What’s life without a Tyler Perry film every few months?  And why is his name in every friggin’ title?  You don’t see Spike Lee’s name in the title of his films.  We know by now it’s from your production company, Tyler.  You can chill with that.  Anyway, here’s a first look at the film, Meet The Browns, adapted from his stageplay of the same name.

Release Date: March 21, 2008
Director: Tyler Perry
Screenwriter: Tyler Perry
Cast: Tyler Perry, Angela Bassett, David Mann, Tamela Mann, Lance Gross, Chloe Bailey, Mariana Tolbert, Rick Fox, Sofia Vergara, Irma P. Hall

Synopsis: A single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street. But when she’s laid off with no warning, she starts losing hope for the first time – until a letter arrives announcing the death of a father she’s never met. Desperate for any kind of help, Brenda takes her family to Georgia for the funeral. But nothing could have prepared her for the Browns, her father’s fun-loving, crass Southern clan. In a small-town world full of long afternoons and country fairs, Brenda struggles to get to know the family she never knew existed…and finds a brand new romance that just might change her life.

I’m wondering if Angela Bassett and Rick Fox are love interests in this film?  Angela, I can see, but Rick Fox?  You’ve got to be kidding me?  If Angela signed on, this means that she really believes in the project.  She rarely, and I do mean rarely, makes a shitty film, except for that train wreck called A Vampire In Brooklyn. *insert dry heaves here* Maybe she can make Rick look good on screen.  I’ve seen his acting in the past and it was majorly stilted.

Who says that Black folks don’t do Christmas movies? I’ll have you know there will be 2 Christmas films on the big screen from African American directors and producers this holiday season.

First up is This Christmas.

Release Date: November 30, 2007
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Director: Preston A. Whitmore, II
Producers: Rob Hardy & Will Packer (Rainforest Films)
Screenwriter: Preston A. Whitmore, II
Starring: Delroy Lindo, Loretta Devine, Regina King, Idris Elba, Nia Long, Mekhi Phifer, Columbus Short, Chris Brown, Laz Alonzo, Lauren London, Keith Washington, David Banner, Ricky Harris, Jessica Stroup
Trailer: This Christmas

Synopsis: This year, Christmas with the Whitfield’s promises to be one they will never forget. All the siblings have come home for the first time in years and they’ve brought plenty of baggage with them. As the Christmas tree is trimmed and the lights are hung, secrets are revealed and family bonds are tested. As their lives converge, they join together and help each other discover the true meaning of family.

And the second film is The Perfect Holiday.

Release Date: December 14, 2007
Distributor: Yari Film Group
Director: Lance Rivera
Producers: Shakim Compere, Queen Latifah, Marvin Peart, Leifur B. Dagfinnsson, Mike Elliot, and Joe Genier
Screenwriters: Lance Rivera and Marc Calixte
Cast: Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah, Charlie Murphy, Terrence Howard, Faizon Love, Rachel True, Katt Williams, Jill Marie Jones, Malik Hammond, Khail Bryant, & Jeremy Gumbs

Synopsis: This heart-warming holiday film is the story of Nancy (Gabrielle Union ), a loving single mother of three who falls for Benjamin (Morris Chestnut), a talented but struggling songwriter who is working part-time as a mall Santa. Conflicts arise when her oldest son, 10 year old John-John, convinces his younger brother and sister to join him in mischievous plots and schemes against their mother’s new boyfriend in the hopes that she will reunite with his hero - their rap-mogul father J-Jizzy (Charlie Murphy). Being narrated by Queen Latifah in a magical role of “Mother Christmas” opposite Terrence Howard, who plays a hard-to-dislike Scrooge-ish character named “Bah-Humbug”.