Shadow and Act

Watch 'Amateur' - A Seemingly Familiar Tale With A Twist (Short Shouts!)

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 17, 2013 7:49 PM
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  • 2 Comments

5 Netflix Streaming Titles You May Not Know Are Available & May Want To Check Out (6/14/13)

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 14, 2013 5:03 PM
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  • 3 Comments

Dark Clouds Over Hollywood: Spielberg, Lucas Predict Industry Implosion. My Thoughts, Your Thoughts (Video)

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 13, 2013 4:35 PM
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  • 21 Comments
I'm sure, by now, most of you've have read/heard about the predictions for the Stateside movie industry made by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg (that the business, as it is, will implode, in short), which seem to have shaken the internet at its core, given how much the original piece by The Hollywood Reporter has traveled since it was published last night (I shared it on the S&A Facebook and Twitter pages soon after, and it's been shared several dozen times since them).A common reaction to the words of these 2 industry titans was something like: "If they are having to fight to get their films from script to screen (Lincoln and Red Tails), and are as gloomy about the industry's future as they appear to be, then what does that mean for the rest of us...?"The video footage of that conversation - a panel discussion at University of Southern California's School for Cinematic Arts, where they are board members - was moderated by CNBC's Julia Boorstin, and has now surfaced online, and is embedded below for you to watch.In brief, both filmmakers see changes coming in the way movies are made, distributed and watched, as well as significant disruptions to the overall business itself, with Spielberg comparing what's happening in the industry now, to what the economy was like in 2008 - hitting a bottom, poised to eventually start to rise up again.

Yes, You CAN Make It Up! Black Film News To You... (Survey)

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 13, 2013 3:41 PM
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  • 20 Comments
A little fun on a relatively slow news Monday... On days like these, to entertain myself, I actually sometimes just start making up news headings (just for my entertainment of course), for the hell of it; specifically, FAKE headings related to black cinema, that I would like to read as REAL news on S&A, or any other film website, on any given day.

DiCaprio *Replaced* De Niro For Scorsese; What Young Black Actor Might *Replace* Denzel For Spike Lee?

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 12, 2013 12:19 PM
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  • 29 Comments

Theatre Tales - On Movie-Going/Stage Experiences With "Black Audiences"

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 11, 2013 11:38 AM
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  • 17 Comments
Listening to THIS NPR piece this morning, asking whether audiences in theaters are becoming more and more boorish, and have lost their manners, made me think of the ongoing debates/discussions about how "black people" are in that environment, whether it be to see a movie, or even a play - specifically, the commonly-held belief that "we" just love to engage with the action on the screen in front of us, or with each other, about what we're watching together (certainly not all black people, by the way, hence all the quotes). And with the proliferation of mobile devices (smart phones, tablets, etc) and well as social networking involvement, annoyances like texting, tweeting (I've seen some folks live-tweet movies they're watching in a theatrical setting with others), and even making and answering phone calls, aren't entirely taboo.

Ray Charles Died Today... Then Jamie Foxx Won An Oscar

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 10, 2013 9:30 PM
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  • 1 Comment
Today in history, June 10th, 2004... singer and pianist Ray Charles died of liver disease in his Beverly Hills home at age 73.

Watch Trinidad & Tobago-Set Superhero Short 'Captain T & T' (Short Shouts!)

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 10, 2013 9:12 PM
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  • 3 Comments
A Short Shout! of the day from Christopher and Leizelle Guiness, titled Captain T And T. 

Production Designing 'Fruitvale Station'

  • By Hannah Beachler
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  • June 6, 2013 3:28 PM
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  • 2 Comments
In April of 2012 I spoke with Writer/Director Ryan Coogler via Skype to Production Design his first feature “Fruitvale Station” that would be filming in the Bay Area in the summer. I was so impressed with Ryan’s vision for this film and his infectious beautiful soul and spirit, before we were done talking I told him, “I want to work on this project.” A few days before we spoke, after I read the script, I began to research the Bay Area, specifically where Oscar Grant grew up. I looked at everything having to do with Oscar, from the cell phone footage of the night Oscar was killed at the Fruitvale BART, the protests that took place after the verdict was announced, to the very beautiful tributes made by his friends, family and community. Needless to say I was floored and moved beyond words. The first step I took was to pull colors from the environments that surrounded the life and death of Oscar. The colors came from murals of Oscar, and the colors you would see every day in Oakland and in the BART stations, specifically the Fruitvale and South Hayward BART stations. As I began to compile these colors, pictures, ideas, looks for the locations in the script, I pinned them on my wall creating a mosaic of the feelings I had from reading the script. It was important for me to do this so Ryan would have an idea of where my thoughts were when we spoke over Skype. I literally held up my computer so he could see the wall *insert smiley face* I don’t think he was expecting that, but it gave us a board from which to jump from. Soon after we spoke I got a call back from Ryan and he asked me to join the project. And I headed to Oakland to take this journey with a fantastic group of filmmakers.

Assassin Movies Starring Black Actors... w/ Geoffrey Fletcher's 'Violet & Daisy' Opening This Weekend

  • By Tambay A. Obenson
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  • June 6, 2013 11:57 AM
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  • 5 Comments
In consideration of tomorrow's long-awaited theatrical opening of Geoffrey Fletcher's teen assassin thriller, Violet & Daisy (also his feature film directorial debut), for the fun of it, with your assistance, I thought I'd come up with a list of previous assassin movies starring black actors (even though Violet & Daisy doesn't star black actors).