Soul veteran Don Bryant has released “Is It Over,” the second offering from his forthcoming album You Make Me Feel. The album is a follow-up to Bryant’s triumphant 2017 return-to-form Don’t Give Up on Love, his first record in nearly a half-century.
Bryant, 78, co-wrote every song on the new album, and “Is It Over” is a classic broken-down-romance tune from the singer who co-wrote the soul classic “I Can’t Stand the Rain” for his wife Ann Peebles in the early Seventies.
“Sometimes people don’t want to admit that a relationship is over,...
Bryant, 78, co-wrote every song on the new album, and “Is It Over” is a classic broken-down-romance tune from the singer who co-wrote the soul classic “I Can’t Stand the Rain” for his wife Ann Peebles in the early Seventies.
“Sometimes people don’t want to admit that a relationship is over,...
- 4/15/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Among the other things Eddie Murphy’s rapturously received new comedy has going for it, “Dolemite Is My Name” might be the movie musical of the year, in spirit, if not wholly in form. At least, there are a few sequences where its real-life protagonist, comedian/musician/actor Rudy Ray Moore, breaks into a kind of proto-hip-hop performance mode. The rest of the movie has nearly wall-to-wall music, whether it’s the ‘70s hits of Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone or an original score that harks back to the blaxploitation era’s funk-filled glory days.
Marrying music and movies comes naturally to director Craig Brewer, who offered a more contemporary take on hip-hop with “Hustle & Flow,” and his house composer, fellow Memphis native Scott Bomar, a founder of the neo-soul group the Bo-Keys. Plus, you’d be hard-pressed to find screenwriter-producers who know their ‘70s music better...
Marrying music and movies comes naturally to director Craig Brewer, who offered a more contemporary take on hip-hop with “Hustle & Flow,” and his house composer, fellow Memphis native Scott Bomar, a founder of the neo-soul group the Bo-Keys. Plus, you’d be hard-pressed to find screenwriter-producers who know their ‘70s music better...
- 11/10/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
For Eddie Murphy, the last decade or so has been a barren one in terms of a cinematic output. On the one hand, that has robbed us of one of our greatest comedic actors. On the other, it has managed to make his “return” here with Dolemite Is My Name into a real event. Luckily, Murphy’s presence is far from the only thing to praise about this movie. Netflix has a real crowdpleaser and potential awards player on their hands here. For nearly two hours, this flick is largely a delight. Most of you will see it on the streaming service in a few weeks, but today it hits a handful of theaters and truly deserves to be seen in that manner. The film is a biopic of Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy), who too few people are aware of. It’s not a stretch to say that he’s...
- 10/4/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Park City - It feel like Altman is in the air these days. There was, after all, a giant coffee table book about him that ended up under the trees of many a film nerd this Christmas, and little by little, his films are making their way onto Blu-ray, and Netflix just recently added a documentary that is a look back at his remarkable career. This fall also saw the release of "Inherent Vice," and while that is an adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel and very much a Paul Thomas Anderson film, there are more than a few echoes of Altman's "The Long Goodbye" in there. Now we've got the latest film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who have had an uneven career as filmmakers so far. They co-wrote "Half Nelson" together, and then started co-directing as well. I sort of like "Sugar," their first film as co-directors,...
- 1/27/2015
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Losers Take All has begun principal photography under the direction of Alex Steyermark (Prey for Rock & Roll). The small feature film will star Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare On Elm Street), Allison Scagliotti (Warehouse 13) and Tania Raymonde (Lost). The picture began production earlier this week in and around Memphis, Tennessee. The cast also includes Alexia Rasmussen (Listen to Your Heart), Aaron Himelstein (Joan of Arcadia), Billy Kay (Yelling to the Sky), Adam Herschman (Soul Men), and newcomer Peter Brensinger.
The film is set in the world of mid-1980's American independent rock music, follows a fictional punk/pop band "The Fingers" as they stumble, stagger and strum their way in what everyone thinks is the opposite direction of success--commercial or otherwise. But they are in the right place at the right time and the public is eager to embrace the D.I.Y. sounds of the underground, whether those in...
The film is set in the world of mid-1980's American independent rock music, follows a fictional punk/pop band "The Fingers" as they stumble, stagger and strum their way in what everyone thinks is the opposite direction of success--commercial or otherwise. But they are in the right place at the right time and the public is eager to embrace the D.I.Y. sounds of the underground, whether those in...
- 8/19/2010
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Indie helmer Alex Steyermark is setting Kyle Gallner (upcoming Elgin James' Little Birds) with an electric guitar in Losers Take All, a postcard to an era where grassroots promoting of garage bands didn't come about with a myspace page, and when the indie rock landscape was bands such as Sonic Youth, Black Flag and Minor Threat. Filming has already begun, scribes Andrew Pope and Winn Coslick are producing with Mike S. Ryan (Junebug) - Pope and Ryan just exec-produced Meek's Cutoff. Andrew Meyer and Roger Rawlings are executive producing. Filming is taking place in Memphis, Tennessee. Steyermark previously directed a pair I've never seen in Prey for Rock and Roll - so he has some experience working in the "genre". Written by Pope and Coslick, from a story by Rawlings and Ed Bradin, set in the world of mid-1980's American independent rock music, follows a fictional punk/pop...
- 8/19/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Indie helmer Alex Steyermark is setting Kyle Gallner (upcoming Elgin James' Little Birds) with an electric guitar in Loser Take All, a postcard of era of grassroots promoting of garage bands and when the indie rock landscape was bands such as Sonic Youth, Black Flag and Minor Threat. Filming has already begun, scribes Andrew Pope and Winn Coslick are producing with Mike S. Ryan (Junebug) - Pope and Ryan just exec-produced Meek's Cutoff. Andrew Meyer and Roger Rawlings are executive producing. Filming is taking place in Memphis, Tennessee. Steyermark previously directed a pair I've never seen in Prey for Rock and Roll - so he has some experience working in the "genre". Written by Pope and Coslick, from a story by Rawlings and Ed Bradin, set in the world of mid-1980's American independent rock music, follows a fictional punk/pop band "The Fingers" as they stumble, stagger and...
- 8/19/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
PARK CITY -- Producers John Singleton and Stephanie Allain put up their own dough and didn't kowtow to any studio input in getting "Hustle & Flow" off the ground. Smart -- now they've got a big deal and a winning, "Rocky"-style story. Most immediately, the film should wrap up the Audience Award here at Sundance and then flow to a big boxoffice hustle. The biggest marketing challenge will be to lure those who don't give a rip about rap.
This rap-world story, perhaps not surprisingly, is built on generic components, like rap itself. It's from the "There's-a-barn, let's-put-on-a-show" type of musical. In this savvy update, DJay (Terrence Howard) is distressed, fearing that he's becoming just another bum, in his case a low-level pimp. Dragging around in his beater with his ho, a plucky bottle-blonde (Taryn Manning), he rags on himself but doesn't do anything to change his world. Inspired by a chance meeting with a high school chum, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has kept to his dream by staying in music, DJay admits that he's only been talking the talk and needs to walk the walk.
DJay gets to writing rap lyrics, and things pop -- especially when Key brings in a scrawny white kid (DJ Qualls) whose beat machine is torqued by his blues/country knowledge. Operating out of an egg-carton-lined sound stage, the three hook and spark.
Fortifying the narrative with blues-'n'-barbecue slabs of Memphis, filmmaker Craig Brewer lays down a rousing story that crescendos naturally with its characters' transformations. While flavored with pimp-world drama -- crazy bitches and cruisers -- "Hustle & Flow" is, at heart, a sweet story of redemption as each guy battles deep personal hurdles to remain focused on the common goal: creating a demo tape for a big-time rapper DJay claims to know from the "old days." Quite remarkably, the creative process of creating the demo tape -- like the "Rocky" training montages -- charges the story; a wonderful exuberance struts naturally, both from the story and the sounds.
What's best about this "Hustle" is that screenwriter-director Brewer transcends his generic story, laying out his beat from each character's heart. We come to know their inner fears and demons, including those of some particularly well-drawn supporting characters.
Like its emotional antecedents, namely "On the Waterfront" and "Rocky", "Hustle & Flow" ends up with a big fight and the ultimate triumph, a personal one. This magic is in large part due to the talented cast, assembled for their abilities rather than what they might bring to the boxoffice. Longtime supporting player Howard shines in the spotlight with his gritty, inward performance as the rappin'/battlin' DJay. Anderson brims with conflict as a man torn between his love for his formidably proper wife (Elise Neal) and his creative dream. Spindly Qualls is powerful as the energized white rap man, and Paula Jai Parker is a force of nature as a mouthy stripper.
Indicative of this film's personal power, our biggest emotional gulps come from a very special supporting performance. As a pregnant street ho who loves DJay, Taraji P. Henson's rousing portrayal befits a tender soul.
Tech credits are rich, highlighted by composer Scott Bomar's raw sounds and musical supervisor Paul Stewart's tight selections.
HUSTLE & FLOW
Paramount
A New Deal Entertainment presentation of a Crunk Pictures Homegrown Pictures production
Cast:
Producers: John Singleton, Stephanie Allain
Screenwriter/director: Craig Brewer
Executive producer: Dwight Williams
Associate producer: Preston Holmes
Director of photography: Amelia Vincent
Production designer: Keith Brian Burns
Editor: Billy Fox
Music: Scott Bomar
Music supervisor: Paul Stewart
Costume designer: Paul Simmons
Casting: Kimberly R. Hardin
Sound mixer: Andy Black
Cast:
Djay: Terrence Howard
Key: Anthony Anderson
Nola: Taryn Manning
Shug: Taraji P. Henson
Lexus: Paula Jai Parker
Yvette: Elise Neal
Arnel: Isaac Hayes
Shelby: DJ Qualis
Skinny Black: Ludacris
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 115 minutes...
This rap-world story, perhaps not surprisingly, is built on generic components, like rap itself. It's from the "There's-a-barn, let's-put-on-a-show" type of musical. In this savvy update, DJay (Terrence Howard) is distressed, fearing that he's becoming just another bum, in his case a low-level pimp. Dragging around in his beater with his ho, a plucky bottle-blonde (Taryn Manning), he rags on himself but doesn't do anything to change his world. Inspired by a chance meeting with a high school chum, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has kept to his dream by staying in music, DJay admits that he's only been talking the talk and needs to walk the walk.
DJay gets to writing rap lyrics, and things pop -- especially when Key brings in a scrawny white kid (DJ Qualls) whose beat machine is torqued by his blues/country knowledge. Operating out of an egg-carton-lined sound stage, the three hook and spark.
Fortifying the narrative with blues-'n'-barbecue slabs of Memphis, filmmaker Craig Brewer lays down a rousing story that crescendos naturally with its characters' transformations. While flavored with pimp-world drama -- crazy bitches and cruisers -- "Hustle & Flow" is, at heart, a sweet story of redemption as each guy battles deep personal hurdles to remain focused on the common goal: creating a demo tape for a big-time rapper DJay claims to know from the "old days." Quite remarkably, the creative process of creating the demo tape -- like the "Rocky" training montages -- charges the story; a wonderful exuberance struts naturally, both from the story and the sounds.
What's best about this "Hustle" is that screenwriter-director Brewer transcends his generic story, laying out his beat from each character's heart. We come to know their inner fears and demons, including those of some particularly well-drawn supporting characters.
Like its emotional antecedents, namely "On the Waterfront" and "Rocky", "Hustle & Flow" ends up with a big fight and the ultimate triumph, a personal one. This magic is in large part due to the talented cast, assembled for their abilities rather than what they might bring to the boxoffice. Longtime supporting player Howard shines in the spotlight with his gritty, inward performance as the rappin'/battlin' DJay. Anderson brims with conflict as a man torn between his love for his formidably proper wife (Elise Neal) and his creative dream. Spindly Qualls is powerful as the energized white rap man, and Paula Jai Parker is a force of nature as a mouthy stripper.
Indicative of this film's personal power, our biggest emotional gulps come from a very special supporting performance. As a pregnant street ho who loves DJay, Taraji P. Henson's rousing portrayal befits a tender soul.
Tech credits are rich, highlighted by composer Scott Bomar's raw sounds and musical supervisor Paul Stewart's tight selections.
HUSTLE & FLOW
Paramount
A New Deal Entertainment presentation of a Crunk Pictures Homegrown Pictures production
Cast:
Producers: John Singleton, Stephanie Allain
Screenwriter/director: Craig Brewer
Executive producer: Dwight Williams
Associate producer: Preston Holmes
Director of photography: Amelia Vincent
Production designer: Keith Brian Burns
Editor: Billy Fox
Music: Scott Bomar
Music supervisor: Paul Stewart
Costume designer: Paul Simmons
Casting: Kimberly R. Hardin
Sound mixer: Andy Black
Cast:
Djay: Terrence Howard
Key: Anthony Anderson
Nola: Taryn Manning
Shug: Taraji P. Henson
Lexus: Paula Jai Parker
Yvette: Elise Neal
Arnel: Isaac Hayes
Shelby: DJ Qualis
Skinny Black: Ludacris
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 115 minutes...
- 1/27/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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