Intro-Man of the Moment- Elba

Welcome to "IT'S ALL REEL", a film blog by Wilson Morales, Editor of blackfilm.com. For those who are familiar with my name, I have watched an enormous amount of films in the last 15 years. Now, that might not qualify me as an expert, but it does mean I'm an avid film lover and educated enough to make a fair assessment with my vast knowledge of the industry. As you begin reading this blog regularly, you will receive or be privy to a healthy dose of what's happening in the film community especially those things that rarely get reported and should be brought to public attention or your attention.Whether it's a review, comment, or analysis, I welcome you to share your thoughts live and direct and use this online forum as your sounding board to freely discuss topics that are not only relevant to the film world and the African American community.

That being said, let's talk about the man of the moment, IDRIS ELBA. When a television series ends, there's usually one actor from the show that breaks out in Hollywood and grabs an audience. It's worked for Michael J. Fox (Family Ties), George Clooney (ER), Jennifer Aniston (Friends), countless others and now it's Elba's turn. From moment he left his role as Stringer Bell in the captivating HBO series, The Wire, stardom was waiting in the wings.

It didn't take long before HBO cast Elba in its own movie, "Sometimes in April". He was nominated for an Image award for his performances on both the show and telefilm. Elba then starred along with Boris Kodjoe in the underrated musical film, The Gospel. Despite mixed reviews, Elba's performance was one of the highlights of the film. 2007 may be his year to shine as Elba will be seen in 5 high profiled films. He's still gracing the theaters as Tyler Perry's lead in "Daddy's Little Girls" opposite Gabriele Union. The film has grossed over $30 million so far. Coming up for Elba is a strong supporting role opposite Oscar Winner Hilary Swank in the horror film, The Reaping, where he plays Swank's colleague who travels to Louisiana to investigate a series of bizarre occurrences the townspeople believe to be sent by God. If one horror film wasn't enough, Elba will be then featured along with Harold Perrineau from TV's Lost in "28 Weeks Later", the sequel to the blockbuster "28 Days Later". When the summer is over, Elba will join Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, rap artist T.I. and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Ridley Scott's "American Gangster", where he will once again play a drug kingpin.

To finish the year, Elba will co-star in "The Christmas", which has an all-star lineup of Nia Long, Stomp The Yard's Columbus Short, Mekhi Phifer, Chris Brown, ATL's Lauren London, Delroy Lindo, Dreamgirls' Sharon Leal, Regina King and many more. It's been reported that Elba has signed on to be in the remake of the slasher film, "Prom Night".

While Elba has a long way to go to catch up to the number of films Sam Jackson has done, so far he's deserves to be called the hardest working man this year!

Idris Elba and the cast talk about 'Daddy's Little Girl.'