42nd Image Awards Motion Picture Nominations

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:

MOTION PICTURE

Outstanding Motion Picture
• "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)
• "Just Wright" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• "The Book of Eli" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features)
• "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?" (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
• Anthony Mackie - "Night Catches Us" (Magnolia Pictures)
• Common - "Just Wright" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Denzel Washington - "The Book of Eli" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Jaden Smith - "The Karate Kid" (Columbia Pictures)
• Morgan Freeman - "Red" (Summit Entertainment)

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
• Halle Berry - "Frankie & Alice" (Freestyle Releasing)
• Janet Jackson - "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?" (Lionsgate)
• Kerry Washington - "Night Catches Us" (Magnolia Pictures)
• Queen Latifah - "Just Wright" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Zoë Saldana - "The Losers" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
• Don Cheadle - "Brooklyn's Finest" (Overture Films)
• Idris Elba - "Takers" (Screen Gems)
• Justin Timberlake - "The Social Network" (Columbia Pictures)
• Michael Ealy - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)
• Samuel L. Jackson - "Mother and Child" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
• Anika Noni Rose - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)
• Kimberly Elise - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)
• Phylicia Rashad - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)
• Jill Scott - "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?" (Lionsgate)
• Whoopi Goldberg - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
• "Conviction" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• "Frankie & Alice" (Freestyle Releasing)
• "La Mission" (Screen Media Ventures)
• "Mother and Child" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Night Catches Us" (Magnolia Pictures)

Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture
• "A Barefoot Dream" (Showbox/Mediaplex)
• "Biutiful" (Roadside Attractions)
• "Four Lions" (Drafthouse Films)
• "Mother" (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Outside the Law" (Tessalit Productions)

DOCUMENTARY

Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television)• "For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots" (PBS)
• "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel" (Metaphor Films)
• "If God is Willing and the Creek Don't Rise" (HBO)
• “Waiting for "Superman" (Paramount Vantage)
• "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" (POV)

42nd Image Awards Television Acting Nominations

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:

TELEVISION

Outstanding Comedy Series
• "30 Rock" (NBC)
• "Are We There Yet?" (TBS)
• "Glee" (FOX)
• "Modern Family" (ABC)
• "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
• David Mann - "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" (TBS)
• Dulé Hill - "Psych" (USA)
• LaVan Davis - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• Phil Morris - "Love That Girl!" (TV One)
• Terry Crews - "Are We There Yet?" (TBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
• Cassi Davis - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• Essence Atkins - "Are We There Yet?" (TBS)
• Salli Richardson-Whitfield - "Eureka" (Syfy)
• Tatyana Ali - "Love That Girl!" (TV One)
• Vanessa Williams - "Desperate Housewives" (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
• Craig Robinson - "The Office" (NBC)
• Ice Cube - "Are We There Yet?" (TBS)
• Lamman Rucker - "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" (TBS)
• Lance Gross - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• Tracy Morgan - "30 Rock" (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
• Amber Riley - "Glee" (FOX)
• Anna Deavere Smith - "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime)
• Keshia Knight Pulliam - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• Sofia Vergara - "Modern Family" (ABC)
• Viola Davis - "United States of Tara" (Showtime)

Outstanding Drama Series
• "Detroit 1-8-7" (ABC)
• "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
• "HawthoRNe" (TNT)
• "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC)
• "Treme" (HBO)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
• Anthony Anderson - "Law & Order" (NBC)
• Blair Underwood - "The Event" (NBC)
• Hill Harper - "CSI: NY" (CBS)
• Laurence Fishburne - "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS)
• LL Cool J - "NCIS: Los Angeles " (CBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
• Chandra Wilson - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw - "Undercovers" (NBC)
• Jada Pinkett Smith - "HawthoRNe" (TNT)
• Regina King - "Southland" (TNT)
• Wendy Davis - "Army Wives" (Lifetime)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
• Andre Braugher - "Men of a Certain Age" (TNT)
• Giancarlo Esposito - "Breaking Bad" (AMC)
• James Pickens, Jr. - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
• Nelsan Ellis - "True Blood" (HBO)
• Terrence Howard - "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
• Alfre Woodard - "Memphis Beat" (TNT)
• Sandra Oh - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
• Sara Ramirez - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
• S. Epatha Merkerson - "Law & Order" (NBC)
• Vanessa Bell Calloway - "HawthoRNe" (TNT)

Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
• "America: The Story of Us (Part 4)" (History)
• "Filling the Gap" (PBS)
• "Luther" (BBC America)
• "Sins of the Mother" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• "The Wronged Man" (Lifetime Movie Network)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
• Benito Martinez - "Lies in Plain Sight" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• Idris Elba - "Luther" (BBC America)
• Jon Seda - "The Pacific" (HBO)
• Mahershalalhashbaz Ali - "The Wronged Man" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• Michael Jai White - "One Angry Juror" (Lifetime Movie Network)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
• Jill Scott - "Sins of the Mother" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• Lucy Liu - "Marry Me" (Lifetime)
• Rosie Perez - "Lies in Plain Sight" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• Tamera Mowry - "Double Wedding" (Lifetime Movie Network)
• Tia Mowry - "Double Wedding" (Lifetime Movie Network)

Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
• Aaron D. Spears - "The Bold and the Beautiful" (CBS)
• Cornelius Smith, Jr. - "All My Children" (ABC)
• Darnell Williams - "All My Children" (ABC)
• Rodney Saulsberry - "The Bold and the Beautiful" (CBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
• Debbi Morgan - "All My Children" (ABC)
• Julia Pace Mitchell - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)
• Tatyana Ali - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)
• Tonya Lee Williams - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)
• Yvette Freeman - "The Bold and the Beautiful" (CBS)

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)
• "A Conversation with President Obama" (BET, CMT, MTV)
• "Anderson Cooper 360" (CNN)
• "The Judge Mathis Show" (Syndicated)
• "Unsung" (TV One)
• "Washington Watch with Roland Martin" (TV One)

Outstanding Talk (Series)
• "Conversations with Ed Gordon" (BET Networks)
• "Larry King Live" (CNN)
• "The Mo'Nique Show" (BET Networks)
• "The View" (ABC)
• "TV One on One with Cathy Hughes" (TV One)

Outstanding Reality Series
• "American Idol" (FOX)
• "America's Next Top Model" (The CW)
• "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC)
• "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (ABC)
• "Sunday Best" (BET Networks)

Outstanding Variety (Series or Special)
• "2010 BET Honors" (BET Networks)
• "Beyoncé: I AM...WORLD TOUR" (ABC)
• "Black Girls Rock!" (BET Networks)
• "TV One Night Only: Live from the Essence Music Festival" (TV One)
• "UNCF An Evening of Stars Tribute to Lionel Richie" (Syndicated)

Outstanding Children’s Program
• "Brave New Voices 2010" (HBO)
• "Dora the Explorer" (Nickelodeon)
• "The Backyardigans" (Nickelodeon)
• "True Jackson, VP" (Nickelodeon)
• "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Disney Channel)

Outstanding Performance in a Youth/ Children’s Program (Series or Special)
• Keke Palmer - "True Jackson, VP" (Nickelodeon)
• Lance Robertson - "Yo Gabba Gabba: Baby" (Nickelodeon)
• Nick Cannon - "TeenNick Halo Awards 2010" (TeenNick)
• Selena Gomez - "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Disney Channel)
• Victoria Justice - "Victorious" (Nickelodeon)

42nd Image Awards Nominees for Writing and Directing in Film and TV

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:

WRITING

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
• Aaron McGruder - "The Boondocks" -The Fund-Raiser (Cartoon Network)
• Daniel Chun - "The Office" -Nepotism (NBC)
• Kenny Smith - "Pair of Kings" -Where the Wild Kings Are (Disney XD)
• Myra J. - "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" -Meet the Racist (TBS)
• Vali Chandrasekaran - "30 Rock" -Khonani (NBC)

Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series
• Alexander Woo - "True Blood" - It Hurts Me Too (HBO)
• Janine Sherman Barrois - "Criminal Minds" -Remembrance of Things Past (CBS)
• Judith McCreary - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" -Disabled (NBC)
• Leyani Diaz, Vanessa Rojas - "The Event" -Loyalty (NBC)
• Shonda Rhimes - "Private Practice" -Did You Hear What Happened to Charlotte King? (ABC)

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture -(Theatrical or Television)
• Mary King, Anna Waterhouse, Joe Shrapnel, Marko King, Jonathan Watters, Cheryl Edwards - "Frankie & Alice" (Freestyle Releasing)
• Michael C. Martin - "Brooklyn's Finest" (Overture Films)
• Michael Elliot - "Just Wright" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Rodrigo Garcia - "Mother and Child" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Tyler Perry - "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?" (Lionsgate)

DIRECTING

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
• Joe Morton - "Eureka" -Stoned (Syfy)
• Justin Lin - "Community" -Modern Warfare (NBC)
• Ken Whittingham - "30 Rock" -Anna Howard Shaw Day (NBC)
• Kevin Rodney Sullivan - "Modern Family" -Game Changer (ABC)
• Michael Schultz - "Chuck" -Chuck vs. "The Couch Lock" (NBC)

Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series
• Felix Alcala - "Southland" -What Makes Sammy Run (TNT)
• Millicent Shelton - "Men of A Certain Age" -Go with the Flow (TNT)
• Paris Barclay - "In Treatment" -Sunil: Week 6 (HBO)
• Seith Mann - "Friday Night Lights" -Injury List (DirecTV/NBC)
• Stephen L. Williams - "Undercovers" -Instructions (NBC)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture -(Theatrical or Television)
• Geoffrey Sax - "Frankie & Alice" (Freestyle Releasing)
• George Tillman, Jr. - "Faster" (CBS Films)
• Tanya Hamilton - "Night Catches Us" (Magnolia Pictures)
• The Hughes Brothers - "The Book of Eli" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Tyler Perry - "For Colored Girls" (Lionsgate/34th Street Films)

42nd Image Awards Recording Nominees

RECORDING

Outstanding New Artist
• B.o.B (Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
• Bruno Mars (Elektra Records)
• Jason Derulo (Warner Bros. Records)
• Nicki Minaj (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown)
• Willow (Roc Nation/Columbia Records)

Outstanding Male Artist
• Cee Lo Green (Elektra Records)
• Jay-Z (Roc Nation/Def Jam)
• Kanye West (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Ne-Yo (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Usher (Laface/Jive Records)

Outstanding Female Artist
• Chrisette Michele (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Corinne Bailey Rae (Capitol Records)
• Mary J. Blige (Geffen Records/Matriarch)
• Rihanna (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Sade (Epic Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration
• Diddy-Dirty Money (Bad Boy/Interscope)
• Eminem & Rihanna (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
• Herbie Hancock (feat. India.Arie, Chaka Khan and others) (Hancock Music)
• John Legend and The Roots (Columbia Records)
• The Black Eyed Peas (Interscope)

Outstanding Jazz Album
• "Dee Dee Bridgewater Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee" - Dee Dee Bridgewater (EmArcy, Decca Label Group, DDB Records)
• "From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf - Live in Marciac" -The Wynton Marsalis Quintet & Richard Galliano (The Orchard)
• "Geri Allen & Timeline Live" - Geri Allen & Timeline Live (Motema Music)
• "The Imagine Project" - Herbie Hancock (Hancock Music)
• "VOCAbuLarieS" - Bobby McFerrin (Universal Music Group/Decca/Emarcy)

Outstanding Gospel Album -(Traditional or Contemporary)
• "Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter III" - Kirk Whalum (Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue Records)
• "Here I Am" - Marvin Sapp (Verity Gospel Music Group)
• "Just Love Deluxe" - Brian Courtney Wilson (Music World Gospel)
• "Master Plan" -Tamela Mann (TillyMann)
• "You Are Not Alone" - Mavis Staples (ANTI Records)

Outstanding World Music Album
• "Hymns for the Rebel Soul" - Rocky Dawuni (Aquarian Records)
• "Oyo" - Angelique Kidjo (Razor & Tie)
• "The Imagine Project" - Herbie Hancock (Hancock Music)
• "The Sound of Sunshine" - Michael Franti (EMI Music)
• "VOCAbuLarieS" - Bobby McFerrin (Universal Music Group/Decca/Emarcy)

Outstanding Music Video
• "Fistful of Tears" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys (J Records)
• "Whip My Hair" – Willow Smith (Roc Nation/Columbia Records)
• "Why Don't You Love Me" - Beyoncé Knowles (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Song
• "Bittersweet" - Fantasia (J Records)
• "Fistful of Tears" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• "Forget You" - Cee-Lo Green (Elektra Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys (J Records)

Outstanding Album
• "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" - Kanye West (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• "Now and Then" - Smokey Robinson (Saguaro Road/Cracker Barrel/Robso Records)
• "Raymond vs. Raymond" - Usher (Laface/Jive Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Wake Up!" - John Legend and The Roots (Columbia Records)

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: "A Beautiful Mind" is Beautiful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Running time: 135 minutes (2 hours, 15 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense thematic material, sexual content and a scene of violence
DIRECTOR: Ron Howard
WRITER: Akiva Goldsman (based upon the book by Sylvia Nasar)
PRODUCERS: Brian Glazer and Ron Howard
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Deakins
EDITORS: Dan Hanley and Mike Hill
Academy Award winner

DRAMA with elements of mystery and romance

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Josh Lucas, Anthony Rapp, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Judd Hirsch

A Beautiful Mind is based upon the real life story of John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe), a math prodigy, who goes on to win the Nobel Prize after years of struggling with schizophrenia. The handsome and arrogant Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and also meets his wife Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). On the brink of international fame, his world falls apart when he succumbs to mental illness. With the help of his wife, he struggles to regain his career and his social life and to be a husband and father to his wife and child.

Directed by Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind is an engaging and riveting biopic that runs the gamut of emotions from elation to revulsion and from despair to hope. It is earnest and intense, playful and romantic, heartbreaking and life affirming. Not a biography in the art house mold, but a wonderful sort of middlebrow picture with a feel-good resolution for the masses, or at least those who are interested in Hollywood product that doesn’t involve SFX and titillation.

The artistry here is the performance of Russell Crowe. Increasingly a controversial figure hounded by the tabloids and infotainment news organizations, he has replaced Kevin Spacey as the actor of the moment. Here, he combines the best of his performances in The Insider (for which he earned an Academy Award nomination) and in Gladiator (for which he won an Academy Award) to portray John Nash – the paranoid hero of the former and the never-say-die leader of the latter. Since Romper Stomper, Crowe has been a mesmerizing screen presence, and he is at full wattage here.

He sells us on this movie, and we buy asking for more. When Nash is the shy boy, we yearn for him to get a woman. We thrill and laugh at Nash’s clumsy arrogance, and we enjoy his success. We cringe at his illness and hope against hope for his recovery. And who couldn’t, at least, almost shed tears when Nash’s peers and the Nobel committee honor him.

Ron Howard does good work here, and Ms. Connelly is pretty good as Alicia Nash, but this is Russell’s show, he can win the audience over. Since the twilight so-called Golden Age of studio pictures in Hollywood, there have been so few real, masculine men in movies. Some of them, post Golden Age are not great actors, and some that are, don’t have the box office draw. Crowe is all man, a fine actor, and a box office draw.

He’s an artist. He attracts the audience to Nash using every part of himself – in his gestures and the way he moves his body. We can believe Crowe is Nash in the way it seems that Crowe really loves mathematics. His face is a tapestry of emotions that are so convincing and so important to selling the scene, so layered and three-dimensional that were transported into the movie. We live and suffer vicariously with Crowe’s Nash.

For the haters out there, the best is yet to come. Things about the real Nash’s past that were left out of this film don’t matter one wit in respect to Crowe’s amazing performance. No disrespect to his collaborators, but A Beautiful Mind is all his.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 Academy Awards: 4 wins: “Best Picture” (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Connelly), “Best Director” (Ron Howard), and “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published” (Akiva Goldsman); 4 nominations: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), “Best Editing” (Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley), “Best Makeup” (Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan), and “Best Music, Original Score” (James Horner)

2002 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Connelly); 3 nominations: “Best Film” (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Akiva Goldsman) and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Ron Howard)

2002 Golden Globes: 4 wins: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Russell Crowe), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jennifer Connelly), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Akiva Goldsman); 2 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Ron Howard) and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (James Horner)

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Halle Berry to Portray Aretha Franklin?

Apparently, Aretha Franklin made a recent appearance on "The Wendy Williams Show" and confirmed that Halle Berry will play Franklin in a long-promised biopic about the legendary Soul and gospel singer.  There may have even been a press release about this floating around since the middle of last year.  I'll keep you updated.
I love Halle, but doesn't this seem like a role better suited for Jennifer Hudson?  Things that make you go, Hmmm, huh?