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Ranking The 'Fast And Furious' Franchise Films From Best To Worst

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • May 21, 2013 12:59 PM
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  • 18 Comments
Fast & Furious 6
Features
This weekend sees the sixth (!) film in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, "Fast and Furious 6" (or, according to director Justin Lin, just "Furious Six") race into theaters. Once thought as a kind of also-ran franchise in the Universal canon, it has quickly become one of the studio's most important properties, with each subsequent film getting bigger and more bombastic (if not genuinely better). Sure, these movies might not be high art but they are consistently entertaining in a way that few Hollywood franchises are, full of muscle cars and beautiful women and tough guys who pummel each other just for the heck of it. In the spirit of "Fast and Furious," we thought we would run down every entry in the entire franchise, from best to worst. So put on your tiniest muscle shirt, grab that energy drink, and buckle up.
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More: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Eva Mendes, Michelle Rodriguez, John Singleton, Rob Cohen, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Features, Fast & Furious 6, Fast Five

Fire Your Agent? 5 Directors Who May Need To Rethink Their Career Choices

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • November 8, 2012 2:26 PM
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  • 20 Comments
Features
In his seminal book "Making Movies," Sidney Lumet wrote, "I've done two movies because I needed the money. I've done three because I love to work and couldn't wait anymore. Because I'm a professional, I worked as hard on those movies as on any I've done. Two of them turned out to be good and were hits." As with any freelance job, few filmmakers are in full control of their destiny -- they're at the behest of what they're offered, what they can actually get made, and, even once a film is in production, any number of factors that can make the difference between a creatively successful or creatively lacking film.
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More: Features, Peter Berg, Jon Favreau, John Singleton, Mike Newell, Fernando Meirelles

John Singleton Out Of The Running As Helmer For Tupac Biopic

  • By Simon Dang
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  • November 16, 2011 11:39 AM
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  • 0 Comments
News
This long-gestating biopic of rapper Tupac Shakur backed by production shingle Morgan Creek just can't catch a break, can it? After seeing Antoine Fuqua come on board only to leave, return and then seemingly step aside for John Singleton, it looks like negotiations for the latter to officially take over have now fallen apart as well.
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More: John Singleton, Tupac

John Singleton May Take The Director's Seat For 'Tupac'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • October 12, 2011 4:31 AM
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  • 3 Comments
It has been a long time since John Singleton has made a film that lived up to his early work like "Boyz N The Hood" or "Higher Learning." His last effort was the dismal and lamebrained Taylor Lautner vehicle "Abduction," and while for a brief moment it seemed he would be taking on "Straight Outta Compton," the biopic of N.W.A., he was quickly pushed out with a different trio of filmmakers in the running for the gig (apparently Craig Brewer is favored though it will depend on how well (or not) "Footloose" does this weekend). But the director has rebounded and is now circling another hip hop story that he is just as well suited for as the N.W.A. flick and one that should hopefully be a return to his former glory.
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More: Films, John Singleton, Biopic, Tupac

Review: A Brooding, Wooden Taylor Lautner Muddles His Way Through The Nonsensical 'Abduction'

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • September 22, 2011 12:05 PM
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  • 18 Comments
In the future (it’s closer than you think!), celebrities will be an even bigger part of our society. While the pool of “famous people” will expand beyond movie stars, politicians and random public figures, we’ll find ourselves consumed by the public’s thirst for all things mega-famous. In this future, somewhere, someone will write a massive tome dedicated to the forehead of Taylor Lautner. Like the Monolith in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” it is massive, and says everything and nothing. It sits on top of the scrunched up Zardoz-of-a-face that is this curious manchild, at once Cro-Magnon and, yet, every bit representative of his teenage years. It's going to be a helluva book.
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More: Films, Actors, Actresses, Review, John Singleton, Abduction, Taylor Lautner, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyquist, Sigourney Weaver

Sorry John Singleton, N.W.A. Biopic Might Go To Craig Brewer, F. Gary Gray Or Peter Berg

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • September 21, 2011 8:28 AM
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  • 2 Comments
Hollywood moves fast and literally days after director John Singleton told us he was in some early discussions about making a biopic about seminal gangsta rappers N.W.A. the tide appears to be shifting. But first let's rewind a moment.
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More: Musicians, Peter Berg, F. Gary Gray, Craig Brewer, John Singleton, N.W.A.

John Singleton Says He Showed 'North By Northwest' To The Young Cast Of 'Abduction'

  • By Todd Gilchrist
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  • September 21, 2011 4:06 AM
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  • 1 Comment
The Director Talks About His Evolution From 'Boyz N Tha Hood' To Contemporary Action ThrillersIf you’re ever in danger of running out of superlatives when describing John Singleton, thankfully the director can provide plenty of his own; maybe he was just feeling confident on the morning after the Los Angeles premiere for “Abduction,” where “Twilight” fans transferred their “Team Jacob” fantasies onto Taylor Lautner’s new action thriller. Singleton certainly didn’t spare any modesty when describing his work on the film when we sat down to talk with him. “If you look at that film, or the action pictures that I make, they’re totally different from what anybody else would do with them."
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More: Films, Interview, John Singleton, Abduction

Exclusive: John Singleton Says He's Talking To Ice Cube About Directing N.W.A. Biopic

  • By Todd Gilchrist
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  • September 16, 2011 11:47 AM
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  • 0 Comments
In the last 10 years, John Singleton has made some unexpected choices, and perhaps as a result, his career has taken some unusual turns. Between 2001 and 2005 he revisited the ‘hood with “Baby Boy,” directed a big-league Hollywood sequel with “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and helmed the drama “Four Brothers,” but it’s taken six years for him to return to the director’s chair with the new thriller “Abduction.”
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More: Films, Actors, Musicians, John Singleton, Abduction, Ice Cube, N.W.A.

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