Movie Clip Monday: The Player's Club

Its been a few weeks since I did my part in sharing movie clips on these innanets. I hope I can make it up to you with the movie that features all things ratchet about black owned and operated strip clubs.

I urge you to think twice before you get pompous like you've never been to a strip club and start judging me for featuring this movie on my blog. This movie introduced the world to the ideology that beautiful women work in strip clubs as a means to pay their college tuition.

Written and Directed by Ice Cube, The Players Club is a movie about a woman who battles against rival strippers and her money laundering boss in her efforts to make a legitimate living and build a better life for her son. Lisa Ray stars as the protagonist Diana Armstrong who has aspirations of becoming a famous journalist but got caught up in the dangers of working in a gentleman's club.
Part 1.

Diamond meets two dancers, Ronnie and Trixxie, while working as a salesclerk at a shoe store. They convince her to join them at The Player's Club as a skrippa and the club's owner, Dolla Bill (Bernie Mac) gives her the stage name "Diamond."


Part 2.

Everything is fine until four years into the game her cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun) comes to live with her. After listening to Dolla's rendition of "The Strippin' Game", she starts working at the club.


Part 3. 

Diamond has become one of the club's hottest and most popular dancers. She has come into her own as a dancer and is starting to find her own way. 


Part 4. 

Dolla Bill gets picked up by the loan shark he has failed to pay back. We finally get to see Ronnie and Trixxie doing what they do best, skripping. Too bad Trix isn't a crowd favorite. Ronnie convinces Ebony to dance at her brother Junior's bachelor party. 


Part 5. 

Through Trixxie, Ebony finds a new way to make money on the side by doing private parties. 


Part 6. 

Diamond's boyfriend breaks up with her because she works at the club and her cousin Ebony dangerously spirals out of control. One night, famous strip club connoisseur Uncle Luke of Two Live Crew fame visits the club. 


Fast forward to the good part...


Part 10. 

The movie ends on a high note as Diana grows tired of the stripping game and gets into a fistfight with another stripper named Ronnie. A year passes afterward and Diana has moved on with her life. She's gotten Ebony a job working at a shoe store. She continues to date the club DJ, and has become a successful news anchor.


Shout out to Glades Central's Class of 2004 because we loved this movie in high school! <---just told my age *shrug* 


Lisa Raye, the self-proclaimed platinum (not gold) digger is now co-starring in the hit VH1 series Single Ladies which airs on Monday nights at 9pm.

Movie Clip Monday: "The Lion King"

Today's edition of Movie Clip Monday is brought to you by the wonderful-ness of The Lion King. 

PAUSE!! 2 Lion King Posts in ONE day?! Something is afoot.  You're right! I'm excited about the upcoming release of TLK in 3-D! I realize some of you are still in denial about just how powerful this movie was and I feel sorry for you. Yes, I just said that. Me feels sorry for ya. You can allow yourself to be turned off or verklempt about the fact that I chose to use The Lion King but the movie had more than a few powerful life lessons. Don't blame Disney because you thought only animals lived in Africa. Don't be such a control freak that you want to control how life's messages come to you. If you're so bent out of shape thinking, "I can't believe she expects me to watch a cartoon and learn something about life" you're going to miss the lesson. MESSAGE! I haven't even mentioned the awesomeness of the ENTIRE Lion King soundtrack. Fret not my loves because just like death and taxes, the music post is coming. Bottom line: TLK is a prime example of what happens when you STOP running from your destiny and START embracing who you really are. It also taught me that family will bring you down quicker than strangers. Anyway, take a page from Simba's book and learn a little somethin' somethin'.

Quick recap:
Simba went from (1) singing about impatiently waiting to become king to (2) watching Scar murder his father to questioning whether he was meant to be King in the first place. (3) Simba believed Scar when he told Simba Mufasa's death was his fault. He meets Timon & Pumbaa, a meerkat and a warthog, shortly after he runs away from his home and family. (4) Timon and Pumbaa teach Simba about Hakuna Matata. (5) After a visit from that crazy, but wise, Baboon named Rafiki, Nala and the ghost of his deceased father, Simba finally remembers his destiny. (6) He finally returns to claim his rightful place as the KING of Pride Rock and the whole world is renewed.
(1)


(2)

Eff you Scar!!

(3)


(4)

It means NO WORRIES!!

(5)

Remember WHO you are!

(6)


Recognize what REALLY happened: Simba allowed the words of someone with an ulterior motive to delay the realization of his destiny. He listened to outsiders who made him doubt the things he knew all along. When Simba became strong enough to stop running, he became ready to accept what he was meant to become. At first he was afraid to fight but then he realized that  he had to fight to defend his dreams.

Nothing worth having will come to you without a fight. You will experience disappointment. You might even feel like a failure sometimes. When we are down and out sometimes we choose to spend time with the people we know won't call us out on our BS. They are the people who will allow you to live a mediocre life and run away from hard work. They do not know about the dreams you had before you met them so they won't shake you up when you choose to give up on your dreams. Thats why when you're really going through something its easy to avoid your real friends. You know your real friends wouldn't go for the BS your "new" friends allow you to get away with. The drama you're causing? Tell the stories to your new friends because your old ones will check you and you know that! Timon and Pumbaa were nice and fantastic but they did not compare to Simba's relationship with Nala, his mother and Rafiki. Timon & Pumbaa took very good care of Simba as he healed from the loss of his father and abandoning his home. Simba never forgot who he was, he just chose not to think about it. They taught him a new way of life and showed him a different way to survive with a  but the visit from his soulmate Nala gave him the push he needed to finally stop running.

Now I hear what you're saying: sometimes you need to escape your environment in order to start brand new. Tis true BUT (there is always a but) don't allow yourself to forget where you came from.

Final note: Rebuke anyone who interrupts the vision you have for yourself.