Its a day before the holiday some people either love or hate. For me, Valentine’s Day has always been cool. One of the reasons I love it is because of the season. Its a very romantic feeling in the air around this time and its great seeing couples out together. Also, this is the season a romantic movie comes out (my favorite genre) and/or good music is released. Today, I come to you with what I recommend you check out this holiday weekend.
This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a screening of the film “About Last Night”. Since viewing the trailer last year (last Valentine’s Day actually), I’d been waiting to see this movie. Its produced by Will Packer, one of my icons, and it stars the fabulous Regina Hall. I love romantic comedies and I also love good black stories. After the recent resurgence of good black films, I had high hopes for this one and I must say it did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, it exceeded my expectations. The film was romantic, witty, hilarious, authentic and even raunchy at times. It was a well written story and it was shot fairly well too. My favorite part of the movie had to be the chemistry between the leads. Many films now feel the need to have an all star ensemble cast. This film has only 4 leads and they were all fantastic. Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant are a great match and play well off of each other. They have a cute relationship in the movie and you just want to root for them. Regina and Kevin were hilarious in their roles and provided perfect foils. They played off of each other well also and Regina was really funny in this movie. I’d go as far as to say that this could possibly be their best performances. I definitely recommend this film whether you have a Valentine or not. It was one of the best romantic comedies I’ve seen and I think it will go down as one of the classics. “About Last Night” could hold its own against the black films of the 90s like “Love Jones” or “Boomerang”. Whatever your plans are this weekend, make sure this movie is scheduled in!
Before you head to the theater this weekend to see “About Last Night” make sure download Eric Bellinger’s new debut album “The Rebirth”. If you aren’t familiar with him, don’t worry. I heard his name because he wrote songs for Usher but I wasn’t familiar with his music. However, I’m so glad I got exposed to this album. Eric is an LA based R&B singer/songwriter. If this album is a description of who he is, I would describe him as a male Sevyn or R. Kelly meets Chris Brown/8701 Usher (in today’s time). The album puts any young R&B lover into a laid back vibe. One thing I would note about the album is that it is quite long. There’s 33 songs. However, Eric gives us a full range of what he can do. He has everything on here from modern urban ballads to club songs to sensual R&B. My favs on the album are “I Don’t Want Her”, “Reward” and “Catch 22” but I love it all. I recommend you check out this album. I am a new Eric Bellinger fan and I think any R&B lover should check this album out.
Chasing EGOT 