Akeelah and the Bee

AKEELAH and the BEE:
5:10 p.m., Savoy 16 Theatre, $4.50; theatre #9
Laurence Fishburne, Keke Palmer, Angela Bassett
I give this movie three stars; Roger Ebert gave it four stars
The movie was predictable until the end when Akeelah's competitor stands up to his father's stern presence. The ending was good. Another favorite portion of this movie was when Akeelah's brother's friend helps Akeelah study vocabulary, showing Akeelah's brother that it is "cool" and OK to be true to family members. The punk (brother's friend) from Crenshaw wrote a poem in his younger years, and said to Akeelah's brother--"where do you think hip hop comes from?"
Laurence Fishburne is an actor I am strangely attracted to for the reason that he seems aloof and arrogant, but comes across as sexy and powerful. I hate him; I love him; I like him. Boyz in the Hood is one of my all time favorite films. Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett starred in that movie, along with another favorite of mine, Ice Cube. Keke Palmer acts brilliantly in this film; a rival to Dakota Fanning, perhaps better. Keke was on Ellen Degeneres' show recently, and she sang like a songbird. She's multi-talented. I'm certain we will see more of Keke in films. She started her life as an actor with a small part in Barbershop 2 with Queen Latifah (another favorite of mine--check out Last Holiday, btw).
Ok...gotta run--printing out photos AND watching Kanye West on David Letterman--check out the rocking violin player--funky. O-U-T--ILbutnotcountry