Trinity Goodheart Debuts on GMC and Kevin Hart’s Laugh at My Pain Comes to Theaters

Eric Benet and Erica Gluck star in a unique and heart warming story of an unconventional father-daughter relationship, strained family ties and a spirit that helps them overcome it all.

Erica Gluck’s character, Trinity, is a precocious young lady who calls her father, played by Benet, by his first name in order to see him as a person and not just a father. We meet Benet, a single parent, the two mysteriously abandoned, fighting for his daughter’s rights and individuality at school. Her attendance has suffered but her performance has not. When Trinity wasn’t in school, she was with her surrogate family in her father’s shop where she makes paper angels, a wildly popular item. Yet she doesn’t want to accept a profit for the items, demonstrating the character of her upbringing “If you have to believe in something, it might as well be something good.”

The films’ conflict arises in the strain between Benet’s character and his parents who have distanced themselves from the pair. Trinity boldly reaches out to her grandfather for full family reconciliation, one of the major themes of the made for TV movie.

Benet, debuting as a dramatic leading man, describes the film’s message as motivating “everyone in a positive, loving direction towards healing the relationships they have.”

GMC, formerly the Gospel Music Channel, debuted Trinity Goodheart, the first original feature film for the network on August 20, 2011.

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Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain

Kevin Hart sat at the top of the dark Colony Theater when his film, Laugh at My Pain, debuted at the American Black Film Fest. The film opened in the United States on September 10^th. The film, shot in a documentary style, is sidesplitting, featuring never before seen backstage footage. Hart himself suggests an adult diaper rather than carrying a box of tissues. Hart travels back to Pennsylvania to visit his North Philly home, a place he describes a notoriously rough and one that builds character.

Hart may have shed many tears on his road to success, but he’s laughing all the way to the bank now. The tour of the same name earned over $15 millions dollars in gross ticket sales and sales from the Nokia Theatre appearance surpassed Eddie Murphy’s record as the first African-American comedian to net over $1 million for two-day sales.

In addition to Laugh at My Pain, Hart’s other projects include two new movies, and preparations for his 2012 tour. His hilarious Ford Commercial has been extended for another run. The film opened on September 9, 2011 across the country and will debut in Eastern and Western Africa as a part of an agreement between Codeblack Entertainment and Silverbird Cinemas with placement on 100 screens.

Marcel Ste. Marie (Robert Richard) plays a young Creole gentlemen whose father is a white plantation owner and whose mother is a gens de couleur (free people of color). Marcel grows up in a society that does not have the privileges of its white counterpart, but has more than its slave counterpart. The gens de couleur consider themselves neither white nor black. The women were often placed in left-handed marriages to white men (placage) and set up with homes and the means to keep up their lifestyle.

What is prevalent in this movie is not only the love of heritage, but also the love of status. Even though the gens de couleur could not vote and would be treated the same as the slaves if they left New Orleans, they were treated almost as kings and queens in their society. It is intriguing to watch the growth of Marcel as he battles within himself about loving the society that gave him power and privilege while wanting to change it.

While this movie is filled with struggle, it is also filled with love and the rules of engagement that the gens de couleur society attaches to that love. Depending on how you look at it, The Feasts of All Saints can be classified as a love or hate story. Love doesn’t always come the way we dream it should and often it can come with a price. The Feast of All Saints gives us a glimpse into the history of the color phenomenon that still haunts the African-American community today.

Crystal-Marie Mitchell is is a freelance writer and designer, based in San Francisco. She writes for BizMe magazine and owns her own graphic design firm, IsrylDesigns. She blogs at divadiariesbythediva.blogspot.com, where she offers beauty and fashion tips, along with life lessons and words of encouragement to girls and young women, trying to find their way in the world.

Micheaux was born Jan. 2, 1884, in Metropolis, Ill., one of 13 children whose parents were former slaves. When he was 17 he left home for Chicago, where he found a job as a pull-man porter, one of the best jobs a Black man get under Jim Crow Laws. He assimilated the teachings of Booker T. Washington and Horace Greely and acquired land in South Dakota where he learned to be a farmer. He wrote his first novel, “The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer,” in 1913 and rewrote the book in 1917 renaming it “The Homesteader,” which he sold himself as a door-to-door salesman. George and Noble Johnson, “The Johnson Brothers,” who ran The Lincoln Motion Picture Company, wanted to buy the rights to his book and make it into a film, but Oscar refused after being denied as director to his own story. He took the opportunity to organize his own company called Micheaux Film and Book Company of Sioux City and Chicago where he raised enough money to produce and direct his own films.

“The Homesteader,” which premiered in Chicago on February 20, 1919 received reviews from newspaper critics coining his film as a stepping stone African American integration into American culture. His next film, “Within Our Gates,” in 1920, was a response to D.W.Griffith’s, “Birth of a Nation,” a film that glorified the Ku Klux Klan and justified violence against Black people. Micheaux’s film rebutted Griffith’s by revealing the reality of ongoing racism in the United States and hatred of the dominant white society could be challenged. Micheaux finally injected an African-American perspective that was sorely needed, and he did it in the most powerful medium in his eyes to communicate his point of view – through cinema.

Working out of Chicago, Micheaux made over 30 films over the next three decades. These films included musicals, comedies, Westerns, romances, and even gangster films. He used actors from the N.Y. Lafayette Players, and always type-cast actors according to complexion, light-skinned African-Americans playing leads, and dark-skinned playing heavies.

This played part of the consciousness in the black community and mirrored the racism that he so despised. His story needed to be told no matter the pressure from the mainstream critics and no critic could deny the importance of Micheaux’s films, which were a departure from Hollywood’s racist portrayals of blacks as Uncle Toms and mammies. Micheaux’s films were vital to the American experience by providing a diverse perspective of black characters, as well as images and stories of African-American life. His pioneering spirit in undeniable.

Micheaux passed in 1951, but his contributions to the world of Black film will never be forgotten.

Robert Notar

Sidney Poitier is my mother’s boyfriend. They’ve never met, but my family is clear that she would leave my father in a flash if Sidney ever came knocking. It is for this reason that I had seen every Sidney Poitier film made before I was old enough to get into a PG-13-movie. One of my favorites remains For Love of Ivy—a bit of late-‘60s fluff about a suburban family that sets out to find a boyfriend for their black maid so that she will abandon her plans to leave them and go to school in New York City. It stars Carroll O’Connor at his irascible best, a young Beau Bridges, a radiant Abbey Lincoln and, of course, my would-be stepdaddy. The silly premise aside, For Love of Ivy addresses themes of class and privilege. And I love to watch the relationship unfold between the worldly businessman/hustler that Poitier plays and Lincoln’s shy, sheltered maid.

Based on an original story by Poitier, For Love of Ivy also features the ultimate 60s movie stamps of hipness—a bohemian party scene and a musical score by Quincy Jones. Watching the film again with industry-seasoned eyes, I was struck by the presence of two black leads in a mainstream romantic comedy, supported by a white cast—an anomaly in 1968 and an (apparent) impossibility in 2011. I also noted how the African-American characters triumphed over the manipulations of their social superiors.

Messages aside, For Love of Ivy is more Doris Day and Rock Hudson than Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner—the virginal innocent wins the heart of the handsome playboy—and is ultimately about one woman’s quest to define herself.

Daralyn Jay is a multi-talented writer artist working in live performance, theater, independent film, recordings, commercials and voiceover.

Mahogany

When the couple first meet, Brian (Williams) is not interested in romance; he is involved in his own work as an activist and construction worker.  Despite this, the mere appearance of Tracy (Ross) breaks his concentration while he is delivering a public speech.  He is passionate and committed to his cause, yet she penetrates that and grabs his attention. That is something only a soul mate is able to do.

Brian and Tracy are both struggling in different careers.  She gets a big break and is offered a chance to model in France. Brian gives a lesson on how selfish love can be at times.  He doesn’t want her to go because he fears losing her.  This happens so often in real life, but we fail to see and understand it.  True love should never bind nor prevent their partner from soaring as high as they can fly.  In the end they will end up resenting you for holding them back.   She defies his wishes and departs for France for her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  She is an overnight sensation.   Time goes by and she is a big rags-to-riches success story.  Despite all the good times and bad times between them, they never lost their love for each other.  Brian travels across the world to see her.  He did one of the most difficult things to do in the battle for love: he swallowed his pride.  Pride is a powerful obstacle that often gets in the way of love.  He pays a dear price and follows her after she left him to pursue her career.  Love costs. His move shows the depth of what real love is and the joy of the one who finds it.  You have two people, basically from opposite worlds, which fall in love; and success and distance could not tear them apart.

When he finds her, she is a big success in the modeling industry.  When Tracy expresses doubts about the relationship, Brian delivered the most famous words of love ever stated on a movie screen: “Success isn’t nothing unless you have someone to share it with”.  That is love.  After all the changes and distance between them, he still loves her as much as he did when she left, and he is willing to swallow his pride and make a stand for love.  This movie reflects  true Black Love during a time when Hollywood refused to portray us as capable of maintaining and sustaining meaningful relationships.   I recommend that Mahogany be in every couple’s DVD player on Valentine’s night.

LeRoy Gadsden is a writer, photographer, legal advisor and Civil Rights advocate. He currently serves as the President of the St. Alban’s, NY, NAACP chapter.

It’s been a decade since the release but Brown Sugar still rings true to me as a love story. I know that technically the main characters, Sydney (Sanaa Lathan) and Dre’ (Taye Diggs), cheat on their significant others in order to find true love; but we’ll get back to that in a minute.

Contrary to conventional thought, the relationship that stands out to me the most is that of Sydney and Francine (Queen Latifah). Yes, the cousins not the lovers. I love that two relatives that can often be considered distant are so close. They know each other, play together, and most importantly have each other’s back. This is the way family should be but too often we see familial relationships that become catty and adversarial.

Sydney and Francine have a relationship that is as full of life as they are. And to add a little spice to the brown sugar – they are both strong black woman, full of heart and opinions. It is an uncorrupted, and beautifully depicted, relationship.

Returning to the lovers, Syd and Dre eventually recognize they share something more than friendship. Syd says to Dre, “You are my best friend. There is nobody that believes in you more than me”. =Syd makes quite a claim with that statement and the beauty of that statement is profound.

As much as I love watching the interactions in this movie – Brown Sugar reveals some serious dysfunction. Syd and Dre discover their passion through infidelity to their significant other. Dre seriously lacks a healthy balance between his wife and his best friend. Word to the wise: never tell your best friend something you haven’t shared with your spouse. And then Dre’s hypocrisy is clear when he breaks his marriage vows but then embarrasses his wife for doing the same.

So is it said that Dre and Reese don’t work out? Is it unfortunate that Syd and Kelby split despite their chemistry? Of course. But it’s also life.

Despite the dysfunction, I love this movie – not just because my favorite actors are in it (Taye, Sanaa, and Mos Def)  and my favorite artists (India Arie, Erykah Badu, Mary J., Mos Def, and Common) – but I love this movie because it makes me cry every time I watch it. The only thing that beats seeing our people creating positivity is seeing our people in love.

Brown Sugar – I used to love you, and I still do.

Danielle Wright is Editor and Publisher of the upcoming online publication, Breakthrough Magazine at www.breakthroughmag.com. She is a graduate of Florida A&M University’s theatre program and Florida State University’s graduate arts administration program. Danielle is a director, actress, and stage manager in Atlanta, GA. She can be contacted at DWonstage@gmail.com.

That time, that place, where you realize that you have a good man, the thoughts, and daydreams of what could be begin…That is all said in the look Havilland Savage (Chenoa Maxwell) gives Lee Plenty (Christopher Scott Cherot) as they drive home after New Year’s. It is a look anyone who’s been in love will recognize. It is the realization of something changing, a closeness blooming inside and budding in your eyes as you look at your lover.

Hav Plenty has a way of articulating your heart in moments like that. It is a simple movie that shows the slow and flawed progression as two people try to make their way into a relationship. The insecurity, the pride, the doubt, the vulnerability; it’s all there. The fact that Christopher Scott Cherot wrote the screenplay based on his own relationship is the key to what makes this film so believable and so familiar. Equally impressive as writing this film is that he directed and starred in it as well. The film begins with one weekend which culminates in Lee finally revealing his true intentions to Havilland.

Havilland reminds you of the difficulty of making a decision when you have to choose between what’s right versus what’s convenient. Lee reminds you of the dignity you try and save by hiding your true feelings because the recipient either cannot or will not appreciate them. You remember the feeling of breaking down from the weight of your unspoken emotions; fighting for what you love with the truth of your heart. You remember the terror of leaving it completely open for harm. You recognize and watch the all-or-nothing gamble Lee plays to win Havilland’s heart.

Lee and Havilland are what we hope will happen when we take that bet.

**

A poetic rendition for those die-hard romantics:

That time you realize the wealth of your man

The thoughts and daydreams of what could begin

The turning point

The look, the realization, the change.

Hide yourself from the one who won’t get it

Cling to your dignity

Maintain composure at all costs

Till the geyser cracks the surface from the inside

Break down from the weight of what’s untapped

Fight for love with the truth of your heart

Leaving it unprotected

Damn the wall

Embrace the terror of your naked heart

The Gamble: all or nothing

Halfway won’t work

Havilland Plenty

What we hope will happen when the bet is taken.

Lee Savage

Blurring the truth of the gamble with the lie of Hollywood

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Author: C. Nichole Jackson

Check me out at http://www.all-things-unspoken.blogspot.com/