The girls that get it, get it. And by "it," I do mean "B.A.P.S.," the late '90s girl-power romp starring Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle-Reid. The film follows the duo as two homegirls whose efforts to swindle a millionaire inadvertently turn them into Black American Princesses (hence the title). It's a campy, caring chick flick with ridiculous gags and a few endearing friendships — but after 25 years, it's still one of the most misunderstood films of the '90s.
One hesitates to label "B.A.P.S." a cult classic. It was ruthlessly panned upon its release in 1997, and though it's cherished and championed by Black female audiences everywhere, the film is never mentioned with the same ironic awe as the other, equally campy films of the era. Think "Clueless," "Dick," or "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" — all enjoy a special place in the cult hall of fame, while "B.A.P.S." is scarcely mentioned.
One hesitates to label "B.A.P.S." a cult classic. It was ruthlessly panned upon its release in 1997, and though it's cherished and championed by Black female audiences everywhere, the film is never mentioned with the same ironic awe as the other, equally campy films of the era. Think "Clueless," "Dick," or "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" — all enjoy a special place in the cult hall of fame, while "B.A.P.S." is scarcely mentioned.
- 3/2/2023
- by Lyvie Scott
- Slash Film
1972: Jingles the clown scared Andrea on Somerset.
1986: Robert S. Woods debuted as Paul on Days of our Lives.
1986: James Stenbeck returned from the dead with, "Hello, Barbara"
1995: All My Children's Julia found a surprise in her closet."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Roger (Allen Nourse) worried about Mary.
1972: On Somerset, Andrea Moore (Harriet Hall) was terrified when she was woken up in her bedroom by Jingles the Clown. When Carter Matson (Jay Gregory) ran into the room after hearing her screams, he didn't see anything and told...
1986: Robert S. Woods debuted as Paul on Days of our Lives.
1986: James Stenbeck returned from the dead with, "Hello, Barbara"
1995: All My Children's Julia found a surprise in her closet."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Roger (Allen Nourse) worried about Mary.
1972: On Somerset, Andrea Moore (Harriet Hall) was terrified when she was woken up in her bedroom by Jingles the Clown. When Carter Matson (Jay Gregory) ran into the room after hearing her screams, he didn't see anything and told...
- 11/7/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
If wither of the above titles mentioned in the header are your cup of tea, then this one's for you... Troy Byer wrote and directed this romcom, titled "I Really Hate My Ex," which will be released by Lionsgate in March. In short, the film follows 3 women who kidnap their exes and hold them hostage until they get the answers they think they need, in order to be free. It stars Chris Spencer, Leon Robinson, Darrin DeWitt Henson, Shari Headley, Jd Lawrence, Troy Byer, Bresha Webb, Ernie G., Daphnee Duplaix, Tomiko Fraser Hines, Christopher Bailey, and Michael Bernard Beck. Troy Byer also produced the film, with Karon Aghotte, and Christopher Bailey. It's...
- 2/20/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Opens
Friday, Dec. 12
Owing its tenuous existence to the fondly recalled 1987 romantic comedy "Can't Buy Me Love", the instantly forgettable "Love Don't Cost a Thing" may have been given a hip-hop makeover (swapping the Beatles song reference for one by J.Lo), but despite being all dressed up, it has nowhere to go.
A few things have been lost in the suburban-to-urban transition, like any kind of involving storytelling or relatable characters or the slightest hint of a creative pulse outside of the cut-and-paste filmmaking style employed by director-screenwriter Troy Beyer.
Obviously it's not the kind of thing that could ever be mistaken for a critics' film, but even with "Drumline" star Nick Cannon on board, the Warner Bros. Pictures release is going to find itself going up against Universal's already established "Honey" for a piece of the same young urban female demo.
Taking over for Patrick Dempsey in the original, Cannon is Alvin Johnson, a card-carrying high school nerd who works part-time as a pool boy in order to raise enough cash to finish building the engine he has designed which will hopefully earn him a college scholarship.
But those plans fall by the wayside when the ultra-fine and timely named Paris (Christina Milian) wrecks her mother's Cadillac Escalade. When she can't come up with the $1,500 for the repair, Alvin steps in with a possible solution -- he'll front the cash with his savings and in return, Paris has to pretend to be his girlfriend for two weeks.
Faced with either Alvin or the wrath of her mother, Paris opts for the former. And while she gradually warms to him, Alvin, on the other hand, turns into big player on campus and is determined to make up for lost time at any cost.
It turns out Alvin's dream engine isn't the only thing that's been cobbled together from discarded parts.
As written and directed by Beyer (whose credits include "Let's Talk About Sex" and the screenplay for "B.A.P.S".), the production is a haphazard rendering of the original Michael Swerdlick script that's incapable of sticking to any one tone or character motivation long enough to give the viewer any reason to care about the outcome.
Cannon, who gave such a committed and focused performance in the sleeper hit "Drumline", seems to be trotting out a few different characters he never got a chance to play on his Nickelodeon sketch comedy program. There's never any convincing through-line in his transformation.
Steve Harvey gets a chance to flesh out his old-school-embracing stand-up persona as Cannon's Al Green-idolizing mack daddy dad, who teaches his son the finer art of condom installation.
His handful of scenes provide the picture with its few funny moments, but like so many other elements of "Love Don't Cost a Thing", they feel like they belong in other, better movies.
Love Don't Cost A Thing
Warner Bros. Pictures
Alcon Entertainment presents
a Burg/Koules production
Credits:
Director: Troy Beyer
Screenwriters: Troy Beyer and Michael Swerdlick
Based on the screenplay "Can't Buy Me Love" by Michael Swerdlick
Producers: Andrew A. Kosove
Broderick Johnson, Mark Burg, Reuben Cannon
Executive producer: Oren Koules
Director of photography: Chuck Cohen
Production designer: Cabot McMullen
Editor: David Codron
Costume designers: Christine Peters, Jennifer Mallini
Music: Richard Gibbs
Cast:
Alvin Johnson: Nick Cannon
Paris Morgan: Christina Milian
Clarence Johnson: Steve Harvey
Walter: Kenan Thompson
Kenneth: Kal Penn
Chuck: Kevin Christy
Yvonee: Nichole Robinson
Zoe: Melissa Schuman
Ted: Al Thompson
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, Dec. 12
Owing its tenuous existence to the fondly recalled 1987 romantic comedy "Can't Buy Me Love", the instantly forgettable "Love Don't Cost a Thing" may have been given a hip-hop makeover (swapping the Beatles song reference for one by J.Lo), but despite being all dressed up, it has nowhere to go.
A few things have been lost in the suburban-to-urban transition, like any kind of involving storytelling or relatable characters or the slightest hint of a creative pulse outside of the cut-and-paste filmmaking style employed by director-screenwriter Troy Beyer.
Obviously it's not the kind of thing that could ever be mistaken for a critics' film, but even with "Drumline" star Nick Cannon on board, the Warner Bros. Pictures release is going to find itself going up against Universal's already established "Honey" for a piece of the same young urban female demo.
Taking over for Patrick Dempsey in the original, Cannon is Alvin Johnson, a card-carrying high school nerd who works part-time as a pool boy in order to raise enough cash to finish building the engine he has designed which will hopefully earn him a college scholarship.
But those plans fall by the wayside when the ultra-fine and timely named Paris (Christina Milian) wrecks her mother's Cadillac Escalade. When she can't come up with the $1,500 for the repair, Alvin steps in with a possible solution -- he'll front the cash with his savings and in return, Paris has to pretend to be his girlfriend for two weeks.
Faced with either Alvin or the wrath of her mother, Paris opts for the former. And while she gradually warms to him, Alvin, on the other hand, turns into big player on campus and is determined to make up for lost time at any cost.
It turns out Alvin's dream engine isn't the only thing that's been cobbled together from discarded parts.
As written and directed by Beyer (whose credits include "Let's Talk About Sex" and the screenplay for "B.A.P.S".), the production is a haphazard rendering of the original Michael Swerdlick script that's incapable of sticking to any one tone or character motivation long enough to give the viewer any reason to care about the outcome.
Cannon, who gave such a committed and focused performance in the sleeper hit "Drumline", seems to be trotting out a few different characters he never got a chance to play on his Nickelodeon sketch comedy program. There's never any convincing through-line in his transformation.
Steve Harvey gets a chance to flesh out his old-school-embracing stand-up persona as Cannon's Al Green-idolizing mack daddy dad, who teaches his son the finer art of condom installation.
His handful of scenes provide the picture with its few funny moments, but like so many other elements of "Love Don't Cost a Thing", they feel like they belong in other, better movies.
Love Don't Cost A Thing
Warner Bros. Pictures
Alcon Entertainment presents
a Burg/Koules production
Credits:
Director: Troy Beyer
Screenwriters: Troy Beyer and Michael Swerdlick
Based on the screenplay "Can't Buy Me Love" by Michael Swerdlick
Producers: Andrew A. Kosove
Broderick Johnson, Mark Burg, Reuben Cannon
Executive producer: Oren Koules
Director of photography: Chuck Cohen
Production designer: Cabot McMullen
Editor: David Codron
Costume designers: Christine Peters, Jennifer Mallini
Music: Richard Gibbs
Cast:
Alvin Johnson: Nick Cannon
Paris Morgan: Christina Milian
Clarence Johnson: Steve Harvey
Walter: Kenan Thompson
Kenneth: Kal Penn
Chuck: Kevin Christy
Yvonee: Nichole Robinson
Zoe: Melissa Schuman
Ted: Al Thompson
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 12/19/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Part documentary, part sappy ensemble romance, "Let's Talk About Sex" is an initially lively but ultimately awkward attempt to get inside the minds of young women on the subjects of sex and relationships.
Written and directed by lead actress Troy Beyer (a performer in "The Gingerbread Man" and screenwriter of "B.A.P.S".), the Fine Line release celebrates female sexuality in image and words, but it has no appeal beyond providing raw data for college-age daters and lonely guys who have to go to movies to learn what the opposite sex is all about.
Make no mistake: Penetration is one thing, but love is the whole enchilada. Still, the film starts out friskily enough, with would-be TV talk show host Jazz (Beyer) and her roommates Lena (Randi Ingerman) and Michelle (Paget Brewster) interviewing University of Miami coeds and beachgoers about their likes and dislikes in lovers and lovemaking.
While the gal-on-the-street revelations range from the joys of penises to the pleasures of foreplay to the pain of rejection to the promised lands of trust and faithfulness, "Let's Talk" is a victim of shoddy, generic dramatics when focusing on Jazz and her girlfriends. None of the characters is very believable -- rather, they are emblematic of types with specific attitudes toward the subject.
A Latina with a pot-smoking habit, Lena doesn't know how to say no to a good shagging, but she's hurt every time a guy loves her and leaves her. A cool, aggressive lover of younger guys, Michelle is a user and proud of it, but deep down she knows it's not the most satisfying way to go through life. Jazz broke off her engagement to a perfectly nice man (Joseph C. Phillips) because of crippling fears of her own inadequacy.
The convention of having Jazz make a demo tape on deadline is the excuse for many girl-power gatherings and some lewd inserts of screwing couples, including participants like one Rachel Rockets displaying her enormous assets. The film spends little time with the many downsides of sexual encounters -- from humorous to deadly serious -- and might send the wrong message to unrepentant males swamped in media-generated images and fantasies of horny, willing women.
When the intrepid trio hits a major roadblock in finishing the demo and emotions swing toward frustration and despair, Beyer so overplays the moment that one questions the whole point of the project. The insertion of a lesbian couple (Michaline Babich and Tina Nguyen) with the usual trust and honesty problems leads to tiresome plot complications, while the multiple happy endings are as hoary as any prefeminist romancer riddled with cliches.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX
Fine Line Features
A Sphinx/Island Digital Media production
Screenwriter-director: Troy Beyer
Producer: Deborah Ridpath
Executive producer: Susan Ainsworth
Director of photography: Kelly Evans
Production designer: Joe Warson
Editor: Bill Henry
Costume designer: Timothy Biel
Music: Michael Carpenter
Casting: Mary Jo Slater, Ellen Jacoby
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jazz: Troy Beyer
Michelle: Paget Brewster
Lena: Randi Ingerman
Michael: Joseph C. Phillips
Morgan: Michaline Babich
Drew: Tina Nguyen
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Written and directed by lead actress Troy Beyer (a performer in "The Gingerbread Man" and screenwriter of "B.A.P.S".), the Fine Line release celebrates female sexuality in image and words, but it has no appeal beyond providing raw data for college-age daters and lonely guys who have to go to movies to learn what the opposite sex is all about.
Make no mistake: Penetration is one thing, but love is the whole enchilada. Still, the film starts out friskily enough, with would-be TV talk show host Jazz (Beyer) and her roommates Lena (Randi Ingerman) and Michelle (Paget Brewster) interviewing University of Miami coeds and beachgoers about their likes and dislikes in lovers and lovemaking.
While the gal-on-the-street revelations range from the joys of penises to the pleasures of foreplay to the pain of rejection to the promised lands of trust and faithfulness, "Let's Talk" is a victim of shoddy, generic dramatics when focusing on Jazz and her girlfriends. None of the characters is very believable -- rather, they are emblematic of types with specific attitudes toward the subject.
A Latina with a pot-smoking habit, Lena doesn't know how to say no to a good shagging, but she's hurt every time a guy loves her and leaves her. A cool, aggressive lover of younger guys, Michelle is a user and proud of it, but deep down she knows it's not the most satisfying way to go through life. Jazz broke off her engagement to a perfectly nice man (Joseph C. Phillips) because of crippling fears of her own inadequacy.
The convention of having Jazz make a demo tape on deadline is the excuse for many girl-power gatherings and some lewd inserts of screwing couples, including participants like one Rachel Rockets displaying her enormous assets. The film spends little time with the many downsides of sexual encounters -- from humorous to deadly serious -- and might send the wrong message to unrepentant males swamped in media-generated images and fantasies of horny, willing women.
When the intrepid trio hits a major roadblock in finishing the demo and emotions swing toward frustration and despair, Beyer so overplays the moment that one questions the whole point of the project. The insertion of a lesbian couple (Michaline Babich and Tina Nguyen) with the usual trust and honesty problems leads to tiresome plot complications, while the multiple happy endings are as hoary as any prefeminist romancer riddled with cliches.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX
Fine Line Features
A Sphinx/Island Digital Media production
Screenwriter-director: Troy Beyer
Producer: Deborah Ridpath
Executive producer: Susan Ainsworth
Director of photography: Kelly Evans
Production designer: Joe Warson
Editor: Bill Henry
Costume designer: Timothy Biel
Music: Michael Carpenter
Casting: Mary Jo Slater, Ellen Jacoby
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jazz: Troy Beyer
Michelle: Paget Brewster
Lena: Randi Ingerman
Michael: Joseph C. Phillips
Morgan: Michaline Babich
Drew: Tina Nguyen
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/14/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert Townsend's "B.A.P.S". is a purported comedy about two best girlfriends from Decatur, Ga., who follow their dreams and end up heading for the twinkling Hills of Beverly.
While some may find the term, "B.A.P". -- an acronym for Black American Princess -- offensive, that's nothing compared with the film itself.
Awkwardly written (by co-star Troy Beyer) and directed (by Townsend), this unfunny production has all the substance and half the laughs of a five-minute sketch.
Halle Berry, determined to shake up her glamorous image, and newcomer Natalie Desselle play the title characters, Nisi and Mickey, respectively. Armed with extreme hair, milelong press-on nails and gold-capped teeth, these "Homegirls in Outer Space" cash in their life savings for two plane tickets to Los Angeles, where there's a talent search for a new Heavy D video that pays $10,000 to the winner.
Hoping to use that money to open the world's first soul-food restaurant/hair salon, Nisi and Mickey instead find themselves in a swank Beverly Hills manse as guests of the nephew (Jonathan Fried) of the kindly but terminally ill Mr. Blakemore (Martin Landau). Nisi is hired to pose as the granddaughter of the forbidden, long-lost love of the elder Blakemore's life -- Lily the housekeeper.
Of course, not everything is what it seems to be, but by the time the girls realize they were pawns in a sinister scheme to take control of the Blakemore fortune, they have become better, spiritually enriched human beings.
Missing comic opportunities by the barrelful, "B.A.P.S". actually generates a few snickers. Unfortunately, that happens once Townsend and Beyer have abruptly switched gears at the halfway mark, turning the picture into an unbelievably maudlin heap of mush. The resulting giggles are purely unintentional.
Berry is willing enough to go there, but her comic chops remain untested by the lame material. The usually effective Landau also appears out of sorts. Only Ian Richardson manages to mine the most from his role as Manley, the sullen butler. Those unfortunate enough to agree to cameos include Dennis Rodman, LL Cool J, Downtown Julie Brown and Heavy D.
On the other side of the camera, those who truly deliver are costume designer Ruth Carter ("Malcolm X") and hair consultant Kimberly Kimble, whose wild assortment of fashion fiascoes and hair-don'ts (Kimble's award-winning helicopter 'do is particularly impressive) are responsible for generating the few laughs to be found.
B.A.P.S.
New Line
An Island Pictures production
A Robert Townsend film
Director Robert Townsend
Screenwriter Troy Beyer
Producers Mark Burg, Loretha Jones
Executive producers Michael De Luca, Jay Stern
Director of photography Bill Dill
Production designer Keith Brian Burns
Editor Patrick Kennedy
Costume designer Ruth Carter
Music Stanley Clarke
Casting Valerie McCaffrey
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nisi Halle Berry
Mr. Blakemore Martin Landau
Mickey Natalie Desselle
Manley Ian Richardson
Isaac Jonathan Fried
Tracy Troy Beyer
Antonio Luigi Amodeo
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
While some may find the term, "B.A.P". -- an acronym for Black American Princess -- offensive, that's nothing compared with the film itself.
Awkwardly written (by co-star Troy Beyer) and directed (by Townsend), this unfunny production has all the substance and half the laughs of a five-minute sketch.
Halle Berry, determined to shake up her glamorous image, and newcomer Natalie Desselle play the title characters, Nisi and Mickey, respectively. Armed with extreme hair, milelong press-on nails and gold-capped teeth, these "Homegirls in Outer Space" cash in their life savings for two plane tickets to Los Angeles, where there's a talent search for a new Heavy D video that pays $10,000 to the winner.
Hoping to use that money to open the world's first soul-food restaurant/hair salon, Nisi and Mickey instead find themselves in a swank Beverly Hills manse as guests of the nephew (Jonathan Fried) of the kindly but terminally ill Mr. Blakemore (Martin Landau). Nisi is hired to pose as the granddaughter of the forbidden, long-lost love of the elder Blakemore's life -- Lily the housekeeper.
Of course, not everything is what it seems to be, but by the time the girls realize they were pawns in a sinister scheme to take control of the Blakemore fortune, they have become better, spiritually enriched human beings.
Missing comic opportunities by the barrelful, "B.A.P.S". actually generates a few snickers. Unfortunately, that happens once Townsend and Beyer have abruptly switched gears at the halfway mark, turning the picture into an unbelievably maudlin heap of mush. The resulting giggles are purely unintentional.
Berry is willing enough to go there, but her comic chops remain untested by the lame material. The usually effective Landau also appears out of sorts. Only Ian Richardson manages to mine the most from his role as Manley, the sullen butler. Those unfortunate enough to agree to cameos include Dennis Rodman, LL Cool J, Downtown Julie Brown and Heavy D.
On the other side of the camera, those who truly deliver are costume designer Ruth Carter ("Malcolm X") and hair consultant Kimberly Kimble, whose wild assortment of fashion fiascoes and hair-don'ts (Kimble's award-winning helicopter 'do is particularly impressive) are responsible for generating the few laughs to be found.
B.A.P.S.
New Line
An Island Pictures production
A Robert Townsend film
Director Robert Townsend
Screenwriter Troy Beyer
Producers Mark Burg, Loretha Jones
Executive producers Michael De Luca, Jay Stern
Director of photography Bill Dill
Production designer Keith Brian Burns
Editor Patrick Kennedy
Costume designer Ruth Carter
Music Stanley Clarke
Casting Valerie McCaffrey
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nisi Halle Berry
Mr. Blakemore Martin Landau
Mickey Natalie Desselle
Manley Ian Richardson
Isaac Jonathan Fried
Tracy Troy Beyer
Antonio Luigi Amodeo
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 3/31/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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