“Where’s The Love” Premieres THIS Saturday on UP!!!

Hello World,

Lanman Rucker & Denise Boutte

Lanman Rucker & Denise Boutte…still working on my red carpet photo skills…

Happy Friday 🙂

As I’m still a newlywed (almost 9 months to be exact 🙂 ), all things love and marriage are very much on my radar…That’s why I was blessed last night to be able to attend a preview event at Aurum Lounge for “Where’s The Love,”  a romantic drama featuring two popular, married TV talk show hosts, played by Lamman Rucker (UP’s Sugar Mommas, “Meet the Browns”) and Denise Boutte (“Meet the Browns,” “Days of Our Lives”), who dispense relationship advice even as their marriage starts to crumble…

It is the one-year anniversary of the talk show Where’s The Love?, hosted by married relationship experts and doctors Sebastian (Lamman Rucker) and Ryan Reid (Denise Boutte). They are in their mid-30s, great looking and have a successful counseling practice complete with best-selling books and an EmmyÂź-nominated TV show. Ryan and Sebastian seem to have it all, but secretly their relationship is falling apart. They’ve been keeping up appearances to Sebastian’s sister Kai (Terri J. Vaughn) and her husband Rod (Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan), Ryan’s best friend Sidney (David Banner), their producer Paige (Nicole Eggert), Ryan’s editor Dale (Karon Joseph Riley), their patients, their fans and the public to save their lucrative careers – until one day when it all comes out. Now, Ryan and Sebastian have to decide whether their own marriage can be saved…

The ensemble cast includes Terri J. Vaughn (UP’s In the Meantime, “Meet the Browns”), Karon Joseph Riley (UP’s Marry Me For Christmas, “Necessary Roughness”), David Banner (Lee Daniel’s The Butler, Ride Along), V103 host Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan (“106 & Park,” “Rap City”), Ahmed Lucan (Khazana, “Homeland”), Shirley Strawberry (co-host of “The Steve Harvey Show,” Madea Goes to Jail), Nicole Eggert (“Baywatch,” Charles in Charge”), and LeToya Luckett (“Single Ladies,” “Treme”). Kandi Burruss (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “Let’s Stay Together”), Tommy Ford (“Martin,” “Basketball Wife”) and singer-songwriter/record producer/actress Angie Stone (Ride Along, Scary Movie 5) guest star.

Trey Haley (The Man in 3B, Note To Self) directs the film from a script by Cas Sigers-Beedles (UP’s Sugar Mommas, Love Will Keep Us Together). Filmed in Atlanta, “Where’s The Love?” will premiere exclusively on UP on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Below are a few pics and impromptu interview snippets from the preview event…

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 Terri J. Vaughn gets my Cutest Red Carpet Appearance Award…At four months pregnant with her third child with hubby Karon Riley, she looked fabulous…In addition to acting, she and her business partner Cas Sigers-Beedles continue to make moves with their production company Nina Holiday Entertainment, she is an acting coach and mother…AND she is about about to shoot a new movie with her business partner in Trinidad while pregnant…Her secret to balancing it all: “I have an amazing husband, and he’s in the movie too!”

002Some may know David Banner primarily from his rapping career, but he’s becoming a well-versed actor as well. “This is my 15th movie. I took a break from music. Sometimes you do stuff for so long, you have to recalibrate and remember why you are doing it in the first place.”

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Shirley Strawberry, who is probably best known as the co-host of the “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” is also featured in the movie…She revealed that she was recruited to be on the show to help “balance” Steve…”He’s crazy but a lot of fun. It’s been fun and a blessing to work with him.”

018Everyone remembers Tommy Ford from “Martin!” But since then, he has moved into directing and producing…Currently, he is directing a new film “Switching Lanes,” a story about race relations between two high schools students, one who is white and one who is black, running track…The movie is in post-production…

013Ahmed Lucan portrays Ryan’s agent in the film….”It’s a blessing that Terri Vaughn gave me an opportunity to be in this film. She is my acting coach actually.”

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David Banner’s selfie with the cast and others affiliated in the movie 🙂

 

Below is a snippet of the film….

Any thoughts?

“Heaven Is For Real” Opens TODAY!!!

Hello World,

I’ve been waiting to see this movie which I think would be a perfect family outing for Easter 🙂

Below is a description of the movie and a trailer….

Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name “Heaven Is For Real” brings to the screen the true story of a small-town father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.

“Heaven Is For Real” stars Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) experiences Heaven during emergency surgery. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence. He describes Heaven in vivid detail, and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth … things he couldn’t possibly know. Todd is called upon by his congregation to explain the meaning of Colton’s revelations, and he and his family are challenged to examine their faith and draw meaning from this remarkable event.

The senior production executive for the movie is DeVon Franklin, senior VP of production at Columbia Pictures, and Bishop T.D. Jakes is one of the film’s producers according to Variety magazine.

Any thoughts?

Watch “The Passion of the Christ” on TV Tonight for One Night Only!

Hello World,

As today is Palm Sunday, and the first day of Holy Week leading up to Easter, next Sunday, how fitting that the UP channel is showing “The Passion of the Christ.” This is the first time this captivating film has appeared on commercial television since its debut in 2004. I saw the movie when it was in the theaters, and I was rendered silent after watching the atrocity of Jesus’ murder depicted squarely in my face…I had to keep reminding myself it was just a film and at the same time, I realized the film probably couldn’t capture the totality of Jesus’ barbaric sacrificial death for us…

Below is a scene from the movie….This is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane…

How are you honoring our Lord’s sacrifice this week?

Any thoughts?