IceCube Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Whatever you may think of Vin Diesel as an actor, you have to admire his dedication to his franchises. I mean, who else but Diesel would hang in for another round of extreme adventure sports and espionage? About a year ago we got the news that Diesel was reuniting with Rob Cohen for another installment of the xXx franchise, but according to The Hollywood Reporter there has been a small personnel change, and now Ericson Core (Invincible) will be stepping in to direct since Cohen is off to work on his period actioner Medieval.

Diesel likes to be in control of his franchises and xXx was no exception. Apparently, the muscly actor had to give Core his blessing before the DP/ Director could get to work, although I'm sure their previous working relationship on Fast and Furious probably helped. According to reports, the film will be called xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, and focus on Cage's return to the 'agency' after an eight-year absence. Now, if you remember, Cage was reported as dead in the second film, but Richard Wilkes (who wrote the original movie) will have to think of something, I guess.

Now I'll admit that I've seen both xXx films (I even went to the theater for the first one) and other than a marginally clever joke about the 'death of Bond' and some truly craptastic dialog, I don't remember much about it (and when it comes to Ice Cube's installment in the franchise, I think I'd probably be better off if I didn't remember that one, too). So I guess on the upside we can take solace in the fact the latest installment couldn't be worse than last time, or can it?

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage begins shooting early next year.

Last year I saw Gracie, a movie about a teenage girl who wants to play high-school soccer in the late 1970s, when the game was considered a males-only sport in America, and faces a lot of opposition from her school. I finished my review with the line, "If it were football, would we be agreeing more with Gracie's opponents?" The Longshots gives us the opportunity to consider that question. Can we sympathize with, and cheer on, a girl who wants to succeed as a quarterback in an all-boys' football league? The answer is yes, because The Longshots focuses on characters and personal relationships and as a result, feels richer and more satisfying than the standard sports-genre film.

The story is simple and except for the girl-quarterback angle, old-fashioned in a Capra-esque way. Jasmine (Keke Palmer) is a middle-school loner and misfit in a small town hit by economic troubles. Her mom Claire (Tasha Smith) has to work longer hours at the diner -- dad ditched town and family several years ago -- and Jasmine is still too young to be left alone after school. So Claire pleads, nags and finally bribes her husband's brother Curtis (Ice Cube), an unemployed ex-football player, to keep an eye on his niece Jasmine. Of course they can't stand each other at first, but eventually Curtis discovers that Jasmine has an excellent throwing arm and teaches her how to be a quarterback. Meanwhile, the town's playground football team is languishing, and one thing they're missing is a decent quarterback, sooo ...

So today is the day I officially feel old. Variety reports that Ice Cube has made a deal with Dimension Films for his comedy script Janky Promoters; a title that had me running to Urban Dictionary to figure out what the heck 'Janky' meant. But mid-life crisis aside, back to the real news: Cube will be producing the film along with Dimension and his partner Matt Alvarez, and will also star.

The story centers on two hip-hop promoters who are given the chance to put together an all-star show in California. When the two discover that they are in way over their heads, wackiness ensues. Bob Weinstein tells Variety, "This feels a lot like Uptown Saturday Night to me, a caper film where you have these music promoters who are slightly shady but are good enough guys that you root for them, this is going to be R-rated, and it appeals right to the core of Cube's audience." Thankfully, Cube is getting out of the kiddie flick business (at least for now) and Promoters is his first script since the Friday series finished back in 2002.

Do you remember the news that Fred Durst was working on his second directorial gig, a sports drama called Comeback? Well, for some reason, the film is now untitled (why change it to untitled when you at least have a working title!?), and it's got a cast to boot. But first, to refresh your memory: Ice Cube signed on to star in and produce the film, which is about a young, female quarterback named Jasmine Plummer who became the first girl to play in the Pop Warner football tournament. Cube had picked the role of Plummer's uncle and mentor.

Now Reuters reports that Keke Palmer has signed on to star as Jasmine. You might remember her from Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, or more likely, as the spelling fiend in Akeelah and the Bee. She's going to be joined by Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married?), Jill Marie Jones (Girlfriends), Matt Craven (Disturbia), and Garret Morris (The Jamie Foxx Show). Oh yeah, and Dash Mihok, who I left separate because, well, I have a soft spot for Benvolio, and I wanted to give him his own sentence.

Anyhow... There you have it. Comeback is still on its way, just as a different yet-to-be-released/decided name. In the meantime, I'm still waiting to see Durst's first -- The Education of Charlie Banks.

News of a Welcome Back, Kotter remake first made waves back in March of 2006. Tom Grady was tapped to write and direct, and Ice Cube was cast to take over the role that Gabe Kaplan made famous -- Mr. Kotter, the man who went back to his high school alma mater to teach some challenging remedial students. Kotter also happened to be the show that helped make John Travolta (Vinnie Barbarino) famous -- before Saturday Night Fever or Grease came around. Although it has been a few years since the project started to cook up, Ice Cube recently talked with MTV about the pic, and what is planned for this new version... that is, if the strike wraps up and this feature gets out of development hell.

This remake will go urban, and Cube says: "We've got the same characters, they're just re-vamped to suit the times, totally different. It's like, flipped. With me playing Kotter, how couldn't it be?" This also means none of Kaplan's schtick: "No, I won't be going that far. You know me, I'm gonna flip it. It ain't gonna be no Gabe Kaplan sh-t." What will be the same? Who knows. He also says there's no Barbarino dance, or Epstein's phony letters. "The names are the same" seems to be Cube's mantra for this picture.

Considering the fact that he says it's "more of a Fast Times at Ridgemont High, not so much 'Up your nose with a rubber hose,'" I have to ask: what's the point? WHY keep the names if you're taking all of the things that make each character who they are and change them. I'm sorry, but people don't go see remakes just for the same names. I can't help but wonder why they couldn't use new names, maybe consider it a spin-off, or just giving a "based on" credit. Trying to bank on the fandom of a show doesn't work if you start off by saying that the only thing that remains the same is the basic premise and a handful of names.

See the expression on Ice Cube's face in this photograph? I wore that same expression for the entire running time of First Sunday. The transition of the holiday movie season into the barren movie wasteland of January is always a jarring one. For the past three months, it seems like I've seen nothing but Oscar-caliber movies -- masterful films by outstanding filmmakers working from amazing scripts. So maybe First Sunday just pales in comparison...

But I don't think so.

No, this is not yet another sequel to that terrific Ice Cube comedy Friday, as many have suspected. Sunday tells the story of "new" characters Durell (Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan). As the movie opens, the boys are picked up by the cops for their involvement with some stolen wheelchairs. They are sentenced to 5,000 hours of community service, the owner of the wheelchairs comes to collect, and Durell finds himself broke. Things get even more desperate when Durell's ex-girlfriend (Regina Hall) tells him she intends to move to another state with his son...unless he can come up with $17,000 to pay off a debt. So Durell and LeeJohn do what anyone in their shoes would do -- they decide to rob a church. And of course, after a night amongst good Christian folk, they learn that crime is bad and God is good and blah blah blah.

This week on The Write Stuff, Cinematical speaks with David E. Talbert, writer and director of the new comedy/drama First Sunday. The film stars Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan as friends in a desperate situation who decide to rob a local church. At the church, they find a lot more resistance than they bargained for, in the form of Loretta Devine, Chi McBride, and Katt Williams.

Cinematical: Are you excited about the movie coming out?

David E. Talbert: Oh man, I'm wearing my wife out! We've been riding around looking at these billboards. Every time somebody tells me there's one that's popped up, I gotta go and find it.

Cinematical: You got your start as a playwright, and you've been doing that successfully for 15 years. Did you always want to be a writer?

DET: No, I was a radio announcer when I was in college and after. Somewhere in there, I had a breakup with my college sweetheart and I started writing "Somebody done somebody wrong" poems. And I was writing and crying and listening to Al Green every night. Then one night my Al Green record scratched, and when it scratched, I started reading those poems and I said "Wow, these aren't that bad." From there I wrote a long-form play and I put it away until about five years later when I saw the play Beauty Shop. I saw how much audiences were going crazy over it, and that's when I got bit.

Sort of like Boyz N The Hood played for laughs, Friday was one of the few drug comedies that really made me laugh. It had a warm, laid-back feel to it, some laugh-out-loud lines, and a hilarious supporting cast. It starred Ice Cube when he still had some fire in his eyes, and is notable for being one of the only times Chris Tucker was anything but grating onscreen (Jackie Brown would be another - love him in that movie). Tucker was so funny in Friday, and his chemistry with Cube so perfect, that it was a little surprising to learn he wouldn't be back for the sequel. According to IMDb, the motormouthed comedian became a born-again Christian after his role in Money Talks (that movie would have made me take a hard look at my life and career, too), and chose to do the more family-friendly Rush Hour series instead.

Now it seems he may be changing his tune, and might be open to returning to the role that made him famous. Over at AICN, there's a link to an interview with Ice Cube where Iceman discusses the possibility of Tucker's return for a fourth Friday film. Cube understands that the only way to make the series vibrant again would be the return of Tucker as Smokey, and is determined to get New Line to cough up Tucker's outrageous price tag. I thought Next Friday was pretty weak, and I didn't see Friday After Next because the titles were just getting too ridiculous. I might check out a fourth with Tucker, but I pity the fool who has to try to come up with a name for that one. Friday After Friday After Next? Three Fridays From Now? I Still Know What You Did Next Friday?

For those who still aren't convinced, Ice Cube wants you to know he's officially made the transition from hard-edged, marijuana-smoking rapper-actor to sweet, family-friendly urban comedian. With Are We Done Yet? (a sequel to the popular Are We There Yet?) hitting theaters this spring, Cube has signed on to star in yet another "urban-themed comedy," First Sunday. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, First Sunday is definitely not a sequel to Friday, Next Friday or Friday After Next. What's up -- how come Saturday never gets any love?)

Playwright David E. Talbert will make his directorial debut on the film, which revolves around two men who attempt to rob a church, but wind up being "saved" by the parishioners they take hostage. Pic will begin filming this May, with plans to hit theaters over next year's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Though he's also involved with an untitled comedy pitch over at New Line, as well as a big-screen version of Welcome Back, Kotter with The Weinstein Co., First Sunday will be Cube's next film. As far as Talbert goes, he's been writing urban, "gospel-tinged" plays for the past 15 years, and should transition into this new role fairly smoothly. That's nice, but remember when Ice Cube was cool?

After sucking down joint after joint in three Friday installments and replacing Vin Diesel as an ass-kicking super agent in XXX: State of the Union, Ice Cube has packed up his tough guy persona in order to settle down for some family fare. Having already starred in the light-hearted flick Are We There Yet (for which he's now shooting a sequel called Are We Done Yet), Variety reports Cube may take on yet another parenting role.

New Line has picked up an untitled comedy pitch off a concept brought to life by Richard Murphy and Blumhouse exec Tracy Underwood, with Murphy set to pen the script. Story revolves around a "social climber whose aspirations are threatened by a youth who shows up and calls him daddy." Blumhouse and Cube Vision will produce, while the Ice Man is circling the starring role. If this film fails, look for Cube to reprise his lovable marijuana-smoking character in Oh God, Please Tell Me It's Not Another Boring Friday.