Tag Archives: Mahershala Ali

Green Book

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Release Date:  11/21/18; In Theaters
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  PG-13
Director:  Peter Farrelly
Studio(s):  Innisfree Pictures, Participant Media, Wessler Entertainment,
Universal Pictures
Running Time:  Unknown
Cast:  Mahershala Ali (Don Shirley), Viggo Mortensen (Tony Lip).
Story:   The film, which is based on a true story, stars Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali as Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class black pianist, who hires Tony Lip (Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen), a Bronx-born bouncer, to drive him on a concert tour that extends from Manhattan to the Deep South. Using the “Green Book,” which serves as a guide to the establishments that were safe at the time for African-Americans, the pair form an unexpected bond during their lengthy road trip. Source: Popsugar.

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Roxanne Roxanne

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Release Date:  3/23/18; Netflix
(2017 – original release date)
Genre:  Drama/Biography
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  100 mins.
Director:  Michael Larnell
Studio(s):   Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions, IamOTHER Entertainment, Neon.
Cast:  Chanté Adams (Roxanne Shanté), Mahershala Ali (Cross), Nia Long (Ms. Peggy Gooden), Elvis Nolasco (Ray), Jermel Howard (Roland), Eden Duncan-Smith (Latifa), Tonye Patano (Ms. Denise), Sean Ringgold (Keith), Taliyah Whitaker (Young Roxanne Shanté).

Story:   The film, set in the 1980s, tells the story of a 14-year-old rap prodigy from New York City’s Queensbridge Projects named Lolita Shante Gooden, who would go on to become the famed rapper hip hop fans know her as: Roxanne Shanté.

Shanté’s career kicked off after meeting fellow rapper Tyrone Williams, D.J. Mr. Magic and record producer Marley Marl outside the Queensbridge housing project, the same complex that produced rap legends like Nas and Mobb Deep.  She gained commercial success after teaming up with Marl to produce a response track to U.T.F.O.’s popular song “Roxanne, Roxanne.” Her version, which legend has it was free-styled in Marl’s apartment in between laundry loads, was titled “Roxanne’s Revenge” and became an instant hit.  Sources:  Black Film; Essence.  Photo Source:  Sundance.org.

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Moonlight

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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.

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Kicks

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KicksRelease Date:  9/9/16
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  R
Running Time:  80 mins.
Director:   Justin Tipping
Studio:   Focus World

Cast:  Jahking Guillory (Brandon), Mahershala Ali (Marlon), Kofi Siriboe (Flaco), Christopher Jordan Wallace (Albert), Christopher Meyer (Rico).

Story:   When his hard-earned kicks get snatched by a local hood, fifteen-year old Brandon and his two best friends go on an ill-advised mission across the Bay Area to retrieve the stolen sneakers. Featuring a soundtrack packed with hip-hop classics, Justin Tipping’s debut feature is an urban coming-of-age tale told with grit, humor, and surprising lyricism.  Source:  Deadline.

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The Free State of Jones

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Free State of Jones Poster

Release Date: 5/13/16 (In Theaters)
Genre:  Drama/Historical
Rating:  Unknown
Running Time:  Unknown
Studios:  Larger Than Life Productions, Route One Films, Vendian Entertainment, STX Entertainment, Showtime Networks.
Director: Gary Ross
Cast:  Matthew McConaughey (Newton Knight), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Rachel), Keri Russell (Serena Knight), Mahershala Ali (Moses Washington).

Free State of Jones

Details:  The plot is based on the true story of Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a Southern farmer who fell in love with a slave named Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). This relationship lead him to rebel against the Confederate Army. Actress Keri Russell is set to play Newton’s wife Serena, while Mahershala Ali is portraying Moses Washington, an escaped slave who becomes Newton’s ally in his fight to secede from the Confederacy. Source(s): Movieweb, IMDB.  Photo source: IMDB.

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Supremacy

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SupremacyRelease Date:  1/30/15 (VOD, Theaters; Original Release Date: 6/12/14-Los Angeles Film Festival)
Genre: Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time: 106 mins.
Studio: Hidden Empire Film Group; Media House Capital
Director: Deon Taylor
Cast:  Danny Glover (Mr. Walker), Joe Anderson (Garrett Tully), Anson Mount (Sobecki), Derek Luke (Raymond), Evan Ross (Anthony), Lela Rochon (Odessa), Dawn Olivieri (Doreen), Mahershala Ali (Deputy Rivers).

Story:  Based on a true story. A paroled white supremacist has just killed a cop, and takes a black family hostage over a long night of terror as authorities cordon off the neighborhood where he and his lady accomplice are laying low. Facebook, IMDB.

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Go For Sisters

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Go For Sisters 2Go For Sisters 1Release Date:  8/19/14, DVD;  11/8/13, Theaters (Limited)
Genre:  Drama/Crime
Rating:  NR
Running Time: 123 mins.
Studio: Variance Films
Director:  John Sayles
Cast:  LisaGay Hamilton (Bernice), Yolonda Ross (Fontayne), Edward James Olmos (Freddy Suarez), Hilary Barraford (Cindy), Mahershala Ali (Dez), Harold Perrineau (Wiley), Isaiah Washington (Vernell).

Story:  Bernice (LisaGay Hamilton) and Fontayne (Yolonda Ross) grew up so close people said they could “go for sisters”, but time sent them down different paths. Twenty years later, those paths cross: Fontayne is a recovering addict fresh out of jail, and Bernice is her new parole officer.

When Bernice’s son Rodney goes missing on the Mexican border, his shady associates all in hiding or brutally murdered, Bernice realizes she needs someone with the connections to navigate Rodney’s world without involving the police… and turns to her old friend. The pair enlist the services of disgraced ex-LAPD detective Freddy Suárez (Edward James Olmos) and plunge into the dim underbelly of Tijuana, forced to unravel a complex web of human traffickers, smugglers, and corrupt cops before Rodney meets the same fate as his partners.  Source:  Goforsisters.com, official site.

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