Coming Soon: 'Miracles' and 'Secrets'

(l to r: Director, Spike Lee, and hotties: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy and Laz Alonso)

The cast of Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna looks more appealing than a freshly opened box of See's Chocolates... and we've got a serious sweet tooth! The film, which chronicles the African American experience during World War II, is already garnering tons of critical praise and early buzz...

And speaking of 'buzz'... the Toronto International Film Festival is the launching pad for the groundbreaking war film, as well as Gina Prince Bythewood's The Secret Life of Bees.

(l to r: Jennifer Hudson, Sophi Okenodo, Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Tristan Wilds, Gina Prince Bythewood and Nathan Parker)



Call us presumptuos but we detect the faint aroma of Academy Award consideration in the air....

Besides the running theme of Academy Award possibility, both films seem to have something else in common: Is it just us or does young Hollywood-sensation Tristan Wilds (of Secret Life of Bees), look incredibly like Michael Ealy (of Miracle of St. Anna). This is definitely an improptu Separated at Birth.

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In other news...

Shout out to Serena Williams for her third U.S. Open Championship!

Saturday Soul: Mother's Finest

This Saturday Soul Session is so funky it should come with its own anti-perspirant.

In this vintage performance by little-known but legendary rock band Mother's Finest , frontwoman Joyce Kennedy is the definition of the term, "vocal power-house." Her sound is a fiery hybrid of Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight. But make no mistake about it, Kennedy's voice is remarkably original, and capable of singing quivers into your vertebrae.

From the 1977 album, Another Mother Further, here's "Baby Love":

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered... Broadway

We were on our heels.

One of the most defining pieces of literature written for the 1970's American stage was to experience a revival on Broadway, thanks largely in part to a woman who redefined Broadway in the 1980's.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf, Ntozake Shange's 1975 masterpiece of post-civil rights era black womanhood in America, at the hands of Whoopi Goldberg, starring soul songstreses India.Arie, was set to open September 8th on New York's "Great White Way." But recent news of the loss of a major financial backer has dimmed the lights on what was a highly anticipated show.

We're not sure if this production will ever see the light of Broadway but until then, there's still the the 1982 American Playhouse DVD (starring a young Lorreta Divine, Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield) to hold onto.