ATL: A Surprisingly Strong Film That Shows The Flipside of Life In The the Dirty South

OK, so I guess that's a major spoiler in Warner Brother's eyes. But I think it's kinda cool to see a PG-13 movie set in current times that shows young men and women battling with the process of growing up. If you've seen lots of movies like me, you'll know where ATL borrows it's cues from--the friendships of Juice, the house party from House Party, the fat girl from Cooley High a dash of Purple Rain and the swagger of Saturday Night Fever. It also owes a lot to John Hughes' early work. That being said, director Chris Robinson, in his feature debut, delivers strong visuals and an excellent soundtrack/score that constantly reminds you that these are real places, people and problems. He gets excellent performances from his cast--a mix of veteran actors and musicians in their film debuts.

The big plot twist in the story (which I won't give away) raises a very interesting question that the movie with as broad a scope as ATL has no way to answer--do these young girls project a "grown-up" attitude because it's fashionable or is it the only way to find love and attention from these young boys who are, in their own way, desperately in search of their own manhood without the guidance of true role models?

ATL tels a very familiar story but with interesting hues and nuances that defy the typical "hood" flick. I encourage you to check it out in theaters--not on bootleg lemme know whatcha think. www.reelblack.com

Favela Rising Draws Our Biggest Audience For 2006

Rob won a copy of the brand new Seat Filler DVD

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about our most recent show. The March 22 screening of Favela Rising drew nearly 100 people, making it our most attended eventat International House since last year's Sold-Out World Premiere of Rel Dowdell's Train Ride. For those who missed the screening or would like to see it again, Favela Rising has been picked up for Nationwide distribution by HBO/ThinkFilm and will be released this Summer. Please visit www.favelarising.com http://www.favelarising.com

INSIDE MAN Debuts At Number 1

Filmmaker Spike Lee and Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington fourth collaboration opened at number one with a box office take of $ 29million. This heist picture also stars Jodie Foster and Clive Owen and iis definitely Spike Lee's best picture in years and comes Highly Recommended. See it in theaters--not on bootleg.

CODEBLACK DISTRIBUTION Debuts with Steve Harvey's Stand-Up Concert Film

Former Urbanworks Home Video exec's latest vision is CODEBLACK, a multi-platform company positioned to become the leader in Urban film distribution. Currently they have six films available on home video and with the debut of Steve Harvey's Don't Trip...He Ain't Through With Me Yet hitting theaters in nine states CODEBLACK is primed to become a major force in theatrical distribution of Black Independent film. Think Miramax or Lions Gate but with product geared exclusively to folks of color.

The Reelblack Squad was recently invited to attend the Philly V.I.P. Premiere of this Don't Trip..., in which captures Mr. Harvey before a sellout crowd at Bishop T.D. Jake's Megafest. He celebrates 20 years in show business by delivering a solid 90 minute show that delivers plenty of laughs--without the use of a single "swear" word.

If you are a fan of The Original Kings Of Comedy, or are just looking for a fun-filled night for the family, we urge you to buy a ticket to see Don't Trip...this weekend--in theaters...not on bootleg.

CSA: What If Martin Luther King Was Born A Slave?

This is one of the many questions raised by the satirical mock-umenatry CSA: CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, which opened recently at the Clearview Anthony Wayne Theater in Wayne, PA. Written and produced by Kansas State University professor Kevin Wilmott , CSA is a feature length film that poses the question: what if the South won the Civil War? How would our lives and culture be different?

The movie was picked up for distribution at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival by IFC Films. They held off releasing the film until after the election and it has been getting a slow rollout--and fantastic reviews.

For more info including the movie trailer, visit www.csathemovie.com

Reelblack First Weekend A Hit

Pimp My Oscars

Here's Tsotsi director Gavin Hood with Philly Filmmaker Gavin Hood at at recent event. Please help us celebrate Gavin's win. Sign up for our Saturday Night field trip today.

Kudos to the members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who acknowledged both Crash and Tsotsi as stellar achievements in filmmaking this past year.

It's Pimpalicious!

"It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," by 666 Mafia won for Best Song. We hope the performance of the song on the Oscar's Broadcast inspires some forward-thinking exec to greenlight the much anticipated Broadway production of Willie Dynamite: The Musical.

Terrence Howard Tops The Reelblack Film Awards

Thanks to everyone who participated in our internet poll to determine YOUR favorite African-Amercan Films and performances from the past year. The winners for the 2005 Reelblack Film Awards (aka The Huggy Bears) are:

Best Actor - Terrence Howard, Hustle And Flow
Best Supporting Actor - Terrence Howard, Crash
Best Actress - Thandie Newton, Crash
Best Supporting Actress - Taraji Henson, Hustle And Flow
Best Director - Craig Brewer, Hustle And Flow
Best Independent Film - Diary of A Mad Black Woman
Best Studio Drama - Crash
Best Studio Comedy - Hitch
Soul Plane Award (Worst Comedy of 2005) - King’s Ransom
Best Documentary (tie) Unforgivable Blackness -and- The Untold Story of Emmett Till
Best Rapper Turned Actor - Ludacris
Best Actor Turned Rapper - Mos Def
Best Straight-to-DVD Movie- Carilto’s Way Rise To Power (Universal)
Best Made For TV Movie -Lackawanna Blues (HBO)

Kimberly Elise, Alicia Keys Receive 2006 Image Awards

Congrats to actress Kimberly Elise, actor Terrence Howard and songwriter Alicia Keys for their recent Image Award wins.

Mike D. On TV

On February 25, Reelblack founder Mike D appeared on the TV show Speak Up! on Philadelphia's UPN-57 TV. In his segment, he was paired with Chris Brooks of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office to discuss Reelblack and the state of Philly's ever-growing filmmaking scene. Click the "play" arrow below the screen to view the entire 10-minute clip.

Reelblack is also featured currently on the website Campus Philly. Click here for the link.

Free Reelblack Movie Clips

To order any of our DVDs, vist our store or email miked@reelblack.com

Through the magic of Vmix.com, we're now able to post video samples from some of the short films included in the Reelblack Motion Picture Manifesto DVD. So please, take a look. Currently available for free viewing are The Story of Breakout, Jazzyfatnastees in Progress and Next Tuesday.

Click here to visit our page at Vmix.com

Experience two sides of Mos Def in theaters now.

Passive...Agressive. He's Black on Both Sides.

Actor/Conscious Rapper Mos Def (Dante Smith) stars in two quality pix that opened on March 3rd. 16 BLOCKS costars Bruce Willis as an alcoholic cop asked to transport Mos across lower Manhattan so he can testify against a group of dirty cops. In Dave Chappelle's BLOCK PARTY, our Reelblack Award winner performs a medley with Talib Kweli (his partner in the group Black Star) and serves as Dave's guest drummer for a series of hilarious one liners. Both movies are Highly Recommended. See them in theaters, not on bootleg.

Valentines Photo of the Month

Thanks to everyone who braved the snow to make it out to our Valentine's screening of Aaron Loves Angela, from the only available 35mm print in the USA. WKDU's Monica Peters served as host and we had lots of cool giveaways courtesy Fox Video and Image Entertainment.

Mike D shares his opinions on WKDU

Mike with award-winning radio host Monica Peters

Thanks to the over one million listeners who tuned into Philadelphia radio station WKDU-FM on Sunday November 20. Mike D. was the sole guest on the Cool Like Dat Radio Show hosted by Monica Peters (aka Mama With The Drama). He urged listeners to "Turn off their tapes" in case he said something that might offend the Hollywood gatekeepers. Topics of discussion included the Year in Black Film, Casting of Rappers vs. Actors and Mike's role in the promotion of Black Entertainment in the City of Brotherly Love.

Find out what folks are saying about Reelblack Presents...

Filmmaker Ray Colbert recently stopped by REELBLACK PRESENTS at the Sedgwick and interviewed curator Mike D as well as a few patrons. Visit Ray's website here and get the 411 on our great event as well as other recent goings on in the City of Brotherly Love.

VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MIKE D.

Harry Cook of Philly1.com cornered me at Barnes and Noble for some shameless plugging. Click the picture to find out what was said.

It's been over a year since Mike was quoted in THE SOURCE MAGAZINE picture above with Nas on the cover, but we're gonna keep this image up. It seems we've been getting over 2000 hits a month from people googleing the terms Nas and Black Film. There was a trio of articles on Black Hollywood. Mike was quoted in the one on independent film. As a result of the article, Reelblack's hits increased by 20% and Mike gained the interest of a major Hollywood agent (whoopee! now if only folks would visit the shop.) We're no dummies. Now if only someone would put NAS in another movie besides Belly they could get paid in full too.