FILM(S) MONITORED
HITCH

We’d like to start this BN-W document off with a tribute of onward and upward to Ossie Davis.   He will forever be one of the rare individuals who took a solid and non-negotiable stand for something he believed in and stuck with it regardless of what he may have lost professionally and financially.   Throughout his 87 years, he’s always been a staunch supporter of civil and human rights as well as true to his core values of loving his people.   We’ll miss him for sure but we can truly say he earned his journey home.   Thank you WBAI (99.5 FM radio) [ www.wbai.org ] for showing your love and support of Mr. Davis this past week and for bringing his funeral service to us – your listeners.   We love you for it!

As many may know by now, Will Smith’s “Hitch” was #1 for the weekend.   It grossed about $45.3 million, making it the “biggest romantic comedy opening ever” and also “his seventh picture to open at $45 million or more.”   This film and Ice Cube’s “Are We There Yet?,” which came in at #3 for a total gross of $61.5 million since its 1/21/05 opening (see BN-W #23), are both Sony distributions that DO NOT use the N-word.   Sony executives, as you can see, you don’t have to go down that road of senseless and/or excessive use of the N-word to make a profit as you did with numerous films (with lead Black characters) monitored by BN-W in 2004 (Baadasssss, White Chicks, Breakin’ All the Rules, She Hate Me).   This also applies to music.   [Yes, we realize the writers, actors, directors, producers, etc. play a part, but it’s common knowledge that the executives have final veto power.]   These figures are from www.boxofficemojo.com .

For those who had a chance to watch the Grammy awards yesterday, wasn’t it nice to see individuals actually playing instruments, individuals showing some true singing talent, rappers/hip-hoppers dressed in suits or a classy blazer/slacks combination?   Is this the start of something new?   If so, how refreshing and please keep it coming for at least a few years.

FEATURE FILM(S) :

H I T C H

[Release Date:   2/11/05]

Starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes; written by Kevin Bisch; directed by Andy Tennant; produced by James Lassiter, Will Smith, Teddy Zee; executive produced by Michael Tadross, Wink Mordaunt; studio – Columbia Pictures
 

NOTE:   This film is produced by Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Entertainment.

UPDATES TO BN-W #24:   HOT 97/Emmis Communications and New York Times/Metro Newspaper

The Miss Jones morning show crew was back on the air as of Friday, 2/11/05.   Miss Info was not part of the crew.   There was someone named “Sunshine” who, presumably, may be temporarily or permanently in her place.   If Miss Info has decided to no longer be “complicit by silence” and will not continue supporting HOT 97/Emmis Communications’ environment of racial insensitivity through its recording/playing of the “Tsunami Song” as well as the music it rotates all day every day, then we at BN-W commend her.   That’s a big step in an industry where most people keep quiet – due to fear of losing a job/job title; not wanting to get a reduced pay check; and/or adapt an “any means necessary”/“nothing else matters” mentality just to be in the entertainment business.   Credit must be given to some Asians for taking a stand on this issue and not letting the industry or media get away with such prejudice and hatred displayed through the “Tsunami Song.”   [African Americans, somewhere along the line, let the ball drop and what you have today is a whole generation of (some) people ignorant enough to think it’s OK to use the N-word, which we can assure you is NOT and NEVER will be acceptable – regardless of what many rappers/hip-hoppers and Dave Chappelle types might mislead some followers to believe.]

Asian Media Watch ( www.asianmediawatch.net ) is an organization that has led this protest against HOT 97/Emmis Communications and so far at least five sponsors (McDonald’s, Reebok, Sprint, Toyota, Newsday) have agreed to withdraw their advertising from HOT 97/Emmis Communications.  In a continued fight against the promotion of “hate media” that HOT 97/Emmis Communications and many other media outlets support all day every day through the unbalanced music they choose to rotate ad nauseam, today – 2/14/05 at 12 noon – a protest rally will take place in front of the HOT 97 Studios (395 Hudson Street, New York City).   Please go out and join Asian Media Watch and the Coalition Against Hate Media at this protest in the battle against the promotion of “hate media.”   It’ll be a long fight, but it’s got to restart with someone, sometime, and somewhere – so why not now.

And, yes, the New York Times continues to be vague about its stance on the Metro Newspaper purchase.   And, yes, there’s still nothing current to be found on its Web site about this deal.   Again, we found another small piece written in the 2/9/05 edition of the AM New York free newspaper (Metro’s competition in New York City), which stated “First it was racist attempts at humor from top executives, next it was revelations a related company was involved in the broadcast of hard-core pornography.”   After doing a search on the “related company,” Millicom International Cellular, we also found the full 2/8/05 Boston Herald article:   Click here for the full article

Miscellaneous Tidbits

On February 16^th, PBS will air Parts 3 and 4 of the series – “Slavery and The Making of America.”  Parts 1 and 2 were excellent.   The Web site is:   http://www.pbs.org/slavery .

Playahata.com put this link on its Web site:   http://www.playahata.com/pages.   It’s a good starting point for research.   There are additional references and links included for most, if not all, of the pieces.

The highly acclaimed documentary on the Civil Rights Movement, “Eyes on the Prize,” is in a copyright conundrum – some might even say copyright hell.   At this point, the 14-part collection cannot be shown legally on PBS or any other media outlet.   “Eyes on the Prize” is considered the most important and most definitive piece of historical documentation on the relentless fight for civil rights during the 1960s in this country.   For more information on this unbelievable situation, check out www.downhillbattle.org/eyes

TV One can be accessed on DirecTV’s channel 241.   We’re not sure about other cable or satellite services.   We can say that after a couple days of monitoring the station, it does give much more diverse and varied selections than Black Entertainment Television.   This station is part of the Radio One family, which is owned by Cathy Hughes, so we hope the company maintains (or is planning) a quality level of programming across the board.

“ Lackawanna Blues” premiered this weekend on Home Box Office.   It is executive produced by Halle Berry, has a great cast, and has Ruben Santiago-Hudson sharing his multifaceted life story with us viewers.   www.hbo.com/films/lackawannablues

BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:   “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” [Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris]; “The Honeymooners” [Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union]; “King’s Ransom” [Anthony Anderson]; “The Pacifier” [Vin Diesel]; “Beauty Shop” [Queen Latifah, Ice Cube]; “Guess Who” [Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher]; “Man of the House” [Cedric the Entertainer, Tommy Lee Jones]; “An Unfinished Life” [Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford]

Also Coming :   Dave Chappelle “Analysis”; DVD Monitoring; Spring 2005 Music Monitoring