FILM/TV BITS: BET goes ‘Down Low’; ‘Tsotsi’ bootleg; Paula vs. Simon; Smith’s ‘Thief’; Fantasia on Lifetime; Latifah’s ‘big booty
March 23, 2006
*BET News will explore the “down low” phenomenon within the black community on a special program airing March 28. The documentary “Down Low Exposed” will look into the secret world of heteros*xual black men, some with wives and girlfriends, who also have s*x with men. The program explores a variety of angles linked to the topic, including the impact that men having s*x with men while in prison is having on the spread of HIV/AIDS; and the cultural taboo policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the black church. The program begins at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
*Bootleg versions of the Oscar-winning South African film “Tsotsi” are being circulated in that country with a different ending from the one shown in theaters. According to the BBC, director Gavin Hood shot three different endings before choosing the one in the current theatrical cut. The pirated version, selling like hotcakes on the Johannesburg streets, contains one of the abandoned cuts stolen from the editing room. Hood told the BBC of the bootleg: "It's a rough mess, so anyone who buys it is getting a poor-quality version."
*Paula Abdul says that if she appears to look like a complete lunatic on “American Idol” this season, it’s because of Simon Cowell. “He’s worse than ever,” Abdul told In Touch Weekly of her fellow judge. “If they say, ‘Paula is going crazy,’ the reason is Simon is whispering things in my ear, like, ‘What’s the price of beans?’ Things that make no sense at all.”
*Will Smith will star in a feature film adaptation of the television series, “It Takes a Thief,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter will co-produce the Universal Pictures film, which will star Smith as an amiable crook blackmailed by the CIA into pulling off a heist for the good of the country. "Four Brothers" scribes David Elliot and Paul Lovett are writing the script. The original television series starred Robert Wagner and ran from 1968-1970.
*Lifetime announced it will air a biopic based on the life of "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino. The singer performed Tuesday before ad executives at the beginning of a panel held to announce the network’s new programming slate. New Lifetime Entertainment Services president and CEO Betty Cohen and entertainment president Susanne Daniels said the biopic is part of Lifetime's goal to continue to appeal to its core viewers while also attracting more younger women..
*Queen Latifah is really feeling her animated mammoth character in “Ice Age 2” because the little creature has ample junk in the trunk – an attribute that has eluded her thus far. "I've never been told I have a big butt really,” she tells Contact Music. “I don't have a big butt as far as black people are concerned. I don't have a little butt, but to truly have a butt is to have a booty. I never reached booty status and it's one of my greatest shortcomings in life. If you can't have a big booty in real life, you could at least have one on screen and in the animated world and so I'm real happy about that."
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Posted By: Candice Johnson
Thursday, March 23rd 2006 at 12:37PM
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