Facebook Movie "The Social Network" Feels Like It's Going To Be Hot!

Once A Proud Beacon Post the 1992 Civil Unrest, Magic Johnson Theatres In Los Angeles Closes Its Doors!

Magic Johnson last month announced that his Magic Johnson theatre on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles will be shut down. What’s more interesting, however, is the fact that Mr. Johnson no longer owns the theater, having sold it to AMC a few years back.

The closing will certainly be bad news for teen employment in the area but I’m not so sure that many residents will be so sad to see it go. In a city where state-of-the-art theaters are popping up consistently, I think it’s fair to say that many neighbors venture out of the area for their movie experiences.

Still, the theater has become a landmark in the South Los Angeles landscape and it will be interesting to see what replaces it.

More importantly, what does this failed business venture say for all the talk of rebuilding Los Angeles after the riots that broke out in 1992 after the Rodney King verdict?

Here are Magic’s words on the matter:

“I am deeply saddened to learn of AMC’s decision to close the Magic Johnson Theatre at Crenshaw Baldwin Hills Mall. AMC purchased the Magic Johnson Theatres several years ago. This was my first theatre, so a piece of me will definitely close with it. I want to thank the community for their support and loyalty over the years. The theatre has truly been the heartbeat of that community. Magic Johnson Enterprises will continue to bring high quality entertainment, products and services to those communities we serve every day.”

Joseph M. Wilcots, Acclaimed 'Roots' Cinematographer And Michael Jackson Collaborator, Dead At 70

The first African American in 1967 to join the International Cinematographers Guild, celebrated filmmaker Joseph M. Wilcots initially worked on camera crews for TV series such as "Mission: Impossible" and on films such as "The Last Picture Show," "The Cowboys" and "Lady Sings the Blues."

The trailblazer died Dec. 30 of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2008.

Clearly one of those incredible talents who the average person would never know, Wilcots contributions will be forever felt. In addition to being the cinematographer for 'Roots' and “Roots: The Next Generations," he also worked for 15 years in various capacities on Michael Jackson's music videos, tours and other projects.

Joseph Wilcots, 70, was highly praised for his cinematography and his sensitivity to those he worked with.

As a director of photography, he achieved his greatest acclaim for "Roots," the 1977 ratings phenomenon based on Alex Haley’s bestselling epic family saga.

"Joseph Wilcots could be considered the Jackie Robinson of cinematography," Steven Poster, president of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600, said in a statement.

In 1977, Wilcots received a national Emmy nomination for "outstanding cinematography in entertainment programming for a series" for Part Seven of "Roots." His work on "Roots" also earned him a local Emmy nomination.

"In doing a picture called 'Roots,' we felt it important that we should have an African American cinematographer," "Roots" executive producer David L. Wolper told The Times this week.

"It's extremely difficult to photograph African Americans," Wolper said, "because when you shoot a scene with an African American and a white person standing next to each other, the lighting is so complex, and he was an expert in that."

Louis Gossett Jr., who played Fiddler in "Roots," agreed.

"As the cinematographer, Joe said, 'This is going to take some time if this is going to look good,' " said Gossett. "It was a challenge for him to balance in the same scene those colors and the different gradations of skin."

As for the result, Gossett said, "We all loved it. It had to be very difficult for that man with that time frame and time pressure, but he did it."

Said LeVar Burton, who played Kunta Kinte, the African who is abducted, taken to America via slave ship and sold to a Virginia planter in the 1700s: "What stands out immediately is that the look and feel of 'Roots' holds up today, in 2010; it does not feel dated at all."

Burton said Stevan Larner was the director of photography on the first three hours of "Roots."

"Joe started in hour four and took it the rest of the way," he said. "What I remember about Joe on that shoot is that he's a very gentle, gentle soul, as well as a very talented man."

For Burton, who remains a popular figure on tv and on Twitter, the "compassion of the man" was evident while shooting the final scene in hour four in which Kunta Kinte is whipped and forced to take the name Toby.

"For me, the challenge was standing still while this guy with a whip was letting it go behind me at 120 miles an hour," recalled Burton. "We rehearsed it, Joe lit it, they gathered all the extras, [but] it wasn't working. I was way too skittish.

"He and the director, John Ermin, recognized this was a very important scene, and I needed to get comfortable with my back to the whip. Joe was very supportive, [saying], 'Let's go to something else; let's put this back on the schedule for another day.' "

In the early part of "Roots" when he was shooting Burton, Wilcots said in a 2007 interview with the Archive of American Television, "I wanted to make the audience smell the dirt and to create such an atmosphere that the dirt was the second part of the picture.



"And I was able to accomplish that by whenever I had the opportunity I would either start on the dirt or shoot something of dirt around and so there was like a hidden meaning, and it was the dirt and the earth."

Among Wilcots' other credits as a cinematographerare " Bill Cosby: Himself," "Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2" and the TV series "Matlock," "Palmerstown, U.S.A." and "Brewster Place."

Wilcots was born Feb. 1, 1939, in Des Moines.

After a four-year stint in the Navy as a photographer, he worked four and a half years at Westheimer Co., a Hollywood optical house for which he was involved in providing visual effects for "Star Trek" and other TV series and commercials.

A celebration of Wilcots' life is pending. He passed away at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.

Rest in peace Mr. Wilcots. Job well done!

Source

Never Mind Halle Berry, Zoe Saldana Is Jockeying To Be The Black Kate Winslet

How Does James Cameron's 'Avatar' Compare to the 'Titanic' Star?

With box-office receipts soaring, the love story and special effects fueling repeat views, and Oscar-buzz building, the 3-D blockbuster 'Avatar' is unlike anything we've seen since ... well, the last James Cameron feature film, 1997's "Titanic."

But this time, the leading lady is Black.

In the 12 years following that movie's release, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have made good on their promise, racking up instant classics and awards nods with equal aplomb. So lets compare Cameron's leading ladies and look at why Zoe Saldana could become the next Winslet — or why such comparisons could leave the actress feeling as blue as her "Avatar" character.

What They Have in Common

The Breakthrough: Although Saldana seems like a fresh face, the 31-year-old actress is the latest example of Hollywood's "work for years to become an overnight success" reality.

Her real breakthrough came in the 2000 dance film "Center Stage," a minor hit that led to solid work in everything from "Guess Who" to "The Terminal" to the infamous Britney Spears flick "Crossroads."

Of course who could forget her turn as the sexy black greek coed that dazzled on the field as well alongside Nick Cannon in the movie Drumline.



Similarly, Winslet had a substantial back catalog before she became a household name — having raised eyebrows in Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility," Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" and, most notably, Peter Jackson's excellent "Heavenly Creatures."

Unlikely Beauties: Think of the words "Hollywood starlet," and you're unlikely to picture either Saldana or Winslet. Both have a unique beauty, which perhaps makes them more memorable. In "Titanic" and during the years since, Winslet has never been shy about showing her body — and defending its ample curves and fluctuating weight.

Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario, meanwhile, was born in New Jersey to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother and grew up in the Dominican Republic. Much like Jessica Alba and Vin Diesel, she has an exotic, intriguing and almost indefinable look.

To white people that is. For Black folks, she's a sistah -- straight out!

Nice Girls Finish First: If you've seen enough of their interviews, you may have figured out the same thing as those of us who've been lucky enough to meet both ladies: In real life, they're exceedingly gracious, polite and eager to please.

What They Don't Have in Common

A Blockbuster Mentality: Saldana is an unabashed geek who found her back-to-back roles in "Avatar" and "Star Trek" to be a dream come true. Coupled with work in big films like "Pirates of the Caribbean," don't be surprised if her career path looks increasingly more like Rosario Dawson's or Kate Beckinsale's — respectable, fun and with a healthy dose of genre films.

Winslet, meanwhile, has avoided action flicks, superhero films and geek-friendly franchises so effectively that the decision must be intentional. Instead, she prefers original scripts (does it get any more outside-the-box than "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?") and conflicted housewives ("Little Children," "Revolutionary Road") whose feet are firmly planted in tragic realities.

Oscar Awesomeness: Often called the best actress of her generation, Winslet has been nominated for six Oscars and finally took home the little gold guy last year for "The Reader." But while "Titanic" earned her one of those nominations, it wasn't the first time she displayed impressive acting skills; "Sensibility" earned Oscar and Golden Globe noms and a BAFTA win, and her "Creatures" performance blew critics away.

Will Saldana — who has never received a major award nomination — prove herself to be as prolific a thespian? Only time will tell.

Main Source

Why Hasn't The Princess & The Frog Reach 100 Million in Box Office Sales Yet?

In comparison to black films, it's doing great. With an $86 million box after several weeks in theatres, however, Disney suits can't be pleased with this soft total, especially given all the grief they had to endure to get it made and the millions spent marketing this historic tale.

But Scott Foundas, film critic for LA Weekly, is interviewed by Michele Norris of NPR about the something other than the underperforming numbers that could have a lasting impact on the future of hand drawn animated films.

Foundas deals with the racial aspects of the movie starring Anika Noni Rose as the first Black Disney princess and why the film can't escape the ghetto. Click the picture above to listen to this very interesting interview

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Are People Really Arguing Over Whether "Avatar" Is a Racist Movie???

Avatar Is About Blacks Or Native Americans, Right?
Kwanzaa Celebrations Continue, But Boom is Over

Serena Williams is 2009 AP Female Athlete of Year
New York probes report EMTs ignored woman who died
SCLC suspends chairman and treasurer
Rapper T.I. released from prison early
Obama says he has unemployed relatives

Woman held in Hawaii after Michelle Obama threat

The Most Embarassing Black People of 2009

Fiancee of Bengals' Chris Henry: He changed my life
US professor among 5 sentenced to die in Ethiopia
World's smallest baby almost ready to go home
Youngest Black CEO of a public traded company: Ephren Taylor
Terrorist attack feared after Michael Jackson arrest

Hollywood Adds Money & Talent To Web Shows, Time For Blacks To Get With The Program

Web sites that buy original video clips often pay so little that "The Bannen Way," a flashy crime thriller debuting online, looked destined to be made poorly if it could be made at all.

Yet budding filmmakers Jesse Warren and Mark Gantt managed to hire 40-odd staff, including a boom operator, camerapeople — yes, more than one — and even production assistants on hand to offer sunscreen and sandwiches. And the production had actors familiar to some TV and movie audiences, including Michael Ironside, Robert Forster and Vanessa Marcil.

The secret to their success? Treat the Internet run like a TV or movie release, which often loses money on its on-screen debut, but can make healthy profits when issued on DVD or Blu-ray and later sold for reruns on cable or overseas.

With that in mind, major movie studios are now getting behind such productions, giving them a lift in budgets and quality — a far cry from the shaky camerawork and dubious special effects prevalent when Web video became a new phenomenon a few years ago.

For Warren and Gantt, who wrapped up shooting in October, a snazzy trailer they produced helped snag Sony Pictures Television as a partner.

"We came up with this idea," said Warren, 31. "There's no limit to how many episodes there can be in a Web series. So why don't we design it as a (feature-length movie) so we can sell it as a DVD feature at the end?"

Sony executives, it turns out, had the same idea.

The studio picked up the project in April and gave it a budget of around $1 million. That's nowhere near the $30 million-plus budgets of many Hollywood movies, but more than the producers were told they could sell it for. Web sites typically pay up to $5,000 for a short clip of original video; with 16 episodes, other Web sites might have paid around $100,000 for "The Bannen Way."

"This money buys more lights and more production value," said Gantt, 40.

Warren appeared to bask in the fullness of his crew: "We can afford extras rather than having our friends come in."

One quirk of the Web is that each episode must have a cliffhanger to keep online viewers coming back. In one scene, the audience learns for the first time that Neal Bannen, the title character, had been working for his mob boss uncle. Bannen's father is the chief of police, and viewers realize the son is about to be entangled in a cops-and-robbers struggle between father and uncle.

"It moves pretty well," Warren says, snapping his fingers. "We had breaks that would naturally lend itself to the Web."

Sony Pictures Television hopes the release will gain buzz and a few advertising dollars when it begins to debut in increments in January on the Sony-owned Crackle.com, a site targeted at males aged 18-34. Then, it will stop running for free online and get repackaged for sale to TV outlets, on iTunes and elsewhere.

Editing finished this month on the feature-length project. There's no substantial difference between the whole or spliced versions — just that the Web version has episodic breaks at certain climaxes.

Although the main goal is to drive traffic to Crackle.com, which Sony Corp. acquired when it was called Grouper for nearly $60 million in 2006, made-for-Web productions are expected to make a profit by themselves.

Thus, studios scrutinize projects before approving them and committing funding — green-lighting in industry speak. In this case, studio input during the production was also part of the process.

"We go through a very similar green-light process as we would for any piece of content in the studio," said Eric Berger, senior vice president of digital networks for Sony Pictures Television, which is planning to make 15 Web productions annually. "How and why we make them and where we will make money is conceived with every project."

Paramount Pictures's digital arm is also backing made-for-Web productions that can make additional money in other formats. Paramount spent $1 million to $3 million making a horror movie, "Circle of Ei8ht," which began showing on MySpace in installments in October in an initial run through Dec. 8. The series had generated nearly 5 million views online — which would rank it among the most-watched shows if it were on cable TV.

To help pay for production, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount lined up a key product-integration deal with PepsiCo Inc.'s Mountain Dew and sold rental and on-demand rights for one month exclusively to Blockbuster Inc. MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., kicked in marketing support.

"I don't think there's been a more expensive piece of content made for the Web," said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Digital Entertainment, which has two other Web projects in the works.

He added that hiring professional talent and crew and paying for an original score will help sell "Circle of Ei8ht" when it makes it onto other platforms such as iTunes, DVD and video-on-demand.

"The stuff that we're creating could easily play on television," he said.

Brady Brim-DeForest, the co-founder of research and news site Tubefilter.tv, calls the renewed activity "the second coming of original programming online."

He cited the recent success of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," which "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon made during the writers strike last year.

He estimates "Dr. Horrible" cost $220,000 to make but brought in about $2.4 million within a year, after sharing advertising revenue on Hulu.com and selling the movie and soundtrack on iTunes, as well as DVDs and merchandise. It went on to win an Emmy.

Internet shows have also made the transition to television. After a one-episode flirtation on NBC, "quarterlife" found a home on the NBC Universal-owned Bravo network last year. Sci-fi Web series "Sanctuary" made it on Syfy, and "Secret Girlfriend" ran on Comedy Central this fall.

Yet for every Web series that is made with a modest budget and high-profile directors such as "The O.C." creator Josh Schwartz — who made "Rockville CA" for The WB's site — there are about 20 made independently on a shoestring, Brim-DeForest said.

"What's so spectacular is they are all drawing an audience, finding a niche," he said. "That's the power of the Internet as a distribution medium. It's very compelling."

In October, Michael Eisner's Web production startup Vuguru got a multimillion-dollar capital injection from a unit of Canada's Rogers Communications Inc. in a deal that gives Rogers the right to use Vuguru content on television, the Web or even its rental video stores in Canada.

Vuguru had already made several sales internationally. Its "Prom Queen" hit from 2007 was translated, recast and reshot for the Web in Japan. A dubbed version ran on cable TV in France and it ran as-is on Yahoo's Australian site.

Rogers' minority investment will ensure Vuguru can ramp up its production to some 15 projects a year, compared with a half dozen over the last two years combined, said Andy Redman, chief operating officer of The Tornante Company LLC, which owns a majority of Vuguru. The plan is to boost the staff to 30 in a few years, up from two people who currently work on Web projects full-time, he said.

Redman compared the growth of the new platform to cable television in the 1980s, when networks like ESPN, CNN and MTV were just getting going, reaching focused audiences at first and then growing.

Today, cable networks like AMC put on some of the most critically acclaimed series on TV, such as its Emmy-winning "Mad Men," and have largely cast off their reputation as being a receptacle for reruns or shows that failed on broadcast TV.

"It was the platform to be joked about," he said. "Five years later, they've realized this whole new medium passed me by."

By RYAN NAKASHIMA (AP)

On the Net:

The Bannen Way: http://bit.ly/8pI4Ky

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: http://bit.ly/8D6Wjm

Rockville CA: http://bit.ly/6HRmCk

Vuguru: http://bit.ly/7IE3Ee

Looks Like Chris Rock Finally Has A Hit Film, Courtesy of Martin Lawrence And A Strong Black Ensemble!

Screen Gems Death At A Funeral Looks Promising.
Thoughts???

The Movie Precious, From A Black Woman's Perspective

Why African Americans Are Divided on Film's 'Precious'-ness

By Erin Aubry Kaplan (LA Times)

Long before it opened, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" had racked up plaudits for its groundbreaking depiction of the inner life of a black, overweight, ghetto-dwelling teenage girl. But since its release, a story-outside-the-story has developed that's equally fresh and complicated: black people's reaction to the movie and what it means.

Verdicts about high-pitched movies from black viewers and public figures are usually swift and decisive -- "Do the Right Thing," "The Color Purple," and the recent Robert Downey Jr. performance in "Tropic Thunder" come to mind. But that's not what happened this time out. That's partly because the embrace of "Precious" by the white film establishment has been a bit disorienting for black folk, even off-putting. But it's also because the tough stuff in "Precious," whether you like the movie or not, is striking chords of recognition for many black people that are making them not angry or enthusiastic, but uncertain. That's new territory.

The many issues raised in the course of this one story -- class tensions, self-image, racial progress, how Hollywood bears on all of the above -- have hit black viewers squarely in the gut, rendering the usual right-brain arguments about stereotypes inadequate. For black filmgoers, assessing black-themed films is generally a political process; "Precious" has made it emotional.

That discomfit was evident recently in a packed theater with a largely black audience in Marina Del Rey. The viewers were characteristically vocal at first -- gasping, clucking tongues, even tittering at the initial haplessness of Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) and the villainy of her mother, played by Mo'Nique. But as the film got more intimate, zeroing in on issues such as Precious' illiteracy, the repeated rapes by her drop-in father and her casual wish to be white with "good" hair, people fell silent; it was as if they were no longer viewers, but participants.

They applauded at the end, but filed out of the theater much more soberly than I've ever seen a black audience file out of any performance, especially one that had a clear impact. It's quite a contrast to reviews and commentary that ranged from supportive to effusive on black-oriented websites including The Loop21.com, Racial icious.com and thegrio.com. But even the praise has a bit of apology about it, as if to allow for the fact that blacks can -- or perhaps even should -- admire "Precious" without necessarily liking it.

Not everybody is buying into the nuance. The unrelenting inner-city misery that frames "Precious," including a foul-mouthed welfare mother and an absentee father, has raised plenty of alarms among blacks, notably film critic Armond White. In his review for the New York Press, the famously curmudgeonly White excoriated "Precious" for being an "orgy of prurience," "a Klansman's fantasy," racist propaganda cast from the infamous mold of "Birth of a Nation." For White, "Precious" is bad art because it is a bad representation, a reminder that for black people, art and politics are inseparable.

Yet one of the unusual things about "Precious" is that it doesn't try to separate those things, and so forces us to think beyond the negative/positive binary that often keeps discussions about movies like this airless and superficial.

Certainly other black people share White's condemnation. But that condemnation has dimensions: C. Jeffrey Wright, writing at UrbanFaith.com, a conservative Christian site, fretted less about the images in "Precious" than about the fact there are too few black films released to provide a diversity that would make the movie less controversial. That's a fact nobody on any side of the discussion would disagree with.

Nonetheless, Wright decries the movie for its lack of what he calls "achiever values." And here we get into the thorny issue of class. For black people that means not solely money and education, but a concern about how we are being represented in public. How blacks are represented in movies always galvanizes such concern, and "Precious" is no exception.

"We just don't want to see black pathology on screen," says T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor of critical race studies and hip-hop at Vanderbilt University. "There's clearly a segment of us that worries about what white people think."

That worry, she says, is usually about representations of the black poor, a group that's long been an anathema to whites -- and to some blacks as well. "Precious" exposes that unflattering divide. "Americans despise poor people, and they really despise poor black people," Sharpley-Whiting says. "Unfortunately, we [black people] buy into it."

Widespread debate

The good news is that the Internet encouragesa broader discussion of these complexities than black people have had in the past. At thefreshx press.com, a site geared to young African Americans, one blogger who had read White's review but hadn't seen the movie wrote that he was leery of incest being portrayed as a "black" thing, but he supported a filmmaker's right to tell his own story.

Another objected to White's comparing "Precious" to "Birth of a Nation," saying that missed the real critique the film was making about the troubled internal dynamics of black communities. "We've made a lot of strides, but what are we really doing to bring those who haven't been as fortunate as our college-educated selves out of the gutter?" she wrote. "This is a very real opportunity to bring a very real problem into the mainstream where it belongs."

At Racialicious.com, a blogger named Tiffany grumbled that she was "tired of the black aristocracy getting up in arms about anything that isn't 'The Cosby Show.' " Ironically, White himself bolsters that point: When he huffs in his review that " 'Precious' hyperbolizes the class misery of our nation's left-behinds . . . the Obama-era unreachables," he's at least acknowledging those unreachables and their plight.

But how can that plight be authentically represented? Is it ever possible for a black character -- dark, light, poor, privileged, whatever -- to vault above, or through, the stereotypes and emerge chiefly as a person and not a trope? Rarely. "Precious" breaks that ground, but it feels like alien terrain because blacks have been defined by extremes for so long. In an interview with Essence.com, director Lee Daniels says the harsh themes of "Precious" should be taken at face value. "Life is life," he said. "Life is what it is."

But grim subjects such as institutional poverty, illiteracy, child rape and incest are reasons enough to stay away from any movie, and many black folks say they will bypass "Precious" for that reason -- too much of that trouble in real life, they say.

Richard Yarborough, an associate professor of English and African American Studies at UCLA, says there might be something else to the aversion for not just blacks, but all Americans. "The abject degradation of black people in 'Precious' is as close as you can get to a modern film that may be similar to a film about slavery," says Yarborough. He points out that slave-era films such as "Beloved" and " Amistad" didn't do well at the box office, and those were mainstream movies with big budgets and established directors. Those movies also presented widespread black exploitation and oppression as phenomena of the past; "Precious" has no such buffer.

"If people aren't going to see slavery in a historical context, why would they go see a movie about slavery in a modern context?" says Yarborough. He adds that the legacy of slavery -- racism -- is another issue that feels much too close for movie-watching comfort. "Racism is not dead," he says. "The immediacy of racism and the pressure it still puts on [blacks] is tremendous. We're still arguing about the Confederacy flag."

Despite these macro-level realities, it's nice to contemplate the possibility that "Precious" could start a new trend of black movies that are more individual-oriented and inward-looking. Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, says that will only happen if "Precious" makes the kind of money that Hollywood can't ignore. It grossed an impressive $11 million on 629 screens last weekend.

But, he says, don't hold your breath. One of the enduring truths about the movie business is that even a widely acclaimed black movie made by blacks doesn't guarantee that another one will be made, let alone start a trend.

"What Spike Lee was doing in the '80s was more challenging and visionary [than 'Precious'] -- and he talked stuff while he did it," says Boyd. "He's still working, he's still making movies. But nobody talks about Spike anymore. With features, it's about the money vehicles now, like what Tyler Perry is doing. The days of the small 'impact' film are over."

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a freelance writer and contributing editor to Opinion. She is a former weekly columnist for The Times and a former LA Weekly staff writer. She blogs at threebrothersandasister.blogspot.com

Rapper Jamal Woolard & Cast Nail Their Roles In Searchlight's New Biggie Biopic "Notorious"

I'm still trying to process it, but after just seeing the first screening of the film Notorius last night, all I can say is "WOW!!!!!"

Here in Miami at the 3rd Annual I Rock The Mic conference, I met Jamal Woolard aka “Gravy” aka the actor who's performance as the larger than life Christopher "Biggie" Wallace will have everyone talking.

Sure Angela Bassett was outstanding as always as Voletta Wallace (although I was expecting to hear more of the mom's accent) and Anthony Mackie as Tupac was well-played. But the stars of a film that will no doubt be a huge success are Derek Luke as the Bojangles music president of Bad Boy Records Sean Puffy Combs, and Antonique Smith, the veteran stage actress who channels Faith Evans in a way that could only be described as brilliant.

Producer credits include B.I.G.’s mother, his former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts. Even the sister who worked at Fox Searchlight for five years before pitching the project lived just blocks away from the legendary recording artist who was seemingly coming to terms with who he was as a man when his life took a tragic turn. It's not only the story about how one talented as hell chubby black kid from Brooklyn rose to the top of the rap game, it's also a true ode to hip hop.

Following Biggie’s life from his school days as a smart kid from Brooklyn who just wanted to fit in and be loved by his pops, to his drug hustle, his prolific talent, and his untimely demise, the power of the genre explodes in a way very few films capture. Raw sexuality, cruel misogyny, reckless excess, Red Bull intensity and artistic brilliance, the violence and love coupled with the pain, denigration and celebration of African American urban life is a much needed detour from the cycle of Tyler Perry themed films of late.

What was particularly insightful was the huge East Coast - West Coast rivalry that was laid out in the film and how Sean Comb was the only one left standing. Tupac, Suge Knight and Wallace each played a role, along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg ( who is never really mentioned for unexplained reasons) in the insane circumstances leading to former friends Shakur and Biggie becoming enemies after a shooting at a recording studio that many viewed as a set-up. Several questions remain, although much of the drama is dealt with and explained in painstaking detail.

According to Barrow, “People wanted to give us a check and do a film that they wanted to do, but Searchlight gave us the opportunity to really be able to come in and tell the story the way it was supposed to be told”. I can tell you first hand, they came correct. And as for actress Naturi Naughton, in her coruscating film debut as the complicated Lil Kim, expect new things from this rising star. She really put it all out there... in more ways then one. I'm talking Halle Berry in Monster's Ball, if they keep the film as presently edited.

As a fan tells Biggie after he signs a copy of his cd in the movie, “Thanks for making the big brothers in style”

With Notorius, it’s not just big brothers who ultimately come out on top. it’s a whole generation who will see firsthand how important and powerful music is, at a time when the industry is suffering.

Check out Notorius when it opens on January 16. It will move you.

SOUL MEN: Missing Bernie Mack & Isaac Hayes, But At Least Samuel Jackson Is Still Kicking!

Meet Bristol's Baby Daddy: Levi "F---in Redneck" Johnston

Potential VP's Daughter & Hockey Badboy Have Some 'Esplainin To Do!!!

Doe-eyed Bristol Palin, 17, and Jamie Lynn Spears have a lot in common. Both are white, pretty, young ladies who's family members helped thrust them into the national spotlight.

Oh, Bristol and Jamie have also become the poster twins for teen pregnancy. The only difference, however, is that Bristol's soon-to-be baby daddy is a self described "F---n' Redneck".

Maybe it's me, but something tells me that won't go over well with the brothers. I'm just saying!

A ruggedly handsome varsity hockey jock that obviously was not properly vetted, Levi Johnston is an 18-year-old who's dating VP pick Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, for about a year according to locals in Wasilla, Alaska.


The all-American teen twosome will make the Alaska governor a grandma at age 44 - just in time for Christmas.

And the pregnancy? It was an open secret in the close-knit town of 9,780. Wasilla High School Warriors' coach Bill Sturdevant said he never believed that talk. "He was the same kid from the beginning of the season to the end. No signs of anything like that," the coach said.

"He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked."

A telephone number for Levi Johnston's parents, Sherry and Keith Johnston, was disconnected.

Besides his hard play on the ice, Levi Johnston was also a bit of a hell-raiser off it - another reason Bristol may have been smitten. State troopers popped Johnston last year for snagging some king salmon out of season in Moose Lake, records from Alaska wildlife enforcement show. He had to pay $370 bail.

On his MySpace page, Johnston proudly declares: "I don't want kids." "I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing," he says on the site. He also warns that if anyone messes with him, "I'll kick ass."

Given the almost zero appeal the GOP currently has with African Americans right now, this is not a good look for John McCain in general and Republicans in particular. I mean seriously, how do you spin that bull???

This election is just the gift that keeps on giving. I'm already busy casting the movie.

My vote is Will Smith and Kimberly Elise as Barack and Michelle Obama, and Richard Dreyfuss or Colonel Saul Tigh of Battlestar Galatica as John McCain. To round this thing out let's go with Emma Thompson as Hillary, William Hurt as Bill Clinton, John Voight as Joe Biden, Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, Hillary Duff as Chelsea, Robin Wright Penn as Cindy McCain, and High School Musical's Zac Efron as Levi. Stop me if you think I'm off track.

Source

Longshots Versus The House Bunny: White Girls May Have The Edge This Weekend Over The Talented Keke Palmer!

50 Goes Hollywood With Spectacular Regret!

Rapper turned actor Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is negotiating, and Danny Huston, John Ortiz and Kelli Garner are set to star, in "Spectacular Regret."

The brother will play a death row inmate whose imminent execution has made him a cause celebre. The drama interconnects with four Angelenos struggling to overcome past events. Shooting begins in July in L.A. Handle your business Black man!

Black Actresses Claw Their Way To A Role With Substance And Our Girl Thandie Wins Out!

Thandie Newton Gets Cast in 'W'

Oliver Stone has found the sistah to play Condoleezza Rice in his upcoming "W," with Thandie Newton in final negotiations to star as the National Security Advisor-turned-Secretary of State.

Newton, born in Zambia and raised in England, is a Brit, making her the first non-American to be cast for a role in the U.S. administration.

The svelte biracial beauty has previously had roles in "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Mission Impossible: II." She's currently in Picturehouse's "Run Fatboy Run" and stars in Guy Ritchie's upcoming mob pic "RocknRolla."

Stone's "W" is expected to start shooting shortly, with QED and Stone's own Ixtlan banner producing and QED financing. Bill Block, Moritz Borman and Jon Kilik are producers.

The movie will look at Bush's formative years and path to the president as well as his life inside the White House.

As one of the few cabinet members to serve during both Bush terms, Rice's role in the Bush White House is seen as pivotal. According to those who've read the "W" script, Rice is said to be in a key first scene as well as a number of scenes connected to the Iraq war. Blair also appears in Iraq-related scenes.

Among the key "W" roles yet to be cast are those of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove. [Hollywood Reporter]

Biggie Comes Back To Life Looking Good, Lil Kim Is Still Alive And She Even Gets A Makeover

ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD!

Jamal Woolard and Naturi Naughton are set to play Biggie and Lil Kim in the upcoming film, “Notorious” which is currently being shot on location in NYC. [Bossip]

Angela Bassett And Rick Fox Invite You To Meet The Browns!

Tyler Perry Does It Again!

QUICKIE: Beyonce As Etta James In New Movie

THOUGHTS???

ESPN Has A Blackout, Expanding In Film With African American Athletes

With Disney And Outside Partners, ESPN Goes Hollywood

While ESPN currently dominates sports on television, the cable heavyweight is now making a run at the big screen.

Coming on March 16 is a two-part, four-hour television documentary called “Black Magic,” a portrayal of the civil rights movement as told through the lives of basketball players and coaches.

ESPN said it would collaborate with Creative Artists Agency and Walt Disney Studios to produce and distribute theatrical films with sports themes. As part of the network’s expansion in filmed entertainment, ESPN is also hiring 30 filmmakers to produce one-hour mini-movies to appear on the channel starting in September 2009.

“We see this as a new way to reach sports fans and engage them,” said Keith Clinkscales, ESPN’s senior vice president for content development. “A lot of people who spend time being engaged in ESPN also spend a lot of time going to the movies.”

Movies will be financed by Walt Disney, which owns ESPN; outside investors; or a combination thereof. ESPN executives declined to comment on financial elements, except to say budgets would vary by project.

The self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” is on a mission to tap into new areas of growth as it faces challenges in its core operations. ESPN, which is nearing its 30th birthday, remains one of the media industry’s biggest gold mines, with successful magazine and Internet extensions to complement its suite of cable channels.

But ESPN must also battle the exploding amount of sports video on the Web and maintain growth as cable operators resist paying higher subscription fees for the right to carry its programming (ESPN charges about $3.50 a month for each subscriber; the vast majority of cable channels charge well under $1.).

Recently, ESPN has been hiring sports journalists from magazines and newspapers to strengthen its bench of pundits while retooling its approach to live streaming video on the Web and mobile devices.

ESPN’s sports expertise, the deep talent relationships of Creative Artists and the movie-making experience of Walt Disney Studios may add up to a dream team, but producers warn that sports-themed movies are among the most difficult to execute. It is difficult to break free of the formulaic storytelling arc of win, loss and comeback.

ESPN’s core audience is young men, but women typically drive movie-going decisions. And most studios shy away from sports-themed pictures because they can be a difficult sell to international distributors.

“These movies are an incredible balancing act,” said Ron Shelton, the writer of “Bull Durham” and “White Men Can’t Jump.” Mr. Shelton, who has also had his share of misses — like “Play It to the Bone,” starring Antonio Banderas as a boxer — added that it is tricky to dramatize sports without sacrificing the kind of realistic portrayals fans crave.

As it moves deeper into filmed entertainment, ESPN also needs to be careful not to damage its symbiotic relationship with sports leagues. It is a risk the network knows all too well. In 2003, ESPN programmers drew strong criticism from the National Football League for “Playmakers,” an effort at a drama series that depicted steroid use and players hiding cocaine from the police.

Mr. Clinkscales points to ESPN’s recent experience with scripted television as evidence that the new entity, ESPN Films, will succeed. The channel’s eight-part miniseries “The Bronx Is Burning,” shown last July, was praised by critics. A 2004 made-for-television movie about the late Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt, “3,” drew raves along with stellar ratings.

Coming on March 16 is a two-part, four-hour television documentary called “Black Magic,” a portrayal of the civil rights movement as told through the lives of basketball players and coaches.

“We believe this represents a big score for sports fans and moviegoers alike,” said Richard Cook, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Mr. Cook noted that Disney has had success with such sports-themed movies as “Remember the Titans” and “The Rookie.”

Bringing Creative Artists into the fold signals ESPN’s seriousness to Hollywood, Mr. Clinkscales said. The agency, a leading talent representative, has in recent years expanded aggressively into sports representation, picking up clients like Peyton Manning, David Beckham and LeBron James. In addition to helping to line up financing, Creative Artists may also place its athlete-performers in the films.

David O’Connor, a Creative Artists partner and managing director, called ESPN Films a “natural and exciting” extension of the brand.

Close watchers of ESPN know that the network has been ramping up its filmed entertainment efforts for some time. Last year, the network helped create the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival to showcase the genre, and the company in January acquired “Kicking It,” about street soccer players, at the Sundance Film Festival.

By NY Times writer BROOKS BARNES

Folks Who Get It: Blogger And "Juno" Writer Diablo Cody Has Mad Skills

ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD

Screenwriter Diablo Cody is a freak of nature. How do you go from being a stripper, to a blogger to an Academy Award winner?

The 29-year-old Cody (real name: Brook Busey-Hunt) saw her first movie, Juno, hit U.S. screens last December. Now, this quirky White girl is the executive producer and head writer for Steven Spielberg's TV series The United States of Tara, scheduled for a 2008 debut on Showtime. She's got more movies in the works, and in 2007 the Hollywood Film Festival gave her the Hollywood Breakthrough Screenwriter of the Year Award.

An online legend and now one of Hollywood's hottest screenwriters, if you want Cody's type of success, take heed. Follow Cody's "Five Easy Steps to Blogging Your Way to Hollywood Success." It's a foolproof system, really.

Step One: Study Writing in School

It's indisputable within the halls of higher education that every student who majors in creative writing in college goes on to be a successful celebrity scribe. Never mind that Cody's professors thought their future star would collapse into white dwarfdom soon after commencement.

"One of my teachers told me that I was lazy," Cody explained. "He said, 'I think you're the best writer I've ever taught. But I'll never hear from you again because you have no ambition.' I never intended to get my writing out there. I always thought of published writers as honor roll students -- the real overachiever types. I never intended my work as a springboard to anything else. I write because I'm addicted to it. It's my confessional."

Step Two: Start Blogging and Wait to Be Discovered

After college, Cody left her native Chicago for the romantic Twin Cities -- trading Post-it Notes for pasties while exploring the frosty Minneapolis underworld as a stripper. She described the perils of pole-dancing on the popular Pussy Ranch blog.

Because there are only a few blogs online these days (Technorati currently tracks a mere 112 million), it was a safe bet that a successful Los Angeles literary manager (Mason Novick) would find Cody's work and inquire from 3,000 miles away about her literary ambitions.

"Before Mason found me, all I'd written was the blogs for City Pages in Minneapolis," Cody said. "He asked me if I'd thought about writing something else. I started my book after that."

Step Three: Write Your Memoir at Age 24 and Publish It

After Novick stirred Cody into action in defiance of her cynical writing instructor, she cranked out a memoir documenting her experiences in the sex industry, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. Novick lined up a publisher for the completed manuscript, and Cody soon found herself hawking her wares to David Letterman and CNN's hosts du jour.

"Without Mason, none of this would have happened," Cody said. "I'm not awesome at self-promotion. Mostly I was just blogging in my own little bubble. I'm lucky I did what I did when I did it."

Step Four: Write/Sell Your First Screenplay

Following the success of her book, Cody took a shot at movies. Her first script (for Juno) landed director Jason Reitman on the heels of Thank You for Smoking and a cast including Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. (Cody and Reitman are also working together on horror-comedy flick, Jennifer's Body, according to The Hollywood Reporter.)

"It's been fun, and I'm enjoying it while I can," Cody said. "I think there's room for more talented bloggers to break into Hollywood. It seemed like a fluke when I did it, but I won't be the last blogger to have a film produced."

Step Five: Produce a TV Show for Steven Spielberg

As executive producer and head writer for Spielberg's The United States of Tara, Cody is lending her quick wit and golden touch to cable television -- while waiting for the next blogging star to chase her down Sunset Boulevard.

"There are so many talented people that exist in the marketplace," Cody said. "So, don't look for a plan. Put your blog out into the world and hope that your talent will speak for itself."

See? It's just that easy.

By Wired's John Scott Lewinski