Showing Out

Well everyone, it’s been a full year here at Showing Out, and unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. As much as we’ve loved writing about the various aspects of urban entertainment, we’ve decided to throw in the towel. But let’s not forget the good times. Remember our convo with Queen Latifah? How about our one with Rakim? And Amerie? Never forget the good times. We’ll miss bringing you regularly updated posts, but we appreciate you rocking with us for the past year, through the fast times and the slow. Best of luck to all of our readers in the future. That said, peace out y’all.

Rhys Ifans might just have the best accent in all of British cinema, so here’s something to please your earholes. IGN just dropped off the trailer for Bernard Rose’s Mr. Nice, starring Ifans, Chloe Sevigny, Elsa Pataky, Andrew Tiernan and Jack Huston in this drug drama. Mr. Nice tells “The life story of Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans), a former teacher who achieved notoriety as a drug smuggler through connections with MI6, the IRA and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the DEA.” We love us some period piece stuff. Look out for this one when it hits limited theaters today, and don’t say we didn’t give you a heads up ahead of time.

Looks like the studio gals behind Sex and the City 2 will have plenty of petty cash to throw away on a new pair of Jimmy Choos. According to THR, the sequel to the big screen adaptation of the HBO series roped in an estimated $14.2 million on Thursday, putting the film on track to surpass the $60 million mark through Monday. The original, released the same weekend in 2008, grossed $26.8 million in its opening day and earned $62.6 million during the four-day frame. “Exceeding all expectations is the best way to open any film,” Warners domestic distribution topper Dan Fellman said. “Having $14.2 million in the bank at the start of a long holiday weekend is even better.” It’s going to be a couture-filled weekend, y’all.

Damn, this movie stays getting creepier by the clip. The above joint just hit the net, and it’s pretty damn weird, showing one of the two scientists in the movie professing her love for the creature while said creature steals a key from her and plots escape. And if you couldn’t tell from the clip, the film stars Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody as Elsa and Clive, two scientists who decide to play God when they splice human and animal DNA to create a new species. At first, the creation seems cute and harmless, but they pair soon finds out that their experiment poses a deadly threat to humanity. Looks entirely excellent, and early reviews seem to confirm our suspicion. Look out for this one when it hits theaters June 4th.

Last week, news broke that a few young cast members were being considered for inclusion in the upcoming Scream 4. Now, we’ve got a few confirmations. According to Variety, Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts have officially signed on the dotted line, confirming earlier reports that the two would star in the flick. According to the preliminary report, “Panettiere would play [Campbell’s cousin Jill's best friend], a nerdy film geek,” while it’s assumed that Roberts would play Jill. Interesting. The film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette reprising their roles, hits theaters April 15th, 2011. Stay tuned for more on this one.

Before Weezy F. Baby headed off to do his bid, he took the T.I. route and filmed a handful of videos in February (even though we probably won’t get to see them all - record labels lose steam after the first or second release). The latest visual to get released of a pre-incarcerated Wayne is the clip for “Da Da Da” off his rock-soaked album Rebirth. This one takes the documentary route, following Wayne as he hops out of a car and joins the band Mayday on the top of a building for an impromptu performance. This is Weezy’s Beatles moment, and we simply won’t take it away from him. Watch, enjoy.

Well Rihanna just isn’t keeping her video output on medium this week. Above is the visuals for her international single “Te Amo,” the second video release in a hot minute off her recently released Rated R (you can watch the clip for “Rockstar 101″ here). In this relatively dark, medieval clip, a woman shrouded in black S&M attire rolls up to a castle where she meets up with Rihanna for some sort of lesbian tryst. Remember the good ol’ days when Madonna kissing Britney and Xtina was considered offensively shocking? Eat your heart out Madge. Not only does Ri Ri have the visuals down, but she’s also singing about what she’s doing. Press play and enjoy.

Nah Right’s got this nice little series where they have artists do a video in one shot, and the latest to join up with the hottest rap blog on the ‘net is Reflection Eternal, who just dropped its sophomore album Revolutions Per Minute last week. For the series, Court Dunn directs this nice one-shotter by putting two poster-like images of the group side by side, with the Talib Kweli on the left rapping about one minute into the track, while Hi-Tek comes to life on the right to spit his verse on the second half of the song. Oh, you ain’t know he had flow though? Do your homework and check out both RPM and Train of Thought. Real hip-hop.

It’s been quiet on the Fuqua front recently, so here’s something to put him back on top (of our blog, that is). According to Deadline, the director is in talks to helm The Tomb, a prison escape drama, for Summit Entertainment, with Bruce Willis in negotiations to star as the lead. In the film, Willis would play Ray Breslin, “the world’s foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He’s framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.” Sounds enticing. The film, based on a script by Miles Chapman and rewritten by Jason Keller, should be in production soon.

Haven’t heard much on the upcoming action flick The Expendables and its all-star cast, but here’s a good reason to post something about it. A new TV spot just hit the net, which is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. The film, which follows a group of mercenaries to South America to take out an evil dictator (so badass), stars a whole smattering of folks, including Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Danny Trejo, Charisma Carpenter and more. The Expendables is also written and directed by Stallone, and is expected to hit theaters on August 20th. And honestly, this one looks like it’s going to kick everyone’s collective ass. Get ready for it to hit theaters this summer.