If you can’t find a funny moment in each Wayans Brother movie then you aren’t human. From Hollywood Shuffle in the 80’s, to Don’t Be A Menace, Major Payne, IN LIVING COLOR, Scary Movies 1-3, White Chicks, Naked, Little Man and even Sextuplets; the whole family has created dope shit! The fact that Keenen Wayans creates parody movies that are inspired by past movies and made it into a joke, is quite hilarious! He created the concept!
Yes, some of the movies can be corny but they still are hilarious. Let’s take Sextuplets for example, Marlon played each character 7 characters. Has it been done before? Absolutely, Eddie Murphy! But he still added his own story line with the story.
If you haven’t seen sextuplets, it’s about Alan (Marlon Wayans) who’s expecting a baby with his wife but he doesn’t know his own family history. He asks his wife (Bresha Webb) father, who is a judge, if he can obtain his birthday certificate. He does so and finds out that he is a sextuplet, one of six children born at once.
Alan goes on a journey to find all his siblings and the first one he comes across is Russell, his overweight, socially-awkward brother.
Russell is the most loyal and weird at the same time but he stays on the journey with Alan and even the last one by his side when his two other siblings dip off in him.
Alan and Russell then find their next sibling, Dawn, the ghetto, TTF (trained to go) sister. She’ll fight and ride for her brothers.
In the midst of Alan, Russell and Dawn’s reunion, their scheming brother Ethan is at Alan’s house impersonating him and trying get close to his pregnant wife.
When Alan gets knocked out, him Russell and Dawn end up in going to the hospital and there they fund struggling Baby Pete, their baby brother who needs a kidney. Alan unknowingly gives Baby Pete his kidney and Baby Pete dips out to go to an island.
After leaving the hospital, Alan and Russell hey kidnapped by Jasper’s goon, their last sibling who is seemingly successful and very prestige lol.
Then eventually their mom Lynette walks in, which is odd because Russell said she was dead. He wanted to keep his mommy to himself so he lied about about her being dead. They had a mini-reunion, everyone met Alan’s newborn and it was a happy ending.
Marlon is not the one to play with. Majority of the films that he’s acted in within the past ten years, he co-write the scripts, alongside with his brothers. The whole Wayans franchise is successful, starting with Keenan Ivory Wayans, then Damon Wayans, Kim Wayans, Shawn Wayan, Marlon Wayans and even their next generation kids/nephew Damien Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They have built an empire and they are not to be slept on. PERIOD!
If you’re a 90’s baby like myself, then you truly loved and enjoyed Disney movies, one in particular Aladdin. During that time, Princess Jasmine was the closest thing to a Disney brown skin princess besides Pocahontas, which was nice to see, me being a woman of color. This movie would make you feel like a kid again.
The intro starts off pretty similar to the original movie, except Disney added the genie, played by Will Smith, telling the story of Aladdin in the beginning. Genie also was telling the story to his two children which will be a significance at the end of the film. Of course the real life action movie couldn’t be an exact replicate of the original but that’s what made it so great! The fact that the story line was still in tact plus Disney showcased the Arabian culture with their clothing and dancing style which was good because it’s nice to see the lifestyle of other cultures.
fastcompany.comyoutube.com
Disney addressed women’s right in a sense. When Jafar wanted to take over and be the Sultan, Jasmine brought up the fact that she could be the Sultan. Of course the idea was shot down but towards the end of the film she got the respect she deserved as the female Sultan.
ew.com
Will Smith is dope! Of course that is obvious but I had to say it. He didn’t try to be like Robin but instead, he acted like his normal goofy self. Will is usually a great big ball of in energy, especially when his character as Fresh Prince. He played a sentimental role and honestly, the film wouldn’t have been comedic or as relevant without him.
The actor and actress who played Aladdin and Jasmine perfected A Whole New World. Them singing the song brought back so many childhood memories. Besides that song, all the other songs were brought to life and were sang to perfection. Will Smith even threw his own twang and beat boxing to the songs.
etcanada.comyoutube.com
Of course the creation of the movie wouldn’t be visually appeasing without CGI (computer-generated imagery), from the genie’s appearance, to Abu’s appearance, to EVERYTHING else in between. God bless CGI because it truly made the cartoon film come to life.
As a whole, the film was dope! I do wish that the characters were more brown skin but they weren’t too far off. The music was on point and so was the culture depiction. I tried not to give too many spoilers so others can still go see the movie and still read this beforehand.
I encourage everyone to go see the movie, especially if you were a 90’s baby. I give them movie 5 stars!
This was the year the Oscars actually got it right, as far as wins go. I guess the Academy can retire that “Oscars So White” title for now. Black films and people are STILL making history. Just in case you missed it:
Regina King won for Best supporting actress for “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Ruth Carter won for Best Costume Design for “Black Panther”
Hannah Beachler won for Best Production Design for “Black Panther”
Popsugar.com
Spike Lee Best won for Adapted Screen Play for “BlackKlansman”
Sfgate.com
Mahershala Ali won for Best Supporting Actor in “Green Book”
Etonline.com
I feel that every movie that the above movies nominated, that won, were well-deserved. Spike Lee has been making movies for 30 years and he FINALLY got a Oscar. Regina King started off in movies like “Friday” and “Boyz N Tha Hood” and look where she is now. Mahershala Ali has been on FIRE 🔥 the past couple years from “Moonlight” to “Green Book.”
“Black Panther” alone has gotten Grammy nominations for its album to Golden Globe nominations to SAG award wins to now Oscar wins. Ryan Coogler, ALL the actors, everyone behind the scenes like Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler made that the film what it was and it shows!
I’m glad the Oscars got it right year, especially coming from having all their nominees being white (#OscarsSoWhite) to having black nominees in ALMOST every category. What are your thoughts on the award show?
I’m late I know. I seen this movie about 3-4 weeks ago and never got around to writing a review BUT…
I coincidentally stumbled across the book The Hate U Give about a month and a half ago and then found out that this was the movie that I had been seeing previews for. Of course movies never play out how they were written in the book but the movie did a good job of getting 70% close.
First off, the book was beautiful, sad but it’s reality. If you’re unaware of the book, here is a synopsis:
The book is about a teenager named Starr. She stays in Garden Heights, a black neighborhood with crime but she goes to a private school 45 minutes away. She has two brothers and is the middle child, her mom is a nurse and her dad is a former felon who owns the neighborhood market. Starr is riding with one of her childhood friends when they get pulled over by the police. The officer kills her friend in front of her and she is the only witness to tell what really happened. In the midst of all this, there’s the neighborhood’s biggest drug dealer, King who is head of the gang King Lords. King is also/was good friends with Starr’s dad and he’s Starr’s best friend,Kenya, dad.
hollywoodreporter.com
Starr gets the courage to do a TV interview with her face bleeped out and she reveals too much information about “The neighborhood drug dealer” and of course that narrows down to King. How the topic came up was because Khalil’s mother use to work for King and she owed him money and she was supposed to provide for her family (Khalil and his little brother). Since Khalil stayed with his grandmother and she could only do so much, he started selling drugs to provide for his family and help pay his mother’s debt. King wanted revenge for Starr “snitching” even though she didn’t say any names.
In the midst off all this craziness, Starr has to go to school and act like nothing is going on but her white boyfriend (Chris) and friends sense something is wrong. Chris later finds out that she knew Khalil from her TV interview, even though her face was blurred out, he should know his girlfriend’s demeanor right? Starr’s friends found out because they use to attend her old birthday parties that Khalil would go to and her friend stumbled across an old picture of all of them and put the pieces together. Starr was really living two lives, one surrounded by entitled, preppy white kids and the other life surrounded by her people, with a little violence.
youtube.com
After everything is exposed, the verdict comes out and the grand jury decided that they weren’t going to indict the officer; in so many words, he’s innocent. Haven’t we seen that same story so many times. When the announcement is made on the TV, all hell breaks loose in the community. There was peaceful protest Starr finally decided to make her appearance and let it be known that she was the witness. She gave a heartfelt speech, ending it with a chant “His life mattered” before the police started getting aggressive and throwing teargas. The scene was hectic so her, her big brother and boyfriend decided to escape to her Dad’s store to recuperate from all the tear gas. In the midst of all that, “someone” throws a flamed bottle into the store as Starr and everyone else are locked in. Luckily Starr’s dad came in the nick of time to get them out. All arrows are pointed to King because he was at the scene of the crime laughing with his crew, watching the store burn down. This was one of those moment that community came together and told the police who caused the fire, King. The story has a happy ending, including Starr and her family moving out of the neighborhood AND her dad being able to rebuild the shop.
Now, the movie…
The Tramatic Night
On the night of Khalil’s death, Everything went according to the book until Starr and Khalil kissed in his car in the movie. Not to say it didn’t make the scene better, because it did, but just calling out that, that part wasn’t in the book.
credit: rogersmovienation.com
In the movie, When the officer pulled them over, Starr instructed Khalil to put his hands on the dashboard because that is what her father taught her, dealing with his past. Khalil was really nonchalant about it of course because as we all think ” I didn’t do anything wrong. Why you pulling me over?” Khalil didn’t listen and then the officer asked him to get out the car. As the officer began to search him, he made some inappropriate comments like “oh you’re trying to score with her tonight” (referencing Starr). All of that was not in the book.
Where’s Devante?
If you read the book, you would know about Devante, but he was nowhere to be found in the movie. If you aren’t familiar, Devante was one of the King Lords who worked directly for King. He was the guy that Starr’s friend Kenya was crushing on and he was the reason Kenya wanted to fight the girl at the party. Starr first officially met Devante at the basketball court with her brother. It was then that she found out that Devante’s brother was the one shot and killed at the party.
As time goes on, Devante comes in Starr’s dad store seeking help. He stole a couple thousand dollars from King and he needed a place to stay and work, so to help him, Mav (Starr’s dad) hired him on at the store and let him stay at they’re house. This escalated when King somehow found out that Mav was hiding Devante. Of course Mav lied to King but in order to protect Devante further, he send Devante to stay with his brother in law, Carlos. From then on Devante was exposed to a safer and better life UNTIL he decides to go see his brother at the cemetery an some of King’s workers spot him and beat him up. Starr, Seven, and Chris find Devante at King’s house, with the help of Kenya since she stays there as well, and they get him out safely. While in the car, that’s when they find out the verdict that the officer who killed Khalil will not be prosecuted. Then the book transitions into the protest that happens in the book.
They Really Did Move…
In the movie, Starr’s family didn’t move, but in the book they did. Matter of fact they moved before the verdict was announced.
bookbub.com
The Ending.
At the end of the movie, after Mav gets Starr and Seven out of the burning shop, her mom and little brother show up. As I stated before, King was across the street laughing s the shop burned down and just when they were about to fight, the police showed up. Words were exchanged and then WHOA! The little brother Sekani is holding a gun, pointing it at King. THAT WAS NOT IN THE BOOK and boy did it have my heart beating. Mav had to deescalate the situation and everyone in that moment, even the police, had to self-reflect and come to terms that we need to stop the violence. No one got hurt in the situation this was one of the times that Mav had to fess up and tell the police that King set the shop on fire. He had to protect what was his.
youtube.com
One of the main things that was in the book and movie was that Khalil loved listening to Tupac and in that brief moment that him and Starr reunited, he told her that THUG LIFE really meansTheHateUGiveLittleInfantsFucksEverybody, hence..The title of the book. That hate you give (teach) your children, they grow up having to life a differently. For example, if a white couple have children and they teach them that black people are worthless and trouble, then those children are going to grow up treating black people without any respect and more importantly stereotyping them, us, ME. On the other hand, if a black couple have children and they teach them that if someone tries to hurt their family, then you must protect the family at all costs, even if it means killing someone, even the police, hence Sekani. Sekani probably felt that his family was in danger so he pointed the gun to protect his family. Luckily he didn’t tho.
Overall, I LOVED the book. The movie was about 70-80% right but it was still good. To add more drama, I wish they would’ve kept Devante in the movie. I loved the message but this is everyday life for Black America; police shooting an unarmed black man and claiming that they feared for their life because they thought the black man had a gun, but it was really a hand brush or a cell phone. Hopefully this movie AND book will send out another message on a deeper level for white america, and even other races who automatically put black men, and black people of that matter, at fault when we are put in situations. We obey, we listen, we respond, but all that doesn’t matter when it’s truly the color of our skins that the police fear.
Also, Rest to the Screenwriter for the film Audrey Wells. She passed away Thursday October 4, a day before the film was released. I know she will be proud of the movie’s success. May she rest in peace!
Tell me what you think of the movie and or book if you seen or read it.
Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of Spike Lee’s movie Crooklyn. I loved this movie as kid; just seeing what it was like growing up in a different culture and during a different time. The setting was 1973 in Bed-Stuy New York, but of course it was filmed in 1993.
credit: picsofcelebrities.com
This film was Spike Lee’s second film and just image, he’s created other films and they were just as good and even better than this one, depending on what you like.
I love how Troy was a tough cookie. She was had three older brothers and a little one and had to adapt to how rough they were. She wasn’t all girly like some of the girls on her block and she even stood up to bullies on her block that were wayyyy older than her.
She dealt with the normal pre-teen problems—wanting to grow boobies. When I was that age, I wanted boob so bad and then BOOM! I was blessed with a big booty. yay
From dealing with arguing parents, to experiencing a culture shock down south with her cousin to losing her mother..
Too eventually having to be the mother figure in the house and many more.
Happy Anniversary to one of my favorite childhood movies. What’s your favorite Crooklyn scene?
Todays Black History Fact is about Eartha Kitt. She was the original singer of the Christmas hit “Santa Baby” and was the first Black Catwoman in the Batman and Robin series in the 1960s.
Eartha also played in Boomerang as Lady Eloise, Madame Zeroni in Holes and the voice of Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove which won her an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production. She’s been on television and in movies since the late 1940s (uncredited).
Credit: Blavity.com
Eartha acted in films up until a year before she passed in 2008 from colon cancer.
May her recognition live on and may she Rest In Peace.
Danii Gold 