Friday is a 1995 American buddy comedy film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh. The first installment in the Friday trilogy, it stars Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Tiny "Zeus" Lister Jr., Regina King, Anna Maria Horsford, Bernie Mac, and John Witherspoon. In the film, unemployed friends Craig Jones and Smokey (Tucker) face troubles after becoming indebted to a drug dealer while also contending with the neighborhood bully in South Central Los Angeles.
Paul Duane Beauregard, known professionally as DJ Paul, is an American rapper and record producer. He is a founding member of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia and the half-brother of rapper Lord Infamous. DJ Paul is also the half-brother of convicted drug lord Craig Petties. He is also a part owner of FaZe Clan.
The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The film stars Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller, who had all worked for Corman on previous films. Produced under the title The Passionate People Eater, the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof. The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000. Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood.
Swingers is a 1996 American buddy comedy film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California, during the 1990s swing revival. Written by Jon Favreau and directed by Doug Liman, the film starred Favreau alongside Vince Vaughn, Ron Livingston, Patrick Van Horn, Alex Désert, and Heather Graham.
Don "Magic" Juan, is an American preacher, hip hop personality, actor, fashion designer and former pimp, from Chicago. He is also the founder of the Players Ball, an annual celebration of his former "pimp" lifestyle.
Next Friday is a 2000 American stoner comedy film and the sequel to the 1995 film Friday. It is the first film to be produced by Ice Cube's film production company Cube Vision, and to be written by Cube himself. It was directed by Steve Carr and stars Ice Cube, Mike Epps, John Witherspoon, Tamala Jones, and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. It is the second installment in the Friday series. It tells the story of Craig Jones as he goes to live with his uncle, who just won the lottery, and cousin in Rancho Cucamonga after the neighborhood bully Deebo escapes from prison where Craig contends with three criminal brothers known as the Joker Brothers. Next Friday was theatrically released on January 12, 2000, grossing $59 million worldwide. The film has received generally negative reviews from critics.
On September 12, 1997, six men robbed the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo St. in Downtown Los Angeles, California of US$18.9 million. The robbery was orchestrated by Allen Pace III, of Compton, with childhood friends Erik Damon Boyd, of Buena Park; Eugene Lamar Hill Jr., of Bellflower; Freddie Lynn McCrary Jr., of Arleta; Terry Wayne Brown Sr., of Los Angeles; and Thomas Lee Johnson, of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States until the Easter Sunday heist on March 31, 2024 which was estimated at over $30 million.
Willie Dynamite is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Gilbert Moses and starring Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, and was released by Universal Pictures. The eponymous Willie Dynamite is a pimp in New York City, who strives to be number one in the city. As he is trying to do so, a social worker named Cora, is trying to change his ways – as well as those of the women who work for him – for the better. It was the first film produced by the Zanuck-Brown Company.
3 Women is a 1977 American psychological drama film written, produced and directed by Robert Altman and starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. Set in a dusty California desert town, it depicts the increasingly bizarre relationship between an adult woman (Duvall), her teenage roommate and co-worker (Spacek) and a middle-aged pregnant woman (Rule). The story came directly from a dream Altman had, which he adapted into a treatment, intending to film without a screenplay. 20th Century Fox financed the project on the basis of Altman's past work.
Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.
Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 buddy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Melonie Diaz with supporting roles done by Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin, Blake Hightower, and Amir Ali Said. It tells the story of an employee at the titular VHS rental store and his conspiracy theorist friend, who work to recreate the rental store's film inventory after they were accidentally erased when the latter got himself magnetized while the proprietor was away. The film first appeared on January 20, 2008, at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film opened on February 22, 2008, in the United Kingdom and in North America.
Daddy's Little Girls is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, produced by Perry and Reuben Cannon, and starring Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tracee Ellis Ross. It tells the story of a lawyer who helps a mechanic in a custody battle against his mean-spirited ex-wife over who will get custody of their daughters.
The Noose Hangs High is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is a remake of the Universal Pictures film, For Love or Money.
Paper Soldiers is a 2002 American urban crime comedy film. This hip-hop comedy from Roc-A-Fella's film division stars Kevin Hart in his film debut, Beanie Sigel, and Stacey Dash. Rapper Jay-Z appears in a cameo role. Hart plays the character Shawn, a rookie thief, who is part of a crew of thieves, doing small-time jobs like house breaking.
In US cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the Black civil rights movement, the black power movement, and the Black Panther Party, political and sociological circumstances that facilitated Black artists reclaiming their power of the Representation of the Black ethnic identity in the arts. The term blaxploitation is a portmanteau of the words Black and exploitation, coined by Junius Griffin, president of the Beverly Hills–Hollywood branch of the NAACP in 1972. In criticizing the Hollywood portrayal of the multiracial society of the US, Griffin said that the blaxploitation genre was "proliferating offenses" to and against the Black community, by perpetuating racist stereotypes of inherent criminality.
The Grasshopper is a 1970 drama film directed by Jerry Paris. It stars Jacqueline Bisset, Jim Brown, Joseph Cotten and Christopher Stone. Penny Marshall appears in a very small role.
The Friday franchise consists of American stoner buddy-comedies created by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh; including three theatrical films and one animated spin-off TV series. The series takes place in South Central Los Angeles and follows the exploits of perpetually unemployed Craig Jones, who, along with his friends and relatives, is thrust into various issues that happen to occur on a Friday.
Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 23–33 is a 2012 series of music videos and the third/final installment of the Trapped in the Closet series by R&B artist R. Kelly. In a then-recent interview, Kelly said the installment would feature 11 new chapters when it premiered, along with another 30, which was to be filmed in January 2013. When this saga premiered, it featured the return of several cast members, including the main character, Sylvester, played by Kelly.
Going in Style is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Zach Braff and written by Theodore Melfi. A remake of the 1979 film of the same name, it stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Joey King, Matt Dillon, Christopher Lloyd, Ann-Margret, John Ortiz and Siobhan Fallon Hogan. It follows a trio of retirees who plan to rob a bank after their pensions are canceled.
Cry Macho is a 1975 American novel by N. Richard Nash published in the United States by the Delacorte Press. The story was originally written as a screenplay under the title Macho, but was later adapted into a novel after Nash failed to sell the script. The book follows Mike Milo, a Texas rodeo star tasked with kidnapping an eleven-year-old boy in Mexico named Rafo. The story centers around the themes of loss, love, and redemption, all surrounding Mike's journey alongside Rafo.
