Arts Express: Philip Winchester Talks Chicago Justice, Remembering Bill Paxton

** "Bill saw that we were young and hungry, and he just took us under his wings - he was just this incredible guy who cared about the process, and he cared about storytelling."

Actor Philip Winchester Talks Chicago Justice, Remembering Bill Paxton: Winchester shares memories of Bill Paxton, who suddenly passed away at the age of 61 on February 25th. And, playing Paxton's son in the film Thunderbirds in 2004. Also, what the actor is up to in his telelvision series, Chicago Justice.

** "I think any director who says they don't come with any bias, is being a liar to the public."

American Socialist: The Life And Times Of Eugene Victor Debs. Filmmaker Yale Strom is on the line to Arts Express from San Diego to talk about his commitment with this documentary, to correcting the distorted when not buried truths about socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debs. While referencing ideological truth telling; Marx, Engels and Utopian socialists; the Pullman strike versus the railroad oligarchs; Victor Hugo, Joe Hill, and the minimum wage movement today - and who really came up with the notion of the New Deal, And hint, it's not FDR. A feature of the Socially Relevant Film Festival.

** Sanders Does Debs. Eugene V. Debs: Trade Unionist, Socialist, Revolutionary.
Sanders wrote, directed, and stars as Debs in his own production. Selected excerpts.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE

** "I knew that if I was to wear a Veterans For Peace shirt, that I would get lynched - I felt that I would get lynched in this crowd."

Disneyland of War: More crime scene than convention, Iraq War marine combat veteran and Veterans For Peace activist Mike Haynes takes viewers on a disturbing and troubling tour of the Miramar military air show in San Diego, apparently aimed in particular at grooming the next generation of government trained killers - children. A Chris Smiley directed documentary, and another feature of the Socially Relevant Film Festival.

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Arts Express: Oscars 2017, War And Peace - A Tale Of Two Medics

  
** "A man on the battlefield who refuses to take a life so he won't touch a gun - I think that's really relatable and prescient today, in the world we're in."
Producer David Permut Talks Oscars, Hacksaw Ridge. Along with Roger Corman, Richard Pryor, Dragnet, and Punching Henry. And, in contrast to Hacksaw Ridge, did Al Qaeda just clean up at the Oscars with that other war medic movie, The White Helmets?

** "If you think that Amazon is above the fray, remember that each film they finance is not only seen as a film, but as a product that will induce people to join the service to use it to order toilet paper..."
Bro On The World Film Beat: The Oscar Wrap-Up Report From A Global Perspective. Arts Express Correspondent Professor Dennis Broe phones in from Paris to also talk about The Hollywood Unconscious, fluff, the big versus small screen cinema standoff, and film predictions in the new year worth mentioning - or maybe not!

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE 

** "Entities like the NSA, FBI, CIA, Department Of Defense, and sometimes the White House, attempt to influence film scripts."
Matthew Alford On What's Going Down With 'National Security Cinema' Today: How it's done, and why. The UK media analyst, author, professor and filmmaker talks 'How Independent Is Hollywood.' The Arts Express Best Of The Net Hotspot this week.

**What's Up With The Oscar Award Accolades For The White Helmets - Medics suspected of being aligned with terrorists in Syria. RT's Nadira Tudor and UK independent media reporter Vanessa Beeley weigh in.

FINAL WORD ON THE OSCARS...

** "Geisha Ink is really a story of rebellion, and what one would want to do without the consent of society."
Art Corner: Photographer Reka Nyari phones in. Exploring through her Geisha Ink works on exhibit, female tattoo storytelling body art, and as the visual life journey of a woman from an exclusively female perspective.

ROAD TO THE WELL MOVIE REVIEW

Mood tends to dominate over momentum in the somewhat revisionist millennial noir, Road To The Well. Writer/director Jonathan Cvack steers audiences down this metaphorical road primarily devoid of destination, and more a journey inward than otherwise.

A sullen, stagnant California landscape finds despondent small town bottom feeder corporate working stiff Frank (Laurence Fuller) crossing paths with an old acquaintance, mysterious drifter Jack (Micah Parker). And while life circumstances could not seem capable of deteriorating further for Frank, that well progressively deepens even more, as the presence of suspiciously malevolent omen Jack precipitates an unfathomable array of wild and wicked events. As murder, mayhem, shallow materialistic tendencies, suicidal impulses, secretive sex for sale, and rejection of the illusive American dream for a symbolic dispossessed generation all fatefully kick in. And not necessarily in any particular order.

And while conventional noir is primarily dramatically dependent on climactic narrative shock and awe, thwarted millennial pessimism here would appear to emotionally favor a lockdown, been there done that gloomy, fractured despair. Though this twisted ride to nowhere and back, serves up intriguing and impressive detours along the way.

Prairie Miller

Arts Express: Airing on the WBAI/Pacifica National Radio Network and Affiliate Stations