I listen to people like Geoffrey Canada, who are very well informed about what is truly going on in the school systems today, I fear for our future. I know...

A while ago I'd toyed with the idea of coming up with a video format for Pajiba After Dark, but ultimately dismissed it as being too difficult and ineffective since the beauty of this is that you can scan down to find shows and times relatively easily and there wouldn't be a way to do that with a video. However, now that I'm stuck with the freaking Left Hand of Doom because of a broken pinkie finger, I'm toying with that idea again as typing is frustrating and slow to do. So, any suggestions would be welcome, or you could tell me to quit my bitching and learn to type one handed better. Here's your Tuesday night TV:

7:00pm: "Caprica" on SyFy. "Caprica" ends tonight with a big ass marathon of all the remaining episodes so all you "Caprica" fans can park yourselves on the couch for several hours...

Welcome back, Zoners, and happy New Year to all! I wish everyone a healthy and joyous 2011. (*Toasting you all with a sparkling glass of champagne*) One thing that will help get it off to a great start: new episodes of the Report! We’ve got a governor, a renowned educator, and two Harvard-based doctors.

Monday, January 3rd: Governor Ed Rendell:

Former mayor of Philadelphia Ed Rendell has been Governor of Pennsylvania since 2002. He’s a major player in the Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic Governors Association who has advocated the use of slot machines to reduce taxes, cut administrative costs, and quadrupled the number of minority- and women-owned business in his state. A huge sports fan, Rendell recently criticized the NFL for cancelling the Philadelphia Eagles/Minnesota Vikings game due to the blizzard, claiming that “we’re becoming a nation of wussies.”

Although he supported Hilary Clinton for the presidency,...

An impassioned documentary about Us schools. Anyone with an interest in the coalition's education reforms will be watching closely. By Cath Clarke

How badly is the state school system failing in America? Badly enough for Bill Gates to make an appearance in this impassioned documentary from the director of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Like that film, this is a crusading call to action, full of entry-level facts, easy-as graphics and shocking statistics. (by 2020 only 50 million Americans will be qualified enough to fill 123m skilled jobs.) Geoffrey Canada is the star of the show, a charismatic education reformer who has transformed Harlem with a radical social experiment: the Harlem Children's Zone – which includes three independently operated public charter schools. The film-makers have come under fire and anyone with an interest in the coalition's education reforms will be watching closely. Heartbreakingly, the doc also follows five kids whose parents have entered...

Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) Hamlet II -- Drama: Who wouldn't want a drama teacher with enough courage to put on a production of Rock Me, Sexy Jesus, where Jesus uses a time machine to save Gertrude and Ophelia?

Mr. Furlong (Jon Stewart) The Faculty -- Science: It's kind of the perfect science teacher, if you're like me and you hate science. He's a parasite, so you're allowed to kill him, preferably with a pen to the eye.

Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams) Rushmore -- Remedial Reading: She'll break your heart, and maybe mess around with your mentor, but she's very pretty to look at, and she's from Harvard.

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) Half Nelson -- History Teacher and Coach: Who wouldn't want a history teacher who could not only teach you about dialectics, but after class, he'll smoke a rock with you.

Mr. Kerber (Vincent Schiavelli) Better Off Dead -- Math:...

Now you can watch Bring Your “A” Game online. It’s a 22-minute docu-drama directed by Mario Van Peebles that addresses the plight of young black men, broadly-speaking, their options and influences (however limited), and provides solutions to change the course of the lives of many, emphasizing the essentiality of educational achievement.

The film was made in collaboration with Twenty-First Century Foundation (21Cf), and features interviews with Black male local and national public figures, such as Spike Lee , Chris Rock, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Russell Simmons, Lou Gossett Jr., Lupe Fiasco, Hill Harper, Dr. Cornel West, Ice Cube, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, Damon Dash, Kevin Powell, Melvin Van Peebles, Geoffrey Canada, and former NBA star Alan Houston, and others.

Check out the 2 1/2-minute preview below and then head over to SnagFilms to watch it for free, in its entirety, Here:...

We’re really proud to open a premiere run of a groundbreaking new documentary about the horrible state of the American educational system. From Davis Guggenheim, the director of An Inconvenient Truth, comes Waiting For Superman, a critical doc that will make you reconsider what public education is. The film centers on a lottery, in which the future prospects of thousands of inner-city kids are gambled as some are chosen to enroll in special charter schools while others are left to rot in school systems with graduation rates near the single digits.

This lottery system, while humiliating and devastating to many of the participants, is a huge point in the film and one that raises more questions than it answers. Roger Ebert articulates this perfectly in his column this week:

What struck me most of all was Geoffrey Canada’s confidence that a charter school run on his model can...

Singer didn't reveal a starting date or venue details at press conference.

By Jayson Rodriguez

Prince announces his Welcome 2 America tour at the Apollo Theater Thursday

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/ Getty Images

New York — Prince has a long list of hits, but the Minnesota superstar is short on words.

The singer held a press conference at Harlem's Apollo Theater on Thursday (October 14) to announce a new tour — dubbed Welcome 2 America — and he was brief in his address to the media, just under two minutes, and sparse on details.

"Welcome," Prince said to the crowd, sporting aviator-style sunglasses and a dark, textured sport coat adorned with a gold crest on the front. "We're here in New York to announce a series of events that will begin on a purple day in December 2010."

The legendary singer described the impending festivities as multiple nights of entertainment. Prince didn't announce a kickoff date or reveal...

Today is National Coming Out day, which is lent special significance this year given that there have been several teen suicides in recent weeks that have been tied to anti-gay bullying. I've seen more than a few messages of support on Facebook and references to The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project which are both things that everyone should be aware of, though I'm sure most people visiting this website already are. Honestly, in a lot of ways I'm a private person (...says the girl who writes about herself on the internet, but seriously, stick with me here for a minute) and I really and honestly believe that no one should have to define themselves by who they're attracted to and that as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult it's nobody's business what or who you do on your own time. Unfortunately, society's not there yet.

Quickcard Review

Waiting for ‘Superman’

Directed by: Davis Guggenheim

Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins

Rating: PG

Release Date: October 8, 2010

Plot: A documentary by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim shows us the current state of our education. We see five children as they struggle to make it in our schools. Public schools, teachers and other possibilities are all examined to see where the solution lies.

Who’S It For? If you’re a teacher, this film might be difficult to sit through. If you’re looking for a starting point to understand what the children of this nation go through, this documentary is for you.

Overall

Class, can I have your attention? I give you total and complete permission to skip this opening paragraph. The reason I am granting such an allowance is because in these first sentences I will only be discussing the title of the film, Waiting for ‘Superman’. It’s awful.

Waiting For Superman is the second best documentary I’ve seen this year that ends with low-income families nervously awaiting the outcome a lottery determining whether their child gets a coveted spot in a charter school. Documentarian Davis Guggenheim, best known for the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, is a self-identified liberal and a vocal supporter of public education. Guggenheim is also at the top of his field and can afford to send his own children to an expensive private school where he knows they will receive the best education money can buy. Pragmatist or hypocrite, Guggenheim does indeed seem like an unusual choice to make Waiting For Superman, a damning indictment of the dismal state of America’s broken public school system that focuses on key examples of how things can improve. Much of Waiting For Superman is told through the eyes of five children, all students in failing urban schools.

Recently we saw the release of Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for "Superman" and arriving this weekend is Charles Ferguson's Inside Job. Waiting for "Superman" deals with the issues facing public schooling in America while Inside Job tackles the causes of the economic crisis. As of right now Superman has a 93% RottenTomatoes rating and Inside Job has a pre-release rating of 95%. These are extraordinarily high numbers signaling these must be great films, but what does that mean?

Does it mean public schooling in America will begin improving immediately? Does it mean those responsible for causing the economic crisis will be held accountable? Does it mean critics and audiences hailing the films as marvels will take an active role? The answer to those first two questions is obviously no, but what I'm more interested in is the third question and how it relates to the overall effect of a documentary.

Can...

Documentary; directed by Davis Guggenheim.

By Kevin Bowen - October 2, 2010

I don’t like to pull out the phrases “important movie” and “this is the one movie you should see.” But if I had to describe a movie as important and had to say there is one movie you should see it’s "Waiting for Superman."

That’s not to say it’s my number one film for the year. And that doesn’t mean it’s a future classic. In thirty years, this film isn’t going to matter. Our education system then will teach our children for the world of that time. Whether that’s producing graduates prepared to compete in the global economy or imparting the nuances of prairie dog hunting to survive winter on the freezing plains, we will get the education we deserve.

If there is one thing that left and right have agreed on all my life,...

By Pete Hammond

HollywoodNews.com: Some studios put sequels into production after getting the first weekend’s boxoffice results. Some don’t even wait for that like Summit’s about-to-shoot “Twilight” finale or the upcoming “Harry Potter And The Deathly Gallows” which both decided to make two films at once and then release them six months apart. Of course those titles are not exactly what you might label big risks. On the other hand it is sort of unusual to see a sequel, like this weekend’s boxoffice leader “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” show up a full 23 years after the first installment but that’s exactly what 20th Century Fox and Oliver Stone have pulled off and judging by the nifty estimated $19 million take it’s already paying dividends. Then again it seems a natural as there was a financial meltdown in 1987 when the stock market crashed and there...

"He's a rockstar," says documentary director Davis Guggenheim of Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization that endeavors to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem. Mr. Canada appears as one of the few catalysts of educational reform in Guggenheim's provocative new documentary Waiting for Superman about America's notoriously crisis-ridden public school system. According to Guggenheim, America's public schools are in desperate need of rockstar teachers and administrators visionaries like Geoffrey Canada. No one watching the charismatic Mr. Canada or hearing about his accomplishments would disagree, as the documentary records Canada's successes and follows the lives of several talented American children, whose education and future lives hang in balance. Guggenheim invites viewers' outrage as he presents the shocking statistics that most Americans already know: our once great public schools...

We present the facts about this incisive education-themed documentary from Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim so you don't have to cram.

By Kara Warner

Students in "Waiting for Superman"

Photo: Paramount

After his last filmmaking effort, "An Inconvenient Truth," took the Oscar for Best Documentary, director Davis Guggenheim had the bar set rather high for his future projects. He seems to have met the challenge as his latest work, "Waiting for Superman," has been generating awards-show buzz and serious acclaim since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival early this year. ("Superman" won the fest's Documentary Audience Award.)

MTV News has been following the poignant film, from its start at Sundance to the debut of the first trailer, and even logged some conversation time with Guggenheim. The arresting documentary finally arrived in theaters on Friday (September 24), and we've gathered all the facts you need to know.

First of all, what's all the fuss about?...

We present the facts about this incisive education-themed documentary from Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim so you don't have to cram.

By Kara Warner

Students in "Waiting for Superman"

Photo: Paramount

After his last filmmaking effort, "An Inconvenient Truth," took the Oscar for Best Documentary, director Davis Guggenheim had the bar set rather high for his future projects. He seems to have met the challenge as his latest work, "Waiting for Superman," has been generating awards-show buzz and serious acclaim since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival early this year. ("Superman" won the fest's Documentary Audience Award.)

MTV News has been following the poignant film, from its start at Sundance to the debut of the first trailer, and even logged some conversation time with Guggenheim. The arresting documentary finally arrived in theaters on Friday (September 24), and we've gathered all the facts you need to know.

First of all, what's all the fuss about?...

Filed under: Documentaries, Cinematical

One of the most talked about documentaries of the season, especially having just screened positively at the Toronto Film Festival and getting a push this week from Oprah, Davis Guggenheim's 'Waiting for Superman' (read our review from Sundance) opens in select theaters this Friday. Specifically on four screens. It's set to expand in the coming weeks, but while you can make a pledge to see the work more locally and hope that it eventually comes to you, there is a chance that you'll have to wait til it hits DVD and Blu-ray. So if you're anxious for a similar doc for the time being, you should check out Madeleine Sackler's 'The Lottery.'

Screening this Saturday in Brooklyn and available for purchase at most outlets and to rent through iTunes, Amazon and Blockbuster (sorry, no Netflix at the moment), this film...

Filed under: Documentaries, Movie News

No, it's not a Christopher Reeve biopic.

If you happened to miss Oprah this afternoon, allow us to catch you up to speed on one of the fall's most buzzed-about new films. 'Waiting for "Superman"' is another game-changing documentary from Davis Guggenheim, director of 'An Inconvenient Truth'; and the film looks set to do for education what the Al Gore doc did for environmentalism.

Guggenheim -- along with Bill Gates and educators such as Geoffrey Canada and D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee -- paints a startling picture of the American public education system, where a child drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That's an average of 1.2 million every year.

Calling it a "Rosa Parks moment," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put a momentous stamp on the upcoming release of Davis Guggenheim's education-reform documentary "Waiting for Superman."

The occasion was the film's Wednesday night Washington premiere, organized by distributor Paramount Vantage, with a screening at the Newseum followed by a Q&A with notables involved in the film. That it will have the impact on public policy Parks' actions ultimately had on the civil rights movement might be unlikely, but a good portion of Washington's political class attended the event to further investigate the subject matter.

In addition to Duncan and several others from his Education Department staff, David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama; Melody Barnes, head of the president's Domestic Policy Council; Heather Higginbottom, deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy; Rep. Jane Harman; Rep. Mary Bono Mack; Sen. Al Franken; Sen. Scott Brown; Sen. Christopher Dodd; and Sen.

Chicago – The little boy looks intently at his hand. He’s trying with all his might to solve a math problem posed by his father, whose tenderness and patience have begun to reach their breaking point. As the camera closes in on the boy’s face, his eyes glisten with frustration until his mind reaches an epiphany: 2 plus 3 equals 5. In that one beautiful shot, the miracle of learning is captured on film.

This is one of several heartrending moments in “The Lottery,” a touching and provocative documentary that is in danger of being confused with Davis Guggenheim’s upcoming doc, “Waiting for Superman,” which treads similar ground on a bigger budget. “Lottery” was helmed by Madeleine Sackler, a 27-year-old director making her feature film debut. It is a remarkable achievement, and suggests that the topic of America’s failing education system may be too vital and sprawling to be adequately explored in just one film.

Paramount Pictures and Paramount Vantage have just released an advanced preview of their upcoming 2010 Fall-Holiday movie release slate. The upcoming films include Waiting for Superman, Case 39, Jackass 3D, Paranormal Activity 2, MegaMind, Morning Glory, The Fighter, and True Grit.

Waiting for Superman - September 24 (limited); October (nationwide)

Every morning, in big cities, suburbs and small towns across America, parents send their children off to school with the highest of hopes. But a shocking number of students in the United States attend schools where they have virtually no chance of learning--failure factories likelier to produce drop-outs than college graduates. And despite decades of well-intended reforms and huge sums of money spent on the problem, our public schools haven't improved markedly since the 1970s. Why? There is an answer. And it's not what you think. From An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim comes Waiting for Superman, a provocative and cogent examination...

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced 102 new titles (total lineup is now 246) for its Contemporary World Cinema, Masters, Visions, Vanguard and Discovery programs. Among the newbies are German Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer's Three, Norwegian director Bent Hamer with the world premiere of Home For Christmas, and American Kelly Reichardt with her latest, Meek's Cutoff, screening as part of the Contemporary World Cinema Programme. Reichardt will also appear in a Mavericks discussion, as will Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bruce Springsteen (interviewed by Edward Norton), Ken Loach and Paul Laverty (interviewed by Michael Moore re: Politics and Cinema). A Waiting for Superman panel discussion with Bill Gates, Geoffrey Canada, Lesley Chilcott and director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) is also part of the Mavericks series. For more, here's indieWIRE's complete coverage.

The Toronto International Film Festival announced the lineup for its 2010 Mavericks program. The series of presentations give audiences access to notable guests from the world of film and beyond. Meanwhile, the festival also unveiled 10 new films to go with three already chosen for the Masters program.

Those scheduled to attend this year are: filmmakers Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kelly Reichardt, Davis Guggenheim, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty, musician Bruce Springsteen, athlete Steve Nash, educator Geoffrey Canada, producer Lesley Chilcott, as well as Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. Moderators include actor Edward Norton, filmmaker Michael Moore and co-host of “Canada Am,” Seamus O’Regan.

Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower The Toronto International Film Festival has added even more films to their line-up today as the complete line-up was announced, which ended up causing the festival's server to crash, but I was lucky enough to get in and get out before missing out on the information.

First off, the festival's Mavericks line-up is quite interesting, which includes a series of guest presentations and this year will see Edward Norton interview Bruce Springsteen, NBA All-Star and native Canadian Steve Nash will present his hour-long film Into the Wind, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will talk with the audience as his Cannes Palm d'Or-winning film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives was just added to the Masters programme, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty will be interviewed by Michael Moore on politics and cinema and Philip Seymour Hoffman will have his own panel. Also on hand will be Bill Gates,...

Toronto, Aug 24 – Clint Eastwood, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Portman and Catherine Deneuve are among the 500 actors, directors and celebrities to attend the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) here from Sep 9.

Announcing the list for the interacting programme Mavericks and its official film schedule, Tiff announced Tuesday that filmmakers Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kelly Reichardt, Davis Guggenheim, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty, musician Bruce Springsteen, athlete Steve Nash, educator Geoffrey Canada, producer Lesley Chilcott and Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates will be coming to town.

Other famous.

The Tiff Mavericks program is always a fascinatingly odd beast, a mix of on stage interviews, hosted screenings and other assorted oddities designed to present a range of interesting personalities. And with a slate composed of professional athletes and musicians as well as film makers and actors and the founder of Microsoft this year's edition is possibly the most odd and most fascinating yet. Here it is:

Toronto - The Toronto International Film Festival announces the complete line-up for Mavericks, a programme which gives audiences access to notable guests from the world of film and beyond as they share revealing anecdotes and engage in unforgettable discussions about their latest projects. In attendance this year are: filmmakers Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kelly Reichardt, Davis Guggenheim, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty, musician Bruce Springsteen,

athlete Steve Nash, educator Geoffrey Canada, producer Lesley Chilcott, as well as Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.