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Samuel L. Jackson Joins Cast of Spike Lee’s ‘Old Boy,’ Bruce Hornsby to Do Score

August 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
samuel jackson as nick fury in the Avengers1 300x232 Samuel L. Jackson Joins Cast of Spike Lees Old Boy, Bruce Hornsby to Do Score

Samuel L. Jackson Joins Cast of Spike Lee’s ‘Old Boy,’ Bruce Hornsby to Do Score (Marvel Studios)

From the Los Angeles Times:  The English-language remake of Chan-wook Park’s cult favorite “Oldboy”already had some big-time names, what with Spike Lee directing and Josh Brolin in the lead role.

Now the revenge drama is getting two more notables: Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Hornsby.

Jackson has come on board for a small but critical part in the new film, according to a person close to the production who was not authorized to talk about it publicly. The actor will play the man who is being tortured by the hero (Brolin) in a key revenge scene.

Fans of the original will remember the scene as perhaps the most visceral and disturbing of the film. Protagonist  Dae-suOh exacts vengeance on a man who once guarded him by extracting his teeth one-by-one with the claw end of a hammer.

The new film, which begins shooting this fall in Louisiana and New York, won’t go with the tooth removal, instead inflicting a different kind of torture (we won’t spoil it here, but it’s plenty painful).

Jackson and Lee recently appeared together at the BET Awards in this spoof that quickly went viral.The actor of course also recently starred as Nick Fury in ““The Avengers” and will soon be seen in a movie about as anticipated as “Oldboy”–Quentin Tarantino“s“Django Unchained.”

In a separate development, Hornsby has joined the new ”Oldboy” as the film’s composer.  The piano virtuoso has a longstanding relationship with Lee; among other things, he composed the score for Lee’s basketball documentary “Kobe Doin’ Work” and the auteur’s new “Red Hook Summer“giving the spiritually themed coming-of-age story a melancholy and wistful spin.

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Director Martin Scorsese Stars in New Apple Ad Directing Siri to Call Up Real Time Traffic Reports

July 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
300px Martin Scorsese by David Shankbone Director Martin Scorsese Stars in New Apple Ad Directing Siri to Call Up Real Time Traffic Reports

Director Martin Scorsese Newest Celebrity Pitchman for Apple Directs Siri in New iPhone Ad (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Martin Scorsese stars in new Apple ad:  The iPhone 4S “intelligent personal assistant” was showcased in a new ad starring Martin Scorsese, who sits in a New York City cab, ordering Siri to rearrange meetings, locate a friend named Rick and call up real-time traffic reports.

Providing real-time traffic reports is a rumored upgrade to the phone’s upcoming iOS 6 operating system. Scorsese says, “I like you, Siri, you’re going places.”

Scorsese follows Zooey Deschanel, Samuel L. Jackson and John Malkovich as pitchmen for Apple!

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Will Samuel L. Jackson Be Criticized for Playing Role of Nick Fury in “The Avengers,” Like Idris Elba in “Thor” Because of Race?

May 5, 2012 by 3 Comments
samuel jackson as nick fury in the Avengers 300x232 Will Samuel L. Jackson Be Criticized for Playing Role of Nick Fury in The Avengers, Like Idris Elba in Thor Because of Race?

Will Samuel L. Jackson Be Criticized for Playing Role of Nick Fury in "The Avengers," Like Idris Elba in "Thor" Because of Race?

COMMENTARY:  Actor Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) is in yet another highly anticipated movie, “The Avengers,” which also consists of a stellar cast including Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Scarlett  Johansson (Black Widow). He is a big man in the movie, expected to be a runaway success at the box office. He calls the shots at S.H.I.E.L.D., and helps save the world, like Will Smith saved the in “Independence Day.” It’s ironic that people haven’t gotten bent out of shape about a black actor playing another role in a super hero flick, as they did when Idris Elba played Heimdall in Thor or the reaction from fans over a black teen in “The Hunger Games.” Maybe I am jumping the gun. We’ll see how this plays out over the weekend. The role was played by a white man David Hasselhoff, in the 1998. Yeah, I’m sure the haters and naysayers will have something to say after seeing the movie this weekend.

Let’s revisit “The Hunger Games.”  You will recall there was some outrage over the character of Rue, played by Amanda Sternberg, because she is black. These same fans who took offense to Rue, were also upset that two other black characters took roles they felt should have gone to white actors — Lenny Kravitz (Cinna) and Dayo Okeniyi (Thresh). Yeah, some were foaming at the mouths like rabid dogs over these roles. There were a few Internet sites spewing venom but we got some measure of redemption after “The Hunger Games” was knocked off from its’ No. 1 position by black film, “Think Like A Man, Act Like a Lady.”

I know Samuel L. Jackson won’t lose any sleep over the criticisms of his role. He is a force to be reckoned with and is an entity unto himself. He has over 100 films under his belt and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “highest-grossing film actor.” He raked in $7.5 billion in box office sales. So, to criticize him for playing a role that should have gone to a white actor will be laughable, at best. Nick Fury isn’t Samuel L. Jackson’s first foray into the Superhero world. He played Lucius Best/Frozone in “The Incredibles.”

Samuel L. Jackson is by far one of the best actors out there — black or white. When asked if he had to choose an Avenger he could embody, he said, “It would probably be the Hulk, so I could kind of lose it every now and then, just kind of blow it all out and tear some stuff up. And then be OK.” Um, I guess that would tick many off, but who cares? Samuel L. Jackson will be laughing all the way to the bank, thanks to the success of “The Avengers.” Well, my kids and I will be going to see “The Avengers” this afternoon and I can’t wait to see Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr. in action.

UPDATE#1 (05/05/12):  Samuel Jackson went nuts last week over a negative review from the New York Times, calling for firing of film critic Anthony O. Scott (@AOScott):

The Avengers literally slew the weekend box office raking in more than $200 million in its debut. The reaction on Twitter says it all:


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Will the Black Hollywood Elite Support President Obama the Second Time Around?

January 23, 2012 by 2 Comments
300px Samuel L Jackson at San Diego ComicCon 2008 Will the Black Hollywood Elite Support President Obama the Second Time Around?

Will the Black Hollywood Elite Support President Obama the Second Time Around? (Wikipedia)

Will the black Hollywood elite, which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Pauletta Washington (Denzel Washington’s wife) and Debbie Allen, support President Obama the second time around? It’s interesting, since some like Samuel L. Jackson, have expressed some ambivalence to his performance thus far. I guess I can ask the question of what has the black Hollywood elite done for blacks in the inner cities?

Daily Beast, Samuel L. Jackson says,  “Some days I agree with Dr. West and what he says about the president not dealing enough with the plight of the poor” says Jackson. “Then I think about how they won’t give him credit for anything… The president got about a week of moderate applause for capturing the most-wanted man in the world. You ask me, he should have put that motherf*cker on ice and defrosted his ass Nov. 1.”

There are also those players behind the scene, such as well-known retired lawyer Michael Lawson and his wife, Mattie Lawson, who have raised nearly $2 million for his various campaigns. Mattie Lawson didn’t want to support him in 2008, but changed her tune once she got to know him. They are ready to support the president’s reelection campaign.

President Obama is in a tough reelection race because many blacks are disillusioned with his record, particularly since many remain unemployed and having a hard time making ends meet. Many blacks, like staunch critics Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, believe his lack of attention to the needs of blacks and the poor will spell doom for his reelection. For me, it comes down to retraining and getting the right skillset. That should be pushed on the state level and not the federal level. If we can get more people retrained for careers involving healthcare, technology and manufacturing, for example, then we would be on our way to seeing a significant drop in the high unemployment rates and the middle class rising once again.

As for the black Hollywood elite, I’m pretty sure they have a vested interest in seeing President Obama win reelection and not Newt Gingrich. So, it’s a moot point, in my opinion to speculate on them failing to turn out in support of Barack Obama.

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Actor Samuel L. Jackson Sees No Other Reason Why Tea Party Opposes Obama Reelection Other Than Race

October 5, 2011 by 1 Comment

Actor Samuel L. Jackson says he can see no other reason why the Tea Party would oppose President Obama’s reelection other than race. That’s despite the weak economy and lukewarm reception by legislators to President Obama’s jobs plan. Jackson’s comments come on the heels of fellow actor Morgan Freeman’s comments about the opposition to Obama being purely racist. From an interview with New York Magazine:

While we were on the subject, we asked Jackson if he agreed with fellow thespian Morgan Freeman, who caused something of a ruckus recently after he claimed that the tea party is racist. “It’s pretty obvious what they are,” Jackson told us. “The division of the country is not about the government having too much power. I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means,” he said, echoing Freeman. “It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame.”

I won’t say all opposition to President Obama’s reelection is racist. Yeah, some people are. They were opposed to him purely for his skin color in 2008 and will still be in 2012. But there are some really troubling issues confronting this country and since he’s the president, they are his problems.

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Samuel L. Jackson & Angela Bassett Coming to Broadway in "The Mountaintop," Centered on The Day Before Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

September 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson are coming to Broadway in The Mountaintop, a play by Katori Hall and directed by Kenny Leon. The play recounts the chain of events the night before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is assassinated. The play revisits April 3, 1968, when Dr. King, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is visited by a mysterious stranger, Angela Bassett, who brings some surprising news. This is a must see play! The play will be at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in Manhattan and will open on Broadway October 13, 2011. Watch the trailer:

pixel Samuel L. Jackson & Angela Bassett Coming to Broadway in "The Mountaintop," Centered on The Day Before Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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