Alfre Woodard

Alfre Woodard at the New York Premiere of Marvel's new series 'Luke Cage' held at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem Theatre - New York, United States - Wednesday 28th September 2016

Alfre Woodard posing alone and with Roderick Spencer at the LA Premiere of 'The Birth of a Nation' held at Cinerama Dome, Los Angeles, California, United States - Wednesday 21st September 2016

Mississippi Grind Review

Good

As the story snakes south through the United States along the Mississippi River, this movie builds up a bleak, mopey vibe that's difficult to engage with. It's the story of two gambling addicts who think that the answer to all of their problems lies just around the next bend in the river, and it's sharply well written and directed, with astute performances from the lead actors. But it's also relentlessly grim and unsympathetic.

They start their journey in Iowa, where estate agent Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) is at the end of his rope when he meets cocky gambler Curtis (Ryan Reynolds). There's a spark of recognition between them, as Gerry sees Curtis as himself 10 years younger, thinking maybe he can kickstart his life again. So they hit the road together, heading for a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. Along the way, they stop to visit Curtis' favourite prostitute (Sienna Miller) in St. Louis and Gerry's bitter ex-wife (Robin Weigert) in Little Rock. And in between, they visit Memphis to win some extra cash. But by the time they reach New Orleans, things are starting to look desperate again.

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Mississippi Grind Trailer

Gerry's gambling addiction has gotten way out of hand. He's already lost everything in his quest for winning, so now he's thousands of dollars in debt to nearly everybody he knows. Continually losing doesn't stop him hitting the casino, but when he meets casual poker player Curtis - who unlike Gerry doesn't let a desire for the win take over his life - he forms an unlikely bond and finds that his luck is beginning to turn, but not necessarily in the money stakes. The pair team up in order to go for the big bucks on New Orleans' legendary poker scene, and Curtis soon finds that Gerry needs something big to pull him out of the rut that is his life. He's got to learn that there's more to life than winning, but is he willing to take a gamble on the advice of his mysterious new friend?

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Watch The Trailer & Read The True Story Of 'Annabelle', The Creepy Prequel To 'The Conjuring' [Trailer & Pictures]

By Elinor Cosgrave in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 July 2014

Annabelle Wallis Alfre Woodard

'Annabelle', the upcoming horror starring Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton, will act as a prequel for 2013's 'The Conjuring'. The film, based on an alleged true story, will follow Annabelle the creepy doll who is confined to a glass case as she is apparently possessed by a daemon.

Annabelle, the terrifying doll from The Conjuring (2013), is set to make a horrifying return in a film named for her. Annabelle will tell the story of the doll and how it came to be in the Warren's uneasy possession. The film, due to be released later this year, will act as a prequel for The Conjuring.

Annabelle Wallis and Alfre Woodard star in Annabelle.

Read More: The Conjuring 2013 Review.

Continue reading: Watch The Trailer & Read The True Story Of 'Annabelle', The Creepy Prequel To 'The Conjuring' [Trailer & Pictures]

Alfre Woodard - 2014 NBC Upfront Presentation at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center - Arrivals - New York, New York, United States - Monday 12th May 2014

Meet The Cast Of 12 Years A Slave [Video]

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 09 January 2014

Chiwetel Ejiofor Michael Fassbender Benedict Cumberbatch Paul Dano Paul Giamatti Alfre Woodard

The incredible cast of 12 Years a Slave open up on the experiences of making the film

If '12 Years a Slave' doesn’t win a single award from now until the Oscars, it will still go down in history as one of the 21st century’s most important, affecting films. The story of Solomon Northrup’s enslavement and the subsequent hell he faced is as brutal as any ever told, and to truly extract even a modicum of sincerity, the entire cast had to be both honest and befittingly talented.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave

But when you’re speaking of a cast that comprises Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Pual Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis and Michael K. Williams, honesty and talent is never in question.

Continue reading: Meet The Cast Of 12 Years A Slave [Video]

12 Years A Slave Review

By Rich Cline

Extraordinary

Much more than a film about 19th century slavery in America, this sharply well-told true story has a lot to say about the world we live in today. And as he did in Hunger and Shame, filmmaker Steve McQueen puts us right into the middle of the story so we live it ourselves. Watching this film is a riveting, unnerving and ultimately moving experience.

It's based on a firsthand account by Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor), a musician who is living with his family in 1841 Saratoga, New York, when two friendly men offer him a great gig. But they drug him and sell him to slave traders, who send him to New Orleans and strip him of his identity. He spends the next 12 years working for two masters. Ford (Cumberbatch) is a fair man who puts him under the watchful eye of the cruel Tibeats (Dano). Then he is sold to Epps (Fassbender), a harsh boss who sends him into cotton fields and angrily suspects that Solomon is more educated than he admits.

Made with an earthy, realistic style, there's a clear sense that McQueen and screenwriter Ridley stuck closely to the details of Northrup's memoir, which was published shortly after his release and became a bestseller at the time. By never indulging in Hollywood-style exaggeration, the events remain grounded in the characters, drawing on the spiky interaction between them. At the centre, Ejiofor is utterly magnetic, delivering a transparent performance that takes our breath away. In his terrified eyes, we experience this horror ourselves.

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12 Years A Slave - Featurettes

Director Steve McQueen joins the stars of '12 Years A Slave' to praise the immense level of acting skill that went into creating the movie. Among those actors were main star Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o.

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'12 Years A Slave' Is A Harrowing Trip Back To A Darker Period In History: Review Round-Up

By Joe Wilde in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 October 2013

Steve McQueen Chiwetel Ejiofor Michael Fassbender Brad Pitt Paul Giamatti Paul Dano Alfre Woodard Benedict Cumberbatch

The overwhelming response to the Steve McQueen picture is that it is a deep, sometime difficult watch that prompts the best from the director and actors

12 Years A Slave is the film version of Solomon Northup's account of his kidnap and subsequent sale into slavery until his rescue twelve years later. The real-life account of the tragic fate of Northup and the appalling conditions he and millions of other slaves were forced to endure has been turned into a feature-length epic by British director Steve McQueen, who leads a largely British cast in the film that is being heralded by critics as a must-see film.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is spellbounding in 12 Years A Slave

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon, McQueen adapted the memoirs of the main character along with John Ridley to chronicle Solomon's harrowing twelve years, where he went from being a freeman living in New York, to a plantation slave in New Orleans between 1841 and 1853. Ejiofor has been roundly praised for his exceptonal acting talents, as have the rest of the cast, who include Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfre Woodard and Michael Fassbender, whose role as the heartless slave trader Edwin Epps has also been widely applauded for his unflinching brutality and realism.

Continue reading: '12 Years A Slave' Is A Harrowing Trip Back To A Darker Period In History: Review Round-Up

Video - Chiwetel Ejiofor Arrives At The NYFF Premiere Of His New Movie '12 Years A Slave' - Part 1

The cast of '12 Years A Slave' arrive at the movie premiere at the New York Film Festival including lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Steve McQueen. Ejiofor plays real life wronged man Solomon Northup in this story about one man's illegal enslavement despite his American citizenship and achievements, based on the autobiography of the same name.

Continue: Video - Chiwetel Ejiofor Arrives At The NYFF Premiere Of His New Movie '12 Years A Slave' - Part 1

12 Years A Slave Trailer

Solomon Northup was a well-educated man from a successful family living in upstate New York with his wife and three children. He was categorised as a free black man and made money through various jobs including as an entertainer playing the violin. In 1841, he was tricked into going to Washington DC with two white men for work where he was instead kidnapped and sold to slavery despite there being laws to protect free African-Americans. He spent twelve years on a plantation in Louisiana serving the brutal and abusive owner Edwin Epps. Determined to live his life again as a free man, he befriended a Canadian carpenter working for Epps by the name of Samuel Bass, whose high-morals turned Solomon's life around forever.

This poignant historical biopic is based on the 1853 autobiography 'Twelve Years a Slave' by the real Solomon Northup. It has been adapted to screen by writer John Ridley ('U Turn', 'Red Tails') and the BAFTA nominated director Steve McQueen ('Hunger', 'Shame'). With themes of freedom, racial inequality and the cruelty of mankind, '12 Years A Slave' could be one of the more heart-wrenching movies to kick of the year on its UK cinematic release on January 24th 2014.

Click Here To Read - 12 Years a Slave Movie Review

Alfre Woodard Cinema For Peace Foundation's 2013 Gala For Humanity at the Beverly Hills Hotel - Arrivals Featuring: Alfre Woodard Where: Beverly Hills, California, United States When: 11 Jan 2013

The Family That Preys Review

By Bill Gibron

OK

Tyler Perry is trying. Instead of sticking exclusively to the urban morality plays that made him a certified superstar, he appears to be broadening his niche-based appeal. And he's doing so by taking risks both in and outside the medium. Sure, most of his movies have been nothing more than mere translations of his theatrical works, but efforts like Daddy's Little Girls, and now The Family That Preys, show an artist who is at least endeavoring to expand his horizons.

Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) and Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) have been friends for over 30 years. The former runs a small diner. The latter is the CEO of a local construction company. Alice has two daughters -- snooty career gal Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) and honest, hardworking Pam (Taraji P. Henson). Charlotte has a conniving son named William (Cole Hauser) who cheats on his wife Jillian (KaDee Strickland). After marrying the decent Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), Andrea begins a torrid affair with her boss -- who happens to be William. He wants to take over for his aging mother, believing it is his birthright. In the meantime, a new employee (Robin Givens) stirs things up for the adulterous duo. Soon, all the simmering secrets in the Pratt and Cartwright households will be out in the open.

Continue reading: The Family That Preys Review