Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Based on True Events

Pointless List: Greatest Rappers Turned Actors

Yesterday, we talked about the movie depicted above, New Jack City. That means it's a perfect time to speak about just how far rappers have come on the big (and small) screen. New Jack was one of the first movies to feature a rapper in a prominent role that wasn't him/herself. In the time since, they've become a persistent, if not always consistent, part of Hollywood. For me, these are the best actors of all time...who started as emcees.

10. Eve

Best Movie Performance: as Terri in The Barbershop franchise

The self-proclaimed “pit bull in a skirt” proved she could hang with the fellas with two really good performances in the Barbershop movies. She parlayed that into a fairly successful sitcom, the simply titled Eve. From there, she ventured into more dramatic fare and was widely praised for work in the unsettling Kevin Bacon vehicle The Woodsman. Since then she's done some TV and small indie films. I hope she gets better acting opportunities because I think she really is a talented actress.

9. Ludacris

Best Movie Performance: as Skinny Black in Hustle & Flow

It's probably a little hypocritical of me to put a guy on the list whose best performance is playing a rapper. But he was genuinely good as Skinny Black in Hustle & Flow.  He was also solid in Best Pic Winner Crash. The real reason he's here, though, is because he has carved out a very nice career for himself, including as a vital member of the ensemble for the Fast and Furious franchise.

8. Ice-T

Best Movie Performance: as Jack Mason in Surviving the Game

Ice seems to have been around forever. He was an unknown rapper who landed a part playing himself, but only rapping not speaking, in 1984’s Breakin’ (and it’s sequel). He had some musical success locally in LA but it was still a few years until he had a national hit. It was a few more years until he got back onto the big screen. This time, he had a major role in 1991’s New Jack City. He gets lots of points for being a pioneer in this Hip Hop to Hollywood game. Even though, I can’t recall ever thinking he was a really good actor, he’s been reliable and perhaps more importantly he had a period where he was really bankable. His early movies made money. Whenever he guest-starred on TV’s New York Undercover the ratings shot through the roof. He's since become a solid performer in smaller roles and has settled in as a regular on Law & Order: SVU.

7. LL Cool J

Best Movie Performance: as God in In Too Deep

Like Ice-T, LL has been at this acting thing for quite a while now. In fact, the two share a really similar career arc. LL started with a cameo as himself way back when in 1985’s hood classic Krush Groove He would do the same the following year in the Goldie Hawn football movie Wildcats. He was one of the first rappers to star in his own sitcom, In the House, which had a solid 5 year run. His turn as a big time gangsta who called himself God opposite Omar Epps in In Too Deep is perfect. This is especially praise-worthy since LL’s always been more of a lover than a bad guy. He has charm, charisma and a presence few can match and none can deny. None other than famed film critic Roger Ebert has commended him on this. Honestly though, if he had, or starts, picking better movie projects he’d be near the top of this list.

6. Ice Cube

Best Movie Performance: as Doughboy in Boyz N the Hood

Honestly, since his winning debut in Boyz N the Hood, Cube hasn't been anywhere near as good. However, that hasn't stopped him from becoming one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. With rare exceptions, his movies make money…lots of money. He’s simply a force to be reckoned with at the box office. As a rapper, he helped create gangsta-rap and has been involved with arguably three of the best albums the genre has ever seen, Straight Outta Compton as a member of NWA and Amerikkka’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate as a solo artist. Therefore, it feels kind of strange to say that he’s one of the most profitable comedic actors in the world, but it’s true. As proof, he’s the face of three highly lucrative comedy movie franchises: Friday, Barbershop, and Are We There/Done Yet?. That doesn't even count him having a major role in the Jump Street movies. Earlier this year, his buddy cop movie Ride Along, co-starring Kevin Hart, was a huge financial success. Love his movies or hate them, he gets it done where it counts, at the box office.

5. Tupac Shakur

Best Movie Performance: as Bishop in Juice

Tupac was less a person than a pure force of nature. It was impossible to take your eyes off him. His immense presence combined with an ability to be completely sincere no matter what he was saying led to some powerful performances. His turn as Bishop in Juice is wonderfully twisted. It has become legendary among hood-movie connoisseurs. As Lucky in Poetic Justice he was perfectly standoffish, yet vulnerable. He was even more vulnerable and all around flawless in Gridlock’d. Though I rate Juice as his best performance, I’d have to call this #1A. His fervent fans will tell me he should be #1. Talent-wise, it’s definitely arguable that he should be. Sadly, the brevity of his life and career kept him from giving us anything more than the few gems he left us with and from being even higher on this list.

4. Mos Def

Best Movie Performance: as Vivien Thomas in Something the Lord Made

Mos Def is one of the most underrated actors working today. He has a list of credits that’s not only as long as my arm but it hits nearly every demographic and goes back over two decades, starting with a role in TV’s God Bless the Child in 1988. He’s done just about every genre you can think of: action (16 Blocks, The Italian Job), comedy (Be Kind Rewind, Next Day Air), Sci-Fi (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), drama (The Woodsman, Monster’s Ball), voiceover (The Boondocks)…he’s done it all. No matter what he’s been asked to do, he’s excelled. In 2005, he was a Golden Globe nominee for his work in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made.

3. Queen Latifah

Best Movie Performance: as Cleo in Set it Off

The Queen is on my short list of most important rappers of all time. However, that has as much to do with what she’s done outside of rap as it does actually rapping. Her career as a thespian started with a brief yet powerful tirade against Wesley Snipes’ character in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever. From there, she had a few bit parts in TV and movies until she landed the part of Cleo in Set it Off. She gave a phenomenal performance. It’s a character that’s as far removed from her carefully crafted public persona as possible, yet she’s effortlessly believable. She hasn’t stopped working as an actress since, except by choice. She’s had a successful sitcom, Living Single. She’s been in some major money-makers (like Chicago and the Ice Age movies), some low-budget but well received fare (like Beauty Shop, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Secret Life of Bees), and everything in between. In 2003, she received an Oscar nomination for her work in Chicago In 2006, she became the first rapper to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In ’08, she won a Golden Globe and earned an Emmy nomination for her role in TV’s Life Support.

2. Mark Wahlberg

Best Movie Performance: as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights

A former Calvin Klein underwear model with six pack abs, a brother that made it big with New Kids on the Block (Donnie, a fine actor in his own right) and a catchy rap song (the hugely successful "Good Vibrations"), Marky Mark was tailor made for the MTV crowd. He parlayed that into a cameo as himself in TV’s The Substitute and then into a role in the Danny DeVito vehicle Renaissance Man. He was widely praised for his work in Boogie Nights. I'll forever maintain that he should have gotten an Oscar nomination for this role. Though he himself didn't get one, the movie was nominated for 3 Oscars. He did make big money with that movie as well as a number of others. Most notably, The Big Hit, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm,The Italian Job, and 2 Guns. 2006’s The Departed finally earned him that Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. He also received critical acclaim for his fantastic work as real life boxer Micky Ward in 2011's The Fighter.

1. Will Smith

Best Movie Performance: as Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness

This guy’s success at whatever he’s tried is nothing short of phenomenal. As the rapping part of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, he won the first ever Grammy for Best Rap Album. He took the Fresh Prince persona to the small screen and starred in the hugely successful sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It was the first and still by far, the most successful sitcom any rapper has ever starred in. While there, he honed his acting skills and received critical acclaim with his role in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. Since then, he’s become nothing short of the biggest movie star in the world. The list of his movies that reached #1 at the box office seems endless and growing. He’s starred in 14 movies that have grossed over $200 million worldwide, 10 of them made over $300 million. Five of them, Independence Day, Men in Black, I Am Legend, Hancock, and Men in Black 3 have made over $500 million. He's the only actor to have eight consecutive movies gross better than $100 million here in the U.S and ten straight pull in at least $150 million worldwide. That's not the only rapper/actor, the only actor, period. However, he’s managed to have some substance with all that style. He’s twice been nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, for 2001’s Ali and 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness.


As always, feel free to let me know who I've left out.

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Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

Directed by Ice-T.

2012. Rated R, 112 minutes.
Cast:
Ice-T
Grandmaster Caz
Ice Cube
Q-Tip
Dr. Dre
Snoop Dogg
Nas
Rakim
Xzibit
KRS-One
Mos Def
Redman
MC Lyte
Treach

Right away Ice-T, our host and the director, tells us that the one thing he knows for sure is that rapping takes skill. To demonstrate this, he then interviews numerous emcees whose collective careers span the entire chronology of hip hop. This makes Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap part history lesson. Calling it a nostalgic trip down memory lane is more accurate as Ice often seems to be visiting old friends. Inevitably, SFN is also part diatribe against the current state of the genre as a number of old schoolers lament the lack of craft in most of today’s popular rap music. Finally, it couldn’t be a hip hop documentary without lots of rapping. Most of the emcees interviewed give us an impromptu, though not necessarily freestyle, rhyme.

Ice-T makes for an amiable host. He’s genuinely having a good time talking shop with his buddies. He’s even fun when admonishing regular folk on the street for getting in his shot. His love and enthusiasm for hip hop shines through. There’s never a moment when he seems to be just going through the motions. He’s completely invested in his topic and has much admiration for the people he’s speaking with. If he’s faking it then this is, by far, the best acting job he’s ever done.

It shows they feel the same about him, also. Quite a few rappers mention how much Ice-T meant to the game. Invariably, these same rappers would burst into their own rendition of his classic “Six in the Morning” while he beams proudly and helps out.

For any rap fan, hearing these guys break into their own verse is a highlight. As expected, their lyrics run the gamut from political to gangsta, spiritual to braggadocious, profound to profane and whatever else you can think of. We even get to watch hip hop legend Grandmaster Caz compose a verse on the spot with pen and paper, then recite. It’s not the greatest rhyme ever but fun to see.

The absolute pinnacle of all this lyricism is wisely positioned at the very center of the movie. Current star Joe Budden recites a rhyme that’s as harrowing a tale as you’ll ever hear, ripe with all sorts of insight and reasoning. It resonates because the person depicted is not some sort of super-thug, but a real person whose daily choices significantly impact his life. During most of the time Joe is rapping, a montage of shots from around New York City plays out in a non-sensational manner. This not only demonstrates the depths which rap is capable of but it is two minutes or so of brilliant filmmaking. Fittingly, it’s the last thing we experience in New York (though not of New Yorkers) where the entire first half of the movie takes place.

While Ice is a fun-loving host, his questions don’t probe enough. A huge part of his stated purpose for making this film is getting inside the craft of rap. For those he engages on the topic (which isn’t everyone), he asks what they consider ideal writing conditions. This is a fine starting point but he leaves it at that. At best, it’s only a glimpse at the very beginning of the creative process, not the whole thing as his lack of a follow-up question suggest. Consequently, we’re left with a boat load of shallow answers. We only get more interesting, possibly useful information, if the person asked freely volunteers it. This only happens a few times, but you can see the eyes of the speaker light up, alerting the viewer we’re about to dive a bit deeper. Even these guys aren’t always allowed time enough to truly get into it unless they manage to dominate the conversation which Ice doesn’t always allow. Part of this is his fault for just plain stepping on the toes of his subjects, interrupting them when it feels like they’re about to get on a roll. Sometimes, it’s Ice genuinely helping out as a few of the artists are simply not articulate enough to explain themselves in a concise manner.

Another ingredient that seems to hamper Ice’s interviewing abilities is the movie’s apparent preference for quantity over quality. Instead of really getting into the nuts and bolts of with one artist or another, we rush off to the next emcee. Too often, a rapper will give a quick answer to one question and either be shown dropping a rhyme or is never heard from again. Cramming in as many people as possible leads to two things. First, scenes where it’s clear there was more entertaining and relevant discussion feel cut short. Second, it feels like hip hop role call where fans will likely find themselves thinking about who is missing from the roster. Clearly, a less is more approach would’ve worked wonders.

While rappers are obviously missing from either the New York or Los Angeles portions of the movie, both cities and their surrounding regions are well represented. Other than a stop in Detroit to interview both Eminem and Royce da 5’9”, the rest of the country is ignored. Most egregiously, the south is almost wholly absent. Thankfully, rapper Bun B is included, even if it is only briefly. He also happens to give us one of the more poignant moments of the movie. “The Dirty South” has never been thought of as a hotbed for talented lyricists, but there definitely are a number of them who live below New Jersey and east of California. At the very least, could Ice-T not find Scarface? OutKast? Ludacris? I can’t believe what I’m about to say given that I’m hardly the biggest proponent of southern rap. If you’re going to make a big deal about how rap grows region-by-region you should pay more attention to the one that’s been the most prevalent in our collective conscience for the better part of the last decade and a half.

In at least one regard, despite who may or may not be missing, hurrying along from subject to subject works. It keeps things light and moving at a brisk pace. If you’re at all a fan, the nearly two hours flies by as a new perspective or another rhyme is never too far away. Not a ton of it sticks to the ribs but it is fun to sit through. Those interviewees that do manage to go beyond the others include the aforementioned Caz, Bun B, Rakim and Xzibit along with Treach, Ras Kass and KRS-One. KRS and Kanye West both speaking of their first battles is also fun. If these names mean nothing to you this is probably not the movie for you. If they do, this is an enjoyable but only occasionally meaty documentary featuring more rappers than you can shake a mic at.

MY SCORE: 7.5/10