The Black Cinema World Of BET vs.TV One

Okay, I see that BET is trying to compete a bit with TV One on the Black Movie thing. For the most part, BET isn't really stepping to the plate like they should, mainly showing "Soul Plane" ad nauseum. Take last night, for example: TV One was showing "Shaft", "Shaft's Big Score!", and "Shaft Goes To Africa". BET was showing "New Jack City". While I know that New Jack City is on many a favorite list, in my mind, there is no contest; TV One is bout it, bout it.

Let's briefly summarize what has been shown on BET Movies as of late (bear in mind I don't pay much attention to their line-up):

Gang Of Roses: Lil'Kim. Stacey Dash, Monica Calhoun (ugh) and others I kinda forgot as former prostitutes in the wild, wild West that become outlaws on the lam. Who knew that there were weaves, Baby Phat clothing, and MAC makeup in the Old West? Complete and total ridiculosity in every way from the script to the costuming to the acting.


The Wash: Featuring the super amazing acting skills of Snoop Dogg and Doctor Dre as 2 buddies working at a car wash. I frequently say that this is the worst Black movie I've ever seen, and I doubt that will ever change to my grave.

Leprechaun: Back To Tha Hood: About a leprechaun running around the ghetto trying to get his gold back. Need I say more?


State Property 2: Was there even a need to make State Property One?

Waist Deep: Super, duper low budget, but I'll give them a pass on this one (the only one), because I love looking at Tyrese and Meagan Good.


Three Can Play That Game: Kudos for at least trying to stay semi-current. As for the film itself....*sigh*

Nora's Hair Salon 2: I wrote about the dude who "wrote" and "directed" this movie before, Jean Claude LaMarre, a singular force involved with some of the worst films in Black Cinema history (he was also a part of "Gang Of Roses" and "Don't Touch Me If You Ain't Prayed! Part 2"). LMAO at his introduction in the beginning saying that he feels a responsibility toward our community for telling real stories about "us". Whatev! If you thought the first Nora's Hair Salon was bad, it was "The Dark Knight" compared to part two.


TV One on the other hand...classic and wonderful all day long.

Car Wash: Richard Pryor, Bill Duke, The Pointer Sisters, Ivan Dixon, George Carlin, Antonio Fargas, and the music of Rose Royce all in one film? Yes, the storyline was trite, but it is a true beloved classic., and everything "The Wash" wishes it was.

Dirty Laundry: The one misstep from them, maybe. Tho the core storyline was well intentioned, I place it on that long list of formula films that I am beginning to loathe....family comes together for a gathering, usually at a cookout or big dinner--macaroni and cheese, greens, fried chicken, etc. is served---revelations are made, secrets are revealed, drama ensues, and it is wrapped up with "family is family, no matter what". Can somebody please, please PLEASE give Jenifer Lewis a new M.O.? I can recite her lines as the sassy/mean/nosey/hypocritical neighbor/relative almost before she says them herself.

When We Kings: TV One wins for this one alone, in my eyes. It has been on my top 5 list since the first time I saw it. I am always very interested in how Blacks have lived in other decades; their clothes, their music, their challenges. Though this film is technically about Muhammad Ali and the infamous "Rumble In The Jungle" fight, it is all the things I look for and more.

It is about race relations in the United States, as well as the beginnings of American Blacks being able to start reaching out to our African brothers for really the first time. It had performances by The Spinners, James Brown, Miriam Makeba (all who performed for the related festivities of the fight) and is a perfect snapshot of how very political and influential Ali was at his pinnacle, though that becomes almost secondary in this film.

I will go more in depth about this film at another time-it deserves it's own post; until then, enjoy the Black Cinema TV One is supplying to the masses.

7 Random Movie Questions.....

1) Finally got on the late train and saw "The Dark Knight". Yes, it was great, but how come amid all this fabulousness I kept focusing on the mynute detail of how very "un-Hollywood" everybody's teeth were? Yes, I have a problem.....

2) I saw a billboard today of some new fall show with cornballio Taye Diggs in it. Who keeps giving this n*gga work?

3) Speaking of mysteriously working n*ggas, after seeing the previews of Vin Diesel in "Babylon AD", is he is picking up the torch from Wesley Snipes for crap-fest-o-rama action movies?

4) Saw "Transformers" on HBO this past weekend, cause I had zero interest in seeing it last year (I vote boo!). Is it me or are the blockbusters this summer so much more amazing this year that any other year in history?

5) Why does anyone (especially Whoopie) deem this necessary?

'Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg is set to play the scheming muse Caliope in "Xanadu," the musical spoof of the infamous 1980 roller-disco flop. '

What happened to her bringing "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf" to Broadway with india.irie? (technically that's two questions)

6) People are furious at "Tropic Thunder" making fun of people with disabilities? Hello? Blackface?*

7) Why am I always disturbed by Raven Symone's wardrobe choices?




*the whole tropic thunder/blackface thing by the way, i really don't care about at all

So Sue Me....

Yes, I missed the American Black Film Festival that was held here in Los Angeles this month. I think I made my feelings clear about how I feel about these events in my last post about Black film festivals. Until things improve in my eyes, I'm gonna be pretty darn selective.

Undercover Black Man went to the closing night film, which is uaually the biggest shindig at these things. LMAO at his random comment about bras and backless dresses!:

Last night I finally got to see “The Black List,” the new documentary by Elvis Mitchell and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. (I blogged about this project in January.) It was screened in Beverly Hills.

Alas, I didn’t know the screening was part of the closing-night festivities for the American Black Film Festival. Dudes were rocking blazers, women had on heels... and I stepped up in there with jeans and tennis shoes. Straight bummin’.

I haven’t seen that many black folks in one spot in a while. Celebrity-wise, I spotted Eriq LaSalle across the crowded lobby. I also saw a (white) porn star, Nina Hartley. First I assumed they let her in on a Booty Waiver. (Yeah, fellas... she’s still got that bubble tush working.) But then I saw her chumming around with Greenfield-Sanders, who directed a porn-star documentary in 2004.

Speaking of getting dressed up, may I ask you ladies a question? What’s the deal with wearing a bra with a backless dress? I saw that twice, and it is messed-up-looking.

Anyway... “The Black List” rocked the place. Not only did Elvis and Tim get a standing ovation, not only were there numerous outbursts of applause throughout the movie... but there were murmurs, laughs and other sounds of affirmation indicating a fully engaged crowd.

Elvis declared that this was the best audience for “The Black List” ever.

And all the movie is is a series of interviews with notable Negroes... from Colin Powell to Chris Rock, from Toni Morrison to Serena Williams. “The Black List” has a cumulative power that belies its simple structure. It really does feel like you’re eavesdropping on the world’s coolest cocktail party.

Matter fact, “The Black List” works so well as a group experience, I wonder whether it’ll be as effective when it debuts on HBO two weeks from tonight.

Plus you’ll see a photo of Slash as a teenager with an Afro. And a picture of Louis Gossett, Jr. from his Greenwich Village “beatnik” days, strumming a guitar. (Who knew?)

A companion “Black List” coffee-table book, featuring Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ photo portraits of the interviewees, goes on sale next month.

UPDATE! Here is my Sergio (left) with one of the filmmakers Elvis Mitchell, at his Black Harvest Film Festival screening of "The Black List".

Soul Men....

I blogged about the movie "Soul Men", which stars Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, and is directed by Malcolm Lee in February HERE (bear in mind the pictures are missing for some reason). Some are saying that the film might not be released in this year as originally planned, cause it is a comedy, and it is too morbid to have 2 co-stars that passed in a comedy released too soon after their deaths. I think that would be a shame. For a thought about this, read this article, sent to me by Sergio:

http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/08/will-the-deaths-of-bernie-mac-001008.php

What do you think?

Holee Sh*t!

Not Issac Hayes too! He passed today...damn, is it true about what they say that these things come in 3's? This one has me twisted.

My father used to play an album called "Hot Buttered Soul" when I was a kid, and Isaac had a deep voice that dripped all the things I didn't know about. There was some album cover where he was dressed in a jumpsuit made of chains, bald head shining. I also know he liked to call himself "Black Moses" and would appear in some type of Arabic/biblical head covering. I didn't know what to make of him then (at all), but I know now that he was a mack daddy to the fullest.

R.I.P. Black Moses.

Here is Issac laying his mack hand down with a 6-pack of beer and some KFC. I may be wrong, but I don't think that would really work on any chicks that look like Annazette Chase, but "Truck Turner" is a movie after all:



Update: R&B diva Aretha Franklin said:

"[Hayes was] so musically advanced and timeless in his compositions. He was loved and appreciated by so many. He was an enduring symbol of the struggle of the African-American man and was a shining example of soul at its best."* *

From IW: Agreed.


**spotted on daddybstrong

A Peaceful Journey.....

As most of you probably already know, Bernie Mac has passed of pneumonia complications.

Today In B'Days....

My number one girl crush, Meagan Good, is 27.

Old School Music Friday...

Let me start by saying I love Rock music, the subject of this week's meme. I really love 90's rock; Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, U2, etc. But my secret fave is the 70's Rock, just like my favorite music just period is 70's Soul.

Fleetwood Mac, Todd Rudgren, Queen...loves it! But there was always something about this dude that has always appealed to me. His different style of music, dress, even his choice of spouse...everything about him just grabbed me from when I was a kid until now. I saw him on an old Dick Cavett show from the early 70's recently, and was shocked by how painfully shy he used to be....he was so super ethereal looking, he really did look like he might be a real Ziggy Stardust. My man was fresh to death, tho....he even had a pimp cane/walking stick when he came out with a velvet suit.

He is a Rock Star in every sense of the word, but all of the best rock stars have tons of soul....I saw a video he made in the 70's and a superfat Luther Vandross was one of his backup singers...and his wife has the soul of Africa. And speaking of soul, here is a video link of him on Soul Train (wanted to post it, but embedding for this one was disabled...damn!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB3G5dxx0zU. Love the dance moves to the Bowie, haha.

I don't know what it is about this song, but I adore it--check it:



Just had to post some of his ummm...interesting fashion choices:

(oddly enough, this perm was the most disconcerting for me of the pix)

Check out my other OSF fam too!

Believer 1964 - http://ruhoffman.blogspot.com/Cassandra - http://celeb-blitz.com/CC Groovy - http://ccgroovy.blogspot.com/Chocl8t - http://thechocl8tdiaries.wordpress.com/Danielle - http://funkyfingaproductions.blogspot.com/Danielle Vyas - http://modernmusings.com/Dee - http://donotcolorme.blogspot.com/DP - http://therealready.blogspot.com/Fresh and Fab - http://freshandfab.blogspot.com/Hagar’s Daughters – http://hagarsdaughters.blogspot.com/LaKeisha - http://kreativetalk.blogspot.com/LaShonda - http://thee-biz.blogspot.com/Lisa C - http://lisacwrites.blogspot.com/MarvalusOne - http://www.themarvalusview.com/Mrs. Grapevine - http://mrsgrapevine.com/Quick - http://thequickcatchup.blogspot.com/Regina - http://reginasfamilyseasons.blogspot.com/Shae-Shae - http://shaedoves.blogspot.com/SJP - http://sojournersplace.blogspot.com/Villager - http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/Vivrant Thang - http://songsinthekeyoflife.wordpress.com/AJ -http://overanalyzeit.wordpress.com/Mike - http://thehappygoluckybachelor.blogspot.com/Thembi - http://whatwouldthembido.blogspot.com/ Kim - http://thepunkin-patch.blogspot.com/

If I've left anyone off, please let me know!

Ummmm......

This is Morgan Freeman's passenger (read sidepiece) that was in the car accident with him.


Update: LMAO at reader LeNoir Tyrannical's comment!:

'He was really diving Miss Daisy afterall...awww the forbidden fruit, even if it is shriveled up! When will "they" ever learn?'

Love It!

I know Sergio may not feel the same (he no lovie Will Smith), but I really look forward to this. From "The Marvalus View":

Will Smith has been pegged to play Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale in a Steven Spielberg directed film about the Chicago 7…I’m excited already! Say what you will about Will, but dude can draw an audience, so the film will get viewed, and the boy can do the damn thing. And with Spielberg at the helm, the story should be nice…

From IW: Yeah, I wish someone Black was directing, but as someone from Oakland, CA (where the Panthers started), this is a story I think should have been told a long time ago....I think Will can bring it on this. Hopefully one day they will make a movie about Eldridge Cleaver too.

Update: Sergio says that Spielberg dropped out of the project awhile ago. Hopefully it will still get made anyway.

Terrence Watch! Part 18

This from loyal reader cdnyc07 aka nic:

It appears the raging Lothario we've all come to know as Terrence Howard is off the market! (At least for the minute.) The actor has set his eyes on aspiring actress Leasi Andrews, an Angelina Jolie-a-like with a pout that drives men wild.

The Iron Man star flew the bombshell to Ischia, Italy, along with his three children earlier this month to attend a film festival. "Leasi was over the moon when he invited her," said a source close to the duo. Imagine how she felt when Howard climbed up on a local bar's stage and began serenading her. (Howard's debut album is released on September 2.)

"He was telling Leasi how much he loved her, and how beautiful she was. He even asked her to marry him," said a witness. But the bombshell has her reservations, and perhaps rightly so. We've watched Howard eye-fuck a stunning Gwyneth Paltrow at an Iron Man screening, going so far to actually lick his lips and utter "Damnnnn," right to her face. And we were there at another fete when he practically forced his number on a 19-year-old actress, quipping, "I know how to make things happen," before winking like a scumbag.

"Leasi knows he's a flirt. And she's playing this cautiously," said a friend of the lass. Howard is rumored to have given her a ring for her recent birthday, over July 4th, but the stunning gal is being tight-lipped about what the band symbolizes. Andrews was previously dating Lawrence Bender, producer of An Inconvenient Truth, with whom she had a child.

From IW: LMAO that they are taking this "romance" seriously. His track record is pretty dismal--you hear about some chick exactly once with him, and never hear about her again in association. My take? Come on out of that deep, dark closet, Terrence, where it also seems like you get your hair cut.

PS: Eye f**king Gwyneth Paltrow? Dude!

pic spotted on blacksnob

Random Movie News....

Okay, finally Ms. Invisible has some tidbits you might be interested in....

For my comix lovin' folkses (you know who you are):

'Djimon Hounsou has partnered with Dynamite Entertainment to star in and produce a theatrical feature based on the comic book character Thulsa Doom, an immortal sorcerer that is a central figure in the Conan The Barbarian and Kull The Conqueror comic book series. Doom was portrayed by James Earl Jones in 1982's "Conan the Barbarian."'

From IW: James Earl Jones played some comic book dude? I sure don't remember that--then again, I don't think I ever saw Conan the Barbarian. Wouldn't mind seeing Digimon in a fur loin cloth, tho....haha!



I wanted these guys to come back, but really, there must be a better way:

'Directing duo Albert and Allen Hughes are pimping an HBO drama series, "Gentlemen of Leisure." The series is a remake of their 1999 documentary "American Pimp." The series explores the world of prostitution and pimping through the eyes of a 35-year-old legendary pimp in Oakland, Calif. Allen describes it as a "film noir-style urban drama based in rich characters that will explore the human conditions across the board." '

From IW: Y'all know I love me a pimp movie, but methinks all that needed to be said was said in "American Pimp" Let's move on, people!



Speaking of moving on and elevating, I love what Spike has been up to lately. To wit:

'Spike Lee has used his own cash to acquire the rights to the book "Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality," a memoir by Ronald Mallett, one of the nation's first African-Americans to earn a Ph.D in theoretical physics. '

From IW: If ultra-thrifty Spike is using his own fundage for this project, it must really be something....at the very least is sounds like a refreshing change from BS like "Janky Producers".


Another brother doing his own producing (the third one in this post--hurray!!!):

'Blair Underwood will serve as executive producer for a 90-minute documentary about black artists in the entertainment industry. The project, which will be produced by Associated Television International, will focus on several veteran artists relating their victories and struggles within the industry. '

From IW: I really wonder who they will be talking about in this film.



And finally, one of my favorite directors, F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Negotiator, The Italian Job, Set It Off) will be directing the biopic of Marvin Gaye. Loves it.



*source*

Mobilized...

Hey guys...I would love it if you can check me out on your cell....my blog is part of a new mobile entertainment and fashion network called 310.TV. Folkses can check you out all over the world...

If you want to add my posts to your mobile, or if you think you might want to
join us, mosey on over HERE.

i found this photo googling "black woman with cell phone". interesting.

Disturbing Picture Of The Week....

yes, that is tommy davidson

Eff Off Blogger!

Dang, as soon as a Negress finally says she's gonna post regularly again, Blogger's "robots" mistakenly mark my site as a spam site (?!) and I'm locked out of my own sh*t for days! Thin ice, Blogger, thin ice! Don't ever wonder why people are flocking to Wordpress, OK?

Anyhoo--my ex-husband Morgan Freeman was involved in a serious car accident with "an unidentified woman". I'll leave that part alone and wish him a speedy and complete recovery. He is definitely a Black Cinema treasure, and I only want the best for him. Be blessed Morgan!


Update: Why on God's green earth would Morgan be driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima? This "unidentified woman" thing is starting to make more sense. Ingognito anyone?