The Urbane Urbanite

On paper, Red Hook Summer reads like an easy coming-of-age tale. Flik (newcomer Jules Brown), a precocious, spoiled middle-class tween from Atlanta, is dropped off in Red Hook, Brooklyn by his mother (without explanation) to spend the summer with his Baptist preacher grandfather, Enoch (played with gravitas by Clarke Peters), whom he's never met. But the latest joint in Spike Lee's Brooklyn-based oeuvre is anything but simple.

As a lifestyle and entertainment writer, I interview a lot of people. Almost every story needs quotes. You get quotes by interviewing people. That’s just the way it goes.  I’ve only been writing professionally for three years and in that short time span, I’ve had the opportunity to interview some pretty famous people. I’ve talked men’s style and fashion with John Legend; waxed poetic with Common about performing on stage versus on camera; listened to Ledisi (who is a super-duper sweetheart, by the way) reflect on how friends and family lifted her up during rough times. Two years ago, I sat across from Faith Evans in a hotel room in Boston where she raved about how Aliya S. King’s smokin’ hot debut novel, Platinum , was a spot-on depiction of what it means to be the wife of a hip-hop superstar. And then there was the time Angie Stone threw some very mild shade in the direction of her baby daddy, D’Angelo, during a quick backstage interview I conducted with her a...

Tyler Perry's latest film, Good Deeds , debuted last weekend to an underwhelming $15 million . But don't cry for him, Argentina. He's got three more times to get it right this year. With The Marriage Counselor , Madea's Witness Protection and Alex Cross all slated for release before Christmas, he'll more than recoup any losses at the box office. But does the top-paid man in entertainment risk overexposing himself? The Grio asked that very question in an article that ran on their site last week . Jarrod Harden and I, along with a few other folks, received the link to the story via email. Here's Jarrod's response.

"There is something terribly radical about believing that one's own experience and images are important enough to speak about, much less to write about and to perform " -James Baldwin That quote by famed literary icon James Baldwin is a staple on the website for The Fire This Time Festival, and speaks to its mission to provide captivating, conscious portrayals of the black experience and offer a platform for early-career playwrights of African descent to explore new voices, styles and challenging new directions for contemporary theater. The festival, which kicks off its third season on January 16 with a panel discussion on diversity in contemporary theater, includes a four-night limited engagement of seven eclectic ten-minute plays and five staged readings (the panel discussion and readings are free) presented by the Horse Trade Theatre Group. According to Derek McPhatter, a playwright and lead producer of the festiva...

One of the most fascinating conflicts to watch on screen is the internal struggle of sexual expression. Only after watching important films like Pariah , does it become glaringly clear just how difficult it is to be your authentic self in a world where you feel there's no place to be the person that you know you are. Adepero Oduye brings that battle to life with her fearless portrayal of Alike (pronounced: Ah-Lee-Kay), a Brooklyn teenager who isn't really coming to terms with her sexuality per se, but more so struggling to figure out how, where and with whom she can be herself.

What better way to celebrate the the second most scariest day of the year (the first being tax day, of course) than by paying tribute to my favorite scary movie? In 1960, the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, did with showers what Spielberg would do with oceans a decade later: Use them to scare people out of the water! Psycho tells the story of Marion Crane, a woman who skips town with $40,000 of her employer's money to start a new life with her lover, Sam. During her journey, a torrential rain storm causes her to pull over to the side of the road and seek refuge at a creepy, vacant motel. There, she meets meek mama's boy Norman Bates - and her untimely demise. More mystery and suspense than horror,  Psycho  is a tightly wound thriller directed by Hitchcock with such precision and exactness, you'd have to be blind to miss the trademark nuances - his blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo, countless bird references and innuendos - that make up this cinematic classic....

I absolutely adore Viola Davis. Truly. Not just because she's a phenomenal scene stealing actress. (See her powerful turn in the 2008 drama Doubt . You almost forget Meryl Streep is even on camera with her!) But because she's the real deal. All around. Period.

My love for the geriatric set does not start and end with The Golden Girls . In this youth driven culture of Jersey Shores and Kim Kardashians, I always welcome a seasoned diversion from the mainstream. Such was the case for Lovely, Still , a delightful, romantic film about Robert (Martin Landau) and Mary's (Ellen Burstyn) whimsical December-December love affair. A lonely Robert gets a new lease on life when Mary moves in across the street and asks him out on a date. What ensues is a heartwarming exploration of late-in-life romance with a sentimental twist that will leave you heartbroken. First time director Nicholas Fackler does a fine job of layering this fable with its snow globe setting and Christmas-themed backdrop. Lovely also boasts spectacular performances from its two leads, Oscar winners Burstyn and Landau, respectively.  Through SAG screenings and my addiction to Entertainment Weekly , I usually have my finger on the pulse of good independent films. Somehow, t...

 Dion Parson  Looking for some culture in New York City this holiday weekend? Treat yourself to a night of jazz at the world famous Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola where Grammy Award winning drummer, Dion Parson and The 21st Century Band will be performing  now through September 4. I was in attendance for the kickoff of Dion's 5-day concert series, where he and his ingenious musical crew treated a packed house to a 90-minute set of traditional jazz fused with soulful, islandy sounds. Percussion, saxophone, steel pans, trumpet, piano, bass and Dion on the drums provides for a perfect blend of lively Caribbean rhythms and standard jazz harmonies. Not to be upstaged by the stellar musicians that play in it, the venue itself is a site to behold. Situated inside of the Time Warner Center, Dizzy's offers a vast, elevated view of Central Park and an intimate setting (the walls are lined with b...

The day after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Kathryn Stockett found herself sitting in her downtown New York City apartment, reflective, lonely and terribly homesick. "I was thinking about my family and thinking about this woman named Demetrie," said Stockett. "She was the African-American woman that worked for our family for 32 years and for the first time in my life, I started to ask myself 'what was she thinking all of those years?' I had totally taken it for granted. I was so naive as a child. She knew everything about us and I didn't know anything about her. So I started writing in what to me was her voice." Ten years and over 60 rejection letters later, Demetrie's voice has become the bona fide literary phenomenon that is The Help . Stockett's debut novel about the complex relationship between black maids and their white female employers during the dawn of the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mi...

I attended my very first (and certainly not my last) National Association of Black Journalists Convention & Career Fair in Philadelphia last week. The Philadelphia Convention Center was the nerve center for everything NABJ: Ceremonies, panels, receptions, parties, film screenings, celebrity performances and a huge career fair. Although I was in reporter mode covering the event for VIBE magazine, I still managed to attend several panels, a couple of receptions and one lively film screening.

Teyari Jones’ new novel, Silver Sparrow , a stirring first person narrative told from the point of view of two sisters (Dana Lynn Yarbor and Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoon) who live in the same city, share the same father but don’t know each other, is so specific, so personal, so authentic it almost feels more autobiographical than fiction.

With Memorial Day behind us, the summer movie season has officially kicked into high gear. Whether you like teenage mutants ( X-Men: First Class  ), violent robots ( Transformers: Dark of the Moon ) or magical wizards ( Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II ), there's something for everyone in theatres this season. This summer, AMC offers a great way for you to enhance your moviegoing experience.

If you ask Jack, the 5-year-old little boy who narrates Emma Donoghue's audacious 2010 novel, Room , life is grand. He's got the whole world at his fingertips, at least the world he's come to know. Trapped in an 11-by-11-foot room since the day he was born (there's a spot on the rug that "marks" the occasion), he and Ma, his 26-year-old mother, live day in and day out in a soundproofed shed in the backyard of their captor's house. A man Jack and Ma refer to as Old Nick, kidnapped, rapped imprisoned and impregnated Ma seven years earlier. Now, she's left to raise her smart, inquisitive son under the constraints of this hellish lifestyle. Tough stuff. Donoghue's brave decision to give herself such tight quarters to play with is admirable. The entire first half of the book takes place in the room where mundane tasks - bedtime stories, bathtub time, breast-feeding! - are novelized and made to sound interesting. She also pulls off another daring f...

There's a new musical in town that's garnering a lot of buzz. Baby It's You , which is currently in previews and officially opens on April 27, tells the little known true story of Florence Greenberg. Eager to be more than just a homemaker, Greenberg stepped out on a limb and did the unthinkable for a 1950's housewife: started her very own record label - and changed the landscape of the music industry forever. I caught a performance of Baby It's You earlier this week when they hosted a lovely bloggers night. The night started with a one hour pre-show cocktail reception at the ultra swanky Library Bar above the bustling lobby of The Paramount Hotel in Time Square. I nibbled on spring rolls and sipped on my favorite libation, Grey Goose and cranberry, while chatting up other bloggers. My hand on one of my many cocktails After my ___th drink, it was time to head two blocks south to the Broadhurst Theatre to catch the show. The moment you sit in your se...

Pierre M. Coleman is riding high - and with good reason. The 27-year-old writer-director and Howard University graduate will get to see his 20-minute dramatic short film on the big screen in New York City next week. Hello, My Name is Trouble is a potent, urban drama about a teenager who succumbs to the perils of his surroundings and very bad decision making.  Trouble is packed with solid performances, especially from David A. Bynoe who plays the doomed lead character, Jeremiah and Kevin Craig West as the reverend who tries to keep Jeremiah on the right path. I got the chance to sit down for a chat with Coleman, who's been busy working the festival circuit to promote his critically acclaimed film. The Newark, NJ native talks about how his father inspired the script, his future projects - and what he'll do to tame my ego if I'm lucky enough to star in one of his flicks.

I'm feeling quite actorly this week. Today, I take new headshots for the first time in five years.  My old ones aren't bad, per se. But it's time for a new look. I may still look the same, but I feel like such a different person now. When I look at these pictures, I don't see myself anymore. I've grown up quite a bit over the last five years.  I'm ready to bring some new experiences to the lens. And I'm sure my photographer, Antonio, will capture something special. We've got some fun indoor/outdoor stuff lined up that I'm sure will come out great. After my photo shoot with Antonio, I will rest up for a bit and then head over to St. Luke's Theatre to perform in Love Me Like This: The Parachute Plays . It's an evening of six staged readings of original one acts to raise awareness for LGBTQ youth. The proceeds go to The Trevor Project. COME ON BY IF YOU'RE FREE! While I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to tell you exactly wha...

Now that Charlie Sheen has officially been fired from his hit sitcom Two and a Half Men , everyone in Hollywood is scrambling to find out who (if anybody) will step in to the replace him.  Honestly, they've got some big shoes to fill.  Despite Sheen's recent public rants and complete disregard for professionalism, he's no slouch in Hollywood.  His irreverent, deadpan humor is a major part of the show's success ( Men consistently ranks in the top 20 prime time shows on television and averages about 15 million viewers per week).  Sheen has also been lauded many times for his work on Men (four Emmy nominations) and don't forget when he bravely stepped into Michael J. Fox's role on Spin City and took home a Golden Globe for Best Actor. Sheen has definitely got the goods, but I know one person who's also got what it takes to pull it off. Me.  Now, before you say NO, let me tell you why I would make a great replacement for Cha...

The All Stars Project Inc. is a 100 percent privately funded organization dedicated to the development of minorities and the less fortunate through the arts, theatre and performance.  Centrally located on 42nd Street in the heart of NYC's theatre district, is their spacious 31,000 square foot learning center, complete with four theatres, several rehearsal spaces and a host of future Broadway stars. There are a plethora of programs to choose from - an adult improvisation group , youth theatre ,  UX , a development institution for people of all ages - but last night, I had the pleasure of catching a dress rehearsal of the first part of the Young Playwrights from Castillo festival which opens tonight and runs through Sunday. The festival, which also has a second part that runs June 24-26, consists of three provocative new plays written by young playwrights who graduated from the Youth Onstage! program.  Bruised by Sit...

Fresh popcorn and wine were on deck last week at the film screening of Desert Flower, presented by The African Heritage Network and The New York Times Company. Flower chronicles the tumultuous childhood of Waris Dirie, who also penned the international best-selling novel the film is based on.  The stunning Liya Kebede is a force as Dirie, a woman who survives female genital mutilation at age three, being sold into marriage as a teenager and transforms herself from a Somalian nomad into an internationally recognized top supermodel and human rights activist. Kebede delivers a powerful performance laced with humor and humanity.  Watch out for a special appearance by the suave Anthony Mackie as Dirie's romantic missed connection and countless laugh-out-loud moments from Golden Globe Award winning actress Sally Hawkins, as Dirie's new found friend. Die hard fashionistas and anyone with a heart will enjoy this modern day Cinderella ....