Tag Archives: Teyonah Parris

Candyman

Posted on by
2

Tony Todd Bees GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Release Date:   6/12/2020; In Theaters
Genre:  Horror
Rating:  TBA
Director:  Nia DaCosta
Writing Credits: Clive Barker (characters), Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld
Studio(s):   Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Monkeypaw Productions
Running Time:  TBA
Cast:  Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tony Todd (Daniel Robitaille / Candyman), Colman Domingo, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Teyonah Parris, Nadia Simms.

Details:   There’s a new “Candyman” in town.  Jordan Peele’s retelling of the horror classic has cast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, the actor best known for playing Black Manta in Warner Bros.’ Aquaman, as its star.  The studio is touting the upcoming film as a “spiritual sequel” to the original. It will return to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood. The original Candyman was released in 1992 and follows a graduate student who explores the legend of Candyman while writing a thesis on urban legends.

Story: A “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror film ‘Candyman’ that returns to the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began.  Source(s):  Variety, IMDB, giphy.com.

——————————————————————————————————————–
Update 9/9/19:  Movieweb reported on 8/13/19 that the film has begun shooting in Chicago.  The site also stated that Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) have now joined the horror film from writers Peele and Win Rosenfeld under Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.  The film which is described as a “spiritual sequel” to Bernard Rose’s 1992 horror movie. Based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden,” Candyman centers on an urban legend of a former slave that was murdered because of his relationship with a white woman. When her family learned of the forbidden love, he was smeared with honey so bees would attack him and then burned to death. His ashes were scattered at what would become the Cabrini-Green housing projects. The legend stated if you said his name five times in the mirror, he would come to murder you. You know, like urban legends do.

The set is bound to be an eerie one because among the various Chicago shooting locations is the neighborhood where the legend first began: The Cabrini-Green housing projects. Although the projects have since been gentrified, the intention counts. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM) is co-financing the film with BRON creative, and that is good news for the city of Chicago. Candyman will be shot entirely in the windy city, likely bringing jobs and money with it. Not to mention the aesthetic realism that can come from shooting on location.

Expectations are high for the classic film’s reboot because Monkeypaw Productions has churned out some successful movies since it opened in 2012. Under the banner, Peele wrote, produced and directed both Get Out and Us. The company also produced Spike Lee’s BlackkKlansman. Source:  Movieweb.

 

If Beale Street Could Talk

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Trailer:

Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story

Posted on by
Reply

The Miki Howard Story stillRelease Date:  6/1/16 (TV One)
Genre:  Biography
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  Unknown
Director:  Christine Swanson
Cast:  Teyonah Parris (Miki Howard), Gary Dourdan (Augie Johnson), Darius McCrary (Gerald Levert), Amari Cheatom (Eddie Phelps), LisaRaye McCoy (Sylvia Rhone), Vanessa Bell Calloway (Josephine Howard).

Story:  Teyonah Parris stars in the TV One Original Movie The Miki Howard Story. Parris plays the R&B/Jazz singer and actress who enjoyed mainstream success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with a string of top 10 hits including “Come Share My Love,” “Baby, Be Mine,” “Love Under New Management,” and others.

The film will cover 30+ years of Howard’s life, including both professional and personal trials and triumphs.  Also starring Darius McCrary as Gerald Levert, Gary Dourdan as Augie Johnson, LisaRaye is Sylvia Rhone, Amari Cheatom as Eddie Phelps and Vanessa Bell Calloway as Josephine Howard.  Christine Swanson is directing from a script written by Rhonda Baraka, which is based on a yet to be released biography by Miki Howard.  Source:  Shadow and Act.

Trailer:

Five Nights in Maine

Posted on by
Reply

Five Nights In MaineRelease Date:  2015
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time:  82 mins.
Studio:  Loveless, Yoruba Saxon Productions
Director:  Maris Curran

Cast:  David Oyelowo (Sherwin), Teyonah Parris (Penelope), Dianne Wiest (Lucinda), Rosie Perez (Ann).

Story:  A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death. Source: IMDB.  Photo Source:  Thompson on Hollywood.

Trailer:

Chi-Raq

Posted on by
3

Chi-RaqRelease Date:  12/4/15
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  Unknown
Running Time:  Unknown
Studio(s):  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Amazon Studios
Director:  Spike Lee
Cast:  Nick Cannon (Chi-Raq), Teyonah Parris (Lysistrata), Anya Engel-Adams (Rasheeda), Wesley Snipes (Cyclops), Angela Bassett (Miss Helen), Michelle Mitchenor (Indigo), Ebony Joy (Marcy), Felicia Pearson (Dania), Samuel L. Jackson (Dolmedes), La La Anthony (Hecuba), Val Warner (Electra Johnson), Jennifer Hudson (Irene), John Cusack (Fr. Mike Corridan), D.B. Sweeney (Mayor McCloud), Steve Harris (Ole Duke).

Story:  According to Shadow and Act ,Teyonah Parris is playing the central character, in a story set against the backdrop of Chicago’s gun violence, and said to be a modern spin on the Greek comedy “Lysistrata” – the women of Greece refused to have sex with their husbands, all in an effort to bring an end to the Peloponnesian War, via the signing of a peace treaty. In Spike’s film, the story will center on a woman’s quest to end gang warfare in Chicago, likely via similar methods as used by Lysistra.  Possibly in consideration of an Awards season run (pre-screenings for the film have apparently impressed audiences so far) as an Oscar-qualifying run, Amazon Studios has set the release date for Spike Lee’s curious Chi-Raq, for December 4, in a theatrical release deal that involves both Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate.

Trailer:

——————————————————————————————————————

Details:  Deadline reported on 10/29/15, that the film is inspired by the Greek comedy Lysistrata but it has a hot-button subject, and that is one of the reasons it will be released five weeks out. The film is set in Chicago’s South Side, and covers the subjects of gang violence and clashes with police, a subject that most certainly has been in the news.

In April Shadow and Act wrote that the film has caused something of a firestorm in Chicago, with many people publicity speaking out in the media against the film – especially against the title, which they say further perpetrates the image of Chicago as Dodge City in 1885; Shootouts and drive-bys with people being killed left and right every day, everywhere. Source(s): Deadline, Shadow and Act, IMDB.

Where Children Play

Posted on by
Reply

Where Children PlayRelease Date:  12/1/15 (DVD)
Genre:  Drama
Rating:  NR
Running Time: 106 mins.
Studio: Turning Point Pictures
Director:  Leila Djansi

Cast:  Brian White (Jeremy Spencer), Teyonah Parris (Bellissima McCain), Leon (David McCain), Macy Gray (Helen Harold), Edwina Findley Dickerson (Gayle McCain), Miranda Bailey (Paige), Kylee Russell (Ruby).

Story:  Film centers on a young woman who extricates herself from a violent family situation in an act of self-preservation but to find herself, she must face her fears. Estranged from her family for ten years, Bellissima, ‘Bell’ Mccain, returns to Compton for her mother’s funeral and then is forced to stay and care for her sick father. The house becomes flooded not only with vivid memories of the abuse doled out by the very man whom Bell must nurse, but also her teenage sister, Ruby, who had died in the house has long awaited Bell’s return. Source(s): IMDB, Blackflix.

Trailer:

———————————————————————————————————–

Details:  On 4/5/15, The Wrap reported that Where Children Play has been acquired by the Urban Movie Channel.  The film is slated for a limited theatrical release in June and will also run on the Urban Movie Channel.  Source:  The Wrap.

Dear White People

Posted on by
Reply

Dear White PeopleRelease Date:  2/3/15 (DVD); 10/17/14 (Theatrical Release)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: Not Available
Running Time: 100 mins.
Studio:  Duly Noted/
Homegrown Pictures
Director: Justin Simien

Cast:  Tyler James William (Lionel Higgins), Tessa Thompson (Samantha White),  Teyonah Parris (Colandrea Conners), Brandon P. Bell (Troy), Kyle Gallner (Kurt), Dennis Haysbert (Dean).

Story:   Dear White People follows the stories of four black students at an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over a popular “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film will explore racial identity in “post-racial” America while weaving a universal story of forging one’s unique path in the world. (Source(s): comingsoon.net; official site, dearwhitepeoplemovie.com).

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Teaser