VIDEO: Jennifer Hudson Tears It Up At NYC LGBT Pride

hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

Celebrity Friday: Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holiday Sing THE SONG Together

Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holliday sang "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going" from Dreamgirls at the BET Awards this week. Check out YouTube for the video.

REVIEW: Dreamgirls

The definitive review of Dreamgirls has already been written (by Boy Culture's Matthew Rettenmund). In fact the sheer volume of ecstatic reviews from fellow bloggers (Keith Boykin "an instant classic," Towleroad "a dazzling adaptation") raised awareness of the movie to a near fever pitch. Anchored by a stunning, heartwrenching rendition of "The Song," i.e. "And I Tell You (I Am Not Going)" by Jennifer Hudson, the movie has become a

favorite for black gay fans everywhere. In January Dreamgirls led all nominated films with 8 Oscar nominations in 6 categories and ended up winning two (Best Supporting Actress for Hudson and Best Sound Mixing) a few weeks ago at the Academy Awards show.

Last week, Mad Professah named the movie my #1 Favorite Film for 2006.

I saw Dreamgirls for the first time on Monday December 18 during a weeklong special engagement at the Arclight Cinemas before the film's Christmas Day opening. I had not gotten around to seeing it again for the second time and felt I needed to see the movie twice before I could write a review that does it justice. I was able to do that today, and it did not disappoint.

On second viewing what stands out is the writing and direction of Bill Condon, who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Chicago. The pacing of the film is truly exquisite, with the story never becoming less than engrossing for a second. There are numerous directorial flourishes which I didn't notice the first time: a shot of the action on stage reflected in the glasses of an audience member, a fade-in from practicing dancers in a vee formation to a similar shape of the top of a skyscraper and the quick edits in many of the Dreams musical numbers.

With the knowledge that Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson received Oscar nominations (and both won Screen Actors' Guild awards) for their roles one does pay careful attention to their performances. But even without such acclaim it is clear from the first time Jimmy "Thunder" Early (Murphy) and Effie White (Hudson) appear on screen that they are tearing up the scenery. The story is written to revolve around Effie so I believe it is even more impressive what Murphy manages to do with what could be a purely campy part. Again, the one person who under-performs is Jamie Foxx, whose portrayal of Berry Gordy Curtis Taylor, Jr is surprisingly flat. The script is designed to make his character the central villain of the piece but Foxx's acting is uninteresting and monotonous.

Many tongues have wagged about alleged tensions between Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson. "Beyoncé is jealous because she is the bigger star but is getting less attention!" This seems silly and untrue to me. It is clear that Beyoncé understands the structure of the Dreamgirls piece and there is no question that she demonstrates her star power (and breathtaking beauty) as Deena Jones replicates Diana Ross' career path. To me the ultimate message of the film is that there is room for both a largely talented singer like Effie and a beautiful entertainer like Deena.

GRADE: A.

Dreamgirls Producers Apologize to Motown!

MadProfessah has been following the story of tension between Dreamgirls and the legendary Motown record label for weeks, which was recently fueled by Smokey Robinson's comments. The studio behind the hit film Dreamgirls is David Geffen's DreamWorks Pictures (which Geffen sold to Paramount Pictures last year). A few days ago the studio took out full-page ads (hat tip to blogger Clay Cane for the image above) in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter essentially apologizing to Smokey and Motown:

"Dreamgirls is a work of fiction. It is also an homage to Motown.

"For any confusion that has resulted from our fictional work, we apologize to Mr. Gordy and all of the incredible people who were part of that great legacy.

"It is vital that the public understand that the real Motown story has yet to be told."

The response from Berry Gordy, founder and driving force behind Motown, was magnaminous in victory. "I applaud DreamWorks and (parent company) Paramount Pictures for doing their part to clearly differentiate the fictional movie Dreamgirls from the real Motown. I wish them all the best in the forthcoming Academy Awards."

What is curious about the producer's apology is that it came out after all Oscar ballots had been returned so it could not have had any impact on Oscar voting. Although Dreamgirls has 8 Oscar nominations, it is only up for awards in 6 categories, since it has 3 Best Song nominations (which actually may hurt its chances of winning in that area). However with Jennifer Hudson the prohibitive favorite to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar tonight for her portrayal of Effie White and Eddie Murphy my pick for Best Supporting Actor it is very likely that Dreamgirls will be certified an Oscar-winning classic tomorrow.

On another note, tongues are wagging about E! Television's decision to invite Jennifer Holiday, the singer who originated the role of Effie in the Broadway version of the musical over 20 years ago and who won a Tony and Grammy for her stunning rendition of "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)", to perform the song on the red carpet hours before the Oscars are given out later on today.

Smokey Responds To Dreamgirls Criticism Reports

As Mad Professah blogged about last week, Smokey Robinson has been quoted in the press recently "dissing" Dreamgirls. In Sunday's Los Angeles Times Mr. Robinson has a letter to the editor published which reads:

MY comments in Chris Lee's Fast Tracks column ["Smokey Puts Film Under Fire," Feb. 4] made it sound as though I have particular issues with the cast of the movie "Dreamgirls." In particular Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. I don't. I love and admire all of them. They are some of our brightest young stars. My prayer for them is that they continue to shine and reach orbital heights. I consider them to be my friends. I am very proud of what they have accomplished and wish them only continued success.

My issues have always only been with the creators and the makers of this film. Motown is an institution all Americans can be proud of and to see it distorted by someone who wasn't even there and who had nothing to do with it disturbs me.

SMOKEY ROBINSON

Los Angeles

So, basically Smokey is saying that he's not speaking ill of fellow Black entertainers, just the evil White people who are behind the scenes exploiting them!

Smokey Robinson Condemns 'Dreamgirls'

Motown legend Smokey Robinson is not happy about the Dreamgirls movie. In recent interviews to National Public Radio and MSNBC, the 66-year old singer has said that he finds the Oscar frontrunner contains "false information and negativity." He claims that Jamie Foxx's character in the movie is based on Berry Gordy, famed creator and manager of the Motown label and that the venal portrayal by Foxx is an assault on Gordy's integrity.

Mad Professah's response? "Well, duh!"