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Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Mara Brock Akil
Mara Brock Akil has a love story with Los Angeles that runs deep. She was born in Compton, raised in such neighborhoods as Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights, and now resides in Hancock Park. So when she set out on her latest creative project, a TV adaptation of Judy Blume's 1975 novel 'Forever...,' she knew she had to set it the City of Angels. shar'We kept saying we're telling a love story within a love letter to Los Angeles,' said the screenwriter and executive producer best known for the series 'Girlfriends' and 'Being Mary Jane.' Akil's new series, which premiered on Netflix on Thursday, centers on the love story between Justin Edwards and Keisha Clark, Black high school seniors in 2018 Los Angeles. 'We're a very diverse city, but we are still separated within our neighborhoods,' she said. 'I want people to get used to seeing Justins and Keishas in L.A. and make room for them as they try to discover each other.' The showrunner said her 'muse' was her eldest son, Yasin Akil, 21, and her relationship with him. 'My impetus to write this, [which] I think [was] the same as Judy,' Akil said, 'is I want to make space for my children to have a normal rite of passage to understand who they are, how they make that leap from familial love to their first decision around romantic love and friendship love, and before they move into the next realm of their lives.' When Akil isn't on set, her ideal Sunday takes her from her home in Hancock Park to art studios downtown and local bookshops in Ladera Heights. As her work on 'Forever' has taught her, 'You can stay in your bubble or you can sort of venture out. And if you venture out, I think you'll be a better Angeleno.' This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 7 a.m.: Hot girl walk On my dream Sunday, I'm waking up at 7 a.m. when the city is quiet. There are going to be dog walkers, but there's something so luscious about the stillness of L.A. that early on a Sunday. I do have a walking and writing creative practice, and so sometimes I like to write in New York as a result of it, because I can just go out the door and walk. But Hancock Park allows me to walk to one of my favorite streets in L.A., which is Larchmont. There's something to do where you don't have to overspend, but you can feel a part of something. You can just enjoy walking up and down. You can stop by the magazine stand. You can look in all the stores. You might buy a croissant — there's 1,000 bakeries. You can just go look at the adopted pets. Matcha is my thing. Groundwork has a matcha, Le Pain Quotidien has a matcha and Cookbook has a matcha. And then one of my favorite places, too, is Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. The line is out the door for their sandwiches; I typically get the turkey or the tuna. I get my Sunday fixings [at the Larchmont Farmers Market], so I make a Sunday chicken. I don't cook a lot of things, but what I do well, I do very well. I have a family recipe, and it's a Sunday chicken, and so I get the herbs or the potatoes and the carrots and the things like that. It feels great to walk out of your door after driving in your car all week, to talk to people, bump into friends. 9 a.m.: Neighborly tennis lesson Hancock Park is a really lovely neighborhood. I know my neighbors, and thankfully one of them has a tennis court. I have this amazing trainer named Wkwesi Williams. Wkwesi will meet me over at my neighbor's house, and he'll give us a lesson, and then if we're feeling strong enough, we'll hit afterwards. 11 a.m.: Hit the batting cages Then I'm home, and I can be mom. My 16-year-old son, Nasir, is an aspiring baseball player. Typically, if he's not in a game, which would wipe out my whole Sunday, I just have to get him to the batting cages. My son doesn't drive yet, so he still needs his mom, thank God. He bats at BaseballGenerations with Ron Miller, another amazing coach. It's so funny. It's the flyest — all the young ballers are in there. Sometimes they'll have professional guys hitting in the batting cage. It's like the secret to the secret. 12:30 p.m.: See the art Then, since we're downtown, I would go visit Jessica Taylor Bellamy's studio. Thelma Golden, the director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, who's a good friend of mine, always gave me this great advice: Art should be a daily practice. If you just have 30 minutes and you can pop into a gallery or a museum, just go see the art, see what it does. What I love about Bellamy's work is that she really understands Los Angeles. When I saw her paintings — and she had a palm tree and a pine tree, sometimes she has bright skies, sometimes she has cloudy skies — I was like, 'Who is this? She gets it. She's from here. She knows L.A.' She was also a muse for 'Forever.' When I saw her paintings, I called Michael 'Cambio' Fernandez, who is our cinematographer. We talked about her palette, her understanding of the sunny side and the rainy side and the cloudy side of L.A. That tableau was really important. 2 p.m.: Visit childhood home Because I love driving, [my son and I] take the long way home. I would go by Reparations Club to pick up a book for me. Then we would go to this new comic book store called the Comic Den on Slauson for my son. Then we would go to Simply Wholesome for us. Simply Wholesome is one of our big heartbeat centers of love, joy, wellness and community. We typically get the Sunshine Shake with the egg, and we get some Jamaican patties for my mom, which we will take literally around the corner. My mother lives in my childhood home, and we would go see grandma, so grandma can see how tall Nasir has grown. It always anchors me to walk into a place that you remember yourself. Being in that neighborhood reminds me of how safe and loved and enough I am. I love being in the place where I was a child and also making sure my child stays connected to his grandmother. My own grandmother recently passed in that home, so just honoring that. We always play a little Jhené Aiko or Nipsey Hussle to honor being back over there. 5 p.m.: Sunday fixings I'll get back home around 5 o'clock, so I can cook the Sunday chicken. I have a big life, but I'm always a writer and I'm always in practice. And one of my favorite things is music. Our house is always filled with music, so I cook. I slow down. I engage with that family history as well as my own creativity, and in that active meditation, oftentimes I will catch a lot of great ideas. So I always have my journal nearby, maybe a little Champagne because it's Sunday, and I'm using all of those little fixings I got from the farmers market. And the cool thing is that it takes a minute for the chicken to cook, so I can have a little swim or a little sauna and shower before family dinner. 7 p.m.: Family dinner Right now, it's just the three of us. Sometimes we FaceTime the older one [who is away at college] and be like, 'You're missing Sunday chicken!' But we sit down, and we just talk about the day, talk about whatever. Sometimes it gets very philosophical. To be in our homes and enjoy them is also a treat, and I don't ever want to forget that as I'm out and about around the city. We linger at least an hour before we set a new week ahead of us. 9 p.m.: Have a laugh over drinks But then, I'm also a Gemini, so I like to stay out in them streets. So it might just be calling my girlfriend Alice and being like, 'Let's go have a drink at Damn, I Miss Paris.' Friends of mine, Jason and Adair, just opened that spot up here on West Adams. How long I stay depends on who's there. Maybe just stay for an hour, have a drink, have a laugh. 11 p.m.: Poetry before bed I'm a shower girl, but sometimes I also just like to take a bath. So I would just sort of wind down with a bath, and the other thing is reading poetry. Right now I'm reading Nikki Giovanni, Mary Oliver and my mother. My mother just wrote a book of poetry, which blew my mind because my mom has been my mom. And she's allowed the writer in her to come out. I've been reading those three women in conversation with me as I try to write my life poetically. And by the way, poetry is not a whole chapter. Let me get real deep real quick before I go into this REM sleep.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How to Watch ‘Forever': Where Is Mara Brock Akil's Buzzy New Romance Series Streaming?
Mara Brock Akil's TV adaptation of Judy Blume's beloved teen romance novel 'Forever' has finally arrived, and we're here to give the deets on how to tune in. Akil's 'Forever,' which tells the first love story of two Black teens, Justin and Keisha, marks the 'Girlfriends' creator and mega-producer's debut at Netflix after establishing her Story27 production banner with the streamer and signing a multi-year agreement to write and produce scripted content and other creative projects for Netflix. The eight-episode series hits the streamer on Thursday. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch. 'Forever' premieres on Thursday, May 8. 'Forever' is streaming exclusively on Netflix. Here's Netflix's official synopsis for the series: 'Set in 2018 Los Angeles, 'Forever' follows breakout stars Lovie Simone as Keisha Clark and Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards as they navigate the complexities of their first relationship — from falling for each other to learning from their mistakes. Their journey reflects the joy, emotion, and growth that come with young love and with growing up.' The 'Forever' cast includes Lovie Simon, Michael Cooper Jr., Karen Pittman, Wood Harris, Xosha Roquemore, Marvin Lawrence Winans III, Barry Shabaka and more. The post How to Watch 'Forever': Where Is Mara Brock Akil's Buzzy New Romance Series Streaming? appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Old Guard 2' Trailer: Charlize Theron Revives Her Netflix Action Franchise and Battles a Lost-Long Immortal
Netflix has released the first trailer for 'The Old Guard 2,' which sees the return of franchise star Charlize Theron for another humanity-saving mission. The official logline for 'The Old Guard 2' reads: 'Andy (Theron) leads immortal warriors against a powerful enemy threatening their group. They grapple with the resurfacing of a long-lost immortal, complicating their mission to safeguard humanity.' More from Variety 'Ginny & Georgia' Season 3 Trailer: Netflix's Mother-Daughter Duo Get Ready for Criminal Court Mara Brock Akil's Take on Judy Blume's 'Forever' Is the 'Girlfriends' Creator's Finest Work: TV Review Netflix Sets Korean Comedy Thriller 'Husbands in Action' Other cast members include Kiandra 'KiKi' Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Veronica Ngo, Henry Golding, Uma Thurman and Kamil Nozynski. Victoria Mahoney directs with a script from Leandro Fernandez, Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker. Theron, A.J. Dix, David Ellison, Marc Evans, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Beth Kono and Gina Prince-Bythewood serve as producers. Executive producers include Rucka, Marco Valerio Pugini and Denis L. Stewrart. 'The Old Guard 2' is based on the graphic novel written by Rucka and illustrated by Fernandez. The original 'Old Guard,' released in 2020, was watched by 72 million households during its first four weeks on Netflix. The sequel was originally supposed to be released earlier than 2025, but Theron previously said that 'Netflix went through quite a changeover. We got kind of stuck in that and our post-production shut down, I think, five weeks into it.' 'The Old Guard 2' comes to Netflix on July 2. Check out the trailer below. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Chicago Tribune
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
‘Forever' review: Updating Judy Blume's classic about first love — and sex
Judy Blume's 1975 novel 'Forever …,' about a New Jersey high schooler's first love — and first experiences with sex — is a book I initially encountered with a childhood friend who got her hands on a copy. We snuck off to read the more explicit portions, giggling about them afterwards; the boy has named his penis Ralph and, , you have to laugh! Blume has always been able to capture the inner lives of teenagers as they struggle to figure out how to move through the world in that awkward limbo between child and adult, and it makes sense that Mara Brock Akil (creator of the sitcom 'Girlfriends' and the drama 'Being Mary Jane') would want to rethink some of those themes for the 21st century with her TV adaptation for Netflix. Blume has said she wrote the book at the urging of her daughter, who asked for a story about 'two nice kids who have sex' without dire consequences. That's because, at the time, in novels about teenagers in love, 'if they had sex the girl was always punished. … Girls in these books had no sexual feelings and boys had no feelings other than sexual. Neither took responsibility for their actions. I wanted to present another kind of story — one in which two seniors in high school fall in love, decide together to have sex, and act responsibly.' Akil has similar intentions in mind and the result is a lovely and wonderfully textured TV series about a couple of teens finding a romantic connection with one another. (This is actually the second screen adaptation; in 1978 CBS, turned the novel into a TV movie starring Stephanie Zimbalist.) Though the book is told from the girl's point of view, Akil has adjusted 'Forever' (and removed the ellipses from the title) so that we see the story through the eyes of both characters, beginning with Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.), who is cute and a little shy and comes from a wealthy family. At a New Year's Eve party in his junior year, he locks eyes with Keisha (Lovie Simone) who goes to a different school. She's stunning and quietly confident and comes from far more modest circumstances. At first he doesn't recognize her, but she reminds him that they knew each other as kids. The spark has been lit. The setting is now Los Angeles instead of New Jersey. Individually, Justin and Keisha are going through what are fairly normal adolescent experiences, but they're weighty all the same. The pressure of measuring up to expectations. When kids don't feel comfortable telling their parents what's really going on, or have trouble figuring out when to be vulnerable and when to protect themselves. (A text is composed — 'I'm sorry I pushed you away, I was hurt' — only to be deleted in favor of 'hey.') You like them as people, and you have compassion for their growing pains. They are fundamentally kind, but bruise one other's feeling easily. It's a story of fumblings and misunderstandings at an age when everything seems so raw, so precarious, because you're still growing up and deciding who, and what, matters. The show retains a handful of details from the original (fondue is served at the party where they meet; Ralph is indeed referenced briefly) that serve as nods to the source material, but the show itself is a wholly original creation tackling complications that kids face today, specifically through the prism of Black teen life. Things like social media or the three dots of a text message that never comes. The prevalence of phone cameras that can record even the most intimate of moments, only to see them blasted out to their peers. The latter is something Keisha has to contend with and this contradicts some of Blume's original goals, because Keisha adversely affected — punished, if you will — by a sex tape that gets shared at her school. Her classmates judge her but the show doesn't, at all. In fact, 'Forever' is deeply compassionate and understanding when it comes to the anxiety Keisha experiences afterwards, and you could argue Akil is just addressing the realities of teen life today. Sometimes kids have bad judgement and it's valid to see that through the eyes of the young people at the center of this story. This life stage can be emotionally messy. That's a given. But the show spends too much of the narrative contriving reasons Justin and Keisha can't be together (this comes up often and makes the show feel longer than it should) rather than letting us see the relationship develop more in the early going, when we need to believe they've established something deeper than a teenage infatuation. So much rests on Cooper and Simone's performances, which are terrific. His eyes light up when he spots her walking towards him to meet for their first date. She's a wonderful mix of assertiveness and sensitivity. It's hard enough figuring out who you are, let alone who you are as one half of a couple, and both actors navigate this uncertainty with nuance. (The larger ensemble is just as strong, including Karen Pittman and Wood Harris as Justin's patents, and Xosha Roquemore as Keisha's mom.) Young love can feel so intense and words like 'forever' get tossed around because that's how those feelings in the moment. Like the book, the show understands that this is usually just one chapter — albeit an important chapter — among many more to come. 'Forever' — 3.5 stars (out of 4) Where to watch: Netflix
