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Zuri Craig, who once was a finalist on the reality show America’s Got Talent as part of the Craig Lewis band, has died. He was 44 and no cause was given by his family, who confirmed he died on Friday and issued a tribute post on his website.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the transition of our beloved son, brother and friend, Zuri Craig. We thank you in advance for your prayers. Please honor our privacy at this unimaginable time of mourning.” They note he died on Friday — a cause of death has yet to be released, but more info seems to be forthcoming.

Craig was a hit on AGT back in 2015, when he and his singing partner, Jeffrey Lewis, delivered powerful versions of songs by James Brown and Mary J. Blige. They finished fifth overall in that year’s competition.

Craig also worked on Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,...

Conceived, shot, and sold to Netflix in the summer months after the coronavirus brought the country to a standstill, Sam Levinson’s exasperatingly gorgeous “Malcolm & Marie” is a lot like the two people who lend its title their names: confident and insecure in equal measure, stuffed to the gills with big ideas but convinced of nothing beyond its own frenzied existence, and reverent of Hollywood’s past at the same time it’s trying to stake a new claim for its future. It’s possible that some of those qualities apply more to Malcolm than Marie, but that doesn’t feel like a distinction worth making when neither of these characters amount to anything more than red carpet-ready straw-men for the heated argument that Levinson is having with himself.

Here is a movie with so many conflicting takes on the overlapping natures of artistic and romantic collaboration that it...

Zendaya and John David Washington ham it up entertainingly in a two-hander about a conceited director and his partner

This two-hander from writer-director Sam Levinson starring John David Washington and Zendaya can be shouty, hammy and shrill, with handbrake-turn theatrical mood shifts. At its worst, it feels like an insufferable vanity project. But it’s pugnaciously well-acted, flavoured with vinegary insights and rage-filled denunciations, and a hilarious set piece of scorn about how awful film critics are.

Malcolm (Washington) is a conceited young movie director and Marie (Zendaya) his smart, gorgeous girlfriend, returning to the fancy house rented for them by the production company after the gloriously successful premiere of his first feature. Malcolm pours himself one out in their luxury kitchen, puts James Brown on the sound system and is keen to indulge a new, private afterparty mood of angry triumph and self-congratulation that he couldn’t really show the other guests earlier.

The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Golden Eighties From a broad angle view, it seems as though all movies made in the 1980s could be classified as either action or musical. The neon glitz of the decade easily melds with the flamboyance of musicals, and it was a time when budgets soared, so lavish song-and-dance set pieces fit in nicely with the decadence. But 80s musicals also changed things up in the genre—sometimes focusing more on choreography, other times the songs. The burgeoning cult status of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) also had producers scrambling for the ineffable weirdness that captured the imagination of an audience so intensely that they wanted to spend every weekend watching and mimicking what so delighted them on screen This resulted in odd choices that inevitably flopped, and took decades to gain a devoted following,...

Chadwick Boseman only made his feature film debut in 2008 and appeared in just fifteen movies before his passing earlier this year at the age of 43, but he looks set to leave behind an indelible legacy despite such a brief time at the top. It was Jackie Robinson biopic 42 that first brought him mainstream attention, while Get on Up proved he was a massively versatile talent and Black Panther turned him into a megastar. But new Netflix release Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will likely go down as the best performance of a career cut short in the most tragic of circumstances.

There’s been awards buzz building around the adaptation of August Wilson’s play for months now, especially after the early reactions were throwing every superlative under the sun at George C. Wolfe’s drama. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom currently holds a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes with...

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020): Viola Davis as Ma Rainey. Cr. David Lee / Netflix

Chadwick Boseman’s last performance is opposite Viola Davis in a gripping drama based on August Wilson’s play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman gives a fiery, heartbreaking performance in this excellent film. It is as fine, and fitting, a final performance as one could hope for from the late actor.

Ma Rainey’S Black Bottom is set during a recording session in 1927, with blues legend Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and her band, including new horn player Levee (Chadwick Boseman). As the band rehearses apart from the star, the conversation is wide-ranging, touching on human ambitions and the treatment of Black musicians by the white-dominated music industry in the 1920s. Meanwhile, the cagey star engages in power plays with the white recording studio manager and her own business manager, as well as her band, to stay in control of her career.

Chadwick Boseman made his name in films centred around African American icons, from Jackie Robinson to James Brown to T’Challa, which under his watch became a Black icon in its own right.

It’s therefore fitting that the late Black Panther star is more than likely to win an Oscar for his part in another historical tale about a seminal Black celebrity, even if Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom doesn’t exactly set the world on fire.

Set over a hot and heated afternoon in 1927 Chicago, Ma Rainey has an album to record and little time for anything else. Especially Levee (Boseman), an ambitious and skilled member of her band with his own eye on glory. Both virtuoso musicians with a virtuoso’s ego, Rainey and the fictional Levee predictably lock horns — and over more than just the music.

But it’s the setting of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,...

29 November 1976 – 28 August 2020

The Oscar-winning costume designer – who worked with the actor on Black Panther – recalls a kind, self-assured man who would rather crack a joke than talk about his illness

Andrew Weatherall remembered by David HolmesRead the Observer’s obituaries of 2020 in full

In 2015, I interviewed for the film Marshall, about the supreme court justice Thurgood Marshall in the 1940s, and they told me that Chadwick Boseman was playing the lead. I really loved his work in 42 [playing Jackie Robinson], and as James Brown in Get on Up, so I was excited to meet him. He walked in for his first fitting and I showed him images and black-and-white videos of people in the 40s doing the lindy hop and going out partying. He started doing some of his James Brown moves in the room, to get us into the mood – I was amazed at his dancing abilities. Thurgood Marshall would...

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed today that the upcoming Black Panther sequel, known as Black Panther II, will not recast the central role of T’Challa, originally embodied by Chadwick Boseman.

The announcement came near the tail end of Marvel’s presentation during Disney Investor Day, in which the multimedia conglomerate plotted out its ambitious upcoming schedule of movies and TV series for investors (and the world at large). Feige set aside some time to honor the life and legacy of Boseman, who died this August following a protracted, yet mostly private battle with colon cancer. According to Feige, the sequel will acknowledge T’Challa while also taking time to “explore the world of Wakanda and the rich characters introduced in the first film.”

Boseman first appeared as eventual king of Wakanda T’Challa a.k.a. Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. He then reprised the...

Chadwick Boseman was honored by his fellow Marvel costars on this Sunday's MTV Movie and TV Awards.

Robert Downey Jr and Don Cheadle reportedly paid a heartfelt tribute to the late actor by presenting him the Hero for the Ages Award during the special event.

The 'Black Panther' star, who died in August was posthumously named as the 'Hero for the Ages' at the virtual ceremony which aired Sunday night, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The 'Avengers' actors appeared on a large screen during the virtual awards special and paid their respects to Chadwick Boseman.

"The second you first saw him onscreen or had the opportunity to meet him in person, his energy and intensity was undeniable," the Iron Man star said.

"There was something different and special about Chadwick Boseman. Mr Boseman truly embodied what it meant to be a superhero," he continued.

"His impact as a groundbreaking leading man,...

Pete Rock will complete his trilogy of instrumental LPs this December with the release of PeteStrumentals 3, the legendary hip-hop producer’s latest installment focusing on his inimitable studio work.

However, unlike the previous samples-heavy releases in the PeteStrumentals series, the third installment sees Rock creating his own loops with a powerhouse band dubbed the Soul Brothers.

“A lot of this album sounds like samples extracted from records. We dress it up and add definition to what it is. It’s Hip-Hop, but have you ever heard Pete Rock not sample...

The final film of Chadwick Boseman’s incandescent career has released its first images of the late star.

Director George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of August Wilson’s stage play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stars Viola Davis in the title role, with Boseman as a band member. The film centers as a recording session in Chicago by the “Mother of the Blues” as the vehicle for larger discussions on race and soceity. The film is scheduled to bow on Netflix on Dec. 18.

The supporting cast includes Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts, with Denzel Washington and Todd Black as producers.

Boseman died in late August from colon cancer. His career resumes includes film homages to music’s James Brown and baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, as well as his star turn as the King of Wakanda in the blockbuster action film Black Panther.

Here's your first look at Viola Davis...

Showtime is out with its list of everything new coming to the premium cable platform in October, and the list includes the limited series “The Good Lord Bird” starring Ethan Hawke as the abolitionist John Brown.

Other highlights include new episodes of “The Circus,” “Desus & Mero,” and “Our Cartoon President,” along with classic movies like “Legally Blonde,” “Moonstruck,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Schindler’s List” and “Field of Dreams.”

Here’s the full list:

Original Series

The Good Lord Bird

Limited Series Premiere Sunday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. Et/Pt

The Good Lord Bird stars Ethan Hawke as controversial abolitionist John Brown. The limited series unfolds from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown’s motley family of abolitionist soldiers during Bleeding Kansas – a time when the state was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces – and eventually finds himself...

Like many of Prince’s former collaborators, Levi Seacer, Jr. still refers to his old boss in the present tense. Seacer joined Prince’s post-Revolution touring band on bass not long before the release of 1987’s Sign O’ the Times, and stuck around as the band morphed into the New Power Generation, switching to guitar. With the mammoth new reissue of Sign O’ the Times out now, Seacer looked back at some of the highlights of his time with Prince, whom he met through longtime mutual collaborator, Sheila E.

What...

The American Black Film Festival announced today their plans to remember Chadwick Boseman. With support from three major Hollywood studios, the American Black Film Festival will be airing a Chadwick Boseman tribute on its streaming service ABFF Play.

The Remembering Chadwick Boseman Film Retrospective will be available for free on October 3 and 4. Boseman’s films “42,” “Get On Up” and “Marshall” will all air as part of the retrospective.

“We truly appreciate WarnerBros, Universal Pictures, and Open Road Films for providing these three films in support of the Chadwick Boseman retrospective. We’re grateful to be able to offer the ABFF community and other fans a platform to see and celebrate his incredible talent and groundbreaking work portraying important Black figures,” said ABFF Ventures president Nicole Friday.

In “Marshall,” Boseman played civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall who went on to become the first African American associate justice named to the highest court in the land.

The American Black Film Festival has unveiled plans for a Remembering Chadwick Boseman Film Retrospective on Oct. 3 and 4, via its newly launched streaming platform ABFF Play.

The tribute to the late Black Panther star will see three Boseman movies about African American icons — 42, Get On Up and Marshall — stream for free, courtesy of the three Hollywood studios behind the titles, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and Open Road Films.

Boseman, who died of colon cancer at the age of 43, played Jackie Robinson, the race barrier-breaking Brooklyn Dodgers infielder, in 42; the soul music legend James Brown in Get On Up;...

The American Black Film Festival has unveiled plans for a Remembering Chadwick Boseman Film Retrospective on Oct. 3 and 4, via its newly launched streaming platform ABFF Play.

The tribute to the late Black Panther star will see three Boseman movies about African American icons — 42, Get On Up and Marshall — stream for free, courtesy of the three Hollywood studios behind the titles, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and Open Road Films.

Boseman, who died of colon cancer at the age of 43, played Jackie Robinson, the race barrier-breaking Brooklyn Dodgers infielder, in 42; the soul music legend James Brown in Get On Up;...

Soulful singer-songwriter Bill Withers, best known for a string of hits that includes “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me,” has died from heart complications. He was 81.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father,” Withers’ family said in a statement to the Associated Press. “A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other. As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.”

The three-time Grammy Award winner released eight albums before retiring from music in 1985. However, his inspiration and influence on artists, films, and music fans has never stopped. Even today, amidst the coronavirus pandemic,...

It’s a rare singer who can cause all four coaches on “The Voice” to turn their chairs around, let alone bring them all to their feet for a standing ovation. Yet that’s exactly what happened when Mike Jerel sat down in front of the keyboard and launched into James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s...

Exclusive: Paramount Pictures is moving forward with a biopic of Sammy Davis Jr. Studio has set Charles Murray to write the script. The film is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura; fellow musical icon Lionel Richie, latter of whom was instrumental in gathering rights from Sammy Davis Jr’s estate; and Mike Menchel. The movie is based on several resources, among them the singer’s 1965 memoir Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr, which Davis wrote with Jane and Burt Boyar.

Menchel said after they set the project at Paramount under di Bonaventura’s deal, they searched long and hard for the right writer, and eventually found themselves on Murray’s doorstep. Physically, Charles Murray is the polar opposite of the wiry and diminutive film subject, nor would you confuse him with Arthur Murray for that matter. His credits as a writer/producer include the muscular dramas Sons of Anarchy and Luke Cage,...

A woman, Jacque Hollander, is claiming she has evidence that the legendary R&b singer James Brown was murdered. She reportedly has handed a bin of items that she said was evidence of her claim to the office of the Fulton County District Attorney and they are looking at it. According to the Guardian, Chris Hopper, a spokesperson for the Fulton […]...

Every heroine in Birds of Prey has her own special set of powers, but Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary (played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell), might have the coolest powers of all: her voice is her secret weapon, both as a singer and as a superhero. Is Smollett-Bell really the voice behind the voice? You better believe it - that's really her singing!

Black Canary's big musical moment comes during a scene in the nightclub where she works, owned by Ewan McGregor's crime lord/supervillain Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask. Dinah sings a smooth, slow rendition of the famous James Brown song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," and, yes, that's really Smollett-Bell singing in that scene. In case there was any doubt, the track listing for the movie's soundtrack (and the song information in the movie's end credits) lists her as the performer for that song, no voice doubles or dubbing.

As the most commercially popular punk band in the history of the United States, Green Day have often admirably taken it on as their obligation to make Rock For Our Times, to heal — or, if the case requires, salt — our national wounds. It’s a tough gig. The Clash only had to make London Calling once; Green Day have been around for 34 years, six presidents, four or five stupid wars, a few global financial collapses, and 17 seasons of The Voice. That’s a lot of American shitpocalypse to churn through.

This article was originally published March 28th, 2014. It’s being republished in honor of what would have been Bob Marley’s 75th birthday, February 6th, 2020.

Bob Marley’s legend just keeps growing, but his sons and daughters are the ones who live with it most closely. It’s a big family – Marley had 11 acknowledged children, by seven different mothers – and also a diverse one, ranging from musicians and athletes to authors, business impresarios and fashion designers, all of whom had unique perspectives on, and relationships with, their famous father. Here,...

Media outlets across the nation are revising their programming schedules to honor Kobe Bryant, after the Los Angeles Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.

ESPN is re-airing the basketball icon’s final NBA game tonight at 9 p.m. Et/6 p.m. Pt. The historic game took place on April 13, 2016, at the Staples Center against the Utah Jazz and Bryant scored 60 points. ESPN’s previously scheduled Big Monday matchup between Kansas and Oklahoma State will move to ESPN2.

Meanwhile, Southern California radio stations went silent at noon today in honor of Bryant. The synchronized tribute was organized by the Southern California Broadcasters Association, which asked its members to take time out to remember the five-time NBA champion. Los Angeles hip-hop station Power 106 FM offered a series of on-air tributes, then immediately after the moment of silence played “I’ll Be Missing You,...

A lot will be said in the days and years to come about all the amazing and unforgettable Grammy Moments that Ken Ehrlich has somehow made happen decade after decade live on the Grammy Awards. Likely, a lot of it has already been said by my longtime mentor and lifelong friend Ken himself to Chris Willman in the surrounding pages of this distinguished publication that shares a name with the precise and splendid quality Ken has consistently brought to Music’s Biggest Night for four decades — Variety.

As you might imagine, working on the Grammy Awards for Ken over nearly two of those decades, I have enjoyed the tremendous and enduring pleasure of sharing a variety of the moments with Ken and the rest of a team that’s become like a family — occasionally like the Manson Family, but still, a family all the same. Although I had attended many...

“Subdivisions,” one of Rush’s most beloved songs, is also one of their simplest. Geddy Lee’s insistent synth riff gives the track — a fan favorite from 1982’s Signals — a muted, almost drone-y quality. So you might hear it 100 times before you realize what’s going on just underneath the surface: That Neil Peart, the band’s brilliantly obsessive supergenius of a drummer, has gone to the trouble of crafting a different drum part for every single verse.

He starts the first one (“Sprawling on the fringes of the city…...

There are few cultural institutions in the United States to rival the importance of The Apollo Theater in Harlem. For going on a hundred years the 1,500-seat venue has showcased the foremost African-American talent, from Duke Ellington to Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye, and Sarah Vaughan, among countless others.

“That stage, The Apollo, is where we go to voice who we are, where we are and where we’re going,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams tells Deadline. His HBO documentary The Apollo is one of 15 shortlisted features that Oscar Documentary Branch voters are considering as they mark their nomination ballots. The film highlights some of the seminal moments in Apollo history.

“Everything that happens on that stage is really political, whether it’s The Temptations in Italian suits changing the image and perception of what Black men looked like, or Billie Holiday singing the protest song ‘Strange Fruit,...

In the Broadway show “Gypsy” — a biopic about stripper Gypsy Rose Lee — there is a song titled “You Gotta Have a Gimmick.” When you are a Oscar nominee, however, you gotta have a narrative to complement your performance, something you can talk and brag about in interviews and on TV talk shows to prove that you gave your all to the art of cinema.

How many times did we read or hear that Leonardo DiCaprio suffered for his art during a grueling shoot for 2015’s “The Revenant” in which he played 19th-century frontiersman Hugh Glass who is left for dead after he is attacked by a grizzly bear? Not only did he chat endlessly about eating raw bison liver, he spent nine months in remote and frigid regions of Canada and Argentina making the film. As the actor told Yahoo Movies, “I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of...

Brittany Howard is a Southern rock & roll radical with a centuries-deep sense of history and some inspiring ideas about how to reshape it to fit our moment. As the lead singer and guitarist for the expansively retro-minded Alabama Shakes, she’s combined garage rock, soul, and psychedelia. In 2015, she convened the well-named punk-rock side project Thunderbitch, reimagining vintage New York punk as roadhouse stomp.

Now, she’s put the Shakes on hold to make her solo debut (though a couple of band members are on hand, as is co-producer Shawn Everett,...

Max B aims to demonstrate a new side of his artistry on “Black and I’m Proud,” the first official single from his upcoming Negro Spirituals album.

“It’s about me really evolving as a person, evolving as an artist,” the incarcerated rapper tells Rolling Stone. “My music five or six years ago — even before when I used to make music — it was good, but it lacked the experience I have today. The concept fell into my lap: I’m gonna transform from the old Max B into a powerful...

This past Friday, Kamala Harris, the Senator from California and a Democratic presidential hopeful, released her summer playlist, a collection of songs she’s “listening to while traveling around country.” Said Harris, “I’m a firm believer that we all need to find the time to dance, to sing and to bop our heads a little, so I’m sharing the songs I’m listening to in the car out on the campaign trail this summer. Whether we’re driving from Sacramento to Reno or Dubuque to Chicago, this playlist always lifts me up.

For a moment in the early Seventies, the House Guests were the hottest new funk group in Ohio. Its members, which included bassist Bootsy Collins and his brother, guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins, among others, had just finished backing James Brown on tracks like “Super Bad” and “Sex Machine” and had returned to their hometown of Cincinnati to try something different. They drafted singer Rufus Allen, who wasn’t afraid to do James Brown–style splits, and landed gigs opening for everyone from Gladys Knight and the Pips to George Clinton’s Funkadelic.

The “Today” show celebrated 25 years at Studio 1A on Thursday with a nostalgic video montage, which did not include former anchor Matt Lauer.

After two decades at the helm of “Today,” Lauer’s career unraveled just 24 hours after NBC management obtained detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against him in November of 2017. After getting fired, Lauer released a statement acknowledging his wrongdoings with women over the years and apologized — but also said some of the charges against him were untrue.

Reps for “Today” did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Lauer’s absence from the video.

But Al Roker, Hoda Kotb, Carson Daly, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and current members of morning show’s staff did appear in the video, which looked back on the warmest memories that have taken place in the famous plaza.

“When Today first moved to Studio 1A in 1994, it became a place...

Gary Clark Jr. constructs a trippy path to peace in his vivid, partly animated “Got to Get Up” video.

The singer-guitarist uses several cultural icons — including Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Marley, John Lennon, James Brown, Bruce Lee and Nelson Mandela — as signposts of positivity to combat various forms of evil, like Nazism and the Kkk. The musician himself pops up throughout, slinging his guitar along a colorful route via trains, submarines and spaceships.

In a statement, Manu Viqueira, who co-directed the clip with Laprisamata, describes the visual as “a...

Near the end of a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, in which he emphasized time and again that his musical tastes aren’t confined to any one style, eminent avant-gardist Anthony Braxton illustrated his point by sharing a nickname he’s earned from those close to him.

“My friends call me Anthony ‘Beefheart Boy’ Braxton!” he says cheerfully.

“He was totally creative,” Braxton says of the late Captain Beefheart. “His compositions were outrageously beautiful and original. His ensemble was really special. Some people talk of Captain Beefheart as a far-out rock musician,...

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini

Blu ray

Olive Films

1965 / 2.35 : 1 / 93 Min.

Starring Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Mickey Rooney

Cinematography by Floyd Crosby

Directed by William Asher

Sam Arkoff and James Nicholson, the men behind such teen-friendly drive-in fare as Reform School Girl and High School Hellcats, caught a monster wave with 1963’s Beach Party and hung on for three long years before sinking into the sunset with Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, a haunted house spoof starring Tommy Kirk and a frail Boris Karloff.

It was a wild ride sustained by Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and a rotating cast of fun-loving deadbeats who would become as familiar to 60’s audiences as Eugene Pallette and Hugh Herbert were to depression era movie fans. As weighty as a cherry popsicle in July, the movies were aimed at high schoolers but the gags were older than dirt – vaudeville humor with that Coppertone tan.

Funk legend Bootsy Collins has teamed with Chew Fu for a thumping new remix of his 2011 James Brown tribute, “Jb — Still the Man” on what would’ve been the Godfather of Soul’s 86th birthday.

Years before he linked up with Parliament and Funkadelic, Collins famously served as the bassist for Brown’s backing band, the J.B.’s, during a short but prolific period during which he recorded such classics as “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” and “Super Bad.” Collins...

Muhammad Ali’s bark was as formidable as his bite, and “What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali” pays tribute to both, allowing the three-time heavyweight champ to narrate his own story via a combination of audio and video archival material. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, this 165-minute documentary uses copious interview soundbites to highlight the pugilist’s unparalleled gift of gab — and, consequently, the way it served as his means of defiant self-definition. Debuting on HBO in two parts (after premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival), it’s a celebration that, if not quite definitive, proves a stirring work of nonfiction assembly.

Comprised of old photos and film, TV, and radio clips, Fuqua’s project (executive-produced by LeBron James) does its best to approximate an autobiographical authorship, allowing “the greatest” to be his own storyteller. That approach, along with a narrative focus that remains almost exclusively on his public...

Larry Cohen details the typically unorthodox story behind the hurry-up production of the sequel to his sleeper hit Black Caesar. Fred Williamson’s Black Godfather is resurrected from his semi-death to avenge himself on the Mafia. James Brown’s music was dumped by Larry in favor of Edwin Starr, and ended up on Brown’s album “The Payback.”

The post Hell Up in Harlem appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

In the all-new fifth episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on March 28, the 11 queens still standing competed clad in costumes inspired by monster movies. Scream queen Elvira and model Cara Delevingne were the guest judges at this pageant. Which contestant came out on top and was the winner of this challenge on episode 5 of season 11? And were Gold Derby’s predictions correct that Ra’Jah O’Hara would be eliminated this week?

In episode 4, Ra’Jah came perilously close to being bounced but Mercedes Iman Diamond went home instead. Both had to strut their stuff to to the James Brown classic “Living in America.” Mercedes from Minneapolis counted some missteps among her moves. In the end, RuPaul Charles opted to throw a lifeline to Dallas darling Ra’Jah who, at age 33, is one of the oldest queens still in the competition.

Below, check out our minute-by-minute live blog recap of season 11 episode 5, titled “Monster Ball,...

In the Netflix biopic “The Dirt,” Pete Davidson of “Saturday Night Live” fame portrays A&R exec Tom Zutaut, the man who signed Motley Crue to Elektra and Guns N’ Roses to Geffen, while veteran character actor David Costabile is manager Doc McGhee. They follow in a long and illustrious line of label executives portrayed on screen, ranging from critical and box-office hits like “Ray” and “La Bamba” to lesser-seen music pics like “Cbgb” and “The Runaways.” Here’s our list of 10 of the most memorable:

1. Steven Coogan as Tony Wilson (“24 Hour Party People”). Coogan’s brilliant portrayal of the Manchester icon and Factory Records founder in Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 film also includes great turns from Paddy Considine as Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division and New Order who passed away in 1999, and “Lord of the Rings” star Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett, the noted producer and Factory partner...

The 1974 Blaxploitation Classic Willie Dynamite will be available on Blu-ray January 8th from Arrow Video

”The hands-down winner of the all-out best blaxploitation movie of the seventies,” declares author and artist Darius James in That s Blaxploitation! Willie Dynamite may not be as well-known as John Shaft, Sweet Sweetback or Super Fly’s Youngblood Priest, but he certainly deserves to be.

Who is Willie Dynamite? He s the flashiest pimp in New York he drives a personalized purple-and-gold Cadillac and wears some of the most eye-catching outfits ever seen on a cinema screen. He wants to be number one, but with the police, the D.A., fellow pimps and a tough-talking social worker on his tail, can a man as arrogant and amoral as Willie D avoid a downfall?

Willie Dynamite competes with the best of blaxploitation on all levels. Roscoe Orman dominates with his central performance a star turn...

30 years later, 1988 still stands as rap’s greatest year. The lyrical molotovs of ‘Nation of Millions’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton, the post-modern (and pre-lawsuit) free-for-all of sampling, the national spotlight of a new show called ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ and much more. To celebrate 30 years, Rolling Stone’s Best of ’88 explores the 10 greatest songs from those explosive 12 months. See our previous entries on Rob Base and D.J. E-z Rock, Epmd, Run-dmc, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Slick Rick and Mc Lyte.

In only his third year of hip-hop fame, Marcel “Biz Markie” Hall...

Among new members are Maren Ade, Hugh Grant and Hayley Squires.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has revealed its 2018 intake of new members drawn from the film, TV and games industry.

Among the 386 new members are actors Hugh Grant, Willem Dafoe and Hayley Squires, directors Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann), Daniel Kokotajlo (Apostasy) and Michael Pearce (Beast), film execs Shana Eddy-Grouf (Studiocanal) and Katie Goodson-Thomas (Fox Searchlight), and La La Land producers Jordan Horowitz and Fred Berger.

Former UK and Ireland Screen Stars of Tomorrow in the new intake include producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and actor Jessie Barden.

Citizen Kane. Casablanca. The Godfather. Sicko Mode.

Not many music videos can reduce the chaos, hedonism and beauty of modern life into an undeniable banger. Directed by Dave Meyers and Travis Scott, the “Sicko Mode” visual is a monument to Texas, but more importantly the eclectic mind of Astroworld‘s primary citizen.

In five minutes and 22 seconds, the video manages to transform Travis Scott from a James Brown-like singer into a professor, while Drake goes back to high school before taking a Xan to another dimension. Between those moments,...

“I was in trouble,” singer-rapper Elbee Thrie says, recalling the day that his band — the Brooklyn progressive-r&B quintet Phony Ppl — was born in 2008. It was Thrie’s 16th birthday, and he was grounded, stuck at home. So Thrie invited over some teenage friends from his Crown Heights neighborhood — all musicians.

“I knew something was gonna be good about that day,” insists the singer, whose real name is Robert Booker. “I called my friends to come over, and we started playing. It wasn’t even a matter of ‘Oh, what are we going to do?...

30 years later, 1988 still stands as rap’s greatest year. The lyrical molotovs of ‘Nation of Millions’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton, the post-modern (and pre-lawsuit) free-for-all of sampling, the national spotlight of a new show called ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ and much more. To celebrate 30 years, Rolling Stone’s Best of ’88 explores the 10 greatest songs from those explosive 12 months. See our previous entries on Rob Base and D.J. E-z Rock and Epmd.

In the four years leading up to 1988, multi-platinum, arena-rocking, Rolling Stone cover stars Run-dmc were the uncontested Kings of Rock,...

Grammy-winning rapper, producer, Songwriters Hall-of-Famer, and So So Def label owner Jermaine Dupri will lead City of Hope's first-ever after-party at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica following next week’s eagerly anticipated gala at the same location.

Dupri was recently honored with his own exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. The four-month So So Def exhibit is dedicated to his work in shaping hip-hop culture. This will be Dupri’s last event before he hits the road for the Cultural Curren$y Tour – a celebration of his Atlanta-based label’s 25th anniversary.

The Oct. 11 celebration supporting the acclaimed nonprofit will see Jon Platt, Chairman and CEO of Warner/Chappell Music, honored with the organization’s prestigious Spirit of Life award. Beyoncé will perform at the gala, which will be hosted by Pharrell Williams, with Jay-z presenting the award to Platt.

Mary Mary, the four-time Grammy winning gospel duo,...

As Harvey Weinstein faces accusations from more than 100 women and a rape trial that could send him to prison for 25 years, directors, writers, and producers jockey for position: Who will be the first to prepare adaptations of his demise? He sparked an episode of “Law & Order: Svu” that aired earlier this year, but that only scratches the surface.

Of course, news headlines spur plenty of quickly announced films that never get made. Revolution Studios touted “Fan Interference” the week Steve Bartman’s foul ball catch kept the Cubs from the 2003 World Series, while Spike Lee pledged to direct a James Brown biopic for Paramount Pictures and Imagine Entertainment just one day after the soul legend’s death in 2006. However, a couple of these Weinstein undertakings are very much in the works, with one only months away.

Here, we assess the prospective Weinstein-inspired projects to date, from most to least likely.