This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2019) |
Book of Love | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jeffrey W. Byrd |
Written by | Jeffrey W. Byrd |
Produced by | Nedal Abdul Tracey Baker-Simmons Jeffrey W. Byrd Carl Craig Eric K. George Luce Gordon Nia Hill D'Angela Steed J. Steed |
Starring | Eric K. George Anthony "Treach" Criss Richard T. Jones Robin Givens Salli Richardson |
Narrated by | Anthony "Treach" Criss Eric K. George Richard T. Jones |
Cinematography | Carl Bartels |
Edited by | Jeffrey Cooper |
Music by | Stephen James Taylor |
Distributed by | Artisan Entertainment Crossroads Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Book of Love, also known as Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs is a 2002 American romantic comedy film, written and directed by Jeffrey W. Byrd, and starring Anthony "Treach" Criss, Eric K. George, and Richard T. Jones as its three male protagonists. [1]
Book of Love is a mockumentary following the unrelated stories of three L.A. bachelors (Eric K. George, Anthony "Treach" Criss, and Richard T. Jones) as they recover from a series of unhealthy relationships. The team of average Joes are no match for their manipulative girlfriends (Salli Richardson, Mari Morrow, and Robin Givens), however, and the over eager men are taken for all they're worth. It's this manipulative, self-serving treatment that drives the young bachelors into behaving like "dogs" themselves.
Written and directed by Jeffrey Byrd, Book of Love was produced by both BET Studios and 5th GearEntertainment, and eventually released by Strange Fruit Films. Three Black women co-produced the film. [2]
Cameo appearances in the film include: Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, Eric A. Payne, Flex Alexander, Gillian Iliana Waters, Jagged Edge, John Salley, Khalil Kain, Loretta Devine, Pepa (Salt-N-Pepa), Robert Townsend, and Taraji P. Henson.
Book of Love's world premiere closed the 1999 Black Hollywood Film Festival. [3]
A Variety review was largely positive, noting "Book of Love has the rhythms of a sketch-comedy movie, and, although it drags in places, most of the sketches are on the mark. The most uproarious sketches are also the most familiar, but the filmmakers add an impressive amount of freshness to oft-seen situations". [1]
Kaia N. Shivers' review in Los Angeles Sentinel reads, "Though it is an outlet for wounded hearts and real life love drama, the story is a light comedy with intelligent and mature humor". [2]
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985. Group members included Salt, Pepa, and DJ Spinderella. Their first major hit single, "Push It", was released in 1987 as the B-side to a different single, becoming a top 10 or top 20 hit in various countries worldwide. The song would be nominated for a Grammy Award. Their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, sold more than 1 million copies in the US, making them the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status. Their fourth album, Very Necessary, sold over 7 million copies worldwide, making it the highest-selling rap album by a female act in history at the time.
Victor Morrow was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series Combat! (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series. Active on screen for over three decades, his film roles include Blackboard Jungle (1955), King Creole (1958), God's Little Acre (1958), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), and The Bad News Bears (1976). Morrow continued acting up to his death during filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) when he and two child actors were killed by a stunt helicopter crash.
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer, and former model. Marsden began his acting career guest starring in the television shows Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993), Touched by an Angel (1995), Party of Five (1995), and miniseries Bella Mafia (1997). He gained prominence in the early 2000s with his portrayal of Scott Summers / Cyclops in the X-Men film series (2000–2014), and starred in Superman Returns (2006). Other works during this period include The Notebook (2004), 10th & Wolf (2006), and The Alibi (2006).
Anthony Criss, better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is perhaps best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.
Jason's Lyric is a 1994 American erotic romantic psychological drama film, written by Bobby Smith Jr., directed by Doug McHenry, who co-produced the film with George Jackson and Marilla Lane Ross, and starring Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett, Bokeem Woodbine, Treach, Eddie Griffin, Lahmard Tate, Lisa Nicole Carson, and Forest Whitaker. Set in Third Ward, Houston, Texas, the story is about two mentally scarred brothers who choose different paths in dealing with their tragic childhood. When the older brother finds love, he starts facing tough choices: continue to feel family responsibility for his younger brother, or follow his heart to be with his girlfriend.
Playas Ball is a 2003 sports, comedy, drama, and romance movie that was written and directed by Jennifer Harper and produced by Dale Davis. It stars Allen Payne and Elise Neal. The film was released on October 1, 2003 by CodeBlack Entertainment.
Feast is a 2005 American action horror comedy film directed by John Gulager, produced by Michael Leahy, Joel Soisson, Larry Tanz and Andrew Jameson. It was written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Balthazar Getty, Henry Rollins, Navi Rawat, Judah Friedlander, Jenny Wade, Gulager's father Clu Gulager, Josh Zuckerman and Jason Mewes. The story revolves around a group of people gathered inside a local bar in Nevada, where they are suddenly attacked by a horde of monstrous creatures.
Park is an independent comedy-drama film released in 2007. It was produced by Dana Jackson and directed by Kurt Voelker.
James Sallis is an American crime writer who wrote a series of novels featuring the detective character Lew Griffin set in New Orleans, and the 2005 novel Drive, which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same name.
Traci Townsend is a 2006 comedy film directed by Craig Ross Jr. and starring Jazsmin Lewis and Mari Morrow. It was written by Bobby Thompson, who was also a producer of the film.
The Case of the Curious Bride is a 1935 American mystery film, the second in a series of four starring Warren William as Perry Mason, following The Case of the Howling Dog. The script was based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner, published by William Morrow and Company, which proved to be one of the most popular of all the Perry Mason novels.
Antony Gibbs was an English film and television editor with more than 40 feature film credits. He was a member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE).
Sandra Jacqueline Denton, better known by her stage name Pepa or Pep, is a Jamaican-American rapper and actress, best known for her work as a member of the female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa. Denton starred in The Salt-N-Pepa Show, a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group which aired on the VH1 network in 2008. Since January 2016, Denton has appeared as a supporting cast member on the music reality television show Growing Up Hip Hop which airs on We TV.
A Day in the Life is a 2009 American musical crime film, written, directed by and starring Sticky Fingaz, released on July 7, 2009 by Major Independents and Lions Gate Films. The film tells about one day in the life of Sticky, the leader of the gang, who is trying to escape from criminal life. A Day in the Life contains no spoken dialogue. Instead, the actors rap all their lines over a hip-hop beat.
Dogs in Space is a 1986 Australian film set in Melbourne's "Little Band" post-punk music scene in 1978. It was directed by Richard Lowenstein and starred Michael Hutchence as Sam, the drug-addled frontman of the fictitious band from which the film takes its name.
Angel, Angel, Down We Go, also known as Cult of the Damned, is a 1969 American film directed by playwright and screenwriter Robert Thom, his sole directorial credit. Thom based his screenplay on an unproduced stage play of the same title that he had written several years earlier as a vehicle for his wife, actress Janice Rule. The film was produced by Sam Katzman's Four Leaf Productions and distributed by American International Pictures.
Smosh: The Movie is a 2015 American science fiction action-adventure comedy web film directed by Alex Winter and written by Eric Falconer and Steve Marmel, with Brian Robbins and Shauna Phelan serving as producers. It stars Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox from Smosh, Jillian Nelson, Brittany Ross, Jenna Marbles, Grace Helbig, Mark Fischbach, Harley Morenstein, and Michael Ian Black. It is Smosh's first full-length film and revolves around a fictionalized version of the duo going inside YouTube virtually to alter a clip that will ruin Anthony's chances of winning over his high school crush at the reunion.
The Troublemaker or The Mischievous Girl is a 1950 Spanish musical comedy film directed by José Díaz Morales and starring Carmen Sevilla, Tony Leblanc and Tomás Blanco. It is based on the 1897 zarzuela The Troublemaker.
The Art of War III: Retribution is a 2009 American direct-to-video action film directed by Gerry Lively and starring Treach, Warren Derosa, Sung-Hi Lee and Leo Lee. It is the third installment in The Art of War film series. It is the sequel to The Art of War II: Betrayal, though was the first sequel to that film to be produced. The film had a negative critical reception.
The 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards were an awards presentation held on May 16 and 17, 2021 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. It was the 29th edition of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the fourth to jointly honor movies and television.