::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

Stellar actors play an engaging tempo in their collective performances about one of Black Entertainment's Blues trailblazers, Gertrude Ma Rainey NOTE: Have you ever heard of Ma Rainey?  How about Billy Holiday or Bessie Smith?  Without Ma Rainey, there would be no Holiday or Smith. For many viewers this movie will be an introduction to the the Blues pioneer.  As a biopic, scaled down to one day, coming from the perspective of a playwright,  it is impposible for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" to accomplish detailing who she was and what her career meant to music.  Some of the details of this review are offered for a a more indepth perspective to recognize a talent who has been overlooked.  However, the overall quality of the film is to be lauded. By Mona Austin Artists and management in the music industry have collided on business matters since the industry started. Historically, it has been tougher on Black entertainers, whose talent wss exploited by White-domi...

  Star of the upcoming Netfl;ix movie, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" Viola Davis is featured on the final cover of AARP magazine for 2020.  The Oscar-winning actress discusses the movie and her journey to hope and happiness.    "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" premieres on Netflix on Friday, Dec. 18.  James Taylor ,  Alice Cooper ,  Jann Wenner ,  Jane Pauley  and others share personal tales about  John Lennon . Plus, inspiring stories of rebounding from hard times, all in this emotionally packed edition of  AARP The Magazine . The issue also features singing legend Tina Turner, CNN's Dr. Sunjay Gupta, and skate-boarder Tony Hawk and a report on women's progress in America. Cover Story:  Viola Davis As an Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award-Winning actress,  Viola Davis  has been widely recognized as a gifted artist, but at the end of the day, she prides herself on using her platform, living for her family and sharing her wisdom. In th...

buzzz worthy. . . By Mona Austin Critics agree that "Fences" starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Viola Davis is one of the best films of 2016. However, because it was originally a Pulitzer Prize winning play some of the nuances and motifs that playwright August Wilson executed on stage were lost in the film adaptation some reviewers are saying. A film that explores the troubles of black manhood during 1950s Pittsburg in such an intricate manner and the impact it had on the family structure and black community at large deserves to be understood as it was intended. Denzel Washington ad Viola Davis in "Fences." The most obviously centered metaphor Wilson uses is a literal fence. For the woman of the house (Davis) who asked that it be built it is postive, protective. The son who is building it uses the fence as a barrier to keep her out emtoionally. One of the lessons in "Fences" is that not dealing with self-imposed or circumstantia...

buzzz worthy. . . Viola Davis accepts the 2015 SAG Award for her role in "How to Get Away With Murder." During her acceptance speech, Davis said, "Than you to all he people who love me just the way I am." The 21st Annual SAG Awards aired from Hollywood's Shrine Auditorium  on Sunday, January 25 with Birdman, Downton Abbey and Orange Is the New Black as the evening's big winners. The SAGS are the  only award show where peers recognize peers. This year's  nominees were selected by a body of 4,200 SAG members.  Half of the members chose honorees in film, while half chose honorees in television. Legendary actress Debbie Reynolds was handed the Lifetime Achievement Award by her daughter, Carrie Fisher. For Viola Davis, winner of the SAG for Best Actress in a TV Drama, accepting the honor was an opportunity to respond to New York Times writer Allesandra Stanley shunning her looks that made news in 2014 and more broadly to send a message to an...

buzzz worthy. . . The highly anticipated "How to Get Away With Murder" starring Viola Davis will add drama, murder and intrigue to ABC's prime time fall line up. Starting on Thursday, September 25, the show will follow 'Gray's' and 'Scandal.' SHOW SYNOPSIS: The brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) gets entangled with four law students from her class, "How to Get Away with Murder." Little do they know that they will have to apply what they learned to real life, in this masterful, sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, executive producers of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal." Take a look at the extended preview.

buzzz worthy. . . Viola Davis, Zoe Saldana, Lamar Odom, Swizz Beatz, The Game, Dwight Howard, Diggy Simmons Are Among Some of the Celebrities Stopping by the Hottest Spot of the Summer, 106 & PARK ---------- NEW TIME: “106 & PARK” Airs Monday – Friday from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.* NEW YORK, NY (July 28, 2011) – TV’s #1 music countdown show just got better—BET announced that 106 & PARK will give its viewers an extra hour of fun for the summer with a brand new 3-hour format. Beginning Tuesday, July 26 until Friday, September 2, 2011, the newly upgraded 106 & PARK will be jammed packed with more music videos and the brightest stars in sports and entertainment. Hosted by the hottest duo on television, Terrence and Rocsi, 106 & PARK will continue to keep the party going weeknights beginning at a new time, 5:00 p.m. with appearances and performances by Oscar-nominated Viola Davis , NBA ballers Lamar Odom and Dwight Howard , Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Swizz...