How She Move

I fell in love with this chocolate-skinned girl. It was like, she is chocolate-skinned - it is not all about light skinned and long hair.

Rutina Wesley

A good mate and I were discussing the genre of street dance movies and their lack of main Black characters. Like Black people can't dance. Purleaze. She then told me about How She Move which is a film that dispels all that and the curious person that I am decided to check it out. After watching it I am really glad that I followed her recommendation. How She Move is the story of Rayanna played by Rutina Wesley ie the Black chick from True Blood. The film is a low budget one set in Toronto and kicks off with our protagonist having to leave her prestigious boarding school because her parents have spent all their cash on her older sister's rehab bills. Tragically this is to no avail as her sister dies before finishing the rehab programme. These traumatic incidents leave a bitter pill in Rayanna's mouth as she has to return to her local state school and the hostility of her former school peers. However, she has a plan in order to get back to her old school and that is a scholarship which means that she has to sit an exam to qualify. Back at her old neighbourhood she is reacquainted with her old friend Bishop played by Dwain Murphy who is part of a street dance group. Sparks fly but Rayana is determined that nothing will get in her way of that scholarship. However, during the exam she has a mini breakdown and with all her hopes dashed she has to find a back up plan to get her gear into check. The second plan is the highly competitive Step Monster Contest where all the best dancers compete with the winners receiving $50,000. This is the competition that Bishop and her former best friend, Michelle played by Tre' Armstrong are going for. Her relationship with Michelle is very rocky because Michelle feels that Rayanna abandoned her when she got into boarding school and the two girls bump heads often in the film. Michelle is the complete opposite to Rayanna who is studious and focused to Michelle's party going and smoking ways but the two ladies still share a deep love for dancing. After another combative episode at school, Rayanna is ordered to tutor Michelle. The duo sort out their differences and Michele offers Rayanna a slot in her dance group to compete at Step Monster. The thing is girl groups do not do well in the competition and Rayanna knows that if she stands any chance of securing her future she needs to be in a boy group and that means persuading Bishop into letting her join his so they can become the first mixed-sex group to win the competition.

While the cinematography is not as slick as the Step Up movies, the script and storyline of How She Move really grips you. You really fall in love with Rayanna and her gut wrenching determination in this film. The dancing which consists of stepping is awesome but then that is hardly a surprise as a lot of the cast are trained dancers and all put in seven hours of training each day. The film explores interesting dynamics between siblings such as Bishop's relationship with his younger brother, Quake played by Brennan Gademans is slightly turbulent due to their personality differences. Quake is a geek with an aptitude for dance who yearns for his much cooler brother's approval and acceptance to the group. There is the feudfriendship with Rayanna and Michelle and there are Rayanne's parents who are struggling to pick up the pieces after their oldest daughter's death. How She Move is a coming of age film about a lady who finds her path in life after experiencing many setbacks. The films is very endearing and I fully enjoyed it.

You can buy How She Move from amazon.

27 Dresses

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride is a common phrase and one that a lot of single ladies get to hear one time too many. Enter Jane Nichols, played by Katherine Heigl, an all round sweetie who just does not know when to say no. She will do anything for anyone even to the expense of her own happiness. Things such as being a bridesmaid at wedding after wedding (27 in fact) and even two on one night and dashing about like a grass hopper to each wedding reception. Madly in love with her free spirited boss, George played by Edward Burns, Jane plods along at her work place desperately hoping that he will notice her. Her heart is crushed when George falls head over heels with her self absorbed younger sister, Tess, played by Malin Akerman but she manages to put her feelings aside and help the couple plan their wedding. At one of her many stints as a bridesmaid, Jane meets Kevin Doyle played by James Marsden who - unknown to Jane - is covering the wedding for his wedding column in the New York City Journal. The two clash right away due to their contrasting views on marriage. Jane is the eternal romantic optimist while Kevin is a true cynic who detest the idea of marriage and dislikes writing his column even more. When Kevin comes across Jane's diary he takes a peep and sees that it full of back to back weddings and he immediately pitches a story to his editor about the perpetual bridesmaid in the hope that it will advance his career. To add a twist into the tale, Jane is a great fan of Kevin's wedding column but as he writes it under the pseudonym of Malcolm Doyle, Jane has no idea that it is penned by him.

27 Dresses is very entertaining and draws great performances from Katherine Heigl and James Marsden but moreover it also serves as a wake up call. If you have ever held a light for that special someone and waited around in the hope for that wondrous day when he or she would see the light and declare their undenying love - then this film is for you. 27 Dresses contains many themes such as loyalty, friendship, honesty and good old fashioned romance as well as delusion. The film teaches you that if that person who you have been mooching around for a certain period of time has never shown a romantic interest in you then - guess what - he or she never will. Despite how many nice and helpful things you do for that person you will always be good old Jane.

My first exposure to Katherine was seeing her play Gerard Depardieu's daughter in the comedy, My Father, the Hero back in 1994. She shone like a bright light in that film and I thought that she would rocket to stardom but funnily enough it never really happened. However a role in the last year's hit film, Knocked Up and the TV series Grey's Anatomy made certain of Katherine's future as one of Hollywood's leading ladies. The success of 27 Dresses combined with her Marilyn (esque) look at The Oscars now has the industry touting her as heiress to Meg Ryan's crown of the new queen of rom coms. In my opinion it is a worthy title but I am sure a certain Renee Witherspoon will have something to say about that. Also great to see James Marsden in a big film. the last time I saw him was in the mystery thriller film, Gossip. Anne Fletcher does a great job in what is her second directing job. The dancer turned choreographer turned director has had amazing success with dance film, Step Up and Step 2 the Streets so it is no surprise to me to hear that she also produced another of my favourite films, The Wedding Planner. Talking of favourite films, Aline Brosh McKenna comes up trumps with a cracking script but then what else would you expect from someone who produced the script for The Devil Wears Prada and Laws of Attraction.