Movie Review: The Help

I have two words for the movie The Help: Awe and some!

I'm not sure about the book, as I haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet, but this movie had all the characteristics of a timeless classic.

Set in the early 1960's, The Help follows the lives of 3 women who are all facing various life issues in the midst of racial turmoil in southern Mississippi.

The lives of two black maids, Aibileen and Minny, are turned upside down when Skeeter, a white journalist from a southern aristocrat family, decides that she wants to write a story about life in the south from the black perspective in the midst of Civil Rights movement.

Faced with the imminent danger of participating in such a project, Aibileen (played by Viola Davis) and Minny (played by Octavia Spencer) begin to understand the importance of allowing their voices to be heard and ultimately find the courage to join forces with Skeeter (played by Emma Stone). 

Meanwhile, Hilly Holbrook (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), an ornery, pompous socialite, does everything in her power to keep the blacks in "their place" and ruin the lives of anyone who tries to get in her way.

What I loved about this movie is that it had a very strong message that was well presented through a great storyline.  The characters were believable and moving, the scenes played out magnificently, and the movie possessed all of the key elements: drama, humor and substance.

The Help is a great movie for the entire family to see.  Not only is there tremendous entertainment value, but there are also a lot of serious discussion points that parents and children alike can explore together.

All in all, this movie gets another enthusiastic 10 spirit-fingers! Go see it and enjoy.

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If you'd like to see more positive movies in theaters please check out Someone To Watch Over Me.

Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes- Spoiler Alert

Honestly, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes was not my first choice when I planned my recent trip to the movies but you know what they say...everything happens for a reason.  Needless to say, the 105 minutes I spent in the overly air-conditioned movie theater was well worth the ticket price.

This modern day reprise of the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes was an awesome display of cinematic ingenuity. With a starring lineup that includes John Lithgow, James Franco, Freida Pinto and an ape with more swagger than I've seen in most humans, this movie is sure to join the ranks of the likes of Avatar.

Will Rodman (played by Franco) is a scientist who is working on a genetic experiment, which is being tested on apes, that he believes will be the cure for Alzheimer's and all he needs is for the powers-to-be to give the green light for funding.  He is right on the brink of a success until all hell breaks loose and one of the apes runs amuck during a crucial presentation for the board of directors.

From that point on, Rodman's research is shut down and his boss demands that all of the lab apes be put down. Unwilling to give the only hope he has of finding a cure for the illness that plagues his father (played by Lithgow), he secretly takes one of the infant test apes home with him and continues his research on his own.

As the young ape, which he names Ceasar, progresses Rodman finds that his intelligence exceeds his wildest expectations. As Ceasar grows, he becomes not only more intelligent but more human in nature, and as he becomes more human in nature he begins to see just how different he is from other humans when he really starts to interact with the world around him.

Then the plot thickens after Ceasar tries to protect the people he has come to know as his family and is then caged like an animal, and then the city of San Fransico quickly learns the consequences of mistreating and pissing off a genetically enhanced primate.

Enter the guns, spears, explosions and such.

Long story short, I loved this movie! The acting and emotion of apes was phenomenal! The humans did a good job too, but the shear execution of how the animals were portrayed made this viewing experience a real treat.

I also liked the fact that there wasn't a lot of unnecessary violence and profanity. So Rise of the Planet of the Apes gets an enthusiastic 10 spirit-fingers. Go see it and take the family.

www.black-smithenterprises.com
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Don't forget to look out for my daughter's new book "The Lonely Kid" which hits stores August 31st!

Step Your Game Up! Rules of Engagement for the "Boys"

If I hear a grown man yell "Hey, baby!" at me one more time I am going to have a BF, for real.

Aside from the fact that I am a happily married woman, it's 2011 and that line is tired, lame, disrespectful and as a grown man if it's the only thing you can think to say, then you deserve to be single.

Heaven forbid some of these guys should venture to pull up their pants, brush their hair and approach a "woman" with a simple phrase like "Hello, how are you doing today?" or "Excuse me, Ms..."

In the 21st century where information is literally at your finger tips, there is no excuse for this type of ignorant behavior to still be in existence...I mean be for real. 

Due to the fact that this has happened far too many times in the past few months for my liking, I have decided to offer up some advice for those of the male persuasion, the boys not men, who basically just don't have a clue.

1. DO NOT yell, "Hey, baby!" or any other disrespectful cat-call to any woman at any time...ever and expect a serious, non-confrontational reaction or stupid look. Don't get angry at her because if you were dumb enough to put yourself out there like that, you deserve it. 

Instead of bombarding females with tired lines that only make you look immature, try approaching a "lady" (keyword here being lady) like you have some home-training and open up the dialog with some good conversation. You may be surprised at how far being charming and interesting can get you.

2. RESPECT THE RING! If a woman tells you that she is married...keep it moving! It is so annoying to have some random dude approach you and ask if you're married and then proceed to say, "So?", "Happily?", or even worse, "So am I," after you say yes!

First of all, if I took the time to tell you I was married and didn't offer up any additional conversation that means respect my situation and either move on to some appropriate conversation or get out of my face.

Second, what kind of dog does it make you look like to be trying to push up on a married woman despite the fact that she just told you she was married?

3. PULL YOUR PANTS UP! No grown woman wants to be bothered with no wannabe thug who clearly doesn't understand the concept of a belt or accurate waist measurements.  Wearing your pants sagging to your knees really makes us wonder if it's really us you're trying to impress or if you're secretly batting for the other team. #justsaying

If you're over the age of 25, you're grown so act like it. It's time to put your big boy clothes on and get a clue. For real.

Though that's just the tip of the ice berg, those are some key first impression issues you can work on that may help you make a huge difference in your female response rating.  Try it and see.

And ladies, stop letting these guys approach you any old kind of way! If you demand respect then they have no choice but to eventually get the picture.

We know that there are a lot of men out there who do know how to treat a lady, so if this doesn't apply to you then please share it with someone you know that could benefit from it.

Until next time...holla!

www.black-smithenterprises.com
www.twitter.com/janayablack

Punctuality Problem? Problem.

Habitual punctuality is a condition that I am clearly in the minority with. I will readily admit that I am very meticulous when it comes to my time; and this is only because I understand that time is the one commodity that you CAN NOT GET BACK!

In my line of work, meetings are a necessity. It's just what we do.  But more often than not (90% of the time), I find myself waiting for people who are running late for appointments that they themselves have set the date and time for and I just don't understand it.

For the doctors' offices that set appointments and then leave you sitting in the lobby for an hour past your appointment time, why not just give your clients a window of say 9-5 and take them on a first come first serve basis? After all, if they are late or miss an appointment you don't hold them up on charging that cancellation fee!

And for the the wedding parties that leave their guests sitting for hours waiting for the wedding ceremony or reception to start...don't even get me started on that.

Then there are the people that you have to tell that everything starts 2 hours earlier than it actually starts just so they'll make it somewhere near the "on time" mark; and we all know people like that.

Ergo, I present this post to let those who think it's cool to be "fashionably" late for everything that its very irritating to say the least and here's why:

1. It displays a lack of professionalism.

In my managerial capacity, I have had a total of 5 people show up late for job interviews. Can you guess what happened to those 5 individuals? Their resumes were thrown in the garbage and they were politely thanked for their time and told that they would not be considered for the job due to their lack of professionalism with being unable to show up to their INTERVIEW on time. 

Seriously, how do you show up late for a job interview and still expect to get hired? Who does that? 

If you are meeting with someone in a business capacity for the first time, your first impression is usually going to be the lasting one. Showing up on time says, "I'm ready to work!" or "I'm ready to get the job done!" Whereas showing up late says that you really don't take anything seriously.

2. It's rude.

Being late is rude, flat out. We all understand that sometimes things happen that can prevent one from being on time, but this should be the exception and not the rule.

When you make a habit of being late, it tells the person that is left waiting for you that you don't respect them or their time.  It's also a non-verbal statement that they are on your dime and whatever it is that has to be done can wait until you feel like showing up.

Did you really mean it that way? Probably not, but if you really cared enough to say otherwise you have would have planned better to account for unforeseen circumstances, traffic and whatever else you could blame your tardiness on.

Being on time is not a race thing and it's not a gender thing.  It's a respect thing. If making time deadlines isn't your thing and you're dealing with people who hold that in high regard then it's up to you to figure out a system that won't have people wanting to bite your head off when you finally do show up. 

As for me, if you decide to show up late, and more than 15 minutes late at that...don't be surprised if I'm gone when you get there.  Just saying...time is money. #keepitmoving

Ok, I'm done ranting now. As you were! :-) 

Visit me at www.black-smithenterprises.com for books and movies or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack.

Self-Publishing Lessons Learned

Since self-publishing my first book in 2004 I have learned A LOT.   Some of those lessons were nice cushy lessons that didn't cost me anything but time, while others were a serious pain in the pocketbook. Pocketbook...who says that? Anyway, I digress.

While publishing a book isn't rocket-science, it is still a very time-consuming and sometimes intimidating process. Since I have been blessed with a wonderful network of very knowledgeable people who were willing to take the time to share pivotal information with me, I have decided to share few key things I've learned with you.

1. Learn your craft.

Just because you like to read doesn't automatically make you a good writer. Not everyone was born to be a writer.  As astonishing as that revelation is, it's true. Not everyone is gifted with a firm grasp of how to articulate the written word, so therefore it is imperative to study the craft and learn your strengths and weaknesses. This goes for the gifted, as well as those who were destined to work a little harder at it. Things like knowing how to put sentences together, formulate a storyline, use proper tense and punctuation are all very important things to know if you plan to write a book.

2. Finish the book.

Finishing your book is the most important part of any book project, because lets face it: If you don't have a finished book to sell, then you're pretty much wasting your time, as well as everyone else's.  Writing a book is more than a notion, and it takes time, dedication and discipline to do. So before you start going around telling your friends, family and everyone else who will listen that you're publishing a book, get the book finished first.

3. Get your book edited.

After I finished my first book I was so excited about the fact that I had finally finished it, all I wanted to do was to get it out for the world to see. I wasn't working with a lot of money at the time, so I figured I would cut corners by editing the book myself and then have some of my friends take a second glance at it for me.  WRONG ANSWER! 

After releasing the first run of my book, which was chocked full of typo's, grammatical and punctuation errors, I was forced to endure the humiliation of receiving reviews that pegged my work as having the potential of being a great story if it didn't have so many editing mishaps as a distraction for the reader to overcome. 

As a writer, it's always a bad idea to try to edit your own work simply because you're not going to catch all of your own mistakes because your brain is only going to see what you "meant" to write. And as far as having your friends do "glance overs" for you, they may not understand the written word as well as you think they do.

So after you finally finish your manuscript, make it a point to find and hire a good editor who understands your vision for your story and has a proven track record with respect to editing.  This is not something that should ever be compromised. This is your work, so be prepared to invest in it. Your readers deserve it.

4. Pick a great cover. 

The cover of your book is your reader's first introduction to your book. For the hundreds, thousands or even millions of people that you want to buy your book, you have to give them a reason to pick it up in the first place. This too was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way.

The cover for my first book, The Breaking Point, was symbolic for me. I wanted it to be metaphoric for the story's subject matter, so it was a picture of shattered glass with a knife behind it with red undertones. It was very cerebral and thought-provoking in my mind, so when a marketing expert told me that I needed to change my cover to be more appealing I was thoroughly offended.

Old Cover

So, I ignored her advice because after all what did she know? My cover was special and I felt that what was in between the front and back cover was much more important that what was on the outside. I was so confident that my readers would just get it, because after all...in my mind, I was a great writer.  As a result I spent a lot more time explaining myself, and my story, to potential readers than I did selling books.

Needless to say, a year later I took her up on her advice and, lo-and-behold, my book started selling itself because people would just walk by and pick it up to look at the cover and would then flip it over to read the back. The new cover gave me what the marketing expert referred to as "shelf appeal".

Revised Cover

 When designing your cover, don't plan to be cheap. Do your research and honestly ask yourself if this wasn't your book, would you pick it up off the shelf?

5. Know your market.

When selling anything, it's always important to know who you are selling to. It's a simple matter of the timeless principal of "supply and demand". If you study, learn and understand who is demanding your product and how to effectively supply that demand, then you will be successful in your endeavors. If you don't, you won't. It's that simple.

Marketing your book effectively takes imagination, drive and commitment.  Imagination to come up with creative ways to make and keep your book relative to your audience; drive to push yourself to find and keep up with the latest and most effective marketing tactics and to educate yourself on all aspects of the craft; and the commitment to see it through to reach and exceed your goals.

In the grand scheme of things, these five principals are the meat and potatoes of the self-publishing journey. If you are able to diligently and aggressively approach them the rest will be a piece of cake!

Check out the Prison Chronicles Series on Kindle or paperback!

Visit us at www.black-smithenteprises.com or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack.

Till Death...Do Us Part is now available for rent on Amazon!

Show Review: Single Ladies

I'm sure by now we have all bore witness to VH1's newest show Single Ladies starring Stacy Dash, according to it's 1.8 million viewers for the past 2 episodes, and formulated some sort of opinion as to whether or not this show will sink or swim. As for me, I've held off for two weeks and now I'm going to go ahead and jump right in.

First, I am going to lead off with the positive: I love LisaRaye. I think I'm a little biased because I met her and found her to be a very classy woman, with a great head on her shoulders. Stacey Dash is the perfect eye-candy because, lets face it, the woman is gorgeous and apparently doesn't have the ability to age, and I also have to give it up to the producers of the show for putting together an incredibly beautiful cast. 

Now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way...

Single Ladies is basically a 2011 version of Girlfriends that is set in Atlanta and explores all of the same scenarios: a core group of female friends in a big city who are trying to find or keep "the one".  Not only has this show premise been done to death, the acting on this show is un-good. Yes, I meant to say that...un-good. 

While I understand that this production is providing work for black actors, as a viewer I still want to be entertained; and when I say entertained I mean I want to get lost in the story because the actors have pulled me into it and I am able to experience it to the point that I get irritated when the commercials interrupt. With this show it was quite to the contrary in the way that I actually welcomed the commercials as a distraction from the flaccid delivery of the main characters. 

The celebrity cameos are cool, the colorful backdrops are definitely a plus, but all the set dressing in the world can't overshadow bad acting.

There's still a lot of season left and I personally think they can pull it off. As with Girlfriends, in which the acting was also not that great when the show first started, I have high hopes for Single Ladies. I think the show definitely has potential and I am willing to hang in there for at least a few more episodes to cheer them on.  

 Here's to keeping hope alive Single Ladies!

Visit me at www.black-smithenterprises.com or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack.

Movie Review: Jumping the Broom

Ok, I finally went to see Jumping the Broom today and I have to say that it was a very pleasant "me time" outing.

This movie was produced by T.D. Jakes and starred Paula Patton, Laz Alonzo, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Mike Epps and a host of others, in a story about two star-crossed lovers who, despite their vastly different backgrounds, just want to get married.

While the premise of this film is nothing we haven't seen before, the way in which the story was played out brought a bit of freshness to the whole scenario. A beautiful privileged young woman meets the handsome young man of her dreams that she has been praying to God for, and he not only has the debonaire looks and brains to match, but he is also the sensitive caring type who has pulled himself up by the bootstraps and has a lil something, something of his own to make a girl feel financially secure.

Enter the families and cue the drama.

The wedding is set, the families meet and fur begins that fly. Through it all, the audience sees how fragile relationships can be and why it's important for couples to learn how to cleave to one another and not allow outside influences to come in between them; be it the question of being good enough, a mother's inability to let go of her son or earth-shattering family secrets. 

Paula Patton and Laz Alonzo had great chemistry as the leading couple Sabrina and Jason; Angela Bassett was her typical amazing self as Sabrina's mother; Loretta Devine was the perfect overbearing mother; Mike Epps was Mike Epps playing somebody else; Tasha Smith was cool (P.S. it was really nice to see her in a movie where she was playing the typical A.B.W.); and Lil Romeo was...lets just say he's allllll grown up now and looking GOOD. 

So all in all I gave Jumping the Broom a solid B+. It's a great date movie and I'm always a big fan of movies that are positive and uplifting. This is a good film to support at the theater so that we can see more like it in the future.

Sidebar:

Saw a trailer for a movie called Courageous that is about men being better fathers to their children and I was very touched by that 60 second presentation. So much so that I was moved to tears. I think every man in the world should go see this movie just to support the message that fatherhood is more than a title. So please be on the look out for the new movie Courageous that comes out in September.

Visit me at www.black-smithenterprises.com or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/janayablack. 

Till Death...Do Us Part now available for rental or purchase on Amazon!