Release Date: March 8, 2014 (Made-for-TV; Lifetime Network) Genre: Drama Rating: Not Available Studio: Ostar Productions/Lifetime Television Director: Michael Wilson Cast: Cicely Tyson (Mrs. Watts), Vanessa Williams (Jessie Mae Watts), Blair Underwood (Ludie Watts), Clancy Brown (Sheriff) Keke Palmer (Thelma).
Story: As reported on January 6, 2014 by Broadway World, The Trip to Bountiful is a television adaptation of American playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote’s Tony nominated play. Set during the final years of the Jim Crow South, the film follows one woman’s quest to reconnect with her past in order to ensure her family’s future.
In The Trip to Bountiful, Carrie Watts (Tyson, who was awarded with a Tony for her role in the Broadway revival), begrudgingly lives with her busy, overprotective son, Ludie (Underwood) and pretentious daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae (Williams). No longer able to drive and forbidden to travel alone, she wishes for freedom from the confines of the house and begs her son to take her on a visit to her hometown of Bountiful. When he refuses, Mrs. Watts is undeterred and makes an escape to the local bus station, where she befriends Thelma (Palmer), a young woman traveling home. When Ludie and Jessie Mae discover she is gone, they call in law enforcement to help, but Mrs. Watts is one step ahead of them and convinces the local sheriff to help her on her journey home to Bountiful. (Source(s): Broadway World).
Story: Blackbird revolves around a dysfunctional family in a religiously conservative small Mississippi town. After the young daughter goes missing, the family begins to fall apart. The son, played by newcomer Julian Walker, is a star singer in the church choir, but later comes to realize he is gay – something that does not settle well with the Baptist community. Ridiculed by his mother (Mo’Nique) and supported by his father (Isaiah Washington), the family struggle to stay together as one.
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Details: As reported in Deadline on January 6, 2014, this is Mo’Nique’s first screen starring turn since the ferocious portrayal as an abusive mother in 2009′s Precious won her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Patrik Ian Polk-directed Blackbird, an adaptation of the novel by Larry Duplechan. Mo’Nique is also exec producer with her husband, Sidney Hicks, through Hicks Media. Newcomer Julian Walker plays the star singer in the church choir who feels like a misfit in his high school and struggles with his sexual awakening and the realization he is gay, something that doesn’t land well in a religiously conservative small Mississippi town. This coincides with his younger sister going missing and his parents splitting up. Mo’Nique plays another character who’s not going to win mother of the year awards: the youth’s heartbroken mom, who blames her son’s lifestyle revelation for his sister going missing. Washington plays his supportive father trying his best to help his son’s transition to manhood. (Source(s): Movie Pilot, Deadline).
Cast: Tyler James William (Lionel Higgins), Tessa Thompson (Samantha White), Teyonah Parris (Colandrea Conners), Brandon P. Bell (Troy), Kyle Gallner (Kurt), Dennis Haysbert (Dean).
Story:Dear White People follows the stories of four black students at an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over a popular “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film will explore racial identity in “post-racial” America while weaving a universal story of forging one’s unique path in the world. (Source(s): comingsoon.net; official site, dearwhitepeoplemovie.com).
Release Date: November 14, 2014 Studio:Relativity Media Genre: Drama Rating: Not Available Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Noni Jean), Nate Parker (Kaz Nicol), Danny Glover (Captain David Nicol), Minnie Driver (Macy Jean), Elaine Tan (April), Aisha Hinds (J Stanley), Aml Ameen (Trey), Hayley Marie Norman (Shai).
Story: Noni Jean is a hot new award-winning artist who is primed for superstardom. But not all is what it seems, and the pressures cause Noni to nearly fall apart – until she meets Kaz Nicol, a promising young cop and aspiring politician who has been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of their parents who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. But can Kaz’s love give Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be? (Synopsis adapted from comingsoon.net).
Release Date: 2/16/18 Genre: Action Rating: Not Available Studio: Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther), Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Martin Freeman (Everett K. Ross), Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi), Angela Bassett (Ramonda), Forest Whitaker (Zuri), Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue/Klaw), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), John Kani (King T’Chaka), Winston Duke (M’Baku/Man-Ape), Sterling K. Brown (N’Jobu), Letitia Wright (Shuri).
Story: Black Panther follows T’Challa, who, after the events of Captain America: Civil War, returns home to the isolated, technologically-advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T’Challa’s mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk. Source: Black Film.
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Details:Black Film posted on 6/9/17 that Chadwick Boseman will star as the title hero while Michael B. Jordan will play Erik Killmonger. Lupita Nyong’o is Nakia (a former member of Wakanda’s Dora Milaje, now an agent of Killmonger), and Danai Gurira as Okoye (a member of the Dora Milaje, the all-female security for the King of Wakanda). Winston Duke has the role of the villain M’Baku, aka Man-Ape. Andy Serkis will reprise his role as Ulysses Claw from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Whitaker will play the role of Zuri, an elder stateman in Wakanda. Kasumba will reprise her “Captain America: Civil War” role as Ayo, a member of the Dora Milaje. Kaluuya will play T’Challa confidant W’Kabi while Brown will play N’Jobu, a figure from T’Challa’s past.
The Black Panther was created by Stan Lee and the character fought alongside Captain America, The Avengers and The Fantastic Four. The Black Panther is considered the first black hero in mainstream comics.
On 10/28/14, Variety reported, after breaking out as Jackie Robinson and James Brown in 42 and Get On Up, Chadwick Boseman has a new high-profile role to play: T’Challa, otherwise known as the superhero Black Panther.
The character is notable for being the first black superhero in mainstream American comic books. The king of the fictional nation of Wakanda, T’Challa joined the Avengers in 1968. He will be prominently featured in costume for the first time in Captain America: Civil War, to be released May 6, 2016, before being spun off into his own film on November 3, 2017.
The Civil War is a big storyline, based on all of the other Marvel films, particularly Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Wakanda has the world’s largest deposits of vibranium, a highly durable meteoric ore that is used to create the mesh in Black Panther’s costume and Captain America’s shield. The material will play a larger role in future Marvel movies. But so will Black Panther, a character that has long been in Marvel’s plans as a potential franchise.
After Black Panther, the character is also expected to join the rest of the Avengers in sequels to that franchise, which is being broken up into two films in 2018 and 2019. Boseman has inked a five-picture deal with Marvel, according to sources. Source: Variety.
Status: Development Status Unknown as of July 1, 2014 Release Date: TBA Genre: Drama/Biography Rating:Unknown Studio: Landscape Entertainment Director: TBA Cast: Terrence Howard, Topher Grace Story: A dedicated young lawyer becomes the only white member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and fights side by side with Thurgood Marshall in the courts to destroy segregation. The landmark 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education helped to end segregation in schools.
Details: Based on the Jack Greenberg’s “Crusaders in the Courts.” (Source: Movie Insider.com).
Release Date: March 8, 2014 (Made-for-TV; Lifetime Network)
Black Cinema Connection 