First there was "Ice-T" and "Vanilla Ice". Now "Italian Ice" emerges on the rap scene in the guise of "King Leisure" a.k.a. Pat DiNizio. "Phat Pat" plays the title character in a forthcoming comedy film entitled "King Leisure, S.O.B." (Straight Outta The 'Burbs) that he has co-written and is currently directing on location in New Jersey and New York. This independent film is being shot using Panasonic DV Video cameras that have easy playback viewing capabilities that are extremely helpful in allowing the crew to make quick decisions "on the run" during the filming process. Judging from the early rushes, the footage has a lush and almost film-like quality to it that one doesn't normally associate with the video medium.

The film might best be described as a cross between an improv "Spinal Tap" and a hip hop mockumentary ("Spinal Rap"?) or, as Pat himself calls it, "low budget guerilla filmmaking". "King Leisure" tells the tale of an aging ex-rock star named Vince who tries to reinvent himself as an angry white rapper. However, his biggest obstacle towards achieving this goal may be his own cluelessness. King Leisure’s theme song introduces him as the land of the mall’s "def-est MC" but the movie is probably more about who's dumb and dumber rather than who's "def and def-est". Pat's biting satire nibbles and bites the hand that used to feed him as it playfully sends-up the music industry and today's society.

Pat has cast a group of mostly unknowns and non-actors in the film roles. Severo Jornacion (who has filled-in on bass onstage at times for the Smithereens and most recently played with Pat's all-star band "The Wild Bunch" in Chicago) co-stars as King Leisure’s long-suffering and somewhat dim-witted agent, Morrie Haderstein. (The name "Haderstein" is actually an homage to the combined surnames of the screenplay’s co-writer Matt Hader and the Smithereens’ old manager Burt Stein). Morrie hopes to someday purchase that retirement condo in Boca Raton out of the "three percent commission" his client so kindly pays him. Mike Ratel is "MC Mick Rat" who is either King Leisure’s personal rap guru or a "mental mentor" who might very well be just a figment of the King’s own "eminem-agination". Jodi St. Vincent, the muckraking reporter portrayed by Arwa J. Damon, is King Leisure’s former flame who is too busy flaming her "ex-beau" in the media to even notice that she might still have some feelings for him. Frequent Smithereens concertgoers will probably recognize the ever-present "band aide" Jim Burns, who appears in the film as the "auto doctor" and who is a member of King Leisure’s new band. Even Pat DiNizio’s mother, last seen onscreen upstaging Martin Scorsese’s and John Turturro’s moms in the film documentary "Mother Tongue: Italian Sons & Mothers", acts against type as the King’s "mother" of all mothers.

This is the kind of low budget New Jersey film where the locales are more Fanwood than Hollywood. Most of the film is being shot in and around NJ including Pat’s hometown of Scotch Plains. Scenes have already been filmed at local merchants' shops there as well as at a "Big And Tall Men's Shop" on Route 22 where King Leisure purchases his suitably hideous rap garb. Concert scenes were filmed on May 17th at the Smithereens’ old stomping grounds, The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, where Pat purposely "busted some bad rap moves" onstage. Pat rapped lyrics written by Mike Ratel that were set to music composed by Drew Kennedy (who plays the other member of King Leisure’s band). Pat was also filmed in character in a mock interview with Al Digiacomo at Cablevision studios. Al actually hosts a local cable access show called "Alternatives" that appears on many New Jersey TV stations on Saturday nights. Pat played the definitive "Alternatives" rocker turned rapper who gets the squirm-inducing "Joe Franklin" treatment from the show’s interviewer.

This movie is a production of the Serendipity Entertainment Group LLC whose president, Az Nyhus, has been in the media industry for over 18 years working for MSNBC and the Fox New Channel. Az was also a former D.E.A. agent who once took a bullet on the job that hit his bulletproof vest at close range and bruised his ribs. Nowadays, members of his film company’s "combat crew" have traveled to where the bullets and bombs have been the thickest in such places as Baghdad, Syria and Jordan during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Az will be leaving for Afghanistan shortly himself but, in the meantime, random "drive by (film) shooting" will hopefully be the worst thing he’ll ever have to encounter during the course of this movie.

As for now, filming will continue until the movie has "wrapped its last rap" or until the King has left the building - whichever comes first. Actually, they are talking about finishing principal photography on Wednesday, May 28th which means that the actual film shoot will have taken only a little over two weeks to complete. The film will then go into post production and editing. Pat figures that the film's running time will probably be around eighty minutes when it's finished. Then it’ll be "Leisure time" as the King Leisure major motion picture hopefully debuts soon at a hood or crib near you. Yo, yo, yo, it's DiNizio. Bada bing...he's the King. So just chill or "get ill" until. It's his "8 Mile", but with a smile. And smile and laugh you will if the dailies I've seen so far are any indication. With any luck, Pat's directorial debut will not only help to introduce him as "King Leisure" but as "The King of Comedy" as well.