Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to outer space to figuratively kill two birds with one stone - or one trip. There are electronic waves coming from the heavens threatening earth and this phenomenon leads scientist and high-level government officials to believe that there’s a connection between the waves and a space voyage 30 years earlier led by McBride’s father (Tommy Lee Jones) from which his father never returned.

Despite Brad Pitt’s stellar performance, Ad Astra never really takes off and it gets a Rent It rating. Screenwriters James Gray and Ethan Gross layout the story effectively and clearly. There’s the threat to destroy the world which is likely connected with the McBride’s father space journey decades earlier. But other than that, this story moseys through a series of modestly interesting scenes serving as little more than filler until McBride reaches his final destination.

And those of you who expect Star Wars-type battles and scenes, you’ll be disappointed. Many of the scenes are serene and calm – which probably better represents what outer space is really like. There’s a mildly amusing portion: The film is set in the future where passengers can take commercial flights to the moon. Those wanting the comfort of an on-flight blanket pay a cool, $125!

Again, Brad Pitt does all he can to propel this story into an entertainment sphere. And the cinematography is out of this world, with creative angles and vantage points. However, those features are not enough.

Ad Astra gets a “B” for cast diversity. This is very much a white male-dominated cast. However, Ruth Negga has a major supporting role. Kimberly Elise plays an astronaut, but with very little to say. There are other people of color with visible but minor roles.

Ad Astra is rated PG-13 for some violence and bloody images coupled with brief strong language. At 124 minutes, it’s too long.

In the end, Pitt’s performance coupled with the visually stimulating scenes is what gives this film some entertainment value. But don’t see it now. Wait and Rent It. 

Taraji P. Henson, Nate Parker, Birth of a Nation, and Barbershop 3: The Next Cut, Get No Love from Golden Globes

The nominations for the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning on NBC's "Today" live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Denzel Washington, Ruth Negga, Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Tracee Ellis Ross, Anthony Anderson, Issa Rae, Courtney B. Vance, Thandie Newton, Donald Glover, Kerry Washington, and Sterling K. Brown are among the actors vying for a Golden Globe Award. Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, and Benjamin Wallfisch are nominated for Best Original Score – Motion Picture for Hidden Figures. The song, How Far I'll Go (Moana), written by Hamilton creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is nominated for Best Original Song – Motion Picture.

Although Washington received a nom for Best Actor in a Movie, Drama category for Fences, he failed to receive a Best Director nomination for directing the film. The movie, based on the August Wilson play of the same name, which also stars Viola Davis, who received an acting nomination, also failed to receive a nomination in the Best Picture - Drama category.

Filmmaker Barry Jenkins received a nomination for Best Direction – Motion Picture for Moonlight, and the film received a Golden Globe Best Motion Picture – Drama nomination.

Actors Don Cheadle, Laura Dern, and Anna Kendrick were joined by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Lorenzo Soria, Dick Clark Productions' executive VP of television, Barry Adelman, and the Miss Golden Globe trio — Sophia, Sistine, and Scarlet Stallone in announcing the nominees. Yes, the young ladies of the Miss Golden Globe trio are related to actor Sylvester Stallone; they are his daughters and will assist in handing out the trophies during the ceremony.

Produced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globe Awards will air live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel on NBC on Sunday, January 8, 2017, at 8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT. The ceremony will be hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon.

Here is the full list of 2017 Golden Globe nominations:

Best Motion Picture – Drama:

"Hacksaw Ridge"
"Hell or High Water"
"Lion"
"Manchester By The Sea"
"Moonlight"

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

"20th Century Women"
"Deadpool"
"La La Land"
"Florence Foster Jenkins"
"Sing Street"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:

Casey Affleck – "Manchester By The Sea"
Joel Edgerton – "Loving"
Andrew Garfield – "Hacksaw Ridge"
Viggo Mortensen – "Captain Fantastic"
Denzel Washington – "Fences"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:

Amy Adams – "Arrival"
Jessica Chastain – "Miss Sloane"
Isabelle Huppert – "Elle"
Ruth Negga – "Loving"
Natalie Portman – "Jackie"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

Colin Farrell – "The Lobster"
Ryan Gosling – "La La Land"
Hugh Grant – "Florence Foster Jenkins"
Jonah Hill – "War Dogs"
Ryan Reynolds – "Deadpool"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

Annette Bening – "20th Century Women"
Lily Collins – "Rules Don't Apply"
Hailee Steinfeld – "The Edge of Seventeen"
Emma Stone – "La La Land"
Meryl Streep – "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

Mahershala Ali – "Moonlight"
Jeff Bridges – "Hell or High Water"
Simon Helberg – "Florence Foster Jenkins"
Dev Patel – "Lion"
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – "Nocturnal Animals"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

Viola Davis – "Fences"
Naomie Harris – "Moonlight"
Nicole Kidman – "Lion"
Octavia Spencer – "Hidden Figures"
Michelle Williams – "Manchester by the Sea"

Best Director – Motion Picture:

Damien Chazelle – "La La Land"
Tom Ford – "Nocturnal Animals"
Mel Gibson – "Hacksaw Ridge"
Barry Jenkins – "Moonlight" 
Kenneth Lonergan – "Manchester by the Sea"

Best Original Screenplay:

"La La Land"
"Nocturnal Animals"
"Moonlight"
"Manchester By The Sea"
"Hell or High Water"

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language:

"Divines" – France
"Elle" – France
"Neruda" – Chile
"The Salesman" – Iran/France
"Toni Erdmann" – Germany

Best Motion Picture – Animated:

"Kubo and the Two Strings"
"Moana"
"My Life As a Zucchini"
"Sing"
"Zootopia"

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:

"Can't Stop The Feeling" – "Trolls"
"City Of Stars" – La La Land
"Faith" – Sing
"Gold" – Gold
"How Far I'll Go" – Moana

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:

Nicholas Britell– "Moonlight"
Justin Hurwitz – "La La Land"
Johann Johannsson – "Arrival"
Dustin O'Halloran, Hauschka– "Lion
Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch – "Hidden Figures"

Best Television Series – Drama:

"The Crown"
"Game of Thrones"
"Stranger Things"
"This Is Us"
"Westworld"

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy:

"Atlanta"
"Black-ish"
"Mozart In The Jungle"
"Transparent"
"Veep"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama:

Rami Malek – "Mr. Robot"
Bob Odenkirk – "Better Call Saul"
Matthew Rhys – "The Americans"
Liev Schreiber – "Ray Donovan"
Billy Bob Thornton – "Goliath"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama:

Caitriona Balfe – "Outlander"
Claire Foy – "The Crown"
Keri Russell – "The Americans"
Winona Ryder – "Stranger Things"
Evan Rachel Wood – "Westworld"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:

Anthony Anderson – "Black-ish"
Gael García Bernal – "Mozart in the Jungle
Donald Glover – "Atlanta" 
Nick Nolte – "Graves"
Jeffrey Tambor – "Transparent"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:

Rachel Bloom – "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – "Veep"
Sarah Jessica Parker – "Divorce"
Issa Rae – "Insecure"
Gina Rodriguez – "Jane the Virgin"
Tracee Ellis-Ross – "Black-ish"

Best Limited Series:

"American Crime"
"The Dresser"
"The Night Manager"
"The Night Of"
"The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for
Television:

Riz Ahmed – "The Night Of"
Bryan Cranston – "All The Way"
Tom Hiddleston – "The Night Manager"
John Turturro – "The Night Of"
Courtney B Vance – "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Olivia Colman – "The Night Manager"
Lena Headey – "Game Of Thrones"
Chrissy Metz – "This Is Us"
Mandy Moore – "This Is Us"
Thandie Newton – "Westworld"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Felicity Huffman – "American Crime"
Riley Keough – "The Girlfriend Experience"
Sarah Paulson – "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"
Charlotte Rampling – "London Spy"
Kerry Washington – "Confirmation"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Sterling K Brown – "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"
Hugh Laurie – "The Night Manager"
John Lithgow – "The Crown"
Christian Slater – "Mr. Robot"
John Travolta – "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"

I'm pregnant. Eighteen-year-old Mildred Dolores Jeter, told her 24-year-old boyfriend, Richard Perry Loving. His response, "That's fine." A few days later he decides that they should get married.

This is a situation that has played out, uneventfully, countless number of times: Boy meets girl, girl gets pregnant, and they get married. But this situation was different in some very important ways: It was 1958. Mildred (Ruth Negga) was black. Richard (Joel Edgerton) was white. And they lived in Virginia. And their getting married was illegal. But it wasn't clear if they even knew it. Richard explained to Mildred it would be less paperwork to get married in D.C. So they drove to the nation's capital where they said their vows with Mildred's father witnessing. Afterwards, they returned to Mildred's parents' home in Central Point, Virginia where they would live. At 2:00 am some weeks later, the sheriff and his deputies burst into the Jeter's home, stormed into the young couple's bedroom and arrested them. Loving tells the story of the couple's momentous efforts to have their union recognized in Virginia.

While portions of the film, Loving, drags like toilet paper stuck to a shoe, the historical lessons, strong performances and poignant story makes this a See It!

I have an affinity for movies based on actual events. Especially stories about unlikely heroes. And there are probably no more unlikely world-changers than Mildred and Richard. Two very ordinary individuals whose families had been bound by a long friendship. Socializing and working together. Among their circle, their dating and getting married seemed natural and reasonable. As if they were oblivious to the cultural and more importantly, the legal norms, of the 1950s south.

However, there were some family members questioning their judgment once the legal problems set in. They also learned that the system didn't treat equally. Richard was released after one day in jail and despite being pregnant, Mildred remained behind bars for five days.

While the "story" is the star of the film, the cast is nevertheless, exceptional. Interestingly, both leads Edgerton and Negga are foreign born. Edgerton was born in Australia and Negga in Ethiopia and reared in Ireland. There is some well-deserved Oscar buzz surrounding both performances.

Jeff Nichols wrote and directed Loving. Nichols, a white man from Arkansas, shot the film in 35 mm giving it the visual quality of a movie from that time period. He also opted to focus on the ebbs and flows of Mildred's and Richard's relationship and not the lengthy legal entanglements. However, that focus on them includes a lot of casual conversation resulting in the film being slow in some parts. Ultimately, Nichols must be commended for the way he brings this story to life.

Loving is a fascinating production that captures the lengths people will go when driven by one of the strongest of human emotions – love.

Finally, the irony of the couple having the surname "Loving" cannot go unmentioned.

The movie is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and is two hours and three minutes. And it's a See It!

Warcraft the movie is based on the video game series and novels set in the world of Azeroth. The film portrays the initial encounters between the humans and the orcs (talking monsters) and takes place in a variety of locations established in the video games.

Warcraft is a rambling, incoherent mess. First, you have to know this story. There is very little effort to introduce the concept and characters to those unfamiliar with this video based plot. In October of last year, Warcraft had 5.5 million subscribers, which is obviously the target market. The film's director Duncan Jones, who is also a co-writer of this script along with Charles Leavitt and Chris Metzen, seems to believe talking monsters battling humans and other talking monsters is enough to entertain viewers. And that might be enough for fans but for those unfamiliar with Warcraft, there is nothing in this movie which will make them want to learn more.

Some aspects of the movie seem to "borrow" from the megahit Avatar. In Warcraft, Paula Patton's, Garona seems very similar to Zoe Saldana's, Neytiri in Avatar.

As to the cast diversity rating, Warcraft is difficult to rates since so many of the characters are monsters. But it'll get a "C" since the press kit shows that of the 35 main performers, only four are people of color. However, Paula Patton and Ruth Negga (Lady Taria) have major roles.

Warcraft is rated PG-13 and is 123 minutes in length; it gets our lowest rating: Dead on Arrival.

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at the Essence Festival; actor Jussie Smollet will return to Empire; Tamar Braxton fired from The Real; actress Blake Lively finds out she's Becky and a whole lot more

What's Poppin' Quick Takes

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that the iconic pop artist, Prince, may have been dead for hours before he was found unresponsive in an elevator in his Paisley Park home.

Tamar Braxton has been fired from The Real.

The world of media has gained two new Black superstars. Elaine Welteroth has been named Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; Aaliyah Williams is now the Vice President of Digital Content and Production of MACRO, a company started by African-American talent rep Charles King.

Actress Blake Lively stirred some controversy, when she posted a picture of herself on Instagram, posing at a recent gala in a gold gown with the caption "LA face with an Oakland booty."

Actor Jussie Smollett will return to Empire. Smollet posted on Instagram: "Listen 2 my words, I'll see ya'll season 3.

The television network, ABC, announced that Scandal will return for its sixth season in 2017, due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy.

What's Poppin'

Donald Trump is having difficulty raising money

Campaign contributions from some of the Republican Party's major benefactors may be hard to come by for the party's nominee, Donald Trump. Most notable is Stanley Druckenmiller, a New York-based investor who gave big bucks to John Kasich's campaign. Druckenmiller told Reuters that he won't donate saying, "Not sure why anyone would give money to Mr. Trump since he asserts that he is worth $10 billion."

The continuing saga that has become Bill Cosby's life

Bill Cosby's lawyers are again asking the state supreme court to have his criminal sexual-assault case thrown out. The issue is whether a current prosecutor has to live up to the promise made by a former prosecutor to not charge actor/comedian/philanthropist Bill Cosby for the alleged assault. Apparently Bill Cosby used that promise to provide certain testimony in another case and now his words are being used against him. We'll know shortly whether the case will be thrown out.

In-Studio Interview

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at Essence Music Festival

Vera Moore, President and CEO, Vera Moore Cosmetics; will be a panelist on the beauty panel at the upcoming Essence Music Festival in July. As we listen in on an impromptu conversation between Vera Moore and What's The 411TV CEO Ruth J. Morrison, we are pulled into Ms. Moore's journey from integrating the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY, in the early 1980s with a kiosk to selling her brand of cosmetics in 53 stores through Walgreens, the largest drug retailing chain in the United States. The Vera Moore Cosmetics brand can be found nationally at Walgreens in New York City, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico among others, as well as internationally in Shanghai independently.

Under the Radar

Black-ish Writer Damilare Sonoiki initiates a new comedy based on African immigrant experience

Black-ish writer, Damilare Sonoiki, is creating a brand new comedy, this one about the African experience. It's called African Booty-Scratcher!" Sonoiki, a Nigerian-American named it that after an insult he heard kids using to refer to African kids. I remember hearing it growing up too. He told the Grio:

"The biggest thing I've learned from 'Black-ish,' like the central premise...is that you're taught to give your kids more than you have but in giving them more, what do they lose? The immigrant story is that exact same situation."

New film, Loving is generating Oscar buzz at Cannes Film Festival

From the Cannes Film Festival comes word that Jeff Nichols' film Loving, generated tremendous Oscar buzz. The film is the real life story of the efforts of Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Loving, a black woman, to have their marriage deemed legal. In 1958, the couple was arrested in their bedroom for being married. At the time, Virginia law made interracial marriages illegal. The couple had to take their fight all the way to the Supreme Court which rendered a unanimous decision ruling the couple's arrest unlawful and all state prohibitions against interracial marriage.

Additionally, the hubbub is that actress Ruth Negga's performance as Mildred Loving makes her a favorite for Best Actress Oscar.

Upcoming Events

• Actress Niecy Nash is set to join the cast of the upcoming TNT's dramedy, Claws, a dark-comedy revolving around five diverse nail salon employees and organized crime. Claws is currently in production.

• Filmmaker Carl Franklin has signed on to do a film remake of the 1948 William Faulkner novel Intruder in the Dust. The original film was produced in 1949, and the new film is currently in production.

• If all the Fetty-Waps, Drakes, and Nicki Minaj's of the world have got you feening for some Mase, Puff Daddy, and Lil' Kim, your '90s prayers have been answered because The Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour is coming to a city near you! The Lox, 112, Total, Carl Thomas, Mario Winans, and French Montana will also perform on the tour. Brooklyn already got a taste recently when they performed at the Barclay's Center where our own Onika McClean got crunk! The official tour starts on August 25, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio.

• Comedian Wanda Sykes will join fellow comediennes Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in a new Fox comedy special, Mother/Daughter. The comedy will air October 21st on FOX television.

In Memoriam

Journalist, Morley Safer, one of the original correspondents of the CBS News Magazine, 60 Minutes, has passed away at age 84. Safer had just retired from CBS a week prior. May he rest in peace.