Will Smith receives two Oscar nominations for King Richard

Will Smith received his third and fourth Oscar nominations this morning. He received nominations for Best Actor list for his role in King Richard, and shared the film’s Best Picture nomination with Tim White and Trevor White.

This is Smith's third Best Actor nomination and his first one in 15 years.

His previous Academy Award nominations both came for playing real-life figures. His performance as Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann’s Ali was recognized in 2002, and in 2007 he was nominated for playing Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness alongside his son Jaden Smith.

King Richard recieved six Oscar nominations overall. The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis) Best Film Editing, andt Original Song (Be Alive by Beyonce).

King Richard "follows the journey of Richard Williams, an undeterred father instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, who will end up changing the sport of tennis forever. Driven by a clear vision of their future and using unconventional methods, Richard has a plan that will take Venus and Serena Williams from the streets of Compton, California to the global stage as legendary icons."

12 Black actors nominated for Golden Globe Awards

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced nominees for their annual Golden Globe Awards,. Twelve of those nominated in the acting catergories for both film and televison are Black Or African American. This inlcludes Denzel Washington, Ruth Negga, Issa Rae, Anthony Anderson, and more.

FILM CATEGORIES

Best Actor in a Drama:

Mahershala Ali ("Swan Song")

Will Smith ("King Richard")

Denzel Washington ("The Tragedy of Macbeth")

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama

Aunjanue Ellis ("King Richard")

Ruth Negga ("Passing").

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Actress in a drama

Uzo Aduba, “In Treatment”

Actor in a drama

Billy Porter, “Pose”

Omar Sy, “Lupin”

Actress in a comedy or musical

Issa Rae, “Insecure”

Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”

Actor in a comedy or musical

Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”

Actress in a limited/anthology series or TV movie

Cynthia Erivo, “Genius: Aretha”

King Richard recieves 4 Golden Globe nominations

King Richard starring Will Smith as Richard Williams and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association .

The movie follows the life of Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams who also served as executive producers on the film. King Richard also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn, and Jon Bernthal.

King Richard was nominated in the following categories:

Movies Drama: "King Richard"

Actor in a drama: Will Smith, "King Richard"

Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture.

Supporting actress: Aunjanue Ellis, "King Richard"

Original song: "Be Alive" (from "King Richard")

This is Will Smith's 6th Golden Globes nomination overall and 4th for Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture. The other two nominations were for his work on The Fresh Prince of Bel-aire.

Emmett Till Docuseries 'Let the World See' to Premiere in January 2022

ABC News announced today the special limited docuseries Let The World See, produced in association with Shawn Carter and Roc Nation, Will Smith and Westbrook Studios, and Aaron Kaplan and Kapital Entertainment. The series will chronicle Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s fierce quest for justice that sparked the civil rights movement after her son Emmett Till’s brutal murder, inspiring heroes like Ms. Rosa Parks and others to stand up boldly for their rights. Let The World See premieres Thursday, Jan. 6 (10:01-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC and will air for three consecutive Thursday nights following each new episode of ABC’s upcoming limited series Women of the Movement, also produced by Roc Nation, Westbrook Studios and Kapital Entertainment.

Let The World See is a fresh and deep examination of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s fight to bring her son’s body home to Chicago and her pivotal yet heartbreaking decision to have an open-casket funeral for the public to see, which ultimately served as a turning point for the civil rights movement. The docuseries also traces Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s journey back to the Jim Crow South to face her son’s murderers in court. The program will illustrate how the Till family has continued her legacy since her death in 2003, remaining active in the movement as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ms. Breonna Taylor and others sparked protests around the country.

Weaving together first-hand accounts from Emmett Till’s family, Let The World See includes interviews with Emmett Till’s cousins Rev. Wheeler Parker, who was a witness to the abduction, Ms. Ollie Gordon and Amos Smith, and Ms. Thelma Wright, Ms.Mamie Till-Mobley’s cousin. The docuseries also features interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, activist and friend of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley; FBI agent Lent Rice, who was a part of the team that opened a new investigation into Emmett Till’s case more than 50 years after his death; journalist Dan Wakefield, who covered the Emmet Till murder trial; and Ms. Betty Pearson, who watched the Emmett Till murder trial in the courtroom more than 60 years ago. The special programming also highlights deeply personal insights from contemporary authors, including Ms. Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give), Christopher Benson (Death of Innocence), John Edgar Wideman (Writing to Save a Life) and Michael Eric Dyson (Long Time Coming), who visits the scene of the crime for a special reading of his Letter to Emmett Till.

Let The World See is produced by ABC News Studios in association with Roc Nation, Westbrook Studios, Kapital Entertainment and Cobble Hill Films and is directed by Ms. Jeanmarie Condon and Ms. Fatima Curry. Ms. Condon and Ms. Curry are executive producers for Cobble Hill Films and ABC News Studios, respectively; Shawn Carter, Tyran Smith and Jay Brown are executive producers for Roc Nation; Will Smith is executive producing for Westbrook Studios and James Lassiter also serves as executive producer; Aaron Kaplan is executive producer for Kapital Entertainment.

SNEAK PEEK: ‘Let The World See’ docuseries

Suicide Squad opening weekend success driven by African American & Latino moviegoers

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com

The $135 million plus opening weekend success of Suicide Squad can be attributed in part to its appeal to minority moviegoers. It seems that using a Fast & Furious type casting approach when it comes to diversity helped drive minority auds to the theater to see the film. It should be no surprise (except to studio heads) that Black and Latino audiences turned out to see to see actors like Will Smith (Deadshot), Jay Hernandez (El Diablo), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc) playing superheroes/supervillians.

After seeing it I can attest that although fun and action packed it is not a good film and appears to have scenes that were cut out after the team finally gets together. There are none of the obligatory get to know you, don't like you, fight you, and then like you bonding scenes that help you get to know the characters. But that didn't stop minority audiences from going to see the superhero/supervillain film that featured characters they felt they could relate to.

Per PostTrak, the combination of African American and Hispanic moviegoers made up a huge 41% of the audience with both audiences giving the film a whopping 81% positive score. [SOURCE]

The diverse film cast includes Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, and Cara Delevingne.

All Def Movie Awards Winners

In a comedic response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, music mogul Russell Simmons and comedian Tony Rock have started the All Def Movie Awards to honor primarily, but not exclusively, black film professionals. Check out the list inaugural winners of the All Def Music Awards below. The show will air Sunday Night, 02/29/2016 on the Fusion network opposite the Academy Awards.

Best Picture
Straight Outta Compton
Accepted by Ice Cube and O'Shea Jackson Jr.

Best Actress
Sanaa Lathan - The Perfect Guy

Best Actor
Michael B. Jordan - Creed

Best Director
Ryan Coogler - Creed

Lifetime Achievement Award
Will Smith
Presented by Tyrese Gibson

Vanguard Award
Norman Lear
Presented by Jerrod Carmichael

Best Helpful White Person
Christoph Waltz
(Accepted by Robin Thicke, who accepted "on behalf of all White People")

Best Bad Muh Fu$&a Award
Denzel Washington

Most Quoted Movie
Friday
Presented to Ice Cube

Best Black Survivor in a Movie
Ice Cube as Danny Rich in Anaconda
presented by Gary Owen

Most Likely to Steal Your Girl Award
Amber Rose

African American Film Critics Association: Best Film, Straight Outta Compton

The AAFCA (African American Film Critics Association) honors excellence in cinema by creating awareness for films with universal appeal to black communities, while emphasizing films about the black experience and those produced written, directed and starring performers of African descent. It will hold its awards ceremony February 10 in Hollywood.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Picture
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)

Best Director
Ryan Coogler,Creed (Warner Bros.)

Best Ensemble
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)

Best Actor
Will Smith, Concussion (Sony)

Best Actress
Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios)

Best Supporting Actor
Jason Mitchell – Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)

Best Supporting Actress
Tessa Thompson, Creed (Warner Bros.)

Best Independent Film
Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios)

Best Screenplay
Rick Famuyiwa – Dope (Open Road Films)

Breakout Performance
Michael B. Jordan, Creed (Warner Bros.)

Best Animation
The Peanuts Movie (20thCentury Fox)

Best Documentary
A Ballerina’s Tale (Sundance Selects)

Best Song
“See You Again”, Furious 7 (Atlantic Records)

Best TV Comedy
Black-ish (ABC)

Best TV Drama
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)

Best Cable/New Media TV Show
Survivor’s Remorse (Starz)

AAFCA Top Ten Films of 2015 in order of distinction:

1. Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
2. Creed (Warner Bros.)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (Warner Bros.)
4. Beasts of No Nation (Netflix)
5. The Martian (20th Century Fox)
6. 3-1/2 Minutes/Dope (HBO/Open Road Films)
7. Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios)
8. Carol (Weinstein Co.)
9. The Big Short (Paramount Pictures)
10. The Danish Girl (Focus Features)

Two more "Bad Boys" films to be released!

Sony Pictures released a schedule of upcoming releases and that schedule includes two new Bad Boys sequels.

“Bad Boys 3″ is set for Feb. 17, 2017, with “Bad Boys 4″ slated to bow July 3, 2019. The first two pics starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, though it’s unknown whether those two actors are on board for the next two movies.