Drumline
 

librasoul22,

I read about this movie on mtv.com. The film's executive producer is Dallas Austin, who produces most of TLC's albums. Here's a link where you can read more about this movie and the other movies that he has lined up. I think both this movie and JELLYBEANS sound interesting.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/145...11/index.jhtml

Gina I did a split so this could have its own little flow. But I am looking forward to this movie too.

I read the article and I say KUDOS to DALLAS for his insight and innovation.

Adding Info...
 

After seeing the preview for this film, I can't wait. I'm finally happy that "we" as a people keeping rolling out the positive films. :D

Re: Drumline
 

I saw the previews for this movie and I'm really interested in seeing this movie. It brought back some memories about going to a HBCU football game and just the HBCU experience.

edited
 

i can't wait for DECEMBER 13th! Everybody please go and support the movie. :D

i actually had an opportunity to see an advance screening, and the movie was GREAT. i am definitely going to spread the word, and y'all should do the same. A word of advice, though:

i feel sorry for the person who goes to this movie with a bunch of band members or TBS and KKPsi... they WILL be cutting up the whole entire show!:p

DRUMLINE = December 13th

The website is nice. I still need to view the trailer but it also shows who is on the soundtrack.

http://www.drumlinemovie.com/

HC DRUMLINE is out already in Charlotte?
:confused: :confused:
HC I will wait until Saturday to peep it?

:D

got a ??
 

Hey,
I have been watching the commercial trailers for Drumline closely and I noticed something and I wanted to ask you all about it. In a part of the trailer they are at a party, and they show some guys in all blue doing what seems to be a party hop or just steppin at a party, and then they show these females in all red tops and black bottoms that are doing the same thing. Are they supposed to be portraying Sigmas and Deltas in the movie, and if so do you all know if they are really members or just actors in blue and red?? Just a question/observation, because I thought that it would have been cool if they were using real members, in the movie.

"If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.....what part are you?"

Re: got a ??
 

BET (sorry guys) had a special on last night. The main female lead, played by Zoe S., is part of a ficticious sorority in the film that's called Sigma Phi Alpha, I believe. They showed her in a different scene where she had on a crossing jacket and those were the letters. As for the guys, I didn't see them.

Re: got a ??
 

the guys in blue are actually member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. members of the fraternity were active in the making of this movie - and there are scenes where the letters are displayed prominently.

------------------
BLU

thanks!
 

Hey thanks, I was wondering about that. I had heard of Kappa Kappa Psi but I didnt know of their colors. Thank you for clearing that up for me BLUTANG, and thanks to you to Gina1201 for clearing that up about the ladies as well. I wonder why they didnt use real Black Greek organizations in the movie, and think that it would have added to it since it is talking about an Historically African American school, and other than the bands, Greek Letter Organizations are among several of the main things that HBCU's are known for...other than academics (of course:D ). Oh well......I will holla at you all later....

"There's a light at the end of every tunnel, just pray it's not a train.":D

Re: thanks!
 

2Tuff2Quit:

You're welcome!:) AS far as using real BGLOs I'm not sure. Maybe it's because the main school is Drumline is a ficticious school? I know on the AKA forum there was a discussion about it and I think some of the members appear as extras in the crowd during the stadium scene.

Re: edited
 

Rethinking my decision to go with my friend's friends tonite....:rolleyes:

awww hon - don't be scuured. i've left the message for people to leave their spats, plumes, and horns at home. :D

Just saw the movie
 

I thought it was good--two thumbs up!

ONE BAND, ONE SOUND!!!!!!
 

I just came back from DRUMLINE! I give it two thumbs up. It was nice to see intelligent, black people doing their thang!!!! :D Since I know some people have not seen it yet I will wait to go more in depth about the film. Just a word of advice, if you haven't seen it PLEASE DO!!!


Favorite line:

"Whatever beef you two got, you need to grill it up and eat it!" http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/.../lachen006.gif

Re: edited
 

I saw it tonight. The movie is the BOMB.

Also, the two orgs mentioned above were, indeed, in full effect (PLUS the Marching 100) so the theater was LOUD and HYPE.

I think the female lead looks alot like Sanaa Lathan.

I will be buying the DVD.

i thought the female lead resembled jada pinket...

anywho, i saw and enjoyed the movie. there were t.b.s. (sorors, have you all heard their "call?") and kkpsi members there. however, the crunkest folks there were high schoolers.

before the show started, they were in the parking lot with those cymbals ( i think that is the instrument) twirling them. and i think they got into a scuffle with some band members from another school. and these kids down here "pledge" so they think they have a lot in common with us. me and my l.s.' saw the movie and when we came in with our jackets, they were like "here the Deltas" and "oh, we got some sororities in here." some "pledgees" (dressed in jeans and white shirts) stood up and recited a "greeting." after the movie, these guys lined up like they were "in the cut" and were "squatting" while someone was yelling something at them.

then, it became a battle in the parking lot. one kid went so far as to get his snare drum out of his trunk. i tell ya...the movie plus these kids got me so crunk, i was about to lead out "what is a Delta" and break them kids off with a step & strut!!

Saw the movie last night. Above average and well made. The band scenes were phenomenal. Why were the fictictional sorority members wearing Delta crossing jackets (except for the fake letters) I know that I saw elephants on the back. What are KKY's colors? Never seen them "step" before but one thing that they did looked very familiar. I'm sure that the Bruhs in the background were familiar with it as well.

One of the sub-plots struck home with me. The masses appetite for the superficial, showboat routine over a technically superb bit of craftsmanship. J. Anthony Brown was funny and Orlando Jones was excellent. Can't forget how fine and beautiful the Black sistas in the movie were. Makes me want to pick up a drum.

I thought the same thing

I saw it also and I reallllly liked it. It kind of reminded me of Bring it On except with the band instead of cheerleaders. I hope the commercials don't discourage people from seeing it because it looks like it's a "black" movie or a "band" movie since it's not really either. I think anybody who has ever been in a group or team could relate to the themes in this movie. Overall a very light-hearted, fun movie :)

i believe blue and white are their colors and i''ve seen the chapter from prarie view a&m step before

I don't think it will. I was thinking the same thing until I went and saw the movie last night. The theater was crowded and there were a lot of people there who weren't black.

I SAW IT TODAY AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT MOVIE. I DANCED IN A HBCU COLLEGE BAND LAST YEAR AND SOME OF THE STUFF THAT WENT ON IN THE MOVIE STRUCK HOME.


I DID WONDER, THOUGH, ABOUT THEM NOT USING REAL HBSU GLO'S BECAUSE THEY USED REAL BAND FRATS, SOROR. ETC.

ANYWAY, I PLAN TO SEE THE MOVIE AGAIN, I THINK I WILL BE BUYING THE DVD TOO :D

I just came from seeing it as well and enjoyed it. My medicine has me feeling very sluggish so at times it dragged for me.

DOGGY, I saw the RED AND WHITE jackets as well as a girl wearing a shirt with Sigma Alpha Iota interspersed with the numbers 1 9 3 did not see the 3rd number.

I was impressed with Orlando as well. The chemistry between Shawn and Devin was phenomenal.

I damn near screamed when after ERNEST :D crossed the burning sands, his boys and girl came bumrushing him and no one clowned them.

I saw Drumline friday. It was great. The movie gave off a lot of energy. I found myself screaming like I was in the stands at the game during the movie. It is a definite must see. It is worth the money. They even had a scene where this fictional sorority stepped. They werent as good as us, but they were ok. LOL

Authentic

@ Doggy, I noticed the familiarity of the KKY steps, too :D

Here is the review from the Minneapolis StarTribune (I was surprised that it was even shown here.) Of course you know the race of the reviewer.

"Drumline

*** out of four stars

Rated: PG-13 for sexual references and profanity

Don't be surprised to see some drum and bugle corps fans.

Yes, it's basically a date movie: A freewheeling Harlem kid (Nick Cannon, star of Nickelodeon's aptly named "The Nick Cannon Show") ends up at a conservative Southern university, where he quickly falls in love with the prettiest coed (Zoe Saldana, "Get Over It"). But how many of his fish-out-of-water faux pas can she tolerate before the embarrassment forces her to break off the romance?

That off-the-rack story comes with an innovative framework. The kid is a virtuoso drummer who was recruited by the school's band director (Orlando Jones, "The Time Machine") to put a little zip in the marching band as it prepares for an annual competition.

I have no appreciation for what happens during that competition, but the tickets to a preview screening had been distributed to people who know a lot more than I do. The performances were punctuated by exclamations of "Did you see that!" often followed by applause and/or cheers. Although still a genre movie, this moves to a different beat."

I was like DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS fans. And I had to chuckle at his honesty in the last paragraph - :D

I LOVED this movie... coming from an HBCU and being CLOSE friends with band memebers, i was familiar with the struggles to make the band TIGHT! I think that the movie deserves a lot of credit for not being ghetto or ignorant. I know I will be purchasing the DVD... and not on bootleg either!;)

How EERIE was it that Morris Brown was the competition in light of what is going on with them currently? :(

Jay Anthony Brown was HILARIOUS when he was shaking his booty!

Oh and PETEY PABLO . . . WTF?!?!!? I did like Grambling's routine BETTER than Morris Brown's though but I understand.

Oh and I did not see the AKA sign. Did anyone else?

J.A.B. and his booty dance had me LMAO in the theater!

Yes, Petey Pablo's performance was a HOT mess! I did not understand a WORD that he was saying!:mad:

I also did not see the AKA sign. I did see women in pink and green but no sign.

Here is how the weekend's top 10 shook out, according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. Maid in Manhattan, $19 million
2. Star Trek: Nemesis, $18.7 million
3. Drumline, $13 million
4. The Hot Chick, $7.5 million
(tie) 4. Die Another Day, $7.5 million
6. Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Chamber of Secrets, $6.1 million
7. Analyze That, $5.3 million
8. The Santa Clause 2, $4 million
9. Treasure Planet, $3 million
10. Empire, $2.7 million

I was extremely impressed with Drumline!

Dallas Austin did a marvelous job!

Nick Cannon, J. A.B and the others were fantastic.

I laughed thoughout the entire movie. The movie also brought back many fond memories for me.

The sign was in the preview trailer for Brown Sugar. I guess it got swept up with all the other unused footage.

uh-oh!
 

Drumline drama / possible lawsuit

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 12/16/02

Two-year-old indie drama similar to 'Drumline'
Producer troubled by missed chance

By RODNEY HO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

It's a movie about freshman students struggling to join a black college marching band. It's set in Atlanta and was created by an Atlanta media producer. It culminates in a battle of the bands-type competition.

But it's not "Drumline," the 20th Century Fox movie produced by Atlanta music mogul Dallas Austin. That film landed in 1,800 theaters Friday and generated an estimated $13.1 million in gross revenue during its opening weekend.

This more modest film is "Pay the Price," directed and produced by Darryl Lassiter, a former Alabama State University Marching Hornets trumpet section leader and choreographer.

Unlike "Drumline," which was budgeted at nearly $20 million and features midlevel stars such as Orlando Jones and Nick Cannon, "Pay the Price" is an independent film. Lassiter conceived the idea in 1991, but it took eight years before he was able to make it, with a budget of $200,000. He entered "Pay the Price" in the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival in 2000, where it won an award for best family drama.

But the movie's sole funder, gospel singer Robert Gough, couldn't get a distribution deal; "Pay the Price" lacked major stars. It languished until this month, when it came out on video the same week "Drumline" hit theaters. Gough says the timing was coincidental.

Lassiter, 39, says he met with Jordan Bratman, an assistant to Austin, several times between June and October 2000. He says he gave Bratman his screenplay and film, proposed to him that Austin help finance its distribution, and asked that he be the director of "Drumline."

Austin, who has worked with TLC, Boyz II Men and Pink, was a drummer in a marching band in high school, and he says he came up with a movie idea in the early 1990s based loosely on those experiences. His friend and songwriter Jody Gerson corroborated his account. "He said, 'This is something that needs to be presented to the world. This is so cool in my life,' " Gerson said.

Austin said he signed a deal for "Drumline" with Fox way back in 1995 but wasn't happy with the hired screenwriter's treatment. As a result, the project sat around in "development hell" for several years. In 1999, Austin met with a Fox executive to get his film rights back. Instead, he got a green light. He hooked up with producer Wendy Finerman ("Forrest Gump," "Cast Away"), who helped shepherd the film to production.

In 2000, as Austin was doing research on "Drumline," Don Roberts, who heads the South DeKalb High School marching band, told him about "Pay the Price." Though Austin saw some movie posters for the film, he said he never saw it.

"I'm not going to sit and say that this guy didn't do his film first or didn't have the idea," Austin said, "but it's one of those topics like an army or football film. A lot of people experienced this. It's not a surprise that other people thought of this."

Austin said his assistant never passed any information about "Pay the Price" to him and never met Lassiter. "If you want to give me stuff, you have to pass it through lawyers or a manager," Austin said. "We get a million packages."

Lassiter has seen "Drumline" and saw enough similarities that he says he plans to file a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement. Both movies used Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College bands. Both include J. Anthony Brown, comic sidekick to radio personality Tom Joyner, and the same stunt coordinator.

"Mine's a true story; theirs is not," Lassiter said. "I'm a little bitter, because I came to him for help. At least give me a chance to prove myself. 'Drumline' would have a lot more validity in the black college world if a black college band director directed it. Austin and none of his producers marched in black college bands."

Brown, who plays a father in "Pay the Price" and a band director in "Drumline," said each movie has its merits. "I told Darryl to get over it," Brown said. "It's not who does it first but who makes it sing."

Indeed, the story lines are not identical. "Pay the Price" is an ensemble film built around several characters, including a black female (nicknamed "Miss Thang") and a white male (nicknamed "White Boy") trying to make the cut in an all-black, male marching band. "Drumline" is a coming-of-age story focused on a Harlem hotshot who learns discipline, teamwork and love.

For the relatively small number of people who are aware of "Pay the Price," there was some confusion over "Drumline." Yolanda McKinnon, a Long Island engineer, saw "Pay the Price" in New York City in 2000. "The story line was good, but it was rough around the edges," she said. "They could have done more with more money."

When McKinnon recently caught a trailer for "Drumline," she thought Lassiter had sold the rights to his film to a major studio to do just that. She was disappointed to hear that Lassiter had nothing to do with "Drumline." "I just feel he should get credit where credit was due," McKinnon said.

ON THE WEB: www.paytheprice.com, www.drumlinemovie.com

Re: uh-oh!
 

Quote:

Brown, who plays a father in "Pay the Price" and a band director in "Drumline," said each movie has its merits. "I told Darryl to get over it," Brown said. "It's not who does it first but who makes it sing."

BASICALLY!! There is always a lawsuit whenever a **POSITIVE or INNOVATIVE** Black movie comes out. Lest we not forget the Barbershop scandal?

MESSAGE: Get your ISHT copyrighted before showing it to folks! Be careful who you show your ISHT to.

Let's not forget Coming To America. :eek: :rolleyes:

And Amistad too, right? :confused:

I can't wait to see Drumline. Hopefully, it'll be here next week.

Roots as well.

The DVD can be pre-ordered on Amazon for its 4/15/03 arrival.