For years, witchcraft has had a traditional look in popular entertainment — pointy hats, broomsticks, spells and potions — and usually white. Aside from a few supporting character examples, Black witchcraft has remained a blind spot in this witchy narrative. There’s no version of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” for Black witches. So we asked the real members of this varied spiritual practice today how Hollywood can do better for Black witchcraft.
N’ganga Makhosi has been practicing hoodoo in Los Angeles her entire life, a tradition she learned from her grandmother, but says she’s never felt her practice was accurately represented in the media.
“It’s always either someone using curses, sacrificial animals, or calling on evil spirits,” she says.
Hoodoo, also known as conjuring or rootwork, is a cultural tradition practiced largely in the southern United States with ties to Yoruba religious spirits and deities, similar to voodoo and Santeria.
N’ganga Makhosi has been practicing hoodoo in Los Angeles her entire life, a tradition she learned from her grandmother, but says she’s never felt her practice was accurately represented in the media.
“It’s always either someone using curses, sacrificial animals, or calling on evil spirits,” she says.
Hoodoo, also known as conjuring or rootwork, is a cultural tradition practiced largely in the southern United States with ties to Yoruba religious spirits and deities, similar to voodoo and Santeria.
- 10/30/2020
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
“Finding Your Roots” utilizes every tool in its toolbox — from pioneering DNA technology to genealogical sleuthing — in order to reveal the previously unknown history of its guests. Spanning the world, the PBS series divulges family ancestry that runs the gamut, and navigating it all is host and executive producer Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., who also serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.
The show started airing its sixth season this month, and it is among the top three performing shows on PBS, according to analysts using Nielsen data. The participants in the series is an impressive roll call a mile long, including Anjelica Huston, Mia Farrow, Ava DuVernay, Jimmy Kimmel, Sterling K. Brown, RuPaul, and many others.
“When people sit down, they don’t know what we’re about to hit them with, because...
The show started airing its sixth season this month, and it is among the top three performing shows on PBS, according to analysts using Nielsen data. The participants in the series is an impressive roll call a mile long, including Anjelica Huston, Mia Farrow, Ava DuVernay, Jimmy Kimmel, Sterling K. Brown, RuPaul, and many others.
“When people sit down, they don’t know what we’re about to hit them with, because...
- 10/26/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
From “Joy Luck Club” to “Fresh Off the Boat” to Awkwafina-starring “The Farewell,” Chinese-American diaspora narratives have progressively gained traction over the last few years. “Far East Down South” – featured as a part of Caamfest Forward’s 2020 programme – shows the potential to situate itself within this lineage of multigenerational Asian-American experience. Unlike its predecessors though, Larissa Lam’s feature takes a deeply personal angle — but perhaps this angle is too personal, since it estranges more than it connects.
“Far East Deep South” screened at CAAMFest Forward
“Far East Deep South” runs on a simple premise: the Sf-based Chiu family decides to take a road trip to find his ancestors’ first stop in America: in Pace, Mississippi. On the way, they dig up more information related to Chinese-American settlements in this locale. Tears are shed and hugs are shared as the family retraces their ancestors’ footsteps across America. Whence realizing...
“Far East Deep South” screened at CAAMFest Forward
“Far East Deep South” runs on a simple premise: the Sf-based Chiu family decides to take a road trip to find his ancestors’ first stop in America: in Pace, Mississippi. On the way, they dig up more information related to Chinese-American settlements in this locale. Tears are shed and hugs are shared as the family retraces their ancestors’ footsteps across America. Whence realizing...
- 10/23/2020
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” has been one of the fall’s most-discussed television shows, and viewers turned out in particularly high numbers for the horror title’s season finale on Sunday.
Per Variety, the tenth and final episode of “Lovecraft Country” Season 1 reached an audience of 1.5 million viewers on Sunday night. The statistic marks a season high for the show and a roughly 16 person viewership increase from the season premiere in August. Around 881,000 viewers tuned in to the season’s final episode via linear HBO broadcast, according to Variety. The show was also a hit on WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service, where it stands as the streamer’s top-rated show.
The series, which serves as a continuation of author Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel of the same name, follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) and Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) as the former searches for his missing father in 1950s Jim Crow...
Per Variety, the tenth and final episode of “Lovecraft Country” Season 1 reached an audience of 1.5 million viewers on Sunday night. The statistic marks a season high for the show and a roughly 16 person viewership increase from the season premiere in August. Around 881,000 viewers tuned in to the season’s final episode via linear HBO broadcast, according to Variety. The show was also a hit on WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service, where it stands as the streamer’s top-rated show.
The series, which serves as a continuation of author Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel of the same name, follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) and Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) as the former searches for his missing father in 1950s Jim Crow...
- 10/21/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
The season finale of Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country on HBO has found an audience — a very loyal audience. With creative, action-packed storytelling and a fantastic cast, how could it not? The socially minded sci-fi horror fantasy netted a series high of 1.5 million viewers on Sunday night for its Season 1 closer.
The season finale (read the recap here) of the freshman series hit viewership highs on both linear and digital with 881,000 viewers tuning in to the 9 p.m. telecast, which is up 16% from the series debut. On the digital side, there was almost a 90% increase from the season premiere.
On HBO Max, more subscribers viewed the finale of Lovecraft Country in its first day of availability than any other new episode of an original series on the streaming platform to date. On top of that, Lovecraft Country has taken the No. 1 spot on HBO Max when it comes to original series.
The season finale (read the recap here) of the freshman series hit viewership highs on both linear and digital with 881,000 viewers tuning in to the 9 p.m. telecast, which is up 16% from the series debut. On the digital side, there was almost a 90% increase from the season premiere.
On HBO Max, more subscribers viewed the finale of Lovecraft Country in its first day of availability than any other new episode of an original series on the streaming platform to date. On top of that, Lovecraft Country has taken the No. 1 spot on HBO Max when it comes to original series.
- 10/20/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO’s latest blockbuster drama effort, Lovecraft Country, is a unique Lovecraftian beast. As adapted by Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, the show takes classic horror, sci-fi, and adventure tropes and adapts them into a timely story of American racism.
Though the series is certainly timely, it’s also timeless. As evidenced by our helpful explainer article, it wasn’t immediately clear when Lovecraft Country even took place. That’s partly because the Jim Crow era of American institutionalized racism was a lengthy one. And the fact that Atticus “Tic” Freeman was a war veteran didn’t help out much. Which war coincided with “whites only” restaurants and sundown towns? World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War – take your pick, really. That pleasant disorientation is enhanced by an equally disorienting soundtrack.
Rest assured, Lovecraft Country takes place in the mid 1950s. But the show’s...
Though the series is certainly timely, it’s also timeless. As evidenced by our helpful explainer article, it wasn’t immediately clear when Lovecraft Country even took place. That’s partly because the Jim Crow era of American institutionalized racism was a lengthy one. And the fact that Atticus “Tic” Freeman was a war veteran didn’t help out much. Which war coincided with “whites only” restaurants and sundown towns? World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War – take your pick, really. That pleasant disorientation is enhanced by an equally disorienting soundtrack.
Rest assured, Lovecraft Country takes place in the mid 1950s. But the show’s...
- 10/19/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Racist imagery and cultural stereotypes in six Disney animated classics including Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, Dumbo and Swiss Family Robinson are being flagged on the Disney+ streaming site with warnings and detailed explanations of the “negative depictions” in each title.
“These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” reads an explanation on Disney’s Stories Matter website regarding the new advisory notices.
Accompanying the 1970 film The Aristocats, for example, is the following advisory about the Siamese cat character Shun Gon, voiced by Paul Winchell:
The cat is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. He sings in a poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks. This portrayal reinforces the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, while the film also features lyrics that mock the...
“These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” reads an explanation on Disney’s Stories Matter website regarding the new advisory notices.
Accompanying the 1970 film The Aristocats, for example, is the following advisory about the Siamese cat character Shun Gon, voiced by Paul Winchell:
The cat is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. He sings in a poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks. This portrayal reinforces the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, while the film also features lyrics that mock the...
- 10/16/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Justin Simien grew up loving horror movies, largely thanks to his aunt Zora, who, in his words, “probably messed me up quite a bit by letting me watch things like ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ at a shockingly young age.” But he wasn’t a fan of simplistic slasher films; he was drawn to what he calls “social commentary thrillers” like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Stepford Wives,” which incorporated valuable messages among the scares.
And yet, the director never thought about making a movie in the horror genre. “Honestly, it was just white to me,” he says. Instead, Simien went on to write and direct the acclaimed film “Dear White People” and its spinoff Netflix series. One day, he and his friend and producer Julia Lebedev saw a “bonkers” South Korean movie called “The Wig” about — you guessed it — a possessed hairpiece. The two started joking about what Simien’s...
And yet, the director never thought about making a movie in the horror genre. “Honestly, it was just white to me,” he says. Instead, Simien went on to write and direct the acclaimed film “Dear White People” and its spinoff Netflix series. One day, he and his friend and producer Julia Lebedev saw a “bonkers” South Korean movie called “The Wig” about — you guessed it — a possessed hairpiece. The two started joking about what Simien’s...
- 10/14/2020
- by Jenelle Riley and Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
“Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America,” directed by historian Gretchen Sorin and director Ric Burns (younger brother of Ken Burns) premieres tonight on PBS, and the documentary reveals how the automobile — portrayed as the ultimate symbol of independence — has long been of particular significance to African Americans who relied on travel guides and informal networks to keep them safe and, most importantly, alive.
It’s hardly surprising that mobility for African Americans has always been restricted, from the days of slavery to Jim Crow America when “Sundown Towns” were a thing. “The Negro Motorist Green Book” became a necessary guide decades ago, and the focus on Black mobility continues in the form of recent stop-and-frisk laws in New York City that predominantly targeted Black people. Limitations on movement from before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has carried over, in different forms, into Reconstruction and beyond.
The...
It’s hardly surprising that mobility for African Americans has always been restricted, from the days of slavery to Jim Crow America when “Sundown Towns” were a thing. “The Negro Motorist Green Book” became a necessary guide decades ago, and the focus on Black mobility continues in the form of recent stop-and-frisk laws in New York City that predominantly targeted Black people. Limitations on movement from before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has carried over, in different forms, into Reconstruction and beyond.
The...
- 10/13/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
"The word community has the word 'unity' in it. And we're united in the love and reverence for this place." A Beach of Our Own is a short 10-minute documentary that pairs with a NY Times article examining the community known as Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York (see Google Maps). The film introduces us to a few of the original families that settled there generations ago, and helped establish a Black community nestled between two wealthy white neighborhoods. Made by filmmaker Joshua Kissi, A Beach of Our Own offers "a brief history of how New York's Sag Harbor became a refuge for African-American families, with testimonials from some of the residents who've summered there for much of their lives." All of it is actually a rather remarkable story to hear. During the Jim Crow era, a group of trailblazing Black families built a haven in the beachfront village of Sag Harbor,...
- 10/13/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In August, HBO debuted Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country and the world hasn’t been the same since. The series based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff combines sci-fi, horror, social injustice, racial identity and family drama to serve up epicness that TV has never seen before — and Jurnee Smollett is at the front of it all.
In Lovecraft Country, we are introduced to Smollett’s Letitia and from the jump, she is a woman not to be messed with as she enters a world of magic, monsters and interdimensional travel all set in the very problematic Jim Crow America. If its sounds wild and bonkers — it is. However, throughout all the craziness, Smollett along with her co-stars navigate the story with an overwhelming amount of groundedness that gives the audience an emotional connect which makes the series one of the best of the year — and possibly of all time.
In Lovecraft Country, we are introduced to Smollett’s Letitia and from the jump, she is a woman not to be messed with as she enters a world of magic, monsters and interdimensional travel all set in the very problematic Jim Crow America. If its sounds wild and bonkers — it is. However, throughout all the craziness, Smollett along with her co-stars navigate the story with an overwhelming amount of groundedness that gives the audience an emotional connect which makes the series one of the best of the year — and possibly of all time.
- 10/13/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos and Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Stacey Abrams never intended to become a documentarian. However, after the former tax attorney and Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives lost the 2018 election for Governor, with likely voter suppression orchestrated by winner Brian Kemp, it’s safe to say she was angry. And when it comes to the passion necessary to produce a documentary, angry isn’t the worst place to start.
“I am always angry,” she said in a phone interview. “If you remember Bruce Banner in ‘The Avengers’ movie, when he’s in the midst of a fight against the aliens and Captain America says, ‘We need you to get angry,’ he says, ‘That’s my script, Captain: I’m always angry!”
But Abrams is angry “in a righteous indignation, not a hostile way,” she said. “It fuels my passion and my drive to get to engage people and give them the tools to build the world they want.
“I am always angry,” she said in a phone interview. “If you remember Bruce Banner in ‘The Avengers’ movie, when he’s in the midst of a fight against the aliens and Captain America says, ‘We need you to get angry,’ he says, ‘That’s my script, Captain: I’m always angry!”
But Abrams is angry “in a righteous indignation, not a hostile way,” she said. “It fuels my passion and my drive to get to engage people and give them the tools to build the world they want.
- 9/11/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Jack Garfein, the longtime teacher, director, writer, producer and pivotal member of the Actors Studio died on Dec. 30 due to complications from leukemia, according to Playbill. He was 89.
Garfein’s influence and expertise touched the lives of many names from directors George Stevens and John Ford to actors Sissy Spacek and Bruce Dern.
Garfein founded the Actors Studio West in Los Angeles, created the Actors and Directors Lab (both in New York and Los Angeles), co-founded the Strasberg Institute in N.Y. and the Jack Garfein Studio in Paris. He was also a co-founder of the Hollywood Theater Row, a collection of over 22 stages now called the Live Theater District of Los Angeles.
Establishing the first Actors Studio on the West Coast wasn’t immediate — first he had to convince actor Paul Newman, Garfein recalled on a recent panel for the Film Society of Lincoln Center. “[I called and said] Paul I found a...
Garfein’s influence and expertise touched the lives of many names from directors George Stevens and John Ford to actors Sissy Spacek and Bruce Dern.
Garfein founded the Actors Studio West in Los Angeles, created the Actors and Directors Lab (both in New York and Los Angeles), co-founded the Strasberg Institute in N.Y. and the Jack Garfein Studio in Paris. He was also a co-founder of the Hollywood Theater Row, a collection of over 22 stages now called the Live Theater District of Los Angeles.
Establishing the first Actors Studio on the West Coast wasn’t immediate — first he had to convince actor Paul Newman, Garfein recalled on a recent panel for the Film Society of Lincoln Center. “[I called and said] Paul I found a...
- 1/2/2020
- by Meredith Woerner
- Variety Film + TV
Disney Plus is now less than a week away and will launch with an impressive catalog of content, as well as new original series like The Mandalorian. However, the platform’s claims to being the most comprehensive source of Disney-owned material will include some understandable exceptions.
According to reports online, Disney are committed to never showing films and particular scenes that, to put it mildly, haven’t aged very well or were divisive to begin with. Some omissions are fairly obvious, including the racism of 1946 live-action and animated hybrid Song of the South, which aside from a few theatrical re-releases, has long been kept out of circulation.
Although Disney haven’t been afraid to monetize some of Song of South‘s IP through theme park attractions like Splash Mountain, we’re not surprised that the original movie won’t be getting a new life on Disney Plus. Furthermore, in...
According to reports online, Disney are committed to never showing films and particular scenes that, to put it mildly, haven’t aged very well or were divisive to begin with. Some omissions are fairly obvious, including the racism of 1946 live-action and animated hybrid Song of the South, which aside from a few theatrical re-releases, has long been kept out of circulation.
Although Disney haven’t been afraid to monetize some of Song of South‘s IP through theme park attractions like Splash Mountain, we’re not surprised that the original movie won’t be getting a new life on Disney Plus. Furthermore, in...
- 11/8/2019
- by Jessica James
- We Got This Covered
Shia Labeouf gets unusually personally in the drama “Honey Boy.” The scandal-plagued actor wrote the semi-autobiographical script about the upbringing that shaped him, and he even co-stars in the film as a version of his own alcoholic father. It’s hard to get more vulnerable than that on-screen. Will he be rewarded by the Oscars for it?
In the last few years telling your own family’s story has been a good way to get the motion picture academy’s attention. Best Picture winner “Moonlight” was based on a semi-autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay. And last year the top two Best Picture contenders, “Roma” and “Green Book,” were stories about the families of their respective filmmakers. Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for “Roma,” which explored his upbringing in Mexico City from the point of view of their family’s maid. And...
In the last few years telling your own family’s story has been a good way to get the motion picture academy’s attention. Best Picture winner “Moonlight” was based on a semi-autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay. And last year the top two Best Picture contenders, “Roma” and “Green Book,” were stories about the families of their respective filmmakers. Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for “Roma,” which explored his upbringing in Mexico City from the point of view of their family’s maid. And...
- 10/30/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Stars Wars Force Awakens and Bad Robot boss took the stage at Warner Bros. Stage 21 to give praise to his new home, telling the crowd here that he’s in talks with HBO Max on a number of projects. Abrams didn’t unveil many details, but expressed excitement about getting his epic sci-fi fantasy drama Demimonde, off the ground as a pilot with HBO. Series is described as centering around a world’s battle against a monstrous, oppressive force.
“(AT&T President and WarnerMedia CEO) John Stankey blew us away with the ambition of what AT&T could do,” beamed Abrams about why he landed Bad Robot with the conglom in a half billion dollar deal after being courted by such studios as Comcast Universal, Sony and Apple.
“Every company is a just a collection of people, and the people here are as good as it gets” said Abrams.
“He...
“(AT&T President and WarnerMedia CEO) John Stankey blew us away with the ambition of what AT&T could do,” beamed Abrams about why he landed Bad Robot with the conglom in a half billion dollar deal after being courted by such studios as Comcast Universal, Sony and Apple.
“Every company is a just a collection of people, and the people here are as good as it gets” said Abrams.
“He...
- 10/29/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Clarence Avant is one of the music business’s most legendary executives. Mentored by Joe Glaser, the longtime manager of Louis Armstrong, Avant has been in the business since the 1950s, managing Sarah Vaughan, R&B singer Little Willie John and others, before he became a powerhouse at Venture and Sussex Records, signing Bill Withers and more while his own a broadcasting company and producing films like Paramount’s Save the Children.
Avant is the subject of a new Netflix documentary The Black Godfather, which is going to be released on...
Avant is the subject of a new Netflix documentary The Black Godfather, which is going to be released on...
- 5/23/2019
- by Patrick Doyle
- Rollingstone.com
The first trailer for “The Black Godfather,” Reginald Hudlin’s documentary about black entertainment trailblazer Clarence Avant, has been released. The film features interviews with Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, David Geffen, Clive Davis, Diane Warren, Lionel Richie and Irving Azoff, among other industry titans. Former president Barack Obama also makes an appearance.
Hudlin spent three years making what he terms “a secret movie” about Avant, the music executive who rose from a manager of jazz artists in the 1950s to discovering Bill Withers, producing black-oriented theater productions and films, launching one of the first fully black-owned radio stations and offering his advice as a mentor to countless artists and executives.
In “The Black Godfather,” premiering June 7 on Netflix and in select theaters, Hudlin chronicles Avant’s life, from fighting his way through Jim Crow America to eventually having an impact on luminaries as diverse as Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali and Bill Clinton.
Hudlin spent three years making what he terms “a secret movie” about Avant, the music executive who rose from a manager of jazz artists in the 1950s to discovering Bill Withers, producing black-oriented theater productions and films, launching one of the first fully black-owned radio stations and offering his advice as a mentor to countless artists and executives.
In “The Black Godfather,” premiering June 7 on Netflix and in select theaters, Hudlin chronicles Avant’s life, from fighting his way through Jim Crow America to eventually having an impact on luminaries as diverse as Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali and Bill Clinton.
- 5/23/2019
- by Phil Gallo
- Variety Film + TV
Taraji P. Henson shed light on the history and stigma of mental health in the black community at Variety’s Power of Women NY presented by Lifetime.
Henson received the honor on Friday for her work with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation. “Our vision is to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the black community by breaking the silence and breaking a cycle of shame. We were taught to hold our problems close to the vest out of fear of being labeled and further demonized as weak, or inadequate,” said Henson. Breaking down in tears, she called the state of mental health for black people a “national crisis.”
“My dad is one of the reasons I started this foundation, and my son, and my neighbor, and my friends, my community, our children is why I keep going,” she said. The actress named the foundation after her father, who experienced...
Henson received the honor on Friday for her work with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation. “Our vision is to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the black community by breaking the silence and breaking a cycle of shame. We were taught to hold our problems close to the vest out of fear of being labeled and further demonized as weak, or inadequate,” said Henson. Breaking down in tears, she called the state of mental health for black people a “national crisis.”
“My dad is one of the reasons I started this foundation, and my son, and my neighbor, and my friends, my community, our children is why I keep going,” she said. The actress named the foundation after her father, who experienced...
- 4/5/2019
- by Daniel Nissen
- Variety Film + TV
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” enchanted moviegoers with a debut of $62 million.
While that’s slightly lower than the domestic start of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the first installment in Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter” spinoff series, it was easily enough to dominate the weekend box office.
Warner Bros., the studio behind the wizarding series, sees “Fantastic Beasts” becoming a stronger international play, where the follow-up has already earned $191 million for a global opening of $253 million. Stateside, “Crimes of Grindelwald” has battled the worst reviews yet for a “Harry Potter” entry. It currently holds a bleak 40% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ Cinemascore. The studio is counting on global box office revenues to make up for a potentially lackluster domestic performance and carry the film, which cost $200 million to produce.
“The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second entry in what Warner Bros. intends to be a five-film...
While that’s slightly lower than the domestic start of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the first installment in Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter” spinoff series, it was easily enough to dominate the weekend box office.
Warner Bros., the studio behind the wizarding series, sees “Fantastic Beasts” becoming a stronger international play, where the follow-up has already earned $191 million for a global opening of $253 million. Stateside, “Crimes of Grindelwald” has battled the worst reviews yet for a “Harry Potter” entry. It currently holds a bleak 40% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ Cinemascore. The studio is counting on global box office revenues to make up for a potentially lackluster domestic performance and carry the film, which cost $200 million to produce.
“The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second entry in what Warner Bros. intends to be a five-film...
- 11/18/2018
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Universal is going limited with Peter Farrelly’s Green Book this weekend. The film, starring Oscar-nominee Viggo Mortensen and Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali, is based on the true story of a racist bouncer hired by jazz pianist and composer Don Shirley to drive him through the South during the Jim Crow era. Julian Schnabel’s latest, At Eternity’s Gate, heads out via CBS Films. Starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh, the project came together after a visit by Schnabel and the film’s co-writer to Paris’ Musée D’Orsay.
Cohen Media group is heading out with Venice fest title Shoah: The Four Sisters, the final film of late French writer-director-producer Claude Lanzmann. And Wolfe Releasing is giving Anchor And Hope, which it picked up out of the European Film Market last February, an exclusive start in Los Angeles.
Among other limited releases opening this weekend in theaters are Of Fathers And Sons...
Cohen Media group is heading out with Venice fest title Shoah: The Four Sisters, the final film of late French writer-director-producer Claude Lanzmann. And Wolfe Releasing is giving Anchor And Hope, which it picked up out of the European Film Market last February, an exclusive start in Los Angeles.
Among other limited releases opening this weekend in theaters are Of Fathers And Sons...
- 11/16/2018
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Dumbo': You’ll Believe an Elephant Can Fly in First Trailer for Disney’s Live-Action Remake (Video)
You might have seen a fireside chat, or a baseball bat, but we can guarantee you never saw the first full length trailer for Disney’s live-action remake of “Dumbo.” Until today that is, now that the mouse house has released the flying pachyderm promo for the whole wide world to see. Watch it above now.
Directed by Tim Burton from a script by Ehren Kruger, the live-action retelling of the animated classic stars Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Alan Arkin, and expands on that film to tell a story, per the logline, “Where differences are celebrated, family is cherished and dreams take flight.”
Also Read: 'The Mandalorian': Pedro Pascal in Talks to Star in Jon Favreau's 'Star Wars' TV Show
The trailer only has a glimpse of Dumbo’s flying antics but plenty about a new story involving a family working for the circus,...
Directed by Tim Burton from a script by Ehren Kruger, the live-action retelling of the animated classic stars Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Alan Arkin, and expands on that film to tell a story, per the logline, “Where differences are celebrated, family is cherished and dreams take flight.”
Also Read: 'The Mandalorian': Pedro Pascal in Talks to Star in Jon Favreau's 'Star Wars' TV Show
The trailer only has a glimpse of Dumbo’s flying antics but plenty about a new story involving a family working for the circus,...
- 11/15/2018
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Put your wands up, muggles. The upcoming chapter in the “Harry Potter” universe looks to enchant moviegoers and dominate the global box office.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is expected to earn $65 million from over 3,300 domestic locations, though industry estimates show that number could be closer to $75 million. The higher part of that range would be in line with the opening of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the first entry in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series. That film debuted with $74 million on the same weekend two years ago and went on to generate $234 million in North America and $580 million overseas. The second film carries a slightly bigger budget of $200 million, while the first outing cost $175 million.
Warner Bros., the studio behind the magical movies, expects to see a similar boost from the international box office. The sequel could make as much as $250 million this weekend when including foreign markets,...
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is expected to earn $65 million from over 3,300 domestic locations, though industry estimates show that number could be closer to $75 million. The higher part of that range would be in line with the opening of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the first entry in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series. That film debuted with $74 million on the same weekend two years ago and went on to generate $234 million in North America and $580 million overseas. The second film carries a slightly bigger budget of $200 million, while the first outing cost $175 million.
Warner Bros., the studio behind the magical movies, expects to see a similar boost from the international box office. The sequel could make as much as $250 million this weekend when including foreign markets,...
- 11/13/2018
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
It’s not uncommon to win an Oscar for playing a musical performer, real or fictional. From James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942), to Sissy Spacek in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980), to Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (2006), just to name a few, it often pays dividends to star in a musical showbiz story. But this is a unique year where every Oscar could go to an actor playing a musician.
First there’s “A Star is Born.” Real-life recording artist Lady Gaga stars as a fictional up-and-coming recording artist in the musical remake. Her co-star Bradley Cooper — who also directed, produced and co-wrote the film — plays a veteran country singer whose career is on the skids. According to the latest forecasts of thousands of Gold Derby users, they’re the front-runners to win Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
But even if Cooper loses Best Actor,...
First there’s “A Star is Born.” Real-life recording artist Lady Gaga stars as a fictional up-and-coming recording artist in the musical remake. Her co-star Bradley Cooper — who also directed, produced and co-wrote the film — plays a veteran country singer whose career is on the skids. According to the latest forecasts of thousands of Gold Derby users, they’re the front-runners to win Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
But even if Cooper loses Best Actor,...
- 11/13/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: The success of recent documentaries about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Fred Rogers proves that people are craving heroes right now. Enter Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.
He is the subject of Willie, an upcoming feature-length docu whose executive producer Bryant McBride says is “10 percent about hockey and 90 percent about life.” Watch a teaser trailer above.
The man’s story is as improbable as it is impressive. O’Ree’s great-grandfather escaped slavery in 1778, and the family still has the original parchment document of his sale.
A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, O’Ree shattered the NHL’s color barrier with the Boston Bruins in 1958, amid the birth of the Civil Rights movement and the struggle to end Jim Crow. Although he had to deal with racist taunts by fans and some opponents, he was welcomed by teammates and management.
He is the subject of Willie, an upcoming feature-length docu whose executive producer Bryant McBride says is “10 percent about hockey and 90 percent about life.” Watch a teaser trailer above.
The man’s story is as improbable as it is impressive. O’Ree’s great-grandfather escaped slavery in 1778, and the family still has the original parchment document of his sale.
A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, O’Ree shattered the NHL’s color barrier with the Boston Bruins in 1958, amid the birth of the Civil Rights movement and the struggle to end Jim Crow. Although he had to deal with racist taunts by fans and some opponents, he was welcomed by teammates and management.
- 11/13/2018
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Awards season is in swing, and we are back in podcast mode. Today, we weigh in on a plethora of fact-based films, and the question of how authentic they really are.
The main topics: Green Book, a road trip through the Jim Crow-era deep South that unites two unlikely partners in a brilliant black classical pianist named Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his burly Italian Copacabana bodyguard Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen); and The Front Runner, with Hugh Jackman as Sen. Gary Hart, the Democratic front-runner for president until he was exposed as a philanderer. The press gave a pass to the wandering eyes of JFK and other politicians, and the Hart scandal ushered in the current climate where every White House occupant’s flaws are fodder for coverage.
We weigh in whether the press deserves to be considered the heavy as director Jason Reitman has rendered them.
The main topics: Green Book, a road trip through the Jim Crow-era deep South that unites two unlikely partners in a brilliant black classical pianist named Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his burly Italian Copacabana bodyguard Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen); and The Front Runner, with Hugh Jackman as Sen. Gary Hart, the Democratic front-runner for president until he was exposed as a philanderer. The press gave a pass to the wandering eyes of JFK and other politicians, and the Hart scandal ushered in the current climate where every White House occupant’s flaws are fodder for coverage.
We weigh in whether the press deserves to be considered the heavy as director Jason Reitman has rendered them.
- 11/12/2018
- by Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), an African-American classical-trained pianist on a jazz-trio tour in a part of 1960’s America that’s not prepared to embrace integration. In his search for a chauffeur, Don makes the curious choice of Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a loudmouth Italian cliché temporarily off the Mob payroll as a bouncer back in New Yawk. They sure as hell don’t get off to an amicable start, with Don sitting like a king in a chic apartment above Carnegie Hall. Tony...
- 11/12/2018
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Kerry Washington carries the weight of a nation on her back in American Son, and I’m tempted to say this fine actress makes it look easy. But that would be glib and wrong: Easy is nowhere to be found in her transformative performance of a mother awaiting news about her missing son, news that one way or another will change her life.
More specifically – and American Son, opening tonight at Broadway’s Booth Theatre, thrives on specifics to make its points about the national – she’s the black mother of a 6’2, 180-pound son who wears baggy jeans and his hair in cornrows and has a “Shoot Cops” bumpersticker on his car, a car that the mother has been told by police has been involved in some sort of incident. Washington’s Kendra will spend the wee hours of a June night in a Miami police station waiting for the details that come torturously slow.
More specifically – and American Son, opening tonight at Broadway’s Booth Theatre, thrives on specifics to make its points about the national – she’s the black mother of a 6’2, 180-pound son who wears baggy jeans and his hair in cornrows and has a “Shoot Cops” bumpersticker on his car, a car that the mother has been told by police has been involved in some sort of incident. Washington’s Kendra will spend the wee hours of a June night in a Miami police station waiting for the details that come torturously slow.
- 11/5/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The first round of opening weekend projections for Thanksgiving are highlighted by Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and Warner Bros./MGM’s “Creed II,” two sequels that are expected to improve on the openings of their predecessors.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is currently projected to open to $65 million, which would be a roughly 33 percent improvement over the $49 million opening “Wreck-It Ralph” scored in early November 2012. It would also beat the $50 million opening for Disney’s Thanksgiving offering last year, the Pixar Oscar winner “Coco,” and the $56 million opening for its 2016 Thanksgiving film, “Moana.” It comes at the right time, too, as another Disney release, the $130 million “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” is expected to bomb this weekend with a $20 million opening.
Also Read: Here's Your First Look at Gal Gadot in 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' (Video)
“Wreck-It Ralph” was a relatively solid success for Disney, earning $189.4 million domestically and $471.2 million worldwide.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is currently projected to open to $65 million, which would be a roughly 33 percent improvement over the $49 million opening “Wreck-It Ralph” scored in early November 2012. It would also beat the $50 million opening for Disney’s Thanksgiving offering last year, the Pixar Oscar winner “Coco,” and the $56 million opening for its 2016 Thanksgiving film, “Moana.” It comes at the right time, too, as another Disney release, the $130 million “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” is expected to bomb this weekend with a $20 million opening.
Also Read: Here's Your First Look at Gal Gadot in 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' (Video)
“Wreck-It Ralph” was a relatively solid success for Disney, earning $189.4 million domestically and $471.2 million worldwide.
- 11/1/2018
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
This month: Freddie Mercury gets the long-overdue biopic treatment; Adonis Creed and Lisbeth Salander (now in her 3.0 version) jump into the sequel game; several would-be Oscar contenders finally hit theaters near you; and folks get significant new releases from award-festooned auteurs such as Luca Guadagnino, Steve McQueen, Barry Jenkins and Yorgos Lanthimos. Oh, and did we mention the WWII men-on-a-mission blockbuster that turns into a Nazi monster movie? Here’s what you need to see in November.
Bohemian Rhapsody (Nov. 2nd)
Just how thoroughly has Freddie Mercury claimed his place in rock and roll history?...
Bohemian Rhapsody (Nov. 2nd)
Just how thoroughly has Freddie Mercury claimed his place in rock and roll history?...
- 10/29/2018
- by Charles Bramesco
- Rollingstone.com
When Megyn Kelly used her perch on “Megyn Kelly Today” to defend the use of blackface before an audience of millions, she professed ignorance of a bygone practice that still annually haunts the nation 170 years later, especially during Halloween. Kelly may have lost her job, but anyone getting up to speed on the controversy because of one debate about costumes should understand that the conversation goes much deeper than that. The tradition of blackface remains a sore point in American history that continues to have a destructive impact to this day.
Needless to say, white audiences will never be able to engage with “blackface” through the nuanced lens that black audiences can bring. Terence Nance addressed this disconnect in several episodes of his HBO series “Random Acts of Flyness,” when he literally gives face to a Larry Wilmore “Daily Show” quote (“Here is when blackface is Ok: When you have a black face!
Needless to say, white audiences will never be able to engage with “blackface” through the nuanced lens that black audiences can bring. Terence Nance addressed this disconnect in several episodes of his HBO series “Random Acts of Flyness,” when he literally gives face to a Larry Wilmore “Daily Show” quote (“Here is when blackface is Ok: When you have a black face!
- 10/25/2018
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
NBC News chief Andy Lack opened a town hall with his staff this afternoon by blasting the on-air remarks Megyn Kelly made on her show Tuesday, in which she defended the use of blackface at Halloween.
“I want to address just one” topic before taking questions, Lack told staff, diving into “the Megyn Kelly situation” right away, an attendee told Deadline.
“There is no other way to put this: I condemn those remarks; there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them,” Lack said, which will further fuel speculation that Kelly is not long for her Today show gig, despite her apology to staff last night and on-air this morning.
“Very unfortunate,” Lack said at the meeting of her blackface defense.
The town hall lasted about an hour and was held at Saturday Night Live’s Studio, 8H, which was filled with staffers, according to the attendee.
“I want to address just one” topic before taking questions, Lack told staff, diving into “the Megyn Kelly situation” right away, an attendee told Deadline.
“There is no other way to put this: I condemn those remarks; there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them,” Lack said, which will further fuel speculation that Kelly is not long for her Today show gig, despite her apology to staff last night and on-air this morning.
“Very unfortunate,” Lack said at the meeting of her blackface defense.
The town hall lasted about an hour and was held at Saturday Night Live’s Studio, 8H, which was filled with staffers, according to the attendee.
- 10/24/2018
- by Lisa de Moraes
- Deadline Film + TV
The film-loving Library of Congress has unveiled its latest movie-centric initiative: the National Screening Room, a free collection of over a century of video assets that capture “a broad range of American life.” The New York Times reports that the new online screening room includes “digitized historical films, commercials, newsreels and other clips. … Most of the movies are in the public domain and are available for downloading; others are only available to stream.”
The available videos cover over a century of time, spanning 1890 through 1999, with new content set to be added every month. The current, quite wide-ranging selection includes almost 300 videos, with such highlights as “home movies by the songwriters George and Ira Gershwin; issues of the ‘“All-American News,’ a newsreel intended for black audiences in the mid-20th century; and a selection of instructional films about mental health from the 1950s.”
Other highlights include footage of Theodore Roosevelt visiting the Jamestown Exposition,...
The available videos cover over a century of time, spanning 1890 through 1999, with new content set to be added every month. The current, quite wide-ranging selection includes almost 300 videos, with such highlights as “home movies by the songwriters George and Ira Gershwin; issues of the ‘“All-American News,’ a newsreel intended for black audiences in the mid-20th century; and a selection of instructional films about mental health from the 1950s.”
Other highlights include footage of Theodore Roosevelt visiting the Jamestown Exposition,...
- 10/24/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Updated with video: “I want to begin with two words: ‘I’m sorry’,” NBC News morning show host Megyn Kelly said at the top of her show the morning after she got torched for defending blackface for Halloween.
“Yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes,” she said.
“And that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another – a black person making their race lighter or a white person making theirs darker, to make a costume complete.”
“I defended the idea saying as long as it was respectful, and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay.”
“Well I was wrong and I am sorry.”
“One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss diff points of view. Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen, and yesterday I learned.
“Yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes,” she said.
“And that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another – a black person making their race lighter or a white person making theirs darker, to make a costume complete.”
“I defended the idea saying as long as it was respectful, and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay.”
“Well I was wrong and I am sorry.”
“One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss diff points of view. Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen, and yesterday I learned.
- 10/24/2018
- by Lisa de Moraes
- Deadline Film + TV
Megyn Kelly sparked social-media backlash Monday in a discussion on her “Megyn Kelly Today” about Halloween celebrants wearing black or white face makeup.
Kelly wondered aloud during a conversation about universities putting pressure on students not to wear costumes that might be deemed offensive. “What is racist?” she asked a panel that included Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff and Melissa Rivers. “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay just as long as you were dressing as a character.”
Kelly suggested that some people who get in costume are simply trying to get into character, as in a case she cited the example of Luann deLesseps, who once generated debate by going as Diana Ross for Halloween. “There was a controversy on...
Kelly wondered aloud during a conversation about universities putting pressure on students not to wear costumes that might be deemed offensive. “What is racist?” she asked a panel that included Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff and Melissa Rivers. “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay just as long as you were dressing as a character.”
Kelly suggested that some people who get in costume are simply trying to get into character, as in a case she cited the example of Luann deLesseps, who once generated debate by going as Diana Ross for Halloween. “There was a controversy on...
- 10/23/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
When you are black and fortunate enough to exist in an environment where your intelligence is valued and nurtured, you will inevitably be the First and Only. It could happen in a boardroom or a college seminar or a tournament – there are too many American venues where your blackness, treated like its own achievement, is used as a cloak for the past sins of others. Being the First and Only is rarely something to celebrate, and it can be a lonely way to make history.
Stacey Abrams doesn’t give much of a damn,...
Stacey Abrams doesn’t give much of a damn,...
- 7/23/2018
- by Jamil Smith
- Rollingstone.com
Like "Antwone Fisher", Denzel Washington's first directorial effort, "The Great Debaters" is an earnest drama about the search for self-esteem and sense of responsibility among young black people that successfully relies on its fine actors, including Washington, to set off fireworks.
Screenwriter Robert Eisele has handed the director a juicy, all-but-forgotten story about the debate team of Wiley College, a black liberal arts institution in the Jim Crow South that won most of its debates against black and white schools in the 1930s. Coaching a team that helped propel several future civil rights leaders into the limelight was the famous black poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson.
Eisele and Washington mine this rich though heavily fictionalized material for powerful situations and themes relating to self-empowerment and the pursuit of justice that are no less relevant in today's society. The film itself smacks more of TV, not because anything has been shortchanged in production values or filmmaking brio but because the American cinema largely has abandoned worthy dramas to television in favor of thrills, action and visual effects.
Good to see that Hollywood can still stand and deliver a fine period drama. If producer Oprah Winfrey -- along with Washington and Forest Whitaker, who also stars -- stump for this Christmas Day release, the film might even find theatrical success with adult audiences from many backgrounds.
The story takes place in 1935 in Marshall, Texas, where Wiley professor Tolson (Washington) selects, trains and polishes four young debaters. The youngest, James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker, who despite his name is related to neither namesake), is a historical figure, a man who blossomed into a major civil rights leader. But at 14, he struggles in the long shadow of a strict minister father, James Farmer Sr. (Forest Whitaker), and with a growing sense of outrage over brutally unfair conditions faced by Southern blacks.
He also is too young to do anything about a crush he has on Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the first female ever selected to debate. She in turn faces a double prejudice on account of her skin color and gender. Suave and restless Henry Lowe (Nate Parker) catches her eye, but he sometimes gets drawn to honky-tonk saloons when things go badly. A fourth debater, Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams), eventually will consider quitting the team, as his parents worry about Tolson's "radical" activities. Tolson is the not-so-secret organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union, which the town's white sheriff (John Heard) fiercely opposes.
Personal growth and deepening relationships occur as the teacher and his charges confront opposing teams, immaturity and even a lynching they come across. The film follows the debaters all the way to a (fictional) showdown with Harvard University that serves as a climax for all the subplots and relationships. (The actual opponent was USC.)
Washington commands the screen in dapper threads, a pipe he jabs like a weapon and a make-no-excuses urgency with his young students. Whitaker (the elder) establishes the minister as a man of dignity and firmness but, perhaps because of his upbringing in the Jim Crow era, unwilling to follow up words with action.
All the young actors deliver exceptional performances. Whitaker (the younger) beautifully mixes adolescent uncertainties with a burning sense of indignity over white abuse. Parker, Smollett and Williams give highly individualistic performances in composite roles inspired by former students Eisele and co-story writer Jeffrey Porro encountered through research or personal interviews.
Tech credits are solid, with special kudos going to production designer David J. Bomba and cinematographer Philippe Rousselot. James Newton Howard and Peter Golub's melodic, understated score interspersed with blues, jazz and gospel standards is a real treat.
THE GREAT DEBATERS
MGM
The Weinstein Co. presents a Harpo Films production
Credits:
Director: Denzel Washington
Screenwriter: Robert Eisele
Story by: Robert Eisele, Jeffrey Porro
Producers: Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Roth
Executive producer: David Crockett
Director of photography: Philippe Rousselot
Production designer: David J. Bomba
Music: James Newton Howard, Peter Golub
Co-producer: Molly Allen
Costume designer: Sharen Davis
Editor: Hughes Winborne
Cast:
Melvin B. Tolson: Denzel Washington
James Farmer Sr.: Forest Whitaker
Henry Lowe: Nate Parker
Samantha Booke: Jurnee Smollett
James Farmer Jr.: Denzel Whitaker
Hamilton Burgess: Jermaine Williams
Ruth Tolson: Gina Ravera
Sheriff Dozier: John Heard
Pearl Farmer: Kimberly Elise
Running time -- 130 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Screenwriter Robert Eisele has handed the director a juicy, all-but-forgotten story about the debate team of Wiley College, a black liberal arts institution in the Jim Crow South that won most of its debates against black and white schools in the 1930s. Coaching a team that helped propel several future civil rights leaders into the limelight was the famous black poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson.
Eisele and Washington mine this rich though heavily fictionalized material for powerful situations and themes relating to self-empowerment and the pursuit of justice that are no less relevant in today's society. The film itself smacks more of TV, not because anything has been shortchanged in production values or filmmaking brio but because the American cinema largely has abandoned worthy dramas to television in favor of thrills, action and visual effects.
Good to see that Hollywood can still stand and deliver a fine period drama. If producer Oprah Winfrey -- along with Washington and Forest Whitaker, who also stars -- stump for this Christmas Day release, the film might even find theatrical success with adult audiences from many backgrounds.
The story takes place in 1935 in Marshall, Texas, where Wiley professor Tolson (Washington) selects, trains and polishes four young debaters. The youngest, James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker, who despite his name is related to neither namesake), is a historical figure, a man who blossomed into a major civil rights leader. But at 14, he struggles in the long shadow of a strict minister father, James Farmer Sr. (Forest Whitaker), and with a growing sense of outrage over brutally unfair conditions faced by Southern blacks.
He also is too young to do anything about a crush he has on Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the first female ever selected to debate. She in turn faces a double prejudice on account of her skin color and gender. Suave and restless Henry Lowe (Nate Parker) catches her eye, but he sometimes gets drawn to honky-tonk saloons when things go badly. A fourth debater, Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams), eventually will consider quitting the team, as his parents worry about Tolson's "radical" activities. Tolson is the not-so-secret organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union, which the town's white sheriff (John Heard) fiercely opposes.
Personal growth and deepening relationships occur as the teacher and his charges confront opposing teams, immaturity and even a lynching they come across. The film follows the debaters all the way to a (fictional) showdown with Harvard University that serves as a climax for all the subplots and relationships. (The actual opponent was USC.)
Washington commands the screen in dapper threads, a pipe he jabs like a weapon and a make-no-excuses urgency with his young students. Whitaker (the elder) establishes the minister as a man of dignity and firmness but, perhaps because of his upbringing in the Jim Crow era, unwilling to follow up words with action.
All the young actors deliver exceptional performances. Whitaker (the younger) beautifully mixes adolescent uncertainties with a burning sense of indignity over white abuse. Parker, Smollett and Williams give highly individualistic performances in composite roles inspired by former students Eisele and co-story writer Jeffrey Porro encountered through research or personal interviews.
Tech credits are solid, with special kudos going to production designer David J. Bomba and cinematographer Philippe Rousselot. James Newton Howard and Peter Golub's melodic, understated score interspersed with blues, jazz and gospel standards is a real treat.
THE GREAT DEBATERS
MGM
The Weinstein Co. presents a Harpo Films production
Credits:
Director: Denzel Washington
Screenwriter: Robert Eisele
Story by: Robert Eisele, Jeffrey Porro
Producers: Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Roth
Executive producer: David Crockett
Director of photography: Philippe Rousselot
Production designer: David J. Bomba
Music: James Newton Howard, Peter Golub
Co-producer: Molly Allen
Costume designer: Sharen Davis
Editor: Hughes Winborne
Cast:
Melvin B. Tolson: Denzel Washington
James Farmer Sr.: Forest Whitaker
Henry Lowe: Nate Parker
Samantha Booke: Jurnee Smollett
James Farmer Jr.: Denzel Whitaker
Hamilton Burgess: Jermaine Williams
Ruth Tolson: Gina Ravera
Sheriff Dozier: John Heard
Pearl Farmer: Kimberly Elise
Running time -- 130 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 12/19/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters will be honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, given annually to recognize films involving "provocative social issues."
A Weinstein Co. pic set for release on Christmas by MGM, Debaters is based on a true story about a debating team from a black college in the Jim Crow South that received a landmark invitation to take on Harvard's championship team. Washington helmed the drama, which he also toplines.
The pic's producers include Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey and Joe Roth. They will accept the award on behalf of the production at the 19th annual PGA Awards, set for Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
" 'The Great Debaters' is the embodiment of everything Stanley Kramer stood for in the films he made," PGA Awards co-chairs Hawk Koch and Mark Gordon said. "We are very proud to present this award to the filmmakers that brought this movie to the big screen."
Said Washington: "The Stanley Kramer Award has recognized such important films in the past, (and) I am thrilled to be in their company."...
A Weinstein Co. pic set for release on Christmas by MGM, Debaters is based on a true story about a debating team from a black college in the Jim Crow South that received a landmark invitation to take on Harvard's championship team. Washington helmed the drama, which he also toplines.
The pic's producers include Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey and Joe Roth. They will accept the award on behalf of the production at the 19th annual PGA Awards, set for Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
" 'The Great Debaters' is the embodiment of everything Stanley Kramer stood for in the films he made," PGA Awards co-chairs Hawk Koch and Mark Gordon said. "We are very proud to present this award to the filmmakers that brought this movie to the big screen."
Said Washington: "The Stanley Kramer Award has recognized such important films in the past, (and) I am thrilled to be in their company."...
- 12/13/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Idlewild is an entertaining mess. It blends together musical styles and dances, historical periods with howling anachronisms, coy, almost childish gimmicks with R-rated sex and violence and The Cotton Club with Six Feet Under. Think of it as a 1930s remix. The movie has a "let's put on a show" casualness, yet choreography and music can't be slicker. But an entertaining mess is still a mess.
Fans of OutKast probably won't care. The film stars Antwan A. Patton and Andre Benjamin, aka Big Boi and Andre 3000 of OutKast, who also serve as music supervisors. The film's writer-director is Bryan Barber, OutKast's frequent music-video director. This oddball concoction has sat on a shelf for nearly two years while Universal figured out how to sell it. Idlewild may just sell itself thanks to the stars and a hot soundtrack. But it won't satisfy sticklers for historical correctness. For instance, how do you feel about 1930s hip-hop?
The story revolves around a nightclub/whorehouse in Idlewild, Ga., circa 1935 whimsically called Church. Club manager Rooster (Patton) must confront a vicious gangster (Terrence Howard) who controls the flow of liquor to the club, while keeping girlfriends out of sight of his rightly suspicious wife Zora (Malinda Williams).
Rooster's childhood buddy Percival (Benjamin), a mortician by trade, plays piano at the club. He gets drawn out of his shell by the otherworldly beauty of the club's new and mysterious singer Angel (Paula Patton), forcing him to choose between her and his domineering father (Ben Vereen).
The filmmakers focus on the music as much as possible. Indeed most of the contrived plot makes little sense. Nor does the film make any attempt to examine how black culture existed and flourished in the Jim Crow South. This is a period piece with no period; all sense of history is banished.
The film is overloaded with cutesy gimmicks such as a flask that talks back to its owner, music sheets whose notes act as cartoon characters and a scene in which the mortician sings to an exquisite female corpse. Yes, he does.
The movie prides itself on a "retro-modern" look and sound. Its dances are a freestyle fusion of swing, hip-hop and break dance. The music jumps off from the R&B stylings of Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith to contemporary urban sounds. In other words, everything in the movie is subservient to the fact its soundtrack is an OutKast album.
At least Benjamin and Patton don't Take That approach as actors. They play genuine characters with shadings and nuances. The big news, performance-wise, is Paula Patton, reminding you somewhat of a young Whitney Houston, whose lovely voice is equaled by her beauty. Vereen is fine as the troubled father. Howard, of course, is smooth as silk as the sadistic villain. Making much too brief appearances are Macy Gray, Cicely Tyson and Patti LaBelle.
Barber oversees top-notch contributions from a behind-the-camera team that includes Pascal Rabaud's gymnastic camera work, Hinton Battle's eye-catching choreography, Shawn Barton's colorful costumes and Anne Goursaud's rhythmic editing.
IDLEWILD
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and HBO Films present a Mosaic Media Group/Forensic Films production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Bryan Barber
Producers: Charles Roven, Robert Guralnick
Executive producers: William Green, Robin O'Hara, Scott Macaulay
Director of photography: Pascal Rabaud
Production designer: Charles Breen
Music: John Debney
Costumes: Shawn Barton
Editor: Anne Goursaud
Cast:
Percival: Andre Benjamin
Rooster: Antwan A. Patton
Angel: Paula Patton
Trumpy: Terrence Howard
Ace: Faizon Love
Zora: Malinda Williams
Mother Hopkins: Cicely Tyson
Taffy: Macy Gray
Percy Senior: Ben Vereen
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 121 minutes...
Fans of OutKast probably won't care. The film stars Antwan A. Patton and Andre Benjamin, aka Big Boi and Andre 3000 of OutKast, who also serve as music supervisors. The film's writer-director is Bryan Barber, OutKast's frequent music-video director. This oddball concoction has sat on a shelf for nearly two years while Universal figured out how to sell it. Idlewild may just sell itself thanks to the stars and a hot soundtrack. But it won't satisfy sticklers for historical correctness. For instance, how do you feel about 1930s hip-hop?
The story revolves around a nightclub/whorehouse in Idlewild, Ga., circa 1935 whimsically called Church. Club manager Rooster (Patton) must confront a vicious gangster (Terrence Howard) who controls the flow of liquor to the club, while keeping girlfriends out of sight of his rightly suspicious wife Zora (Malinda Williams).
Rooster's childhood buddy Percival (Benjamin), a mortician by trade, plays piano at the club. He gets drawn out of his shell by the otherworldly beauty of the club's new and mysterious singer Angel (Paula Patton), forcing him to choose between her and his domineering father (Ben Vereen).
The filmmakers focus on the music as much as possible. Indeed most of the contrived plot makes little sense. Nor does the film make any attempt to examine how black culture existed and flourished in the Jim Crow South. This is a period piece with no period; all sense of history is banished.
The film is overloaded with cutesy gimmicks such as a flask that talks back to its owner, music sheets whose notes act as cartoon characters and a scene in which the mortician sings to an exquisite female corpse. Yes, he does.
The movie prides itself on a "retro-modern" look and sound. Its dances are a freestyle fusion of swing, hip-hop and break dance. The music jumps off from the R&B stylings of Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith to contemporary urban sounds. In other words, everything in the movie is subservient to the fact its soundtrack is an OutKast album.
At least Benjamin and Patton don't Take That approach as actors. They play genuine characters with shadings and nuances. The big news, performance-wise, is Paula Patton, reminding you somewhat of a young Whitney Houston, whose lovely voice is equaled by her beauty. Vereen is fine as the troubled father. Howard, of course, is smooth as silk as the sadistic villain. Making much too brief appearances are Macy Gray, Cicely Tyson and Patti LaBelle.
Barber oversees top-notch contributions from a behind-the-camera team that includes Pascal Rabaud's gymnastic camera work, Hinton Battle's eye-catching choreography, Shawn Barton's colorful costumes and Anne Goursaud's rhythmic editing.
IDLEWILD
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and HBO Films present a Mosaic Media Group/Forensic Films production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Bryan Barber
Producers: Charles Roven, Robert Guralnick
Executive producers: William Green, Robin O'Hara, Scott Macaulay
Director of photography: Pascal Rabaud
Production designer: Charles Breen
Music: John Debney
Costumes: Shawn Barton
Editor: Anne Goursaud
Cast:
Percival: Andre Benjamin
Rooster: Antwan A. Patton
Angel: Paula Patton
Trumpy: Terrence Howard
Ace: Faizon Love
Zora: Malinda Williams
Mother Hopkins: Cicely Tyson
Taffy: Macy Gray
Percy Senior: Ben Vereen
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 121 minutes...
- 8/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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