QueenLatifah Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Pixar and everything else - them's the breaks when it comes to judging computer-animated fare these days. Although Pixar has rightfully earned themselves the lead among studios, and by a significant margin, it's all too easy to then marginalize the performance of others.

DreamWorks has certainly raised their game beyond pure pop-culture recitation with the inventive and entertaining likes of Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens (and Aardman or no, I'd even include the winning Flushed Away among their finer efforts). For every Open Season, Sony has given us a Monster House (okay, so that's just one-for-one at the moment). And every time that Fox bequeaths to unwilling audiences something like Space Chimps or Everyone's Hero, Blue Sky has nothing to do with it.

Fox/Blue Sky, however, is the precise pairing that gives us the visually engaging and moderately amusing outings like Robots, Horton Hears a Who!, and the Ice Age films, with the latest of which -- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs -- falling right in line with that modest-yet-reliable tradition.

Yesterday there was a rumor that a new video was premiering on Funny or Die called Zac Efron's Pool Party, and that it starred the most random cast ever assembled. Well, it was real, it's now online (watch it below), and it stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Thomas Lennon, Queen Latifah, Nicole Ritchie, Carmen Electra, Justin Long, Brody Jenner, Lance Bass, Brittany Snow, Jessica Stroup, Chelsea Staub, Jessica Rose, Nicole Sullivan, Joel Madden ... and the list goes on. Granted, I'm not very familiar with some of these kids because I'm, well, sorta lame and out of touch with the hottie youth circles -- but when you bring a group like this together, I'd assume you're guaranteed to take away a few decent laughs, right?

Well ... I'll admit this ain't the funniest piece of viral action I've ever seen from Funny or Die, but it's cute and it has its moments (Justin Long's underwater antics cracked me up, and both Lennon and Sullivan steal every scene), and I'd watch it if you've got a few minutes to spare. Basically, the set up is that Zac Efron is hosting a pool party for this friends when his nasty, trailer-park uncle (Lennon) shows up with his equally-as-trashy girlfriend (Sullivan). Hilarity ensues. Check it out below and let us know what you think.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for The Secret Life of Bees (click above image to enlarge), based on Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling coming-of-age novel. And talk about an all-star cast of top-notch female talent, Bees stars Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Sophee Okonedo. The film, which is set in South Carolina in 1964, follows two friends (Fanning and Latifah) who run away from home in order to solve the mystery surrounding one of their mothers. Eventually, the three Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo) take the two girls in and teach them how to care for and raise bees. The book itself has a ton of fans, and I expect the film -- especially with this cast -- to win over a slew of new ones as well.

The Secret Life of Bees buzzes into theaters on October 17.

With Wanted opening this week, starring rapper Common opposite Angelina Jolie (and, I'm happy to see, getting some awesome reviews, making it one of the few movies I may pay to see just for the heck of it), we thought it would be a good time to revisit seven other rappers who've attempted the treacherous transition from rap artist to movie star.

What makes film producers look to rap stars when casting for the big screen? Well, aside from the built-in audience that comes from casting a popular rap performer in a movie role, rappers have to have stage presence to perform, and that charisma and personality can come across well on a movie theater screen. Here are seven of them; let me know which of your favorite rappers I missed. (And before any of you Outkast fans get all worked up: they are hip-hop, not rap, and this post was for the rappers; Outkast is one of my absolute favorite bands, though, and Andre Benjamin in particular, I consider enormously talented. I'll do a whole column on Outkast and what they're up to movie-wise in the near future, promise.)

1. Will Smith -- Smith charmed TV audiences as a teenager in his popular TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before hitting it big on the silver screen with the triple-whammy of Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), and Men in Black (1997). Since then, more hits have followed, and Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, have become Hollywood royalty; Smith's solid marriage and commitment to his family have earned him a reputation as one of Hollywood's genuine "nice guys," to boot. Smith is one rapper who successfully made the transition from singer to big-name actor, largely due to his charm, charisma and natural talent on the screen. His latest film, Hancock, opens July 2.

I have this theory that on the set of 1991's Father of the Bride, Steve Martin and Diane Keaton turned to each other and said, "You know what? From here on out, let's just keep doing this. Let's just play cute, cuddly versions of our formerly edgy and interesting selves -- slightly goofy mothers and fathers, that kind of thing -- and watch the cash roll in!" Then they high-fived and fell into an awkward, melancholy silence.

Through one unchallenging project after another, Keaton has served up the same old eye rolls, squeals, and stutters until you can't really tell one role from another. And what's really frustrating about watching her squander her talents is that -- as with Martin -- no matter how embarrassing the performance, you can't help but love her anyway. She's at her most unhinged in Mad Money, and painful as it is to watch at times, she does -- just barely -- manage to keep the film afloat.

Back before she became Mrs. Tom Cruise, and way before she became mom to the Most Photographed Baby in the World, Katie Holmes used to, you know, act and stuff. And while we haven't seen her on-screen (large or small) since Thank You for Smoking, little Joey Potter's back, starring in the upcoming comedy Mad Money with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah.

Keaton's the nominal lead as a middle-class housewife who, when her husband (Ted Danson) gets laid off, is forced to take a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank. And what do you do when you're working as a janitor at the Federal Reserve? Why, try to rob it, of course! Latifah and Holmes play her fellow employees and partners in crime -- and if you think it sounds like Thelma and Louise meets, uh, Quick Change, that's no surprise; it's directed by Callie Khouri, who won an Oscar for her very first screenplay: Thelma and Louise.

The movie opens on January 18, but on January 12, Holmes, Keaton and Latifah will be gracing the Moviefone studios for a mad, mad, Mad Money Unscripted interview -- and they'll need your questions to do it. So hit us (them) up with whatever you want to ask them ... though I can tell you right now, any questions containing a word that starts with "S" and ends in "ology" ain't gonna be making the cut. That's right, no sociology questions, you hear?

To submit a question for Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah or Diane Keaton, leave it here in the comments and please provide your first name and your city and state. If you're looking for inspiration, then take a look at some of our past Unscripted interviews here. Good luck.

Super-not-so-shocking news today: Dakota Fanning is about to sign on to play another kid with a dark life. Variety reports that she is in negotiations, along with Alicia Keys, for the upcoming drama The Secret Life of Bees -- which has already nabbed the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, and Sophie Okonedo. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who wrote and directed Love & Basketball, adapted Sue Monk Kidd's bestselling novel, and will direct it when shooting begins in January in North Carolina. (I guess the South Carolinian book locale was too pricey to shoot in.)

Set in the 1964 south, the year the Civil Rights Act came to be, the film will focus on Lily (Fanning), a 14-year-old girl who lives with her abusive father and memories of her dead mother. It seems that her mom died when a 4-year-old Lily accidentally shot her during a fight with her husband. Meanwhile, her nanny Rosaleen (Hudson) gets into some trouble with some white men while going to register to vote and has to flee the Georgia town. Lily joins her and the pair run off to South Carolina, which somehow holds secrets about her mom's past. They are then taken in by the "eccentric" Calendar sisters (Latifah, Okonedo, and Keys), who make Black Madonna Honey. So, that's where the bees come in. If this slice of drama sounds interesting, the project has a quick turnaround -- Fox Searchlight plans to release it in 2008.

The new website for the heist comedy Mad Money has gone live with its first full-length trailer. It is pretty much what you would expect from a harmless little comedy, so if you are looking for a hard-edged crime flick, you are definitely in the wrong place. Along with the trailer, the website has the usual photo galleries and downloads (you can check out Cinematical's exclusive gallery here). There is even the chance to win a little of your own 'mad money' in a sweepstakes. Directed by Callie Khouri, the film stars Katie (or Kate; I can never keep it straight) Holmes, Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton, and Ted Danson. The story centers on three employees of the Federal Reserve who pull together for a plot to steal the money that is going to be taken out of circulation.

Khouri is probably best known as the writer for another famous female 'buddy film'; Thelma and Louise. Money is a pretty light-hearted flick so I doubt we'll be seeing Keaton, Holmes, and Latifah going over a cliff in a protest of patriarchal control. Mad Money will be Holmes' first big-screen role since Batman Begins and Thank You for Smoking back in 2005. As we all know, Holmes wasn't invited back for The Dark Knight and there were even a few thinly veiled shots directed towards her in the press over the whole matter. Since all that Wonder Woman talk never panned out either, for the sake of her career I only hope that comedy vets like Keaton and Danson can help keep Mad Money afloat at the box-office. Maybe then, Holmes will get credit for being something other than Mrs Tom Cruise. Mad Money hits theaters on January 18th.

Did you know that Queen Latifah, who is remaking All of Me, wants Steve Martin to reprise his role from the original 1984 comedy? It's news to me and possibly news to Martin who apparently hasn't been given many details about what Latifah and director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) want to do with the film.

All of Me originally starred Martin and Lily Tomlin -- an outrageously funny duo -- and was about two souls that merge into one body. Tomlin plays a wealthy woman who wants her life to continue on earth via the body of another woman. She calls upon Martin's lawyer services to rearrange her will and a soul transference ceremony. As Martin exits her sky rise apartment before the services begin, an act of human clumsiness sends the bowl that Tomlin's soul was resting in flying out the window and onto Martin's head. Thus the ceremony is botched and Tomlin is now present in Martin's body. The film becomes a physical comedy as the personalities fight to cohabitate.

The premise of the remake will essentially stay the same. Latifah stated to MTV that a number of story options were being presented to Shankman and herself but not much has been determined. As for Martin returning to the role he originated over 20 years ago? Stage actors reprise their roles often without too much guffawing and Martin has aged so graciously that physically, he would have no problem re-inhabiting the role. Whether he should do the project or not is best left to be determined by the script. I have to admit that I have instant trepidation about this one. It could be wonderfully brilliant but another part of me would rather let sleeping dogs lie.