Actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in 1999′s The Green Mile, died today at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. He was 54. The actor had been hospitalized in July following a heart attack. Although Duncan was best known for playing a death row inmate alongside Tom Hanks in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Green Mile, the actor appeared in dozens of film and TV projects throughout his career, including The Green Lantern,Armageddon, Sin City and The Scorpion King on the feature side and TV’s The Finder and Chuck. He just recently completed In The Hive with director Robert Townsend and the boxing drama The Challenger.
Learn more about his life and career here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Clarke_Duncan
Posts published in “Movies”
Remember this saying: behind every great man there is a great woman? Well in similar context, behind every great festival is a great director. Cameron Bailey has been with the Toronto International Film Festival for many years, enhancing international partnerships, innovating the annual festival and developing new programs to engage local audiences. His recent title change to Artistic Director reflects his involvement with the organization and his commitment to bring great film to the city. We had a chance to sit down with the director and talk about many things, including his journey in film, his insight into TIFF 2012, his thoughts about the Indian film industry and the evolution of the TIFF brand.
Bailey began his journey in film as a journalist, writing for Toronto’s NOW magazine and various other outlets. “[It] gave me the opportunity to analyze films and express my opinion”, he said.”I have always liked to do that and communicate with an audience.” Soon after, he joined the festival and its programming team and has remained with the organization since. ” What programming adds to [being a film critic] is the ability to advocate for films, to really say ‘this is something that I love and I hope you love it too and here it is’. So much of programming is really personal. It’s about your own personal passions, your personal taste. You find something and you feel like you have discovered it. Although filmmakers have spent months, sometimes years, making it but you feel like you have discovered it because you have seen it for the first time, sometimes before the public audience has seen it. That ability to respond to your own passion about a film and to bring it, in this case, to the Toronto International Film Festival – which is such a huge public platform – where you can present it to so many people. That’s what being a critic doesn’t give you. It’s that additional ability to present, to advocate for work that you feel is important.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqvhQBliONA&w=560&h=315]
Here’s the Toronto International Film Festival trailer for The Weinstein Company’s Cannes pickup The Sapphires. The movie about an Aboriginal girl group stars Chris O’Dowd as an unlikely talent scout, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell. Screenplay is by playwright Tony Briggs, whose mother and family members were part of the original Sapphires, and Keith Thompson. Directed by actor and theater director Wayne Blair, The Sapphires is also screening this weekend in Telluride.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqvhQBliONA&w=560&h=315]
Here’s the Toronto International Film Festival trailer for The Weinstein Company’s Cannes pickup The Sapphires. The movie about an Aboriginal girl group stars Chris O’Dowd as an unlikely talent scout, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell. Screenplay is by playwright Tony Briggs, whose mother and family members were part of the original Sapphires, and Keith Thompson. Directed by actor and theater director Wayne Blair, The Sapphires is also screening this weekend in Telluride.
EXCLUSIVE: Feature producer Debra Martin Chase is making a major move in television with a two-year overall deal at ABC Studios. Under the pact, Chase will develop series projects through her company, Martin Chase Prods., with the help of a dedicated TV executive she is in the process of hiring.
You have to like any award that links Abbas Kiarostami to Sylvester Stallone, Agnes Varda to Al Pacino and, now, Spike Lee — even if it’s one of those career achievement prizes determined more by who’s going to be in town than anything else. Lee, it was announced today, will be the latest recipient of the splendidly named Jaeger-Le Coultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award (named for a film by its inaugural recipient, Takeshi Kitano) at the Venice Film Festival later this month.
Its not too often that a young woman of color sees herself reflected in the images she views. Yet, given some free time and a sporadic interest, one young woman has reinterpreted the race of some of the world’s most beloved Disney princesses.
“So I made a bunch of white Disney characters into WOC,” Lauren wrote on her Tumblr page. “Just for funzies :D” In Lauren’s blog, The Little Mermaid‘s Ariel, Beauty and the Beast‘s Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and others are all reimagined as darker-hued woman of color, she writes, ranging from tawny to dark brown.
Thomas Allen Harris is a film activist, leveraging the platform of documentary filmmaking as a tool to empower, educate, and shed light on many under-the-radar stories within our combined histories. Harris is now on a new threshold of activist filmmaking, one that aims to validate a community as authors of their own image. Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People is a feature-length PBS documentary, the first of its kind, exploring the role of photography, from the 1840s to present, in shaping the identity of African Americans.
African Americans in Hollywood Making Big Bucks
It’s quite obvious how African American actors have taken a prominent place in mainstream Hollywood movies over the recent decade. Quality films with meaty-roles are now casted to African American actors that have proven to draw hordes of fans to the box-office.
Gone are the 50’s and 60’s era when motion pictures where limited to ‘whites only’. Today, some of the highest paid actors making blockbuster hit films are African Americans.
Talk about movies like Training Day and Monster’s Ball that won both Denzel Washington and Halle Berry Oscars in 2002. How about Will Smith’s Men in Black and Training Day; Samuel L. Jackson’s Pulp Fiction, Morgan Freeman’s Million Dollar Baby, and Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson’s Dreamgirls—all top grossing Black films. And the list can go on and on from movie actors, to top producers, and film directors.
With their incredible talent it’s not hard to understand why these African American actors are receiving so much love from movie fans all over the world and raking in big bucks from movie theaters.
Here’s a list of some of the highest paid and consequently richest African American actors in Hollywood today based on the net worth from Celebrity Net Worth, Forbes and other sources. Tyler Perry, who’s the richest African American in Hollywood with an estimated net worth of $350 million, didn’t feature in our list mainly because he is more of a producer and director. Let’s see who made the list.
1. Will Smith
Estimated net worth: $215 Million
Mention ‘Will Smith’ and movies like Men in Black and Hancock will immediately come to mind. Incidentally, Will pocketed a whopping $20 million talent fee for the latest installment of the hit Men in Black III, and around the same amount for the 2008 superhero film Hancock.
Will’s acting career began in a 90’s TV sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But his career kicked-off after hit action movies Bad Boys and Independence Day, with the latter earning revenues of more than $800 million. Will also took home Grammy Awards for his rap music, and produced several films including Seven Pounds and I am Legend.
Born to humble parents working as a school admin and refrigerator engineer, Will has come a long way with all the success he has earned. With his millions, Will can practically buy his mom her own school!
2= Samuel L. Jackson
Estimated net worth: $150 Million
Samuel’s most recent box-office appearance were for the Marvel hit flicks Iron Man and Avengers, where he is said to have signed a contract for movie appearances in some nine other Marvel-related comic book movies… hello big bucks! Reports say he earns around $10 million each year.
With no interest in acting, Samuel was active in black student movements for civil rights in his younger years. It was only when he met actor Morgan Freeman that he was mentored in film and acting. His first movie was 1981’s Jungle Fever. Some of his important roles were in the movies Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction where he received an Oscar nominee, and Die Hard III.
Samuel remains a staunch advocate of civil rights especially for African American groups.
2= Denzel Washington
Estimated net worth: $150 Million
Denzel’s striking good looks and amazing acting skills are definitely paying off by the millions. Born and raised in New York, Denzel began his acting career in theater and slowly moved to made-for-TV-movies where he landed a role in St. Elsewhere and stayed with the TV show until its final season six years after. Around the same year, he received his first Oscar nomination for the film Cry Freedom, and the following year won Best Supporting Actor for his amazing performance in the film Glory.
Denzel is the second African American actor who ever won a Best Actor Oscar; he won for the movie Training Day. Denzel is an actor, scriptwriter, producer, and director with an annual pay of around $40 million. Now, that explains his $150 million net worth.
4. Martin Lawrence
Estimated net worth: $110 Million
Whoever said comedy couldn’t earn millions? Martin is popular for his comedic roles as a thief, a cop, or both. He established his name in Hollywood after starring in hit movies Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma’s House.
He started as a stand-up comedian with his own TV series in the 90’s called Martin which began bringing in big bucks to his career.
5. Ice Cube
Estimated net worth: $110 Million
O’ Shea Jackson a.k.a Ice Cube began as a rapper and songwriter for the controversial band N.W.A. He was still in high school when his interest for hip-hop started, and he may never have thought he would be rapping his way to becoming a millionaire. His group N.W.A. performed at parties and influential events, until he left to go solo in 1989. He released albums such as Kill at Will that went gold and platinum in the hit charts! Cha-ching! He went on to create music that topped pop and R&B charts.
While earning a great deal in music, Ice Cube began a shift to acting. His first movie was Boyz in the Hood, followed by others such as Higher Learning and Three Kings. And as if he wasn’t earning enough, Ice Cube went on to directing and producing films. Now, he’s worth millions of dollars!
To see the rest, go to: The 10 Richest African American Actors – EverywhereNigeria.
Morgan Freeman accepted the American Film Institute’s 39th Life Achievement Award on a Sony Studios sound stage in Culver City on Thursday night, basking in 3 1/2 hours of film clips and tributes from Clint Eastwood, Tim Robbins, Forest Whitaker, Garth Brooks, Betty White and more.
“I’m proud to be an actor, although for this one night, you’ve made me feel like a star,” Freeman said.
The AFI celebration included clips of Freeman’s legendary films and early performances interspersed with recorded segments of Freeman and other actors and filmmakers reflecting on his career. And yes, his singing and dancing on public TV’s ’70s kids show “The Electric Company” was included.
Freeman blew Robbins a kiss when “The Shawshank Redemption” star said, “It was an honor being locked up with you, Morgan.”
Also on hand at the star-studded event, to name a few (and only a few): Helen Mirren, Samuel L. Jackson,Matthew McConaughey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Cary Elwes, Djimon Honsou, Kimora Lee Simmons and film critic Leonard Maltin.
“This is easy to take but hard to believe. Where I come from in Mississippi, they call this walking in high cotton,” he said. “For me, heaven has always been about acting in the movies.”
by Christie D’Zurilla via latimes.com