Our Family Wedding

Ugly Betty may have been given the chop but it looks like America Ferrera’s career is set to run and run. She is starring in a new film called Our Family Wedding which demonstrates how planning a wedding can be a traumatic as well as a joyful occasion. America plays Lucia Ramirez who is getting hitched to Marcus Boyd played by Lance Gross who is her college sweetheart. The two are madly in love and cannot wait to spend the rest of their lives together and moreover they are really looking forward introducing their families to each other. The problem is that their fathers, Brad Boyd played by Forest Whitaker and Miguel Ramirez played by Carlos Mencia have met before during an altercation over a parking incident which left both men very pissed off. So needless to say the introduction dinner goes down like a leaded balloon. From then on the lead up to the wedding is very stormy with both fathers bickering all the way through the plans of the wedding. The Ramirez want a Mexican style wedding while the Boyds are determined to place an African American slant on things. The arguments, mishaps and drama all plays its hand in a very charming and funny film and I cannot wait to see it. The film is directed by Rick Famuyiwa who brought us the delightful film called The Wood which was also a wedding based drama starring Taye Diggs, Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones. However his most famous work is Brown Sugar which starred Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs. What can I say, the man has that magical gift of shooting a film that makes it look like magic which very few directors have. Nora Ephron has it as well as Steven Spielberg and now Rick Famuyiwa does.

Our Family Wedding hits the UK on 14th May.

Black Love

Images of Black couples in the media has always been a turbulent one and more often than not it has often been negative. The relationship between Black men and women have historically been depicted as dysfunctional, unhealthy and sometime violent. When I was younger I used to wince when a Black couple came onto the big or small screen as I could tell that something horrible was going to happen. A lot of the depiction was down to racism and deep ignorance as well as an imbalance in the number of people of colour who are in production positions in film and TV. The 70s had a few gems in the shape of Lady Sings the Blues in which Diana Ross played jazz singer, Billie Holiday. The story demonstrated how Billie's life was marred by her drug addiction but what was poignant about the film were the loving scenes between Billie and her husband, Louis who was played by Billy Dee Williams. The Cosby Show carried the baton next with the tales of Cliff and Clair Huxtable and their five lively children. Cliff played by the legendary, Bill Cosby absolutely doted on Clair and was not ashamed to show it. Where The Cosby Show left off the films in the 90s and naughties took up and we saw films like Love Jones, Brown Sugar, Love and Basketball representing Black love in a realistic way. Just like any other the couples in these films had their ups and downs but they were treated in a respectful and positive way. Now we see Black love represented in the tallest order. The new President of the United States and his First Lady are a loving couple who have caught the imagination of the world. He the powerful orator who instill passion and pride in his countryman and she the tall elegant figure who is the backbone in the partnership. Together with their two daughters they will be the most glamorous family to enter the White House since JFK and his family swept everyone off their feet in 1960. So it was of great pleasure to me to see the image of Barack kissing his wife tenderly after he had won the presidential campaign plastered all over the media. Talk about full circle. Here's to you Barack and Michelle. Yes We Can!!!

Life in the Fab Lane

Kimora Lee Simmons is fine; she has the looks, smarts and personality to be an iconic brand. In other words, girlfriend's got it going on. She is a successful model, CEO of a 'phat' fashion label called Baby Phat, author of a best selling book, mother of two cutsey mini me daughters and the ex wife of hip hop mogul, Russell Simmons. Kimora is all about pop culture so with reality TV being all the rage who is she (Kimora) to turn her nose down at her own reality show? Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane made its debut on the Style channel a few weeks ago. Now I do not know that much about Kimora, don't get me wrong I know exactly who she is; I have seen her guest appearances in films like Brown Sugar and Beauty Shop and read several articles on her. I have also read her book, Fabulosity - well I managed to get through three chapters before giving up the ghost. So after much talk about this show on blogsphere I was very curious to check it out. My first impressions on the show is that it is very large and the word bling comes to mind. Everything about the show is OTT from Kimora's chinzty furniture to her extensive Louis Vuitton luggage that is especially hand made and her huge mansion. However what stands out is Kimora's personality which can be described as loud, outgoing and very very dynamic. What is clear is that she accepts nothing less than 100% from her staff and when watching her berate them you could be forgiven for calling her a cow. A woman who decides that she is so busy that she needs to hire a third assistant and who yells out questions like 'Where is my Blackberry' and "Do you know if I am free for a meeting on Friday?" sounds like very high maintenance. Still she does have her endearing points; she is a loving and fun Mum and is very up front. Kimora does not suffer fools gladly and if she is not happy with something she will express it then and there. You do not get any bitchy comments and back stabbing from Kimora. Life in the Fab Lane is total indulgence and frivolous TV. Will I be tuning in to watch it next week? Hell yeah!!

Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane is on the Style Network on Sundays.