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OPENING STATEMENTS BEGIN IN R. KELLY TRIAL: Sex tape played in court; defense questions origin and denies singer or victim was involved.
*The child pornography trial of R&B star R. Kelly continued in Chicago Tuesday with opening statements from both sides and a screening of the infamous sex tape at the root of the case.
Shauna Boliker of the Cook County state's attorney's office told the jury that Kelly produced and starred in the sex video with a girl who was underage at the time of the filming.
"You will see the sex acts he commands her to do," Boliker told the jury. "Vile, disturbing and disgusting sex acts, actions that were choreographed, produced and starred in by Robert Kelly."
"The case will unfold before you frame by disgusting frame," she added, with the girl "doing what she's told. There's no feeling in her face. It is clear she is an underaged girl" whom Kelly met when she was 12.
But lawyers defending the 41-year-old artist said the 26-minute tape shows neither Kelly nor his alleged victim, and where the video came from remains a mystery.
"Robert Kelly is not on that tape," said defense lawyer Sam Adam. "There isn't an original of this tape. The tape you're going to see here is at best a copy of a copy of a copy of the original." Adam said the FBI reviewed the tape and could not identify Kelly as being on the tape.
The video, which prosecutors say was made between January 1998 and November 2000 when the girl was 13 or 14, was played in the courtroom. The man's face is visible only a few times but he can be seen handing the girl money and heard giving her commands.
Kelly is charged with 14 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting child pornography. The Grammy winner faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
JANET JACKSON TO MOUNT FIRST TOUR IN 7 YEARS: Singer makes announcement Monday during appearance on "Ellen."
*Janet Jackson is about to embark on her first North American tour in seven years to promote her new album "Discipline," the sixth chart topper of her career surpassing the five No. 1 albums logged by her famous brother, Michael Jackson.
Announced Monday during her appearance on "The Ellen Degeneres Show," the U.S.-Canadian swing of her Rock Witchu tour will begin Sept. 7 in Vancouver, British Columbia, with subsequent dates scheduled for New York and Washington, D.C., according to a rep for the tour's promoter Live Nation.
Jackson, 41, also said that fans can call her message line (323) 622-8139 and leave requests for songs to include on the tour.
NAS EXPLAINS DECISION TO CHANGE ALBUM TITLE: N-word nixed in advance of July 1 release.
*Nas released a statement Monday regarding the decision to remove "N*gger" as the title of his upcoming album from Def Jam.
"It's important to me that this album gets to the fans," said the Queens rapper. "It's been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. It's that important. The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it."
In an interview with MTV News last week, Nas said he was being pressured to change the controversial title in advance of the CD's scheduled release on July 1.
"Everybody is trying to stop the title," he told MTV. "Record stores are gonna have a problem in this day and time selling a record with that title. Who knows what's gonna turn out and be on that title? Who knows what that title will be?"
There were reports that the name of the album was changed to "Nas," but according to Billboard, the project remains untitled for the time being.
JOHN MCCAIN TAKES CASE TO ESSENCE.COM: Presumptive Republican nominee talks about views on Obama and plans for black America.
*Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain sat down with Essence editor, Tatsha Roberston, to address his plans for black America, his views on Senator Barack Obama and his plans for the White House.
Below are excerpts from the full article "No Man Apart," posted at www.essence.com.
On the education gap between White and Black children:
. "We have an unacceptable situation in America today where lower-income people do not have the same access to the quality education that higher-income people have. We tried busing, but that didn't work. So now we have to bring in new programs, which will improve education standards and choice and work with teachers.. But we also have to act at the federal level, update the No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act was a good beginning, in my view. Those who want to scrap it completely-I respectfully disagree. But now we have learned the lessons of the first five or six or seven years of putting No Child Left Behind into practice. So let's fix it, because it's clear we have a two-tiered system of education in America."
On addressing Black America:
. "I went to Selma and stood at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and talked about the need to include "forgotten Americans." I will never as long as I live forget the beautiful women of Gees Bend, Alabama, with the quilts. They were singing spirituals. On the first occasion I could find in the White House I would have them sing again. It was so moving. There was a woman there who was 91 years old. Can you imagine the environment she lived in when she was 21? And yet, this woman was full of hope, compassion and forgiveness. But does that mean in my campaign I am going to get a majority of the African-American vote? Probably not. But what it does mean, what I've committed to, is assuring and promising all Americans whether they vote for me or not, I am going to be their president. Americans are sick and tired of partisanship and divisions along party lines that cause gridlock and frustration and lack of addressing the issues that confront America."
On Senator Obama's decision to meet with Iranian President:
. ". I do believe when Senator Obama wants to sit down across from the president of Iran who is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel and whose country is providing weapons that are killing young Americans in Iraq, that is bent on acquisition of nuclear weapons, then I would not sit down and have unconditional talks with him. I think Senator Obama is not experienced, otherwise he would not make that judgment."
On race and Senator Obama:
. "First I would like to say I respect Senator Obama enormously, and the effect he has had on Americans, including young Americans and the level of enthusiasm he inspires. The differences we have are simply differences in political philosophy. Already I have strongly objected to and condemned some messages that have been put out against Senator Obama's character or have any overtones that are not appropriate for the United States."
LIL WAYNE SHIFTS GEARS FOR 'FURIOUS 4?': Rapper says he's in talks to appear opposite Vin Diesel; plus, he's booked to close BET Awards.
*Lil Wayne is making headlines on two fronts that have nothing to do with arrests, weed or court dates.
BET executive vice president Stephen Hill confirms that Weezy will perform the closing number for the BET Awards ceremony, which will be broadcast live on June 24 at 8 p.m.
"I'm really excited that Usher is opening the show," said Hill. "I'll give you a little tidbit -- Lil Wayne is probably closing the show. So, we have a grand opening and grand closing."
Lil Wayne also announced that he is currently in talks to appear opposite Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in the film "The Fast and Furious 4," which is scheduled to hit theaters in 2009.
He is currently in his New Orleans home town shooting "Patriots," which stars Forest Whitaker and Isaiah Washington in the true story of a high school basketball team made of rival players who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The film is slated to hit theaters in November.
WILL SMITH TO REMAKE FRENCH BLOCKBUSTER: Actor's Overbrook acquires rights to comedy that broke box office records in France.
*Will Smith has gotten his hands on some hot property from France. The actor's Overbrook Entertainment teamed with Warner Bros. to acquire rights to remake "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis," a comedy that shattered box office records in France earlier this year.
According to Variety, the original film is a "hicks-in-the-sticks tale about a post office manager who has a nice outpost in the South of France but ends up banished to a rainy town in northern France, where he finds the local patois unintelligible." The Dany Boon-directed film grossed more than $190 million in France alone.
Smith's American version will be developed by Warner Bros. under the title "Welcome to the Sticks" and co-produced with his Overbrook partner James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz.
"There are only 65 million people who live in France, and $191 million seemed to defy all logic. But when we saw the film, it's obvious why it works," Stovitz said. "We will probably place the character in a global corporation, and he literally gets sent to the sticks, but finds that rather than a backward place, it provides all that was missing in his life."
Meanwhile, other films in the pipeline at Overbrook include the July 2 opener "Hancock," the Jada Pinkett Smith-directed "The Human Contract," the Sept. 19 opener "Lakeview Terrace," Oct. 17 opener "The Secret Life of Bees" and the Gabriele Muccino-directed "Seven Pounds," which stars Smith and opens Dec. 12.
In other Will Smith news, the rapper-turned-actor is reportedly paying $889,000 to lease Indian Hills High School near his home in Calabasas, Calif. after failing to find a suitable learning situation for his two youngest kids Jaden, 9, and Willow, 7.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle's SF Gate Web site, a rep for Smith says of the school, renamed the New Village Academy of Calabasas: "Will is leasing the campus for three years, plus he'll cover all costs such as utilities. The academy will be run privately, and will include pre-kindergarten through grade six."
The actor and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith have, until now, been home schooling their children.
NICK AND MARIAH PLANNING $4 MIL WEDDING?: Couple reportedly throwing huge ceremony for folks who missed the Bahamas nuptials.
*Word has it that newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are planning a $4 million wedding ceremony for the benefit of family and friends who weren't invited to the secret nuptials last month at her Bahamas retreat.
MSNBC.com is quoting "a source" who claims that Mariah "wants over 2,000 guests and the budget will be well over $4 million and she'll have at least 14 bridesmaids. It's going to be held in New York City in the next six weeks. Picture a wedding on the scale of Liza Minnelli's (to David Gest) and you'll be right on track."
Meanwhile, the New York Post's Page Six reported yesterday that Nick "was trying to have a boys' weekend at Saturday's opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods with pals Sean Combs and Quincy Jones when he got a call from Carey."
The column quotes "a source" who said: "[Nick] was summoned home by her at 1 in the morning. He didn't look happy about it."
JUDGE DENIES NEW TRIAL IN MIJAC TAPING CASE: Request was filed by air charter service that secretly recorded singer during flight.
*There will be no new trial for the Santa Monica-based air charter service that was ordered to pay $20.25 million for secretly videotaping Michael Jackson and his lawyers during a 2003 flight en route to the singer's surrender on molestation charges.
Superior Court Judge Soussan G. Bruguera on Monday rejected the motion by the now-defunct company XtraJet Inc. and its owner Jeffrey Borer, reports the Associated Press.
In March, Bruguera ordered XtraJet to pay the $20.25 million to Jackson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, and his associate, Pat Harris, for invading their privacy in order to sell the video of Jackson to the media. The King of Pop was a plaintiff in the 2003 lawsuit, but later withdrew from the case.
Borer and his associate Arvel Jetter Reeves, the mechanic who installed cameras in the plane, pleaded guilty to conspiracy last year.
Borer was sentenced to six months home detention so he could care for his ailing wife, while Reeves received an eight-month prison sentence.
Borer's lawyer, Lloyd Kirschbaum, said he would appeal the compensatory and punitive awards. He says the judge ignored crucial evidence in favor of his client because she mistakenly believed that the tape included sound. Without audio captured on the tape, Geragos and Harris could not claim a breach of the attorney-client privilege, Kirschbaum argued.
Geragos' attorney, Brian Kabateck, praised the decision. He said Kirschbaum's motion raised the same issues the defense had argued unsuccessfully before. Even if the tape, which is in the hands of the FBI, had no audio on it when obtained by authorities, the intention was to record conversations, said Kabateck.
In other MiJac news, TMZ.com is reporting that Colony Capital, which purchased Michael Jackson's Neverland loan to save the home from auction, also owns the Las Vegas Hilton, where Jackson is currently rumored to mount a headlining show in the future.
'MAKING THE BAND 4' TOUR ALREADY HAS DRAMA: Changes, cancellations and scheduling conflicts have disrupted schedule.
*"P. Diddy & MTV Present Making the Band 4 - The Tour" hasn't even started yet and it's already in disarray.
The trek, featuring Bad Boy acts Danity Kane. Day26, Donnie Klang and Cheri Dennis, was supposed to kick off May 18 in Lake Buena Vista, Fl. But due to the cancellation of that show, and the two following dates, the outing will now begin ten days later at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
According to Live Daily, the dates were cancelled due to "scheduling conflicts" and an overall re-routing of the tour.
Stops were also canceled in Orlando (May 24), Pompano Beach, Fl (May 25), Detroit (May 31), Dallas (June 3) and Phoenix (June 5). Details are listed below and ticket refunds are available at point of purchase.
May 2008
24 - Orlando, FL - Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre (canceled)
25 - Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheatre (canceled)
28 - New York, New York - Hammerstein Ballroom
29 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom (moved to 5/28) 30 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Concert Pavilion
31 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit (canceled)
June 2008
1 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
3 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues (canceled)
4 - Park City, UT - TBA (Danity Kane only)
5 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre (canceled)
6 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort
7 - Alpine, CA - Viejas Casino Concerts in the Park
9 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
ROBERT BECK'S 'BLACK WIDOW' HEADED TO BIG SCREEN: Rihanna to make film debut opposite Mos Def, Macy Gray and Anthony Anderson.
*"Mama Black Widow," the 1969 novel from "Iceberg Slim" writer Robert Beck, is being adapted into a movie with rapper Mos Def in the starring role and pop star Rihanna in her feature film debut.
With the backdrop of a black family's migration from Southern Mississippi to Chicago in the 1930s, the story follows Otis Tilson's struggle to keep his family together as they navigate through a world of alcoholism, pimping, homosexuality and racial degradation.
Other members of the cast include Macy Gray, Brian J. White, Anthony Anderson and Kerry Washington.
The movie is currently in pre-production under director Darren Grant for a 2009 release.
'PASSING STRANGE' NABS OBIE AWARD: Musical continues collecting kudos from theatre groups.
*On the heels of its recent Tony nominations and Drama Desk Awards, the hot musical Passing Strange has just earned kudos for new theater piece and for ensemble acting at the 53rd annual Village Voice Obie Awards, which honor Off Broadway fare.
Passing Strange has been playing in Broadway's Rialto since February, but it originally bowed last year at Off Broadway's Public Theater.
The Obie "Strange" received for theater piece, including a $1,000 cash prize for co-creators Stew and Heidi Rodewald and director Annie Dorsen, adds to the recent awards momentum for the Tony contender. The Drama Desk presented the rock production with its new musical prize Sunday night, as did the New York Drama Critics Circle last week.
Other Obie winners included actress LisaGay Hamilton, who picked up a performance award for her role in "The Ohio State Murders."
Award selections, for which there are no publicly announced nominations, were made by a committee chaired by Voice critic Michael Feingold. The ceremony, hosted by married Off Broadway vets Elizabeth Marvel and Bill Camp, was held Monday night at New York's Webster Hall.
BET TEAMS WITH URBANWORLD FILM FEST: Partnership designed to boost awareness of both parties.
*BET Networks announced a three-year strategic partnership to present the Urbanworld Film Festival, which will hold its 12th ceremony in Manhattan this fall from Wednesday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 14.
"We are very excited to have BET join the festival as the Presenting Sponsor. This alliance will usher in a new era for films by and about people of color," said Stacy Spikes, founder of Urbanworld. "Our partnership will galvanize Urbanworld's vision to deliver these universal stories to the widest audience possible, via theatrical, TV, online and mobile distribution platforms."
The event will feature studio premieres, independent film screenings, panels, screenplay readings, talent spotlights, and an awards brunch honoring the festival's winners.
The Urbanworld Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for the 2008 festival. Submission information is available at www.urbanworld.org or www.withoutabox.com, with competitive categories that include narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, and screenplay. The submission deadline is Saturday, May 31.
BLACK BROADCASTING NETWORK PREPARES TO LAUNCH: Chanel targeted toward young African American audience.
*When Black Broadcasting Network or BBN launches at the Cable Show 2008, it will be the newest option in black television, offering fresh, popular entertainment programming to a young black audience, across multiple platforms.
The 24/7 network specifically targets black teens during the day and the 18-34 year-old market during prime time. BBN'S content focuses on popular entertainment and offers a variety of eight different programming genres which feature black stars, black athletes, and black casts. These genres will include the latest in popular music, movies, black college sports, reality shows, comedy, current affairs and various syndicated series, with a Sunday morning lineup of religious programs.
"BBN is the only network that has a full-time commitment to young black people, because it will deliver programs that are authentic, youthful, original and positive," said the network's president and co-owner Yusef Muhammad. "BBN focuses on subject matter that is important to today's young audience ... a young audience who not only creates popular culture, but maintains it as an integral part of their identity."
Notable programs include the very funny Rickey Smiley Comedy Hour and coverage of the Angel City Classic, a popular black college sports event. BBN will also offer exclusive and original series.
"Our strongest comparative advantage is that we will be where our audience is ... on multiple platforms including linear, VOD, broadband (thebbnonline.com) and mobile," said Muhammad.
The Black Broadcast Network is entirely black-owned. In addition to Muhammad, other owners of the BBN include Entertainment Attorney Ricky Anderson and Entertainment Executive, Jeff Clanagan.
ITTY BITTY BITS: new baby Dash; Whitney's weed; Macy's diva drama; Jermaine's divorce; celebs' YourCause.com; Buffet backs Obama; MTV nabs J-Hud; Kanye's 'Stronger.'
*Damon Dash's wife Rachel Roy gave birth to an 8 pound baby girl they have named Tallulah Ruth. The little one was born on May 13 in Manhattan and is the couple's second child together.
*An eight-year-old misdemeanor possession charge against Whitney Houston has been dropped, according to TMZ.com. Back in 2000, cops at a Hawaiian airport caught the singer with less than half-an-ounce of weed and three half-smoked joints. She was not arrested at the time and handed over the drugs before boarding her flight with then husband Bobby Brown.
*Page Six is reporting that Macy Gray exhibited some diva behavior during a kickoff party at the Nikki Beach hotel in Cannes. She reportedy made the crowd wait two hours before taking the stage and refused to pose for pictures or give interviews to camera crews lining the red carpet. The column quotes an "insider" who said: "She seemed out of it . . . when she finally came on, her performance was good, but she took a while to get it together."
*The divorce between Jermaine and Alejandra Jackson became final this week, according to TMZ.com. "Jermaine will pay off a $100,000 debt; in return, Alejandra waives all spousal support," the Web site reported. "As for the debt, $50,000 is to pay her attorney's fees and the other 50 grand is for Jermaine to become current on child support. She gets physical custody of the kids and he gets visitation of Jaafar and Jermajesty. He pays $3,000 a month in child support. He gets to keep his business -- Jermaine Jackson Entertainment, Inc., and he also gets to keep his jewelry."
*Morgan Freeman, Christina Milian and Adina Howard are among the celebs from film, television, music, and sports who have a page on YourCause.com, a new Web site where the famous can promote their causes. "We feel extremely privileged that these celebrities are lending their notoriety to raise both awareness and funds for their specific causes," says site co-founder Matthew Combs. "One of the unique things about the site is that anyone can make it their own and promote the causes that they are most passionate about."
*The world's richest man, Warren Buffett, has announced that he is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for President of the United States. "I will be very happy if he is elected President," said the billionaire investor. "He is my choice." Buffett had deliberately kept quiet about his choice of supporting either Obama or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But he came down from the fence when it became clear that Obama would seal his party's nomination.
*Jennifer Hudson is among the first round of celebs announced as presenters for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA on Sunday, June 1 at 8 p.m.
Other presenters include Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway, Jack Black, Steve Carell, Robert Downey Jr., Seth Rogen, Megan Fox, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Rumer Willis, Brendan Fraser and Danny McBride. The presenters join previously revealed performers Coldplay and the Pussycat Dolls. Mike Myers will again serve as host.
*Kanye West's single "Stronger" was voted among the top 10 songs that inspire runners to complete a lap. More than 3,000 marathon runners took part in the survey by health Web site realbuzz.com. "Stronger" came in at No. 5, following Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," Spencer Davis Group's "Keep on Running," and Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire" at numbers 1 through 4 respectively.
EVENT CALENDAR: Chicago celebrates Mandela's birthday; Black Accountants host 37th convention.
*Chicago will celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday with the event "Chicago Jazz Philharmonic: Hope in Action" on July 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The concert is free to the public and will be emceed by Chicago's own Bill Kurtis. Orbert Davis, well-honored jazz trumpeter, composer and artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP), has composed a piece exclusively for the celebration that weaves jazz, classical and South African melodies inspired by Mandela's universal message of peace and unification. The musical suite will feature special guest performances by Zim Ngqwana, Ari Brown, Dee Alexander, Rodrick Dixon, and T'keyah Crystal Keymah.
*The National Association of Black Accountants will host its 37th Annual National Convention & Diversity Recruitment Expo, June 10-14 at the Hilton Atlanta in Downtown Atlanta. This year's theme is Embracing the Power of Diversity with the Passion to Create New Possibilities. Gwendolyn D.
Skillern, CPA, NABA's national president and CEO, will lead her membership in a series of technical and educational sessions to give voice and provide resources for African-Americans in the accounting and financial services professions. Ed Gordon will moderate a public forum on Diversity in Corporate America. Dr. Farrah Gray will serve as keynote speaker of the Scholarship Luncheon, while Judge Glenda Hatchett will speak at the Awards Banquet.
*Tracey Scott Wilson's racially charged play The Good Negro began performances on May 20 at New York's Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan). Liesl Tommy directs the work in which "a trio of emerging black leaders tries to conquer their individual demons as the local KKK fights for its old way of life and everyday black men and women must overcome their fears - all under the ever-watchful eye of the FBI," according to press notes. The cast includes Joniece Abbott-Pratt ("Why Did I Get Married?") and Anthony Mackie (Drowning Crow). Tickets, priced $10, are available by calling (212) 967-7555 or by visiting www.publictheater.org.
TED KENNEDY DIAGNOSED WITH BRAIN TUMOR: Also, NY Gov. David Paterson diagnosed Tuesday with acute glaucoma.
*An outpouring of well wishes for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from both sides of the political aisle followed news Tuesday that a cancerous brain tumor was the cause of his seizure suffered on Saturday.
Kennedy's doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital said he had a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, a part of the brain that helps govern sensation, movement and language.
According to the Associated Press, some medical experts gave the 76-year-old Massachusetts senator and sole surviving son of America's most storied political family less than a year to live.
"It's our job now to support him in the way that the supported us for so many years," said Sen. Barack Obama, whose Democratic presidential campaign received Kennedy's endorsement. "He's not just a great senator, he is a great friend. He is beloved by me and beloved by colleagues."
Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement: "Senator Ted Kennedy has been a champion for the American people for over a generation. He has been a stalwart for justice, a trumpeter for educational parity and a reliable ally to the civil rights and social justice movement. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus extend our collective prayers to Senator Kennedy and his family. We know his warrior spirit will enable him to conquer any challenge that lies ahead."
*Also on Tuesday, New York Gov. David Paterson, who is legally blind, was diagnosed with acute glaucoma in his left eye and has reportedly undergone an outpatient laser procedure that "will not have any long-term impact on the governor's overall health," said Paterson's office in a statement.
Paterson admitted himself to Manhattan's Mount Sinai Medical Center early Tuesday after experiencing "migraine-like symptoms." Yesterday was also his 54th birthday.
EUR DVD REVIEW: Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above
Sorry Sequel Offends at Every Turn
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Who decided that every African-American comedy has to revolve either around a black man in drag, or else around a barbershop or beauty salon?
This sorry sequel is of the latter variety, and is just the latest in a long line which includes Barbershop 1 and 2, Beauty Shop, Hair Show, Nora's Hair Salon and the upcoming Miss B’s Hair Salon.
These ghetto-based sitcoms share a familiar storyline, a love story unfolding against the backdrop of an ensemble cast of colorful caricatures.
The clownish genre has its roots in Amos ‘n’ Andy, a show which debuted on radio in 1928 and eventually made the jump to television as the first series featuring a black cast. The TV series was grounded by the tempestuous romantic relationship of unemployed and gullible Andy and feisty Queen, a Harlem beautician. But the real reason everybody tuned in was to laugh at the program’s motley collection of lazy, loud and crooked black characters.
One of the first things I noticed about the cover of Nora’s Hair Salon 2 is that it’s promoted by an outfit called BlackChristianMovies.com, ostensibly to con folks into believing that the DVD contains clean and wholesome family entertainment. Yet the dialogue is sprinkled with both the b and s-words, and often treats not only blacks but Asians and gays in a decidedly backwards and un-Christian manner.
Given the recent release of the documentary Hollywood Chinese, I had hoped that we’d be past presenting members of this ethnic group speaking pidgin English and mixing their ‘l’s and ‘r’s. Homosexuals fare no better, as we’re treated to the same flamboyant, effeminate stereotype that’s been around for time immemorial.
The plot concerns itself with the tug-of-war between co-owners Lilliana (Tatyan Ali) and Simone (Stacey Dash) over whether to stay in business. The former is a single-mom sorely in need of a nice guy, preferably a doctor (Mekhi Phifer) to fall head over heels for her. Simone is a selfish shrew you just love to hate. Not to worry, it all unfolds as expected.
The question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to watch a bunch of sassy sisters playing the dozens insulting everyone within earshot for an hour and a half.
Poor (½ star)
Rated PG-13 for profanity and sexual humor.
Running time: 81 minutes
Studi 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EUR DVD REVIEW: Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman
Feminist Explores Self and Sisterhood in Soul-Baring Biopic
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Jennifer Fox intermittently repeats the melancholy refrain “I never wanted to be a girl,” over the course of this soul-baring bio-pic, even though she seems to be doing just fine as a female.
The 45 year-old, NYC filmmaker devotes the bulk of her intriguing documentary to introspective ruminations by her and her friends about their love relationships.
Suffering from low self-esteem in terms of her looks, Fox frequently refers to herself as “ugly” and a “tomboy,” and wonders aloud whether she’ll ever have kids or get married.
But she is pleasant enough to watch, which is important, given that she’s in virtually every scene of this six-hour gabfest. She’s also intelligent, insightful, likable and brutally honest about the intimate details of her unconventional lifestyle, which makes her a rather worthwhile and compelling subject for cinematic examination.
Inter alia, the free-spirited feminist informs us of her ongoing affair with Kye, a 36 year-old, former freedom fighter from South Africa. She somehow doesn’t let it bother her that the guy lives half a world away and happens to have a spouse and kids. So, when she later falls for Patrick, she lets her new Swiss lover know that she can’t commit to monogamy, but plans to enjoy them both.
Broken up into six hour-long episodes, each installment of Flying has been cleverly constructed to end on a bit of a cliffhanger. Will she dump her adulterous, absentee beau for patient, present Patrick? Will she opt to overcome her ambivalence about motherhood when she not only hears her biological clock ticking but finds herself unexpectedly pregnant? And who’s the daddy? Will Kye’s wife’s learning of her existence put the kibosh on their lusty liaisons? All intriguing questions, and with some very surprising answers.
A real-life cross of Annie Hall and Erica Jong.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 351 minutes
Distributor: Easy Film and Zohe Film Productions 2-Disc DVD Extras: Interview with star/director Jennifer Fox and a theatrical trailer.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve." — John Maxwell
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
May 21: Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 67. Actor Mr. T is 56. Rapper Havoc of Mobb Deep is 34.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The NMA Diabetes Education Program Web site (www.NMAdiabetesnet.org ) is a resource for physicians and diabetic patients. It contains information on how to control and prevent this disease.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
May 21, 1881: Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as U.S. senator from Mississippi. He was the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. (Source:
www.BlackFacts.com)
