Midday

Quentin Tarantino’s ninth and latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is being lauded by some reviewers as fearless filmmaking, and dismissed by others as artistic self-indulgence. What did you think?On the August edition of Midday at the Movies, Ann Hornaday, Washington Post film critic and author of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies, and Maryland Film Festival founder Jed Dietz join Tom to answer the question Ann Hornaday poses in a recent column: on this 40th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola's groundbreaking Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now, should we be grateful for auteur directors' messy masterpieces? They also talk about some hot recent releases, including Walt Disney's CGI remake of Lion King, Lulu Wang's The Farewell and Danny Boyle's Yesterday. They start off, however, comparing notes about the role that production, style, and format played in this week's CNN-televised Democratic presidential debates.

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It's Thursday, and time for our weekly visit with theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom with her review of Tiger Style!, now on stage at Olney Theatre Center in Olney, Maryland.Tiger Style! is playwright Mike Lew's response, in part, to the criticisms of Chinese-American author Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, a 2011 bestseller which argued that a strict Chinese style of parenting is superior to Western methods. Lew's play, first performed in Boston in 2016, satirizes the rampant stereotypes of Asian-American culture, and examines the timely issues of identity and immigration.Directed by Natasu Onada Power, Tiger Style! features Regina Aquino as Jennifer Chen, Sean Sekino as Albert Chen, and Michael Glenn, Kurt Kwan, and Eileen Rivera in multiple roles.Tiger Style! continues at the Olney Theatre Center through August 18. For ticket info, click here.

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Today, it's another edition of Midday in the Neighborhood, a series in which we’ve set out to spotlight the remarkable tapestry of communities that make up the city of Baltimore. Today, Tom is joined in Studio A by representatives of Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, located in northeast Baltimore, off 33rd Street; and Coldspring Netown on the west side of town, south of Cylburn Arboretum.

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Former MD Governor and Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley knows what it’s like to be on that debate stage. He joins Tom with analysis.

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When it was ratified in September of 1787, the U.S. Constitution stood alone as a beacon of freedom from tyranny and an unparalleled attempt to create a republic controlled by the people. On today's Midday, CBS legal analyst and University of Baltimore Law Professor Kim Wehle talks about her new book, How to Read the Constitution and Why. Her book is a how-to guide for understanding the Constitution, and why certain American norms are required for it to remain that beacon of freedom for America and the world.

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Before Tom welcomes today's guest, he shares a few thoughts about President Trump's decision this past weekend to single out Baltimore and Representative Elijah Cummings -- the Democratic Chair of the House Oversight Committee -- with a series of scornful and racist Tweets. We've included the full text of Tom's comments at the bottom of this post. As Tom notes in his commentary, ----(t)he roots of many of the problems...cities face can be found in racial inequity and intolerance. And one of the things we can do to understand and address the problem of racial intolerance is to make an effort to understand history.---- Tom's guest today has made an important contribution to that history.The Japanese American actor and activist George Takei has pursued a career that spans 60 years, including his iconic role as ----Hikaru Sulu---- in the Star Trek television series and the hit movie sequels. He has also become an influential and powerful voice for social justice, marriage equality and LGBTQ rights. Earlier this month, Mr. Takei published an illustrated memoir recounting how he and his family were incarcerated by the United State government in internment camps during the Second World War. Mr. Takei, his parents, and his two younger siblings were among 120,000 people of Japanese descent who were imprisoned during the war, and his memoir deftly illuminates the effect of the stress and hardship of that experience. Mr. Takei's new book is They Called Us Enemy, written with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott. The art is by Harmony Becker, with letters by George Lazcano. George Takei joins us from the studios of NPR West in Culver City, California.

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On Wednesday, Robert Mueller testified for nearly seven hours in separate hearings in front of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. It was his 90th appearance before Congress during a career in public service that spans more than three decades. The 74 year-old former FBI Director and former Special Counsel declined to directly answer his congressional interrogators nearly 200 times, refusing even to read aloud portions of the report he had submitted to the Attorney General in April.Now that the dust from Robert Mueller's long-awaited appearance before Congress is beginning to settle, a cascade of questions: what did we learn about Russian meddling in the US electoral process, possible collusion with the Russians by members of the Trump campaign, and President Trump’s efforts to thwart the investigation? How will Mueller’s testimony affect efforts among some Democrats to begin an impeachment inquiry? Did Mueller change any hearts and minds when it comes to the prospects for a second Trump term?On today's Midday Newswrap, Tom considers those questions with two distinguished guests:NPR National Security editor Phil Ewing joins us on the line from the NPR studios in Washington…Elaine Kamarck is a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, and founding director of the Brookings Center for Effective Public Management. She is on the line from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

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Today, Live in Studio A, Tom welcomes the talented Baltimore-borne-and-raised entertainer and cabaret singer Mariah Bonner, and pianist Marcus Dagan, for a sampling of great songs to take us into the weekend.Bonner has honed her talents on two continents as a singer, film-and-TV actress and producer. She had her first acting role in a French television film in 2004. After graduating from The Guildhall School of Music ---- Drama in London, Mariah moved to Los Angeles in 2008, where she landed roles in films such as David Fincher’s The Social Network and Griff Furst’s Starve, and TV series such as CSI, Rules of Engagement, Switched at Birth and Scorpion. Bonner has also produced a short film, Elisa, along with writer Tiziana Giammarino, for which she won a Best Actress Award at the Short Stop International Film Festival. The pair went on to collaborate on a TV pilot called The Foreigners. Mariah recently moved back to Baltimore, where she's continuing to pursue her singing career. Marcus Dagan is a veteran studio and concert musician who’s lived and worked in Baltimore, off and on, since 1982, playing a variety of local clubs while also pursuing a successful career as a commercial and fine art photographer.Mariah Bonner and Marcus Dagan will be appearing tonight at Germano’s Piattini in Little Italy here in Baltimore. Dinner at 6:00. Jackson Lundy does a set at 7:00. Mariah and Marcus begin their set at 7:30. For more information, click here.This segment was Livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page; you can watch the video here.

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It's Thursday, and theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck is back with another of her weekly reviews of the Maryland regional stage. Today, she joins Tom to spotlight Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's new production of the Bard's ----Love's Labour's Lost,---- staged outdoors ----In the Ruins---- at the Patapsco Female Institute (PFI) Historic Park in Ellicott City.In this pun-filled romantic comedy penned by William Shakespeare in the mid-1590s, King Ferdinand of Navarre (played by Jonathan Jacobs) and three courtiers -- Berowne (Jose Guzman), Longaville (J.C. Payne), and Dumanin (Alexander Kafarakis) -- agree to avoid the distractions of women for three years while they study and pray. Their high-minded plans are derailed when the beautiful Princess of France (played by Lauren Davis) and her three ladies -- Rosaline (Elana Michelle), Maria (Micaela Mannix), and Katherine (Hilary Morrow) -- arrive on a diplomatic mission, and the men soon become love-struck fools. For their part, the women conspire to confound the men's amorous ambitions, but the play ends as the death of the Princess's father puts all the romancing on hold for a year.Directed by Erin Bone Steele, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company production of Love's Labour's Lost continues at the PFI Historic Park in Ellicott City through Sunday, July 28th. For more information, click here.

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Food deserts. In cities and rural areas across America, millions of people live without access to supermarkets, and no access to fresh, healthy foods. In parts of Baltimore’s West Side, nearly 64% of people live in a food desert. Emily Stubb’s new film, ----deserted,---- explores food deserts here in Baltimore. Harlem Park activist Anthony Francis is featured in the film. They join Tom Hall in this episode of Midday.

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