Category: Arts and Entertainment

This category is about arts and entertainment.

2021 Golden Globe Awards: ‘Mank’ is the top nominee

February 3, 2021

by Carla Hay

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in “Mank” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

With six nominations, Netflix’s movie-industry drama “Mank” is the leading contender for the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which will be presented on February 28, 2021. The Golden Globes ceremony has traditionally been held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no large, in-person gathering at the ceremony. Instead, the Golden Globes ceremony will like do what other major live televised award shows have done when going virtual during the pandemic: There will most likely be video linkups of the nominees, so that when the winners are announced, the winners can react live with their acceptance speeches. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the ceremony, with Fey at the Rainbow Room in New York City and Poehler at the Beverly Hilton.

NBC has the U.S. telecast of the show, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) votes for the nominations and awards. The HFPA and Dick Clark Productions are producing the Golden Globe Awards telecast. Eligible movies for the show were those released in the U.S. in 2020 and in January and February 2021. The eligibility window, which usually ends at the end of a calendar year, was extended for movies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible TV programs were those that premiered on U.S. networks and U.S. streaming services in 2020.

“Mank” tells the story of movie screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (nicknamed Mank) and his experiences while he co-wrote the 1941 classic “Citizen Kane,” including his clashes with “Citizen Kane” director Orson Welles. “Mank” picked up expected nominations in the Motion Picture – Drama categories: Best Picture and Best Actor (Gary Oldman). The other “Mank” nominations are for Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay (the late Jack Fincher, David’s father), Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried) and Best Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Another movie contender with multiple nominations is Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” with five nods. Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father” and Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” have four nominations each. “One Night in Miami…” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (both from Amazon Studios) earned three nods each.

For the television categories, the leading contender is Netflix’s “The Crown,” which received six nominations, including Best Television Series – Drama. Following closely behind is the Pop network’s comedy series “Schitt’s Creek,” which scored five nominations, including Best Television Series – Comedy. The Netflix drama series “Ozark,” the HBO limited series “The Undoing” and the Netflix limited series “Ratched” received four nominations each.

Snubs and Surprises

Filmmaker Spike Lee and actors Isiah Whitlock Jr., Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters and Norm Lewis on the set of “Da 5 Bloods” (Photo by David Lee/Netflix)

The most noticeable Golden Globes snub this year was Netflix’s award-winning, critically acclaimed drama movie “Da 5 Bloods” (directed and co-written by Spike Lee), which failed to get any Golden Globe nominations. “Da 5 Bloods” told a fictional story about four African American military veterans of the Vietnam War who go back to Vietnam to look for hidden treasure. Other movies that have been shut out of the Golden Globes race are the Focus Features drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the A24 drama “First Cow” and the Netflix comedy “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” which have all received several nominations and some wins at independent film awards. Golden Globe TV snubs this year included the Hulu limited drama series “Little Fires Everywhere” and the HBO comedy series “Insecure,” which each received several Emmy nods. Also shut out was the HBO limited drama series “I May Destroy You.”

In terms of surprises, some movies picked up their first major award nominations, despite being shut out of earlier award shows for which they were eligible. Vertical Entertainment’s “Music” is one such example, by receiving two Golden Globe nods in the Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy field: Best Picture and Best Actress (Kate Hudson). Netflix’s star-studded musical “The Prom,” which got mixed reviews from critics and audiences, also scored two nods in the Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy field: Best Picture and Best Actor (James Corden). After getting snubbed in major Emmy Awards categories in 2020, Hulu’s comedy series “The Great” did better than expected at the Golden Globes for the “The Great’s” first season: “The Great” scored three nominations in the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy field: Best Television Series, Best Actress (Elle Fanning) and Best Actor (Nicholas Hoult).

Diversity and Inclusion

Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos in “Hamilton” (Photo courtesy of Disney+)

In terms of diversity, the Golden Globes ended a long drought of not nominating any female directors. This year, women are three of the five Best Director nominees: Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland,” Regina King for “One Night in Miami …” and Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman.” Zhao and Fennell are also nominees in another traditionally male-dominated Golden Globes category: Best Screenplay.

The major movie categories each had at least one person of color as a nominee, except for two categories: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Supporting Actress. Black people are the people of color with the highest representation this year.

In the movie categories, there are nominations for “One Night in Miami…” and Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which are both based on plays written by and about African Americans. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” has two nominations in the Motion Picture – Drama field: Best Actress (for Viola Davis) and Best Actor (for the late Chadwick Boseman). Daniel Kaluuya’s portrayal of Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” garnered a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture. “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” earned two nominations for star Andra Day: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Song. In the category of Best Original Song, three of the five nominated songs were written and performed by African Americans: Day’s “Tigress & Tweed”; Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” (from “One Night in Miami…”); and H.E.R.’s “Fight for You” (from “Judas and the Black Messiah”).

STX’s “The Mauritanian,” which is about a suspected terrorist imprisoned in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, stars Algerian French actor Tahar Rahim, who is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Asian representation at the Golden Globes this year is mostly from “Nomadland” filmmaker Zhao, who is nominated as a director, producer and screenwriter for the film. Riz Ahmed, who is of Pakistani British heritage, is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, for his role in Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal,” where he portrays an American heavy metal drummer who goes deaf. Indian British actor Dev Patel of Searchlight Pictures’ “The Personal History of David Copperfield” got a nod for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. A24’s “Minari,” about a Korean American family who moves to rural Arkansas, is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Latinos, who were mostly shut out of the Golden Globes this year, are represented only by Shudder’s Guatemalan horror movie “La Llorona” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film) and by “Hamilton” star/creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (who is Puerto Rican American descent), who got nominations for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while “Hamilton” (which has a multiracial cast) was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. “Hamilton,” which is a filmed 2016 performance of the Tony-winning musical, is available exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service and is not eligible for the Oscars because the movie was never released in theaters.

People of color are underrepresented in the TV categories. Almost all of the nominees are white in most of the TV categories this year. Black people got the most nominations in the the TV categories because of Amazon Prime Video’s limited series “Small Axe” (about Caribbean immigrant life in England), which picked up two nods: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, while “Small Axe” star John Boyega is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

African American actor Don Cheadle of Showtime’s “Black Monday” is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” which has a predominantly African American cast, is up for Best Television Series – Drama, although that is the only Golden Globe nomination it received this year.

Egyptian American actor Ramy Youssef from Hulu’s “Ramy” is nominated for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, an award he won in 2020. Native Americans, who are severely underrepresented in entertainment, received no nominations in any of the Golden Globe categories this year.

Portrayals of the disabled community are in nominated performances by Ahmed in “Sound of Metal” (about a musician who goes deaf) and Anthony Hopkins as a man with dementia in Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father.” Vertical Entertainment’s “Music,” about a recovering addict (played by Kate Hudson) raising her autistic teenage half-sister named Music (played by Maddie Ziegler), has sparked criticism over how autism is portrayed by Ziegler, who is not autistic, and for a controversial scene in which the autistic person is physically restrained. In television, Emmy-winning “I Know This Must Be True” star Mark Ruffalo portrays identical twins, one of whom has schizophrenia. For his role in this HBO limited drama series, Ruffalo is nominated for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

The LGBTQ community is represented in the movie categories with the musical “The Prom,” which is about a lesbian teenager who wants go to her school prom with her girlfriend. “The Prom,” directed and produced by Ryan Murphy (who is openly gay), is nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while James Corden (who plays a gay character in the movie) is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The French drama “Two of Us,” about two elderly lesbians, is nominated for Best International Film. And, as previously mentioned, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” star Davis (who portrays lesbian singer Ma Rainey) and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” star Day (who depicts bisexual singer Billie Holiday) are each nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

In television, the Murphy-produced Netflix limited series “Ratched” earned nominations for lead actress Sarah Paulson and supporting actress Cynthia Nixon, who are both openly lesbian/queer. Murphy is also nominated as an executive producer for “Ratched,” which is a contender for Best Television Series – Drama. Meanwhile, openly gay actor/writer/producer Dan Levy earned two nominations for “Schitt’s Creek”: Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. “Schitt’s Creek” (which has its series finale on the Pop Network in 2020) swept all the major categories for comedy TV series at the 2020 Emmy Awards, so it will be interesting to see how well “Schitt’s Creek” does at the Golden Globes.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2021 Golden Globe Awards:

MOVIES

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)
“Hamilton” (Disney+)
“Palm Springs” (Neon/Hulu)
“Music” (Vertical Entertainment)
“The Prom” (Netflix)

Best Director 
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
David Fincher, “Mank” (Netflix)
Regina King, “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Gary Oldman (“Mank”)
Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
James Corden (“The Prom”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”)
Dev Patel (“The Personal History of David Copperfield”)
Andy Samberg (“Palm Springs”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Kate Hudson (“Music”)
Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”)
Rosamund Pike (“I Care a Lot”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Jared Leto (“The Little Things”)
Bill Murray (“On the Rocks”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture 
Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
Jodie Foster (“The Mauritanian”)
Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)
Helena Zengel (“News of the World”)

Best Screenplay
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features) – Emerald Fennell
“Mank” (Netflix) – Jack Fincher
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) – Aaron Sorkin
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics) – Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Chloé Zhao

Best Original Score
“The Midnight Sky” – Alexandre Desplat
“Tenet” – Ludwig Göransson
“News of the World” – James Newton Howard
“Mank” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Soul” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

Best Original Song 
“Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
“Io Si (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead” – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios) – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
“Tigress & Tweed” from “The United States vs. Billie Holliday” (Hulu) – Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq

Best Animated Film 
“The Croods: A New Age” (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures)
“Onward” (Pixar Amination Studios/Disney)
“Over the Moon” (Netflix)
“Soul” (Pixar Animation Studios/Disney)
“Wolfwalkers” (Cartoon Saloon/Apple TV+)

Best Foreign Language Film
“Another Round” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“La Llorona” (Shudder)
“The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)
“Two of Us” (Magnolia Pictures)

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
“The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus)
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Ratched” (Netflix)

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
“Emily in Paris” (Netflix)
“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
“The Great” (Hulu)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)
Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”)
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Al Pacino (“Hunters”)
Matthew Rhys (“Perry Mason”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Emma Corrin (“The Crown”)
Laura Linney (“Ozark”)
Sarah Paulson (“Ratched”)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”)
Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)
Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)
Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris”)
Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)
Elle Fanning (“The Great”)
Jane Levy (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”)
Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Normal People” (Hulu/BBC)
“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
“Small Axe” (Amazon Prime Video/BBC)
“The Undoing” (HBO)
“Unorthodox” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Bryan Cranston (“Your Honor”)
Jeff Daniels (“The Comey Rule”)
Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”)
Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”)
Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”)
Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)
Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Boyega (“Small Axe”)
Brendan Gleeson (“The Comey Rule”)
Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jim Parsons (“Hollywood”)
Donald Sutherland (“The Undoing”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Julia Garner (“Ozark”)
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Cynthia Nixon (“Ratched”)

2021 NAACP Image Awards: ‘Black-ish’ is the top nominee

February 2, 2021

With 11 nods, the ABC comedy series “Black-ish” has the most 2021 NAACP Image Awards nominations. Following closely behind with 10 nominations is the Netflix musical movie “Jingle Jangle: Christmas Journey.” The Netflix dramatic film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and the Pixar Animation Studios film “Soul” received nine nominations each. Also getting several nominations are Beyoncé (eight nominations) and the HBO comedy series “Insecure” (seven nominations). Beyoncé’s nominations total includes her nods for her Disney+ “Black Is King” music film (which she starred in and co-directed) and for being a featured performer on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage (Remix).”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAuyX-kgSns

The following is a press release from the NAACP and BET:

Today, the full-list of nominees for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards were announced today in a special virtual event on NAACP Image Awards’ Instagram channel hosted by Tony-award winning actress and singer Anika Noni-Rose, actress and singer Chloe Bailey, actress Erika Alexander, actor, dancer, and choreographer Nicco Annan, and actor and singer TC Carson. NAACP Image award-winning and Emmy-nominated talk show “The Real”, kicked-off the announcement revealing nominees in 15 categories ahead of the virtual event. The winners will be revealed during the two-hour LIVE TV special airing on BET and will be simulcast across ViacomCBS Networks including CBS, BET Her, VH1, MTV, MTV2, and LOGO on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at 8/7c.

With the rise in usage of streaming services this year, Netflix leads the nominations across the motion picture and television categories with 48 total nominations followed by HBO who received a total of 25 nominations. Beyoncé received the most nominations of any artist in the music recording categories with six, and RCA Records leads with the most nominations across record labels with 12 nominations. For the literary categories HarperCollins Publishers lead with nine nominations.

NAACP additionally announced the nominees for the Special Awards categories which include Entertainer of the Year and Social Justice Impact. Nominees for the Entertainer of the Year award include D-Nice, Regina King, Trevor Noah, Tyler Perry and Viola Davis. Nominees for the Social Justice Impact award include April Ryan, Debbie Allen, LeBron James, Stacey Abrams and Tamika Mallory.

“We are excited to recognize and celebrate this year’s nominees, who at times throughout this unprecedented year have provided moments of levity, brought our communities together, and lifted our spirits through culture when we needed it the most,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. 

“BET shares the NAACP’s commitment to engage and empower our community, and we are proud to serve as partners on the 52nd Annual Image Awards,” said BET President Scott Mills. “The NAACP Image Awards uniquely honors our culture and community, recognizing those who help tell our stories through music, TV, movies, and literature. It is a distinct privilege for us to amplify the incredible work of the NAACP—and the best and brightest creative minds in the entertainment industry—across our ViacomCBS properties.

The NAACP Image Awards honors the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature, and film and also recognizes individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.

One of the most iconic annual celebrations of Black excellence, the NAACP Image Awards draws a crowd of the biggest and brightest stars in Hollywood. Previous years’ attendees include Rihanna, Lizzo, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Viola Davis, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington, Anthony Anderson, Sterling K. Brown, Loni Love, Sheryl Underwood, Mandy Moore, Halle Berry, Common, Dwayne Johnson, Audra Day, John Legend, Lena Waithe, Tracee Ellis Ross, David Oyelowo, Laverne Cox, Octavia Spencer, Issa Rae, Trevor Noah, Yara Shahidi, Danai Gurira, Jacob Latimore, Jill Scott, H.E.R., Jay Pharoah, Jemele Hill, Josh Gad, Loretta Devine, Sylvester Stallone, Meta Golding, Michael Smith, Tyler James Williams, Ava DuVernay, Chadwick Boseman, and many more.

Voting is now open to the public to determine the winners of the 52nd NAACP Image Awards by visiting www.naacpimageawards.net – Voting close on Friday, March 5, 2021. Winners will be revealed during the 52nd NAACP Image Awards telecast. Non-televised award categories will be announced virtually March 22-26, 2021. For all information and the latest news, please follow NAACP Image Awards on Instagram @NAACPImageAwards

Following is the complete list of categories and nominees for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards:

SPECIAL AWARD CATEGORIES

Entertainer of the Year

  • D-Nice
  • Regina King
  • Trevor Noah
  • Tyler Perry
  • Viola Davis

Social Justice Impact

  • April Ryan
  • Debbie Allen
  • LeBron James
  • Stacey Abrams
  • Tamika Mallory

TELEVISION + STREAMING CATEGORIES

Outstanding Comedy Series

  • #blackAF (Netflix)
  • Black-ish (ABC)
  • grown-ish (Freeform)
  • Insecure (HBO)
  • The Last O.G. (TBS)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Anthony Anderson – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Cedric The Entertainer – The Neighborhood (CBS)
  • Don Cheadle – Black Monday (Showtime)
  • Idris Elba – In the Long Run (Starz)
  • Tracy Morgan – The Last O.G. (TBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series

  • Issa Rae – Insecure (HBO)
  • Folake Olowofoyeku – Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS)
  • Regina Hall – Black Monday (Showtime)
  • Tracee Ellis Ross – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Yara Shahidi – Grown-ish (Freeform)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
  • Deon Cole – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Jay Ellis – Insecure (HBO)
  • Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
  • Laurence Fishburne – Black-ish (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

  • Jenifer Lewis – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Marsai Martin – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Natasha Rothwell – Insecure (HBO)
  • Tichina Arnold – The Neighborhood (CBS)
  • Yvonne Orji – Insecure (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series

  • All Rise (CBS)
  • Bridgerton (Netflix)
  • Lovecraft Country (HBO)
  • Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)
  • This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series

  • Jonathan Majors – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
  • Keith David – Greenleaf (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Nicco Annan – P-Valley (Starz)
  • Regé-Jean Page – Bridgerton (Netflix)
  • Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series

  • Angela Bassett – 9-1-1 (FOX)
  • Brandee Evans – P-Valley (Starz)
  • Jurnee Smollett – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
  • Simone Missick – All Rise (CBS)
  • Viola Davis – How To Get Away With Murder (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

  • Clifford “Method Man” Smith – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)
  • Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
  • J. Alphonse Nicholson – P-Valley (Starz)
  • Jeffrey Wright – Westworld (HBO)
  • Michael Kenneth Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

  • Adjoa Andoh – Bridgerton (Netflix)
  • Aunjanue Ellis – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
  • Lynn Whitfield – Greenleaf (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Mary J. Blige – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)
  • Susan Kelechi Watson – This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special

  • Hamilton (Disney+)
  • Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
  • Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix)
  • Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
  • The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special

  • Blair Underwood – Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix)
  • Chris Rock – Fargo (FX)
  • Daveed Diggs – Hamilton (Disney+)
  • Leslie Odom, Jr. – Hamilton (Disney+)
  • Nnamdi Asomugha – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special

  • Aunjanue Ellis – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
  • Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
  • Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You (HBO)
  • Octavia Spencer – Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix)
  • Tessa Thompson – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)

  • AM Joy: Remembering John Lewis Special (MSNBC)
  • Desus & Mero: The Obama Interview (Showtime)
  • The Color of Covid (CNN)
  • The New York Times Presents “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” (FX)
  • The Reidout (NBC)

Outstanding Talk Series

  • Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
  • Tamron Hall (Syndicated )
  • The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
  • The Oprah Conversation (Apple TV+)
  • The Shop: Uninterrupted (HBO)

Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series)

  • Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)
  • Iyanla: Fix My Life (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Shark Tank (ABC)
  • United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
  • Voices of Fire (Netflix)

Outstanding Variety Show (Series or Special)

  • 8:46 (Netflix)
  • Black Is King (Disney+)
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion (HBO Max)
  • VERZUZ (APPLE TV)
  • Yvonne Orji: Momma I Made It! (HBO)

Outstanding Children’s Program

  • Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices (Netflix)
  • Craig of the Creek (Cartoon Network)
  • Family Reunion (Netflix)
  • Raven’s Home (Disney Channel)
  • We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited–Series)

  • Alex R. Hibbert – The Chi (Showtime)
  • Lexi Underwood – Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
  • Lyric Ross – This Is Us (NBC)
  • Marsai Martin – Black-ish (ABC)
  • Miles Brown – Black-ish (ABC)

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble

  • Don Lemon – CNN Tonight with Don Lemon (CNN)
  • Jada Pinkett Smith – Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
  • Joy Reid – The Reidout (NBC)
  • LeBron James – The Shop: Uninterrupted (HBO)
  • Trevor Noah – The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble

  • Alfonso Ribeiro – America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
  • Iyanla Vanzant – Iyanla: Fix My Life (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Steve Harvey – Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)
  • W. Kamau Bell – United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
  • RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

Outstanding Guest Performance – Comedy or Drama Series

  • Chris Rock – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
  • Courtney B. Vance – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
  • Dave Chappelle – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
  • Issa Rae – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
  • Loretta Devine – P-Valley (Starz)

Outstanding Animated Series

  • Big Mouth (Netflix)
  • Central Park (Apple TV+)
  • Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior)
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)
  • Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)

  • Aisha Tyler – Archer (FX)
  • Courtney B. Vance – Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (PBS)
  • Dawnn Lewis – Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)
  • Deon Cole – Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix)
  • Laya DeLeon Hayes – Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior)

Outstanding Short Form Series – Comedy or Drama

  • #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)
  • CripTales (BBC America)
  • Lazor Wulf (Adult Swim)
  • Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
  • Sincerely, Camille (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Outstanding Performance in a Short Form Series

  • Giancarlo Esposito – The Broken and the Bad (AMC.com )
  • J.B. Smoove – Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
  • Jasmine Cephas Jones – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)
  • Laurence Fishburne – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)
  • Stephan James – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)

Outstanding Short Form Series – Reality/Nonfiction

  • American Masters – Unladylike2020 (PBS)
  • Benedict Men (Quibi)
  • Between The Scenes – The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
  • In The Making (PBS)
  • Inspire Change Series (NFL Network)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)

  • Katori Hall – P-Valley (Starz)
  • Keith Knight – Woke (Hulu)
  • Ramy Youssef – Ramy (Hulu)
  • Raynelle Swilling – Cherish the Day (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Teri Schaffer – Cherish the Day (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

RECORDING CATEGORIES

Outstanding New Artist

  • Chika – High Rises (Warner Records)
  • Doja Cat – Say So (RCA Records/Kemosabe )
  • D Smoke – Black Habits (WoodWorks Records / EMPIRE)
  • Giveon – When It’s All Said And Done (Epic Records)
  • Skip Marley – Higher Place (Island Records/ Tuff Gong Records)

Outstanding Male Artist

  • Big Sean – Detroit 2 (Def Jam Recordings/G.O.O.D Music)
  • Black Thought – Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able (Republic Records)
  • Charlie Wilson – All of My Love (P Music Group/BMG)
  • Drake – Laugh Now, Cry Later (Republic Records)
  • John Legend – Bigger Love (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Female Artist

  • Beyoncé – Black Parade (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • H.E.R. – I Can’t Breathe (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
  • Jazmine Sullivan – Lost One (RCA Records)
  • Ledisi – Anything For You (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
  • Alicia Keys – Alicia (RCA Records)

Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album

  • I Can’t Breathe – H.E.R. (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
  • Anything For You – Ledisi (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
  • Black is King – Beyoncé (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • Brown Skin Girl – Beyoncé feat. WizKid, SAINt JHN, Blu Ivy Carter (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • Do It – Chloe x Halle (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)

Outstanding Album

  • Alicia – Alicia Keys (RCA Records)
  • b7 – Brandy (Brand Nu/eOne)
  • Bigger Love – John Legend (Columbia Records)
  • Chilombo – Jhené Aiko (Def Jam Recordings)
  • The Wild Card – LEDISI (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)

Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album

  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Music from the Netflix Film) – Branford Marsalis (Milan)
  • Insecure: Music from the HBO Original Series – Various Artists (Atlantic Records)
  • Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey – Various Artists (Atlantic Records )
  • Soul Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste and Tom MacDougall (Walt Disney Records)
  • The First Ladies of Gospel: The Clark Sisters Biopic Soundtrack – Donald Lawrence (Relevé Entertainment)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album

  • Chosen Vessel – Marvin Sapp (RCA Inspiration)
  • Gospel According to PJ – PJ Morton (Morton Inspiration / Tyscot Records)
  • I Am – Koryn Hawthorne (RCA Inspiration)
  • Kierra – Kierra Sheard (Karew/RCA Inspiration)
  • The Return – The Clark Sisters (Karew/Motown)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song

  • All in His Plan – PJ Morton (Morton Inspiration / Tyscot Records)
  • Never Lost – CeCe Winans (Pure Springs Gospel)
  • Something Has To Break – Kierra Sheard feat. Tasha Cobbs-Leonard (Karew/RCA Inspiration)
  • Strong God – Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul/RCA Records)
  • Touch from You – Tamela Mann (TillyMann Inc.)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental

  • Be Water – Christian Sands (Mack Avenue Music Group)
  • Music From and Inspired By Soul – Jon Batiste (Walt Disney Records)
  • Omega – Immanuel Wilkins (Blue Note Records)
  • Reciprocity – George Burton (Inner Circle Music)
  • The Iconoclast – Barry Stephenson (Independent)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal

  • Donny Duke and Wonder – Nathan Mitchell (ENM Music Group)
  • Holy Room – Live at Alte Oper – Somi (Salon Africana)
  • Pulling Off The Covers – Mike Phillips (Sono Recording Group)
  • Stronger – Jeff Bradshaw (Bone Deep Enterprises)
  • The Eddy (From The Netflix Original Series) – The Eddy (Arista Records)

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song

  • I Can’t Breathe – H.E.R. (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
  • Anything For You – LEDISI (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
  • B.S. feat. H.E.R – Jhené Aiko (Def Jam Recordings)
  • Black Parade – Beyoncé (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • Do It – Chloe x Halle (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)

Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song

  • Deep Reverence feat. Nipsey Hussle – Big Sean (Brand Nu/eOne)
  • Savage Remix – Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé (300 Entertainment / 1501 Certified Ent. LLC)
  • Cool Off – Missy Elliott (Atlantic Records)
  • Laugh Now, Cry Later – Drake (Republic Records)
  • Life Is Good – Future & Drake (Epic Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)

  • Alicia Keys feat. Jill Scott – Jill Scott (RCA Records)
  • Chloe x Halle – Wonder What She Thinks Of Me (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Babyface – He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It (BMG)
  • Kem feat. Toni Braxton – Live Out Your Love (Motown Records)
  • Ledisi and PJ Morton – Anything For You (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary)

  • Alicia Keys feat. Khalid – So Done (RCA Records)
  • Big Sean feat. Nipsey Hussle – Deep Reverence (Def Jam Recordings/G.O.O.D Music)
  • Chloe x Halle – Do It (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
  • Jhené Aiko feat. H.E.R. – B.S. (Def Jam Recordings)
  • Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé – Savage Remix (300 Entertainment / 1501 Certified Ent. LLC)

Outstanding International Song

  • Blessed – Buju Banton (Roc Nation Records)
  • Lockdown – Original Koffee (Promise Land Recordings)
  • Pressure (Remix) – Original Koffee feat. Buju Banton (Promise Land Recordings)
  • Tanana – Davido feat. Tiwa Savage (RCA Records/Sony Music U.K./Davido Worldwide Entertainment)
  • Temptation – Tiwa Savage (Motown Records)

Outstanding Producer of the Year

  • Donald Lawrence
  • Hit-Boy
  • Jathan Wilson
  • Sean Keys
  • TM88

MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES

Outstanding Motion Picture

  • Bad Boys For Life (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment)
  • Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
  • Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
  • One Night In Miami… (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

  • Anthony Mackie – The Banker (Apple)
  • Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
  • Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
  • Forest Whitaker – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Will Smith – Bad Boys For Life (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

  • Issa Rae – The Photograph (Universal Pictures)
  • Janelle Monáe – Antebellum (Lionsgate)
  • Madalen Mills – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Tracee Ellis Ross – The High Note (Focus Features)
  • Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

  • Aldis Hodge – One Night In Miami… (Amazon Studios)
  • Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
  • Clarke Peters – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
  • Colman Domingo – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
  • Glynn Turman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

  • Anika Noni Rose – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Gabourey Sidibe – Antebellum (Lionsgate)
  • Nia Long – The Banker (Apple)
  • Phylicia Rashad – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Taylour Paige – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

  • Emperor (Universal Home Video)
  • Farewell Amor (IFC Films)
  • Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)
  • The 24th (Vertical Entertainment)
  • The Banker (Apple)

Outstanding International Motion Picture

  • Ainu Mosir (ARRAY)
  • His House (Netflix)
  • Night of the Kings (Neon)
  • The Last Tree (ArtMattan Productions)
  • The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a se) (Netflix)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture

  • Dayo Okeniyi – Emperor (Universal Home Video)
  • Dominique Fishback – Project Power (Netflix)
  • Jahi Di’Allo Winston – Charm City Kings (HBO Max)
  • Jahzir Bruno – The Witches (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • Madalen Mills – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

  • Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
  • Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
  • Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • The Banker (Apple)

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture

  • Onward (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Over the Moon (Netflix)
  • Scoob! (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Trolls World Tour (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Motion Picture

  • Ahmir-Khalib Thompson aka Questlove – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Angela Bassett – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Chris Rock – The Witches (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • Jamie Foxx – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Phylicia Rashad – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Short Form. (Live Action)

  • Baldwin Beauty (Powderkeg Media)
  • Black Boy Joy (Film Independent Project Involve )
  • Gets Good Light
  • Home
  • Mr. & Mrs. Ellis (AMB Productions)

Outstanding Short Form (Animated)

  • Canvas (Netflix)
  • Cops and Robbers (Netflix)
  • Loop (Pixar Animation Studios)
  • The Power of Hope (The Power Of Hope)
  • Windup (Unity Technologies)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)

  • Loira Limbal – Through the Night (Third Shift Media, Inc.)
  • Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Shoes In The Bed Productions)
  • Nadia Hallgren – Becoming (A Higher Ground Productions and Big Mouth Productions Film for Netflix)
  • Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
  • Remi Weekes – His House (Netflix)

DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES

Outstanding Documentary (Film)

  • All In: The Fight For Democracy (Amazon Studios)
  • Coded Bias (7th Empire Media)
  • John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures/Participant)
  • Mr. Soul! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
  • On the Record (HBO Max)

Outstanding Documentary (Television)

  • And She Could Be Next (PBS)
  • Black Love (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
  • The Last Dance (ESPN / Netflix)
  • Unsung (TV One)

WRITING CATEGORIES

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

  • Issa Rae – Insecure – “Lowkey Feelin’ Myself” (HBO)
  • Lee Eisenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon – Little America – “The Rock” (Apple TV+)
  • Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO)
  • Mindy Kaling, Lang Fisher – Never Have I Ever “Pilot” (Netflix)
  • Rajiv Joseph – Little America – “The Manager” (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

  • Attica Locke – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Spider Web” (Hulu)
  • Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard – The Good Lord Bird – “A Wicked Plot” (Showtime)
  • Jessica Lamour – Little Voice – “Love Hurts” (Apple TV+)
  • Katori Hall – P-Valley – “Perpetratin'” (Starz)
  • Tanya Barfield – Mrs. America – “Shirley” (FX)

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special

  • Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, D. Rodney Carter, Emily Goldwyn, Rob Haze, Zuri Salahuddin, Bennett Webber, Evan Williams, Will Miles – Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular (IFC)
  • Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
  • Geri Cole – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton (Disney+)
  • Sylvia L. Jones, Camille Tucker – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture

  • David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
  • Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
  • Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, Mike Jones – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)

Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)

  • Mary Mazzio – A Most Beautiful Thing (Peacock)
  • Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Maysles Documentary Center)
  • Nile Cone – The Beat Don’t Stop (TV One)
  • Royal Kennedy Rodgers – Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (PBS)
  • Yoruba Richen, Elia Gasull Balada, Valerie Thomas – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)

DIRECTING CATEGORIES

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

  • Anya Adams – Black-ish – “Hair Day” (ABC)
  • Aurora Guerrero – Little America – “The Jaguar” (Apple TV+)
  • Eric Dean Seaton – Black-ish – “Our Wedding Dre” (ABC)
  • Kabir Akhtar – Never Have I Ever – “… started a nuclear war” (Netflix)
  • Sam Miller, Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO)

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

  • Cheryl Dunye – Lovecraft Country – “Strange Case” (HBO)
  • Hanelle Culpepper – Star Trek: Picard – “Remembrance” (CBS All Access)
  • Misha Green – Lovecraft Country – “Jig-a-Bobo” (HBO)
  • Nzingha Stewart – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Uncanny” (Hulu)
  • Steve McQueen – Small Axe – “Mangrove” (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special

  • Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Emmanuel Adeji, Blitz Bazawule, Kwasi Fordjour – Black Is King (Disney+)
  • Christine Swanson – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
  • Chuck Vinson, Alan Muraoka – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)
  • Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
  • Kamilah Forbes – Between The World And Me (HBO)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture

  • David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
  • George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
  • Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Old Guard (Netflix)
  • Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
  • Regina King – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)

  • Keith McQuirter – By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem (EPIX)
  • Muta’Ali – Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn (HBO)
  • Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff – Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (Ep. 1 & 2) (HBO)
  • Simcha Jacobovici – Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
  • Yoruba Richen – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)

LITERARY CATEGORIES

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction 

  • Black Bottom Saints – Alice Randall (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Lakewood – Megan Giddings (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Riot Baby – Tochi Onyebuchi (TorDotCom Publishing, imprint of Tom Doherty Associates)
  • The Awkward Black Man – Walter Mosley (Grove Atlantic)
  • The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (Riverhead Books)

Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction

  • A Black Women’s History of the United States – Daina Berry (Beacon Press)
  • A Promised Land – Barack Obama (Crown)
  • Driving While Black – Gretchen Sorin (W. W. Norton & Company)
  • Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America – Michael Eric Dyson (St. Martin’s Press)
  • We’re Better Than This – Elijah Cummings (HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author 

  • A Knock at Midnight – Brittany Barnett (Penguin Random House)
  • Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World – Cole Brown (Skyhorse)
  • Lakewood – Megan Giddings (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • The Compton Cowboys – Walter Thompson-Hernandez (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • We’re Better Than This – Elijah Cummings (HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography 

  • A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team – Arshay Cooper (Macmillan)
  • A Promised Land – Barack Obama (Crown)
  • Olympic Pride, American Prejudice – Deborah Draper (Simon & Schuster)
  • The Dead Are Arising – Les Payne, Tamara Payne (W. W. Norton & Company)
  • Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL’s First Black Player – Willie O’Ree (Penguin Canada)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional

  • Do Right by Me: Learning to Raise Black Children in White Space – Valerie Harrison (Temple University Press)
  • Living Lively – Haile Thomas (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • The Black Foster Youth Handbook – Ángela Quijada-Banks (Soulful Liberation)
  • The Woman God Created You to Be: Finding Success Through Faith–Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally – Kimberla Lawson Roby (Lenox Press)
  • Vegetable Kingdom – Bryant Terry (Penguin Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry 

  • Homie – Danez Smith (Graywolf Press)
  • Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry – John Murillo (Four Way Books)
  • Seeing the Body – Rachel Eliza Griffiths (W. W. Norton & Company)
  • The Age of Phillis – Honorée Jeffers (Wesleyan University Press)
  • Un-American – Hafizah Geter (Wesleyan University Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children

  • I Promise – LeBron James, Nina Mata (HarperCollins)
  • Just Like a Mama – Alice Faye Duncan, Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Simon & Schuster)
  • Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice – Nikki Grimes, Laura Freeman (Simon & Schuster)
  • She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm – Katheryn Russell-Brown, Eric Velasquez (Lee & Low Books)
  • The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver – Gene Barretta, Frank Morrison (HarperCollins)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens 

  • Before the Ever After – Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin Random House)
  • Black Brother, Black Brother – Jewell Parker Rhodes (Hachette Book Group)
  • Dear Justyce – Nic Stone (Crown Books for Young Readers)
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning – Jason Reynolds (Hachette Book Group)
  • This is Your Time – Ruby Bridges (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

NAACP

Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2 million activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP. NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP but separated in 1957 to become a completely separate entity. It is recognized as the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization, and shares our commitment to equal rights. 

About BET

BET, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel is in 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa and France. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks – BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET’s growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

Review: ‘Life in a Day 2020,’ the sequel to director Kevin Macdonald’s documentary compiling a day in the lives of people around the world

February 2, 2021

by Carla Hay

A scene from “Life in a Day 2020” (Photo courtesy of YouTube Originals)

“Life in a Day 2020”

Directed by Kevin Macdonald

The movie has several languages in subtitles.

Culture Representation: Taking place in various locations around the world, the documentary “Life in a Day 2020” features racially diverse groups of people (white, black, Asian, Latino and indigenous) who filmed themselves and their surroundings on July 25, 2020.

Culture Clash: The documentary shows people with contrasting lifestyles, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious customs and political ideologies.

Culture Audience: “Life in a Day 2020″ will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching documentaries that are more about quick montages than in-depth profiles.

A scene from “Life in a Day 2020″ (Photo courtesy of YouTube Originals)

On July 24, 2010, director Kevin Macdonald had thousands people around the world film any aspect of their lives on that day. With the help of a large team of editors and other filmmakers, the resulting footage was compiled and edited into the quick-cutting montage documentary “Life in a Day,” which was released in 2011. Ten years after Life in a Day” was filmed, Macdonald revisited the same concept in the same short-attention-span style, but this time the participants filmed on July 25, 2020. The edited results are in the documentary “Life in a Day 2020,” which had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. “Life in a Day 2020” is a sequel that proves that the novelty has definitely worn off of crowdsourcing cinematography, but the movie can be mildly recommended for people who are curious or bored.

According to a written prologue in “Life in a Day 2020,” Macdonald and his team received 324,000 videos from 192 countries. “Life in a Day 2020” has much less appeal than its predecessor documentary because in the 10 years since the original “Life in a Day” was filmed, millions of more people around the world have been putting videos of their daily lives on the Internet. “Life in a Day 2020” is a YouTube Originals documentary, so the movies has a predictable montage of YouTubers who want to be famous. It feels a bit too meta.

People who saw the original “Life in a Day” back in 2011 would be hard-pressed to remember much about it, unless they were in the movie or personally knew someone who was. A frustration with the original movie and the sequel is that they both jump around so fast that these quick cuts don’t allow the viewer enough time to really get to know anyone in the documentary. It’s definitely a case of cramming in as much as possible, with quality sometimes sacrificed for quantity.

However, there’s still enough to hold people’s interest if viewers want to take a whirlwind cinematic ride around the world. Just don’t expect the movie to indicate which countries are being shown in each piece of footage, or the names of people in the footage, unless someone specifically says where they are, or you can identify what language is being spoken. There are no written indicators to guide viewers about the locations of almost all of the footage in the movie. The end credits show a long list of people who appear in the film, but it isn’t much help because the names aren’t put to faces.

The documentary’s editing is random and all over the place. Some parts of the movie are montages of people from different parts of the world doing the same things, such as women giving birth, people praying, or people at weddings. Occasionally, some people are seen in the film in one scene and are revisited later in the movie, such as a young man in an unknown U.S. state who’s standing near a train track and says he has a goal to film seven trains before the end of the day. It’s not exactly compelling or suspenseful, because you know he wouldn’t be in the movie if he didn’t reach that goal.

A lot of the movie is about showing kids and families at play. The family scenes are fairly typical, very tame, and almost always harmonious. (There are no big family squabbles in this movie.) A Southeast Asian father in India lovingly talks about how today is his daughter’s birthday. An American mother wakes up her kids with a smile and remarks how they have their phones in their hands while sleeping in bed. She says, “This is the generation we live in, where kids go to sleep holding a cell phone.”

There are large sections of the movie that show love and romance. Couples (gay and straight) are seen kissing, in a montage from various locations. Girlfriends coo, “I love you” to boyfriends who are filming them.

And in case people think the documentary only shows love-dovey relationships, there’s a scene with a woman who calmly breaks up with her boyfriend while he’s filming her cooking at a stove. And then she bursts into tears. You have to wonder who sent in this footage for the documentary. (She probably did.)

In another scene, a man proposes to his girlfriend and she won’t give him an answer, but you can tell she wanted to say no, but not on camera. Sitting by himself in his car after this semi-rejection, the man says that all relationships goes through ups and downs. If director Macdonald makes a 2030 version of “Life in a Day,” who wants to bet this couple won’t be together by then?

Speaking of follow-ups, there are a few people who were in the original “Life in a Day” that make a reappearance in “Life in a Day 2020.” One of these appearance is memorable and heartbreaking, while the other is innocuous. The re-appearance that’s not very special is of an unidentified boy who’s about 11 or 12 years old, who’s sitting in a diner-styled restaurant somewhere in Asia with his father, stepmother and a girl who’s about 9 or 10 and could be his sister or stepsister. All the boy says is that he was in the first “Life in a Day” movie and his father had remarried since that movie was filmed.

The other reappearance shows an American mother watching “Life in a Day” on her TV and fast-forwarding to the scene of her son Alexander Lucas (whose nicknames were Alex and ATG), who was 14 when she filmed herself waking him up in his bed. In “Life in a Day 2020,” the mother, with her voice almost breaking into tears, shows where he is now: His ashes are in an urn. And she says he died of complications from COVID-19. The documentary epilogue shows that “Life in a Day 2020” is dedicated to Lucas.

The COVID-19 pandemic is given some screen time, but not as much as you might think. There’s a montage of funerals for people who’ve died of COVID-19. And throughout the film, there are shots of people wearing masks. But then, there are other scenes of people partying in groups, not wearing masks and not social distancing, as if they’re not in the middle of a deadly pandemic.

Speaking of not wearing masks during the pandemic, there’s a scene of an American man in his 30s who’s shown filming himself jogging in his neighborhood and then stopping at his house and pointing to an American flag. While he looks around, he proudly states that he won’t wear a mask and no one is protesting against him because of it. No one is protesting because he’s on an empty street with no one else nearby.

A middle-aged American man, who says he lost everything because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is shown living out of his van. He says homeless people like him are “the invisible people.” Later, he finds comfort in flying some remote controlled toy aircraft, and he says that this activity helps him take his mind off of his problems.

“Life in a Day 2020” gives a bare minimum of screen time to all the political and social unrest that was happening around the world in July 2020. The U.S. presidential election or any divisive political issue that was big news in July 2020 is treated like a minefield that the documentary largely wants to avoid. The Black Lives Matter movement gets less screen time in the documentary than montages of people acting goofy in their homes.

If there’s one major flaw of “Life in a Day 2020,” it’s that there should have been more footage for things that look specific to 2020. The worldwide racial reckoning that reached a fever pitch in July 2020 is barely acknowledged. There’s a quick scene of a shrine to George Floyd outside of the place where he died in Minneapolis. And there are a few African Americans throughout the movie who talk about police brutality and racism, including the deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

A woman in her 20s films herself in a car trying not to get emotional about a police department refusing to release video of what happened when a young, unarmed black man died in police custody. She says she has two brothers who died this way. And in another scene, an African American man in his 20s drives past a house covered in Confederate flags. “This is something I have to deal with every day,” he says in a rueful voice.

Meanwhile, in another part of the movie, an avid Donald Trump supporter named Gerardo Duran, a former first class sergeant in the U.S. military, is at his home and proudly shows off a framed 2017 letter that was signed from Donald and Melania Trump. In the letter (which clearly shows his name), Duran gets birthday greetings and a thank you for his military service. He also shows photos of himself on duty when he was in the military.

And for comic relief, the documentary includes selfie video footage of a traffic officer in Los Angeles as he gives out parking tickets. There’s a montage of people whining or giving excuses for why they shouldn’t get a ticket, but he remains unmoved and gives them tickets anyway. The camera shows him muttering sarcastic remarks to himself about the types of people he has to deal with when he’s working. No word on what this traffic officer’s boss will think when seeing this footage.

And then there’s another scene that’s unintentionally funny. A middle-aged American man, who appears to be some kind of New Age counselor with symbols painted on face, is leading a small group meeting. In the middle of his spacey babbling about how he’s such a giving person, he starts to cry. “I’ve been giving for 50 years, and it’s like medicine for me,” he sobs. It looks like a comical parody of a hipster “soul cleansing” session, but it’s obvious that everyone there was being serious.

Something that’s a little odd about “Life in a Day 2020” is that there’s a lot of footage of women being filmed by their boyfriends or husbands, not the other way around. It definitely gives the movie a very “male gaze.” Seriously, out of all the thousands of hours of footage that was sent for this documentary, the filmmakers couldn’t find enough footage of women taking videos of their significant others to balance things out? Women can hold a phone that has a videocamera just as easily as men can.

One of the people who gets more than one scene in the movie is an American woman being filmed by her husband or love partner (who’s not seen on camera), as she goes into a medical facility to get the results of her pregnancy test while he waits in the car. When she comes out of the building and goes back to the car, she tells him that she’s not pregnant and then she bursts into tears. He comforts her and tells her that they’ll keep trying to get pregnant, and then they talk about possibly going through in vitro fertilization treatments. Later in the movie, she has cheered up a little bit and talks about how becoming a mother is the most important thing she wants to do in her life.

And there’s another emotionally moving scene of loved ones dealing with some medical issues. A wheelchair-using father and his daughter, who’s about 7 or 8 years old, talk about the future. (They sound like they have Australian or New Zealand accents.) He says he wants to get well and the daughter shows optimism that he will. There are also some scenes of people in hospitals or in their homes as invalids. The movie doesn’t slow down long enough to say what kinds of illnesses these people have.

On a lighter note, there are a few eccentrics who are in the documentary. An elderly man is shown introducing the spiders in his home, who all have names that he’s given them. A transgender woman somewhere in Asia struts her stuff and holds her head high, even when she is taunted by a few men on the street. And then she bursts into song.

There are also several predictable scenes of people in all types of environments interacting with their pets (dogs, cats, birds, goats, etc.) and sometimes treating the pets like humans. And there’s a montage of wildlife too, on land and in open waters. There’s also footage of farm animals that are being handled as future meat for people. (Look away if the sight of helpless baby chickens on a conveyor belt is too much for you.)

The documentary has a few references to environmental issues. There are many scenes showing places that range from literally dumpy (such as a garbage landfill) to beautifully scenic and pristine, and everything in between. In Nigeria, a man is shown in the middle of a flood and worries about what will happen to his home. And since July is winter in some parts of the world, the seasonal landscapes look different, depending on the country. It’s too bad the documentary doesn’t tell viewers the specific city or country of where each scene takes place.

Ultimately, “Life in a Day 2020” is a documentary that looks a lot like a compilation of social media videos from around the world. Back in 2011, it might have looked more fascinating. But now, smartphones have become so common that anyone with a smartphone can become a filmmaker and put the footage on the Internet. If people really want to see everyday lives around the world, they can do that anytime on the Internet without waiting 10 years for another documentary about it.

YouTube Originals will premiere “Life in a Day” on February 6, 2021.

2021 Sundance Film Festival: winners announced

February 2, 2021

by Carla Hay

The winners of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival were announced in its annual award ceremony, held this year as a virtual event (hosted by Patton Oswalt) on February 2 in Park City, Utah. The annual festival, which is presented by the Sundance Institute, runs from January 28 to February 3 this year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire festival was virtual.

“CODA” won top prizes in the U.S. Dramatic categories, as not only the Grand Jury winner, but also the Audience Award winner. The comedy/drama, which is about a Massachusetts teenager who has deaf parents and a deaf brother, also broke the record for the highest monetary acquisition for a movie that premiered at Sundance. The movie’s cast includes Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur.

Apple TV+ purchased “CODA” for a reported $25 million, breaking the previous record held by the Andy Samberg comedy “Palm Springs,” which Hulu purchased for $17.5 million (and 69 cents) acquisition in 2020. “CODA” also won the Sundance prizes for and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic (for director Siân Heder) and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast.

In the World Dramatic Feature categories, director Blerta Basholli’s drama “Hive” was the top winner with three prizes, for the Grand Jury Award, Audience Award and Best Director. The movie is about a woman in Kosovo who starts an ajvar business after her husband goes missing.

The top U.S. documentary winner was “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. “Summer of Soul” received the Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award. The documentary is the directorial debut of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The animated film “Flee,” about a Afghanistan immigrant living in Denmark, was the winner of the World Documentary Grand Jury Award. “Writing With Fire,” about the only Indian newspaper operated by Dalit women, received the World Documentary Audience Award.

Here is the complete list of winners:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Emilia Jones in “CODA” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

Grand Jury Prize: “CODA”

Audience Award: “CODA”

Directing: Siân Heder, “CODA”

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, “On the Count of Three”

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: “CODA”

Special Jury Best Actor Award: Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Sly Stone in “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Photo courtesy of Mass Distraction Media)

Grand Jury Prize: “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

Audience Award: “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

Directing: Natalia Almada, “Users”

Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker: Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, “Cusp”

Special Jury Award for Editing: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, “Homeroom”

Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation: Theo Anthony, “All Light, Everywhere”

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Yllka Gashi, Molikë Maxhuni, Kaona Sylejmani and Blerta Ismajli in “Hive” (Photo by Alexander Bloom)

Grand Jury Prize: “Hive”

Audience Award: “Hive”

Directing Award: Blerta Basholli, “Hive”

Special Jury Award for Acting: Jesmark Scicluna, “Luzzo”

Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Baz Poonpiriya, “One for the Road”

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

“Flee” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

Grand Jury Prize: “Flee”

Audience Award: “Writing With Fire”

Directing Award: Hogir Hirori, “Sabaya”

Special Jury Award for Editing: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorn, “Homeroom”

Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking: Camilla Nielsson, “President”

Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, “Writing With Fire”

SHORT FILMS

Pamilerin Ayodeji in “Lizard” (Photo by British Broadcasting Corporation and Potboiler Productions Ltd.)

Grand Jury Prize: “Lizard”

U.S. Fiction Jury Award: “The Touch of the Master’s Hand”

International Fiction Jury Award: “Bambirak”

Nonfiction Jury Award: “Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma”

Animation Jury Award: “Souvenir Souvenir”

Special Jury Award for Acting: “Wiggle Room”

Special Jury Award for Screenwriting: “The Criminals”

OTHER AWARDS

Lucien Guignard, Idella Johnson and Hannah Pepper in “Ma Belle, My Beauty” (Photo by Lauren Guiteras)

NEXT Audience Award: “Ma Belle, My Beauty”

NEXT Innovator Award: “Cryptozoo”

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: “Sons of Monarchs”

Sundance Institute NHK Award: Meryman Joobeur, “Motherhood”

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction: Natalie Qasabian, “Run”

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction: Nicole Salazar, “Philly D.A.”

Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Nonfiction: Juli Vizza

Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Fiction: Terilyn Shropshire

Review: ‘Judas and the Black Messiah,’ starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield

February 1, 2021

by Carla Hay

LaKeith Stanfield (in front) and Daniel Kaluuya (in back) in “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Photo by Glenn Wilson/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Judas and the Black Messiah”

Directed by Shaka King

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in Chicago in 1968 and 1969, the drama “Judas and the Black Messiah” features a predominately African American cast (with some white people and Latinos) representing people involved in the civil rights movement and law enforcement.

Culture Clash: The Black Panther Party, including Illinois chapter chairman Fred Hampton, was the target of FBI investigations that included hiring an African American paid informant named Bill O’Neal to infiltrate the Black Panther Party to help the FBI bring down Hampton and his colleagues.

Culture Audience: “Judas and the Black Messiah” will appeal primarily to people interested in movies about the civil rights movement for African Americans.

LaKeith Stanfield and Jesse Plemons in “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Photo by Glenn Wilson/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” which is based on true events, mostly succeeds as presenting a rousing and riveting depiction of a troubling side of the U.S. civil rights movement that is rarely seen as the central plot of a movie: How African Americans were used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to betray African American civil rights leaders who were labeled as “troublemakers” by the FBI. It’s a necessary and sometimes uncomfortable examination of specific people in the late 1960s history of the civil rights movement, even though “Judas and the Black Messiah” has some awards-bait dramatics that were obviously manufactured for the movie.

Directed by Shaka King (who co-wrote the screenplay with Will Berson), “Judas and the Black Messiah” shows two very different sides of the African American experience with the civil rights movement. On the one side is the urgent activism embodied by Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. On the other side, is the passive political apathy of William “Bill” O’Neal, a car thief who was lured into betraying the Black Panthers by being a paid confidential informant for the FBI, in exchange for the FBI keeping O’Neal out of prison for his past crimes, such as car theft and impersonating a FBI agent.

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” which takes place primarily in Chicago, is told from perspective of O’Neal (played by LaKeith Stanfield), but Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya) is most definitely portrayed as the heroic soul of the movie. In real life, Hampton and O’Neal were in their early 20s when this movie takes place from late 1968 to late 1969. Thankfully, the filmmakers chose “Judas and the Black Messiah” as the movie’s title, instead of the movie’s original and very misleading title “Jesus Was My Homeboy.” Jesus is not a major theme in this movie at all.

The term “black messiah” refers to then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s fear that the civil rights movement would gain momentum under a powerful and charismatic leader. For a while, that leader was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), until he was brutally assassinated on April 4, 1968. “Judas and the Black Messiah” starts off in late 1968, when the civil rights movement became increasingly fractured by ideological divides between those who wanted to follow MLK’s non-violence philosophy and those such as the Black Panthers, who wanted to follow a more left-wing-leaning “any means necessary” philosophy, even if those means included violence.

Hoover has been depicted in various ways in movies and television, but in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” there’s no doubt that Hoover (played by Martin Sheen, in prosthetic makeup) is the movie’s chief villain. In an early scene in the movie, Hoover is presumably at FBI headquarters as he addresses an auditorium full of FBI agents (all white men, as Hoover reportedly preferred), with an oversized projection screen that looks a little too ahead of its time, as if he’s giving a TED Talk. This is supposed to be 1968, not 2018. It’s one of a few details that don’t ring true in the movie.

During this FBI assembly, Hoover sneers, “The Black Panthers are the single greatest threat to our national security. Our counterintelligence program must prevent the rise of a black messiah among their midst, one with the potential to unite Communists, the anti-war and the new left movements.” A photo of Hampton then appears on the giant projection screen, to make it clear that Hampton is now one of the FBI’s main targets.

Meanwhile, O’Neal is shown being a small-time car thief with an unusual method of operation: He impersonates a FBI agent (including having a fake badge) and pretends to arrest someone for having a stolen car. He looks for potential victims, by at least finding out their names and what kind of car they have, so the fake arrest can look real. And he chooses people who are probably into illegal activities and aren’t likely to go to the police when the theft victims find out they’ve been tricked. It’s implied that all of O’Neal’s theft victims are black, since he knows he’d have very little chance of getting away with this FBi impersonation stunt if he tried it on white people.

What usually happens during this fake FBI arrest is that O’Neal gets the handcuffed person’s car keys and steals that person’s car. Except when viewers first see O’Neal in this movie, that plan backfires in a bad way. O’Neal walks into a bar while some men are playing pool and tries to arrest one of them, but this stranger resists being handcuffed. The “arrestee” has a few friends who also try to stop the detainment. They’re all immediately suspicious of this “arrest” and chase after O’Neal in the car.

One of the friends jumps on the car roof with a knife and starts stabbing through the roof and ends up stabbing O’Neal. The injuries aren’t serious, but they’re enough for this car theft to be completely botched. O’Neal barely manages to get away from the angry group when he’s pulled over by police.

The movie then fast-forwards to O’Neal in a meeting with the FBI special agent who will be the one to lure O’Neal into the FBI sting: Roy Mitchell (played by Jesse Plemons), an ambitious smooth talker who asks O’Neal why he impersonated a FBI agent for a car theft. O’Neal replies, “A badge is scarier than a gun.”

Mitchell then asks O’Neal how he felt about the assassinations of MLK and Malcolm X. O’Neal replies that he was a “little bit” upset over MLK’s murder and he didn’t give much thought to Malcolm X’s murder. It’s at this point that Mitchell knows that O’Neal doesn’t care much about politics or the civil rights movement, and therefore O’Neal can be easily manipulated into being an informant.

First, Mitchell says that the only way that O’Neal can avoid prison is to work as an informant for the FBI. Whenever O’Neal starts to express doubts about being an informant (and this happens several times throughout the story), Mitchell tells O’Neal that the Black Panthers aren’t much different from the Ku Klux Klan, because Mitchell says both are radical, unpatriotic groups that want to divide people by their races and overthrow the U.S. government.

It doesn’t take long for O’Neal to infiltrate the Black Panther Party in Chicago and gain the trust of Hampton, who makes O’Neal the head of security. Hampton is a smart and magnetic leader who is respected by other party members because he often shows through words and deeds that the cause he’s fighting for isn’t about his ego but is about the people and future generations. Unlike other Black Power leaders, who wanted to keep black people separate from people of other races, Hampton embraced alliances with like-minded people of other races.

Hampton is credited with creating the Rainbow Coalition in 1969, which aimed to unite other anti-establishment groups for shared causes. It was a concept that was met with some resistance from the separatist Black Panthers, but because this is a movie, the Rainbow Coalition’s origins are a little too oversimplified and streamlined. One minute, Hampton and some other Black Panthers are showing up uninvited to meetings by the Young Patriots (a group of working-class white people) and the Young Lords (a group of Puerto Ricans) and making themselves known as unexpected allies. The next minute, Hampton is leading a Rainbow Coalition rally with members of the Black Panthers, the Young Patriots and the Young Lords in attendance.

The movie also shows how Hampton spearheaded the alignment of the Black Panthers with a Chicago-based African American gang called the Crowns, in order for the Black Panthers to have access to weapons and armed security backup. And what do you know, one of the Crowns just happens to be someone who was in that group that chased after O’Neal in that botched car theft. There’s a very “movie moment” when O’Neal is sure this guy is going to remember him, thereby making O’Neal more paranoid that his cover will be blown.

Some of the other Black Panther Party members who are featured in the movie include Jimmy Palmer (played by Ashton Sanders), Jake Winters (played by Algee Smith), Judy Harmon (played by Dominique Thorn) and Deborah Johnson (played by Dominique Fishback), a wide-eyed student who is in awe of Hampton and ends up becoming his girlfriend. In real life, Johnson is now known as Akua Njeri, and she gave birth to Fred Hampton Jr. in December 1969. Njeri and Hampton Jr. both were consultants on “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

Of course, in any movie that involves spying, there are double crosses and constant questions about loyalty, honesty and who can be trusted. The movie ramps up the tension not only outside the Black Panther Party but also within it. “Judas and the Black Messiah” also raises thought-provoking questions that will make people wonder about the prices that people pay for freedom, however freedom might be defined by individuals. And when there are informants or spies who are paid to betray, to what extent should they be branded as the “enemy”?

“Judas and the Black Messiah” has undoubtedly powerful performances by Kaluuya as Hampton and Stanfield as O’Neal. Kaluuya has the flashier role that will get more attention, mainly because there’s no ambiguity about his purpose in the film: depicting Hampton as a civil rights hero. In the few times Hampton was depicted in scripted projects before “Judas and the Black Messiah” was made, Hampton was usually a marginal character who didn’t have much depth, such as in the Netflix 2020 movie “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

In “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Hampton is a larger-than-life personality who gets the big speeches, the leadership position at rallies, and the martyrdom when he lands in prison at the height of his power. Hampton’s biggest showcase speech scene comes after he’s released from prison and gets a hero’s welcome during a Black Panther rally in Chicago. After leading the crowd to chant, “I am a revolutionary!” several times in the speech, he declares poetically: “You can murder a liberator, but you can’t murder liberation! You can murder a revolutionary, but you can’t murder a revolution! You can murder a freedom fighter, but you can’t murder freedom!”

Stanfield has the more difficult and nuanced role as the conflicted and duplicitous O’Neal. On the one hand, O’Neal knows he’s a traitor. On the other hand, O’Neal is portrayed as someone who genuinely became friends with many people in the Black Panther Party, but he felt powerless to stop the informant deal that he made with the FBI. There are times when O’Neal shows so much loyalty to the Black Panthers that FBI agent Mitchell doubts whose side O’Neal is really on.

“Judas and the Black Messiah” doesn’t let O’Neal completely off the hook for his betrayal, but the movie gives the impression that his decisions were not about the money but about his fear of going to prison if he didn’t comply with what the FBI wanted. In real life, O’Neal gave only one TV interview about his Black Panther/FBI informant experience. It was in 1989, in an interview for the PBS show “Eyes on the Prize 2,” which aired the interview on January 15, 1990. Clips of this interview are recreated in the movie.

The performances in “Judas and the Black Messiah” are impactful and deserving of high praise. Where the movie falters is in some of the scenarios depicting the interactions between O’Neal and his FBI contact Mitchell. In the movie, Mitchell deliberately kept O’Neal’s identity a secret from most his FBI colleagues. (Hoover knew though.) Therefore, it doesn’t make sense that the movie shows O’Neal and Mitchell openly meeting several times in upscale restaurants, where O’Neal is obviously the only black person there as a dining patron. It wouldn’t have been hard for the movie’s screenwriters to keep all of the meetings between O’Neal and Mitchell in less public places.

O’Neal’s wardrobe gets a little more stylish as he starts to make more money from the FBI. But in the beginning, O’Neal definitely stands out in these restaurants because he’s dressed inappropriately (too casual) for these kinds of dining establishments. If you were to believe this movie, in 1969 Chicago, a black man in “street clothes” can walk into an upscale restaurant where all the other patrons are white, sit down, have dinner with a white man in a suit, and no one notices, stares or questions why this inappropriately dressed black man is there. Things like that would’ve definitely gotten noticed in the real world. And this scenario is not exactly O’Neal and Mitchell keeping their relationship undercover or incognito.

Another “only in a movie” contrivance is in a scene where a despondent O’Neal ends up in a bar, where a woman shows a romantic interest in him after she rejects a fur-coat-wearing motormouth at a nearby barstool. The rejected man (played by Lil Rel Howery), who is identified only as Wayne in the movie’s end credits, is a stranger to O’Neal, but Wayne drops hints that he knows that O’Neal is working for the FBI.

O’Neal, who is already feeling very uneasy, follows Wayne out to Wayne’s car and demands to know who he is. The movie, with anxiety-filled music building to a crescendo, then has Wayne reveal something that’s meant to shock O’Neal and the audience. It’s highly doubtful this confrontation ever happened in real life, but fans of the Oscar-winning 2017 horror movie “Get Out” will be happy to see “Get Out” co-stars Kaluuya, Stanfield and Howery reunited as cast members for “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

As the only women with significant speaking roles in the movie, Fishback (as Hampton’s girlfriend Johnson) and Thorne (as Black Panther member Harmon) show considerable talent, although this is definitely a male-dominated film. Johnson’s character evolves from being a star-stuck fangirl of Hampton to being a loyal romantic partner to being a strong-willed expectant mother, who can’t help but feel impending heartbreak and doom when she hears Hampton give a speech saying that he will probably die for his people. Thorne’s Harmon is a badass who can get down and dirty in fight scenes just like the men do, such as in a tension-filled shootout between the Chicago Police Department and the Black Panthers.

The flaws in the movie’s screenplay are outweighed by the significant talent of the cast members and the ability of director King to maintain a suspenseful edge. Even though many people watching this movie might already know what happened to Hampton and O’Neal in real life, “Judas and the Black Messiah” triumphs in capturing the essence of this era of the civil rights movement in America. There might be fabricated “only in a movie” moments, but the film authentically conveys the passion and necessity for civil rights.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Judas and the Black Messiah” in U.S. cinemas and on HBO Max on February 12, 2021.

Review: ‘Brothers by Blood,’ starring Matthias Schoenaerts, Joel Kinnaman, Maika Monroe, Paul Schneider and Ryan Phillippe

January 31, 2021

by Carla Hay

Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman in “Brothers by Blood” (Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)

“Brothers by Blood”

Directed by Jérémie Guez

Culture Representation: Taking place in Philadelphia, the crime drama “Brothers by Blood” features an almost all-white cast (with a few Latinos) representing the working-class, the middle-class and the criminal underground.

Culture Clash: Two cousins who work for the Irish mobsters in Philadelphia have their loyalties tested due to family secrets and involvement with Italian mobsters.

Culture Audience: “Brothers by Blood” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching generic and tedious movies about “thug life.”

Ryan Phillippe and Felix Scott in “Brothers by Blood” (Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)

“Brothers by Blood” makes a half-hearted attempt to be a compelling crime drama, but the movie still ends up being formulaic and forgettable. It’s one of those mobster movies where two family members have an up-and-down relationship that propels much of what happens in the story. The problem is that all of the characters in the movie are derivative of other characters in much-better mafia films. “Brothers by Blood” is essentially a cheap wannabe Martin Scorsese gangster film.

Written and directed by Jérémie Guez, “Brothers by Blood” is based on Peter Dexter’s novel “Brotherly Love.” The original title of the movie was “The Sound of Philadelphia” (the city where the movie is based), and it’s easy to see why the title was changed, because “The Sound of Philadelphia” could mislead people into thinking it’s a music-oriented movie. Philadelphia is nicknamed the City of Brotherly Love, but the only love in this movie is tainted by brutal crimes and paranoia about betrayal.

The two main characters in “Brothers by Blood” are cousins Peter (played by Matthias Schoenaerts) and Michael (played by Joel Kinnaman), who own a small construction business that’s really a money-laundering front for the illegal work that the cousins do for the Irish mafia in Philadelphia. Peter is the introverted, level-headed cousin, while Michael is the extroverted, hot-headed cousin. Crime dramas often have a cliché of opposite personalities who have to work together and often clash with each other. “Blood Brothers” leans into this cliché hard enough to the point of over-reliance and stifling any depth for other parts of the story.

It’s very easy to see where this movie is going to go, once it’s established that Michael has a tendency to make impulsive and dumb decisions. About 70% of “Brothers by Blood” is a monotonous plot repetition of Michael doing idiotic things, while Peter tries to smooth things over and clean up Michael’s mess. Most of the movie takes place in 2016, but there are several flashbacks to Peter’s and Michael’s childhood, shown from Peter’s perspective.

Michael is impulsive and erratic, but Peter isn’t exactly mentally stable either. The opening scene shows that Peter has suicidal tendencies. In this nighttime scene, Michael and Peter are on the rooftop of one of their construction sites and listening to a friend drone on about a proctology exam that he recently had. (Yes, it’s that kind of movie.)

Peter steps onto the edge of the roof and suddenly jumps. Michael and the friend race to the street and see that Peter has landed in a very large pile of garbage and hasn’t been physically hurt. While their buddy is freaking out, Peter offers no explanation for why he jumped, while Michael says nonchalantly about Peter’s disturbing jump: “He does that all the time.”

It’s shown early in the movie that Michael and Peter have shady dealings with a local councilman named Taylor (played by Tim Ahern), who tells the cousins that he’s under ethical scrutiny for hiring six of his relatives, so he had to cut these family members loose from his employment. Taylor asks Michael and Peter to find jobs for these relatives at Michael and Peter’s construction company, even if these relatives aren’t qualified. During this office meeting with Taylor, a Republican presidential debate is shown on TV, and Michael predicts that Donald Trump is going to win the election.

One night, Peter and Michael end up drinking at a restaurant/bar owned by their friend Jimmy (played by Paul Schneider), who confides in Peter that he borrowed a lot of money from Michael to keep Jimmy’s business afloat. Peter tells Jimmy it’s a mistake to be in debt to Michael, but Jimmy is too drunk at the moment to heed any warnings. It’s later revealed that Michael has his own money problems that will get the cousins into trouble.

While they’re at the bar, Jimmy introduces his younger sister Grace (played by Maika Monroe) to Peter and Michael. She’s recently arrived from out of town, and Jimmy has given her a job as a bartender. Michael immediately flirts with Grace. However, Peter and Grace eye each other in a way that it’s obvious that these two will end up together in some way later in the movie.

“Brothers by Blood” also has poorly written subplots about Peter’s and Michael’s business interests aside from their construction company and thugging around with mobsters. Peter wants to possibly invest in boxing. He goes to a local boxing gym, where his acquaintance Carlos (played by Carlos Schram) is training a promising young boxer named Ryan (played by Tarek Hamite), who is living with Carlos because Ryan’s father is a “crackhead,” according to Carlos.

Michael is more interested in investing in horse racing. He’s bought a horse for $80,000, with the hope that the horse can be trained into becoming a champion. But something happens with Michael’s horse-racing investment, and how he handles it shows how much he’s an out-of-control loose cannon. In another scene in the movie, Michael can’t stand the thought of Peter being successful at anything without him, so Michael makes their hanger-on friend Leonard, nicknamed Lenny (played by James Nelson-Joyce), box Ryan in the ring. Lenny quickly and soundly gets beaten by Ryan, and that defeat aggravates Michael, who holds grudges.

Because of some debts and double-crossing, Michael has managed to anger the Italian mafia in Philadelphia. And so, a goon named Bono (played by Antoni Corone) from the Italian mafia has a threatening meeting with Peter and warns him that the Italian mafia will come after the cousins unless Peter kills Michael. Peter tells Bono that he won’t kill Michael. The rest of the story is about how much danger these two cousins get themselves into, as Michael continues with his screw-ups and some people inevitably get hurt or killed.

“Brothers by Blood” has frequent flashbacks to Peter’s childhood. It’s revealed that his seemingly happy life went on a downward spiral when he was 8 years old (Nicholas Crovetti portrays Peter as a boy) and witnessed his younger sister (played by Grace Bilik) accidentally get killed when she ran out into the street and was hit by a car. The car’s driver was a cop named Victor Kopec (played by Michael McFadden), who lives nearby. And Peter’s ill-tempered father Charley (played by Ryan Philippe) vows revenge.

A childhood flashback shows that Peter’s life gets even worse when his grieving mother has a nervous breakdown and she’s put in a psychiatric hospital, which is talked about but not shown in the movie. Peter’s father Charley is obsessed with getting revenge on Victor. Michael’s father Phil (played by Felix Scott), who is Charley’s brother, vehemently disagrees with Charley’s plan to murder Victor, because Charley and Phil are already involved with the Irish mafia. If Charley becomes a cop killer, it could cause problems for the brothers, not only with the police but also with the mafia.

Like a lot of derivative mobster flicks, “Brothers by Blood” limits the female characters in very sexist and shallow ways. Grace is the only female character with a significant speaking role in the film, and she’s really just there to be a potential love interest for Peter. Writer/director Guez has such little regard for Peter’s sister (whose death is the catalyst for a lot of the family drama) that he didn’t even give her a name in the story. In the end credits, she’s only labeled “Little Girl.” And Peter’s mother is reduced to being a nameless, background character who’s briefly shown sobbing over the death of her daughter.

Despite solid performances from Schoenaerts and Phillippe, “Brothers by Blood” could be called “Brothers by Boredom,” since this so-called gangster film has a lot of dull talk and not much action. Too much of the movie is about Michael being a swaggering fool and pulling guns on people, while Peter just stands around looking embarrassed and occasionally steps in to stop Michael from making things worse. We get it. These cousins are dysfunctionally co-dependent.

Peter’s childhood flashbacks are more interesting than the storyline with the adult Peter and adult Michael, because the flashbacks give some insight into how and why Michael and Peter ended up being so close. Their family experienced more tragedy besides the death of Peter’s sister. But this backstory isn’t enough to save “Brothers by Blood” from being a hollow and drab movie with a completely predictable ending.

Vertical Entertainment released “Brothers by Blood” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on January 22, 2021.

Review: ‘Notturno,’ starring Murtadah Jabbar Bedan, Ali Ali, Fawaz Murad and Lamya Saydo

January 30, 2021

by Carla Hay

Murtadah Jabbar Bedan in “Notturno” (Photo courtesy of Super LTD)

“Notturno”

Directed by Gianfranco Rosi

Arabic with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon, the documentary “Notturno” features an all-Arabic group of people who have been affected by war and ISIS in their areas.

Culture Clash: The documentary, which was filmed over three years, includes survivor stories about the traumatic effects of war.

Culture Audience: “Notturno” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in very atmospheric, cinéma vérité-styled documentaries about war-torn Middle Eastern culture.

Ali Ali in “Notturno” (Photo courtesy of Super LTD)

For a documentary that’s set in war-torn areas of the Middle East, “Notturno” (directed by Gianfranco Rosi) is a film that’s a lot quieter than people might think it is. That’s because the movie does not feature any “battle scenes,” and there are many scenes in the movie where groups of people are gathered but they don’t talk very much. “Notturno” means “night” in Italian, and much of the movie takes place at night.

Filmed over three years on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon, this documentary succeeds in its aim to have a “fly on the wall” perspective, with no “expert” commentary, no voiceovers, no re-enactments and no amination. “Notturno” is essentially a “slice of life” film that shows what life is like in these war-torn regions for a variety of people, most of whom are not identified by name until the end credits.

The movie begins on a tragic note, with a procession of grieving, middle-aged and elderly women going through an abandoned building that is later revealed to be a place where their military sons and husbands were tortured and killed. They are crying and praying as they mourn for their loved ones. The woman who is the most distressed wails, “I can feel your presence in this room … My son, why didn’t they take my life instead of yours?”

Later, she looks at a photo of her son’s murdered body. The rope that he was strangled with is still around his neck. She says that she’s in the room where he died. And then, as if she comes a grim acceptance, she says out loud, as if speaking to the spirit of her dead son: “I can’t feel your presence anymore.”

The movie also follows a poacher named Murtadah Jabbar Bedar in various scenes. He is shown in quiet solitude as he makes a journey to marshy areas with a gun to look for game that he can hunt. A teenager named Ali Ali is also prominently featured in the documentary, as he tries to get odd jobs and look for bread to help feed his family. One of the temporary jobs he’s able to get is helping a man as an armed guard for the man’s field of crops.

Women who are Peshmerga guerrillas are shown gathered, mostly in silence, as they get ready for surveillance and when they got back to their station to sleep for the night. These women have an obvious camaraderie, but their quietness is in stark contrast to the steady chatter that would be happening if they were Western soldiers. The flip side to the precarious duties of these female soldiers is shown in another scene, where a distressed mother checks a message on her cell phone and finds out that her daughter has been captured in Syria and has secretly made this phone call while in captivity. The mother begins to cry, and her helplessness is heartbreaking to watch.

Even though there are signs of domestic tranquility, the threats of war soldiers and ISIS terrorists are always looming. In one of the movie’s early scenes, a couple of young married parents are out on a date in an outdoor rooftop area while the sound of military gunfire can be heard in background. The couple tries to make pleasant small talk with each other while she smokes a hookah.

The man says that it looks like it’s going to rain. His wife answers, “Is there anything more beautiful than rain?” After their meal, they go inside and tuck their children into bed. And then he changes off into a white outfit, goes out side with a drum, and walks through the streets while he sings religious hymns.

“Notturno” also takes viewers inside a psychiatric facility, where a small group of patients (five men and one woman) are participating in a play and are given the script by the play director. The actors/patients in this play are named Walid Hamdon, Farid Philip, Kifah Nuri, Ahmed Mohammed, Abbas Mustafa and Mayade Mhammod. The director tells them that the play is about their homeland and “the tyranny, the wars, the invasion, the occupation and the extremists.” The actors/patients are seen rehearsing their lines in their rooms, and it soon becomes clear to them that they are going to be in a play that advocates for freedom from these social ills.

“Notturno” makes its biggest impact by showing how the traumas of war and terrorism have affected children. In multiple scenes in the movie, children have made drawings of some of the horrors that they witnessed. The show the illustrations to a woman who looks like a schoolteacher who also does therapy counseling. Two sisters—Lamya Saydo (who looks about 9 or 10 years old) and Mina Syado (who looks about 6 or 7 years old)—describe their drawings and talk about themselves and other people being beaten and tortured by ISIS soldiers.

A boy named Fawaz Murad, who looks like he’s about 11 or 12 years old, discusses his illustrations and goes into harrowing details about the torture he endured and the murders he witnessed. He describes seeing people being beheaded. And he also says that ISIS soldiers ordered their captives to become cannibals. He stutters as he tells these stories and his eyes look forever haunted.

“Notturno” is not the type of movie that has mass appeal because of the often-disturbing subject matter and because it’s not a typical war documentary. The long stretches of silence in the movie are meant to show that fear and oppression have gripped these regions so much, that many of the people refrain from talking freely and out loud. “Notturno” director Rosi, who is also the movie’s director of photography, has a lot of visually stunning cinematography (especially outdoors) in the documentary, which shows great appreciation for the natural landscapes of the regions. However, the greater appreciation that “Notturno” conveys is for the resilience of the people in these war-torn areas.

Super LTD released “Notturno” in select U.S. cinemas on January 22, 2021. The movie was released on VOD and Hulu on January 29, 2021.

Review: ‘The Little Things’ (2021), starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto

January 29, 2021

by Carla Hay

Rami Malek, Jared Leto and Denzel Washington in “The Little Things” (Photo by Nicola Goode/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“The Little Things”

Directed by John Lee Hancock

Culture Representation: Taking place in California in 1990, the crime drama “The Little Things” features a predominantly white cast (with some African Americans, Latinos and Asians) representing the middle-class and the working-class.

Culture Clash: Two police detectives with contrasting backgrounds team up to find a serial killer.

Culture Audience: “The Little Things” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching slow-paced and dull crime movies that waste the considerable talent of the starring cast members.

Denzel Washington and Rami Malek in “The Little Things” (Photo by Nicola Goode/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Take three Oscar-winning actors and put them in a crime thriller written and directed by filmmaker who has a solid track record of making crowd-pleasers. What could possibly go wrong? When it comes to the disappointing crime drama “The Little Things,” it’s not so much what went wrong but what should have gone right. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock (whose best-known movie is 2009’s “The Blind Side”), “The Little Things” ultimately fails to be exciting or innovative, considering that it stars the very talented Academy Award winners Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto.

Almost everything about “The Little Things” has been done before in other movies and done much better. There are key parts of the movie that will definitely get comparisons to director David Fincher’s 1995 classic “Seven,” written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey. The irony is that “The Little Things” was written by Hancock back in the early 1990s, before “Seven” (a far superior film) was released.

There are some noticeable similarities in both movies. “Seven” and “The Little Things” are about two cops (one middle-aged, one younger) who team up to hunt down a serial killer. The prime suspect is a mysterious creep who leads them in a cat-and-mouse styled investigation where he keeps them guessing about crucial aspects of the killing spree. (Freeman and Pitt were the cops in “Seven,” while Spacey was the suspected serial killer.)

In “The Little Things,” which takes place over a few days in October 1990, Washington plays the more experienced and older cop named Joe “Deke” Deacon, while Malek is the younger cop named Jim “Jimmy” Baxter. Leto has the role of a sleazy loner named Albert Sparma, who becomes the prime suspect in a string of murders of young women in Southern California. Unfortunately, there’s so much about the story that’s unimaginative and sluggishly paced that there’s very little suspense throughout the story.

The opening scene of “The Little Things” looks like something out of a formulaic horror movie: A young woman is driving by herself at night on a deserted road somewhere in the Los Angeles area. She gets tailgated and then chased by a mysterious driver. She panics and drives off of the road to a diner, whose outside lights are on, but she finds out too late that the diner is closed and no one is there. She runs off into a desert area, and the mystery stalker gives chase on foot. Luckily, she’s able to run back out onto the road and flags down a passing truck in order to get rescued.

Viewers later find out that her name is Tina Salvatore (played by Sofia Vassilieva), and police think that she narrowly escaped from a serial killer who has been targeting young women and stabbing them to death. However, most of the murder victims have been prostitutes, and Tina doesn’t fit that profile. She didn’t even get a good look at the guy who tried to kill her and never heard him talk, so the chances are slim to none that Tina can identify this criminal. Tina, just like most of the female characters in this film, is essentially sidelined. Except for a brief scene later in the movie, this key witness is never seen again.

The women with speaking roles in this movie only serve one of three purposes: to be a crime victim; a current or former love interest; or someone who is subservient to men. These one-dimensional characters include Jimmy’s dutiful and adoring wife Ana (played by Isabel Arraiza); Deke’s ex-wife Marsha (played by Judith Scott), who works as a medical examiner and does whatever Deke asks her to do; and Los Angeles police detective Jamie Estrada (played by Natalie Morales), who follows the lead of her male colleagues and has a very thankless role in the investigation.

Deke is a deputy who works in the Kern County Sheriff Department, which is about 133 miles north of Los Angeles. It’s a much more rural area than Los Angeles, where Deke used to work as a sergeant in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide department until he left under a cloud of bad circumstances. While investigating this serial killer, Deke was suspended and had what’s described by a former colleague as a dangerous, stress-related emotional “meltdown.” He also had a heart attack.

Deke’s abrupt departure from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department caused some hard feelings from his former co-workers there. One of them is Deke’s former boss Carl Farris (played by Terry Kinney), the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s homicide captain who ended up replacing Deke with Jimmy. Carl describes Deke’s exit from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department as Deke being “run out” of the department, while Deke describes it as choosing to leave on his own.

It just so happens that Deke has to go back to the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department to pick up evidence for a robbery case that he’s working on in Kern County. And what do you know, one of the first people Deke meets when he goes back to the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department is Jimmy, who’s annoyed that Deke’s truck is blocking Jimmy’s parking space. It’s not exactly a “meet cute” moment, but people who won’t know anything about this movie before watching it can immediately tell from this scene that Deke and Jimmy will end up spending a lot of time together.

Deke finds out there’s going to be a delay in getting the evidence he needs, so his former boss Carl sarcastically tells Deke he can kill some time by catching up with his former colleagues. One of the few people in the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department who’s still willing to be cordial to Deke is a detective named Sal Rizoli (played by Chris Bauer), who tells Deke over a meal at a diner that things just aren’t the same since Deke left the department. Sal says that the current department employees are “a bunch of nancies” who’ve “got no soul” and the department head honchos have “weeded all the heart out of the place.” Sal describes Jimmy as a “good cop, a college boy, a bit of a holy roller.”

Jimmy and Deke couldn’t have more different lifestyles. Deke is a divorced father of two adult daughters, and he lives by himself in a small, ramshackle house out in the desert. Jimmy is happily married with two young daughters, and he lives in a comfortably middle-class and well-kept home. Deke is not religious and is very jaded about life. Jimmy is supposedly religious and “by the book,” but this shoddily written movie doesn’t really show proof of that, because Jimmy ends up breaking all kinds of laws in his obsessive quest to solve the murders and arrest Albert.

Through a series of implausible circumstances, Jimmy invites Deke to help him investigate the murders, even though Deke is only supposed to be in town for a few days and the cases are out of Deke’s jurisdiction. The evidence that Deke is supposed to bring back to Kern County for an upcoming court case ends up being completely ignored in the rest of the story. That’s how bad this movie is.

Albert becomes a prime suspect because he works for a small-business appliance store that was called to repair a refrigerator in a young woman’s apartment. She ended up getting slaughtered on the day that Albert was supposed to be there for the repair appointment. And so, Deke and Jimmy immediately zero in on oddball Albert after some snooping around at his seedy apartment building. He’s also on their radar because eight years ago, Albert confessed to one of the murders and knew certain details that the killer would know, but he wasn’t held responsible for the murder because he had an alibi when the crime happened.

“The Little Things” wants to keep viewers guessing over whether Albert is the serial killer or if he’s just a mentally ill person who wants the police to think that he’s the culprit. There are too many plot holes to mention, including how the movie never explains how in a large urban area such as Los Angeles, the police are so sure that all of these murders are being done by the same person. In “Seven,” the serial killer left very specific clues so that law enforcement knew the same person was committing the murders. In “The Little Things,” there is no such proof.

Instead, the movie is more concerned about showing the over-used crime movie trope of the “world-weary cop” partnered with the “eager-beaver cop” and how their personalities clash before they learn to work together for the same cause. What Jimmy and Deke have in common is that they’re both obsessed with finding the killer. Getting back on this serial killer case also seems to trigger something disturbing in Deke, because he starts to hallucinate seeing the dead women come to life in his dumpy motel room and in other places. And Deke talks to the corpses. Yes, it’s that kind of movie.

Washington does a passable job of playing Deke as a cynical and emotionally wounded cop who’s haunted by his past, but “The Little Things” is a very forgettable entry to his impressive body of work. Malek is stuck playing a generic character who makes an implausible switch from being stringent and uptight to being a rogue cop who breaks the law with Deke. Among other law violations, Jimmy acts as a lookout/getaway driver when Deke intrudes in Albert’s apartment, while Albert is away, to look for and possibly steal evidence. Any cop or good screenwriter would know that this illegal break-in would make the evidence inadmissible in court, but it’s in this ludicrous movie anyway.

Leto makes the most effort to bring some unpredictability and nuance to his Albert character, but his performance is hindered by the substandard screenplay that doesn’t give Albert much to do except act like a weird scumbag and annoy Deke and Jimmy. And if these “detectives” are so great, why haven’t they investigated Albert’s activities over time to possibly tie him to the murders? Doing a couple of stakeouts just wouldn’t pass muster in the real world of homicide detective work.

“The Little Things” wants viewers to believe that these murders can be solved at lightning-fast speed during the few days that Deke is in Los Angeles. But ironically, the film moves at a sluggish and mind-numbing pace. It doesn’t help that the dialogue is often cringeworthy too. At one point, Jimmy tells Deke when they have one of their personality clashes: “If you piss on my leg and call it rain, we’re through.”

The movie gets its title because Deke has a mantra that “the little things” count in an investigation, and criminals often get caught because of “the little things” they do when they make mistakes. In other words, Deke is one of those cops who believes in the old saying, “The devil is in the details.” Unfortunately, “The Little Things” is very careless with details, and a more appropriate title for the movie is “The Big Plot Holes.”

Warner Bros. Pictures released “The Little Things” in U.S. cinemas and on HBO Max on January 29, 2021.

Review: ‘CODA,’ starring Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin, Daniel Durant, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Amy Forsyth

January 28, 2021

by Carla Hay

Emilia Jones in “CODA” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

“CODA”

Directed by Siân Heder

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Massachusetts cities of Gloucester and Boston, the comedy/drama “CODA” features a predominantly white cast (with some Latinos, Asians and African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A teenage girl, who has the ability to hear, while her immediate family members (mother, father and brother) are deaf, has to decide if she will stay in the family fishing business or go to Berklee College of Music to pursue a singing career.

Culture Audience: “CODA” will appeal primarily to people who like heartwarming movies about families and pursuing dreams while realistically addressing the challenges and prejudices faced by people in the disabled community.

Amy Forsyth, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur in “CODA” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

“CODA” is an acronym for “child of deaf adult(s)”, but the word could have a double meaning if it applies to the musical term “coda,” which means a passage that brings a composition to an end. It’s a fitting analogy, because music and the rite of passage of deciding what to do with one’s life after high school are major themes in this well-acted and memorable film about a teenager and her deaf family. Capably written and directed by Siân Heder, “CODA” is an American remake of the 2014 French film “La Famille Bélier,” which translates to “The Bélier Family” in English. “CODA” had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and should prove to be a notable milestone in American cinema in representation of deaf people, as well as a breakout role for star Emilia Jones.

In “CODA,” Jones plays the central character, Ruby Rossi, a teenager in Gloucester, Massachusetts, who’s in her last year of high school and has spent almost her entire life being a translator for her deaf family members: father Frank (played by Troy Kotsur), mother Jackie (played by Marlee Matlin) and older bother Leo (played by Daniel Durant), who appears to be in his early 20s. Deafness is a genetic trait in the family, except for Ruby, who was born with hearing abilities.

Fishing is the Rossi family business, and Ruby usually accompanies Frank and Leo on the family boat Angela + Rose for their fishing expeditions. Frank is a laid-back hippie type, while Leo is a generally good guy but he can be quick-tempered. Jackie is the type of woman who doesn’t want to be a frumpy matron. She still wants to be vibrant and sexy, and she likes to remind her family that she once won the Yankee Miss Pageant. Because they all depend on Ruby for interactions with hearing people, they all have a co-dependent relationship with each that will reach a crossroads during this story.

The movie opens with Ruby, Frank and Leo on one of their fishing excursions. And it’s here that viewers see from the beginning that Ruby loves singing and music. She’s belting out Etta James’ “Something’s Got a Hold Me” as it plays on a tiny transistor radio. Ruby isn’t shy about singing in front of her family, but she’s definitely self-conscious about people who can hear her sing and possibly judge her singing abilities.

Because Ruby is a translator for her family to communicate with the hearing world, she knows the prejudice that her deaf loved ones can get from bigoted people who think deaf people are automatically less intelligent than hearing people. Therefore, Ruby is very protective and assertive in negotiating prices when the family has to sell fish. Their biggest customer is a local business called Salgado’s Seafood Company, whose owner Tony Salgado (played by John Fiore) and his employees often try to lowball the Rossi family when negotiating purchase prices for the Rossi’s fish. Ruby isn’t afraid to speak up and demand high prices so people won’t take advantage of the family.

At Gloucester High School, Ruby isn’t as self-confident. She’s quiet and keeps mostly to herself. And Ruby is perceived as a misfit, who gets taunted by some of the school’s “mean girls” for not conforming to what their idea of “cool” is. For example, when Ruby is in the school hallway near her locker, a group of these snobs walk by her and one of them snipes in a disgusted tone of voice, “Do you smell fish?” Later, when Ruby’s parents pick her up from school, she’s mortified that her father is loudly playing rap music, because the other kids react by smirking and laughing at Ruby and her parents.

Ruby’s only real friend at school is a brash flirt named Gertie (played by Amy Forsyth), who cares more about dating guys (usually much older men) than she cares about being part of a stuck-up girls’ clique. While waiting in line to sign up for after-school activities, Gertie is surprised that Ruby has chosen the school choir. “You’re already socially challenged enough around here,” Gertie says sarcastically. Ruby is undeterred and tells Gertie nonchalantly, “I sing all the time.”

During auditions for the school choir, the choir leader Bernardo Villalobos (played by Eugenio Derbez), who likes his students to call him Mr. V, lets it be know that he’s a fussy yet sassy taskmaster who won’t tolerate anything less than excellence. He plays the piano to accompany the singers during choir rehearsals.

To determine their singing range, he quips, “Let’s see if you’re a soprano, an alto or watched too many episodes of ‘Glee.'” The students audition by each singing “Happy Birthday.” But when it’s Ruby’s turn, she panics and runs out of the room.

On another day, a sheepish Ruby returns to the classroom when Mr. V is alone. She wants another chance to audition, but he’s skeptical that she has what it takes to sing in front of an audience. She opens up to him about how she was scared during the first audition because she’s self-conscious about her voice. She tells him that when she was younger, she was teased a lot for her speaking voice, because she sounded like a deaf person.

Mr. V seems to show a glimmer of empathy when he realizes that Ruby is the student with the deaf family who’s apparently talked about a lot in school. He sees that Ruby has a passion for singing, but she doesn’t quite know how to express it yet. Mr. V tells Ruby, “There are plenty of pretty voices with nothing to say. Do you have something to say?”

When Ruby says “yes,” Mr. V then tells her “I’ll see you in class.” The odd thing about this scene is that Ruby never actually sings anything before Mr. V tells her she can be in the class. She could’ve been a horrible singer, and he just gave her easy acceptance into the choir that he takes very seriously. But there would be no “CODA” movie if Ruby had no singing talent.

And there’s another reason why Ruby wants to be in this singing group: She has a crush on a fellow classmate named Miles Patterson (played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), who’s also in the choir. Miles has the type of pleasant pretty-boy persona that gives the impression that he’s a sensitive and romantic type. Ruby is too shy to do anything about her crush on Miles, so she has to settle for furtive glances at Miles when she sees him at school.

The next time that Ruby sings in front of the choir, the students are rehearsing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” Mr. V also has them do breathing exercises where the students have to inhale and exhale as if they’re various-sized dogs. These unorthodox exercises seem to boost Ruby’s confidence, so when it comes time for her to do a solo, she belts out “Let’s Get It On” as if she’s a soulful R&B singer.

Mr. V and the other students are impressed with Ruby’s singing talent. And because Miles sees this other side to Ruby, a spark of admiration for her starts to become evident. And you know what that means for a movie like this one.

And what do you know, Mr. V just happens to select Ruby and Miles to perform what’s supposed to be a show-stopping duet at the choir’s big recital, which will be shown later in the story. He tells them that they have to sing Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “You’re All I Need to Get By,” so that means that Ruby and Miles have to spend time together rehearsing their duet. How convenient.

During one of those rehearsals at Ruby’s home, she’s mortified when she and Miles hear the sounds of Ruby’s parents having sex in a nearby room. It’s one of the funnier scenes in the movie. Her parents stop what they’re doing and try to be cool about it by forcing a “let’s be mature about this and talk about what happened” moment with Ruby and Miles in their living room. It just makes Ruby even more embarrassed.

Frank and Jackie have a happy marriage, but it’s come under strain due to financial problems in the family business. In one scene, Ruby eavesdrops on an argument that Frank and Jackie have because one of Jackie’s credit cards was declined. Jackie suggests that Frank sell their boat to pay off their debts, but he’s vehemently against the idea because fishing has been in his family for generations, and he says he doesn’t know how to do anything else with his life.

Meanwhile, there’s a subplot about Gertie being attracted to Leo. When Gertie tells Ruby about it, Ruby tells Gertie that Leo is off-limits because Ruby hates the idea of her best friend dating her brother. When Gertie asks Ruby how to tell someone in sign language that she wants to hook up for sex, Ruby instead shows her how to to sign the words, “I have herpes.” Gertie doesn’t know that though, so Leo gets quite a surprise when Gertie tells him that in sign language.

“CODA” has several comedic moments, but there’s also some emotional drama too. The Rossi family business goes through a big change where Ruby is needed more than ever to help out with the business. And then, Mr. V offers to privately tutor Ruby. He also wants to recommend her for the prestigious Berklee College of Music, his alma mater. It should come as no surprise that these demands on her time eventually cause conflicts.

The more Ruby starts to feel her confidence and identity blossoming because of her singing talent, the more she’s pulled back into family obligations. Jackie gives Ruby more of a guilt trip about it than Frank does, while Leo thinks that Ruby should pursue her singing dreams. And, of course, Ruby must eventually make a choice.

“CODA” benefits from impressive performances from the main cast members, with Jones excelling in her very authentic portrayal of a teenager on the cusp of adulthood. Kotsur, Matlin and Durant give fine portrayals of family members who often feel like “outsiders” in the hearing world. But in their own family, this trio’s deafness gives them a bond that unintentionally makes Ruby feel like an outsider.

Derbez and his often-flamboyant Mr. V character isn’t a one-note clown, since the character shows some emotional depth when he mentions how being a Mexican immigrant shaped his outlook on life. He also has a snappy comeback during an argument with Ruby when she suggests that he’s a failure because he’s a teacher instead of a professional musician. Forsyth is also quite good in her portrayal of Gertie, but Gertie’s confident character isn’t given much screen time, other than to just show up as a counterpoint to Ruby’s more hesitant personality.

“CODA” tends to rely a bit too much on “TV-movie-of-the-week” type of montages to further the story. And there are a few too-cutesy moments when Mr. V. gives Ruby some kind of pep talk, and Ruby just suddenly transforms from wishy-washy and insecure to someone who sings like a seasoned pro. This effect that Mr. V has on Ruby is played almost like he’s a hypnotist who can snap his fingers and make Ruby believe what he tells her, and then she can sing right on cue in the way he wants her to sing. It’s a little too much of a “movie moment” and should have been filmed in a more natural way.

The “CODA” song soundtrack will delight fans of pop, rock and R&B music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Some of the other songs that are prominently in the movie that are sung by cast members include Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” the Kiki Dee Band’s “I’ve Got the Music in Me” and David Bowie’s “Starman.” There’s also a rousing sequence set to the Clash’s version of “I Fought the Law.”

This is not a movie that wants to be trendy, but instead it leans heavily toward trying to look and sound classic. In other words, “CODA” won’t look embarrassingly dated a few years after the movie is released. With breezy charm and some unabashed sentimentality, “CODA” also gives a valuable perspective of a family affected by deafness. However, this movies speaks to universal truths that self-doubt, not a physical disability, is often the biggest obstacle that people have to overcome in pursuing a dream.

UPDATE: Apple TV+ will release “CODA” in U.S. cinemas and on Apple TV+ on August 13, 2021. The film will get a limited re-release of free screenings in U.S. and London cinemas from February 25 to February 27, 2022.

Cicely Tyson dead at 96; Emmy-winning actress broke racial barriers for African American entertainers

January 28, 2021

by Carla Hay

Emmy-winning actress Cicely Tyson died on January 28, 2021. She was 96. According to the Associated Press, no further details were released about her death, which was announced by her family through Tyson’s manager Larry Thompson. The family issued this statement: “With a heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon. At this time, please allow the family their privacy.”

Tyson broke racial barriers for African American entertainers. She was one of the first black actresses to be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Her nomination was for the 1972 movie “Sounder.” (Diana Ross was also Oscar-nominated for Best Actress for a 1972 movie: “Lady Sings the Blues.”) Tyson’s last movie role was in filmmaker Tyler Perry’s 2020 Netflix drama “A Fall From Grace.”

Tyson was also the first African American woman to win two Emmys in the same year: For her starring role in the 1974 TV-movie “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” she was awarded Emmys for Best Lead Actress in a Drama and for Actress of the Year – Special. She then went on to win a third Emmy (for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special), for the 1994 miniseries “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.” Throughout her career, Tyson received 16 Emmy nominations, including three wins. Her last five Emmy nominations were for her guest appearances on the drama series “How to Get Away With Murder.”

She also excelled in theater, including winning a Tony Award in 2013, at the age of 88, for Best Leading Actress in a Play, for the revival of “The Trip to Bountiful.” Tyson starred in and produced a TV-movie version of “The Trip to Bountiful,” which earned her two Emmy nominations. Her memoir “Just as I Am” was published on January 26, 2021—just two days before her death.

Tyson, who gave birth to a daughter at age 17, was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce. She and her first husband, Kenneth Franklin, were married in 1942, separated 18 months later, and didn’t officially divorce until 1956. Tyson had a volatile, on-again/off-again relationship with jazz legend Miles Davis, whom she began dating in the 1960s. Davis and Tyson married in 1981 and divorced in 1988.

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