Stick Fly

Synopsis:  When the LeVay family opens its house for a weekend visit, the family ends up airing more than the drapes.

The LeVay brothers have invited the women in their lives to meet their parents at their luxurious Martha’s Vineyard summer home. Younger brother Kent, who has struggled to find direction in his life, and has issues getting along with his father, brings his fiancée Taylor, who studies insects for her vocation. Taylor was raised in a lower-middle-class household by a single mother. Unaccustomed to privilege, she is uncomfortable in the LeVays’ home, especially with Cheryl, who is filling in for her mother as the LeVays’ maid. Eldest brother Flip, a successful plastic surgeon and womanizer, brings his new girlfriend, Kimber, who is privileged, white and has spent her life appalled by her status.

Tensions flair as race, class and family become prime conversation topics. When a phone call reveals a family secret, everything unravels. By the end of the weekend, lives have been turned upside-down and a family is left to reassemble the pieces.

Alicia Keys is a producer and also created the music score for the show.

Location
Cort Theater

138 West 48th Street

New York, NY 10036

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Now anyone who knows me will tell you I am not the one for horror films at all.  But then again, I'm a sucker for vampires (no pun intended).  So I couldn't help but notice it as I was reviewing movies coming out in 2012.  First I saw the title of the movie and then the poster.  So I had to stop and read.  Who would take one of the most historical and recognizable American figures like Abraham Lincoln and portray him as a vampire hunter?  Then in the small print on the poster I saw Tim Burton's name.  Then it all made sense.

Tyler Perry's Good Deeds

Tagline:  Wesley Deeds is About to Discover the Person He Was Meant to Be.

Synopsis:  A successful, wealthy businessman, Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) has always done what’s expected of him, whether it’s assuming the helm of his father’s company, tolerating his brother’s misbehavior at the office or planning to marry his beautiful but restless fiancée, Natalie (Gabrielle Union). But Wesley is jolted out of his predictable routine when he meets Lindsey (Thandie Newton), a down-on-her-luck single mother who works on the cleaning crew in his office building. When he offers to help her get back on her feet, the chance encounter with someone so far outside his usual circle ignites something in Wesley. This one good deed may finally spark his courage to exchange the life that’s expected of him for the life he’s always really wanted.

Release Date: February 24, 2012

Just Me
I'm not sure about this movie.  There hasn't been too much written about it or any reviews.  It comes out next month and I haven't seen any previews on television or at the theaters.

Considering the last Tyler Perry movie I saw I witnessed a baby being dropped out of window, I will have to wait and see what others say about this movie first before going to see it.

A Black woman is starring in a television show and she didn't have to sleep with a basketball star to do it....YYAAAAYYY!!!

Synopsis:  From the creator and executive producers of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice comes a drama revolving around the life and work of a professional crisis manager and her dysfunctional staff.

A former media relations consultant to the President, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) dedicates her life to protecting and defending the public images of our nation's elite. After leaving the White House, the power consultant opened her own firm, hoping to start a new chapter -- both professionally and personally -- but she can't seem to completely cut ties with her past. Slowly it becomes apparent that her staff, who specialize in fixing the lives of other people, can't quite fix the ones closest at hand -- their own.

Starring:
Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope
Henry Ian Cusick as Stephen Finch
Columbus Short as Harrison Wright
Guillermo Diaz as Huck
Darby Stanchfield as Abby Whelan    
Katie Lowes as Quinn Perkins

There currently isn't an exact series premiere date.  But be on the lookout for this one.  As you can tell from watching the sneak peek, this show is a must-see.

From the movie website....

Synopsis:  In an instant, 29 million Americans became fat, out of shape and dangerously obese… and they did it without taking a single bite of food. It was all the result of a decision to change the national standard for obesity. The question is “What was behind a ruling to declare so many people to be fat? Was it political, financial or for the good of humankind?” You’ll find out that diet companies have raked in huge profits because of the new standards — guidelines the weight loss industry helped structure.
The answer lies in a new film by award-winning director Darryl Roberts who, in a follow-up to “America The Beautiful”, examines the cause of our country’s obsession with dieting. “America The Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments” also weighs in on the raging debate between doctors who say fat is healthy versus those who disagree.

The movie, which premieres in October, offers a passionate and sometimes humorous documentation of the battle to be… well… thin. You see everything from gastric bypass surgery, an obsessed fitness fanatic and a victim of anorexia.

There’s also the revelation that — based on new “fat” guidelines — LeBron James, one of the world’s greatest athletes, is obese. So are Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Christian Bale.

Release Date:  January 13, 2012

Politics of Love

Synopsis:  Politics makes strange bedfellows, but never stranger than when a month before the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, a beautiful, idealistic local Obama volunteer coordinator reluctantly falls for her Republican counterpart: a sexy, savvy, African American conservative. Sparks fly, tempers flares, heads turn, and romance blossoms for this mismatched pair of campaigners in the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to Election Day. Can the politics of love conquer all?

Release Date: August 26, 2011 (limited)

I had the pleasure of interviewing local filmmaker Brian Zahm and music producer Jacoti Sommes.  These two self-proclaimed psycho geniuses are responsible for "The Biggest Blackest Whitesploitation Comedy Musical You Ever Saw Sucka" short film titled Wiggah.  I can't say the title speaks for itself because there's much more to the movie than what you might believe.  The film stars Ryan Czerwonko as T, a wannabe thug who keeps his pimp hand strong to feed his crack habit.  And the film's music producer Jacoti Sommes makes his acting debut as the rival pimp L'Roy. 

I got a chance to watch this short film and it pretty much left me speechless...in a good way.  I found my jaw dropping within the first couple of minutes.  And it remained that way for the rest of the time.  I couldn't wait to interview the two crazy people with the audacity and courage to release a film such as this.  And by the accolades this film has already received, it's apparent others feel the same way.  Wiggah has been submitted to numerous film festivals and has won some top awards such as Best Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score, and the first one I would have voted for - Best Cinematography.  It's evident Brian Zahm and Jacoti Sommes add up to one hell of a creative duo.  I'll definitely be looking forward to see what they come up with next.

John Singleton will be directing Twilight star Taylor Lautner in the much anticipated action-suspense film Abduction. 

Abduction is about a teenager named Nathan “who has long felt disconnected from his parents, and figures out why. That unleashes a chain of violent events.”  He goes on to discover his own baby picture on a missing persons website, unlocking the first clue in a large conspiracy that involves him being stolen as a baby by his current parents.

This should be a nice film project for Taylor Lautner to finally play the leading man.  It's been getting a lot of hype and even promises to offer as much action and suspense as the Bourne spy films.  Director John Singleton should be excited as well to be chosen for this project.  He already has an impressive portfolio of films he directed such as Boyz In Tha Hood, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Four Brothers.  So many have confidence he will be able to make this film a good one for movie-goers. 

Release Date:  September 23, 2011 

Notorious filmmaker Spike Lee is working on a new film.  This news came about when Spike Lee tweeted it a couple of weeks ago...

"Wake Up. I been up since 430am. On the way to the set of THE NEW SPIKE LEE JOINT.Today is 1st Day of Shooting.Awwwwwwwwwwww Sheeeeeeeeeeeeet"

The film will take place in Brooklyn, New York which is no surprise to Spike Lee fans and the tentative title will be Red Hook Summer.  According to Blackfilm.com, in Red Hook Summer Lee will reprise his role as the outspoken, two-fiddy a week clocking, pizza delivery man 'Mookie' from his 1989 film Do the Right Thing.  There aren't too many other details about the movie yet but more news is sure to come.

Just Me

Filmmaker Byron Hurt explores the health advantages and disadvantages of soul food, a quintessential American cuisine. 

About the Filmmaker
Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, a published writer, and an anti-sexist activist. His most recent documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was later broadcast nationally on the Emmy award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, drawing an audience of more than 1.3 million viewers. To date, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (BBR) has been selected to appear in more than 50 film festivals worldwide and The Chicago Tribune named it "one of the best documentary films in 2007."

Just Me
I am very excited about this film and think it is a much needed story to tell about the Black experience.  I got a chance to check out Hurt's Hip Hop documentary and really enjoyed it.  FYI - you can watch it for free on Youtube.

Release Date: 2012

Tagline:  Filmed by You

Synopsis:  What do you get when you ask the people of the world to chronicle a single day in their lives?  You get 80,000 submissions, 4500 hours of footage, from 192 countries. Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create a user-generated
feature film shot in a single day. On July 24, you have 24 hours to
capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and
distinctive footage will be edited into a feature film,  Kevin Macdonald has taken this raw material and created a 90-minute triumph to what it means to be human in the world today.

Release Date: July 24, 2011 (limited)

Running from October 6-9, 2011, the Ohio Film + Music Festival is a curated, four-day event highlighting Ohio-native filmmakers and musicians. Curated by OFMF founders Eric Mahoney and Scott Johnson, the fest will showcase the diverse array of creative talent Ohio has produced past, present, and future—from auteur filmmaker Jim Jarmusch to acclaimed producer/DJ/musician RJD2 and internationally-recognized bands like Heartless Bastards and New Bomb Turks. Looking forward, the OFMF plans to develop into an annual event and platform for exhibiting and developing future work from Ohio artists. Tickets to each of the films and the three nightly concerts go on sale August 1.

Here are some of the films showing at the festival...

Outside In (2010)

Dir. Todd Volkmer (2010) This film started as a self funded pet
project of the Director, todd v and his production partner Erin Ludlam.
The two were doing research for their show Arts Quest… more