Everything, Everything

everything-everything-stillRelease Date:  5/19/17
Genre:  Drama/Romance
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  Unknown
Director:  Stella Meghie
Studio(s):   Alloy Entertainment, Itaca Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Cast:   Amandla Stenberg (Maddy Whittier), Nick Robinson (Olly Bright), Anika Noni Rose (Dr. Whittier), Ana de la Reguera (Carla), Taylor Hickson (Kara Bright).

Story:   Based on the Young Adult novel by Nicola Yoon and starring Amandla Stenberg as Madeline Whittier, an 18-year-old who has been isolated for practically her entire life due to an immunodeficiency disease that makes everything beyond her disinfected home a threat to her life.  Madeline makes this closed-off existence more tolerable through her drawings and writing, imagining herself in places far beyond her own walls.

The girl is tended to by her strict, doctor mother (Anika Noni Rose) and a sympathetic nurse, Carla (Ana de la Reguera).  Her mother wants to protect her at all costs, which means keeping her locked away, even from temptation.  Carla doesn’t see much harm in letting a little bit of the world in, as long as it’s safe.  But “safe” maybe isn’t the right word for the new neighbor, a teen named Olly (Nick Robinson).  It’s not that he’s threatening. How dangerous can a boy with a bundt cake be?  It’s the yearning to venture further with him that could prove deadly for Madeline.  Source:  Entertainment Weekly.

Trailer:

by Categories: Upcoming FilmsTags: , , , Leave a comment

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Release Date:   4/22/17; HBO
Genre:  Drama/Biography
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  Unknown
Director:  George C. Wolfe
Studio:   Your Face Goes Here Entertainment, Harpo Films, HBO Films and Cine Mosaic.
Cast:  Renée Elise Goldsberry, Oprah Winfrey, Courtney B. Vance, Rose Byrne, Rocky Carroll, Kyanna Simone Simpson, Leslie Uggams, Reg E. Cathey, Reed Birney, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, John Douglas Thompson, Adriane Lenox, Roger Robinson, Melvin Van Peebles.
Story:  The film tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman, whose cervical cancer cells were harvested without permission in 1951, and were used to create numerous medical breakthroughs – including the first immortal line of cells.  Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, the film chronicles Deborah’s search to learn about the mother she never knew and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of her cancerous cells changed countless lives and the face of medicine forever.  It’s a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people.  Source(s):  Deadline, We Got This Covered.

Teaser:

by Categories: Upcoming FilmsTags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Deidra & Laney Rob A Train

Release Date:  3/17/17; Netflix
Genre:  Comedy
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  92 mins.
Director:  Sydney Freeland
Studio:   Netflix
Cast:   Ashleigh Murray (Deidra), Rachel Crow (Laney), Tim Blake Nelson (Truman), David Sullivan (Chet), Danielle Nicolet (Marigold), Sasheer Zamata (Ms. Spencer), Missi Pyle (Mrs. Fowler), Sharon Lawrence (Veronica), Lance Gray (Jet)

Story:  Deidra Tanner isdeidra-laney-rob-a-train-still a whip-smart high school senior who sells answers to chemistry tests to save up for college, all the while helping her mother raise her stubborn little sister, Laney, and her brother, Jet. It’s more than your average teenager can handle, but Deidra runs a tight ship—that is, until Mom blows a mental gasket at her retail job and throws a high-end TV on the pavement. When Deidra realizes that jail time is ironically proving to be a healthy and therapeutic break from single parent life for her mom, her life is derailed. When she conjures up the will to face her new circumstances, Deidra focuses her talents on the train tracks in her own backyard.  Source/Photo Source:  Sundance.

Trailer:

by Categories: Upcoming Films Leave a comment

Madiba

mandiba-stillRelease Date:  2/1/17, 2/8/17, 2/15/17; BET
Genre:  Drama/Biography
Director:  Kevin Hooks
Studio(s):   Blue Ice Pictures, Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Cast:  Laurence Fishburne (Nelson Mandela), David Harewood, Orlando Jones, Terry Pheto.

Story:  A three-part saga telling the “definitive story” of Nelson Mandela.  Madiba, based on two Mandela autobiographies, Conversations with Myself and Nelson Mandela by Himself, tells the most personal and comprehensive story of Mandela’s life, focusing on the man, and his innermost thoughts and fears as he fought and sacrificed for freedom to become an international icon. While many recognize Mandela as the face of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, this mini-series also pays homage to the many lesser known men and women who sacrificed and suffered alongside him in South Africa’s quest for freedom.  Along with detailing the early years of Mandela’s personal journey, Madiba also reveals the behind-the-scenes strategizing and bold organizing tactics he and his collaborators used to bring attention to their movement both domestically and internationally.  Source/Photo:  Shadow & Act.

Trailer:

by Categories: Upcoming FilmsTags: , , , Leave a comment

Step Sisters

a/k/a Ain’t No Half Steppin’

Release Date:   3/31/17; Theaters
Genre:  Comedy
Rating:  NR
Director:  Charles Stone III
Studio(s):   Broad Green Pictures, Los Angeles Media Fund.

Cast:  Megalyn Echikunwoke (Jamilah), Naturi Naughton (Aisha), Eden Sher (Beth),
Alessandra Torresani (Amber), Gage Golightly (Libby), Lyndon Smith (Danielle), Matt McGorry (Dane), Marque Richardson (Kevin), Nia Jervier (Saundra).

Story:  The story centers on an ambitious college senior (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who wants to go to law school. She teaches stepping to a group white sorority girls who risk losing their charter.  Source:  Variety.

by Categories: Upcoming FilmsTags: , Leave a comment

Burning Sands

burning-sands-stillRelease Date:  1/24/17 (Sundance Film Festival); 3/10/17 (Netflix)
Genre:   Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  105 mins.
Director:   Gerard McMurray
Studio:   Mandalay Pictures
Cast:  Trevor Jackson (Zurich), Alfre Woodard (Professor Hughes), Steve Harris (Dean Richardson), Tosin Cole (Frank), DeRon Horton (Square), Trevante Rhodes (Fernander), Serayah (Angel), Imani Hakim (Rochon).

Story:   In his freshman year of college, it seems Zurich has everything going for him; he has the respect of his teachers and university administration, the love and devotion of a wonderful girlfriend, and he’s been selected for admission to a prestigious Black fraternity on campus. But as Zurich embarks on the Hell Week of pledging his fraternity, the harsh trials of entry into brotherhood begin to test the limits of his self-worth. As the intensifying abuse begins to become untenable, Zurich struggles to honor the fraternity’s code of silence, and the scaffolding of his life outside the frat begins to dismantle.  Burning Sands constructs a deeply complex cross section of the fabled fraternity hazing culture and the vicious power of the desire for acceptance.  Source:  Sundance.org.

Trailer:

by Categories: Upcoming FilmsTags: , , , , Leave a comment