After the last few years have been spent doing WeightWatchers commercials, Jennifer Hudson is back on her acting ish, taking a fabulous role on one of my favorite shows on NBC, Smash, and starring in director George Tillman Jr.’s The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, which started last Thursday and wraps up on January 27. Aside from Jennifer Hudson, who plays the drug addicted and struggling mother of the character Mister, the film also stars big names like Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (remember him? He was Adebisi in Oz). Alicia Keys is a co-executive producer for the film, which is set in the Brooklyn projects.

According to the plot, which we checked out via Shadow and Act, Hudson’s character is the mother of Mister (played by Skylan Brooks), and after struggling to get back on her feet, she is arrested, which forces Mister to fend for himself. With the help of his best friend, Pete, who is also down on hard times thanks to his own mother’s arrest, the young men search for food, try to avoid trouble, child protective services and drama, even as they come upon obstacles that would break most people. The movie is said to take a good look at the important bonds of friendship, and according to the Sundance description, it also shows “the way transformation sometimes can happen just by holding on long enough.”

In the following clip, we see Hudson in her most gritty role, probably ever, as she argues with her son, who only wants her to get a job, put food in the fridge and do better for herself (Mister’s character is only 14 if you were thinking, “WHY DOESN’T HE GO AND GET A JOB!?”). I’m definitely impressed with what I see, and I’m excited to see the film when it’s finally released to the public later this year, just because I’m an indie film stan. Check out the clip below and let us know how you think Hudson and Brooks did so far.

Can’t say how I feel 100 percent about Ashton Kutcher these days, especially after the whole ugly split between him and Demi Moore and the fact that “Two And A Half Men” is just NOT funny, but I can say that I’m starting to get VERY excited about his starring role in this Steve Jobs biopic. And it will be refreshing to see since I don’t think anyone has watched Kutcher play a serious role since…maybe Butterfly Effect!? Why? To get people excited and the ball rolling on promotion, stills from the movie just dropped with Kutcher dressed like Jobs circa the early ’80s and I must say, these two men look eerily similar.

The photos were put out to also alert people that the movie, jOBS, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January, closing out the very popular annual event. According to the Guardian UK, the movie will cover about three decades of the entrepreneur and tech king’s life, and it definitely sounds captivating, just check out the movie description that was put on the Sundance press release. “The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently.” And if that’s not enough for you, get excited because the movie also stars Dermot Mulroney,  Matthew Modine and more. Don’t know who those people are? It’s okay, I’m not too sure either, but that’s what they made Google for! Anyway, now that you see the stills, are you excited for the biopic? Do you think Kutcher and Jobs look very similar or is this a miss?

From Eur Web

Paramount Pictures and director John Singleton have reached a settlement to end litigation stemming from a 2005 deal for the breakout hit “Hustle and Flow,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR’s Eriq Gardner reports:

Singleton sued Paramount and MTV Films in October 2011, originally claiming he was owed at least $20 million for alleged breaches of contract and fraud.

Read more at EurWeb.com.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Atop this weekend’s box office tally is the latest installment of the tired horror franchise Paranormal Activity. That film brought in $30.2 million in its opening week. And, according to E! Online, Tyler Perry’s latest film, Alex Cross, based on the James Patterson novel, flopped, coming in fifth with $11.2 million, lower than his lowest-grossing film, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls.

But despite those numbers, it’s an indie film made by an African-American woman that’s generating lots of talk, including an endorsement from the lady, Madame Oprah.

Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay was made for  just $200,000 (minuscule by Hollywood standards) and opened on October 12 in just six theaters. But the film averaged $13,055 on each of those screens, giving it the best outcome of the weekend. This weekend, the film expanded to 21 theaters in 14 cities and made more than $54,000.  It has grossed $127,137 so far, says IndieWire, and will be showing in additional theaters this coming weekend.

DuVernay is not just a filmmaker, but helps to run the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AAFRM), an organization dedicated to black indie filmmakers. (Note that ImageNation, the subject of one of our recent profiles, is highlighted on their site as well.)  Earlier this year, DuVernay became the first African-American woman to take home the Best Director prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

“The weekend was electric as Middle of Nowhere enjoyed sold-out shows with both diverse crowds in NYC and LA, and predominately African-American audiences in Washington DC and Philadelphia,” the AAFRM’s Tilane Jones told The Hollywood Reporter.

Oprah Winfrey has also thrown her support behind the film, tweeting to her 14 million followers that this is a film to see. ”Bravo to you my sistah,” she’s written.

DuVernay was a publicist when she came up with the idea for Middle of Nowhere, a film about a Compton nurse named Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) whose husband Derek (Omari Hardwick) is in prison. She decided to strike out on her own to make the film, and is now being credited with giving a shock of life to the black indie film scene. (She has also made another film, I Will Follow.) Reviews in top-tier publications like The New York Times have been positive.

“There’s something very important about films about black women and girls being made by black women. It’s a different perspective. It is a reflection as opposed to an interpretation, and I think we get a lot of interpretations about the lives of women that are not coming from women,” DuVernay told the AP.

Have you seen Middle of Nowhere? Let us know what you thought. And let us know if you plan to see it.

All work and no play isn’t a phrase that describes Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper’s rumored relationship. This weekend the two attended a cocktail party for their film, “The Words,” at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, and the pair seemed to be entertaining each other more than the guests.

“They were kissing in front of the fire and being very affectionate,” an onlooker told PEOPLE, while a source also said, “They are definitely very together.”

Another observer at the party said that the pair was caught in an intense conversation and was giggling, with Zoe being touchy-feely. “They were like two seventh graders. The electricity was out of this world.”

Zoe and Brad also attended a private premiere dinner the night before the party where they were seen interacting and laughing casually with each other and the rest of the guests, so maybe the cocktails just got to the couple the next night, or the PR wheels are churning to get people in the theaters to see the chemistry between these two on screen.

What do you think? Can we officially call these two a couple now or is it just for show?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Who run the world? Right now Ava Duvernay does—at least the film world. Last night, she became the first African American woman to win the US Directing Award in the Dramatic category at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Duvernay’s feature film, Middle of Nowhere, which was highly regarded by critics and audiences when it premiered last week, is what earned the director this recognition. DuVernay says the film which tells the story of a woman who’s lost her husband to incarceration is more than a prison wives tale, it’s really the story of a woman living in a relationship that’s unbalanced, which many women do.

The critically acclaimed film is only DuVerynay’s second feature narrative. The first, “I Will Follow,” was released March 11, 2011 and also received rave reviews. In a behind-the-scenes interview, DuVernay talked about her success as an independent filmmaker and the strides she’s making in the industry, particularly creating AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, which is a distribution company made up of black film festivals to release films together on the same day in multiple cities. DuVernay said she books the dates and handles national publicity while the local festivals take care of promotion in their cities.

“We just do it. There’s no magic to it. It’s just hard work. When you’re as passionate about the films as I am about black cinema and the lack of contemporary complex images of us you have to get out and do it yourself.”

Kudos to her. Check out more of DuVerynay’s interview below. Have you seen her first film, “I will follow”?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Octavia Spencer is Hollywood’s “it girl” right now, riding the success of her Golden Globe win and anticipation of an Oscar nomination. With new fame comes the ability to demand more, and that’s exactly what Octavia plans to do when it comes to her movie roles going forward.

“The studios are still not going to beat down my door unless it’s a small part in a big comedy, and I’ve done those,” she told 24 Frames. “If you build it, they will come, and that’s what I’m doing, one brick at a time.”

Octavia says her role in the new movie “Smashed” is the first stepping stone. The film, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as an alcoholic who is trying to get sober despite her heavy-drinking husband (Aaron Paul). Octavia will play a recovering alcoholic who serves as Kate’s sponsor.

“I get to play someone different than who I usually am,”she says. ”It’s nice to play roles when I’m not just a sassy black woman.”

That’s how her character, Minnie Jackson, was portrayed in “The Help,” but despite having to fill such a stereotypical role in Black Hollywood, Octavia says the opportunity was worth it:

“You do a movie like that to get a movie like this.”

Are you anxious to see where Octavia Spencer’s career heads next?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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So many films portray love as though it’s something you can’t control, but filmmaker Ava DuVernay didn’t want to go that route with her new movie, “Middle of Nowhere.” She says the film, which explores how a woman’s love is changed after her husband is sent to prison for eight years, is “a love story about love as choice.”

“I wanted to explore a love story where the balance had shifted,” DuVernay says. “You know, when you’re in a relationship and you look up and wonder, How did I get here? How am I now this person I don’t recognize?”

That question is certainly central to this story as Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) struggles to adjust to her husband (Omari Hardwick) being locked up, forcing her to drop out of medical school to manage her strained marriage—and that is just the beginning of her hardships.

DuVernay says the entire production team went to special lengths to develop the perfect imagery and vibe for the film—helping to tell the narrative, which in itself isn’t particularly unique, in a new way.

“Our cinematographer Bradford Young and I wanted to dive into the edge of the image and play with contrast and shadow with brown skin,” she says. “How far could we push and stay true to the narrative? The music was similar. What’s on the edge? Our music supervisor Morgan Rhodes dug through the crates for songs and sounds outside of traditional R&B and hip hop, but still soulful. Me’Shell Nedegeocello, Goapele, Ra-Re Valverde, Fink, Jimi James — artists I’ve been listening to forever and whom I love. Just beautiful music by brave musicians who are pushing the genre.”

The film will debut at the Sundance Festival Jan. 20 and is already sold out to waitlist room only. Check out the trailer and tell us what you think.

Have you ever wondered how you ended up in a certain place mentally or physically with a past relationship?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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(New York Times) — Two big film festival operators, Tribeca Enterprises and the Sundance Institute, are about to greatly expand their efforts to use technology to bring specialty movies to a national audience.  For years, the business function of festivals was straightforward: create excitement for independent films, and hope that distributors acquire them for release.

But the rise of Web streaming and video-on-demand services freed festivals from their geographic limitations. Suddenly, the likes of Sundance, Tribeca and South by Southwest were experimenting with simultaneous film premieres at their festivals and on Web sites like YouTube or cable on-demand systems.

Now comes a new development — the end of experimentation and the start of full-fledged digital distribution efforts by festival operators.  Tribeca plans on Monday to announce a significant expansion of its fledgling movie releasing arm, Tribeca Film, which was founded last year as a test in releasing movies both digitally and in theaters. Tribeca Film plans to increase its annual output to 26 pictures, up from 11.

Read More…