Temptation: There's No Redemption In This Gospel Play

Tyler Perry recently shot a spot for Oprah's OWN dressed as Madea while Winfrey returned to her "Color Purple" character Sofia. In "The Color Purple," Sofia gets a redemption story arc. But in Perry's new film "Temptation," redemption and forgiveness are hard to come by.There's not a lot about Tyler Perry's "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" that I can say that hasn't been said by everyone else who was either amused or horrified by it. Other than the whole thing had a familiar ring to it. A late Sunday night, St. Louis cable access channel ring to it. 

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The Snob Is Scared to Watch "Temptation," Y'All

Source: LionsgateI was (and I'm still) going to go see Tyler Perry's new film "Temptation" but it happened to come out the same weekend as a planned vacation. So I though, no big. I'll see it on Thursday, I thought. But then it started on Facebook with enraged friends giving away the ending, screaming to anyone who would listen how infuriating the film was.

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The Snob Is Going to Watch Tyler Perry's "Temptation," Will Try to Be Open-Minded

Why is that a headline? Because I famously avoided Tyler Perry's last big release "For Colored Girls." The closest review I gave was quoting other people's reviews, then live-tweeting my friend and logo designer Jada Prather's accidental review of it on Twitter. I've since seen Alex Cross, a film so generic it should come in a DVD with a white label and black lettering, but I didn't fault Perry as a bad actor in that. (Although the physical moments where he had to jump or fight or wield a gun always illicited giggles in me.) Alex Cross was just in that it's script was of made-for-TV quality.

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theGrio: Why Revenge Flicks Almost Never Go Black (Featuring "Django, Unchained")

This weekend for theGrio, The Snob tackles the cautious excitement (and pre-emptive annoyance) over Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained and that most rare of revenge flicks -- the slave revenge film. Why is it so rare? I'm sure it has to do with the difference of the fantasy violence of revenge films like "Taken" versus the reality of slave revolts, like the one in Haiti that liberated the colony in a round of vicious bloodshed. Revenge is fun if you don't think it's going to be directed at you. And by "you," I mean your average white American movie-lover. Maybe Tarantino will pull it off by virtue of being Tarantino, but I doubt Spike Lee could have got this film greenlit.

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Hollywood Fast-Tracking "Killing Bin Laden" Film

President Obama, Secy. of State Hillary Clinton and others at briefing on Osama bin Laden's killing and capture. (Credit: White House Flickr)When she found out there was going to be a movie, Hillary Clinton thought to herself, "My God. This shit just got real."

More after the jump.

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Michael Ealy: "For Colored Girls" Is Not "Male Bashing"

Actor Michael EalyPushing back against charges by some that the film is derogatory towards black men, actor Michael Ealy, who has a role in Tyler Perry's film version "For Colored Girls," came out in defense of Perry's work. In an interview with Essence.com, Ealy defends the film, explains his character (an abusive war veteran) and tells critics of the movie and Perry to look at the "bigger picture." He thinks people should keep the film and the original stage play its based on in context.

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Invisible Woman Gives Nuanced Take On Perry's For Colored Girls

Haven't had a chance to see Tyler Perry's version of  "For Colored Girls" yet, but I've heard both the good and the bad. One of my favorite film bloggers Invisible Woman did see the film and offered what I thought was a very well-written, measured opinion on the merits and demerits of Perry's work. For her, it boils down to being well-done, but too dreary as a celebration of black femininity turns into lurid tales of being a beast of burden and abuse.

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Kurt Warner Is On To Something With This "Denzel Should Play Me" Thing

NFL quarterback (or if you're from St. Louis and a Rams fan -- "hero") Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals has said many times that if someone decides to make a film of his life story he (per his wife's suggestion) would like Oscar Award-winning actor Denzel Washington to play him.

And what man wouldn't? Amiright? That Denzel is golden. But seriously, Denzel not being a white dude aside, that Kurt Warner is on to something.

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Casting Cleopatra: Angelina Jolie Is The New Go-To "Person of Color"

You know? As long as that color is anything but black or brown.

From Essence.com:

Film producer Scott Rudin has purchased the film rights to upcoming biography 'Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life,' and has confirmed that the movie "is being developed for and with [Angelina] Jolie." Jolie, a Hollywood A-lister, will do her best in bringing the story of the famed Egyptian queen to life, and it appears no one doubts she can do it... including Pulitzer prize-winning author Stacy Schiff, who penned the biography, "Cleopatra: A Life," a book that won't be on shelves until the fall.

Schiff already heavily endorses Jolie, stating, "I think she'd be perfect for it and I can see a possible Oscar in her future. Physically, she's got the perfect look."

Gasp, the nerve! "She's got the perfect look?" Honestly, I don't care how full Angelina Jolie's lips are, how many African children she adopts, or how bronzed her skin will become for the film, I firmly believe this role should have gone to a Black woman. I mean, isn't it enough that 47 years ago, dame Elizabeth Taylor was cast to portray Cleopatra in one of the most expensive films ever made? That Elizabeth Taylor was actually the third White woman to be tapped for the Cleopatra role -- following Vivien Leigh and Claudette Colbert -- just makes this all the more comical.

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