Trevor Noah on Lindsay Graham, Sampson McCormick & Jussie Smollet Are Bringing ‘B-Boy Blues,’ Sonequa Martin-Green, George Romero, Dave Chappelle, Miles Taylor, Brett Harrison, Vote Early and More: GAYNRDDAILY
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BABY BROTHER Brett voted and wants you to as as well. In the ATL this is the sticker you get. Follow him on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/GoodBoyBrett/status/1321937190016995331
B-BOY BLUES is finally getting the silver screen treatment thanks to Sampson McCormick and Jussie Smollet. The Hollywood Digest reports, ” Celebrated author James Earl Hardy’s wickedly funny, unabashedly real modern-day Black gay classic novel B-Boy Blues is on its way to the silver screen. The unforgettable story of Hardy’s young New York City lovers has become a ne plus ultra of the Black SGL experience since its original publication in 1994. Amidst the COVID-19 maelstrom in which we now find ourselves, Hardy and his cohorts have quietly been preparing to adapt his tome into a feature film, says co-producer, comedian, and LGBTQ advocate Sampson McCormick. The career funnyman, who has a few of his own film credits under his belt, tells The Hollywood Digest that his involvement with Hardy and BBB goes back to its live theater days. “In 2013, I joined the cast of B Boy Blues: The Stage Play as Barry “B.D.” Daniels,”
McCormick recalls. “The play had several showings, toured a few cities and had huge success. James and I had a chat at his house about it becoming a movie, once I started producing my own films, we talked about taking it to the big screen, and strategized from there.” Once the plan was solidified, it was time to assemble a crew to bring the project to fruition. McCormick called on an old friend of his, without hesitation. The comedian and actor reached out to former “Empire” TV series star Jussie Smollett to direct the picture. “[Jussie] and I have always wanted to collaborate on something, but we didn’t know just what,” McCormick says. “At first, we thought, a buddy comedy—then, I brought up that I was working on getting this film B Boy Blues done, and we agreed that it would be the perfect story to focus our collaborative efforts on. It’s been a long process.” Bringing Smollett back into the entertainment world after a long hiatus, has proven beneficial to the film. In addition to directing the photoplay, Smollett’s new studio, Super Massive Movies will produce and fund the project, along with Tom Wilson, a Cleveland investor who supports LGBTQ indie film. The flick also gathers accomplished choreographer Frank Gatson, Jr. and actress/screenwriter Madia Hill Scott to extrapolate Hardy’s literary vision to celluloid. McCormick holds them both in high regard. “Frank Gatson is an expert in his craft, honorable, has choreographed with great artists including Beyoncé and Brandy, Jussie as well and others,” McCormick notes. “Madia is a phenomenal black woman.”
Photo above from left to right: Smollet and McCormick
McCormick points out that for a Black, gay film, there were formidable obstacles for BBB to overcome. As his long journey in the industry has taught the PNP creator, “The biggest challenge was getting it picked up and backed by a studio. I had several meetings, even with friends at a few of the studios and they didn’t think that black gay films sell or are supported well enough to back righteously. We refused to accept the treatment that some of them were trying to give the story,” McCormick stated. “It’s legendary and folks want to see it, so, we were steadfast in getting it supported in a way that made sense.” Developing a cast worthy of the book’s legacy is still a work in progress, as Hardy tells journalist Darian Aaron at Living Out Loud 2.0: “The film is still in the pre-production stage, so casting isn’t set.”
DISCOVERY RECAP Jessie Gender breaks down episode 3 of season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery below.
THROWBACK THURSDAY Hey Lindsey Graham, is this one of the tapes we were supposed to play back for you?
EARLY VOTING is wonderful.
This week, I’m spinning into my best superhero gear! Walk, run, or spin on down to the polls and vote early for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris if you haven't already voted by mail! Find your polling place: https://t.co/RhdamCgjsC ???????????? pic.twitter.com/KPly7q74J0
— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) October 27, 2020
TWEET OF THE DAY Braids for days.
I’m watching #StarTrekDiscovery and despite all the action and drama the Black girl in me just wants to know where Michael Bernham found someone to braid her hair in the year 3100, and does it still take 4 hours? ???? pic.twitter.com/OfR6sdGXHO
— Amara ???????????????????????? (@Amara_deMachado) October 29, 2020
GHOSTING IS WHACK He’s more more famous on Instagram, more slutty on twitter.
ROGUE PLANET Because 2020, right? According to The Independent, “Astronomers have found a “rogue” planet floating through our galaxy, untethered to any sun. The “free-floating” world is slightly smaller than Earth, making it the smallest such planet ever to be found. But it could be one of many such rogue planets in the Milky Way, and scientists have suggested they may even outnumber the stars in our galaxy. The scientists took advantage of an astronomical phenomenon known as “gravitational microlensing” to spot the planet, which revealed itself by bending the light of more distant stars.
BOTH SIDES SUCK Discussions between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took on a decidedly less cordial tone Thursday as the Trump administration’s top negotiator accused his counterpart of miscasting the state of stalled coronavirus stimulus talks days before Election Day.
During months of failed efforts to reach another stimulus agreement, Democrats and Republicans have cited a fundamental dispute over what the federal government needs to do to lift an economy and health-care system battered by the virus. House Democrats last passed a $2.2 trillion package this month. Senate Republicans tried to approve a $500 billion bill, but Democrats blocked it.
UNMASKED DHS staffer Miles Taylor is the anonymous NYT op-ed author: “Taylor, who was chief of staff to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, wrote a lengthy statement explaining why he penned the 2018 op-ed declaring he was part of the “resistance” inside the Trump administration working to thwart Trump’s worst inclinations. Taylor said that he wanted to force Trump to respond to the charges he was leveling without the ability to attack the messenger specifically. Trump called the op-ed treasonous.”
I asked some friends to help me explain why Election Day might be a little different this year.
The four of us don’t agree on everything. But we do agree on this: The 2020 election is too important to sit out.
Go vote. pic.twitter.com/USERzSzVKR
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) October 28, 2020
#TBT Dave Chappelle tells Conan O’Brian Why Planet Of The Apes is racist
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD didn’t intentionally address race in America, but the horror classic did nonetheless. Vox says, “Critics and scholars have interpreted the film as a critique of Cold War politics, American society in the 1960s, and, especially, racism. Jones, who played Ben, is an African-American man, and though Romero always said he hadn’t intended to make the film about race — insisting that Jones simply gave the best audition — it’s impossible to escape that this is a film about a black man trapped in a house with white people who can’t seem to fend off the danger themselves. But after managing to survive the zombies, Ben is shot by a white sheriff. Talking about Night of the Living Dead’s Ben and his own film’s black protagonist, Get Out’sChris, Peele said:
Theoretically, their racial perspective is the very skill that helps them. You could write an interesting essay about how the lead in “Night of the Living Dead” is a man living in fear every day, so this is a challenge he is more equipped to take on than the white women living in the house. Chris, in his racial paranoia, is onto something that he wouldn’t be if he was a white guy and there was a similar thing going on.
That Romero didn’t initially realize that the film — whether or not he intended it — works as a critique of racism in America has had long-reaching effects in the zombie genre; as Matt Thompson wrote for NPR’s Code Switch blog in 2013, the video game version of The Walking Dead also features a black protagonist named Lee, which adds power to the storytelling. “When non-black characters in the story decide whether or not they trust Lee (trust being the most essential human currency after the zombie apocalypse),” Thompson writes, “the racial difference between them stands out as a generally unspoken consideration.”
Above: Duane Jones plays Ben in Night of the Living Dead.
VICTORY? The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt setbacks to Republicans by allowing extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to President Donald Trump’s re-election chances.
TWEET OF THE DAY 2
— ryan (@hotfunnysexyboy) October 29, 2020
