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Barbershop The Next Cut: A Fresh and Funny Look at Life in Chicago



There are three wide releases coming out this week, but none of them look like they will challenge The Jungle Book for top spot. In fact, it looks like all three combined won't come close to The Jungle Book weekend haul. Keanu is the best of the new releases and it has a shot at becoming a midlevel hit. Mother's Day could have been a midlevel hit as counter-programming, especially with Mother's Day just over a week away. However, early reviews are hurting its chances with moviegoers. Finally there's Ratchet and Clank, which is one of those animated movies that feels like it should have gone Direct-to-Video. As for this weekend last year... this weekend last year was the first weekend of May, so year-over-year comparison has to deal with The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Obviously 2016 is going to get crushed this weekend. It should bounce back next weekend. More...Weekend Wrap-Up: Jungle Sets 2016 Sophomore Record with $61.54 MillionApril 26th, 2016


Both The Jungle Book and The Huntsman: Winter's War were a little weaker than predicted over the weekend. The Jungle Book was still able to earn the biggest sophomore weekend of 2016 at $61.54 million. For The Huntsman: Winter's War, it was a disappointing $19.45 million. Overall, the box office fell 28% to $128 million. However, this was still 32% more than the same weekend last year. Unfortunately, next weekend is going to be damn awful in the year-over-year comparison, because of a misalignment in the weekend. Year-to-date, 2016 has earned $3.37 million, putting it ahead of last year's pace by 8.5% or $260 million. More...Friday Estimates: Jungle Preys on the Huntsman with a $16.38 Million FridayApril 23rd, 2016




Barbershop The Next Cut




Hollywood's attempt to redefine the start of summer as "some time in April" continue this week with the release of The Jungle Book. This film is expected to dominate the box office this weekend and possibly next weekend as well. Barbershop: The Next Cut is also expected to do well, perhaps earning the biggest opening in the franchise, not taking into account inflation. Finally there's Criminal, which should just be happy with a spot in the top five. This weekend last year, Furious 7 led the way, but Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and Unfriended were close behind. Fortunately, it looks like The Jungle Book will earn more than those three made combined. 2016 should have a good week on the year-over-year comparison. More...2016 Preview: AprilApril 1st, 2016


BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT returns to the barbershop/salon/community center run by Calvin (Ice Cube); his business partner, Angie (Regina Hall); and their stylists on Chicago's increasingly violent South Side. When the gang warfare tearing up the neighborhood starts to draw in Calvin's 14-year-old son, Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.), whose best friend is stylist Rashad's (Common) formerly trouble-making son, Kenny (Diallo Thompson), Calvin secretly starts thinking about moving the barbershop to Chicago's much safer North Side. But in a last-ditch effort to make the South Side safer, Calvin, Angie, and their crew broker a truce between rival gang leaders for a weekend of free haircuts and conversation.


Recognizing that this movie can only be taken so seriously, there are two moments which made me wonder how dumb is Calvin. The first being touching the guns of a major local crime leader, bare handed mind you, then having said crime leader, and another, come into his shop, at the same time, in order to have a sit down. Mind you, rather than call and perhaps have the conversation over the phone, or at least ask if they would be willing to over the phone, instead he tricks them. Leading you to wonder if Calvin, and his team, never really thought about one of the guys just pulling out a strap and saying screw this barbershop since, for the 2nd time, they decide to have me in the same place as the dude who tries to kill people on my team. I mean, just to note it, some do think the idea is dumb, and yet they do it anyway.


Calvin and Angie merge the barbershop and beauty salon into one business due to harsh economic times. As the battle of the sexes rages on, a different kind of conflict has taken over Chicago. Crime and gangs are on the rise, leaving Calvin worried about the fate of his son. Together, the friends come up with a bold plan to take back their beloved neighborhood.


Barbershop: The Next Cut is the third film in this popular and always edifying comedy franchise. Calvin's (Ice Cube) establishment is a popular and well-known place on Chicago's South Side. In Barbershop he inherited the barbershop from his father who ran it for 40 years. A surprising set of circumstances enables him to see that true wealth comes from investing in others. In Barbershop 2: Back in Business, a haircutting franchise directly across the street threatens Calvin's pillar of the black community.


At the hub of this movie is our satisfaction and respect for Calvin and his barbershop employees who demonstrate what it means to use their talents to make a difference in their community. Calvin and Rashad also are wonderful examples of black fathers who understand what their sons are going through and help them to grow.


Then, in the hands of writers Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver and director Malcom D. Lee, the strategy is to get political, with the issue of shootings and gang violence in Chicago serving as the galvanizing forces around which the barbershop regulars rally.


BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT (MGM/Warner) Ice Cube's barbershop now shares space with a women's salon, but when the neighborhood is threatened by violence, the crews of both shops take a stand. With Cedric the Entertainer, Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson, Nicki Minaj, Common. (PG-13; sexual material, language)


In Barbershop: The Next Cut, 10 years have passed since the last time viewers saw the crew at Calvin's barbershop, including owner Calvin (Ice Cube), J.D. (Anthony Anderson), Terri (Eve) and quirky old man Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer). In the time since, Calvin has merged his shop with Angie's (Regina Hall) beauty shop so each of them can save money in a down economy. They've even added some new folks to the family, such as Draya (Nicki Minaj) and Rashad (Common).


So when their neighborhood begins to be taken over by crime and gangs, the barbershop team takes it upon themselves to do something about it. As they fight to take back the area where they call home, their neighborhood, the laughs surely follow.


Rashad: We gotta take our streets back.... Eddie: We'll never give up. Your father would be proud of everything that's going on here.Jerrod: Hashtag barbershop saves the neighborhood is trending on Twitter.Blonde Girl: Can I get a selfie with you?One-Stop: What the white girls want, they lost? Do you tell them you was awesome? White people love it when you go, awe-some.


Calvin: This is the town I love, a neighborhood of family and friends, and right here at the heart of it all is where everyone comes together, the barbershop. Welcome to Calvin's. If you like it, you pay. If you don't like it, your ass pay anyway. In every neighborhood there's a place where people get together to talk about their dreams, to share their frustrations, and maybe even tell a joke or two. It's a home away from home and these aren't just friends, they're family. 2ff7e9595c


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