Movie inspires feeding the hungry

Here’s a story I saw the other day that I wanted to mention. It covers the music, a movie and people who are having a difficult time right now. It’s a message of the better nature we all can have.

The movie is The Soloist. This is a film that I think will be huge. It was originally supposed to come out in 2008 but instead will open in April. I can only hope that it has been delayed so that it can capture the bigger spring-summer market.

The film is based on the true story of an exceptional cellist who becomes homeless, and an L.A. reporter who befriends him. It’s a very uplifting story, and stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Based on the trailers I have seen it will be an early contender for Oscar nominations next year.

But it is this movie that has inspired orchestras across the nation to reach out and help the communities they are parts of. There are some 163 orchestras that are currently planning food drives just prior to the release of the film. The food is to be distributed locally to Americans in need by Feeding America.

Orchestras that will be involved, and dates of specific events include:

• Rhode Island Philharmonic and Music School on March 19 and 21
  
• Detroit Symphony on March 27
  
• New York Philharmonic on March 28
  
• Gemini Youth Orchestras on April 19
  
• Louisiana Philharmonic on April 22
  

Considering that orchestras in 45 states are involved in this drive to help those in need, I expect that there is likely an event coming up near most of my American readers. So if you have the ability, I hope you can become involved. No family should ever have to starve, especially children.

Movie Preview: The Soloist

Movies are the pictures of stories in our minds brought to life. They can be inspirational, or allow us to escape our daily lives. They can also be boring, and waste our time. Great stories and great actors often can combine with solid direction to provide a film that can withstand the test of time. To those films that achieve the greatest of these accomplishments an award, the Oscar, is presented (though sometimes Hollywood politics interfere with what and who actually wins). I believe that The Soloist may be of that kind of caliber.



In just watching that video clip I feel you have to be moved. If the film is only half as good as the whispers and the trailer infer then this is an Oscar worthy movie.

Some movies inspire our lives, and sometimes life inspires a movie. In this case we have the latter. Real men that have embodied the best parts of the human condition. And to portray that this film has combined 2 of the best actors in this generation.

There is no question that Robert Downey Jr. is a great actor. He has been able to portray drug addicts to comic book super heroes with a sense of honesty and credibility so consistently that you can believe each was not just a character but him in his daily life. He has the almost unseen ability to add to each film he is in and make it better with his presence.

Jamie Foxx has come into his own in the acting world. He has astounded many that could not see his potential back in his days on the television show Livin Color. He has been able to perform along side some of the best (Al Pacino) and most popular (Tom Cruise) and hold his own to say the least. He is only now starting to get the respect and roles a leading man of his caliber deserves.

Both of these men have been able to convey the lives of great people to the world. Downey in Chaplin, Foxx in Ray. They gave a piece of themselves and the results were riveting experiences that you could not take your eyes away from. So when I see that these great talents are working together, again taking true lives and presenting them in a larger than life format while rooting it in the essence of life we all live, I get excited.



I have only one fear about this film at the moment. I believe that if I am correct, and the trailer is what it is supposed to be – a tease – then we are looking at the hands down Oscar winner for the year. The fear then is that both Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx will both be nominated for the Best Actor award, and I cannot imagine choosing between the 2.

If I have to guess, and I am correct in what I have postulated, then I have to say that Robert Downey Jr. wins. Not because he is better, or that either actor is not at the best of their performances, but because of Hollywood politics. Because Jamie Foxx has won an Oscar already, and Downey has not, he gets the nod this time. If I am right, or wrong, I cannot say that I will be disappointed as both are deserving.

I’ve said a lot in favor of this film. I am a harsh critic and can often tell if a film is worthy of watching or not just by the trailer. Not everyone will agree with me, but I’ve noticed that the box office’s tend to match my feelings. So I am not fearful that if you see this film you will not be mislead. But either way I will review the film in November when it comes out and give you my honest opinion, even if it means I need to eat crow.