For 'Fruitvale Station' director, film school and football pay off

Credit: Reuters/Regis Duvignau

Director Ryan Coogler (C) and cast members Octavia Spencer, (L) and Melonie Diaz pose during a photocall for the film 'Fruitvale Station' at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes May 16, 2013.

That may not be the case for long. Coogler's first feature film, "Fruitvale Station," goes into wide U.S. release this weekend, having earned universal acclaim from critics, awards at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals and some early Oscar buzz. Coogler, 27, wrote the script and directed the independent drama, while Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker produces.

Add to that auspicious start a timely release. The real-life story of Oscar Grant, a young black man shot to death by a white transit policeman, hits theaters in the midst of a heated debate about race after the acquittal of a white and Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer for the killing of black teenager Trayvon Martin.

The timing is just a coincidence, Coogler says, but he believes what happened to 22-year-old Grant at the Fruitvale commuter rail station in Oakland, California, on New Year's Day 2009 still resonates today, in part because of gun violence involving African-American men, as both victims and perpetrators.

Coogler, also an African-American from Oakland, was 22 when an unarmed Grant, lying on his stomach, was shot to death on a train platform after transit police detained him following a fight on a train. Coogler knew it was a story he wanted to tell.

"I learned at film school that, because it is such a difficult process, to always make stuff that really matters to me, to make films like they are the last film you will ever make," Coogler told Reuters.

And he learned to choose subject matter that is "not only close to you and impacts you emotionally but subject matter that you are curious about."

The film opens with the actual mobile phone video of the incident and the chilling pop of the fatal gunshot. It then jumps back to chronicle Grant's final day.

Michael B. Jordan, of TV show "Friday Night Lights," plays Grant, a loving father and struggling ex-con. Octavia Spencer, an Oscar winner for her role in "The Help," plays the mother who fears for his safety.

The other big takeaway for Coogler at film school was that filmmaking is a team sport, much like the football he loved.

"When I came to film school in L.A., I had just finished playing my last season of college football, and I missed it, deeply," he said.

With his incoming class, he found a group of filmmakers from all over the world with whom he began "crewing up and working on each other's films." He brought a half dozen of them aboard for "Fruitvale Station."

'A STANDOUT FROM DAY ONE'

Coogler calls the three-year graduate program at USC's School of Cinematic Arts "really expensive." Tuition for three years runs between $72,000 and $85,000 plus additional supplies and living expenses, the school says.

"I am still pretty heavy in debt," he said. "Most of us who graduate have something like a mortgage to pay back. It can be close to six figures."

Coogler did earn some scholarships while there, including the coveted Jack Nicholson award. "Coog," as he is known there, caught the faculty's eye early.

"He was clearly just a standout from day one," said John Watson, who had Coogler in his production class for two years. "It wasn't just his abilities, which are fantastic. It was his attitude. He had the ability to make everybody feel like he's their best friend."

In his second year, Coogler's short film "Locks" was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival and he didn't have the means to go. The school mobilized to collect travel money and the dean paid for his flight, Watson said.

While making "Fruitvale" after he graduated he kept in close touch with the school and even asked 10 faculty members to assemble to critique a near final cut. His success has played a part in inspiring other students to make films this summer.

"Nobody, including me or him, thought that it would happen as fast as it did," Watson said. "But as soon as I saw the first draft of 'Fruitvale' I knew he had something special and that Forest immediately responded to."

Coogler has been crisscrossing the country, promoting the film with distributor The Weinstein Company and working on his next film projects, one of which is about high school football.

He says he doesn't think about Oscar nominations, even after favorable reviews across-the-board from the likes of the New York Times, the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times, whose film critic Kenneth Turan said it was "more than a remarkable directing debut ... it's an outstanding film by any standard."

"I am always the most surprised person, because the film came so close to not even being made, like so many independent films," Coogler said.

His reward, he said, is the opportunity to tell people what happened on an Oakland train platform four years ago and give them the perspective that comes from "spending time with a character like Oscar."

(Reporting by Mary Milliken; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Eric Beech)

Weight, Guerin Headed for US Hockey Hall of Fame

Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Peter Karmanos, Ron Mason and Cindy Curley are headed for the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

USA Hockey made the announcement Thursday.

Guerin was a two-time Stanley Cup champion and four-time NHL All-Star during. He and Weight helped the U.S. win silver at the 2002 Olympics. Weight won a Stanley Cup and was a four-time NHL All-Star.

Karmanos owns the Carolina Hurricanes and the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers. Mason led Michigan State to the 1986 national championship and won 924 games with the Spartans, Lake Superior State and Bowling Green.

Curley had a record 23 points in the International Ice Hockey Federation's first world championship for women in 1990.

Bill Belichick opens up on Aaron Hernandez

The Patriots head coach spoke to the media for the first time since the investigation of Aaron Hernandez began.

1. Was it a forthcoming Bill Belichick who spent 22 minutes of his Wednesday afternoon swatting away questions with the "ongoing judicial process" excuse when asked about the Aaron Hernandez? Or was it the same old say-nothing Belichick who expressed his shock and disappointment about the situation?

2. Think of all the things you are required to do but hate doing. Bill Belichick press conferences are infused with the same feeling of going to the dentist or mowing the yard. I don't know if he genuinely hates to do them. I have no idea if he has an innate distrust of the media. But the feeling that the guy would rather be somewhere else is inescapable.

It always is with Belichick, and he seems to weasel out of more press conferences than other coaches.

Avoiding the issue, this issue, was never an option, not even for Belichick.

3. New England has had more than its share of tumult this offseason. Wes Welker left, and there were whispers that Tom Brady was upset. A team hell bent on avoiding the spotlight then went and signed Tim Tebow.

Hernandez's arrest and the horrifying details revealed in the court documents overshadowed everything else and somehow tied it all together. This, the opinionators told us, was the end of the Patriot Way ... whatever that means.

4. Television cameras rolled, lenses snapped and a larger than usual platoon of men in stained polo shirts and pleated khakis shouted questions at the coach.

Did he know? Was he surprised? Has he talked to him?

We try to look at every single situation on a case-by-case basis-Bill Belichick

A monotone Belichick batted each ball out of the air with a standard premise. Aaron Hernandez was still working his way through the court system; in fact, he was standing in a Massachusetts court room that very moment, having his next date with a judge pushed back. It was all the cover Belichick needed.

This is Bill Belichick's 28th season in the NFL and 19th as a head coach. He knows what he can and can't answer without creating more headaches for himself.

5. Belichick reaffirmed the team's goal to win games and be a "pillar of the community." Winning football games means learning to adapt. It means building a better roster within the limits of the salary cap. Not many teams have done that as well as the Patriots, in the midst of a 10-season streak with double-digit wins.

Would the way New England evaluates players be changing?

He promised that the process would be scrutinized, but Belichick stood by his work as a personnel man.

"As the coach of the team, I'm primarily responsible for people we bring into the football operations," he said. "Our players are generally highly motivated and gifted athletes. They come from very different backgrounds [with] many challenges along the way. And they've done things to get here. Sometimes they've made bad and immature decisions. But we try to look at every single situation on a case-by-case basis and we try to do what's best for the football team and what's best for the franchise."

6. Every time a quarterback is plucked out of the late rounds of the draft, someone asks if he could be the next Brady, a former sixth-round pick. Most teams these days gamble on free agents seeking a second chance, college kids who have run afoul of the rules or players trying to rebound from injuries.

The Patriot Way is ubiquitous.

Each year brings a new group of individuals to assess. The Patriots never tried to mash players into pre-formatted ideals. What Belichick brought to the team was a common language for talking about a diverse population. Maybe the personnel department will pay extra attention to the psychological profiles or scrutinize socio-economic factors more closely, but the Patriots won't be making a fundamental shift in the player evaluation process.

"Most of those decisions have worked out," Belichick reminded the audience. "Some don't. Overall I'm proud of the hundreds of players that have come through this program."

Picking out a potential murderer is harder than finding the next super star quarterback amid the flawed players available on the last day of the draft.

7. Belichick's press conferences still rank among the most frustrating, futile exercises in all of sports. Wednesday's affair had that plenty of that.

But a natural discomfort leaked through, even in his opening statement.

"It's a sad day. It's really a sad day on so many levels," Belichick said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, with the victim. I express my sympathy with everyone that's been impacted. A young man has lost his life, a family has suffered a tragic loss.

"I and other members of our organization were shocked and disappointed in what we'd learned, having someone in the organization that is involved in a murder investigation."

The next time Belichick steps in front of a microphone will answer questions about Tebow, the receivers, injured players and more with his usual disdain. There will be no room for interpretation about which Belichick grunted his way through the post-game press conference. A return to more comfortable surroundings.

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Michael Jackson wrongful death trial: Debbie Rowe 'to tell jurors star hid ...

By Kerry Mcdermott

PUBLISHED: 08:23 EST, 25 July 2013 | UPDATED: 08:28 EST, 25 July 2013

Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe will be called to the stand by AEG in his family's wrongful death case against the concert promoters AEG, it has been claimed.

Relatives of the King of Pop - who died in 2009 after overdosing on painkillers - have accused AEG Live LLC of failing to properly investigate her son's physician Dr Conrad Murray.

But according to a new report Rowe will take the stand and testify that Jackson was a 'secret, hardcore drug addict' for decades - in what could be a hugely damaging blow for his family's case.

Sources told gossip website Rowe, 54, who is the mother of Jackson's children Michael Prince and Paris, will say she was aware the star was abusing some prescription medication during the 1980s and '90s, but that she did not realise the extent of his habit.

Rowe will tell jurors she had been unaware Michael's dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein had 'a standing order... when Michael came to the office he should be injected with Demerol and Vistaril', TMZ said.

Vistaril increases the strength of painkiller Demerol, the report said.

It claims Rowe will say Michael hid the extent of his problem from her - testimony that would likely boost AEG's argument it had no reason to be aware of the singer's drug abuse.

It is claimed the mother-of-two will reveal how she saw Michael emerge from Klein's office looking 'out of it' in the days leading up to his death.

TMZ said she would describe a phone call she allegedly made to Klein during which she told him: 'He's dead and it's your fault'.

She will say she was unaware Jackson was visiting doctors with the specific aim of 'getting high and falling asleep', the report said.

If indeed Rowe were to testify in this way, it could help to persuade jurors of Jackson's ability to hide his drug use - supporting AEG's argument that it had no reason to raise the alarm.

Jackson died due to acute Propofol intoxication on June 25 2009.

Michael's mother Katherine Jackson has told jurors the promoters of his ill-fated string of comeback concerts watched her son 'waste away' before his death.

Dr Conrad Murray is currently serving four years for the involuntary manslaughter of the King of Pop.

Gators erasing Aaron Hernandez

In late June, the University of Florida began removing photographs and images of Aaron Hernandez throughout the school's football facility.

On Thursday, the school worked to remove the last -- and most publicly visible -- reminder of Hernandez. Florida will dig up and remove a brick outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium honoring Hernandez, a former All-American at the school.

The school began distancing itself from Hernandez on June 26 when he was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. The school immediately started removing photographs of Hernandez located in the locker room, team area, football offices and facility and throughout the stadium.

"We didn't feel it was appropriate to celebrate Aaron Hernandez. We put together an immediate plan after the initial news broke to remove his likeness and name in various private and public areas in the facility, such as the South Endzone team area, locker room, football offices, Heavener Complex Kornblau Lobby and the brick display entrance to the football facility," the school said in a statement.

"We were able to implement some of the changes immediately and this [brick removal] was a more complex process to complete with our vendors. The plan was to have everything completed before the end of July."

Florida players named All-Americans are honored with a brick in their name, located on the Gator Walk entrance in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Urban Meyer, who coached Hernandez at Florida, told GatorCountry.com in 2008 he got emotional the first time he saw the bricks honoring the school's All-Americans.

"Guys gave their life and their soul to make this program great and now they're permanently part of the history in the greatest stadium in all of college football," Meyer said in 2008. "Out there where everybody can see them and embrace what they've done."

Hernandez played at Florida from 2007-09 and earned All-America honors as a junior. In 2009, Hernandez became the SEC's first winner of the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end. He left school early and was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the New England Patriots.

Since Hernandez was charged with murder, he was released from the Patriots. Several other organizations have also distanced themselves from Hernandez.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame, in Canton, Ohio, removed an award-winning photograph of Hernandez from public view after receiving complaints from visitors. Electronic Arts said it took Hernandez out of its "Madden NFL 25" and "NCAA Football 14" video games. Panini, a trading card and memorabilia company, also removed Hernandez stickers from 500,000 of its sticker books, which were already produced but had yet to hit the shelves.

Hernandez pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and is being held without bail.

College football reporter

Hot on the Web: Bill Clinton sings 'Blurred Lines'

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the ceremony naming the new Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington after him on July 17. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

YouTube channel BarackDubs is known for putting presidential speeches to music.

Among the recent videos is President Obama " singing" Daft Punk's hot tune Get Lucky.

This time BarackDubs has former president Clinton doing a version of Robin Thicke's suggestive song Blurred Lines.

In the video, which has more than 1 million views after being posted on Tuesday, Clinton sings the chart-topping hit's racy lyrics declaring "I know you want it" and lamenting about "good girls" and "blurred lines."

Time.com points out that the release is timely. On Tuesday, former White House Monica Lewinsky turned 40.

Arms to Syria opposition still a debate in progress

Washington (CNN) -- While the United States draws closer to providing some form of lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, the debate over how extensive the package should be and the possible outcome are likely to follow any decision.

In a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee this week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey laid out the scenarios that could unfold, ranging from the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria, to training and assisting the opposition through intelligence and logistics assistance.

Read more: 'London 11' vow to increase arms to Syrian rebels

None of the options, he said, would be easy, and all would come with a pretty extensive price tag.

"We must anticipate and be prepared for the unintended consequences of our action," Dempsey wrote in the letter to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI).

"Should the regime's institutions collapse in the absence of a viable opposition, we could inadvertently empower extremists or unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control."

Some advocates such as Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain say a no-fly zone over Syria is the most effective way to stop the killing machine of President Bashar al-Assad.

Read more: Putin criticizes West on plan to arm Syrian rebels

"I know that we have the military capability to impose a 'no-fly' zone, to crater their runways and their fixed installations where fuel and parts are, and establish a 'no-fly' zone with Patriot missiles," McCain said in June. "And if we can't do that, then the question ought to be asked to the American taxpayer, to the Pentagon, 'What in the world are we wasting tens of billions of dollars for defense for if we can't even take care of this situation?'"

Pentagon's complex contingencies

But despite costs of such an operation possibly going as high as a "billion dollars per month over the course of a year" as Dempsey wrote in his letter to Levin, analysts say such an option faces other challenges.

Opinion: Time running out to aid Syria's rebels

Despite the risk to U.S. aircraft and recovery force personnel that may be associated with it, the military involvement in Afghanistan will not end until the end of next year. The Pentagon is also dealing with some complex contingencies in the context of Iran if diplomacy over Tehran's disputed nuclear program fails, as well as other volatile areas in the Middle East.

'Trading modernization against readiness'

The debate also comes at a time when forced budget cuts known as sequestration are shaving billions from the defense budget and forcing some military commanders to question whether the readiness capacity in fiscal environment can handle a new contingency.

Opinion: What if al-Assad prevails?

"We are trading modernization against readiness, it's the only place we have to go for funding because of this arbitrary mechanism that is sequestration, and it's causing a real problem on the readiness side of the house and putting our ability to modernize over time at risk," Gen. Mark Welsh, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, said last week at a security forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute.

Too little too late?

Some of the criticism over the administration's decision to send some form of lethal aid to the Syrian opposition, in a conflict that has claimed nearly 90,000 lives, and more than two years after the conflict began amounts to little more than too little too late.

"Right now, we're playing for the best worst option," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview on the 'Situation Room' Tuesday.

'No guarantees in this business'

Frederic Hof, a former top State Department adviser on Syria, says it would have been better had President Barack Obama endorsed recommendations of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former CIA Director David Petraeus to arm mainstream opposition elements when they recommended it a year ago.

But acting and arming now is better than staying on the sidelines, Hof says.

Read more: Syria is a '10-year issue,' top general says

"There are no guarantees in this business, but when you consider the costs of inaction, of trying to stand aside and watching this problem fester, it's clear to me that just trying to hold Syria at arm's length is every bit as risky as the alternatives, says Hof, now senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. "There are no good answers here, no silver bullets."

For Hof, the limited use of "targeted strikes" against specific elements in al-Assad's arsenal responsible for much of the killing, like artillery and missile strikes that reach heavily populated areas, would be an effective tool alongside the provision of small arms and training to the opposition.

"It kind of restricts the amount of expense and the amount of time because you will know with some degree of specificity when you have actually accomplished the mission," Hof says.

Billions of dollars

In his letter to Levin, Dempsey said the cost of such missions could reach billions of dollars, depending on the duration of the operations.

And then what about the disparate state of the Syrian opposition?

Much of the trepidation for greater involvement in the Syrian civil war was the presence of al Qaeda affiliated fighters within opposition ranks, and the danger of weapons falling into their hands.

"There is sort of an idea out there that all of the opposition are extremists," says longtime Syria watcher Andrew Tabler with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "They are not, but there are extremists among their ranks."

Who gets the weapons?

For Hof, the funneling of all weapons through Brig. Gen. Salim Idris, the supreme commander of the Syrian Military Council, whom the United States and the West see as an interlocutor, would be an effective organizing mechanism for the opposition.

"Up until now, things have come in with a variety of motives in mind -- different countries and kingdoms wanting clients inside Syria, and private contributors mostly from the [Persian] Gulf wanting to support jihadists," Hof says in advocating for a central figure to funnel everything through. "This is a big reason why there is chaos and disunity in the opposition ranks."

Diplomatic solution still an option

That said, the United States is still pursuing a diplomatic solution through which a political transition would be brokered by all sides of the conflict as long as al-Assad had no role in any incoming government.

While the makeup of any transition government would not include anyone with blood on their hands, as called for by the Geneva Communique signed on to by the United States and other countries, the possible presence of some remnants of the al-Assad regime in a transition government causes pause for some analysts.

"I don't think it will be pulled off anytime soon," said Tabler, who says a process that allows the possible inclusion of regime elements in a new government over a population that has changed rapidly over the course of the last few years would be problematic. "It's just going to kick the can down the road, and we are going to be back to the same place we were before. But this time it will be with many more death tolls, so I just don't think it's viable."