Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 20th to 26th, 2017 - Update #33

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TELEVISION - From SlashFilm:  Lionsgate is among a group of entities developing a reboot of the 2008 film "Jumper."  Doug Liman, who directed the film, is also developing a "Jumper"-related series for Youtube Red.

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TELEVISION - TVLine:  The first three episode of "American Horror Story: Cult" have been screened for the press, revealing details about Lena Dunham and Emma Roberts' characters.

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MOVIES - From FlickeringMyth:  Vera Farmiga and J.K. Simmons are joining Hugh Jackman in his Gary Hart biopic, "The Front Runner."

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  "It," the new film adaptation of Stephen King's epic novel, is looking like it may set a box office record for the month of September.

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COMICS-FILM - From Vulture:  James Cameron ain't buying all the self-congratulatory back slapping over the "Wonder Woman" film.

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  A "Girls Trip" sequel may be in the works.

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the producers of NBC's hit drama, "This is Us," will write and direct a film featuring DC Comics' characters, The Joker and Harley Quinn.

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COMICS-FILM - From YahooMovies:  Jon Favreau teases a reunion of Robert Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow and himself in "Avengers 4."

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CELEBRITY - From YahooTV:  Tyler Perry says that he still takes care of his step-father although the man physically and verbally abused him as a child.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  Director Matt Reeves says that his movie, "The Batman" (starring Ben Affleck as Batman) will not be part of the DC Extended Universe and it will be a stand alone film.

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Martin Lawrence does not think "Bad Boys 3" will happen.

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BLM - From GuardianUK:  The U.S. justice system uses the chokehold to oppress and humiliate black men.

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  Common will star in Starz "Black Samurai" series with RZA (Wu-Tang Clan) and Jerry Bruckheimer executive producing.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadi, has begun shooting his new film in Spain with Oscar winners Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz headlining the film.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment are planning another Batman spinoff movie.  This one would focus on the origin of iconic Batman villian, The Joker, and would involve the creative talents of Todd Phillips and Martin Scorsese.

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MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Ed Skein of "Deadpool" is joining the "Hellboy" reboot film.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  NBC has scrapped its plans for a reboot of "Xena: Warrior Princess."

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MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Margot Robbie is unrecognizable as Queen Elizabeth I in the film, "Mary Queen of Scots."

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SPORTS - From BET:  A large number of NYPD officers rally in support of blackballed NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.

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CULTURE - From RollingStone:  The history of White supremacy in America.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  New details emerge on "Deadpool 2" crash that took the life of stunt woman Joi Harris.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Lynn Whitfield joins Sanaa Lathan in Netflix's comedy, "Nappily Ever After."

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TELEVISION - From YahooTV:  A spoiler-filled recap of the Aug. 20th, 2017 "Game of Thones."

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 8/18 to 8/20/2017 weekend box office is "Hitman's Bodyguard" with an estimated take of $21.6 million.

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ANIMATION - From YahooTV:  Writer-director Adam Reid is trying to raise money to produce a pilot for a proposed animated TV series featuring President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden as time traveling heroes.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Cover story:  Has Netflix's Ted Sarandos rescued or ruined Hollywood?

From Variety:  Marvel/Netflix's "The Defenders" could set binge-viewing / streaming records.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  New Line is looking to reboot the "Shaft" film franchise again.  Samuel L. Jackson is in negotiations to join the film with Jessie T. Usher ("Survivor's Remorse").  Jackson starred in the title role in Paramount Pictures' 2000 "Shaft" film.

CULTURE - From Politico:  How militias became the private police force for White supremacists.


OBITS:

From THR:  The comedian, radio talk show host, and comic actor, Jay Thomas, has died at the age of 69, Thurs., August 24, 2017.  Thomas won two Emmys playing "Jay Gold" on the 1980s-90s CBS sitcom, "Murphy Brown."  He was also known for his annual appearances on David Letterman's late-night talks shows.

From RollingStone:  Actor, filmmaker, comedian, and philanthropist, Jerry Lewis, has died at the age of 91, Sunday, August 20, 2017.  Before he embarked on a solo film career, he partnered with legendary singer and actor, Dean Martin.  Many knew Lewis for his annual "The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon," which raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

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From Variety:  Groundbreaking civil rights activist and comedian, Dick Gregory, has died at the age of 84, Saturday, August 19, 2017.  He counted among his friends Dr. Martin Luther King and Medgar Evars.  Gregory wrote several books, including "Nigger: An Autobiography."  His new book, "Defining Moments in Black History" is due in September.

From Variety:  Tributes to Dick Gregory, who died on Saturday, pour in from colleagues, fans, and admirers, including Whoopi Goldberg, George Wallace, Ava DuVernay, Gilbert Gottfried, Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Lawrence O'Donnell, and more.

From Variety:  Dick Gregory recent guest column for Variety: "Fight Police Brutality with Your Wallet."
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From Variety:  The actor Sonny Landham died at the age of 76, Thursday, August 17, 2017.  Part Seminole and Cherokee, Landham was best known for playing the Native American tracker, Billy Sole, in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Predator (1987).  He also had roles in "The Warriors," "48 Hrs," and "Action Jackson."

Review: "Contagion" is Uncomfortably Real

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Contagion (2011)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing content and some language
CINEMATOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
WRITER: Scott Z. Burns
PRODUCERS: Gregory Jacobs, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher
EDITOR: Stephen Mirrione
COMPOSER: Cliff Martinez

DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan, Elliot Gould, Chin Han, John Hawkes, Anna Jacoby-Heron, and Enrico Colantoni

Contagion is a 2011 film from director Steven Soderbergh. Essentially an ensemble drama and thriller, Contagion documents the spread of a virus that turns into a global pandemic, causing worldwide social chaos. Meanwhile, government officials try to contain it and medical officials try to identify the virus in order to create a vaccine for it. Contagion is a smart, scary disaster movie that will simultaneously give you the creeps while making you wonder if you are prepared for a pandemic.

The film begins by focusing on Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), a businesswoman in Hong Kong. Unbeknownst to her, Beth returns to the United States bringing with her a pestilence that will leave half her immediate family dead. From there, the story focuses on countless players dealing with the aftermath of the virus that is eventually named, MEV-1. Beth’s husband, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), balances his need to protect his daughter, Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron), who is frustrated with the quarantine, with her need to be a teenager. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), an Internet blogger who is obsessed with conspiracy theories, schemes to make money off the chaos created by the spread of the virus.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) leads a team trying to identify the virus, contain it, and create a vaccine for it. A World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist, Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), travels to Hong Kong to trace the origin of the virus. CDC scientist, Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle), feels the pressure to find a cure, so she makes a decision that is either selfish or selfless. Meanwhile, fear and mass hysteria spread faster than the contagion.

Contagion has no single protagonist and no outright human antagonist. However, because it is an ensemble drama, Contagion can explore multiple themes, such as mass panic, loss of social order, the limitations of government during a disaster, cronyism, and greed, etc., from the view point of multiple characters.

Director Steven Soderbergh has this film jumping from one character and plot to the next. Because the characters are so well-defined and the plots so riveting, he always leaves the viewer wanting more, which can directly engage the viewer with the story, almost as if it were a real event. Contagion’s ultra-realism makes the movie feel more human and less post-human like so many modern, computer effects enhanced film thrillers. Of course, Soderbergh has an excellent multi-layered script by Scott Z. Burns from which to work. This reach and scope of this screenplay practically demands that Burns or someone else turn it into a novel.

Contagion is by no means perfect. It burns so hot, which is why it is so intense as a thriller, but Soderbergh needed to dial that back a few notches in certain parts of the story. Sometimes, the film is too aloof when it needs to stop and focus longer on certain characters in certain scenes.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2012 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor” (Laurence Fishburne)

2012 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Laurence Fishburne)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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Review: Washington and Franklin Save "Out of Time" (Happy B'day, Denzel Washington)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 150 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux on Patreon

Out of Time (2003)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: Carl Franklin
WRITER: David Collard
PRODUCERS: Jesse B'Franklin and Neal H. Moritz
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Theo van de Sande (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Carole Kravetz-Aykanian
COMPOSER: Graeme Revell

CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley, Alex Carter, and Robert Baker

Director Carl Franklin (One False Move) and Denzel Washington previously joined forces to make the underrated noir thriller, Devil in a Blue Dress. They’re together again in the deliciously dumb crime thriller Out of Time. It’s dumb because its premise is stretched light years past the point of probability and reasonable suspension of disbelief. It’s hilarious, but not so dumb that’s it hard to watch. In fact, it’s quite delicious because, like the best thrillers, Out of Time is a riveting drama that hard to stop watching.

Mathias Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington), the police chief of a small community in the Florida Keys, is having an affair with his high school sweetheart Anne Merai Harrison (Sanaa Lathan). After Anne is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Chief Whitlock gives her 500,000 in cash for an experimental cancer treatment. The problem is that Whitlock is supposed to hold onto the money because it’s evidence in a big time criminal case. When Anne disappears, Chief Whitlock suddenly finds himself knee deep in crap from an arson/double homicide, and the local FBI is pressuring him to give them the money for another criminal case. It doesn’t help that his estranged wife Alex Diaz-Whitlock (Eva Mendes) becomes an investigator in the homicide case, and Whitlock knows all the evidence is pointing at him as the killer.

For all the suspense movie clichés that the script gobbles, Carl Franklin is still able to create an incredibly intense police thriller. The characters are shallow, and the script short shrifts some of the better ones, though Washington’s Whitlock and John Billingsley’s Chae are quite captivating. Still, Franklin moves the players around like an adept gamesman and makes Out of Time very entertaining and fun to watch film. There may be no art here, but the movie shows all the signs of being directed by a master craftsmen. Denzel is a known property, as a star, an actor, and an artist. It’s time more film fans also recognize the fine director that Franklin is. Hopefully, he isn’t being slighted because of the prominence of melanin in his skin.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards: 2 wins: “Film: Best Actress” (Sanaa Lathan) and “Film: Best Theatrical (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-MGM); 2 nominations: “Film: Best Actor” (Denzel Washington) and “Film: Best Director” (Carl Franklin)

2004 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: (Denzel Washington) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Sanaa Lathan)

42nd Image Award Nominees Announced

The nominees for the 42nd Annual NAACP Image Awards were recently announced. The press release is long, so I’m breaking it up over several posts:

“42ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS” NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Special Airs Live Friday, March 4, on FOX

The 42ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS nominees were announced today during a live press conference from the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, CA. Actresses Kimberly Elise and Sanaa Lathan, actor/rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson, actor Columbus Short and Actor/Comedian Affion Crockett joined NAACP IMAGE AWARDS chairman Clayola Brown and 42ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS executive producer Vic Bulluck to announce the categories and nominees.

The 42nd NAACP IMAGE AWARDS celebrates the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film. The awards also honor individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors during the two-hour event airing live Friday, March 4 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. ABC and NBC lead the nominees in the TV categories, each with 18 nominations, followed by TBS with 12, CBS with 10, and Lifetime Movie Network with 9. In the recording category, Columbia Records leads with seven nominations, followed by J Records and Island Def Jam Music Group both with six and Epic Records with 5 nominations. Lionsgate/34th Street Films leads with seven nominations, while Fox Searchlight followed with six, and Magnolia Pictures with five in the motion picture category.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The organization’s half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

Event sponsors for the 42nd NAACP Image Awards include FedEx, UAW/Chrysler, Wells Fargo, Anheuser-Busch, Ford Motor Company, Bank of America, and Hyundai.

Review: First "Blade" is Still Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blade (1998)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for strong, pervasive vampire violence and gore, language, and brief sexuality
DIRECTOR: Stephen Norrington
WRITER: David S. Goyer (based upon characters created in the comic book Tomb of Dracula by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
PRODUCERS: Robert Engelman, Peter Frankfurt, and Wesley Snipes
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Theo van de Sande (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Paul Rubell
COMPOSER: Mark Isham

HORROR/ACTION/FANTASY/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Arly Jover, Traci Lords, Kevin Patrick Walls, and Sanaa Lathan

Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a vampire hunter. Born Eric Brooks, his mother died from a vampire attack, and Eric, still in the womb, underwent a change in his DNA, which made him part human and part vampire. He has all the vampires' strengths but none of their weakness. As a adult, Blade seeks revenge on all vampires.

Blade’s war on the vampire nation focuses on Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), an ambitious bloodsucker who plans to resurrect the vampire god, La Magra. Blade rescues Dr. Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright), a doctor attacked by one of Frost’s henchmen, and she joins Blade and his fellow soldier/father figure Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) in the battle to stop Frost and his world ending plans.

Directed by Stephen Norrington, Blade is an exhilarating, action thriller/horror. Before The Matrix, Blade featured sped up motion and high tech chop socky. With a pumped up electronica soundtrack and the visual panache of a music video, Blade didn’t have to lean on its skimpy story. It is amazing eye candy: cool, fast paced, violent, gory; it is a part arcade game, part music video, horror movie, action movie, and all around good time.

The performances are decent. Snipes is dead on monotone as the super vampire killer, and Dorff is the delightful, eternally young and sexy bad boy. Kristofferson is cardboard gruff and Ms. Wright is earnest, if not a bit over reaching, in her determination to act like the serious doctor/scientist.

A review can’t really do this very fun film the justice it deserves. Blade is not smart. It’s perfect action movie entertainment that delivers much more than it initially seems to offer. Reading this won’t do it. Blade and Deacon Frost are all bad boy cool with a very good movie as the backdrop. Just see the damn thing for yourself.

7 of 10
A-

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"Alien vs. Predator" Always Fun to Watch

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 152 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, language, horror images, slime and gore
DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITERS: Paul W.S. Anderson; from a screen story by Paul W.S. Anderson, Dan O’Bannon, and Ronald Shusett (based upon the Alien character created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett and the Predator character created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas)
PRODUCERS: Gordon Carroll, John Davis, David Giler, and Walter Hill
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Johnson
EDITORS: Alexander Berner

SCI-FI/ACTION/HORROR/THRILLER with elements of mystery

Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Colin Salmon, Tommy Flanagan, Joseph Rye, and Agathe De La Boulaye

For those who have at least a vague idea of what’s going on, AVP: Alien vs. Predator is a dumb, mildly entertaining picture with some genuinely thrilling, scary, and heart-stopping moments. During an archeological expedition in Antarctica, a team scientists and archeologists discover an ancient pyramid beneath the ice and a deadly trap. The team, led by Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan), a top expedition and field guide, find themselves caught in the middle of a small war between two legendary movie monsters, the Aliens and the Predators. Only one species will survive, and the numbers don’t look good for the humans.

Alien vs. Predator is a movie-fan movie the way Freddie vs. Jason was a movie for fans of movies. You kinda had to know what’s up with Freddie and Jason to really enjoy that flick (or to at least have a chance of liking the film); thus it is with AVP. Those who have seen the four films of the Alien franchise and the two films in the Predator franchise will best know what’s going on in this story. If not, you may have some trouble, as some of the teenagers who made up most of the audience where I saw this movie. Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s script assumes the viewer is familiar with both the Alien and Predator films, or with the various Alien vs. Predator comic books that Dark Horse Comics has been publishing since 1990 or the AVP video games.

Is this a great film? No. Could it have been a great film? Probably not. Anderson makes a film that lies flat; even when his screenplay has the characters digging through the mysterious circumstances they keep finding themselves in, the story seems to lack an extra dose of oomph. In the end, it is an adequate sci-fi monster thriller. Although the film doesn’t overly rely on CGI, the SFX are actually quite good and for the most part seamlessly blend with the live action.

Even though it’s a simple-minded popcorn movie merely meant to generate cash for a huge, multi-national media corporation, AVP is still a popcorn movie that registers nicely on the interest scale. It’s one of those bump-in-the-dark movies that you can watch over and over again. You don’t have to think, just sit there and wait for the monster to come running out of the shadows, or at least just sit there and laugh at the holes in the plot because this movie often ignores its own internal logic. If you liked the original films that inspired this, you’ve probably been waiting years for the next installment of these franchises (even longer in the case of Predator), and you’ll take anything you can get. AVP is better than the last two Alien films and it’s way better than Predator 2. Call this one a home video monster flick classic.

6 of 10
B

"Something New" is Quite Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 135 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Something New (2006)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual references
DIRECTOR: Sanaa Hamri
WRITER: Kriss Turner
PRODUCER: Stephanie Allain
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shane Hurlbut
EDITOR: Melissa Kent
Black Reel Award winner

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Mike Epps, Taraji P. Henson, Donald Faison, Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood, Golden Brooks, Earl Billings, and Matt Malloy

Kenya Denise McQueen (Sanaa Lathan) has carefully calculated her professional life, and the young African-American accounting executive is up for partner at the firm for which she works. Still, she’s concerned that her personal life doesn’t measure up to her professional success. She accepts a blind date coordinated by a colleague, but the blind date turns out to be a white man named Brian Kelly (Simon Baker). She brushes him off, but that’s not the last she hears from Brian. He also turns out to be the sexy, free-spirited landscape architect a friend recommends. A relationship develops between Kenya and Brian, but though he’s comfortable with her, she can’t get past the fact that he is a white man. She’s later meets the IBM, the Ideal Black Man, a tax attorney named Mark (Blair Underwood), and they seemingly hit it off. Although Mark seems like her dream come true, Kenya’s heart might be somewhere else – regardless of what her friends, family, and the rest of society have to say.

Something New is the latest film about interracial (an absurd term) dating. The best-known recent examples include Spike Lee’s infamous Jungle Fever and the Julia Stiles hit, Save the Last Dance. Something New is not as incendiary as the former, nor does it have the youthful passion of the latter. The film by director Sanaa Hamri and writer Kriss Turner (a TV scribe whose credits include “Whoopi” and “Everybody Hates Chris”) is rather tame, but gets its energy from a willing cast. We know what the film is supposed to be about – unexpected love, but we know what this film is really about – a black girl dating a white guy. The actors grapple with that, and all they have to work with is Turner’s screenplay, which doesn’t know if it’s a love story or a lesson planner. Everything seems a little too loose, in a subject matter that demands structure (although I may be wrong) Still, what Turner’s script and Hamri’s directing offer would be enough to make this a good film. The actors make Something New a little better than just “good.”

One really impressive thing about this is that it showcases so many talented Black actors, whom we’d normally not see, at least not more than once a year. Alfre Woodard is fantastic as Kenya’s mother, Joyce McQueen, and one can only assume that being a Black actress has more often than not been an impediment to her career. Here, she shines as a woman madly wedded to her social status and to the idea that her children should live up to it – or so it seems. Wendy Raquel Robinson is equally good as the friend/voice of reason, Cheryl.

Leads Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker do have screen chemistry, mostly because they play their characters so well, knowing exactly what to give their characters respective to the needs of the story. It’s their performances, in particularly Sanaa Lathan’s that gives this film its juice. Lathan practically emanates career obsession and embodies the hard-working, professional black woman tightly holding it together in all the ways it takes to climb the corporate ladder. At times, it is uncanny how true she makes Kenya’s reactions to people and situations. Her acting in the Starbucks’ scene when Kenya first meets Brian is uncommonly good – the art of verisimilitude with an attention to detail that gives this scene a documentary feel. It’s everything she does. Kenya’s vainly subtle ticks when she’s in public with Brian seem like painful compromises with strangers so that they won’t sneer at her for being with a white man. Those things that Lathan does make this a genuinely moving picture.

Baker is perfect as the laid-back, free spirit who just won’t hide his disdain for social hang-ups. In the end, he tips the balance and makes this movie seem, if not quite real, honest in its intentions. Something New makes its points in a gentle way while offering several entertaining supporting characters and then occasionally gives the viewer a hard nudge thanks to fine situational acting. Something New is the good choice for those wishing to either make that leap to the other side or just see how cool things could be if we all just got along… or at least the few of us who get along no matter what the hell the others have to say

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Movie Review: "Brown Sugar" Was Much Needed

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Brown Sugar (2002)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR: Rick Famuyiwa
WRITERS: Michael Elliot and Rick Famuyiwa, from a story by Michael Elliot
PRODUCER: Peter Heller
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Earvin “Magic” Johnson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeff Barnett and Enrique Chediak (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dirk Westervelt
Black Reel Award winner

ROMANCE with elements of drama

Starring: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Mos Def, Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, and Queen Latifah

National Basketball Association legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson entered the world of filmmaking as executive producer in what 20th Century Fox billed as a hip-hop romance, Brown Sugar. The truth of the matter is that the hip-hop has very little to do with the romance other than being window dressing. The fact of the matter is that Brown Sugar is actually a nice romance.

Dre (Taye Diggs) and Sidney (Sanaa Lathan, Love & Basketball) have been friends since childhood. Dre is a successful record executive and Sidney wrote articles on hip-hop music for the Los Angeles Times before moving on to run XXL magazine. They’re each other’s best friend, sharing the good times and the bad and sharing gossip and the intimate secrets of their lives. They only once came close to consummating their deep friendship as serious love, but avoided it. However, when Dre rushes into marriage with Reese (Nicole Ari Parker, Remember the Titans), a high society money girl that he hasn’t known very long, Sidney has mixed feelings, and her deeper love for Dre begins to surface.

Director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood) and co-writer Michael Elliot seemed determined to make a film that’s simply about romance in which hip-hop is as important to the story as the romance is. Both characters are obviously big fans of hip-hop; both their careers are built around it. The writers even have the characters mouth platitudes about how great hip-hop is. But no matter how much they talk about hip-hop, rap music, or whatever you want to call it, the story of the film is about two friends finally succumbing to the love they have for each other that they both denied for so long, a denial that has one in a bad marriage and the other about to enter into one. The hip-hop love jones is strained and forced, and it severely hampers the romantic center of this movie; the love story is natural and flows.

This film may not be as well known as more “mainstream” and “traditional” romantic films like Sleepless in Seattle or When Harry Met Sally, but Brown Sugar is good. It’s not perfect, but when I was growing up, films like this simply didn’t exist. They couldn’t; racist Hollywood didn’t want to make them, and the beast always claimed that there was no audience for such a film. Well, there’s always an audience for good films; it may not be as large as the audience for Titanic, but people will find a good movie.

I must say that the performances outshine the film. Taye Diggs is a good actor, and he has the stature and emotional range to play a leading man. Can’t you just see how much fun he would have been in something like Boomerang? Ms. Lathan is new to me, but I like what she has to offer. She easily skates through her character of this soft script, managing to be a comedian, a heroine, and a lovelorn professional gal just looking for true love. Queen Latifah adds spark to this film, although her part is quite small, but her hip-hop colleague, Mos Def, is another find. He played the sidekick very well, and he manages to be “real” as a hip-hop artist without once calling a bitch a ho or threatening to peal a nigga’s cap back. He’s a natural, quite comfortable on screen, and I hope to see more of him.

If Magic Johnson has more films like Brown Sugar up his sleeves, by all means, he should go to fewer Laker games and more studio briefings.

6 of 10
B