2008 Woodie Awards
Take a look at the movies coming out of Hollywood this semester from August through December. This guide can help you plan ahead for your semester's movie-going experience.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ The weight of soul singer Isaac Hayes' legacy in Memphis could be measured in a single remark at his memorial service Monday, August 18. "What would you say if you were flying into Memphis and they said you are about to land at Isaac Hayes International Airport," U.
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ An ex-NFL player and his estranged wife, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother, recent divorcees, a pair of Southern belles and fraternity brothers are among the 11 two-person teams hurrying for the finish line - and the $1 million grand prize - on the upcoming 13th edition of CBS' "The Amazing Race."
Starting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 13th season of the Emmy-winning reality competition (premiering Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. EDT) will follow the teams as they travel over 30,000 miles in 23 days to countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, India and Kazakhstan.
NEW YORK (AP) _ BET starts a weekly news program on Friday, August 15, described as a cross between Keith Olbermann and Bill Maher with a black perspective.
Called "The Truth with Jeff Johnson" and airing at 11 p.m. on Fridays, the program stars a BET personality who has also been an activist for the NAACP and People for the American Way.
ATLANTA (AP) _ Ludacris' new song, "Politics as Usual," may have cost him one of his biggest fans, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. And for good reason: It points up the dilemma facing the nation's potential first black president, who wants the support of the influential hip-hop community but needs to steer clear of the controversy so commonly associated with its music.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Cici confesses on her Web page that she likes to greet everyone by licking their feet. Dolce admits to being a mamma's boy. And Jake and Tycho posted a video that chronicles their adventures of rolling around on their backs.
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A "Family Guy" spinoff show featuring the character of Cleveland Brown is mixing up its voice cast, ethnically speaking. Mike Henry, who is white, will continue to provide the voice for Cleveland on Fox's new animated series. Joining Henry in the cast will be black actors Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Kevin Michael Richardson, the network announced Monday.
"Hancock" demonstrates why Will Smith gets paid the big bucks.
The guy has owned Fourth of July weekends with huge debuts for some passable but not-so-great movies ("Independence Day," ''Men in Black II"), and he'll likely do it again with this foul-mouthed-misanthrope-as-superhero flick.
"Hancock" has a crisp, entertaining set-up - Smith as a superhero who hates everyone and is hated in turn for the chaos he causes. With nowhere to go after that, the filmmakers let the story devolve into a lame variation of the very action genre they aimed to flip on its head.
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ T-Pain transformed the BET Awards into a circus Tuesday, June 24th, with a multi-artist medley that showed the rapper and singer's wide-ranging influence on urban music, while best-selling rapper Lil Wayne and songstress Alicia Keys gave rousing performances of their own.
Wearing a spangled top hat, T-Pain - nominated for a leading five BET Awards - shared the stage with fellow nominees Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Ludacris and Big Boi, along with a bevy of big-top freaks, including fire eaters and acrobats.
NEW YORK (AP) _ Lil Wayne now has official numbers to back up his bragging - the rapper's new CD has sold a spectacular 1 million copies its first week. "Tha Carter III" is easily the best selling first week of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) _ The black airmen whose lives will be the basis of a George Lucas movie know the picture will highlight their record of successfully escorting thousands of U.S. bombers in World War II. They also feel it should tell of the trials they encountered stateside, like seeing German prisoners of war being treated better and afforded rights that were withheld from black American citizens.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) _ Eleven college students received cash prizes and trophies Saturday for short films competing in the 35th annual Student Academy Awards. The gold medal prize for narrative films went to Rajeev Dassani of the University of Southern California for the film "A Day's Work.
NEW YORK (AP) _ After spending his youth mired in harrowing brutality and poverty as a child soldier in Sudan's ethnic conflict, Emmanuel Jal was rescued by aid workers who pushed to give him a new start at life in a different country. But there were times when he didn't want it.
In the four years since his last album - the nine-million selling, Grammy-winning "Confessions" - Usher has apparently undergone a personal and musical maturation. On the homefront, the Atlanta-bred R&B singer now has a son, Usher Raymond V, and wife, celebrity stylist Tameka Foster (despite breakup rumors in the blogosphere).
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) _ Having nearly tripled its audience and added about 20,000 new applications over the past year, Facebook Inc.'s popular online hangout is about to undergo a housecleaning. Visitors who can't stand the clutter that's been piling up will be glad to see that the site's new look sweeps disparate bits of information into categories marked by tabs at the top of each user's customized home page.
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