What if Dre, Eazy and Ice Cube were MEXICANS? The dudes from DESMADRE dubbed the trailer to the box office hit Straight Outta Compton to show you how things would go down if the “World’s Most Dangerous Group” was slangin’ tacos on the streets of Los Angeles. So join Cubito de Hielo, Ese Eh and Doctor Drey and for a little kush and tacos.
Looks like Sammy Davis Jr. is finally getting his place in the sun. On Wednesday, Variety announced that MGM will be producing a biopic about the Cuban-American triple threat. The prolific writer and actor Lena Waithe will be co-producing. The script will be based off of Davis Jr.’s daughter’s biography: “Sammy Davis Jr.: My Father”.
According to reports, the movie will take a close look at the legendary singer’s later life and his relationship with his daughter. It will also give us a peak into Davis Jr.’s younger days, showing us flashbacks from his time as a “child prodigy” to a “global superstar”.
It's about time Hollywood pays tribute to multi-talented Sammy Davis Jr. When I was a child growing up it was awe inspiring to see this black man on tv in tv shows acting and performing. As an adult I came to appreciate him more. Hope the biopic will do him justice.
For those who are unfamiliar with Sammy Davis Jr., he was an immensely popular star of ’50s and ’60s. He was what some people would call the original “triple threat”–he could dance, sing, and act. And he did all three excellently.
Throughout his life, he would lie and say his Cuban-born mother, Elvera Sanchez, was of Puerto Rican descent. Later he admitted that he did this because he was afraid that the prevailing anti-Cuban sentiment in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis would have hurt his career.
I’ve always loved Sammy. He had it all, an amazing voice, a gifted dancer, he was a fantastic actor and by all accounts a truly great man. The racism he had to endure was criminal. I’m very happy to see he’s being honored with a biopic.
But Sammy Davis Jr. was perhaps most known for being a member of the legendary “Rat Pack”–a powerful group of Hollywood hotshots that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. Their collective power and raucous Vegas stays made them living legends in their time.
But beneath the fortune and fame, Davis Jr. struggled with internal demons. He was of a victim of the brutal racism of the entertainment industry, as well as his unrelenting health and addiction problems. He eventually died in 1990 at the age of 64 due to cirrhosis.
We hope that the upcoming movie does Sammy Davis Jr.’s story justice! Here are the actors we would love to see fill the very talented shoes of the Afro-Cubano star.
Jharrel Jerome
PHOTO: FRAZER HARRISON / GETTY IMAGES
Jharrel Jerome took the world by storm when he portrayed the wrongly accused Korey Wise in “When They See Us”. His performance was so moving that he won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. We’d love to see this gifted Dominican performer try his hand at playing Sammy. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a music career too.
Miguel
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Miguel captured our hearts long ago with his powerful but soothing vocals. We fell in love with him even more when the Mexican-American singer sang “Remember Me” at the 2018 Oscars. Plus, he’s acted before. So you know he’s no rookie.
Kid Cudi
Photo: kidcudi/Instagram
You may know Kid Cudi mostly as a hip-hop artist, but this rapper of Mexican descent also has a successful acting career. We also know that he would be able to tap into the pain and struggle of Davis Jr’s inner turmoil.
Elijah Kelley
Photo: oneelijahkelley/Instagram
Elijah Kelley is an immensely multi-talented singer-actor who you may know from hits like “Hairspray” and “The Butler”. He isn’t Afro-Latino (which we would love to see), but he’s a phenomenal singer and dancer. And he even looks a bit like Sammy Davis Jr!
Over the weekend, to kick off the start of October, streamers unleashed a whole new slate of movies and series to binge while in isolation. To celebrate the Halloween season, most of the films and series are creep-related, drawing from some of our greatest everyday fears as All Hallows’ Eve content is often wont to do.
Using one of the scariest modern-day realities, Netflix’s newest film Vampires vs. The Bronx digs into one of the world’s scariest concepts: gentrification!
Ahh!!
Netflix’s newest movie, Vampires vs. The Bronx, follows three teenage boys fighting to save their neighborhood from bloodsucking gentrifiers.
The horror comedy film was written and directed by “Saturday Night Live” film segment director Osmany Rodriguez. You might know the director from his work on hysterical shorts for SNL including 2018’s “Complicit” which starred Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump. Rodriguez also wrote the series’ faux Levi’s Woke commercial which featured Ryan Gosling, Pete Davidson, Leslie Jones, and Kenan Thompson.
According to Deadline, “Vampires vs. The Bronx” watches as “gentrification from an unlikely and deadly source creeps into the Bronx, a group of teenage friends rally to save the beloved local bodega and fight against a supernatural force intent on taking over their home at all costs.”
The new film takes audiences into the treasures of a neighborhood like The Bronx (like local bodegas and block parties) while introducing its worst nightmares (rocketing real estate prices, kale, and strange new business concepts).
So far, the film which was released on Oct. 2, has received rave reviews.
Speaking about the new Netflix pic, film reviewer RogerEbert.com describes the film as an observation of gentrification “for what it is—a form of white supremacy—and makes it an unmistakable evil, in which the pale monsters try to demoralize the residents by referring to the Bronx as ‘somewhere where no one cares when people disappear.'”
The best part? The new horror-comedy blasts us with all of the Latinidad.
Yo, please watch Vampires vs. The Bronx on @netflix. It hits the perfect balance of humor and seriousness. It’s got vampires, gentrification, community, and Black and Brown kids kicking ass. I’d like to see it get more recognition. It’s fucking great y’all. Incredibly fun watch.
— Zaire – Lovecraft Country Stan Account (@Zlanier21) October 4, 2020
I just finished watching Vampires vs the Bronx & why they threw a timberland boot at one of the vampires ???? pic.twitter.com/5qaz8heVGu
Vampires vs. The Bronx is a blast! It’s one of the rare family-friendly horror movies that doesn’t insult the intelligence or maturity of its audience. I’ve seen countless comparisons to Attack the Block, but it plays more like a sociopolitical, NY version of The Lost Boys. pic.twitter.com/YKRTMPxg2p
— An American Blairwolf in Austin (@Blair_Hoyle) October 3, 2020
I didn’t see any advertisements for the Vampires Vs The Bronx movie for some reason but I’m tuning in
With references to Sammy Sosa, characters who make up the full spectrum of U.S. Latin Americans (including Afro-Latino, and Haitian) this one seems like a classic in the making!
