Questionable....

Some things have come up on my radar for the past couple of weeks, some of them questionable as hayell, some of them just mild what tha?'s. Some of them are a bit late, but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there anyway:

Halle Berry as "Sexiest Woman Alive"? Yes, she is very pretty, yes she has a great body (she really knows how to show the goods), but I have always found her a bit devoid of the sexual vibe. Like I can't imagine her doing the do without worrying about her hair, if she actually does the do at all (did you follow that?). Apparently, Slausnificent agrees with me.

Terrence Howard booted from Ironman for being greedy? HaHA! (doing my best Nelson from the Simpsons). Dude! What were you thinking? Terrence practically sleepwalked his role in that film---I honestly thought they chose him cause the filmmakers were too lazy to think of another Black guy. This was clearly a case of shut the f*ck up and just get paid. Will The Cheadle be any better? I dunno, but he is like 3 feet, 18 inches, so that is not exactly an auspicious start.

OK, we've been hearing for years that Will and Jada have this wonderful stage marriage as gay and lez in wedlock. But can this story about him paying for discreet, ummm..."down-under" sex be real? If so, wow--let the fireworks begin.

ps: these blind items are supposedly, allegedly, about him. questionable indeed: http://www.laineygossip.com/Trailer_Visits.aspx and http://www.laineygossip.com/Trailer_Visits_With_His_Trainer.aspx

Why, why, why, oh why is Beyonce playing Eartha Kitt? Just damn!!! I agree with Clay Cane 100%:

Etta James and now Eartha Kitt are roles that could make a career for an up and coming actress. Also, isn’t it a rule that once an actor plays a real life character in a movie they should be avoiding additional biopics? That would be like Jamie Foxx playing Sammy Davis, Jr. Beyonce has already portrayed Diana Ross (I don't care what ya say, Deena Jones is Diana), Etta James, and now Eartha Kitt. What's next -- Harriet Tubman?

Yes, Beyonce is a great performer, but an actress she is not. Eartha Kitt was a child conceived by rape, born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina, and rose to fame the old fashion way, hard work—while suffering awful sexism and racism. Her career was practically ruined for being an outspoken advocate against the Vietnam War and she allegedly made the First Lady at a White House luncheon in 1968 burst into tears. Nothing about Eartha's life story will Beyonce be able to pull off. Bey doesn't even know how to drop her George W. Bush Texan accent—how is she going to manage Eartha's South Carolina/pseudo-European accent?

Most importantly, there are so many black actresses who could play Eartha Kitt. The depth and history of Eartha could be an Oscar winning role, but in a Beyonce’s performance all you will get is a NAACP nomination. The reality is, no matter how hard this woman tries to be Meryl Streep, and I believe she is trying, I believe she takes acting class with some of the best teachers in the business—mama just doesn’t have "it."

beyonce "emoting" as etta james in cadillac records--the lights are on, but no one's home.....

Was watching some seriously random movies over the weekend. One of them was "Motives 2" (don't judge me!). What was up with that movie? Seriously, this was completely like a Black and English speaking version of a Mexican tele-novela on TeleMundo, from the outfits, to the makeup, to the overly extreme-to-the-max over the top melodramatic situations and acting. Boo.

I also rewatched "Sugar Hill" for the first time since the 90's. Did that movie just seem so much better because of Terrence Blanchard's moody score, or was it actually good? And how could Wesley Snipes look so damn fine in that movie and be a complete and total turn-off today? How does that happen? And what the eff happened to Theresa Randall? (I always hated her hair in every movie). All I know is Clarence Williams III played the hayell out of Wesley's junkie dad character.

I know I talk about some of the limited choices we have in Black Cinema in the states, but elsewhere, it is even more dismal. To wit, this email from reader Aulelia of "Charcoal Ink". Should we be grateful that we even have choices, good or bad?:

Hi IW,

I feel compelled to write to you and let you know that I finally saw the Great Debaters today. I had to resort to downloading it because the bloody film was not released in the UK despite all of my patient waiting.

I am not even surprised that it does not have a European Region 2 DVD release which is deeply frustrating as I had wanted to buy it.

Anyway, I know it came out ages ago for you in the US but just wanted to say that I thought it was brilliant. Loved it. Lol, no surprise as I am obsessed with Denzel but jokes aside, I found it to be quite touching. I knew what to expect plot wise and I did not feel disappointed.

What does make me sad is how black people in the UK are being starved of such rich films like GD. We keep getting absolute SHITE being advertised here (like journey to the centre of the earth) yet films like GD are ignored - why ? - because they have a black cast.

It is shameful and disgusting. Just want let to let you know that the situation for seeing black films in the UK in cinemas is barely alive.

No wonder Idris and his lovely self has found more work in the US. It is a shame but what it is is merely a reflection of reality.

When Acting Reels Go Wrong....

I saw this video before I started this blog, and LMBAO! It is Carl Lewis (yes the Olympic track star) playing a pimp for his acting reel. The first time I saw it, the blogger said (don't remember which one) that Lewis' acting skills seem to consist of repeating back what everybody just said to him. This ish is so hilarious that my friend and I still reference it sometimes. He makes New York from "New York Goes To Hollywood" look like Angela Bassett...bootleg!





thanks to fresh, who reminded me of this mess

Today In B'Days....

Bill Cosby is 71. Damn!



Lisa Nicole Carson says she's 39. Where you and your boobage at girl?!


Here's Bill in one of my favorites of all time--"Uptown Saturday Night". I posted this clip once before, but what can I say? Love it!




Bonus clip: I also loved this hip hop group from back in the day...they were constantly paying homage to everything Black and 70's from Ernie Barnes/"Goodtimes" to the lovable "Uptown Saturday Night" and "Coolie High"---this is one of my very, very, very, very favorite songs of all time...let "luchini fall from the sky!":

Milk Carton Alert!

I couldn't sleep last night, so at 2am I caught an old episode of "New York Undercover". Yes Malik Yoba's lips were semi-ash free then, but in this particular story was Tyrin Turner. What the eff happened to him?

He broke out in "Menace To Society", which, very coincidentally, happens to be on BET tonight. He was in "Panther" and "Belly", then....nothing. I looked up his profile and saw that he had an uncredited role in "How High". Damn, not only are you in "How High", but you are uncredited too? SMH.

All I know is between Malik Yoba's chap and Tyrin's innertube lips, I could barely concentrate on last night's storyline, haha.

All of the clips from Menace were too long, so here is the trailer:

Milk Carton Alert!

While cruising darkbrotha's blog, I came across a post for "The Five Heartbeats". He had a scene from youtube with this dude, which led me to ask: What the eff happened to Michael Wright?

He and his hoarse, froggy voice were a staple in 90's, thanks to films like "The Five Heartbeats" and "Sugar Hill". He always looked rough to me, like he was half a step away from crackdom. I remember very vividly a line he had in some movie where he screamed "The only place you're gonna be is in a body bag!" at the top of his lungs, and remember it sounded like his larynx was gonna explode any second.

I also remember that I used to go to his mother's restaurant in midtown Manhattan, called Jezebel's (before it got all touristy). I liked it cause it had upscale Southern food, and the place was decorated like a beautiful French bordello.

Anyhoo, I went in there one night with a member of a very famous R&B group and an artist whose video I was styling. The video was for a soundtrack for a movie this Wright guy was in, and he happened to be there hanging out that night with his mom and Wesley Snipes. I went over to the table to tell him about the artist and how it was a coincidence that they were there at the same time, on the same night. He thought it was funny too, and got up to walk over when his mother shoved him back down hard and abruptly in his seat. "Let them come over to meet you" she hissed. Like he was the King of France or something! There was complete shock and silence for almost a full minute. It took all of my strength (for business reasons) not to tell her how completely delusional she was....maybe she was his manager, which would explain why his career is nowhere to be seen.

Looking on IMDB I can see he was a reoccurring character on "Oz". I would not know that, cause even tho I have seen every episode of "The Sopranos" and "The Wire", that ish was too gritty for even me, beautiful chocolate men nonwithstanding. He most recently was in some random movie called "Raving" (2007) playing "Security Guard". Not good. Not quite worthy of a milk carton yet, but he is definitely on his way on the express train.

Here is a scene with him in 'The Five Heartbeats" that I saw on darkbrotha's blog:

Even tho this film is corny to the ninth power, it is a perennial community favorite. Why? In my opinion, it is so very uniquely black, a story that can only be told by us and with us, i.e. the Motown phenom. It combined black music, black drama, black comedy, and black issues into a movie that was easy to digest, and easy to watch. In other words, pre-Tyler Perry, and I ain't mad.

Bonus Milk Carton:

More worthy of this post (both from the Five Heartbeats) are Tico Wells :

(this was the most decent pic I could find)

and Troy Beyer:

I know Troy hooked up with Robert Townsend and wrote a couple of movies, most notably "B.A.P.S." and more recently "Love Don't Cost A Thing". But what's up since then? She seems to have fallen into the Rae Dawn Chong realm. And Tico? Complete and utter silence on his career front. Maybe he should have used that big magic third leg my girlfriend said he had (oops, did I say that?). Who knew?

Extra, extra bonus:

Here is the video that I styled, that I just found on youtube looking for "Sugar Hill". Bear in mind that she refused to wear anything I asked her to, and I was only responsible for her leather coat in one scene (her best outfit by the way). If she would have listened to me maybe she'd still be around! haha

Milk Carton Alert!

Thinking of Bill Duke made me think of this one--what the eff happened to Victoria Dillard?

Dillard played the perennial girlfriend in many a black film, most notably "Deep Cover" a community favorite. It's rumored that Laurence Fishburne left his wife for her, then cheated again on Victoria and dropped her for someone else....but I digress.

In the new millennium she has played Betty Shabazz in "Ali" in 2001, and was in a bunch of "Spin City" episodes, which I wouldn't know about, since I never watched. All in all, I think a milkcarton is in dire need here....can't even find a decent picture of her on the net.

For the 3 of you that don't know about the black classic "Deep Cover" the synopsis is this from IMDB:

A black uniformed policeman is recruited by a devious drug enforcement agent to infiltrate a smuggling organization seeking to expand into designer drugs. This 'ugly side of the war on drugs' explores the context of race, identity and hypocrisy within a brutal and alienating investigation.

IW: I prefer to think of it as one of the sexiest movies ever, and it also made half of the black females in the nation fall in love with Jeff Goldblum, haha. Oh yeah, and Snoop was genuinely cool then.

Here is a clip from the movie...why is powder coming out of that dude's chest.....and was he in Full Force?




Here is a scene that I remember the whole theater saying in unison "OH SHIT!" Gangsta.

Milk Carton Alert!

What the eff happened to Taimak (he's 43!) and Julius Carry, aka "Sho'Nuff" (check out his normal picture!) from "The Last Dragon"? I wanted to know, and so did Jon from the positive blog "Chimeric Daydreams".

While Julius Carry has worked steadily in TV (could've fooled me) on shows like "Moesha" and "Half and Half", Taimak has had some spotty B-roles, oddly enough using his real life name coupled with a made up last name for his characters. Weird.

If you're interested, here is his official website, and I think he's singing/talking on it, also weird: http://www.taimak.tv/. Take a look at some exercise DVD tomfoolery he made unleashed on an unsuspecting public:

Damn! Embedding disabled...guess he needs you to buy, but here is the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RmEIbeVYTBs