MTV Studios Launches "MTV Documentary Films" with Sheila Nevins

Sheila Nevins Joins MTV Studios to Launch MTV Documentary Films

Longtime president of HBO Documentary Films to shepherd new generation of documentary filmmakers exploring issues that impact youth

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MTV, a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB), announced that Sheila Nevins — the legendary producer who redefined modern documentary storytelling and won dozens of Emmy® and Peabody® Awards as President of HBO Documentary Films — will join MTV to launch MTV Documentary Films. As part of MTV Studios, the new division will develop documentary films and specials for third-party streaming services, premium networks and MTV platforms. Under Nevins’ leadership, MTV Documentary Films will embrace a new generation of filmmakers exploring the social, political and cultural trends and stories important to young people.

    “I’m excited to join MTV with electrifying stories that explore the crises and commitments that young people face every day.”

“MTV has always been at the forefront of youth culture, and the generation that is growing up now will change the world in ways we can’t even imagine,” said Sheela Nevins. “I’m excited to join MTV with electrifying stories that explore the crises and commitments that young people face every day.”

“Throughout her stellar career, Sheila has elevated documentaries into one of the most compelling, culturally influentially forms of modern storytelling,” said Chris McCarthy, President of MTV. “As we grow and expand MTV, we’re excited for Sheila to bring a new generation of filmmakers to the forefront and continue to extend our creativity and cultural impact.”

Nina L. Diaz, President of Entertainment for MTV, added, “What we started two decades ago with MTV News and Docs continues to inspire today. As we relaunch our documentary division, it’s exhilarating to have Sheila at the helm.”

MTV Documentary Films continues the rapid expansion of the global youth brand across its network of channels, platforms, live events and third-party development through MTV Studios. Under Nevins’ leadership, MTV Documentary Films will build on the rich heritage of MTV News and Docs and MTV Films which, for more than 20 years, produced groundbreaking content including the Emmy Award winning series “True Life,” the Academy Award® nominated “Tupac: Resurrection” and the Academy Award winning “Hustle & Flow.”

As President of HBO Documentary Films, Nevins helped shape culture for more than three decades. Her projects have garnered 28 Academy Awards and 44 Peabody® Awards, and Nevins has personally won a record of 34 individual Primetime Emmy Awards. She is the executive producer of more than 1,500 acclaimed series and films including “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” “When the Levees Broke,” “Paradise Lost,” “America Undercover,” “Taxicab Confessions” and the Oscar® winning “Citizenfour” – where she first worked with MTV Communications Head Liza Burnett Fefferman, who suggested Nevins to MTV.


ABOUT MTV
MTV is the leading global youth media brand in 180 countries, reaching 450 million households in nearly 30 different languages across every platform. A unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB, VIA), MTV operations span cable and mobile networks, live events, theatrical films and MTV Studios.

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Review: "The Original Kings of Comedy" - Remembering Bernie Mac

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Running time:  115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and sex related humor
DIRECTOR:  Spike Lee
PRODUCERS:  David Gale, Walter Latham, and Spike Lee
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Malik Sayeed
EDITOR:  Barry Alexander Brown
Image Award nominee

CONCERT/DOCUMENTARY

Starring:  Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac

The subject of this movie review is The Original Kings of Comedy, a 2000 concert film and documentary from director Spike Lee.  This stand-up comedy film featured Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac, who at the time, were probably the four major African-American stand-up comedians.

First, I must note that I liked half this movie – the half with Bernie Mac and Cedric the Entertainer.  I like D.L. Hughley as a political and social commentator, but not so much as a stand-up comic.  I have mixed feelings about Steve Harvey, and I’ll leave it at that.

For two years in the late 90’s into early 2000, comedians Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac toured the United States in a comedy show called “The Original Kings of Comedy.”  Director Spike Lee (Malcolm X) captured a two-night performance by the “Kings” in Charlotte, North Carolina on digital film, which became the documentary/concert film, The Original Kings of Comedy.

All four of the performances have film and television backgrounds in addition to their stage work, but they are best known to and most liked by urban i.e. African-American audiences.  In fact, the huge success of the concert tour so surprised mainstream i.e. white news media that the tour was the subject of numerous stories.  Those writers expressed shock at how the Kings played to packed houses, but there wasn’t really a secret to their success.  Tickets prices were cheap (usually around 10 bucks), and tours of King’s were kind of geared toward the so-called urban audience are rare.  Some concert venues consider large gatherings of African-Americans a security risk and demand exorbitant insurance coverage from tour promoters.

I can only hope that the Charlotte shows were not indicative of the tour as a whole.  Much of the performances were thoroughly dry and not funny.  It’s hard to chose between who was worse - tour “host” Steve Harvey (of TV’s “The Steve Harvey Show”) or D.L. Hughley (of TV’s “The Hughleys”).  The audience seemed to like them.  Maybe it was a black thing, or perhaps a certain “class” of black thing – not so monolithic, after all, eh?

Cedric the Entertainer and Bernie Mac were hilarious, especially Mac.  They are gifted both as comedians and storytellers, something that is important for all the Richard Pryor wannabees to remember.  Pryor just didn’t tell jokes; he told hilarious, often uproarious, stories.  Many of the profanity junkies that currently pass for comedians would do best to understand what made Pryor so funny and why he enormously crossed over to white audiences.  Cedric and Mac are funny storytellers, and their humor, laced with tales about black folks, actually reaches to a larger segment of the black population.  In fact, a lot of people from different backgrounds can relate to Bernie’s tales, which is why he has the most diverse work history as an entertainer of all the “Kings.”

Much of the comedy here deals with black culture, black folks, black people’s habits, black people who grew up in the 70’s versus young blacks of the 90’s, old school versus hip hop, and, of course white people.  And they deal with white people rather stiffly.  It’s telling that many of the white faces in the audience were not smiling.  Some of the barbs against white folks were mean, and mostly not funny.  When Redd Foxx, Pryor, and Eddie Murphy joked about whites, it was funny and dead on true.  Mac approaches their touch.  The rest of these guys act as if they’d never met a white person.

Lee covers the stage, the audience, and to a lesser extent, the backstage very well – just enough directing not to take away from the main show.  The performances don’t live up to the hype.  I will recommend this to people who want to see the work of a fine entertainer, and that’s Bernie Mac.

5 of 10
C+

NOTES:
2001 Image Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding Motion Picture”

Updated:  Friday, August 09, 2013

Review: "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" Surprisingly Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong fantasy horror violence and gore, brief sexuality/nudity and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tommy Wirkola
PRODUCERS: Will Ferrell, Beau Flynn, Chris Henchy, and Adam McKay
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Bonvillain (director of photography)
EDITOR: Jim Page
COMPOSER: Atli Örvarsson

FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION with elements of comedy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Pihla Viitala, Derek Mears, Robin Atkin Downes, Thomas Mann, Peter Stormare, Rainer Bock, Bjorn Sundquist, Thomas Scharff, Kathrin Kuhnel, Cedric Eich, and Alea Sophia Boudodimos

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a 2013 action, horror, and dark fantasy film from director Tommy Wirkola. The American-German co-production was presented in 3D during its theatrical release. The film follows a brother and sister team of bounty hunters that tracks and kills witches all over the world.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters introduces a young brother and young sister who enter a gingerbread house and end up fighting horrid old witch for their lives. Many years after surviving that incident, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are famed bounty hunters who merciless eradicate witches for payment.

One day, they arrive in the town of Augsburgh just in time to stop Sheriff Berringer (Peter Stormare) from killing Mina (Pihla Viitala), a young woman accused of witchcraft. While the Sheriff disdains them, Mayor Engleman (Rainer Bock) welcomes Hansel and Gretel, because he hopes they will find and rescue several children that were abducted by witches and their troll ally, Edward (Derek Mears and Robin Atkin Downes). This will be the siblings’ biggest challenge yet. Muriel (Famke Janssen), a powerful witch, has plans for a special Sabbath known as the Blood Moon. Those plans have huge implications for Hansel and Gretel and will reveal the deepest secrets of the sibling’ past.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters has a strong current of black comedy running throughout the film. The filmmakers didn’t pretend that their movie should be for children, so the movie is violent and gleefully gory, in ways both shocking and funny. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters mixes the weird Western sub-genre with the hard-charging action-horror film. It’s like Django Unchained meets Army of Darkness.

Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are odd as Hansel and Gretel. They really don’t seem to have screen chemistry, which somehow makes them have a peculiar kind of screen bond. Renner is sullen and grim as Hansel, while Arterton often has her nose in the air, like an upper class bratty girl. Whenever they deviate from that, it ends up being a welcomed surprise and twist, giving the characters a little depth.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is by no means a great film. For one thing, Muriel is under-utilized or under-developed as a villain. Still, like a Sam Raimi horror film (The Evil Dead franchise), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a good time. How can I tell? When the movie ended, I wanted more. I even want a sequel.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Review: "Better Luck Tomorrow" Showed the Promise of Justin Lin

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 167 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, drug use, language and sexuality
EDITOR/DIRECTOR: Justin Lin
WRITERS: Ernesto Foronda, Fabian Marquez, and Justin Lin
PRODUCERS: Julie Asato, Ernesto Foronda, and Justin Lin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Patrice Lucien Cochet
COMPOSERS: Michael Gonzales and Tobin Mori

CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Parry Shen, Jason T. Tobin, Karin Anna Cheung, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho, Ryan Cadiz, and Jerry Mathers

The script for Justin Lin’s film Better Luck Tomorrow attracted hip hop entertainer and current minister MC Hammer as a financial backer, and the finished film attracted MTV as a film distributor. Better Luck Tomorrow is the tale of over-achieving, but disenchanted Asian-American teens from middle class, upper middle class, and affluent backgrounds, and since early in the year, it’s gotten a lot of buzz as a cool indie flick. Predictably, however, the young male characters’ world-weariness leads to extreme violence, and isn’t that just so typical of indie films about young men.

Ben Manibag (Parry Shen) is an intelligent, bright boy with his eyes on getting into a really good college where he can study biology and perhaps later go to medical school. He’s so clean cut that he even does charity work at a hospital and heads a volunteer public clean up crew. He and his social group of upwardly mobile Asian-American teens have vague feelings of dissatisfaction. He and his buddies put their overachieving minds to the business of various criminal enterprises. They enjoy the power trip and attention their crimes bring as much if not more so than the cash they earn, but their immoral behavior soon has them stumbling into a plot that has deadly consequences.

As both editor and director, Justin Lin ably adds many filmmaking flourishes that keep his film riveting, kinetic, and mostly fun to watch. The script by Lin and his collaborators, however, isn’t very strong. The characters are cardboard cutouts, and they’re not helped by the actors’ lack of subtlety. The performers seem to have two settings – bored and (a few times) intense. Jason J. Tobin as Virgil Hu is the only actor who seems to get any mileage out of his character.

There is one thing that makes the film a bit of an oddity. It’s about Asian-Americans, and not (thankfully) about bored, spoiled rich white kids and the (tedious) dark underbelly of suburbia. A film about bored youths is almost always about young, white people. It’s as if young nonwhites don’t have lives, or at least don’t have interesting lives in this so called melting pot.

That novelty is actually not a bad thing. It actually makes the film more interesting and adds a lot to the visual flavor. It’s nice to see a film examine something from a new and different point of view. Lin deserves major credit for his willingness to bring this movie, Better Luck Tomorrow, to screen. Reservations aside, he looks, judging by the film, like he could be a very good director. Hopefully, he and his writing collaborators will also get better.

6 of 10
B

Review: New "Footloose" Both Respectful and Down-and-Dirty

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 82 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Footloose (2011)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language See all certifications
DIRECTOR: Craig Brewer
WRITERS: Dean Pitchford and Craig Brewer; from a story by Dean Pitchford
PRODUCERS: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Neil Meron, Dylan Sellers, Brad Weston, and Craig Zadan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Amy Vincent
EDITOR: Billy Fox
COMPOSER: Deborah Lurie

DRAMA/MUSIC with elements of romance

Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell, Miles Teller, Ray McKinnon, Patrick John Flueger, Kim Dickens, Ziah Colon, Ser’Darius Blain, L. Warren Young, Brett Rice, Enisha Brewster, and Tony Vaughn

Footloose is a 2011 drama and dance film from director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow). It is also a remake of the 1984 teen drama, also entitled Footloose. The new Footloose is surprisingly faithful to the first, so much so that it can be unsettling at times. The new film updates the story, changes some scenes, and repurposes some characters. Footloose 2011 is also edgier, hotter, and dirtier – in a Southern sort of way.

As before, Footloose focuses on Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald), a teenager who arrives in the small town of Bomont (Georgia?). Ren’s mother recently died, so Ren has come to live with his Uncle Wes Warnicker (Ray McKinnon), Aunt Lulu (Kim Dickens), and their two daughters. Although he is the new kid, Ren doesn’t have trouble fitting in and soon befriends two football players, the cowboy Willard (Miles Teller) and the jovial Woody (Ser’Darius Blain), and Willard’s girlfriend, Rusty (Ziah Colon). His most startling new friend is the wild child, Ariel Moore (Julianne Hough), the daughter of local pastor, Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid), and his wife, Vi (Andie MacDowell).

Ren likes to dance and play loud music, but he soon learns that loud music and dancing, for the most part, are not allowed in Bomont by several different city ordinances. Ren decides that the senior class should have a prom and starts a petition to change the law. His decision not only pits him against the city council, but especially against Rev. Moore.

Footloose 2011 is so faithful to the original that it retains many well-known scenes from the original – including Ren’s dance of anger at the mill, the out-of-town trip to the club (where Willard gets punched), and a re-imagined version of the “chicken race.” Some of the original songs return, including “Footloose,” in the original Kenny Loggins version and in an up-tempo country version by Blake Shelton.

Most importantly, the new Footloose is simply a very good movie. I had a darn good time watching it, and I would watch it again. It has a killer opening to Kenny Loggins’ pounding “Footloose” that also sets the stage for this film’s darker tone. This time, director/co-writer Craig Brewer and co-writer Dean Pitchford (who wrote the original film and co-wrote its songs) delve deeper in the psychology of the characters. The audience will get a more intimate look into why Ariel is so wild and why her father has control issues, both with his family and with the town at large.

The heart of the film is still Ren MacCormack, the rebellious teen with the dark glasses, black jacket (and black pants), and skinny tie. Kenny Wormald plays him to near perfection with a James Dean-like swagger and intensity. Movies need a star, Footloose has one in Wormald.

The original film had synthesizer-driven pop music as its structural backbone, and while music is important in the new film, Brewer relies on character drama and the distinctive setting, the backwoods Bomont, to drive the story. Brewer, who is known for earthy films featuring lots of Southern black folk, takes the original all-white, Midwestern Bomont of the original film and populates the new Bomont with lots of African-Americans, rednecks, good-old boys, and good Southern people. It’s the Deep South side by side with the Dirty South.

The dance moves performed by the young actors is heavily influenced by country music (line dancing), hip hop, and krumping. When Brewer isn’t making his cast mesmerize you with suggestive, booty-poppin, hip-thrustin’ dance moves, he is dragging you into the drama. With the new Footloose, Brewer does right by the original and still manages to make his own unique film – the best teen dance movie in years. It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for me.

7 of 10
A-

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Review: Birthday Boy Samuel L. Jackson Shines in "Coach Carter"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 140 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Coach Carter (2005)
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language, teen partying, and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Thomas Carter
WRITERS: Mark Schwain and John Gatins (Inspired by the life of Ken Carter)
PRODUCERS: Brian Robbins, Mike Tollin, and David Gale
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sharone Meir
EDITOR: Peter Berger, A.C.E.
Black Reel Award winner

DRAMA/SPORTS

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri’chard, Rob Brown, Debbi Morgan, and Ashanti, Rick Gonzalez, Antwon Tanner, Nana Gbewonyo, Channing Tatum, Denise Dowse, and Texas Battle

A true story inspires the film, Coach Carter, in which former high school basketball star named Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) takes the job as the head basketball coach at his alma mater, an inner city high school in Richmond, California. The film is not only inspirational, but is also an excellent look at what one person can do when he demands much of young people – the kind of whom no one expects much except prison, dead end jobs, or death by violence. To watch Carter take on a community that believes that playing on a winning team is the last good thing that will happen in the lives of these young athletes is rousing. It’s also depressingly true because so many people think that the only good thing many young black men have is sports; maybe they’re right, but Carter helped a few of them gain a little high ground.

Watching the team play before he formerly accepts the job, Carter is taken aback by the players’ lack of cohesiveness as a team and their disdain for rudimentary basketball skills. After he takes the job as coach of the Richmond High Oilers, he demands that the players respect both himself and one another. In order to stay on the team, the players must each sign a contract promising to attend class, maintain a 2.3 grade point average (they formerly only needed to maintain a 2.0 gpa), and wear a coat and tie on game day. Carter wants the boys to reach for more in life than just basketball, and he wants them to certainly see attending college as a realistically attainable goal. In the real life story, Carter received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news for padlocking the Richmond High gym, benching his entire team, and forfeiting games because some had failed to meet the academic requirements of their contract. The community, which had never had a championship basketball team, erupted in dissension when he refused to allow the players access to the gym for the failing to keep up their grades. The movie Coach Carter is a fictionalized account of the events, from the time Carter became Richmond’s coach to the resolution of the lockout.

Coach Carter is very much a basketball movie; although the script frequently delves into the lives of Ken Carter and some of his players off the court, it does so with a mixture of brevity and succinctness. There are nicely played, but rich subplots. One involves a player, Kenyan Stone (Rob Brown), and his girlfriend, Kyra (singer Ashanti), dealing with teen pregnancy. It is tough, heartfelt, and honest, rather than fake, cloying, and sociopolitical; there’s enough in that subplot to be a movie all its own. A second subplot follows Timo Cruz, superbly played by a rising talent, Rick Gonzalez (The Rookie), a troubled young man who almost becomes a victim of Richmond’s drug culture. One plot that was sadly glossed over (or underdeveloped) is the relationship between Ken Carter and his son, Damien Carter (Robert Ri’chard); Damien leaves a prestigious private school and transfers to Richmond to play for his father, much to Coach Carter’s chagrin, at least initially. That’s pretty much where that subplot ends.

The film really doesn’t deal with the opposition to Ken Carter as being villains. The thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of the community aren’t denigrated. In a non-stereotypical fashion, screenwriters Mark Schwain and John Gatins depict people’s disagreements with Ken Carter as the result of them having limited vision. He shows the good and bad of high school sports, and shows how it can exacerbate the reluctance to strive in people who already have narrow dreams. While Schwain and Gatins deal with the character and philosophical issues, director Thomas Carter makes sure Coach Carter works as a basketball movie. The game sequences have an edge-of-the seat feel to them, the kind of verisimilitude that suggests watching live games up close and personal, as if the viewer were actually in the game. That’s probably better than watching the majority of collegiate and pro basketball telecasts.

As usual, Samuel L. Jackson is the consummate professional actor, and he’s played the best African-American disciplinarian since Morgan Freeman in Lean On Me. He’s a star, and he sells this movie to the audience the way Ken Carter sold his athletes on his message – perhaps more so. Although a movie star, Jackson can climb into a fictional character and give it a skin, bringing the fictional to starkly radiant life. It’s evident from the first time Ken Carter confronts Richmond High Principal Garrison (Denise Dowse) who doesn’t see that both she and he, as well the entire school, must ask these young men to reach for more and to believe that they are capable of more than just being basketball players. This is the kind of really good movie that affirms our way of life and the belief in an American dream, and Jackson is the head salesman and best preacher.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2006 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Best Director” (Thomas Carter); 3 nominations: “Best Actor” (Samuel L. Jackson), “Best Breakthrough Performance” (Ashanti), and “Best Film”

2006 Image Awards: 1 win “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Samuel L. Jackson); 3 nominations: “Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie” (Thomas Carter), “Outstanding Motion Picture,” and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Ashanti)

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Review: "The Fighting Temptations" Has Good Music and a Good Message (Happy B'day, Beyonce)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 148 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Fighting Temptations (2003)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some sexual references
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Lynn
WRITERS: Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson; from a story by Elizabeth Hunter
PRODUCERS: David Gale, Loretha C. Jones, Benny Medina, and Jeff Pollack
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Affonso Beato
EDITOR: Paul Hirsch

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring: Cuba Gooding, Jr., Beyoncé Knowles, Mike Epps, Steve Harvey, Angie Stone, Wendell Pierce, Ann Nesby, Faith Evans, Melba Moore, LaTanya Washington, Lou Myers, James E. Gaines, Rev. Shirley Ceasar, Rue McClanahan, Dave Sheridan, Faizon Love, and Eddie Levert, Sr.

Many, many movies are so hackneyed and contrived that you can see the contrivances minutes and if not hours ahead of the actual arrival time. Painfully predictable are the ideas and woefully stereotypical are the characters, but sometimes the movie is so absolutely entertaining and hilarious that it gives a bit of a jolt to the tired term “feel good movie.” Director Jonathan Lynn’s The Fighting Temptations is one that breaks away from the worn mold of which it was created. It is so awe-inspiring and uplifting that it just might have feet tapping for years to come.

Darrin Hill (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a fast-talking junior level advertising executive who gets canned from his job for lying on his resume. He gets notice that his Aunt Sally (Ann Nesby) has died, so he returns to his hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia for the funeral, a hometown he and his mother Maryann Hill (Faith Evans) left decades ago when Maryann was kicked from the church choir for singing secular music in a juke joint. Aunt Sally has left Darrin a small fortune ($150,000 in stocks), but to get it he has to direct the local church choir and take them to the annual Gospel Explosion music contest in Atlanta. Darrin, however, faces a stiff challenge for control of the choir from a self-righteous Christian hypocrite (LaTanya Washington). Of course, Darrin also finds a love interest in Lilly (Beyoncé Knowles), a single mother, and she mistrusts Darrin whom she sees as a slick conman.

It would be easy to point out how predictable The Fighting Temptations is, but the truth of the matter is that none of that matters. It’s a wonderful fairy tale full of toe-tapping music that takes the tried-and-true movie formula and uses it con mucho gusto to make TFT like an entirely new song. It’s almost impossible to dislike a movie that so immerses itself in Southern and “down home” stereotypes without demeaning the South. It shows that the eccentricities that are familiar to the South aren’t a bad thing, but are what makes living in the dirty worth it in spite of the bad things.

The music and singing, so big-hearted and full-throated, is what makes this film so special. The humor, however, is tart, tangy, sharp, and occasionally very edgy (especially the running commentary and satire of church people and Christian hypocrites) is also what separates it from being a paint-by-numbers R&B/gospel-flavored film. It’s so much fun, and so damn special.

The acting is pretty good, and Ms. Knowles carries herself quite well despite what previews (with scenes taken out of context) might show, plus the girl can sing down the roof with those awesome pipes. Cuba has seen better days (Jerry Maguire and As Good as it Gets), but he’s purportedly seen worse. Most of the time, he seems a bit stiff and over-compensating, but the truth of the matter is that when he’s allowed to let some of his boundless energy and sharp wit out, he’s absolutely fascinating; he just doesn’t do maudlin drama (and there’s some in this film) well.

It would be nice if a wide audience embraces this film, although early indications are that white folks are staying away. It’s a pity since The Fighting Temptations would probably entertain Southerners of all backgrounds as well as audiences who like My Big Fat Greek Wedding because TFT has a good message about love of family and home. And the music’s so damn (Lawd, forgive me) good.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards: 2 wins: “Best Song” (Beyoncé Knowles and Walter Williams Sr. for "He Still Loves Me") and “Film: Best Soundtrack;” 3 nominations: “Best Actress” (Beyoncé Knowles), “Film: Best Screenplay-Original or Adapted” (Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson), and “Film: Best Theatrical”

2004 Image Awards: 1 win for “Outstanding Motion Picture” and 1 nomination: “Actress in a Motion Picture” (Beyoncé Knowles)

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Step Up's Jon M. Chu to Helm Justin Beiber's Film Debut

Press release:

FILMMAKING TEAM IN PLACE FOR JUSTIN BIEBER FEATURE FILM DEBUT FROM

Paramount Pictures, MTV Films, Insurge PiCTURES and Island Def Jam Music Group

HOLLYWOOD, CA (August 11, 2010) –Paramount Pictures, MTV Films, Insurge Pictures and Island Def Jam Music Group have jointly announced that director Jon M. Chu (“Step-Up 2: The Streets,” “Step-Up 3D,” The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers,) and the Magical Elves producing team of Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth (Project Runway, Top Chef) will join forces to direct and produce superstar-recording artist Justin Bieber’s feature film debut.

Scooter Braun, Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman LA Reid, and Grammy winning singer Usher will produce the currently untitled film that will give fans around the world an exclusive VIP backstage pass into the life of Justin Bieber. Paramount Pictures will release the movie in the U.S. on Valentine’s weekend 2011 under the newly created Insurge Pictures label.

“Jon, Jane and Dan are creatively the exact right combination, with each of them bringing a unique and fresh perspective to a movie that will give Justin’s fans an exciting and never-before-seen look into his life and career” said Paramount Film Group President Adam Goodman.

“When I was approached about doing Justin’s film, I jumped at the opportunity to tell a story with honesty and heart. Most people don’t know that his is a true underdog story, and I hope to tell it in a compelling, genuine way, using all source materials available to convey his tale of becoming an icon for this digital age. This is the story of a new voice continuing the tradition of musicians that defined their generation,” said Director Jon M. Chu.

“To be able to tell the story of Justin’s unique and revolutionary path to stardom in our first studio feature is an incredible opportunity for us,” said Magical Elves partners Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth.

USC alum Chu has been at the helm of several hugely successful projects, including the sequel and latest installment of the popular “Step Up” dance franchise, and the #1 ranked original Hulu web-series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD) from Paramount Digital Entertainment.

Since its formation in the summer of 2001, Magical Elves has produced hit shows for NBC, Bravo, HBO, Showtime and Oxygen networks as well as produced the cult documentary “Air Guitar Nation”. Creators of some of the most watched reality TV in the last decade, Jane and Dan currently have four shows on the air including Bravo’s Top Chef and Work of Art, Showtime’s The Real L Word and Oxygen’s Dance Your Ass Off.

An Island Def Jam Music Group artist, Bieber is represented by manager Scooter Braun, Nick Styne at CAA and Aaron Rosenberg and Sean Marks at Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox & Light LLP. His first full studio release, My World 2.0, was released in March 2010 and has since achieved huge success; debuting at number one and certified platinum in less than two months of release in the United States, the album remained number 1 on the charts for four-weeks. He has sold over 5 million albums worldwide to date.


ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

About Island Def Jam Music Group
The Island Def Jam Music Group is home to a diverse and unparalleled family of artists - from today's icons to tomorrow's rising stars - and is recognized as one of the most successful labels in the industry. It is comprised of Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, and Mercury Records. The roster boasts an array of talented artists including Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, The Killers, Bon Jovi, Ne-Yo, Young Jeezy, The–Dream, Fabolous, Melissa Etheridge, NAS, Chrisette Michele, Ludacris, Rick Ross, Duffy and more.