NEW TREND SPOTTING

Celebs like Rihanna and Trina, have been rocking red tresses lately. While Rihanna rocks a short red cut, Trina decides to give us some color and some length. I personally think this color is great for the fall. Do you guys think this new trend will last, or will it be back to black???

SOOOUULLL TRAIN AWARDS

Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard hosted the 2010 Soul Train awards, which aired last nite on Centric. This year's ceremony honored legends Ron Isley and Anita Baker. I've been hearing mixed reviews about the show. I personally enjoyed it, what did you guys think????

"PINK 4 Friday"

Everybody wants a piece of Nicki Minaj including MAC cosmetics. Nicki has created a limited edition lipstick, that is to be sold on the MAC website for the next three fridays. The lipstick is called "Pink 4 Friday" in honor of her album "Pink Friday". I'll be ordering mines!!! Check out the color http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/168/13699/Pink-4-Friday-Lipstick/index.tmpl

Tiger Woods and his Scarlet Letter "A"

If you havent heard the news already, Tiger Woods' cheating has finally caught up with him. He was cheating with his mistress for some time now, Jaimee Grubbs. Jaimee is a well-known party girl who had a short stint on the show "Tool Academy" with her ex-boyfriend. Elin, his wife of 2 years, reportedly got so upset with the news that she chased him out of the house with a golf club (isn't that ironic), and caused his infamous accident in which he ran into a tree. As an attempt to save his marriage, Woods agreed to rework their pre-nuptial agreement. Reportedly, the original pre-nup stated that Elin had to stay with Tiger for 10 years to get $20 million, but now she only has to stay for the 2 years she already has under her belt and will now receive $300 million. All I have to say is make that money, but don't let it make you, and I hope this helps Tiger hide that big red scarlet letter "A".

For more info visit http://www.duniyalive.com/?p=78145

"The Visitor"

The film is trying to show that one person can make the biggest difference in your life. The film expresses this when the character Walter, an educator who was still recovering from his wife's death meets the character Tarek, an illegal immigrant from Syria, and he becomes revived again. The director intends to show that just because you have different belief, customs, or cultures you can still come together for a common goal. The common goal in the movie was the love for music and the love for life. The storyline for "The Visitor" is very unique. I like the fact that the story shows people for all different walks of life, races, and cultures coming together to share with one another and help one another; whether it be Walter giving Tarek and his girlfriend a place to stay or Tarek reviving Walter and introducing him to the drum circles. The acting was good as well, from Tarek's fresh and fun loving spirit to Walter's uptight personality which loosens up as the film progresses. Unfortunately, the film didn't get as much recognition as it should. It hit the theatres in January 2008 an only grossed about 8 million. I personally liked the movie, and enjoyed how Tarek's mother and Walter came together in efforts to free Tarek from the detention center, and from their time spent together a romance ensued. The film affected me because it made me stop being so judgemental to other cultures and more sentimental to the illegal immigrant problem America is currently facing. I would recommend this film to any one who is closeminded to the gifts, smart, beauty, or love other cultures, races, etc. could bring into their lives. For more info on the movie visit http://www.thevisitorfilm.com/main.html

"Skin"

The film was trying to portray the idea that no matter what the circumstance or how hard things get "Never give up!", which was the infamous quote of the movie. This was the quote that Sandra's father, played by Sam Neill, told Sandra when she was facing questioning of her race, as a young girl. The director's intention was to show that a person should not be judged by their race but for who they are as a person, and that no matter what you go through never give up on yourself and always stand up for what you believe in. The storyline is very creative. The film is based on a girl that looks black but was biologically born to two white parents. Sandra, played by actress Sophie Okonedo, grew up in Africa during apartheid. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation legally enforced by the ruling white minority in South Africa. This was problematic for Sandra because her race was at question, because she looked black. The acting in the film was really good, Sophie's character brought compassion to the film. You could easily have feel in love with her character because instead of taking the easy way out and disowning her husband she decided to live as an African women. This meant she had to live in a poverty stricken area with no sanitation or running water, this was quite the opposite of the lifestyle she was living when she was classified a white woman and living with her parents.The film is only playing in selected theatres as of now but is getting great reviews and has won a bunch of awards from a series of film festivals. I personally enjoyed the film, I liked the fact that the character, Sandra, didn't take the easy way out, she fought for her love and for hopes of being accepted. I disliked the fact that the school system and the white minority tried to keep Sandra and black students from going to school, when Africa is there homeland, school should have been eligible to any citizen of Africa. This movie affected me because I did'nt really fully understand what was going on with apartheid in Africa, but now that I understand I am grateful that I didn't to go through it. I would definitely recommend this movie to others. To see some clips from the movie or get more info about the movie visit: http://www.skinthemovie.net/home

Precious

I recently went to see the movie "Precious", which is based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire, and I must say that it is my favorite movie of the year. The film portrays the idea that with the many hardships you may face, you can overcome them with love, friendship, hope, strength, and most of all knowledge. The film also portrays the whole notion of light/fair skin people being better than darker skinned people, within the black community. This is shown when Precious played by, Gabourey Sidibe, daydreams and invisions herself as a young white female with a fair-skinned boyfriend that has "good hair". She used these day dreams to take her away from reality and to project herself into a world of fantasy where everything was beautiful. Lee Daniel's, the director, intended to show that education and literacy is obtainable by everyone and can truly make the difference in having a voice and not having one. I would say that "Precious" definitely succeeded as a film. The storyline was exceptional, it allowed viewers to be entertained, appalled, yet you can still relate to the characters in the story. Each character brought something special to the movie whether it be Monique's character who brought darkness to the film or Paula Patton's character who brought lightness to the film. The film did well in box office sales as well grossing 1.8 million in it's opening week. Personally, I loved the film "Precious", because it was relatable. Every person has felt unattractive, abused or unwanted, and even a little dumb at some point in their lives. The film affected me because it made realize how truly blessed I am. The movie didn't end with some fairytale ending which made it more realistic to me, so I would definitely recommend others to see this movie.

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