Dermot O’Leary Is A Movie Geek
You’ve got to love Dermot! The fact that he drew me a shark proves that this man rocks!
Viola Davis Is A Movie Geek
Viola Davis is one of my new favourite actresses and I’m not just saying that because she’s been nominated for the Best Actress Award at this years Oscars. She was bloody brilliant in Doubt and she doesn’t just do the same roles or star in the same Hollywood old films. She most recently starred in David Schwimmer’s independent film Trust and the TV drama United States of Tara and that’s why I rate this woman – she’s got layers.
Viola Davis chose Citizen Kane (1941), the Orson Welles classic as her favourite film of all time.
GEEK FACT: Viola Davis is one of 9 African-American actresses who has been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. The others in the past have included; Dorothy Dandridge,Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry and Gabourey Sidibe.
Yasmin Is A Movie Geek
I know Yasmin and I know that she’s a Movie Geek at heart. I had a feeling that she might have chosen This Is England as her favourite film of all time but she went with the classic Romeo & Juliet! Go on girl!
Check out the video for Yasmin’s latest single Light Up The World featuring Ms Dynamite below!
Michael Kiwanuka Is A Movie Geek
Congratulations to the lovely Michael Kiwanuka on topping the BBC’s Sound of 2012 list. You better watch out for this guy because he’s going to be all over your radio and TV in the next 12 months – yay!.
It also looks like the soul man is a Movie Geek because he told us his favourite film of all time is Serpico. The 1973 film is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers. It stars Al Pacino, John Randolph and Tony Roberts – sounds like one to watch!
I Heart…
La Haine. I know it’s an oldly but if you know anything about films, you’ll know that this is a classic. The first time I watched it, I was at University. I was the first time that me and my mates were genuinely excited about watching a film in class. I mean, Citizen Kane and Rear Window were great but god they were boring!
La Haine is a French black-and-white film about three friends from immigrant families living in a multi-ethnic French housing project in the suburbs of Paris. You’ve got Vinz (Vincent Cassel), a Jewish kid who thinks he’s a gangster, Hubert (Hubert Koundé), an Afro-French boxer and small time drug dealer, and Said (Saïd Taghmaoui), an Arabic kid who is the quietest, and wisest out of the three. These guys have no jobs, no prospects, and no productive way of spending their time. Then one day, a street riot breaks out after police seriously injures an Arab student; the three guys are arrested and questioned, and they learn that a policeman lost a gun in the chaos – then it really goes off!.
Trust me if you’ve not seen this film, you need to because it is amazing! Jodie Foster was so impressed with it when she saw it at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, she helped to arrange American distribution for the film through her production company, Egg Pictures.
Jamal Edwards Is A Movie Geek
You can’t see his face but I promise you this is SBTV’s CEO Jamal Edwards (the bling kinda gives it away). Jamal chose the 2004 hit comedy White Chicks as one of his favourite films of all time – I agree!.
White Chicks was written and directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and starred his brothers Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. In the film they play two FBI agents who go undercover as ‘white chicks’ to protect hotel heiresses the Wilson Sisters from a kidnapping plot. If you’ve never seen this film I suggest you put it on your list of ‘films to watch’ because it is hilarious!
Check out Jamal’s online music channel SBTV.co.uk if you haven’t already.
Phife Dawg Is A Movie Geek
A couple of weeks ago I caught up with the lovely Malik Taylor aka Phife Dawg when he was in town promoting the amazing documentary film Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. I asked him to write down his favourite film and when I turned around he ended up writing down his top 10 – love that! We all started talking about Coming To America and then his manager told me that he’s got a signed poster from the whole cast (I wasn’t jealous). I offered him £10 for it and he said he’d ship it over to me…I still haven’t got it.
There’s still no UK release date set for Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest but as soon as I know when it will be out, I’ll let you guys know.
GEEK FACT: Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the film category for for Best Long Form Music Video.
Cher Lloyd Is A Movie Geek
Cher hearts the 1993 kids classic Hocus Pocus. The film starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Thora Birch.
GEEK FACT: The film has grossed over $39,514,713.
Sean Paul Is A Movie Geek
He chose Se7en but he does want you to know that it is only ‘one’ of his favourite films. He’s a big film buff so choosing one film was pretty hard – it’s very important that you know that.
Se7en was released in 1995 and starred Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow.
GEEK FACT: Sean Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one.
J.Cole Is A Movie Geek
I caught up with J.Cole earlier on this week and he told us that he’s a huge fan of Guy Richie, hence Snatch being one of his favourite films of all time. Snatch was released in 2000 and the film starred Benicio Del Toro, Brad Pitt, Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, Dennis Farina and more.
J.Cole is currently in the UK supporting Tinie Tempah on his tour and he’s doing a series of gigs around the country. If you’re a fan of hip hop pick up his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story – “That’s the hook right thurr”.
GEEK FACT: Snatch grossed a total of £12,137,698 in the United Kingdom and $30,093,107 in the United States – small change!.
Professor Green Is A Movie Geek…
And hearts Amores Perros! The lovely Stephen Paul Manderson aka Pro Green is currently number 1 in the UK Charts with his single ‘Read All About It’ featuring Emeli Sande.
GEEK FACT: Amores Perros is a mexican film about a horrific car accident connects three stories, each involving characters dealing with loss, regret, and life’s harsh realities, all in the name of love.
Emma Stone Is A Movie Geek
City Lights (1931) was written, directed and starred Charlie Chaplin.
GEEK FACT: Emma Stone was in a relationship with Kieran Culkin (October 2010-June 2011).
Fearne Cotton Is A Movie Geek…
You can catch the lovely Fearne Cotton on BBC Radio 1 Monday-Friday between 10am-12.45pm.
GEEK FACT: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was inspired by a biography show that Will Ferrell watched about Jessica Savitch, and how one of her male coworkers confessed to being a total chauvinist back in the day.
I Heart Emma Stone
Last night I went down to the press screening of the number 1 film in the USA right now, “The Help”. I’ve been trying to watch this film for ages. I tried to watch it back in August at The Empire Big Screen but trust it to be my luck that all the seats were taken just as I walked into the screening room (typical). Anyway, I’m not going to give too much away except that the film is flippin AMAZING!
One of the main reasons why I wanted to watch “The Help” was because of Emma Stone. She plays the lead character in the film and since starring in Easy A, I’m obsessed with this chick (not in the same way that Jim Carrey is). I love that Emma’s not your conventional Hollywood actress. She’s confident, intelligent, quirky and can tell a pretty mean joke. Oh and I’ve come to the conclusion that she’s a girls girl, unlike those other dull actresses…*cough* Megan Fox.
Anyway, check out some of Emma’s best film clips while you wait for “The Help” which is out on the 26th October (review coming soon).
I Heart….
Coming To America is the greatest film EVER made…okay, maybe that is a bold statement but in my eyes it is. I love this film so much, I actually travelled two and a half hours to Queens in New York just to go to McDowell’s (now Wendy’s) restaurant…what? I told you I’m a geek.
Coming To America was released in 1988 and was directed by John Landis. This classic comedy is about Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) who travels from Africa to Queens, New York to find his perfect wife.
If you’ve never seen this film, go and rent it because I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed. If you are, I’ll personally give you, your money back.
GEEK FACTS:
- John Landis also directed Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
- Most of the dance that’s performed at the beginning of the film is a high-tempo rendition of the Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance.
- Eddie Murphy was ordered by a court to give 19% of his earnings to co-writer Art Buchwald because Eddie didn’t give Buchwald credit for developing the story with him.
- The two homeless men that Prince Akeem gave money to on his first date with Lisa are the “Duke Brothers” (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) from Trading Places (also directed by John Landis).
- Eddie Murphy played Prince Akeem, Clarence, Randy Watson and Saul
- Arsenio Hall played Semmi, Morris and Reverend Brown
- The name of the fictional African country is called “Zamunda”. This name was taken from a Richard Pryor routine where he referred to a fictional African tribe of the same name.
- Vanessa Williams was originally considered for the role of Lisa McDowell.
- Sidney Poitier was originally considered for the role of King Jaffe Joffer.
- Akeem’s apartment building is supposed to be in Queens, but it’s actually located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at S. 5th Street and Hooper.
I Heart…
Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a sucker for true stories and every time I watch this film I cry (gosh, I’m such a wimp). The Freedom Writers Diary is an amazing true story of strength, courage, and achievement. It based on the book called “The Freedom Writers Diary” which is written by Erin Gruwell and the students of Wilson High School. Hilary Swanks plays Erin Gruwell a young teacher who inspires her class of students to pursue their education and dreams. So, if you’re having a bad day, this is the kind of film that will bring you back to reality. Oh and the soundtrack is amazing! It features tracks from 2Pac, Montell Jordan and Common.
GEEK FACTS:
- The Freedom Writers Diary has sold over a quarter of a million copies and counting.
- All of Erin Gruwell’s 150 students graduated from high school and most of them went on to college.
- Erin’s father, portrayed by Scott Glenn in the film, died three years prior to the film’s release.
Good Morning My Neighbours!
This is the perfect way to sum up how I feel today. Gooooood Morning!
GEEK FACT: Sidney Poitier was originally considered for the role of King Jaffe Joffer (I love Sidney Poitier but I heart James Earl Jones more).
What’s Your Favourite Scary Movie?
So, Scream 4 is out this weekend and in homage to the new Wes Craven movie, here are my top 5 favourite scary movies!. If you’ve never seen any of these films, get your arse down to your local DVD store and get ready to scream (get it?). Oh and if you haven’t seen Scream 4 yet, it’s definitely worth a watch. Think live streaming murders, don’t expect the obvious and in the words of Sidney Prescott “don’t fuck with the original”.
Scream (1996)
Candyman (1992)
Childs Play (1988)
Halloween H20 (1998)
Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
I Heart…
The Color Purple! This is one of my favourite films of all time and there’s about 100 reasons why I love it. It’s based on the novel by Alice Walker and it was directed by Steven Spielberg. Whoopi played Celie, a young, uneducated, physically and mentally abused African American woman living in poverty in the 1900′s. Quincy Jones took care of the music and several A-list actors starred in the film including Danny Glover as Mr and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. I love everything about this film from the cinematography right through to the costumes! It’s a raw but heart wrenching story with an amazing cast and that’s exactly why I heart it!
I Heart…
Misery isn’t the kind of film that you want to watch if you’re an a-list celebrity. Nicki Minaj better watch out because those barbz roll in packs of 10 (I’m just sayin). This cult classic was written by Stephen King and it’s about Paul Sheldeon (James Caan) a famous novelist who crashes his car on a snowy mountain road and is “rescued” by Annie ‘psycho’ Wilkes played by Kathy Bates. She ends up keeping him hostage in her house and doesn’t hide the fact that she wants him to stay forever…think hammer. Misery is dark, it’s twisted and it’s a film that will freak you the hell out but that’s exactly why I heart it!
GEEK FACTS:
- Bette Midler turned down of playing Annie Wilkes before it went to Kathy Bates.
- Kathy Bates became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress in a horror/thriller for her role as Annie Wilkes.
- Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, RGene Hackman, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty, all turned down the role of Paul Sheldon.
- As of 2010 this is the only Stephen King adaptation to receive an Academy Award.
