‘Think Like A Man’ NOT Banned in France Says Studio
Apparently the reports of Sony Pictures/Screen Gems’ “Think Like A Man” being banned in France because it was too black are not true.
Various media outlets, including EURweb, ran the story based on a report in Global Voices which used this quote:
“Surprising as it may be, the answer lies in the fact that the film has an all-black cast. French cinema is often pointed at for not fairly displaying all components of the country’s multiethnic population. Although the recent success of the movie Les Intouchables, which earned French African actor Omar Sy the Cesar award for Best Actor in 2012, caused great pride and hope among French nationals from Africa and the Caribbean, it was not to be the turning point for a deep and lasting change.”
However, in a statement to BET.com, Sony Pictures said: “Think Like a Man was never planned for release in France. Any reports to the contrary are false.”
Hmm, maybe it’s because of the socio/political climate that Global Voices refers to as the reason why Sony/Screen Gems isn’t planning to release the film in France.
Meanwhile, “Think Like A Man” is a huge box office hit and is closing in on the $100 million mark in ticket sales. The film only cost $12 million to make. And yes, there’s already talk of a sequel.
On the Road film is unveiled at Cannes
A long-awaited film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's 1951 novel On the Road has been screened for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cast members Kristen Stewart and Britain's Sam Riley were among those who launched the film on the Croisette.
The movie, which chronicles Kerouac's semi-autobiographical take on the Beat Generation, has taken more than 30 years to reach the screen.
Producer Roman Coppola first bought the film rights in 1979.
Riley stars as Kerouac's alter-ego Sal Paradise, who writes about his adventures on a series of road trips with the charismatic Neal Cassidy, played by Garrett Hedlund.
Stewart - best known for her Bella Swann role in the Twilight film series - plays Neal's young wife, Marylou.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the 22-year-old admitted she had been daunted by some of the film's racier content.
"Obviously everyone who does scenes like that, the first thing you say is: 'Oh, I felt so safe,'" she told reporters.
"I love pushing, I love scaring myself, and I think to watch genuine experience on screen is so much more interesting."
Reviews of the film have been mixed so far. Some critics have praised its visuals while remaining unconvinced about the characters and storyline.
Joey Barton: QPR captain banned for 12 matches by FA
Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton has been banned for 12 matches after being found guilty of two counts of violent conduct.
Barton, 29, was sent off in QPR's defeat at Manchester City on the final day of the season and had accepted a charge over his clash with Sergio Aguero in the wake of his red card.
He was also found guilty over a separate clash with Vincent Kompany.
The midfielder has been fined £75,000 by the Football Association.
Barton was initially sent off for an off-the-ball clash with City striker Carlos Tevez and will serve a four-match ban for that offence, as it was his second sending-off of the season.
The incidents involving Aguero and Kompany came after Barton had been dismissed, meaning they fell outside the jurisdiction of the referee, and have resulted in a further eight-match suspension.
The chairman of the regulatory commission stated after the hearing: "There are rules of conduct that should be adhered to, and such behaviour tarnishes the image of football in this country, particularly as this match was the pinnacle of the domestic season and watched by millions around the globe."
A Rangers spokesman said: "QPR will be making no comment in regard to the Joey Barton case. Internal investigation will begin in due course."
Speculation has been mounting over Barton's future at the west London club and Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes had admitted there was uncertainty over the player.
Haslem banned for Game 6
The NBA has come down hard on Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman, suspending them for retaliatory flagrant fouls during Game 5 of their playoff series with the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.
Haslem was suspended by NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson for Thursday's Game 6 and Pittman was suspended for three games. Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough, who also committed a flagrant foul on Heat star Dwyane Wade, had his foul upgraded to a flagrant foul 2 from a flagrant 1, but he avoided suspension.
Haslem hit Hansbrough across the face and shoulder with both arms during the second quarter of the Heat's 115-83 victory, not appearing to make a play on the ball as Hansbrough attempted a shot. It happened less than a minute after Hansbrough had sent Wade to the court after hitting Wade in the face and opening a cut over his eye.
Not having Haslem is a significant blow to the Heat, already without starting big man Chris Bosh. With Pittman also out, the Heat will be down three big men for Game 6 and likely will have to activate little-used reserve Eddy Curry.
Haslem played a big role in the Heat's Game 4 victory in Indiana on Sunday, scoring 14 points off the bench.
The action against Pittman was more clear-cut. He leveled Pacers guard Lance Stephenson with an elbow in the final minute of the game. The play appeared to be premeditated as Pittman ignored the ball and seemed to load up to deliver the blow. Stephenson had X-rays after the game on his collarbone but it was not broken.
Stephenson irritated Heat players last week when he made a choking gesture after LeBron James missed a free throw during Game 3. Heat forward Juwan Howard, who had an on-court confrontation with Stephenson during a game in March as well, had to be separated from Stephenson before Game 4 when he sought him out during pregame warm-ups.
The suspension will cost Haslem roughly $35,000 in salary and Pittman about $22,000.
ESPN
76ers edge Celtics, force Game 7
The buzz at the start was for Allen Iverson's ceremonial return.
By the end, more than 20,000 fans were on their feet and going wild for Jrue Holiday, Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala and the rugged-and-determined play that kept the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers alive for at least one more game.
Yes, the Sixers are talking about Game 7 -- and they're taking this improbable postseason run back to Boston.
Holiday scored 20 points, and Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Sixers to an 82-75 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday night that tied the Eastern Conference semifinals.
No team has won consecutive games in a series in which neither team has played well enough to seize control. But the Sixers were good enough to win Game 6, improving to 5-0 this postseason in games following a loss.
"Game 7," coach Doug Collins said. "That's all we wanted was to win tonight and give ourselves a chance to go into Boston and see what happens on Saturday."
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo could be playing their last game together Saturday night if they can't find a way to hang onto the ball and put away a Sixers team that won't quit.
Boston has learned three times already how difficult that can be.
The fun started when the not-quite retired Iverson earned a roaring standing ovation when he presented the game ball.
It ended with the song, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston," blasting through the arena.
"I want more," Collins said. "We're going to get greedy. We want more."
The Celtics posted ugly numbers across the board: Blame the loss on the 33 percent shooting, the 17 turnovers or the 3-for-14 3-point shooting. Either way, there's enough to go around. Pierce had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Garnett had 20 points and 11 boards.
"We found a way to stay in the game, for the most part," Pierce said.
They did because the Sixers again failed to put up the sparkling numbers in the box score usually required for a deep postseason run. They missed 8 of 9 3-pointers, shot a woeful 17-of-28 from the free throw line and had 12 turnovers.
But when the Sixers really needed that game-changing basket, there was Evan Turner twisting and fighting through defenders down the lane. When the Sixers needed a stop, there was Brand, ripping a rebound away from Boston, even with painful neck and shoulder injuries that keep him awake at night.
"When you get out there, you don't feel much," Brand said. "You've got the adrenaline flowing. You're banging and fighting. That's why Coach has confidence in me to play 34 minutes."
The Sixers wrote "Huddle Up and Fight" on their locker room chalkboard.
They did just that and are now one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time since 2001.
Iverson was the MVP of that run.
Ramdin urges greater intensity for second Test
Denesh Ramdin said the confidence in the West Indies team remained high and they will be aiming to keep the series alive, when the second Test against England opens on Friday at Trent Bridge.
The Windies wicketkeeper/batsman said the visitors strongly believed that they could rebound from a five-wicket defeat in the first Test, which ended two days ago at Lord’s, giving England a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
“Many people felt that we would have lost inside four days, but the guys showed character and fight,” said Ramdin on Wednesday.
“If we had batted a bit better in the first innings, you never know what could have happened on the last day.”
He added: “It would be amazing for us to win a Test in England. For a team with so many young players, to be able to win a Test against the No.1 Test side, it would be fantastic.
“We showed some fight against Australia [in our previous series] back home, but we’re in English conditions. We are in England’s backyard and it’s tough to beat them here, but there are beatable, once we bowl in the right areas, get wickets, and our batters put runs on the board.”
Bright sunshine and warm temperatures greeted the visitors when they trained at the match venue on Wednesday.
Ramdin said he was looking forward to the players lifting their level of intensity and hoped the bowlers could again hit their straps.
“The weather looks fine up this side, so hopefully, the conditions would also favour our bowlers, and they can take pattern from England’s bowlers, bowl the right areas, challenge England’s batsmen, and put up a better fight here and we try to force a win,” he said.
“I think it was a pretty good pitch at Lord’s and we just needed to bowl more consistently. The toss was important there and they won the toss and made use of the opportunity.”
He said: “But we recognise that we could have one bad session and we could lose a Test match, so we need to be more consistent.
“We may bat or bowl well [in one session], and we need to come [out again] and be on our Ps and Qs again, but sometimes we take things for granted.”
First National Congress against Homophobia in Haiti
The LGBT community in Haiti gathered more than three hundred men and women of sexual orientation stigmatized by Haitian society to tell the country to cease discriminatory practices against them.
A man, slightly disguised, who spreads his fingers in speaking at the Hotel Montana, Thursday, May 17 at the first National Congress of the Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Population of Haiti, said he was proud to belong to the LGBT community.
In the hall resounded a voice: "Lese nou viv!"
On the occasion of this event, several institutions supporting International Day against Homophobia were present at the Hotel Montana: Housing Works, the initiator of the movement that works with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); UNAIDS, UNDP; Sérovie; Women in Action against Sexual Discrimination (FACDIS), the Ministry of Public Health, AIDS and Promoters Target Zero and Kouraj, a newly created organization.
Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declaired on December 1948, it was not until June 2011 that the world would see a resolution of the Council of Human Rights and an equally historic report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the laws and practices that discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identities.
The resolution recalled that "human rights are universal, and therefore should apply without discrimination to lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender persons," said the Acting Deputy Special Representative of the UN Mission for the Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Nigel Fisher.
The LGBT community openly in front of more than three hundred members of organizations from seven area departments of Haiti, people stigmatized for their sexual orientation by Haitian society, Nigel Fisher stressed that the recognition of LGBT rights is a concept struggling to take root in the social and normative in different countries.
According to the sources of the High Commissioner, Nigel Fisher revealed a series of violations throughout the world against LGBT. "Murder, rape and physical attacks, arbitrary detention, denial of right to assemble, or discrimination in employment, education and access to health, are just some of the violence suffered by LGBT in UN member countries. Haiti is unfortunately not an exception. In a country where the socio-economic conditions are already precarious, the respect for economic, social and cultural rights is a mirage for LGBT. You are subject to marginalization and exclusion from society. Moreover, given the prevalence of HIV / AIDS in Haiti, LGBT are stigmatized by the public but also the medical profession. They can not discuss openly with doctors or seek care."
Stories Member of an organization that defends the interests of the LGBT community, Jean-Louis of Sérovie explains: "In 2003, two of my friends were returning from a party about eleven o'clock at Poste-Marchand. Sniffing they were gay, young men beat them savagely. One of them lost an eye. A patrol of the National Police on site did not even help.
Ala pa gen nasyon chans! "Jasmin, nicknamed tati, has claimed exclusion. "My mother has eight children, I am always on hand. "His friend was raped by a group of handymen. It took him right away to a clinic for prophylaxis. He was ashamed to go to complain to the police.
President Kouraj, Jeudy Charlot assumes and proclaims her gender. Having completed his studies in law, working on his thesis project. "My subject is the issue of homosexuality in Haiti. Reality. Legal approach. We fight against homophobia in Haiti. We have a structure to fight against all forms of stigma and discrimination. We have fifty active members. We take this opportunity to thank UNAIDS that allows us to gather in this room to discuss the problems we face."
Executive Director of Women in Action against sexual discrimination, Marjorie Lafontant supports the same battle as Charlot: "We fight for the rights of lesbians, gay, transgender, bisexual and transvestites are respected in Haiti."
Chinese Caribbean workers accused of illegal fishing
Chinese immigrant workers believed to be attached to the VC Bird International Airport expansion project were reportedly caught fishing buckets of juvenile conch from the grassy areas along Shell Beach. Marine conservationist Eli Fuller said based on reports, a group of Chinese immigrants gathered to collect a quantity of marine life for their own consumption. The police were called, but eyewitnesses said the police took so long to respond that by the time they arrived, the catch was already gone. Fuller said while he does not believe the conch was meant for export or sale, stricter measures must be implemented to safeguard delicate marine life that is guarded by legislation.
“Conchs have to be a certain size according to the law," Fuller said, "and they were all juvenile conch."
According to Fuller, there have been several reports of Chinese immigrant workers “doing things like that”.
Caribarena
Grenada PM can be re-elected, says chief of staff
A top advisor to Prime Minister Tillman Thomas is confident that the Grenadian leader could be re-elected on the strength of the same issues that propelled his National Democratic Congress (NDC) to victory in 2008.
William Joseph, chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, described the issues he said were central to the 2008 win as the “NDC mantra.”
It’s a “body of things,” such as good governance and the extent to which the NDC intended to practice “genuine democracy,” that convinced Grenadians to vote the National Democratic Congress over then ruling New National Party (NNP), Joseph said.
“These things are important to people,” Joseph said, adding that they still “resonate” with Grenadians almost four years after the NDC’s election victory.
As the party completes its fourth anniversary in office and prepares for the next general election, it faces several internal and external challenges.
In the past three weeks, it has been hit by the resignation of the tourism and foreign ministers, who both have complained about the leadership style of Thomas and the economic development focus and emphasis of the government.
In addition, high unemployment has been a sore point among Grenadians and a subject on which the NNP has constantly attacked the government.
Joseph, a former director of the Grenada Board of Tourism, acknowledges that there may be some disappointment with how the government has performed, but believes the NDC’s positive is the leadership of Thomas.
“There really is no case against Tillman Thomas that people have,” Joseph told MTV News.
While Grenadians have established cases against former leader Keith Mitchell, and first Prime Minister Eric Gairy for his “excesses,” there is none against Thomas who “stands out above” the two, Joseph said.
Cuba says prison population at more than 57,000
More than 57,000 people are in jail in Cuba, according to a rare report about the prison population published by the Communist Party newspaper, Granma.
Granma said efforts had been made to improve conditions for the 57,337 inmates, and that 23,000 had prison jobs and were being paid.
Dissident groups have put the prison population between 70,00 and 100,000.
Granma's report came as a UN panel held a hearing on Cuba, including alleged degrading treatment of inmates.
The article in Granma said rehabilitation programmes were under way, with education and training being provided at all levels.
It noted that an investment plan running until 2017 aimed to improve prison infrastructure and improve living conditions for inmates.
About half of the inmates were in open jails, Granma said.
And the 23,000 prisoners who were working were being paid the same amount as other workers, the paper added.
Dissidents groups say prisoners are used to work for government-owned businesses but receive very little, if any, pay.
White collar crime
According to the official figures, some 10,000 prisoners have been released over the past six months, including 2,900 freed as a goodwill gesture over New Year.
These have included common criminals and political prisoners.
There has been, however, a reported increase in the number of people jailed for corruption, with some reports speaking of 400 officials and managers jailed.
This suggests that the Cuban government now sees white collar crime as its main challenge, says BBC Mundo Havana correspondent Fernando Ravsberg.
The UN Committee Against Torture on Tuesday began a hearing into Cuba.
Issues raised included poor prison conditions, the use of solitary confinement, and "short" detentions where people were held usually for just 24 hours as a possible deterrent.
Cuba's Deputy Attorney General Rafael Pino Becquer told the hearing that Cuba was working to improve its prison system and that there had been no deaths in custody as a result of wrong-doing since 1997.