#KEITH ROBINSON

[thena0315]

[cyarsk5230]

THIS CHRISTMAS 2007, dir. Preston A. Whitmore II

[blackmensuited]

[marleybee]

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue

[beasanfi1997]

Lightspeed Rescue Is the best Power Rangers show because the music and the actors especially the love Story between Carter Grayson and Dana Mitchell

[adamwatchesmovies]

Dreamgirls (2006)

Dreamgirls is not based on a true story but you’ll swear otherwise. While the film takes much inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and incorporates actual historical events into its story, the reason it feels so real are the characters and the drama. The ensemble cast all give such good performances and the material they’ve been given is so deep they all feel like real people. That’s enough to recommend Dreamgirls already but there's so much more: great musical numbers, a stellar production design, confident direction by Bill Condon (who also wrote the screenplay) and tons of re-watch value.

In 1962, in Detroit, Michigan, Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) are “The Dreamettes”. After appearing at an amateur R&B talent show, The Dreamettes and Effie’s younger songwriter brother C.C. (Keith Robinson) are recruited by car salesman - and aspiring music manager - Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) to sing as a backup for star Jimmy “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy). The story follows the Dreamettes’ rise to fame as their new manager becomes increasingly manipulative.

The ’60s and ‘70s era music scene is unfamiliar to me and not exactly the kind of music I gravitate towards (for the record, my taste in music falls under the “crap” category). It means a lot, then, that I was instantly able to “recognize” the songs featured in this musical. All of the numbers are from the Broadway musical or newly written for the movie and incorporated in a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic fashion. Every piece is a river of honey in your ear and surprisingly, Beyoncé Knowles ends up kind of playing second banana to both Jennifer Hudson… and Eddie Murphy. I don’t know if it’s hilarious or heartbreaking that my DVD of Dreamgirls featured a trailer for Norbit before the main event. As Jimmy, Murphy is incredible. There’s a particular scene where, tired of being asked to perform another soulful number, he breaks into an impromptu rap where he has to get his orchestra to play a new beat on the fly. It’s pure movie magic and the entire film is worth the price of admission just to see Murphy in full form in that one scene.

There’s a pervasive and consistent joy of filmmaking throughout Dreamgirls. Every frame looks terrific and the actors all give excellent performances. We’ve already mentioned some of them but now, I want to single out Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor Junior. His transition from sympathetic to villainous is so smooth it’s hard to tell at which point exactly your opinion shifts and part of this is because all of the characters - including the Dreamgirls - are fully-rounded human beings complete with flaws. Without a doubt, Effie White gets the short end of the stick in this story but there are times where she kind of gets what she deserves. You hate yourself for feeling that way, which demonstrates the quality of the drama. Obviously, credit is due to Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen, who wrote the original musical, but this film adaptation is not merely a shot-for-shot re-enactment. This is a real movie with distinct made-for-the-movie scenes and choices.

With a budget of $75-$80 million, Dreamgirls is one of the most expensive films ever made to feature an all-Black cast. That realization came with a bit of waryness from me. Ever since my back-to-back viewing of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami, I’m just kind of done with “struggle” movies. We’ve had some great ones but there’s more we can do with All-Black casts than show them getting beaten down, abused, raped, taken advantage of, etc. This is another reason to see Dreamgirls. While the topic of inequality is touched on in two key scenes, this is mostly an engaging drama that could (in theory) feature any kind of actors. This musical has the same sort of appeal as A Star is Born because of the characters, the music and the skill used to bring everything together.

Despite everything Dreamgirls does right, it will still be a hard sell for people who don’t like musicals. It's also worth noting that while the protagonists are rich, other characters don’t get the development they should. Sharon Leal’s Michelle Morris, for instance. She's an important character that's always kept out of reach. Ultimately, the flaws (you could probably find more if you really looked hard) don’t matter when we consider the film’s entertainment and eye-candy value. This is such a good-looking film and when we consider the way it recreates historical (or “historical”) events and elements, it was love at first sight for me. (Fullscreen version on DVD, August 1, 2022)

[horror-heks]

Keith Robinson

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Moulin Rouge 2001

[versesinmotion]

Verses In Motion new music features: "Waiting" by Keith Robinson

"Waiting" is the soulful heavenly request for love in tangible form from Keith Robinson's upcoming second full length LP "Love Episodic 2" . . . Written and performed by Keith Robinson Directed by Julius "JuiceBigFellow" Twum Produced by Allecoy and

“Waiting” is the soulful heavenly request for love in tangible form from Keith Robinson’s upcoming second full length LP “Love Episodic 2” . . .Written and performed by Keith Robinson Directed by Julius “JuiceBigFellow” Twum Produced by Allecoy and LowBlow #MONDAYMUSIC in motion featuring new single by Keith Robinson, soon on Verses In Motion podcast new series!#live #rnb #grammys #love #merch…

[kuipernicus]

I forgot I had tumblr holy hell, hello

Uhhh I met the author to all these books (and more), Keith Robinson. Awesome dude, super nice. Absolutely my favorite part of con yesterday

[tparadox]

Yesterday's Movies hears out Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls. Dreamworks Pictures 2006.

[theregencyreticule]

('Tor' by Keith Robinson)

The phone rang this morning with the news that my Dad, from whom I was mostly estranged, had passed just before dawn. It is a strange thing, this grief, so many complex emotions. He was the source of so much of my pain and yet as an adult, I recognize that he had a horrific childhood and carried so much pain himself. We tried (and failed) to keep a relationship going after I became an adult. Seeing him more than a few times a year would send me spiralling back into negative patterns and depression would loom large over me. So we texted infrequently and talked infrequently and I saw him once every few years.

but still, he was my Dad and so his passing has left me with this feeling of being in the liminal space between the physical and the spiritual/energetic world. I am standing here at the ancient doorway, hoping to catch a last glimpse of him as he travels on.

[blackmensuited]

[marleybee]

Keith Robinson 

[digiindie]

Keith Robinson - "Waiting" (@keithsings)