I make it my business to support the brothers and the sisters as much as I can because of what they face in the industry...so definintely gonna check out the new Wil Smith film I Robot, Ceddy's new flick Johnson Family Vacation, Queen Latifah's spinoff of Barbershop because it captures a part of black culture here in the States, Soul Plane and Breaking all the Rules and Man on Fire. Thanks for mentioning those last two, I wasn't aware of them.

The Dawn of the Dead is currently playing and finished number one at the box office with a take of over 26 million dollars, so way to go to Ving and Mekhi. We must remember when these brothers and sisters can open a film, that's do good box office numbers it makes their paths as well as others smoother for the next one meaning, roles/opportunities are easier to come by.niceone.gif

Gonna have to wait a while for Beauty Shop since they havent begun shooting it yet. I read that Alicia Silverstone is gonna starin it as well... so,not sure if the essence of Barbershop will be equalled.

Shrek 2should be worth watching, if Shrek is anything to go by. Man On Fire, Kill Bill 2, Dawn Of The Dead and the Ladykillers sound promising. You Got Served.. well.. just an extended rap video IMO.

definetly kill be 2. the first one was brilliant. infact all four of quentin taratino's films are brilliant.

Here is BET's review of Johnson Family Vacation



Cedric's "Vacation" Needs More Work

By James Hill, BET.com Staff Writer
Had I seen "Johnson Family Vacation" in an empty theater, I doubt I would have laughed at all. Despite the fact that I truly like Cedric the Entertainer, I couldn't help but stare in silence as most of the film's "funny" scenes sat dead on the screen. Add in the fact that the humor fluctuated between being Disney channel bland and PG-13 racy, this "Vacation" was feeling more like work. However, I didn't see it alone. I was surrounded by 100 or so other Black folks that simply would not stop laughing. And you know what they say about laughter being contagious.
But before you get the impression that I was simply swept away in a tide of public opinion, understand that it took a good half an hour before I even giggled -- not a good sign for a comedy. And that's probably because the first third of the film isn't a movie at all. It's a star-studded commercial for the Lincoln Navigator - the SUV into which Nate Johnson (Cedric) packs his son DJ (Bow Wow), two daughters (Solange Knowles and Gabby Soleil) and his estranged wife (Vanessa Williams) to attend a family reunion in Missouri.

Much to DJ's delight the Lincoln dealer forgets to install his dad's 8-track and instead pimps out the family ride with Burberry interior, Sprewells and hydraulics. Naturally, we're supposed to be in stitches as the uptight Nate drives through his upper-class neighborhood in something you'd expect Shaq to push, but somehow it just isn't funny.

If things get better once the family gets on the road, it's partially because they are driving in familiar territory. It's hard to make a film about a family on the road without making immediate references to the classic "National Lampoon's Vacation" series, and there are parts that play like homages - including a hotel pool scene that has Cedric running around in his birthday suit.

Cedric, like Chevy Chase, plays the dad as an amiable square obsessed with making good time and taking as few potty breaks as humanly possible. His wife, Dorothy, who left because Nate was unwilling to support her dreams of becoming an accountant (what?!!?) is a bit more frosty and is obviously only along for the ride to appease the kids. While Bow Wow showed real potential in "Like Mike," he isn't given much to do here except be the ultra-hip kid with dreams of being a rapper - imagine that.


Beyonce's baby sister is a typical teen with a cell phone surgically attached to her head who constantly cracks gum. However, like "Lampoon," this really isn't about the kids. It's about Nate and Dorothy rediscovering what they love about each other, a sweet theme whose resolution you can see coming 10 minutes into the film.

However, there are small touches that work much better and more consistently. During a pit stop at a Native American casino, Nate pushes management to see how "real Indians" live. So to appease his cultural ignorance, one of the security guards dresses in traditional headgear and loincloth, to the delight of the openly horny Solange, and promptly misguides the Johnson clan into the middle of nowhere. It's a funny bit that points out the little known fact that Black folks can believe outdated racial stereotypes, too.

Another element that finds its mark is Nate's adversarial relationship with his brother, Mac (Steve Harvey). The two constantly compete for the coveted Family of the Year trophy at each reunion, buttering up the judge, their mother, with bigger and bigger gifts. One scene has Harvey delivering a flat-screen TV, which his mother tells him to place between her twin pictures of everybody's two favorite White men, JFK and Jesus. The best scene finds the two competing in giving the best grace over food, which devolves into a sanctified version of the dozens. Their time working together on TV has clearly paid off, as they feel natural around each other.

But it's Cedric doubling as a feisty family Uncle that gets the biggest laughs. Looking like a slightly younger, gap-toothed relative of Eddie from "Barbershop," Cedric seems the most at ease when putting on an accent and wearing a wig.

By no means is "Johnson" a great film or even Cedric's best work. It's uneven and only truly funny in spots. Still, writers Todd Jones and Earl Richey Jones should be commended for trying to make us laugh without relying on blatant stereotypes, funny or not. (I laugh at "Friday" even as I cringe). Instead, they offer Black characters who are distinctively Black, without embarrassing you or shooting for the lowest common denominator for a quick laugh. In the end, the two have attempted to create wonderful Black family entertainment, an honorable goal even if they didn't quite make it.

Half of those black films we won't get over here!

The cinema is boring me at the moment. I saw Gothika yesterday, and i thought it was good, except the end was a bit weak!

mmmmmm... wanna see kill bill 2

kill bill1 was different...

mmmmmm... cant wait to see what pt 2 brings...

you know what fernando, i hate when films make me jump, but yet i go and watch them each and everytime! I think i must secretly like them!

I had to turn my head away, when Halle was looking in the mirror and her face was shaking. That was too much for me!

But it was a very good storyline!

I didn't watch kill bill 1, i don't really like Tarrintino movies. I didn't like Pulp Fiction, the rape scene still traumatises me!

Fernando,

I would like to see the Second Spider Man flick that was suppose to be shown this May , but now is being postponed until June 30th, I would also like to see beauty shop. I haven't seen thesecond Lord of the Rings yet! I thought about the first LOTR I seen. Maybe I should wait for it to come out on DVD. It's was really a good picture, but I almost slept on it because it was three hours long. The second one is suppose to be the same way. I think I'll wait for that one to come out on DVD. At least if I go to sleep, I would sleep on my own bed.

I watched gothika and thought it was garabage. Whats up wth that ending, she seemed to get away with IT.

Halle Berry since winning oscar has done x-,men 2, gothika, die another day and is about to do catwoman. clp)clp)clp)clp)clp)clp)clp) well done for frottong away your oscar. She might as well drop down to that played out black movie scene and start kissing up on taye diggs

An Interview with Denzel Washington

By NANCY MILLS (From the New York Daily News)





Denzel Washington, with Dakota Fanning (right), in 'Man on Fire'


HOLLYWOOD - In the action thriller "Man on Fire," which opens Friday, Denzel Washington gives an explosive performance as a former agent hunting down the kidnappers of the young girl (Dakota Fanning) he has been hired to protect in Mexico City.
"This man was at the end of the line," Washington says, explaining that the character is a dangerously heavy drinker "with no love in his life, going from place to place. This little girl just brings him back to life."

Washington, 49, understands the power of a child's love. He has four children with his wife, Pauletta: John David, 20, a sophomore at Morehouse College, where he is a football star; Katia, 17; and twins Malcolm and Olivia, 13.


They live in Beverly Park, a gated community above Beverly Hills. As in "Man on Fire," security personnel are paid to keep them safe.

Washington's own childhood, growing up in Mount Vernon, N.Y., was less privileged. His father, a minister, and his mother, who owned a beauty parlor, divorced when he was 14. He continued to live with his mother, who sent him to private school so he would stay out of trouble.

By the time Washington graduated from Fordham University, he'd decided to become an actor. He spent a year training at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater before returning to New York and working onstage. His six years on "St. Elsewhere" (1982-88) led him to a film career.

'GLORY' DAYS
Stardom came quickly. After giving an iconic performance as the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in "Cry Freedom," Washington won the 1989 Best Supporting Oscar as a brave Union soldier in "Glory." In 2001, he won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of an unscrupulous undercover narcotics detective in "Training Day."
Washington says he is not tired of playing heroic figures like Biko or Malcolm X (in the Spike Lee film of that name). But nobility can be a drag.
"Every now and then I think about Jimmy Stewart," Washington says. "At some point, he started doing these less happy-go-lucky characters" - a reference to Stewart's late '40s and '50s work.

Washington, accordingly, has gone from playing such worthy characters as the upstanding Dr. Philip Chandler on "St. Elsewhere" and the angel in "The Preacher's Wife" to the mutineer in "Crimson Tide," convicted men in "He Got Game" and "Hurricane" and the hostage-taker in "John Q."

"Man on Fire" allows Washington both to suffer nobly and exact pitiless revenge. In his next film, Jonathan Demme's remake of 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate," due late July, he stars as the army major originally played by Frank Sinatra. It promises to be one of the year's most prestigious films.

As he approaches 50, Washington says he is content with his career.
"I've always been fully confident," he says. "I got my first Oscar 15 years ago. I did 'A Soldier's Story' 20 years ago. As a play, it had won a Pulitzer Prize. That was as good a role as any I've gotten. I feel no pressure at all."

Washington won't be drawn out on why he has chosen more aggressive roles lately or if he thinks Hollywood's color bar has disappeared.

"It's not like, 'Oh, I had these opportunities before, and I didn't take them,'" he says. "'Cry Freedom,' 'Malcolm X,' 'Hurricane' - those are the films that were offered to me, and those are films I wasn't going to turn down. It's not that I turned down 'Forrest Gump' to play Malcolm X. I wasn't offered 'Forrest Gump.'"
He says he hasn't taken any part to inspire the next generation.
"Being a role model is not what I do," Washington says. "I'm an actor. My job is to interpret the role the best I can."

The chance to star in "Man on Fire," a story originally set in Italy and based on real-life incidents, came about partly by accident.
"I was sitting in my doctor's office, and Denzel walked in," says Tony Scott, who had previously directed Washington in 1995's "Crimson Tide." In the early '80s, Scott had considered casting Marlon Brando or Robert De Niro in "Man on Fire," but the project stalled.

"When I came back to it, I thought about De Niro again," Scott says. "But then I saw Denzel. I love his obsessive quality and his internal darkness. There's a hardness to Denzel that's really interesting. He knows how to draw it out and use it effectively. You always come back to the same handful of people who have a command of their craft and an understanding of what they can do with their characters."

Two years ago, Washington directed "Antwone Fisher." He says he plans to ­direct another film this fall, but won't give any details. He is also slated to star in "Tru Blu," based on the life of Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas.

Asked where he'd like to be in 25 years, Washington simply says, "Alive, on this side of the grass."

The next big film I want to see its got to be

KILL BILL 2banana.gifbanana.gifbanana.gifbanana.gif

I am meant to go and see it Friday with Hubby but you know what happened to the last time I went to see Kill Bill 1 with hubby he talked so much in the film and got so excited I secretly had to go and see it again on my own. OMG he wouldn't stop talking going on about how this scene is from this movie and that scene is from that kung fu movie blkblahblkblahblkblahI felt to take my box of popcorn and shove it down his mouth.

He got so excited like a school boy in a shop of candies so you should've seen my face when he said don't plan anything to do on friday babes I'm taking you to see Kill Bill 2 ....I was like blkhideblkheadbang