Source: reel.myvideostore.com

If you didn’t get the memo already, Hollywood has run out of fresh ideas. When there are no more fresh ideas, you reach back and start trying to redo a good thing. That’s where remakes and the blasted sequel come in to play. In the last year alone we learned that there would be remakes of the movies Sparkle, Annie, A Star is Born, Steel Magnolias and a third sequel to Bad Boys, all with black leads this time around. While some sequels and remakes can actually be better than the originals (The Godfather II, Toy Story III for example), most do a great job of making fans pissed (or worse, making them fall asleep). These were a few that had me ready to start a riot…or something of the sorts…just know I didn’t like these movies at all.

PS, Be prepared to click. I warned you, so hey…

Source: gallery.celebritypro.com

Carmen: A Hip Hopera

Really? This might have been one of the worst movies of all time. OF ALL TIME! *In a Kanye voice* Granted, it was only a TV movie, but Bey, Mos Def, Mekhi Phifer and the rest of them should have known better. A remake of the classic movie Carmen starring Dorothy Dandridge, which also came from a Broadway play and book, Beyoncé plays the lead as an aspiring actress who uses folks to get to the top, including Phifer’s character of Derek. While it was a nice attempt by Robert Townsend, the acting is HORRIBLE, and if you were wondering, not just by Bey Bey. The music bits were a tad bit corny, and the adapted storyline just didn’t work. But I should have known the movie wasn’t going to be all that deep. Anything with Da Brat as the narrator, Wyclef as a tarot card reader, and Bow Wow as a jailbird (even though he was barely out of puberty) just won’t go well…

I’m sure you heard about the fact that the honorable folks over at BET decided to ban Nicki Minaj’s video for the track “Stupid H*e.” Depending on who you ask, that was an awesome decision to some sick of tasteless and mindless music, while it was a sexist and stupid decision by others. To keep it pretty real, BET is known for not having the best taste when it comes to music video choices, allowing the most ratchet and somewhat tasteless videos by rappers to get clearance but wanting women to stay ladylike: they’ve also banned Ciara’s sexually charged video “Ride,” and Teairra Mari’s pretty harmless “Sponsor” video. But all in all, I’ve seen a lot worse. We could run down a list of the very disgusting Tip Drill-esque videos BET has shown late at night with all the booty bouncing and credit card sliding, but instead, we’re running down some of our favorite stupid videos that we probably could have lived without seeing. If they were banned we probably wouldn’t have felt any real way about it (*Kanye shrug*).

I’m all about diversity. There is something about watching a movie or television show without people that look like me (BLACK) that makes me a little bit confused. Even worse, sometimes I lose my concentration. I still get upset that they could only find like two black people to pop up in New York during the entire series that was Friends. So just like we have black publications, movies, books and more, a lot of black people, like myself, wind up watching black television shows, both scripted, or reality-based, both out of trying to be supportive, and to see other people that look like me. However, there are a wealth of shows with say, maybe one or two black (or zero) people out of a whole cast that make it possible for people to ignore the discrepancies, and just watch good television. Here’s a few that due to great scripts and some awesome acting,  always stand out for the good. Note, they’re all scripted (death to reality TV!):