Author Archives: Sonya's Spotlight
← Older posts Newer posts →ALEX CROSS IN THEATERS OCTOBER 19
September 13, 2012ALEX CROSS IN THEATERS OCTOBER 19 “Alex Cross” follows the homicide detective/psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller. Release Date: October 19th, 2012 Director: Rob Cohen Writers: James Patterson, Kerry Williamson, Marc Moss Actors: Carmen Ejogo, Chad Lindberg, Cicely Tyson, Edward Burns, Giancarlo Esposito, Ingo Rademacher, Jean Reno, Jessalyn Wanlim, John C. McGinley, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols, Simon Rhee, Stephanie Jacobsen, Tyler Perry, Yara Shahidi Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violence including disturbing images, sexual content, language, drug references, and nudity) Official site: www.alexcrossmovie.com Studio: Summit Entertainment ____________________________________________ WON’T BACK DOWN Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children. Director: Daniel Barnz Writers: Brin Hill, Daniel Barnz -Stars:Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Holly Hunter. In Theaters September 28 ____________________________________________________________________________________ HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA Animated Family Comedy Welcome to Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of his best friends – Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Werewolf family, and more – to celebrate his beloved daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but everything could change for the overprotective …
Posted in Cinema | Leave a commentXernona Clayton’s 82nd Birthday Celebration – Paradise Islands, Bahamas
September 5, 2012TRUMPET AWARDS CREATOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER XERNONA CLAYTON CELEBRATES 82nd BIRTHDAY WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY AND DIGNITARIES IN THE BAHAMAS Xernona Clayton turned 82, and she is Not Quite Through. In fact, the Trumpet Awards creator and civil rights icon is a mover and a shaker who celebrated her 82nd birthday with the spunk of a woman half her age. The celebration was held in Paradise Island, Bahamas, August 29-September 2. Approximately 200 of Clayton’s family and friends and dignitaries from around the world, including the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas attended the gala affair. The Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie and First Lady Bernadette Christie, Ambassador Andrew Young, Comedians Chris Tucker and Jonathan Slocumb and a number of other dignitaries, celebrities and VIPs were on hand to help celebrate the birthday of the woman small in stature, but big in heart and philanthropy. The Labor Day weekend event was celebrated at the Atlantis Resort, which hosts the largest waterpark in the Caribbean. Festivities for Clayton’s birthday celebration began August 29 with a “Welcome Reception” for all of her invited guests. The Bahamas Tourist Board and the Atlantis Resort rolled out the red carpet, greeting guests even while Hurricane Isaac loomed for a few days in the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast prior to the celebration. “Punch & Crunch Oceanside” was the highlight of the Thursday morning festivity. Fashion was showcased while guests dined at a private oceanfront residence hosted by Elaine Pinder and La Rose Boutique. Guests were awe-inspired by the traffic-stopping respect given Xernona Clayton – in recognition of her very presence and her continued contributions to helping to educate and inspire Bahamian children. That evening, guests enjoyed gospel music, evocative messages and worship that were uplifting. All guests attending the “Spiritual Spotlight Buffet” wore All …
Posted in Photos | Leave a commentMichelle Obama – Sonya’s Spotlight Web Mag’s FAVORITE CELEBRITY MOM
September 4, 2012“No matter who you are or how you started out, if you work hard you can build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids—that is the American dream.”—Michelle Obama. http://www.facebook.com/michelleobama#!/michelleobama First Lady Michelle Obama When people ask First Lady Michelle Obama to describe herself, she doesn’t hesitate to say that first and foremost, she is Malia and Sasha’s mom. But before she was a mother — or a wife, lawyer or public servant — she was Fraser and Marian Robinson’s daughter. The Robinsons lived in a brick bungalow on the South Side of Chicago. Fraser was a pump operator for the Chicago Water Department, and despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at a young age, he hardly ever missed a day of work. Marian stayed home to raise Michelle and her older brother Craig, skillfully managing a busy household filled with love, laughter, and important life lessons. A product of Chicago public schools, Mrs. Obama studied sociology and African-American studies at Princeton University. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988, she joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she later met the man who would become the love of her life. After a few years, Mrs. Obama decided her true calling was working with people to serve their communities and their neighbors. She served as assistant commissioner of planning and development in Chicago’s City Hall before becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that prepares youth for public service. In 1996, Mrs. Obama joined the University of Chicago with a vision of bringing campus and community together. As Associate Dean of …
Posted in Celebrity Profile | Leave a commentPREMIUM RUSH in Theaters August 24
August 22, 2012PREMIUM RUSH ABOUT: Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York’s agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie – super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who’s used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when his last envelope of the day – a routine “premium rush” run – turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. Directed by David Koepp; Written by David Koepp & John Kamps; Produced by Gavin Polone; Executive Producer -Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda; Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Jamie Chung.
Posted in Cinema | Leave a commentRUTH CARTER: STYLING & PROFILING
August 20, 2012Ruth Carter Shines With SPARKLE Designs By Darrylynn Hutson Synonymous with style, design and exquisite detail, Ruth E. Carter is the costume designer to call when a filmmaker needs to tell an authentic story though a characters’ attire and accessories. Getting her start in the theatre and in opera houses, Carter remembers getting her shot for the first time as a feature film costume designer from Spike Lee on the classic School Daze in 1988. Her portfolio today reads like that of a Hollywood A-Lister, with credits in over forty films, including classics as I’m Gonna Get U Sucka, The Five Heartbeats, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, What’s Love Got to Do with It and most recently, Sparkle, which was released August 17. MN: What are the responsibilities of a costume designer? RC: Essentially, the costume designer designs the look of the film. Most of the time people get that confused with a fashion designer and although we do work with fashion and we love fashion, it has more to do with coordinating the look of each character. Sometimes there is fashion that’s required and other times there’s not. You really have to know people and what makes people who they are through their clothes. MN: We know that every film starts with the written word. How did you feel about the script for Sparkle? RC: I’m always motivated about the story: if it moves me in some way, if it makes me laugh or makes me cry, just like you are in the movie theater. I like it for the same reasons in the script form. Once I read the script as I did with Sparkle, I was motivated by the 60s and Motown and that’s where my process started with researching the 60s and the Motown era. When I …
Posted in Music & Film | Leave a commentSPARKLE IN PICTURES
August 15, 2012SPARKLE in Theaters AUGUST 17. CELEBRATE THE LEGEND THE CHARACTERS Of SPARKLE Sparkle Anderson – JORDIN SPARKS The youngest of the Anderson sisters, Sparkle sings in the church choir and is a loyal daughter to her rigidly religious yet caring mother. But her dreams of becoming a famous singer/songwriter and her love of the new sexy soul music put her at odds with her upbringing, until an opportunity to join her sisters as a performing trio give her a first taste of breaking free to pursue her goals. (Original SPARKLE played by Irene Cara) Tammy “Sister” Anderson– CARMEN EJOGO The oldest daughter of Emma is the most openly rebellious of the Anderson girls: a confidently sexual, natural headliner with the looks and voice to make it, and whose attraction to a powerful man becomes her escape from a confining home life. When her desire leads her into another emotional prison, however, her world nearly comes crashing down. (Original “Sister” played by Lonette McKee) Delores “Dee” Anderson – TIKI SUMPTER Smart, gifted and clear-eyed, Dee is the Anderson sister with a future mother approves of: college and a medical degree. As one-third of the performing Anderson gals, however, she sees up close how her sisters’ dreams create a family rift, leading her to speak up – and act – in life-changing ways. (Original Deloris played by Dwan Smith) Emma – WHITNEY HOUSTON A single mother and dress shop owner with a hard life behind her and a safe, comfortable, deeply religious life in the present, Emma has provided a church-based, well-looked-after life for her daughters, if one that doesn’t allow much room for individual dreams and desires. Her daughters’ forming a singing group wasn’t in her plans for her children, and it threatens to blow simmering tensions in the household …
Posted in Photos | Leave a commentSPARKLE in theaters August 17
August 5, 2012SYNOPSIS Detroit, 1968. The Motown sound is sweeping the nation. Girl groups are hotter than ever. Over their mother’s (Whitney Houston) objections, three beautiful sisters—Delores (Tika Sumpter), Sister (Carmen Ejogo) and Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) —are taking the local music scene by storm. But their dreams are bigger than Detroit. Their manager, Stix (Derek Luke), is just as ambitious and will do whatever it takes to make it to the big time, even if it means using the girls—and his love for Sparkle—as the foundation of a new musical empire. Behind the music and lights, the recording industry is a ruthless and unforgiving place, just as Mama had warned her girls. Sister, with her good looks and voice, is the natural headliner of the trio, yet her complicated personal life threatens to overshadow her talent; Delores has her sights set on a different kind of life outside the spotlight; and young Sparkle must push past her deepest fears if she is to fulfill her destiny—does she really have what it takes to go all the way? Riveting and soul-stirring, this timeless tale reminds us of the unbreakable bonds between family, the high price of fame and what can happen when we dare to show the world how brightly we can sparkle. Directed by Salim Akil; Screenplay by Mara Brock Akil; Story by Joel Schumacher and Howard Rosenman;Produced by Debra Martin Chase, T.D. Jakes, Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil, Curtis Wallance; Cast -Jordin Sparks, Whitney Houston, Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick and CeeLo Green as Black.
Posted in Cinema | Leave a commentSPARKLE Anticipation Grows as Whitney Houston is Remembered
August 4, 2012“I believe SPARKLE will not only be a tribute to the legacy of Whitney Houston, but I also think it will be the impetus to which many people will find inspiration to navigate their own lives through the vicissitudes of life into the field of their own dreams.” Bishop T.D. Jakes – SPARKLE PRODUCER IN THEATERS AUGUST 17 ABOUT SPARKLE When it comes to your dreams, will you know when to make the right move? For 19-year-old Sparkle, an innocent, bubbly young woman growing up in late 1960s’ Detroit, making that leap has its rewards and its consequences. The girl who grew up admiring her mother and sisters and loving everything about singing would soon discover love, hurt, disappointment, independence and courage through music, and her quest to be a star. SPARKLE is the story of three sisters who love each other fiercely, who each have their own dreams and ambitions, and who form a girl group as a way of capitalizing on the Motown sound sweeping the nation. And it looks like they’re going to take the music world by storm. But looming over them is the shadow of a strong mother who isn’t necessarily supportive of that dream, and hard realities about the spotlight that threaten to tear at the fabric of their tightly knit family. This new version of SPARKLE is an ode to the genius of the original 1976 movie, modified to the music, fashion, lingo and historical affects of the 1960s, while maintaining the emotional clarity and aspirational spirit of the earlier classic. The city has been changed to Detroit, the home of “Hit Factory” Motown, and the original struggling single parent is now an upper middle class family doing very well. But it retains its enriching focus on the consequences of choices and how …
Posted in Movie News | Leave a commentGABBY DOUGLAS – OLYMPIC GOLD HISTORY!
August 3, 2012For Olympic Coverage – www.nbcolympics.com Douglas shatters glass ceiling with historic win By WILL GRAVES, AP LONDON (AP) — Gabby Douglas believed two years ago, when she convinced her mother to let her move halfway across the country. Martha Karolyi became a convert over the winter, when the bubbly teenager with the electric smile developed the tenacity required to be a champion. Under the brightest lights, on the biggest stage, that belief shattered a glass ceiling. Even if the first African-American to win an Olympic all-around title didn’t quite realize it. “I kind of forgot about that,” Douglas said with a laugh. Don’t worry, Gabby, the world is going to have fun reminding you. Douglas soared her way into history Thursday night, leading the whole way to climb a mountain paved by Ron Galimore, Dominique Dawes and a handful of others who showed the sport isn’t just for the white or the privileged. “How inspiring is that?” said Natalie Hawkins, the woman who allowed her then 14-year-old “baby” daughter to move from Virginia to Iowa in 2010 after Douglas convinced her that she was good enough to compete at the top. She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Douglas was still trying to get used to the feeling of having her second gold medal in three days around her neck when Oprah chimed in. “OMG I’m so THRILLED for Gabby. Flowing happy tears!!” Winfrey posted on Twitter. Karolyi, the U.S. women’s team coordinator called it “history made” while Liang Chow, the coach who channeled Douglas’ precocious talent, believes his star pupil is “ready to move onto higher things.” She certainly looked like it on a flawless night in which Douglas grabbed the gold during her first event and never let silver medalist Viktoria Komova of Russia come close to …
Posted in Fashion | Leave a commentBOKEEM WOODBINE
August 2, 2012A CONVERSATION WITH ACTOR BOKEEM WOODBINE By Sonya Jenkins With an acting career that has spanned 20 years, actor Bokeem Woodbine has played some of the most colorful characters in television and film. His roles have ranged from the rough and rugged to the naughty and noble, and have given him an edge in Hollywood as a compelling actor who delivers with a punch. With a repertoire of films under his belt, including STRAPPED, JASON’S LYRIC, GRIDLOCK’D, RAY, THE BUTCHER and several other films and television projects, Bokeem’s latest feature film TOTAL RECALL – in theatres August 3 – takes the Harlem born actor to a new level – science fiction. In TOTAL RECALL, Bokeem plays Harry, the friend and brother figure of Quaid (Colin Farrell). Bokeem admits that acting in a science fiction film was on his “bucket list.” Bokeem took some time to chat with me – via phone – about his career. He also shared his tips for aspiring actors. Keep reading for our conversation. Bokeem: Hi, Sonya. How are you? Sonya: I’m pretty good. I saw the screening [of TOTAL RECALL] last night and I had no clue about your character, but I felt like I already knew your character. Do you know what I’m saying? Bokeem: Not really. Is that a compliment? I’m not sure. What do you mean? Sonya: I know, right. I should make myself clear. Well, I envisioned what type of character you’d play before seeing the movie. You tend to play bad boy roles. So, let me start off by just asking you about your roles. Do you like that you have an edge in being cast as a bad boy? Bokeem: Not really, Sonya. Because I’ve got to tell you, over the last couple of years I’ve also appeared as …
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