![]() ![]() "Menace" finds impressionable South Central teenager Caine (Tyrin Turner) falling into a life of increasingly reckless crime along with his memorably menacing pal, O-Dog (Larenz Tate). While "Boyz n the Hood" allowed a ray of hope for at least one of its three main protagonists, the angry "Menace" stepped up the violence and tragedy quotient in the manner of earlier gangster films. See also: “Fresh,” “Straight Outta Brooklyn,” “Poetic Justice,” “Baby Boy” "Boyz" was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and 23-year-old John Singleton was nominated for original screenplay and director at the Academy Awards. Depicting the troubled lives of young black men near the same streets that N.W.A had been chronicling (the film takes place in Crenshaw), "Boyz" starred Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut and - in his film debut - Ice Cube as three friends coming of age in the presence of gang violence and police brutality. Sharing a title with an Eazy-E song, "Boyz" brought many of N.W.A's lyrical themes to the multiplex and, eventually, to Oscar night. Here’s some recommended additional viewing for moviegoers headed to "Straight Outta Compton" this weekend.Ĭuba Gooding Jr., left, and Ice Cube star in the movie "Boyz n the Hood." (Columbia Pictures) The group's debut album arrived just as a new wave of black filmmakers - influenced by hip-hop culture as much as cinema history - began depicting similar stories and characters in their films.įull coverage: 'Straight Outta Compton' and N.W.A's legacy Dre and Ice Cube - is the first film to dramatize the group's controversial ascension, but N.W.A's angry message had found its way onto the big screen in a variety of different ways much earlier. "Straight Outta Compton" - produced by Dr. Films like "Boyz n the Hood" or "Menace II Society" probably wouldn't have been made without the late-'80s success of N.W.A and like-minded musical acts, who were expressing the frustrations of inner-city life by discussing poverty, drugs, gang violence and police brutality. With no-holds-barred lyrics, rapid-fire rhymes and explosive, hard-hitting beats, the quintet (Cube exited after their debut album) not only influenced a generation of hip-hop artists but also helped bring underrepresented black voices to the mainstream and into the multiplex. ![]() Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella. Gary Gray-directed "Straight Outta Compton" chronicles the brief but influential existence of pioneering L.A. ![]()
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