The Players Club

Who could have predicted that gangsta-rap godfather Ice Cube would write and direct a strip flick that’s sexier and smarter than Showgirls and Striptease combined? LisaRaye makes a sensational debut as an erotic dancer bumping and grinding to make ends meet in The Players Club. Bernie Mac (as the club’s sleazy owner) and Jamie Foxx (as its smooth-talking DJ) deliver rudely funny turns, and Cube appears as a creepy patron. But the real star here is cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed (He Got Game), whose seedy, supersaturated color schemes bleed beautifully on the small screen. B+