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When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

4 Little Girls

Up from the Streets: New Orleans: The City of Music


            As the opening credits roll, we hear Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) delivering a speech about the oppression of the black race by the white race, openly and loudly accusing whites of murder, rape and slavery. Intercut with the credits is footage of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers and an American flag burning into an "X".In the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, during the early 1940s in the early years of World War II, a teenage Malcolm Little meets with his friend, Shorty (Spike Lee) at a local barber shop to have his hair straightened to make him acceptable to whites. The process is a painful one, with a concoction of eggs and lye applied to Malcolm's head and combed out. Malcolm admires himself in the mirror and he and Shorty take to the streets dressed in colorful "zoot" suits.In a flashback sequence, Malcolm narrates that he grew up poor in rural Nebraska. When his mother was pregnant with him, a small group of Ku Klux Klan riders broke the windows of his parents' house, looking for his father, a local minister and activist. Malcolm later narrates that his family's home was burned down and his father was murdered when he was four or five, thrown in front of a train after suffering a skull injury. The case was falsely recorded as a suicide and his family received no compensation, becoming destitute. Malcolm's mother Louise (Lonette McKee), who was of Caribbean descent and partially white, married his father because he was black and a follower of Marcus Garvey, who preached that Black Americans should return to Africa to have their own region of the world, free of white influence. Eventually, his mother was remanded to a mental institution and Malcolm and his brothers and sisters became wards of the state. Malcolm, while in grade school, showed excellent academic skills and told a teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. However, his racist teacher tells him that it "isn't a practical career for a negro".Flashing back to contemporary 1944, Malcolm and Shorty and their girlfriends go to a jitterbug club. After a rigorous dancing number, Malcolm meets Sophia (Kate Vernon), a white, blond woman who becomes infatuated with him. Malcolm's black girlfriend, Laura (Theresa Randle), is a devout Catholic and has avoided Malcolm's sexual advances. Eventually, Malcolm takes up with Sophia. At one point, he treats her with obvious racial misogyny, getting her to feed him breakfast.Working for a local railroad company, Malcolm travels to Harlem, New York City. He goes to a bar where his drink is doubled unexpectedly by a man named West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo), who runs numbers locally. When Malcolm is harassed by another patron who insults his clothes and speaks ill of his mother, Malcolm hits the man on the head with a liquor bottle. Archie recognizes that Malcolm won't back down in a fight and calls him over to his table. Malcolm sees immediately that Archie is a person of considerable influence and goes to work for him, running numbers.One night, while Malcolm, Sophia and Archie drink and snort cocaine, Malcolm places a bet for several numbers with Archie. One of Malcolm's numbers hits and he stands to collect a large sum of money. Archie denies that Malcolm had the number and reminds his protege of his reputation for never forgetting a number. Malcolm chooses to break his ties with Archie.A few nights later, at a dinner club, Archie threatens Malcolm. Malcolm escapes through the bathroom window. He returns to Boston, reconnects with Shorty and the two resolve to become petty thieves. One of their first partners, Rudy (Roger Guenveur Smith), tells them about a elderly man he takes care of who has money and many valuable items in his house. When Rudy declares he'll lead the group, Malcolm plays Russian Roulette, threatening to blow off Rudy's nose. A terrified Rudy tells Malcolm to lead the group.The robbery is a success and over a period of time, Shorty and Malcolm loot a considerable amount. One night in early 1946, while Shorty and Malcolm straighten Malcolm's hair, they discover the water has been turned off. Malcolm is forced to rinse his head in the toilet bowl and he and Shorty are arrested when the police burst in. Sophia and Peg (Debi Mazar) are also arrested. The racist judge (a cameo by civil rights attorney William Kuntsler), after hearing a guilty verdict, sentences the two white women to 18 months for their association with the robbery group, but harshly sentences both Shorty and Malcolm to eight to ten years for 14 different robbery charges and declares the sentences will be served concurrently (a devastated Shorty literally faints in the courtroom, thinking he'd serve over 100 years until Malcolm explains to him what "concurrent" sentencing is).Malcolm is sent to a Massachusetts penitentiary. On his first day he refuses to recite his incarceration number and is thrown into solitary confinement. The prison priest (Christopher Plummer) tries to reach Malcolm but is obscenely rebuffed. Malcolm is eventually released from solitary and recites his number. While in the showers, straightening his hair, he is met by Baines (Albert Hall), a member of the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim organization of the United States. Baines tells Malcolm that the best way out of prison, both the penitentiary and the figurative prisons of his mind, is through the teachings of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.), the founder and leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm refuses at first but grows more interested in Baines' preaching, especially when he sees the confidence and courage Baines has -- he refuses to show any fear when the prison's guards threaten him. Malcolm becomes a willing student; Baines tells him that all white people are not to be trusted. Baines has Malcolm copy out an entire English language dictionary, pointing out the double-standards that guide words like "black" and "white", telling his student that he must learn the meanings behind every word and that language is the key to using the white race's power against them. Malcolm is reluctant at first to pray directly to Allah until he has a vision in his jail cell of Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad tells him that the only path to truth is through Allah. Malcolm finally gains the courage to pray as a Muslim. Malcolm also becomes a sore point for the prison priest; Malcolm challenges the traditional images of Jesus and the apostles, claiming they were anything but white.Malcolm is paroled from prison in 1952 after serving six years. A few days after his release, he travels to the Nation's headquarters in Chicago where he meets Elijah Muhammad himself. Malcolm is noticeably humbled by the experience and breaks down in awe-filled tears at meeting his savior. As part of joining the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad instructs Malcolm to drop his last name of 'Little', which his ancestors inherited from a white slave owner, and replace it with the letter 'X' which is a symbol of his lost African surname.Malcolm X returns to Harlem and begins his life as a preacher for the Nation of Islam. The Nation sets up a mosque in a single room and their congregation quickly grows over the next few years. At one point, Malcolm, while preaching a sermon, sees Shorty in the crowd. He embraces him, kindly pointing out that Shorty is a representative of his former criminal life and the two go out for coffee. Shorty tries to get Malcolm to join him for a cocaine fix but Malcolm tells him that he's clean. Malcolm gets news about West Indian Archie and his old gang from Shorty and finds out where Archie is living. Archie has since suffered a stroke and lives as an invalid in a squalid Bronx apartment. Malcolm visits him and comforts him when he sees how poor life has become for his old boss.In 1957, Malcolm challenges the Harlem division of the New York City Police Department when one of his temple's members, Brother Johnson, is beaten in the streets and taken to jail and denied medical attention. Malcolm gathers the Fruit of Islam, the Nation's security force, and, joined by a growing mob of local protesters, marches on the police precinct, demanding to see Johnson. When he is turned down he calmly and firmly tells the officers in charge that neither he nor the Fruit of Islam will move until they are satisfied that Johnson is being cared for properly. The silent protest works and Johnson is taken to the hospital. Malcolm orders the Fruit of Islam to disperse and leaves the angry crowd on the street for the police to deal with. As the Nation leaves, the captain (a cameo by Peter Boyle) remarks "that's too much power for one man to have."A short time later, while drinking coffee in a nearby cafe, a young man named Benjamin (Jean LaMarre), who'd witnessed the police beating of Brother Johnson and was impressed with Malcolm's stolid handling of the police, approaches Malcolm and asks him how he can become a Muslim. Malcolm questions Benjamin carefully, saying he shouldn't join an organization if he doesn't understand it. Benjamin becomes disappointed and begins to leave when Malcolm tells him he shouldn't give up that easily either. Malcolm invites him to come to his temple the next day. Benjamin leaves, promising he'll make Malcolm proud of him.In 1958, Malcolm meets his future wife, nurse Betty Sanders (Angela Bassett). The two are instantly attracted to each other and Malcolm eventually proposes to her. They are married in a private ceremony and plan to have children. They are soon the parents of four daughters.Over the next few years as Malcolm's influence grows, he soon finds himself in a high advisory position to Elijah Muhammad himself, which draws much jealously from Baines. As a result, Malcolm receives less attention in the Nation's official publication, "Muhammad Speaks". Baines speaks to Muhammad directly, telling him that Malcolm may be shamelessly courting the white media for himself, rather than for the good of the Nation. Following a formal public speaking session, Malcolm is confronted by a disgruntled man who suggests that Muhammad may not be the benevolent leader the Nation believes him to be.In 1962, Malcolm and Betty argue bitterly over reports in the New York Post that claim Muhammad may have fathered illegitimate children with at least two unmarried women who served on his office staff. Betty's argument also points to the manner with which Malcolm has been largely ignored by the leadership of the Nation. Following their small fight, Malcolm talks to the women who confirm the reports and have been ostracized within the Nation. Malcolm privately confronts Muhammad who claims that, because he himself never married, that he must father his progeny any way he can. Baines also tries to justify Muhammad's philandering by recounting the stories of both Noah (a drunk) and Solomon (who had many wives). Malcolm is not convinced and loses much of his stature and faith in the Nation of Islam.In late November 1963, Malcolm's candid and brutally truthful reputation is further damaged when, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, publicly states that the president's death was an example of the historical violence of the white race and the United States itself, referring to the incident as an example of "the chickens coming home to roost." The remark is quickly misconstrued in American newspapers, prompting anger from both the black and white establishments. Muhammad, who appears to be in poor health, decides to sideline Malcolm by informing him that his duties as the Nation of Islam's spokesperson are suspended for 90 days. Malcolm is enraged by what he sees as a clear case of betrayal by both Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, but he none the less accepts and submits to the punishment.In early 1964, during his suspension, Malcolm announces publicly that he'll be establishing a new organization called Muslim Mosque Inc, one that will allow white people to aide them but not permit them to join. Malcolm also announces he will complete a "hajj", a holy journey of self-discovery to the Middle East and Mecca in Saudi Arabia, required of all Muslims if they are able. He tours the ancient pyramids at Giza, knowing that he's being tailed by two men he assumes are CIA agents. Arriving in Mecca, he participates in the Muslim ritual of the seven circuits around the Kaaba, drinks from the Well of Zamzam and kisses the Black Stone. He also realizes that Islam is not limited to people of Arab, Middle Eastern or African descent, but the many people in his pilgrimage include quite a few Caucasian whites, mixed race people and Asians as well. Malcolm willingly eats and prays with them. The hajj changes Malcolm's outlook and he experiences a spiritual re-awakening, realizing that exclusion of races other than African-Americans from Islam cannot accomplish anything.Returning to the United States, he gives a press conference where he declares that his days of preaching for African-American separation from white America are over. He forms a new Islamic organization, the Organization for African-American Unity (OAAU), one that will spread the word of tolerance of all who wish to worship Allah and the Qur'an, and which involves breaking his relations with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm also gives himself a new Arab Islamic name, "El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz." Very soon, Malcolm's family begins to receive death threats on the phone from Nation of Islam members. Malcolm guards his house at night with a rifle.One night in February 1965, two firebombs are thrown at Malcolm's house and he gives a public statement to a television news crew that if he'd actually seen the bombers himself, he'd have opened fire on them in the street. Baines himself gives a public statement to the media, suggesting Malcolm may have fire-bombed his own house as a publicity stunt.Malcolm receives further death threats and becomes somewhat despondent. He arranges to speak at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on February 21, 1965, his first such public speech since founding OAAU. Malcolm goes to a New York hotel and stays overnight there, possibly to draw attention away from his family. He receives more death threats from the Nation of Islam in his hotel room. He drives to the Audubon and meets a woman on the street who tells him not to listen to his detractors and that Jesus will protect him -- Malcolm acknowledges her kindness. One of his men, Brother Earl (James McDaniel), wants to position guards around the stage and podium and wants everyone attending to be searched to insure Malcolm's safety. Malcolm refuses, saying he wants the attendees of the speech to feel relaxed. Malcolm also becomes angry when his staff inform him that the OAAU program hasn't been completed and that the reverend scheduled to speak before Malcolm cannot attend. The rest of the staff are excused and Malcolm speaks alone to Brother Earl, muttering about the present day being "a time for martyrs." He also refuses to postpone the engagement when Earl suggests it. Earl leaves and Malcolm prepares his notes.In the auditorium, Betty and Malcolm's four daughters are seated in the front row while Brother Benjamin 2X (the same young man from the cafe scene) speaks ahead of Malcolm and introduces him. Malcolm steps to the podium and greets the crowd when a man in the back row suddenly starts shouting at someone... intended as a distraction. While the security guards run over and deals with the yelling man (exactly as planned), a man in the second row pulls out a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, runs up to the stage and opens fire. Malcolm (seeing the armed man approach and aware that he is a dead man) smiles slightly and is hit in his left shoulder and chest by two shotgun blasts and falls to the stage. Two additional assassins seated in the front row also run forward to the stage and shoot Malcolm several more times with semi-automatic pistols. As the killers run out of the auditorium, one of handgun shooters, Thomas Hayer (Giancarlo Esposito), is shot in his right leg by one of Malcolm's bodyguards. Hampered by his bullet wound, he is caught and beaten by the angry crowd outside the front entrance of the building. The police arrive a minute later to place the captured assassin under arrest before quietly entering the building to find Betty holding her dead husband and crying. Malcolm's body is taken to a nearby hospital just down the street where he is declared dead-on-arrival from multiple gunshot wounds.The story ends with Martin Luther King's weary statement on Malcolm's death and the violence that caused it. The same eulogy delivered by Ossie Davis at Malcolm's memorial services plays over a montage of film and photographs of the real Malcolm. Footage of Nelson Mandela (recently released from prison after 30 years) speaking to a South African grade school class is also shown. The final shot is of Malcolm himself proclaiming "By any means necessary!"
    

Malcolm X

Icons Among Us

Inside Man

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power


            The movie begins as Montgomery "Monty" Brogan (Edward Norton) is driving in New York City with Kostya (Tony Siraguza), his Ukrainian mobster-type muscle. Kostya has a heavy accent and some trouble with English idioms. He references "Doyle's Law" rather than Murphy's Law. While they're running late to meet with some "important people," they happen upon a badly injured dog that was obviously abandoned after a dogfight, and Monty wants to first shoot the dog with Kostya's gun as a mercy killing, but decides to save him instead, impressed by the dog's resilience. He grabs the dog in his jacket, and sticks it in his trunk, and though the dog bites him, he's very impressed with that fighting spirit. They drive on.Monty is sitting on a bench at the pier with the dog, now recuperated from his wounds, whom he named Doyle. It's early morning; people are jogging. Monty is approached by strung-out junkie begging for a fix, and Monty tells him to go to Harlem, because he's been "touched" and is out of the business. The junkie just doesn't seem to get it, says he's been coming to Monty for 5 years and that he'll remember this! He lurches off, and Monty wanders away with Doyle.Monty and Doyle walk along the streets of New York, and end up on the campus of what looks like a private prep school. Monty stands looking at a display of sports trophies and old photos, until a school administrator confronts him and tells him to leave with the dog. He tells her that he used to go to this school, and was on the basketball team, was doing well until he was kicked out of the school for fighting. She thaws a little bit as he shows her himself in the photo and says he held some big record. She tells him that record was broken just last year, and she knows because she coaches the girls' team. He's a little taken aback. He asks if she could help him find Jake Elinsky, his friend.In a classroom, Jakob "Jake" Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is teaching his poetry class. The chairs are all arranged in a circle. One of the students, Mary (Anna Paquin) is reading a poem aloud to the class. She is dressed in a crop top revealing a large henna tattoo around her navel. The rest of the class seems like they're completely dead/disinterested.Just then, Monty shows up at the door and briefly talks to Jake. He tells him to get in touch with Frank and that they can't meet for dinner because he has to go see his dad. That they should meet afterwards at a bar and then there's a "going away" party for him that night at the Bridge club. He notes that Mary's appearance and that she's giving him the eye. He leaves and the bell rings; the students all scatter.Mary comes to see Jake in the teacher's lounge to ask about her grade. Mary argues about the unfair B- grade that he gave her on her last assignment, saying she needs better grades to get into college. She notes he gave another student an A+ for a story about his dead grandmother, despite it being low-effort. He diverts the conversation by asking about her tattoo and she implies that her mother doesn't really care what she does. The conversation resolves with Mary asking again if Jakob will change her grade, him stating he won't, and Mary angrily storming out.Francis "Frank" Xavier Slattery (Barry Pepper), a trader on Wall Street, receives a call from Jake, but quickly hangs up to attend to the hustle and bustle of his investment bank. Frank's boss comes and reprimands him that he needs to sell contracts he has been holding onto. It's obvious that Frank has a very high pressure job and deals with a lot of money, but is on top of it all. He doesn't do what the boss asks, seemingly confident his plan will be a success. It looks like he was right not to sell the contracts, however, when the financial network broadcasting channel reveals the employment number as Frank leans back in his chair satisfied with the outcome.Monty and Doyle go home. Out on the stoop, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), Monty's girlfriend, is waiting for him. She's been sitting there all day, worried when he was already gone when she woke up. He says he needed to get out. It's obvious that there's a lot of tension between them. She wants to know if they're going to spend any time together or what. He tells her about the party being thrown tonight for him by Uncle Nikolai, and she really doesn't want him to go, but he says he can hardly avoid it. She then has him open a jar of honey, and she eats it straight out of the jar with a spoon, which he calls "a nasty habit." They kiss, and she asks him to take a bath with her, but he declines.In a flashback, Monty and Naturelle are in the bath together, joking around about having kids and Monty teasing Nat for getting a tattoo of the Puerto Rican flag when she's lived her whole life in New York City. They are affectionate and intimate with one another.Someone knocks on the door and Nat gets out of the tub to answer it, thinking it might be her mom. Instead, she opens the door to a group of four DEA agents. Monty joins them and is told by Agent Flood (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) they have a warrant to search the apartment. It's obvious they know where what they're looking for is hidden, as none of the agents are searching very hard. One of the agents opens up the couch cushions, revealing large amounts of money and drugs. Agent Flood mocks Monty with his discovery, and the flashback ends.In the present, and Monty's sitting on the couch. Naturelle keeps bugging him about spending time together, but he remains irritable and aloof, asking her to be quiet while she begs him to have a real conversation with her. Monty tells her he has to go see his father and that he'll see her at the club later. He asks her to wear the silver dress, because that's how he wants to remember her, before he leaves the apartment.Outside, Kostya is waiting at the stoop admiring and cat-calling the female passerbys outside. Kostya reminds Monty about the party at the club being held tonight by Uncle Nikolai in his honor. Monty's wondering why people keep insisting he go to the party. He says he'll be there with Naturelle and some friends. Kostya says he shouldn't bring Naturelle and implies that she was the one who tipped off the DEA. Evidently, that is what everyone in their circle believes. Monty rejects this claim as absurd, but states he hasn't asked her. Monty goes off to have dinner with his dad. A shot shows Naturelle was listening in on the conversation from a window above.We next see Monty inside Brogan's, an Irish pub owned by his dad, James Brogan (Brian Cox). The pub is decorated with paraphernalia and an altar dedicated to New York City firefighters. The patrons at the pub are sparse.During their conversation, we discover that Monty's dad used to be a fireman and an alcoholic. It is also revealed that James evidently owed money to a man named Sal and Monty had been paying it off using money earned from his illicit activities. His mom died when Monty was only 11, and James blames himself for how things have turned out, lamenting his Monty didn't become a lawyer or a doctor instead of falling into criminal activity, but Monty assures him it wasn't his fault. Monty leaves the table to use the restroom.While in the bathroom, Monty looks in the mirror and sees that it's got "Fuck You" written on it. Monty begins an impassioned, enraged rant about just about everyone in New York and beyond: pan-handlers, Sikhs and Pakistani taxi drivers, the "Chelsea Boys" of Manhattan, Korean grocers, Russian mobsters, Hasidic Jews, Wall-Street brokers, Puerto Ricans, "Dumbinacans" (Dominicans), the Bensonhurst Italians of Brooklyn, Upper East Side wives of Manhattan, the "Uptown brothers," the NYPD, the Catholic church and Catholic priests, Jesus Christ, Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and radical fundamentalist as a montage shows clips of the people he is ranting about. He curses out his friends Frank and Jake, his girlfriend Naturelle, and his father James. In the end, he says, "Fuck you, Montgomery Brogan, you had it all and you threw it all away." He tries to wipe the "Fuck You" off the mirror, but it's painted on.He returns to the table and asks his dad if he trusts Nat. After some prodding, Monty notes what people have been saying about her and admits he is questioning whether she was the one who turned him in. He says he only really trusts his dad and Frank and Jake, his two oldest friends. He leaves to go meet Frank and Jake without finishing his dinner, and his dad says he'll come in the morning to drive him to the jail. Before he goes, his father gives him a family picture of a young Monty in a fireman's helmet, his father, and his late-mother, who named Monty after the American actor Montgomery Clift.Jake meets up with Frank at his apartment, which overlooks Ground Zero. The two men talk as they look down at the horrifying sight. Frank says that he has no intention of moving. The two men then discuss Monty while sitting by the window overlooking the site. Jake seems to think that after Monty gets out, they'll still be friends, but Frank tells him that it's going to be over. Frank believes they'll never see him again and that Monty deserves his punishment as a result of his crimes. Jake wonders what will happen to Doyle and wishes that Monty could take his beloved dog to jail with him. The scene ends with multiple shots of the construction workers and heavy equipment vehicles that were part of the clean-up at World Trade Center site.In another flashback, Monty is being interrogated in an interrogation room by the DEA agents from earlier, while Naturelle gets let go. The DEA agents try to rile Monty up by implying that she was the one who tipped them off about him. The conversation reveals Monty got kicked out of school for selling marijuana to other students. They explain to Monty that the Rockefeller Laws in the state of New York make possession of 1 kilogram of drugs a major felony which holds a fifteen-year minimum sentence if convicted for a first-time offense. They tempt him by proposing he can lessen his sentence if he cooperates and gives them information on Uncle Nikolai's operation, but he refuses and talks smack to the agents instead. The agents leave the room.Frank and Jakob then go over to a Chinese restaurant and converse over dinner. Frank tells Jake that Jake's in the 62nd percentile of all the city's bachelors, while he, Frank, is in the 99 percentile. Frank elaborates that while the criteria includes the money he makes, Jake has a trust fund and is ashamed of being a wealthy Jewish kid. Frank tells Jake that he also has chronic bad breath. Jake is annoyed at Frank's comments and points out that Frank's lack of table manners and dying of his hair. Frank notes that Monty is in the 0 percentile since he is going to jail.
Another flashback shows Naturelle at the park with a friend, both in uniform, discussing their plan to skip practice to hang out instead. Monty meets up with a man in a suit, who gives him a number to call. Monty approaches Naturelle, asking to borrow Nat's lighter to burn the number. They start chatting and flirting, while Naturelle's friend leaves. A coy, but friendly Naturelle shares that she plays basketball and is on a scholarship, like he was. She also tells him she is eighteen, to Monty's satisfaction. Monty ends the conversation by telling her he will go see her play one day.
Frank and Jake arrive at the bar where they wait Monty, still talking about their percentile rankings, which the cute female bartender is aware of. Jake starts telling Frank about his teacher "friend" who has is interested in pursuing a sixteen-year-old student of his. Frank, naturally, sees through this, and gives Jake a hard time about crushing on a student. Naturelle arrives at the bar, cutting off their conversation, wearing the silver dress Monty requested. They banter for a while at the bar, then Nat goes to the bathroom. Monty shows up and the bartender serves them free drinks and invites them all to her birthday party that weekend which elicits an awkward silence from the trio. They drink and then they all take off to the club where the going-away party is being held.There's a long line of mostly young people trying to get into the club, but Monty's group has VIP access through the backdoor. The bouncer tells Monty the long line is for the popular seventeen-year-old DJ Dusk, who is playing at the club. As the gang heads toward the back entrance, Mary spies Jake and runs up to him, surprised to see him in attendance for DJ Dusk's show. Monty approaches the two, and remembering Mary from earlier, invites her to join the group inside.Inside the club, champagne is served, the group cheers, and Mary drinks her glass down. She and Naturelle go and dance, while Frank goes upstairs for whiskey. Jake and Monty converse alone, and Jake conveys worry that somehow it'll get out that he brought Mary into the club and he will lose his job. Monty dismisses the idea, pours Jake a drink, and requests a toast. Jake fails to find the words to say, so Monty dedicates the toast to Doyle. He states Doyle was the best thing that has happened to him and expresses he would like Jake to have him. Jake accepts Monty's wishFrank comes back and then Kostya shows up. Kostya says it's time to go see Uncle Nikolai and he, Monty, and Frank start going upstairs. Monty asks for five minutes alone with Frank. He tells Frank that he had all these thoughts of going straight and investing the money with Frank's help, but he got greedy. Frank basically tells him the opposite of the stuff he had said to Jake. He tells Monty he's a fighter, that he's going to be OK, that when he gets out, he'll be there for him and they can start an Irish bar together. He assures Monty, telling him they've known each other since they were three and he has never once broken a promise to him. Monty says that is all true, but ultimately asserts that he won't be there for him tomorrow. He says he has a plan that might buy him some time and he makes Frank promise to help.In the meantime, a visibly intoxicated Mary comes back to see that Jake's nodding off at the table. She straddles Jake, waking him up by rubbing his hands across her body, but Jake pushes her away. When asks her to keep all this quiet, she responds with questioning the grade change from earlier. She asks him where the bathroom is and heads that way. After some initial hesitance to follow her, the likewise inebriated Jake goes up there and kisses her. They exchange looks, but say no words, and Jake leaves the bathroom.Meanwhile, Nat is at the club's bar with Frank, who is downing several drinks quickly. She asks him to look out for Monty tonight, make sure he doesn't hurt himself. The conversation progresses to Frank feeling guilt over having not stopped Monty from going further into his life of crime, but ultimately ends with Frank accusing Naturelle of using Monty for his money and betraying him. She slaps him and storms off. Jake comes to the bar and tells Frank he kissed Mary. Frank tells him to shut up and have another drink, saying that they can't leave yet because they have to be there for Monty.Monty and Kostya in the meantime are in a back room where Uncle Nikolai (Levani) and his goons are. Uncle Nikolai tells Monty about his first time in prison when he was fourteen-years-old. He tells him that Monty should find someone who's not being protected and beat them in front of the other prisoners, and that way seem like he's a little crazy, but still respectful of the right people. Nikolai and his henchmen make indirect threats at Monty's father, but Monty assures him he did not give information to the police.Nikolai then suddenly orders his henchmen to beat Kostya, revealing that only he and Naturelle knew where Monty's stash was. Nikolai tells Monty to kill him, but after questioning Kostya over his why he blamed Nat, Monty tells Nikolai to "do his own dirty work" and leaves without killing him. Nikolai reminds Monty to "survive" and as the door closes, the other Russian mobsters are beating Kostya.Monty, Frank, and Jake leave the club to go home and get Doyle. Monty asks if they don't mind staying out a little later to do something. Monty goes into the bedroom, where Naturelle is sleeping. He embraces her warmly and apologizes for the way he has acted with her. He says he'll come back, but there's "one last thing" he has to do first. He, and Frank, and Jake all go out walking by the river with Doyle.Then they go into the park and Monty calls in his favor to Frank. He wants Frank to "make him ugly" as a way to repulse the other prisoners from messing with him, but Frank refuses. They all start screaming at one another, and Monty tells Frank he knows he's wanted to slap some sense into him. Eventually, Jake gets in the middle, and Monty punches him. Frank begin punching Monty repeatedly while he is on the ground, disfiguring and bloodying his face. Jake is able to get Monty back to his feet while Frank cries in despair. Monty walks back to home alone,greeted by Naturelle, horrified to see him this way. She tries to get him cleaned up and wants him to go to the hospital, but he refuses.We see Frank sitting in the same spot by the river that Monty was earlier. Jake's walking with Doyle and gets some attention from a girl because of it.Monty's dad shows up to take him to jail, and Monty reluctantly agrees to go with him instead of going alone. He tells Nat she should forget about him and live her life, though she swears she'll wait for him. She gives him ice for his face, but he dumps it all out on his way down and gets into the car with his dad. Monty sees the smiling faces of many of the New Yorkers he repudiated in his rant as they drive away.As they drive up the turnpike, his dad offers to just keep driving. Over a montage of scenes of them driving out West, James tells Monty of how he can find some town out there in the desert, disappear, make a new life for himself. He'll never see him again, but he'll know his boy's OK. Eventually, maybe, Monty can be reunited with Naturelle, and they can have kids and someday, he can tell the kids about his earlier life and how close it came that this blissful life "almost didn't happen." The montage shows this playing out -- them driving through the desert, them drinking a final shot of whiskey together, Monty getting a new ID, a new job, reunited with Nat, the kids, and everything.And as the "almost didn't happen" is said in the voiceover, we cut back to the car and see that they're still driving up the turnpike towards the jail, as Monty gazes out the window.
    

25th Hour

Love & Basketball


            Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve's Bayou as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they've kept and the betrayals they've endured.Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson), the local town doctor with a special bedside manner, is a loving father and philandering husband. His wife Roz (Lynn Whitfield) is forced to admit her family is falling apart when her younger daughter, Eve (Jurnee Smollett), witnesses one of her father's infidelities. Struggling to make sense of what she has seen, Eve turns to her older sister Cisely, who dismisses her in fear of the truth, and then to her Aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), a known psychic and rumored black widow. Unable to find the the understanding she is looking for, Eve decides to take matters into her own hands. As the heat rises so does the tension. For the Batiste family, the ties that bind may not be strong enough to keep them together, and what they learn will change their lives forever.
    

Eve's Bayou

On the Record

One Night in Miami...


            This movie is based on the true story of how a small music recording studio, Chess Records, located on the south side of Chicago, began recording blues music with Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright) and Little Walter (Columbus Short) in 1947, and eventually gave birth to rock and roll in 1955 with Chuck Berry (Mos Def). Record producer, Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) has an ear for this different type of music, and believes he can cash in by signing up new talent such as songwriter, Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker), and Etta James (Beyonce Knowles). Leonard Chess makes all of his artist part of his family and takes care of them. This is not an easy job for him, because they spend a small fortune on booze, drugs, and the high life. When Chuck Berry goes to jail, Leonard is able to find another talented performer, Etta James, to take his place. In the late sixties, as their music goes out of favor, Leonard Chess gets out of the record business.
Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)
    

Cadillac Records


            After semi-truck driver Teri Horton bought a large splatter painting for her friend for $5, she was forced to sell it in her own garage sale when her friend said she had no place for it. Eventually someone commented on the painting stating it might be an original Jackson Pollock. This documentary follows Teri, her son, and a forensics specialist as they attempt to prove to the world, or more specifically the art community, her painting is a true Jackson Pollock.
    

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?


            Set in the early 1970s in a racially mixed New York City neighborhood, nine-year-old Troy (Zelda Harris) and her older brothers Clinton (Carlton Williams), Wendell (Sharif Rashed), Nate (Chris Knowings), and her younger brother, Joseph (Tse-Mach Washington) are introduced as their father Woody (Delroy Lindo) is blowing a horn to call them in from playing to eat dinner. Their mother, Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) is introduced as well.Dinner takes place during which we find out that the Carmichaels' next-door neighbor, "Tony Eyes" (David Patrick Kelly) seems to be somewhat of a nuisance to the family, which includes continuously singing while they are eating dinner. During the dinner, Carolyn tells the children to clean the kitchen before they go to bed as she is going out with Woody for the night and the children need to start pulling their own weight. Troy urinates in her brothers' room while she is asleep, but Nate wakes her up. Carolyn comes home and comedically wakes all of the children up out of their sleep because the kitchen was not cleaned. There's some argument naturally on the part of the children to which Clinton says, "I'd rather have a father than a mother any day". The neighborhood junkie drug dealers are introduced: Snuffy (Spike Lee) and Right Hand Man (N. Jeremi Duru), who are glue sniffers.Tommy La La (José Zúñiga), Clinton, Nate and a couple of their neighborhood friends are sitting on the Carmichael stoop while listening to the radio and playing a baseball board game. Tommy La La takes a bottle and throws it at the door of Tony Eyes while yelling homophobic slurs. This starts an argument because Clinton says the Carmichael children always get blamed for the mess on his property. The argument ends as Vic Powell (Isaiah Washington), a Vietnam war vet, comes home and greets everyone. Vic is renting the upstairs apartment from the Carmichaels. Troy and her friends are sitting on a stoop at the same time having on and off arguments before deciding to jump-rope. Some neighborhood boys lure a cat away from a doorstep while the girls are jump-roping. One kid swings the cat over his head by its tail and throws it on one of the girls. This starts another argument and shoving match between the girls and the boys. Troy singles out one the boys, Greg (Peewee Love) for being a "welfare case" and calls him a "stupid ass dummy."Nate is sitting at the table with Carolyn standing over him waiting for him to finish his black-eyed peas. Woody comes home with ice cream and sand cake for dessert. Nate is happy until Carolyn tells him that he isn't getting any dessert until he finishes his black eyed peas. This causes his brothers to make fun of him and rub it in his face telling him how good their cake is. Joseph's cake is eaten by the family dog Mutley, so Nate's piece of cake is split in half by Woody to share between Nate and Joseph. Carolyn, tired of standing at the table waiting for Nate to eat, tells him one last time to finish his black-eyed-peas. Nate finally takes a bite of them and promptly throws up, which causes everyone runs from the table. Wendell is taking the trash out and decides to take some of it in Tony Eyes' area.Carolyn comes out to see what is wrong, and Tony Eyes tells her that Wendell and her kids are always throwing trash into his area. Carolyn responds by telling him that he and his home are nasty. The arguments continue as the neighborhood kids jump in. Tony Eyes is still yelling and arguing when Vic comes downstairs and tells him to shut up. In anger, he punches Tony in the face and goes back into the house. Troy sneaks out and goes to the corner store to get candy. While in the store, she is intrigued by a woman (RuPaul) and one of the store owners dancing erotically in the store. As Troy leaves the store to walk back home, she sees Vic getting arrested for punching Tony Eyes.Troy gets back home and her brothers bully her into sharing her candy. Clinton and Wendell want to watch the Knicks game but because they are outnumbered, they are stuck watching The Partridge Family which they dislike. Troy and her friend, Minnie (Tiasha Reyes), go to the neighborhood store where Minnie steals an ice cream bar by putting it under her shirt and walking out. Troy tries to do the same thing with a bag of potato chips, but she gets caught. The boys are sitting in Troy's room watching the Knicks game while Troy is in the bathroom stuffing her shirt with toilet paper. Woody and Carolyn are downstairs arguing because Woody's music is not providing for the family and Carolyn, a schoolteacher is the sole provider. They are also arguing because Woody caused the family to have bounced checks.The argument escalates as Carolyn yells upstairs for the children to turn off the TV because it is a school night. She charges upstairs with Woody following and turns off the TV. A defiant Clinton argues with Carolyn and turns on the TV. Carolyn grabs him up for disobeying and disrespecting her and Woody grabs her and carries her out of the room. Everyone is in on the fight as Woody is dragging Carolyn down the stairs and Nate is jumping on Woody's back. The other children have a hold of Carolyn pulling her in the opposite direction and Carolyn hurts her ankle in the struggle. Woody yells and everyone gets quiet as he expresses his need to respect for his work in the house. Carolyn kicks him out of the house.Woody comes over the next morning and brings flowers for Troy to give to Carolyn. Troy suggests that Woody ask Carolyn out on a date. Troy brings the flowers to Carolyn, who is still in bed and hurt, and asks Carolyn for a quarter. The next scene shows Troy searching the house for money and she goes into Clinton's room and finds his buffalo nickels and takes them all for cash, as well as taking his Knicks tickets for starting the fight between their parents. With the stolen money, Troy buys herself and Minnie ice cream cones. Clinton comes home and upon discovering his tickets are gone confronts Troy about them. She gives them back but also tells him that she spent "those funny looking nickels of yours also." After coming in from playing outside, Troy is confronted by Carolyn about the nickels to which Troy lies to her twice. While Troy is in the bathroom, Greg comes to Carolyn who is sitting by the window and tells her all the mean things that Troy has been saying about him.Troy has to apologize to him for all the ugly things she said about him. Carolyn sends Troy to the store to get dinner with food stamps. Troy, embarrassed, doesn't want to go. In the store, Tory steals a package of meat and 6 cloves of garlic by hiding them in her shirt so she won't have to use food stamps. She witnesses a neighborhood girl, Peanut (Kewanna Bonaparte) getting caught for shoplifting. As Troy leaves, she is attacked by Peanut, but the grocer breaks up the fight and Troy heads for home, without the food stamps. That night, Troy has a nightmare that Snuffy and Right Hand Man make her get high. She wakes up in a sweat with Woody wiping her face, assuring her that everything is going to be ok. Woody and Carolyn get back together and they all decide to go on a trip to get out of the neighborhood but as they are leaving a worker from Con Ed comes by to shut off the electricity because the bill is unpaid. The trip is postponed and because of the situation, the family has to use candles for light.A few days later, the family leaves Brooklyn to take Nate and Troy down South to stay with relatives. Troy stays with her cousin Viola (Patriece Nelson), who was adopted by Uncle Clem (Norman Matlock) and Aunt Song (Frances Foster). Troy doesn't want to stay, but she does it to appease her mother. Troy eventually starts having fun with Viola despite a dislike of Aunt Song and her beloved dog, Queenie. On Troy's 10th birthday, she gets a letter from Carolyn (who narrates it) telling her about the happenings in the neighborhood since the weeks she's been away. After reading the letter, Troy decides she wants to go home. Meanwhile, Aunt Song has been looking for Queenie all day, but to no avail. Later that day, Troy has a birthday party. Upset because she hasn't found Queenie, Aunt Song snaps at two of Troy's birthday\sleepover guests as she pulls the couch out for them to sleep on. When she opens the couch, a dead Queenie (likely killed by Viola) pops out which deeply upsets Aunt Song. Troy later goes home and is picked up from the airport by her Aunt Maxine (Joie Lee) and Uncle Brown (Vondie Curtis-Hall).Aunt Maxine and Uncle Brown don't tell Troy at first how Carolyn is, but Troy figures out that Carolyn is ill. She visits Carolyn in the hospital, who is weak and ill from cancer. Later, Woody takes Troy home and Troy decides to clean & mop the kitchen without being told. Later that evening, Woody tells the kids that Carolyn's condition is not well and she has to stay in the hospital for more tests. The boys cry, but Troy remains silent. In the next scene, it is presumed that Carolyn succumbed to her illness. Nate and Joseph are walking up some stairs with Troy following behind, singing a Christian song she learned from Viola. Joseph says, "I hope we don't have to dress up for Mommy's funeral."As Troy watches television, Aunt Maxine comes in with clothes and shoes for Troy to wear at the funeral. Troy doesn't say anything until Aunt Maxine tries to coax her into putting on the clothes. Troy's response is that her mother would never let her wear polyester. When Woody tells Troy it is time to go to the funeral, Troy tells him she is not going. Woody has a talk with Troy, convincing her to go to church because it's what Carolyn would've wanted.At the house gathering after the funeral, Clinton and Troy have a moment when he tries to get Troy to talk, and holds her hand because she's unresponsive to everyone else around her. Joseph comes inside crying, saying that Snuffy and Right Hand Man are making fun of him saying, "His mama's dead, his mama's dead" and they robbed him. Following her mother's wishes to protect her younger brother, Troy goes outside with a baseball bat and hits Snuffy in the head. When Snuffy asks her why she did it, Troy tells him, "I'm tired of you and Right Hand terrorizing the neighborhood. Go sniff on your own block."In the middle of the night, Troy is sleeping, but she is restless as she dreams she's hearing her mother's voice shouting. She goes downstairs to tell her mother to please stop fighting only to find that it is her father who is making a lot of noise trying to kill a rat in the kitchen. Woody tells her that her mother is gone and that it's ok to cry. Troy runs to the bathroom and throws up as Woody comes into the bathroom to console her. Troy tells him that she wants to stay with him and not move away with her Aunt Maxine and Uncle Brown. Troy asks Woody if Carolyn was in a lot of pain, and he tells her that she was. Troy states, "Then it's good that she died so she wouldn't suffer anymore.There are scenes of the neighborhood continuing to play much like the beginning of the movie. Troy is sitting in Carolyn's chair with Joseph sitting on her while she combs his hair the way Carolyn did. Then, Carolyn is sitting the stoop seemingly narrating a letter she wrote to Troy telling her she can't believe that she's 10 now, that she misses her very much, and how she's proud of the way she's growing up. The memory is interrupted when the neighborhood kids come to the window and asks Troy if Joseph can come out and play. Troy tells him not to go far because dinner is almost ready. The last scene is of the neighborhood being watched by Troy as she's looking out the window much like Carolyn used to do.
    

Crooklyn


            In a Brooklyn housing project, a group of "clockers" - street-level drug dealers - sell drugs for Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), a local drug lord. Rodney tells Ronald "Strike" Dunham (Mekhi Phifer), one of his lead clockers, that another dealer, Darryl Adams (Steve White), is stealing from him and "got to be got", implying that he wants Strike to kill Darryl. Strike then meets with his brother, Victor Dunham (Isaiah Washington) and tries to persuade Victor to kill Darryl Adams.Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) and Larry Mazilli (John Turturro), homicide detectives, ride to the scene of Darryl Adams' murder. Larry and Rocco receive a phone call from another detective who says a man has confessed at a local church that he killed Darryl. The police meet Strike's older brother Victor at the church and take him in for questioning. In the interrogation room, Victor tells Rocco that he shot Darryl Adams in self-defense. Rocco finds holes in this story and starts looking into Victor's background which includes two jobs, a wife, two children, no criminal record, and aspirations to move out of the projects; Rocco comes to the conclusion that Victor is covering for his younger brother.Rocco pressures Strike but Victor sticks to his story, so Rocco convinces Rodney that Strike has confessed and informed on Rodney's drug ring. Rocco arrests Rodney and then humiliates Strike in front of his crew. Strike gets together some money and decides to leave town, but a younger boy who admired Strike shoots Errol, Rodney's enforcer, with Strike's gun. Rocco lets Strike leave town.
    

Clockers

America's Blues


            Twelve black men, with nothing in common, except their race and destination, board a Spotted Owl Bus in Los Angeles headed for the Million Man March in Washington DC.The African American men are:George (Charles S. Dutton), the trip organizer;Jeremiah aka "Pop" (Ossie Davis), a downsized 80-year-old senior citizen who is an expert on African-American history;Evan & Evan Jr. aka "Smooth" (Thomas Jefferson Byrd and De'Aundre Bonds), an estranged father and teenage son who are court ordered to be shackled together for 72 hours after Junior's arrest for petty theft;Kyle & Randall (Isaiah Washington and Harry J. Lennix), a gay couple in the midst of breaking up;Flip (Andre Braugher), a narcissistic and racist Hollywood actor;Gary (Roger Guenveur Smith), a LAPD officer who is half black and half white;Xavier (Hill Harper), a UCLA Film School student who is making a documentary;Jamal (Gabriel Casseus), a former gangster turned Muslim seeking redemption;Jay (Bernie Mac), a bubble gum company owner;Mike (Steve White), a conspiracy theorist who thinks the march is a plot to gather one million black men in one place for mass extermination.And then there is Craig (Albert Hall), the bus driver who is dealing with his teenage daughter's pregnancy.Note: three additional bus passengers are shown observing the action. They are credited but are not introduced nor are they given dialogue. They are Ja-Dee (Jadi McCurdy), a young man with dreadlocks; Doc (Hosea Brown III), a medical doctor; and Kahlid (Guy Margo), a member of the Nation of Islam.Along the way, the men get to know each other and discuss various topics including their personal lives, their political beliefs and even the recent O.J. Simpson murder case. In one of the few things that all of them have in common is their belief that even if Simpson was indeed guilty of killing his "white ex-wife and a Jewish white man" (which they continue to maintain that he didn't), it was right of him to be acquitted as "payback" for social racism against black people in America.The elderly Jeremiah (whom the men nickname "Pop") later reveals that after he lost his job, he became an alcoholic and eventually lost his family. He hopes the March will revitalize him and inspire him to turn his life around.Evan Jr., who fancies himself as a gangster rap artist named 'Smooth', manages to escape from his father at one point. Evan Sr. finds Junior and realizes that Junior's criminal behavior was an attempt to gain his attention after he became neglectful. He expresses regret and promises to make a sincere effort to be there for Junior.Xavier, who refers to himself as "X", begins interviewing the passengers with his video camera, a narrative device which allows each of the passengers to reveal information about their lives and how they perceive themselves and the March. Xavier captures as much as he can on his camcorder but the group often dismisses the earnest amateur filmmaker as "Spike Lee Jr."Tensions rise after Xavier's interview with Flip, who spends most of his time bragging about his own sexual prowess, and who seems more concerned with getting a film role opposite Denzel Washington than the purpose of the March. Flip reveals himself to be a bigot, homophobic and racist, provoking the gay couple Kyle and Randall for being homosexuals and Gary for being biracial. This leads to further conflict when Gary reveals that he is a police officer working a beat in South Central Los Angeles, two things for which he has faced criticism and ostracism from other African Americans his entire life. Gary proudly recalls his father, a black policeman who was gunned down in the line of duty by black street gang members; an incident that Gary credits with his decision to become a police officer.Gary's revelations about his life and career spur Jamal to reveal that he is an ex-Crip gang member who converted to Islam and began work with a community outreach program that works with children to discourage them from becoming involved in gang activity. In a tense conversation, the two debate over the causes of gang violence and the limits of repentance and forgiveness: Jamal confesses that, while he was a Crip, he committed murder and rape, crimes for which he was never arrested or punished. Following Jamal's confession, Gary informs him that he will be arrested upon their return to California.Next, Kyle reveals that he is a 1991 Gulf War veteran who was purposely shot by his own platoon because of his race and sexual orientation. Being gay, African-American and Republican, he feels persecution from all sides, which has made him bitter. Although they are having problems in their relationship, Randall, tries to comfort his lover but makes a point of outing Kyle when he refuses to talk. Kyle is harassed further by the homophobic Flip who mocks him claiming "Oh my God, a gay black Republican, now I have seen everything!" with additional homophobic statements rants. Flip also picks on Randall for his effete gay mannerisms following Kyle's outing. A heated argument between Flip and Kyle turns violent when Flip punches Kyle. In the resulting fistfight, Kyle is victorious and Flip is embarrassed.During the trip the bus breaks down and the group boards a new bus. Craig runs off to return to Los Angeles after being contacted by his daughter who has gone into labor. The new bus driver is Rick (Richard Belzer), a white man who is ethnically Jewish. Eventually, he feels the need to speak out against Louis Farrakhan's Anti-Semitic statements that Jews are a "gutter" people and that not all Jewish people are white. Rick talks about his parents' and other Jews' participation in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, but George, along with some members of the group fight back using Jewish stereotypes.At a rest stop, Rick quits the trip in protest telling George: "I wouldn't expect you to drive the bus to a Ku Klux Klan meeting!" George becomes confrontational and angrily accuses Rick of being a racist for not supporting the march in spite of Farrakhan's own racist remarks against both white and Jewish people (while at the same time refusing to acknowledge that Farrakhan ever made them). Although Rick maintains that he is not a racist, George refuses to accept this. George begrudgingly agrees to disagree with Rick and lets him depart, although he refuses to look at Rick when Rick wants to shake his hand before he leaves. George drives the bus for the rest of the trip, with help from Evan Sr. who, while not licensed a bus driver, has experience driving trucks.The group meet various people at rest stops including fellow travelers, White American Southerners (who, to the group's surprise, are friendly) and women (both black and white with whom Flip tries to flirt). At a diner, the group meets Wendell (Wendell Pierce), a Lexus car salesman who bribes his way onto the bus despite pleas from George to travel to the March on his own, since taking on board a passenger without a ticket could potentially jeopardize his job. On the route, Wendell reveals that he too is a Republican and his reason for going to the March is to sell cars. He decries liberal blacks such as Jesse Jackson who believe that it is the government's responsibility to make their lives better, using successful and conservative blacks such as Colin Powell as examples that black men can "make it" in society. His rhetoric quickly comes to be accused as racist from the others, even Kyle however, as he disparages several people on the bus as being "niggers," after which the other passengers literally throw him out of the bus.While driving through Knoxville, Tennessee, the bus is pulled over by Tennessee state troopers (one of whom is played by Randy Quaid in an uncredited cameo). They are stopped on suspicion of drug trafficking and searched with drug-sniffing dogs despite the pleas of Gary who shows his LAPD badge to the troopers. The troopers ignore Gary and continue with the search, however they do not find anything illegal and permit the bus to continue on its way.As the bus approaches Washington, D.C., Xavier discovers Jeremiah slumped over and unconscious in his seat. They rush him to a hospital and watch the beginning of March on television as they await word on Jeremiah. A doctor later informs the group that Jeremiah has died of heart disease. The men are shocked and saddened by Jeremiah's death. They end up watching the rest of the March from the hospital... never making it to Washington to partake in the March. George tells the men that the March should be seen as merely the beginning of a larger movement.In the final scene, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, George leads the men in a prayer that Jeremiah wrote before his death.
    

Get on the Bus


            The award-winning actor and dancer Gregory Hines stars in this look at the life of extraordinary tap dancing legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. This is the story of an incredibly talented man who struggled with the demons of his past and the racism of his time, but still entertained millions with his unique and complex dance style. Starting with Robinson's funeral, including what looks like archival footage of the event, the film plays out the biography in a straightforward manner as a flashback, both in color and black-and-white.
In 1916, Robinson was a successful vaudeville performer and considered the finest tap dancer of his generation. At the peak of his career, he was the highest paid Black entertainer, but for all the joy he gave others, his life was anything but happy, there was a great deal of tragedy in himself.
    

Bojangles


            Writer Jimmy Breslin begins narrating the film; telling the viewer about New York City's current prosperity. However, things were not always this way, showing news articles from 1977 about the .44 Caliber Killer and explaining how the city was in a massive state of decay, explaining that "there are 8 million stories in the naked city, and this is one of them."We are shown a disgusting apartment with a man screaming to stop an incessant dog barking. Eventually, he goes out and shoots two girls talking in a parked car. The film cuts to Vinny (John Leguizamo) and his wife Dionna (Mira Sorvino) going to a night club for dancing and to meet up with their friends. Dionna's cousin asks to be taken home and Vinny offers to give her a ride, allowing Dionna to stay. We soon discover the real reason he offered to take her home was to have sex with her in the back seat of his car. However, before he can finish, the two are scared off by another couple in the car behind him. As Vinny speeds off, the killer comes out of the bushes and kills the couple.While driving Dionna home, she begins questioning what took Vinny so long to drive her cousin home. Vinny offers the excuse that he had to urinate but before she can question him further, they arrive at the exact same spot where Vinny was having his affair, only now it is a crime scene. Vinny goes to investigate and to his horror, it is the same couple that scared him off. Vinny begins vomiting as he gets back to the car, telling Dionna that the .44 Caliber Killer is back. The next day as Vinny's friends; Joey T (Michael Rispoli), Brian, and Anthony inquire about the killer, they tell Vinny that the killer probably saw him and will come after him too. Although they are joking, Vinny begins taking this to heart. Soon after, Ritchie (Adrien Brody) shows up in a punk fashion to which all except Vinny object to. Ruby (Jennifer Esposito) is the last to arrive and after being dumped by her boyfriend who was only using her for sex, immediately takes an interest in Ritchie and his new style.At Dionna's father's restaurant, the local mob boss Luigi (Ben Gazzara) is asked by one of the detectives (Anthony LaPaglia) on the .44 Caliber Killer case for help. Luigi initially refuses, but after hearing the letter left by the .44 Caliber Killer, now called the Son of Sam, agrees. Meanwhile, as Ruby discusses her current predicaments with Vinny at the salon, Ritchie comes in asking for money as he has been kicked out and forced to move into his garage after walking in on his mother and stepfather having sex. Vinny offers to give Ritchie a place to stay for a while, but Ruby convinces him to move into the garage and fix it up with her help. That night as Ritchie and Ruby finish redecorating the garage, Ruby attempts to give Ritchie oral sex but he asks her to stop. Before she can leave, Ritchie explains that just because he doesn't want to have sex with her, doesn't mean he wants her to leave.Back at the salon, as Vinny and his boss Gloria (Bebe Neuwirth) begin having sex, Vinny begins feeling guilty, but quickly gets over it and has sex with her. After being told by Anthony and Brian that he no longer fits in in the neighborhood, Ritchie takes Ruby to a gay theatre where he has been dancing and secretly selling his body for money. During Ritchie's performance, the owner, Midnite (Michael Imperioli), asks Ruby what she likes to do as she is too hot to be giving it away for free. Outside the theatre, Ruby admits that she has fallen for Ritchie and begins dressing in punk. Meanwhile, after yet another letter to the police from the Son of Sam, Vinny's paranoia reaches a boiling point and although Dionna tries to comfort him, he is unable to perform with her. With the police making no headway with the Son of Sam, Luigi decides to take matters into his own hands and catch the killer and offers another $5,000 to the reward hoping at least to get more names on their list of suspects. Meanwhile at a pizzeria; Joey T, Anthony, Brian, and the heroin addict Woodstock are devising their own list which is primarily made up of people they don't like. At the top of their list, however, is Ritchie.While at a diner, Vinny and Ritchie discuss their relationships but are asked to leave as Ritchie is scaring some of the other patrons. Before a fight can break out, Ritchie breaks a glass over his head to intimidate the other customers trying to pick a fight with him and Vinny. As they walk down the beach, Ritchie tries to explain himself to Vinny, but the conversation proves to be too deep for him to follow. With temperatures reaching 104, a blackout hits the Five Boroughs. To defend themselves and their neighborhood from the Son of Sam from trying anything, Luigi has a block party for everyone while Joey T leads a mob to patrol the neighborhood, beating and attacking anyone who tries to enter. As this is going on; Ritchie, Vinny, Dionna, and Ruby are having dinner where Ritchie invites them to come see him and his band perform at the club CBGB, while in the bathroom, Dionna asks Ruby for advice on what to do about Vinny as she doesn't seem to please him. The only advice Ruby can give is to not be married to him. Vinny and Dionna go to the club, but are scared off by all the people outside. Instead, they try to get into Studio 54, but the bouncer refuses to let them in. They are however greeted by another man who takes them to another club: Plato's Retreat. There, he and Dionna get stoned and have sex as well as three-ways with other people. On the way home, Vinny mocks an already embarrassed and humiliated Dionna out of jealousy more than anything. In the following fight, Dionna reveals that she knew he had sex with her cousin and drives off, leaving Vinny chasing after the car.As July 29 arrives, Joey T and the others begin slashing the car tires of everyone on their list, while we see the real Son of Sam descending further into madness and is now seeing a black dog telling him to go out and kill. The next day at the diner, Vinny, Joey T, and the others are eating when the owner come over tells Vinny that he and Ritchie have been kicked out due to Ritchie's actions. Before Joey T can get more information, Vinny storms out. Meanwhile Bobby the Fairy, yet another friend of Joey T's group, sees Ritchie in the gay theatre to which Ritchie threatens to kill him should he tell anyone. Although Ritchie is only trying to protect his name, Bobby takes this literally. That night, we see the Son of Sam kill yet another two victims in Brooklyn.Joey T and the others are now beginning to suspect that Ritchie is the Son of Sam as he is the only one whose whereabouts they cannot account for, but Vinny stands up for him, saying that he knows Ritchie as if he were his brother. They all reveal to Vinny that Ritchie has been dancing and shooting porn films with Ruby at the gay theatre and ask if he knew that. Although Vinny is shocked by this, he still refuses to accept that Ritchie is the Son of Sam, but reluctantly agrees to help Joey T and the others by telling them where Ritchie and his band perform. Joey T and Anthony go to CBGB to try and find Ritchie while outside, Vinny has already met up with him. He begins to ask Ritchie if hes in a cult, dancing in a gay joint, and is the Son of Sam. Ritchie is upset that Vinny actually would think that way about him, but is angered that he brought Joey T down to get him and walks off. The following day, a composite sketch of the killer is released and everyone sees someone different. No surprise, Joey T tries to convince Vinny that its Ritchie; however Vinny doesn't see any resemblance until Joey T draws in spiky hair on the picture. Looking more like Ritchie now, Vinny begins freaking out. So much so that when he goes to the salon, he explodes on Gloria and dumps his drink on her, storming off. By the time he gets home, Gloria has already called Dionna and told her about all the women he cheated on her with. Vinny attempts to apologies and tries explain that Ritchie may be a killer, but it is too late; a heartbroken Dionna leaves him. This sends Vinny spiraling out of control as he begins drowning himself in cocaine and Quaaludes.With Richie back at his parents' garage, Joey T and the others decide to make their move and capture Ritchie and take him to Luigi. However before they go, Joey T decides to get Vinny. They break into Vinny's house to find him stoned and force him to come help lure Ritchie out of the house, promising not to hurt him. Unbeknownst to them, during this time, the police have captured David Berkowitz, the real Son of Sam. Meanwhile, Vinny comes knocking on Ritchie's door and tells him that Dionna left him. Ritchie invites him in, but Vinny asks him to come outside, not wanting Ruby to hear. As the two talk, Vinny tries to tell Ritchie to run, but before he can understand what Vinny is saying, Joey T and the others spring on him. Vinny watches as Ritchie uses his guitar to defend himself, but is quickly beaten senseless by the group. Ruby is restrained by Bobby as they drag Ritchie off. However, they don't get too far as Ritchie's stepfather, Eddie (Mike Starr), comes out of the house, brandishing a Luger pistol. As Joey T tries to explain who Ritchie is, Eddie reveals to them that the cops had already caught the Son of Sam in Yonkers, much to the group's surprise. As they begin to leave, Vinny can only look at a bloodied and beaten Ritchie with guilt and weakly attempts to apologize to his former friend before walking away too.Jimmy Breslin recaps the events of the summer of 1977; David Berkowitz was done in by a parking ticket and is serving six consecutive terms of 25 years to life, the Yankees won the World Series, Elvis Presley died, and 3,700 were arrested during the blackout. He finishes by reiterating that "there are 8 million stories in the naked city, and this was one of them."
    

Summer of Sam


            Minty (Cynthia Erivo), a slave on a Southern plantation, lays in the field having flashes of images cross her mind. Since a head injury from a beating by her slave-owners, she has had visions, flashes of the future, which she believes are messages from God. Her husband, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh), a free man, arrives to tell her good news: they have secured a letter from a lawyer proving that Harriet's mother was supposed to be freed, and that therefore her children are free as well. When they approach Mr. Brodess, the owner of the plantation, he tears the letter up and cruelly denies the request. Minty cries and prays to God for Mr. Brodess to die - which he does shortly after. His son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn), who grew up with Minty, heard her praying and is furious - he decides he's going to sell Minty downriver, where she will never see her family or husband again. She decides to flee to the north, and John insists on going with her. Knowing if he is caught aiding her he will lose his freedom, Harriet leaves without him, managing only a silent goodbye to her mother, Rit (Vanessa Bell Calloway), from a distance. She goes to her father, Ben (Clarke Peters) who directs her to the beginning of the Underground Railroad. Partway into the journey, she is caught by Gideon and his men on a bridge. He tells her he won't sell her anymore, but she tells him she'd rather live free or die, and jumps off the bridge into the river. The men believe she died, but she survives and travels all the way to the north on a very dangerous journey all by herself.Once she arrives she meets with William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.), of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery society, who helps organize the
Underground Railroad. He helps Minty get settled in her life as a free woman, and has her pick out a new name: Harriet, her mother's middle name, and Tubman, her husband's last name. He introduces her to Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae), who owns and runs an living space for the freed; Marie grows fond of Harriet and the two form a friendship.One year later, Harriet has sent word to her husband and family that she's alive, but has not heard anything back. She tells William that she needs to go back to get her husband, but he insists it's too dangerous. She persists, and Mare and William help her get prepared to return to the south using fake papers. Meanwhile, Gideon and his mother Eliza (Jennifer Nettles) are in a state of disarray, with the plantation not making as much money as it should. They've decided to sell several of Harriet's bothers to make ends meet. When Harriet finally makes it to John, he tells her that when he thought she was dead he remarried and is now expecting a child with his new wife. Harriet is disgusted and betrayed, but John points out that she's the one that left him. Devastated, Harriet goes to her father and wonders why God sent her back there - but then her father tells her that her brothers are being sold and they need to flee north. Harriet realizes this is why she came back - not for her husband, but to help her family. Harriet decides to lead her brothers and some others back through the Underground Railroad. She wants to take her sister, but her sister is too scared to flee and has stayed at the Brodess compound. Harriet's mother has been freed and is now staying with her father, but he says he won't leave while any of his children are still there.Walter (Henry Hunter Hall), a young black man, spots Harriet and her crew and reports back to Gideon about their whereabouts in exchange for money. He also brings along Abraham (Willie Raysor), a violent man who, though black, is known for catching runaway slaves. They track Harriet and her group. In the dead of night, they are headed towards the bridge, but Harriet has a vision of the men at the bridge, so instead she wades into the river. At first her crew thinks she's insane, but when she's able to cross the river, they follow her, in awe. Walter witnessed this and decides to lie and not tell Gideon where they went. Harriet successfully gets her group north, and becomes one of the most successful conductors on the Underground Railroad, going back and forth bringing multiple groups north. In the south, the angry plantation crew complain of the mysterious "Moses" who is helping their slaves escape- they believe him to be a white abolitionist.Harriet receives word from her father that her sister has died, and is devastated. She tells William that they failed her. She meets other abolitionists and gives an impassioned speech on why they must keep fighting. Sometime later, the Fugitive Slave Act is enacted, which allows southerners to come to the north and recapture slaves who are already free. William tries to get Harriet on the ship with all the freed slaves that is headed to Canada, but Harriet goes back to say goodbye to Marie, only to find Gideon and Abraham beating her for Harriet's location. Marie sees Harriet and notions for her to get out, saying her job is more important than all of them. They leave, but not before Abraham kills Marie, devastating Harriet.Harriet is living in Canada when she has a vision of her father in danger. She decides to once again go back to the south. She finds her father and tells him that he is about to be arrested for assisting slaves escaping, so he and Rit - who is shocked to see Harriet alive and well - decide to go. First, Harriet decides she must rescue her deceased sister's daughter, who is still living in the Brodess house. During the evening, Gideon and Eliza meet with angry debtors who say they are owed money, but Gideon and Eliza insist that it is all Moses's fault for stealing all their slaves. While they are out, Harriet enters their home, holds the children at gunpoint, and ties them up allowing her to leave with her niece. Harriet has a group of slaves in addition to her family that she leads out of the south. Gideon and Abraham track them down, and Harriet has Walter continue to take them to freedom while she stays behind and lets them chase after her. Gideon demands Harriet be taken alive, but when Abraham angrily tries to shoot her, Gideon shoots him in the head. Harriet is able to get the drop on Gideon, shooting him in the hand. She has him on his knees at gunpoint, but rather than kill him, tells him he's going to die on the Civil War battlefield. She tells him god did not intend people to own people, and triumphantly steals his horse and rides off.Later in 1863, two years into the Civil War, Harriet leads a raid that frees 750 slaves. She returns home to Canada where she lives with most of her family that she rescued, a free woman.
    

Harriet

Black or White

Abducted: The Carlina White Story

Bamboozled

The Truth About Jane

Jungle Fever

Gun Hill

Navigating the Heart

The Inkwell

Guilty Until Proven Guilty

Betty and Coretta

Free of Eden


            Two days before the Christmas of 1983 in New York City where an aged Puerto Rican World War II veteran Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) is working as a clerk at a post office. In the midst of helping a customer, Negron suddenly seems to recognize the man and immediately pulls a World War II-era German Luger from under the counter and shoots the man in the chest, killing him instantly.Several hours later, reporter Tim Boyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Detective Antonio Ricci (John Turturro) are at the crime scene seeking information. After some persuasion, Ricci allows Boyle to accompany two other officers who are going to search Negron's apartment, where the men discover a finely carved stone head, which is revealed to be a long missing segment from the Ponte Santa Trinita, a Florentine bridge built during the Renaissance which had been destroyed by the Nazis during the war. Also found is a Purple Heart, and a shot of a picture reveals he was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star. Boyle begs an explanation from Negron, who then has a flashback to his experiences in the war.His personal journey through the war is displayed in a flashback which starts off where African- Americans and a black Puerto Rican man from the segregated Buffalo Soldiers 92nd Infantry Division are on patrol in 1944 Italy. After a disastrous attack on German positions across the Serchio River, in which an officer calls down artillery on their own position because he refuses to believe their reports of how far they have advanced, four soldiers are stranded on the wrong side of the river: Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps, Sergeant Bishop Cummings, Corporal Hector Negron and Private Samuel Train. Train finds an Italian boy named Angelo who is critically wounded. While traveling through the mountains of Tuscany, they come across a small village whose residents form a bond with the soldiers.After Negron finally gets his backpack radio working, they call in to headquarters and are told to capture an enemy soldier to interrogate about German counterattack plans. The local partisan group arrives with a young German ex-Waffen-SS/Wehrmacht Corporal (ex-Rottenführer/Obergefreiter) Hans Brandt captive, who is actually a deserter, having shot at a major while rescuing the boy Angelo from the massacre by the SS at the nearby village of St. Anna before transferring to the Wehrmacht where he deserts again. One of the partisans knows that the German captive can identify him as a traitor. After concealing the fact that German forces are approaching the village as part of a counterattack, the traitor kills the German captive. When the partisan leader confronts him, the traitor kills him too and escapes. (It is the traitor whom Negron will shoot 39 years later in the post office).While in the town, after the death of the German prisoner, Negron, Train's, Bishop's, and Stamp's commanderthe same one who had called down artillery on their headsarrives in the village to interrogate the German prisoner, but finds him dead. The Americans prepare to leave the village ahead of the German counterattack, but Train refuses to leave the boy behind, and assaults a lieutenant who attempts to separate them. Ludovico, one of the villagers, declares Train the "Sleeping Man" after seeing a resemblance between him and a local mountain invested by legend with protective qualities. After promising to court-martial all four soldiers, the officer and his contingent begin to drive out of town, but are caught in the German offensive. The remaining Americans and partisans hold their ground, killing many Germans, but are too heavily outnumbered. Train is fatally wounded after being shot twice while carrying the boy and dies soon thereafter. Bishop and Negron hold off the Germans while Stamps tries to get the villagers to safety, until Bishop is shot and dies. Renata, who is Stamps' and Bishop's love interest throughout the film, is killed along with her father; Stamps is soon shot and killed too. Now with only Negron alive, while trying to retreat, he is shot in the back but is saved by his radio. Angelo gives Negron the statue head that Train had carried since Florence, believing it carried magical powers. Negron gives Angelo his rosary and tells him to leave. Angelo is led away by the spirit of his brother Arturo, who had been killed during the massacre at St. Anna. Negron is spared by German Officer Eicholz, a former English teacher and the German prisoner's superior officer, who hands him his own Luger and says, "Defend yourself." More Americans arrive and secure the village and evacuate the wounded Negron. He receives a Purple Heart for his injury, and he is guaranteed a ride home due to injury.The movie then switches back to January 1984 to a court proceeding. In the end, Negron is saved from life in prison by a powerful executive attorney hired by a wealthy man who has made a fortune making seat belts and other safety devices, and who also purchased the statue head. Hector is brought to the Bahamas and is reunited with the statue head accompanied by its new owner. He holds it crying how he was the only one who knows about what happened during the time in the village. The owner tells him he is not the only one who knows, and takes out a rosary revealing himself as the grown Angelo. They both hold Hector's rosary and happily burst into tears.In this movie appears Christian Berkel who will later play the role of Fritz Shimon Haber in Haber (2008).
    

Miracle at St. Anna

Next Friday


            The movie flashes back and forth from the past to the present. A woman is awaiting her execution while she tells her story to a priest.Luis Vargas (Antonio Banderas), a wealthy Cuban businessman who seeks out an American wife, believes Americans represent the future, and that his own countrymen - and women - are mired in the past and their traditions. After months of corresponding with Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), the day comes when she sails to his country to be his bride. Julia departs from the ship, looking nothing like the photos she's sent prior to her voyage. Julia explains she wants more than a man who is interested in a pretty face, and that's why she's been deceptive - substituting a plain-looking woman in place of her own picture. Luis also admits to deception; he's been misleading her into believing he's a poor working man, instead of the rich owner of a coffee company.Luis and Julia wed within hours of her setting foot in Cuba. Passion and lust lie just below the surface as the two begin to discover each other over the next few days. Luis falls passionately in love with his new bride and expresses it physically (which is a famous sex scene between the two celebrities). But, while Julia seems to be fighting inner demons, she is holding herself back from too deep an emotional involvement.Meanwhile, Julia's sister Emily has been trying to contact her sister, justifiably worried about her after such a long trip to a strange land. Luis forces Julia to write back, fearing that if Julia continues to ignore Emily's letters, Emily will assume something terrible has befallen her sister and might send the authorities to check on her welfare. Holding off as long as possible, Julia finally pens a letter to her sister, setting into motion the execution of Julia's hidden agenda.In order to assure that his wife has everything she wants, Luis adds Julia to his business and personal bank accounts, giving her free rein to spend as she pleases. Luis discovers Julia has run off with nearly all of his fortune, and then teams up with a detective, Walter Downs (Thomas Jane). Walter reveals to Luis he believes Julia to be an impostor and the intended wife to be dead by her hand, and that she may be working with someone. The two set out together looking for the thief and possible murderer.Luis finds Julia and discovers she is actually working with Walter and she tells him a story of the two Americans teaming up for the scam. He believes she loves him and lies to Walter, but when confronted by him a fight breaks out and Luis shoots Walter. Julia, hardly bothered by the events, tells Luis to leave and buy train tickets and while he is gone we discover Walter loaded the gun with blanks. Julia appears to love Luis but Walter has too much control over her so she continues to work for him as Luis and her run off to live in secret with the supposedly dead Walter on their tail.The two find a reasonable house and Luis throws away his promising future and opens himself to a living a life like hers, one filled with cheating and deception. One night Luis follows Julia and discovers Walter is alive and the two are still working together and she is going to poison her husband that very night. He returns home and waits for her, and when she arrives reveals he knows of her continuing deception and the plan, confesses his love for her once more and swallows the poisoned drink. Julia panics, flees with the dying Luis with Walter close behind. The married couple run into him at a train station; Walter is furious that Julia has betrayed him. While Walter holds a knife to her throat, Luis shoots him knocking him down, and Julia takes the gun shooting him one more time, killing him. She staggers away with her dying husband leaning on her.The past and present finally meet as we hear the conclusion of Julia's story and she asks the priest to pray with her. The next morning the guards come to her cell to find the priest in her clothing.In Morocco, a beautiful woman enters a room in which a card game is taking place. As she walks around the table occupied by gamblers, she thanks the men for allowing her to watch. Luis is one of the men, and while Julia signals him about the other players' cards, he begins to tell the other occupants about a story of a woman and his deep love for her.
    

Original Sin

Chi-Raq


            Ex-con Otis (Tyrese Gibson), or "O2" as he was once known on account of his ability to vanish from a crime scene like oxygen, has done his time and is now determined to stay out of trouble and never leave his young son, Otis, Jr. (played by Vondie Curtis-Hall's young son, Henry Hunter Hall), ever again.When O2 shows up late to pick Junior up from school one afternoon, he swears that he will always come back for Junior. That promise is put to the test just moments later when O2's vintage 1960's Chevrolet Impala SS Lowrider convertible is stolen from him at gunpoint in the middle of a crowded Southland intersection with Junior in the back seat.O2 chases the car and gets into a nasty gun battle with the carjackers circumstances that then make it impossible for O2 go to the police but to no avail.O2 does, however, catch up with Coco (Meagan Good), a woman who sells stolen suits on the streets for a thug known as P Money (Julius Denem). O2 knows she is the one who marked him for the carjacking, and he forces her to help him retrieve Junior. Lucky (Larenz Tate), Otis' unreliable cousin who works for Big Meat (Jayceon "Game" Taylor), the brutally vicious leader of the Outlaw Syndicate, also offers to help.After a few hours on the street, Lucky comes back with some bad news: Junior has fallen into Meat's hands, and Meat (the main antagonist of the film) is demanding that O2 deliver $100,000 by midnight the following night, or Junior will die. Otis claims that he has no money, but Meat thinks otherwise: Meat was once O2's partner in crime, and he thinks O2 is still holding onto the $100,000 they made off their last job together the job that got O2 six years in prison.Desperate to raise the cash, O2 comes up with a plan: he and Coco will rob P Money's and Meat's own operations, staging it to look like the one is stealing from the other, and thereby triggering a gang war that will hopefully eliminate both and help O2 and Coco rescue Junior. After a successful robbery of one of the Big Meat's locations, O2 and Coco come across a set of safe deposit box keys belonging to numerous banks in the area. The next day with time wearing thin, they stage a number of bank robberies and are able to retrieve expensive jewellery, which Lucky offers to get rid of eager to prove his worth. When Lucky takes the jewelry to Big Meat unknowing that it belongs to Big Meat, Lucky is forced to set up a meeting between himself, O2, and Coco, with Big Meat along to end O2 once and for all.They take a car to an alley and give him the money. It is then revealed that Big Meat never intended to let Junior live, as he signals one of his men to kill Junior. Lucky sees this and tackles him as the man shoots many shots, one shooting Lucky in the side of the chest. O2 kills Meat's men, leaving only Meat. He then proceeds to shoot O2 but has no shots remaining. O2 shoots and kills him and retrieves Junior.On the road, they stop at a gas station to attend to Lucky's wound. O2 tells Lucky that they will get him to a hospital, but he realizes that Lucky has died. Swerving off the road, they are chased by the cops. O2 hides in a parking lot and tells Coco that she must take Junior and go to the Mexican border while he outruns the cops. As Junior and Coco escape, O2 is tailed by the cops. They run him to a dead end where the lake is. O2, realizing he has no choice, drives straight into the water.In Mexico, Coco and Junior are living in a house on a beach. They are walking on the beach when Junior sees something in the distance. He and Coco find that it is O2, who has escaped the ocean and come back to them, as he promised. They then reunite.
    

Waist Deep

Sugar Hill


            Eli (Al Pacino) is a low-rent public relations man in New York City, with only one "big-name" client, aging movie actor Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal). After a messy one-night stand with a young starlet/party girl (Tea Leoni)--think Lindsay Lohan--Cary asks Eli to babysit the young lady until she is due to fly back to LA the next morning.Well, Eli has a bit of a drug problem, and so does the girl, so he doesn't resist too much when she insists on taking him to some kind of floating opium den (sort of like the old floating crap game in Guys & Dolls, but more upscale).There's some kind of electronic "toy" she left at the party earlier in the evening that she is determined to find. Once some big name business men discover she is there, they insist that she leave the party and have her escorted to the elevator. As the elevator door closes, she holds up the toy and says "I've got you all now!"Eli is too stoned to ask her what she's talking about or why she was kicked out of the party. Anyway, he takes her back to the hotel, but at some point the toy falls out of her bag, and Eli unconsciously sticks it in the pocket of his overcoat.He later passes out in her hotel bathroom, but semi-wakes up to see someone attacking her in bed and then passes out again. He leaves the next morning, and assumes she is just sleeping in bed.Well, as you probably guessed by now, he later hears on the news that she has been murdered. The police want to question him, and surprise, surprise, his main client, Cary, suddenly wants to dump him, and brings a big sack of cash to Eli's office as a kind of severance package.Eli is furious because he just spent the past night babysitting Cary's party girl, plus he promised a lot of people that Cary would appear at a big racial unity event at the Palm restaurant on the east side of Manhattan that evening. Eli is one of the organizers, and it is a pet project of his. Several people, including some wealthy politicos who were at the sex club, make it clear to him that he knows too much about Leoni's death.In the meantime, Eli's late brother's widow Victoria (Kim Basinger) is waiting for him at her hotel. Apparently they had a history together before she married his brother, who has recently died. She wants to start things up again with Eli, and he's obviously attracted to her, but he's uncomfortable with the whole "brother's wife" thing.Despite this he agrees to go back to Virginia with Vicky, but only a short while later is stabbed by a bypasser on the street. He manages to make it back to his apartment, but there succumbs to blood loss.
    

People I Know

Trial by Jury

She Hate Me

The Key Man

Heartless


            In the nightclub scene of the 1970s New York City, a multiracial young girl, Billie, born to a Caucasian father and an African-American mother, is taken away from her alcoholic, lounge singer mother after she is deemed irresponsible to raise her and Billie's estranged father wants nothing to do with either one of them. Billie spends the rest of her teenage years in an orphanage.Years later (in 1983), the 19-year-old Billie (Marah Carrey) works as a nightclub dancer along with her foster-care friends Louise and Roxanne. They meet Timothy Walker (Terrence Howard), a record promoter who offers the three of them a contract as backup singers/dancers to the singer Sylk. Initially, Billie refuses, hoping to achieve stardom on her own terms. After pestering from her friends, Billie relents and the three are contracted. They record the hit single, "All My Life" but Sylk's vocal is sub-standard. To maximize sales based on the sex appeal of Sylk, Timothy asks Billie to sing while Sylk lip-syncs.Later at a nightclub, Billie sings Sylk's song which gets her noticed by the club DJ, Julian "Dice" Black, during the public debut of "All My Life". Dice, knowing that Sylk is an indifferent singer, is shocked by the arrangement, but goes backstage to congratulate Billie for singing the song. Sylk insults her backup singers in front of a photographer and Billie, not wanting to take the verbal abuse, exposes Sylk by singing "All My Life" a cappella in front of Dice. Impressed, he wishes to produce her, but Billie turns him down, thinking that he wants to exploit her talent. When Billie relents after Dice pesters her, she raises concerns about her contract with Timothy. Dice threatens to not play any more artists from Timothy in his nightclub unless Timothy surrenders Billie and her friends' contacts. Timothy eventually agrees on the provision that Dice pays him $100,000.Billie and Dice start working on songs: the first being the hit underground single, "Didn't Mean to Turn You On". Dice advises Billie to play off record companies to secure a bigger deal. Ultimately they sign with Guy Richardson of a major record label. With success in their hands, Dice asks Billie to dinner. Later, he asks her up to his apartment and they sleep together.Billie's first major single, "Loverboy" is a success. The music video originally features Billie, Louise, and Roxanne. However, the director, dissatisfied with the results, orders Billie to wear more revealing clothing and replaces Louise and Roxanne with professional semi-nude male dancers. When the male dancers are then ordered to dance closely to Billie, this frightens her. Dice intervenes on her behalf, and they leave the set before the music video can be finished.Dice is denied permission to produce songs on Billie's debut, including "Reflections", which Billie wrote about her mother. Billie is called to perform at the USA Music Awards, where she meets singer/songwriter Rafael. Later at the party, they meet again, and Rafael suggests they write a song. Dice orders Billie and her friends to leave, accusing Rafael of sexual advances towards Billie. Louise and Roxanne give Billie an ultimatum: them or Dice, but leave before she can choose. Billie cries, but is comforted by Dice as she laments "If you didn't believe in me, none of this would have ever happened."The reconciliation is short-lived as Billie gets a threat from Timothy concerning the 100K debt that Dice failed to pay. Billie tells Dice that Timothy was at their apartment about his debt and her contract. She is confused because she thought he had handled her contract properly. She admits to Dice that Timothy threatened her and Dice, in a rage, puts Timothy in the hospital. In the middle of the beating, Dice is arrested, causing Billie to leave her appearance on Late Night Live to bail him out. Billie, upset about how Dice lied about her contract and his arrest, argues with and leaves him. With nowhere to go, she goes back to live with Roxanne and Louise.Billie tries to deal with the pain by creating the single "Want You", with Rafael, which is a hit, but her emotional pain leads her to solo songwriting. Dice also misses Billie, and also begins writing a song. Billie goes to Dice's apartment in an attempt to reconcile. He's not home, but the music he has written is and Billie realizes they wrote the same song: "Never Too Far". She kisses the sheet music, leaving a lipstick imprint, which Dice later discovers. Dice plans a reconciliation, but is shot dead by Timothy. Billie's management and support crew see a report of the murder on television. They wonder if Billie was with him, they see that she is there and has seen the report. Billie onstage commands the band to stop playing "Loverboy," tells the crowd never to take someone for granted, and that if you love them, you should tell them, because you might never have the chance to tell them how you really feel. She then starts to sing "Never Too Far".Afterwords, Billie reads a note Dice had left her, where he tells of his love for her, his plan to see her perform and that he has found Billie's mother. Billie's limo takes her to the secluded rural property where she is united with her mother once again.
    

Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard Movies or Tv Shows (upto Oct 2026) - Watch Online

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