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BGN interviews the cast of the Warner Bros film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
Featured in the interviews are Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Williams. Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg — a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.
Interviewer: Jamie Broadnax
Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim premieres in theaters December 13, 2024
The post The Cast of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ on Exploring an Animated Adventure appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
October 22, 2024, marked the 25th anniversary of the release of The Best Man, filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee’s 1999 directorial debut that earned high praises from both critics and moviegoers. Now, 25 years since the release of the movie, its stars Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, and Malcolm D. Lee have reunited with a new venture. However, instead of receiving a remake of this great comedy-drama, the cast of The Best Man has reunited to launch Sable Bourbon, a high-quality spirit inspired by their friendship.
The four artists banded together to create their own bourbon after Harold Perrineau expressed his interest in continuing their camaraderie and working relationship past The Best Man, its sequel, and the limited miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters, which aired on December 22, 2022. Perrineau came up with the idea and discovered Bespoken Spirits, a cutting-edge, Earth-conscious craft whiskey producer known for its sustainable production methods. Soon, the rest of the cast of The Best Man joined in.
Lee and Chestnut were immediately on board with Perrineau’s idea, while Diggs, who rarely leaves his own comfort zone, eventually joined after being motivated by the appeal and the maturity the four of them bring as Black men in the world of spirits. In fact, he joked about his personal evolution going from Zima Clearmalt — a clear, vodka-containing, and slightly carbonated alternative to beer — to fine bourbon.
Thus, we can comfortably say that his personal evolution resonates with a sense of growth tied to the characters Chestnut, Perrineau, and himself, portrayed in The Best Man. Malcolm D. Lee is the film’s director, but he also made a brief appearance in the movie. Sable bourbon is crafted using a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley, resulting in a bold 94°P (94-proof) deep golden-brown spirit whose tasting notes feature the aroma of burnt sugar and nutty marzipan.
Thanks to Bespoken Spirits’ innovative approach to aging and flavor profiling — which earned the company more than 200 awards in just three years — Sable bourbon delivers rich flavors of dark chocolate fudge with mocha, complemented by an oak-forwards and medium spice finish. The gents from The Best Man were very involved with the flavor profiling process, bottle design, and even the name, with “Sable” meaning “black,” symbolizing the depth and richness of their friendship.
For those who haven’t seen The Best Man, the movie follows Lance, Harper, and Julian (Chestnut, Diggs, and Perrineau, respectively) as they reunite for Lance’s wedding. Harper, who is the best man and an author, realizes that his debut novel might stir up secrets from their past, creating tension among the group. With the wedding approaching, the trio must mend their old wounds and navigate the complexities of their friendships to support one another and ensure that the big day goes as smoothly as possible.
Of course, with The Best Man being a comedy-drama with a wedding theme, hilarity ensues. The movie was a commercial and critical hit upon its release in 1999. Its success helped launch the careers of Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, and Terrence Howard into the stratosphere, who gained significant recognition and opportunities in Hollywood following the film’s release. Not only that, but it also solidified Malcolm D. Lee’s reputation as a talented director.
What contributed to the film’s success is the representation of young, upwardly mobile Black men, which was completely different from the stereotypical roles associated with the majority of Hollywood depictions. All the characters were fresh out of college and trying to figure things out and find their footing in the grown-up world, and this representation resonated well with Black audiences as well as more mainstream viewers.
The launch of Sable Bourbon arrived alongside the 25th anniversary of The Best Man, so the actors took the opportunity to organize a photo shoot to promote their project. They also hired stylist J. Bolin to perfect their style for the event. During the promotional shoot, Malcolm D. Lee also hinted at new storytelling projects he’s currently working on. Perrineau, however, added that there’s a secret agenda behind the liquor, and it involves intoxicating Malcolm so that he’d write another chapter in The Best Man series or films.
Sable Bourbon is available online at the brand’s website at a suggested retail price of $60 per 750mL bottle (25-ish fl.oz.) and is currently being shipped out to retail locations across the United States. If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the Sable Bourbon and Bespoke Spirits on social media. On the other hand, if you’re interested in watching The Best Man, the movie is currently available on Prime Video, where you can rent or buy a digital copy.
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While Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is still going steady in its 16th year, the recent dip in quality (admittedly alleviated by the release of Deadpool & Wolverine) suggests that the largest cinematic universe is suffering under the weight of its own success. Building on the franchise’s overwhelming success with the Infinity Saga, Disney adopted an aggressive expansion strategy, producing a relentless stream of content that ended up diluting the quality of the MCU releases, killing the original magic of the entire franchise.
The post-Infinity Saga of the MCU has seen a mix of success and perceived flops, with releases such as Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Secret Invasion failing to impress the MCU fanbase the same way previous releases did. Just over a year ago, Disney publicly announced that it was shifting its strategy and prioritizing quality over quantity once again. At the same time, former MCU director James Gunn, who set out to start his own cinematic universe under Warner Bros, revealed his plans to steer DCU clear of MCU’s biggest pitfalls.
It’s no secret that Disney’s extensive expansion of the MCU pushed the boundaries of audience engagement and content saturation—right off the cliff. To avoid this issue, James Gunn has revealed that DC Studios plans to avoid the over-saturation seen in the superhero genre by spacing out the release of its films and shows. Additionally, the new DCU will take a completely different approach to the interconnectivity between the movies and avoid strictly dedicated releases that culminate in a single cinematic crossover event.
When the new DCU was announced, Gunn confirmed that the new cinematic universe would include more than ten cinematic and television projects included in the Gods and Monsters chapter, which began with Creature Commandos and the 2025 live-action movie Superman. So, the interconnectivity between DCU releases starts off as early as these two projects. The former introduces Amanda Waller and Rick Flag Sr., while the latter introduces the Engineer, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl.
While this sounds like the MCU’s recipe on steroids, Gunn confirmed to a fan on Threads that the DCU won’t follow the MCU’s model of releasing up to three movies a year and that its slate won’t be announced like Marvel’s. According to Gunn, nothing at DCU is greenlit before the script is complete — which means that it went through as many rewrites as necessary to ensure quality. There will be no announcements, no casting for any potential projects, and perhaps most importantly, no delays.
This will avoid the issue Marvel is currently having with Blade, a movie that was announced in 2019 and has been delayed and rewritten multiple times, risking the erosion of audience interest. Not to mention that too many cooks can end up spoiling the broth, given the number of writers and directors the project has shed. A different approach by Gunn means that the DCU can start, change, delay, and even cancel entire projects without ever alerting the audiences or having a project’s troubled development turn into its biggest talking point.
As for crossover events, it’s far from the fact that the DCU won’t have any. The first chapter, Gods and Monsters, will cover a wide variety of famous superheroes and characters from DC comics. This also includes some lesser-known characters. Additionally, the DCU will extend to television and animation from day one. However, the key here is the longer timespan between releases; it will grant fans enough time to absorb the material instead of overwhelming and fatiguing fans with tons of low-quality content.
Given the struggles Warner Bros. had with establishing its own cinematic universe, James Gunn’s approach seems much more grounded. Warner Bros is a reactionary company that’s sometimes completely devoid of vision and creativity, and it rushed to establish its now-dead DCEU to compete with Disney and Marvel. As seen, it failed miserably, but a good thing about reactionary entertainment companies is that they learn from their mistakes — or at least it seems like they do.
The new DCU, under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s guidance, seems to be built on a much more solid foundation compared to Marvel’s, and the approach DC Studio is taking with its releases would allow them to keep things simple and easy for diehard fans and casual audiences to digest. It is far from the fact that the new universe isn’t facing any challenges, but even those can be addressed. We don’t really need a new Superman film detailing his origins, and the Multiverse, while important in DC Comics, doesn’t need to be rushed.
The simplest solution is often the most elegant one, and this applies to Gunn’s approach to a new cinematic universe. Keeping things simple and manageable will allow audiences to once again engage with their favorite superheroes on the silver screen, and avoiding the pitfalls of the MCU (such as churning out low-quality content for profit) has the potential to set up the emerging cinematic universe as the next big thing in superhero cinema. If nothing else, having a little competition will finally make Disney and Marvel think before they deliver something similar to Secret Invasion or She-Hulk.
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