News

As expected, Tate Taylor's "The Help" won big at the 43rd Annual NAACP Image Awards. The film won Outstanding Picture of the Year with Viola Davis winning Outstanding Actress and Octavia Spencer taking home the Outstanding Supporting Actress award. Taylor lost to "Jumping the Broom's" Salim Akil for Best Director because apparently, it's a better picture than "The Help!"

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 43rd Annual NAACP Image Awards (To visit other award-giving bodies, check out our Awards Avenue coverage right here)

Motion Picture

Outstanding Motion Picture

.Jumping the Broom. (TriStar Pictures)

.Pariah. (Focus Features)

.The First Grader. (National Geographic

Entertainment)

*** .The Help. (DreamWorks Pictures/

Participant Media/Touchstone Pictures)

.Tower Heist. (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Eddie Murphy . .Tower Heist.

(Universal Pictures)

Laurence Fishburne . .Contagion.

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

*** Laz Alonso . .Jumping the Broom.

(TriStar Pictures)

Oliver Litondo . .The First...

Chicago – Salim Akil’s “Jumping the Broom” is the sort of sociological comedy so hell-bent on smothering the audience in a sentimental love-fest that it quickly softens its potentially biting premise. Akil’s background in television (“The Game,” “Girlfriends”) may explain why the film feels like an uneasy melding of sitcom and soap opera clichés. Any time the film threatens to become interesting, it instantly goes into autopilot.

Angela Bassett is one of the finest actresses of her generation, but she rarely gets a role worthy of her abilities. She’s played many uptight and humorless characters in the past, but few have been as insufferable as Mrs. Watson, a woman so high up in the upper crust echelon of Martha’s Vineyard residents that she can’t get agitated without spontaneously breaking into French.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

Yet Watson is a delight compared to Mrs. Taylor, played by Loretta Devine,...

Everett Collection Laz Alonso, Paula Patton and T.D. Jakes in “Jumping the Broom”

Meeting-the-family-at-a-big-event is a popular conceit for comedies. So is the war between the classes. Director Salim Akil marries these ideas in “Jumping the Broom,” a comedy/drama that chronicles the exploits of two African-American families who meet for the first time at their children’s wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. Does Akil faithfully portray familial squabbles while digging deeper into class conflict? See what the critics have to say.

Chicago – There is a tradition within the African American community during weddings. It stems from the past, when marriage was deemed illegal for the race, and provides the title for a new film, “Jumping the Broom.” The now symbolic gesture is the basis for a clash between families and social classses in one seriocomic marriage weekend.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The situation immediately engages by putting a new spin on an old situation, the interaction between a bride and groom’s families. In this scenario the bride’s family is overtly wealthy, while the groom has a more middle class structure. Misunderstandings spring from this distinction, but also the truths that are revealed become more stark in light of the emotional wedding sensitivity, with a lot of decent laughs thrown in.

Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) makes a promise in prayer that she will not sleep with another man unless it is on her wedding night.

Chicago – Angela Bassett has a quiet sophistication, when combined with her movie star presence only enhances her unique beauty. She is also a superior actor, taking on an intriguing role as a matriarch in the upcoming film “Jumping the Broom.”

The film regards an African-American tradition, the old custom of “jumping the broom” to secure their vows. Bassett plays Claudine Watson, the upper class mother of soon-to-be-wed daughter Sabrina (Paula Patton). The film features a clash between Bassett’s character and that of the groom’s family, who are decidedly working class. The levels of interacting, the exposition of class issues and the traditions in current African American culture sets this story apart from previous films in the same genre.

Wedding Bell Blues: Paula Patton (Sabrina) and Angela Bassett (Claudine) in ‘Jumping the Broom’

Photo credit: © TriStar Pictures

After earning her Masters Degree at the Yale School of Drama in the 1980s,...

Reviewed by Lila Nordstrom

(May 2011)

Directed by: Salim Akil

Written by: Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs

Starring: Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, Romeo Miller, DeRay Davis, Valarie Pettiford and Mike Epps

An unfamiliar reference for many audiences, “jumping the broom” is an African-American wedding custom rooted in slave times during which newlyweds jump over a broom as they step off of their wedding altar. It is similar to the Jewish tradition of breaking a glass, or so it is explained by Pam Taylor (Loretta Devine), the mother of the groom in the wedding-based romantic comedy “Jumping the Broom.”

In the movie, Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton), daughter of a wealthy family with a house in the Hamptons and an elevated sense of themselves because of it, falls in love with Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso), son of fiercely overprotective postal worker Mrs.

Reviewed by Lila Nordstrom

(May 2011)

Directed by: Salim Akil

Written by: Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs

Starring: Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, Romeo Miller, DeRay Davis, Valarie Pettiford and Mike Epps

An unfamiliar reference for many audiences, “jumping the broom” is an African-American wedding custom rooted in slave times during which newlyweds jump over a broom as they step off of their wedding altar. It is similar to the Jewish tradition of breaking a glass, or so it is explained by Pam Taylor (Loretta Devine), the mother of the groom in the wedding-based romantic comedy “Jumping the Broom.”

In the movie, Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton), daughter of a wealthy family with a house in the Hamptons and an elevated sense of themselves because of it, falls in love with Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso), son of fiercely overprotective postal worker Mrs.

Chicago – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 35 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Jumping the Broom”! The film stars Angela Bassett, Mike Epps, Paula Patton and Laz Alonso.

“Jumping the Broom” also stars Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, DeRay Davis, Valarie Pettiford, Pooch Hall, Romeo Miller, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gary Dourdan and T.D. Jakes from director Salim Akil and writers Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs. The film opens on May 6, 2011.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Jumping the Broom” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Jumping the Broom” with Angela Bassett and Mike Epps.

The first trailer from Jumping the Broom is now available with Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, Valarie Pettiford, Romeo Miller, DeRay Davis, Meagan Good and Mike Epps starring. Jumping the Broom tells of a clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, who meet for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard. Salim Akil (TV's The Game series) directs from the writing by Arlene Gibbs, Elizabeth Hunter. The film is produced by Tracey Edmonds, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Glendon Palmer and Hunter...

The first trailer from Jumping the Broom is now available with Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, Valarie Pettiford, Romeo Miller, DeRay Davis, Meagan Good and Mike Epps starring. Jumping the Broom tells of a clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, who meet for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard. Salim Akil (TV's The Game series) directs from the writing by Arlene Gibbs, Elizabeth Hunter. The film is produced by Tracey Edmonds, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Glendon Palmer and Hunter...

The first trailer from Jumping the Broom is now available with Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, Valarie Pettiford, Romeo Miller, DeRay Davis, Meagan Good and Mike Epps starring. Jumping the Broom tells of a clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, who meet for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard. Salim Akil (TV's The Game series) directs from the writing by Arlene Gibbs, Elizabeth Hunter. The film is produced by Tracey Edmonds, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Glendon Palmer and Hunter...

Here’s the trailer for a film we’ve profiled previously on this blog – the upcoming family dramedy, Jumping The Broom, with Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Laz Alonso, starring alongside Paula Patton, in the ensemble film, directed by Salim Akil (Girlfriends). Deeray Davis, Mike Epps, Tasha Smith, and Meagan Good also co-star.

Jumping The Broom depicts the “collision of worlds” when two African American families from divergent socioeconomic backgrounds get together one weekend in Martha’s Vineyard for a wedding.

On the “uppity” side, Angela Bassett plays Paula Patton’s mother, an heiress and a pillar of the Washington elite; representing the working class will be Loretta Devine and Laz Alonso, who will play Patton’s soon-to-be-husband.

Elizabeth Hunter (Beauty Shop) and Arlene Gibbs (producer Traitor, American Gun) wrote the screenplay. Bishop T.D. Jakes, as well as Tracey Edmonds and Glendon Palmer of Our Stories Films Inc are producers.

Principal photography has begun in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia on the TriStar Pictures’ production of the wedding comedy Jumping The Broom directed by Salim Akil from a screenplay written by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter. The film is slated for theatrical release on May 6, 2011 and distributed by Sony Pictures.

The film stars Angela Bassett (Notorious, Meet The Browns), Paula Patton (Precious, Deja Vu), Laz Alonso (Just Wright, Avatar), Mike Epps (The Hangover, Resident Evil: Extinction), Loretta Devine ( Death at a Funeral, First Sunday), Meagan Good (Stomp The Yard), Tasha Smith(Couples Retreat, Why Did I Get Married ?), DeRay Davis (Old Dogs, Semi-Pro), Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Romeo Miller (Honey), Gary Dourdan (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Perfect Stranger), Pooch Hall (The Game), Brian Stokes Mitchell (The Prince of Egypt), and Valarie Pettiford (Why Did I Get Married?, Stomp The Yard).

T.D. Jakes, Tracey E. Edmonds, Curtis Wallace, Elizabeth Hunter and Glendon Palmer will produce the project.

Principal photography has begun in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia on the TriStar Pictures' production of the wedding comedy Jumping The Broom directed by Salim Akil from a screenplay written by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter. The film is slated for theatrical release on 6 May, 2011 and distributed by Sony Pictures. The film stars Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Mike Epps, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, DeRay Davis, Julie Bowen, Romeo Miller, Gary Dourdan, Pooch Hall, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Valarie Pettiford. T.D. Jakes, Tracey E. Edmonds, Curtis ...

Red Riding Hood

Virginia Madsen is set to play the mother of Amanda Seyfried's titular character in Catherine Hardwicke's "Red Riding Hood", a supernatural thriller remake of the Grimm fairy tale reports Variety.

Lukas Haas, Shiloh Fernandez, Julie Christie and Gary Oldman also star in the story of a village haunted by a werewolf. David Leslie Johnson ("Orphan") penned the script.

Abduction

Elisabeth Röhm ("Heroes") will play the biological mother of Taylor Lautner's character in the thriller "Abduction" about a teen who discovers his parents aren't who they claim to be reports Risky Biz Blog.

Emily Mortimer had previously been tapped to star in the role. Sigourney Weaver and Maria Bello also star. John Singleton directs from a script by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Shawn Christensen.

Jumping the Broom

Laz Alonso ("Breakout Kings") has joined the cast of the Sony romantic comedy about the battle between a poor...

According to Hollywood Reporter, "Jumping the Broom," which is being distributed by Columbia Pictures, has added more actors to its cast.

Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It), Laz Alonso (Avatar), Loretta Devine (Death at a Funeral) and Romeo Miller (aka Lil’ Romeo) will join actress Paula Patton in the comedy.

"Jumping The Broom" is a story about what happens when two families from totally different socioeconomic lifestyles meet for the first time at a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard.

Bassett will play Patton's mother, an heiress who has is held in high esteem among Washington (D.C.) elite. Miller plays Patton's cousin, a senior at Yale. Alonso will play Patton's love interest. Shooting begins in early summer in Nova Scotia.

Arlene Gibbs wrote the script, which is undergoing a minor rewrite by Elizabeth Hunter. Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer and Elizabeth Hunter are producing.

Angela Bassett has joined the ensemble comedy "Jumping the Broom" for Sony Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter's script is set around a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard and follows the class struggle between two quite different African-American families.

Bassett will play a Washington heiress and the mother of Paula Patton's wealthy family matriarch character.

Also joining them are Romeo Miller as Patton's Yale student cousin and Laz Alonso as Patton's love interest. Loretta Devine also stars.

Elizabeth Hunter will perform a re-write of Arlene Gibbs' script. Salim Akil makes his feature directorial debut on the project which begins shooting this summer in Nova Scotia.

Angela Bassett joins Jumping the BroomAngela Bassett has joined Columbia Picture's Jumping the Broom, joining Paula Patton in the wedding-themed ensemble comedy directed by Salim Akil.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine and Romeo Miller are also joining the project, which revolves around the clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum meeting for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard.

Bassett will play Patton's mother, an heiress and a pillar of the Washington elite. Miller plays Patton's cousin, a senior at Yale. Alonso will play Patton's love interest.

Arlene Gibbs wrote the script, which is undergoing a minor rewrite by Elizabeth Hunter.

Production begins in early summer in Nova Scotia.

Jumping the Broom comes to theaters May 6th, 2011 and stars Paula Patton, Angela Bassett. The film is directed by Salim Akil.

Angela Bassett   Angela Bassett will star alongside Paula Patton in Columbia's "Jumping the Broom," a wedding-themed ensemble comedy directed by Salim Akil.

Also joining the cast are Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine and Romeo Miller.

"Broom" revolves around the clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum meeting for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard.

Bassett will play Patton's mother, an heiress and a pillar of the Washington elite. Miller plays Patton's cousin, a senior at Yale. Alonso will play Patton's love interest. Shooting begins in early summer in Nova Scotia.

Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter wrote the script, based on a story by Hunter. Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer and Hunter are producing.

Bassett just wrapped shooting on "Green Lantern," playing Dr. Amanda Waller in the Martin Campbell-helmed Warner Bros. tentpole. She is casting her directorial debut,...

We hear that actress Paula Patton, (who is probably now best known for her roles in the films Precious and in Just Wright) is in negotiations to star in the new wedding-themed black comedy film titled Jumping the Broom.

We hear the film is slated to start shooting this summer in Nova Scotia.

The film, written by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter, follows the clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic background at a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard. We hear that Patton would play the female lead of the wealthy family.

We also hear that Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer and Elizabeth Hunter are producing the film, and so far, no other actors are attached but offers have been sent out and no one has signed on yet.

Questions or comments? Please email us at thehumormill.info@gmail.com...

Paula Patton ("Deja Vu," "Just Wright") is in negotiations to topline the wedding-themed comedy "Jumping the Broom" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter's script is set around a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard and follows the class struggle between two quite different African-American families.

Patton will play the matriarch of the wealthy family. Salim Akil makes his feature directorial debut on the project which begins shooting this summer in Nova Scotia.

Paula Patton is off to a great year. Coming off the Oscar nominated film, "Precious"; she currently can be seen in the Fox Searchlight/Flavor Unit Entertainment film, "Just Wright" as Queen Latifah's sister, Morgan Alexander.

There are reports that Paula is in negotiations to play the lead in "Jumping the Broom," which is scheduled for a summer shoot in Nova Scotia and New York. The story is about two African American families from completely different socioeconomic backgrounds; who come together at Martha's Vineyard for a wedding.

Salim Akil (The Game, Girlfriends, Soul Food) is making his feature film directorial debut with the comedy. Arlene Gibbs (Traitor) wrote the original draft and Elizabeth Hunter (Beauty Shop) is credited for writing the screenplay.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer, Curtis Wallace, and Elizabeth Hunter are producing. DeVon Franklin (VP of Produciton, Columbia Pictures) really got behind the project and...

Paula Patton joins Jumping the Broom According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paula Patton (Just Wright) is in negotiations to topline the wedding-themed comedy Jumping the Broom.

Salim Akil is making his feature directorial debut on the project, which is set to start shooting in the summer in Nova Scotia.

Jumping the Broom was written by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter. The story centers on a clash between "two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic background at a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard."

Patton is going to play the female lead of the wealthy family.

Sony is most likely going to be the studio releasing Jumping the Broom.

Paula Patton, now onscreen in "Just Wright," is in negotiations to topline the wedding-themed comedy "Jumping the Broom." Television helmer Salim Akil is making his feature directorial debut on the project, which is slated to start shooting in the summer in Nova Scotia.

Written by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter, the film follows the clash of two black families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic background at a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard. Patton would play the female lead of the wealthy family.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer and Elizabeth Hunter are producing. Hunter did a recent polish on the script.

If the project comes together, it likely would go out through the Sony label.

Patton, repped by Wme, played the teacher in the Oscar-nominated "Precious."...