All You've Got to do is Dream

The fact that I waited a whole week to talk about Dreamgirls is in no way indicative of my feelings for the film. I did see the film on its release date, Christmas day and I LOVED IT. Call me biased because I love musicals, but that film was wonderful – incredibly entertaining, beautifully made, and full of music and laughs.

"Jimmy got soul!"

Eddie Murphy reminded us that he has not disappeared. He is still the hilariously talented actor we have known for more than 20 years and he showed out as Jimmy Thunder Early! It was fantastic to see his Saturday Night Live James Brown imitations come back to life with depth.

It is no secret that Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce can sing, and you don’t have to have seen Dreamgirls to know that Jennifer’s voice delivers in this movie. However, sitting in the theater experiencing it is completely different. Her voice was made for Effie; It was made for “And I Am Telling You” and nothing I will say here can do it justice.

In terms of acting, Beyonce and Jennifer were blessed to have the easiest role of their lives. I don’t say that to trivialize their performances, but singers playing singers…it can’t get much better. I am not aware of any future aspirations JHud (she uses this abbreviation to sign off on her blog), so I won’t comment on her potential on the big screen. However, for Beyonce, this was the perfect role for her to hone on her abilities as an actor. (She said in an E! Network special that she hopes to win an Oscar before she’s 30. Before Dreamgirls, I thought that was a lofty objective.) I found her depiction of Deena very honest. It was obvious that she stepped outside of her comfort zone to fulfill a character that, although they had similar backgrounds, was unlike her. She did a good job and, if nothing else, showed her sincerity in the craft. I want to also bring attention to Miss Anika Noni Rose (left). While the characters garnering the most attention are the well-known ones, the well-credentialed theater actress did a fine job in the movie as well bringing some dependable talent to the Dreams.

If you haven’t seen the movie and are still in need of some convincing, check out Popcornreel.com. That site is also good for people (like my friend Shone) who are obsessed with the movie and all of its characters. It reviews each character’s performance. Oh, and don’t think I forgot about Jamie Foxx, but I guess it is true what they say: Everyone’s performance upstaged him. It isn’t that he didn’t do a great job, but that was expected. He was a convincing Curtis Taylor, Jr. and let everyone else steal the show.

Did You Know? Sheryl Lee Ralph (center) was Deena in the original Broadway cast. Ever since Moesha, she has seemed oddly popular to me, contributing commentary on BET, MTV, and E! Network specials. Not that one has to be particularly qualified for that, but I always thought her appearances were weird. Knowing that she was in a hugely successful Broadway play at one time kind of sheds a light on that.




FOUND IT IN A MAGAZINE

I was so blown away by this information that I had to share. Fact: We already know that it is necessary change your toothbrush every three months, your loofa (bath sponge) about the same. Thank God milk has an expiration date, but there is another very necessary expiration date ladies need to know. According to Tim Quinn, celebrity make-up artist for Giorgio Armani, and if you are like me, this will stun you, mascara, no matter the brand, must be replaced every 6 weeks. Who knew? I certainly did not. He says,

“Old mascara flakes no matter what kind it is. If you’re wearing it daily, you need a new tube every six weeks, minimum.”

Whether it is YSL or Maybelline, throw it out after just over a month.


SOCIALITE OR VIDEO HO, I MEAN VIXEN?

Who the H- is this woman? I know there are much more important and intelligent people I could be talking about (which I will soon enough), but, really, WHO IS THIS WOMAN? There is no denying that she is gorgeous, but that is about where the niceties end and my story begins…Friday night, my hip-hop devoted boyfriend was reading SOHH.com, a Hip Hop news and gossip website where they were awarding “Best ‘Whatever’ of 2006” awards. The site selected Kim Kardashain to present the award for “Chicks we’d like to…” (read the site to understand exactly what the award was) and proceeded to explain why she was qualified. SOHH claims she has been linked to The Game, P. Diddy, Nick Cannon, and after further research, I discovered that the 25-year old daughter of one O.J. Simpson’s lawyers from the infamous trial, is friends with Paris Hilton (which is clearly a strike against Kardashain) and has also been attached to Nick Lachey, possibly BEFORE his divorce. Well, I never speak ill of Nick Lachey (the divorce really hurt me), so I will move on from this gossip tidbit and move on to why I even care to learn more about this girl.

These facts and the half naked google images of her led me to write her off as a much more attractive Karrine Stephans (I won't even dignify her with a link) then I learned that she is apparently a stylist. I say “apparently” because I have never heard of her. So, I share this seemingly pointless story because I am curious as to who has heard of her – please comment on my blog if you have and in what capacity. I am intrigued. Is she a slightly famous hardworking stylist suffering from disgusting press (with half naked pictures on google) or a slutty, rich socialite claiming to be a stylist because she can afford expensive clothes? It sounds like I’m hating, but I am just curious, I swear.