Medicine for Melancholy

I went to the screening of this movie in Newark a few years ago and I totally fell in love with it. Still one of my favorite indie films of all time.

Parisian in NYC starring Felicia Verna

Check out the trailer to Parisian in NYC. Even if all Felicia does in the actual movie is texts on her phone, it would still be worth the time to watch. She is one of the prettiest texters I've ever seen!




About Felicia Verna, Model| Blogger | Actress | Community Leader
Megan Mincey professionally know as Felicia Ellure Verna (pronounced Ver-nah) was born in Paterson, NJ. At a young age Megan always took a front row seat when it came to being innovative on stage and in front of the camera. Starting at the age of five her mother involved her in performing arts programs such as Jazz, Tap, Ballet, and African Dance under the company Spirit Dance in Paterson, NJ.

During her high school years Megan received offers to join various modeling agency but declined so that she could attend college; in 2005 she was accepted to attend Virginia State University. Virginia State University gave Megan her first since of independence where she was able to find her self and her niche in society. She had her first modeling experience freshman year when she was chosen to participate in Diversified Virtue Entertainment (DVE) version of Top Model. Megan went on to be and still is reining Champion of VSU's Next Top Model.

After watching Top Model during her junior year winter break. Megan was inspired to pursue modeling again now that she was older and wiser. She decided to reach out to a friend Tyrese "Turtle" Shepard who was successful and had experience in the acting, modeling and music industry. Shepard agree to do the shoot in Tribeca, NY; the two made magic. This was the day Felicia Verna was born.

In 2009 she receive her bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia State University. Since then Felicia has gone on to work with: Ethnicity Models founder by La Shawna Stanley, Photographer Derek Blanks, Davida Baldwin, Derek White, Banks Dupree, Hair Stylist Derek J, Celebrity Make Up Artist Shaisha Beecham, Author KiKi Swinson, Fashion designer Mecca Mckinney of Jypsea, Stacy Angela, Model and Director RJ Harper, Actor Christopher Founrnier. Alonzo Mourning, Donald Trump. Felicia has been featured in the "Trend Setters” Video GreekFlix.com "Greek of the Month", "Parisian in NYC", "Not Really A Diva"

In 2009 Felicia added “Blogstress” to her list of titles, establishing culture/ fashion blog EllureZion.com. Felicia has interviewed celebrities such as Chrisete Michelle, J Long and CR. She has done press and media coverage for Dahntay Jones, Al Harrington, Alonzo Mourning Triple F.A.T. Goose and various philanthropy and star studded events. Felicia is very passionate about social issues and takes action by writing about them under her Just Saying section of her page. Her writings also include biblical motivation and enlightenment. During her spare time she enjoys giving back to the community through various community service programs such as her very own step program and events.

Surely Felicia is on a virtuous path to not only to success but making a positive difference one community at a time.

Follow Felicia on twitter at @EllureZion
Face book: Felicia Ellure Verna
Parisian in NYC Trailer: http://ellurezion.com/2010/10/01/parisian-in-nyc-trailer/
Website. http://www.ellurezion.com/
Booking inquires FelciaVerna@yahoo.com
PR and Media Coverage: Ellurezion@Gmail.com

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD Trailer

I saw it, loved it...was truly amazing! Narrated by the coolest man alive, Fab Five Freddy, we get a true sense of the grittiness Basquiat emerges from and the staggering, mind-blowing height he ascends to. Basquiat will forever become part of your heart and mind after viewing this film. His death makes me feel like I've lost a personal friend.
See what the critics have to say:

“Lively and touching… A thoroughly engaging film about an inimitable New York painter.”– John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
“Tamra Davis creates a dazzling sense of the ‘80s New York art scene.”– Caryn James, Newsweek

“Haunting! A moving meditation of a life cut short at 27.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times“Tamra Davis has surpassed the art world’s expectations with THE RADIANT CHILD, the newly definitive Basquiat documentary, which superbly sets out the life and times of Jean-Michel Basquiat with never-seen-before first-hand footage of the artist; source and anecdotal interviews and quotes from almost every player in the 1980’s art scene in New York. Davis has her own masterpiece of which to be proud.” – Elliot V. Kotek, Moving Pictures Magazine

The meteoric rise and fall of Jean-Michel Basquiat, born 1960. In the crime-ridden NYC of the 1970s, he covers the city with the graffiti tag SAMO. In 1981 he puts paint on canvas for the first time, and by 1983 he is an artist with “rock star status.” In 1985 he and Andy Warhol become close friends and painting collaborators, but they part ways and Warhol dies suddenly in 1987. Basquiat’s heroin addiction worsens, and he dies of an overdose in 1988. The artist was 25 years old at the height of his career, and today his canvases sell for more than a million dollars. With compassion and insight, Tamra Davis details the mysteries that surround this charismatic young man, an artist of enormous talent whose fortunes mirrored the rollercoaster quality of the downtown scene he seemed to embody.
Official web site for the film
Upcoming Screenings
STARTING FRIDAY AUGUST 27!
Village East, New York, NY
The Landmark, Los Angeles, CA
Laemmle Playhouse, Pasadena, CA
Music Box, Chicago, IL
The Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City
Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, Atlanta, GA
Laemmle's Town Center 5, Encino, CA (Sat & Sun Morning Shows Only)
Laemmle's Claremont 5, Claremont, CA (Sat & Sun Morning Shows Only)

NOW PLAYING!!
Landmark Nuart, Los Angeles, CA
Angelika Film Center, Dallas, Dallas, TX
Angelika Film Center, Houston, Houston, TX
Frontier Cafe, Cinema and Gallery, Brunswick, ME (8/23 & 8/24)
Cinema Paradiso, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (8/25 & 8/26)
The Showroom, Asbury Park, NJ (August 25, 26, 28-30)
August 27 & 28
Northwest Film Center, Portland, OR
(Special advance screenings)
Opening September 3
Living Room Theaters, Portland, OR
Landmark Theaters-TBD, San Francisco, CA
Landmark Theaters-TBD, Berkeley, CA
Contemporary Art Center, Santa Fe, NM
Cinemas Palme d'Or, Palm Desert, CA
Theatre N, Wilmington, DE
Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
The Little, Rochester, NY

September 9
Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK
Space Gallery, Portland, ME
Opening September 10
Circle Cinema, Tulsa, OK
Landmark Theaters, San Diego, CA
Amherst Cinema, Amherst, MA
Regent Square Cinema, Pittsburgh, PA

Opening September 17
Landmark Theaters, Boston, MA
Landmark Theaters, Philadelphia, PA
Landmark Theaters, Minneapolis, MN
Aperture Cinema, Winston-Salem, NC
Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK (9/17 & 9/18)

Opening September 24
Landmark E Street Cinema, Washington, DC
Lake Worth Playhouse, Lake Worth, FL (9/24 - 9/30)
Mos-Art Theatre, Lake Park, FL (9/24 - 9/30)
Miami Beach Cinematheque, Miami, FL (9/24 - 9/26)
Chesapeake Bay Film Festival (9/24 & 9/26)
Block Cinema, Chicago, IL

September 25 - ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Jane Pickens, Newport, RI
September 30-October 15
Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver, British Columbia
September 30
Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OHV

Movie Review: 'Eat, Pray, Love' (based on my own personal experiences)

I went to see 'Eat, Pray, Love' on Friday. The premise of the story is a woman (I guess in her 30s like me) who just couldn't live the life she had created for herself anymore so she gets a divorce and takes off and spends a year in Rome, India, and Bali.
Just like her (and many other thirty-somethings), I found myself suffocating...f*%&ing suffocating...in the life I made for myself. I did it all pretty much by the book: met a "good man" (no kids, college-educated, solid work history, handsome, disease-free), married him, had his child a few years later, bought a house in the suburbs, put my dreams on the shelf and became fully preoccupied with being the perfect wife to someone totally wrong for me. Totally wrong for me? How could I have missed that minor detail? How could I have based my life and every detail of my existence around him? How could I have made myself so dreadfully unhappy? No one picked that god-awful husband for me. No one picked the job, the house, the level of education I attained, the car I drove, the places I traveled but ME. I made all the decisions that led to my unhappiness, my sheer misery. Who could I blame? He may have been then nutcase causing me to want to vomit daily but he sure wasn't gonna accept any responsibility for 11 years of misery since he never put a gun to my head demanding my hand in matrimony.
And there you are left to begin the self-loathing and the hard decision-making: You either go thru the rest of your life miserable or you grab the basic necessities you need to survive and you RUN! You run away from it all as fast you can until you are totally out of breath, too far away to consider going back, and can finally get your bearings and just breathe fresh air of freedom. You are left alone with yourself to begin the process of self -forgiveness, self examination and then re-selection.
Re-selection is where I am now.

I've learned that even great decisions sometimes become mundane and temporarily dissatisfying but less-than-great decisions about things we have to do daily (work & love primarily) WILL eat you alive. So now I only do (love/work) the things I truly enjoy and pray God provides the security.

In the 2.5 years on my own, so far so good ;)

Julia Roberts, although a little dry, totally delivers a great lesson about how it is our duty to design our own lives as we see fit by being brave enough to be loyal to our our truth.

Enjoy the movie!