Red Tails is a "high-flying action epic inspired by the heroic exploits of the first all African-American aerial combat unit" known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The movie is produced by George Lucas and stars Cuba Gooding Jr and Terrence Howard. Atlanta's own Ne-Yo is also in the film. Its an all black cast and its an action film -- this is a first!!! Go out on Friday January 20 and SUPPORT and bring the kids...they need to see this!!!
(In Sheneneh voice) Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Variety reports that Screen Gems has acquired Sheneneh and Wanda, a comic vehicle for Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence to star in. The duo would play female characters they developed during their stand up comedy days in the caper film.
Foxx will write the script and he and Martin will produce together through Foxx's Foxxhole and Lawrence's Runteldat production companies.
The project originated as a parody of a movie trailer for a film called "Skank Robbers," which Foxx and Lawrence made for the BET Awards (watch below!). The reaction was strong enough that the duo decided to turn the concept into a real film. In the comedy, Sheneneh and Wanda are modern day independent women trying to make it on their own, one bank robbery at a time.
Last night all of Hollywood came out for the premiere of Michael Jackson's "This Is It". The movie simultaneously premiered in London, New York and Hollywood. The movie opens today and is sold out in many venues worldwide as Michael Jackson fans avidly awaited a glimpse of the last moments of the King of Pop's life. The movie is expected to gross $250 million during its two week stint.
Tyler Perry released "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" this weekend and took the top spot. The movie pulled in over $24MM beating estimates by over $5MM. Tyler Perry has consistently proven that he is a man to be reckoned. He has decided to forego the big Hollywood studios for his very own studio in Atlanta, Georgia and has shown that not only is he a creative force but he knows how to translate his creative genius into cold hard cash at the box office.
Congratulations Tyler!!! Let me know when you're ready for me to star in one of your movies!
After 75 years, Disney is finally releasing a movie with a Black Princess!!! After seven decades of animations including everything but an African-American lead I, for one, am very excited about this. The story is a classic one, The Princess and the Frog. The story is set in New Orleans and stars Anika Noni Rose (of Dreamgirls fame) as the voice of Princess Tiana. (Interestingly enough, the name of the princess was originally Maddy but was changed to Tiana -- not too many sistas named Maddy!!) The storyline should be quite familiar to most women as many of us have kissed quite a few toads in search of our prince. Personally, the closest I've been to a prince in shining armor is an ex-boyfriend behind shining the bars of his jail cell (that's another story!). Anyhoo, the very fact that princes in shining armor have gone missing is one of the many issues creating a storm of controversy surrounding the film which is set to be released December 2009.
Some argue that Disney is not really making inroads by casting a black princess because the storyline involves voodoo and, as such, necessitates an African-American in the role. This argument also begs the question will the voodoo storyline have negative, stereotypical connotations? Why not a story that just happens to have a person of color (albeit animated) in the lead sans the stereotypical plot? Others argue why release a story promulgating the inane, unrealistic pursuit of a prince who comes along and saves the woman from a life of being (dare I say it) - alone and without a man! They argue that young girls do not need to be served up any more stories of fantasy men saving the day and living "happily ever after". Another controversy surrounds the fact that after waiting 70+ years for this history-making moment, the black princess, in a twist of the original storyline, is actually turned into a frog herself after kissing the prince (on second thought this sounds more realistic than I thought!!). Let me repeat that, the BLACK princess is actually a GREEN frog for most of the movie.
Here's my opinion, despite being a green frog most of the movie, voodoo stereotypes, a frog perping as a prince who we know won't save anybody's day, its still a good thing to have an African-American princess (for one thing we now have a new acronym - an AAP as opposed to a JAP!). I remember growing up watching blond Cinderella and always wondering where is corn-rowed Shaniqua? Young black girls should not be denied a fairy tale depicting someone who looks like them. Young people of all races (especially young black girls) can benefit from seeing that a beautiful, young princess can indeed be black. They will learn that beauty embodies all races, creeds and colors. And, my answer to the prince who doesn't really save the day argument - can we let kids be kids?? Isn't being a kid about fantasizing? If a young girl fantasizes about her prince saving the day its ok. Let's not rob our XBox focused, Playstation fixated children the simple childhood right to fantasize! Afterall, the movie is a fairy tale and I don't know any fairy tales based on reality!!!
Precious is a new movie set to be released on November 6, 2009. Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey have joined forces to present this independent movie. The movie, directed by Lee Daniels, is based on the book "Push" by Sapphire and centers around a young teenage mother, Clareece "Precious" Jones. Precious is a victim of abuse and struggles with issues of self esteem and self hate. Despite these challenges, Precious is a story of triumph and perseverance in the face trial and tribulation.
In an email to his fans, Tyler Perry discusses the movie and why he wanted to get involved with its production. Here is an excerpt:
"This movie was so real and so incredibly relevant that I had to get involved. I called Oprah and she said she had the film but hadn't had time to see it yet. A couple of hours later she called me back after she had seen it. Neither of us could speak. We both sat in silence on the phone for a while. Hearing all that was said without words. What was amazing was that after that initial moment of "WOW!" we both ended up with the same feelings of overwhelming joy. So we decided to join together to present this film. I think the world should see it. Not only is it groundbreaking and real but it caused me to remember and to thank God I made it through that. I'll tell you more as it gets closer but just know that the reason I signed on to executive produce this movie is because I know I'm not alone. I know that there are millions of people out there who went through what I went through, what Oprah went through, and what Precious went through. And we all can say, "Thank God we made it!!"
