Tag Archives: Netflix

Juanita

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Release Date:  3/8/19; Netflix
Genre:  Drama/Romance
Rating:  TV-MA
Director:  Clark Johnson
Studio(s):   Homegrown Pictures, Netflix.
Running Time:  Unknown
Cast:  Alfre Woodard (Juanita), Adam Beach, Ashlie Atkinson (Peaches), Blair Underwood, Lindsley Register (Candice), LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Gil Birmingham.

Story:   At forty-one, Juanita Lewis is running away from home, courtesy of a one-way ticket to Montana, a place that seems about as far away from the violence and poverty of the Columbus, Ohio, projects as the moon.  She wants adventure and excitement–if such things exist for a pre-menopausal African-American woman with three grown, deadbeat children.

Juanita’s new life in Paper Moon, Montana, begins at a local diner where a culinary face-off with chef and owner Jess Gardiner finds Juanita in front of Jess’s stove serving up home cookin’ that lures the townsfolk like a magic spell. And suddenly Juanita, who was just passin’ through, now has a job by popular demand.

Out here in this wide-open space, Juanita’s heart can no longer hide, especially when she sees herself through the eyes of the wonderful and eccentric people of this down-to-earth town.  She’s happy in Paper Moon; she’s found a home, but can she stay?  And then there’s Jess.  She has always dreamed of romance, but she never planned on falling in love.  The film is based on Sheila Williams’ book Dancing on the Edge of the Roof.  Source:  Eurweb.com.

Trailer:

The Holiday Calendar

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a/k/a Christmas Calendar

Release Date:  11/2/18; Netflix
Genre:  Romance/Holiday
Rating:  NR
Director:   Bradley Walsh
Studio(s):   Netflix

Cast:  Kat Graham (Abby Sutton), Ethan Peck, Quincy Brown (Josh), Ron Cephas Jones (Gramps Sutton), Romaine Waite (Mitch), Genelle Williams (Sarah Sutton), Laura de Carteret (Judy Sutton), Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (Fernando), Harris Shore (Ralphie).

Story:   A talented photographer, stuck in a dead-end job, inherits an antique Advent calendar that may be predicting the future — and pointing her toward love.  Source(s):  Netflix, Country Living Magazine.

Trailer:

First Match

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Release Date:  3/12/18 – 3/16/18 – SXSW Film Festival; 3/30/18 – Netflix (2017)
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Director:  Olivia Newman
Studio(s):   CreativeBionics, Clubhouse Pictures, Netflix.
Running Time:  102 mins.

Cast:  Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, Jared Kemp

Story:   Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father.  Source(s):  SXSW.com; Flickeringmyth.

 

Trailer:

Step Sisters

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Release Date:  1/19/18; Netflix
Genre:  Comedy
Rating:  PG-13
Director:  Charles Stone, III
Studio(s):  Los Angeles Media Fund (LAMF), Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, Netflix
Running time:  104 mins.
Cast:  Megalyn Echikunwoke (Jamilah), Naturi Naughton (Aisha), Eden Sher (Beth), Alessandra Torresani (Amber), Gage Golightly (Libby), Matt McGorry (Dane), Lyndon Smith (Danielle).
Story:   Step Sisters centers on Jamilah who is willing to do what it takes to achieve her goals. So far, she is the black sorority president, captain of the dance crew, student representative to the college dean, and she hopes to join Harvard Law School. Overall, she has achieved what a student at her age can consider as an on-going success in school. That’s until she is ordered by the school to help the white girls of the Sigma Beta Beta win the Steptacular dance competition. If she fails, her dreams to join the Ivy League university will come to naught, which is something she cannot take. As the show continues, romance blossoms, cultures clash, but sisterhood prevails as they all step out of their comfort zone to face their challenge.  Source:  TVovermind.com; IMDB.

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Naked

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Release Date:  8/11/17; Netflix
Genre:  Comedy
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  Unknown
Director:  Michael Tiddes
Studio:  Wayans Alvarez Productions, Netflix

Cast: Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert, Reginald Swope, Loretta Devine, Neil Brown, Jr., Dave Sheridan, Cory Hardrict, Jwaundace Candece.

Story:  Rob Anderson (Wayans) is all set to marry the girl of his dreams (Hall), but can’t quite get to the altar. Every time he comes close, he finds himself waking up naked in his hotel elevator, forced to relive the beginning of his wedding day over and over again.  Source:  Movie Insider Photo:  Teaser-Trailer.com

Trailer:

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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