outkast Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Young @ Heart begins with a vast crowd on their feet, cheering a performance we haven't seen. The crowd is exultant, young, excited; the performers are a group of senior citizens called the Young at Heart Chorus. Their repertoire is varied; their average age is 80. Over the past several years they've toured internationally, acclaimed for their renditions of modern pop and rock songs, all under the guidance of their musical director Bob Cillman.

Directed by Stephen Walker, Young @ Heart follows the chorus through the rehearsals and gigs leading up to the chorus's new big show -- which they have just seven weeks to prepare for. And at once, Young@Heart takes all the standard-issue concerns of the touring band documentary -- creative differences, struggles with the material, preparation and publicity -- and reframes them all in a very different context. The members of Young at Heart aren't looking to become stars or even make a living with their music -- so why exactly are they doing it? And, more bluntly, are the crowds that come out to their shows and tours -- as they cover material from The Clash and Coldplay and Outkast and more -- laughing with the chorus, or at them?

It seems like just a few days ago that we offered you the opportunity to answer a few questions about Idlewild for a chance to win some spectacular Idlewild swag. Actually, it was just a few days ago, but who's counting? The questions -- this time with their answers, were:

• 1) Idlewild was sold to Universal after OutKast's 2003 double-album became a smash success. What was that album called? Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

• 2) The film features some rousing dance numbers. What is the signature dance style created by choreographer Hinton Battle for the film called? Swop

• 3) What is on the flask that Rooster always carries with him? A talking rooster (rooster was also an acceptable answer)

• 4) What does Percival's father do for a living? Mortician (undertaker, funeral home director, etc, were also fine)

• 5) What is the ironic name of the speakeasy where Rooster and Percival perform? The Church

• 6) What was director Bryan Barber best known for prior to directing Idlewild? Music videos

• 7) Barber drew inspiration for Idlewild from which period musical by Vincente Minnelli? Cabin in the Sky

• 8) One of the songs on the soundtrack is titled "Chronomentrophobia". Chronomentrophobia is the fear of what? Clocks

Eight Cinematical readers submitted correct answers to all eight questions. Their names went into a hat (a pink University of Oklahoma hat, if you must know), and the winner is ... Dale! Yes, reader Dale wins the fantabulous Idlewild swag pack, which includes a very cool t-shirt, mini-poster AND a CD of the amazing soundtrack. Congratulations, Dale! We'll be in touch to get your address, and your swag will be on its way! If you didn't win, don't fret. You still have until 5PM EDT Thursday to enter the Caption This contest for some very nice This Film Is Not Yet Rated swag.

Idlewild -- the oft-delayed, much-anticipated musical from best-selling Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast -- is, as they often say, a very movie movie. There's about 12 different films swimming around in it: Purple Rain, The Cotton Club, Chicago, Under the Cherry Moon, 42nd Street, Harlem Nights -- but it's also got nods to everything from Busby Berkeley musicals to '70s Black gangster films, art cinema to Some Like it Hot. Idlewild isn't coherent -- and it doesn't have a lot to say on the rare occasions it does make sense -- but it's also exuberant and wildly stylish. There's a question of who Idlewild is for -- the older audience who could appreciate its dance numbers and retro-style might be put off by the hip-hop elements; the kids who like hip-hop might be confused about why two of the most modern rappers in the game have set their big-screen debut in the 1930s. But that, frankly, just means more fun for those of us eager to take a chance on something different.

Deep in the heart of Prohibition-era Georgia, the small town of Idlewild is sleepy -- except at The Church, the raucous nightclub-and-cabaret owned by Ace (Faizon Love) and supplied by Spats (Ving Rhames). The entertainment at The Church is a pretty wild affair -- there's a full band, anchored by singer Rooster (Antwan A. Patton, a.k.a. Big Boi) and pianist Percival (André Benjamin, a.k.a. Andre3000). Spats is retiring, though, and wants to enjoy the good life -- including handing control of the local illegal booze empire to his right-hand man, Trumpy (Terrence Howard). Just as Trumpy is acting to ensure that the succession goes his way, noted singer Angel Daveport (Paula Patton) arrives from back East to play an extended engagement at The Church. Rooster must find a way to take control of The Church, even as he's trying to be a man to his wife and children; Percival has to summon up the courage to stop living in the shadow of his mortician father (Ben Vereen) and strike out as an artist.

Let me get right to the point: Idlewild (better known, perhaps, as "that OutKast movie") is a fantastically creative film that could -- and should -- garner a bevy of Oscar nominations. I don't know why there hasn't been bigger hooplah about this film leading up to its release date this weekend; given the media frenzy surrounding the campy Snakes on a Plane, you might think that a film like Idlewild could stir up at least a moderate buzzing sound.

Though there were times we thought it would never come, the release of Outkast's Idlewild is just over a week away and, in celebration, Universal is pulling out all the internet stops when it comes to promoting the film -- and for once that doesn't mean a MySpace page. Instead, the studio has enhanced the movie's very nicely designed -- and fast-loading -- official page with not one, not two, not three, but eight clips from the movie. The content of the clips ranges from Acting, With a Hint of Romance to Big Boi Doing His Thing (During the 1930s), and should please those of you who, like me, have been waiting for this damn thing for almost a year now. Plus, there's some new music from Outkast in there (you may recall that one of the many release delays was supposedly due to the duo's desire to get the movie's soundtrack 100% perfect) -- what's not to like?

At long (long, long) last, Idlewild will hit theaters August 25 (so they tell us, anyway).

Ok, this is good -- really, really good. There's an article in Sunday's New York Times by Roni Sarig that's a Bryan Barber profile combined with a look at the development of Idlewild (for those of you new on the Cinematical scene, Idlewild is the Outkast movie that I talk about all the time, and Barber is its director), and the end result is very encouraging. Get this: Sarig actually compares Barber to Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, suggesting that he's following in their footsteps as he "translate[s] the eccentricity of [his] ... videos into iconoclastic features." Can I get an amen?

The history of Idlewild, as detailed in the article, is fascinating -- it was originally envisioned as one of an HBO series of six "low-budget urban movies" with budgets of about $1 million each, but as the project (first titled Speakerbox) grew, it eventually swallowed up the entire series, and grew too big for the TV screen. After years in development and production (and then on the shelf while Outkast finished the music), and despite the fact that Barber and producer Charles Roven apparently "did not see eye to eye on probably 98 percent of the picture," the director insists that the final product reflects his original awesome, weird-ass vision.

We'll all get to see for ourselves in just a matter of months now: Idlewild hits screens (supposedly 2500 of them, but I'll believe that when I see it) at the end of August.

This is my fifth, increasingly desperate post about the state of Idlewild, AKA The Outkast Movie. The pattern of the posts is pretty much as follows: I get all excited about the fact that the movie has a release date, and then it disappears off the face of the earth. And then the cycle happens again -- the current date, August 25, is its third in the past six months, and I've finally learned not going to celebrate until I actually see it on a marquee somewhere. Though the constant delays theoretically have to do with a desire on the part of Big Boi and Andre 3000 to get the music completely perfect (rather than a desperate need to rescue their movie from total suckage), I'm sure I'm not the only one who is both eagerly looking forward to this one and very, very worried about its quality. I mean, it's a prohibition musical, for God's sake -- there's a lot of room for failure there.

Just to get us even more excited about it movie, though, Chris Lee of the Los Angeles Times spoke with Idlewild director Bryan Barber last week, as well as the ubiquitous Terrence Howard, who appears in the film in a supporting role. Not surprisingly Barber, whose directing experience was limited to music videos (including the one for Outkast's Hey Ya!) prior to taking on this project, faced serious opposition from studio heads in getting the movie made. Not only was he a neophyte director and writer, but he was also trying to make a period, African-American musical. And his stars, best known as a team, would appear in only a handful of scenes together -- one can understand why studios were a little worried about sinking money into the project. By either a deal with the devil or insane luck, though, Barber got $27 million and a deal with Universal -- and, if all goes well, we'll get to see the result in August. Fingers and toes crossed.

[via GreenCine Daily]

On the list of Cinematical review assignments for March 17, there's a line that reads "Idlewild: Martha." Yes, that's right: the fabled Outkast musical was supposed to be in theaters this weekend. However, because back in January the movie was removed - for the second time - from HBO Films' release schedule, that assignment is just sitting there taunting me, much like the brilliant trailer the company unleashed back in January.

Though this sort of pattern practically screams MAJOR, FLAMING PROBLEMS! to the general public, Outkast's Big Boi insists (as you might expect) that everything is perfectly fine. Why the delay(s), you ask? It's all about quality, and he and Andre 3000 are still working on the music for the movie. According to Big Boi, "What happened was it usually takes me and Dre a couple of years to get the music right. When we first started the movie we didn't really have a whole lot of the music done." So, though a few singles are ready now, the duo agreed with HBO to hold the release until the music is polished, rather than rush it out in time for the March open. Now, if this is true, great. I've still got a sneaking suspicion, though, that there are editing monkeys locked in a room somewhere at HBO, frantically trying to fix the movie.

The new release date is August 25, at which time HBO plans to have the movie on 2500 screens. Damn. A musical. On 2500 screens? I'll believe that when I see it.

The release of Failure to Launch, the new Sarah Jessica Parker flick that is, yes, a romantic comedy, has been delayed by Paramount. Instead of the original February 10 date, the film will now hit theaters a full month later, on March 10. So...they're moving a romantic film away from Valentine's Day? That's weird. Granted, there are a few big releases due on February 10 - the inevitably crappy The Pink Panther and the kid-friendly Curious George primary among them - but one wonders how significantly the audiences for those films overlap with the one for Failure to Launch. The new competition is pretty much a horror fest: The Hills Have Eyes and The Shaggy Dog (which, needless to say, will be frightening for very different reasons) are the main releases on March 10. The bottom line, then, is that things are less crowded in the new release window. That said, however, this move is not a vote of confidence for a flick that's already getting pretty poor early notices.

Meanwhile, in the broken record department, Idlewild has again been yanked from HBO Films' release schedule. I think I've figured it out: this movie doesn't even exist. I bet the bastards shot that awesome trailer and nothing else. Sigh.

I've made no secret of the fact that I have an irrational eagerness to see Idlewild, AKA The Outkast Movie. As a result, I (along with one or two other people) was quite alarmed by the sudden disappearance of both the movie and its soundtrack from HBO's and LaFace/Jive's release schedules back in November. Now, though, totally out of nowhere, a full trailer for the film has appeared at Yahoo, complete with a March 10 release date. Woo hoo! And, while it should be obvious that I'm a total easy mark for this movie, the trailer is surprisingly good. It's almost impossible to get any sense of character because it goes by so quickly, but the editing is sharp, the dancing is awesome, and the Prohibition-era atmosphere has a wonderful sheen of fantasy over it. It could potentially be a pretty cool period flick, if nothing else.

In addition to Outkast (Big Boi's the singer, André's the piano player) and singin' and dancin', the movie's got a cast full of big names, from Patti LaBelle and Terrence Howard to Cicely Tyson and Ving Rhames. Come on. How can you not be just a little excited about it?

[via Dark Horizons]