Here Are The 2024 Nominations for the Black Reel Awards

Posted on December 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2024 nominations for the Black Reel Awards were announced on December 19th. The winners will be announced on February 10th.

OUTSTANDING FILM
“Challengers” | Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O’Connor, Amy Pascal & Zendaya, producers
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Stephanie Allain, Derek Cianfrance, Sean Cotton, Titus Kaphar & Jamie Patricof, producers
“Nickel Boys” | Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & David Levin, producers
“The Piano Lesson” | Todd Black & Denzel Washington, producers
“Sing Sing” | Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar & Monique Walton, producers

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (awarded to the director)
“Dahomey” | Mati Diop, director
“Daughters” | Angela Patton & Natalie Rae, directors
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Dawn Porter, director
“Piece by Piece” | Morgan Neville, director
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Jazmin Renée Jones, director

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE (awarded to the casting director)
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Kim Coleman, casting director
“Hard Truths” | Nina Gold, casting director
“Nickel Boys” | Victoria Thomas, casting director
“The Piano Lesson” | Lindsay Graham & Mary Vernieu, casting directors
“Sing Sing” | Greg Kwedar, casting director

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Albany Road” | Christine Swanson, director
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz, director
“Hard Truths” | Mike Leigh, director
“I Saw the TV Glow” | Jane Schoenbrun, director
“We Grown Now” | Minhal Baig, director

OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Chocolate With Sprinkles” | Huriyyah Muhammad, director
“Mosiah” | Jirard, director
“On a Sunday at Eleven” | Alicia K. Harris, director
“Self” | Searit Kahsay Huluf, director
“Will I See You Again?” | Michael Perez-Lindsey, director

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG (awarded to the performers & writers)
“Bricks” from “Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Andra Day, performer; Andra Day & Jherek Bischoff, writers
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” | Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón & Camille, performers; Clément Ducol, Camille & Jacques Audiard, writers
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” | H.E.R., performer; Dianne Warren, writer
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing” | Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander, performers; Adrian Quesada, Abraham Alexander & Brandon Marcel, writers
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece” | Pharrell Williams and Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers, performers; Pharrell Williams, writer

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK
“Bob Marley: One Love” – Tuff Gong / Island
“Mufasa: The Lion King” – Walt Disney Records
“Piece by Piece” – Columbia / I AM Other
“Wicked” – Republic / Verve
“The Wild Robot” – Black Lot Music

OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY (awarded for the debut screenplay by a first-time writer)
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Titus Kaphar
“Nickel Boys” | RaMell Moss
“Parallel” | Aldis & Edwin Hodge
“The Piano Lesson” | Malcolm Washington

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” | Wolfgang Held & Moses Tau, cinematographers
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Bryan Gentry, cinematographer
“Nickel Boys” | Jomo Fray, cinematographer
“Rez Ball” | Kira Kelly, cinematographer
“Suncoast” | Bruce Francis Cole, cinematographer

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
“The Book of Clarence” | Antoinette Messam, costume designer
“The Piano Lesson” | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer
“Shirley” | Megan Coates, costume designer
“We Grown Now” | Courtney Wheeler, costume designer
“Wicked” | Paul Tazewell, costume designer

OUTSTANDING EDITING
“Daughters” | Adelina Bichis & Troy Lewis, editors
“Hard Truths” | Tania Reddin, editor
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Yeelen Nelson Cohen, Jon Fine & Jazmin Renée Jones, editors
“Twisters” | Terilyn A. Shropshire, editor
“We Grown Now” | Stephanie Filo, editor

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP
“Bob Marley: One Love” | Nadia Stacy & Carla Farmer
“The Book of Clarence” | Allison Lacour, Wayne Jolla Jr. & Yolanda Mercadel
“Nickel Boys” | Iganica Soto-Aguilar & Shandrea Williams
“The Piano Lesson” | Andrea ‘Mona’ Bowman & Para Shardé Malden
“Shirley” | Nakoya Yancey & Debi Young

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Nickel Boys” | Nora Mendis (production designer), Elizabeth Herberg (art director) & Monique Champagne (set decorator)
“Nine” | Gilbert Ekow Ampah (production designer) & Edmund Johnson (set decorator)
“The Piano Lesson” | David J. Bomba (production designer), Chardae Adams (art director) & Patrick Cassidy (set decorator)

The Films of 2024: Bob Marley: One Love (dir by Reinaldo Marcus Green)

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bob Marley: One Love opens in 1976. With Jamaica torn by political violence, Reggae superstar and devout Rastafari Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) announces that he will be holding a concert for peace. When Marley, his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch), and several members of the band are shot in a home invasion, a disillusioned Marley sends his wife and children to stay with his mother in Delaware and then heads to London with his band.

The majority of Bob Marley: One Love centers around the years that Marley spent outside of Jamaica. In London, Marley struggles to come up with a concept his new album, finally finding inspiration in the soundtrack for Otto Preminger’s Exodus. Marley explains his philosophy and Rastafari beliefs to journalists and listeners, many of whom are shocked by Marley’s claim to not care about money. With more and more countries declaring their independence and freeing themselves from colonialism, Marley makes plans to perform in Africa and to spread his message of love and freedom. Rita, who eventually rejoins Bob when he tells her that he cannot create his music without her presence, tells Bob that he needs to return to Jamaica and perform his peace concert. Bob remains stubborn but when he’s diagnosed with a rare-form of cancer, he realizes that it’s time for him to return to his home and not just preach about peace and forgiveness but to extend it as well.

Musical biopics have been all the rage since the release of Bohemian Rhapsody and Bob Marley: One Love features enough of Marley’s music that it’s not surprising that the film was a crowd-pleaser when it was released in February. The film was clearly made by people who loved Marley’s music. Kingsley Ben-Adir has a strong screen presence and gives a charismatic performance as Bob but, for whatever reason, Bob Marley remains something of a distant figure throughout the film. We learn a bit about what motivated Bob Marley as a musician and as an activist but we still don’t really feel that we get to know him as a person. (Nor does the film delve too deeply into the details of Marley’s Rastafari beliefs, presenting it as being more about good vibes than a belief in the divinity of Ethiopia’s emperor, Haile Selassie I.) The film hits all of the expected biopic plot points like clockwork. It’s almost too efficient for its own good, lacking any of the spontaneity that makes real life so memorable. It leaves the viewer very much aware that they’re watching a well-made film.

But, one might be justified in dismissing that as just being nit-picking. The film is full of Marley’s music and it ends with a good deal of archival footage that allows the viewer to see both Bob Marley’s real-life charisma and the joy that he took in performing. As I said, the film is a crowd pleaser. While it doesn’t quite provide the insight into Marley’s life that Rocketman did for Elton John, it’s still a better-made and less cynical production than Bohemian Rhapsody. Even if the film is a bit too conventional for its own good, the love of the music still comes through.

James Bond returns in the No Time to Die Trailer

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Leonard Wilson

Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond is almost upon us. With True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga taking over the direction this time, No Time to Die brings a mix of new faces and returning favorites. Though not much is truly known of the story, it looks like Bond’s relationship with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) may be on a rocky road, enough to bring him back into service.

Rami Malek is also on board as the villain, which I’m personally excited for, and Ana de Armas (Knives Out) teams up again with Craig, though we’re not exactly sure who’s side she’s on. Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) looks to be a new member of the Double O ranking. Coming back are Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, and Naomie Harris.

No Time to Die opens in cinemas in April 2020. Enjoy!

Trailer: Captain Marvel

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Arleigh

Captain Marvel

Tonight we finally get to see the official trailer for Marvel Studio’s upcoming entry to their ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just like Marvel Universe-616 which was born at the Big Bang and continues to expand ever outward there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the MCU suddenly collapsing under the weight of fan expectations and the imagination of the writers and filmmakers who have been tapped by Kevin Feige and group to usher in the Golden Age of Comic Book films.

This past summer, fans of the MCU were treated to the spectacle (and surprisingly emotional) that was Avengers: Infinity War. Those who stayed for the final stinger at the end of the credits of that film were treated to a clue as to who may just save the MCU from Thanos’ snap.

Captain Marvel will be Marvel Studio’s first female-led entry to the series. Some have been in the camp that Marvel took too long to do such a project while a small, albeit very vocal group think Marvel have been bit by the SJW bug.

For the most part the majority of fans are just excited to see the adventures of one Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel finally up on the big screen. We shall see this March 8 whether Captain Marvel lives up to the hype and excitement that has been building since the end of Avengers: Infinity War.