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chadwick boseman dELIVERS The Funk and more as james brown in 'get on up'!

11/20/2014

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ACTOR CHADWICK BOSEMAN GETS THE MOVES JUST RIGHT AS JAMES BROWN IN 'GET ON UP'
The musical giant that is soul music legend and icon James Brown has finally, after several unsuccessful attempts, including by director Spike Lee, had his eventful and colourful life story make its way to the silver screen. Indeed, plans were afoot while the Godfather of Soul was still alive, but unfortunately his sad departure on Christmas Day 2006 meant he would never see the project completed. A situation fairly similar to his contemporary, singer Ray Charles, who although had full knowledge of his award winning 'Ray' biopic being made, passed away in June 2004, a mere 4 months before its American release. The green light was given by Hollywood for the JB biography, 'Get On Up' after The Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger got involved, acting as producer, working alongside Oscar winner Brian Grazer, who had produced yet another music based drama, '8 Mile' which starred the rapper Emimen, looking at his early beginnings in urban Detroit. Fresh from making 'The Help', Tate Taylor came on board as director, and with a first rate cast attached, including Chadwick Boseman (last seen as US baseball hero Jackie Robinson in the sports flick '42'), who gives a near note-perfect performance as James Brown, catching all the grunting, hollering, screaming, laughing, singing and dancing in equal measure. He is a total delight to watch. Capturing the essence of the man, who at any moment could change his emotion from unadulterated joy to pure rage at the drop of a hat, displaying that sense of danger  which always seem to be lurking under his exterior. As an actor not trained in dance whatsoever, Boseman rose to the challenge, admirably emulating Brown's exciting and unique dexterity when performing live, the spins, the shimmy-shuffle, the leg movements, the dance steps incorporating the microphone and of course the splits to the ground that all punctuated the heady and frantic funky rhythms, which gave an excellent impression of what it might have been like to have seen the real man himself in his heyday.

'Get On Up' chooses to tell the James Brown story in non linear fashion, instead switching time periods in regular intervals which, offering glimpses, significant moments in the often turbulent and troubled life of the soul singer, trying to explain the workings of a black man, born in abject poverty in the plainly racist American south of 1933, who rose not only to become one of the greatest living entertainers of all time, practically inventing a new genre in music, namely funk, building an empire in the process, but had his fair share of misery and downfall. What could make such a man who seem to have it all, talent ,money, fame and adulation endure such demons beneath the surface of his soul? This seems to be the main message of the film. We first encounter a drug fuelled Brown in 1988, armed and angry. Talking straight to camera, he informs us with conviction, "You may not know me, but every record you got has got a piece of me in it." From here we are transported to see a little infant JB running around a broken down shack in the backwoods of South Carolina. It is here we discover the broken relationship with his parents, the wayward mother (Viola Davis) who would abandon Brown at a young tender age and the tyrannical father (Lennie James) who would eventually leave the youth with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer) to raise, albeit in a brothel.




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trailer: mary j. blige 'the london sessions' documentary

11/13/2014

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Mary J. Blige, in deep thought, while working at a recording studio in London
2014 may prove to be a very important year in the career of r&b/soul singing sensation Mary J. Blige. The songstress who hailed from Yonkers, New York, first exploded onto the music scene as 'The Queen Of Hip Hop Soul' in the early 90's and soon proved to the world she indeed was that and a whole lot more. Much time has passed since those heady days and Blige is still looking for new challenges and areas to display her superb vocal dexterity, along with her writing skills, and it was her yearning for pastures new that found Mary being connected to it a UK electronic dance group called Disclosure. She added her vocals to a remix of a single of their 'F For You' single (even writing her own parts) and the reaction was instant. A dancefloor smash ensued, with the band seeing their already well known track improving in both quality and popularity and Mary finding a new dance audience appreciating her unique, soulful tones.

The situation could not have been better timed. Mary had a new record label to call home, Capitol Records, and her experience recording in London was so rewarding she decided to make an EP with some of London's finest new music makers. The label went one better and advised her to record a whole album's worth of material and release it under the banner of 'The London Sessions'. A deal was struck, and with Rodney Jerkins by her side as Executive Producer, Mary traveled to London to work and record with several British artists including Sam Smith, Emeli Sande, Naughty Boy and of course, Disclosure. She so immersed herself into the London scene that she was quoted in an interview with The Guardian newspaper earlier in the summer saying, "The UK is a better place to make music than in the States."

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early look at martin luther king 'selma' movie

11/13/2014

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A scene from 'Selma' with David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King (centre)
Next year will see the 50th anniversary of the famous 1965 Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama civil rights marches intended to spotlight and in turn destroy the racial discrimination experienced by black people at the voting booths in the American south. The Jim Crow-ism of the era, though now starting to crack, was still prevalent and the civil rights leaders were determined to get a Voting Rights Act approved by the US government. Its most prominent speaker, who helped bring their struggle to the world, Dr Martin Luther King led the historic marches and now a film on the subject has now been made. Directed by Ava DuVernay and featuring a star-studded cast, 'Selma' looks to be a rousing and emotionally charged affair. DuVernay has revealed she wanted to use the movie as a chance for the audience to get a glimpse of King as a real man, and not just an iconic figure, telling an audience at a recent urban film festival, "What we are attempting to do is present Dr. King as a man. Not a statute, not a speech, not a picture, but as a brother who had a wife, who had a complicated relationship with her and the people around him. Who was sometimes great and sometimes not so great."

The cast includes Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., hip hop artist Common and British actress Carmen Ejogo who plays Coretta Scott King. That British flavour continues with Tom Wilkinson playing President Lydon B. Johnson, Tim Roth playing the racist Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who deeply opposed and fought against the marchers, and perhaps most surprising of all, though it shouldn't be, the very talented David Oyelowo (who recently had a pivotal role in 'The Butler) as Dr. Martin Luther King. In fact he had been cast as King when the film was originally going to be made by Lee Daniels in 2007. From the trailer the actor is almost unrecognizable. He achieved his desired look by gaining weight and shaving back his hairline, saying "At one point I looked in the mirror and I couldn't see myself......Dr. King was staring back at me." Adding "It's very costly emotionally, physically, spiritually. You cannot go into an endeavour like this without going there. King felt a lot of guilt about the people who were cut down because of the movement and the cost on his children, his wife. So you have to go there, and I can proudly say I went there."

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harry belafonte receives special 'humanitarian' oscar

11/13/2014

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Harry Belafonte receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in Hollywood
Last Saturday evening (8 Nov), acclaimed actor, singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte was given a very special honourary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in Hollywood for his tireless years of hard work and devotion to helping the plight of oppressed people around the world. His extensive contribution has ranged from marching with Dr. Martin Luther King in the civil rights struggles of America and speaking out against the injustice of apartheid in South Africa to fighting for education, famine relief and Aids awareness, as documented in his quite moving  biography 'My Song - A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance' and the 2011 documentary film 'Sing Your Song' which served as a visual companion piece to the book.

The event where he was honoured was The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences 2014 Governors Awards, held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center, and as was befitting the stature of the 87 year old veteran, the auditorium was filled with many of the film industry's leading lights and power players, including Steve McQueen, the black British director of the Oscar winning '12 Years A Slave', who said of Belafonte, "He basically took those powers of celebrity and fame, and used them for a bigger cause than just his own." Leading actress Susan Saradon observed that Belafone was "the ultimate example of a great artist and a lifelong social activist".

The man himself took to the stage to accept his Oscar and proceeded to deliver a 12 minute speech that was eloquent, insightful, heartfelt, honest (at times brutally so for the mainly white Hollywood establishment in attendance), yet ending on a positive note for the future of the film business. Touching upon his youth in Harlem watching 'Tarzan' movies with its distortion of images of Africans and the celebration of the D.W. Griffith film 'Birth Of A Nation' in 1915, generally viewed as a classic motion picture, even with its overly racist views as shown on screen with the Ku Klux Klan as heroes. In telling these stories Belafonte was showing how far we have all come in the journey for equality and mutual respect, acknowledging there is still more work to be done. He urged the film makers of the future to take the lead in making a change for the better.

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    EON IRVING

     DJ, Remixer, Producer, Writer
    Involved in the music business since the very late 70's Beginning work at Island Records. DJing since the early 80's both in London and abroad, including the US and Europe. Along the way performing at many high profile events for such luminaries as Prince, Public Enemy and Lennox Lewis.
    Aside from radio and club djing, remixing and production work in the recording studio has meant working with the likes of Loose Ends, Junior Giscombe, David Morales, Gwen Guthrie, Sly & Robbie, Maxie Priest and Madonna.
    An intense lifelong love of cinema has blossomed itself in several ways including presenting to the UK public for the very first time such films as 'Boyz In The Hood', 'House Party' and 'A Rage In Harlem'.
    My passion for music, cinema and all other interests manifests itself through my writing. I am also a Contributing Editor for the music and entertainment website magazine, DeeperThe Beats  www.deeperthebeats.com



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