Introducing OnyxCon Atlanta Convention Explores Diversity In Art And Film
The 10th annual Onyxcon was held in Atlanta at the Fulton County Southwest Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday. An opening ceremony, including an art exhibition and film festival, was held Friday.
The opening ceremony is free to the public, says Onyxcon founding president Joseph Wheeler. General admission for the rest of the convention is $15 for adults and $8 for kids 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
There was 500 to 600 attendees and more than 40 vendors at the convention. Artists of many talents will be celebrated, including comic book creators, video game creators, coloring book artists, novelists and more.
DJ Zano was at the convention for a live performance.
Onyxcon celebrated the box office-busting movie “Black Panther” and the CW TV show “Black Lightning.” Both were filmed in Atlanta.
The film festival on Friday will show a movie that was created by Wheeler and other Atlanta-based filmmakers called “BOSS.”
Wheeler says “BOSS” is basically a “metaphor for (his) running Onyxcon” in this midst of internal and external challenges. Wheeler says it’s full of special effects and the subject matter deals with how people get lost in the negativity of social media and politics but find hope in art.
And that’s what he brought to the convention this weekend.
Like other comics, pop culture and sci-fi conventions, cosplay will be a part of Onyxcon, too.
“It’s all about fun,” Wheeler said.
He invites all people to come to celebrate diversity.
The Broadway Icon and Playwright Neil Simon, Dies At 91
NEW YORK (AP) — Playwright Neil Simon, a master of comedy whose laugh-filled hits such as “The Odd Couple,” ″Barefoot in the Park” and his “Brighton Beach” trilogy dominated Broadway for decades, has died. He was 91.
Simon died early Sunday of complications from pneumonia surrounded by family at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, said Bill Evans, his longtime friend and the Shubert Organization director of media relations.
In the second half of the 20th century, Simon was one of the American theater’s most successful and prolific playwrights, often chronicling middle class issues and fears.
Starting with “Come Blow Your Horn” in 1961 and continuing into the next century, he rarely stopped working on a new play or musical. His list of credits is staggering.
Simon’s stage successes included “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” ″Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” ″The Sunshine Boys,” ″Plaza Suite,” ″Chapter Two,” ″Sweet Charity” and “Promises, Promises,” but there were other plays and musicals, too, more than 30 in all. Many of his plays were adapted into movies and one, “The Odd Couple,” even became a popular television series.
For seven months in 1967, he had four productions running at the same time on Broadway: “Barefoot in the Park”; “The Odd Couple”; “Sweet Charity”; and “The Star-Spangled Girl.”
Even before he launched his theater career, he made history as one of the famed stable of writers for comedian Sid Caesar that also included Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.
Simon was the recipient of four Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Kennedy Center honors (1995), four Writers Guild of America Awards, an American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement honor and, in 1983, he even had a Broadway theater named after him when the Alvin was rechristened the Neil Simon Theatre.
In 2006, he won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which honors work that draws from the American experience. The previous year had seen a popular revival of “The Odd Couple,” reuniting Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick after their enormous success in “The Producers” several years earlier.
In a 1997 interview with The Washington Post, Simon reflected on his success. “I know that I have reached the pinnacle of rewards. There’s no more money anyone can pay me that I need. There are no awards they can give me that I haven’t won. I have no reason to write another play except that I am alive and I like to do it,” he said.
Simon had a rare stumble in the fall of 2009, however, when a Broadway revival of his “Brighton Beach Memoirs” closed abruptly after only nine performances because of poor ticket sales. It was to have run in repertory with Simon’s “Broadway Bound,” which was also canceled.
The bespectacled, mild-looking Simon (described in a New York Times magazine profile as looking like an accountant or librarian who dressed “just this side of drab”) was a relentless writer — and rewriter.
“I am most alive and most fulfilled sitting alone in a room, hoping that those words forming on the paper in the Smith-Corona will be the first perfect play ever written in a single draft,” Simon wrote in the introduction to one of the many anthologies of his plays.
He was a meticulous joke smith, peppering his plays, especially the early ones, with comic one-liners and humorous situations that critics said sometimes came at the expense of character and believability. No matter. For much of his career, audiences embraced his work, which often focused on middle-class, urban life, many of the plots drawn from his own personal experience.
“I don’t write social and political plays, because I’ve always thought the family was the microcosm of what goes on in the world,” he told The Paris Review in 1992.
Simon received his first Tony Award in 1965 as best author — a category now discontinued — for “The Odd Couple,” although the comedy lost the best-play prize to Frank D. Gilroy’s “The Subject Was Roses.” He won a best-play Tony 20 years later for “Biloxi Blues.” In 1991, “Lost in Yonkers” received both the Tony and the Pulitzer Prize. And there was a special achievement Tony, too, in 1975.
Simon’s own life figured most prominently in what became known as his “Brighton Beach” trilogy — “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” ″Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound” — which many consider his finest works. In them, Simon’s alter ego, Eugene Morris Jerome, makes his way from childhood to the U.S. Army to finally, on the verge of adulthood, a budding career as a writer.
Simon was born Marvin Neil Simon in New York and was raised in the Bronx and Washington Heights. He was a Depression-era child, his father, Irving, a garment-industry salesman. He was raised mostly by his strong-willed mother, Mamie, and mentored by his older brother, Danny, who nicknamed his younger sibling, Doc.
Simon attended New York University and the University of Colorado. After serving in the military in 1945-46, he began writing with his brother for radio in 1948 and then, for television, a period in their lives chronicled in Simon’s 1993 play, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor.”
The brothers wrote for such classic 1950s television series as “Your Show of Shows,” 90 minutes of live, original comedy starring Caesar and Imogene Coca, and later for “The Phil Silvers Show,” in which the popular comedian portrayed the conniving Army Sgt. Ernie Bilko.
Yet Simon grew dissatisfied with television writing and the network restrictions that accompanied it. Out of his frustration came “Come Blow Your Horn,” which starred Hal March and Warren Berlinger as two brothers (not unlike Danny and Neil Simon) trying to figure out what to do with their lives. The comedy ran for more than a year on Broadway. An audience member is said to have died on opening night.
But it was his second play, “Barefoot in the Park,” that really put Simon on the map. Critically well-received, the 1963 comedy, directed by Mike Nichols, concerned the tribulations of a pair of newlyweds, played by Elizabeth Ashley and Robert Redford, who lived on the top floor of a New York brownstone.
Simon cemented that success two years later with “The Odd Couple,” a comedy about bickering roommates: Oscar, a gruff, slovenly sportswriter, and Felix, a neat, fussy photographer. Walter Matthau, as Oscar, and Art Carney, as Felix, starred on Broadway, with Matthau and Jack Lemmon playing the roles in a successful movie version. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall appeared in the TV series, which ran on ABC from 1970-1975. A female stage version was done on Broadway in 1985 with Rita Moreno as Olive (Oscar) and Sally Struthers as Florence (Felix). It was revived again as a TV series from 2015-17, starring Matthew Perry.
The play remains one of Simon’s most durable and popular works. Nathan Lane as Oscar and Matthew Broderick as Felix starred in a revival that was one of the biggest hits of the 2005-2006 Broadway season.
Besides “Sweet Charity” (1966), which starred Gwen Verdon as a goodhearted dance-hall hostess, and “Promises, Promises” (1968), based on Billy Wilder’s film “The Apartment,” Simon wrote the books for several other musicals.
“Little Me” (1962), adapted from Patrick Dennis’ best-selling spoof of show-biz autobiographies, featured a hardworking Sid Caesar in seven different roles. “They’re Playing Our Song” (1979), which had music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, ran for more than two years. But a musical version of Simon’s movie “The Goodbye Girl,” starring Martin Short and Bernadette Peters, had only a short run in 1993.
Many of his plays were turned into films as well. Besides “The Odd Couple,” he wrote the screenplays for movie versions of “Barefoot in the Park,” ″The Sunshine Boys,” ″The Prisoner of Second Avenue” and more.
Simon also wrote original screenplays, the best known being “The Goodbye Girl,” starring Richard Dreyfuss as a struggling actor, and “The Heartbreak Kid,” which featured Charles Grodin as a recently married man, lusting to drop his new wife for a blonde goddess played by Cybill Shepherd.
In his later years, Simon had more difficulty on Broadway. After the success of “Lost in Yonkers,” which starred Mercedes Ruehl as a gentle, simple-minded woman controlled by her domineering mother (Irene Worth), the playwright had a string of financially unsuccessful plays including “Jake’s Women,” ″Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and “Proposals.” Simon even went off-Broadway with “London Suite” in 1995 but it didn’t run long either.
“The Dinner Party,” a comedy set in Paris about husbands and ex-wives, was a modest hit in 2000, primarily because of the box-office strength of its two stars, Henry Winkler and John Ritter. A hit revival of “Promises, Promises” in 2010 starred Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes.
Perhaps Simon’s most infamous production was the critically panned “Rose’s Dilemma,” which opened at off-Broadway’s nonprofit Manhattan Theatre Club in December 2003. Its star, Mary Tyler Moore, walked out of the show during preview performances after receiving a note from the playwright criticizing her performance. Moore was replaced by her understudy.
He wrote two memoirs, “Rewrites” (1996) and “The Play Goes On” (1999). They were combined into “Neil Simon’s Memoirs.”
Simon was married five times, twice to the same woman. His first wife, Joan Baim, died of cancer in 1973, after 20 years of marriage. They had two daughters, Ellen and Nancy, who survive him. Simon dealt with her death in “Chapter Two” (1977), telling the story of a widower who starts anew.
The playwright then married actress Marsha Mason, who had appeared in his stage comedy “The Good Doctor” and who went on to star in several films written by Simon including “The Goodbye Girl,” ″The Cheap Detective,” ″Chapter Two,” ″Only When I Laugh” and “Max Dugan Returns.” They were divorced in 1982.
The playwright was married to his third wife, Diane Lander, twice — once in 1987-1988 and again in 1990-1998. Simon adopted Lander’s daughter, Bryn, from a previous marriage. Simon married his fourth wife, actress Elaine Joyce, in 1999. He also survived by three grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
“I suspect I shall keep on writing in a vain search for that perfect play. I hope I will keep my equilibrium and sense of humor when I’m told I haven’t achieved it,” Simon once said about his voluminous output of work. “At any rate, the trip has been wonderful. As George and Ira Gershwin said, ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me.’”
R.I.P
#RHoA: Kenya Moore Gets A Sweet Kiss and Hug From ‘RHoA’ Star Cynthia Bailey!
A glowing pregnant Kenya Moore posed in a lovely white dress with friend Cynthia Bailey.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star is still rocking summer fashion looks with a simple short-sleeved dress.
The tight-fitting outfit made it possible for Marc Daly’s wife to have her growing baby bump on display.
No matter what Kenya does, people are like Wendy Williams and claim she is faking her pregnancy.
One person said: “It’s a shame how some of you all on here is being petty and negative toward this woman and her pregnancy. I’m so happy for Kenya did she reveal the sex of the baby. There is a woman that carried her daughter twins in her late 50s… why do you think a lady that’s established and very healthy and haven’t had children is too old at 47. Janet Jackson was 50 having her 1st child. Women are stronger and more vibrant than some men would ever know. God made us too bare children, and if he blessed her with her child at 47, then she is not too old.”
#Empire: Season 5 Teaser: The Lyons Vow They’ll Get Up Again Unless Forrest Whittaker gets his way
Get ready folks! The Lyons are about to roar once more. After an insane “Empire” Season 4 finale that saw Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), Lucious (Terrence Howard) and the rest of the almighty music mogul family get knocked down (and five people die), a new teaser for the upcoming fifth installment of the Fox drama — which is exclusive to TheWrap — shows the clan preparing to get back up again.
“According to the streets, you and Cookie dropped off the face of the earth, because you let your boy Eddie Barker just guerilla your whole company,” a radio DJ says to Lucious in an interview, as we see glimpses from the shootout at the end of Season 4 and the family patriarch standing over a coffin.
Now Eddie (Forrest Whittaker) is in charge of Empire and Andre (Trai Byers) is in jail, presumably for the part he played in Anika’s (Grace Gealey) death. Meanwhile, Cookie and Lucious are working to start a new and “recreate magic from scratch” with the help of Jamal (Jussie Smollett), who is sure his parents will reign again.
Can they rebuild? Well, with a haunting cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” playing in the background, we’re feeling optimistic.
WATCH HERE
From Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television, “Empire” was created by Lee Daniels and Emmy Award winner Danny Strong, and is executive-produced by Daniels, Strong, Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Sanaa Hamri, Dennis Hammer, Matt Pyken and Diane Ademu-John. Brett Mahoney is executive producer and showrunner for the series
#NewMusicVideo from Vivian Green “Vibes”
On ‘VGVI,’ Vivian treads new territory with the help of multi-platinum producer Kwamé (Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Christina Aguilera, Fantasia).
“I hope people can feel the emotion. When they hear it, I want them to be able to live with it,” she says about the project. “It’s a little different for me. You can work out to it, cook to it, clean to it, and do all of those things we do. I want this to be one of those records that becomes a part of your life.”
WATCH HERE
Vivian also remains a staunch advocate for the rights of children with special needs spearheading the #IamDifferentIamHuman PSA campaign. Her organization “I am different, I am Human” brings awareness to the 57 million people in the United States with a special need, particularly children.
#NewHipHop from T-Pain Feat. Gucci Mane – ‘Might Be’
T-Pain teams up with Gucci Mane on his new single “Might Be.”
Over a rattling trap beat, the King of Auto-Tune raps about his wifey and compares himself to Larry Flynt (“I’m a hustler, baby”), while Guwop adds some East Atlanta flair.
The new single arrives as T-Pain gears up for his new TV series. “T-Pain’s School of Business” will premiere Oct. 16 at 11 p.m. on Fuse.
An American Patriot! US Senator John McCain Dead at 81
U.S. Sen. John McCain, a war hero who survived five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, served three decades in Congress and went on to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2008, died Saturday. He was 81 years old.
In his last hours, the Arizona Republican turned down further medical treatment, his family announced in a statement.
McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer in July 2017. Doctors discovered the tumor during a medical procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. He remained upbeat after the diagnosis, flying back to Washington days after surgery with a large scar visible above his eye to partake in the Senate’s health care debate.
“I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!” McCain tweeted on July 20 after his diagnosis.
On Friday, his family issued a statement saying,“Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict."
They added, "With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."
McCain's wife, Cindy, tweeted that her "heart is broken" following her husband's death.
My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best.
"I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years," she said. "He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best."
The senator's daughter, Meghan, posted a heartfelt note online, in which she said the "task of [her] lifetime is to live up to [McCain's] example, his expectations, and his love."
"My father is gone, and I miss him as only an adoring daughter can," she wrote. "He was a great fire who burned bright, and we lives in his light and warmth for so very long. We know that his flame lives on, in each of us. The days and years to come will not be the same without my dad — but they will be good days, filled with life and love, because of the example he lived for us."
McCain was born in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was stationed in the Navy. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1958, McCain went to Vietnam.
In 1967, his A4 Skyhawk was hit by a surface-to-air missile over Hanoi. McCain was captured by the North Vietnamese, who tortured and beat him for more than five years. He was in solitary confinement for several of those years.
Arizona Senator John McCain inspired the nation with his character, heroism, humility and public service. Here's a look back at some of the "Maverick's" most memorable speeches and off-the-cuff remarks.
“My room was fairly decent-sized - I’d say about 10 by 10,” McCain would later write. “The door was solid. There were no windows. The only ventilation came from two small holes at the top in the ceiling, about 6 inches by 4 inches. The roof was tin, and it got hot as hell in there.”
His captors offered him early release after learning his father was a notable naval officer. But McCain refused to leave before the other prisoners. He was released in 1973.
McCain’s injuries from his imprisonment were visible the rest of his life, most noticeably the restricted movement of his arms.
McCain got a taste of politics in 1976, when he served as the Navy’s liaison to the Senate.
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) (R) is joined by California Governor
In 1982, McCain was elected to the House of Representatives. Only a few years later, in 1986, he won the race to replace Arizona’s conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater.
He was implicated in what became known as the Keating Five Scandal in 1989, accused with several other lawmakers of helping the owner of the Lincoln Savings and Loan, who had donated to his campaign.
McCain ran twice for president. In 2000, he ran for the Republican nomination for president, winning New Hampshire’s primary but losing the nomination to George W. Bush.
In 2008, he defeated a host of Republican candidates to win the GOP nomination for president.
He was responsible for introducing then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to a national audience by tapping her as his running mate. The McCain-Palin ticket went on to lose the general election to Barack Obama, who became the country’s first black president.
For years, McCain declined to call his choice of Palin a mistake. But in his upcoming book, “The Restless Wave,” McCain reportedly writes that he regrets not choosing his friend, then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., as his running mate, calling it “another mistake that I made.” Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president, was an independent who caucused with Democrats.
After the 2008 loss, McCain returned to the Senate, embracing his role as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
During his last years in politics, he had a complicated relationship with President Trump, who infamously attacked McCain during the GOP primary. In May, the McCain family was offended when it was reported that Trump aide Kelly Sadler dismissed McCain's opposition to the president’s choice for CIA director by quipping during a private meeting, "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway."
According to the New York Times, McCain has made clear to the White House he doesn’t want Trump to attend his funeral, and would instead prefer Vice President Mike Pence at a service.
McCain is survived by his wife Cindy, seven children and five grandchildren.
The French Open Bans Serena Williams Catsuit
Serena Williams caused a sensation with the black catsuit she wore at this year's French Open tournament. But French tennis officials aren't as fashion-forward.
From now on, players' attire apparently will be subject to a dress code — and Williams' sleek outfit is out.
"I feel like a warrior in it, a warrior princess ... from Wakanda, maybe," she told reporters in May, referring to the movie Black Panther. "I've always wanted to be a superhero, and it's kind of my way of being a superhero."
Williams won the 2017 Australian Open when she was nearly two months pregnant, and she gave birth to a daughter last year. But the birth was followed by a six-day medical crisis in which Williams suffered blood clots in her lungs, and she says she nearly died.
So like any good superhero costume, Williams' black Nike catsuit was functional.
"I've had a lot of problems with my blood clots, God I don't know how many I've had in the past 12 months," she said at the May news conference. "I've been wearing pants in general a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going."
But in an interview with Tennis magazine, French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli reportedly said the tournament would be introducing a dress code.
"I think that sometimes we've gone too far," Giudicelli said, according to The Associated Press.
He specifically mentioned Williams' outfit and declared: "It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place."
He said the French Open's dress code would not be so strict as the one at Wimbledon, which requires players to dress almost entirely in white. "White does not include off white or cream," the English tournament clarifies, in case you had doubts.
Williams, who Forbes says is the top-earning female athlete in the world, has won the French Open three times.
#BoxOfficeNews: Crazy Rich Asians Holds Onto the Top Spot with Impressive Second Weekend
Crazy Rich Asians holds onto the top spot with impressive second weekend
Warner Bros. Pictures‘ Crazy Rich Asians is looking to become one of the breakout hits of the summer, holding onto the top spot at the domestic box office with an impressive $25 million haul for the weekend, a drop-off of just 5.7% from its first weekend of release (the lowest drop-off for a wide release this year). Domestically the film now sits at $76.8 million. Internationally the film continues to roll out in various countries, but brought in $6 million from 18 markets, bringing the overseas total to $7.1 million, worldwide the film now stands at $83.9 million. Based on the acclaimed worldwide bestseller by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians features an international cast of stars led by Constance Wu, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, and Awkwafina, with Ken Jeong and Michelle Yeoh. The large starring ensemble also includes Henry Golding, making his feature film debut, Sonoya Mizuno , Chris Pang, Jimmy O. Yang, comedian Ronny Chieng, Remi Hii, and Nico Santos Jon M. Chu directed the contemporary romantic comedy.
The Meg continues to swim upstream, hanging onto the #2 spot domestically with an additional $13 million. Domestically the film has crossed the $100 million mark with a total of $105.3 million, but internationally it continues to perform even better. The film added another $32.7 million this weekend in 65 territories, internationally it now sits at $303.3 million for a global total of $408.6 million. Directed by John Turteltaub, the film stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Cliff Curtis, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Sophia Shuya Cai, and Masi Oka.
STX Films‘ The Happytime Murders debuted in third place with a total of $10 million. With an estimated budget of $40 million, the film will need to pull some strings to break even. Directed by Brian Henson, the film stars Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, and Elizabeth Banks
Mission: Impossible – Fallout held its grip on the #4 slot with another $8 million, bringing its domestic total to $193.9 million. Internationally the film added another $13 million for a total of $344.8 million, globally the movie now sits at $538.7 million. The sequel is slightly behind 2011’s Ghost Protocol and 2015’s Rogue Nation which finished their theatrical runs with $694.7 million worldwide and $682.7 million worldwide, respectively, but is performing better in many markets than Rogue Nation previously did. Tom Cruise leads the Christopher McQuarrie film which co-stars Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin.
Disney’s Christopher Robin moved up from sixth place to fifth with another $6.3 million and another $5.9 million internationally. The film now sits at $77.6 million in the US with a global total of $112.7 million. Directed by Marc Forster, Ewan McGregor stars as the title character alongside Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, and Mark Gatiss. Voicing the characters from the hundred acre wood include Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Brad Garrett as Eeyore, Toby Jones as Owl, Nick Mohammed as Piglet, Peter Capaldi as Rabbit, and Sophie Okonedo as Kanga.
Mark Wahlberg’s latest action thriller Mile 22 fell from third to sixth place, adding another $6 million to its total. The film has now brought in $25.17 million domestically and just barely passed Wahlberg’s previous film All the Money in the World, it’s also within spitting distance of the last Wahlberg/Berg feature, Patriot’s Day (which brought in $31.8 million). The film is directed by Peter Berg and also stars Academy Award nominee John Malkovich, as well as Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais and Ronda Rousey.
Sony Pictures and Studio 8’s Alpha slipped from fifth to seventh place with an estimated $5.6 million for the weekend. The ice age adventure now stands at $20.1 million domestically, but against a reported $51 million budget it will likely get lost in the tundra in the end. Kodi Smit-McPhee stars in the film alongside Natassia Malthe, Leonor Varela, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Mercedes de la Zerda, and Jens Hultén. Directed by Albert Hughes the film is written by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt.
Spike Lee’s latest joint BlacKkKlansman fell from seventh place to eighth but only dropped -27.6% from weekend to weekend, adding another $5.34 million in its third weekend and giving it a domestic total of $32 million. Internationally the movie has brought in $8 million for a global total of $40 million, against a reported budget of $15 million. Based on a true story, the film stars John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier and Topher Grace.
Common Signs Television Deal With Lionsgate
Common is great on the mic, but he does his thing behind the camera too. The rapper turned actor turned film and television producer has just inked a deal with Lionsgate that will allow us to see much more of his work on screen.
According to new reports, the 46-year-old’s Freedom Road Productions has officially signed a deal with Lionsgate Television to develop new projects for the studio. Chris Selak, Lionsgate’s executive vice president and head of worldwide scripted television said:
“We’re thrilled to have the talented multi-hyphenate Common join our television team along with his longtime manager and producing partner Derek Dudley, president of production Shelby Stone, and creative executive Melisa Resch. Common’s expertise from working across all different artistic platforms offers a rich and exciting creative vision to our group. We look forward to the bold, premium content Freedom Road Productions will bring to our deep and diverse television slate.”
Common, who currently serves as executive producer on Showtime’s The Chi also released a statement regarding his new deal.
“I’m proud to expand my relationship with the innovative content creator Lionsgate. The studio offers a collaborative, creative freedom that is unique in the entertainment industry, which makes them a perfect partner for Freedom Road Productions. I’m looking forward to teaming up with Kevin, Chris and the Lionsgate collective on exciting and fresh television programming.”
Congrats to Common!
Justin Timberlake Set To Release Air Jordan 3 JTH “Bio Beige” Shoe.
Justin Timberlake has been one of #Jordan Brand’s leading collaborators since the two joined forces in 2013 for a “Legends Of The Summer” PE collection. Even through his recent “Man Of The Woods” tour, Justin would show up and bring his shoes to some of his fans.
His new shoe, the “Bio Beige” JTH 3s are very personal sneakers for JT, as they were inspired by “Higher Higher,” a song on his Man Of The Woods album dedicated to his wife, Jessica Timberlake (Biel).
According to SneakerNews, the kicks feature rich suede and raw leather laces for an artisanal vibe and the insoles feature lyrics from the song and the title embossed on the medial heel collar.
The JTH “Bio Beige” 3s will be released August 28th.
'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Production Has Been Put on Hold
Those looking forward to the third installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will have to wait a little longer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 production has been put on hold. The film was supposed to start pre-production in the fall; however, the outlet reports crew members preparing for pre-production have been dismissed and are free to look for new work.
The Marvel film was supposed to be directed by James Gunn, who directed the first two installments, but Disney made the decision to fire him after insensitive tweets the writer/director posted a decade ago resurfaced that contained subject matter including rape, racism and pedophilia.
Though the movie's cast wrote an open letter urging Disney to give Gunn a second chance, the studio confirmed it's standing by its decision last week and is currently in search of a new director.
Upon his removal, Gunn issued an apology via Twitter.
“Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo," he wrote. "As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.”
"It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger," he added. "My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over."
"Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all," he concluded.
Family of Prince Files Lawsuit Against Doctor Who Prescribed Him Meds
The family of Prince, the late Purple Rain singer, is not slowing down in their quest for vengeance. The family has now decided to file a lawsuit against the doctor who prescribed the artist medication prior to his death.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Hennepin County District Court, claims that Dr. Michael Schulenberg and other parties neglected to properly treat Prince and restore his health. The family states that the targeted officials had “an opportunity and duty during the weeks before Prince’s death to diagnose and treat Prince’s opioid addiction and to prevent his death. They failed to do so,” the Associated Press reports.
Following the highly controversial death of the singer on April 21st, 2016, Schulenberg did admit to authorities that he'd provided a prescription of Oxycontin to Prince's bodyguard in order to protect the artist's privacy. This act alone led to a $30,000 fine.
However, it was Fentanyl, not Oxycontin that led to prince's overdose. Rolling Stone reports that when tested, the singer was found to have "exceedingly high" levels of Fentanyl in his system. Unfortunately, the post-mortem investigation led authorities to no suspects whom could have provided the medication to Prince. Still, the lawsuit states that his family is seeking unspecified damages in excess of $50,000 from Dr. Michael Schulenberg.
This isn't the first lawsuit to come about following the death of the star. In April, a Moline, Illinois hospital, Trinity Medical Center, came under fire for briefly treating Prince in April 2016. The families lawsuit against the hospital states that the health center failed to investigate and treat Prince following an overdose on his place that forced him to make an emergency landing.
In addition, the family filed a lawsuit against two Minnesota Walgreens locations for “dispensing narcotic prescription medication” without proper reason.
“The Minnesota lawsuit is against all parties whom we now believe share legal responsibility for Prince’s death, but it is possible that we will identify and add other parties as we move forward with the case,” the families lawyer, John Goetz said in a statement.
“We will have much to say when the time is right,” Goetz added. “We have client interests to protect at the moment, including our theory of the case. What happened to Prince is happening to families across America. Prince’s family wishes, through its investigation, to shed additional light on what happened to Prince. At the same time, further light on the opiate epidemic will hopefully help the fight to save lives. If Prince’s death helps save lives, then all was not lost.”
A Scheme To Burglarize Demi Lovato Uncovered By Cops
Demi Lovato's residence was the target of a home invasion by some would-be burglars, as learned by TMZ from Los Angeles law enforcement sources.
After news broke that Demi would be leaving the hospital during her recovery from an alleged near death drug overdose, a group of thieves were arrested for planning a heist. Although they were not specifically targeting celebrities, electronic communications were discovered by police during an investigation that detailed plans to break in while she was away.
Once LAPD caught wind, extra patrols were added around Lovato's house to keep an eye on any suspicious activity in the area. So far their presence has warded off any break-ins or incidents while Demi is seeking mental health and addiction treatment.
New details have recently emerged surrounding the circumstances of Demi's overdose. Previously reported to be heroin, updates have alleged the substance triggering her crisis was actually Oxy laced with fentanyl.
After a night of partying with friends in West Hollywood, TMZ alleges that Demi and her drug dealer freebased Oxycodone on tin foil. The dealer had unknowingly been provided with 'dirty drugs' from Mexico, and fled her home after noticing Lovato was breathing heavily on her bed. Friends found her the following morning at 11:30 AM and administered the narcan that saved her life.
The dealer has since been reported to have had multiple previous run-ins with the law. According to TMZ, Brandon Johnson was booked during a drug bust in North Hollywood this March where police discovered him with a stash of guns including a semi-automatic handgun, narcotics and approximately $10,000 in cash. He was then arrested in June for cocaine possession.
Many celebrities have come out in support of Demi Lovato with public messages of encouragement. Recently Meghan Trainor told ET at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards:
We love you, Demi...you're so strong. We know you'll come back stronger than ever and I can't wait for her return.
The 'Cool For The Summer' singer is now back receiving treatment at a rehabilitation facility in California after stepping out for a few days to consult an addiction specialist in Chicago.
The Temptations Story Is Headed To Broadway Next Spring In The Play “Ain’t Too Proud-The Life And Times Of The Temptations”
According to Rolling Stone, The Temptations adaptation follows the group’s journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Known for their signature dancing and unmistakeable harmonies, the group rose to stardom and gave the world 42 amazing Top Ten Hits with 14 of them reaching number one. Their touching and very personal story still resonates five decades later.
“Ain’t Too Proud” will also feature a book by Dominique Morisseau and is directed by two-time Tony winner Des McAnuff. The show features a score made up of The Temptations’ legendary songs to include My Girl,” “Just My Imagination” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”
The lead producers Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce reportedly stated they are seeking to raise $16.75 million to capitalize the new musical.
Jemele Hill and ESPN Finally Calling It Quits
Jemele Hill’s run at ESPN will end Friday as she and the company have reached a buyout of her contract, according to multiple reports. ESPN declined comment.
Hill, who left the 6 p.m. SportsCenter earlier this year, has become one of, if not the most controversial Bristol talent in recent times. Last September she tweeted that President Donald Trump was a “white supremacist” leading to the White House to call for her firing during a press briefing. Last October she was suspended after criticizing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jonesand pointing out what would be an effective way to hurt his pocketbook.
Since leaving SportsCenter, Hill has been far from the public’s eye at The Undefeated. Anyone paying attention has known this day was coming, as the marriage had become hopelessly strained. She was a bad fit at this ESPN, the version of seemingly afraid to be seen as overly political. The one timid in the face of bad-faith actors.
There’s no doubt she pushed the envelope when it came to expressing personal views. There’s no doubt she upset a huge faction of the country by going after those in power. But one wonders why she became the avatar for the “stick to sports” crowd’s rage. She is not the only ESPNer who dips into social, racial, and political issues. She’s just the one who paid the most public price.
Hill’s departure comes after 12 years at the company. The Athletic media reporter Richard Deitsch reports that Hill and her longtime friend, Kelley L. Carter, another metro Detroit native and former Free Press writer, are starting a production company, aptly named Lodge Freeway Media.
My 600-Lb Life Star Lisa Fleming Has Died at the Age of 50
My 600-Lb Life. Lisa Fleming, who was featured on the TLC show this year, has died at the age of 50.
Lisa’s daughter, Danielle Fleming, took to Facebook on August 23 to share the sad news.
“I am truly at a loss for words right now. God knows I wanted you to hold on until I got here but He knew what was best for me,” Danielle wrote on her Facebook page. “I didn’t need to see you like that! This morning I sat and held your hand for 4 hours knowing nothing I could’ve done would bring you back to me.”
She continued, “Mommy, I love you from here to the stars and back! Those babies loved you even more. I’m happy you’re no longer in pain and stuck in that bed. Y’all pray for me, check on me, come see about me because I am not ok! I love my mama & I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worse enemy. Rest In Peace, Mother Arleasher M. Fleming!”
Danielle appeared on the My 600-Lb Life with her mom earlier this year. Lisa, who started the show weighing 704 pounds, was one of the few participants who struggled to lose a significant amount of weight despite being in very bad shape.
Unfortunately for Lisa, she was unable to walk due to her weight, and laid daily in the same bed that her mother passed away in due to obesity. In fact, she shocked viewers when she revealed she once found maggots in the folds of her skin.
He situation was so dire that the doctor decided to keep her in the hospital on a controlled diet for a month. It was effective as she lost 87 pounds, and got down to 617 pounds. She however struggled when she was sent home as she ended up gaining back 29 pounds.
But despite hitting rock bottom, Lisa butted heads with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan and ended up getting kicked out of the weight loss program after she falsely claimed to be suicidal to get out of doing physical activities. However, she was given the chance to return to the program if she was able to lose fifty pounds on her own.
By the end of her episode, Lisa weighed 646 pounds — having only lost 58 pounds in a span of 5 months.
Unfortunately,, she didn’t appear to have made any progress away from the show as she remained bedridden.
Oddly enough, before this year, there had been very few deaths connected to the show but Lisa now makes the third participant to die within the past year alone. Earlier this month, James ‘LB’ Bonner committed suicide at the age of 30. And last November, Robert Buchel died of a heart attack. His death was revealed during his episode.
Condolences to Lisa’s loved ones.
AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
‘THE MOHUNK’
Nothing wrong with doing a little prep work before heading all the way into Walmart. With hair like that you know you’re bound to find yourself in a POW photoshoot soon!
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Ricky
Meet Ricky. You can see more when GO HERE TO SEE THE PICS! And remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
Enjoy!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD
EFREM
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