jada pinkett smith Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Cinematical has received some pretty cool behind the scenes images for the upcoming Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which is a sequel to the highly popular Madagascar, and stars (in voice form) folks like Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen and more. This time around, our animal friends (and resident zoo-raised New Yorkers) find themselves lost in the vast plains of Africa where they'll encounter more members of their own species for the very first time. But will the open landscapes and freedom dissuade them from trying to return home to the Central Park Zoo?

We have three different galleries for you below, with each taking one particular still image and showing how it goes from nothing to a whole lotta something. Each has captions for you to follow along in the process -- and when you're done, let us know what you think. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa hits theaters on November 7.

The gimmick of The Women is that no men appear anywhere in it -- not as background extras, not as voices on the phone, nowhere. It's all women, all the time. Which might sound empowering and feminist, except that the women are all shallow, vain, and petty, and their primary topic of conversation is, you guessed it, men. (Also: shoes, manicures, shopping, facelifts, etc.) If this were any other film, I suspect women would be complaining about Hollywood's sexism and misogyny. But hey, we men had nothing to do with this one. This one is all you.

Written and directed by Murphy Brown creator Diane English as an update of the 1939 George Cukor comedy (itself based on a Clare Boothe Luce play), the film establishes its tone in its first scene, with two women walking their dogs in New York City. The dogs fight, and the women, their faces invisible to us, respond cattily to one another. One remarks that the other's shoes are "last season," then confides to her dog that the other woman is "a word not usually heard outside a kennel." I think that's supposed to be a joke, but if the word she's referring to is "bitch," then I've got news for her about how its usage has spread.

And that's the movie: women harping on and mistreating one another, and cracking jokes that aren't funny.

Cinematical has received this exclusive poster for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (click to enlarge), a follow-up to the very successful Madagascar. The film, which stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith, follows our animal friends as they hatch a plan to get back to New York; more specifically, Central Park. However, when they attempt to fly themselves out, the crew accidentally crash land in the wildest place of all -- the vast plains of Africa itself. While there, they'll get a better feel for their roots, as well as the difference between life in the concrete jungle and life on the world's second largest continent. But with danger right around the corner, will this family reunion be cut short a little too soon? And will our heroes ever return home?

Find out for yourself when Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa arrives in conventional theaters and IMAX on November 7.

What's better for a Thursday than super-exciting money news?!?! Enjoy:

• Cassandra's weak box office Dream hasn't tarnished Woody Allen's relationship with the Weinstein Company. According to Variety, they have decided to distribute his next film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. TWC has got the North American rights, and will release the film later this year (right now, it is still in post). Allen's latest film stars Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall as American girls who visit Spain "and become amorously entangled with a couple" -- Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. The likes of Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell weren't enough to bring the audiences in last time around, but can this cast do the trick?
• On the more indie side of things, Variety reports that Jada Pinkett Smith's directorial debut, The Human Contract, will be sold internationally by Lightning Entertainment, who will debut footage at Berlinale. The film stars Jason Clarke and Paz Vega as a "repressed advertising exec and a recklass woman" who are in a relationship. Very complicated, eh? Jada also pops up in the film, as does good ol' Ted Danson.
• Finally, we're back to the Weinsteins. Just in case Woody flops again, they've also picked up Dario Argento's upcoming horror flick Giallo. (Posted on pay-site Screen Daily, found on Ace Showbiz.) Once Dario is done filming Vincent Gallo as a creepy serial killer, the Weinstein Company will distribute the movie in the U.S. and Latin America.

Will Smith isn't the only one who got his start on famous '90s sitcoms. While he was hanging out in Bel Air, his future wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was in A Different World. After Lisa Bonet hit the road and the show stewed for a bit, Jada signed on to play Lena James. She was lucky enough to crush on Dwayne Wayne for a bit, and spent her sophomore year living with Gina and Charmaine, who made her way to Hillman after hanging with Pam on The Cosby Show. Man, this brings back memories!

In the clip above, Lena gets grabbed and kissed by one of her old flings, who just happens to be Tupac Shakur. All tough in his Christmas elf get-up (which gets mentioned in the clip), he gives Lena's boyfriend a hard time, teasing him for his "Richie Cunningham" looks. She, meanwhile, makes me grateful that we've come to a time where fashion is at least a little less spastic. Jada's wearing a cone-headed sort of hairdo, white tank top, and black suspenders. Okay, the outfit isn't too bad, but that hair is just terrible.

And to think this tough-looking gal and a wacky Fresh Prince would become Hollywood's supercouple!

That strike might have stalled all sorts of writing work, but the casting news just keeps coming, courtesy of Variety:

• Erik Davis has brought you lots of Righteous Kill news over the last few days, and it seems that another name has been thrown into the Al Pacino/Robert De Niro mix -- actress Saidah Arrika Ekulona. Variety doesn't state what her role is, but considering that fact that most of her roles have been as a nurse on films and shows like The Royal Tennenbaums and Sex and the City, or as a cop on shows like Law & Order, I think it's safe to say that it'll probably be one or the other.
• He's been an abusive husband, had stints in both the FBI and CIA, and even played a TV producer in Britney, Baby, One More Time, about a guy who uses a gay, crossdressing Britney impersonator and pretends he's the real thing. Now Karl Makinen has gotten himself a role in Jada Pinkett Smith's upcoming film, The Human Contract. Pinkett Smith is not only directing from her own script, but will star, and Makinen is playing her husband. Hmm -- I wonder why husband Will isn't involved?
• Finally, we've got some movie work for Cold Case star Danny Pino (who plays Scotty Valens on the series). He's nabbed himself a starring role opposite Charlize Theron in the Guillermo Arriaga film, The Burning Plain. Theron plays a woman named Sylvia who has to make peace with her estranged parents, but there's no word of a man in her story. I would say he's got to be more than just a side-story love interest, as Pino has got third-billing so far on IMDb. Or maybe, just maybe, he gets to get it on with Kim Basinger, who plays Gina -- Sylvia's mom who had a secret lover named Nick in her past. This could be a nice break for the guy since, well, his last film was Flicka.

The women have been really hard to come by -- at least when The Women in question is a remake of the 1939 classic. (What is it with the year 1939 lately?) MGM was first focused on the project, but no real headway was made and the title was sold to Ted Turner as part of MGM's library. He, in turn, bought New Line and made the film a starring vehicle for Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan, with James L. Brooks signed on to direct (1994). It was at this point that Diane English was brought on to the production, a writer known for her work on Murphy Brown. It took a handful of years and then she was named director of the project in 2001. It took another 5 years to get further, when Matt Bradshaw posted about the cast of the film, which consisted of Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow, Anne Hathaway and Candice Bergen. It was supposed to start shooting in March, but nothing happened when Spring rolled around.

Now Variety has the scoop on The Women, which almost has a finalized cast, and has gotten an actual start date -- August 6 -- over ten years after the adaptation was put in the works. Some of the cast has stayed the same, and some have changed. Along with Ryan and Bergen, actresses in final talks are Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing. That's really one hell of a cast considering that the film has got a budget under $20 million. One of the backers is Dove, you know, the soap? When the film begins to be marketed, I imagine there will be lots and lots of soap-centric commercials with these leading ladies. As for how the title is translated over 60 years later, word has it that English's "script maintains the arch spirit of the original, and the all-female cast, but the gals aren't as relentlessly catty this time around." It is, however, still about the group of female friends and how one's husband is cheating on her.

Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Brokeback Mountain 2!

Those brilliant minds over at Jane magazine recently asked their readers which actors they would like to see get down and dirty between the sheets in a Brokeback Mountain sequel. And, if it were up to them Jane folks, we'd have Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Brokeback Mountain 2: Pirate's Booty. Now, if you think this is a bit far-fetched, Depp has been quoted recently saying his Captain Jack character might be bi-sexual. According to the heartthrob, "Pirates went to sea for years at a time. You're lonely ... you have an extra ration of rum... 'Cabin boy!'" So, what about that third installment?

Stop Press: Will and Jada Have Seen Baby Suri!

Holy crap, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have finally let someone pay a visit to baby Suri. Unfortunately, L. Ron Hubbard was unavailable (being dead and all), so the proud parents got the next best thing -- Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. According to Jada, "She's one of the sweetest babies I've ever met in my life." Really? How so? Did she offer to make tea and ask you to sign her vintage Wicked Wisdom t-shirt? Okay, I'm still not sold on the fact this baby actually exists. I'm not sure why, but it could have something to do with the huge "Rent Me" sign taped to the back of Suri's diaper. Hmm. Carry on ...

Linsday Lohan in Hospital ... Again!

While shooting the film Georgia Rule in L.A. yesterday, Lindsay Lohan was once again hospitalized due to a severe case of hardcore partying heatstroke. According to her rep, Lohan was "overheated and dehydrated" after filming in over 100-degree weather for 12 hours. Um, no. Hey Lindsay, see that production assistant passing out the 250 cups of Starbucks coffee he was told to fetch at three in the morning? Yeah, he's the one working 12 hours under the hot sun. You, my dear, probably have a nice air-conditioned trailer, high-speed internet access and all the vodka a girl can drink. For once, own up to your damn hangover, quit bitching and earn your multi-million dollar paycheck.

We reported in November that Sony was putting together a 9/11 film called Reign O'er Me, about "a man who lost his family in the...attacks and has not recovered from his grief. He runs into his college roommate, who is now a psychiatrist and is determined to help him cope with the loss." Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle were then in talks to play the leads (Cheadle as the psychiatrist, Sandler as his roommate), and in the past four months they've become officially attached. Since then, the movie seems to have changed studios: it's now associated with Columbia, which has been working on expanded the cast. They hope it will include Liv Tyler, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Saffron Burrows; all thee are in the proverbial "final talks." Smith will play Cheadle's wife, Tyler one of his colleagues, and Burrows a frisky patient who "has entanglements with both men."

Apart from the cast expansion, by far the most interesting this about this report is the news that Smith has been taking a break from acting "to tour with her metal band Wicked Wisdom." I'm sorry, she WHAT? Jada Pinkett Smith is in a metal band? Since when? For the life of me I can't decided if this is incredibly awesome or hysterically funny. Possibly it's a bit of both, huh?

Note to self: Try not to scare people with your post titles. Okay, so Will Smith didn't exactly say he's "quitting acting," he just kind of mentioned that he's taking a break. According to Digital Spy, Smith would like to spend more time at home while his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, gets all jiggy with her band, Wicked Wisdom. Nice guy, huh?

"I'll probably work less so she can work a little more,"  Oh c'mon, so we get no Hitch 2? What's up with that Will? You'd think though, that with the success of Hitch, he'd feel his name still attracted the masses and would take on more work. Although he does have three movies in the works, so if that's "working less" than I suppose Will Smith fanatics should have nothing to worry about.

 

[via Movie Blog]