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

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Sundance Favorite, ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild,’ Debuts New Trailer

by Jorge Rivas on May 3 2012, 4:30PM

“Beasts of the Southern Wild,”the highly celebrated Sundance film that took the top awards at the film festival, has a new trailer and a release date.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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‘Think Like a Man’ Defies Studio Skeptics, But It’s a Bittersweet Celebration

by Jorge Rivas on April 23 2012, 12:10PM

People of color and actors of color win because they’re represented in Hollywood, but the real winner with “Think Like a Man” is Sony.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Muslim-American Comedians Want to Give Americans a Big Muslim Hug with this Movie [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on April 18 2012, 4:48PM

The Muslims are Coming! is a feature documentary film that follows a group of Muslim-American comedians as they go on a tour of Middle America, perform shows, and meet folks who have never met a Muslim before!

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Oscar Grant Movie in the Works, Starring Octavia Spencer

by Jorge Rivas on April 17 2012, 2:56PM

“Friday Night Lights” and “Chronicle” actor Michael B. Jordan is also in talks to star in the story of the young man shot and killed by police in 2009.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Whitney Houston’s Final Film: ‘Sparkle’ Trailer Released [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on April 2 2012, 3:21PM

The film follows three sisters as they form a succesful singing group and deal with the fallout of fame and drugs.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Why Do Social Justice Nerds Love The Hunger Games? We Ask ‘Em

by Channing Kennedy on March 30 2012, 8:57AM

We’ve heard a lot about the racist tweets complaining about black actors being cast in The Hunger Games. But the series also has a devoted fanbase of folks with smart race politics. We ask them what they like.

Topics: Arts & Culture, Hunger Games

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SXSW 2012 Highlights: Music, Films, and Talks To Remember

by Jorge Rivas on March 20 2012, 11:04AM

Jorge Rivas brings you a few highlights from SXSW.

Topics: Arts & Culture, SXSW

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At SXSW, An Honest Look at a Latina Transgender Bar in Transition

by Jamilah King on March 9 2012, 8:49AM

Wu Tsang’s “Wildness” tells the story of one of Los Angeles’s most iconic bars and how its longtime transgender Latina patrons navigate loss, pride, and gentrification.

Topics: Arts & Culture, SXSW

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Russell Simmons Says ‘White Bread Dynasty Was in Full Effect’ at Oscars

by Jorge Rivas on March 2 2012, 3:11PM

Hip-hop pioneer and entrepreneur Russell Simmons published a scathing critique of the film industry Friday and said the problem with those funding movies “is that while they believe in the concept of an all-inclusive, post-racial America, they don’t trust in it enough to bank on it.”

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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End Black History Month? Q&A with Filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman

by Channing Kennedy on February 29 2012, 9:39AM

In a new PBS documentary, a young black filmmaker decides Black History Month has outlasted its purpose, and tries to be proven wrong.

Topics: Arts & Culture, History

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Natalie Portman Used the Term ‘Undocumented’ to Introduce Demián Bichir

by Jorge Rivas on February 27 2012, 4:08PM

Speaking to Bichir, Portman said “As Carlos Domingo, an undocumented immigrant fighting to give his son the opportunities he never had, you made us face very true portrait of a human being no one had ever dared us to consider before.”

Topics: Arts & Culture, Immigration, /NOW Blog

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Oscar Viewers Meet Aurora Guerrero’s ‘Mosquita y Mari’ During Commercial Break [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on February 27 2012, 1:00PM

During commercial breaks in Sunday’s Oscar telecast viewers met film director Aurora Guerrero and her first feature film, “Mosquita y Mari.”

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Who Picks the Oscars? White Men.

by Jorge Rivas on February 20 2012, 9:32AM

An L.A. Times study of Oscar voters finds that their demographics are much less diverse than the moviegoing public.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog, Oscars 2012

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‘Red Tails’ Isn’t Anywhere Near Getting George Lucas His Money Back

by Jorge Rivas on February 15 2012, 12:02PM

Although George Lucas’ ‘Red Tails’ had a strong opening weekend, the film has not grossed anywhere near what Lucas spent to get the film to theaters.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Jose Antonio Vargas: Demian Bichir in ‘A Better Life’ Represents Today’s ‘The Help’

by Jorge Rivas on February 10 2012, 11:03AM

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino-American journalist who revealed he was undocumented in a NY Times Op-Ed last year says Bichir represents the help of today — gardeners, farmhands, and other undocumented workers — at the mercy of present-day laws in Georgia and Alabama.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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‘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

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Mel Gibson’s ‘Get The Gringo’ (aka My Summer in a Mexican Jail) Gets a Trailer [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 1:20PM

The movie, formerly titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation,” is about a career criminal who crashes his car into the border wall while trying to escape the U.S. Border Patrol.

Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog

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Ava Duvernay Becomes First Black Woman to Win Best Director at Sundance

by Jorge Rivas on January 31 2012, 12:33PM

Ava DuVernay won the Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival for her drama ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ — making her the first black woman to take home the honor.

Topics: /NOW Blog, Sundance

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Viola Davis’ SAG Speech Shouts Out Segue Institute’s 91% Latino Student Body [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on January 30 2012, 10:25AM

When Viola Davis won a SAG Award for Outstanding Female Actress in a leading role Sunday night her acceptance speech included a special note for the students at Segue Institute of Learning in Central Falls, Rhode Island.

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

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