Product Description
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Titles include: Friday, Next Friday, Friday After Next, All
About The Benjamins
.com
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Friday
Friday is the rarest specimen of African American cinema: a 'hood
movie refreshingly free of the semiseriousness and moralism of
shoot 'em up soaps such as Boyz N the Hood, yet still true to the
inner-city experience. Scripted by rapper Ice Cube, Friday is a
no-frills tale of a typical day in the life of a pair of African
American youth in South Central. Cube plays Craig, a frustrated
teen who endures the ultimate humiliation: getting fired on his
day off. Then unknown Chris Tucker plays Smokey, a
marijuana-worshipping homeboy whose love for the green stuff
lands him in predicament after predicament. Sitting on the stoop
of Craig's rundown home, the two hilariously confront a
kaleidoscopic array of gangbangers, weed dealers, crack heads,
prostitutes, scheming girlfriends, and neighborhood bullies--all
of whom, it should be noted, come off as sympathetic even as they
are being caricatured, a true achievement in the crass, "booty
call" environment of '90s African American comedy. --Ethan Brown
Next Friday
Ice Cube wrote and stars as Craig in this sequel to Friday, which
he also wrote. His nemesis from that film, neighborhood bully
Debo (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.), has just escaped from county jail
and is out to get revenge. To protect Craig, Craig's her (John
Witherspoon) sends his son to stay with his Uncle Elroy (Don "DC"
Curry), who won the lottery and bought a house in Rancho
Cucamonga. Craig expects the suburbs to be dull, but no sooner
has he arrived than conflicts arise: The neighbors are hostile
hoods, his cousin's girlfriend is out for blood and child
support, and the house is about to be seized because of unpaid
taxes. It's up to Craig and his cousin Day-Day (Mike Epps) to
solve these problems before the day is over. It's a rambling,
loose movie, but a genuinely entertaining one. Ice Cube doesn't
write punch lines--though funny lines abound. He writes richly
comic characters that speak in virtual arias of bragging,
complaining, and scamming. Sure, some of the characters are
stereotypes and many of the jokes are about drugs and
scatology--but that's been the basis of humor since Plautus and
Molière. The rhythmic energy of Ice Cube's dialogue and the easy
charisma of his performance make Next Friday thoroughly
enjoyable. --Bret Fetzer
Friday After Next
Ice Cube (Barbershop) uses his relaxed, raffish charm to glide
through the third movie in his Friday series. As Craig (Cube) and
Day-Day (Mike Epps) in the wee hours of Christmas Eve, a
burglar dressed like Santa Claus breaks in and steals their
presents and rent. Thus begins a classically bad day full of
unsympathetic family members, obnoxious neighbors, squealing
pimps, pot smoking, and sexy babes. No one's going to win any
awards for this sloppy installment, loaded with preening
stereotypes and half-hearted low humor; Cube generally plays
straight man and lets the rest of the cast screech, yowl, and
contort their faces, their performances as ornate and ritualized
as a Japanese Noh play. But if you're a fan, Friday After Next
will give you a modest dose of Cube's goofy humor. John
Witherspoon and Don "D.C." Curry return as Craig's eternally
disgruntled her and uncle. --Bret Fetzer
All About the Benjamins
Ice Cube cowrote, produced, and stars in this action caper. Bucum
(Cube) is a bounty hunter (get it?) with dreams of big money.
Reggie (Mike Epps) is a small-time grifter who also has dreams of
big money and is at the top of Bucum's list to boot. Yep, you
guessed it: tough guy/funny guy buddy flick. All About the
Benjamins is pretty much a by-the-numbers piece of work. There's
plenty of macho posturing, fire, big-ticket items exploding,
and curse words inserted into the script in lieu of actual punch
lines. The plot has holes big enough to drive a locomotive
through, but then again the plot isn't really the point. Epps's
attempts at wacky comedy wear thin early on, but Ice Cube does a
fine job, and together they do make quite a few moments hit. Best
recommended for when you want turn-your-brain-off excitement.
--Ali Davis