News

There’s a last-minute change brewing at “60 Minutes.”

When the venerable CBS newsmagazine launches its 55th season this Sunday, viewers may notice a twist at the end of the hour. The show is debuting a new end segment, something that its top producer hopes will resonate with crowds as much as previous codas like “Point/Counterpoint” or the musings of Andy Rooney did in their respective eras.

“We have tried different things to fill the space, and they felt a little unsatisfying,” executive producer Bill Owens tells Variety. “There wasn’t a consistency to it. I ended up giving that time back to the stories and the correspondents, so they would each have 20 to 30 seconds more. They were all very happy to have that time, but it felt like something was missing.”

The new final piece to the show, “The Last Minute,” will allow for updates to past “60 Minutes” stories...

One of the great restorations of recent years, premiering in the 59th New York Film Festival’s Revivals section, is Wendell B. Harris Jr.’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Chameleon Street. Originally debuting at the 1990 edition of the Park City festival, the film is both an enormously entertaining con man film and illuminating study of race. Following a con man from Detroit as he alters identities in an attempt to penetrate different pockets of American life that can be out of reach in a classist system.

Largely unavailable aside from an out-of-print VHS edition and a DVD released in 2007 (now also out-of-print), it has now been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative under the supervision of the director. Following its NYFF screenings, the film will now roll out in theaters––specifically beginning at Bam Cinemas beginning on October 22––and we’re pleased to debut the first trailer.

In today’s film news roundup, Djimon Hounsou fills in for Brian Tyree Henry in the “Quiet Place” sequel, “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” gets a wide release and a Louis Armstrong documentary has been set.

Casting

Paramount Pictures has cast Djimon Hounsou as a replacement for Brian Tyree Henry in its sequel to “A Quiet Place.”

Henry left the project due to scheduling conflicts. The sequel has been set for release on March 20, 2020.

John Krasinski is returning to direct the still-untitled movie with Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe reprising their roles.

“A Quiet Place” grossed $340 million at the global box office last year, and Blunt won the Screen Actors Guild Award in the supporting actress category for her role. Krasinski wrote the screenplay with Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, and the trio received a Writers Guild nomination in the original category. Krasinski also directed and starred in the story,...

Following the release of “Pavarotti,” the next music-centric, documentary film from Imagine Documentaries will focus on the life of jazz legend, singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong, the company’s president Justin Wilkes announced Monday.

Imagine will partner with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to produce the “definitive” documentary on Louis Armstrong, also known as “Satchmo,” “Satch” and “Pops.” The foundation will provide access to hundreds of hours of audio recordings, film footage, photographs, personal diaries and ephemera for use in the film as part of the deal between the two companies.

Production is scheduled to commence on the currently untitled film this fall.

Also Read: What a Wonderful World: Louis Armstrong Is Getting a Bio Podcast From the 'Inside Jaws' Team

“I find it difficult to imagine a voice more globally recognized than that of Louis Armstrong,” Wilkes said in a statement. “And yet, the story behind the voice; of the music,...

Exclusive: Currently in theaters with the Ron Howard-directed documentary Pavarotti, Imagine Documentaries has formed an exclusive partnership with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to create a definitive feature documentary on the beloved and iconic jazz musician and entertainer. Imagine Documentaries President Justin Wilkes forged a deal that brings access to hundreds of hours of audio recordings, film footage, photographs, personal diaries and a life’s worth of memorabilia for exclusive use in the first significant documentary dedicated entirely to his life. In addition to Louis’ prolific music and film career, Louis was an avid biographer and kept an almost daily audio diary from the early 1950’s until the day he passed in 1971. He did it all on reel-to-reel tape recordings and all organized meticulously “for posterity” by “Pops” himself.

“I find it difficult to imagine a voice more globally recognized than that of Louis Armstrong,” Wilkes said. “And yet,...

Watching “Everything Is Copy” (HBO), on the life of Nora Ephron, it’s clear that the late writer and filmmaker was willing to use, and to massage, the truth. Of the narrator’s hamster-loving first husband, in her 1983 novel “Heartburn,” Ephron’s own ex-, Dan Greenberg, says the strange trait is an invention; of 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally…” the screenwriter admits that Meg Ryan’s cheerful, high-strung co-lead is based “more or less” on herself. As New Yorker editor David Remnick remarks of Ephron’s inimitable essays, “her voice in print really replicated her voice—almost—in life.”

Indeed, in “Everything Is Copy,” as in the other films nominated for Outstanding Documentary/Nonfiction Special at this year’s Emmys, the subject’s work inhabits this space between the dashes, the “almost” and the “more or less.” It’s where the biographical blurs into the fictional, where fact and craft diverge.

The 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards went off without a hitch earlier this evening (February 22) with "12 Years a Slave" continuing to make waves snagging the biggest prize of the night.

Before her film won Outstanding Motion Picture, the gorgeous Lupita Nyong'o added another piece of hardware to her already impressive collection taking home a trophy for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, while Kerry Washington snagged up her second Image Award with a win for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series. Kerry's show "Scandal" also won Outstanding Drama Series.

In addition, the hilarious Kevin Hart took home Entertainer of the Year, while Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to the late Nelson Mandela with a touching speech and musical dedication.

"He was everything we have all have heard and more. He was humble and he was unscathed by any kind of bitterness after all that we know he's been through," Winfrey said.

The 45th NAACP Image Awards were presented Saturday night (Feb. 22), with names like Kevin Hart, Kerry Washington, "12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen and Lupita Nyong'o being honored.

The Image Awards pay tribute to the best in film, TV, writing, music and literature. Take a look at the full list of winners below.

Winners are in bold.

Entertainer of the Year

Kevin Hart

Film

Outstanding Motion Picture

"12 Years A Slave" "Fruitvale Station""Lee Daniels' The Butler""Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom""The Best Man Holiday" 

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Forest Whitaker - "Lee Daniels' The Butler"Chadwick Boseman - "42"Chiwetel Ejiofor - "12 Years A Slave"Idris Elba - "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom"Michael B. Jordan - "Fruitvale Station"

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

Angela Bassett - "Black Nativity"Halle Berry - "The Call"Jennifer Hudson - "Winnie Mandela"Kerry Washington - "Tyler Perry Presents Peeples"Nicole Beharie...

For those is the New York City area, here's an event, taking place today, Saturday, February 1. A timely symposium, for what should be obvious reasons, taking place at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Queens, and put together by Warrington Hudlin. Titled "Massa's Gaze: Screenings and Critical Discussions of the Depictions of Slavery in Film and Television," the event's panelists include: ​​Sheril Antonio, Neema Barnette, Jelani Cobb, Stanley Crouch, Nelson George, Warrington Hudlin, Felicia Lee, Malcolm Lee, Shola Lynch, and Khalil Muhammad. The event is part of MoMI's Changing the Picture (2014) program, sponsored by Time Warner Inc. Again,...

Adding their picks to the awards season deluge, the 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards unveiled the official list of nominees.

Not surprisingly, “The Butler” will compete in categories including Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Supporting Actor & Actress and Writing.

Meanwhile, Kerry Washington’s “Scandal” is up for Outstanding Drama Series, and Ms. Washington herself received a nod for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.

NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock gushed, “This has been an incredible year from the artistic community, with phenomenal contributions across the board from the music, television, motion picture, and literature genres that have the power and impact to drive social change.”

The 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards will go live on Friday, February 21st.

And the nominees are:

Television

Outstanding Comedy Series

"House of Lies" (Showtime)

"Modern Family" (ABC)

"Real Husbands of Hollywood" (Bet)

"The Game" (Bet)

"The Soul Man" (TV Land)

Outstanding Actor in...

Joe Henderson always had the respect of fellow musicians and hardcore jazz fanatics, but for a long time it seemed the closest he'd get to fame was his brief stint in Blood, Sweat & Tears (years later he reminisced, in one of my favorite interviews, about how that short period was when sax companies wanted his endorsement and gave him free horns). Hardly fair considering that he spent a quarter century ranked among the top three tenor saxophonists alive, along with Rollins and Shorter. Then, almost miraculously, Verve put together a masterful production/promotion campaign that made him more famous in his last decade than he'd ever been before. Alas, emphysema took him at age 64, but he'd managed to leave an impressive legacy with nary a misstep -- he never made a bad album, and his appearance on anyone else's album was always a mark of quality. (Why is Ptah, the...

For those of you interested in such things still, this is a DVRepublic event, in partnership with NewsOne. The link to the page is Here.

The movie “Precious” holds the highest number of Academy Award nominations for a Black film in history, but does it inspire or stereotype? At Sunday’s Academy Awards we’ll find out what the industry thinks, but this Friday we want to know what you think about this highly controversial film.

Noted film producer and DVRepublic.org founder and chief Warrington Hudlin, in partnership with NewsOne, has brought together two acclaimed Black thinkers to lead the discussion: Outspoken cultural critic Stanley Crouch and Nyu film professor Sheril D. Antonio will go head to head in a live debate about the movie this Friday, March 5th, at 7:30pm. Watch a live stream of their debate here on NewsOne.com and join what promises to be an explosive conversation.

Showtime is celebrating Black History Month with premieres of a new comedy documentary, a Tyler Perry film and stand-up specials throughout the month of February.

"Why We Laugh" will premiere on Thursday, February 4 at 8:00 pm and will feature various comedians examining the cultural, political and historical influence of black comedy. The documentary was directed by filmmaker Robert Townsend and is the centerpiece of the network's annual Black History Month celebration. Townsend will poll a diverse roster of comics, scholars and cultural critics including Bill Cosby, Stanley Crouch, Dick Gregory, Steve Harvey and Chris Rock, among others.

Tyler Perry's blockbuster drama "The Family That Preys" starring Alfre Woodard, Sanaa Lathan and Rockmond Dunbar will premiere on Saturday, February 13 at 9:00 pm.

Showtime will also be premiering new stand-up comedy specials from comedians such as Paul Mooney, Tony Roberts and Leslie "Big Les" Jones. Fans can also catch a host...