Four Jackson Brothers reunite for A&E Miniseries to air Dec. 13
In this September 2009 publicity image released by A&E, the Jackson brothers, from left, Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Jermaine, from the A&E original series, “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty,” are shown. The six-hour series premieres at 9 p.m. EST, Sunday, December 13, on A&E.
by Frazier Moore, BlackAmericaWeb.com
New York (AP) -- As the old saying goes, “If you like this kind of thing, you'll like this.”
Mirroring too many other celeb-reality shows that come pledging a personal glimpse at their subjects, “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty” is stagey, self-conscious and, most of all, self-serving on the part of its participants.
But if you’re a fan of Michael Jackson (always offstage but seldom out of mind), or even the observable members of the Jackson -- Marlon, Tito, Jackie and Jermaine -- you might enjoy this time spent with them.
The six-hour A&E series premieres at 9 p.m. EST, Sunday, December 13, with back-to-back episodes. The high point of those first two hours comes when Jermaine Jackson cries.
Tearfully, he recalls the dark days of 1976, when the rest of the group leaped to CBS Records while only he stayed behind at Motown, being loyal, he says, “to where we started.
“Do you know what it is to be alone? Just to be alone?” says Jermaine, choking up. “I’m out in the streets and kids are saying, ‘We don’t want your autograph, ’cause you’re the one that broke the group up.’”
“When you came back to the group, it was one of the best, favorable memories of my life,” says Tito as the foursome shares hugs all around.
It’s hard to believe this is really the first time Jermaine has ever expressed his hurt from that rift with his brothers, as he claims. And it’s hard to overlook the fact that, during this scene of high emotion, all of them seem carefully arranged on their sectional sofa for maximum visual effect.
Even so, there’s something real going on here. It’s a nice break from all the canned, rote stuff.
The premise of the miniseries (at least when filming started last January) seems to center on the Jackson 5, including Michael, reuniting for their 40th anniversary.
The other four brothers start planning a tour and a new album – “the best album we ever made!” Jackie crows.
They exchange lots of stock dialogue like, “I think we owe it to the fans” and, “We’re family. We’ll be the Jackson 5 till the day we die.”
They make self-pitying remarks about the way the media abused them, for example, “Your fans will be there for you. You have that marriage with them from day one. It’s the media that tries to come between that.”
That darn marriage-wrecking media!
They also get on each other’s nerves. In the studio last May, Jermaine records a vocal track, then heads off to lunch. Jackie decides it’s unacceptable and erases it.
“You won’t believe what happened in the studio today,” Jermaine tells his wife back at home. “I did these vocals, I was very excited about them, and the next thing I know, they were erased.”
The first hour (which includes a sentimental, staged-for-TV journey to their childhood home in Gary, Indiana) ends with the news of Michael’s death in late June.
Even before his shocking death, it’s hard to discern from the miniseries what Michael thought about his brothers’ plans for the reunion. His involvement is apparently assumed. But he is only seen in archival footage and heard singing on the soundtrack.
And he’s regularly mentioned.
“Your brother was the biggest artist in the world,” the Jacksons’ attorney, Virgil Roberts, tells them in the second episode, a month after Michael has died. “It’s put a special spotlight on you. You’re the living legacy.”
As Roberts speaks, the Jacksons’ album and tour seem to still be in the picture, at least for the sake of justifying this miniseries.
But Jermaine isn’t in the image (and his commitment to the group is called into question) when he misses the official photo shoot. He later tells his brothers he had an eye infection.
Some reunion. And four more episodes to fill. |
‘Precious’ nominated for Spirit Awards: Honor salutes independent films; Lee Daniels effort earns five nods
The urban drama “Precious” and the Leo Tolstoy period piece “The Last Station” have each collected a leading five nominations for the Spirit Awards that honor independent film.
The two acclaimed movies will compete in the best feature category with the romance “500 Days of Summer” and the immigrant dramas “Amreeka” and “Sin Nombre.”
The war-on-terror drama “The Messenger” ran second with four nominations, including best feature from a first-time director.
Also nominated for best first feature is the horror sensation “Paranormal Activity,” which was shot for just $15,000 and has taken in more than $100 million at the box office. |
Music Review: R. Kelly Again Gives Us an Overload of Sex...Without the Sex Appeal
by Nekesa Mumbi, BlackNews.com
When it comes to R&B raunch, no one does it better than R. Kelly. The man has more songs about sex than there are ways of actually having it. From “Bump N’ Grind” to “The Greatest Sex” to “Sex Weed” to “Freaky in the Club,” Kelly has more than proven that he is the undisputed king of salacious sex songs. |
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But he is also a musical genius who over his nearly two-decade career has given us beautiful love songs, inspirational gospel tunes and stirring, emotional tales that sound like soundtracks to our own relationships. It’s that balance that has made Kelly such a unique figure in music. Yet over the last few years, that balance has been out of whack, and with little exception, all we’ve gotten from Kelly is an overload of musical porn.
On “Untitled,” he has reached the saturation point, even for the most rabid Kelly fan. While the CD is musically rich, for the most point, it sounds like the ramblings of the dirty old man you try to avoid having eye contact -- or any contact -- at a party.
Part of the reason the sex talk has no sex appeal this time around is because there’s little of the wit and humor that made his other songs so memorable, and hilarious. Songs such as “Go Low” and “Bangin’ The Headboard” sound like they could have been done by a Trey Songz or any other generic R&B soft-core singer -- and Kelly is so much more than that. On “Exit,” he actually sings, “You’ve got pretty teeth,” which may qualify as the world’s worse pickup line.
And on “Text Me,” he whines, “Text me back something freaky, show me how you really wanna do me, I’m at my home, sippin’ on Patron, I’m all alone, baby text it to my phone.” That sounds more sad than sexy.
The frustrating thing is that he offers this vapidness with melodies that are rich and alluring; you just wish he had better lyrics to go with the music. Those wishes are realized on a few gems, such as the gorgeous, poignant ballad “Elsewhere,” and the ridiculously titled “Pregnant,” with Tyrese, Robin Thicke and The-Dream.
But on the whole, this is a one-dimensional CD from a multitalented artist who is capable of doing much better than he delivers here.
Check this track out: It’s R. Kelly like you’ve never heard before on the Jamiroquai-sounding, club-centric “Be My No. 2” – it’s as hilarious as it is funky.
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