tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201653352012-01-15T23:53:33.516-05:00News | History | Reviews | CommunityNeilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1155696145315002162006-08-15T22:42:00.000-04:002006-08-15T22:42:25.366-04:00

An article published today in New York Magazine offers insight to Spike Lee's lifestyle and his place in the Blackristocracy (or black upper-class).  Apparently, Spike Lee's success as a filmmaker did not guarantee his place in the black upper-class, in fact, Spike would have to marry into this elite circle.  Spike Lee's wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, daughter of Phillip Morris' highest ranking black

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1150901213542996962006-06-21T09:56:00.000-04:002006-06-21T10:46:53.656-04:00

While I was working on compiling a list of African-American film directors to include on this blog, I found that the community-built wikipedia has already beat me to it. Here's a link to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African-American/Black_film_directors

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1149919993929901502006-06-10T01:56:00.000-04:002006-06-10T02:13:29.093-04:00

During the summer of 2001, Bill Duke came to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to screen Deep Cover. While Deep Cover may have come out in 1992, this screening was special for two reasons:(a) This was the DVD premiere of the film and (b) Bill Duke was available to answer questions following the screening.Please Note: Well, before I get into the details of the Q&A held after the show, I would be

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1149918635362299662006-06-10T01:47:00.000-04:002006-06-10T01:50:35.376-04:00

I'm currently working on a list of African-American film directors. This list will be available as a resource to those who are interested. A part of this blog's purpose is to provide this sort of information in one convenient location.Look back for an update. Please feel free to suggest someone.

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1149036965273215892006-05-30T20:41:00.000-04:002006-05-30T20:59:47.680-04:00

Chris Tucker is back and it's not Rush Hour... (well, almost)The guardian reports that Chris Tucker is slated to star in a Hollywood remake of a Bollywood movie about a gangster who pretends to be a MD whenever his parents around. This story's twist is that this gangster, to be played by Chris Tucker, actually has a change of heart and decides that he really wants to become a doctor.The article

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1148614617712142652006-05-25T23:36:00.000-04:002006-05-25T23:38:37.030-04:00

Avid produces one of the leading video editing programs in the market. They have released a free version for students, video enthusiast and anyone else interested in editing as a means to familiarize themselves with the Avid interface.Click this link to download Avid FreeDV.I think that Avid's decision to offer this free software is a good move considering that Apple's Final Cut Pro has been

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144941099025467142006-04-13T11:11:00.000-04:002006-04-13T11:14:55.326-04:00

In the tradition of the BMW Films series, Pirelli Tires has partnered up with award-winning directors and actors to create a short film which features their product. In " The Call," Antoine Fuqua directs John Malkovich who plays the role of a priest who has been asked to perform an exorcism on a car.Naomi Campbell plays the demon that possesses the car... and get this - the only solution to the

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144893762050668992006-04-12T22:02:00.000-04:002006-04-12T22:09:22.176-04:00

In an interview in Esquire magainze, to hit stands on Sunday, Dave Chappelle provides a little bit more insight into his decision to walk away from the Dave Chappelle show and a $50 million contract.He lists the following three reasons as explanations for his leaving the Chappelle show. Culturally: "The bottom line was, white people own everything, and where can a black person go and be himself

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144879179171074092006-04-12T17:41:00.000-04:002006-04-12T18:56:46.096-04:00

Queen Latifah's production company, Flavor Unit, received a first-look deal with Rogue Pictures and Focus Features to produce 'modest' low-budget films with the goal of making three films a year.Her first project is Welfare Queen which is based on Dorothy Woods, a real woman who used the welfare system to create a little fortune for herself.Personally, I'm disappointed that Queen Latifah is

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144731539585701502006-04-11T00:58:00.000-04:002006-04-11T00:59:02.436-04:00

This weekend, I had the good fortune to attend the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. There were a number of good documentaries shown at this international festival, but one that stuck out to me was Byron Hurt's "Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Rap Music."This documentary really touched on some of the misogynistic and homophobic issues found in a

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144728956623308532006-04-11T00:15:00.000-04:002006-04-11T00:26:23.593-04:00

Ice Cube's production company, Cube Vision Productions, has partnered up with Dimension Films to create a remake of "Welcome Back, Kotter" with Ice Cube playing the lead role. Ice Cube was quoted as saying, "There was no bigger fan of the original show than me, and I'm very excited to be able to put a new twist on it." What do you think about this remake?[via Blackflix]

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144700818020675922006-04-10T16:26:00.000-04:002006-04-10T16:26:58.046-04:00

Spike Lee's new television advertising campaign, "Here's to Beer," will show various celebrities drinking beers with other celebrities - some even deceased.  Budweiser, the sponsor of this campaign, wants to promote all beer to revive the low beer sales which have resulted in an increase in wines, spirits and popular cocktails.  The advertising campaign is meant to suggest that "Beer brings

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144700173642487762006-04-10T15:58:00.000-04:002006-04-10T16:16:13.750-04:00

Yesterday at the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, NC, Danny DeVito announced a partnership with Morgan Freeman's internet distribution company, Clickstar, Inc. This partnership will create a channel on the soon-to-be-launched Clickstar, Inc where interested audiences can view documentaries from Danny DeVito's new documentary production company, Jersey Docs.Jersey Docs will be a means for

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144620832083979932006-04-09T18:13:00.000-04:002006-04-09T18:13:52.096-04:00

Outkast is starring in a new movie called Idlewild which will include songs from their previous albums as well as never before heard songs.Bryan Barber, director of many Outkast videos, has been assigned to direct the film. Some of the talent in the film include Bruce Bruce, Patti LaBelle, Ving Rhames, Cicely Tyson and a number of other celebritieisCheck out the trailer here

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144470418970627982006-04-08T00:26:00.000-04:002006-04-08T00:29:47.486-04:00

So Ryan over at DV Guru provided a comparison of ten of the newest Internet video services for Internet sharing of video content. It appearsas though Youtube comes out on top as being one of the most reliable and easiest way for people to share video over the Internet. If your film has more of a grassroots and and activist spin, there are also sites like Ourmedia.org that maybe better for

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144279893340045472006-04-05T19:31:00.000-04:002006-04-05T22:18:39.406-04:00

After the success of Medea's Family Reunion, Tyler Perry has announced that he will begin production of his next film, "Daddy's Little Girl." This story is a Cinderella twist set in an urban setting.The story follows a "a young, beautiful, successful female attorney who falls in love with a janitor and single father of three daughters. Despite strong objections from the her father." The deal is

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144110958577713852006-04-03T20:35:00.000-04:002006-04-03T20:41:15.150-04:00

Damali Ayo, author of How to Rent a Negro, hits the streets of New York City panhandling for reparations from white people. The money she collects she then distributes to black people.This ten-minute video on Youtube is an interesting experiment and potential discussion jump off on the topic of reparations.Click here to watch the video.

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144044051625885922006-04-03T02:00:00.000-04:002006-04-03T02:00:51.630-04:00

This weekend, Inside Man made $15 million dollars making it this weekend's second-highest grossing film.  To date, the film has made a total of $63 million dollars ($53mil domestic; $10mil overseas).  Surprisingly, Spike Lee's Malcolm X didn't even gross this much money.  After reading Spike Lee's autobiography, it seems as though this move to make a more Hollywood movie could be a step to build

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144043295265717282006-04-03T01:48:00.000-04:002006-04-03T01:48:15.326-04:00

In "The Skin Game" Stephen Cole suggests that Denzel Washington has had a career plagued with starring alongside white female co-stars but, in every role, Denzel has never pursued a romantic relationship with them. This is an interesting observation.  The author continues that Hispanics and blacks seem to be fine in Hollywood. There appears to be no taboo against black superstars romancing

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1144022831001869522006-03-27T20:03:00.000-05:002006-04-02T20:11:49.553-04:00

Spike Lee's latest project, Inside Man, grossed over $28.9 million it's first weekend released. This is Spike Lee's highest grossing weekend to date.The Original Kings of Comedy grossed only $11 million dollars its first opening weekend.

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1142027411939506862006-03-10T16:44:00.000-05:002006-03-10T16:50:11.953-05:00

In an article featured in the Pacific News Service, a commentator asserts that black audiences seem to flock to movies like Medea, which stars a man wearing drag, but seem to run from the real-life representation of gay or transgendered individuals.The author continues, that RuPaul was a cross dresser who reached international acclaim but mainly from white audiences. Also, RuPaul was openly gay

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1141221086674170622006-03-01T08:44:00.000-05:002006-03-01T08:51:26.676-05:00

Tyler Perry's "Medea's Family Reunion" has grossed over 31 million dollars. It held the number one post as the top box office film last weekend, beating out the Weinstein Company's Doogal and other movies.Most interesting to note, is the fact that "Medea's Family Reunion" was not pre-screened to critics. The critical response to the first Medea movie, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" was very harsh

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1141195590953554482006-03-01T01:39:00.000-05:002006-03-01T01:46:30.963-05:00

In what appears to be common practice for Mr. Spike Lee, the director of Malcolm X attacked Hollywood's "all-white" environment. For those who may not know, Spike Lee's status as a maverick film director comes with the price of constantly working to improve the opportunities in filmmaking to minorities.During the production of "Do the Right Thing," Spike Lee actually went around the then

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1135475890666333452005-12-24T20:52:00.000-05:002005-12-24T20:58:10.666-05:00

Craig Brewer, director of "Hustle & Flow" and "Black Snake Moan" (currently in production), announced "Step in the Name of Love "as his next project. He is writing this film with Carl Seaton, writer/director of "One Week", and Kenny Young.The story is set in Chicago.

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1135475194843699762005-12-24T20:42:00.000-05:002006-04-11T00:23:43.946-04:00

The trailer for Spike Lee's new movie, "Inside Man", starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen is available at Apple Trailers. Take a peek."Inside Man" is scheduled to premiere in March 2006. This is Spike's latest movie after 2004's "She Hate Me".

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1135473205631737082005-12-24T19:52:00.000-05:002005-12-24T20:34:19.510-05:00

Spike Lee's new book That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It as told to Kaleem Attab is an interesting book that provides a compelling story of the events and conflicts that occurred in the production of many of Spike Lee's films. Told through commentary provided from actors, filmmakers and Spike Lee himself, this book provides a good introduction to the character and ideology of this acclaimed

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20165335.post-1135470459232157192005-12-24T19:19:00.000-05:002005-12-24T19:30:36.990-05:00

The African-American Film Resource is a destination where information pertaining to previous and current African-American cinema will be shared. The focus of The African-American Film Resource is meant to highlight the diverse voices of African-American filmmakers. News of upcoming movies, aspiring filmmakers, books and film literature will appear alongside commentary on previous and current

Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04421359967778978177noreply@blogger.com0