Julia Roberts poses with (front left) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba and George Clooney on the March cover of Vanity Fair. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)
Vanity Fair released a sneak peek of its 20th annual Hollywood Issue on Monday, and it may be the most groundbreaking one yet. The magazine has apparently taken steps toward emphasizing the diversity of Hollywood. For the first time since it began putting out the annual special in 1995, six of the 12 celebrated thespians gracing the 2014 cover are not white. The magazine has come under fire in the past for an apparent lack of diversity. Just a few years ago, as Buzzfeed has pointed out, a 2010 the cover featured nine actresses — all white, thin and under 40 years old.
Over the years the annual selection has included one or two minority actors — such as Angela Bassett in 1995, and Lucy Liu and Salma Hayek in 2004 — but this year’s edition shows how expansive the African-American film scope has grown across several genres. From left: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, George Clooney, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomie Harris, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie and Léa Seydoux. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)
Among those featured on the three-panel foldout are many of Hollywood’s most heralded actors of the past year, including Oscar nominees Julia Roberts, for August: Osage County, Jared Leto, who is the front-runner in his Best Supporting Actor category for Dallas Buyers Club, and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years A Slave.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that Pharrell Williams will perform his Oscar-nominated song “Happy” at the 2014 Oscars.
“Happy,” which Williams wrote and produced for the animated film Despicable Me 2, is nominated for the original song category alongside “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, “Let it Go” from Frozen and “The Moon Song” from Her.
“I wanted to send a reminder: There are lots of reasons to smile,” the 40-year-old told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in December on his nominated song. “You can be resilient with your smile. Why is it so cool to be mad all the time? Some songs, everybody’s so upset.”
The song “Happy” has a “lyric version” — a video featuring the film’s minions making mischief around the song’s words in bold fonts. It also has a website launched for the song, 24hoursofhappy.com, where the song is played on repeat for 24 hours straight.
“Each take starting every hour is me,” he told The Times. “So I did 24 four-minute takes of ‘Happy.’ From 1:00-1:04, I perform ‘Happy.’ Then at 1:04, the next person does it. We picked all kinds of people, all types. Every hour is 15 takes.”
Williams, a seven-time Grammy Award winner, was named Billboard’s producer of the decade in 2010. Most recently, he collaborated on two of 2013’s top Billboard hits: Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” which he co-wrote and produced, and Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky,” which he co-wrote and also sang.
The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will be held March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC.
Great news for students! For Black History Month many companies — through their foundations — have announced scholarship programs. Dallas Weekly recently highlighted the top 10. Act fast–the deadlines are in February. Here are five of the newspaper’s choices for the college-goer in your life to consider:
1) The Frito-Lay “Create to Celebrate” Black History Month Art Contest: Do you have artistic talent? Show it off here by submitting an original piece of art. The piece, which can be in any medium (video, song, photo, sculpture, painting, etc), must celebrate African-American achievement.
2) The Coca-Cola Pay It Forward Scholarship Program: This program offers once-in-a-lifetime apprenticeship experiences to African-American youth.
3) The RBC Black History Month Student Essay Competition: This Royal Bank of Canada scholarship is strictly for Canadian students. Applicants must write a 750-words or less essay on how black Canadians have contributed toward the heritage of Canada.
4) The 100 Black Men of America Future Leader Scholarship Program: Based on academic achievement and community service, this scholarship is open to high school seniors along with college freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.
5) The Jerry Bartow Scholarship Fund: The Black Executive Exchange Program awards three scholarships each year for HBCU undergraduate students majoring in business, engineering, technology, or education.
To find other 2014 scholarships, click here. See more at: http://madamenoire.com/345755/apply-now-top-black-history-month-scholarships/#sthash.l9t3x37S.dpuf
Imani Hakim as Gabby Douglas in Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” (Source: Lifetime)
This past Saturday, Lifetime aired The Gabby Douglas Story. And apparently many were anxious to see it. The cable network movie pulled in 3.8 million viewers according to Nielsen Research. And immediately after her Lifetime movie debuted, the network broadcast a documentary called Beyond the Headlines: The Gabby Douglas Story, which averaged 3 million viewers.
In addition to views, according to Nielsen SocialGuide, the cable movie premiere was also the most-tweeted program of the night across all of television, excluding sporting events. The Gabby Douglas Story stars Regina King as Gabrielle’s mother, S. Epatha Merkerson as her grandmother and Imani Hakim (Tonya from Everybody Hates Chris) as the teenaged Douglas. article by Veronica Wells via madamenoire.com
Last year may have been the year of the historically black hack-a-thon. Several of the nations’ most prominent black colleges welcomed students of varying majors and interests to a whirlwind experience of innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and networking. Almost makes you wish there was an app for that, but that’s HBCU Hack-a-thons are all about; taking individuals with little-to-no tech or coding experience and pairing their creativity with tech savvy developers and marketers to make a new generation of black entrepreneurs in emerging tech markets.
Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta, Howard and Morgan State participated in the 2013 HBCU Hack-a-thon experience. Students compete for prizes, exposure, and for some, their first visions of owning their own company in a field in which they never imagined working.
“It sparks students from across all kinds of disciplines to come together to develop an idea that can be brought to the marketplace,” says Omar Muhammad, Director of the Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center of the Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management at Morgan State University. “They get hands on experience with working groups, and understanding what it means to start a business. The individuals who come in as entrepreneurs really help the students to learn how to move their businesses forward.”
Muhammad says the nature of hack-a-thons inspires collaboration, and melds ideas from different backgrounds, industries and social constructs to bring out the essence of innovation. The movement was started by the Black Founders, a group of working black tech professionals who wanted to spur more African-American ownership in tech industries. One of the Founders and University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumna, Hadiyah Mujhid, told Black Enterprise Magazine in 2013 about the importance of the hack-a-thon effort on HBCU campuses.
MONTGOMERY, AL – MAY 1956: Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. relaxes at home in May 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
PHOENIX (AP) — Mary Scanlon had no idea a $3 purchase from a Goodwill store in Phoenix would turn out to be a rare link to the civil rights movement’s most revered leader. Last April, Scanlon was at the thrift store when she spotted a pile of 35 vintage reel-to-reel tapes, including one labeled with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s name. Despite the moldy and torn packaging, she snapped up all of them. “I didn’t really necessarily have any expectation that this tape would be rare,” Scanlon said.
Arizona State University archivists have found that tape is the only known recording of speeches the slain civil rights leader gave at ASU and at a Phoenix church in June 1964. The hour-long audio has since been digitized and is now available for listening on ASU’s website through June 30.
The tape illustrates that King had been eager to visit supporters in Arizona, a state that would draw criticism more than 20 years later for rescinding the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Scanlon, who donated all the tapes to the school, said the find is one of the high points of her life. “To have anything about myself connected in any way to Martin Luther King, what more could a person ask for? I’m so proud,” Scanlon said.
Rob Spindler, a university archivist and curator, said it’s miraculous that the audio was still intact. When he first spoke with Scanlon, he immediately warned her not to try and play the tape. “When the material is that old, sometimes you only get one shot to preserve it,” Spindler said.
The tapes were taken from the Ragsdale Mortuary, which was owned by Lincoln Ragsdale, a civil rights leader in Phoenix who died in 1995, Goodwill employees said. Spindler sent the tapes to a company in Kentucky to copy them to a digital format. On May 17, Spindler, Scanlon, a university librarian and two ASU professors who have researched King gathered to listen to the recording for the first time. Hearing King’s voice brought most of them to tears.
“It answers a question we’ve had for decades,” said Spindler, who believes it was King’s first public appearance in Arizona. “What did Martin Luther King say to us that night and how did he arrive here in Phoenix? Now we have a much better idea of those things.”
Arizona was the last stop on a West Coast tour King had been doing, Spindler said. The university and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People worked to get the preacher to come. About 8,000 people attended the June 3 speech at Goodwin Stadium that started about 8 p.m. In his remarks, King focused on the Civil Rights Act, which at the time was stuck in a filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
Russell Wilson hoists the Lombardi Trophy in just his second season as an NFL quarterback. (ROBERT SABO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
He didn’t dominate, and he didn’t dazzle. He just won. Again. And this time, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson did it on the biggest stage possible, in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium, leading his underdog Seattle Seahawks to a 43-8 demolition of Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos on Sunday night.
In a game where he was supposed to be the “other” quarterback, the second-year pro did exactly what he had to do to win the Lombardi Trophy. Very quietly, he passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl since Doug Williams led the Washington Redskins to victory in Supe XXII.
“It’s something I think about, to be the second African-American to win the Super Bowl,” Wilson said. “That’s history right there, man. It’s something special and it’s real. There are so many guys before (me) who have tried to change the game and have done a great job of it.”
While Manning bumbled his way to two interceptions and meaningless Super Bowl passing records, Wilson never tried to do too much. He just calmly completed seven of his first 10 passes on the first two drives — including a 37-yarder to Doug Baldwin — to set up a pair of early field goals and set the tone in the runaway win. He was efficient the entire evening, completing 18 of 25 passes.
Not bad for a quarterback who said he routinely faced doubts because he stands just 5-11. “I think the biggest thing is playing great situational football,” Wilson said. “We want to be smart. I just try to do my part. When we need a big play, I always try to make it, and keep the guys going.”
Continuing its high-flying ride at the domestic box office, Universal’s stalwart holdover Ride Along posted its third straight weekend victory, estimating $12.3 million for a Stateside cume of $93 million and counting. The Super Bowl weekend’s only two wide releases — Focus Features’ That Awkward Moment and Paramount’s Labor Day, both of which are targeted squarely at female audiences — underperformed, grossing $9 million and $5.3 million, respectively.
Internationally, Disney had another standout weekend with its toon all-star Frozen, which grossed an estimated $24 million from 45 territories, representing approximately 90% of the overseas market place. So far, the film has collected north of $504 million internationally, with $360 million Stateside (pic’s sing-along re-release contributed $2.2 million out of a total estimated $9.3 million this weekend), making Frozen the second-highest grossing original toon of all time globally, behind Finding Nemo. Domestic totals managed to stay in line roughly with this time last year, down just 2%, though first-quarter 2013 box office was especially mopey.
As the clear highlight so far this year, Ride Along’s third-straight win at the domestic box office matches what only three films total managed last year — The Butler, Gravity and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug — none of which bowed during the first quarter.
Speaking of Gravity, Warner Bros.’ large-screen re-release of the Oscar-nominated 3D epic earned more than half of its $2 million three-day gross in Imax. Gravity has cumed nearly $264 million domestically in over four months. Among the other Academy Award contenders, both American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street became milestone box office achievements for their respective directors: Hustle now stands as David O. Russell’s highest-grossing film, with $133.6 million, while Martin Scorsese’s Wolf is the director’s third-highest, at $104.1 million, surpassing The Aviator. Film (Weeks in release): 3-day gross*; Locations; Per-theater average; Cume*; Percentage change
Ride Along (3): $12.3; 2,867; $4,295; $93.0; -42%
Frozen (11): $9.3; 2,754; $3,381; $360.0; +2%
That Awkward Moment (1): $9.0; 2,809; $3,208; $9.0; –
LONDON — Steve McQueen’s12 Years a Slave took top prize Sunday at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, which started with a tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose death was announced earlier in the day. 12 Years a Slave also won for Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o). McQueen said that the critic who mattered the most to him was his mother, who had approved of the film. “There’s critics, there’s scholars, but then there’s your mum, so I’m very pleased about that,” he told the Daily Mail. Alfonso Cuaron took the directing award for Gravity, which was also honored for its special effects, as Tim Webber received the technical achievement award. The Coen Brothers were named best scriptwriters for Inside Llewyn Davis. The actress prize went to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, and the supporting actor award was taken hostage by Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips.
LONDON CRITICS’ CIRCLE FILM AWARDS
Film – 12 Years a Slave
Foreign-language Film – Blue Is the Warmest Colour
Documentary – The Act of Killing
British Film – The Selfish Giant
Director – Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Screenwriter – Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Actor – Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Actress – Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Supporting Actor – Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Supporting Actress – Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
British Actor – James McAvoy, Filth/Trance/Welcome to the Punch
British Actress – Judi Dench, Philomena
Young British Performer – Conner Chapman, The Selfish Giant
Breakthrough British Filmmaker – Jon S. Baird, Filth
Technical Achievement Award – Tim Webber, Gravity special effects
Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film – Gary Oldman article by Leo Barraclough via Variety.com
Motor City had a new police chief on Friday, as a young boy with leukemia had a lifelong dream fulfilled by serving as honorary “Chief for a Day.” Nine-year-old fourth-grader Jayvon Felton was celebrated in a ceremony coordinated by Detroit police Capt. Darwin Roche. Jayvon, who was diagnosed with leukemia in April, was decked out in a blue S.W.A.T. uniform, complete with a gold badge and officer’s cap.
Jayvon arrived by helicopter and was then ihntroduced to a group of officers, police dogs, classmates, Detroit mascots and family, according to The Associated Press. Jayvon has always dreamed of being a police officer and smiled broadly as Detroit’s real police chief, James Craig, swore him in. Jayvon’s mother, Amanda Clinkscales, told The Detroit News that her son has been melancholy lately because he doesn’t feel like he is a normal boy. “I told him, ‘You are a regular boy. What you have is not your fault. We’re going to get through it because God said so, and you’ll be just fine, and I love you,’” Clinkscales said.
The new chief wasn’t a tough task-master during his day in the front office. The Detroit News reported that when asked if he had any orders, Jayvon responded, “Take the day off.”
