Rych McCain Hollyhood Notes

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs -Promo

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs - Promo

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Rych McCain, www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

Coming September 27th! Get Ready!

Sony Pictures Animation recently held a promotional press party on their animation campus to promote the highly anticipated upcoming release of "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2." This is a follow up to the fun and suspense of the first movie but with a couple of added new surprises. The entire family will love this one!

L to R: Voice over talent Bill Hader (voice of Flint Lockwood); Anna Faris (voice of Sam Sparks and Benjamin Bratt (voice of manny).

Photo by Ryan Miller for SPE

"Pickle"," Bill, Anna,Ben and "Barry"

Photo by Ryan Miller for SPE

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Raven Goodwin - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Rych McCain, www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

Raven Goodwin

Being Niecy On Being Mary Jane!

Raven Goodwin (Niecy)

BET’s new hit drama “Being Mary Jane,” has hit the airways like a Tsunami Partly because of the show’s main star, sexy and gorgeous Gabrielle Union along with a great supporting cast and storylines that are gut wrenchingly real. One of the outstanding performances being rendered is by Raven Goodwin who plays Niecy, the daughter of Mary Jane’s misfit brother who is an unemployed, recovering alcoholic. Niecy herself is not fairing too well either because she is not in school and pregnant by a boy who has another girl knocked-up as well. Nobody has a job and newscaster/talk show hostess Mary Jane must shoulder the financial burden and management load for the entire dysfunctional family.

Acting since she was the age of four, Goodwin, a Washington, D.C. native, has worked her way up the ranks like her youthful colleagues via appearances on TV shows such as “Everybody Hates Chris,” “3^rd Rock,” “Glee’ and others. She may best be known to date as Tangie Cunningham on Nickelodeon’s “Just Jordan.” Film wise Goodwin won an “Independent Spirit Award” for “Best Debut Performance” as Annie Marks for the Indy comedy/drama “Lovely & Amazing.”

In getting back to her character Niecy on “Being Mary Jane,” Goodwin laughs and says, “She’s something else, that’s for sure.” What is her experience like in Atlanta? Goodwin says, “I was commuting between LA and Atlanta. It’s a series but we shot it like it was a movie. So I was there on and off for a few weeks then I was there for a month straight and you know, we just kicked it and loving it.” What is the chemistry with this cast? Goodwin is all smiles, “Its an amazing chemistry. We’re family and we all look alike. Oddly, because as you know on TV they like to put two dark skin parents with a light skin kid – how did that happen? But it’s a beautiful Black family, middle upper class and even though on the outside it's beautiful, on the inside we have some baggage. So I'm excited for everyone to see that."

In the up coming episodes, what are we going to see from Nicey? Is she going to blow our minds? Goodwin reacts, “She is! I think she’s going to prove to everybody that no matter if you are a mom or not you still try to find your way and I think that is important.” As a mention of note, I would remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that Goodwin has made my Rych McCain’s top t0 list of Hollywood’s most talented youth and is a part of my media family.

The Smurfs 2 Review by
Leorya Sanford

This is a great summer movie for the whole family. The movie blends animation with real life in a very realistic way that draws you in. The movie has an important message as well, “It’s not where you come from that’s important, it’s who you choose to be”. The two new characters Vexy and Hackus were a great addition. I especially love the cat, Azrael. He had me laughing throughout the entire movie. I give this movie two thumbs up.

Leroya posing with the Smurfs at the promotional press party screening held on the Sony Pictures Lot

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Professor Fernando Jones - Music

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

By Rych McCain, www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

Professor Fernando Jones’

Blues Kids Camp Is On!

Photos via FJBKC

Professor Fernando Jones Blues Artist and Teacher

The Blues as an art form has taken the rollercoaster ride of being “In” then “Out” like her sister art forms i.e., jazz, R&B and so on since its inception in the Mississippi delta in the early 1900’s. Professor Fernando Jones is not only a music educator at Columbia College in Chicago, he is also a veteran Blues recording artist who sings and plays guitar.

Jones’ love of blues is so strong that he created a workshop/camp for youth to not only teach them how to play the blues but also to help preserve the music and keep it going strong for future generations to come. Jones explains, “The Blues Camp started in 2010 at Columbia College in Chicago and it is part of a program called “Blues Kids of America” that I founded back in 1989 here in Chicago. So the camp came out of a 20 something year-old music program with a focus on the blues.

Blues Camp Kids Jammin

The Fernando Jones Blues Kids Camp is a program of The Blues Kids Foundation which is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. The camp’s staff is made up from highly qualified music instructors. The program provides scholarship tuition waivers for all of the student musicians (ages 12 - 18) that attend. Some scholarship waivers also include lodging and transportation arrangements. Jones’ Kids Blues Camp started in Chicago but is now offered in several cities.

Bassist Logan Layman laying it down

As Jones states, “Our camp is designed especially for the Blues Kid who simply wants to perform this music and experience this priceless, cultural enrichment opportunity in a nurturing environment with like-minded others.´

Guitarist Ray Goron is gettin' into it!

What served as his motivation to create all of this? Jones relates, “A number of things motivated me to start the blues camp. Most of the things that I have started or created in my life have been things that I saw a need and also at some point of my life, things I tried to give away to other people. Most of the things that I have done have not been necessarily for myself but they needed to be done.”

Live blues kids session

Jones also mentions his many experiences playing around the country where parents will bring their child to his concert and the youngster showed an interest is playing the blues. He reflects, “Sometimes when you get to a town and people like you, they will bring their family to meet you and in some cases they will bring a kid who is a guitar player who will come up and ask you if they can play. Because I started playing when I was around four years-old, I could pretty much see myself in this kid. They’ll get up and play a tune with you for the night, then four or five weeks later you get a beautiful handwritten letter made out of construction paper with the kid saying how wonderful the experience was and how in so many was it helped saved their lives and helped them from being weirdos.”

Another Blues Camp Conclusion

Jones adds that the music department at Columbia College had a well developed jazz program so he pumped up the blues emphasis. He also believes that his blues camps serves as a source of new ideas, new life blood and promotion of the blues for upcoming generations. Jones conducts his blues camps around the country then concludes every year with a week long master blues camp in Chicago at Columbia College.

Hard to get tickests

They then have a grand concert at a major Chicago blues venue. This year the concert was at the House of Blues and the place was packed. For support donations and more information on how your child might benefit from the Blues Kids Camp, go to www.blueskids.com

Leroya Sanford

The Blues is not dead.

I spent an incredible week at Columbia College in Chicago learning, playing and singing the Blues with Professor Fernando Jones and the Blues Kids Camp.

I don’t know of any music that can make you feel good and dance about all the problems you have in life. The Blues is like a healing to the soul. I think that’s why I love the Blues so much. It’s the same reason I love doing comedy, because crying about all the issues I deal with and problems I see in the world didn’t do me any good.

The Fernando Jones Blues Kids camp welcomes musicians and singers from all over the world to learn the importance and historic perspective with some of the most talented Teen Instrumentalists I have ever seen. If you play an instrument and don’t know The Blues then you’re not a true musician. Without the Blues we wouldn’t have the music we have today. Did I mention that Professor Fernando offers this week long Blues camp for FREE in various locations throughout the U.S.? Give your support and keep it alive visit: www.BluesKids.com Every minute spent angry is 60 seconds of happiness wasted.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Richard Brooks - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment columnist

By Rych McCain, www.twitter/rychmccain and Facebook

Richard Brooks

Maintaining The Opposite Side For BET’s “Being Mary Jane!”

Photos BET

Richard Brooks

He has been astutely commanding his acting career over the years with professional aplomb, confidence, grace and a quiet since of humility that has kept him at the top of his game. We are referring to veteran actor Richard Brooks who is currently starring as Patrick Patterson, the wayward, always down on his luck brother to Mary Jane (played by Gabrielle Union), on BET’s new smash hit TV Drama “Being Mary Jane.” Brooks, a Cleveland native, began his career journey with extensive drama, dance and voice studies at the Intelachon Academy of Arts in Michigan. After which he moved to New York where he continued study at The Circle In The Square Professional Theater School where he performed in The Eugene O’Neil Theater Conference production of August Wilson’s “Fences.”

Brooks has an impressive list of credits as a guest star and cast regular on many major TV shows and movies as well. He may best be known as Assistant DA Paul Robinette on the long time mega-hit, award winning cop drama “Law and Order” for NBC-TV. “Being Mary Jane” is a new drama series for the BET Network that was created and written by TV and movie veteran Mara Brock Akil who is on a hit making streak with her other shows that she has created and written for including “Moesha,” “Girlfriends,” “The Game” and the remake of the movie “Sparkle.” The show’s movie debut reviews were overwhelmingly positive and it appears that Akil not only has another solid TV show hit to her credit but BET has added another notch in their belt in establishing a niche in drama programming.

Brooks as Patrick

In talking about his “Being Mary Jane” character, Brooks breaks him down; “Patrick is just the black sheep of the family trying to come up, trying to get back on top, a recovering alcoholic, has daughters who are pregnant teens you know, just dealing with a lot of issues right now that a lot of men are dealing with I think.” This drama has it all and the subjects are as real as it gets. What was the reaction of the cast when they got together for the first table read? Brooks belts out a laugh, “I mean the casting; everybody is so perfect for the roles. We already felt like a family.” To back that statement up, Brooks’ co-star on the show Aaron D. Spears (who plays Mark Bradley) chimed in saying “It’s the realness of it that is going to carry the show over. I think its going to hit people where they are, hit them in their heartstrings right in the mist of their reality in terms of their lives. It is something that you have either lived or you know someone who has lived through it. It’s like a slice of life, that’s what I like to call it.”

Gabrielle Union as Mary Jane

Because the “Being Mary Jane” movie was such a big hit, Brooks relates that success to the TV series adding, “It’s going to be incredible. It’s going to pick up right where the movie left off and tie it all together. The show’s producers also advocate that the viewers go to the BET website and let them know that they not only love the show but that they want continued episodes.

Last week I was in Chicago for the very first time. What a great city. The entire week I was there the heat index was in the 100’s everyday. I stayed in Englewood, on the South Side which is considered one of the worse violent neighborhoods in the city. Was I on vacation? No. For those who don’t know, I’m a ten year- old comedienne. I was blessed with an opportunity to perform at the House of Blues and The Laugh Factory in Chicago. I couldn’t let this chance pass me by. I had an incredible great time performing and met a bunch of great folks that became good friends. People were telling me I shouldn’t go, saying it’s too dangerous. I know they all “think” they are looking out for my best interest, but they’re not. Many people are too scared to live so they play it too safe and never really live life. Then they project their fears on the rest of us trying to live our dreams. My advice; if you’re not going to ride the train with me, then get off the tracks because this train is leaving the station. Remember, every minute spent angry is 60 seconds of happiness wasted.

See Leroya performance on ABC-TVs "The View." www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf7y9joqIJI

Leroya on Twitter: leroyaonline2

Leroya on Facebook: www.facebook.com/leroya.sanford

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