All Eyez on Me

Tupac: 20 Years Gone

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.

Click here for other lists from Dell on Movies

Greatest Basketball Movies

Another basketball season has come and gone. What should you do about getting your basketball fix? If you’re lucky, like me, you live in an area where there’s some good summer hoops to take in. Here in the Triangle (in North Carolina) we have an excellent annual pro-am event starting up next week. So last year I got an advanced viewing of John Wall against pro and major college talent. Some of you may have seen the youtube vid of him dunking on Jerry Stackhouse; same league. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there that night, but he did some impressive stuff when I was there.

If you’re not so lucky maybe you can catch some NBA summer league games on cable. Honestly, I usually don’t bother with that. How about mixing in some drama with your b-ball? If you go that route, these are my greatest basketball movies of all time...

10. The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Moses Gunn, played by the awesome Julius "Dr. J" Erving, is on a fictional pro team in Pittsburgh. He's great but the team sucks. One of Gunn's fans, who's like 15 years old, gets hired & he in turn brings in a psychic who decides the only way this team will succeed is if they bring in all new players that were born under the sign of Pisces cuz Moses Gunn is a pisces. I'm not even making this up. Movie critics the world over will tell how much it sucks but I love it.

9. Above the Rim
Tupac is the local gangsta that runs the street-ball world. The rest of the cast, including star Duane Martin, is capable but at the end of the day it's Pac's charisma that carries the movie. Throw in solid work by the always underrated Leon & we have the makings of a 'hood classic.

8. The Heart of the Game
We follow the Roosevelt Rough Riders, a Seattle high school girls’ basketball team. Their eccentric coach Bill Resler is infectious. He keeps things as loose as possible. However, the real heart of this documentary is star player Darnellia Russell and the trials and tribulations she goes through.

7. Love & BasketballOkay, so an all-out chick-flick makes the cut. Sanaa Lathan & Omar Epps grow up as extremely talented ball-playing next door neighbors who happen to have a thing for each other. Admittedly, even with plenty of basketball being played throughout (the movies even physically broken into four "quarters" like a game is) it boils down to being a romance. For this movie, and one other on this list, I can let that slide.

6. Rebound: The Legend of Earl “The Goat” Manigault
Based on the true rise, fall & rise of NY playground legend Earl "The Goat" Manigault. One of my faves, Don Cheadle, is in the lead-role. Growing up & playing a lot of ball in the city, I heard plenty of stories about "The Goat" so maybe nostalgia gets it this high up on the list but it really is a very good movie. The only one on the list that was made-for-tv. HBO did the honors & they generally make much better movies than other networks.

5. White Men Can't Jump
Woody Harrelson & Wesley Snipes take advantage of the stereotype that white guys aren't as good at basketball as black guys & hustle on various courts in L.A. Lots of basketball and hilarity ensues. Of course, it's the love story that plays out between Harrelson & one of the women of my dreams, Rosie Perez that provides the movie with balance. Well, it really makes it a bit of a chick-flick but for Rosie I'll make an exception.

4. Soul in the Hole
This documentary contains exhilarating, New York City streetball and gut-wrenching drama as we follow two basic storylines. First, we watch the “Kenny Kings” try to go undefeated through the summer. Second, and this is the tough part, we watch the relationship between the team’s coach Kenny Jones and his star player Ed “Booger” Smith, whom Kenny has taken in and cared for as if he were his own son. No one who has seen this movie will ever forget “Booger.”

3. He Got GameThe story of Jesus, Shuttlesworth, that is. Director Spike Lee takes on the college recruiting game & scores big. Real NBA baller Ray Allen plays the lead but helping to elevate a suspect cast are Rosario Dawson as the opportunistic (read: gold digging) girlfriend & the already legendary Denzel Washington as the dad trying to persuade his son. It’s edgy, funny & not given nearly enough credit for predicting the hype surrounding the high school career of LeBron James. Yup, that's what I said.

2. Hoosiers
For many, this is the quintessential sports movie not just basketball movie. It’s Rocky on the hardwood. Gene Hackman is pure genius as the new head coach who has to deal with all the local riff-raff telling him how to do his job. If the story of an underdog high school basketball team in Indiana doesn’t warm your heart, you don’t have one.


1. Hoop Dreams
The intertwining, yet independent tales of William Gates and Arthur Agee make for arguably, the greatest sports documentary of all time. We meet the boys just as they are about to enter high school and leave about a year after they graduate. What happens in between is touching, sad, triumphant, wonderful, bittersweet and just perfect filmmaking.


Just Rimmed Out (honorable mention):

The Air Up There
Blue Chips
Coach Carter
Glory Road
The Great Santini
Gunnin' For That #1 Spot
More Than a Game
Pistol: The Birth of a Legend
Semi-Pro
Space Jam
Sunset Park
Teen Wolf

Bricks (terrible):

The 6th Man
Celtic Pride
Crossover
Juwanna Mann
O
Rebound

DNP - Coach's Decision (haven't seen):

Eddie
Finding Forrester
Forget Paris
A Season on the Brink
That Championship Season

Notorious

Notorious
2009. Rated R, 114 minutes.
Director: George Tillman, Jr. Starring Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Angela Bassett, Antonique Smith, Marc John Jeffries, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Amanda Christopher, Naturi Naughton, Anthony Mackie.

Plot: The life and times of Christopher Wallace, AKA The Notorious B.I.G.

The Good: Even better than simply not making our hero a saint, the movie doesn't try to justify his indiscretions. It's content to show him as a guy who often has to learn the hard way. It also manages to show him as thoughtful, if a bit selfish. Woolard in the title role is simply note-perfect. Unfortunately, he's so good and has a look enough like Biggie I can see him struggling to land other roles. Actually, the title role is shared by Woolard with Biggie's real-life son, Christopher Jordan Wallace, who ably plays his dad as a kid. The movie also makes effective use of Biggie's music as both a score and a soundtrack.

The Bad: I've often complained about movies, especially comedies, that simply run too long. However, I'm a firm believer that biopics should be at least two hours long. This one is a bit shy of that mark and suffers because of it. In particular, his various attempts at reconciliation with the women in his life are either glossed over or just plain left out as things between he and them go from bad to good instantaneously. It also limits character development in others who should/could have had major roles. Lil' Kim (Naturi Naughton) suffers the most as the script makes her completely selfish, lacking any compassion and most other human emotions besides anger. The circle around Biggie known as Junior MAFIA also suffers, only depicted as flunkies and hangers on when by most accounts he did have real friendships within the group. Even his friendship with Puffy is never dealt with.

The Ugly: How he gets "inspired" to make his hit song Juicy.

Recommendation: This is a pretty good biopic that sticks to the headlines from its subject's life. For hip hop fans, it's a worthy first entry into the genre. It could've used some more fleshing out to be great. Even though it's no disappointment, one can't help but wonder how much better a movie about Biggie's friend turned nemesis, the more interesting and dynamic personality Tupac Shakur, could be.

The Opposite View: Rob Daniel, Sky Movies

What the Internet Says: 6.0/10 on imdb.com (4/27/09), 50% on rottentomatoes.com, 60/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7/10