FILM & TV

'Bashment' hits the Jamaican big screen (24 October 2K7, Jamaica Star)

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Maestro is one of the actors in the movie 'Bashment' - Contributed photos

'Bashment: The Fork in the Road', is the latest Jamaican movie to hit the big screen, officially releasing island-wide at all Palace Amusement cinemas today.

Despite the similar title to the popular roots play Bashment Granny, Bashment: The Fork in the Road is of a more serious nature. In a recent interview with The STAR Steve 'Tehutnine' McAlpin, co-writer, director and co-producer for Bashment explained that "Bashment is a cautionary tale about friendship, greed, loyalty. It's a multi-layered suspense drama."

Shot mainly in New York City and with a predominantly Jamaican cast, the film follows the life of Cymbal (Mykal Fax) and his friends, Job (Steve McAlpin), Tubby (Shawn Cummings) and Rupert (Narada Campbell) as they link up with Son-Son (Nohard Grant) an incorrigible bad boy. Son-Son believes that the gun is the only thing that matters and soon he finds himself dealing with more drama than he is willing to take on.

The idea for the movie came mainly from the creative mind of Mykal Fax, who saw a trend arising in the world of dancehall and dancing. According to Fax, "From the regular dances I attended, I had experiences of what dancehall was like, from that we grafted the screen play. The villain is actually based on someone I knew. I want to use his life to bring forth a message to the yutes to not fall into the same trend."

A scene from the movie 'Bashment: The Fork in the Road'.

Brian Blake, the producer and actor in the film was equally enthused with the play, claiming that it carries a powerful message.

Bashment was released in various states in the U.S.A. in April, 2007, to an encouraging reception. Today will be its first time in front of a Jamaican audience. McAlpin stresses that Bashment: The Fork in the Road stands up to the best of the movies coming out of Jamaica in terms of quality and message. Bashment is the second film from the duo of McAlpin and Fax, who also produced and released Foreign.

The duo is looking forward to changing the very nature of Caribbean film making. According to them, Caribbean films are released with long intervals of two to three years between them and they want to change that trend by constantly making a steady flow of movies.

"We want to be the faces of Caribbean films, we want to have movies coming out back to back, sky's the limit, so come out and support," Fax said.

Ky-Mani Marley To Star In Reality Series

BET Networks has selected Ky-Mani Marley to star in a brand new reality series, titled "Living The Life of Marley."

The half- hour program, due to premiere in September, will follow Bob Marley's son as he prepares for the release of his new album, "Radio."

The entire Marley family clan will be featured on the show, which will coincide with the album's release on Sept. 25.

The CD will be his first to hit stores since his Grammy nominated album, "Many More Roads," five years ago.

Ky-Mani Marley is also slated to open for Van Halen on the group's North American tour.

Shottas - View it now on YardFlex.com

In 2002, director/screenwriter Cess Silvera set out to pen SHOTTAS (the Jamaican word for gangster), the story of two young Jamaican teenagers-turned-gangsters. In their quest for a better life in the United States , the two teenagers rob a soda truck to get enough money for Visas. The two soon find themselves intertwined in the seedy world of Miami drug dealers and Jamaican gangsters. According to Silvera, "We've seen the Italian gangsters, the Jewish gangsters, the Cubans, but nobody has ever seen how the Jamaican gangsters do it."

The film, originally produced in 2002, offers a shocking realism that few films can deliver. It is this very realism that proved troublesome to the producers when attempting to find a distributor for the finished film. Not long after, a rough cut of the film found its way onto the internet, and it soon became the most downloaded bootleg film on the internet.

Now, for the first time ever, the final version of this searing drama starring Grammy® Award winning artist Kymani Marley, Jamaican dancehall star Spragga Benz, and world renowned Grammy® Award winning artist Wyclef Jean, is coming to theatres this November.