"Meet the Browns" Movie Poster / Angela & Courtney Set to Tell 'Truth'

Thanks to a fellow BassettHound named Aaron, we've got the first look at the official "Meet the Browns" Movie Poster! According to Aaron, you can find the poster in the back of the program when you see Tyler Perry's currently touring play, "Whats Done in the Dark". They're playing in Chicago now.

You can expect to "Meet the Browns" next year, March 21st 2008. Lionsgate, the distribution company behind all of Tyler Perry's films, stated recently that they'll be releasing Tyler's latest movies (including 'Browns') internationally instead of soley in the States thanks to the success of "Why Did I Get Married".

Quick AB Newsflash: The Bible Experience (The Old Testament Version) is now available on CD or MP3 format. I bought The New Testament version via Amazon.com but any mainstream online store will get you The Bible Experience.
To listen to a clip of Angela Bassett as Esther go to [Zondervan.com] Thanks to Jean at Zondervan!

Angela isnt the only one set to tell the "Truth"
According to CommercialAppeal.com, Courtney "Brown Eyes" Vance is also making an appearance in the upcoming film "Nothing But the Truth" along with his wife of 10 years. This marks the very first feature film the couple have collorborated on (excluding 1995's Panther). We have yet to find out which character Courtney is playing in the film but if Angela is "playing" the boss of a major newspaper then it wouldnt be a stretch if Courtney were her partner in deligating.


Excerpts from "Cast and Costume" by Barbara Bradley

A cap sleeve black dress Angela Bassett wears in "Nothing But the Truth" spotlights her toned arms, lending a subtle physical authority to her role as editor of the fictitious Washington newspaper, The Capital Sun-Times. Was that intentional?

"If you have to show something, it's better than your belly button," said Bassett, smiling, as she waited between scenes shot recently in The Commercial Appeal newsroom on Union Avenue.

But no. The Ellen Tracy belted dress was chosen for its sophistication, which may also account for Bassett's four-inch, stack heels, perhaps the tallest that ever traversed the real newsroom's ink-stained carpet.

Print journalists, never known for sartorial chic, may smile at the stylish duds worn by actors who portray them. (Actors get more beauty help too. At one point, Bassett snapped her fingers and someone rushed over and buffed her arms.) But so many considerations influence costume selection, it's a wonder actors ever emerge from their dressing rooms at all.

The cast includes Kate Beckinsale as the ill-fated reporter; Noah Wyle as a lawyer for the newspaper; Vera Farmiga as the outed agent; and Alan Alda as a high profile, smooth-talking attorney defending Beckinsale's character. Rounding out the stellar cast are Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer and Bassett's real-life husband Courtney B. Vance.

"I get to weigh in with my idea of the character," said Bassett. "I do have power suits, (for Bonnie Benjamin, the editor she portrays), but I felt she shouldn't be mannish. She's strong enough to express her feminine side."

Sometimes actors get to keep the clothes they wear in the film, said Bassett, which can make choosing what is right for the character painful. "Angela loves that!" said Bassett, breaking into a wide smile as she recalled a proposed outfit she had felt it necessary to discard. "But that is going," she told herself. "It's not Bonnie. Bonnie wouldn't wear that."

Read the entire article at [CommercialAppeal.com]

Doesnt it look like celebrity stylist, Philip Bloch, just told a naughty joke?

Whats That Got to Do With It?

Random Angela Bassett News!

Its long over-due but better late than never right? Ms. Angela is one of the 19 celebrities set to recieve their Star on the Walk of Fame in 2008. Next year is definitely going to be Angie's year, with 4 films coming out and her very own star. If you need more on this, heres the story.


Tyler Perry confirms Angela Bassett will star in 'Meet the Browns'!!
The first day of filming for 'Gospel Hill' went off without a hitch earlier this week. First-time director and co-star, Giancarlo Esposito got right into the rythm of being a director on Monday's shoot. Even with the South Carolina heat and residents looking on, reporters observing every detail, and Julia Stiles having difficulty with one scene. Heres the story!

Unfortunately I have some more to report: This whole 'Angela Bassett turned down Monster's Ball' thing will NOT go away. Its been 5 years since that whole controversy was formed from one little old Newsweek article and today silly folks are still talking about it as if Angela was hating on Halle. I usually let them do their ill-informed jabbing without any words in response from me, but Invisible Woman over at Invisible Cinema pushed ALL my buttons in one of her posts yesterday:

Casting Trivia...

-That Angela Bassett turned down Halle Berry's Oscar winning role in "Monster's Ball" and then had the audacity to be pissed that Halle won (she probably thought that legacy should have been hers) and talked greasy about Halle , saying that "it's amazing what happens when someone decides to show their body?" Sour grapes, girl. By the way, has anyone seen Angela lately?

Now of course I couldnt let that go:

Simonique- Its sad that you can report such falsities freely as you're doing. Angela Bassett did turn down the lead role in Monsters Ball but that was the only correct statement you posted about her.
She was nothing but happy when Halle won the Oscar, they were even at the ceremony hugging and saying "I love you, girl." I personally think Angela should've been the first black woman to win the Best Actress Oscar since she has more talent in her pinky finger than half of Hollywood. Angela never 'talked greasy' about Halle, she only said that Monsters Ball wasnt the role for her and that she is in total support of Halle.

Sour grapes are for people who have no talent or potential in their field. In Angela's case, shes just wading her time until something of substance comes her way. People with her talent can do that, people with none can only strip.

Simonique
a pissed off BassettHound

I think I made my point well enough yesterday because Ms. Invisible Woman herself created a post in response. Continue the debate here: Angela Bassett Stans Stand Up!

Caption This!

I know I'm ready for another "Caption Me" post. Heres some pictures of Angela Bassett that need you to caption them. Have fun!


#1 There is one woman that is not like the others. She is sexier, she is smiling, and...she is sexier. Can you find her?

#2 Courtney- "I must not have seen Waiting to Exhale"

#3 "Tina Turner was never this ripped"

#4

The Fast and the Furious meets How Stella Got her Groove Back

2008--The Year of Angela Bassett Films??

Gospel Hill

The people of South Carolina are buzzing about the Hollywood film thats setting up shop right in their local towns. Gospel Hill directors have been scouting locations in and around the Charlotte area for production that plans to start filming later this month. Heres the story:

Dorene Watts is executing a Hollywood assignment.

Watts, Rock Hill's MLK Task Force liaison, is looking for individuals with knowledge of and experience in the civil rights movement for the feature movie Gospel Hill.

The $6 million film, starring Danny Glover, Angela Bassett and Julia Stiles, will be shot in York County this summer. Written and directed by Giancarlo Esposito, the movie tells the story of a former civil rights activist and a local sheriff revisiting the grave of another activist 30 years after his death. It is the first feature film produced by Deco Entertainment.

Originally attracted to the area to take advantage of state tax credits for filmmakers, Watts said the group soon learned about the Friendship Nine's lunch counter sit-in at a Main Street five-and-dime store 46 years ago, and it wet their appetite.

"Once they got here and found out all the history here, they wanted to know more," Watts said. "It's become a grass-roots effort to learn about it."

Anyone interested in working as an unpaid extra in “Gospel Hill” is invited to attend one of two casting calls in either Charlotte or Rock Hill.

The first casting call is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at the Talent Link training studio at 3010 Monroe Rd., Suite 205. Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., there will be a casting call at Freedom Temple Ministries at 215 E. Main Street in Rock Hill.

Potential extras are asked to bring a pen and a current photo or 8x10 headshot with a resume stapled to the back. Those without photos can have a Polaroid photo taken for $2.

For more information, contact Talent Link at (704) 335-0027.

Toussaint

Danny Glover continues to feel pressure from Venezuela and Haiti due to his historical epic, Toussaint. Unfortunately the pressure doesnt stop there, Americans have also started showing their disapproval of Glover and his friendly ties to Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Heres the story:

Actor Danny Glover has agreed to make two movies financially backed by the Venezuelan government, but U.S. officials are calling the deal "tainted."

The Venezuelan National Assembly is giving the national production company, La Villa del Cine, $19.7 million to make the two films. The first, which Glover will direct, is about Francois Dominique Toussaint-Louverture, a Haitian independence leader (Angela is set to play his wife in the upcoming film). The second is a film adaptation of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, "The General in His Labyrinth," about Simon Bolivar.

Both movies will be filmed in Venezuela.

"I think that [Glover is] just a pawn in Hugo Chavez's propaganda machine," Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) told Cybercast News Service. "It's sad. What I don't get is why a well-known American, let alone any American, would be part of a propaganda machine with Hugo Chavez, and that's clearly what he's doing.

"They'll live in this country and enjoy the freedoms that we all enjoy," Mack said. "We have men and women around the world fighting for and defending our freedom, yet they'll go and support a communist dictator in Venezuela."

The films, Mack added, "are just part of that overall plan to try to paint the West or the United States in a bad light."

Mack noted that Glover has "long been a supporter of Chavez's radical left-wing policies. He is also a member of the board of the television network TeleSur, a Chavez-funded network that has teamed up with Al-Jazeera to spread anti-democratic messages across Latin America."

The congressman lashed out at Glover for turning "to an avowed enemy of the United States - and someone who in his own right has snuffed out dissent and free speech - for movie financing smacks of radicalism and opportunism run amuck," Mack said. "That's [$19.7 million] he could spend on helping the people of his country get out of poverty."

Glover, 60, has supported Chavez's political revolution since he was first elected in 1998, and backed the 2006 creation of Villa del Cine the anti-US Chavez regime said would go up against "the Hollywood film dictatorship."

Venezuelan Culture Minister Francisco Sesto defended the joint film project with Glover, saying in a published letter of his own: "The funds earmarked for this movie will be invested exclusively in Venezuela ... creating jobs and providing excellent experience for our national film industry."

He also called it "naive" to think the movie industry would be out of 18 million dollars, since the money did not come from Villa del Cine's operating funds but were part of an "additional credit."

Meet the Browns

Tyler Perry has just disclosed the official synopsis for his film adaptation of his play, Meet the Browns. The story-line proves to be very far from the stage plays' plot, instead of gearing all the focus on the wacky Brown family the attention is mainly given to Angela's character, the down-on-her-luck, single mother, Brenda.

We're not totally sure if Angela will be playing the main character (one source says shes signed on to do the film for sure, another source says nothings official yet). The good news is this most recent source says Angela will be starring in Meet the Browns alongside Dreamgirl diva, Jennifer Hudson.

No matter what the outcome, the new story-line and focus for Meet the Browns makes this role ideal for Angela. She'd be leading her own film again and she'd be able bring all the drama she can muster up to the role! Its perfect and heres the story:

Tyler Perry's reuniting with Lionsgate for the fifth time with Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns. Perry will play Madea and Uncle Joe in the film which is based on his stage play.

Production is expected to begin on Meet the Browns this summer in Atlanta. Lionsgate plans to release the film in early 2008.

The Official Synopsis

A single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street.

But when she's laid off with no warning, she starts losing hope for the first time - until a letter arrives announcing the death of a father she's never met.

Desperate for any kind of help, Brenda takes her family to Georgia for the funeral. But nothing could have prepared her for the Browns, her father's fun-loving, crass Southern clan. In a small-town world full of long afternoons and country fairs, Brenda struggles to get to know the family she never knew existed...and finds a brand new romance that just might change her life.

All four of these movies (including the Robert Townsend flick, Of Boys & Men) plan to hit theaters next year. It looks like 2008 is going to be Angela's comeback year. BassettHounds stay tuned, we'll keep you updated!

High Tea, Anyone?

Angela was honored at Victoria Rowell's 3rd Annual RFCPP (Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan) High Tea at Noon Sunday!

You can only wear hats like these at High Tea!




The Bassett-Vance couple are at High Tea with Pauletta Washington, Victoria Rowell, and Anthony Anderson.





FACT SHEET
High Tea @ Noon
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Hosted by the Rowell Foster Children’s Positive Plan

WHO: Victoria Rowell, actress, child advocate and spokesperson
WHAT: High Tea @ Noon, a charity event hosted by RFCPP. The event is supported by the
corporate, business, entertainment and foundation community. The event is sponsored
by ING Foundation. All proceeds will benefit RFCPP.
• Oscar-nominee Angela Bassett will be honored with the Agatha Award, named after
Victoria’s primary foster mother, Agatha C. Wooten Armstead.
• A hat auction will feature the designs of Patricia Underwood.
• A dress auction will feature the work of fashion designer Kai Milla.
• Recording artist Patti Austin will be the musical guest.
WHEN: Sunday, May 20, 2007
WHERE: The Beverly Hills Hotel

About the Rowell Foster Children’s Positive Plan (RFCPP)

RFCPP is an organization that provides structure, support and encouragement for foster youth through a variety of enrichment programs. RFCPP has awarded full scholarships for fine arts, sports and summer camps and offer job placement for emancipated foster youth. Companies that have provided jobs for RFCPP foster youth include E! Entertainment, Paramount Studios and Viacom. The charity is endorsed by United Parcel Service (UPS), the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the United States Conference of Mayors and American for the Arts.

Visit www.rowellfosterchildren.org

Copying the Queen's Style...

Catherine Bell in Rome or Angela Bassett in Hollywood?

Who Rocked it Better?

The dress' designer, Tracy Reece or the Queen, Angela Bassett?
Go and vote on who rocked this black & white dress better at [Urban-Hoopla]



When did She Wear it Better?

Angela with DL Hughley at The Brass Awards last night.

Everything Great comes in Twos

Angela Bassett's got two kids, two spouses (Angie and I got married last August 25th...okkk thats a joke!), two decades of movies on her resume, and two movies filming this summer:

Shakespeare's Henry IV
The first feature film adaptation of Shakespeare's most political play. Directed by Shawn Tolleson
Co-produced by Drew Brody
Starring Martin Sheen as King Henry IV, Angela Bassett, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Alexander Siddig.
Begins filming summer 2007.

Meet the Browns
The newest Tyler Perry film about a family forced to come together after their grandfathers' death. Described by Angela as a "city mouse-country mouse story."
Directed by Tyler Perry
Starring Angela Bassett and possibly Deelishis as Angie's daughter

Scheduled to begin filming July 2007

I bring this post up because its going to be quite interesting to see how Angela balances the filming of both of these movies in the short 3 months of summer. I think she'll do it easily and with the grace shes always had. I'm just happy to finally see Angela onscreen like she needs to be and in the range of roles that will show off her talent. Yay, the Queen is back on her throne!


Toussaint
Historical action epic based on the life of Toussaint Louverture, who led a successful slave rebellion in the 18th century that sparked the Haitian Revolution
Directed by Danny Glover
Written by Joslyn Barnes and Vijay Balakrishnan
Starring Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Mos Def, and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Begins filming October thru December 2007

Our Favorite Bloggers

Whats That Got to Do With It?
(Random News!)
Check out our favorite Bloggers blogging about the Queen, Angela Bassett!

• A bachelor contemplates 'The Prison Advantage' at [The Bachelor Blog]
  
• Coco Larue tells us why a healthy obsession is always a good one at [Thursday Nite Fever]
  
• Ms. Chi Chi shares pictures of Angela and Courtney being silly at [Platform/Launch/Action]
  
• It happens to the best of us: Check out the Fashion Disaster of the Day at [A Socialite's Life]
  
• Cindy Rhodes interviews Ang and Court on [Sidewalks TV]
  
• Ted Dawson uses Angie as artistic inspiration at [Three Men in a Tub]

Just because randomness is a beautiful thing, heres some pictures of Angela out and about this year:

*Photos provided by Tacia

Pics of the Week

Concrete Loop posted some pictures of Angie getting off a plane at LAX that has sparked the ongoing debate between the BassettHounds. Tacia loves the norm and natural look, while SimSim prefers the glitz and glamour. I am partial to both.



She is an actress, so of course we love to see Hollywood Angela.


But for those who are truly BassettHounds, we like to lean towards the real Angie B.

What do you think?

Love Those Frames

Tacia might pay attention to Angie B's choice of hairstyle, but Manda loves the choice of frames. Here is a small collection of the frames Mrs. Angie BV wears.

Happy Birthday Courtney!

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, like stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these."

The BassettHounds would like to wish Courtney a
Happy 47th Birthday!

Don’t forget to catch Angela & Courtney on The Rachael Ray Show tomorrow, where we get to see Courtney dancing around and Angela talking about his boxer shorts ;-)

NYC 'Friends' Book Signing

The folks at Mediabistro.com went to see Angela and Courtney at their book signing in NYC today. They give a great synopsis of the evening:

Monday evening at the Yale Club, former Eli drama school classmates (and, more to the point, current husband and wife) Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance were feted with a party celebrating the publication of their joint memoir, Friends: A Love Story.

For a reading, the two actors offered a whirlwind tour of their courtship (after years of knowing each other through school and work) in the style of Love Letters, starting with their first serious date, at a Los Angeles driving range (Bassett, coyly: "I ain't never hit no golf ball before"; Vance, on getting up close to show her the proper swing: "I wasn't trying to do nothing fresh"). Before the performance, Vance joked that they had originally conceived of the project, written in collaboration with Hilary Beard, as "a little celebrity book" of maybe 100 pages, but that plan fell by the wayside.

"The queen doesn't like to speak," he said, referring affectionately to his wife, "but she likes to talk." 400 pages of transcripts later...anyway, if you can sneak out for a long lunch tomorrow, they'll be at the Columbus Circle Borders, where they might put on some of the same routine. (They really should flesh it out to about 90 minutes and take it on the road; it's that good.)

I couldnt agree more. They should take it to Seattle first. The people in Seattle love books, you can have as much coffee as you want, and there are two girls in the Emerald City named Tacia and Simonique who dont call themselves BassettHounds for nothing. :D

I Cant Tell...

...whether this is a compliment or a really bad review. Either way I got a hearty chuckle from this Premiere Magazine review of Akeelah and the Bee:

As Akeelah's mother, single parent of four, grandmother at an early age, and a registered nurse, Angela Bassett is completely unbelievable. Take that to mean that she's literally not to be believed: no single mother in south L.A. with a full-time job, four kids and a grandbaby looks like Angela Bassett. Of all the believable black actresses who don't get enough work, why was Bassett of the gladiator biceps and glowing complexion the one to get this role? She's as proficient as ever, but her mere presence shatters any realism the movie might have earned.

*Geesh harsh! Its not her fault shes fine. Hay in this day and age, there are some very attractive Mommy's out there. Add Ang to that list, por favor.

From Today's Oprah Show!

I know ya'll are going to tune in to the Oprah show today, but just in case...Heres some preview pictures and excerpts from the interview:

Hollywood couple Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance have been married for 10 years, but it took more than 20 years—and one really bad date—before they realized that they might be soul mates.

Courtney and Angela first crossed paths 24 years ago in graduate school at Yale University. She noticed the "alluring" Courtney, but he didn't remember Angela at all. Years later, Angela was in a play with Courtney's then-girlfriend. Again, there was no romance. Over the next decade, Courtney's career took him to Broadway and Angela moved to Los Angeles, where she eventually landed her Oscar®-nominated role in What's Love Got to Do with It.

After running into Courtney in 1994, Angela agreed to go on a date with him. "Dare I say, it wasn't memorable," Angela says. "He just seemed like a really, really nice guy, which translated [to] 'kind of boring.'"

But after a second date at the driving range, something clicked and they spent the rest of the week together. Angela says she felt like a teenager after their first kiss, complete with "pinpricks and chills." Angela then flew to Milan, where she replayed the kiss over and over in her mind. At the same time, Courtney flew to his mother's retirement party in Detroit with exciting news. "I had to go to tell my mom that I think I've found my wife," Courtney says.

Exactly one year after that life-changing first kiss, Courtney and Angela married. Because they knew the relationship was special, they decided to abstain from sex until marriage. After spending their wedding night together, Angela left the next day to film How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

The couple says their marriage is strong because they keep "God in the middle." Angela even had "GOD" inscribed on her wedding band between her and Courtney's initials. "I can only rely on his strength," Angela says. "I'll attempt to see [Courtney] even in those moments that aren't perfect, perhaps in a small way, the way God sees him."

Despite their busy Hollywood careers, Courtney and Angela also work to keep the ego that often accompanies being in the business out of their marriage. "I'm proud of the accolades that he receives," Angela says. "And that is something we had to navigate early."

Courtney says he used to let worries about their careers take over. "I had to acknowledge that she's first," Courtney says. "We've got to decide what we want first and then that calmed me down."

When Courtney and Angela decided to start a family, they eventually turned to fertility specialists for help. After seven years of visiting in vitro specialists, getting shots and other treatments, the news was not encouraging.

Still, Angela remained optimistic. "I wanted it, but I couldn't hold onto it so that I was devastated when it didn't happen," she says. "I had to remain hopeful and resilient and, 'Okay, let's do it again.'"

The couple's path to parenthood was forever changed after a conversation Angela had with a friend. "She said, 'Angela, guess what? We're five months pregnant.' And I was, like, 'You are?'" Angela says. "So she began to tell me about the idea of surrogacy."

Angela brought the idea up to Courtney, and they decided to think about it. "The more we learned about it, the more we began to think that perhaps this was an answer for us," Angela says.

Courtney and Angela are the proud parents of twins Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah.

Courtney says he always knew they would have twins. "I had a dream about seven years ago that we were going to have twins," Courtney says. "I didn't know how it was going to happen."

Angela says the twins' birth was an amazing experience. She remembers the sights, the smells and the people who were there—and the feeling that her and Courtney's dreams have come true. "Just standing there together, holding each other with the realization that this is the moment that we've been working toward, praying for," she says.

Courtney says becoming a parent has only strengthened his marriage. "It just means we've got to be more clear in terms of what we're about and the decisions that we have to make," he says.