02 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, OWN, Tyler Perry
Oprah tweeted this picture from the set of the movie she is working on, The Butler. The movie is based on the life of White House butler Eugene Allen who served in the White House for thirty years. It looks like filming on the movie wrapped today.
In other Oprah news, OWN has struck a deal with Tyler Perry reportedly worth millions to bring two new scripted shows to OWN written by Perry.
31 Thursday May 2012
Posted in Bobbi Kristina Brown, For Better or Worse, Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry took to his Facebook yesterday to dispel rumors that were circulating that Bobbi Kristina had quit For Better or Worse.
I woke up this morning to my publicist calling me saying that there were reports that Bobbi Kristina walked off the set of “For Better Or Worse”. NOT TRUE AT ALL PEOPLE!!! There is no way that she could have walked off the set because we have finshed (sic) taping the season.
Looks like the show is already done for the season. It will be interesting to see her performance.
02 Monday Apr 2012
Posted in Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry seems to have lost his ever loving mind. Seriously, is this an April Fool’s joke? Tyler posted a blog yesterday (April 1st) that he seems to think provides us with another example of racial profiling comparing it to Trayvon Martin’s shooting. One would think that Tyler Perry would have more sense than to be a rabble-rouser in an already very escalated situation. We already have Spike Lee tweeting the shooter’s parent’s address, Dick Gregory claiming that the coroner kept Trayvon’s body to harvest organs to sell on the black market, and the obligatory media whoring by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Why is it always the crazy folk that come marching to the forefront in these sad situations? It’s like when there is a tornado somewhere and the news people manage to find the guy with one tooth and the crazy hair to tell us what happened. This is not the kind of front line we need. I’m just saying. So Tyler Perry says in his blog:
As I got to an intersection, I made a left turn from the right lane and was pulled over by two police officers. I pulled the car over and put it in park. Then, I let the window down and sat in the car waiting for the officer. The officer came up to the driver’s door and said that I made an illegal turn. I said, “I signaled to get into the turning lane, then made the turn because I have to be sure I’m not being followed.”
Um, WHAT? You make left turns from the right lane because your security guards told you it was a good idea to drive like Will Smith in Men in Black? At this point even in Perry’s telling of the story he was confrontational with the police. He keeps saying he had never been in this situation before. What his Rambo driving style has never gotten him pulled over before ever? I doubt that. Turning left from the right hand land is a deadly maneuver that can kill the rich guy who thinks the rules don’t apply and anybody’s grandma who happens to be on the road. The story goes on to describe his windows being tinted. His failure to turn the car off. His insistence that the cops just write him the ticket so he can go. He felt the cops were hostile for questioning him on why he was thought he was being followed. And it ends with a black cop showing up to explain to the white cops just who exactly Mr. Perry is and why it makes total sense for him to be driving like an asshole. But that’s not all. After comparing himself to Trayvon Martin, and an eight year old case in Naples Florida where he claims two guys were hauled off by cops never to be seen again he posts in all caps RACIAL PROFILING SHOULD BE A HATE CRIME INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI!!! Perhaps he is unaware that the FBI practically invented racial profiling. Nor does he understand that racial profiling occurs when no crime has been committed but someone is interrogated because they fit a particular profile. You broke the law, Tyler, and you were pulled over and questioned like any other citizen. I think Perry is getting too big for his girdle. I’m just saying.So we can add Tyler Perry’s name to the list of histrionic people creating sideshows that take the focus off the actual situation that occurred in Florida over five weeks ago. Which is sad. I used to have respect for the guy. It’s funny, perhaps even ironic, that Spike Lee and Tyler Perry have been at each others throats for years over the image of black people in America and now they are both making asses out of themselves over the Trayvon Martin case. Crap like this does not help.
01 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Bobbi Kristina Brown, For Better or Worse, Tyler Perry
Reports that Bobbi Kristina has been cast in Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse are popping up all over the Internet. Today People reports hearing it from “a source”. The AJC quotes the NY Daily News. The NY Daily News quotes “a source”. I’ve done some super sleuthing and located THE SOURCE! Oh no wait I didn’t I just read an exclusive in Straight From the A last Wednesday. SFTA says that Krissi has been in and out of Tyler Perry’s studios for weeks now with her play brother turned boyfriend turned possible fiance… that Nick guy. I’m hoping that Tyler Perry will look out for Krissi. SOMEBODY needs to as both sides of her family seem a bit dysfunctional at the moment. Be sure to read my review of For Better or Worse here. I liked it well enough to watch a few episodes but then forgot it was on. Maybe I’ll tune back in when it returns and see if Krissi can act. Thoughts?
23 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in Brian White, Good Deeds, NeNe Leakes, Tyler Perry
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| Photo by Quantrell Colbert ©2011 Very Perry Films. |
White explained his comments in the Hello Beautiful interview by saying, “I never had any beef with Nene. I was talking about images and being careful what we celebrate in the media.Please understand I do not hate anyone let alone black women that raised me. I am fighting for the images of black women.”
Here is the except from the interview that caused the controversy:
Do you think Tyler Perry only depicts black people in a negative light? There are a lot of black people who fit into the stereotype but there are a lot of black people who don’t.
“You can’t call it a stereotype if it’s the majority. The most prevalent image in ‘urban society’ right now is women like Nene. If there’s a fight that breaks out on Love & Hip Hop those people are on every blog, the cover of every magazine the next week. It’s not Taraji or Gabrielle, it’s whoever just got into a fist fight. Tyler’s not stereotyping, he’s holding up a mirror and people are mad at him because people don’t want to look at that image in that way.”
White indicated in the press at the time that author of the article, Shamika Sanders, wrote the article in the most unflattering way possible. Sanders does begin the article by inserting a mean-spirited bias stating that. ” I concluded that he has something – maybe not “hate” – but something… a gripe perhaps, not only with black women, but the black race.” Sanders lists “journalism major” in her brief bio but something tells me she didn’t complete that degree or attend many classes. Bias aside, the typos (fixed) in the brief quote above as well as the use of ‘sic’ inappropriately (deleted) on several occasions makes me tend to believe that Sander’s not likely to be a Peabody award winner any time soon.
That said, the interview with Wendy Williams had an odd feel to it. Williams asked White about the reaction from black women when he married his Latina wife. White replied, “I caught a little flack but it’s a table setter for positive discussion”. It seems that White can’t promote the movie or share fun stories from the set because he is to busy discussing racial bias and stereotypes. I suppose that is to be expected if you are in a Tyler Perry film. White does come off a bit “whitewashed” for lack of a better term in his speech and demeanor. He has a awkward demeanor that is a bit off putting in a general since. The whole interview just seemed awkward. Then, at the end, White and Williams enjoyed some chocolate covered bacon to bring the segment some sweet closure. The bacon was wrapped in white chocolate.
26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Atlanta, Cocoa Brown, For Better or Worse, Michael Tai White, Tasha Smith, Tyler Perry
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| No Photo Credit, sorry Flying Monkeys |
Tyler Perry continues to rule TBS with his latest sitcom For Better or Worse which premiered tonight at 10 p.m. Michael Jai White who plays husband and father, Marcus Williams was seen fresh out of the shower wrapped in a towel within the first five minutes.Way to rope us in Tyler. Tasha Smith stars as Angela, Marcus’ second wife. If these roles sound familiar, that’s because the show is built around characters from Tyler Perry’s 2007 Movie, ”Why Did I Get Married?”.
The first two episodes played back-to-back making it seem like an hour long show. Sort of. The first episode was pretty funny. Cocoa Brown is a scene stealer as Jennifer, Angela’s kooky friend who provides the best laughs in the show. The second episode takes a sharp right hand turn into The Land of Dramedy and more serious topics are covered. It’s a rather abrupt change as if it were two different shows with the same characters.
The show has two other couples, Keisha and Richard and Joseph and Leslie. Keisha is Marcus’ ex-wife and mother of his daughter. Keisha and Marcus may or may not have some unresolved issues. Joseph is rich and Leslie is a pageant queen. Well, okay, I don’t know if she is a pageant queen on the show, but she is played by a pageant queen and her acting abilities do seem as though casting her as anything other than a pageant queen would be beyond her abilities. I’m guessing this is her first acting job.
The show is set in Atlanta where, as Phaedra Parks would tell you, everybody knows there are only black folks. Black folks who, like Nene Leakes, are VERY RICH and of course have jobs related to professional sports and hair care. If I had written this show… I’d be called a racist for all the stereotypes. Tyler Perry makes his bank off stereotypes so I reckon that was to be expected. Don’t expect to see any white, Hispanic or Asian people showing up in series unless Kim Kardashian makes a cameo appearance at the sports network.
Some of the blocking in the show is weird. Lots of walking around in the “History Box” scene that seemed overly orchestrated for no real reason. I assume Tyler Perry is directing this and perhaps he is relying on the sort of blocking he would do on a stage so that everyone is not standing still in the scene. The paths of Angela and Richard cross awkwardly and you get the feeling they are exchanging places for some physical interaction that never takes place.
That said, with Friday Night Lights, off the air, there is not a lot to choose from and the show is sort of endearing in it’s awkwardness. I’ll watch it again and hope for more Cocoa Brown and half nekkid Michael Jai White and less pageant queen.
Did y’all watch this tonight? Tell me what you thought and follow me on twitter @tamaratattles .
20 Sunday Nov 2011
After another night of late shooting, Tyler Perry’s The Marriage Counselor has wrapped. According to tweets by Brandy Norwood, the plan was for a long weekend of very emotional scenes. Brandy was being coached by the legendary Susan Batson who came to the Atlanta set to help her with the dramatic final days of shooting.
Lance Gross, was cast in the leading male role of Bryce, the husband of title character Judith played by Jurnee Smollet. Brandy plays the part of Melinda, Bryce’s co-worker who has an unexpected connection to Bryce’s wife. The final days on the set resolved these complications as Judith realizes the severity of the choices she made in her marriage.
Lance tweeted last night about 11 p.m. that they had completed 13 pages of script yesterday. Those final pages were expected to take the entire weekend. Filming began on November 2 putting the total number of filming days at a mere seventeen. Despite being a straightforward shoot with no special effects that seems like a short shoot to me. Fans of Tyler Perry will get a double shot of movies in 2012. Perry stars in Good Deeds, a movie about an engaged man who has change of heart, which will be released in February.
17 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted in Atlanta, Brandy Norwood, Lance Gross, Peter Thomas, Tyler Perry
Brandy tweeted this photo from the set of The Marriage Counselor at 1:30 a.m. Atlanta time.
It was a very late night at Tyler Perry Studios. Brandy was cast to play the part of Lance’s best friend and coworker. Is it me or are there a whole lot of people in this movie?
Richard Eldredge has a great article about Tyler Perry’s new statement on casting Kim Kardashian, here. No really do it. It’s good.
Wendy Williams is talking about some Enquirer story that doesn’t exist saying that Brandy and Kim K are filming together. The whole story including the “source” is bogus. Wow Wendy, really?
08 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted in Atlanta, Kim K, Kim Kardashian, Kroy Biermann, RHOA, Tyler Perry
07 Monday Nov 2011
Posted in Atlanta, Kim K, Kim Kardashian, Tyler Perry
