DVD Review: On Location with Redd Foxx

Enough said, just look at who it is. How many of you can say that you've heard, better yet, seen a Redd Foxx stand up show? We know a lot of you kats never have, but here's your chance to hear and see a pioneer at his best.

This is one of the rarest shows that's available featuring Redd doing stand up. Some of you may have heard a few snippets of this show in a rap song or comedy documentary because this feature is probably his most popular. But the fact that it's available for you to review is what makes it special.

The show starts with Redd coming out and welcoming his all white audience. He makes light, no pun intended, that his audience is all white, so he'll make it real simple for everyone to understand his type of comedy. From the gate, Redd starts blazing cigarettes and putting down drinks. He's not finished with his first full joke before he's already burned up at least 3 jacks. He burns through an entire pack, a fresh pack of jacks, the entire 1 hour plus he's on stage. Now we see why his voice was so gravely.

Redd's jokes were quick and on point. He has some good one liners in there that may go over your head but if you run it back, you may get what he was saying. The entire show is not like that, he does tell stories throughout the show that are simply hilarious. The one story that stuck out is the story of the woman who paid a visit to her doctor with a hormone issue, and we'll leave it at that. You'll have to review the DVD for yourself to hear the rest.

As we stated, we enjoyed this old comedy from Redd Foxx and we wish for everyone to contact us for a chance to review it. It's some good classic stuff on there; the type of stuff your parents used to put you to bed early so they can listen to it theirselves. Now it's your turn to check out what made your folks laugh out loud in the middle of the night.

DVD Review: Janky Promoters

Ice Cube and Mike Epps have done it once again with their newest film, Janky Promoters. Don't think because the movie went straight to DVD means that the movie isn't any good; it just meant that the company that financed the film didn't have any money to market and promote it, so they took their chances on distributing it exclusively with Blockbuster and hope that DVD rental sales can offset some costs. But the movie really is good, so don't skip by it just because....

We start out with Russell Redds and Jellyroll running out of a club or venue, getting shot at by someone wearing corn chips and chucks, then it flashes back to how it all started. Russell and Jellyroll are partners, they promote shows in their hometown of Modesto County, California. Apparently, the two aren't that good at it because ticket sales for the upcoming Young Jeezy isn't doing too good. They claim Modesto is a 'walk up' town and ticket sales will pick up on the day of the event. They haven't paid for the venue, the talent, nothing; they don't have any money, period.

The day of the event, Jeezy comes to town and he wants his money up front. The two stall Jeezy to basically try to get him to perform for free but if that doesn't work out and the gate is short, hustle their way to having him perform for less cash. No one knows the plan but themselves, and when they involve the local drug dealer, an unproven local rapper, wedding money, alleged rape, and use a whole lot of front money on clothes and other material items, things really hit the fan.

We wouldn't say that these two are really janky (shady), but these two dudes just don't have the knowhow, or the clout to make a show happen, even with a headliner such as Young Jeezy coming to town. But when you start messing with people's money, you are going to have to answer a lot of questions and suffer the consequences. When getting involved in such a racquet, your hustle game better be tight and right. Neither Russell nor Jellyroll had the gift to get out of any situation and it was going to cost them their lives. Instead of being professional about everything, they played a lot and when people caught on, they couldn't do nothing but run. In the end, some of the important pieces fell in place for Russell and Jellyroll and all was forgiven, but in reality, most kats aren't so lucky.

To all the young inspiring hustlers out there, think things through first before acting on an impulse. Have backup plans for each one of your plans; make sure you don't screw anyone over in the process for your own personal gain, because the person you screw over today could be someone you depend on later. Imagine being in the shoes of Russell and Jellyroll, throwing wack concert after wack concert; not only you don't have respect for the game, no one will have respect for you as a promoter and as a person. All your street credibility will be gone and there won't be a snowball chance in hell you could ever make money trying to promote anything. Even with your name on a product could taint the efforts of a established promoter. So don't do it to yourself, and don't do it to others. Play the game straight and the game will be straight with you.

DVD Review: Drag Me To Hell

Seeing the trailer for Drag Me To Hell when it was first introduced back in the summer, it looked extremely interesting. We had no idea what it could have been about, except that some dude had a spirit coming out of his mouth and the name of the movie was very intriguing, Drag Me To Hell.

Now, the previews didn’t give too much information on the movie, and neither will we. But we will say that the movie is very entertaining with its special effects and storyline. There is a moral to this story as well, and that will be discussed at the end of this review. But the story of Christine Brown is an odd but sad one. She’s a loan officer in a bank and she wants the assistant manager position real bad. She has competition in a new hire, which the manager has high hopes for. The manager won’t give a decision on who’s he going to name as assistant manager and explains that the two are running neck and neck for the position. Every little thing and every big thing could determine if Christine gets the position she dreams about. The new hire, Stu, is a shifty eyed individual, who you can see, will do anything to undermine Christine and win that position.

When an old lady sits down with Christine and asks for a third extension on her home loan, Christine feels for her, but asks her manager for the extension. The manager doesn’t want to make that decision and leaves it up to Christine. Christine, thinking that denying the old lady an extension will get her in the good graces of her manager, tells the old lady the extension can’t happen and that she’ll be losing her house. The old lady flips out in the middle of the bank and is carried out by security. When Christine is in the garage about to go home, an altercation occurs which leaves her altered, mentally and spiritually.

As the movie progresses, Christine finds out through a seer, that she’s had a curse placed on her and in a matter of 3 days, a demon will come to claim her soul for his own. Now Christine must find the old lady, make amends and ask for the old lady’s forgiveness and to have the curse lifted. As the day turn to night and night to day, a shadowy figure abuse and torment Christine. Through various methods, including a séance, Christine tries to rid herself of the curse and this demon figure that has been tormenting her and will come to claim her soul in a matter of days. The seer then gives her a bit of advice that seemed so simple and could have been done in the very beginning to avoid the drama that her life has been enduring, but the seer wanted to help another medium rid the world of the demon that was unsuccessful 40 years prior.

Once all efforts seem successful, a mental mistake is made and not only does Christine still have to confront the demon that wants her soul, it’s a mistake that she’ll regret for the rest of her life.

The moral of this story is that one’s greed and desire can hurt other people and ultimately destroy oneself. Christine Brown had the opportunity afforded to her to save the old lady’s home and she sought that opportunity to advance her career by putting the old lady out on the street. Not knowing that her one little loan extension will not make or break the bank. She put herself first above someone who needed help and it eventually came back on her in the worst way. Not saying that eternal damnation is a punishment for such a selfish act, but you never know who you’re dealing with and what those people can do to you once you’ve wronged them. Selfishness and greed was Christine’s motivation and it was her downfall. The same thing happened to Tony Montana in the movie Scarface. He got greedy and made a mistake in poor judgment and he died for his selfish act. Remember to think of others first, even with the smallest of things, it’ll make you feel better. Don’t think that you have to be obligated to do anything for anyone, but do it out of the kindness of your heart. You’ll never know when you’ll rely on someone to do something for you, when you’re down and out.

Contact us if you’re interested in reviewing Drag Me To Hell for yourself.

DVD Review: Orphan

When Orphan first previewed, we at P³ Entertainment chalked it up as another Omen knockoff that no one wants to see. Well, there’s an old saying, “never judge a book by its cover”. That saying holds strong to what this movie was about. Yes, the movie is a bit cliché with the disturbed child that does “things” to hurt people, but the movie is entertaining and very surprising on its plot twist.

Orphan is about a married couple who wish to have a third child after the still born delivery a year earlier of their third child. The strain on the mother’s body would be too much for her to carry again, so the couple decides to adopt. They go the route of adopting an older child and after going to the orphanage to meet some potential children they could call their own, they are taken to a young, shy, talented, and very smart 9-year old girl named Esther. After spending several hours talking and getting to know Esther, the couple decides she’s the one they wish to take home.

Esther makes herself right at home by becoming a big sister to the youngest daughter (who’s deaf) and competition to the oldest son. She also gets very close to the father but has a problem with bonding with the mother. In school, Esther is teased about her mode of dress and she makes an enemy out of one little girl who repeatedly teases and torments her. Esther isn’t the type to get teased and tormented, so she finds the right time to let this little girl know she’s the wrong orphan to F with. What Esther does is nothing supernatural like Damien of The Omen, but does something common that kids do when they want get back on someone who’s done them wrong. The littlest sister sees this incident and doesn’t speak of it because Esther influences her that what she did wasn’t wrong and that she will accompany her at all times.

As the movies goes on, the mother becomes suspicious about Esther that bad things happen when she’s around. The mother contacts the orphanage and the nun agrees that in the past, Esther has had problems with socializing with other children in the orphanage and that some of the other homes Esther has lived in, bad things have happened, including the death of an entire family in a house fire. The mother begins to put the pieces of Esther’s puzzle together, but by this time, Esther has won the heart and mind of the father, controls the youngest daughter, and has a battle with the son, which puts him in the hospital. The mother wants Esther out of the house, but the father wants the mother out of the house and a divorce. At this point, we’re thinking, this dude is weak. He’s not even listening to his own wife and siding with a little girl who he knows nothing about and he’s not even being logical in his reasoning when his wife is trying to tell him there’s something wrong with Esther.

When it comes down to it, the mother finds out Esther’s secret. By this time, the mother has been committed for a psych evaluation and Esther is set out to complete her mission. The mother does everything in her power to save her family and Esther will see to it that she doesn’t.

The ending has a plot twist, of sorts, that took us by surprise. Everyone isn’t who they seem to be and raises our eyebrow on you knowing exactly who you deal with at all times. But the lesson to be learned from this movie is keep your eyes open at all times, and listen to your loved ones. When they are trying to tell you something, listen. It could be a matter of life or death.

Contact us if you’re interested in reviewing Orphan for yourself.

DVD Review: Blood and Bone

Here’s another flick that you’ve probably seen advertised on television, once. Seeing the preview, we didn’t know what to think of it. It stars Michael Jai White, the black martial arts dude that played Spawn many, many, many years ago, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, Trois 2: Pandora’s Box, and a slew of other movies. You’ve seen him before. The movie also stars the sexy Nona Gaye, daughter of soul and R&B legend, Marvin Gaye; Eamonn Walker, who played Minister Said from the old HBO show Oz, and a few recognizable names and faces from the MMA world.

The movie starts out with Bone (Michael Jai White) in prison and talking to another inmate; then a group of other inmates surround him with the option of joining their group or suffer. Bone turns around and tells the group “they have until the count of 5”, and they all think he’s joking as he starts the countdown. When he gets to 3, he proceeds to mash the entire group and wants the group’s leader to deliver a message, “I want you to tell every motherfucka behind these walls, if they get the notion to fuck with me……….don’t”. Now that’s some go-hard shit.

Once Bone is released from prison, he finds a place to stay. He takes up with an old man and a woman who take in children to keep them safe from the streets. The woman lays down the rules of the house and he humbly obliges. As Bone stays in the house, he befriends the old man by playing chess with him and taking an interest in why the children are in the house to make the woman feel easy about him being in the house. Bone befriends a small Asian dude named Pinball after going to an underground Fight Club. Pinball is a promoter and Bone takes an interest in fighting under Pinball’s management for money. From this point, Bone’s mission is about to take place.

Introduced during the first pit-fight, we have the villain, James, played by Eamonn Walker. He’s a well-suited individual with a look in his eye of a man who gets what he wants when he wants it. There is a moment where Bone and James make eye contact where you know something is up between the two. James leaves the event to take care of some other business and Bone convinces Pinball to get him a fight with the last $200 in his pocket. Bone wins the fight in quick and impressive fashion and goes on to become the craze of the underground circuit after winning several fights over time. Word gets back to James and he has a proposition for Bone to fight for him. Bone tells James he’d think about fighting for him and from this point, Bone becomes his own man and James has a problem with that.

There is a reason why Bone and James’ lives become intertwined. It’s a deep story of a man who sets out for revenge for all the right reasons. Bone is a man who keeps his word to a friend and unites those lost in the storm with those who are looking for guidance. He doesn’t lose his cool throughout the movie, even in dire situations, which we find pretty funny, but that’s cool. The fight scenes are pretty good, and the final battle is pretty entertaining to watch. The storyline is pretty solid and not too predictable, so it’s a movie you can sit through and not get bored with it.
We recommend this film for those who are interested in martial arts movies with a pretty solid storyline, good fighting, and OK acting.

Contact us if you’re interested in reviewing Blood and Bone for yourself.

DVD Review: Mike Epps - Funny Bidness

In the light of Chappelle’s Show, funnyman Mike Epps brings his own brand of sketch comedy to DVD with the hilarious Funny Bidness. With a mixture of stand-up comedy, straight from the streets interaction with everyday people, and sketch comedy, this DVD is a must have for your collection.

Mike Epps is one funny dude. He starts off with some stand up, talking about everything as common as standing on the stage and having thoughts of looking like a pimp, to seeing a white girl leave early and he noticing she has no ass. It’s the usual Mike Epps, cracking jokes and acting silly. The skits are the highlight of the DVD. He starts the skits off by having a parody of the late night reality show “Cheaters”, where Mike plays a guy cheating on his girlfriend with someone from her family. He’s out in the open about his cheating and the explanation why he’s cheating will have you rolling on the floor.

Some of his stand up, you may have seen from previous stand up shows and DVD releases, but that’s normal for comedians to recycle jokes for about a year, but the new stuff is must see. He talks about strip clubs, having more friends while on drugs than when having money, relationships with God once you get money and how God will test your faith by threatening to take your money, and how expensive church has gotten.

Other skits include a parody of “Unsolved Mysteries”, where a parolee winning a $2 million dollar lottery and celebrating the win in the halfway house he’s staying in then comes up missing, and he didn’t go on vacation; a day in the life of Michelle and Barack Obama in the White House; and a skit where a lonely woman summons the mythical “The Cuddler” to lay down and cuddle with her. There are other skits on the DVD that are just as funny like the parody of the Dr. Phil Show, and a mid 80s early 90s singing and dancing sensation who went from riches to rags due to an embarrassing problem, he had to ‘fly the coup’. We’re not going to tell everything that he does in the 90 minutes of hilarious antics, but it’s a good DVD to pick up and pop in and have a good time with your lady/man or while you’re having a get together.


Check out the DVD. It’s available from P³ Entertainment for review.

DVD Review: Next Day Air

The previews don't give this movie any justice. When you see the previews, you think that's going to be some corny comedy movie starring Mike Epps, Wood Harris, Donald Faison and a couple others in the supporting cast. Well, this movie will take you by surprise on how determined everyone was on making "the exchange" after a package is delivered to the wrong apartment. The movie has its funny moments, but the drama of making that exchange is what makes it different. We can't say whether the movie is supposed to be a comedy mixed with action, or simply a dark comedy, action/crime movie. We're leaning more towards dark comedy, action/crime movie due to the subject matter and violence.

The movie starts off with Donald Faison's character delivering a package to the wrong apartment because he's always high on the job. The package is then opened and low and behold, it's 10 bricks of yayo. Mike Epps and Wood Harris' characters decide to sell the contents of the package to an associate who has the money to take it off their hands easily. When it's realized that the package was delivered but to the wrong location, the people who was expecting the package goes looking for it. Then the sender of the package involves himself in the search by making a special trip from California to Philadelphia and dishing out his brand of pain because he's looking for his product.

Once everyone with their agendas on their mind meet in the same place, the air gets real thick and the drama picks up, 10 fold. Now relunctant businessmen are now forced allies and when it's all said and done, a simple mistake of delivering a package to the wrong door leads to sheer confusion and a massive shootout ensues.

There are lessons to be learned during this movie. The lesson of you can't always trust those close to you. You've heard the saying, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". With so much on the line, drugs and money, friendships are re-evaluated on mere misspoken words, and the thought of bringing harm to your own family members are put to the test. Just because someone has status or something material, makes them a target. Do you have the will to put that all to the side and protect your family, or will you go all out, and take them out for your own personal gain? Loyalty to family or loyalty to money is the question. That's a little something within the movie you might want to look out for.

There's a quotable during the movie and repeated towards the end that should be remembered, "Always remember what you're doing it for. If it ain't worth dying for, you don't want to be in it."

DVD Review: Charm City

This movie went under the radar, no lie. It's that realism that sets this movie apart from other idenpendent films that come out. Charm City is the nickname of Baltimore, Maryland, if you didn't know, and this film captures some of the struggles that a trio of dudes deal with trying to make it in the city. One dude owns a night club and has to deal with a zoning issue that may have the club closed down. Another dude is simply a tender loving mofo who's about his girls and money, and the last dude is fresh out the joint, wanting to make something of himself and live a straight life.

All three dudes know each other from their childhood days and are well connected to each other. Their private lives are their private lives, so business doesn't mix with pleasure. But when word gets out that a local drug dealer is cakin' like that and one of his henchmen goes around bragging about it, our three dudes take it upon himself to rob the henchmen. When the drug dealer tries to enter the club that one of the dudes own for a night out on the town, he's kicked out and a war on words is played out, which leads to a war in the streets. Not only did the drug dealer have no idea that the three dudes robbed his man for his stash, but the falling out at the club indirectly puts them on his hit list, so regardless, he's going to get them one by one.

On some side business, one of the dudes is interested in his best friends (not associated with the other two) girl. She shows interest in him first because her ex-boyfriend is a cheat and he's torn on whether to step on his man's toes or just let everything play out. When his man finds out that he's messing with her, he steps to him and they rumble. When the fight is over, they realize they been friends too long to let a female come between them and he gets his boy's blessing to mess with her. Then he has news for him that will shock anyone down to their foundation.

You may recognize some of the characters from The Wire, since the movie is based in Baltimore, they try to keep everything "Baltimore", if you know what we're saying. This movie is not too far out there when it comes to the story and it does feel like you know these dudes, or know people in these similar situations. It's almost like a real reality show, edited into a movie.

Check out Charm City, if you haven't already. It's a little drawn out and long, but the story is good and easy to follow. Let us know if you'd like to review Charm City by contacting us at p.3entertainment@live.com

DVD Review: Thug Life in D.C.

There is a war going on in the streets of Washington. Teenage ‘thugs’ armed with automatic weapons run many of the inner city blocks. Fully half of the black men between the ages of 18 and 35 are in the prison system. That is more than 24.000 young men in jail or in prison, on probation or parole, out on bond or on the run. For many of them ‘Thug Life’ is the guiding philosophy. As they see it, life is short, with few options, so they live fast and dangerously, as they scramble for their share of the pie with the rapacious zeal of corporate raiders.

Filmmakers Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson follow one of these teenagers over the course of two and a half years, from his entry into the prison system. We meet Aundrey Burno #268 428, aka ‘Bruno’, in the DC jail, where he is awaiting trial for the attempted murder of a police officer and the murder of an 18-year-old boy. He has been locked down on suspicion of stabbing another inmate. He wears a towel over his face, outlaw style. He is king of the juveniles, well respected for his dedication to thug life. ”I am the definition of thug,” he says. He is facing a total of 115 years.

Thug Life In D.C. tells the harrowing true story of Aundrey. On one hand Burno is a street-hardened young man who talks of the "thug life" creed that "you gotta do what you gotta do to survive," but at the same time it's hard not to see the fear and despair in his eyes as his case moves along, or in his pleas to his younger brother not to follow the path he's walked. Thug Life In D.C. was produced by Levin for HBO's America Undercover documentary series.

But as his 18th birthday approaches, so does the grim realization that he may spend the rest of his life in prison. He takes off his mask to speak to the filmmakers, revealing a young man with surprising insights into himself and his circumstances. He tries to convince his younger brother, Kevin, not to follow in his footsteps, but predicts that he will join him one day. Bruno feels that he has no options in life, observing, ”Our generation died when our fathers were born.”

DVD Review: Dough Boys

Most of you probably saw this on BET and thought it was a fake Juice or Boyz N Da Hood, or some other 'hood movie. Nah, it doesn't even scratch the surface of those classic films, but it does display the greed of a group of young hustlers who have no direction in life but to live what they know.......survival.

When four young men plot to make quick cash by breaking into a storage facility and steal the counterfeit poker chips of a unknown person and sell them to a known big time hustler from the neighborhood, they didn't expect what would happen next. For the next few days, their lives are turned upside down when they have to come up with $10,000 by the end of the week and pay the individual whom the chips belong to.........the hustler they were trying to sell them to.

Check out the young men as they plan, plot, scheme, rob, and sell their possessions to come up with the money by the deadline or get bodied. But when unforeseen circumstances happen and they to, get robbed, their situation takes them right back to square one. Now they going to come up a dollar short and a day late on making their payment, so they plan another thoughtless move.........rob the big time drug dealer living in their apartment building. Now they really knee deep in something they don't know how to handle. Can they stick together and figure out a way to come up with the money, or will they crumble and meet their fate, by way of the gun?

DVD Review: V (The Mini Series)

First of all, most of you kats are probably too young to remember this television show unless you are in your late 20s, early 30s, or older to remember it. This show came on NBC and it's considered as a groundbreaking sci-fi show for its special effects during its time. The show came out in 1983, so most of you are not going to know what I'm talking about and why I'm even talking about it.

I just got this DVD in because Hollywood is about to do a movie remake out of it to make that almighty dollar from something of the 80s once again and I want to get my hands on it before it'll be a hard find. Apparently, Hollywood has run out of ideas and now is reaching back to the Golden Era of movies and entertainment to recycle their dollar. I ain't mad at them for doing it, plus it'll introduce some good stuff that the last couple generations missed out on.

The story starts with alien ships coming to Earth in search of resources, since they used up all their resources on their home world (sounds like us in the next 50 years or so). So the aliens seems nice and they want to exchange technology and other pleasantries with humans to show they are peaceful. Well, we all know that's B.S. because the aliens real plan is to kill or enslave all humans, take Earth's resources and get this............eat rats. Yep, the aliens favorite dish is that almighty rat. They not hungry for any iHop, Yums, Levi's, or Popeye's chicken, they want that rat and sometimes...........humans. And the worst thing is that they may look human on the outside, but once they tear away that rubber skin, we get a green goblin lookin' lizard up under there. And to make matters worse, some of the aliens develop feelings (emotional and sexual) towards humans, and even a cross breed alien/human baby is born during the series. You have to check it out.

Call me a geek for knowing what I know about all this stuff, but I'm here to keep you entertained. We all know how fun the 80s was, and I remember how entertaining V was to me, so take your mind on a trip down memory lane and check out V (The Mini Series).