Chris Brown

What I Missed Last Week

Even though I touched on a lot of things during last week’s “This Week in the News”, there were a number of things I failed to mention.  So today’s post is going to cover those topics and my thoughts on them.

Even after the issue with Rihanna, I was still a Chris Brown fan.  He admitted his mistake, took anger management, and took his punishment.  (Plus, if we can forgive R. Kelly and Michael Vick, why is Chris Brown different.)  And let’s face it-the boy is uber-talented!  So imagine EVERYONE’s shock when C. Breezy lost it on GMA with Robin after she asked him about Rihanna.  (If you didn’t see the video of the interview, watch it here.)   IMHO, I don’t think she went in that hard.  Chris needs to learn to control his temper.  And someone made a really good point-Ike got questioned til the day he died about his hitting Tina, so Chris isn’t going to be any different.  If he didn’t want to address it, he should have told Robin that when he got a preview of the questions.   Unfortunately, this is going to be following Chris as long as he stays in the limelight.  I am anxious to find out what will happen on his appearance tonight on “Dancing with the Stars”. 

About 2 weeks ago, I mentioned that Carmelo Anthony may have a love child in NY.   Well, my girl LaLa went on Charlamagne’s morning show to address the rumors, how she’s done with having kids, and discussed some other things.  One thing that I can say about LaLa is that she always stays professional and diplomatic, even when we think she should throw people under the bus! 🙂

Lastly, after a bitter divorce and a long custody battle, Dwyane Wade won sole custody of his sons.  As I stated in a previous post, we shouldn’t necessarily applaud fathers who are in their children’s lives, but I will say I’m glad he fought for his sons.  How many men, especially professional athletes, fight for SOLE custody of their children?  Not too many I know.  And the good thing is that Wade wants the boys to have a great relationship with their mother, so I hope they are able to be adults and co-parent.

That’s it today, folks!  What else happened last week that I missed?  Or what’s happened in the past few days that you want to share?  Until next time, I’m just a Southern girl…in the city!

PS Can I say I HATE Chris Brown’s blonde hair?!? UGH!!!

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Tell Us Why You Mad, Son-The Real Review

I promise this will be the last mention of “Takers” on this blog!  But after I was able to watch the movie again (I went with my play “auntie” Madeline; read more about her here), I was able to see the movie for it was.  While I didn’t share too much about the movie in my post earlier this week, I’m ready to give you guys my true feelings about what I saw on the big screen and tell you why I’m mad. 

SPOILER ALERT!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!  (If you haven’t seen the movie, you definitely don’t want to read what I have to say because I’m going to give away some of the story.)

First, let’s talk about T.I.  It’s his fault, messing with those Russians, that Welles (Matt Dillon) and Hatcher (Jay Hernandez) got hot on their tail.  Leaving that daggone bracelet at their home was stupid, but I guess that could really happen to any of us.  And I’m mad he set them up and he was out for self, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  Now, let’s talk about Chris Brown.  I thought he was extra cocky doing that “salute” to the camera after they robbed the bank; that’s why he got chased (although I think his chase scene was phenomenal)!  A follower on Twitter suggested he may have had a stunt double, which I hope wasn’t the case.  He was able to catch up with his boys and survive the shoot-out with the Russians.  And speaking of the shoot-out, was Michael Ealy not FINE when he saved the day?!?!? And then…the end for the brothers… Can I just say the way they died was WHACK?!?!?!  After all the shooting and running and scaling buildings and perservering, they went out without a bang.  That was one of the worst scenes I’ve seen in a movie.  The next thing that made me mad was Naomi.  I’ve never had to deal with a family member on drugs, but if she had kept her hind parts in rehab Gordon (Idris Elba) would have been ok.  She stole his money, got high, got arrested, then ran off.  Then when his life was in danger she was laying down in the back seat of the car.  But I fault G a little bit because I would not have put her in a hotel…that’s just me, because I would would be worried they would go out and do something stupid…

So, for every one person that didn’t like the movie, there’s about 5 people who did.  If you didn’t like the movie, tell me why?  Maybe you liked the movie, but something pissed you off or you thought something wasn’t realistic.  If so, what were they?  Until next time, I’m just a Southern girl…in the city!

P.S. I just have to say Paul Walker was HOT when he commandeered that truck!

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Southern Girl Movie Review: Takers

As promised, I went to see “Takers” this weekend, and I’m so happy I did!  It was a great movie, with some things that made me go “Hmmmmm….”  This movie had action, gun fights, police chases, and lots of eye candy.  And EVERYONE was sexy, without trying to be.  One thing I did notice is that there was only one female (Zoe Saldana) who is well-known, and even her part was small, so the men were definitely able to shine.  I do want to warn you that if you haven’t seen the movie, you may want to skip this post, because I may give away some of the plot. But if you don’t mind and are going to see it anyway, keep reading!

I met my girl Beverly in Chinatown to see the first showing yesterday.  We both wanted to see it, but didn’t want to go by ourselves, so we made a Girls’ Day of it.  The movie was well written, well directed, and well acted.  It was a little slow starting, but once the action started to take place, I was on the edge of my seat.  I loved T.I.’s “Billy Bad A$$” character, Idris Elba as the leader of the pack, Paul Walker as the 2nd in Command, Hayden Christensen and Michael Ealy as the brains, and Chris Brown as the cute little brother.  All of the guys held their own and did an amazing job!  Who knew Chris Brown could act?  And his chase scene with Matt Dillon and Jay Hernandez??? He was SMOKING them!  Jumping over cars and buses, scaling buildings, and running through the streets of LA.  He was unstoppable.  I’m excited to see his future acting endeavors.  Another highlight for me was Ghost’s (aka T.I.) play-by-play activity during the actual robbery.  I’m not sure who he was talking to, but Beverly and I were cracking up!  And all this to say that the way Chris and Michael (aka Jesse and Jake) died left a lot to be desired.  As Beverly said, “Cleo died better.”  But I loved how T.I.’s character turned on his crew, and let everyone know that at the end of the day, he was out for self.

“Takers” opened at #1!!!  I really enjoyed this movie and will definitely add it to my DVD collection.  Quietly, I’m going to see it again tomorrow.  🙂 I was happy to support my fellow Florida A&M Rattler Will Packer, who served as one of the producers, and Rainforest Films.  If you haven’t seen it, go…NOW!!! If you did see “Takers” this weekend, what did you think?   Would you tell your friends and family to go see it?  Is there anything about the plot that you would change?  Until next time, I’m just a Southern girl…in the city!

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This Week in the News

Happy Friday!  It seemed like this week FLEW by! So much is going on this weekend that I don’t know where to begin.  Actually, yes I do…

“Takers”, the new action packed drama starring Idris Elba, T.I., Chris Brown, Michael Ealy, Hayden Christensen, Paul Walker, and Zoe Saldana, comes out today!  Can I just say that I’m super-excited about this movie and have been waiting on all summer. I’ve heard nothing but great reviews about this movie, and I believe it’s going to have a record-making opening weekend.  Plus, it’s produced by Rainforest Films, which was started by two of my fellow Florida A&M Rattlers, Rob Hardy and Will Packer.  I’m sure I’ll give a review next week.  And no matter how much this seems like a guy movie with the chases and shooting and action, it’s definitely a chick flick with all the eye candy…

Tomorrow marks the 47th Anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.  And two very different groups are coming to DC and having two vastly different rallies.  First, Rev. Al Sharpton, nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, and other civil rights advocates are hosting a rally at Dunbar High School in Northwest DC.  This event starts at 11 am, and participants will then march to the King memorial.  On the flip side of the coin, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and members of the Tea Party will have their own rally at the Lincoln Memorial.  Ironically, or maybe not, Dr. King’s niece Alveda King, will be in attendance at the Tea Party rally.  Ms. King was quoted as saying, “I’m speaking at the Glenn Beck rally because Glenn and I have had many conversations about faith, hope, and love.”  Ummmm, yeah, ok…that may be all well and good, but if I were Alveda, I’m not sure I could speak at anything being hosted by Glenn Beck, even if it wasn’t the anniversary of the March on Washington…

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend the ‘I Love Social Media” Happy Hour at Bar Dupont.  I went with my fellow blogger, soror, friend, and neighbor OriginalNajeema.  We were able to hear from two bloggers, @SepiaMutiny and @AmandaMogul, who shared their stories of blogging, social media, and how it positively changed their lives.  (I live tweeted and took pictures.)  I was able to speak with Anna aka SepiaMutiny after she spoke and share stories of how there’s not enough “brown” in the social media, and especially the blogging, world.  I also met some other great people and chatted it up with other artists and media gurus.

Once again, there’s tons of news I didn’t touch on, such as President Carter gets an imprisoned American in North Korea released, the Michael Jackson party at Club 9:30 in DC (the pop star would have been 52 on August 29), and the fact that DC is making preparations for the Beck rally….(Hmmmmm) and the Sharpton rally.  No matter your plans for the weekend, it seems that we have a lot to keep our eyes on.  Until next time, I’m just a Southern girl…in the city!

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BET Awards Recap

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I must say I am thoroughly impressed with BET. I, along with some more of my friends, were happy with what we saw last night on the BET Awards.  Chris Brown is back,  Prince is still fine, and Nia and Larenz took me back to “Love Jones”.  Despite the lows of the evening (believe me, they were there), the highs were great and plentiful so I was a happy camper.  (Warning:  There may be some spoilers mentioned, but you should still watch the show if you haven’t already.)

I had the pleasure of watching the awards show with one of my sorority sisters, and as the night went on, I was able to share with her some Twitter commentary and put some of our lively conversation on my Twitter feed.  The first thing that I felt BET should have kept under wrap was Queen Latifah’s singing.  Now I’m sure her jazz album was great (haven’t heard it), but her opening number left a lot to be desired.  Another thing I didn’t like was Queen Latifah’s changing into all of the characters she has played…uhhhh…#notagoodlook.  I was too through when she came out as Cleo and T.I., aka my baby daddy, kept calling her “Chloe”!!  When she FINALLY came out in her elegant black dress close to the end of the show I was thinking, “Now why didn’t she look like THIS the whole night?!?!”   Another low was all these performances during the pre-show, especially Souljah Boy and Roscoe Dash, aka Sisqo’s little brother.  I didn’t see all of the pre-show, but the little I saw didn’t need to be seen.   Nicki Minaj…Darling Nicki needed to sit down somewhere.   My first thought when I saw her on the red carpet was she looked like a hood bride.  Other colorful anecdotes I heard were “she looks like Carrot Top and Lil’ Kim’s love child”, “she looks like Wilma Flintstone”, and other little comments that were extremely hilarious.  Another fail, as we all know, is Jermaine Jackson’s hair…need I say more?  I don’t think I do.

Now, the highs…there are so many that I don’t know where to begin.  Maybe we should start with the opener, Mr. Kanye West.  I don’t know what it is about him, but he is one of my favorite rappers.  His new single is great and his performance was great.  Kudos to BET for selecting him as the opening act.   Chris Brown, Chris Brown, Chris Brown…first off, that boy is talented; I don’t care what anybody says.  I hate the fact that he wasn’t able to partake in the tribute to MJ last year, but his performance last night was ELECTRIFYING!!!  That is the tribute that is due to a true superstar performer.  (I told my sorority sister that Chris has been practicing since last year getting ready for this moment!)  I was so happy to see Chris back on stage.  I don’t condone violence of any kind, but the man paid his debt, he admitted that he was wrong, and if the world can forgive R. Kelly then they should certainly forgive Chris Breezy.  With the crying on “Man in the Mirror”, I think that was genuine, more so for him realizing what he did wrong and growing up.  The ultimate surprise of the night was El DeBarge!!!  I was NOT ready!  He was great, and it’s good to see that those drugs did not affect his singing ability, unlike another singer who shall remain nameless…He sang some classics, and let everybody know that the light skinned brothers are coming back! (But for me they were never out.)  Nia Long and Larenz Tate…need I say more?!?!?  They both look like they stepped out of the 90’s (meaning they have not aged one day), and didn’t miss a beat with their renditions of Nina’s Poem and Darius’ Poem.  I want to watch “Love Jones” right now…The Prince tribute was great.  Janelle Monae killed her performance of “Let’s Go Crazy”.  If you don’t know her as a performer then you would have looked at her like, “Who is this chick with the bouffant and WTH is she doing?!?!”  But I was thoroughly impressed.  I don’t know about you all, but I was not ready for Ms. Alicia Keys to climb on the piano in all of her preggo glory, minus her shoes.  (Yes, she was gorgeous and glowing).  She did a bang up job on “Adore”, and as she ended her performance Prince was looking around for Swizz making sure it was ok for Alicia to be all over the piano!   And Patti LaBelle tore up “Purple Rain”.  She brought Prince (and almost everyone else) to his feet and almost made him cry.   When Patti kicked off her shoe, Prince ran up and got it! I loved it!!! And Prince is still one of the sexiest men alive.  I don’t know what it is about him, but he’s great in my book. 

All in all, I am very proud of BET for the production of last night’s show.  Yes, there was some coonery and buffoonery in some parts, but that’s bound to happen at any award show.  And for those of you that missed it, don’t worry.  I didn’t mention EVERYTHING that happened, and BET is sure to replay it about 50 times this week, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see it and make your own assessment.  So what was your favorite part?  Who looked great?  Who needed a mirror?  What was the most memorable part, good or bad, of the evening?  Until next time, I’m just a Southern girl…in the city.

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