By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — For all the critical slings and arrows aimed its way, “Black Widow” has accomplished exactly what the folks at Disney hoped it would. It’s not only been a big hit on its Disney + streaming service, but it’s helped the entire cinematic box office market tremendously. The film earned $80 million in its first weekend, crushing the benchmark for the biggest box office debut since the pandemic. It stars Scarlett Johansson and is the first from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to open simultaneously in movie theaters and on Disney Plus. Subscribers there can…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — CBS has tabbed the star of “The Neighborhood” as host for the upcoming Emmy Awards telecast. Cedric the Entertainer will assume those duties for the 73rd Primetime Emmys. The next night most likely will be the start of a new season for his show“The Neighborhood,” which will also help launch CBS’ fall season. Also returning for their second consecutive year are Hudlin Entertainment and Done+Dusted. That production company has been involved with the telecast four straight years. Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart are executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton will be director of the…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Contrary to some accounts that have been written, there are many folks out here who’ve heard about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. It was covered extensively in the Black press at the time, even as mainstream outlets WERE ignoring it. It was held over six consecutive Sundays through the summer and it attracted some of the top stars in Black music across multiple idioms. But unfortunately, despite the fact that the entire series was filmed by a professional crew, that footage sat unreleased for five decades. Finally Ahmir Thompson, AKA Questlove, has put together a…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — After completing another homestand, the Nashville Sounds hope to take the bulk of a six-game road series against Gwinett that began Tuesday night. Nashville began the week with a 33-19 record, good for second place in Triple A East’s Southeast Division, two and a half games behind first place Durham. They have won six of their last 10 games, and they concluded their last six game home stand against Louisville Sunday with a 9-3 victory. The July 4 game attracted the sixth largest crowd in Sounds’ history at First Horizon Park, as 11, 686…
Former NBA and University of Las Vegas star Reggie Theus last week became the latest big name Black athletic personality to take over an HBCU program. Theus agreed to become both the athletic director and head basketball coach at Bethune-Cookman University, with the appointment reportedly taking effect this week. He replaces Ryan Ridder as basketball coach. Ridder left for a similar position at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Theus’ previous coaching jobs included stints at New Mexico State, Cal State Northridge, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and G-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders. He’s also been a coach in the Big 3 and said…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Vocalist/actress Mary J. Blige’s latest project, the documentary “My Life” debuted on Amazon Prime Video over the weekend and is now available to be streamed. But Blige told The Hollywood Reporter that the film gives her the same thrill as when the LP was initially released. “I just want people [to get] you know that feeling we got when we [first] heard the album,” she said. “You’ll get it again when you see the documentary,” she says. “That’s the gift I want to give back. I wasn’t the only one going through what I…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Sounds are enjoying a strong season thus far, and stand in second place among Southeast Division teams in the Eastern portion of Triple A’s Eastern Division with a 30-16 record. They’ve won six of their last 10 games and began a six-game series with Louisville Tuesday night. They concluded a six game home series with Charlotte Sunday by winning yet another thriller. They got a 5-4 walkoff win, their third in the last four games. Mitch Longo scored on a fielder’s choice from Corey Ray in front of 7,613 fans Sunday night…
The rosters for both the women and men’s basketball teams for the Tokyo Olympics have been announced, and there’s both controversy and the possibility of historic achievements for each. The women’s team will be coached by former Olympian and current South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. Multiple NBA title winner and longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will coach the men’s team. Both are heavy favorites to take Olympic gold later this month in Tokyo. The women’s roster sparked the first controversy when it was announced that there were three major omissions. Two of them were former Olympic gold medalists…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — There have long been stories and rumors about a Marvin Gaye biopic, but it seems this time they will actually prove true. It was announced Monday that a Marvin Gaye biopic was officially coming from Warner Bros. The company said it had acquired “What’s Going On,” a project that would be co-produced by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Allen Hughes was named as both a director and a producer. Gaye’s estate, widow Jan Gaye, and Motown are also part of the deal, something that should mean original musical recordings will be used in the…
NASHVILLE, TN — The coaching staff of Eddie George includes one former NFL head coach and the son of another. George announced his full staff last week for the upcoming 2021 fall season, his first as head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers. The biggest name is former Las Vegas (they were Oakland when he coached them) Raiders and Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson. Jackson’s most recent position had been as an assistant to former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis in 2018. Jackson will be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher’s…