Release Date: 11/19/21; In Theaters & HBO Max Genre: Drama/Biography Rating:Unknown Director:Reinaldo Marcus Green Studio(s):Overbrook Entertainment, Star Thrower Entertainment, Warner Bros., Westbrook Studios.
Cast:Will Smith as Richard Williams; Demi Singleton as Serena Williams; Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams; Aunjanue Ellis as Brandi Williams; Jon Bernthal as Rick Macci; Tony Goldwyn as Paul Cohen; Susie Abromeit as Robin Finn; Dylan McDermott.
Story:Biopic about Richard Williams, the father and early coach of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. King Richard details the sisters’ journey from Compton to global recognition, looking at the man who raised and trained them and shaped them into two of the best tennis players in the world. The movie’s official description calls Richard “an undeterred father [with a] relentless drive and unapologetic vision to change the game” who is “instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, who will end up changing the sport of tennis forever.” Source: Nypost.com.
Release Date:8/16/20, Series Premiere; HBO Genre: Drama Rating:NR Director:Yann Demange Studio(s):Bad Robot, Monkeypaw Productions, Warner Bros. Television, HBO.
Cast:Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Letitia Dandridge), Michael Kenneth Williams (Montrose Freeman), Aunjanue Ellis (Hippolyta Black), Courtney B. Vance (George Black), Jonathan Majors (Atticus Black), Wunmi Mosaku (Ruby Dandridge), Demetrius Grosse (Marvin Baptiste), Abbey Lee (Christina Braithwhite), Jamie Chung (Ji-Ah), Jordan Patrick Smith (William).
Story: Drama series based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff, follows Atticus Black as he joins his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. What follows is a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.
Atticus (Majors) is a Korean war vet who always has a pulp novel in his back pocket, and wears his heart on his sleeve despite the daily injustice of living in Jim Crow America. His father, Montrose (Williams), however is hard headed and secretive, and always believed you can’t live in a fantasy world — making him less-than-thrilled about his son’s love for pulp novels. It’s Atticus’ uncle (Vance) who’s always been more like a father to him. Warm, funny, and well read, he was the first to introduce Atticus to the wonderful and strange world of pulp novels. As the publisher of the “Safe Negro Travel Guide” he’s been on enough adventures to understand there’s no place like home.
Letitia “Leti” Lewis (Smollett) hustled her way across the country as an artist protesting for civil rights and now finds herself back home to plant some roots. Her half-sister Ruby (Mosaku) is also a hustler, but her hustles haven’t paid off. Her family ties are tested when she’s presented with an offer she can’t refuse. Hippolyta Freeman (Ellis) is a star-gazer who’s been a housewife most of her life, but has dreams of getting into some adventures of her own. Her itch for adventure will eventually, literally and figuratively, take her to the stars and beyond.
Eustice Hunt (Harris), is a sundown county sheriff with a NAACP complaint file a mile long, and a marine tattoo on the back of his neck so the enemy has something to aim at, gets more than he bargained for when he crosses paths with Atticus; Ji-Ah (Chung) is a seemingly naive nursing student who is thrust into active service when war breaks out, and a rash of soldier disappearances suggests she is more than what she seems.
Christina Braithwhite (Lee) is the only daughter of the leader of a secret order calling themselves the “Sons of Adam.” She’s gone to great lengths to earn her father’s respect, but to no avail. She’s going to pave her own path to power, and use Atticus and his family to do it. William (Smith) is Christina’s henchman, lover, bodyguard, spy, or whatever else she may need him to be. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, he’s the “perfect specimen” for the Aryan race.
Produced by Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller. Source: HBO.
Release Date:10/18/19; In Theaters & VOD Genre:Drama Rating:NR Director:R.J. Daniel Hanna Studio(s):Moving Picture Institute, Vertical Entertainment. Running Time:102 mins.
Story:Based on a true story, Miss Virginia stars Uzo Aduba as a struggling single mother who is losing her fifteen-year-old son to the rough streets of Washington, DC. Unwilling to see him drop out and deal drugs, she places him in a private school. But when she can’t afford the tuition, she launches a movement to change the system that is destroying him and thousands like him. Attacked and threatened by those who don’t want change—from corrupt politicians to the local drug lord—Virginia must discover depths of strength she never knew she had. Source: Official site, missvirginiamovie.com.
Details: Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are executive producing the feature movie The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel. The movie will detail the five sisters’ humble beginnings and struggles to find their place to later becoming the best-selling Gospel group in the music world. The film will feature re-recordings of some of the group’s biggest hits. The Clark Sisters have won three Grammy Awards. With 16 albums to their credit and millions in sales, the Clark Sisters are the highest-selling female gospel group in history. Source(s): Deadline, Black Film; Photo Source: inspiration1390am.
Release Date:11/9/18; In Theaters & VOD Genre:Drama Rating: NR Director:Christine Crokos Studio(s): Adrenaline Entertainment, 1821 Pictures Running Time:110 mins. Cast:Keke Palmer, Haley Ramm, Aunjanue Ellis, Vanessa Morgan, Mike E. Winfield, Edi Gathegi, DMX.
Story:Keke Palmer plays a struggling pimp named Wednesday whose fortune changes after her girlfriend Nikki (Haley Ramm) hits the streets. But when Wednesday comes face to face with another pimp (Edi Gathegi) who plays a much more dangerous game, her dreams of ever escaping the life are put at risk. Source: Entertainment Weekly; IMDB.
Release Date:11/30/18; In Theaters Genre:Crime/Drama Rating: R Director: Barry Jenkins Studio(s):Annapurna Pictures, PASTEL, Plan B Entertainment. Running Time:117 mins.
Cast:KiKi Layne (Tish Rivers), Stephan James (Alonzo ‘Fonny’ Hunt), Regina King (Sharon Rivers), Colman Domingo (Joseph Rivers), Teyonah Parris (Ernestine Rivers), Michael Beach (Frank Hunt), Aunjanue Ellis (Mrs. Hunt), Ebony Obsidian (Adrienne Hunt).
Story: If Beale Street Could Talk follows a pregnant woman from Harlem named Tish (Kiki Layne), whose lover (Stephan James) is falsely accused of rape. When Tish finds out she is pregnant while James’ character Fonny is in prison, she races against the clock with help from her family and her lawyer to find evidence to exonerate Fonny. Based on the novel by James Baldwin Source: Variety.
Release Date: 11/19/21; In Theaters & HBO Max
Release Date:
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