Well, hello you Silver Emulsions! Welcome back to our Annual Valentine’s Day Love Fest. Will and I are pumped the hell up! We have been planning a Black Love Fest for quite some time. And now… drum roll please… Black Love Fest has arrived!

This Love Fest is an all-out sexy “Turn Up” (in my Kevin Hart voice) for Black Love. It was hard to narrow down the selections, but we finally whittled in down.

Starting today, and continuing over the next two weeks, we will review:

  • Love Jones
  • Love & Basketball
  • Something New
  • Brown Sugar
  • About Last Night (ALN)

Quick note: About Last Night was a part of our sexy ’80s Love Fest last year, except it was the original cast with James Belushi, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, and Elizabeth Perkins. This year’s remake features an all-black cast of Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Joy Bryant, and Regina Hall.

Many of you may wonder why we’re paying homage to black love this year. The most honest answer is that we just need to. As a woman of color myself, it has always been very exciting to see a trailer for a romantic comedy with a black cast. I grew up without many images of black-on-black love on-screen. One of the reasons we, the audience, watch movies are to see images of fantasy, and/or our own reality. I can’t wait until the time when a romantic comedy with an all-black cast is just a romantic comedy, but that time has not come. An authentic qualifier for a “Black Movie,” is a movie that mirrors or is similar to the experiences of black culture. That’s not to claim that all black experiences are the same. However, there is a universal knowledge and close kinship to an experience. I didn’t live the experience of Boyz n the Hood, but it was an experience through association because of my friends and family members.  It’s also these movies that expose us to a variety of black culture. In the past, most black films were about slavery, civil rights, and Blaxploitation. Those movies just show the struggle and hustle associated with being black. The films we are reviewing also show the trials and tribulations of falling in love, friendships, artistry in the black community, and the joys of sharing and experience. Before Cosby, many of us did not know of black doctors and lawyers. Black romantic comedies are often a continuation of what Bill Cosby started with the television series The Cosby Show and A Different World. The films introduce the audience to black, educated professionals, who share the same obstacles when trying to meet “the one.”

I am always excited when I see a new romantic comedy trailer. I have a tradition when a black film comes out. My closest sister/friend, Barbara, and I go and see the films together. It’s always a great girls’ night out. We can drool over the cast and discuss the plot at dinner afterwards. Black romantic comedies are not released enough. When a new film comes out, it gives us a chance to see some of our beloved actors, who are not “commercial” enough to be on sitcoms or mainstream movies. I encourage everyone to watch the films that we have chosen. They may have all-black casts, and may include cultural norms that you may not be familiar with, but they have the universal language of love and experience. And isn’t what we all want… some experience and some love?

Here are a few other noteworthy runner-up movies:

  • Think Like a Man (2012)
  • The Best Man (1997)
  • How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
  • Boomerang (1992)
  • Claudine (1974)

POETRY CONTEST!

Like last year, we are having a contest!

This contest will require you to bring out your “inner nasty.” After reading my first review, “Jonesing For Some Of That,” you will notice a little surprise at the end of my review. You are to take the title of my surprise and create your own written word. There is no min or max word count. Just make Will and I pant. Use your imagination and let the title consume you. The person who gets the most comment replies with the word “ummm,” will win something you can use on your next romantic night out!