chris rock Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When was the last time you were genuinely surprised at your local multiplex? Maybe it was the unexpected qualities of a movie that you'd formed preconceptions about -- which were then pleasantly upended. Or perhaps it was the simple fact that a little-heralded independent picture was actually playing at your local bijou, the one with 18 screens, of which 14 always seem to be filled with predictable Hollywood product.

From Scott Weinberg's Sundance review, I knew that Good Hair, directed by Jeff Stilson, would be educational. From Eugene Novikov's box office report, I knew that it opened at 176 theaters three weeks ago. (It expanded two weeks ago and again on Friday.) But I was still quite surprised that it was playing at my local 18-screen bijou, which had somehow escaped my notice until I was recently binging on a (progressively disappointing) horror triple-feature. With horror DVDs stacked up at home waiting to be watched over the weekend, I decided that a well-regarded documentary might be just the thing to cleanse my palette. So I was in just the right mood to kick back and be surprised.

As expected, co-producer and co-scripter Chris Rock is a wry narrator and on-camera guide. What caught me off guard was how funny the interview subjects are! When I first read Scott's review months ago, I latched on to his opening line: "I now know more about black womens' hair than any middle-class Jewish guy ever has" and unfairly categorized it mentally as 'good for you, not necessary to see in a theater.' While I wish that the theater had been packed, I laughed out loud frequently nonetheless.

By Scott Weinberg. Reprinted from Sundance Film Festival, 2009

I now know more about black womens' hair than any middle-class Jewish guy ever has.

The lessons come connected to a new documentary called Good Hair, which was produced by Chris Rock for HBO Films. And once again, my attendance at a film festival has compelled me to watch a documentary that, otherwise, I'd have little to no interest in -- but I walked out 90 minutes later rather well-informed on a topic that, under normal circumstances, I'd never have a reason to care about.

I'm not a hairdresser, I'm not all that interested in fashion, and I'm certainly not a black woman ... so what would a film like Good Hair have to offer? Well, I think it's always cool to learn a little something about other cultures, and when I heard what Good Hair was actually about, I started thinking ... hey, yeah, this could actually be pretty interesting! It certainly doesn't hurt that Chris Rock is along for the ride, as the comedian is as sharp and amusing as ever, but what the flick taught me is that, well, the way one wears their hair is of particular importance to women ... and there are some issues that are very specific to black women.

A year ago, GQ published a feature article written by Devin Friedman called "Will You Be My Black Friend?" Having realized that he had only two black friends (much less than he had in his youth), Friedman whipped up an ad asking for black friends and threw it up on Craigslist. The article (a long but worthy read) dips into his self-deprecating thoughts on race, his social anxiety with black people, and thoughts on the friendship segregation alive in interpersonal relationships as he sets out to make new black friends. And now it's been picked up by Oprah.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Lionsgate are joining forces to develop Friedman's article into a feature film with Chris Rock starring. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he's one of the people met on the journey, because Rock is definitely not a "white, married Manhattan journalist" on a "quixotic quest" for friendship diversity.

Currently, no writer or director is attached, but that'll surely come in due time. I mean, can the world refuse Oprah? It doesn't seem likely. Now ... how long will it be before marketers decide to start up a "gain a black friend/gain a white friend" website? And would it work?

Pootie Tang, the hallucinatory story of a "musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto" who literally speaks his own language, is like a secret handshake among a certain subset of film nerd. Yes, possibly the stoner kind, but not necessarily – it's just one of those movies where maybe you're out for a drink with someone you don't know that well and you drop a Pootie-ism ("I'm gonna sine your pitty on da runny kine!" or even a simple "Sadatay!") and the other person is like, "You like Pootie Tang? I love Pootie Tang!" And suddenly you've bonded as deeply as if you just found out you were born at the same hospital.

Pootie Tang, which was written and directed by Louis C.K. (whose writing for "The Chris Rock Show" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" earned him several Emmy nominations and who is also in The Invention of Lying), stars Lance Crouther as a sort of Ubermensch. He's a lady-killer whose magnetism makes women literally claw his clothes off. He fights evil with his awesome belt. He can sing, he can act, he hangs out with Missy Elliott, and he goes up against The Man who's trying to bring us all down, specifically by using Pootie's image to endorse products that would harm today's youth.

The movie is full of very funny people like Jennifer Coolidge, Andy Richter, David Cross, and naturally Chris Rock, but my favorite is Wanda Sykes, who plays Biggie Shorty. Biggie Shorty likes to wear outrageous outfits and matching wigs while jamming out to her headphones on the street, and she is madly in love with Pootie.

Yesterday's New York Times featured a rather flattering profile on Screen Gems president Clinton Culpepper and how his Sony studio arm reliably turns a profit on its comedy and thriller titles. Despite Culpepper declining to be interviewed for the piece, it goes noted amidst "past and present associates" that the man has a preference for "the white comedy, done black," a supposed genre brought up with regards to Chris Rock's forthcoming remake of Death at a Funeral with an all African-American cast.

The minority-cast likes of You Got Served, Stomp the Yard and This Christmas have certainly proven profitable for Screen Gems, but do any of you out there refuse to see Funeral or The Big Chill, and yet may fork money over if those films were done with a more superficially familiar ensemble? Or do you personally wish for more out of niche filmmaking meant to appeal to the African-American audience than the wacky antics of Martin Lawrence and Madea?

And with regards to this Friday's Obsessed, is there a double standard with regards to a white woman (Ali Larter) interfering with the happiness of a black couple (Idris Elba and Beyonce Knowles)? If the roles were reversed (and if the alleged working title of Oh No She Didn't were kept instead), would everyone be up in arms about stereotyping and such? On the flip side, would anyone argue that having a white villainess is maybe being too politically correct? Let us know.

Back in January, we all recoiled a little bit at the news that Neil LaBute was remaking Death at a Funeral -- a nice little British movie that only just came out in 2007, making a remake seem even more superfluous than they usually are. The fact that he was making it with Chris Rock made the whole thing seem even more cheesy. (Not that we don't like Rock ... it's just that we like him in original, edgy stuff.)

Well, the remake just got a lot more over the top. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan have joined, along with Loretta Devine, Ron Glass, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Zoe Saldana and Columbus Short. (Who wants to bet money that Marsden is the gay lover? Anyone? Anyone?)

It's keeping the exact same plot of misplaced cadavers, gay blackmail, hallucinogenic drugs, and family secrets, though Rock cowrote the script with Ayesha Carr, so we can expect some changes. It's just not clear yet what they might be ... but at least it probably won't involve bear suits or misogyny. I'm still not convinced this needed to be remade, but I suppose if you're going to do one, it ought to feature Danny Glover. Let's just hope Tyler Perry stays a million miles away from the set.

ETA: Yes, the title originally read Tracy Jordan. I watch way too much 30 Rock.

I was watching Happy Gilmore the other day and I thought to myself, "Where did this guy go?" Adam Sandler comedies aren't for everyone -- they're silly and stupid and one step above an hour and a half of Yo Mama jokes (which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- remember how well it worked out for that scene in White Men Can't Jump ...). These days, however, amidst the Apatow and the Rogen and the Rudd, I'm finding it hard to locate those random Sandler die-hards. I know it's sad to say, but I don't think I've laughed during an Adam Sandler movie since Punch Drunk Love in 2002 ... and that wasn't even an "Adam Sandler movie", but more of a movie that starred Adam Sandler.

Which brings us to today, and an announcement in Variety that Sandler is reteaming with pretty much all the guys who've made crappy films with him in the past: Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade and director Dennis Dugan (Zohan). The film, which will begin shooting this summer, doesn't have a title but is described as a high-concept story about five best friends from high school who reunite 30 years later on Fourth of July weekend. Not sure what's high-concept about that (do they all turn into superheroes?), but we'll see where they take it. With all these guys, it'll either turn out to be the biggest piece of cow dung to ever hit the screen ... or maybe, just maybe, there's some funny to be had.

What do you folks think? Can Adam Sandler make another funny movie? And can he do it with this all-star Sandler cast?

An American remake of Death at a Funeral might be a new low. Consider: this would be a remake of an English-language film, two years after it received a considerable Stateside release. (I mean, I saw it in my local suburban multiplex at the time.) At least Nine Queens (which quickly became Criminal) and Funny Games were in a foreign language and barely saw the light of day here.

At least the remake of the quintessentially British farce may not turn out to be the anodyne Hollywood studio comedy you might otherwise expect. It'll be directed by Neil LaBute, who, with the bizarre exception of the Gwyneth Paltrow snoozer Possession, at least consistently makes interesting films. (And yes, I'll defend his Wicker Man redo if called upon.) On the other hand, I have no idea what to make of the fact that the remake is going to star Chris Rock. I can't really think of a more jarring replacement for the amiably goofy Matthew MacFadyen.

LaBute seems to have gotten back into at least some critics' good graces with last year's Lakeview Terrace, which (not for the first time) wrapped the writer-director's trademark edginess in a genre film cloak. It seems a shame to stuff a whopping hunk of subtext into something as droll as Death at a Funeral but it probably won't be boring. On the other hand, the remake will be written by Rock, not LaBute, and if Rock's previous screenplays are any indication, maybe it will be boring.

Variety reports that LaBute has also signed on to direct a rom-com called Here Comes the Sun, but we don't have any details about that one.

If you've seen Death at a Funeral, I'm sure you were thinking: Forget Ewen Bremner, Alan Tudyk, and the rest of them! I want an urbanized remake of Chris Rock! If you did, you should be overjoyed to learn that The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Rock is producing, starring, and co-writing (with Aeysha Carr) an "urban reworking" of the comedy. It's supposed to be "a hysterical, completely new reimagining" of the original, but while words like "hysterical" and "urban" are perfectly good for a film, I'm getting Guess Who twitches. But man, I'd love to be wrong.

Meanwhile, after taking an almost decade-long hiatus from the big screen, Variety reports that Lauren Hutton has signed on for David Duchovny's The Joneses, along with Glenne Headly and Gary Cole. The movie is just like you'd assume it to be -- what life is really like for "The Joneses" -- that infamous family we all have to keep up with. They look all perfect with their trend-setting, but behind the surface ... hopefully the skeletons aren't of the sexual dysfunction theme.

And Kali Hawk, who last appeared in Lovers & Haters, has picked up a spot on the Couples Retreat.

And Brianne Davis, fresh off of Prom Night, has nabbed a lead in an indie called American Virgin, alongside Rob Schneider and Jenna Dewan.

I didn't think much of Madagascar, which had an unfocused story, no internal logic, and only a few laughs, scattered mostly among the minor characters. It relied too much on pop-culture references, too, a common problem these days in animation. So I'm glad to report that the sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, is an improvement. The story has a clear protagonist (instead of the lion and zebra battling for screen time), it's a bit more straightforward, and the movie references are all but gone. It's still primarily the supporting cast that's funny, not the leads -- but hey, if Dreamworks were capable of doing everything right it would have to change its name to Pixar.

The sequel, again directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, finds our heroes having repaired a dilapidated airplane and now preparing to fly themselves back to New York. But instead, they crash-land not far from the island of Madagascar: on the continent of Africa, in fact, and in the very animal preserve where Alex the lion (voice of Ben Stiller) was born. He is joyfully reunited with his parents (Bernie Mac and Sherri Shepherd), and his friends are thrilled with their ancestral homeland, too. Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) is able to run with a herd for the first time, Melman (David Schwimmer) finds his hypochondria to be a hit with his fellow giraffes, and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) loves that with hippos, fat equals attractive.