Kerry Washington Continues Involvement in the Vagina Monologues

The actress has long involved herself with the Vagina Monologues.

Kerry Washington has become a ubiquitous name today. Her name can be associated with powerful films such as Ray and, most recently, Django Unchained. Add to this list V-Day, the global movement that seeks to end violence against women and girls, where she is a board member. Washington has long involved herself in this organization, first as a performer at V-Day Harlem in 2002 and later as a supporter and board member. The actress continues to perform at V-Day, most recently at the 2006 “Until the Violence Stops: NYC” event which featured several notable actors and writers creatively supporting the cause and hundreds of grassroots activist from all over the city. 

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Kerry Washington Wins Big At NAACP Image Awards

Other winners include Don Cheedle, Denzel Washington, and LL Cool J.

The 44^th annual NAACP Image Awards brought Black Hollywood to its feet on Friday, awarding Kerry Washington with three trophies: outstanding actress in a drama series for “Scandal,” supporting actress in a motion picture for “Django Unchained” and the President’s Award, which recognizing special achievement and exceptional public service. In fact, we were present and brought back exclusive photos you can check out here.

“This award does not belong to me,” she said as she accepted her first trophy for her role in the film directed by Quentin Tarantino. “It belongs to our ancestors. We shot this film on a slave plantation, and they were with us along every step of the way. Don Cheedle won the outstanding actor in a comedy series for his role in Showtime’s “House of Lies.” He joked, “This doesn’t belong just to me, but I am taking it home tonight.” Other winners included Denzel Washington for outstanding actor in a motion picture for “Flight” and LL Cool J his role in CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles.” LL Cool J dedicated his trophy to fellow outstanding actor nominee Michael Clarke Duncan who died last year.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Steve Harvey, also honored Harry Belafonte with the Spingarn Award for outstanding achievement. (CBS News)

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Filmmaker Ernest Dickerson To Conduct Film Seminar at Howard

Students will dissect films and have one-on-ones with the Emmy-winning filmmaker.

Award-winning director Ernest Dickerson didn’t forget his roots, particularly the ones he developed at Howard University. The filmmaker will return to his alma mater to conduct a week-long film seminar for students. He’ll dissect his film, meet with students one-on-one and participate in a workshop titled “The Relationship of the Director and Cinematographer.” The workshop will be moderated by his former teacher Haile Gerima.

Dickerson, who attended New York University Film School with fellow filmmaker Spike Lee, said he didn’t have anybody to get guidance from as he tried to become a working professional. He’s earned an Emmy and Peabody award and was just nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award for Best Director for his work on HBO’s “Treme.”

He also shared his opinion of Spike Lee’s critique of the Quentin Tarantino film “Django Unchained,” where Lee said he felt the film was “disrespectful.” Dickerson said, “Spike is entitled to his opinion. Great art inspires opinions. I’m just sorry the discussion has developed into name calling.” (NewsOne)

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Django Action Figures Discontinued

The National Action Network and Project Islamic Hope were leading a boycott against the production.

The controversial “Django Unchained” action figures have been discontinued. The Weinstein Co., which produced the film, received many complaints that the toys were offensive. “We have tremendous respect for the audience and it was never our intent to offend anyone,” The Weinstein Co. said in a statement. Advocacy groups like Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and Project Islamic Hope also spoke out against the toys, according to TMZ. Sources say the toymakers only released around 1,000 dolls before shutting down the production.

The studio said Friday that the toy collectibles have been created for all of director Quentin Tarantino’s films and were meant for the audience of the film, people 17 and older. (Mercury News)

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Tarantino To Reporter: I’m Not Your Slave

The movie director refused to answer a question on movie violence.

Quentin Tarantino is fed up with questions about movie violence. The controversial director was interviewed by Channel 4 Evening News Host Krishnan Guru-Murthy and asked about his stance on movie violence. Tarantino immediately refused to answer the question and instead made a cringe-worthy metaphor: “I’m not your slave and you’re not my master. You can’t make me dance to your tune. I’m not your monkey.”

Tarantino said the interview was meant to be about his Oscar-nominated film “Django Unchained” and that if “anyone cares what I have to say about it, they can Google me—.” In the wake of the Newtown Massacre, the "Django Unchained" movie premiere was canceled; however, Tarantino has consistently insisted that movie violence is not to blame for real life violence. (USA Today)

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Loop 411: Samuel L. Jackson, Congress and Guns

Here's what we were talking about this week

Samuel L. Jackson Dares Reporter to Say 'N-Word'

Jackson refuses to answer a question unless a reporter says the derogatory word.

In an interview about his work in "Django Unchained," Samuel L. Jackson wouldn’t answer a question unless the interviewer said the ‘n-word.’ Jake Hamilton of Houston’s Fox TV affiliate brought up the controversy surrounding the use of the word in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, but Jackson dodged Hamilton and proposed an ultimatum: “We’re not going to have this conversation unless you say it,” Jackson said.

Hamilton said he didn’t want to say it and instead asked if Jackson would say it. “No, f--- no,” the actor responded.  Hamilton let the topic go but not before saying it was a great question. Jackson didn’t think so.

This comes after director Spike Lee took to Twitter saying he’s boycotting the movie and expressing his concern over Tarantino’s use of the ‘n-word.’ (NY Daily News)

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"Django" Helps Hollywood Reach All-Time Box Office Record

Did you see it yet?

Hollywood movie studios are on pace to achieve an all-time box office record this year. "[They] are definitely on the road to a record year with $10.8 billion expected (up 6 percent over last year and beating the previous record of $10.6 billion in 2009)," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It was not just the fact that most of the movies delivered, it was the timing of their release dates and the marketing was obviously effective as well with social media continuing to provide an outlet for the movie-going peer group to talk about their favorite flicks." "Django Unchained" and "Les Miserables" raked in $15 million and $18.2 million, respectively, on their opening day of Christmas. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" brought in $11.4 million on Christmas too, after ruling the box office with nearly $37 million in sales over the weekend. And earlier this year, spring and summer smashes "The Hunger Games" and "The Avengers" helping boost revenue. (NBC News)

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Django Comes in No. 2 Opening Day, Inspires Comic

Slave-as-superhero western pulls in $15M on first day, Tarantino releases script as comic

"Django Unchained," Quentin Tarantino’s new slave-as-superhero western, came in second place at the box office for its Christmas Day debut, behind the also highly anticipated "Les Miserables." "Django Unchained," starring Jamie Foxx, pulled in $15.5 million, while "Les Miserables" made $18 million. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" came in third with $10.8 million.

Amid its box-office success, director Tarantino is making the Django story into a comic book mini-series. DC/Vertigo Comics has made the comic available in stores and online. Artist R.M. Guera made original character sketches for the comic series. In a six-page preview of the first issue, Wired reports that the comic book's characters resemble their actor counterparts while still possessing their own qualities. In the foreword, Tarantino says the comic book is essentially the first draft of his script—including any chapters ultimately dropped from the movie. (Wired,EurWeb)

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