We have passes up for grabs to see the Nicolas Cage crime drama, “Bad Lieutantant: Port of Call New Orleans.” To win your free pass to the advance screening in Washington, DC, you must be a StarAccess movie club member and answer our trivia questions below.

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“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” plot:

In Werner Herzog’s new film “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs — while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a deeply intuitive, fearless detective reigning over the beautiful ruins of New Orleans with authority and abandon.

Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). Together they descend into their own world marked by desire, compulsion, and conscience. The result is a singular masterpiece of filmmaking: equally sad and manically humorous.

To make our past distribution more equitable, winners are only eligible to win once every 15 days!

All entrants need to be StarAccess members (if you have already joined, you don’t need to submit another application) AND submit their FULL NAME, your SCREENING MARKET and answer to the following question for a chance to win!

“What is your favorite Nicolas Cage film character?”

We will contact the winners at the conclusion of the contest.

“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” opens in theaters on November 20

Check out the film’s official site

On the heels of one of the year’s most anticipated film releases, director Lee Daniels sat down with FilmGordon publisher Tim Gordon to discuss the impact of “Precious.” Daniels discussed a multitude of relevant topics including the connection between Tyler Perry and his mother, his transition into major studio films and the juxtiposition between his bubbly personality and the dark complex films that he produces.

The first first African-American sole producer of an Academy Award-earning film, Daniels’ fifth film, “Precious” may be the small film that changes the talented director’s life forever. Relaxing in a hotel suite conducting the interview in the lotus position, Daniels was candid, honest and incredibly accessible.

“Precious” opens in NY, Los Angeles and Atlanta on November 6; nationwide on November 13.

Part One 

Part Two

2009 is shaping up to be the year of strong emotional stories featuring women of color. In her latest film, “Skin,” Black Reel Award winner Sophie Okonedo portrays the anguish of a young Black woman growing up White in Aparthied South Africa in the 1950s. She sat down with Wilson Morales to talk about this film and her upcoming project as Winnie Mandela.

From her breakout role in “Dirty Pretty Things,” to an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Hotel Rwanda,” followed by an ensemble piece in “The Secret Life of Bees,” one can say that Sophie Okonedo has been getting quality roles lately.

The London native currently has a film called “Skin” where once again, she delivers a phenomenal performance.

“Skin” is one of the most moving stories to emerge from apartheid South Africa. Sandra Laing (Okonedo) is a black child born in the 1950s to white Afrikaners unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents are rural shopkeepers serving the local black community who lovingly bring her up as their white little girl. But at the age of 10, Sandra is driven out of white society. The film follows her 30-year journey from rejection to acceptance, betrayal to reconciliation, as she struggles to define her place in a changing world.

The film is directed by Anthony Fabian, and also stars Sam Neill, Alice Krige, Tony Kgoroge and Ella Ramangwane.

What attracted you to this film?

Sophie Okonedo: I just thought the story was so extraordinary. I had not heard about it or Sandra Laing before. When I got the script, I didn’t realize it was a real-life story and I was hooked from there.

How much research did you do?

SO: I really didn’t do that much research. I actually read most of the story as we got closer to shooting. From reading the scripts lots of times, I tried piecing her journey and be familiar with her. Then I just used my imagination. With this film, there wasn’t time to rehearse. We’re just trying to get the film made. On a big studio film, there’s time for everytime, depending on the budget.

Where did you shoot the film?

SO: We shot the film is South Africa, in a place that’s about an hour away from Johanesburg.

With your father being Nigerian and mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, how do you think you relate with Sandra?

SO: With all the characters I’ve played, I think I can relate to all of them. It’s just a shorter journey than what the characters have gone through. I’m also from a mixed background, but quite different from Sandra’s.

To read the rest of Morales’ interview with Okonedo, click here.

We have passes up for grabs to see the inspirational sports drama, “The Blind Side.” To win your free pass to the advance screening in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD,  you must be a StarAccess movie club member and answer our trivia question below.

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“The Blind Side” plot:

Sandra Bullock (“The Proposal”), Tim McGraw (“Friday Night Lights”) and Oscar®-winner Kathy Bates (“Misery,” “Revolutionary Road”) star in Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Blind Side,” which depicts the remarkable true story of All-American football star Michael Oher.

A homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, Oher (Quinton Aaron) is taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential on and off the football field. At the same time, Oher’s presence in the Touhys’ lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.

Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle.

To make our past distribution more equitable, winners are only eligible to win once every 15 days!

All entrants need to be StarAccess members (if you have already joined, you don’t need to submit another application) AND submit their FULL NAME, your SCREENING MARKET and answer to the following question for a chance to win!

“What is your favorite sports movie and why?”

We will contact the winners at the conclusion of the contest.

“The Blind Side” opens in theaters on November 20

Check out the film’s official site

The King of Pop gets a glorious and well-deserved sendoff in the poignant, yet entertaining musical documentary composed solely of the rehearsal footage for the uncompleted concert tour, “This Is It.” Featuring tender behind-the-scene moments and new choreography, Jackson appeared poised to re-introduce his brilliance to a new generation.

Directed and co-created by his creative partner, Kenny Ortega, “This Is It” shows the Jackson at his more comfortable and place of ease, the stage. While many in the media have portrayed the enigmatic singer as aloof, strange or just plain weird, in this film Jackson is the high captain in command of his art and his sound. An utter perfectionist, Jackson is shown to be intimately involved with all stages of the upcoming production even briefly chastising his musical director for not creating the perfect sound. “I want it to sound just like the record,” Jackson remarked. Trust me, he got EXACTLY what he wanted.”

The film also showed Jackson’s legendary playful side as implored Ortega and the crew to lift him higher on a lift as he performed one of his signature songs. These and other touching moments give the doc it’s strong emotional connection in light of the events surrounding Jackson’s last days lending a sometimes eerie pall to the proceedings. But the fans will gravitate to see Jackson perform and in the film with only his dancers and crew as audience, he put on several rehearsals so entertaining they should have paid him to be a part of the festivities.

What was really impressive was the amount of footage that was shot leading up to the show and the skillful way it was put together splicing multiple performances together from different rehearsals creating an amazing artistic synergy.  The amazing thing about the film is that since Jackson died so close to the beginning of the London shows that much of the sets and special features that were going to be a part of “This Is It” were spliced into his rehearsal performances giving the audience the sense of watching the concert was never was.

Complete with new dance moves and startling video montages, “This Is It” would have surely put Jackson back in the black and reintroduced his musical magic for a whole new generation.

While their were moments of introspection and sadness watching some of the film’s more personal moments, halfway through the story it was replaced by dread. In my mind, the end of the film not only singled the end of the film but of Jackson’s performing life as well.  Because once the film was over (besides adding several more songs and performances on DVD), this really will be IT!!!!!

Grade: A+

We have passes up for grabs to see the romantic music comedy, “Pirate Radio.” To win your free pass to the advance screening in Washington, DC, you must be a StarAccess movie club member and answer our trivia question below.

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“Pirate Radio” plot:

Pirate Radio” is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rouge DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy. By playing Rock n Roll they were standing up against the British government who did everything in their power to shut them down.

The band of rebels is lead by The Count, played by the Academy Award Winning Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin the boss of Radio Rock, Gavin the greatest DJ in Britian, Midnight Mark, Doctor Dave and Young Carl who comes of age amidst the chaos of sex, drugs and rock n roll. The film features an unbelievable selection of music including The Beatles, The Stones, Beach Boys, Dusty Springfield, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens just to name a few. The film is laugh out loud funny and speaks to the rock n roll rebel in all of us.

To make our past distribution more equitable, winners are only eligible to win once every 15 days!

All entrants need to be StarAccess members (if you have already joined, you don’t need to submit another application) AND submit their FULL NAME, your SCREENING MARKET and answer to the following question for a chance to win!

“Who was your favorite radio personality and what music did they play?”

We will contact the winners at the conclusion of the contest.

“Pirate Radio” opens in theaters on November 13, 2009.

Check out the film’s official site

This week, we have three new DVDs, Katt Williams’ “Pimpadelic,” “American Violet” and “Drag Me To Hell” up for grabs in our “Contest” section.  To win your free DVD, you must be a StarAccess movie club member and click on the links below.

Click here to enter the contest for Katt Williams’ Pimpadelic / here for “American Violet” / here for “Drag Me To Hell”

“Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua is in negotiations to helm Warner Bros. upcoming production, “Prisoners,” according to sources over at Risky Biz Blog.

The script by Aaron Guzikowski has been bouncing around Hollywood and A-listers such as Bryan Singer, Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg have all shown interest at some point. Reportedly, Fuqua has emerged as a candiate to helm the film but no word if any of the other principals are still involved.

After reconfiguring the budge, it now stands at $40 million after initially being much higher. Shooting is slated to begin early next year with the studio looking for a October 22, 2010 release date.