Review: ‘Fear’ (2023), starring Joseph Sikora, Andrew Bachelor, Annie Ilonzeh, Ruby Modine, Iddo Goldberg, Terrence Jenkins, Jessica Allain and Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris

February 13, 2023

by Carla Hay

Joseph Sikora, Annie Ilonzeh, Ruby Modine and Andrew Bachelor in “Fear” (Photo courtesy of Hidden Empire Film Group)

“Fear” (2023)

Directed by Deon Taylor

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2020, primarily in Kyburz, California, the horror film “Fear” features a cast of predominantly white and African American characters (with a few Asians and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A group of friends gather at a remote lodge to celebrate one of the friend’s birthday, and their worst fears become a reality when they find out the lodge is cursed. 

Culture Audience: “Fear” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching horror movies that are bad in every single way.

Tip “T.I.” Harris in “Fear” (Photo courtesy of Hidden Empire Film Group)

With a COVID-19 pandemic theme, the horror flick “Fear” is an idiotic time waster with a muddled story, tacky visual effects and weak ideas that are ripoffs of better-made horror films. Avoid this boring junk. Although there are a few fairly well-known entertainers in the movie’s cast, that star power isn’t enough to save “Fear” from its utter stupidity.

Directed by Deon Taylor (who co-wrote the atrocious “Fear” screenplay with John Ferry), “Fear” is yet another horror movie about people stuck in a remote location while terror is inflicted on them. In the case of “Fear,” this remote location is the fictional Strawberry Lodge in Kyburz, California, which is in the Lake Tahoe area. A group of nine people have gathered at the lodge to celebrate the birthday of woman in her 30s named Bianca (played by Annie Ilonzeh), who has a Ph. D. in religion.

Bianca’s boyfriend Rom Jennings (played by Joseph Sikora) has arranged this gathering as a surprise for Bianca. Rom is an author whose specialty is writing books about the paranormal and the unexplained. The movie opens with Rom doing a TV interview, where he says that he’s working on his next book, which will be about “the mythology of the Americas.”

Rom says of his forthcoming book, “I can’t really tell you too much about it, but what I can say is that is does squarely focus on the mythos and the mythology surrounding fear and the concept of fear.” He adds that he’s researching an area in Northern California that “permeates fear.” Rom then makes this obvious statement: “Fear is very real.”

During Rom and Bianca’s car drive to the Strawberry Lodge, they’re listening to the radio and hear a news report about Angel Wilson, a woman who disappeared from the Lake Tahoe area in 2015, when she was 26, and she is still missing. Bianca asks Rom to change the radio channel. It’s at this point you know that Angel will be mentioned several more times in the movie.

The seven friends of Rom and Bianca who have gathered to celebrate her birthday have mostly generic personalities in this poorly written movie. There is barely any information given about them, such as what they do for a living or how they know Rom and Bianca. The lodge has been rented so that these friends can have the place all to themselves. (How convenient for a horror movie.)

The other people in the group include Michael (played by Iddo Goldberg), a Brit who is Rom’s agent. Lou (played by Tip “T.I.” Harris) has been Rom’s friend since they were in eighth grade. Accompanying Lou on this trip is his girlfriend Kim (played by Tyler Abron), who is a single mother to an underage son.

Benny (played by Andrew Bachelor, also known as social media personality King Bach) is a photographer and the most inquisitive and talkative person in the group. Two other friends are a dating couple named Russ (played by Terrence Jenkins) and Meg (played by Jessica Allain). Another person in the group is Serena (played by Ruby Modine), who is superstitious and wears a “lucky” necklace with her at all times.

Rom has told Lou and Russ that he wants to propose marriage to Bianca, but so far (including during the trip to Strawberry Lodge), Rom got scared and couldn’t go through with his marriage proposal. It’s mentioned that this is the fourth time that Rom has failed to propose to Bianca. This marriage proposal is mentioned so many times, you’d think it would be a buildup to a big part of the story, but it isn’t.

Upon arriving at the lodge, the guests are greeted by a creepy hostess named Miss Wrenrich (played by Michele McCormick), who says that her family bought the lodge and rebuilt it after the lodge burned down in 1853. The lodge was originally built in 1838. Later, through research on the Internet, Benny finds out that the area has a sinister history of a group of witches calling themselves Las Brujas, who defended themselves against criminal Gold Rush miners, who would kidnap, rape, and sometimes kill women in the area.

Miss Wrenrich takes Bianca’s hand and says to her: “You carry the light, my dear. You’re a beacon.” This movie isn’t subtle at all about who’s most likely to survive the murder and mayhem that will ensue. Before she leaves, Miss Wrenrich insists on taking a group photo of the guests. She uses a Polaroid camera.

The COVID-19 pandemic is mentioned several times in conversations, although no one is social distancing or wearing masks. Because no one in the movie mentions being vaccinated, the movie appears to take place in 2020, before a COVID-19 vaccine was available. It’s mentioned briefly that Michael asked all of the guests (except for Bianca, since this gathering was a surprise to her) to take COVID tests before coming to the lodge, and all they all agreed. However, several of the guests become paranoid because Lou has been coughing frequently. Lou gets defensive when he finds out that some of the people in ths group suspect that Lou might be infected with COVID-19.

While gathered outside around a small bonfire one night, the friends confess their biggest fears. And it’s at that moment that you know that their fears will happen at some point in the movie. Bianca’s biggest fear used to be losing her religion, but more recently, her biggest fear has been losing the ability to breathe. Serena, who had a traumatic car accident when she was a child, says her biggest fear is losing control.

Russ says his biggest fear is blood. Kim says her biggest fear is not being able to take care of her son. Meg can’t swim, so her biggest fear is drowning. Lou says his biggest fear is not being trusted, especially by the people who depend on him. Benny was once handcuffed in a police brutality incident, so his biggest fear has anything to do with cops and handcuffs. Rom says his biggest fear is losing Bianca.

The rest of “Fear” has nothing but dull and not-very-interesting jump scares. As for the missing person Angel Wilson, who is mentioned numerous times in the movie, that’s a subplot that is badly mishandled and ends up being worthless. “Fear” is also completely worthless if people are looking for an entertaining horror movie.

Hidden Empire Film Group released “Fear” in U.S. cinemas on January 27, 2023.

Review: ‘Monster Hunter,’ starring Milla Jovovich

December 19, 2020

by Carla Hay

Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa in “Monster Hunter” (Photo by Coco Van Oppens/Screen Gems)

“Monster Hunter”

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth and in an alternate world, the sci-action flick “Monster Hunter” has a racially diverse cast (white, Asian, African American and Latino) representing the U.S. military and otherworldly warriors.

Culture Clash: Members of the U.S. military find themselves transported to another world, where they have to fight off monsters with other people from that world.

Culture Audience: “Monster Hunter,” which is based on the videogame of the same name, will appeal primarily to people who like simplistic, formulaic action movies with little to no surprises or substance.

Rathalos in “Monster Hunter” (Photo courtesy of Screen Gems/Sony Pictures)

The sci-fi/action time waster “Monster Hunter” is a perfect example of why most video games that get made into movies have bad reputations for being dumb, predictable and lacking a compelling storyline. Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (who’s best known for the critically panned “Resident Evil” movie franchise, which is also based on a video game), “Monster Hunter” is based on Capcom’s video game of the same title. At least with the video game, audiences can control the action. With the “Monster Hunter” movie, audiences have to sit through an often-incoherent mess that seems recycled from countless other generic sci-fi/action flicks that have been done before and done much better.

The plot of the movie is as simple as its title. It’s really just a series of battles against giant monsters. Some of the creatures live in desert sand, while others live in caves. The monsters have names like Rathalos, Nerscylla and Black Diablos and resemble everything from giant scorpions to oversized versions of the deadly creatures in “Gremlins.” And just like many other sci-fi movies of this ilk, there’s a mysterious gateway portal that separates Earth from the world where the monsters live.

The beginning of “Monster Hunter” shows a glimpse of the other world, when a ship traveling in treacherous icy waters is attacked by giant monsters. Two of the people on the ship end up playing a pivotal role later on in the story: The ship’s captain named Admiral (played by Ron Perlman, wearing a silly-looking blonde pompadour wig) and Hunter (played by Tony Jaa), a bow-and-arrow slinging warrior who also has the stunt skills of a trained gymnast. It’s also shown that Hunter has a few superpower tricks.

The movie then cuts to an unnamed desert on Earth, where a small squad of U.S. Army soldiers are making their way across the land in jeeps. The squad is led by Capt. Lt. Natalie Artemis (played by Milla Jovovich, also of the “Resident Evil” franchise), who is tough and fearless but also shows a compassionate side and a sense of humor during the course of the story. She might be tough, but she also makes a lot of ludicrously bad decisions.

The soldiers in the squad don’t have much character development in the movie, but they are named Dash (played by Meagan Good); Marshall (played by Diego Boneta); Link (played by Tip “T.I.” Harris); Axe (played by Jin-Au Yeung); and Steeler (played by Josh Helman). Axe and Steeler seem to be good buddies since they have a rapport where they joke around with each other. However, the personalities in this group are fairly interchangeable because they’re so generic.

A tornado-like massive sandstorm with electrical current suddenly appears and overwhelms the squad. They soon find themselves in an even more isolated desert area that they can’t find on their map. Their GPS and communication devices aren’t working. It doesn’t take long for them to discover that they’re not on Earth anymore, because giant monsters (larger than dinosaurs) emerge from the sand and attack the humans. The military firearms and other weapons are no match for these monsters.

Dash is the only one in the group who openly disagrees with Artemis when Artemis tells her squad that they have to fight back against the monsters instead of hiding. Through a series of very predictable events, Artemis ends up meeting Hunter. And there’s the typical long stretch of the movie where Artemis and Hunter clash and don’t know how much they can trust each other.

The visual effects in a movie like “Monster Hunter” should be one of the main attractions, but the quality is uneven. The monsters are convincing in most scenes, but then there are other scenes with cheesy effects, where it’s obvious that the actors were in front of a green screen. One of the main reasons to make a video game into a movie is to have the movie look better than than the video game, but “Monster Hunter” falls short of that intention.

Even worse than the visual effects are scenarios where Artemis sustains injuries that would cripple most people, but she’s later able to demonstrate superhuman strength later on in the story. And let’s not get into the continuity and logic problems, where weapons are used that seem to come out of nowhere. And there are several scenes where Artemis is covered in dirt and grime everywhere except her face.

There are also some scenes that don’t make any sense at all. In one of these moronic scenes, Artemis (who’s already injured, exhausted and getting very dehydrated) is seen on top of a stone structure that’s about as tall as two skyscrapers. It’s a climb that would take several hours, but she’s suddenly shown standing on top, as if she’s some kind of super mountain climber.

Why would Artemis make this long and grueling climb that would deplete her energy and make her even more desperate for water? She did it so she could throw a rock onto the sand to see if any monsters would react. And sure enough, after she throws a rock, a monster emerges from beneath the sand and tries to attack. Keep in mind, this idiotic “test” is well after Artemis barely survived a vicious attack by several monsters that she already knows exist.

Jovovich seems to be doing her best to bring a sense of adventure to her role in “Monster Hunter,” but Artemis is really just a variation of her Alice character in the “Resident Evil” movies. Jaa’s Hunter character isn’t that memorable or unique. And viewers will have a hard time taking Perlman’s Admiral character seriously as a badass leader when he’s wearing a hot mess of a mane that looks like a reject from the Joan Rivers Wig Collection. And let’s not get started on the Meowscular Chef, the humanoid cat character that looks very fake and out of place with the humans.

The script problems, the tacky visual effects and the mediocre acting in “Monster Hunter” might be more tolerable if the action in the movie was truly innovative and suspenseful. But most of the action is very uninspired and at times can be considered quite dull, especially for viewers who’ve seen a lot of action movies. And the movie has an over-used action gimmick of making it look like someone is dead but the person was actually unconscious.

The fight scenes in “Monster Hunter” take a very lazy approach of gunfire, explosions, rinse, repeat. The movie also has a few laughable moments where Artemis believes a hunter-sized knife will be enough to kill these monsters. In one scene, she slices a monster’s skin with the knife, but the result is what would be the equivalent of a paper cut on a human. It’s unfortunate that “Monster Hunter” was made as if the filmmakers think the audience is as stupid as this movie.

Screen Gems released “Monster Hunter” in U.S. cinemas on December 18, 2020.

Review: ‘Cut Throat City,’ starring Shameik Moore, Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris, Demetrius Shipp Jr., Kat Graham, Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard, Eiza Gonzalez and Ethan Hawke

September 20, 2020

by Carla Hay

Demetrius Shipp Jr., Keean Johnson, Shameik Moore and Denzel Whitaker in “Cut Throat City” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

“Cut Throat City”

Directed by The RZA

Culture Representation: Taking place in New Orleans in 2005 and 2006, the crime drama “Cut Throat City” has a predominantly African American cast (with some white people and Latinos) representing the middle-class, working-class and criminal underground.

Culture Clash: Four young men turn to a life of crime when they have problems finding jobs after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Culture Audience: “Cut Throat City” will appeal mostly to people who like typical “gangster” movies that have a lot of violence and a mediocre plot.

T.I. in “Cut Throat City” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

How’s this for an unoriginal and tired idea for a movie? Poor people (who are usually people of color) become criminals because they’re desperate for money. And there’s a crime lord that they have to answer to who might or might not turn against them. “Cut Throat City,” despite its talented cast and an effort to be a somewhat stylish-looking film, still serves up this recycled and uninspired concept in a movie that doesn’t really do anything for the genre of gangster films. In fact, “Cut Throat City” (at 132 minutes long) gets a little too bloated and the plot a little too ridiculous for it to be considered a movie that will reach cult status as an undiscovered gem.

“Cut Throat City” (directed by The RZA, who’s best known as a founding member of the rap group Wu Tang Clan) could have used better editing to cut out the parts of the movie that drag before the movie’s big climactic scene. However, the screenplay by Paul “P.G.” Cuschieri is largely to blame for the most cringeworthy aspects of “Cut Throat City,” including the dumb dialogue and some of the most unrealistic aspects of the movie’s depiction of police investigations in a big American city.

New Orleans is the city where the movie takes place, in 2005 and 2006, with Hurricane Katrina as the catalyst for a lot of the angst and criminal activity in the story. “Cut Throat City” begins before Hurricane Katrina happened, when four working-class friends in their early 20s are getting ready for the wedding of one of the guys in the group. All four of them live in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, which is considered one of the most financially deprived and roughest parts of the city.

The groom is James (played by Shameik Moore), who prefers to go by the nickname Blink, who is an aspiring writer/illustrator of graphic novels. Blink’s three closest friends are Miracle (played by Demetrius Shipp Jr.), who’s an impulsive hothead; Junior (played by Keean Johnson), who often gets teased because he’s a white guy who tries to be more like his African American friends; and mild-mannered and quiet Andre (played by Denzel Whitaker), who’s Blink’s best man and an aspiring jazz musician. (He plays the trumpet.)

Blink is getting married to his girlfriend Demyra (played by Kat Graham), who is the mother of their son, who’s about 3 or 4 years old. At the wedding, Demyra’s mother (played by Stacie Davis) gives Demyra some marriage advice: “It’s not about happiness. It’s about meaning. Find the meaning and happiness will come later.” That’s this movie’s idea of a “pep talk,” which is supposed to indicate to viewers that many of the people in this movie have a pessimistic view on life.

Demyra and Blink are actually happy together, and the wedding goes smoothly. The honeymoon is another story, because Hurricane Katrina hits within a few days after the wedding. Even before the hurricane, the main problem in Blink and Demyra’s relationship is that Blink is having a hard time finding work as a graphic novelist. And now that he’s a married man, he’s really expected to contribute income to help pay the bills. Even though Blink has an associate’s degree from college and he attended Tulane University, his college education won’t help him get his dream job as a graphic novelist.

Blink has been working on a concept for a graphic novel called “Cut Throat City.” He gets a meeting with a condescending publishing executive named Peter Felton (played by Joel David Moore), who starts off by looking at Blink’s work and calling it mostly “derivative.” Peter does see one illustration that he likes, so he asks Blink who his influences are. Blink replies by listing Charles Schulz, Gary Larson and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Peter then says in an exasperated tone that by “influences” he meant who are the influences in Blink’s life.

Peter also asks Blink what kind of audience he wants for “Cut Throat City.” Blink says he “never really thought about it.” Peter responds, “The first thing you think about is your audience.” Blink then says, “If we only focus on our markets, then a cartoon wouldn’t be anything more than a cheap, dim commodity that will never change.”

When Peter says he doesn’t know where Blink could’ve gotten that idea, Blink responds that it was Peter who actually said it at an anime expo in 1990. “I got a transcript from the library,” Blink adds. “Fair enough,” replies Peter, who’s obviously done with Blink at point. He then coldly dismisses Blink from his office and tells an assistant to bring in the next person.

It’s one of many rejections that Blink gets as an aspiring graphic novelist. Andre tries to make money as a street musician, but it’s barely enough to be considered pocket change. Miracle and Junior are also unemployed. For whatever reason, the movie doesn’t show them looking for any jobs they can get. Hurricane Katrina has devastated New Orleans, so the job market has dried up in many ways, but these four friends just seem like they’ve given up trying to find work.

To make matters worse, Blink is too proud to accept financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As several weeks go by and things get more financially desperate for Blink and Demyra, she’s had enough of Blink refusing money from FEMA, and she tells Blink that they have to apply for FEMA aid. When they get to the FEMA office, their application is denied since they don’t need housing, and they’re told that homeless people are getting priority for the financial aid. And to add insult to injury, Blink and Demyra also aren’t eligible because they live in the Ninth Ward.

This FEMA rejection is a reason for Blink to feel angry at “the system,” which is why he eventually goes along with Miracle’s idea to start working for Blink’s relative Lorenzo “Cousin” Bass (played by Tip “T.I.” Harris), who’s a local gangster. (T.I., who’s also known as a hitmaking rapper in real life, is wearing makeup in the movie that makes Cousin look like he has a skin condition like vitiligo.) Blink, Miracle, Junior and Andre start dealing drugs for Cousin. But since they’re new to drug dealing, they mess things up and end up owing money to Cousin.

To show how vicious and unforgiving he is, Cousin makes the four guys watch as an unlucky man who has angered Cousin is tortured by having a wild raccoon attack the guy’s genitals. It’s not explicitly shown in the film, but it’s implied that this happened. The man is shown in the aftermath almost doubled over in pain with blood on the crotch area of his pants when he’s thrown out by Cousin and his henchmen.

Cousin and his group of thugs also force wild raccoons to fight each other in cages. And one of the main characters has a beloved dog, which predictably gets shot and killed by a vengeful Cousin during a fight scene. For anyone who hates seeing animal cruelty depicted on screen, it might be best to avoid this movie or close your eyes during these scenes.

Knowing that Cousin could also make their lives hell if they don’t come up with the money they owe him, the four friends decide to rob a local casino. And then one casino robbery turns into more, as they blow their money on strip clubs and gambling. All of these robbery scenes are completely ludicrous because the guys walk into the casino together wearing matching dark hoodies (automatically calling attention themselves) and they make little effort to disguise their faces, unless you consider wearing see-through nylon stockings on your face a “disguise.”

The casinos are also very crowded and there are surveillance cameras everywhere. And yet, the movie wants viewers to believe that these wannabe gangsters are clever enough not to get caught. After one robbery, which resulted in a big shootout with police and the theives’ getaway van being riddled with bullet holes, the four guys just trade in the van for a Dodge car in good condition. What used car dealer in their right mind would trade a car that’s in good shape for a bullet-damaged piece of junk?

“Cut Throat City” also makes the same stupid mistake that’s in a lot of badly written crime movies that take place in a big city: Only one cop is investigating the case. For a series of casino robberies in a city as big as New Orleans, it’s completely unrealistic to have only one investigator. And this cop also happens to look like a model/actress. Her name is Lucinda Valencia (played by Eiza Gonzalez), who has the thankless job of going into dangerous and sketchy areas by herself numerous times during the investigation, with no sign of a cop partner or backup anywhere.

There are also some other supporting players in this muddled and messy saga: Recently elected city councilman Jackson Sims (played by Ethan Hawke), who’s a former police officer and a very corrupt politician; Courtney (played by Rob Morgan), a sleazy barber who’s a confidential informant; and The Saint (played by Terrence Howard), a smooth-talking, bow-tie-wearing gangster who has criminal authority over Cousin.

Also part of the story, in a small role, is Rev. Sinclair Stewart (played by Isaiah Washington), who takes bribes to conduct funeral services for people who died under suspicious circumstances and don’t have a medical exam or death certificate. The bribes he takes include payment for forged death certificates. And somewhere in this jumbled story, Blink reunites with his estranged father Lawrence (played by Wesley Snipes), who abandoned Blink when Blink was a child.

“Cut Throat City” also has some bizarre references to “The Wizard of Oz.” When Blink, Miracle, Junior and Andre first go to meet with Cousin about working for him, Cousin says that his headquarters is like Oz. He compares Junior to the Tin Man, Andre to the Cowardly Lion, Miracle to the Scarecrow and Blink to Dorothy. Later in the movie, The Saint covers the young robbers’ heads in ski masks and tells them, “There’s no place like home.”

Speaking of the lines in this movie, people will be rolling their eyes at how corny some of the dialogue is. In one scene, Courtney tells Lucinda that local thugs “will shoot you in a crack cocaine heartbeat.” In another scene, Cousin says about the man who is left sobbing after the raccoon torture: “Two things I can’t stand: a lying-ass woman and a crying-ass man.” If this is Gangster Poetry 101, no thank you.

And in another scene, Cousin and The Saint have a meeting, where Cousin says to him in a semi-monologue that sounds like it was written by someone who thinks this is how black gangsters are supposed to talk: “We’re too much alike: greedy-ass motherfuckers. That’s why they can take all the opportunity away from us. They can flood us, jail us, try to kill us, but they can never kill our greed. That’s why we’ll pimp, rap, sling dope, cheat or steal, even it’s from each other.”

“Cut Throat City” has a twist at the end that’s meant to make the movie look like more artistic than it really is. There’s an end-credits scene that doesn’t really add much to the conclusion of this very predictable and substandard story. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the technical aspects of how the movie was filmed, and the movie is well-cast with good actors, but the director needed to make better choices in editing. Ultimately, it’s the weak and trite screenplay that makes “Cut Throat City” a movie a disappointment that doesn’t offer anything exciting or innovative.

Well Go USA released “Cut Throat City” in select U.S. cinemas on August 21, 2020.

Netflix teams up with Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, T.I. for hip-hop competition ‘Rhythm + Flow’

November 13, 2018

The following is a press release from Netflix:

Global superstars Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. will search for the next breakout hip-hop star in “Rhythm + Flow,” Netflix’s first music competition show set to debut in 2019.

The series—produced by John Legend, Jeff Gaspin, Jesse Collins, Nikki Boella, Jeff Pollack, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius—will bring together the biggest names in music to find fresh talent and help undiscovered hip-hop artists pursue their dreams.

Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. will serve as the three main judges for the competition, joining forces with additional artists and industry VIPs to be announced in the coming weeks.

The multi-city competition will unfold over 10 hour-long episodes beginning in fall 2019.

Auditions will begin this fall across the United States, including the judges’ hometowns of Atlanta, Chicago, and New York.  In each audition city, established rappers who hail from that city will serve as guest judges to help seek out the best unsigned hip-hop artists.  Learn more about how to audition at www.RhythmAndFlowAuditions.com.

Production Companies: Jesse Collins Entertainment, Get Lifted Film Co., and Gaspin Media.

Executive Producers: Jesse Collins for Jesse Collins Entertainment; John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius for Get Lifted Film Co.; Jeff Gaspin for Gaspin Media; Nikki Boella; Jeff Pollack; Cardi B; Chance the Rapper; and T.I.

About Jesse Collins Entertainment

Jesse Collins Entertainment (JCE) is a full service television and film production company founded by entertainment industry veteran Jesse Collins. For over a decade, Collins has played an integral role in producing many of television’s most memorable moments in music entertainment.  Collins has produced ground-breaking and award winning television programming including the BET Awards, the Grammy Awards, Soul Train Awards, BET Honors, UNCF An Evening of Stars, ABFF Honors and the BET Hip Hop Awards. Collins was an executive producer of the hit TV series “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” starring Kevin Hart, and both the critically-acclaimed mini-series “The New Edition Story” and “The Bobby Brown Story” that reached nearly 50 million total viewers.  He is also the executive producer of the VH1 shows “Dear Mama” and “Hip Hop Squares” with Ice Cube.

About Get Lifted Film Co.

Get Lifted Film Co. is a film and television production company based in Los Angeles, with principals John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius.   They executive produced WGN America’s critically acclaimed drama “Underground,” and served as executive producers on Pop Network’s docu-series “Sing It On.” They also executive produced HBO Documentary “Southern Rites.” Most recently they served as executive producers on NBC Live’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” for which they won a 2018 Emmy Award. They are currently in pre-production on their Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahudin created IFC series “Sherman’s Showcase.” Additionally, they served as executive producers on Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning musical “La La Land,” and the Obama romance “Southside With You.” Get Lifted made an impressionable foray into theatre in 2016, producing the audience-favorite “Turn Me Loose,” an off-Broadway one-man play about the life of iconic comedian Dick Gregory. In 2017, Get Lifted co-produced Broadway’s August Wilson play “Jitney,” which won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Most recently their documentary “United Skates” won the 2018 Audience Award at Tribeca Film Festival and will premiere on HBO in 2019.

About Gaspin Media

Gaspin Media is a production company formed by former Chairman of NBC Universal TV,  Jeff Gaspin. Gaspin Media produces scripted and unscripted content for Broadcast, Cable,  Streaming and digital platforms. A Two-time Emmy nominee for “Behind the Music,” Gaspin Is currently executive producer on “LA’s Finest,” staring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, for Spectrum’s OTT platform, and “To Tell the Truth,” which is entering it’s fourth season on ABC.  Additionally, Gaspin has series in development at Showtime, Amazon, Fox Network and Lifetime. Over the past five years, Gaspin Media has produced over a dozen series including “Fit To Fat” for A&E, “First Impressions” with Dana Carvey for USA and “Match Made in Heaven” for WEtv.

About Jeff Pollack

Jeff Pollack has worked on over 40 films, five of which received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song. The “Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart,” starring Jeff Bridges, went on to win the award. Recently, Pollack was a producer on the Emmy-nominated HBO film about Frank Sinatra “All or Nothing At All.” He was also an associate producer on the film Glen Campbell “I’ll Be Me,” which featured two Grammy-winning songs, including “I’m Not Going to Miss You,” later nominated for a Best Song Oscar. He was a producer on the film “Satan & Adam” which premiered earlier this year at Tribeca Festival, and is an executive producer on a new Johnny Cash film to be released in 2019.

About Netflix

Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 130 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

2018 ONE Musicfest: Nas, Cardi B, Miguel, T.I. among performers

June 5, 2018

2018 ONE Musicfest Lineup (PRNewsfoto/ONE Musicfest)

The following is a press release from ONE Musicfest:

ONE Musicfest, the Southeast’s premier urban progressive music and arts festival – has announced the lineup for its 2018 festival. Now a two-day experience taking place Saturday, September 8 and Sunday, September 9 at Central Park in Atlanta, GA, ONE Musicfest will feature Nas, Cardi B, Miguel, T.I., Jeezy, Big Sean, Kelis, Brandy, August Greene, Big KRIT, George Clinton & Parliament and more.

For additional information and tickets, visit ONEMusicfest.com.

Hailed as one of the nation’s “Can’t Miss Festivals,” ONE Musicfest returns for its ninth year with an unforgettable weekend of high-energy performances and unique cultural experiences. Over 20,000 attended last year, generating over 1.8 billion impressions and rave reviews from USA Today, Associated Press, Huffington Post and VIBE.

This year, ONE Musicfest has curated a diverse lineup of music powerhouses, radio chart-toppers and icons. From the rap god Nas to hip-hop it-girl Cardi B to the legendary George Clinton & Parliament, the festival offers something for music lovers of all kinds.

“We are all super excited about OMF2018,” says founder Jason “J” Carter. “Growing into a two-day festival allows us to expand our roster, highlight more of the music that we love and give our audience an experience unlike any!”

Purchase your tickets today at ONEMusicfest.com.

Complete List of Currently Announced Performers for ONE Musicfest 2018 (in alphabetical order):

  • August Greene featuring Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins
  • Big KRIT
  • Big Sean
  • Brandy
  • Cardi B
  • Davido
  • DJ Nabs’ ATL Crunk Set featuring YoungBloodz, Ying Yang Twins, Eastside Boyz, Trillville, Kilo Ali and DJ Taz
  • DVSN
  • George Clinton & Parliament
  • Goldlink
  • Jeezy
  • Jessie Reyez
  • Kelis
  • Miguel
  • Nas
  • Rapsody
  • St Beauty
  • T.I.
  • Teedra Moses

About ONE Musicfest
ONE Musicfest is the Southeast’s largest annual urban progressive music festival, featuring a diverse range of music, including classic and next generation hip-hop, soulful R&B, alternative, and rock. Started in 2010, ONE Musicfest is now recognized as one of the most highly-anticipated celebrations of the arts in the Southeast, with this year’s festival expecting an attendance of 20,000 music lovers from throughout the country.

2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Pearl Jam, Journey, Yes, Tupac Shakur, ELO, Joan Baez, Nile Rodgers inducted; Chuck Berry, Prince given tributes

April 8, 2017

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Eddie Vedder and Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam at the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 7, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Kane/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

by Carla Hay

The 32nd Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony—which took place April 7, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York—featured several on-stage reunions for inductees such as Journey, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which have all had numerous lineup changes over the years. Highlights of the show will be televised in a special that premieres on HBO on April 29, 2017, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. An exhibit for the 2017 inductees went on display March 31 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. More than 900 voters picked inductees, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Artists are eligible for inclusion 25 years after the release of their first recording.

Here’s a rundown of the ceremony:

ELO

Jeff Lynne of ELO at the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 7, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Kane/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Band members inducted: Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, Roy Wood, Richard Tandy. (Tandy and Bevan did not attend the ceremony for reasons that have not been publicly disclosed.)

Inducted by: Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison. ELO leader Jeff Lynne worked with George Harrison several times as a producer and as a fellow member of the Traveling Wilburys.

Songs performed: “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Evil Woman,” “Mr.  Blue Sky”

One of ELO’s earliest hits was the band’s 1972 cover version of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” so it was fitting that the band played the song as a tribute to Berry who died on March 18, 2017, at the age of 90.  Lynne accepted the induction award on stage with ELO co-founder Roy Wood, who quit the band in 1972, a year after the band’s first album was released. Wood and Lynne have not appeared on stage together in decades. Wood, however, did not perform at the ceremony.

Lynne has been recording and touring as the leader of Jeff Lynne’s ELO since 2014. Tandy is a member of Jeff Lynne’s ELO, while Bevan formed the spinoff band ELO Part II in the 1980s, after ELO’s most successful lineup disbanded. ELO has been revived off and on over the years; there was a short-lived revival in 2001 and the group was revived again in 2014, with Lynne and Tandy as the only original members.

Joan Baez

Joan Baez (center) with Mary Chapin Carpenter (left) and Amy Ray of Indigo Girls (right) at the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 7, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Kane/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Inducted by: Jackson Browne

Songs performed: “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” “Deportee” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” For the latter two songs, Baez was joined on stage by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Indigo Girls guitarist Amy Ray.

Steve Howe of Yes at the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 7, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Kane/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Members inducted: Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Alan White

Inducted by: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush, a band heavily influenced by Yes’ brand of progressive rock.

Songs performed: “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Roundabout.” Yes was joined on stage for the performance by former lead singer Anderson and Rush’s Lee.

Copyright 2017-2024 Culture Mix
CULTURE MIX