Straight Outta Los Angeles: How “Straight Outta Compton" Used The Entire City To Tell Story
Director F. Gary Gray was always going use Los Angeles as the backdrop to “Straight Outta Compton," his first biopic that chronicles how the rap group N.W.A formed and became famous.
Shooting the film anywhere else would have surely robbed the compelling story of authenticity. Even the locations within Los Angeles mattered to Gray, which is why he chose veteran location scout Alison A. Taylor to help find them.
Having already worked on two projects that shot Los Angeles — "Training Day" and "Southland" — Taylor came to the project with a firm understanding of the city's streets and neighborhoods.
If Gray needed any validation of his choice in Taylor, the Annual California On Location Awards in October named the "Straight Outta Compton" location team as the year's best among studio feature films.
Even though N.W.A released the album that shares the film's title in 1988, Taylor said the crew wasn't able to shoot at any of the original spots. Some had been torn down; others changed.
"But we did use all practical locations – no stage work – and we had so many reference photos," she said. "I am of that era, so getting to work on this film was incredibly exciting."
Below, Taylor explains some of the tough decisions she had to make when choosing the backdrop for five important scenes.
The Neighborhood
The opening scene is a grim depiction of the type of place many parts of south Los Angeles was in the 1980s – riddled with guns, drug deals and the fear of getting harassed by police.
“We needed a small, rundown house," explained Taylor, who found the location at 104thStreet and Budlong Avenue. “Keep in mind, we had to model it just like it was at that time – when they actually were using batter rams to knock down alleged drug dealers' homes. And we had the task of finding a house with an empty lot right next to it so that we could build a replica house on that lot in order to have the batter ram destroy it."
Taylor said Gray frequently urged his creative team to keep in mind “palm trees and power lines." Los Angeles is often depicted as all palm trees and no power lines — Beverly Hills-type scenery — but people forget there's also grittiness here, an underbelly.
“The power lines represent that — because we all know that the people who end up living near the power lines are not the wealthy people," she said.
When Taylor was searching for a location for this opening sequence, she made sure power lines crossed over it.
Cars on Crenshaw
If you've ever seen “Boyz in the Hood," or actually lived through the 80s, you probably know something about cruisin'. The film gives viewers a glimpse of the retro tradition in which N.W.A and their friends cruise down Crenshaw Boulevard in supped-up Caddies.
Crenshaw today looks nothing like it did then, and with the new Metro being built, construction obstructs most of the area. Instead, Taylor and her team used Degnan Boulevard between West 43rd Street and West 43rd Place in Leimert Park, the cultural center of African-American heritage in Los Angeles.
“It was pretty cool to be in the middle of an area like that with that kind of significance," Taylor said. “For the scene, we changed some basic things in order to make it period – like changing street signs and parking meter heads. But otherwise, we just took over that street and put our low-riders on it – the same ones you see in the Skateland scene."
Skateland U.S.A.
The building that housed the original Skateland, which opened in 1984 and closed only four years later (yet managed to help popularize N.W.A. in that short time), is covered in graffiti and torn up. Taylor knew they'd need to find another roller rink to shoot in, and one of the only options was Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale. It's retro vibe is pretty much in tact and you can go skate and drink slush puppies whenever you're getting an 80s nostalgia itch.
Skateland was designed to hold concerts in it, so that was the biggest change the production design team needed to tackle. The old wood floors were already in place at Moonlight, but they added a stage area where that seminal performance occurred on March 11, 1988.
Dooto's Club
Dr. Dre and Ice Cube developed a knack for performing at this once popular, but now-shuttered nightclub. Taylor found Jewel's Catch One on Pico Boulevard, just east of Crenshaw, to serve as its substitute.
Catch One, which opened up in 1973 and closed in March, was home to an often-shunned community of African American LGBTQ citizens. The place hadn't been updated much since its early days – so production design didn't have much to do in the way of dressing it up. Lighting design made some tweaks to make it look like Dooto's as much as possible.
Rap Recordings
They wanted to shoot scenes depicting early N.W.A. recording sessions at Audio Achievement Studios in Torrance, but for production reasons, they needed to stay up in Glendale. That's where Taylo and her team found The Bridge Recording Studio on Salem Street, which, according to the reference photos, looked very much like Audio Achievement, where the group recorded its first album.
“I think we got lucky," Taylor said. “The art department had to change the sound boards and cover a few more modern pieces of equipment here and there, but otherwise it was fairly simple to model them after Audio Achievement."
Torrance has a suburban look to it – and so does Glendale – and that was important for the scene that takes place outside the studio, when the group is harassed and treated like criminals.
Own the unrated director's cut of "Straight Outta Compton" on Digital HD Jan. 5 — and on Blu-ray and DVD Jan. 19.
Straight Outta Compton: The City that Created N.W.A.
The furious musical assault by the rap group N.W.A. forced a nation to pay attention to problems that plagued 1980s Compton.
Out-of-control cops, gang violence and borderline music censorship helped define that time and place. It also inspired N.W.A. to write the 13 tracks that comprise their 1988 releaseStraight Outta Compton.
The film of the same title recounts how N.W.A fought against great odds to become hip-hop greats, giving voice to a disadvantaged community.
Police Corruption Ran Rampant
On Aug. 1, 1988, one week before N.W.A released the album Straight Outta Compton, 88 city police officers who took part in the Operation Hammer anti-gang initiative raided an apartment complex looking for drugs. They smashed furniture, spray painted walls with “LAPD Rules," and wrecked shop so bad that 10 adults and 12 kids were left homeless. Despite the damage, no residents were charged with a crime, and the only drugs recovered were six ounces of weed and less than an ounce of cocaine.
This particularly violent brand of protecting and serving was commonplace at the time, with complaints of police brutality rising 33 percent between 1984 and 1989. This approach didn't exactly promote the friendliest relationship between the LAPD and N.W.A. It was just enough to inspire a certain song about the cops with a rather unprintable title.
N.W.A member Dr. Dre got a continued close-up view of police corruption when he moved to Death Row Records in 1991. Label owner Marion "Suge" Knight regularly employed several LAPD officers as bodyguards, many of whom would go on to be arrested on corruption charges. These hired guns included David Mack, a police officer who would eventually become a full-blown Blood gangster after getting sent to prison.
Cops could be just as violent as the gang members they arrested, but that's not to say that gangs weren't a problem.
Guns, Drugs and Gangs
Even though the total amount of homicides in L.A. fell between 1987 and 1988, gang-related murders reached a record high of 406 killings. These deadly conditions didn't prevent the number of gangsters from increasing. While there were only 40,000 gang members in 1984, by 1992 that amount had grown to 103,500.
There was an economic reason behind that growth. With few jobs or other legitimate opportunities to make money in Compton or Los Angeles, selling drugs offered the chance to go from rags to riches. Rick Ross, the drug kingpin, not the rapper of the same, made the equivalent of $900 million between 1982 and 1989 selling 3 tons of cocaine to gangs, including the Crips and Bloods.
N.W.A rapped about these topics on their early single “Boyz-N-The-Hood," but good luck finding that song in a record store. Los Angeles wasn't exactly a commercial hotspot for creative expression back in the late 80s.
Musical Crackdown
If you wanted to buy the latest hip-hop record when N.W.A started writing rhymes 1986, you would need to head to an abandoned drive-in movie theater or visit the indoor swap meets in Compton. That's where Eazy-E bought the records that would inspire him to pursue a career as a rapper. Normal record stores wouldn't stock anything that seemed in the least bit controversial.
That's because the Parental Music Resources Center had done everything short of declaring war on music that could be considered offensive. The advocacy group was headed by Tipper Gore, wife of future vice president Al Gore. After catching her daughter listening to Prince's suggestive hit “Darling Nikki," Tipper Gore convened a congressional hearing to ask lawmakers to impose restrictions on selling explicit music to minors.
The center also pressured the Recording Industry Association of America into creating the black-and-white "Parental Advisory" sticker now seen on CD covers everywhere. Ice-T released Rhyme Pays in 1987, the first album to ever get slapped with the warning label. Stores including Wal-Mart wouldn't stock his music, or any other record labeled as containing explicit content. It was this environment that pushed Dr. Dre to compose the free-speech anthem “Express Yourself".
The oppressive musical environment, gangs and police corruption made Compton look like nowhere else in the world, which is why the music of N.W.A. sounded like nothing anyone heard before.
Own the Straight Outta Compton unrated director's cut on Digital HD Jan. 5; and Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 19.
Does "Straight Outta Compton" deserve a place among the top 20 Rap Albums?
"Straight Outta Compton" was the surprise box office hit of 2015, blowing away film fans and critics alike with its gripping portrayal of the formation of legendary rap group N.W.A. and the recording of their classic album "Straight Outta Compton."
But where does "Straight Outta Compton" rank among the greatest rap albums ever made?
With the unrated director's cut of the film set to come out on Digital HD on Jan. 5 — and Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 19 — the time is right to answer that question.
Here's where "Straight Outta Compton" fits among the top 20 rap albums of all time:
20. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city (2012)
One of the most acclaimed albums of the decade regardless of genre, Kendrick Lamar's second studio album dropped like a bomb, turning contemporary hip-hop on its head by sidestepping a hard and heavy sound in favor of a subtler, smoother flow that emphasized storytelling over showboating. It worked: "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" landed at No. 2 on the Biillboard charts and earned Lamar five Grammy nominations.
19. Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
Whether you love or hate Kanye, there's one thing you can't do: ignore him. Yet for years, his own label did just that, pegging him as a producer only, not a rapper. Then he released "The College Dropout" in 2004, and the entire world had to acknowledge what West is only too happy to tell everyone at every opportunity: he's a genius. His heartfelt, personal lyrics about religion, temptation, loss and redemption ran counter to everything Top 40 rap had become, as did his gospel-inspired backing tracks and smooth musicality. The album earned a Grammy for Best Rap Album.
18. Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)
Over the past decade "Madvillainy" has become a touchstone for underground rappers and hip-hop fans around the world. A one-off collaboration between top producer Madlib and the controversial, masked MC known as MFDoom, "Madvillainy" barely dented the sales charts but was an immediate smash with critics, with online music giant Rhapsody naming it the best hip-hop album of the decade for its "Dada-ist carnival of words" and "smorgasbord of world music." Offbeat and off center, but so on point.
17. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)
For millions of hip-hop fans around the world, Snoop's debut album Doggystyle remains the bomb more than two decades later. Hits like "What's My Name?" and "Gin and Juice" turned "Doggystyle" into the fastest selling rap album ever (before being eclipsed almost a decade later by fellow Dr. Dre protégé Eminem). The album's distinctively smooth G-funk flows helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream masses.
16. OutKast- Aquemini (1998)
Nineties rap was stuck in a vicious and creatively stultifying internecine East Coast-West Coast turf war when Atlanta's OutKast brushed aside petty labels and allegiances and introduced hip-hop to the new sound of the dirty south. The culmination was "Aquemini," which favored live musicians over canned samples and an organic creative process over corporate production. Critics hailed it as one of the best records of the decade, hip-hop or otherwise, and it continues to inspire new artists — including Lamar, whose "good Kid, m.A.A.d. city" was considered by many critics to be the spiritual sequel to "Aquemini."
15. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Long before he became a movie star in the hit film "8 Mile," the real Slim Shady emphatically stood up with "The Marshall Mathers LP" declaring himself not just another one of Dr. Dre's protégés, but arguably the biggest rapper in the world. The album smashed the record for one week sales, with over 1.7 million copies, and won Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for the single "My Name Is". The song "Stan" is widely considered one of the best rap singles of all time, and also introduced the world to British singer Dido. Okay, so nothing's perfect.
14. Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998)
After the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, there was a gulf at the heart of the rap community, with fans and artists alike wondering what or who would fill the hole. The answer came in the form of the first and only Black Star album, which used alternative rap to push for a musical and social reconciliation. While the album only did so-so in terms of sales, it was an immediate critical smash, launching the careers of Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Nearly two decades later, fans are still waiting for the second album, but even Black Star themselves probably know it's impossible to top perfection.
13. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
This album represents the rock that the gangsta-rap wave broke against. Upbeat and intellectual, poppy and clever, "3 Feet High and Rising" deliberately pioneered an alternative sound, showing the hip-hop community a different path. Called "The 'Sgt. Pepper' of hip hop" by The Village Voice, the album was singled out by the Library of Congress in 2011 for preservation due to its cultural importance.
12. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
Other members of Wu-Tang Clan have gotten more attention and moved more records, but none of them have made an album as influential and downright awesome as Raekwon with his solo debut. Dropping Wu-Tang's grindhouse influence, Raekwon instead turned to another 70's film staple for inspiration —the mafia — and delivered a lyrically innovate and musically tight epic that has spawned two decades of imitators. Oh, and it also introduced Cristal to the hip-hop community.
11. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989)
Now considered one of the most innovative albums ever made, "Paul's Boutique" was actually a failure both critically and commercially when it debuted. Failing to equal the huge sales of Beastie Boys' first album, "Licensed to Ill," it was also blasted by critics for its widespread use of sampling, complex lyrical flow, and its genre-busting fusion of rap, rock, punk and other influences. All of those those elements went on to become staples of hip hop, turning the Beastie Boys into music legends.
10. Erik B. & Rakim - Paid in Full (1987)
Two years before the Beastie Boys began experimenting with sampling on "Paul's Boutique," Erik B. & Rakim built an entire album out of hooks, vocal clips, and smooth tracks culled from jazz, film and television. "Paid in Full" was both the culmination of everything that had come before in rap's golden age, as well as the beginning of a new era of lyrical improvisation and sonic experimentation. In hip-hop, there are two ages: before "Paid in Full," and after "Paid in Full." The fact that it sounds as fresh now as it did three decades ago is a testament to how well it was crafted.
9. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1996)
If this album's only accomplishment was to introduce the world to Jay-Z, it would still deserve mention among the most important rap albums of all time. But that's not all it did. Building off the mafia themes pioneered by Raekwon a year earlier, "Reasonable Doubt" wove a gripping lyrical tale of inner city crime and punishment, told in Jay-Z's inimitable sly, reflective and already world-weary style. Seminal in every sense.
8. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me (1996)
Tupac Shakur's magnum opus was the first mainstream double-length rap solo album. 2Pac just had too much to say to fit it into a normal album. With five top singles, "All Eyez On Me" hit number one on the Billboard chart and was certified platinum in just two months. It also was lauded by critics as an instant classic, and 20 years later, there's still no reason to argue. Raw and unrepentant, "All Eyez One Me" is the pinnacle of — and a fitting epitaph for — the Thug Life.
7. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)
When N.W.A went their separate ways, fans held their breath for the inevitable solo albums. What would Dr. Dre do without the rest of his posse? He answered by delivering one of the most important albums of all time. "The Chronic" was a watershed moment in rap and pop music history. It incorporated the smooth sounds of funk to create a new hip-hop hybrid that would push rap to the top of the music charts for good while also inspiring a wave of Dre disciples like Snoop Doggy Doog and Eminem.
6. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
In 1988, the nascent hip-hop community was all about the bling, the girls and the fame. Public Enemy cut through that facade with a sonic chainsaw. "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" represented a laser-focused, diamond-hard treatise on racism, classism and political activism. The album made headlines while inspiring a generation (including filmmaker Spike Lee) to find and use their own voice, not just to rap, but to speak truth to power.
5. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Everything has to start somewhere. And for gangsta rap, one of the defining musical genres of the past quarter century, that start came courtesy of "Straight Outta Compton." Nobody had ever heard anything like it before, because there never was anything like it before. That's easy to forget given the countless imitators "Straight Outta Compton" has inspired since. But as the hit blockbuster film has reminded the world, there's only one N.W.A. Everyone else is just following the trail they blazed.
4. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991)
In part a reaction to the violent, hard-edged sound and imagery of "Straight Outta Compton," A Tribe Called Quest used "The Low End Theory" to explore the historical and musical connections between jazz and the origins of rap. The result was a smooth, stripped down sound that promoted an alternative style of hip-hop, one that ran counter to mainstream expectations and trends by emphasizing musicianship over digital sampling.
3. The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (1994)
Some artists are one hit wonders. Then there's The Notorious B.I.G., who sadly only had the chance to release one studio album during his all too brief lifetime. But what a wonder it was. As shown in the hit film "Notorious," the masterpiece fused gritty, streetwise gangsta rap with Biggie's signature wit and charisma. The result was a unique, idiosyncratic work that could only have been made by The Notorious B.I.G. in the smelting pool that was New York City in the early 90s.
2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
While most rappers in the early 90s were busy detailing the hard reality of the mean streets, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" turned to a very different place for inspiration: grindhouse kung-fu films of the 1970's. The result was a bonkers collaboration that imagined an alternate universe where lyrical ronin like ODB and Ghostface roamed the countryside dueling with words instead of swords or fists. It's no surprise that mastermind RZA went on to become a Hollywood triple threat as a composer, director and actor, because "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" is inarguably the most cinematic album in rap history.
1. Nas - Illmatic (1994)
Transcendent. It's a word that comes up over and over again in reviews of Nas' debut album. Yet, despite critical accolades, "Illmatic" was a commercial failure when it was released. So why and how has it emerged as the consensus greatest rap album ever made? Critic Matthew Gasteier maybe summed it up best when he wrote that "it encompasses everything great about hip-hop that makes the genre worthy of its place in music history. Stylistically, if every other hip-hop record were destroyed, the entire genre could be reconstructed from this one album." But one thing's for sure: even if that happened, none of the albums that followed would surpass "Illmatic." Nothing else has yet.
8 Reasons 'Straight Outta Compton' Is The Highest-Grossing Music Biopic Of All-Time
With stellar reviews and more than $200 million earned at the worldwide box office, Straight Outta Compton exceeded the most optimistic of expectations to become the highest-grossing and most successful music biopic of all time.
Here are 8 reasons the film resonated with audiences as much as it did, and all of the ways N.W.A. has stayed relevant for nearly 30 years.
8) Positive Reviews
Straight Outta Compton is one of the best reviewed movies of the year, with many of the top film critics in the country highly recommending it. Rolling Stone called the biopic an “electrifying piece of hip-hop history." The Wall Street Journal said it's "explosively entertaining" and the New York Post labeled it one of the year's "most entertaining and provocative movies."
7) Classic Rags-To-Riches Tale
In addition to telling the story of the rise of an iconic rap group, Straight Outta Compton is also about the American dream. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E were born in South Central, Los Angeles as O'Shea Jackson, Andre Young and Eric Wright, respectively. All three future superstars came from humble beginnings and were influenced as youths by the presence of drugs and gang violence. But the trio managed to break free from their dangerous surroundings to revolutionize the music world and become one of the most successful rap groups of all time. Who doesn't love a good underdog story?
6) Ice Cube, Movie Star
Ice Cube parlayed his successful rap career into an equally triumphant acting career. As depicted in Straight Outta Compton, Ice Cube's debut film was 1991's Boyz N the Hood, which he starred in shortly after leaving N.W.A. over royalty disputes. Ice Cube has maintained a prosperous big-screen run to this day, with some of his notable hits including the Fridayfranchise, the Barbershop franchise, Three Kings, Are We There Yet? and Ride Along, a sequel to which hits theaters in January.
5) Dr. Dre, Business Tycoon
Like Ice Cube, even those too young to remember N.W.A. know Dr. Dre. He's been dubbed by Forbes as the second richest man in hip-hop thanks to Apple's $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, the headphone and music-streaming firm he co-founded. You'd be hard-pressed to walk down the street of any major city without seeing a young person rocking Beats headphones.
4) Timely Topic
Much of the music and experiences of N.W.A. centers around issues of police brutality, a topic that has reignited amid a spate of controversial police shootings of black men and the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement. A notable scene in Straight Outta Compton depicts the members of the rap group being harassed by cops in an affluent, mostly white neighborhood. Of course, they were in town to record a hit album, one that would just so happen to feature “Fuck tha Police."
3) Lasting Influence
The closing credits include footage of an interview with rapper 50 Cent in which he says, “You'd have to credit both Eminem's and my success to Dr. Dre." Dre discovered both rappers, as well as Snoop Dogg, whose introduction to Dre is portrayed in the movie. N.W.A. is also credited with pioneering and popularizing the gangsta rap genre, and they undoubtedly left their mark on hip-hop long after disbanding. Rapper The Game has “N.W.A." tattooed on his chest.
2) Strong Lead Actors
Straight Outta Compton just nabbed a Screen Actors Guild nomination for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture." In other words, the unknown stars of the movie won't stay that way for long. O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube), Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre) and Jason Mitchell (Eazy-E) embody the real-life figures they were playing, helping to bring the characters and the movie to life. And for those who don't know, Jackson Jr. had the bonus task of playing his actual father in the film. Meanwhile, Hawkins and Mitchell have BOTH been cast in the upcoming blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, which centers around King Kong's origins.
1) Concert-like feel
Old and new fans are rocking out to the group's music in 2016, and many of their hits are consistently featured in current movies and TV shows. Straight Outta Compton succeeds in recreating the feeling of an N.W.A. concert.
The film's soundtrack, which includes unheard and remastered material, is now available. Own the unrated director's cut of the film on Digital HD on Jan. 5; and on Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 19.
Ted 2: What if Ted and John were the stars of other classic bromance movies? Those films would be insane!
The "Ted" franchise is only two-films old, yet the friendship between Ted (Seth MacFarlane) and John (Mark Wahlberg) is already stacking up with the very best bromances in the world of cinema.
The high level of bromantic chemistry begs the question: What if, instead of Marty and Doc, and Jake and Elwood, we had Ted and John in those classic roles? With John and Ted as the lead bros, would the plots change?
Hell yeah, they'd be insane. Let's dive in.
Fight Club:
John is the hopeless narrator, who (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT) is also Tyler Durden. But because we don't know this from the outset, Ted is Tyler Durden, who is more of a lover than a fighter. Instead of Fight Club, they'd call if F-Club, an excuse for bros and gals to secretly meet and hook up so they don't have to rely on porn. Eventually F Club becomes so popular it becomes Tinder, the narrator becomes self-aware, Tyler Durden becomes real, and the bros get rich. But Bob still has b*tch t*ts and that annoying Marla Singer is replaced with Sam L. Jackson (the hot lawyer, not the guy who wants the MF snakes off the MF plane).
Shaun of the Dead:
A slacker, retail sales dude with a vulgar sidekick? This one's right up John and Ted's alley. In the Ted-ified version, John is Shaun and Ted is Ed — fits perfectly, doesn't it? — and instead of drowning their sorrows at the Winchester, John and Ted move to Colorado, where weed is legal. But Donny has finally succeeded in harnessing Ted's powers for Hasbro, and of course their plan to create a new species of humanized Teds goes horribly awry, unleashing a wave of lifelike teddy bear zombies. John saves the world by capturing, reproducing and injecting Tom Brady's super sperm into a new super gun to fire at the zombies.
Back to the Future:
John is Marty, it's 2015 and he wants to travel to 2045, believing that in 30 years marijuana will surely be legal and porn will be in virtual reality. So that makes Ted Doc, who, like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, realizes he's had the power to do practically anything all along, and can easily transport the guys three decades into the future. Hey, when you're a walking, talking, sarcastic bear, the leap to powerful mad scientist isn't a huge stretch. All their dreams come true, and Marty doesn't even have to fall in love with his own mom. Donny is still Biff though, and tries (unsuccessfully) to make life hell for the boys.
Shawshank Redemption:
John is Andy, who has been sent to prison for theft, marijuana possession and indecent exposure (he never thought to draw the shades). In the slammer, he meets Red, now played by Ted, the grizzled prison veteran who knows the ropes. Things get complicated when Andy hires Patrick Meighan as his lawyer, who meets Red/Ted and figured he's stumbled into a bizarro alternate universe. Red and Andy ultimately fall in love (bromances tend to accelerate in prison) and get married.
Wedding Crashers:
In this bromantic comedy, John is John (of course) and Ted is Jeremy (the Vince Vaughn character). But rather than being a pair of divorce mediators, this time around they're human rights attorneys. After spending their 9-to-5 doing good for society, they need an outlet. And since crashing weddings is both easy and passe, they've moved on to crashing death beds. Trolling local hospitals for despondent and vulnerable widows-to-be leaves room for Chazz to keep working funerals. Catching on to their antics, Christopher Walken returns as William Cleary, who is now Secretary of Health and Human Services. Cleary promises to legalize weed if the bros quit scamming hopeless widows and agree to defend his daughter Gloria, whose sexual appetite has been so outrageous lately that she's been labeled - not unlike Ted - as “property".
Blues Brothers:
Ted is sooo Jake and John is sooo Elwood. In this reimagined tale, the bros have to raise $5 million for BFF Tom Brady's legal defence. Jobless, friendless, penniless, and Gisele-less, Brady has been found guilty of umpteen counts of cheating. Jake and Elwood are his only friends left. In order to raise the money, the boys will need to turn their heckling talents into a new comedy troupe, touring the comedy clubs with their Bluesmobile (a bong-shaped Dodge Dart) and making people laugh one city at a time. Tami-Lynn takes over for Carrie Fisher as the mystery woman, whose mission is to follow the boys and heckle them by any means necessary.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles:
In keeping with the spirit of filmmaker John Hughes, the John/Ted version still takes place in the 80s and doesn't stray too far from the original. But the film is now called PT&A, with the emphasis on the T&A. John is Neal, a high-strung porn studio marketing exec in search of the next great porn star. Ted is Del, a can't-shut-him-up marijuana paraphernalia salesman. Neal needs to get home to Boston for Thanksgiving and meets up with Del on a plane. Their shared love for weed puts them on a trippy three-day adventure where they find not only the solution to their problems, but, more importantly, themselves. The film wouldn't be complete without the scene in the hotel room where Neal grabs Del (remember, he's still a teddy bear), shoves him between his legs for comfort, and their eyes open wide with disgust. “Those aren't pillows" has an entirely new meaning.
Ted 2: Hidden Family Guy References You Probably Missed In The Movie
In the original Ted, writer-director Seth MacFarlane got self-referential by pointing out what many Family Guy fans were already thinking.
“I do not sound that much like Peter Griffin," Ted insists at one point, referring to the Family Guy central character. Of course, both are voiced by MacFarlane.
In Ted 2, MacFarlane gives even more shout outs to his hit TV show. Here's a list of references you probably missed.
1) Ted Sings To Prove He Has “Soul"
The sequel sees Ted on a quest to prove to a judge that he's a person so he and new wife Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) can adopt a baby. When Ted takes the stand at his trial, he sings the Billy Vera & The Beaters song, “At This Moment," to prove he has “soul."
On a 2005 episode of Family Guy, titled “Brian the Bachelor," Brian the family dog appears as a contestant on The Bachelorette. While being interviewed for the show, Brian belts out “At This Moment."
2) Morgan Freeman Is Patrick Meighan
Morgan Freeman co-stars in the film as Patrick Meighan, a civil rights attorney who takes on Ted's case and helps prove he's a person. Patrick Meighan just so happens to be the name of a Family Guy writer and producer, who co-wrote some fan favorite episodes, including “Road to Rupert," “Qaugmire's Baby" and The Simpsons crossover episode.
3) Peter Griffin Vs. The Giant Chicken
The epic finale of Ted 2 takes place at New York Comic Con,where a brawl breaks out among the various costumed attendees. During the melee, there's a brief moment where you can see a man dressed as Peter Griffin fighting a man wearing a chicken costume.
Of course, this is a reference to the long-running Family Guy gag in which Peter engages in a lengthy, drawn out battle with his nemesis, Ernie the Giant Chicken. These sequences have occurred on nearly a dozen episodes.
4) Opening Musical Numbers
The opening credits of both Ted 2 and Family Guy feature the characters performing a choreographed song and dance number reminiscent of a 1940's Hollywood musical. The credits sequence in Ted 2 sees Ted dancing on top of a multi-teared wedding cake, which isn't too different from the multi-teared stage that Peter stands on during the Family Guy opening.
5) "One Foot in Front of the Other" Montages
Both Ted 2 and Family Guy mock 80's-style movie montages with the use of the Bone Symphony song “One Foot in Front of the Other." In Ted 2, the song is played during a sequence set in a library where Ted, John (Mark Wahlberg) and Sam (Amanda Seyfried) enthusiastically study up on their case.
On the 2001 Family Guy episode, “One if by Clam, Two If by Sea," the same tune plays as Peter and his friends fix up their local bar, The Drunken Clam.
6) Planes, Trains & Automobiles Tributes
There are reenactments in both Ted 2 and Family Guy of the famous scene from Planes, Trains & Automobiles in which John Candy dances to Ray Charles' “Mess Around" while driving a car. Ted 2 features a nearly shot-for-shot version of the scene with Ted “doing the mess around" in the driver's seat.
MacFarlane also “did the mess around" on the 2011 Star Wars-themed episode of Family Guy, “It's a Trap." During a battle sequence, a soldier dances to the song while operating a two-legged patrol vehicle.
See Ted 2 now on Digital HD. Own the Unrated Edition on Blu-ray Dec. 15.
Trainwreck: Amy Schumer and 10 More Stand Up Comedians Who Became Movie Stars After Their Big Break
Amy Schumer's breakout performance in Trainwreck represents one of the most impressive transitions by any comedian taking on their first major role in a film.
Her ascent follows a familiar trajectory. Check out this list of 10 other stars who began their careers as stand-up comics, but became household names following their first featured role.
10) Russell Brand - Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
It's rare for an entire nation to learn a person's name overnight, but that's exactly what happened when British stand-up Brand stole scenes in his first major supporting role as a narcissistic rock star in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
9) Zach Galifianakis - The Hangover (2009)
Galifianakis secured a cult-following during his early days as an alternative comic, but mainstream audiences would embrace him as well following his breakout role in The Hangover, one of the highest grossing R-Rated comedies of all time. Many would agree that the popularity of the sleeper hit was thanks largely to Galifianakis' gonzo performance.
8) Chris Rock - New Jack City (1991)
Rock began his career in New York City, where he would build a reputation on the comedy circuit that would land him a gig on Saturday Night Live in 1990. The show gave him national exposure, but Rock won big-screen critical acclaim with his first major acting part in the crime-drama New Jack City. Rock's dramatic turn as a crack addict proved he had acting chops to go along with his comedic skills.
7) Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple (1985)
Goldberg began her career with the one-woman show, Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway, which was much more of a stand-up comedy performance than it was a theater piece. The show caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, who subsequently cast Goldberg inThe Color Purple, making her one of the rare comics on this list whose first major movie role was a dramatic one.
6) Robin Williams - Popeye (1980)
After making a name for himself in stand-up and implementing those comedy chops on the hit 70's sitcom Mork & Mindy, Williams brought the funny to the big screen with his first starring role in Popeye, a live-action adaptation of the classic cartoon.
5) Adam Sandler - Billy Madison (1995)
Sandler's popularity as a stand-up earned him a spot on Saturday Night Live, where he would quickly become a fan favorite. But it was his first starring role in the back-to-school comedyBilly Madison that put Sandler on the road to becoming one of the biggest names in comedy. In addition to starring as an immature man who must repeat grades 1-12, Sandler co-wrote the absurd and irreverent script.
4) Steve Martin - The Jerk (1979)
Martin was a popular comedian and talk-show favorite prior to co-writing and starring in the classic comedy The Jerk. The movie is still considered to be among the funniest of Martin's long and successful career, as is his first big role as the idiotic title character.
3) Jim Carrey - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Carrey first gained recognition on the stand-up circuit and as a cast member on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, but it wasn't until his first headlining role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective that he catapulted into superstardom. That same year, Carrey went on to star inDumb and Dumber and The Mask, solidifying his status as a comedy icon.
2) Eddie Murphy - 48 Hrs. (1982)
Although Murphy was already one of the hottest young comics around thanks to Saturday Night Live and his stand-up routines, the action-comedy 48 Hrs. turned the comedian into a bonafide movie star. Murphy played a wisecracking criminal who gets teamed up with a police officer in a movie that is largely credited with pioneering the buddy cop genre.
1) Rodney Dangerfield - Caddyshack (1980)
As funny as he was, Dangerfield didn't become famous until he was in his 40's! He said it himself, "I don't get no respect." But you can't not respect Dangerfield's scene-stealing breakout role in the classic golf comedy Caddyshack. The legendary comic provided some of the film's biggest laughs, most memorable moments and endlessly quotable lines.
5 Train Wrecks In Film Who Need To Get Their Sh*t Together
If you've ever found yourself screaming at a movie, begging the main character to get his or her sh*t together, odds are you've been watching a train wreck.
It's that special kind of person who can make you laugh and cringe simultaneously. Let's go over some of the biggest train wrecks in film history, starting with the obvious.
Amy from Trainwreck
Amy doesn't assume full-on train wreck status at first. She's got a stable job at S'Nuffmagazine, a nice apartment and seems fairly happy. Sure, she has sex as if scientists had discovered that banging was the key to immortality. Amy also occasionally drinks until she blacks out like an overloaded power grid. For the most part, these things don't negatively affect her life.
However, after meeting Aaron Conners, a successful sports surgeon played by Bill Hader, Amy starts wanting something new. Waking up next to the same person every morning doesn't sound like an idea worse than skydiving using fishnet stockings for a parachute.
That's not something she accepts easily, though.
Following this realization, she's unable to let go of her father's advice that monogamy is impossible. That's when Amy goes off the rails and enters train wreck territory. She pushes away Aaron, and loses her job after almost giving a 16-year-old boy a hands-on sex education lesson. She was drunk, of course.
Stop literally f*cking around and get your sh*t together, Amy.
Annie Walker in Bridesmaids
Assembling a bridal party is a great way of showing people how much they mean to you by stressing them out to the point of insanity. Kirsten Wiig plays Annie Walker, who becomes a train wreck while learning this lesson the hard way.
Walker's life isn't going so well. She lost her boyfriend after the bakery she started closed down. An unsatisfying friends-with-benefits relationship with John Hamm's character Ted mainly involves him treating Annie like a breathing machine for her lady parts. That doesn't inspire the healthiest state of mind.
Added into the mix is Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, who asks Annie if she'll be the maid of honor at her upcoming wedding. Annie agrees, and gets promptly upstaged by the wealthy Helen at nearly every event leading up to the ceremony. Helen practices passive aggressiveness like she's training for an Olympic sport, including stealing Annie's idea for a Parisian-themed bridal shower.
Cue Annie isolating herself from her friends. She rejects the well-meaning advances of a local cop named Officer Rhodes. After spectacularly disrupting the aforementioned bridal shower thrown by Helen, Annie manages to get herself banned from Lillian's wedding.
She also loses control on an aircraft after getting higher than the plane she's flying on.
Get your brake lights fixed and your sh*t together, Annie.
Pearl from Tammy
It may not make sense that Melissa McCarthy as Tammy isn't the chosen train wreck from this film, especially seeing as the movie opens with her causing an actual wreck by crashing into a deer.
Still, Grandma Pearl makes Tammy seem like a saint in comparison. Susan Sarandon's character lives on a steady diet of beer, whiskey and married men. That latter proclivity works out in Tammy's favor after Pearl introduces her to the handsome Bobby, played by Mark Duplass.
Pearl eventually lands in jail for drugs, and almost dies after raging too hard at a Fourth of July party. All of a sudden, Pearl's reckless boozing stops seeming so funny.
Put down the bottle, pick up some Metamucil, and get your sh*t together, Pearl.
Cal Weaver from Crazy, Stupid, Love
Cal Weaver is played by Steve Carell to sad-sack perfection in this movie. After his wife cheats on him, Cal decides he needs to get divorced and laid. Enter Ryan Gosling's character Jacob, a man who could seduce Mother Teresa with a wink.
Jacob takes Cal under his wing and shows him the ways of hot, steamy and emotionally unsatisfying sex with strangers.
Cal has fun being a cad, until he realizes he's still deeply in love with Emily — and that Jacob is romantically interested in Cal's daughter. That's when Cal's life becomes one hell of a train wreck, culminating in a full-blown brawl during a stunt Cal undertakes to win back his ex-wife.
Stop spitting game and get your sh*t together, Cal.
Holly GoLightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's
You would normally have to visit New York Fashion Week to experience an ounce of the glamour Audrey Hepburn possesses as Holly GoLightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. That doesn't change the fact that Holly's life is an absolute wreck. All that glitz just makes her the human equivalent of a diamond-studded wrecking ball.
Let's start with the fact Holly works for the Mafia. Every week she visits mobster Sally Tomato in prison, running information from him to his lawyer. Holly even gets arrested for her connection with his drug ring. That's like finding out Kim Kardashian had been keeping up with the Capones.
Holly has a string of dead-end relationships with complete jerks, pursues a couple of millionaires just for their money and almost alienates the only half-decent man pursuing her. For perspective, please note this half-decent man is a gigolo.
In between all of this, she somehow manages to throw wild parties where people get fired up in a quite literal sense.
Just because Holly's a gorgeous socialite doesn't make her any less of a train wreck. Get your Chanel no. 9 smelling sh*t together, GoLightly.
In Amy Schumer's narrative feature debut — a raunchy rom-com that you should probably not watch with your grandmother — we get to be a part of the ins and outs (literally) of Amy (played by Schumer) navigating the dating world in New York City. While her taste in men runs the spectrum, she has yet to try pro athletes and seems to loathe jocks entirely.
“Why do we treat athletes like heroes?" Amy asks her next conquest, Aaron, a successful sports doctor. “Sports are stupid and anyone who loves them has a smaller intellect and is a lesser person. No offense."
Well, Amy, the NBA star LeBron James — who plays Aaron's best friend — has more than a 6'8" frame and a million-dollar paycheck. He's also got comedic timing and stellar acting chops.
We know you wrote his lines, Schumer, but here are five scenes where LeBron takes the cake for best laughs.
#1 Cleveland is the best place on Earth.
#2 Just because he's a rich athlete doesn't mean he isn't frugal and doesn't love Downtown Abbey.
While Amy is having her first meeting with Aaron — she's interviewing him for a magazine story — LeBron pops in after mistakenly leaving his sunglasses behind. The doctor wonders why he drove 40 minutes all the way back just for the sunglasses.
“I'm not giving Sunglass Hut another 30 bucks for these!"
“Your watch costs more than my life, LeBron."
“Oh that? That was a gift. So we watching Downtown Abbey tonight, right? I'm not going to practice tomorrow and have all the guys talking about it if I haven't seen it!"
Now we know what's important to LeBron – British period dramas and validated parking, which he insists upon as he leaves.
#3 He'll threaten your significant other with one stare down and a bunch of romantic nonsense.
When Aaron has to check on a Knicks City Dancer, who rolled her ankle during a basketball show he's brought Amy to on a date, LeBron sidles up to Amy and serious as hell asks: “What are your intentions?" Amy says she doesn't have a plan and that they're just keeping it casual. But this does not satisfy LeBron.
“So, like, do you get butterflies when you hear his name? When you look in the clouds, do you see his face? Do you hear his name when you listen to the wind?"
“Um, yes?" Amy answers hesitantly.
LeBron tells Amy he's going to have to ask her a question – which turns out to be not a question at all. “Don't hurt him," which is followed by a death stare.
#4 More unrelatable life advice from a pro-athlete.
While Aaron and LeBron are shooting hoops, LeBron – a good foot taller than his BFF – makes no moves to let him get a shot in or even get past his endless arms, and asks his in-love friend if he's using protection. Not the condom-type, but the lawyer-type.
“No penetration without representation," LeBron insists. "Listen. You don't want to have a baby mama. Next thing you know you're paying for her Ferrari. She's going to want to get a big house, a mansion and to start a jumpsuit line, and you're going to have to pay for it. You wanna go through that? Then you gotta convince one of your friends he's the dad and raise the child. The kid ends up being 6'7" and your friend's like 5'2." Eighteen years later the kid writes a book about you about how much of a jackass you are. Eighteen years, man. Eighteen years. Your baby mama's car and crib is bigger than his. You can turn on the TV any given Sunday, win the Super Bowl and drive off in a Hyundai. She was suppsed to buy your shorty Tyco with your money, but she went to the doctor and got lypo with your money."
From an observation room, Amy watches sports doctor Aaron Connors (Bill Hader) perform knee replacement surgery on an athlete. However, she can't quite stomach the gruesome medical procedure and proceeds to spew green vomit all over the operation-room window.
6) LeBron James Stages An Intervention
Trainwreck is full of famous stars in hilarious cameo roles, but the most unexpected group of celebrities to appear comes towards the end of the movie. Following a big fight between Amy and Aaron, LeBron stages an intervention in an effort to persuade the doctor to forgive her. The NBA star enlists the help of actor Matthew Broderick, former tennis pro Chris Evert and legendary sportscaster Marv Albert, all of whom give a bizarre and not-quite-successful pep talk.
5) Amy Joins The Knick City Dancers
Trainwreck concludes with an epic dance routine in which Amy temporarily joins the New York Knicks cheerleaders in a effort to win Aaron back. The impromptu dance takes place at Madison Square Garden, and Amy more than holds her own amid the highly-trained troupe. As a bonus, the scene features what may possibly be the best-ever use of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl.
4) Amy Plays “Skeletons In The Closet"
Amy's attempt to bond with her sister's (Brie Larson) suburban friends during a baby shower goes horribly wrong when one of the women suggests the group play a game called “Skeletons in the Closet," in which each person has to reveal a secret. While most of the women share fairly harmless confessions, like eating ice cream late at night or letting her six-year-old watchGlee, Amy takes the game to another level. She recounts a shocking sexual encounter in which a condom got lost inside of her, and then goes on to explain to the group of mortified women how she, “Hooked [her] finger and got it out of there."
3) Amy's One-Night Stands
Trainwreck opens with a montage of Amy's sexual conquests and overnight relationships. One of her encounters is with a particularly well-endowed man, who she asks, “Have you ever [slept with] somebody before? Where is she buried?" Later, Amy gets drunk and accidentally breaks her “never sleep over" rule, resulting in her waking up at random guy's house in Staten Island. Of course, she's left with no choice but to take the “walk of shame" back home via the ferry.
2) John Cena Attempts “Dirty Talk"
To spice things up in the bedroom, Amy asks her casual "boyfriend" Steven (John Cena) to talk dirty during sex. But Steven is inexperienced in the art of verbal seduction and attempts to arouse Amy with lines like, “I'm gonna give you my full pecker." After that remark fails to get her going, Steven tries to make some sports analogies sound sexy. When that too disappoints, he asks in Chinese, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?" Suffice to say, Amy doesn't get off that night.
1) Donald The Intern Gets Kinky
This one might go down as one of the weirdest and funniest sex scenes in film history. Amy gets more than she bargained for when, in a moment of desperation, she decides to go home with Donald (Ezra Miller), the intern at the magazine where she works. Once in the bedroom, Donald proceeds to snort Adderall off Amy's forehead, requests that she play with his “tits," and demands that she slap him around. The fun comes to an abrupt stop when Donald's mom bursts into the room and screams, “He's 16 years-old!"
The Unrated Edition of Trainwreck is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
Does Amy Schumer's new comedy Trainwreck — headed to Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 10 — resemble pieces of your life? Maybe just a little? Find out how much of a train wreck you really are with our easy quiz
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