I distinctly remember seeing ‘New Jack City’ on Friday night of its opening weekend. One of my BFF’s and I headed to Mann’s Chinese in Hollywood for an early show. It was still bright outside when we headed into the theater. As soon as we sat down my friend, who is bi-racial and self identifies as black, said, “Check out where all the exits are. If they start shooting, we’re outta here.” I responded, “Yea. Remember to drop and crawl to get to the doors.” Well, we watched the movie …

Have you seen “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian?”
If so, please indulge my little rant that follows. It includes a mild spoiler. No plot points mentioned per se, but just a little – ahem- colorful observation.

On August 15th, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Ben Stiller are set to star in Stiller’s latest comedy ‘Tropic Thunder’.

According to reports, Downey Jr. plays a white actor who takes a role originally written for a black actor and dyes his skin to play the role as a black man. His character does all this in hopes of winning an Oscar. Frankly, I like Ben Stiller’s comedy so reading about ‘Tropic Thunder’ I am laughing out loud and queasy at the same time.
Here are two of my favorite …

The ‘Great Debaters’ has been nominated for a Golden Globe award in the Best Drama category.

Yay! Very exciting.
I’ll write more about this film directed by Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey closer to its release date – Christmas Day.

Eddie Griffin offers up close insight into the real life drama that American Gangster is based on. Here is an excerpt from his fascinating post:
I served time with Leroy “Nicky” Barnes (played in the movie by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and the black soldier in Vietnam who shipped Frank the drugs from Indo-China, a man by the name of “Ike” Atkinson. If there is any truth in the movie worth revealing, it is the fact that both Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes were snitches. (Now I hear that there is a …

Poems, letters, and stories of Guest Contributor Salvatore Buttaci have been published in The New York Times, Newsday, U.S.A. Today, The Writer, Cats Magazine, and widely elsewhere in America and overseas. His newest book, A Dusting of Star Fall: Love Poems, is currently available directly from the author. Buttaci lectures on Sicilian American pride, conducts poetry workshops and readings. He lives in Lodi, New Jersey, with Sharon, the love of his life. This is his post.
Italian American gangsters of the past, like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, and even …

ColumnistCarole McDonnell’s short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. She lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their pets. Wind Follower, published this month by Juno Books, is Carole’s first novel. This is her post.
Because we live in the 21st century, everyone wants to pretend they are enlightened. But everyone isn’t enlightened. Our own personal laziness or inability to research history has closed our minds. And the media of course – with its erroneous viewpoints– does a fine …

Yet another intriguing issue has been raised by Angelina Jolie. This time it’s Jolie’s portrayal of Mariane Pearl in the upcoming film ’A Mighty Heart.’ Already some in the blogoshpere have dubbed Jolie’s acting a performance in blackface. They’ve got this one all wrong.

I get a little rush whenever I hear that a role originally written with a white actor* in mind has been cast with a black actor. In the world of fiction, I think the actor or actress who most distinctly captures the director’s vision for the film is the one who should be …

I am on the road for the next couple of days, so I thought I’d bring back a couple of posts you might have missed. New posts resume Thursday. Enjoy.
I was a youngster when the movie Serpico, starring Al Pacino, opened. The movie captured the true life story of Frank Serpico, an honest, undercover, New York City cop, and his battle against crime and corruption perpetrated by other New York City cops. I had read the book, my mom had it, and I pretty much read everything that came into …

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times published a highly offensive, overly simplistic piece about Barack Obama. Titled “Obama, the Magical Negro”, it makes no difference that the author, David Ehrenstein, is African American. Ehrenstein doesn’t get it. The term ‘magic Negro’ was coined in the 1950’s to describe a particular kind of black presence in film and literature.  The ‘magic Negro’, or what Spike Lee calls the ‘super duper magical Negro’, sometimes has special powers that serve to enlighten or make better their white counterparts. At the end of the story, …