Tag: Drama

Media

mediaRelease Date:  2/25/17; TV One
Genre:  Drama
Running Time:  Unknown
Director:  Craig Ross, Jr.
Studio:   TV One

Cast:   Penny Johnson Jerald (Jackie Jones), Brian White (Michael Jones), Gary Dourdan (Jabbar Randolph), Stephen Bishop (Will Randolph), Chrystee Pharris (Crystal Jones), Blue Kimble (Anthony Jones), Pooch Hall (Clay), Denise Boutte.

Story:   Media is a backdoor pilot to a potential series that will explore the drama and secrets behind a powerful family dynasty.  The TV movie is described as a riveting story of a wealthy family battling the competitive challenges of keeping their status and position in the communications industry. Passion, intrigue and murder become a lethal recipe for powerful matriarch Jackie Jones and her children. Jackie is the founder of Jones Universal Media Properties, aka JUMP, the world’s premier urban media conglomerate. A family tragedy forces her son, prominent lead city attorney and prosecutor Michael Jones, to abandon his political aspirations and take over the company just as a ruthless rival challenges JUMP’s longtime domination of a lucrative industry. Michael is confronted by sins of the past, and the dangers of the present when Jabbar Randolph, CEO of JUMP’s biggest competitor, is released from prison. Grabbing back the reigns from his brother, Will, Jabbar embarks on a mission of revenge, betrayal and corporate intrigue.  Source:  Deadline, Shadow and Act.

Trailer:

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Surviving Compton:  Dre, Suge & Miche’le

michele-biopic-stillRelease Date:  10/15/16; Lifetime
Genre:  Drama/Biography
Rating:  NR
Director:  Janice Cooke
Studio(s):   Sony Pictures Television and Thinkfactory Media.
Cast:  Rhyon Nicole Brown (Michel’le), Curtis Hamilton (Dre), Jamie Kennedy (Jerry Heller), R. Marcos Taylor (Suge Knight).

surviving-compton-stillStory:  The blockbuster film Straight Outta Compton mesmerized music fans with its vivid look behind the scenes of the pioneering hip hop collective N.W.A.  Now get ready to hear a shocking new side of their story.  Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le, tells the tale of Michel’le Toussaint, who rose to fame in the early days of rap as the so-called “First Lady of Ruthless Records.”  Surrounded by industry titans like Eazy-Z, Tupac Shakur, and obviously Suge Knight and Dr. Dre, she achieved major chart success – only to have it tarnished by betrayal and corrupt business dealings.  Her romantic relationship with Dre lasted for nearly a decade, during which time she veered further into a world ruled by substance abuse and crime. A blossoming affair with Knight, Dre’s friend and business partner, would offer temporary salvation, but ultimately complicate all of their lives.  Source(s):  People; Billboard.

Teaser Trailer:

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Moonlight

moonlightRelease Date:  10/21/16; In Theaters
Genre:   Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  110 mins.
Director:  Barry Jenkins
Studio:   A24, Plan B Entertainment
Cast:  Trevante Rhodes (Black), Mahershala Ali (Juan), Naomie Harris (Paula), André Holland (Kevin), Janelle Monáe (Teresa).

Story:  The story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.  Source:  Big Screen.

Trailer:

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Mr. Church

a/k/a Cook

Mr. ChurchRelease Date:  9/16/16; In Theaters
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  PG-13
Running Time:  104 mins.
Director:  Bruce Beresford
Studio(s):  Cinelou Films, Envision Media Arts, Shenghua Entertainment, Voltage Pictures, Cinelou Releasing, Warner Bros.

Cast:  Eddie Murphy (Henry Church), Britt Robertson (Charlotte), Natascha McElhone (Marie), Lucy Fry (Poppy), Thom Barry (Frankie Twiggs).

Story:  Eddie Murphy is back in his first live-action performance since 2012’s A Thousand Words with Mr. Church.  Rather than much of his past work, the film is not a comedy, but a drama concerning the titular Henry Church (Murphy), a talented cook with a love of jazz who is hired by a dying mother as help for her six year old daughter.  While the arrangement is set for six months, it develops into a 15-year journey of friendship and care.  Source:  The Film Stage; IMDB.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0yyqAMzNtQ&rel=0

 

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A Stray

A StrayRelease Date:  8/5/16; Blackstar Film Festival
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  82 mins.
Director:  Musa Syeed
Studio:  Vilcek Foundation

Cast:   Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Christina Baldwin, Ayla, Fathia Absie, Jamaal “Happy Khalif” Farah, Abdullahi Haji-Mohamed, Ifrah Mansour, Rhiana Yazzie, George McCauley.

Story:  In Minneapolis’ large Somali refugee community, Adan has nowhere to go.  His mom kicked him out, and his friends are tired of his headstrong ways.  As a last resort, he moves into the mosque, praying for a little help.  Surprisingly, God seems to answer.  Adan quickly lands a good job, devout friends, and a newfound faith.  When Adan nearly hits a stray dog on the job, he’s forced to take it in for a night.  But one of his new mosque friends considers the dog impure, and he throws Adan out.  With Adan back on the streets, surrounded by his old crew, ex-girlfriends, prying FBI agents, and his estranged family, the dog may be his only friend as he tries to keep his faith and get through the night.  Source(s):  sxsw.com.

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Jason and Shirley

Jason and Shirley stillRelease Date:  8/7/16; Blackstar Film Festival (2015)
Genre:  Biography/Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  79 mins.
Black & White
Director:  Stephen Winter
Cast:  Jack Waters, Sarah Schulman, Eamon Fahey, Tristan Cowen, Tony Torn, Peter Cramer, Mike Bailey-Gates, Bryan Webster, Denise Dixon, Orran Farmer.

Story:  Based on a true story, Jason and Shirley thrillingly recreates the dark, electrifying, take-no-prisoners 1966 power struggle between Jewish, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, Shirley Clarke and her subject, Jason Holiday, a fierce black gay queen over a 12-hour marathon filming session which gave rise to Clarke’s iconic documentary Portrait of Jason.

When Academy Award-winning filmmaker Shirley Clarke made her groundbreaking avant-garde documentary, it was the first-ever feature film about being a black gay man.  Her subject was raconteur, entertainer, and self-professed hustler, Jason Holliday, whom Clarke interviewed for twelve hours straight in her Chelsea Hotel penthouse.

Over the course of the evening, questions went from the anodyne (“What do you for a living, Jason?”) to the arch (“Why you’d do that to me? Rotten queen!”).  In the final product, we see only Holliday onscreen, smoking joints and drinking copious amounts of whiskey as he seems to suffer a slow breakdown at the hands of Clarke and a co-interviewer.  Source(s):  Official Facebook page; NPR; IMDB.

Trailer:

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