COLORLINES

Number of Black Best Actor Oscars Nominees Could Be Unprecedented in 2014

by Jorge Rivas on May 20 2013, 3:12PM

If entertainment industry insiders’ predictions turn out to be true they’ll also be host to an unprecedented number of black nominees in the best actor in a leading role category.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Will Smith Says He Turned Down the Role of ‘Django’ Because He ‘Needed to be the Lead’

by Jorge Rivas on March 26 2013, 11:44AM

Actor Will Smith tells Entertainment Weekly he turned down the role of Django in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’ because the slave character was not the lead in the film.

Topics: Media, /NOW Blog

Cuban-American Director Premieres David Sedaris Film Adaptation at Sundance

by Jorge Rivas on January 18 2013, 1:17PM

Writer and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez will premiere his second feature film at the Sundance Film Festival this coming Saturday.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Hollywood’s Slavery Films Tell Us More About the Present Than the Past

by Dexter Gabriel on January 9 2013, 9:37AM

“Django Unchained” and “Lincoln” share a long history of Hollywood epics that feed our modern myths and expectations back to us, rather than genuinely explore our history.

Topics: 'Django', Arts & Culture, History

Readers Blast ‘Hollywood Reporter’ for ‘Blindingly Pale Group of Women’

by Jorge Rivas on November 26 2012, 10:55AM

Readers of the entertainment business magazine are calling them out for only featuring white actress in their “The Actresses Roundtable” cover story.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Whitney Houston’s Last Film ‘Sparkle’ Flops at Box Office

by Jorge Rivas on August 20 2012, 10:47AM

The allure of Whitney Houston’s final performance didn’t drive many crowds to “Sparkle.”

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

The Oscar Grant Movie Filming in a Bay Area Neighborhood Near You?

by Julianne Hing on July 31 2012, 3:45PM

And both BART and Grant’s family have given their okays for the film.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Sundance Winner ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Gets Release Date and Trailer

by Jorge Rivas on July 25 2012, 4:47PM

The film chronicles a woman’s struggle to adapt to life after her husband’s incarceration.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

An Unexpected, Enduring Lesson From ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’

by Jarvis DeBerry on July 16 2012, 10:00AM

In the eyes of this New Orleanian, the film helps illustrate one of America’s greatest crimes: the systematic separation of black folks from their land.

Topics: Arts & Culture

Tyler Perry is an Action Hero Now [Trailer]

by Jorge Rivas on June 26 2012, 11:59AM

Is there anything Tyler Perry can’t do?

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Rosario Dawson to Play Dolores Huerta in New Cesar Chavez Biopic

by Jorge Rivas on May 4 2012, 11:42AM

“Chavez” started shooting earlier this week in Sonora, Mexico.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

Four African Men School You on Hollywood Stereotypes [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on April 25 2012, 12:52PM

Wouldn’t it be better if African men weren’t always depicted as warlords or victims?

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

No Acting Oscar in the Last Decade Has Gone to Latino, Asian, or Native American

by Jorge Rivas on February 26 2012, 5:20PM

And Oscar winners and nominees of color are less likely than their white peers to receive subsequent nominations.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

‘Precious’ Director Lee Daniels Gets Into Race Argument on Set of New Movie [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 2:50PM

TMZ has obtained footage of Lee getting in to some sort of verbal disagreement with producer Avi Lerner in which they both accuse each other of being racist.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

‘The Help’ Sweeps SAG Awards, Octavia Spencer Clear Frontrunner for Oscars

by Jorge Rivas on January 30 2012, 9:50AM

“The Help” took three of the top honors at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night, turning it into the movie everyone else has to beat as the Oscar awards approach next month.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog, The Help

Viola Davis Tells Charlize Theron She Doesn’t Know What She’s Talking About

by Jorge Rivas on January 25 2012, 10:56AM

During Newsweek’s Oscar roundtable, Viola Davis tried to speak about the difficulties of being a black actress in Hollywood—but a well-intentioned reply from Theron was just another example of the problem.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog, The Help