Mini Review - EMPIRE is a hit on FOX!

When you mix the sound of Timothy "Timbaland” Mosley — Timberland with the calibrated perfection of director-producer Lee Daniels, it’s a no-brainer that an empire would rise from such a connection.

“Empire” is a hit.  The Fox 1/6 premiere opened impressively with 9.8 million viewers and a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49. 

This Fox drama beat ABC’s “Modern Family” head-to-head.

Shakespearean in tone with a nod to “King Lear” this series is about Black wealth inside a modern music dynasty which was earned from a life on the gritty, Philly streets by Empire Entertainments' head, Lucious Lyon, played by the riveting Terrence Howard.

If “money makes the world go around” then wealth tells it when to “stop and go.”

Straight talk, Lucious is a drug dealer-turned-rap star-turned-record mogul with a midas touch who, of late, has turned his eye to global diversification and, to one of his three sons, is  ''more concerned with selling T-shirts and watches and whatever."

His driving ambition to transform Empire into a global brand rests in his desire to cement a place in the history books. His health failing, he learns that he’s dying from ALS. 

His sacrifice that affords him a life of luxury—has to be carefully protected and to that end, he reveals his monstrous shades.

He needs the right successor, and sets his three sons in motion to fight for the crown.  

On paper, it’s an unfair fight; a gladiatorial spectacle that will get gory.

The eldest, Andre (Trai Byers) is a seasoned businessman with an 

Ivy League M.B.A. and a white girlfriend to back-up his bid. He’s that comfortable face that will make, a mostly white board of directors, comfortable that their agenda will be safely achieved.  

On the other side is the baby, the very green Hakeem (Bryshere Gray) who, according to his father is “lazy" and "hasn’t worked a day in his life” but from the videos he appears to be earning his street credits with his hard-partying and skillful rap skills. 

His strong relationship with his brother Jamal (Jussie Smollett), clearly a musical prodigy seems, on the surface is a mis-match since Jamal is also gay which, in Lucious' eyes, makes him a marketing nightmare and his least favorite choice.

In a heart breaking flashback he puts his young, high-heel wearing son inside a trash can cementing a lasting impression that he was never wanted. 

It’s a knock out moment expressed in Jamal's song  ''I Just Want You to Look at Me,'’ which is filled pain and old heartache. 

But, don’t get it twisted the empire  belongs to  Cookie, played with verve by Taraji P. Henson. 

Offering one of the most interesting characters in years, she plays the “hell out of” Cookie, Lucious' ex, the boys' mother, and a clever iteration of the neglected, and incarcerated good wife.

Cookie was serving 17 long years (in prison) for selling drugs for her husband and her surprise, early release makes the series pop and sizzle with energy.  

Not only is Lucious not pleased, he is stunned at the timing.  

The second Cookie struts out of the slammer, rocking a fur and utterly furious, the audience is rooting for her to get what’s hers. 

The stakes are high and not only because billions are on the table, it’s family and personal.  To that end, she turns her deft hand at constructing Jamal's career and backs his coming out of the closet. 

Cookie says the damnedest things, but it's Henson’s show. This role would come off as pandering, or worse, campy instead  she elevates the role and keeps the character human, endearing and fascinating. 

Lee Daniels is a game changer and he brings his A team along to build the empire correctly.

“Empire" comes from writer Danny Strong ("Game Change") and director Lee Daniels (“Precious")—collaborators on 2013's “Lee Daniels: The Butler."

Empire keeps it gritty and authentic and the music makes it relevant. A+

GLORY FROM SELMA WINS BEST SONG AT GOLDEN GLOBES

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Last night, after winning a Golden Globe for the song “Glory” which he co-wrote with John Legend he paid tribute to his hero the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Common and Legend's song Glory plays over the closing credits of the film “Selma” and was written at the request of director Ava DuVernay.

Selma was written by Paul Webb and is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by King (played by David Oyelowo), James Bevel and Hosea Williams. Common also paid tribute to Dr King, saying: "He was one of the first people that I looked at as a hero. He was my first hero.”

In his acceptance speech, rapper and actor Common, 42, said: "The first day I stepped on the set of Selma I began to feel like this was bigger than a movie. As I got to know the people of the Civil Rights Movement, I realized I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote. I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom. I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand, but instead was given a bullet. I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty. Selma has awakened my humanity."

Interesting to note that the winning song began with a phone call (from London) when Common reached out to R&B singer Legend, he might be young but he has nine Grammys, not shabby!

Using modern communication, they two emailed and bam — out comes the song title “Glory.”

The song is expected to be an Oscar contender. Common has also been nominated for two Grammys next month, for best rap album for Nobody's Smiling and best rap collaboration for Blak Majik, a song that also features Jhene Aiko.

Glory references the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, with the words:

'Resistance is us,
That's why Rosa sat on the bus.
That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up.
When it go down we woman and man up,
They say, "Stay down" and we stand up.
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up,
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up.’

Here is what COMMON had to say about “Selma” in his own words:

“Well, it’s a beautiful honor to be a part of Selma because as a kid I think the first person that I read about and came across that black people and white people both recognize as a hero was Dr. Martin Luther King. And he was always something I really, like, looked up to, and it became a point in my life where, you know, I became real [PH] Malcolm X-ist and it was like, I don’t know, Martin may be soft. But you know, as I grew and evolved as a human being, I realized that this peaceful protest is one of the strongest things you can do, and the strength that it  took to do that.

Me being involved in Selma, like, taught me that it was women, it was men, it was children, it was a spirit that they said we want freedom, we want justice, and a lot of people contributed to that. You know, because originally I was like, man, as Martin Luther King, you know is Martin Luther King, but to get to meet the everyday people, some people we don’t know their names.

Yeah, we do know of the Annie Lee Coopers and we do know of the [PH] C.T. Vivians, but it’s some people like I had a journalist yesterday talk to us about her uncle who was out marching, and we don’t know his name, but everybody contributed, and what this film did was make me realize that we all have a part in contributing towards making the world better. So it was like me being – this was like a life changing experience for me because I felt I could do more, you know, just being able to be James Bevel and  be around Ava and be around the cast, and the people that we worked with. I was, like, I have to do more, I mean, learning about what they did, I got to do more. And now people are out there doing more. And we want to do more. So I’m just grateful to be a part of it, and the revolution is here.”

L's HOLLYWOOD is right here in NYC!

Living in Harlem is like having the quickest access to adventure in the city.  I just take the "A" train and connect and cinematic wonders await.

Honestly, it's like having a passport and you can thank the savvy people at the The Film Society of Lincoln Center for that!

On December 4-8th it’s time to enjoy the rich cultural cinematic wonders of Romania with the Romanian Film Initiative and their 9th edition of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema

Mark the calendar (in all your devices) for December 4-8. 

Add location:  the Film Society of Lincoln Center, with a program selection at the Jacob Burns Film Center from December 5-10 

Highlights include: Romania’s entry in the foreign-language Oscar race, The Japanese Dog, by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu; Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Second Game; the North American Premiere of Vlad Petri’s Where Are You Bucharest?; Maya Vitkova’s Viktoria, the first Bulgarian film selected at Sundance; a spotlight on director Stere Gulea; and many in-person appearances!

About: The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Romanian Film Initiative all launch the 9th edition of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, which has been hailed by The New York Times as one of the “annual treasures” of the Film Society’s programming. 

The festival will take place at the Film Society of Lincoln Center from December 4-8, offering a selection of the best of contemporary Romanian filmmaking, including features, documentaries and shorts, along with panels and special programs focusing on the work of Romanian filmmakers. For the second consecutive year, select films will also screen at the Jacob Burns Film Center, from December 5-10.

“It is our privilege to present another season of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema here at Lincoln Center,” said Florence Almozini, FSLC Senior Programmer. “With works from some of the most exciting directors on the world stage, including Corneliu Porumboiu, whose Police, Adjective and 12:08 East of Bucharest are hallmarks of the Romanian New Wave, our provocative and ever-expanding series will be certain to make waves.”

The festival’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov stated: “The vibe of this year’s showcase of contemporary Romanian cinema is perhaps best captured by Faulkner’s famous words ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’  Twenty-five years have passed since the fall of Communism, but for most of the films in this program—from Quod Erat Demonstrandum to I’m an Old Communist Hag to Viktoria to Roxanne—the past is still an unfinished business, and proof that Romania’s recent history has left an indelible mark on our collective consciousness. When not addressing history, Romanian films embrace the present and attempt to break free from a haunting past, begging the question: can it really be left behind? The ninth edition of Making Waves offers some possible answers.”

This year, Making Waves presents a remarkable and complex crop of films that address the recent past, including Andrei Gruzsniczki’s sophomore feature Quod Erat Demonstrandum and I’m an Old Communist Hag by veteran director Stere Gulea, whose work is featured in a special program.  Also included in this year’s lineup are Valentin Hotea’s debut Roxanne; Maya Vitkova’s Viktoria, one of the most original films about the communist chimera; and The Second Game, Corneliu Porumboiu’s reflection on our relationship with the past. 

The Opening Night film is Tudor Cristian Jurgiu’s gentle, Ozu-like The Japanese Dog, which is the Romanian selection for the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film this year, while Vlad Petri’s poignant documentary Where Are You Bucharest? offers a loud and striking portrait of the frantic street protests of 2012.

“It looks like Romanian cinema continues to break through, nationally and internationally,” stated Corina Șuteu, President of Making Waves, “even though the tonality of recent films is less radical, feels milder and more tolerant of the recent past. Cinema and reality in Romania are pursuing their consistent dialogue. And so do we, with Making Waves, a daring project whose private supporters strongly believe that giving art a voice is the only reliable ‘way out.’”

For the third consecutive year, Making Waves continues as an independent festival, nourished with passion and the commitment to the belief that talented Romanian filmmakers deserve more exposure to American audiences, and that platforms enabling a dialogue with contemporary arts are crucial. Initiated in 2006 and chaired by Corina Șuteu, Making Waves has become a fixture in New York City’s cultural scene. The festival has grown each year, attracting a large, dedicated following and building wider recognition in the U.S. media and among film professionals, both Romanian and American.

The 9th edition of Making Waves includes a focus on director Stere Gulea. Possessing a worldview that Lucian Pintilie has called both “severe and objective,” Gulea is one of the most important Romanian directors, with a 10-film career spanning more than four decades. Well known for his literary adaptations, including Fox: Hunter, based on a book by Herta Müller, Gulea also wrote and directed State of Things, one of the most powerful films about the Romanian Revolution. Making Waves pays tribute to him by screening his most recent film, I'm an Old Communist Hag, and one of the masterpieces of Romanian cinema, The Journey (Moromeții).

Making Waves also continues its special program “Creative Freedom through Cinema,” about the relationship between art and politics in Eastern Europe, and the importance of art in addressing controversial topics and forging a dialogue around challenging issues. This year’s focus is on LGBTQ rights in Russia, the featured country of this year’s festival, where recent legislation brought controversy around the topic to a boiling point. Two powerful cinematic cases in point will be presented, including Winter Journey, directed by Sergei Taramajev and Liubov Lvova, and Children 404, by Pavel Loparev and Askold Kurov. The screening of the two Russian productions will be accompanied by a panel discussion with artists and thinkers from Romania, Russia, and the U.S., including writer, lecturer, and activist Andrew Solomon. This special program is curated in partnership with Evgeny Gusyatinskiy, film critic and programmer for Rotterdam Film Festival, and is presented with the generous support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

Making Waves will also present its annual series of the best recent Romanian short films, highlighting directors to watch and running for free throughout the festival.

Another special event is dedicated to visual artist Hedda Sterne, best remembered as the only female in the abstract expressionist group “the Irascible 18” (and the wife of Saul Steinberg). Born in Romania in 1910, Sterne fled the country in 1941 to find refuge in the U.S., where her work later found its way to the collections of MoMA, the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The art work she left behind at her studio in Bucharest, closely guarded for more than 50 years by her friend and fellow artist Medi Wechsler Dinu, have recently been rediscovered by Cosmin Năsui, director of PostModernism Museum in Bucharest. Năsui will share Sterne’s early works and Wechsler Dinu’s testimonies for the first time during this conversation, which seeks to recount a story of talent, courage, loyalty, and the shattered lives of a bygone world.

Special Guests:

As this year’s special festival guest, director Stere Gulea will attend screenings of both his most recent work, I'm An Old Communist Hag, and his masterpiece The Journey. Director Tudor Cristian Jurgiu will join the festival’s Opening Night presentation of his film The Japanese Dog. Other guests include director Vlad Petri, who will attend the North American Premiere of his film Where Are You Bucharest?; I’m an Old Communist Hag actress Ana Ularu, one of the leading stars of her generation; actor Florin Piersic Jr. and producer Velvet Moraru of Quod Erat Demonstrandum; and Daniel Sandu, director of the short film Horsepower. Vladimir Tismăneanu, professor of politics at the University of Maryland and author of numerous works on the history of communism, will introduce some of this year’s remarkable crop of films revisiting recent history.

For the third year, Making Waves is pleased to present the Alex Leo Șerban Fellowship, in partnership with Transilvania International Film Festival. This year’s fellow is film critic Andrei Rus, editor of Film Menu magazine, and faculty and instigator of a film club revival hosted by the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest. 

Making Waves has been made possible with the generous participation of numerous supporters from Romania, the U.S., and around the world, who have joined the Circle of Donors and the Festival Club, including Lucian Pintilie, Adrian Ghenie, Şerban Savu, Dan Perjovschi, Marie-France Ionesco, Corneliu Porumboiu, Marius Bercea, Radu Jude, Mica Ertegun, Andrei Both, Alexander Nanau, Daniela Codarcea, Andrew Solomon, and many more. Leading support has been provided by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, HBO Romania, Ștefania Magidson, and the Blue Heron Foundation, as well as ICON Production and Lark Play Development Center. This year, Making Waves has also received generous support from the leading professional and public organizations in Romania – The National Center of Cinema and the Filmmakers Union of Romania.

The Festival Board includes Corina Șuteu, President; Mihai Chirilov, Artistic Director; Oana Radu, Romanian Film Initiative; Dennis Lim, Director of Cinematheque Programming, Film Society of Lincoln Center; and Brian Ackerman, Programming Director, Jacob Burns Film Center.

The continuation and expansion of Making Waves has also been supported by an Honorary Board, which is made up of Scott Foundas, Senior Film Critic, Variety; actor Andi Vasluianu; visual artist Adrian Ghenie; documentary filmmaker and human rights activist Mona Nicoară; visual artist Dan Perjovschi; and festival friend Daiana Voiculescu.

Screening Venues:

The Film Society of Lincoln Center

WRT: Walter Reade Theater, 165 W 65th Street, north side between Broadway & Amsterdam, upper level

AMP: Amphitheater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 W 65th Street, south side between Broadway & Amsterdam

Tickets go on sale Thursday, October 30. Single screening tickets are $13; $9 for students and seniors (62+); and $8 for Film Society members. See more and pay less with a discount package starting at $30; $24 for students and seniors (62+); and $21 for Film Society members. The package discount prices apply with the purchase of tickets to three films or more. See all the films screening in Making Waves for only $75 with an All Access Pass. For free screenings and events, complimentary tickets are available starting one hour before the scheduled show's time and are distributed from the box office corresponding to the show's venue. Visit filmlinc.com to purchase tickets, discount packages, and passes as well as for more information about Making Waves.

Visit www.filmlinc.com for complete information.

PRESS SCREENING SCHEDULE

Location: Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater,

165 West 65th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)

Please join for advance press screenings

RSVP to John Wildman, jwildman@filmlinc.com or 212.875.5419

Monday,  November 17

10:00am        Viktoria (155m)

1:00pm          Where Are You Bucharest? (80m)

Tuesday, November 18

10:00am        The Japanese Dog (90m)

12:00pm        The Journey (151m)

MAKING WAVES 2014

FILMS, DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE

 All films in Romanian and with English subtitles, unless otherwise noted. 

Opening Night!

The Japanese Dog / Câinele japonez

Romania, 2013, 90m

Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, Romania, 2013, 90m

Featuring the great actor Victor Rebengiuc (Forest of the Hanged, Niki and Flo), this understated first feature about family reconciliation has a touch of Ozu and is Romania’s entry in the upcoming foreign-language Oscar race. A New Directors/New Films 2014 selection.

Thursday, December 4, 7:00pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Tudor Cristian Jurgiu)

Friday, December 5, 4:00pm, WRT (Introduction by director Tudor Cristian Jurgiu)

Closing Night!

New York Premiere!

Viktoria

Maya Vitkova, Bulgaria/Romania, 2014, 155m

A Romanian/Bulgarian co-production, and the first from the latter country to screen at Sundance, Viktoria is a truly innovative epic about a so-called “baby of the decade,” born with no belly button. Infused with strikingly surreal images, Viktoria offers a unique perspective on the Communist chimera. In Bulgarian with English subtitles.

Monday, December 8, 7:00pm, WRT

New York Premiere!

I’m an Old Communist Hag / Sunt o babă comunistă

Stere Gulea, Romania, 2013, 94m

It takes guts to tackle the topic of “Communist nostalgia,” but that’s the intention of this bittersweet drama about the generation gap that contrasts Romanian national identity before and after the ’89 Revolution. The film features yet another subtle performance from the impressive Luminița Gheorghiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Child’s Pose).

Friday, December 5, 6:00pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Stere Gulea & actress Ana Ularu) 

Sunday, December 7, 1:00pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Stere Gulea & actress Ana Ularu) 

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

Andrei Gruzsniczki, Romania, 2013, 107m

In 1984, a brilliant mathematician, his best friend’s wife, and the secret police agent who’s tracking them both are drawn together in this tense story of paranoia and betrayal. The palette is black and white, but the issues explored are anything but. A New Directors/New Films 2014 selection.

Friday, December 5, 8:30pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with Florin Piersic Jr. and producer Velvet Moraru) 

New York Premiere!

Roxanne

Valentin Hotea, Romania/Hungary, 2013, 98m

The Police’s signature song makes a special and significant appearance in this story of a decent but immature guy in his late thirties who finds out from his secret police file that he might have fathered a son. But this is just the first blast from a complicated past that perhaps should have been left buried...

Saturday, December 6, 5:15pm, WRT

Sunday, December 7, 5:30pm, WRT

The Second Game / Al doilea joc

Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania, 2013, 97m

The acclaimed director of Police, Adjective watches a 25-year-old historic soccer match with his father, who was the referee—but behind the archival images and the funny parallels between soccer and cinema is a look at the ways in which we relate to our troubled national past. An Art of the Real 2014 selection.

Sunday, December 7, 3:30pm, WRT 

North American Premiere!

Where Are You Bucharest? / București, unde esti?

Vlad Petri, Romania, 2014, 80m

You don’t need to be especially familiar with contemporary Romanian politics to connect with this frantic and mordantly funny documentary about the street protests—at times energetic, chaotic, enthusiastic, and hysterical—that took over Bucharest 23 years after the Revolution.

Saturday, December 6, 7:30pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Vlad Petri) 

Monday, December 8, 4:30 pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Vlad Petri)

Free screening!

NEW ROMANIAN SHORTS, VARIOUS, 134m

Inspired by the biggest hit of one of Romania’s greatest pop singers, Angela Similea, the dark and crazily inventive musical Dying from a Wound of Love leads this eclectic bunch of shorts that also includes a tribute to Tarantino’s snappy dialogue in Kowalski and the Fassbinder-eque The Walk. Complete list below.

Saturday, December 6, 7:00pm, AMP (Introduction by and Q&A with Horsepower director Daniel Sandu) 

Sunday, December 7, 6:30pm, AMP (Introduction by and Q&A with Horsepower director Daniel Sandu) 

Horsepower / Cai putere, 2014, d. Daniel Sandu

Ela, Panda and Madam / Ela, Panda și Madam, 2013, d. Andrei Ştefan Răuţu

Our Father / Tatăl nostru, 2013, d. Sergiu Lupșe

The Walk / Plimbare, 2013, d. Mihaela Popescu

Kowalski, 2014, d. Andrei Crețulescu

Dying from a Wound of Love / Să mori de dragoste rănită, 2014, d. Iulia Rugină

It Can Pass Through the Wall / Trece și prin perete, 2014, d. Radu Jude 

DIRECTOR IN FOCUS: STERE GULEA 

The Journey / Moromeții

Stere Gulea, Romania, 1987, 151m

This remarkable adaptation of Marin Preda’s novel covers the years leading up to World War II in a Danubian Plain village, where life is complex, and its people clash over changes being brought on by capitalism and industrialization. Featuring a monumental lead performance by Victor Rebengiuc, and an equally impressive first major part in a film by Luminița Gheorghiu.

Sunday, December 7, 7:30pm, WRT (Introduction by and Q&A with director Stere Gulea) 

I’m an Old Communist Hag / Sunt o babă comunistă

See above 

SPECIAL PROGRAM: CREATIVE FREEDOM THROUGH CINEMA 

Children 404 / Deti 404

Pavel Loparev & Askold Kurov, Russia, 2014, 76m

Following Vladimir Putin’s 2013 law forbidding “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations with minors,” this brave and harrowing documentary gives voice to 45 Russian teens who share their stories through anonymous interviews and video diaries. The title refers to the common “error 404 - page not found” Web message. In Russian with English subtitles.

Saturday, December 6, 3:30pm, WRT 

New York Premiere!

Winter Journey / Zimny put

Sergei Taramajev & Liubov Lvova, Russia, 2013, 95m

Inspired by Schubert’s tragic vocal cycle “Winterreise,” this provocative film charts the tempestuous attraction between two young men who could not be more different—a talented opera student and an aggressive provincial bully. It comes as no surprise that Russian officials restricted the film’s release following the passage of Putin’s “anti-gay propaganda” legislation. In Russian with English subtitles.

Saturday, December 6, 1:30pm, WRT 

Free Admission!

PANEL CONVERSATION 

The topic of LGBT rights and how arts help in addressing them will be at the core of this conversation between artists and intellectuals from Romania, Russia, and the U.S., including writer Andrew Solomon (The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression and Far from the Tree), and an activist in LGBT rights, mental health, and the arts.

Saturday, December 6, 5:00pm, AMP

SPECIAL EVENT 

Free Event!

SPECIAL EVENT: HEDDA STERNE REDISCOVERED

A visual artist best remembered as the only female in the abstract expressionist group the Irascible 18 (and the wife of Saul Steinberg), Hedda Sterne created a body of work known for its stubborn independence from styles and trends. Born in Romania in 1910, Sterne fled the country in 1941 to find refuge in the U.S., where her work later found its way to the collections of MoMA, the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The art work she left behind at her studio in Bucharest, closely guarded for more than 50 years by her friend and fellow artist Medi Wechsler Dinu, have recently been rediscovered by Cosmin Năsui, director of PostModernism Museum in Bucharest. Năsui will share Sterne’s early works and Wechsler Dinu’s testimonies for the first time during this conversation, which seeks to recount a story of talent, courage, loyalty, and the shattered lives of a bygone world.

Sunday, December 7, 5:00pm, AMP

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility, and understanding of the moving image. The Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year’s most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, NewFest, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema and Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment magazine, the Film Society recognizes an artist's unique achievement in film with the prestigious Chaplin Award, whose 2015 recipient is Robert Redford. The Film Society’s state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year-round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, Jaeger-LeCoultre, American Airlines, The New York Times, HBO®, Stella Artois, The Kobal Collection, Variety, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com, follow @filmlinc on Twitter, and download the FREE Film Society app, now available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android devices.

The Romanian Film Initiative (RFI) came together in 2012 to safeguard the existence and the spirit of the Romanian film festival in New York, redesigned as Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, and co-presented with the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Created by Corina Șuteu, Mihai Chirilov, and Oana Radu, the core team that initiated and organized the festival since 2006, RFI is a flagship of Film ETC. Association in Bucharest. Along with the continuation and expansion of Making Waves, RFI aims to develop and contribute to other project aiming at the promotion of Romanian cinema in the U.S., and the professionalization of the cultural sector in Romania and internationally. www.filmetc.org

Happy Birthday Alex & Happy Mother's Day Whoopi!

Throwing a full blown NYC celeb heavy birthday party for the daughter of an EGOT (winner of a Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) isn't for the faint of heart, or the style challenged and on a recent chilly evening surrounded by lush deserts and generous libations in the luxuriously cozy bar of the Bowery Hotel, Alex Martin, the daughter of Whoopi Goldberg---producer of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Sister Act on Broadway, co-host of The View and director of the documentary "I Got Somethin' To Tell You,"--- turned the big 4 O.

Whoopi's baby girl is 40 and may we add that "black doesn't crack or crease."

The b-day bash was also the gift given by the Award Winning Glam Team Karen Dupiche and Yancey Edwards. 

"I'm such a blessed person and my family and friends, I love them," Alex says her exotic eyes dancing.  Dressed in stylish clothing designed for making the right moves on the dance floor the birthday gal was showered with good vibes by well-wishers which included celebs from the world of reality television, music and fashion including Yancy Edwards, Ty Hunter, Tahity Jose, Jennifer Williams, and Po Johnson.

"40 years ago," stated Goldberg at the start of her touching and humorous birthday speech for a Cheshire Cat grinning Alex, "I embarked on one of the best adventures of my life.  That adventure continues.  I'm proud of Alex.  Now everybody dance, I mean look at that dance floor. Go!"

Actress S. Epatha Merkerson (16 years helping criminals get their just deserts on mega franchise hit "Law and Order") was one of the many guests inside the velvet rope VIP area.

"Don't forget," pointed out the TV veteran Mekerson to Goldberg's head of production who was carefully guiding the icon through a sea of photo snapping party revelers.  "I have her bag."  The "her" being an even shorter, shorthand for a name and face known around the world.

Behind the velvet rope we learned that Ms.Goldberg's granddaughter, Jerzey, is re-locating to the Big Apple to immerse herself in the fashion industry.  

Surprisingly, she shared her nervousness about maneuvering in the fast paced city.  "Honestly," stated the dew fresh Jersey , in a conspiratorial tone directed more toward Art, "I'm actually very nervous about living here.  I know my family is here but NYC moves fast!"

As the two exchanged tips on how to enjoy the city safely, the son of legendary boxer Joe Louis (Joe Louis Jr., aka "Joe-Joe") wrapped his burly and well-toned arms around my waist and squeezed. "You'll never guess why I'm so happy Lapacazo ," said the smiling Joe-Joe.   

"One hint," he confided. " Whoopi is amazing.  A m a z m i n g!  She just might be a part of bringing my fathers' life to the Great White Way." 

Joe-Joe closed with a wink and snacking on appetizer, he sealed his lips with a smile. 

As the birthday celebration began to wind down (around 2am), sweets were being consumed and tucked away for early morning snacks and then the EGOT slumped down on the comfy sofa, taking a needed breather, turned to us and smiled.

"Happy mothers' day Whoopi," we quickly injected.  

Her response, peering over her glasses perched so elegantly on her nose, the warm smile never leaving her face, she soaked us in thoughtfully; "Thank you," said Whoopi and motioning to the sweet laden table behind us she continued. "Don't forget to take a cupcake."

Photo credits:  photographer Lapacazo Sandoval 

S. Epatha Merkerson and Joe Louis Jr. (Joe-Joe).