After nearly a decade of me-too gangster films seeking to out-depress audiences with tales of misery and despair from life on the streets or some California hood, black filmmakers decided in the late 1990s to lighten up and start showing a black cast that wasn’t getting gunned down or complaining about life in the hood with a string of romantic comedies featuring ensemble casts typically drawing from the same pool of 15 young, attractive actors.
One of the most popular of the group was 1999′s “The Best Man,” which launched several careers and left fans demanding a sequel. With a $34.1 million gross, the film wasn’t a runaway success (the original “American Pie” grossed $102 million earlier that year), but it was the second highest grossing black film of its time, trailing only “Soul Food‘s” impressive $43.7 million total. Still, it was better than comedies like “The Bachelor,” which despite starring popular actors Chris O’Donnell and Renee Zellweger, only managed $21 million.
“The Best Man” cast in October 2011.
The cast met in October 2011 for a 12-year reunion sparking rumors that a sequel was in the works. Earlier this year that was confirmed and the first trailer was just released.
And just like any good reunion, I thought it’d be fun to look back at the cast and see what they’ve been up to since 1999…
From the “better late than never” department, here’s our first look at the highly anticipated sequel to “The Best Man.”
If absolutely nothing else this should finally convince Universal Studios to release the 1999 original on Blu-Ray. I’m too far in with the format to have to keep certain DVDs until they get upgraded.
Clearly the creative design folks working on “Baggage Claim” were just a bit inspired by the last highly successful romantic comedy starring a predominantly black cast. “TLAM” grossed close to $100 million, so if you’re going to rip off something, it may as well be something that worked very well.
2013 FF: Figure this was an appropriate day to post this one, no? I love these ensemble comedies and all their consistently moving parts. This one is more worthy of a “guilty pleasure” tag, but I enjoy it every time I watch it. Here’s my look back: More
James Bridges/Relativity Media Katie (Julianne Hough) and Alex (Josh Duhamel) in “Safe Haven.”
“Safe Haven” is a suspense thriller that the filmmakers keep forgetting is supposed to be a simple Nicholas Sparks novel turned romance drama. This is a film where the creators are trying to do more than necessary when a basic storytelling approach was all that was needed. More
John Bramley/Warner Bros. Pictures Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert).
With its theme of forbidden love and witches, “Beautiful Creatures” is practically the illegitimate offspring of “Harry Potter” and “Twilight.” The adaptation of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s “Castor Chronicles” is well-suited to be the next big franchise. It’s got all the ingredients, but there’s not enough magic to put you under its spell. More
2013 FF: I sometimes hate saying a movie is a guilty pleasure as it implies that I know I shouldn’t like it, but for some reason I still do. That’s not the case with this week’s flashback — a comedy I’m convinced is underrated starring two absurdly pretty people and a dynamic supporting cast.More
Jonathan Wenk/Summit Entertainment R (Nicholas Hoult) and Julie (Teresa Palmer) in “Warm Bodies.”
I’ve reviewed movies for almost two decades now, but this will be a first for me as I’ll conditionally endorse a movie I didn’t like.
It’s unusual, but “Warm Bodies” easily fits that category as it’s about a zombie falling for a human teen girl. For those who gleefully go along with the premise, the film is surprisingly touching and hilariously funny. Those reared on a steady entertainment diet of playing “Resident Evil” video games and watching “The Walking Dead,” like me, probably can’t buy into a zombie romantic comedy. Especially when the zombie kills his crush’s boyfriend and eats his brains. That was when the film, based off Isaac Marion’s novel, with a healthy dose of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” lost me. More
Kerry Brown/The Weinstein Company Billy Connolly, Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Pauline Collins star in “Quartet.”
“Quartet” is a quaint, simple film that takes an unflinching look at life’s later years when the applause has ended, the talent faded and making the most of the years still ahead.
In lesser hands, this glimpse of a future of failing memory and ever-betraying body would just be crushingly depressing, but this ensemble is a lively fun bunch that warrants several curtain calls. More
Time for a skeleton in my movie critic closet. Ok. Here it goes…
“Over Her Dead Body” is one of my guilty pleasures. On rottentomatoes.com, the film has a 15% freshness rating, meaning 85% of the critics around the world think it blows, but for some reason, I liked it.
A lot of that credit goes to the leads. The vastly underrated Lake Bell gets a starring role working alongside the likeable and dependable Paul Rudd (“This is 40“) and Eva Longoria, who I’m surprised hasn’t become a bigger film star. So here’s the review slightly modified from the original 2008 version. More
After nearly a decade of me-too gangster films seeking to out-depress audiences with tales of misery and despair from life on the streets or some California hood, black filmmakers decided in the late 1990s to lighten up and start showing a black cast that wasn’t getting gunned down or complaining about life in the hood with a string of romantic comedies featuring ensemble casts typically drawing from the same pool of 15 young, attractive actors.
