THE LONDON GUARDIAN
April 19, 2005
By James Verini

In offices created by an ex-Star Trek designer and using techniques and technology from movies and gaming, some of Hollywood’s top creative talents are helping the US military to train for war in the 21st century. James Verini gets to play. Imagine yourself, one balmy morning, on patrol in the Sadr City section of Baghdad. You and your US army unit advance along abandoned streets strewn with the burned-out shells of cars. Minarets peek out over dingy apartment blocks. Suddenly, a young Iraqi boy appears in the street. You halt, guns raised. “Milk!” he yells, holding aloft a jug. You give him a few dinars. Pressing on, you find a dead horse lying in the street. One of your men reminds you to be careful of improvised explosive devices. But your suspicions aren’t piqued until you notice a pile of decaying steers nearby. This suggests something especially lethal, you surmise. And sure enough, not far away, you and your unit come upon a dubious warehouse. Entering it, you find a stash of anthrax. WMDs, at last! Read Full Story

THE LONDON GUARDIAN
November 6, 2004
By James Verini

 

Film fans visit it for trivia, but actors have found another use for the Internet Movie Database. James Verini reports on Hollywood’s favourite dating tool. In Hollywood there are no real distinctions between business and social life, and dating – like acting – has its methods. The latest development: judging your love interest according to how he or she shows up on the Internet Movie Database. Doing research on someone you’re considering dating is a generally acceptable modern practice, of course, and if you live in a city other than Los Angeles, certain standard in-roads usually suffice: mutual friends, stories from university, even Googling. Read Full Story

THE LONDON GUARDIAN
July 2, 2004
By James Verini

 

American academic John McWhorter is paranoid about being overheard: his views are not popular. Hidden away in a Manhattan bookshop, rap’s most fierce opponent tells James Verini why hip-hop must be stopped. Only a quarter century into its history, hip-hop has not only taken over American popular culture, but it has also gained a surprising respect among the intelligentsia. The lyrics of Tupac Shakur are dissected in university classrooms; former Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has a political talk-show on the radio. Among professional African-American intellectuals, big names such as Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West sing hip-hop’s praises. Literally so with West, a Princeton University professor and probably the best-known black intellectual in the country, who last year cut his own rap and poetry album, Sketches of My Culture. Read Full Story

LONDON GUARDIAN
February 2004
By James Verini

Artists from all over the world are being refused entry to the US on security grounds. In the spring of 2003, the celebrated Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi was travelling to South America from Hong Kong. He did not intend to stop in the US, but his flight path took him through New York’s John F Kennedy airport. There, Panahi, a winner of the Golden Bear award at the Venice film festival who had visited the US several times, expected to while away a few dull hours. Instead, he was detained by officials; because his fingerprints were not on file, he was handcuffed and held in custody for several hours. He was so incensed at his treatment that he vowed never to return to the US. See Full Story