Mo'Nique Archives - The Playlist

Lee Daniels Still Bitter About Mo’Nique’s “Disrespectful” Comments And Says “She Needs To Shut Up”

Charles Barfield — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 20:19:47 +0000

It’s been almost a decade since Lee Daniels released the award-winning film “Precious.” And while there were many people involved in that production that were singled out for their hard work, perhaps none were recognized as much as actress Mo’Nique. Looking at all the awards she was nominated for and eventually won, it’s staggering to see all the acclaim the comedian received for her incredibly unfunny and heartbreaking performance.

Continue reading Lee Daniels Still Bitter About Mo’Nique’s “Disrespectful” Comments And Says “She Needs To Shut Up” at The Playlist.

Ring In The Holidays With First Trailer For ‘Almost Christmas’ Starring Omar Epps, Danny Glover, Mo’Nique & Gabrielle Union

Kevin Jagernauth — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 16:05:09 +0000

Geez, it’s not even July, and we have to think about Christmas? Have mercy on us Universal Pictures. It’s never too early to start marketing, and the studio is eager to get the word out early about their upcoming “Almost Christmas.”

Starring Kimberly Elise, Danny Glover, John Michael Higgins, Romany Malco, Mo’Nique, JB Smoove, Gabrielle Union, Omar Epps, Nicole Ari Parker, Jessie T. Usher, and DC Young Fly, this looks like your standard operating procedure holiday comedy, that will have lots of laughs and heart and all the things you expect under the tree from this sort of thing.

Continue reading Ring In The Holidays With First Trailer For ‘Almost Christmas’ Starring Omar Epps, Danny Glover, Mo’Nique & Gabrielle Union at The Playlist.

Review: HBO’s ‘Bessie,’ Directed By Dee Rees, Starring Queen Latifah, Mo’Nique, & More

The Playlist Staff — Tue, 12 May 2015 20:01:05 +0000

Review: HBO's 'Bessie,' Directed By Dee Rees, Starring Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique, & More

Continue reading Review: HBO’s ‘Bessie,’ Directed By Dee Rees, Starring Queen Latifah, Mo’Nique, & More at The Playlist.

Watch: Queen Latifah Sings The Blues In New Trailer For Dee Rees’ ‘Bessie’ With Mo’Nique & Michael Kenneth Williams

The Playlist Staff — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 19:26:19 +0000

Watch: Queen Latifah Sings The Blues In New Trailer For Dee Rees' 'Bessie' With Mo'Nique & Michael Kenneth Williams

Continue reading Watch: Queen Latifah Sings The Blues In New Trailer For Dee Rees’ ‘Bessie’ With Mo’Nique & Michael Kenneth Williams at The Playlist.

Watch: First Teaser Trailer & Images For Dee Rees’ ‘Bessie’ With Queen Latifah & Michael Kenneth Williams

The Playlist Staff — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 19:12:17 +0000

Watch: First Teaser Trailer & Images For Dee Rees' 'Bessie' With Queen Latifah & Michael Kenneth Williams

Continue reading Watch: First Teaser Trailer & Images For Dee Rees’ ‘Bessie’ With Queen Latifah & Michael Kenneth Williams at The Playlist.

Lee Daniels Says Mo’Nique’s ‘Precious’ Demands “Soured Her Relationship With The Hollywood Community”

The Playlist Staff — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 21:34:28 +0000

Lee Daniels Says Mo'Nique's 'Precious' Demands "Soured Her Relationship With The Hollywood Community"

Continue reading Lee Daniels Says Mo’Nique’s ‘Precious’ Demands “Soured Her Relationship With The Hollywood Community” at The Playlist.

Happy Mother’s Day! 5 More Of The Worst Movie Moms

The Playlist Staff — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:38:02 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day! 5 More Of The Worst Movie Moms

Continue reading Happy Mother’s Day! 5 More Of The Worst Movie Moms at The Playlist.

Lenny Kravitz Joins Lee Daniels’ Civil Rights Drama ‘Selma’ With Robert De Niro & Hugh Jackman

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Did you suffer through the E! pre-Oscar show red carpet last night in anticipation of last night’s Academy Awards?

Maybe just to see the gowns and tuxes, maybe to point and snicker with fashion police-like glee or maybe you tuned in much like rubbernecking at a car wreck on the highway, its hard to turn away when those E! hosts ask those incredibly inane questions.

However, if you did tune in then you did see “Precious” star Lenny Kravitz tell dbag Ryan Seacrest that he would be making a reunion with Lee Daniels and appearing the filmmaker’s next picture, the civil rights drama, “Selma.”

Kravitz revealed was that he would be playing the civil rights activist Andrew Young, making him the third actor who has joined the film.

Continue reading Lenny Kravitz Joins Lee Daniels’ Civil Rights Drama ‘Selma’ With Robert De Niro & Hugh Jackman at The Playlist.

‘The Hurt Locker’ Win Best Picture & Tops The 2010 Academy Awards With 6 Awards

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

And bullseye. Goliath goes down. In your face 3D, “The Hurt Locker” won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture.

The intense action-based Iraq War film took six awards in total, including one for its director Kathryn Bigelow, who went down in the history books as the female director to ever win a Best Directing Academy Award prize.

Some argued the David vs. Goliath story over the blockbuster vs. the longtail award or the spectacle vs.

Continue reading ‘The Hurt Locker’ Win Best Picture & Tops The 2010 Academy Awards With 6 Awards at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s 2010 Oscar Liveblog

Katie Walsh — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:48:00 +0000

It’s the most wonderful night of the year — The 82nd Annual Academy Awards! The population at large has had a bad case of Oscar fever, and the only cure is little gold naked men statues. Can you blame us for being in the grip of Oscarmania? The awards show this year is bigger and badder than ever. Double your Oscar hosts, double your fun! Alec Baldwin teams up with Oscar vet Steve Martin for what could possibly be the best pair of co-hosts ever.

Continue reading The Playlist’s 2010 Oscar Liveblog at The Playlist.

‘Precious’ Dominated At The Independent Spirit Awards

Kevin Jagernauth — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:25:00 +0000

“Precious” walked away with Best Feature, Best Director as well as statues for both Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’nique at last night’s 25th annual Independent Spirit Awards. As the title implies, the awards exclusively celebrate independent filmmaking, and as per tradition, the ceremony falls right before the Oscars. So what bearing will this have on Sunday? Absolutely none, but it does mark the last hurrah before Sunday’s nights festivities.

We weren’t fans of “Precious,” but both Sidibe and Mo’nique deserved their wins as their performances were spellbinding and kept the film anchored even as Lee Daniels flailed about with his direction.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Dominated At The Independent Spirit Awards at The Playlist.

2010 BAFTAs – ‘The Hurt Locker’ Wins Best Picture, Dominates With 6 Awards

Oliver Lyttelton — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:01:00 +0000

Tonight brings the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ annual awards ceremony, one of the final events of the season, and one of the last major indicators of which way the Oscars may end up going. Because our ticket to the awards, um, mysteriously never arrived, and because Britain is yet to join the 21st century and televise its award ceremonies (an edited version starts airing at 9pm GMT), we’re going to update the winners as we get them, and then liveblog the ceremony.

Continue reading 2010 BAFTAs – ‘The Hurt Locker’ Wins Best Picture, Dominates With 6 Awards at The Playlist.

The Breakthrough Performances Of 2009

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Finally! Our belated 2009 coverage starts now, don’t you love the timing? We were busy in December, sue us.

Yes, you’ve probably already heard countless raves about a number of the actors and actresses on this list as many of them have been nominated or won some statues this awards season already. But sharing space with some of the more obvious names are actors and actresses we feel critics missed, audiences ignored and who are deserving of being given a second chance at making a first impression.

Continue reading The Breakthrough Performances Of 2009 at The Playlist.

‘Avatar’ Wins Big At The 2009 Golden Globes

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:48:00 +0000

Oh god, woefully unprepared to do this. We put on the television about 15 minutes before this started. The 67th Annual Golden Globes are tonight and yes, the Globes are kind of meaningless and retarded — the Hollywood Foreign press — are notoriously dubious — but whatever. We’re here. Stand by for more.

The live-blogging starts now (yes, you’re really excited, we know): Below.

Here are the winners:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
WINNER: Mo’nique, “Precious”
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
WINNER: “Up”
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr.

Continue reading ‘Avatar’ Wins Big At The 2009 Golden Globes at The Playlist.

‘Up In The Air,’ ‘Basterds’ & ‘Precious’ Lead The SAG Nominees

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:34:00 +0000

The SAG (Screen Actors Guild) nominees are always the most key bellweather of Oscar when it comes to the acting awards and much to no one’s surprise they’re pretty similar to the Golden Globe nominations (though more “Hurt Locker” this time). Jason Reitman’s “Up In the Air,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” and Lee Daniels’ “Precious” lead the pack each taking three nominations. More analysis shortly, but we’re pleased here for the most part (though bummed “Bright Star” was totally shut-out; we presume this means game over for the Jane Campion film at the Oscars which is a shame).

Continue reading ‘Up In The Air,’ ‘Basterds’ & ‘Precious’ Lead The SAG Nominees at The Playlist.

‘The Hurt Locker’ Is Now An Oscar Best Picture Nom Shoo-In: Takes Top LA/NY Critics Awards

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Congratulations to director Kathryn Bigelow.

Her Iraq War film, “The Hurt Locker” starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty (with appearances by David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Fiennes) is basically now a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

Sure, we already figured this, but the deal has been sealed. How’s that? Well, both the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association have named the film their Best Picture in their respective awards released today and this weekend.

Continue reading ‘The Hurt Locker’ Is Now An Oscar Best Picture Nom Shoo-In: Takes Top LA/NY Critics Awards at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office- When Does ‘Avatar’ Come Out Again?

Gabe Toro — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:00:00 +0000

The holiday movie season is about to become very busy, so the first weekend of December was looking like a weak sister for awhile now. Still, the beat goes on for “The Blind Side,” which continued its improbable run by landing at #1 in its third week. The hooray-for-institutionalized-racism drama has been surging since a pretty good opening, but it probably owes its success to a wide-open marketplace and the diminishing returns of huge opener “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” “Blind Side” might stop short of $200 million if the legs drop out in coming weeks, but who knows?

Continue reading Weekend Box Office- When Does ‘Avatar’ Come Out Again? at The Playlist.

Con Job Of The Year? ‘Precious’ Is Not Much Of A Treasure

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:03:00 +0000

We saw this almost a month ago at NYFF, but were a bit baffled by it, so we just waited for proper release this weekend to file our review.

It’s kind of absurd, really, that Precious” (or, if you want to go by its more unwieldy official title “Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire has picked up top honors at Sundance and Toronto. This almost never happens, and as we watched the film at the New York Film Festival one question came over us.

Continue reading Con Job Of The Year? ‘Precious’ Is Not Much Of A Treasure at The Playlist.

Lee Daniels Said He “Kinda” Co-Directed ‘Monster’s Ball’ In Gigantic NYTimes Piece

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Three days ago the Gotham Independent Awards made some noise when they completely snubbed Lee Daniels’ Oscar-touted Sundance film, “Precious.”

We’re behind on our reviews, but we saw “Precious” at NYFF and are not having it. It’s filled with strong performances, but stylistically it’s a mess and flawed enough that in our mind it shouldn’t be a Best Picture contender. So we were fine with the snub, but any fuel that might have taken out of its Oscar sails has been overtaken by a preposterously long New York Times Magazine profile (it’s 5,600 words).

Continue reading Lee Daniels Said He “Kinda” Co-Directed ‘Monster’s Ball’ In Gigantic NYTimes Piece at The Playlist.

Mo’Nique Makes ‘Precious’ Life Difficult For Everyone

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

You gotta love that little thing called Oscar politics which sometimes derails the forward momentum of a universally buzzed about film.

The first blow of the season lands on a film that really doesn’t need controversy around it: “Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” by Lee Daniels, which was a hit at Sundance, but so what. That generally means diddly, no? Not this year, the film, evidently a harrowing look at family abuse, has managed to leave its indie ghetto and pretty much impress and blow everyone who has seen it (though one of our reviewers from Cannes didn’t love it as much as everyone else did).

Continue reading Mo’Nique Makes ‘Precious’ Life Difficult For Everyone at The Playlist.

‘Precious’ Set For Box-Office And Oscar Push, Mariah Carey And Robin Thicke To Contribute Music

Simon Dang — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:46:00 +0000

A film which has slumped somewhat in award-season hype since earning stellar reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is Lee Daniel’s “Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire,” formerly known as “Push.”

MTV has some new shots from the film which centers on an overweight and illiterate African-American teen (Gabourey Sidibe) who is pregnant with her second child, but invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Set For Box-Office And Oscar Push, Mariah Carey And Robin Thicke To Contribute Music at The Playlist.

Brutal ‘Precious’ Trailer Debuts On Oprah

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Lee Daniels’ “Precious” (formerly known as the film “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire”) was the big drama narrative winner at the Sundance Film Festival and the powerhouse marketing teams of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films and and Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films quickly backed the film. So it’s no surprise that Oprah debuted the trailer today on her site.

The film centers on an overweight and illiterate African-American teen (Gabourey Sidibe) who is pregnant with her second child, but invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

Continue reading Brutal ‘Precious’ Trailer Debuts On Oprah at The Playlist.

Does ‘Precious’ Appearing At Cannes Open Up A Can Of Worms For Ongoing Weinstein Co./Lionsgate Legal Battle?

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:24:00 +0000

We were cooing with such girlish frisson over the 2009 Cannes Film Festival line-up and names like Gondry, Gilliam, Almodovar, Campion, etc., etc., that we failed to really note – outside of listing it – that “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” aka “Precious” (they gave it a new title so it wouldn’t be confused with the lame sci-fi) was accepted to Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section (i.e., not prestigious enough to merit in competition qualification, but decent enough to appear).

Continue reading Does ‘Precious’ Appearing At Cannes Open Up A Can Of Worms For Ongoing Weinstein Co./Lionsgate Legal Battle? at The Playlist.

Lionsgate Buys Sundance Big Winner ‘Push’; Oprah’s Endorsing It

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the big winner of this past Sundance film festival, “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire,” according to Variety.

And the company that might merge with Summit Entertainment won’t be working alone, coming along for the ride are the powerhouse marketing teams of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films and and Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films.

The film stars newcomer Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton with appearances by Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey too.

Continue reading Lionsgate Buys Sundance Big Winner ‘Push’; Oprah’s Endorsing It at The Playlist.