Keepingitreal

Law Abiding Citizen: Trailer

‘Precious’ Wins Toronto Film Festival Prize

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season. The film, a gritty tale of the abuse and redemption of a teenage girl in Harlem, captured the festival’s People’s Choice award, which is voted on by filmgoers. Last year it went to best picture Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire.” Critics have roundly praised “Precious” since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and audiences in Toronto warmly received the film, which is directed by Lee Daniels and will hit theaters in November. (Continue Reading…)

Bring Your A Game!

On Saturday, September 12, come to the Schomburg in Harlem and spend the evening with UPTOWN!

You'll share the evening with actor-director Mario Van Peebles, activist-author Kevin Powell and other celebrities to watch and celebrate the broadcast premiere of Twenty First Century Foundation's (21CF) groundbreaking documentary film, Bring Your "A" Game, on BET.

Bring Your "A" Game was created to generate a national conversation on the plight of Black men and boys, and underscores how essential educational achievement and high school graduation are to survival and success in today's world.

The talk back following the screening will be moderated by award-winning journalist, social activist and political commentator Jeff Johnson who is the chief correspondent for The Truth with Jeff Johnson, a hard-hitting, talk show that delivers a varied and vibrant view of the news, while
examining issues to engage BET viewers in front of a live studio audience.

Buy tickets, HERE
More about the film, HERE

Portraits of Black Trans Men

By Jorge Antonio Vallejos ~ Exclusion is something Kortney Ryan Ziegler does not tolerate. An accomplished blogger and filmmaker, Ziegler (pictured here) noticed that movies about transgender people ignored the stories of Black people. “Trans films are predominantly white. They give space to trans bodies, but they exclude people of color,” says Ziegler.No more. Ziegler’s film Still Black: A Portrait of Black TransMen was released last year (clips can be seen at stillblackfilm.org). The film has been shown in several LGBT film festivals including Frameline in San Francisco and Outfest in Los Angeles. Putting out a casting call through various LGBT list serves and through word of mouth, Ziegler initially conducted phone interviews before choosing to focus on six Black trans men: Kylar Broadus, Ethan Young, Louis Mitchell, Jay Welch, Nicholas Rashad and Carl Madgett. Charismatic and honest, the men demonstrate that there are as many ways to be Black and trans as there are Black trans people.  “They may change their bodies and who they are, but they’re still Black. It’s sexy,” says Ziegler. “Whatever they do with their lives, their Blackness is still visible.”    Ziegler leaned on personal experience to make the film. The Black 28-year-old identifies as genderqueer and rejects both male and female pronouns, preferring the plural “they.” Raising $25,000 through online fundraising, Ziegler shot the film over a six-month period and edited for another six months. “If you don’t get a grant you can still make a film—you just have to be creative,” says Ziegler, who earned an undergraduate degree in film at University of California at Santa Cruz and has produced five films. Still Black is Ziegler’s first feature documentary.   Working now on a Ph.D. in African American Studies at Northwestern University, Ziegler is the writer behind the award-winning blog Bla(k)ademic (blackademic.com). “Academic writing is exclusive. The blog helped me reach a wider amount of people than my seminar papers can do,” says Ziegler, who is now achieving that goal with the new film.“We get emails from all over, from people of different colors saying the film has changed their lives,” Ziegler says.But Ziegler notes that no invites have come from film festivals, which routinely fly out white trans filmmakers for screenings and talks. “We would like to be treated the way white trans filmmakers are treated. We’re not stupid. There’s a pattern where people of color are second. Whites come first,” says Ziegler.Despite these disappointments, Ziegler is still positive and hopes viewers of the film will step outside their comfort zone. “The people in the film stepped outside of theirs. I hope people see the film and feel the same way.” For more about the film, go to stillblackfilm.org. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

'TAXIDERMIA'

TAXIDERMIA [NR] Opens in select U.S. theaters beginning August 14.Official site:  http://www.taxidermia-themovie.com

SYNOPSIS

TAXIDERMIA contains three generational stories, about a grandfather, a father, and a son, linked together by recurring motifs. The dim grandfather, an orderly during World War Two, lives in his bizarre fantasies; he desires love. The huge father seeks success as a top athlete - a speed eater - in the post-war pro-Soviet era. The grandson, a meek, small-boned taxidermist, yearns for something greater: immortality. He wants to create the most perfect work of art of all time by stuffing his own torso. Historical facts and surrealism become intertwined as magical realism, like in the works of Gabriel García Marquez or the Hungarian writer Lajos Parti Nagy; the script is based on two of the latter's stories. Palfi added the third story, that of the grandson the taxidermist.

BLACK FILMS WOULD SELL OVERSEAS CUZ WE SET THE TRENDS

By Casey Gane-McCalla ~ Spike Lee and Tyler Perry Spike Lee Compares Tyler Perry To Amos and Andy Spike Lee had an interview with Ed Gordon on Our World with Black Enterprise scheduled to air this weekend. In the interview he complained about “coonery and buffoonery” and both of Tyler Perry’s shows “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” comparing them to characters from minstrel shows. From EurWeB ~“We’ve had this discussion back and forth. When John Singleton [made 'Boyz in the Hood'], people came out to see it. But when he did ‘Rosewood,’ nobody showed up. So a lot of this is on us! You vote with your pocketbook, your wallet. You vote with your time sitting in front of the idiot box, and [Tyler Perry] has a huge audience. We shouldn’t think that Tyler Perry is going to make the same film that I am going to make, or that John Singleton or my cousin Malcolm Lee [would make]. As African-Americans, we’re not one monolithic group, so there is room for all of that. But at the same time, for me, the imaging is troubling and it harkens back to ‘Amos n’ Andy.’”OPINION: Why Tracy Morgan Isn’t Taking Us Two Steps ~“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery. I know it’s making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better. … I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these two shows (Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne”), and I am scratching my head. We got a black president, and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Jada Pinkett Smith's 'Human Contract' to Hit DVD in June

Jada Pinkett Smith's film, 'The Human Contract,' will be released on DVD on June 30. Starring in the film are Jason Clarke, Spanish superstar Paz Vega, Idris Elba, Pinkett Smith, Ted Danson, Joanna Cassidy and Tessa Thompson. The film follows Julian Wright (Clarke), a charming and megasuccessful businessman with a secret. With his personal life in shambles, Julian finds himself willing to travel down the rabbit hole, when he meets Michael Reed (Vega), a gorgeous stranger who entices Julian to forget his rigid corporate world and adopt a more bohemian lifestyle, a decision that not only affects his life but also inspires his half-sister, Rita (Pinkett Smith), to re-examine her own. Pinkett Smith, who makes her directorial debut, wrote the script. Husband Will Smith is one of the executive producers.

Star Trek: Trailer

Star Trek: The Movie

Fans fixate on Beyonce as 'Obsessed' takes in $28M

LOS ANGELES – Audiences were in the mood for some fatal attraction action at the box office. Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba's "Obsessed" debuted as the top weekend movie with $28.5 million in ticket sales. The Sony Screen Gems thriller stars Knowles and Elba as a couple whose ideal marriage lands on the rocks after a psychotic temp played by Ali Larter begins stalking the husband.The strong opening for "Obsessed" helped maintain Hollywood's hot streak, with overall revenues at about $112 million, up 23.5 percent from the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.The busy summer season starts Friday with 20th Century Fox's spinoff "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," starring Hugh Jackman in the title role he played in three "X-Men" blockbusters.Studios head into summer on a box-office tear, with receipts running at a record pace. Revenues for the year are at $3.06 billion, up 17.4 percent over last year. Factoring in higher ticket prices, movie attendance is up 15.7 percent."We have never been in this strong a position heading into the summer season, ever," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

Terrence Howard, a hustler in 'Fighting'

A sharp-dressed man in a tailored black suit, noodling on an acoustic-electric guitar, Terrence Howard bears no resemblance to Harvey, his two-bit hustler character in "Fighting." Howard's sharply drawn portrait of a street-fighting coach who takes one more chance on a young street fighter (Channing Tatum) is one of the film's strengths. Howard said he chose the film after being impressed by director and co-writer Dito Montiel's Sundance Film Festival hit debut, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," which also starred Tatum.

Q: I know this will sound bad, but I was surprised how good "Fighting" is. There's a level of detail you don't expect in this genre. The extras casting is great; the location scouting is great.

A: A lot of directors will make the mistake of giving their child to a babysitter way too early. Dito made sure his baby stayed in his hands. He set up the play dates and the friends at the play dates, made sure they were trustworthy and telling the same story.

This film is a beautiful, beautiful walk on that journey from "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints." I think every director is still telling the same story, just from different perspectives. Look how many sci-fi films Steven Spielberg has made - always about something from the unknown, coming. He's still trying to understand some vision that was shared with him a long time ago. Every director is trying to reflect some light that was shared with them, I think.

Q: I liked Harvey.

A: Harvey is the broken nature when you refuse to fix the pieces, when you refuse to tie up your shoelaces. No matter how many times he trips over them, he refuses to tie them. So he's forever slumping his way through the city and never able to pick up any momentum because he can't keep his feet beneath him. That was a dark place to live, as that character; someone who no longer believes in his own reflection. CONTINUE READING...

Movie Trailer: Next Day

American Violet

Regent Acquires U.S. Rights for "Shake Hands with the Devil"

LOS ANGELES -- February 26, 2009 -- Regent Releasing, a leading independent U.S. film distributor, announced today that it has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the docudrama "Shake Hands With The Devil," from EMMY®-nominated director Roger Spottiswoode and OSCAR®-winning producer Michael Donovan of "Bowling for Columbine." Regent acquired the film from Halifax Film, a DHX Media company and will distribute the film in the summer of 2009.Nominated for 13 Genie Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Academy Award) including Best Motion Picture and Best Achievement in Direction, "Shake Hands With The Devil" is based on the acclaimed best-selling book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire. The film was directed by Roger Spottiswoode ("Tomorrow Never Dies" and EMMY®-nominated drama "And The Band Played On.") The film stars the award-winning actor Roy Dupuis as Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire and Deborah Kara Unger as Emma. "Regent is honored to bring Lieutenant-General Dallaire's inspiring story to US audiences this summer," said Mark Reinhart, General Manager and Executive Vice President Distribution and Acquisitions for Regent. "'Shake Hands With The Devil' illustrates a beautiful message of humanity through the perseverance and courageous acts of one man." "Shake Hands With The Devil" marks one of many additions to an impressive slate of first-rate and thought-provoking world cinema, which Regent has acquired in recent months. Upcoming releases include the 2008 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film, "Departures," the 2008 Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury prize winner "Tokyo Sonata," Iran's Official entry for the 81st Academy Awards®, "The Song of Sparrows," the 2008 Cannes Official Competition entry "Serbis," and two-time Annie Award nominee, "$9.99." The film has already garnered attention and support from activist organizations around the world including, Amnesty International and American Red Cross. On Tuesday, February 24, "Shake Hands With The Devil" was screened at BAFTA. The special screening of the film hosted by Time Magazine International, International Crisis Group and Bono's ONE Organization. Following the screening, a distinguished panel including, Simon Robinson (Senior Editor Time Europe), Lord Malloch Brown (UK's Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN), Justin Forsyth (Gordon Brown's policy adviser) singer Bob Geldof, the film's director Roger Spottiswoode, Colonel Bob Stewart (who headed the first UN mission to Bosnia) and Donald Steinberg (head of the International Crisis Group and President Clinton's advisor on Africa) discussed the issues raised by the film. In 1993, the United Nations dispatches Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire (Roy Dupuis) to far-off Rwanda to oversee a fragile cease-fire. The peace agreement between the rebels (led by the minority Tutsi ethnic group) and the Hutu majority group was on shaky ground. When an unknown group shoots down the Rwandan President's plane, the storm breaks and a secret genocidal campaign against the Tutsi minority begins with a night of terror in Kigali. Dallaire is forced to deal with far-away superiors and the studied indifference of the world's great powers while trying to take decisive action to stop the genocide of more than 800,000 innocent civilians. For more information about the film, please visit http://www.shakehands-themovie.com/ or http://www.regentreleasing.com

JAZMINE SULLIVAN SOARS INTO NEW FILM: Singer books role in movie about Tuskegee Airmen

Up and coming R&B artist Jasmine Sullivan, a recipient of five Grammy nominations, takes a leap into acting with her first film role to begin shooting in April.The Philadelphia singer/songwriter has a plum role in director Anthony Hemingway's "Red Tails," reports Billboard. "I play a singer who entertains soldiers," says Sullivan, who will appear in the movie alongside current touring partner Ne-Yo. "I'm really just entertainment for them, but I kind of get a little relationship going with one of them. So that's very exciting." "I used to act when I was younger, in little plays," adds Sullivan, who attended Philadelphia's Creative and Performing Arts high school. "It never was really a passion of mine. It's just something I did and I could do. Anything where I can be creative, I like to do."        Sullivan also has a TV project in the works but says she can't reveal details yet. She's not yet sure about a fourth single from her debut album "Fearless," and a follow CD appears to be on the back burner at the moment. "I haven't discussed it with the label [Atlantic]," Sullivan says. "They aren't pressuring me yet. I think we all are trying to get ('Fearless') heard worldwide. But I am thinking of songs these days.  SOURCE:EURWEB.COM

'The Taking of Pelham 123'

Denzel Washington's next film, 'The Taking of Pelham 123,' which is a remake of the 1972 film that starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as the leader of a heavily armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train's passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages. But there's one riddle Garber can't solve: Even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?

CRIPS AND BLOODS : MADE IN AMERICA

Directed by critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta and Executive Produced by NBA star Baron Davis and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Stephen Luczo, CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA  tells the story of the Crips and Bloods, South Los Angeles' two most infamous African-American gangs.

Combining unprecedented access into the worlds of active gangs, CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA  offers a compelling, character-driven documentary narrative which chronicles the decades-long cycle of destruction and despair that defines modern gang culture. The shocking war-zone reality of the South LA Gangs, the Crips and the Bloods.. From the genesis of LA’s gang culture to the shocking, war-zone reality of daily life in the South L.A., the film chronicles the rise of the Crips and Bloods, tracing the origins of their bloody four-decades long feud.  Contemporary and former gang members offer their street-level testimony that provides the film with a stark portrait of modern-day gang life: the turf wars and territorialism, the inter-gang hierarchy and family structure, the rules of behavior, the culture of guns, death and dishonor. Ex-gang members of the Crips and Bloods, gang intervention experts, activists and academics talk.. Throughout the film ex-gang members, gang intervention experts, writers, activists and academics analyze many of the issues that contribute to South LA's malaise: the erosion of identity that fuels the self-perpetuating legacy of black self-hatred, the disappearance of the African-American father and an almost pervasive prison culture in which today one out of every four black men will be imprisoned at some point in his life.

Solution to the South LA gang problem..

Finally the gang members themselves articulate their enduring dream of a better life. They provide CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA with its ultimate statement: a message of hope and a cautionary tale of redemption aimed at saving the lives of a new generation of kids, not just in South LA but anywhere in the world that gang violence exists. CHECK OUT THE TRAILER...

Biggie’s Mother to Lil’ Kim: “Did My Son Really Treat You Bad Like That”

Bringing Back a Dead Rapper, and the Tears

EXCERPT FROM NYTIMES -- By JON CARAMANICA THE less everyone around him said, the better Jamal Woolard knew he was doing.or several months beginning in November 2007 he would spend every day learning how to morph into Biggie Smalls (the murdered rapper also known as the Notorious B.I.G.) for the biopic “Notorious.” Memorized his albums front to back. Watched concert footage and tapes of old interviews. Practiced holding his head back, and at an angle. Wondered why Biggie never took his sunglasses off. Did some stuff he didn’t quite understand the meaning of at first: crawling around on the floor like a cat, rapping while gripping his tongue.When he arrived at the “Notorious” set, his likeness to Biggie was uncanny, and unnerving. “The first time I went on set and saw him rehearse, I walked out,” said the rapper Lil’ Cease, Biggie’s close friend. “It took a while to get used to.” n a recent interview at Frank White, a Brooklyn cafe named for one of Biggie’s alter egos, Mr. Woolard, also known as the rapper Gravy, had his own explanation for the silence, gasps and tears he faced during his transformation into Biggie. “Some people couldn’t stomach it,” he said. “Puff” — Sean Combs, who owns Bad Boy Records, Biggie’s record label — “couldn’t stay around. He just couldn’t take it. But I felt like that’s my job. They were hurting, but I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to give you what you want.” And also what a film like “Notorious” absolutely demands: an eerily credible re-creation of its protagonist. “If Biggie doesn’t work, the movie doesn’t work,” said the film’s director, George Tillman Jr. On Friday audiences and critics will get to decide if the efforts of Mr. Woolard and his many coaches have paid off, which would be a particularly impressive accomplishment given that the real Biggie Smalls, born Christopher Wallace, died only 12 years ago — murdered in March 1997 in Los Angeles in a still unsolved drive-by shooting — and remains fresh in the minds of many. Mr. Woolard, 33, did not take his opportunity lightly. “A responsibility,” he called it. Though Biggie’s career was brief — he was 24 when he was killed, less than two weeks before his second album was released — he remains one of rap’s seminal figures, lauded for bringing emotional complexity to street life, for his improbable sex appeal (Biggie stood 6 foot 3 and weighed well over 300 pounds) and for his syrupy, intricate rhyme schemes. Mr. Woolard, who had no previous acting experience, went to his audition in character: Coogi sweater, wide black sunglasses, Kangol hat just so. For the first few weeks of his training routine — “Biggie boot camp,” it was called — he worked without pay; he still didn’t formally have the role. “It was a good psychological trick,” he said. “Any day they could have said, ‘Never mind.’ ” Every day he met with one or more of his advisers: Mimi Lieber, an acting coach; Kate Wilson, a vocal coach at Juilliard; Tanisha Scott, a choreographer; and several other informal teachers who lived the events depicted in the film: Lil’ Cease; Biggie’s hype man, Money L; the music producer Deric (D-Dot) Angelettie; and Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace.“I felt like I sometimes intimidated him during the film,” Ms. Wallace said. “I felt bad for that, but as a producer my job is to be there,” which she was throughout filming, except for the scenes in Los Angeles leading up to her son’s murder. (“She took a lot of tears,” Mr. Woolard said of Ms. Wallace’s time on the set, “but that one was too much.”) CONTINUE READING..