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Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson and Garry Shandling Mock Robert Downey Jr.

Damon Houx — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:42:41 +0000

The American Cinematheque recently honored Robert Downey Jr. for his contributions to cinema, and got his friends Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson and Garry Shandling to roast him in a video before the presentation. Starting with Foxx complaining about Downey going for black roles after Tropic Thunder, the piece goes into his drug use and prison stint, and covers the most famous troubled incidents the actor has had. It’s also pretty funny. Check it out.

The Brain Storm with Mel Gibson, Jamie Foxx & Garry Shandling from Mel Gibson

One of the great things about videos like this are that they relieve the tension. Downey gets to be made fun of by his friends, and they cover all the bad stuff so it’s brought up and put out of the way. The elephant in the room is addressed and is now able to walk out slowly.

But what it also brings up is that Robert Downey Jr. has had a varied career and interesting life, the sort that doesn’t always lead to being on the most famous and successful stars in Hollywood. Perhaps part of his appeal is connected to that checkered past, and audiences like that he’s someone who’s gone through the ringer and come out on the other side. Or perhaps being exceptionally talented – as it often does – washes away sins.

Do you think about Robert Downey Jr.’s prison stint when you see Iron Man?

Horrible Bosses: Movie Review

Damon Houx — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:00:55 +0000

Halfway between the “put the camera down and let them riff” style of Judd Apatow productions, and the “tight and visually stylized” Todd Phillips aesthetic, Horrible Bosses takes a high concept premise but then lets its actors play in this dark and funny comedy. The film stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis as men tormented by their employers, who drunkenly decide that homicide is justified in their cases. As director Seth Gordon told us, it’s a relate-able premise. Find out more below…

The Players:

Director: Seth Gordon
Screenplay: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein
Actors: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudekis, Kevin Spacey, Jennier Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell
Original Music by: Christopher Lennertz
Cinematography by: David Hennings

The Story:

Nick Hendricks (Bateman) has accepted that his job sucks, but his boss Dave Harken (Spacey) keeps suggesting a big promotion is on the way. Dale Arbus (Day) loves his girlfriend and wants to marry her, but his boss Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) holds out his sex-crime record (he urinated in a playground) over his head, and threatens that if he doesn’t sleep with her, she’ll fire him. Kurt Buckman (Sudekis) loves his boss Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland), but can’t stand his over-privileged and drugged out loser of a son Bobby (Farrell). When Jack dies and leaves the company to his son, and after Harken takes the promotion for himself and tells Nick that he will be his slave, the three decide that murder is a good way to get rid of their mutual headaches. So they go to a black club and try to hire someone with experience, which leads them to Motherf*cker Jones (Foxx), who becomes their murder consultant and tells them to kill each other’s bosses so there’s no linkage.

The Good:

The Set-Up: Even if the film has to acknowledge its debts to Strangers on a Train (and the films that ripped it off), everyone has been made miserable at least once by someone in a position of authority. That the gang is mostly incompetent only adds fuel to the fire. But it’s a great starting point.And though Todd Phillips’s The Hangover Part II is way slicker, in most ways this is a better sequel to the first Hangover.
Jamie Foxx: His character is having as much fun as you could possibly have in his situation. He’s got a bunch of naive men willing to pay him money because he’s black. He’s got a nickname because his original name is too weak, and his ten year bid was for something that turns out to be one of the best jokes in the movie. And though Foxx was used similarly as comic relief in Due Date, he really kills this part and walks away with the movie.
Jennifer Aniston: Though Spacey is good, he’s played the paranoid and smarmy boss before. And while it’s also fun to see Colin Farrell play ugly, you want a little more of him in the film (it’s understandable why he’s kept to a certain minimum, he’s a cokehead). So it’s Jennifer Aniston who really pops. She’s the one playing against type and she’s the one who gets to be the most ridiculous problem (on some level, it’s too bad that Day’s character isn’t a homosexual, so his reticence was a little stronger). She’s the one it’s most fun to watch act horrible.

The Lightning Rod:

Charlie Day: The divide with this character seems to be this: the people who enjoy his performance in Horrible Bosses are fans of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, while those who find it too high pitched aren’t familiar with his previous work. Having not seen Sunny, my response was that – though he was playing the “dumb” character of the three – he was just pitched too high and a little too stupid. But there was a similar critical divide when Jim Carrey hit the big screen. Day isn’t the same sort of divisive talent, but it’s interesting to see him be both the high and the low point for many watching the film.

The Bad:

The Ensemble: Sudekis and Bateman have done this before (with Sudekis, he’s paying pretty much the same character from Hall Pass), and their performances aren’t that memorable. The leads don’t pop, but that works to the movie’s benefit – for them to be likeable they have to be schlubby, and incompetent (at least at murder). And the film could take a little more of Farrell because he is going so far out there you want to marvel at how “ugly” he made himself.
A Sense of More: The film works, and it works well on its own terms, but there is a sense that a couple more passes of the draft, or something might make this a classic, versus a good night at the movies. Films like these are balancing acts, and there’s nothing so much wrong as a sense that it could go a little further or a little stronger with some things. It’s hard to tell if that’s playing it safe, or knowing the limits of audience alienation.

Overall:

It’s easy to tell when a comedy is good or bad because if you laugh, then it’s good. Though it’s no comedy classic, Horrible Bosses is one of those films that works well enough that the laughs are there, and everyone gets enough good moments for the film to work. And that’s all it needs to be.

Rating: 7.5/10

Horrible Bosses hits theaters July 8. Check it out.

Gallery:

The Latest Scuttlebutt on Django Unchained

Damon Houx — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:59:55 +0000

When last we talked about Quentin Tarantino‘s latest Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx was the odds-on frontrunner for the lead character. That is now locked up. CNN talked to Foxx recently, and he said the dull platitudes expected of someone up for a big role. “Amazing” Foxx says. It “should be amazing.” Well, duh. The money quote is that he seems to suggest that Leonardo DiCaprio is also a lock the project. “I think, just to be able to work with Quentin Tarantino and Samuel Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and to be able to tell a story that needs to be told…”

DiCaprio hasn’t signed the dotted line yet, and he just worked with Clint Eastwood on J. Edgar. Eastwood said he’d like Leo to be in his remake of A Star is Born with Beyonce Knowles, but there’s no way Di Caprio could do both – both roles would position him for an Oscar, and double dipping (even if one role is supporting), tends to lead to a cancel-out, especially if the better performance is in the supporting role. That on top of scheduling conflicts, it seems that Eastwood is the one who will have to go fishing for another lead.

Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson are also up for roles in Django, but at this point it’s just assumed they’ll take them. Such is Hollywood.

Are you more excited for Django Unchained or Eastwood’s Star is Born?

Elba in Pacific Rim, Foxx is Django (Unchained)?

Damon Houx — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:00:43 +0000

Much has been rumored about Quentin Tarantino‘s latest film Django Unchained, with Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz considered shoo-in’s for certain parts, and Leonardo DiCaprio supposedly circling the film’s bad guy role. Idris Elba tweeted something that suggested he was meeting with Quentin for the role, and – as The Hollywood Reporter announced – he’s instead going in for Guillermo Del Toro‘s Pacific Rim. Which supposedly puts Jamie Foxx front and center as the most like Django…

Elba, still best known for his role as Stringer Bell on The Wire, joins Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Day. Day stars with Foxx in the upcoming Horrible Bosses, so there’s a degree of separation.And though Elba has been playing smaller roles in some schlocky American movies, he will also be in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, so his star is definitely on the rise.

Deadline Hollywood seems to have started the “Foxx as frontrunner” talk – other rumored included Will Smith and (perhaps he was just campaigning for himself) fellow Wire alum Michael K. Williams. This would be a challenging role for Smith, and perhaps play against some of his movie star qualities – or perhaps he didn’t want to have to cut his quote, or whatever other unknowns factor into such decisions. and with the rate of filming on Men in Black 3, perhaps Smith will not be available in time. Django has a Christmas 2012 release date, so production should be mounting up shortly, and casting will get locked soon.

What are you more excited for, Pacific Rim or Django Unchained?

Jamie Foxx Sells Mafia-Assassin Series to NBC

Krystal Clark — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:40:46 +0000

Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has been very busy working behind the scenes with his film and television production company. A while back we reported on the new sketch comedy series he’s developing for Fox and now he’s got another project underway for NBC. It’s an action drama that’s filled with lies and intrigue. In other words, it’s “Undercovers” meets “Alias” mixed with “The Sopranos.”

The show is called “Tommy’s Little Girl (predictable)” and it centers on “a young girl raised in a Mafia family who is hidden away in an orphanage after her family is murdered by a rival crime boss. Now an attorney, she has a double life as an assassin avenging her family’s murder as she attempts to locate her last living relative.” Where have we heard this premise before? The show is the brainchild of writer Jorge Zamacona, who previously worked on “Oz” and “The Unusuals.”

Another project the network picked up (not from Foxx) is a comedy that centers on “a husband and father of two young girls who is discovered by the 19-year-old mixed-race son he never knew he had, throwing his mellow suburban family world into chaos.” The show is called “Life is Good” and it comes from the minds of Chris Pappas and Mike Bernier.

Which series are you the most interested in seeing?

Source: THR

Halle Berry Joins Jamie Foxx, Martin Lawrence for Sheneneh and Wanda Comedy

Krystal Clark — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:36:50 +0000

At the 2009 BET Awards, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx was the host and offered plenty of comedic skits throughout the night, but one in particular really struck a chord with the audience. Foxx prerecorded a fake movie trailer with fellow comedian turned actor Martin Lawrence for a film called The Skank Robbers. It featured their famous “he-she” alter egos Wanda (“In Living Color”) and Sheneneh (“Martin”). The video was such a hit that it’s actually being turned into a real film co-starring Halle Berry!

I guess this is what happens after you win an Oscar. Anything goes. According to a recent interview with Foxx:

We’re working on a movie together at the beginning the year next year. Myself, Martin Lawrence and Halle [called 'The Skank Robbers']. It’s a Sheneneh and Wanda movie, the characters we played in ‘In Living Color.’ We rob banks from Northern California to Southern California.

If you never watched “In Living Color” or “Martin” during the nineties you missed comedy gold. Both shows were hilarious and they featured men dressed as overtly hideous women. It was fun seeing Foxx and Lawrence revive Sheneneh and Wanda for a special occasion but watching those two in a feature film with Halle? It sounds questionable. And if they have Berry playing her character from B.A.P.S. I might lose it!

If you didn’t see the parody that set this film in motion, you can watch it below:

What do you think of the cast of Skank Robbers?

Source: Extra

International Due Date Trailer

Krystal Clark — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:39:20 +0000

What better way to start your day than with a nice dose of Robert Downey Jr.? A new trailer has been released for the actor’s latest film Due Date, a comedy from The Hangover director Todd Phillips. It co-stars Zach Galifianakis who plays a character who unintentional throws a monkey wrench in Downey’s traveling plans. Watch these two go at it in the new trailer…

Due Date is a road trip movie that centers on a father (Downey) to be as he anxiously tries to venture cross country to make it in time for his child’s birth. Unfortunately, he has to hitch a ride with an annoying slacker (Galifianakis) in order to make that happen. Michelle Monaghan plays his pregnant wife, and Jamie Foxx stars as her ex-boyfriend, who also happens to be one of Downey’s best buds.

Has anyone else noticed that Galifianakis carries a man bag/murse in this film? Isn’t that the same bag he wore in The Hangover? We love to see little things like that pop up from previous movies.

Due Date is scheduled to hit theaters on November 5th. Will you be there?

What do you think of the international trailer for Due Date? Are you interested in seeing the film?

Fox Picks Up Jamie Foxx Sketch Comedy Show

Krystal Clark — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:41:43 +0000

Do you remember when Jamie Foxx was a regular on “In Living Color”? The show ran on the Fox Network in the early nineties and produced some huge stars such as Foxx, Jim Carrey, and Jennifer Lopez. Now, the Oscar winner is returning to his comedic roots with a new sketch series.

The show is tentatively called “The Jamie Foxx Project” and will be produced by Foxx along with star Affion Crockett. Crockett previously appeared on MTV’s improv hit, “Wildin’ Out” with Nick Cannon. This show will take on “pop culture, spoofing movie trailers, commercials, TV shows, music videos and celebrities, with a diverse cast of young new comedians.”

“The Jamie Foxx Project” will be a midseason replacement, and will be a joint production between the network and Foxx/King Entertainment. Sounds like a good concept, but when was the last time you saw a decent sketch comedy show on the network post-In Living Color? And where will it fit in with their current line up?

The details for the show haven’t been ironed out but I’m hoping the rest of the cast will be revealed fairly soon.

Are you interested in seeing Jamie Foxx’s new sketch comedy show?

Source: Deadline

Jamie Foxx Writing Laverne And Shirley Movie

Krystal Clark — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:41:21 +0000

Over the past decade so many TV shows have been adapted to the big screen that no property is safe. In this case, “Laverne & Shirley,” the popular Garry Marshall sitcom that starred Cindy Williams and his sister Penny Marshall is the next victim of this creative crime. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is set to write the screenplay and will bring the duo to the big screen with the help of his Valentine’s Day co-stars Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel.

According to a report from TV Guide, original “Laverne & Shirley” producer Garry Marshall recently confirmed that the screenplay for the film adaptation is being written by Foxx. He also revealed that both he and the actor are working together to give the characters a modern day spin that would be relevant for today’s audiences. He went on to describe Foxx’s vision for the movie and I have to be completely honest, it scares me.

“He’s writing it. It’s a whole different modern day take on how they came up on the streets during difficult times. Laverne would be this very tough girl with a big ‘L’ tattooed on her arm. Jennifer Garner would play Laverne and Jessica Biel would play Shirley.” (Funny… I kinda see it the other way around.)

The idea of Laverne having an ‘L’ tattooed on her arm as opposed to her sweater is too much for my taste. He also mentioned that he was interested in the show’s original stars appearing in the film, but he doesn’t want to reveal who they’ll play just yet. Since the two main characters seem to be set, who’ll play Carmine, or my personal favorites Lenny and Squiggy?! No one can do Lenny like Michael McKean, nobody!

What do you think of Jamie Foxx writing the script for Laverne & Shirley? Do you think Garner and Biel should play the main characters?

Jamie Foxx Cast in Kane and Lynch

Krystal Clark — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:38:22 +0000

Ugh, I’m getting flashbacks to 2006′s Miami Vice with this latest casting news. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has been tapped to co-star in the live action adaptation of Kane & Lynch. The popular video game from Eidos Entertainment entitled, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Rumors have been swirling for months as to who would play the dangerous duo and screenwriter Kyle Ward just let one of the cats out of the bag.

Ward announced via his Twitter page that Jamie Foxx had been cast in the role of James Lynch in the Simon West film. The character is a schizophrenic killer who teams up with a mercenary named Adam “Kane” Marcus. Bruce Willis has been previously attached to star as Kane, and quite frankly after Cop Out, wouldn’t this be a step up? Ward’s way of breaking the casting news was pretty straight to the point…

Done deal… Jamie Foxx is in.

Now the real question is, when will Willis confirm and when does production begin? I’ve never played the video game, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men but from what I hear it’s not that great. Does a mediocre game warrant a sub-par movie? It’s been done before in the past, but do we need to keep this trend going?

What do you think about Foxx starring as Lynch in Kane & Lynch? Have you played the video games? Are they good or disappointing?

Law Abiding Citizen: Movie Review

Jeffrey Hyatt — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:45 +0000

For those who often wonder what a battle of wits between Ray Charles and King Leonidas might be like, Law Abiding Citizen is as close as you’re going to get. Actually, that premise might have been a better idea for a film than the bloody revenge thriller we get served up here. This violent psychological thriller, that has a bone to pick with the justice system, never really finds it way. It’s just a jumbled story pushed and pulled along by the guys who fared much better as a Spartan warrior and a musical genius.

Check out the review…

The Players:

Director: F. Gary Gray
Writer: Kurt Wimmer
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb, Viola Davis, Bruce McGill

The Plot:

After watching his family murdered, Clyde Shelton (Butler) decides to take justice into his own hands. His journey to exact bloody revenge begins after prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx) offers one of the caught suspects a lighter sentence for testifying against his partner, much to dismay of Shelton. Cut to 10 years later. Shelton is now ready to make all those involved with the court case pay dearly for what happened to his wife and daughter – orchestrating his elaborate game of revenge from inside a prison cell.

The Good:

Gerard Butler: He’s pretty good in a movie that really isn’t. When he gets to unleash some of his character’s maniacal charm, it gives the movie some much-needed juice. Whatever accent he’s meant to have doesn’t cause too much discomfort, but Butler can only do so much of his wily vigilante-with-a-message dance in a movie before the cracks in the movie show through.
Viola Davis: As the tough-talking mayor she’s only in a few scenes, but she carried her part in the movie rather well.
Leslie Bibb: She’s not bad at all in a supporting role. She’s made her way into a few big budgets films as of late including last year’s Iron Man, and she’s proving that she has some decent acting chops. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s not bad to look at.
The Who: There’s a scene in the film that features The Who‘s awesome song “Eminence Front.” It worked so well in the movie.
Philadelphia: Kudos to Director of Photography Jonathan Sela for capturing some lovely exterior shots of the city. It was almost like secondary character within the story.

The Bad:

Jamie Foxx: He might one day get back to the heights of his profession as he did with his wonderful performance in Ray, but Law Abiding Citizen will not be the film that gets him on his way. Foxx looks uncomfortable in the role, almost bored with having to inhabit such a one-dimensional character. You don’t believe him in the part at all.
The Story: The third act is where the wheels really fall off. The resulting action is plausible from the get-go, but then things get loopy. Forget the lack of any character development, there are some plot points and details that are either never explained, or just thrown in along the way.
Foxx vs. Butler: The Silence of the Lamb-ish scenes between Foxx and Butler are stiff as a board. The chemistry just isn’t there. The dialogue they have to volley back and forth isn’t the best, and their scenes come off feeling clunky and unnatural.

Overall:

I’m going to tip my hat to F. Gary Gray for not letting this film completely spin out of control, but the plot is treated like an afterthought at times and the acting is mediocre at best. The movie loses whatever grip it starts out with far too quickly, and the vigilante story is left to run its ho-hum course. It’s a film happy to spill the blood and get preachy, but there’s not much in the way of making us care about any of it. If you like movies with excessive violence, bad language and a questionable narrative then maybe Law Abiding Citizen is worth a try.

Rating: 3/10

Law Abiding Citizen opens nationwide on October 16^th

Law Abiding Citizen International Posters

Krystal Clark — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:12:33 +0000

Two new posters have been released for this weekend’s Law Abiding Citizen. The film stars Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler as two men on the opposite sides of the law. The thriller is directed by F. Gary Gray, and features Butler as a man consumed by revenge after his wife and daughter are killed in their home. Fox stars as a district attorney who double crosses him, and ends up on his sh*t list.

Take a look at the latest posters for Law Abiding Citizen…

I like these a lot better than the previous posters. These look a lot more professional in comparison, and the color isn’t so rigged. This may be a useless side note to some, but I always thought Gerard Butler’s eyes were blue, in his poster they appear to be a pissed off green. It creeps me out, but maybe that was the studio’s intention.

Law Abiding Citizen will hit theaters domestically on October 16th.

What do you think of the latest posters for Law Abiding Citizen?

Source: Empire

ScreenCrave.com » jamie foxx

Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson and Garry Shandling Mock Robert Downey Jr.

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