The Contenders: Melina Matsoukas
‘Queen & Slim’ Director Melina Matsoukas On Showing “Black People As Victors And Not Victims” – The Contenders L.A. Video
Grammy-winning music video director Melina Matsoukas is known for using her work not only to highlight African -American culture but also reflect pertinent issues in the community. That’s what made Queen & Slim the apt project for her feature directorial debut.
“The script for me was everything,” Matsoukas said at Deadline’s Contenders Los Angeles event. “It was political. It was saying something. It was illuminating issues in the black community with police brutality and so many of our struggles. But mostly because it was this beautiful love story as well. It really staddles the line between all kinds of genres. … We get to enjoy this beautiful journey between two black people.”
QUEEN & SLIM – “For me, this is a battle cry.”
Lena Waithe Explains Police Brutality Focus In ‘Queen & Slim’
“For me, this is a battle cry.”
Written by Alexis Reese
With one of the most anticipated Black films of 2019, Queen & Slim, to be released before the start of the new year, producer and writer Lena Waithe is spinning the traditional police brutality narrative.
Sitting down with BET Digital, Waithe speaks to the importance of the film, her vision behind the screenplay, the current state of America’s police force and more.
The drama follows two strangers, Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), who find themselves responsible for the death of a police officer after going on a first date. Waithe transformed a small anecdote she got from her co-writer James Frey into a fully formed narrative, then brought on Melina Matsoukas as director. With police brutality at an all-time high, the need for the film was urgent if not crucial. “I think for Black people, police have never represented to us an organization that protects or serves us. We almost feel more oppressed by the police. That is something that is an issue and is a problem in our society, because we are citizens just like anyone else. But we feel policed, you can’t live freely in that way,” Waithe says.
Costuming QUEEN & SLIM
Queen & Slim: How Black Panthers, Diahann Carroll Inspired the Film’s Designer Costumes
Costume designer Shiona L. Turini walks us through the film’s sleek sartorial choices, from Slim’s custom red tracksuit to Queen’s Brother Vellies boots.
BY YOHANA DESTA
costume designer Shiona Turini on the set of Queen & Slim.
BY LELANIE FOSTER/UNIVERSAL.
In Queen & Slim, the sweeping road movie thriller directed by Melina Matsoukas and written by Lena Waithe, the costumes are culled from a world of rich cultural sources. The revolutionary Black Panthers, blaxploitation movies, and Diahann Carroll were all used as reference points by designers like Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss, Dapper Dan,and Aurora James of Brother Vellies, all of whom contributed looks to the film about a young black couple (Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith) who go on the run after killing a racist, jumpy police officer. The end result is a film that is equal parts thought-provoking and impossibly stylish, a sartorial vision funneled through the eye of one specific person: costume designer Shiona L. Turini.
Queen & Slim is a first feature for many involved: It’s Matsoukas’s debut as a feature director (she rose to fame after helming sleek music videos for the likes of Beyoncé and Snoop Dogg); it’s Waithe’s first feature screenplay; it’s Turner-Smith’s first time carrying a film. It’s also Turini’s first time costuming a movie. The designer, a former editorial stylist and director who worked at magazines like Cosmopolitan and W, first turned to the screen after a chance meeting with Matsoukas.
“We met on a camping trip in Joshua Tree for one New Year’s Eve and we really just hit it off,” Turini tells Vanity Fair. “We work very similarly, we’re the same age. It was a very instant connection.”
By that point, Matsoukas was already an established music video director (she first worked with Beyoncé in 2007), but Turini had no clue about her friend’s status in the industry. She only realized later when she was making a professional website and asked to see Matsoukas’s site; the director didn’t have one, but pointed her in the direction of her management team, who had catalogued her work thus far.
Daniel Kaluuya On QUEEN & SLIM
Why Daniel Kaluuya fought for ‘Queen & Slim’: ‘I like things that are misbehaved’
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Daniel Kaluuya is used to getting people talking.
After appearing in the first season of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology series “Black Mirror,” the British actor went on to deliver a breakout performance in Jordan Peele’s genre-redefining psychological horror film “Get Out,” for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
In the two years since, he’s had memorable turns in Marvel’s megahit “Black Panther” and Steve McQueen’s critically acclaimed “Widows” before once again taking the lead in the Thanksgiving release “Queen & Slim,” directed by Melina Matsoukas from a script by Lena Waithe.
“It’s a blessing, man,” he said over a late October lunch at Mid-City’s Paper or Plastik cafe. “I realized I’m always there at the beginning of things: Doing Jordan’s first [directed] film and then Lena’s first film, the first [season] of ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Black Panther.’ It’s a nice thing to affirm something that could be in the zeitgeist.”
In the same way that “Get Out” and “Black Panther” sparked broad and unexpected cultural conversations when they were released, “Queen & Slim” is primed to do the same. A love story about an unlikely black couple on the run after an altercation with a police officer, the film was intended as a meditation on police brutality and feels decidedly of the times.
QUEEN & SLIM – “A brilliant piece of protest art”
‘Queen & Slim’: Meet the Bonnie and Clyde of 2019
A tale of an outlaw couple on the run in Trump’s racially charged America is a bold new take on an old tale — and a brilliant piece of protest art
Racial justice and the outrage at its absence courses through the visual and emotional powerhouse that is Queen and Slim. There’s also the exhilaration that comes from watching talents new to movies seize their moment with a passion that pins you to your seat. Director Melina Matsoukas — and artist of Greek and Afro-Cuban heritage — is best known for music videos such as Beyonce’s “Formation”; she also helmed Master of None‘s brilliant “Thanksgiving,” episode of Master of None, the same episode that made screenwriter Lena Waithe the first black woman to win an Emmy for writing a comedy. Now they’ve teamed up on what’s being labelled “the black Bonnie and Clyde.”
Queen & Slim is more than that, of course — way more.
[ click to continue reading at Rolling Stone ]
OTHER REVIEWS…
New York Times
TIME
The Wrap
Waco Tribune
Austin Chronicle
Chicago Daily Herald
Boston Globe
Jodie Turner-Smith on QUEEN & SLIM
New Hollywood Podcast: Jodie Turner-Smith Talks Cultural Identity And Social Impact Of ‘Queen & Slim’
By Dino-Ray Ramos, Amanda N’Duka
Jodie Turner-Smith started off in modeling and has appeared in TV series such as Nightflyers, The Last Ship and True Blood and has appeared in feature films like The Neon Demon. She now stars opposite Daniel Kaluuya in the Melina Matsoukas-directed Queen & Slim written by Lena Waithe (opening November 27). The film is garnering critical acclaim and awards season buzz for shedding an authentic light on the Black experience, flipping the script on the timely narrative about police violence against the Black community. As her first lead role in a major feature film, Turner-Smith stopped by Deadline’s New Hollywood Podcast to tell us all about it.
INTERVIEW: Lena Waithe on QUEEN & SLIM
QUEEN & SLIM – Tomorrow
3BlackDot Launches MisBits
3BlackDot unveils MisBits combat game set in a sandbox cartoon world
3BlackDot is unveiling its MisBits, which is a multiplayer combat game set in a sandbox cartoon world. The PC title is entering closed beta testing now and should launch on Steam in 2020.
In the game, toys have taken over a house. Players will build their own combat gear in a multiplayer action-adventure world. It’s a sandbox environment where there are no rules. It’s sort of like happens when Toy Story-style characters are set loose in a world where they can go berserk.
It’s the first game from a new game studio in Los Angeles, founded by industry veterans from Ubisoft, Monte Cristo, Cliffhanger Products, Sproing, and Purple Lamp Studios. MisBits aims to be the next generation of sandbox games, where anything can happen.
The founders include former Machinima executives Angelo Pullen and Luke Stepleton, along with top-ranked YouTube gaming influencers Adam Montoya (SeaNanners), Tom Cassell (TheSyndicateProject) and, Evan Fong (VanossGaming).
Interview with A MILLION LITTLE PIECES Direct Sam Taylor-Johnson
Exclusive Interview: Director Sam Taylor-Johnson Talks A Million Little Pieces
By Luke Parker
Collaborating for the first time since 2009’s Nowhere Boy, Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are bringing A Million Little Pieces to the screen, a passion project which the married couple wrote together. Sam, who also directed the film, has had a special attachment to the material for years. A bond so strong that even when James Frey, author of the source material, was chastised for fabricating some of the details in his book, Sam was still eager to to tell this story.
The film, which stars her husband in the leading role, follows a version of Frey who, like in the memoir, is left in rehab to work the drug addiction out of his system.
We Got This Covered recently had the opportunity to speak with both Sam and Aaron about the upcoming film. You can check out our conversation with the director down below, in which discussed her experience partnering with her husband again, as well as working alongside the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Juliette Lewis, and Giovanni Ribisi. Enjoy!
The Music of QUEEN & SLIM
How Queen and Slim‘s Filmmakers Captured the Past, Present and Future of Black Music
This article contains mild spoilers for the movie Queen & Slim.
Melina Matsoukas has directed some of the most influential music videos of the past decade. She placed Beyoncé atop a flooded car in “Formation” and built heaven and dystopia in Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” She introduced Lady Gaga’s zany theatricality to the world in “Just Dance.” Through her many conceptually ambitious and uniquely stylized works, Matsoukas shifted the modern ambition and aesthetic of the music video, bringing it closer to those of a feature film.
So it’s no surprise that her directorial feature debut, Queen & Slim, is deeply indebted to music. The film has been called a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde: it follows the two eponymous characters (played by Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya) who flee south after Slim kills a police officer in self-defense. The pair spends much of their time alone on the road—but according to Matsoukas, music “becomes another character on their journey.” It seeps out of car radios, New Orleans homes and Mississippi juke joints, serving as a romantic spark, a chaotic agent and a soothing balm.
A MILLION LITTLE PIECES Red Band Trailer
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Debuts Red Band Trailer of ‘A Million Little Pieces’ – Watch Here!
Aaron Taylor-Johnson keeps it cool and casual while the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversation screening of his film A Million Little Pieces held at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room on Thursday (November 21) in Los Angeles.
The 29-year-old Golden Globe winner sat down for a Q&A panel to dish about the American drama film, based on the book by the same name written by James Frey. The film is also co-written by Aaron‘s wife Sam Taylor-Johnson.
A Million Little Pieces follows the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and drug abuser by the same name, James Frey.
QUEEN & SLIM’s Melina Matsoukas New Hollywood Podcast
New Hollywood Podcast: ‘Queen & Slim’ Director Melina Matsoukas Talks Changing The Narrative Of Violence Against Black Community
By Dino-Ray Ramos, Amanda N’Duka
Melina Matsoukas is known for directing some of the most compelling and visually striking music videos including Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Beyonce’s game-changing “Formation” — both earned her an MTV Video Music Award. This year, she made her foray into the feature space with Queen and Slim. Written by Emmy winner Lena Waithe and starring Academy Award nominee Daniel Kaluuya and newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith, the film has been causing buzz ever since it was announced.
Dev Hynes’ Score for QUEEN & SLIM
Dev Hynes is releasing his original score for Queen & Slim
by Lazlo Rugoff
Mellow operatic rhythms and delicate piano compositions.
Composer and musician Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange, is releasing his score for Queen & Slim this March via Domino, following its digital release on Friday the 22nd of November.
Written by Lena Waithe and based on James Frey’s original idea, Queen & Slim stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith as a young couple on the run.
It follows the release of the film’s soundtrack, which includes new music from Lauryn Hill, Vince Staples, Megan Thee Stallion and more.
Queen & Slim is the second film score composed by Hynes, following his work for Gia Coppola’s 2013 Palo Alto.
QUEEN & SLIM’s Turner-Smith and Kaluuya Connecting
from Lee Bailey’s ELECTRONIC URBAN REPORT
‘QUEEN & SLIM’ STARS JODIE TURNER-SMITH & DANIEL KALUUYA TALK DEEP CONNECTIONS
by JILLMUNROE
*Imagine a bad Tinder date turning into a life or death situation that includes a manhunt for murder, folklore status and love.
That’s the backdrop to the new Universal Pictures upcoming release, “Queen & Slim,” The feature-film directorial debut from Melina Matsoukas (executive producer/director of HBO’s Insecure) stars Academy Award® nominee Daniel Kaluuya as “Slim” and rising star Jodie Turner-Smith (Syfy’s Nightflyers), as “Queen.”
The film was written by Emmy winner Lena Waithe from a story created by Lena and bestselling author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces.) The film has already become a hot topic on social media, with many celebs weighing in on the movie’s heavy topics. Snoop Dogg mentioned he was so emotional, he had to walk out of the theatre.
EURweb’s Jill Munroe spoke with Kaluuya and Turner-Smith to discuss why the film has already connected with the audience, Kaluuya’s experience not only starring in the film, but producing it as well and what would be on their “on the run” playlist.
[ click to continue reading at Lee Bailey’s ELECTRONIC URBAN REPORT ]
Wilde’s Ring Recovered
Oscar Wilde’s stolen ring found by Dutch ‘art detective’
A golden ring once given as a present by the famed Irish writer Oscar Wilde has been recovered by a Dutch “art detective” nearly 20 years after it was stolen from Britain’s Oxford University.
The friendship ring, a joint gift from Wilde to a fellow student in 1876, was taken during a burglary in 2002 at Magdalen College, where the legendary dandy studied. At the time it was valued at £35,000 (40,650 euros, $45,000).
The trinket’s whereabouts remained a mystery for years and there were fears that the ring — shaped like a belt and buckle and made from 18-carat gold — had even been melted down.
But Arthur Brand, a Dutchman dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for recovering a series of high-profile stolen artworks, used his underworld connections to finally find it.
QUEEN & SLIM – “Powerful Soundtrack”
Queen & Slim Get The Powerful Soundtrack They Deserve
The Queen & Slim soundtrack is a high-octane ride with a tender heart — just like the movie it’s made for.
The soundtrack dropped Friday from the iconic Motown Records, ahead of Queen & Slim’s theatrical release later this month. Queen & Slim stars Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and model and actress Jodie Turner-Smith as a “black Bonnie and Clyde” running from the police. After a forgettable first date in Ohio, the pair are pulled over on a minor traffic stop — but the situation ends suddenly and tragically, with a police officer dead after Kaluuya’s character fights back in self-defense. The incident goes viral, and the two (him a retail employee, her a criminal defense lawyer) go on the run and become national figures.
The 17-song soundtrack is a display of Black talent and artistry, featuring a genuinely staggering lineup ranging from rising hip-hop superstars to soul and R&B legends. A new, fiery Megan Thee Stallion track kicks off the proceedings, followed by original songs by artists including Lauryn Hill — her track “Guarding The Gates” is her first new music in five years, Rolling Stonereports, though fans might recognize it from her live shows.Other artists on the soundtrack include — *takes deep breath* — Vince Staples, 6LACK, Mereba, Syd, Coast Contra, BJ The Chicago Kid, Lil Baby, Burna Boy, and Blood Orange, who also composed the film’s score. Classic songs by Bilal (“Soul Sista”), Mike Jones (“Still Tippin’”), and Roy Ayers (“Searching”) are on the list, too, along with Tiana Major9 and EarthGang’s new single “Collide,” which dropped with an accompanying music video.
Queen & Slim was written by Lena Waithe, and draws inspiration from a short story by her and author James Frey. Waithe worked with Queen & Slim director Melina Matsoukas and Motown Records’ president, Ethiopia Habtemariam, to assemble the soundtrack, which is intended to sound like a musical road trip mirroring the characters’ journey together. It is also meant to be a bold artistic statement — a modern take on the history of Black music in the U.S.
Bash @ 3BlackDot
Swissx CBD Wellness Benefits Highlighted in Co-Sponsorship of AKON Lighting L.A. Music and Art Event
Downtown Los Angeles was introduced to the wellness benefits of Swissx and its CBD products this weekend, as Swissx Labs served as a co-sponsor of Akon Lighting L.A. Just before its launch, Swissx CEO Alki David announced that the company would sponsor the urban conscious music and art event, which was hosted by Grammy Award-nominated singer, Akon.
During Akon Lighting L.A., which benefited AKON Lighting Africa, also highlighted how Swissx is the purest and most respected brand available on the market. All Swissx products come from specially developed strains of hemp grown and processed in Switzerland. The brand counts such celebrities as Tommy Chong, Scott Disick, Dave Navarro, Donatella Versace, Ray J and Jonathan Rhys Myers as fans, and Snoop Dogg has even praised Swissx on social media.
Tonight at 9pm, Snoop Dogg will hit the stage when he hosts the special set DJ SNOOPADELIC.
The all-vegan festival also features kundalini yoga, meditation and indigenous people ceremonies.
The event continues today until 11PM, Saturday the 16th.
3BLACKDOT is at 1580 Jesse Street, L.A. CA 90021 For tickets and more information, here.
QUEEN & SLIM’s Lena Waithe with David Remnick
Lena Waithe on “Queen & Slim”
With David Remnick
The screenwriter Lena Waithe talks about “Queen & Slim,” her new feature from. For many black people, Waithe says, the police “represent Jim Crow, they represent injustice, they represent death to a lot of us.”
King Crimson 1982
Instagram A MILLION LITTLE PIECES’ Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Reminds Fans on Instagram of His Upcoming Film ‘A Million Little Pieces’
by Gabriela Silva
The American drama film, ‘A Million Little Pieces’ is based on the book by the same name written by James Frey. The film is co-written by Sam Taylor-Johnson who is known for directing ‘Nowhere Boy’ and the first installment of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.
Alongside Taylor-Johnson is her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is starring in the film as James Frey. Aron is known for his roles in ‘Kickass’, ‘Savages’, The Avengers films and ‘Nowhere Boy’.
QUEEN & SLIM Soundtrack Out Now
Vince Staples’ “Yo Love” feat. 6lack & Mereba From Queen & Slim:The Soundtrack Is Out Today
Today, Motown Records released Vince Staples’ “Yo Love” feat. 6lack & Mereba. The new song is from Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack, which will be released this Friday, November 15.Zane Lowe debuted “Yo Love” earlier today as a World First on Apple Music’s Beats 1.The track is featured today on the cover of Apple Music’s New Music Daily playlist. Download / stream “Yo Love” HERE and view the pseudo video HERE.
Those who pre-order / pre-save the albumin digital format will instantly receive “Yo Love” plus “Ride or Die” by Megan Thee Stallion x VickeeLo and “Collide” by Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG. Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack is available for pre-order / pre-save HERE.
Starring Oscar® nominee Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Queen & Slim isa powerful, consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence. The film, from GRAMMY®-winning director Melina Matsoukas and Emmy®-winning writer Lena Waithe, is due in theaters November 27 following its November 14 premiere at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, where it opens the festival.
The music in the film serves as an additional voice and showcases the range of talent across Black artists with a compelling blend of genres. The 16-song soundtrack also features new tracks by Ms. Lauryn Hill, Lil Baby, Coast Contrafeaturing BJ The Chicago Kid and Syd, plus classic songs by Roy Ayers, Bilal, Mike Jones and others. Blood Orange composed the film’s score and is featured on the soundtrack.
“Collide,” by Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG, has amassed over three million combined global streams. Produced by Benny Cassette (Kanye West, John Legend), the track was the #1 Most Added song at Urban AC Radio. It has topped Spotify’s The Newness playlist, placed in Apple Music’s “Me & Bae” playlist and appears on the biggest R&B playlists on Pandora (Top R&B Hits), YouTube Music (R&B Wave) and Amazon (R&B Rotation).
Lena Waithe wrote the screenplay for Queen & Slim from a story by herself and bestselling author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces, Katerina). The film is produced by Frey, Waithe, Matsoukas, Michelle Knudsen, Andrew Coles, Brad Weston and Pamela Abdy.
How Knight Rider Brought Down The Berlin Wall
David Hasselhoff Looks Back on His Surprising Role in the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, when, on Nov. 9, 1989, Berliners breached the 12-ft.-high wall that had divided the communist East side of the city and the capitalist West side of the city since 1961.
It was not only the beginning of a new chapter for Germany and the World, but also a new chapter in David Hasselhoff’s career. The actor and singer had made a name for himself in the U.S., especially as the star of the TV show Knight Rider, but he became even more of a celebrity in Germany after his song “Looking For Freedom” (an English adaptation of the 1978 German hit “Auf Der Strasse Nach Süden,” often translated as “On the road to the South”) came out in 1988, followed by the album of the same name in June 1989. It topped the charts in West Germany, in large part because its lyrics about the long search for freedom struck a chord among those living in a divided Germany. The coincidental timing of the song’s release and the wall’s destruction made Hasselhoff a surprising symbol of the end of the Cold War, a position cemented by his performance at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on New Year’s Eve 1989.
QUEEN & SLIM On Racism, Police Brutality
‘Queen & Slim’ a tale of outlaws, but also a love story and a meditation on racism and police brutality
By SONAIYA KELLEY, LOS ANGELES TIMES
For “Queen & Slim,” screenwriter Lena Waithe’s meditation on race relations and police brutality, director Melina Matsoukas drew visual inspiration from sources as diverse as Alfonso Cuaron’s 2001 dramedy “Y Tu Mama Tambien” and Spike Lee’s 1989 classic “Do the Right Thing.” But the biggest influence came from YouTube.
“One of the key references for me has been real life, authentic struggles in the black community,” said Matsoukas, who makes her feature debut with the movie, in theaters on Thanksgiving. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos of black people being pulled over by the police or encountering law enforcement and it not necessarily ending well. Unfortunately, there are so many of those videos, but they were a major influence in how I wanted to approach shooting the opening scene.”
Starring Daniel Kaluuya and newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith, our protagonists (known simply as Slim and Queen until the end) are forced on the run within the first 10 minutes of the movie. “A Million Little Pieces” author James Frey pitched the idea for the opening to Waithe at a party.
“He was like, ‘Yo, I have this idea for a movie that I can’t write,’” she remembered. “And I was like ‘What’s that?’”
Infinite Us
from The Next Web
Meet the scientist who thinks we all exist in multiple universes
by CARA CURTIS
Have you ever laid wide-awake in the late hours of the night wondering what your life would look like if you took that other job, moved countries, or ended up with someone else? While there’s no definite answer — and probably never will be — the idea that there’s multiple versions of you, living in various universes, isn’t as make-believe as you might think.
According to Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology and author of Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, the theory of Many Worlds Interpretation suggests every important event has multiple possible outcomes and splits the world into alternate realities.
This mind-bending idea originally came from Hugh Everett, a graduate student who wrote just one paper in the 1950s. Everett’s theory describes the universe as a changing set of numbers, known as the wave function. According to Many Worlds, the universe continually splits into new branches, to produce multiple versions of ourselves. Carroll argues that, so far, this interpretation is the simplest possible explanation of quantum mechanics.
Vaughn Benjamin Gone
from Reggae Festival Guide
The world will mourn the passing on of a true legend – Vaughn Benjamin
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands – It is with heavy heart and endless gratitude for the teachings & music that we share the devastating news of the crossing over to the next dimension by one of the most brilliant, original, prophetic writers and chanters we ever had the blessing to know. Reggae Festival Guide will truly, deeply, miss our wonderful brother and beloved friend for over a decade – the mystical Vaughn Benjamin of Midnite Band, then Akae Beka.
Vaughn’s life & lyrics were Livicated to JAH and his music touched upon esoteric and ethereal realms of ancient and modern history, the sciences, metaphysics and beyond.
His perspective on Rastafari and life taught loyal fans around the world and will continue to be an epic example of a life serving JAH and spreading knowledge. He taught us so much we will be forever grateful for the heights!
The world has lost a true shining star and prolific teacher unlike any being to ever walk the earth. Vaughn and his brother Ron Benjamin created a new meditative genre within roots reggae, rooted in ancient Ithiopian chanting and toured the globe as Midnite for 20 years before Akae Beka.
James Frey Reads AMERICAN CLASSICS
Melina and Lena On QUEEN & SLIM
‘Queen & Slim’ Creators Melina Matsoukas & Lena Waithe Talk Making Art That Creates Change
by Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY)
(AllHipHop News) Melina Matsoukas and Lena Waithe are two of the producers behind the forthcoming motion picture Queen & Slim. Matsoukas also made her feature-film directorial debut, and Waithe wrote the screenplay.
In the movie, Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) and Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) are on the run after a police officer is killed in self-defense during a traffic stop. As two Black fugitives, the retail worker and the lawyer unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief, and pain for people across the country.
“Filmmaking is a war, and those are my war wounds up on that screen. I feel like you have to fight for your vision,” expresses Matsoukas. “That’s my favorite kind of art to create, that speaks to people and also creates change.”
Matsoukas is a two-time Grammy winner for directing Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Beyoncé’s “Formation” music videos. Lena Waithe won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Netflix’s Master of None), and she is the creator of the Showtime program The Chi. Best-selling author James Frey and Waithe developed the story for Queen & Slim.
“You’re trying to find it through the visuals, I’m trying to find it through the words, and the actors are trying to find it in their performances,” says Waithe while speaking with Matsoukas.
The Chicago native continued, “All these Black artists are trying to find truth in something or some form of honesty. Whoever’s watching it, whether you like it or not, it’s going to make you feel something.”
Simon T – Hero
from The Bakersfield Californian
Inside a wealthy LA man’s effort to help pilots fight wildfires from a remote mountain base
By Matt Stiles Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES — Perched atop the Santa Monica Mountains, there’s a prime chunk of real estate with stunning ocean views that’s owned by a wealthy former radio executive.
You won’t find a palatial mansion or an infinity pool there, however.
Instead, the former executive and county firefighters have transformed this picturesque property into a remote base for helicopters to refill their water tanks — a spot that’s helping prevent small fires from turning catastrophic.
Known as 69 Bravo, it’s the result of an unusual partnership between the executive, whose legal name is Simon T, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The county’s helicopters rely on the base as a quick and easy spot to refill water during blazes, such as the Palisades fire last month.
“You look at what this gives us, for all the residents that we serve,” said Jon O’Brien, a deputy chief at the department. “It’s unparalleled. I don’t think you can place a value on having a site like this.”
[ click to continue reading at The Bakersfield Californian ]
QUEEN & SLIM BTS Featurette
Queen & Slim Featurette Goes Behind-the-Scenes of Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde
From two-time Grammy award winning director Melina Matsoukas, the visionary filmmaker behind this generation’s most powerful pop-culture experiences, including HBO’s Insecure, the Emmy award-winning “Thanksgiving” episode of Netflix’s Master of None, and Beyonce’s “Formation,” and from trailblazing, Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe (Netflix’s Master of None), comes the unflinching new drama, Queen & Slim.
Joining a legacy of films such Set It Off and Thelma & Louise, Queen & Slim is a powerful, consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence.
The feature-film directorial debut from Melina Matsoukas (executive producer/director of HBO’s Insecure) stars Academy Award nominee Daniel Kaluuya as “Slim” and rising star Jodie Turner-Smith (Syfy’s Nightflyers), as “Queen.” Waithe wrote the screenplay from a story by herself and bestselling author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces, Katerina).
The film is produced by Frey, Waithe, Matsoukas, Michelle Knudsen, Andrew Coles, Brad Weston and Pamela Abdy. The executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Kaluuya, Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth.
This drama is already being praised as an awards season contender with Oscars in its sights, with the full ensemble including Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny, Flea, John Sturgill Simpson, Indya Moore. Melina Matsoukas directs from screenplay by Lena Waithe with a story by: James Frey and Lena Waithe. Producers include James Frey, Lena Waithe, Melina Matsoukas, Michelle Knudsen, Andrew Coles, Brad Weston, Pamela Abdy. Executive Producers include Pamela Hirsch, Daniel Kaluuya, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth.