STACK #157 Nov 2017

Best dance battles in films

DVD&BD FEATURE Wild Thing Jada Pinkett-Smith tells Alesha Kolbe about being a part of one of the year’s biggest comedies – GirlsTrip .

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White Chicks

Grease

High School Musical 2

Bad Neighbours

Starsky and Hutch

G irls Trip follows the story of school girl squad Ryan (Regina Hall), Sasha (Queen Latifah), Lisa (Jada Pinkett- Smith), and Dina (Tiffany Haddish), as they decide to put their adult lives on hold and get the squad back together for one last trip away. Ryan – a successful businesswoman – is the keynote speaker at Essence Fest in New Orleans, and has decided to bring her besties along for a fun-filled weekend. Of course, a spanner is thrown in the works, and their friendships are well and truly put to the test. Lisa is one of Ryan’s oldest friends, and according to Jada Pinkett-Smith, she is using this trip to reset herself. “She’s a single mum of two kids who, in her earlier life, was a wild child,” she says. “Now though, she’s been domesticated, and

her girlfriends want to take her on this trip to find wild Lisa again, and let her get her groove back.” The group of girls in the film refer to themselves as the “Flossy Posse” – their own

opportunity, when we put our resources together, what we’re able to do. “It’s not only a testament to having a project like this produced, directed, written and acted by African-Americans, but it’s a testament to the audiences’ response, because they’re proving that laughter and story are universal. It doesn’t necessarily matter the colour of a person’s skin or the language they speak – we all share universal themes. I think audiences are becoming a lot more open to that idea. Girls Trip is a very strong testament to that. I’m giving some big hand claps to audiences and their opinions and how they’ve embraced the themes.” Ultimately, Girls Trip is all about having a ball with your best friends and getting down on the dancefloor. Given the chance, what would be Jada Pinkett-Smith’s dancefloor filler? “It’s a club song, it’s called It’s Time For The Percolator – I don’t actually know if you guys have it in Australia,” she laughs. “It’s a bit of an underground club song. It’s been around since I was in my teens, and it’s one of those songs that to this day will still get me out on the dancefloor.”

It doesn’t necessarily matter the colour of a person’s skin or the language they speak – we all share universal themes

squad name. But who would Jada consider part of her real-life entourage? “I actually have a lot of old friends that

are part of my posse. I definitely have my equivalent to a flossy posse.”

Girls Trip is the highest- grossing movie in history to be written by, produced, directed, and starring African-Americans, a fact that Pinkett-Smith is particularly proud of. “It just goes to

• Girls Trip is out Nov 29

show that when we’re given the

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