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            As Mario Van Peebles prepares for this year’s release of the gang drama “Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power,” in which he stars, his groundbreaking hood film, “New Jack City” is coming out on DVD—fourteen years after its theatrical release. Van Peebles not only starred in “New Jack City,” but directed it. “New Jack City” also stars Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Allen Payne, Michael Michele, Bill Nunn, Russell Wong, Christopher Williams, Vanessa Williams, Judd Nelson, Nick Ashford and a host of other artists. Teddy Riley, who initiated New Jack Swing, also makes an appearance.

            Mario reminisced about how it was back in the day and the making of this movie:    “This film, ‘Boyz N the Hood’ and of course brother Spike’s ‘Malcolm X’ were all important because we didn’t have the viable leading man yet and we were all playing into the funny guy or the best friend of the white guy. So before ‘New Jack City,’ when [the studios] wanted funny, they looked at Wesley for ‘Major League’ or me for ‘Heartbreak Ridge.’ But after ‘New Jack City,’ they were able to put Wesley in ‘Passenger 57,’ even though it wasn’t written black, and Larry Fishburne in ‘Bad Company.’ And of course we had Denzel. We had Black leading men and that’s something we helped to do.

            “`New Jack City’ was a film where you not only connected with a gangster but with the cops trying to take the gangster down. The movie had to work on a number of levels. It had to humanize the victims. That’s where Chris Rock came in and his performance took you into the victim’s world. It showed you what happened to the rest of us, the victims on the streets that fall prey to the epidemic.”

            He continued: “Drug lord Nicky Barnes’ influenced the Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) character. Nicky did for drugs what Ford did for the auto plants. Nino mentions we don’t have poppy fields in the ghetto but we have a lot of dope. We don’t have gun-manufacturing plants in the ghetto. Yet there are a lot of guns in the ghetto. So very quickly if you follow the food chain, it goes way above the Nino Browns, you know. And when you get to the Iran contra relationship, drugs and guns, you get the CIA stuff, Noriega, all that’s going down that has nothing to do with Black folks at all. It’s very much about keeping us medicated because when you’re junkies, you don’t vote. They don’t think politically.”

            Furthermore, Van Peebles said, “So now you have all the gangs that inherited the bravado of the Black power movement but without the political ideology of the Gil Scott Herons and all those folks that were saying something. Now we’re just dancing to emptiness and it not only neutralizes our leaders, it neutralizes any sort of thinking entertainment. I hate to say it, but movies are more stupid.”

            But do say it, Mario. Say it loud! Just this past weekend James Bond’s Sean Connery said he was retiring because he couldn’t deal with the horrible material Hollywood was putting out. Speaking on the present state of films, Mario went on to say, “I’m not saying we shouldn’t have comedy but they are much more likely to make some hip hop silliness that doesn’t say much than a ‘Boyz N the Hood.’ What message do you think studios want you to hear? So that’s what we’re dealing with.”

            “Ice Cube said the same thing when he was doing rap,” Mario pointed out. “It was angry but it was saying something. Listen to N.W.A’s stuff. Even in that he’s saying that ‘You’d rather see me in a pen than…rollin’ in a Benzo.’ It was more political than just dancing to black genocide, bitches and hoes. Capitalism on crack would rather fund that than something that has a message. I don’t think that’s an accident, do you?” he asks. Of course I don’t think it’s an accident.

He ends on this important note: “There are exceptions like Michael Mann who made ‘The Insider. ’By and large it’s not just a question of Black and White. Look at Fox News. I mean, that’s got to be the dumbest show in the world. It perpetuates the Republican agenda in its news. Here’s the thing. Any art that makes you think, is dangerous to the status quo because it makes you think when you vote. If you get used to thinking, you just might apply that knowledge when you vote. You might just go, ‘ahem.’”

            While promoting his latest film “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo,” which was shot in Amsterdam, Eddie Griffin says Amsterdam [where drugs and prostitution are legal] is like Disneyland for adults. After changing studios, the film pulled out all the stops in vulgarity and grossness. ‘It wasn’t Disney this time [that put out the film],” Griffin explained. “When it moved over to Sony I knew it would have a license to ill.”

            Eddie had a blast in Europe filming “Deuce Bigalow,” but The Film Strip wanted to know about his straight to video film, “Blast.” Although excited about the DVD, he admitted that he had no idea the film would go straight to vide

            “We shot it two years ago in South Africa and it’s a more dramatic turn and action star thing. Usually you get pigeonholed. I think the reason it went straight to DVD is because it's Eddie doing action and drama and you know your fan base wants you to do comedy. ‘I want to see the motherf@#$%r funny,’ mimicking a fan. “So I think that’s the reason it went there. But it's a good film.”

            Commenting on working with his co-star, Vivica Foxx, he says: “Vivica’s my girl. She’s hoodie goodie, you know. She’s a ghetto superstar princess. So we had a ball over there in South Africa. South Africa is so gorgeous it makes Malibu look like the ghetto. So don’t believe everything you see on wild kingdom. It ain’t a bunch of people running around with plate lips and bones in their noses. It’s some gorgeous and beautiful people over there. So I had a great time.”

            Some may see Eddie as a wild and crazy guy and that he is, but he’s also a homebody and family man. He has five boys and a girl. “My oldest boy is 20 and he’s a music producer. The boy’s bad.” In this candid moment he talked about his kids when, for the most part, he never discusses them. “When people ask me about my kids I usually tell them, ‘no comment’ because my children didn’t ask to be famous and I’m not gonna put them out there like that.

            “I would not push them into this business. I would much rather see them become doctors, lawyers and attorneys because all that glitters ain’t gold. There’s a whole lot of stress that goes on with this business and it’s something I wanted to do.”

            His children do very well in school. He promises them a $100 dollars for every A they receive on their report cards. “The bribing has gotten very expensive and I’m doing tours to support the report cards right now. When I come to your city, please buy a ticket to help my children’s education fund.”  Eddie is always good for a laugh.