See Me on Arise TV

Remember the 1980s series on CBS called The Equalizer?  British actor Edward Woodward played the man of mature age who was sort of a karma cop/private detective.  If people felt the odds were against them and they needed help, he'd come in and balance the scales of life in a weekly crime story.

This show aired in the mid to late 1980s.  I made my TV acting debut in an episode of that show during my VH1 veejay/talk show host years.  Denzel Washington never rented any old episodes of TV series because he didn't want to steal anything from it when playing the lead in the film adaptation.  Denzel is now The Equalizer.  He could've watched all the episodes he wanted because his Americanized version of this character has hardly any similarity at all to the old TV series.

By the way, I made my TV acting debut in one episode of that series.  I played a talk radio host.

The Equalizer has been updated as a protective man with a mysterious government past.  He works in a Home Depot-like store, introduces an abused hooker to good literature and kills a lot of evil Russians with some supplies from his day job.

                                                                                                                                              

This is The Equalizer's 2014 way of balancing karma.  In this big screen adaptation of The Equalizer, Denzel could've sung "If I had a hammer, I'd beat you in the morning...I'd beat you in the evening...all over this land..."

Denzel is nearly 60.  When you see him in action, you'll wonder how come there's no scene of him shouting, "Can a brother get some Advil up in here? Killing all these bad guys gave me some serious lower back pain!"

I will talk about Denzel's new action movie hero feature.  I rejoin the Arise On Screen team Saturday, September 27th.   If you're in the New York tri-state area, watch us on Time Warner Ch. 92 or Verizon Ch. 481 at 5:30p Eastern time with a Saturday repeat at 7:30p Eastern.  Arise On Screen repeats on Sunday at 5:30p ET.

We'll also review Pride, a British film starring Billy Nighy and Imelda Staunton.  Arise On Screen host/critic Mike Sargent has urged me to see this movie.  I haven't seen it yet but the trailer makes me think it's a bit like The Full Monty.

It looks like the gentle folks of a small town in Wales have their first encounter with hip gay men and lesbians.  That's what I gathered from the trailer.

We stay in the United Kingdom with André Benjamin, formerly of OutKast.  He stars as the late, great rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix.  The feature, shot like a semi-documentary, is Jimi: All Is By My Side.

The son of acclaimed director Mike Nichols gives us a romantic comedy about two young adults in New York who decided to hook up for a night of sex.  Then get to know each other come the daylight hours.  We'll also review Two Night Stand.

I hope you can watch the show.  That's Arise On Screen, with host/critic Mike Sargent, airing Saturday at 5:30 & 7:30p Eastern time with a 5:30p on Sunday.  You can also see it streamed online on Arise.TV.