Beauty Shop

[00:00:00] Get ready for gossip, glam, and a whole lot of attitude. This week, we're heading to the salon with Beauty Shop from 2005, the barbershop spinoff starring Queen Latifah in a powerhouse cast. From hair drama to hilarious one-liners, let's see if this beauty business is still open for nostalgia.

[00:00:21] Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast. I'm Jackie. And I'm Danielle, and we're just two best friends and ex-blockbuster employees re-watching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. This week, we're talking about Beauty Shop, the barbershop spinoff that gave us salon laughs,

[00:00:49] heartfelt moments, and an unforgettable Queen Latifah performance. But before we dive in, let's get into some housekeeping. If you love the podcast and you want to support us, here's a few ways that you can. You can help us out by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Your reviews help us grow and keep the nostalgia alive.

[00:01:17] And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. We've got plenty more deep dives into your favorite Y2K movies coming up. And do you want to show off your love for nostalgia? Check out our No More Late Fees merch at nomorlatefees.rebbable.com. From movie-inspired designs to podcast swag, we've got something for every movie lover. Danielle, what's Beauty Shop about? Let's dive in. Beauty Shop follows Gina, a talented hairstylist,

[00:01:45] who leaves her toxic boss behind to open her own salon. With a crew of quirky employees and loyal clients, she takes on the challenges of entrepreneurship, competitive sabotage, and the power of sisterhood in the beauty business. The movie stars Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone, Juman Honsu, Kevin Bacon, Alfre Woodard, and Andy McDowell. The movie was also directed by Billy Woodruff. The movie was written by Kate Lanier,

[00:02:15] Elizabeth Hunter, and Norman Banch Jr. You can currently watch it on Pluto, Tubi, and Roku. But before we get started, let's get into our ratings rewind. So you know the drill. Before we get into the movie, we'll reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give. But at the end, we'll see if our current selves agree with our initial rating. Our scale consists of would buy it, would buy it again. The best would play and repeat. Five day rental. Would watch again. Two day rental.

[00:02:45] Eh, okay, but nothing to write home about. And same day rental. Mmm. Throw it in the dumpster. It's, it's gabage. It's no bueno. So Danielle, what was your Y2K rating of Beauty Shop? I love this movie. I, I do own it. I have it on DVD. It was just like a fun, you know, you put it on, you don't have to pay too much attention to it.

[00:03:15] There's certain parts, you know, you're going to laugh. And that's it. How about you? I've never seen this movie. Really? Yeah. Which is weird because I love Queen Latifah. And I usually watch whatever she's in, but yeah, somehow I missed it. And because I haven't seen Barbershop 2, they kept showing the picture of the Barbershop people. I'm like, but how does she know that? Yeah.

[00:03:44] It is a spinoff of the Barbershop movies. So get into that. As for box office, the movie had a budget of $25 million and it barely made its budget back with $37.2 million. As I said, it does serve as a spinoff of the Barbershop films, but it's pretty interesting because MGM actually reached out to Queen Latifah and her production studio

[00:04:09] and asked if she wanted to take her character from Barbershop 2 and expand on it with a spinoff. But out of respect, she called Ice Cube to ask him if he was cool that she did it. She said, you got to pay your respects to the man, which is, you know, kind of insane that he wouldn't be a part of it, considering it came from his movies that he produced. But you know Hollywood.

[00:04:38] So this was the last MGM film to be released on VHS. And our boy, Little Raj, gave this movie three out of five stars. He said, Latifah is profoundly comfortable with herself and beauty shop is comfortable with itself. It isn't simply trying to turn up the heat under a barbershop clone, but to be more plausible, not a lot, but a little in the story of a woman starting her own business. It's more of a human comedy than a standup or slapstick.

[00:05:08] Even though this movie is filled with like kind of, you know, what they did in barbershop. There's a ton of like standup comics that come in and out and you kind of spot a few people here and there. So it's a really fun game of like, Oh yeah. Cause everybody's, everybody's in it, whether they're in it, in it or not. Well, before we get into cast and crew, let's hear a message from our pod pals.

[00:05:45] When you need a sister or two, to chat with about your favorite movies and shows, come find us at Cisflix podcast. Hi, I'm Paola. And I'm Nadja. We're two sisters and designers who love to talk through the movie. Listen in as we critique and discuss beloved chick flicks, their plots, their aesthetics, and the messaging behind every scene. What are our favorite rom-coms communicating about politics, feminism, and culture?

[00:06:12] What do the production design and costume design tell us about a story? And which sister will be sent to horny jail for lusting over the romantic leads? Join us for our bi-weekly in-depth movie recaps. And let's talk through the chick flicks we hate to love, the tropes we love to hate, and all the aesthetic choices in between. So, cast and crew,

[00:06:40] most of the cast mentioned that Queen Latifah personally called them and wanted them to be in the film, and that it was for them. And, obviously, they said yes. I think if Queen Latifah called me, it was like, do you want to do that? I'm just saying, yeah, I don't care what it is. I'm like, I'm in. I'm 100% down. Like, let's, let's do this. Yeah, they didn't, as we've discussed previously, and some, this movie, I was surprised there weren't a lot of fun facts, but there weren't, there. So, I did dig up some interviews.

[00:07:09] I read a lot of interviews. Kevin Bacon, when he was interviewed back in 2005, I think before the movie came out, he mentioned that he really enjoyed working on the movie and finding it a fun experience, despite only working on it for six days. Oh, wow. Yeah. And he said, I don't, then when he compared to his dramatic roles, an interviewer was asking him, what's the difference of like playing a comedy? And he was like, you know, I don't do it enough. I would like to do it more. I did this movie with Queen Latifah. It's called Beauty Shop. I have a small part,

[00:07:39] a supporting part, but I play a hairdresser and they let me just go wild. It was fantastic. I hope that the movie does well, just because maybe I could move a little bit more, a little bit away from this dark crap. I mean, I don't want to be tortured all the time. And I would say, I think Kevin Bacon is so naturally funny and I love watching his stuff on social media, him and his wife. Yeah. I think it was like last year or the year before he actually donned the wig he wore in this movie and dressed like him and took a picture with him and his wife.

[00:08:08] And I thought that was cute. So he very much liked that character. He did a great job. Like I very much enjoyed watching him as Jorge. Yeah. Which was such an odd name where he's supposed to be like, what Swedish guy, but your name is German. Was it German? I don't know, but Jorge. Not enough. So even though this movie is supposed to take place in Atlanta,

[00:08:34] like a 90% of the movie was shot in Los Angeles and they went out and filmed in Atlanta for like a week. So I thought that was interesting because I, I was watching, you really don't get a lot of exterior shots in this. So. And if you do, it's just kind of like right in front of the beauty shop. So it really could be. Anywhere. Yeah. There's no, yeah, there aren't very many establishing shots of any, I don't think. Mm. Yeah. When they went on location, they shot at the Van Nuys studio.

[00:09:04] And the only actors that actually went to Atlanta were Queen Latifah, Juman Honsu and Alicia Silverstone. So, and I think Alicia was only there for like a day. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So let's hop into beauty shop. So we see, or we're introduced to Gina played by Queen Latifah. She's a hairstylist at this very upscale salon in Atlanta owned by Jorge. And he kind of just, he does what he wants. He doesn't listen to his stylist, Alicia Silverstone's character, Lynn.

[00:09:34] She's a certified hairdresser, but he just makes her wash hair. And so everyone's kind of just over Jorge and his flippant attitude about everything. And so Gina's friends are friendly with Lynn. And so at one point they're out to lunch and Lynn shows her like this booklet of all of these hairstyles she did at a hair show that weekend. And Gina's really impressed. And she's like, wow, you can do really good hair.

[00:10:01] So the next customer that comes in instead of Queen Latifah or Gina taking the customer, she sends Lynn to go do her hair and she does a great job. But Jorge is just like, no, she's supposed to be washing hair. I don't care. Or like, why did, why would you make that decision? Right. They bump heads. And I think a lot of that has to do like, yes, Jorge is an asshole, but it also is his shop. And Gina's just like, she has a personality that like, I'm not dealing with this bullshit. She's an entrepreneur.

[00:10:30] She's never meant to work for anybody. Yeah. But I think when Lynn shows her the pictures of the hair show, I think she is impressed because it's not that Lynn just did good hair. The model was black. And a lot of white stylists don't know how to do black hair. So I thought that was very interesting. So yeah, she, she bumps heads back and forth with Jorge and she finally just says, fuck it. I quit. Yeah. And, and, but, and before she quits,

[00:10:59] like we do get a couple of scenes of like regulars that come in. Yeah. Of hers. So Andy McDowell is one customer that always comes in and gets her hair done by Gina. She's another that come in and gets her hair done by Gina. So Gina does have really loyal clients. And so when she leaves, we'll see, we'll talk about it in a bit. They kind of go with her. Yeah. Her new place. But first she got, she has to get money to open up her new shop. Well, before we even see her go into the shop,

[00:11:28] we do get a glimpse of her home life too. We learned that. Cause obviously she is a spinoff character from Barbershop too. So that takes place in Chicago. And we learned that Gina is also a widow. Her daughter got into a really good private musical school and it's expensive. So she decided to move and her mother-in-law lives there. So she lives with her mother-in-law, her daughter and her sister-in-law. So it's interesting to see their home life. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember when this movie came out,

[00:11:55] how excited I was because it was Rudy Huxtable playing a grownup role. And I was like clutch by pearls. But I was like, Oh my God, it's Rudy and hot shorts. I love it. And she just playing a very different version of anything we've ever seen her in. So that's pretty cool. And also when this movie came out the year before we got Nora's hair salon and we had hair show. So we started to see like,

[00:12:25] I don't know if it was in response to the fact that Barbershop had come out, but it's always interesting to see like to watch all three and see the differences. I feel like this movie is a very like wider version of that experience. Mass audience version. Right. Yeah. Caricature. Yeah. Ish of it. But I'm the three of my favorites hair show down. Modique was in that, right? Yeah. Yeah. I love Modique.

[00:12:54] So now Gina's going to try and qualify for a loan. And they were like, essentially you don't have enough assets to qualify for a loan. And then like the lady has a really dowdy, like straight across bangs, very straight stringy hair. That was horrendous. It was awful. And so she goes to the bathroom and you see Gina just like snatch some scissors. Was it scissors or a comb? I thought all I saw was the paper clips and I was like, girl, are we doing what it is? Well,

[00:13:23] Gina can work with whatever tools are available to her. Apparently because she does this lady's hair and she's like, you're qualified for a loan. So Gina's like 150 K I'm good. And lady's like, well, let's not get that excited. She's like, okay, a hundred K I can work with Emily. You're like, how about 30? Yeah. So now she's stuck getting, she's in the swats. She says she's out there and this, the shop she gets looks like it's still living in 1970.

[00:13:51] So she's working with her family to like redo everything. And she noticed there's like a hole in the freaking ceiling with all these wires exposed. And for some reason considering, okay, this is what's confusing. So I don't know if the piano playing is a trigger for her because she's, she complains about it, but your husband clearly was a musician and your daughter goes to a music school where her interest is in the piano. Right. Her daughter plays piano. So I'm sure she's playing and practicing at home a lot. So I'm just like,

[00:14:21] why, why is this bothering her? Yeah. You know? So I thought that was weird. And I don't think I ever thought it was weird the previous times that I watched it, but this time I was like, that's odd. So yes, she hears piano. Apparently somebody upstairs is playing the piano. And out of all the renovation she does, she doesn't fix the hole in the ceiling. Right. Well, so she, so she does call Joe. We meet Joe who's played by G mom. Honsu and fine as hell in his prime. He looks, he still looks fucking fine.

[00:14:50] He looks exactly the same. Black don't crack baby. And he's got a little gray. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. It actually made me so sad when I saw that article that came out recently that he's like struggling financially and he's not really getting roles. And like, I was just like, that's really fucked up. What's going on with that? That man is a top tier actor. Like Amistad for, for one, that movie is bone chillingly good, but yeah,

[00:15:20] I don't know how he's not getting work, but anywho. So he comes, we meet him. Of course the characters are like, he's fine as hell. And the daughter's real eager to like go upstairs to this strange man's house. She's like, okay, you're my new daddy. Right. Play the piano with me. What is happening? Relax. You know? So I thought that was very like concerning. She needed to chill.

[00:15:49] And then we meet a new cast of stylists. So we have Miss Josephine played by Alfre Woodard. I think this is my favorite role I've ever seen her in. I tell people this all the time that she is such a great comedic actress. I know we're so used to her in like dramas. Yeah. But she is so kooky and fun in this movie. And there's another movie she did on Netflix a few years ago,

[00:16:18] 2019. It's called Juanita. Jackie. Oh, I need to watch it. And she is wild in that movie. When the lights went out and she just started singing amazing grace in the dark, I was tackling. I was like, what is happening? Like, does she think it's the rapture? Why is she singing amazing? I feel like her character is supposed to be like a version of Cedric, the entertainer's character in the barbershop movies,

[00:16:47] like a very Afrocentric.

[00:17:18] Cedric. She was on one episode of Friends. And it's like one of my favorite side characters ever. Okay. But I just love Sherry Shepard. So I was very excited that she was in this movie. It's so weird because she, so Queen Latifah had a talk show for a while, right? So she had Sherry Shepard on and Sherry talked about how Queen Latifah like changed her life because she said this movie was the second movie she's ever, she ever was in. Right. Cause she was a standup. I think she did standup. I'm pretty sure she did. Yeah.

[00:17:45] So it was a scene with Alfre Rudard and the, I guess they said they didn't think they were going to keep the scene in because it was too silly. I think Alfre had just done a rendition of one of Maya Angelou's poems. And so Queen Latifah fought to keep that scene in. So she went into her trailer and she felt bad, like sad that she's like, that's what I bring is to be silly. And you're saying it's too silly. So Queen Latifah just told her to just be herself and don't worry about it.

[00:18:15] And she said that gave her so much confidence in everything else that she did moving forward. And she was like, it was just really nice to have another female actress not try to like push her down or, and she said, she said, you know, thank you. Like, I didn't want to overshadow you. And Queen Latifah was like, girl, I'm Queen Latifah. You can't overshadow me. So she told that story on Queen Latifah show. And then now Sherry has her own show and Queen Latifah came on the show and she told the same story. And I was like, Hey,

[00:18:44] I'm not mad at it, but I wonder how many other people have seen both. Yeah. And they're like, Oh, we've heard that. You're getting me something new. We also get Lynn comes over from Jorge's shop. She quits as well and starts working for Gina. And like, at first everyone's kind of like, Oh, why is this white girl here? And she has like, there's a really twangy Southern drawl and very like, almost like innocent. Like, she's just happy to be there. Like she's down to party.

[00:19:14] Like whatever y'all want to do. I'm a part of it. And I get it. Like Gina is very open because she was in a hostile environment and she just sees. Like how nice and kind and that Lynn's actually a good hairdresser. Right. But I get, you know, a black salon is such, there's not a lot of very safe places for black women. Right. To just like, that is the most authentic you're ever going to be to have someone in your head. Yep. Doing your hair. And it, you know, for a long, it could be an all day situation, you know?

[00:19:44] So yeah, it could be a little off-putting, especially when you're trying to escape the outside world. And it's not that, I'm not saying like people want to be segregated, but you have to experience so much because of hatred and non-tolerance and microaggressions. It's, it takes up a lot of space in your head and it's exhausting and you just want to be in your space and not want to hear stupid shit. And I think she's very naive, but also some of the stuff she says, well, I don't think Lynn is as bad,

[00:20:14] but I do think like some of the other white characters that come in, you're just like, what the fuck is happening right now? Like they're so uncomfortable when Andy McDowell's character comes in and there's just like some silence. She doesn't know what to do. So she goes like, she talks about Janet Jackson, doesn't even say Janet Jackson's name properly. And it's like, it's Janet Jackson. Give me a fucking break. Yeah. The whitest white person knows who Janet Jackson is. And I just always find it so funny that like,

[00:20:43] I can always tell how comfortable white people are when with black people in general, if they are in a space where there's mostly predominantly black people, how they act, they act weird and they're just not themselves. I I'm like, Oh, okay. This person has zero black friends or has experienced this. And I just, I just always think it's funny because it happens to black people on the flip side where they have to be in white spaces and they have to assimilate, but white people get very uncomfortable. I don't want to like be in it.

[00:21:12] Not all white people, but you know, good majority. Yeah. They don't know what to do. And she was perfection at showing that when she got to the beauty shop. But I think her character show, I think her character shows growth in the way of like, she's willing to learn. She doesn't remain standoffish or like. Ignorant. Yeah. I'm trying to like think of the scenes that she was in, in Gina's salon. Cause we get the scene with the,

[00:21:42] the color greens, which also weird. First and foremost, Andy McDowell has a very strong Southern accent. Yes. I think it would have been more realistic for her character to just be like totally normal. Yeah. Because. You know, a lot of white Southern women, they know what color greens are. I don't know if they all know how to make them, but they know what it is. Like she, that's shit shouldn't have been new. It would have been cool to say, Oh, it feels like home or something.

[00:22:09] I think it may have been coming or I just could be creating a storyline, but becoming from like, her husband was so controlling that like. She had been down to her food. Like she had to control every aspect and she wasn't allowed to, maybe she did grow up with it, but it was like, she hadn't had it in so long. Like it was, you know, I think like speaking to that would have been fun. You know? Yeah. Yeah. And I think I'm, I'm assuming because Alicia had the accent, they didn't want to give two white women, almost the exact.

[00:22:38] You can't hide her. No. That is who she is. But speaking of Alicia's accent, she, I didn't know this, and yeah. So she would have to go to England for the summers and stuff like that. So she said she worked really hard to like, get rid of a British accent, but she used it to try to come up with this accent. And she had fun playing with that, which I thought was funny.

[00:23:04] You could tell she just had fun in this movie with this character. Yeah. I think they all did. Like, it seemed like they just really enjoyed being on that. And I think that has to do with, you know, Queen Latifah producing the film. Like everybody involved seemed to, it was like a very fun collaborative experience. And she was saying that like, even on the set, they were playing music all the time. And Billy Woodruff, he, she knows him from, cause he used to direct music videos for a long time. He's also the director of Honey.

[00:23:34] So they have that music connection together. And she just said, it was just like a lot of fun. Like you said, and I think it shows. Yeah, definitely. And we also get these. So Gina bought the salon from another hairstylist. Right. And so some like her old clients keep coming in and they're like, where's so-and-so. And she's like, Oh, this is my salon now. And they kind of give her a hard time. Like, we're just going to leave. And she's like, let me prove to you. Like, I'll do your hair for free to like prove to you.

[00:24:04] Like, right. I'm worth sticking around when Camorra Lee Simmons randomly shows up. Well, so she, so when she gets there, there's two girls, Mercedes and Portia who are just like, not the vibe and they leave. And so when Camorra and Lisa Ray come in, she realizes that I should invest in them because Lisa Ray shows her this huge rock and they're like basketball wives, essentially. When they, I think I saw in the interview that it was always intended for them to be in the movie, which was cool.

[00:24:34] So yeah, like you said, I'll do your hair for free. Cause these are the type of clientele she wants to be in there, which is smart. Cause like, I couldn't swallow that diamond ring that girl had on her finger. Yeah. And so they're like, Oh, free we'll stay. And like, they're very happy. And then you see them come in to get their hair done again. So it's really just Gina building rapport with her stylist and her clients. And then we also get, what is the guy's name? Which guy?

[00:25:04] The guy that does the braids. Oh, give me a second. James. Okay. He's played by Bryce Wilson. Fine as hell. Oh, yes. And, but like, there's this running joke and it was like really the only thing that I was just like, yeah, I wish it was less of was the, like, is he gay? Isn't he gay? And like the, like he had to be one or the other. Right. And it's in that timeframe where like, that was an, an easy gag to do in movies. Right.

[00:25:35] But everyone's still acknowledging he's fine as fuck. So it's funny because I, I think everybody collectively found this out a few years ago that he is actually in this group called groove theory that was pretty popular in the nineties. And I had no idea that like, he has a whole life outside of acting in, in the, he's like a producer. So I thought that was cool. And how we meet him is he's a mover.

[00:26:03] He comes and we'll get into it, but he comes and he's about to move some of the stuff. Cause they did the renovations or whatever. And she sees his braids. She's like, you're who did your braids. They look amazing. And he's like, I did it myself. And he said, he worked at a shop before she sees a tattoo on him. So he's like, and I don't know if that insinuated, he was in a gang or a lot. He was locked up, but he was locked up for a few months. So she hires him. And yeah, like you said, the women are all trying to figure out if he's gay or not because he

[00:26:32] likes antiquated things that are fitting in that bubble of him being straight. Supposedly. Yeah. Like not alpha male. So yeah. And going along with that, like having to move all that, stuff, Gina randomly gets the health inspector or like some city inspector shows up and is like, this is out of code. And like, she gets a $500 ticket. And he's like, if you get three of these, we can shut you down. Right. And she's like, what the fuck? Like, okay. So she fixes it. It was the stuff outside that hadn't been picked up yet.

[00:27:02] That James comes. Yeah. And it gets. Yeah. And then a little while later, the guy randomly shows up again and he's like, Oh, code changed. And all of the hairdryers have to have individual outlets. That's $1,000. And she's like, how am I supposed to know? And he's like, I just told you. So like, this guy is randomly showing up, charging her a shit ton of money for infraction. She had no clue about, or even like the stuff that was outside. She's like, I have someone coming to pick it up. They just haven't picked it up yet. But this guy is like not giving her any leeway.

[00:27:32] And it was just like tough titties. Yeah. I feel like she could have probably fought some of those infractions. Yeah. And then we also meet Willie. Who is played by little JJ. He's so bad. So yeah, little JJ had a Nickelodeon show back in the day. And I don't know if he ever wrapped or not, but he was like a little mini comedian or whatever. Bad. He needed a whooping for real. And he was over sexualized for such a young child.

[00:28:02] It was very weird, but he had a video camera and he just was like video cameraing women's butts. And he got kicked out of the shop a few times for his naughty deeds. Yeah. Like he's, he's hitting on Gina. He's recording women's butts, which by the way, my, my dad used to only to my mom, but like our home movies, there's always a butt shot of my mom's butt. Oh, Ron. And then like at one point he starts like hitting on her daughter and her daughter's like maybe 10.

[00:28:31] Like she's not that old. And he's like, Oh, you can wear a t-shirt, but it has to be wet. And so like all of this, I'm like, sir, I know if your mother heard you speaking like that to a girl, she would whoop your damn ass. Yeah, it was, it was a lot. He was doing the most for sure. The most. When James does come on board, they get a ton of women wanting to hit on him. It's just fun again, to watch the scenes in between.

[00:28:59] Cause you're seeing different people sit in the seats. So we have Cheryl Underwood who comes in as catfish Rita. So she's like, if you're in, if you're in a beauty shop or beauty salon, you know, there are people coming in and out selling CDs and DVDs. Food, all sorts of shit is happening. Right? So she's coming in to sell her catfish and grits and all that good stuff. Then you have Adele Givens, another comedian who is kind of like a narrator that starts off the film. She's a radio.

[00:29:28] Radio teacher. Yeah. So you don't really see her face at first, but you see, you hear her come on the radio and it's kind of like floating through. Randomly. Reagan Gomez Preston is just in the background waiting for James as one of the women. And I was like, this is crazy. How many people are just rolling up in here? An early Octavia Spencer, which I am a bit, a very annoyed that her character's name is big customer. Yes. Real fucked up. And they come on set on her size. Yes. Golden Brooks,

[00:29:58] his character Lynn. No, that's not her name. What's her name on the camera? What character? Chanel. Chanel has her as a client. That's her client. She's doing her hair. And so because let's see Dan Darnell, who is played again by Keisha and I pull him the sister-in-law. She gets in trouble and goes to jail because one of her, her boyfriends, many boyfriends got her a motorcycle. And, but she gets arrested because she finds out it's stolen. So then Gina has to go get her out of jail. So in that process,

[00:30:25] Gina now may is making her Darnell work at the, at the shop. And she's having to give out waters and cappuccinos. So when she comes up to the character, she says, do you want a cappuccino? And the character says, I don't eat or drink anything. I can't spell. And then the character Chanel says, well, you must be a spelling bee champ to insinuate like you're so fat or whatever, which not cool. One step away from my mama joke. Right. Like,

[00:30:56] Oh, did not care for that. And I mean, just in general, but also Octavia Spencer, you watch your goddamn mouth. Right. So humble beginnings for sure. And then speaking of Darnell and her many boyfriends, we, she's like living the sprinkle, sprinkle life before sprinkle, sprinkle lady was like popular. One of her boyfriends is fucking bird man rolls up. And I was like, like, I find him to be so disgusting. I don't like,

[00:31:25] I'm constantly questioning how. Tony Braxton. Tony Braxton. How I don't, I don't understand. So he's, he's there. And then her next boyfriend is played by Omari Hardwick. And I'm just like, wow, he looks really young in this one. And he gets knocked the fuck out by James because. Yes. Because at one point Darnell is acting up and. You know, Gina's like, I'm not having this shit. Like get your life together. This life you're living is just not. It's not going to work.

[00:31:54] Like you can't just be going from dude to dude and making really poor life decisions. Like get your shit together. So she kind of reads it for filth. And so she's like, okay, I'm going to try to be better. And so when this guy comes trying to just swoop her up, he buys her necklace. And that necklace looked like from juicy couture or some shit. Like it was. It was like almost a gumball necklace. Yeah. I'm like, boy, please. You have no rights to be like, to grab me in the first place, but it's definitely no rights with that little apple bottom heart. That necklace you gave me.

[00:32:23] That necklace was going to turn her neck green. For sure. So he starts pulling on her. Gina comes out with a hot comb. Yo, let me tell you, I would have been gone because if you've ever been just slightly burnt with a hot comb, you don't want that. You don't want it. But he wasn't budging. So James had to come out and knock a bitch out. And I mean, he hit him once. But the guy tried to hit him first. So it was self-defense. He was knocked the fuck out. Oh, and when he,

[00:32:53] when the boyfriend took the first swing, the quickness in which James moves out of the way. I was like, damn, it was, it was hot. Well, well done, sir. Yeah. It was really good. Trying to think if there was anybody else that I saw that I was just like, we do get random wilder, Wilmer Valderrama. Right. Jorge's. Right. Cause I don't, I don't know. Cause Jorge, like,

[00:33:23] I don't understand why Jorge is so upset because it seems like literally only two clients have gone over to Gina's. I don't see any other ones. He's acting as if she's like really hurting his business. He's a petty bitch who does not want to see women succeed. Yeah. He, he's a real dick. And how are you a hairdresser and your hair is that greasy? I was surprised. You complained about that. It was so bad, but his one liners. Hilarious. They were. But Jackie.

[00:33:53] Yes. His hair was worse. Brink. Brink all day. Every day. You gotta let me. No one's hair will ever be as bad as Eric von Den, both in Brink and princess diaries. It's the same amount of gross. I think Jorge's. I can forgive a little bit because it has texture to it at least. So it doesn't just look like pin to my face. A little bit of a way. At least it has something going on. It's just not straight and dirty.

[00:34:22] Oh gosh. They're. Yeah. Horrific. Both of them. We should do a. Who has the worst hair and like, well, we can't even put what's his face from Brink because we all know that would win that hairline where they just. Oh yeah. That was the worst. The worst. But we'll have to come up with some other really terrible hair. Another like icon that just randomly shows up in this movie is Della Reese. And I'm just like,

[00:34:51] how did y'all get her to get in this movie? Love to see it. Did you ever watch. I mean, I mean, I always remember her from Harlem nights more than anything, but yeah, I thought about touched by an angel. I have not. I never watched touched by an angel, but I saw plenty of like previews for it while watching other things. So trying to think of what else. So. We're pretty much. We're seeing, you know, everything happened. Everything.

[00:35:20] It's good. Gina has this special hair conditioner that she has made herself that Joanne. Like absolutely loves. And so does. What's the other lady's name? Oh, Terry. Terry. So both Terry and Joanne love her conditioner. And so Joanne tells her, you know, I know somebody in the beauty industry. If you give me some samples, I could potentially, you know, you should be selling it. Yeah. So Joanne is working on that.

[00:35:50] But when we see Joanne again, it's a complete difference from when we saw her at Jorge's salon. When we first meet her, because she now has breast implants, 8,000 a pop. One of the one-liners that I do love is when Jorge comes to the shop and Joanne happens to be there. And he's like, Oh, I see that you got your boobs done. Too bad. What does he say? No, he said, he said, Oh, I see you've had twins too bad. They're not identical. And Joe, like, it's just like the smallest nuances that, that happened.

[00:36:19] You just kind of see her in the background with a mirror, trying to like, see if he's right, knowing that he got in her head, which is hilarious. Well, and it just shows how like superficial she is. She's walking around like, Hmm. And then like, even Lynn calls her out at one point. It's like, like, what are you doing? Like, that doesn't make you any better or worse than anyone else. Well, Lynn calls her out, especially because girl, why are you touching my band? So they celebrate. Cause Joanne gets like a deal with cover. I think it's cover girl.

[00:36:48] I'm meeting with cover girl. Yeah. Right. So they go out to the, to the club to celebrate. And miss, miss Lynn. This scene always cracks me up because I, if I was going to go in degrees of white girl dancing, it's above the, what's that girl? Save the Last Dance. Yeah. It's above Save the Last Dance. That took me a long time. It's above Save the Last Dance, but also it's not, it's not doing much. When she is twerking,

[00:37:18] nothing is happening. Nothing. Nothing is happening. Nothing. When she's twerking. And I'm like, like, are you, because at first I'm like, why is she just bending over weird? I'm like, oh, she thinks she's twerking. So funny story on this press tour for this movie. Alicia goes on to say, she goes on Conan and she says it in other interviews as well. She says, she calls it humping, not twerking.

[00:37:45] She says that there's like this humping motion that she has to do. And she's like, I felt like such a prude because I just felt like that kind of movement was something that you did at home in the privacy of your home. And, but you know, once I got the hang of it, like even now I still just like, do it. Like I can't even stop myself now. Conan and who else is Al. One of some comedian turned politician was on the panel. Yeah.

[00:38:14] So they're both trying to go her into actually showing the dance and. Al Franken. Al Franken. Yes. And so they're like trying to get her to do it. And she kind of shakes a little bit. And she's like, I've always had a big butt. And I was like, what? Just like, what do you mean? How many wrong statements can you say? In one interview. But maybe for like a skinny white girl, she does. Maybe. I don't know. Or maybe she has some body dysmorphia because she's in Hollywood. That too. But she, you couldn't tell that girl.

[00:38:44] She didn't have some butt. But so she said that she was jiggling and humping. I've never heard twerking called humping before, but okay. But I have questions about the dance scene. Yeah. Was there not like a dancing coach? There was a, I think it was choreographed. I don't think she did it on her own naturally. But they were acting like they were impressed. And I know no one was impressed by that. No one was impressed, but I do think it was a shock. If I had said that, I'd be like, but see,

[00:39:14] that's the thing. Like the thing I feel like about black women is if you are part, like, if we have chosen for you to be in our community, we are always going to gas you up. We're going to hype you up. And not in an ironic way. Like they're, they, they were proud of her. They're like, get it, girl. Go ahead. Shake, shake. But also Ida, Ida, when she humps, I just like, Oh, she dropped it. That's not, that's not dropping. She dropped it later. I was like, she dropped it in the position as if she was going to give him head.

[00:39:43] And I was like, what's happening right now? I don't know anybody who's ever done that move. I'm dancing. Well, because you drop it and you immediately pop back up. Like there's no staying down. So you're just that crotch up in your booty. Yeah. While you're down there. In that instance, you're usually not like three inches from a crotch. Right. I don't know what was going on, but I do believe James kissed her to make it stop.

[00:40:13] To save the embarrassment. He said, come here, girl. Let me just, you're doing a lot. Let's make this stop. I already like you. You don't have to be doing whatever this is. And then all the other girls in the shop are like, see, he going for the white girl. Okay. I mean, she, she has a booty. So. Oh, okay. I don't know what else to say, but they have a great time. Prior to them going to the club, Gina's daughter,

[00:40:42] because she is the ultimate matchmaker and she wants her new daddy, goes and tells, what's his name? Joe. Joe. Yes. She goes and say, Hey Joe, they go into the club. You want to meet my mom there? And he was like, I don't know if your mom wants me there. And he says no to her, but guess who shows up at the club? He had second thoughts. Joe rolls up to the club. And you know what? I have to say this about Queen Latifah for being what you would consider plus size in Hollywood.

[00:41:08] That woman in every movie she's in always looks so put together and her clothes don't ever look like, you know, if you're looking for plus size clothes, sometimes it's just like, it looks like garbage bags with prints on it. She always just looks so beautiful. Her hair, Queen Latifah's hair, since the 90s, I don't know who was her hairstylist. She has some of that hair crack conditioner. She must, because her hair, oh, I cannot, I can't find a bad picture of her hair.

[00:41:36] Even in set it off when she is real rough, you know, a rough neck kind of thing. She's still, cornrows are banging. I don't know. Like, she always looks great. And she can pull off, like any hairstyle. Yeah. Like, she always looks great. Yeah. Yeah. Like her, Beyonce, Tyra Banks, whoever was laying down the wigs and everything for them back, back then, like we have a lot more. I would also put Jada Pink and Smith up there too. Nah, girl. Cause that wig she was wearing in woo,

[00:42:06] that mushroom thing. Nah, sorry. Nevermind. I retract my statement. That's a no for, that's a negative. She usually does look really good, but like that one was like, Oh God. So I just, I just want to take some time to give her props. But anywho, Joe comes, she's got some fringe, like a white pair of pants, some fringe, like boho chic shirt on. And I do love that they give like a shout out to the roots of her being from Chicago and they play Chicago stepping. I personally wish I knew how to,

[00:42:36] I've never tried, but I, you know, I love to watch Chicago stepping whenever I can see it. It's always fun to watch. Yeah. I know a few things, but not enough. I just imagine you're like, just in your living room by yourself in your mood, just practicing. Oh yeah. By the way, this week I went to a boots on the ground dance class on Tuesday. So like that's become a popular line dance in the black community. Like just seeing everybody doing these dances with the fans. So I went and we learned two line dances.

[00:43:05] Got to get ready for Houston. So I'm not going to be embarrassed when everyone's doing the dance and I'm looking around. I'm going to know. It was hard girl. I was sweating. I was like, you know, like everyone knows the steps, but everyone does like their own groove spin. Yeah. It's really fun. And the fans, I need to get me a fan because they'd be incorporating the sound of the snappy fans. Yes. Ah, yeah. So can we get no more late fees? Snappy fans, we'll have to look into that. Anyhow, back to beauty shop.

[00:43:34] So Willie one night sees this exchange. Out in the parking lot. He's just watching basketball. I don't know, but like, I don't know why this exchange is happening in their neighborhood. Why he didn't just go to Jorge's lawn. Right. So clearly Jorge is paying off this inspector guy or whatever to come and try to serve violations. And yeah. And so Willie catches it on, on video,

[00:44:01] but then is it that night that I don't know if there's a fire? I couldn't tell if it was a fire or somebody vandalized. I think somebody came in and vandalized the salon. So like all the nice furniture, everything got messed up. And Gina is so upset as she should be like, well, because this was like her second blow of the day. So earlier in that day, Joanna comes in and she's like, Hey, like deal set. And Gina's like boxing up her hair crack to send to New York for the meeting and everything. She's so excited.

[00:44:29] And then this is where Joanna slaps James. James's ass. Yeah. Yeah. And Lynn is very respectful at first. Like she's like, Hey, like we're kind of, we're dating now. Can you not do that anymore? James should have been the one to say, Whoa, don't do that shit. And I think Joanne would have just like backed off. Yeah. You know, but she was very catty and like, I don't give a fuck. And it wasn't even the Lynn thing. It was the fact that Chanel jumps in and said, bitch, she says stay away from her man. Yeah. And then,

[00:44:58] but Joanne is like, I don't give a fuck if you're black or white or whoever. I'm a startup. And I was like, Oh my God. And then she, she pulls like a full on Karen is like, did you hear how she talked to me? You should fire her. And she's not even talking about Lynn. She's talking about Chanel. Yeah. And so Gina's like, y'all are all out of line. And like, we all joke and joking. It's fine. Whatever. But like, Joanne's like, no, I want her fired. And she's like, I'm not going to fire her. Like what the fuck? And so she's like, I'm out.

[00:45:28] So now she doesn't have this deal anymore. Yeah. And then that night her, the salon is vandalized. So she is just like downtrodden. Like, maybe I should quit. Like, obviously like shit just doesn't go right for me type thing. And then we are at her daughter's recital. And so her daughter has been working with Jo a lot on like playing from the heart rather than just like memorizing music and playing it. And so she starts to play Bach, which is like her go-to recital piece.

[00:45:55] And Jo shows up and he kind of like motions for like, remember from your heart. And so she starts playing a piece that's way more technical, but it's something that she enjoys playing. So she does really well in her recital. And Gina sees that Jo shows up and is like willing to show up for not only her, but for her daughter as well. Yeah. Jo plays a lot of Stevie Wonder songs and it made me like, like, okay, after this I'll probably go listen to a lot of his songs. And after this scene,

[00:46:25] they, she comes back to the salon and she sees that all the girls have come together. They have pulled other furniture and they, you know, made the place still look good. They have, you know, different dryers and they, they pulled what they could or whatever. And they're like, look, we're going to make this work. It's, it's no big deal. And then. Well, and Gina is still like, thanks for, for the effort, but I think like, I'm just, I'm done. And then this lady comes in. Adele Gibbons,

[00:46:53] AKA DJ Helen comes in with this church hat on. And then in the middle of her head, I don't know if it was like a weave job that wasn't finished or what. It just looked a hot mess. So Gina's. I love how she's like, I'm having a Don King moment. Because it's sticking up. Like, yeah. And of course, Gina's able to like hook her up because she had a wedding to go to in like three hours. Unbeknownst to all of them. She is a famous, the rate, the lady that they've all been listening to on the radio this whole time. And then little Willie or whatever the little boys can name is.

[00:47:21] He comes in with a tape from about Jorge and his nonsense. And Gina rolls up on him. I personally would have sued him. Yeah. Like I would have financially. Cause she. Ruined him. Yeah. She goes into his. Like studio or whatever. And she's like, you're not going to break me. Blah, blah. Fuck all that. I don't, I don't want to come tell this man. You're not going to break me. I'm a break his ass first. I'm a beat his ass up. Second. I'm taking that shit to trial, bitch.

[00:47:49] I would be petty sabotaging. Every single thing. I would have turned into like Nair in the shampoo bottle. Like that level of petty. And it's not revenge that she got James and his friends to cut his hair because I think he probably wouldn't look better without the hair. Well, I mean, we've seen Kevin Bacon with short hair. So that was that punishment. I just did not like how that ended at all. I do love how she called him out and she has been doing some sleuthing and she has discovered he's from like Nebraska. Yeah.

[00:48:19] And like this whole facade, which is probably why his name is Jorge, but his accent is from Germany. And so he finally starts talking in his Kevin Bacon voice, which sounds very Nebraska. Oh man. And then the last scene we see that DJ Helen, it has called the salon, told them that they hooked him up and is literally giving them free press that they're amazing. So they're all having a blast.

[00:48:47] And then she asked them to pick the topic of the day and they're all like throwing out very deep questions. I don't even think DJ Helen uses any of the questions. I don't think we ever see what she chooses. I love how Tina is petty in her own right, because she's like, if her name is Porsche and she looks like a Buick. And I'm like, you have so many customers that like literally have car names. Yeah. It was something going on in the eighties and the nineties where black

[00:49:17] parents were definitely very interesting names that were coming out that were cars. I don't know why. Maybe. I don't know why. Mercedes, Porsche, princess. Trying to think what other car names they could have been. Jaguar. Yeah. Well, when we get to booty call, like they play on that a lot, just naming. I'm surprised you didn't pick that as your birthday movie. Yeah. How you felt about doing mean girls. I feel, I feel the same way about doing booty.

[00:49:49] Not yet. Oh, okay. I did find how to be a player on DVD. Brand new, never been touched. I'm like, you're coming home with me. Oh man. I don't have words for that. Well, that is beauty shop. Question. Do you think, would you consider this movie a rom-com? No. I think all of the relationships are secondary. Yes.

[00:50:18] But I feel like. One, I know that it sometimes it's labeled as a rom-com because there is a romantic aspect to it and it's a comedy. And since it's a female film, it happens that way. But I think about like legally blonde. I know. That's not a rom-com. But it gets classified as a rom-com. Well, they're wrong. Just like this congeniality is not a rom-com. Again, but it is considerable. And like they put it in that category. I don't necessarily agree. I think this is like a girl's girls movie or whatever.

[00:50:48] Yeah. This is a movie about relationships with women and your friends. And then like the relationships with men are very secondary. Like her and Joe don't really even have that much time together on screen. That is romantic. Right. You just see him. It was nice to see like black love on screen and he was very like supportive of her and like willing to help her on her and her endeavors. So I thought that was really sweet. So what little we did get was, was really nice. Yeah, definitely.

[00:51:18] Well, our additional fun facts, Queen Latifah chose to set her spinoff in Atlanta because it was warmer than in Chicago and it was wintertime. I love a rational lady. Right. They were, they were trying to push for it to be Miami. And she was like, no, I can't. That's too hot. Yeah. It's going to be too much. And she thought it would be harder to film there. Well, and I think it's very fitting. Like Miami, you wouldn't get the same clientele as you get in Atlanta. No, I feel like making a movie about black hair makes the most sense in Atlanta.

[00:51:48] If you're not doing it in Chicago. Yeah. It's interesting because Juman, Honsu and Camorley Simmons are both in this movie. And we know that they ended up getting together. They have a son together, but they didn't start dating until two years after this film. I don't know if this is how they met or if it happened later. And they just happened to have been on the set together. I thought that was funny, but they broke up in 2012. So, and her, I think his son plays basketball now. So yeah. So Gina's main,

[00:52:18] main inspiration in the film is Madam CJ Walker, Octavia Spencer, who is credited as big customer. As we have discussed, we go on to portray Walker in the mini series self-made inspired by the life of Madam CJ Walker from 2020, which is on Netflix. And if you guys don't know who Madam CJ Walker is, she is a black female pioneer. She's a female pioneer in America. She was one of the, she was the first self-made millionaire and female millionaire. And she is really who pioneered doing black hair essentially.

[00:52:48] So if you're interested, you should definitely look into her, her life. And she was also an activist. She took the money that she was making from her products and from what she was doing to help, you know, the plights of black Americans. And when asked about the community of beauty shop, queen Latifah said, what other situation do you put yourself in when you allow someone to touch you for about two hours every week, when you're in that kind of situation, it sort of disarms you. It opens you up and you get to know this person and you start sharing things

[00:53:16] that are on your mind or things that you are going through. And the person does become your therapist in life. Yeah. It's a very personal relationship to have someone in your hair. Your hair is your crown, your beauty, and can't just be having anybody mess around in it. And my mom used to have me so scared that like how I would, when I would comb my hair out to make sure that I wasn't just like throwing my hair anywhere or whatever. She's like, if someone gets your hair and they use it to do stuff, you'd be in big trouble. Didn't know she was talking about some sort of hoodoo. Very as like, you know,

[00:53:46] and to this day, I'm very particular about getting rid of my hair. You're going to get me. Just say, I think that's pretty much it. Yeah. All right. Well, if you have any comments, if you have any feedback, which we've gotten some in our comments on Spotify, I do want to reach you. Oh, please do. I'm excited now. Is it multiplicity? Oh, miss Terry shouted out your artwork for our multiplicity episode. Oh, I loved it.

[00:54:16] It was so cute. First, you have a shout out from Jara. Happy birthday, Jackie. Thank you. Let's see. What else do we have? Jara told me that Jenna Ortega has already played a seductress and she's the same age as Jennifer Love Hewitt was in Heartbreakers. If not a few years older, I could definitely see JLo and Ortega together. This is in reference to our Heartbreakers episode when I said that I couldn't because Jennifer Love Hewitt said she would have loved,

[00:54:43] she would love to see Jenna Ortega and Jennifer Lopez playing the roles in Heartbreakers. And I said that I couldn't see Jenna Ortega probably because I still see her as a kid, but you're right. She has played a seductress. I don't know if it was in a movie, but I definitely remember she was in the Sabrina Carpenter music video kind of playing off of Death Becomes Her. So you're right. Valid. My bad. I still think she's a little kid. So what else do we have?

[00:55:08] I love that on YouTube in response to our Electra episode, Deftastic Joshua commented, honestly, this isn't a good movie, but it has made its mark. Facts. Somebody also got very upset. And I'm assuming it's what I, my comments on the Out Cold episode. They said that we threw shade at, what was the main character's name? Do you remember? Rick? Yeah. Or I, Jeremy London. Yeah, I think so.

[00:55:39] Apparently I was shady. And then they said that they were unsubscribed. What? And I was like, And then I was like, I'm so sorry. And then they were like, I changed my mind. So I was like, okay. Hey, you know, all we have is hard opinions around here. So yeah, we stand, like we, 10 toes down. Yeah. If we have an opinion, like we don't back down from it. Sorry.

[00:56:07] But if you listen to our hair breakers episode, where I still maintain that. So if you have any comments or questions or anything, you want to let us know, hit us up at no more late fees on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube threads, and blue sky. And we'll be happy to engage and give you an answer or let you know how we feel about your feelings. All right, Jackie, what is your present day rating?

[00:56:36] Now that you have watched beauty shop. I am actively looking on iTunes to see if I can purchase. I will go would buy because I will be buying it. I really enjoyed it. I think the one liners, I laughed out loud multiple times. Like it was just a feel good movie. Like you said, you can throw on in the background and be doing other things and you're still going to like chuckle.

[00:57:05] And all of the characters are super fun. And it's just like a lighthearted little fun movie to watch. Yeah, I, it did really like the reviews from 2005. Not great. But for me, it's, it's the nostalgia, especially like I, I love this movie. I can look at it now and see like some of the things where maybe I feel like it could have pivoted better. There are some character,

[00:57:34] caricatures of black people in this that I don't love, but I still will watch it more than once or twice in a year probably. Yeah. So it's still a would buy for me. And if you have any feedback, comments, questions, just random thoughts and need someone to talk to, hit us up at our quick drop. Nine zero nine six zero one six, three. That's nine zero nine six zero one. And NMLF.

[00:58:03] You can taught us at the Twitters, hum us at the threads, butterfly in the sky at blue sky, and you could be featured on a future episode. And join us next week. As we finally tussle with the mutants. As we cover. X-Men. Jackie, are you ready? To be honest? I don't think I'm ready for both you and Patrice, but it's been a hot minute since we've had Patrice on the show. So I am excited for that. And I'm sure this will be repeated on next week's episode,

[00:58:32] but I went to see X-Men in the theater with Danielle. And she had to, cause I didn't know who the X-Men were. I had no clue. So the entire movie was spent her just whispering things to me. And then like, not just who the characters were, but also like. He's supposed to be really short. And they fucked that up. Like, was it rogue?

[00:59:00] Rogue was supposed to be the same age as Logan or something. She was not a fucking teenager. And what acts like, okay, I'm going to hold it, hold it in. So if you're a huge X-Men fan, please. Please, this, this episode is going to have a, like a caveat. Just relax. Chill. Give me a second to breathe. If you were an X-Men movie fan. Yes.

[00:59:28] Because Danielle comes from the perspective of a X-Men comic book fan first. Right. And there's just a lot of stuff that I have been carrying in my heart. Since 2000. That's why we started this podcast for this episode. For Danielle to just get it all out. I, it may be a two party y'all. I don't know. And it might need to be bleeped quite a bit. No,

[00:59:57] we'll never bleep anything. We, we may need to pull out the rant on Brian Singer for a deep dive, but. Yeah. Oh, the research I'm about to do on this motherfucker. Like you don't even know the burn book is going to be eight pages. On fire. On fire. Might need to call a lawyer to make sure I'm saying allegedly and all sorts of stuff for defamation.

[01:00:27] Well, as always be kind and rewind. Yeah.