This offer has closed.

CliqueClack has partnered with Lionsgate and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers in the D.C. and Baltimore areas free passes to the advance screening of Peeples, starring Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Melvin Van Peebles and Diahanne Carroll. The film is produced by Tyler Perry. All you need to do to win is leave us a comment telling us why you want to see the movie. Please take note:

• CliqueClack will email you a unique GoFoBo code to print out a maximum of two Admit One passes. These codes will not be valid for more than one registered GoFoBo account.
• You MUST state which city you want passes for. We will not reply to comments that do not contain this information.
• GoFoBo codes are limited and the offer will expire when all codes have been claimed or on the day of the screening.
• ONE comments per person, per email address, per IP address. We want all of our readers to have an opportunity and we do check for duplicate comments.
• If there are passes remaining on the day of screening, those will be distributed to any duplicate comments held in reserve.
• Passes are distributed on a first come, first served basis.

Screenings will take place as follows:

• Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM, AMC White Marsh, Baltimore, MD
• Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM, Regal Gallery Place, Washington, DC

Again, passes are very limited so leave your comments now!

Let me start with a confession: I have never read the series of novels by James Patterson that Alex Cross was based on. I understand they are pretty popular, and enjoy Patterson’s cameos when he shows up on Castle, but my experience with the source material only goes as far as the two Morgan Freeman movies with the same character. But I don’t need to know the source material to know that Alex Cross is a horrible representation of it.

Tyler Perry plays the titular detective, the leader of some form of priority homicide team of the Detroit Police Department. It’s never particularly clear how “priority,” but his team consists of his best friend Tommy Kane (Ed Burns) and Tommy’s not-as-secret-as-he-thinks girlfriend Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols), along with a team of tech-guys and other sundry helpers. They are tasked with tracking down a mysterious assassin (Matthew Fox) who is systematically attacking the corporate leadership of a foreign company that’s taken an interest in Detroit’s resurgence.

There’s really not one aspect of the film I was particularly impressed by. The acting was incredibly uneven; there were some solid performances in secondary roles – Cicely Tyson in particular and even Giancarlo Esposito in one scene – but the top half of the billing was unimpressive (except for Fox, but more on that later). Jean Reno, as the assassin’s primary target, just sort of sits on the screen. Even when Reno has been tasked with playing over the top roles – like Rollerball – he’s delivered. Here, however, he’s just … there, existing on the screen, taking up space without really doing anything.

The narrative was a bit all over the place. A significant character was killed off-screen, and was only mentioned once more for the entire film. Cross’ must be the only wife of a cop who had little interest in seeing her husband take the safe, desk job no matter what upheaval it might cause the family. The chief of police was a joke. These are just a few examples; I could keep going, but you get the point.

Alex Cross was also a difficult film to watch. I don’t mind the shaky-cam approach nearly as much as others do, but Director of Photography Ricardo Della Rosa uses it entirely too much during chase and fight sequences. He also attempted a couple of odd, artistic bits incorporated with Fox’s character that fell flat. It isn’t even the complex shots that didn’t work. What should have been a fairly straightforward shot, or at the very least a 360 pan around the group, resulted in an odd scene where the camera moved back and forth around the characters. It’s not something I would have even noticed – other than the feeling of disorientation; and when the uninitiated notice bad camera work, you know you’re in trouble.

But that’s not to say the film was all bad. Cicely Tyson is still Cicely freaking Tyson. Her character wasn’t around much, but owned the screen when she was. And it was interesting to watch Fox’s take on the assassin Picasso – at least identified that way by IMDb if not in the film itself. The character calls for something I’ve not seen from Fox before: an unconstrained psycho. I’m not sure it works completely, but it is fun to watch the experiment.

If you pull everything out of the film, there is a pretty solid story underneath. Enough of one, actually, to pique my interest in picking up one of James Patterson’s novels. It’s a shame that the story is translated to the screen in such a sub par way.

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Please note: All passes allotted to CliqueClack by the studio and its representative have been claimed. This giveaway is now closed. Please check back again for future screening opportunities.

Morgan Freeman has played him in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, and now Tyler Perry is taking a shot at stepping out of Madea’s heels and into the shoes of James Patterson’s Alex Cross. And CliqueClack, in partnership with Summit Entertainment and Allied Integrated Marketing, is offering our readers in Maryland a chance to see the new thriller before anyone else! Send an email to alexcross@cliqueclack.com with ALEX CROSS as the subject to get a GoFoBo code which will allow you to print out two admit one passes to the advance screening which takes place on Tuesday, October 16, 7:00 PM at the AMC White Marsh theaters.

So what is Alex Cross about? Tyler Perry is the seminal young homicide detective in this taut, exciting origin story where Alex Cross meets his match in a ferociously skilled serial killer. The two face off in a psychological struggle of epic proportions, where Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and physical limits. Alex Cross stars an ensemble cast that includes Matthew Fox, Edward Burns and Jean Reno. Check out the trailer, and get your emails to us by 3:00 PM Tuesday, October 16. Please note that the passes do not guarantee you a seat at the screening as the screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house. Pass quantities are limited.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw7PhPD31Ws

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Growing up with aspirations of being a journalist, I was often told to look at Oprah Winfrey as the quintessential role model. How could I not? That woman runs the world. Needless to say, she’s definitely one of my idols, and my adoration of her only intensified when she launched her very own network at the start of 2011. Now, anyone who’s been keeping up with entertainment news knows that, well, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) hasn’t exactly been an overnight success. Despite it premiering in 80 million homes, it’s still struggling a bit. However, it seems that Winfrey is trying to fix that. According to the New York Times, the multi-hyphenate is teaming up with another multi-hyphenate to bring success to her shaky network — Tyler Perry.

With that being said, I have only one thing to say: Are you kidding me?!

Seriously, Oprah! What gives? It’s common knowledge that I’m not the biggest fan of Tyler Perry. Anyone who’s been keeping up with Clacking in Color knows that. I’ve never had the opportunity to write about Perry, but now that I do, let me elaborate. I believe Perry has done wonderful things for African-American actors and actresses in regards to employment. I certainly can’t take that away from him. However, I just feel as though if you’ve seen one Tyler Perry project then you’ve seem them all. Don’t get me wrong. There are some stand-outs. The Family That Preys is an awesome movie. Nevertheless, Madea Goes to Jail, Madea’s Big Happy Family and Madea’s Witness Protection leave a lot to be desired. Perry’s works are predictable and follow the same bland formula. I also feel as though some of his recent works haven’t been big on quality. It’s kind of like he’s rushing. Yes, Madea can be funny, but it’s ignorant at best.

To that end, I’ve always been curious as to why Winfrey and Perry are friends. I don’t mean that in a negative way. I’m just curious. Winfrey has stated countless times that she detests rap music because of what it promotes. She even gave rapper Ludacris something of a cold shoulder when he appeared on her talk show several years ago with his Crash costars. Yup. She sure did. Pardon my slang, but Oprah don’t play that. So, why is she playing with Perry?

Perchance it’s because Perry does, in fact, have a built-in audience. His sitcoms on TBS — Meet the Browns and For Better or Worse — may feature stereotypical situations and pigeonholed characters, but people are watching. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Perry’s For Better or Worse drew in 3.4 million viewers for its premiere. That’s pretty solid for cable. Maybe he can do the same thing for OWN. Winfrey’s network frequently draws in less than a million viewers, and reports on USA Today indicated that several OWN staff members were laid off earlier this year. Oh, dear. Has Winfrey become desperate?

I’d like to think she hasn’t. Heck, she’s Oprah! I think that Perry knows better when it comes to creating suitable content for Winfrey. Set to debut in mid-2013, this will be OWN’s first scripted fare. I’m sure Perry will dial back on the outrageous meter. I won’t lie. I’m rather intrigued by this new development. If they play their cards right then this could be something awesome. I certainly believe that it will give OWN some much needed viewers. Perchance I’ll be one of them. If, for whatever reason, this doesn’t succeed, then I think I have a new title for the next Tyler Perry film …

Madea Gets Fired.

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