RussellSimmons Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Unauthorized Run DMC Biopic Hires a 'Notorious' Screenwriter
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Deals », Scripts »
Picture this: the year is 1985; a little girl is in her pajamas and seated in front of the TV entranced by the awesomeness that is Krush Groove. I've listened to a lot of music over the years, but I always came back to hip-hop. Come to think of it, I've listened to it, read about it -- heck, I've even watched every junky documentary that came my way. Not to mention that, to this day, when I hear It's Tricky, I make sure the volume is maxed out. So you would think that a Run DMC biopic would be good news, right? I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed, and here's why: The Hollywood Reporter announced that Notorious screenwriter, Cheo Hodari Coker, has signed to adapt Bill Adler's (the group's former publicist), Tougher Than Leather: The Rise of Run-DMC -- The Authorized Biography. So what has me so worried? Well, if Coker managed to gloss over one of the biggest mysteries in pop music history, just what exactly does he have planned for Run DMC? But that's not all: an even bigger problem is that the film has yet to receive an 'all clear' from any of its subjects (Run, DMC or Russell Simmons). But of course that might have a lot to do with a competing biopic that Simmons and Reverend Run were shopping around last year.
Whose Biopic? Run's Biopic!
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », RumorMonger »
Until they make Krush Groove: Redux, I guess this will have to do. The Hollywood Reported announced that Def Jam creator and Hip-Hop legend Russell Simmons is shopping around the life story of the Reverend Run (of Run-DMC fame) for the big-screen. Simmons was speaking at a New York conference on money and media when the subject of a feature film about the life of Reverend Run (born Joseph Ward Simmons) first came up.For those of you out there who aren't that familiar with the awesomeness that is Run-DMC now is your chance to find out. Not only were they the pioneers of mainstream rap and hip-hop, they were the first group (for better or for worse) to cross over to the pop charts with their collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of Walk this Way. Plus no-one could wear a fedora and Adidas like Run-DMC. After the murder of founding member Jam Master Jay in 2002, the group parted ways and Run was quoted as saying, "No one will want to see Run-DMC without Jam Master Jay. Run-DMC is officially retired." Over the years the surviving members have recorded solo albums and with each other and Run has recently had success with his Osborne-style reality show on MTV, Run's House.
It's a shame that in the flood of musician biopics over the last few years that hip-hop artists have been virtually ignored -- I mean, how long has it taken to get a Notorious B.I.G film into production? Since Simmons is still on the hunt for funding and a studio to produce the picture, it could take awhile before the production gets rolling. But ever the self-promoter, Simmons doesn't seem too worried about the bottom line, telling those in attendance at the conference, "It's gonna make a lot of money". If anyone knows how to make money, it's Simmons. So what other music legends do you think have been overlooked on the big screen?
New Documentary Focuses on African-American Comedians
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Independent »
As quite possibly the whitest man alive, I feel compelled to tell you about a new documentary called Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy. The film will be produced and directed by stand-up comic Darryl Littleton and Robert Townsend (director of the brilliant satire on the black experience in Hollywood -- Hollywood Shuffle). The film is inspired by Littleton's book Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh, which you can pick up at Amazon here. The film will contain "archival clips, reenactments depicting the evolution of black comedy, and interviews with comedians and social critics." Sounds like it could be both informative and very, very funny.
Variety reports that the filmmakers have already done interviews with comedians like D.L. Hughley (co-star of the thankfully canceled Studio 60), the Wayans brothers (stars of films like White Chicks and Little Man -- neither of which I'd imagine will be discussed in the documentary), Paul Mooney (comedy legend who did those hilarious "Ask A Black Dude" and "Negrodamus" bits on Chappelle's Show), Tommy Davidson (of In Living Color and the shamefully underrated Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls), character actor Reynaldo Ray, Marla Gibbs (from The Jeffersons and 227), Eddie Griffin (star of the very funny Undercover Brother), and stand-up comedian Katt Williams. Representing the social and political commentary side, there will be discussions with Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Russell Simmons, and Stanley Crouch. I sure hope they can swing an interview with the great Spike Lee, I could listen to that guy discuss anything all day, and he seems an ideal speaker for the project. There are no release details yet for the film.
Tribeca Review: Word.Life (AKA The Hip Hop Project)
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Music & Musicals », Tribeca », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
Give a man an outlet for expression and you feed his inspiration for a day. Teach a man to express himself and you feed his inspiration for a lifetime.
In the powerful and, if we're lucky, influential documentary Word.Life, a young man named Chris Rolle, aka Kazi, mentors a group of teens in a program called The Hip Hop Project (HHP), a division of New York organization Art Start. Initially attracted by the promise of recording an album they think will be immediately produced, the young hip hop hopefuls end up in the program four years, during which time they learn to develop their lyrics through personal experience and identification. A girl named Princess writes about the abortion she had when she was younger. Cannon, who watches his mother die of multiple sclerosis during the making of the film, turns his heartache into song.
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Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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