Friday After Next / Friday / Next Friday (2005)

The FRIDAY series is collected here, and includes:

THE FRIDAY AFTER NEXT: It is Christmas Eve for most of the Christian world, but when Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) are rudely awaken by a burglar in a Santa suit, it is definitely another FRIDAY in the ghetto. The phony Santa gets away with all the cousins' Christmas gifts and their overdue rent money after assaulting Craig with a paltry Christmas tree. Cops are called in and do little more than confiscate Craig and Day-Day's pot stash. Though the cousins may be used to such adversity in the 'hood, they have never before had to think about getting real jobs in order to pay the bills. This third installment in the hip-hop stoner series follows L.A.'s lovable losers through their first day as rent-a-cops at a South Central strip mall.

FRIDAY: Thoroughly charming and totally hilarious day-in-the-life comedy in which co-writer Ice Cube plays the stoic Craig opposite Chris Tucker's Smokey, a brilliantly rendered hyperactive marijuana enthusiast. The two twentysomethings, Craig recently wrongly fired and Smokey terminally slacking and scamming, barely make it through one highly eventful day. Eloquent commentary on themes like community, family, friendship, and violence is seamlessly blended with lighter treatments of young romance, bathroom emergencies, nosy neighbors and much more. Casually impeccable performances by the entire cast make this film a standout.

NEXT FRIDAY: Set two years after the events in FRIDAY, NEXT FRIDAY follows a day in the life of protagonist Craig (Ice Cube), who must flee Los Angeles after neighborhood bully Debo breaks out of prison, vowing to beat him to a pulp. Craig escapes to his uncle Elroy's house in Rancho Cucamonga, only to discover that life in the suburbs is even more screwed up than in the ghetto. His uncle is into S&M; his aunt is a nymphomaniac; the neighbors are a bunch of gangsters; and his cousin is chased by a former girlfriend and a thuggish woman named Baby D. The fourth film produced by Ice Cube, NEXT FRIDAY is, like its predecessor, a buddy film pairing straight man Ice Cube with fresh comedic talent Mike Epps. Helmed by first-time director Steve Carr, who is known for making stylish videos for top rap acts, the film sends up raunchy life in suburbia from an African American perspective. The soundtrack is liberally sprinkled with thumping hip-hop tracks, including "Chin Check," the first new song from the rap group NWA in many years.