Release Date:9/7/21; BET/BET Her Genre: Thriller Director:Patricia Cuffie-Jones Studio(s):Nasser Entertainment Group, Studio City Pictures, BET Networks/Viacom
Cast: LisaRaye McCoy, Kevin A. Walton, Shanica Knowles, Dorian Gregory and Ledisi.
Story:As summer comes to an end, BET has a new slate of primetime suspense thrillers premiering on BET and BET Her every Tuesday across five weeks starting Tuesday, August 31st. The film list includes three BET Original Movies; Always & Forever, Twice Bitten and the highly anticipated Karen. Plus the linear debut of two BET+ Original Movies; Influenceand Sacrifice. Each film features tantalizing plot twists and gripping storylines that will bring audiences to the edge of their seats!
LisaRaye McCoy stars in Twice Bitten, a whodunit about a sexy conman targeting his next mark, for his latest swindle. His routine scam hits a snag when suspicion mounts and the scheme spirals into desperation, betrayal, and murder. Sources: BET Pressroom; Variety; urbanbridgez. com. Photo Source: urbanbridgez.com.
Release Date:9/9/21; BET+ (all episodes) Genre: Drama Director: Kim Fields Morgan Studio(s): Tyler Perry Studios, Pitch Black Development, LLC, BET+
Story: All the Queen’s Men is a drama series being developed by Tyler Perry Studios for the BET+ streaming service. The series is based on the book Ladies Night and centers around the life of Marilyn ‘Madam’ DeVille. Madam is a fierce businesswoman who is at the top of her game in the nightclub industry and surrounded by a band of trusted employees who are down to make sure that she is successful. But Madam, a self-proclaimed boss, soon discovers that more money and more power mean more problems. Will Madam retain reign as she navigates this dangerous and sexy society? Will the sensuous world of exotic dancing cost Madam her queendom and potentially her life?
Cast/Characters
Eva Marcille as Marilyn ‘Madam’ Deville, a savvy, powerful, uncompromising businesswoman who owns a high-class male strip club that she runs fairly but with a firm hand; she’s unafraid to do whatever it is she has to do to keep her business going.
Skyh Alvester Black as AMP ‘Addiction’ Anthony, a dancer with a hidden past who has found difficulty getting hired after being released from prison, so he goes to work as a bouncer/ doorman in Madam’s club, Eden.
Candace Maxwell as DJ Dime, the resident DJ at Club Eden. She is ambitious and looks to Madam as a mentor.
Racquel Palmer as Blue, Madam’s chief of security. Blue is frequently seen at Madam’s side when things get a little dicey.
Michael ‘Bolo’ Bolwaire as Doc, one of the male strippers at Club Eden. Doc gets along well with his fellow dancers and a little too well with one of Eden’s patrons.
Keith ‘Fatal Attraction’ Swift as Babyface, is the oldest dancer of the group, though he doesn’t look it. He’s questioning the number of days he has left at the club and his many client entanglements cause him plenty of drama.
Dion Rome as El Fuego, one of the dancers at Madam’s Club Eden who is a bit flirtatious with Madam. He loves who he loves and is quite the techy.
Jeremy ‘Masterpiece’ Williams as Midnight, a confident and tough male stripper who sparks a different vibe in Madam than the other strippers. She enjoys him though it’s hard to say how personal their relationship is.
Christian Keyes as The Concierge is a calmly intense hitman, and member of the Damascus family, hired to blackmail Madam.
Release Date:2/18/21; BET, BET+ Genre:Drama Rating: TV-MA Director:Ty Manns Studio(s):Action Faith Media, Manns/Mackie Studios, Visions Production, Atonement Pictures, BET+, Green Apple Entertainment Running Time:80 mins.
Story: Redeemed, BET’s original film based on Jacqueline D. Moore’s novel, Serving Justice, highlights the corruption plaguing America’s criminal justice system. The movie follows Angela Sylvester, who becomes the youngest female minority judge in her city and finds herself trapped in a ‘Kids for Cash’ prison scam orchestrated by her boss. Fearing her legal career and dream of becoming a federal judge is over, she loses control of her life and career until she returns to her faith and redeems herself of the crimes committed. Source: Blackfilm.com; IMDB.
Release Date:9/3/21; BET Genre: Drama Rating: NR Director:Coke Daniels Studio(s):Aloe Entertainment, BondIt Media Capital, Burke Management Flixville USA Running Time:Unknown
Cast:Cory Hardrict (Malik), Jasmine Burke (Imani), Taryn Manning (Karen), Gregory Alan Williams (Charles Wright), Brandon Sklenar (Officer Hill), , Mary Christina Brown (Jan), Dawn Halfkenny (Officer Thicke), Reece Odum (Officer Smith), Betsy Landin (Lily), Jaxon McHan (Kyle), Duane Finley (Security Tech), Veronika Bozeman (Fatima), Roger Dorman (Officer Mike Wind), Lorenzo Cromwell (Justice), Hunter Bodine (Ted), Ava Ann Gale (Miranda Wind), Norah Elin Murphy (Sarah).
Story:Taryn Manning will portray a fictional Karen in an upcoming suspense thriller about the infamous stereotype. In recent years, the name “Karen” has been popularly used to describe entitled, middle aged white women complaining at restaurants or retail establishments, often asking to “speak to the manager.” It has since been frequently used to refer to women calling the police on their Black neighbors for arbitrary reasons, a trend that often leads to the women suffering from public shaming and losing their jobs. The name has also been used for countless memes and social media posts.
Manning, who is producing the indie, will play Karen White, a woman who believes that races should stick to their “own kind” and carries this belief into her neighborhood. Corey Hardrict will star as Malik, a community and Black Lives Matter activist in Atlanta dedicated to his wife and fighting social injustices. When Malik and his wife Imani become Karen’s new neighbors, she makes it her personal mission to remove them from the neighborhood, by any means necessary. However, Imani and Malik don’t have time for this and aren’t going down without a fight. Sources: Deadline; Movieweb; IMDB. Photo Source: distractify.com.
Release Date:12/12/20, BET and BET Her; and 12/17/20 BET+ Genre: Comedy/Holiday Rating: NR Director:Tamika Miller Studio(s): MarVista Entertainment, Octet Productions Running Time:Unknown
Cast: Reginald VelJohnson, Asai’h Epperson, Christina “Brave” Williams, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Lorenzo “Renny” Cromwell, Terayle Hill, Kay-Megan Washington, Phylicia Morgan.
Story: Gerald Davenport has requested his three estranged daughters Diedre, Nicole, and Tammy come together for Christmas for a big announcement…he has won a $10-million-dollar lottery! To get their share, the sisters must repair their broken relationship. But when their dementia-stricken mother, Diane, forgets where she hid the ticket, the Davenport’s are now in a race to find the ticket and fix their family all before Christmas Day. Source(s): Shadow & Act; Black Film & TV.
Release Date:12/19/20; BET & BET Her Genre:Comedy/Holiday Rating:NR Director: Charles Jones Studio(s): MegaMind Media Running Time:Unknown
Cast: Michael Colyar, Maryam Basir, AJ Johnson, LisaRaye McCoy, DeWayne “Kountry Wayne” Colley, Tiffany Black, B Simone, Joe Clair and Lonnie Bee.
Story: Karma hits hard at Christmas when a loving father discovers that his womanizing past is coming back to haunt his daughter after a curse destroys her love life. Source: Shadow & Act.
Release Date: 9/7/21; BET/BET Her
Black Cinema Connection 