Cinepals - DON'T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING JUICE IN THE HOOD Movie Reaction & Review!

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

How many jokes and references will Jaby and Michael get in this Wayans brothers comedy? Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a satirical comedy that parodies popular '90s hood films, following a young man navigating life in a rough neighborhood with the guidance of his over-the-top, eccentric cousin. Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood was directed by Paris Barclay (NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Glee). The main cast includes Shawn Wayans (White Chicks, Scary Movie, In Living Color) as Ashtray, Marlon Wayans (White Chicks, Scary Movie, Requiem for a Dream) as Loc Dog, Tracey Cherelle Jones (The Players Club, Baby Boy, Good News) as Dashiki, and Chris Spencer (The Jamie Foxx Show, Significant Others, Real Husbands of Hollywood) as Preach. Watch the cutdown reaction on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@cinepals or watch along with Jaby and Michael on Patreon at www.cinejump.com SOCIAL MEDIA ~CINEPALS~  YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals ~MICHAEL BOOSE~ Insta: @BooseIsLoose

Senna. Now we're watching Don't Be a Menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood. As someone who grew up watching the Wayne's brothers, I'm quite curious to see how this is going to go for us. I don't know what to expect other than absolute insanity. So let's see how this goes. Here we go. Some good shit. Wow, that was an experience. That was wild.

commentary about the guy who's like preaching about being unified with your people and all that and then ends up with a Caucasian lady and like the most sideways looking Caucasian lady it's funny because I've seen that kind of thing in real life but not necessarily with black and white but more so with Asian and white where like and it's usually one who's just like not quite top notch this is like very superficial and judgmental ways of looking at people okay I admit that okay I'm putting that out there. I'm shallow. I'm shallow.

I get it. No, but it's like, you know, you see people and you're like, okay. All right. Are you sure about that? I'll see an Asian woman who's like beautiful with like an all right looking white dude. Or a white guy who is like very attractive and then he's with this Asian woman who's like, wow, like you could have done better than that. That's what you settled for? There was a guy I used to work with and he's like, you know, he's tall and white.

And he goes, if I'm dating a Caucasian woman, she's got to be at least. to nine and a half. But if I'm dating a Japanese woman, she could be like a six. And I'm like, wow, fascinating. Like, it's so cool that you just put it out there like that. Thank you for your honesty. Would you care to explain the science behind that? Usually you will see like white guy, Asian girl. In fact, I'm a product of that. My dad's white. My mom's Asian, right? And my dad was ugly as sin. No, he's actually, they're both very attractive, you know, in their youth. And so that actually worked out all right. But I have seen it not work. I have seen it just be like, whoa, that's what you chose. Okay, then.

Like, that to me just speaks to me because I've seen it so many times in real life. It's, I mean, you know, a lot of these jokes stem from reality in one degree or form. And then you can make fun of it because we've all experienced or at least marginally experienced some situation like that. And that's what makes movies like these so funny. I'm a little sad that I don't quite get all the references to like Boys in the Hood and things like that. I'm sure that would have helped my viewing experience, but still, very, very funny. And, you know, definitely a kind of tongue-in-cheek comedy that you don't necessarily get so much anymore, except with, like, the likes of South Park and maybe some more, like, cartoon shows nowadays.

Well, the most, the most noteworthy spoof to have come out in recent years is probably Deadpool and Wolverine. That's actually, yeah, that's a good point. But, like, outside of that, you don't really get spoof films anymore. Not to this level. You know, before Deadpool, Wolverine, what would you get? But, like, scary movie made by the same type of guys. I liked White Chicks better between this and that, you know, between these two films. At least I think I got most of the references.

Like I said, I never saw Dead Presidents. And so there was a string of movies, I guess, in the early to mid-90s of films that this is kind of making fun of like boys in the hood. Where it's just like the rough life of a young black guy. And I think that, you know, after a while, you just kind of get tired. It's like you get tired of seeing that and then like the slave story. It's like those are the two things you just keep on getting. And it's just taxes your patience. after a while.

And so I think that this film is kind of cathartic for people who are just exhausted by a string of those films. And, you know, the Waynes Brothers usually capitalize on those kinds of trends. That's why scary movie was as successful as it was because you just kept seeing like one horror film after another. It's like the comic book films that we're experiencing now. Yeah. It's the fatigue of a genre.

Yeah. And inevitably, you start getting the spoofs of that genre because there's been so many that you're like, ha, ha, I can make fun of these tropes. And then we move on to a different genre. Yeah, exactly. But I did like Boys in the Hood. I enjoyed it for what it was. It was one of those things that I just bought

just impulse by because I was curious about it and I popped it on one day and my friend was like, why did you watch that? I'm like, I don't know. I just wanted to know. I just wanted to. I was curious. You know, that's it.

I was curious. And so thankfully I watched it so I could get some of the references. And the thing that tickled me the most is Potopoly for some odd reason. I know. You start crack it up at Ponopoly. It's just because, you know,

I don't know. it's like such a deep joke you know what I mean it's it's a message onto itself yeah yeah and it hurts so much that it's funny I guess it's like you know what I mean I don't know if I'm making any sense

I just see that I'm like God that's fucking dark it's so dark it's funny that's there were a lot of there were a lot of moments in in this one in particular that were just so I think you put it perfectly it's so cathartic in how dark it is

and how overtly like yeah, this is things that Hollywood has done in movies and how Hollywood depicts this life. And you're just like oh, that's horrible, but I can't help laughing because it's just how horrible it is. Like if you

don't laugh, what else are you going to do? Yeah, it's interesting because Boys in the Hood, I'm pretty sure how to black filmmaker, but it's like, well, that's the stuff that's getting greenlit, right? I don't know. I never saw the film, but I remember George Lucas went on the Daily show because he made him

called Red Tails. I don't know if it's good or bad, but he said that he had he had a really hard time finding distribution for it because he didn't have any white leads in the film. And he's just very upfront about it. And George Lucas is not one to bullshit. No. He has no need to. So he just put it out there. I was like, wow, that's crazy. Because I remember at the time thinking, like, we're still dealing with that issue. That's kind of wild. And so what you get is a lot of a string of these films that allow white people to be like, oh my gosh, I feel bad. Yeah. Oh, man.

Allow me to feel my white guilt. Oh, life was so tough for those other people. I, when the most recent film that I remember coming out within that vein was straight out of Compton. I enjoyed that. It was a great movie, phenomenal film. But I specifically remember because I was at college, at a performing arts college, and all these, like, white girls being like, yeah, I listened to NWA, and, man, their story is really heartbreaking. and I've always been a NWA fan,

and I'm so glad that they're getting their representation. And I was just sitting here like, this movie makes you feel better about yourself, doesn't it? That's what you're using it for. That's fascinating. It was wild. It was so fascinating to me. All these people that came out of the woodwork that I'm like,

that are like, yeah, I'm a hardcore gangster. And like talking about life in Compton, like they knew about it just from watching the movie. Yeah. It's crazy how these films that this is making fun of or allow people to be like, yeah, I can put myself in those shoes. Life was hard, but at least they got out of it. And I appreciate the Wayans Brothers being able to be like, you know, just straight up pointing at the camera and being like, message.

Yeah. Like, you know, they're actively like pushing out the message in the funny, like, tongue in cheek, thinly veiled sarcasm and being like, see, this is what you all people are getting from these movies. Yeah. Boy, howdy, I hope you feel better about yourselves. Yeah. I don't want to say my friend's name because I don't want him to get in trouble in case he does a wide me. He's probably fine with it, his name being out there, but just for just in case as a precaution, I'm not going to say his name.

Him and another friend of mine, they went to go watch 12 years of slave. They're both black. While watching 12 years of slave, they were looking around the audience and no one else was black in the audience. And people were just sobbing watching the film. And they were just like kind of confused watching everyone else's reaction. And it was a fascinating account to hear from him. To hear his experience of the film, I didn't cry watching 12 years a slave. I actually thought it was going to be show more brutality than it did.

But anyway, that's another conversation entirely. His whole thing was just like he was tired of slave movies. And then Will Smith's most recent thing was also portraying a slave movie. You know, he's just like, he just wants to see, you know, black people just like be normal and win and be awesome. You know, he's kind of live lives. Yeah, exactly. Instead of just like seeing, you know, the guy who's, you know, down in the hood or the slave. It's like those two things are like, we've seen that.

We've seen that story. We don't need to keep seeing that story. Was his basic, basically his perspective. I'm paraphrasing terribly, but that was his perspective on the matter. Which I understand, you know, like as a person who's half Asian, oftentimes, you know, you see the same Asian guy in the movies. It's like after a while, you get a little bit exhausted by it. Even Michelle Yeo, when she won best actress, it was for a martial arts film. Yeah.

You know, I'm like, that's fascinating. Like, she could do other things. You guys. Like, I know, Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is great. Yeah. But, like, both times, you know. Come on. But they were martial arts films.

The only Asian film that I can think of that, like, got, that was noteworthy at the academy was Parasite. That wasn't a martial arts film. So, anyway, back to this. It obviously tickled me. I don't know how this is cut together by the editors, right? But, like, it obviously, there was obviously a number of moments that tickled me. But there was other moments where I was just sort of like,

hmm, this felt like a lot more than 90 minutes. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think because it's done in a bunch of vignettes and it's more doing individual spoofs than one cohesive, like, full story spoof. Yeah, I'm with you there where sometimes it feels like it drags a little bit. I'm also certain that there are a lot. of the jokes, especially in those bits that we're not necessarily cracking up at, are more

cultural poking fun that we might have more context for if we'd grown up in that culture or been around that culture. So there were definitely some jokes that just kind of went over my head, and I can see how that can, like, drag the runtime a little bit. Marlon Wayne's obviously like the kooky one, right? And in comedy, you want to have your straight man and your goofy one or your crazy one. And I felt like Sean Waynes, he was funny. It's just that there were, again, this is like, my understanding of comedy is very limited.

They obviously have way more experience than I do. And I'm just a dude, you know, in my studio and commenting on this, you know, on a genre that, like, I have not had any experience making. Do it better. Yeah, I, like, I'm very aware of this. But Sean Wayne's, to me, was veering into the goofy realm quite a bit in the movie. And I'm like, okay, you're not quite a straight man. as you needed. Yeah, I wanted him to be more straight man,

just sort of like observing the absurdity of all this as opposed to being a participant in the chaos and craziness and also being just as crazy as everything around him. But it's like it still is effective in communicating what it wants to communicate as far as making fun of the genre, or these kinds of films. Like, it's fine.

It's just that some of the humor, it was undercut or it had the air sucked out of it. Every time he started like also being kind of stupid it as well. There was a scene where the girl he's in love with was reading a poem and his reaction to the poem was so big. I'm like, dude, you just

like this is not funny now because you're overplaying it. We've lost the audience insert. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's how I felt. Whereas like Marlon he's allowed to get like I fully expect Marlon Wayne's to just go off the rails. He was incredible. Yeah. The fact that he maintains like his

fate like the entire time. Yeah. That's so hard. So there was an episode of the Wayne's brothers that tickled me senselessly where I don't exactly remember what led up to this but he had a blow-up doll and somehow somehow the blow-up doll got stabs and started deflating and Marlon Waynes lost it and started crying and like he ran over it was like a woman dying in his arms and he was like just cradling it and crying and he went full balls to the wall just like sobbing over it. over this thing.

And you could see Sean Wayne's trying to keep it together. He was Jimmy Fallon in the scene because he's like he couldn't keep a straight face while his brother was just losing it. Crying over this doll. And I was in stitches on the floor, because I used to watch that show all the time. That was the best scene ever.

That and then Skeeter's scene, of course. I can achieve anything I put my mind to. But what about you? Ooh, me? Yeah, all that talking you did in high school? I know you did some bit. Oh, yeah, Skeeter's, uh, some people People don't know who Skeeter is, but he was a guest star because he's friends with Marlon Wayans.

He's, I always expect him to go profoundly insane. And so everything he did is in line with the expectation of the crazy character. Right. So Sean Waynes, I just, you know, I'm, I'm droning on and on about this, but I just wish he played it more straight man. Or, like, reacting as if we were him. Right, yeah, exactly. So, that's all. Rather than, like, leaning into it.

Because I get what you're saying is, is it definitely feel like he was too comfortable in the reality of that world as well. And I know they're trying to like, part of this is poking fun at these movies by everyone being okay with how ridiculous some of the stuff that happens in them is. But yeah, I think it would have been helped if we'd had a bit more of an audience insert in the form of Sean Wains of being like, this stuff's ridiculous. Yeah. This is insane. Yeah. The only one who did that really was Keenan Ivory Wains. Yeah.

Every time he poked his head in. Yeah, he's the only one. That's just like, that's kind of odd. But yeah, it definitely like made me laugh. It definitely caught me off guard. I wish it was like about 10 minutes shorter But at a certain point It's like you said

It's like it's vignettes And so there's no real I think good comedies Even spoofs need to have a trajectory Where you're sort of following And the one that they had here It just kept kind of repeating itself Like we're gonna get out of the hood

We're gonna get out of the hood And it's like okay And then they just kept doing that Right get out of the hood I'm like okay well what's in your way There was no real arc Yeah there's nothing really in your way There's not like oh I got to like

like, you know, stack these, these, these, these, these Benjamins or whatever. Like, there's nothing. Right. There's nothing in his way to get, it seems like you can leave any time. So, like, this goal could have been accomplished 40 minutes ago. Why are we having these moments still? Yeah. There could be an argument to say that, like, that is part of the, what's the word I'm looking for,

spoof in that they're saying they're going to get out of the hood and then there is no obstacle holding them back from the hood. You might be right. That also might have been a creative choice on the way in his brother's part. that's a great one that I hadn't totally thought about until you were saying that like there is no obstacle out of the hood and I was like what an interesting commentary on hood movies yeah that's true well I mean the the what keeps you there is most likely it's either family or or lack of funds to get out like it's all you can afford because you can't you can't move anywhere else because it's too expensive or whatever and so like I yeah like something to indicate why he hasn't left yet would have been nice the whole thing with the mail truck was Like, what the fuck was that? That was so random. Is that a thing?

I just love the mail truck. Yeah, I think you can get old mail trucks at, like, auctions and stuff like that for relatively cheap because a guy who used to work for the tour company I worked for, he was a welder, just drove around in a mail truck, an old mail truck. You could still see the, like, shadow of the mail decals and everything like that, that he decaled over with his, like, welding company. But, yeah, just rolled up in a mail truck, and he'd come over down to the boats, do some welding, roll away in his mail truck.

Wow. Yeah, yeah. I think one of my favorite moments was the Bernie Mac scene because it was... Bernie Mac was amazing. It was just so over the top. And I feel like it speaks to

the scenes that you see like that in film. The only one that comes to my mind right now is from an episode of Family Matters where the... Did you ever see Family Matters? Yeah, I loved Family Matters. Nick and Night Man, like Midnight to Two. It was one of my favorite shows growing up.

But there was this one episode where Eddie was he encountered these two white racist cops Family Matters kind of was like starting to jump the shark at that point anyway but I remember like I found out years later that that whole episode was very controversial within the office like there were people in the writer's room

who was one black lady in the writer's room who was like that's not how this would play at all like there's no way how it works but they shouted her down basically and they got the episode through his interpretation of that in film it was like he's like I hate the back of a forest widder

Horace Ridicke's neck. It's just like... That bit was so funny. What makes that... I hate my gums. What makes that so funny is just the very honed in specificity of it. Yeah. And like the gun.

And every... It's like, he hates his gun because it's black. It's like, it's so absurd. Hate Whoopi Goldberg lips. Yeah. I'm like, god, damn. You're right. The specificity is what kind of sends it.

And having seen a few of these scenes that they really do go over the top. And I don't know if it's because, like, they're really trying to translate, hey, this person's being racist, so they're being as specifically racist as possible. Or if it's more, because it might also be for the white viewers of these movies, making it seem like, oh, these aren't words that I would use. So clearly, I'm better than this person. Sure. This isn't my kind of white person.

Sure. Because listen to the insane vernacular this person. Yeah, exactly. I can see there being an argument for that. It makes people feel more comfortable if it sounds ridiculous. It doesn't feel real, and that way it feels better so you can then imprint on the main character that is being aggressed rather than the aggressor

using words that you're like, oh, I've had those thoughts. Well, that's what I call Scarface philosophy. Did you see Scarface? There's a whole scene when he's leaving the restaurant. He's like, you need people like me so you guys can feel better about yourselves. So the bad guy's leaving now.

Yep, yep. You know, a shout out to Casey Lee, who was at the beginning of the movie. He's the one that didn't make it to 21. He was also in white shows. and so he's a friend also someone I know through Skeeter Gotcha And so yeah

It's just funny to see him in two Wayne's Brothers movies Now I'm wondering like how many Wayne's Brothers films he's shown up in You gotta watch them all You gotta get the collection The bingo card of Wayne's Brothers movies Yeah A moment ago you mentioned Marlon Wayne's His commitment to that base the entire time

Oh my God I almost wish there was like a scene where he let go of it Because it was just He was so committed to it I can't even imagine So I had a friend who worked with him for like a day. And it was right after my friend saw Requiem for a Dream, which Marlon Wains is in. And during the conversation, my friend found out from Marlon Wains that he was very, very proud of his role in Reckham for a Dream.

And it's like, oh, okay. So that says that this is a guy who's kind of gotten pigeonholed. Thank you. Pigeonhold into this kind of role again and again and again. when he feels like he can do more than that, but it's all that Hollywood will let him do. Yeah. So it's a little bit interesting to me

that the Wayne's brothers haven't tried to do anything serious, but maybe they have and we just don't know and that's just not getting distribution. Yeah, you know. You know, maybe one of those instances where they're like, hey, we want to do this serious movie and everybody's like, but you guys are the funny spoof movie guys. Yeah, exactly.

You don't do serious stuff. Yeah. But yeah, it's not their lane. It's not where they've made money. And so, but it's ever since, Hearing that story, it's always made me hope for Marlon Waynes to, like, break free of that and do more and more dramatic roles. Because I think that he definitely has the ability to go there.

Did you see Requiem for a Dream? Have you ever watched it? I haven't seen Requiem for a dream. He does a really good job. He does an excellent job in the film, and he makes you feel for him. And so it's also, you know, Aronovsky doing a great job. Right, right. But anyway, you guys, thanks so much for hanging out.

Hopefully, enjoyed some of that craziness. and let us know your feelings in the comments below. I'm Jabby Coy. This is Michael Boose. Peace out.