Movies & TV
First Sunday (2008) – Sony Pictures – trailer on YouTube
Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Morgan) are best friends and small-time criminals. When Durell learns that his ex-girlfriend plans to move to another state with their son unless they can get her $17,000 to pay off a debt, they come up with a half-baked plan to rob their neighborhood church. But when the duo fumbles their way through the break-in, they discover someone has beaten them to the mark. In order to get their hands on the money, Durell and LeeJohn are forced to spend the night in the presence of the Lord and his followers–and end up getting a lot more than they bargained for. Buy from Amazon.com
30 Rock – NBC
Former Saturday Night Live head writer Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer of The Girlie Show. Liz’s life turns crazy when her old boss dies and is replaced by Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin.) Jack changes the show’s name to TGS with Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) and adds an flighty actress to the show’s cast. Liz must also deal with her unpredictable crew of writers and assistants as well as pacify former headliner Jenna Maroney.
SNL – The Best of Tracy Morgan – NBC
Born and raised in New York City Tracy Morgan epitomized the bold and defiant attitude essential to being an SNL star. Bringing a sense of fearlessness to the stage Tracy was sure to make hilarious moments come alive each and every week…just as long as you brought him a soda. Now finally you can watch the best of Brian Fellow Astronaut Jones Dominican Lou Woodrow and many others. The best of Tracy Morgan also features bonus material along with outrageous outtakes and scenes that were cut after Dress Rehearsal and never seen again until now. DVD available from Amazon.com
Totally Awesome (2006) trailer on YouTube
As Ben Stein notes in his introduction, Totally Awesome has a lot in common with “the great teen movies of the 1980s,” like Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Karate Kid, and Teen Wolf. (To that list, you can add Pretty in Pink, Soul Man, Weird Science, and Some Kind of Wonderful.) He doesn’t let on that it’s a spoof, presenting it as a lost classic from 1986. As with Footloose–or 1990’s Beverly Hills 90210–two siblings move to a new town just in time for the school year. In this case, Charlie (Mikey Day) and Lori (Dominique Swain) relocate from Pennsylvania to California. He’s a senior, she’s a junior. She wants to dance. He just wants to be cool, like Kipp (Joey Kern) and girlfriend Kimberly (Brittany Daniel). Naturally, dancing is not allowed. As expected, the two plucky teens find ways to achieve their goals. Just as predictable as the plot is the dialogue, which couldn’t be clunkier, and the acting, which couldn’t be more over-the-top (Swain’s screaming, for instance, get old fast). Still, like the Scary Movie series it emulates, there’s a laugh or two to be had, and Day is a likable lead. Written and directed by Neil Brennan (Half Baked, Chappelle’s Show), this VH1 production features 1980s tunes from the likes of A-Ha, Cinderella, Wang Chung, and Katrina and the Waves, along with appearances from Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, James Hong, and Tone-Loc performing “Crazy Stuff,” the prototype for “Wild Thing.” –Kathleen C. Fennessy (review from Amazon.com) Buy from Amazon.com
