Playahata

We normally begin our awards with a song that in some way represents us but is also pretty popular. Unfortunately this year we didn’t quite find that tune, and we just picked a verse of a song as our anthem, so without further delay let’s get into this year’s anthem and the 2008 Playahata.com awards. Please rise for the playing of “Can’t Win For Losing” by Little Brother.

“Yo listen, I used to do it for the fans / until I realized that they never understand what I was feeling as a man / fickle as Tray Bickle / They either hating you or they a Stan / Then I said I’d do it for my fam / Until I realized that they didn’t give a damn / I stepped outta they comfort zone, now I can’t step, can’t step inside my mother’s home situation so nuts / So much for trying to be the man / Then I said I’d do it for the props Til I realized that the props always seem to stop when people can’t keep you all to themselves / Takeyou home put you in their little box / Then I said I’d do it for my city / Til I realized that I should have been warned / I stepped inside the ring rocking my best apparel, my eye on the sparrow / But this Torero couldn’t take the Bull city by the horns/ So now I’m back on my ‘me’ shi+/ Cause me and my team gone make it do what it do / had a long hard talk with my peeps and Charlie P, she said forget’em son do it for you!! (more …)

Category: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thriller // Rating: PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images. // Run Time: 1hr. 25 min.
Starring Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman
Directed by Matt Reeves
Produced by Sherryl Clark, Guy Riedel, J.J. Abrams
Written by Drew Goddard
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release Date: January 18th, 2008

Synopsis: Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

Eyecalone Says: Overall: B

… So Godzilla and The Blair With Project meet and have a baby named Cloverfield, and guess what…. it’s better than either of them. This is probably because the movie is without the pretense of a deep plot or philosophical meaning. It’s simply about a 20-story monster of unclear origin destroying much of Manhattan and one group of friends attempts to survive the night. (more…)

First Sunday

Category: Comedy, Drama, Musical/Performing Arts, Crime/Gangster and Politics/Religion // Rating: PG-13 for language, some sexual humor, and brief drug references. // Run Time: 1hr. 38 min.

Starring Ice Cube, Regina Hall, P.J. Byrne, Katt Williams, Malinda Williams
Directed by David E. Talbert
Produced by Julie Silverman-Yorn (II), Stacy Cramer, Neil A. Machlis
Written by David E. Talbert
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Release Date: January 11th, 2008

Synopsis: Durell and LeeJohn are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. When Durell learns that his ex-girlfriend plans to move to another state with their son–unless they can get her $17,000 to pay off a debt–they come up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. But when the duo fumbles their way through the break-in, they discover someone has beaten them to the punch. In order to get their hands on the money, Durell and LeeJohn are forced to spend the night in the presence of the Lord and his followers–and end up getting a lot more than they bargained for.

Ooh Papi Says: Overall: C

This is the directorial debut of noted playwright David E. Talbert. “First Sunday,” is Talbert’s first theatrically released feature film written and directed by the upcoming upstart. Like Tyler Perry, Mr. Talbert has had a successful — and to the white media, nearly invisible — career as a playwright and theatrical entrepreneur, and his movie debut fuses social observation and reasonable dialogue, clean humor with a message of redemption. It also mixes comedy with drama to generally good effect. There are awkward moments and the ending feels excessively contrived, but there are things to like about First Sunday, most of which are not hinted at in the trailers and TV commercials.

From a comedic perspective, Williams steals a high percentage of scenes, but Tracy Morgan is also solid but too often just dumb.The commercial shows mot of his best scenes.
Ice Cube plays the straight man, and often resembles a scowling teddy bear. Over the years, the rapper has honed his acting skills in front of the camera; he’s a much better dramatic performer today than he was a decade ago. Chi McBride, who is still begging for forgiveness from the black community has found some recent success on television , makes the pastor a nice mix of spirituality and worldliness. Keith David has a small role as the exasperated judge who presides over the duo’s court cases.

First Sunday’s ending is a letdown. Emotionally, it offers catharsis and closure but it’s rushed, contrived, and does a poor job of closing off at least one loose end.The film is already short so that makes me say they were simply trying to get some money. If you go see this, I suggest you sneak in to see something else to get your money’s worth.

Just when Scholars and Academics thought they had killed Willie Lynch, Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey bring him back from the grave. In the award nominated 2007 movie The Great Debaters, Denzel Washington’s character Melvin B. Tolson refers to the Willie Lynch speech as being the definition of the black slave.Tolson is a star character and the smartest character on the screen,thus when his character brings up Willie Lynch the imaginary Slave master from Virginia in such a forceful way it makes unsuspecting viewers believe that he was an actual person that existed in history and not a mere concept.(Bruce Banter)

Condi Rice,says that she has 487 Best New Ideas that she plans to push forward in 2009.The Russian Language expert posed nude for Bazaar Magazine for January 2008 hoping to show her critics that her skin is flawless and has not broken out due to stress from her critics.

Dr.Rice decided to pose for the cover to commemorate the one year anniversary date in which she was criticized by California Senator, Barbara Boxer for not having kids.On January 11, 2007, (more…)