Pride month is in full swing, which is why we’re seeing rainbow themed everything. Not only is the parade of color an indication of support for the GBTQIA community, but […]

The post You Have To See How This Beauty Blogger Shows Off Her #Pride appeared first on Essence.

The award-winning play from the illustrious August Wilson Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will be adapted into a feature film and air on Netflix.

The film stars Viola Davis , Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo and Michael Potts. Multiple Tony Award and DGA Award-winner George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) will direct the film.

Writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson will adapt the script based on the award-winning play.

Denzel Washington will team up with Viola Davis again on yet another August Wilson play and will produce the film as well as Academy Award Nominee Todd Black and Dany Wolf. Jazz legend Branford Marsalis is composing the music.

The film tells the story of when Ma Rainey, the “Queen of the Blues,” makes a record in a studio in Chicago, 1927, and tensions boil between her, her white agent and producer, and bandmates.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom opened at Broadway’s Cort Theatre in October 1984, playing 276 performances before closing in June 1985. Featuring direction by Lloyd Richards, the play cast Theresa Merritt in the title role. The remainder of the company featured John Carpenter, Lou Criscuolo, Scott Davenport-Richards, Charles S. Dutton, Leonard Jackson, Robert Judd, Christopher Loomis, Aleta Mitchell, and Joe Senaca. Nominated for a Tony Award, Ma Rainey’s won the 1984 New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play was revived in February 2003 starring Whoopi Goldberg and Charles S. Dutton.

Filming will begin next month in Pittsburgh.

Shahadi Wright Joseph’s star is on the rise and her career is just getting started.

With two major films out this year, including the highly anticipated Disney film The Lion King, Shahadi Wright Joseph is definitely keeping herself busy. She chatted with BGN about what was frightening working with Lupita Nyong’o in Us and playing a young Beyoncé in The Lion King. In the film, Beyoncé plays the adult Nala and Shahadi plays little Nala. This is the same role she played in the Broadway musical of the same name. You can expect to see some changes in Shahadi’s rendition of the beloved character, and the actor also has some music coming out soon, so stay tuned for that!

This past spring, you frightened all of us in your duel doppelganger performance in Us, were there any moments during filming that frightened you the most?

Oh, yeah I think so. I think that Lupita was definitely one of those moments. She would always get into her character so well. It would kind of spook me out a little bit. But I was kind of in awe of it because I’ve never seen, you know an actress so committed to her role like that, so, it was amazing.

What exactly was it that was frightening about her role?

I think that it was all of it. It was her voice, the way that she walked. And you know just the way that she looked, you know?

It was really scary seeing her in her costume and all of the creepy makeup. It was definitely some movie magic that I’ve never seen before. Because you know seeing Lupita out of costume and seeing her in costume you know? She still kind of looks like herself a little bit but just slightly altered.

Now that you’ve had a chance to see how audiences reacted to the film both before and after, what was something that surprised you from the reception of the movie? From the audience’s perspective?

I think that it was definitely all of the fan art the people were making. Even just from the trailer that came out on Christmas you know, everybody was making all of these drawings and, pictures, and theories and stuff. Just from a two-minute trailer and that was so exciting. I had never seen anything like that, you know. Just from an audience response.

This was a movie that had repeat viewings. A lot of people went back to the theaters to see it again. Were there things you caught as well just from seeing how fans reacted to the film?

Oh yes, definitely I remember one fan commented, and they said that I got five on it. You know it means half on drugs. But they said that reminded them of the two doppelgangers splitting their personalities in half. So, I thought that was really different and I kind of just kept thinking about that for a while.

We here at Black Girl Nerds were very excited about the CGI re-imagining of The Lion King and while most of us here are familiar with the story. I wanted to know if you could share with us some new aspects of young Nala that we can expect to see in the film?

This is my second time playing young Nala, the first time I played it on Broadway. But, this time you know I really wanted to change her a little bit. So that the fans can get something different out of this movie you know? So I definitely wanted to change her personality a little bit. To make her a little bit more confident you know a bolder and intelligent. Something that girls can look up to.

Will we expect to see a lot of what you had already brought to young Nala’s character on Broadway in the film adaptation?

Yes, I think so. I think that I will definitely transfer over some of the things that I’ve learned from Broadway. Over to the new Lion King, which, will be really exciting, because, I haven’t played her in so long. So, it’s pretty nostalgic.

I know usually in voice acting roles actors rarely interact and meet their colleagues but, I have to ask since you are playing the younger version of Nala who will be voiced by Beyoncé, the adult Nala. Did you get a chance to meet with her? Or work with her at all while recording?

No, I haven’t not yet. I definitely cannot wait to meet her, so, that’s going to be really exciting. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to her. But, when I do, I’ll figure out something.

You have plenty of time to practice between now and the premiere.

Right.

I also read in an interview that you said that Jon Favreau, the director, gave you a lot of freedom playing Nala. Can you give us some examples of what that was?

Yeah, I mean especially while we were recording our songs he would definitely let us make the song our own. And let us feel comfortable within the character. And it was great because we would feel…we would definitely feel more like Simba and Nala.

You’ve really hit it out of the ballpark this year. Between Us and The Lion King, you’re definitely on a role. What’s next for you?

Well, later this year I’ll be coming out with some music. But I can’t say much about it. So, that’s basically all 

Oh okay, can you at least tell us what genre of music?

I like to call it pop affirmations.

Pop Afronation?

Like affirmations.

Oh, pop affirmations. Oh, that’s new. I haven’t heard of that term before. Well, that’s awesome. I look forward to it. Please keep us posted on when that happens. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Black Girl Nerds. All the best to you and your career.

Thank you.

As of June 4th, the intellectual thriller Us is available. It’s available on Digital and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD 6/18.

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Written by: Utibe Gautt Ate

Disney Pixar’s latest computer-animated feature is an entertaining saga.

Toy Story 4 seems aimed at those of us who grew up with the franchise that first graced silver screens twenty-four years ago. However, it also re-opens the story for an entirely new generation.

The best thing about it is the new characters — especially Ducky and Bunny, two carnival doll prizes stuck to a game booth wall. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele reunited two years after their Comedy Central show Key & Peele ended to voice these brightly colored, energetic plush creatures. Undiluted, the fullness of their iconic humor is on display so that the audience is convinced they’re the real stars of the show.

Of course, the film also catches up with its stars of old, Woody and Buzz Lightyear, reprised respectively by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, as well as Andy’s other former toys. Now the gang’s in a new room with Bonnie, their new kid. She’s got her old toys, she’s got her new toys, and she’s also starting a different life phase — first grade. She’s not very interested in Woody, and it’s the first time he’s not his kid’s favorite. As he learns to navigate this stage in his life, the film seeks to answer the question, where does Woody belong? What’s his purpose?

To help him along the way, he’s surrounded by his old pals, Ducky, Bunny, and several other newcomers. Japanese-American Wrecked actress Ally Maki joins the ensemble as a noticeably Asian Giggle McDimples. She’s a plastic figurine from the 1980s toy line of the same name. For most of the film, she sits atop Bo Peep’s shoulder as if she were her pet. Though Maki’s Giggle is a vibrant, smart, and refreshing addition to the franchise, she has very little screen time. The fact that her role as an Asian character is literally and figuratively the tiniest in the picture feels regressive and stereotypical. It’s a missed opportunity to portray an Asian character as fully her own person.

Instead, the plot centers Bo Peep (returning after an absence from the second and third films), who reunites with her former love interest, Woody. There is also Gabby Gabby, a new female character. She’s a talking 1950s pull-string doll, voiced by Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks. Unlike Giggle, these women are prominent and strongly influence the story’s trajectory. They’re also toys that look like humans, which highlights another problem in the movie. Out of the eight new characters, it’s only the white ones that closely resemble people: specifically, Bo, Gabby and newcomer Duke Caboom, a 1970s toy based on Canada’s greatest stuntman, voiced by Keanu Reeves. That they resemble humans makes it easier for viewers to relate to their emotions and to see themselves within these toys. However, was it so hard to imagine dolls that resembled people of color?

Fortunately, composer Randy Newman returns to score a terrific soundtrack that helps to define what all the characters are feeling. Traditionally, his lyrics and melodies have been so integral to the franchise, it’s impossible to think of one without thinking of the other. Here his music once again reinforces the powerful idea that within their treasures, children can find true friends. Even though they are inanimate objects, toys can be vessels used to express a child’s deepest emotions.

The track “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” is reintroduced, as well as two new ones: “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy,” which cuts to the heart of Woody’s challenges since leaving Andy’s room, and “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” a song about Forky, Bonnie’s new favorite toy, that VEEP’s Tony Hale brings to life. Forky was made from a spork and other pieces of trash the girl discovers at school. He’s confused as to how and why he’s alive and continually attempts to return to his original home, the trashcan. Newman’s tune reminds us that in an animated picture, he can make you feel the real flesh-and-blood emotions a character experiences.

Quite beautifully, through the music and the narrative, this Toy Story rendition once again explores themes of belonging and purpose. Bonnie loses interest in Woody, leaving him mentally and emotionally “lost.” Aimless Ducky and Bunny, stuck to a carnival wall year after year, have never experienced a child’s love. A changed Bo Peep is kid-less, so amongst the others, she’s seen as a “lost toy.” Gabby believes that if only she had a working voice box, she could belong to a child again. Bonnie’s beloved Forky gets separated from his kid and his new friends and winds up a hostage in a creepy antique shop.

Unlike his pals, the spork has no fancy buttons, no technology. He was entirely drawn up from his kid’s imagination, inspired by her desperate need for a friend on the first day of school. Forky’s presence draws attention to a lovely yet subtle message — that a child can love a simple toy handmade from trash as profoundly as anything bought in a store. It’s a message that feels reminiscent of Walt Disney and his original animations. Those long-ago images were sparse by today’s cinematic standards but told incredibly imaginative, simple, emotionally true stories. It’s too bad here that the Disney message gets lost in what turns out to be another action-packed blockbuster. Sadly, Forky’s power is relegated to the sidelines, and we’re mainly left with a story about a lonely white cowboy and his long lost love.

Toy Story 4 arrives in theaters June 20th.

The post Review: ‘Toy Story 4’ Needs an Update, and is Too Reminiscent of Walt Disney and His Original Animations appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.