News

Over a 35-year musical career, Billie Joe Armstrong has often walked the empty street, but has he ever run the loaded bases?

The Green Day icon is joining the ownership group of the Oakland Ballers, the new (and as of this coming season) only professional baseball team in Northern California’s East Bay. Armstrong and legendary Oakland rapper Too $hort are climbing aboard the independent Pioneer League team ahead of the 2025 campaign, giving a celebrity boost to a club that in its first season already attracted plenty of grassroots interest.

“This is all about bringing families to a ball game,” Armstrong said in an email to The Hollywood Reporter. “After the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.”

Playing in newly constructed Raimondi Park, the team was an object of local and media fascination...

Every breakout independent hit seems like a miracle. This delightful ‘little’ picture was fated to be ghetto-ized into ethnic theaters before its producers opted to distribute it themselves. Capturing a vibrant part of the immigrant experience, Joan Micklin Silver’s micro-production often has a big-picture look; it charmed audiences and became a sleeper success. Star Carol Kane was nominated for an acting Oscar as ‘Gitl,’ a woman with Old-Country values plus the grit and determination to win a better life. Also with fine performances from Steven Keats, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh and Doris Roberts.

Hester Street

Blu-ray

Cohen Media Group / Kino Lorber

1975 / B&w / 1:85 anamorphic 16:9 / 90 min. / Street Date March 8, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Carol Kane, Steven Keats, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh, Doris Roberts, Stephen Strimpell, Lauren Frost, Paul Freedman, Martin Garner.

Cinematography: Kenneth Van Sickle

Production Designer: Stuart Wurtzel

Film Editor: Katherine Wenning

Original Music: Herbert L. Clarke...