Month: December 2014

Interview Rewind: "Wedding Palace" Co-Screenwriter Robert Gardner

Originally posted on Moniqueblog.net in 2013. 

Wedding Palacedirected by Christine Yoo and written by Robert Gardner and Derek Draper and starring Brian Tee, Hye-jeong Kang, Bobby Lee, Jean Yoon and Margaret Cho, is a film that has charm, humor, and tons of sweet likability. The film is also unique–even though the film is one that’s about Korean culture, the writers, Gardner and Draper, are both African-American. So how did this film come to be, and what type of research was done to get the film’s voice just right? I was able to discuss this with Gardner in an email interview. Check out his insight into the writing process and what his favorite film from the scene is. Also look below for a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the film. Wedding Palace is now available to home audiences.

Egypt and Morocco Ban "Exodus: Gods and Kings"

Exodus: Gods and Kings has had a rough road. Hundreds (probably thousands) of people rose up in arms over the inaccurate casting of the film, with the hashtag #BoycottExodusMovie. The film had a lousy opening weekend and has since fallen off the map domestically. Now, the film is facing even more heat from Egypt and Morocco.  Both have banned the film over it’s “historical inaccuracies.”

WOC Wednesday: Angela Bassett

This woman should have been Storm.

I saw Angela Bassett in What’s Love Got to Do with It? and, like almost everyone who’s seen that film, I became a fan. I then re-watched Waiting to Exhale and became an even bigger fan. In any film or show she’s in, she’s amazing. She is often seen playing powerful women (one of the reasons she should have been Storm and not Halle Berry–sorry Halle), and this quote from a 2001 interview in The Guardian backs it up:

You always seem to play strong women. Is that what you like?

Yes. That’s the image that I like to put out there, and those are the parts I’m attracted to. But not iron-fist kind of strong, just self-assured. I’m nice too.

What do you love about Angela Bassett? Talk about it in the comments section below! You’ll be able to see Bassett in the upcoming American Horror Story: Freak Show airing on FX Oct. 8 at 10/9c. And if you’ve got your own WOC Wednesday nominee, email me at monique@moniqueblog.net and I’ll write a post!

Angela Bassett in Black Nativity. Credit: Fox Searchlight