"The Help" Wins Big at 43rd NAACP Image Awards

The NAACP Image Award an award bestowed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The award honors outstanding achievements by people of color in film, television, music, and literature. The awards are voted on by members of the NAACP.

The 43rd NAACP Image Awards winners were announced in a ceremony, February 17, 2012 and broadcast live on NBC.  I was caught up in two basketball games broadcast on ESPN Friday night, so I had to get help from the Associated Press via the Miami Herald to get this information to you, dear readers.

2012 NAACP Image Awards winners - Motion Pictures:

Motion Picture: "The Help"

Motion Picture directing: Salim Akil, "Jumping the Broom"

Motion picture writing: Ann Peacock, "The First Grader" (National Geographic Entertainment)

Actor in a motion picture: Laz Alonso, "Jumping the Broom"

Actress in a motion picture: Viola Davis, "The Help"

Supporting actor in a motion picture: Mike Epps, "Jumping the Broom"

Supporting actress in a motion picture: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Independent motion picture: "Pariah" (Focus Features)

Foreign motion picture: "In the Land of Blood and Honey" (FilmDistrict)

Documentary, theatrical or television: "Sing Your Song" (HBO Documentary Films)

The 43rd NAACP Image Awards Winners: Television Categories

The 2012 NAACP Image Awards winners:

Television:

Comedy series: "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"

Actor in a comedy series: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, "Reed Between the Lines"

Actress in a comedy series: Tracee Ellis Ross, "Reed Between the Lines"

Supporting actor in a comedy series: Nick Cannon, "Up All Night"

Supporting actress in a comedy series: Keshia Knight Pulliam, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"

Drama series: "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Actor in a drama series: LL Cool J, "NCIS: Los Angeles"

Actress in a drama series: Regina King, "SouthLAnd"

Supporting actor in a drama series: James Pickens, Jr., "Grey's Anatomy"

Supporting actress in a drama series: Archie Panjabi, "The Good Wife"

TV movie, mini-series or dramatic special: "Thurgood"

Actor in a TV movie, mini-series or dramatic special: Laurence Fishburne, "Thurgood"

Actress in a TV movie, mini-series or dramatic special: Taraji P. Henson, "Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story"

Actor in a daytime drama series: Emerson Brooks, "All My Children"

Actress in a daytime drama series: Tatyana Ali, "The Young and the Restless"

News/information, series or special: "Unsung"

Talk series: "Oprah's Lifeclass"

Reality series: "Dancing With the Stars"

Variety series or special: "Oprah Presents: Master Class"

Children's program: "I Can Be President: A Kid's-Eye View"

Performance in a children's program, series or special: Keke Palmer, "True Jackson, VP"

Writing:
Comedy series: Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil, "The Game"
Dramatic series: Lolis Eric Elie, "Treme"

Directing:
Comedy series: Leonard R. Garner, Jr., "Rules of Engagement"
Dramatic series: Ernest Dickerson, "Treme"

43rd NAACP Image Awards Winners - Music Categories

The 43rd NAACP Image Awards winners:

Recording:

New artist: Diggy Simmons (Atlantic Records)

Male artist: Cee Lo Green (Elektra Records)

Female artist: Jill Scott (Warner Bros. Records)

Duo, group or collaboration: Mary J. Blige feat. Drake (Geffen)

Jazz album: George Benson, "Guitar Man" (Concord Jazz)

Gospel album, traditional or contemporary: Kirk Franklin, "Hello Fear" (Verity Gospel Music Group)

World music album: Sounds of Blackness, "Sounds of Blackness" (Malaco Music Group)

Music video: Jennifer Hudson, "Where You At" (Arista Records)

Song: Kirk Franklin, "I Smile" (Verity Gospel Music Group)

Album: Jennifer Hudson, "I Remember Me" (Arista Records)

Lucky Fans Can Be at the World Premiere of "Titanic 3D"

Fans of Titanic are invited to win a trip to the Worldwide Premiere In London!

The search for the biggest TITANIC fan has launched! Fans of TITANIC can enter for a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the World Premiere in London on March 27th. TITANIC returns to theaters on April 4 in 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D.

The Titanic prize package includes:
· Two tickets to the World Premiere in London on March 27
· Roundtrip coach airfare from the U.S. or Canada for two
· Three nights hotel stay
· Passes to a “hop-on-hop-off” city tour for two
· Round-trip transfers to/from hotel while in London

To Enter:
· Visit the Titanic Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/TitanicMovie to get to the Biggest Fan Contest tab.
· Click “Enter”
· Select a photo to submit either from your Facebook albums or from your desktop.
· Fill out a short form with your contact information as well as a few words about the first time you saw Titanic.

· No Purchase Necessary. Enter by 3/13/12. Open to US and Canadian (excluding Quebec) residents, age 13 and older. See Official Rules for details/restrictions.”

James Cameron, who also directed the breakthrough 3D epic AVATAR, will bring TITANIC to life as audiences have never seen it before, digitally re-mastered and harnessing the innovative technology of StereoD. The re-release of TITANIC also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic setting sail on April 10, 1912. Written, directed and produced by James Cameron, TITANIC is the second highest grossing movie of all time. It is one of only three films to have received a record 11 Academy Awards® including Best Picture and Best Director; and launched the careers of stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Called “A spectacular demonstration of what modern technology can contribute to dramatic storytelling” by Variety upon it’s release in 1997, the long in the works 3D conversion was overseen Cameron and his Lightstorm producing partner Jon Landau who produced the hit movie.

TITANIC returns to theaters for a limited engagement beginning April 4th in 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D.

Learn more about TITANIC in 3D at http://www.titanicmovie.com/


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. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Twentieth Century Fox
One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Fox International Productions.

About Lightstorm Entertainment
Lightstorm Entertainment is a film production company founded by Academy Award winning filmmakers James Cameron and film producer Jon Landau. The company has produced blockbuster hits including “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “True Lies,” as well the Academy Award® winning “Titanic” and most recently “Avatar,” which stands at the biggest grossing movie of all time.

Review: "Get Shorty" Still Stands Tall (Happy B'day, John Travolta)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Get Shorty (1995)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some violence
DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfeld
WRITER: Scott Frank (based upon the novel by Elmore Leonard)
PRODUCERS: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Donald Peterman
EDITOR: Jim Miller
Golden Globe winner

CRIME/COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Jon Gries, David Paymer, Renee Props, Martin Ferrero, Miguel Sandoval, and Jacob Vargas with (uncredited) Bette Midler, Harvey Keitel, and Penny Marshall

Get Shorty is a 1995 crime comedy starring John Travolta. The film is based upon the 1990 novel, Get Shorty, by Elmore Leonard.

Ten years later, Get Shorty, is still as slick and as cool as it was the day it debuted. Although it’s 2005 sequel, Be Cool, is filled with hilarious characters and situations, Get Shorty emphasized polished filmmaking, laid back acting, and subtle comedy to make it more of a humorous comedy than the riotous laugh fest its sequel is. Get Shorty fits right in with several other adult crime films from the mid to late 90’s because it doesn’t pretend to be for everyone, so it didn’t pander to juveniles and those with juvenile mindsets. With an emphasis on sharp writing, adult situations, engaging characters, snappy dialogue, and non-gratuitous violence, these films, which included The Negotiator, Jackie Brown, and Out of Sight, were a welcomed treat for adult viewers.

In Las Vegas to collect a debt for his boss, Ray “Bones” Barboni, Chili Palmer (John Travolta), a cool Miami loan shark/shylock, agrees to collect another bad debt, this one from trash movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) in Los Angeles. Zimm gets lucky because Chili is a movie buff and pitches a movie idea to Zimm. They become partners and Chili easily slips into the life of a film producer. He schmoozes stars, gets reservations to all the best restaurants, and romances B-movie scream queen, Karen Flores (Rene Russo). Chili however isn’t the only mobster who wants in on the movie business. Harry Zimm owes another shady lender, Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), money, and Catlett wants to force his way in on a deal for a hot script Zimm has. Add Catlett to a mix of angry drug dealers, relentless DEA agents, vain movie star Martin Weir (Danny DeVito), double and triple crossing, and Ray Bones showing up in town looking for him, and Chili will need to use all his wiles to get his way.

In Get Shorty, the cast members use their star power and screen personas to add zest to these characters that were born in the mind of Elmore Leonard, a novelist who creates memorable characters for his numerous novels. Director Barry Sonnenfeld gives the film an easy mood, and allows his cast to give performances that crackle. John Travolta embodies that don’t-give-a-shit attitude of confident thug. Gene Hackman is funny, sly, and adds subtle touches that make Harry Zimm zing.

In the final analysis, the film does come across as too glossy. It rushes to a tacked-on happy ending, and the characters beg to be better known or more developed. It’s because the cast make these stock characters as flavorful as they are in Leonard’s novels (although in smaller servings) that Get Shorty is still such fun to watch.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1996 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (John Travolta); 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Scott Frank)

April 3, 2005

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"Be Cool" Never Heats Up

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Be Cool (2005)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, sensuality, and language including sexual references
DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray
WRITER: Peter Steinfeld (from the novel by Elmore Leonard)
PRODUCERS: Danny DeVito, David Nicksay, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeffrey L. Kimball
EDITOR: Sheldon Kahn

CRIME/COMEDY

Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, André (3000) Benjamin, Steven Tyler, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Paul Adelstein, Danny DeVito, Robert Pastorelli, James Woods, and Debi Mazar with Joe Perry and Aerosmith, The Black Eye Peas with Sergio Mendes, The RZA, Kobe Bryant, and Seth Green

Be Cool is a 2005 crime comedy and is also a sequel to the 1995 film, Get Shorty. It is adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard.

Ten years after Get Shorty, the sequel, Be Cool, shows up at theatres. Both films are based upon novels by Elmore Leonard, whose books have long been a source of film materials for Hollywood. Be Cool is not as witty and as sharp as Get Shorty, but it certainly tries to be the same blunt comic crime caper that the latter was. It has the characters, the cast, and some truly sidesplitting comedy, but ultimately, a faulty script and clunky directing mar a film that was so close to being a really fine crime comedy.

Chili Palmer (John Travolta), the Miami-based shylock who came to Hollywood and charmed and bullied his way into filmmaking, is now tired of the movie business. He’s interested in music, and when Tommy Athens (James Woods), a friend who owns a record label, is murdered by Russian mobsters before Chili’s eyes, that homicide opens the door for him. Chili meets Linda Moon (Christina Milian), a struggling singer stuck with a wannabe Negro named Raji (Vince Vaughn) for a manager. Chili, in his usual way, relieves Raji of Linda’s contract with him, and becomes her new manager.

Chili makes his next connection with Tommy’s widow, Edie Athens (Uma Thurman), who after some convincing is ready to take on Chili and Linda. However, there is the issue of Linda contract with Raji, and Raji’s partner, Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) who isn’t crazy about letting go off a potential star. Edie also has another big problem: Tommy owed $300,000 to Sin LaSalle (Cedric Entertainer), a very successful, but violently inclined record producer. Raji, Nick, and Sin all see Chili as their problem; as they angle towards him, he’ll try to make Linda a star, woo Edie, and get his way, always dealing with violence and pressure by his motto, be cool.

There are probably a lot more belly laughs in Be Cool than Get Shorty, and that makes it worth seeing. The cast is littered with star turns and novel and hilarious supporting performances, especially Vaughn as Raji and The Rock as his gay, wannabe actor bodyguard, Elliot Wilhelm. Christina Milian holds her own; she works in this movie because her confidence makes her come across as a fine singer and actress, even if there might be stronger singing voices and better young actresses than her.

Travolta reportedly suggested Uma Thurman as his leading lady for Be Cool because they could recapture their screen chemistry from Pulp Fiction, which restarted Travolta’s career and boosted Ms. Thurman’s, but they don’t. Yes, a rapport and friendliness exist between them, but they are sluggish here. Travolta is Chili Palmer, but he’s on automatic here, older and heavier. Even Thurman looks strained, only managing about half the time to have the perkiness, determination, and raw magnetism that show themselves in her collaborations with Quentin Tarantino.

The lion’s share of the blame from this go to writer Paul Steinfeld and director F. Gary Gray. They never seem to be able to integrate the music business element into this plot (after all it’s about Chili getting in the music business), and the film’s musical numbers (except the Aerosmith/Christina Milian performance) and music videos ring hollow. This is a gangster film with laughs, lots of them, but these hilarious and likeable characters don’t seem to be in music because the music industry isn’t in this film the way the movie business was clearly and strongly a part of Get Shorty. Still, Travolta, Ms. Thurman, and a supporting cast of wacky players make this a crime comedy worth seeing, even if you can’t make it to the theatre.

5 of 10
B-

Review: "The Island" Floats on Ewan McGregor (Happy B'day, Michael Bay)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 120 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Island (2005)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality, and language
DIRECTOR: Michael Bay
WRITERS: Caspian Tredwell-Owen and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci; from a story by Caspian Tredwell-Owen
PRODUCERS: Walter F. Parkes, Ian Bryce, and Michael Bay
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mauro Fiore
EDITOR: Paul Rubell

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Phillips, Brian Stepanek, Noa Tishby, and Mark Christopher Lawrence

The Island is a 2005 science fiction film and action movie from director Michael Bay. The movie follows the struggles of a young man to fit into the highly regimented world in which he lives. Then, he learns a shocking secret about that world and about himself that sends him on a race to freedom.

In the mid-21st century, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson) are among the hundreds of residents living in a self-contained facility because, they are told, the world outside is contaminated due to an ecological disaster that took the lives of everyone on the planet, leaving the residents (for the most part) the only remaining humans. The facility’s environment is carefully controlled, and everything about Lincoln and Jordan’s day-to-day lives, like that of all the facilities residents, is monitored, seemingly for their own good, by a security staff and a team of doctors and scientists. The only way out for the residents—and the hope they all share—is to be chosen to go to The Island, reportedly the last uncontaminated spot in the world.

Lincoln is restless because of the unexplained nightmares that have recently plagued him, and he increasingly questions the restrictions placed on his life, even sharing his concerns with the head of the facility, Merrick (Sean Bean). For instance, Lincoln wonders why can the residents go to the Island, and the facility’s security and administration can’t. He is, however, unprepared for the truth when his growing curiosity leads to the terrible discovery that everything about his existence is a lie, that The Island is a cruel hoax…and that he, Jordan and everyone they know are actually more valuable dead than alive. With time running out, Lincoln and Jordan make a daring escape to the outside world they’ve never known. However, Merrick cannot afford the truth of his activities to get out. He hires a team of mercenaries, led by Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou), to hunt down Lincoln and Jordan – return them or kill them. With the forces of the institute relentlessly pursuing them, Lincoln and Jordan have one overriding concern, to live.

The Island is the latest film from director Michael Bay, who gave us Bad Boys II in 2003, but is best known for such films as The Rock and Armageddon. The Island is divided into two halves making it almost like two films. The first is a futuristic, dystopian tale set in a complex that protects people from the allegedly dead world outside, which is poisonous to humans. The second film (or half) is an action movie, with the usual Bay histrionics; imagine the car and helicopter chases in the Bad Boys franchise, in particular the over-the-top freeway car chase in Bad Boys II. Better yet: if you remember the film, Logan’s Run, or the novel upon which it’s based; then, you may recognize The Island as a kind of action movie/video game remake or re-imagining of Logan’s Run.

The film hardly touches the scientific and philosophical issues it raises (cloning; what does it mean to be human; and freedom) merely as window dressing for a big-budget Hollywood shoot out with the requisite hysterical car chase/car wrecks/automobile destruction scenes. Perhaps, the writers and director don’t have to really dig too deeply; just the idea of cloning and using clones as spare body parts for “regular” humans is creepy and nausea inducing as it is. But wouldn’t it have been nice for the film to make an effort to emphasize ideas over cinema of sensations and thrills? The design of the futuristic Los Angeles cityscape looks as if no one really bothered to put much thought into how L.A. will look in 50 years. Steven Spielberg put way much more effort in imagining the future for Minority Report, and that movie is set in a time much closer to our own than the one in The Island.

Scarlett Johansson is almost dead on arrival – too much like a machine, cold and aloof as if she mistakenly believes that she’s playing a cyborg killer in one of The Terminator movies. Ewan McGregor, on the other hand, is a movie star; he is a good actor, but he’s a great movie actor. The screen loves him, and he always seems to create the perfect film character – except in the Star Wars prequel, where he was just another film element for George Lucas to manipulate; he wasn’t allowed the freedom to build a movie character. Here, he does have the freedom to gradually build Lincoln into the kind of rebellious hero who questions the status quo of the world around him, the kind of hero through which we vicariously live as he fights his way to a satisfactory resolution. Hooray for Ewan; he makes this film. He saves it from Michael Bay’s intentions gone wrong.

6 of 10
B

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