Also featuring Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Hayes John Legend, Sharon Leal, Jackie Long, and somebody else named "Hayes": Black Moses himself.

I just wanna know who's producing (producED at this point) the music.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/LIVING08/803180308/1005/ENT

Producers approve of 'Soul Men' stars
March 18, 2008

"Soul Men" producers David T. Friendly (left) and Charles Castaldi discuss a scene while on location in Shreveport. ((Doug Hyun/Dimension Films/Special to The Times))
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By Alexandyr Kent
akent@gannett.com

Two Hollywood stars spent time in Shreveport becoming grumpy old backup singers for "Soul Men." The road comedy pairs Samuel L. Jackson with Bernie Mac.

"It has a lot of innate comedy, because these two guys are at each others' throats," said producer David T. Friendly. The movie wrapped seven weeks of shooting in Shreveport on Monday.

Jackson and Mac play Louis and Floyd, performers who rode in the backseat of a mega-successful Southern soul group some 25 years ago.

Louis and Floyd reluctantly reunite for a tribute concert after the group's frontman (John Legend) — who long ago left for a solo career — dies. To get ready for the gig at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater, Louis and Floyd drive across the country from Los Angeles and stop for tune-up shows.

The comeback "starts out dreadfully in a little bar in Flagstaff, Ariz.," Friendly said, and then moves through Tusla, Okla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and ultimately to New York.

Audiences will witness feisty verbal sparring when the movie opens Oct. 10 in theaters nationwide.

"We designed this from the get-go as an R-rated comedy," Friendly said, "so we were never going to compromise on what they said or how they behaved. And that's fun, not to have to pull punches."

Jackson and Mac also do their own singing and dancing for "Soul Men" to honor the traditions of Memphis-based Stax Records. A nexus for Southern soul, Stax was Motown's main commercial rival.

"We've had to have them take singing lessons, choreography, lots of rehearsals, and they were intent," Friendly said.

Stax is partly famous for transforming then-producer Isaac Hayes into a music and pop culture icon. (He has a cameo in "Soul Men.")

The screenplay by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone was custom-made for Jackson and Mac.

"When I read the script, I absolutely saw them in it," said producer Charles Castaldi.

Castaldi said he and "Soul Men" director Malcolm D. Lee were offered the movie by the Weinstein Co. while they were in Shreveport in early 2007 shooting "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" (Universal Pictures).

On the "Soul Men" set, Jackson and Mac apparently lived up to their billing.

"The chemistry between the two of them is unbelievable," Castaldi said. "Really, the heart of the movie is the relationship between these two guys who both have seen better days."

He added that Shreveport — including the sheriff's sffice, the police department and mayor's office — has been easy to work with. Castaldi credited citizens and businesses for extending the tradition of Southern hospitality to Hollywooders.

"It's very easy to go to places and get people to cooperate, cut traffic and do all that," Castaldi said. "That makes a big difference."

The bulk of "Soul Men" has been shot in Shreveport at dozens of existing locations, such as bars like Kokopelis and office buildings on Texas Street.

The movie will also spend four shooting days in Memphis and three in Los Angeles before wrapping production. It's being made by Dimension Films, a production unit of the Weinstein Co.

(slightly OT: annoying banners notwithstanding, how WAS "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins"? It got pretty messy reviews.)

Period, point-blank.
________________________________________________________________________
I'm gonna break down at fifty
And I'm not quite a stallion
I'm a good guy for a gal
And I'm mentally slipping

While they were in town shooting the flick. I didn't think it was possible for a woman to be finer than she is in person.

No, actually, "Boston Public" put her on.

...don't ask how i know....i think she sang there too

.

because I didn't get picked to be an extra in that film. Oh, well, at least I was in the Justin Timberlake film that was shooting in Memphis that same week.

---------------------------------------
The OKP® King of the Late Pass™


"Being the bigger man is overrated." -- Huey (The Boondocks)

i think

It was Raymond Jones.

...

due to two of its stars dying in the same weekend.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111948/board/threads/

*sigh*

Still, it's horrible that we lost both in the same weekend.

-------------------------------------
<--- Stop being such an Internet troll, Nopayne

http://www.isaachayes.com/soul_men.jpg
____________________________________


Last 7 movies I saw:

The Bank Job: B
The Mummy Dragon something or other: D
Jumper: C-
Smokin' Aces: C+
Hero Wanted: D
The Dark Knight: B+
Hancock: C

http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/soulmen/

I'll still see it tho.

The Tommy Lee Jones sorority movie.

Soul Men
Man of the House
Big Trouble
Life
Destiny Turns on the Radio
---

Could be alright. Probably will be a netflix movie though.

Just not exactly what most people would want Bernie's swan song to be.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976238/

**************************************
"I'm sick of followin' my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they goin', and hook with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

"I don't think muthafuckas went to the moon either, but that's just me."-Mos

Naw.

**************************************
"I'm sick of followin' my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they goin', and hook with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

"I don't think muthafuckas went to the moon either, but that's just me."-Mos

I'm sure his health had a lot to do with it.

**************************************
"I'm sick of followin' my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they goin', and hook with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

"I don't think muthafuckas went to the moon either, but that's just me."-Mos

Mostly due to the script.

I wish they WOULD give this movie an award other than a mufuggin Razzie.

Was I just high or something? I was really looking forward to a Sam & Dave biopic, then I saw the commercial on Sunday and that shit looks like a farce.

minus the being a musical part.

Bill Condon and David Geffen have every right to kick my ass for saying such.

I thought TDK only made a ton of money cause Heath Ledger died. Guess not.

I thought it was just a fun flick.

Mac and Sam had me rolling throughout a lot of this movie.

Their chemistry was fantastic, you could tell it was like two friends just having a good time.

Even when they were supposedly angry with eachother it just didn't come off as genuine because they seemed to really be good friends.

given much to work with. I did enjoy it, but that was despite the script rather than because of it. The plot was completely predictable by the numbers, and it still seemed like they needed to do heavy editing to keep it on the rails. And it probably didn't help matters that neither Mac nor Jackson could sing at all.

Strangely, I feel the same about this movie that I do about "Zack and Miri": there was the potential to do something really fresh and original, but at their both of them failed to do anything really surprising.

Personally, I thought the best part was the Bernie Mac tribute during the credits. That was really, really good.

>Personally, I thought the best part was the Bernie Mac tribute
>during the credits. That was really, really good.

Yep. That & Mac's delivery of, "I'm bout to go home & fix me a steak...THE SIZE OF YO MUTHAFUCKIN BACK!!"

I laughed so hard after that I missed the rest of the scene. I dont even remember how it ended. But it was worth it.

yeah, it's predictable, but VERY funny and heartfelt Mac's best performance

I'm mos def gonna buy it when it comes out.

and came out pleasantly surprised. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. It actually had some funny parts.

I'm going to miss Bernie Mac's cussin' ability...
Him and Sam Jack showed good chemistry and the lines were good. Sharon Leal? MmmmmMmmmm Good!


I was not ready to see Vanessa Del Rio and her titties, though!

They looked like they were really having a good time. With two less charismatic leads it definitely would not have been as entertaining.

I paid $2.50...and felt cheated.

If it wasn't for Sharon Leal - whose talents are COMPLETELY wasted, mind you - the shit wouldn't have been worth the film it was shot on.

Horrible script full of plot holes and poorly solved story points (He broke him out of jail? O RLY?)

A comedy full of old hat gags that just don't work (I only laughed once - it was the joke about the two white women on the balcony)

That annoying white guy with the glasses

That annoying wannabe Ludacris dude who was the "villain"

Sam and Mack doing some of the most horrible "singing" ever used on film.

Isaac Hayes hobbling around looking like more of a cadaver than John Legend's character (I know that's not a nice thing to say, but Ike looked bad, y'all. i was almost ashamed they let him be captured on film like that).

The best thing about the film was the Bernie Mac tribute a the end. He does three improv stand-up jokes for the "Apollo" audience that are funnier than anything in the film proper.

Oh, and the color timing was nice too. Um, yay Technicolor.