Tupac: Resurrection, a documentary on the life of Tupac Shakur, has received an Academy Award nomination. A full list of nominees is available at the Academy Awards website.
January 25, 2005
Coach Snoop, Doggy Biscuitz
I don’t usually find journalist’s parodies of the news very funny but Brian and Andy Kamenetzky’s ESPN Page 2 take on the future outcome of Snoop Dogg’s desire to coach professional football is pretty darn humorous. I laughed multiple times. But I was curious about why this item was active until I realized that it’s part of the long range marketing plan for the movie Coach Snoop currently set for release in 2006. Coach Snoop will be based on Snoop’s own real life experience coaching his kid’s football team.
In related news, Snoop Dogg and Pony International are partnering on the Snoop Dogg Doggy Biscuitz shoe collection. Apparently, Snoop refers to his shoes as “biscuits,” hence the name.
January 25, 2005
The Wayans Announce Merchandising Bonanza
All three Wayans Brothers have announced a new animated kids series based on their childhood called Thugaboo. Inspirations for this “children’s lifestyle property”, which will focus on 9 child characters, include Fat Albert and Peanuts. The project will begin with a direct-to-video series for the 2005 holiday season along with all sorts of licensed stuff.
In related news, the Wayans are working with Topps to bring out a trading card game called The Dozens in the spring. In addition, Bonus Mobile is working on a cellphone version of the game for multiple players.
January 25, 2005
Ice Cube: Family Man, Hollywood Actor
With a solid opening weekend and a no. 1 spot on US/Canada box office charts for Are We There Yet?, it looks like Ice Cube is going to make it in the family movie arena after all. I guess he’s becoming one of those celebrities, like Queen Latifah, who demonstrate how one can build a career on hip hop while gradually leaving it behind. No doubt a country blues album is next! And, in a blow to rapper/actor haters everywhere, Samuel L. Jackson’s Coach Carter leaned back to no. 2 after only one week on top.
With positive reviews rolling in, including accounts by reviewers that accept Ice Cube in a child-friendly role while disliking the movie, this first weekend’s box office is only the beginning as all those snowed-in folks hit the theaters. Comments have centered on Ice Cube’s warmth in Are We There Yet? and, unlike typically punny headlines, some of these writers aren’t trying to be witty:
Boxoffice Magazine – “His warm presence“.
NY Times – “warmhearted family man“.
Reuters – “heated up the weekend box office“.
Boston Herald – “Ice melting“.
Ice Cube credits his ability to make a $50 million film to the success of Barbershop. But he feels that his ability to make a good family movie is due to his own experiences as a family man:
“I have four kids (ranging in age from 4 to 18), so I have seen every family movie made. I know the good ones like ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Finding Nemo,’ and I know the ones you let your kids watch while you sleep in the theater.”
This depth of experience, an example of “keeping it real” in family movies, required a brutally honest appraisal of his competition, as Cube puts it:
“I don’t want to dis anybody, but I slept through ‘Lemony Snicket’.”
Although reading such Ice Cube quotes is amusing, he took this project very seriously and intended to make a good family movie that wasn’t sappy, yet still built a positive message about families. Whether or not it’s actually a good movie, and I’ll probably never know, it looks like Ice Cube has succeeded in his new endeavor.
More commentary from Ice Cube and director Brian Levant.
January 25, 2005
NFSU2 Takes 9th Week as UK No. 1 Seller
Need for Speed Underground 2 has become the first game in 5 years to spend more than two months on the UK games charts.
January 25, 2005
Hustle & Flow Finds Success at Sundance
John Singleton, in his role as producer, has signed a 3 film deal with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for Hustle & Flow, directed by Craig Brewer, and two other yet to be produced films. Hustle & Flow is a narrative feature about a pimp who wants to get into the rap game and out of his current hustle. Jason Calacanis has more from the Sundance Festival. This deal is great news for Singleton and his production company Crunk Pictures, which is based in LA but extremely active in Memphis, as well as for director Brewer who has more projects planned with Crunk.
In related news, John Sloss sells films to distributors at places like Sundance and is apparently quite good at it.
January 25, 2005
Off Topic: Carson as Embedded Advertising King?
Stuart Elliott looks at the marketing strength of sponsored bits involving Johnny Carson during The Tonight Show.
January 25, 2005
First Zambian Hip Hop Album Released
The Times of Zambia reports that the first Zambian hip hop album has been released by rapper C.R.I.S.I.S. called Officer in Charge. Previously profiled in-depth, C.R.I.S.I.S. is concerned with social issues, raps in English and is signed to Sony’s South Africa division.
January 25, 2005
Patricia Field for the House of Rocawear
Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field is developing a clothing line for Rocawear called Patricia Field for the House of Rocawear. This combination made a lot more sense to me when I saw Patricia Field’s website.
January 25, 2005
Here Comes Ringtone Commodification
Mark Frauenfelder discusses yet another reason that ringtone commodification is right around the corner in DIY ringtone tutorial. I just believe that as more such alternatives emerge, the downward pressure on currently inflated ringtone pricing is going to increase.
