There’s been quite a bit of conversation about HOUSE PARTY in the news these days. Let me respond to what you may have heard. First of all, remember I only made the first one. I had no involvement in the sequels (except cashing a check because it was based on my creation). The studio made those films, and didn’t make them the way I would have. Truthfully, I haven’t seen most of the sequels. Why ruin my day?

A lot of people think it’s time for sequel or reboot of the HOUSE PARTY franchise, but none more than Full Force, who played the bullies in the original. Full Force has been talking about a sequel to HOUSE PARTY. I love Full Force, and we talk all the time. And yes, we’ve talked about a HOUSE PARTY sequel.

Then I get phone calls from actor friends telling me they are auditioning for what sounds like some direct to video sequel being shot in South Africa. South Africa? Oh and it’s being made on 4 week production schedule. So this is some quickie crap knock off.

Warner Premiere, the company who is financing this movie, is shutting down, this is one of their last corporate acts, to further stink up the HOUSE PARTY legacy. I haven’t read the script nor do I know anything about who’s in…it might turn out to be a masterpiece. But probably not.

I will revisit this subject matter, because kids deserve better than they get these days, but I’ll probably start from scratch and build a new franchise. Because I actually have imagination.

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I love Comicon, but adding DJANGO UNCHAINED made it an especially sweet pilgrimage!

First of all, we flew there.  How am I gonna do that four hour drive after that 40 minute flight?  I’m ruined.

 
This may not read as a huge line that went on for blocks of fans who were waiting to get into Hall H to see the DJANGO presentation, but that’s what it is. 

Quentin, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson and Walt Goggins were all great on the panel.  Christoph Waltz got a staggering amount of applause. 
We played the super secret, industry only 8 minute sizzle reel we had only played in Cannes.  The response was overwhelming. To sit in the middle of 6500 fans cheering as a black man gets revenge on evil slavers…I got choked up. From a conversation at a party to a dream come true. 

Next Quentin and I rushed over to the other end of the convention hall to announce the DJANGO UNCHAINED limited comic series. The book will be based on Quentin’s original script. 

After some shopping on the convention floor, we headed over to the DJANGO signing booth where Quentin and the cast signed pictures for fans. 

Then we hopped back on the plane and headed back to LA.  A good time had by all.

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Three cast members of DJANGO UNCHAINED – Jamie “Django” Foxx, Kerry “Broomhilda” Washington and Samuel L. “Stephen” Jackson repped for Django at the BET Awards, where Samuel L Jackson was the host.  DJANGO’S first TV spot debuted that night.  Wanna see it?  Here it is:

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Here are the U.S. and international teaser trailers for DJANGO UNCHAINED.  We were still deep in shooting when these were produced so there’s still a lot of movie you’re not seeing yet.  But tell me what you think about what these:

Here’s a shot from Kerry Washington and I at the National Association of Black Journals Convention, which was conveniently held in New Orleans this year.  We had a great dialogue with the press, who saw an extended reel of clips.  

Kerry Washington is as lovely and intelligent in real life as Olivia Pope on SCANDAL.  She’s also as good a spokesperson. Her elegant, classy approach balances out my wild man tone.

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Django Unchained Footage Revealed:
Cannes Reaction

Tarantino's 'Southern' looks mighty fine

May 21st 2012
By Total Film

Cannes was treated to a sneak peak of Quentin Tarantino's tale of an escaped slave seeking both revenge and his stolen wife tonight, and judging by the clips we saw, Django Unchained is going to be... well, off the chain.

Here's 8 things we now know about QT's 'Southern'.

1) It's going to be widescreen stunning

Opening with a beautiful wide desert landscape shot that recalls Leone, we're introduced to a chain-gang of slaves dragging their weary feet over rock and stones, stumbling over their shackles and watched over by their captors on horseback.

Among them is Jamie Foxx's Django - raggedly bearded and wild eyed, clearly in mental torment and seething with rage, as Johnny Cash sings hauntingly over the soundtrack. Mood-wise and lensing-wise (he's shooting anamorphic on 35mm), Tarantino is clearly looking to deliver epic.

2) Christoph Waltz's Dr King Shultz is going to equal Hans Landa

In a night-time woodland scene, we were treated to Waltz's intro to the film - riding through the gloom in a tiny carriage with a bobbing model of a molar on top (he moonlights as a dentist) Schultz stops to introduce his horse (who bows on command) to the chain-gang masters. Impeccably-dressed, the good doctor greets all before expertly filling the bad guys with lead.

He's calm, collected, sardonic and morally ambiguous. Another classic character in the making?

3) It's bloody

Like any good QT flick, Django Unchained promises unflinching fisticuffs. In the footage we saw, Waltz plugs holes in heads and splatter's blood like a good 'un and Foxx's Django is deadly with a bull whip - lashing one fat slave trader to shreds amid the Spanish moss-laden oak trees of a plantation.

4) Leonardo is going bad to the bone

As Calvin Candie, a sadistic slave owner who enjoys making his slaves fight gladiatorial battles at his Candie Land plantation, DiCaprio is oily (in both hair and manner), puffing on his cigarette-holder and leering at Foxx across his opulent salon.

"You had my curiosity," he drawls in a molasses accent while toying with a hammer, "Now you have my attention." Django wants to rescue his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from Candie Land, so what's going to go down?

5) This is the coolest Foxx has ever been

Whether he's rocking leather cowboy duds or a frilly blue valet suit (in a scene where Django is ridiculed by houseslaves for his choice of outfit), Foxx's Django is the epitome of cool, a heat-seeking missile looking for his wife.

Foxx has described Django as "Richard Roundtree meets Clint Eastwood" and watching him ride his fine horse through a town of staring shop-keepers, hat-brim dipped low, we can attest that he's making all the right moves. "My name's Django," he drawls at one point, "the D is silent." What a dude.

6) Don Johnson is channelling the Colonel

Dressed all in dazzling white, with pointy goatee and slow, slow Southern drawl, Don Johnson is all mighty fine manners as a plantation owner Shultz and Django call on. His exchanges with the duo look fun, but we're hoping there's a darkness to Johnson's charming KFC schtick.

7) Schultz and Django are like Butch and Sundance

Bound together in a mutual aim, Schultz teaches Django to shoot by aiming at a snowman and treats the emancipated slave as an equal. From the clips we saw it's clear this relationship grows into a bond that could make it one of cinema's greatest buddy movies. The title may be all about Django, but the dramatic arc is all about the duo.

8) The N word crops up a lot

Tarantino has written a film set in the pre-civil war South and his script reflects all the realities of that. So expect the N-bomb to be dropped everywhere by everyone.

Django Unchained opens in the US on 25 December 2012 (and 18 January 2013 in the UK).

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New Orleans has spectacular food.  I’ve had some of the best meals of my life here.  So much I’ve stopped dining out so I won’t turn into a round ball with glasses on.

Fortunately, my dear friend and One Of The Smartest People I Know Alice Randall, who wrote the New York Times best-seller THE WIND DONE GONE has a new book.  It’s about weight loss and love.  It’s getting great reviews everywhere and it’s both an entertaining and practical read. 

This is the story:  Ada Howard, the wife of the preacher at Nashville’s Full Love Baptist Tabernacle, has a whole lot of people to take care of. There’s her husband, of course, and the flock that comes with him, plus the kids at the day care where she works, two grown daughters, and two ailing parents. It’s no wonder she can’t find time to take care of herself. And her husband’s been so busy lately, she’s suspicious some other woman may be taking care of him . . .

Then it comes: the announcement of her twenty-five-year college reunion in twelve months’ time, signed with a wink by her old flame. Ada gets to thinking about the thrills of young love lost, and the hundred or so pounds gained since her college days, and she decides it’s high time for a health and beauty revival. So she starts laying down some rules. The first rule is: Don’t Keep Doing What You’ve Always Been Doing. And so begins a long journey toward a new look and a new perspective — on what Ada wants, and on what she’s always had.

Here’s the trailer:

And the critics say:

"For sweet, sexy, and strong moms…intoxicating…deliciously satisfying…"
— Essence

"It is impossible not to fall in love with the plucky plus-size heroine of bestselling author Randall’s fourth outing… A heartwarming and engaging read, Ada’s story is more than that—readers following Randall’s rules will drop the pounds along with Ada, and perhaps discover something about themselves."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Ada’s Rules might be a diet book disguised as a novel, and it might be a novel disguised as a diet book, but I guarantee it will make you laugh and make you think, while it nudges you oh-so-gently in the direction of a brand new way to think about and celebrate your body."
— Pearl Cleage, author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

I encourage you to order a copy now on Amazon.

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My friend Laura Cayouette, one of the stars of DJANGO UNCHAINED, already blogged about this awesome day, so I’ll just use some of her words:

Then the moment we’d been waiting for arrived as Mardi Gras Indians from the tribes of Wild Magnolias, Fi Yi Yi and the Mohawk Hunters battled in the Square. At first it was hard to see anything more than brightly colored plumes rising up through the crowd. Then, they started winding their way through the people and passed right by me in all their beaded glory. Reggie had wanted to experience the Indians since seeing a documentary on them in the late 70′s. Now, he said, he could cross that off his bucket list.

Then, because it was a perfect day, we came across Big Chief Fi Yi Yi, Victor Harris, standing next to his suit surrounded by band members in matching turquoise and white outfits. Not only did I get to study his intricate beadwork up close and personal, he let me hold the suit to feel the weight. As readers of this blog know, I’ve always had the deepest respect for the detail-oriented craftsmanship of these suits, but holding that suit, it was clearly about half my body weight (without the beaded boots, cuffs and huge headdress). Beyond the tenacity and commitment it takes to craft one of these suits, I gained a whole new understanding of the physical stamina and commitment it takes to wear that hot, heavy suit while dancing and chanting for miles. Wow. As Reggie held the suit then put his arm around the Chief for a photo, I thought he could scratch “see the Mardi Gras Indians” off his bucket list with indelible marker.

I also got to see the ReBirth Brass Band, who combine cascading horn lines over a raw dog funky beat creating an experience that hits you in all your chakras.

This shot of me and Laura’s guy Andy was unusual in that I was making the stink face of funk enjoyment most of the set.

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While shooting down in Louisiana, George Clinton came to visit the set and was treated like the visiting dignitary from another planet that he is.  Cast, crew and background were all in awe of him. 

Later that night, many of us when to HOUSE OF BLUES in New Orleans to get funked up.  Here’s me, George and Quentin Tarantino backstage before the show. 

Darryl Hannah, Samuel L Jackson and I hobnob with Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk, my man Carlos from East Boogie. 

Later that night, Michael “Clip” Payne came up to the balcony with a live mike and started doing his vocals from there.  So I had to grab the mike and start singing ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE…because I could.  Fortunately, there was so much other sanging and music going on you couldn’t hear my terrible voice.

Later that night, Samuel. L helped himself to the same mike and recited the Bible verse from PULP FICTION over the sonic wail.  Most didn’t hear it, but it was dope nonetheless.

I also got to hang with the always brilliant FOLEY who was killing it on drums with George and delivering dope insights after the show. 

He’s got a band that’s opening some shows…here’s a sample:

The night ended with a long talk after the show with Woody Harrelson, who was working in town. Too bad I hadn’t seen GAME CHANGE yet.  He was incredible in the role.

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