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“Nina” Director Explains How Her Film Became A “Disaster”

FILE PHOTO: Actress Zoe Saldana To Play Nina Simone In Biopic Role

Source: Gilles Petard / Getty

Ever since the Nina trailer was released last month, many of us have wondered how did this even come about. Well, thanks to an in-depth Buzzfeed interview with the film’s writer-director Cynthia Mort, we have a little bit more understanding the film’s process, why Zoe Saldana was cast and how it became the “disaster” it’s being described to be.

Mort is clear that she stood behind Saldana as the lead, but also knew she stressed than an A-List name was needed for financial backing for this film. “Certainly I would not have cast Zoe if I felt she was wrong for the role in a million years. Zoe’s amazing. She’s amazing in the movie,” Mort said. “She gave her all. She’s honest, she’s courageous, she’s fierce.”

But she later admitted,  “For me, Zoe was a creative decision. However, long before I met Zoe, there were other people considered who were not acceptable to financiers. And for Barnaby [Thompson] to say anything other than that is incorrect.”

Now who exactly those actresses were, Mort didn’t say. However, Mort, who is white, got every upset when she saw the harsh critique of Saldana being cast due to her lighter skin and whiter features.

“It pisses me off on that level. As a creative person, is it important? Yes. But also what’s important is to find a way to tell the truth in a narrative film. It’s not a documentary. You can go online and see 225 videos of Nina Simone, and everybody should. But that’s not what this is,” she said.

Hmmm…she might be more pissed when these same people, her intended audience decides to see another film instead of hers when Nina comes out next week.

Judge Refuses To Throw Out Sandy Hook Gunmaker Lawsuit 

Proponents Of Increased Gun Control Laws Demonstrate In Washington

Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty

On Thursday, a Connecticut Superior Court judge refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by the families of the Sandy Hook Massacre, the Stamford Advocate reported. They are suing the manufacturer of the gun that Adam Lanza used to kill 28 people at Sandy Hook Elementary when he attacked the school with .22-caliber Savage MK II-F bolt action rifle in 2012. Twenty of the 28 people killed were children.

Judge Barbara Bellis ruled that a federal law that protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits doesn’t discount the “legal sufficiency” of the families’ claims and that the type of gun Lanza had shouldn’t be in possession of civilians.

Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, stressed this ruling was crucial to the families.

“They deserve their day in court and we are pleased that at least for now they’ll get it, despite the defendants’ best efforts to derail this case,” Gross said. “Victims of gun violence are not second-class citizens.”

Oh No! AMC Movie Chain To Let Audience Text During Movies

Movie theatre

Source: andresr / Getty

As if watching films wasn’t hard enough, now some AMC theaters will allow for its audience to text during films, BBC reported.

AMC chief executive Adam Aron told Variety that he wants for millennials to watch films in his theaters. “You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life,” he said.

Aron added, “We need to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theaters with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives.”

But won’ that make it harder for folks to watch the film? Aron admitted, “Today’s movie-goer doesn’t want somebody sitting next to them texting or having their phone on” and “what may be more likely is we take specific auditoriums and make them more texting-friendly.”

Evening Minute: ‘Nina’ Director Says Financiers Didn’t Like Other Lead Actress Suggestions  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com