Phylicia Rashad

CHICAGO – What do “Prime Suspect,” “Awake,” and “Rock Center” have in common? They’ve all aired in what was once the most beloved timeslots on network TV — Thursday nights on NBC.

CHICAGO – Tyler Perry must have a bit of internal conflict. On one hand, he gets critically slammed for films that display little creative effort at all like “Madea Goes to Jail” or “Why Did I Get Married Too?” but those movies make money. Then he tries to do something clearly considered artistic with his adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,” now truncated to simply “For Colored Girls” and recently available on Blu-ray and DVD, and it makes less than most of the films he’s directed.

CHICAGO – The stunning looks of Halle Berry is always the lead whenever the entertainment media considers her. But in “Frankie and Alice,” she reminds us of why her career continues to flourish and why she is a Best Actress Oscar winner.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” was a landmark event in 1974, giving voice to a segment of society rarely seen on the stage. It took 34 years for a filmmaker to tackle this remarkable work in film form and Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” retains some of the inherent power of it source and features some strong performances in the process but never finds the narrative cohesion needed to translate it to modern movie audiences.

Previous | Image 1 of 19 | Next

From left to right: Anika Noni Rose (as Yasmine), Kerry Washington (as Kelly), Janet Jackson (as Jo), Kimberly Elise (as Crystal), Phylicia Rashad (as Gilda), Loretta Devine (as Juanita), Tessa Thompson (as Nyla) and Thandie Newton (as Tangie).

CHICAGO – This 19-image slideshow contains all of the official press images for the highly-anticipated “For Colored Girls,” starring Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Michael Ealy, Kimberly Elise, Omari Hardwick, Hill Harper, Thandie Newton, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, and Whoopi Goldberg. The film was written and directed by Tyler Perry. It will be released on November 5th, 2010.

CHICAGO – The expansive and intuitive prose poetry of Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” comes to life in Tyler Perry’s film adaptation “For Colored Girls.” Thandie Newton portrays Tangie (color Orange) and saturates the character with a precise truth.

CHICAGO – Romantic movies thrive on cliches in the same way that slasher movies need a body count and musicals need a bit of song and dance. Success or failure is all in the execution of the known commodity of cliche. With actors as charismatic as Queen Latifah and Common in the lead roles, it’s easy to overlook said commodity in the relatively-charming “Just Wright,” now on Blu-ray and DVD.

CHICAGO – In our latest romantic sports comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Just Wright” with Queen Latifah and Common!

CHICAGO – Queen Latifah and the rapper Common put an interesting and necessary twist on the romantic comedy genre, but still cannot help but fall back on the recurring rom-com clichés that eventually undermines the new film “Just Wright.”

CHICAGO – The rapper and actor Common came back to his hometown of Chicago last week to participate in the red carpet premiere of his new film, “Just Wright,” co-starring Queen Latifah and Paula Patton (”Precious”).