Vince Green Movies
A kid from the projects scores the jackpot in the lottery and fights to protect his ticket over the course of a treacherous holiday weekend in this all-star comedy featuring Ice Cube, Charlie Murphy, Terry Crews, and Loretta Devine. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, Kevin Carson (Bow Wow) purchases a pair of lottery tickets and settles down in front of the television to catch the winning numbers. When Kevin realizes he's just won 370 million dollars, he knows his neighbors will all come knocking the moment word of his massive windfall gets out. And he's right, too; before long, the local thugs are looking to take the ticket by force, and the sexiest girls in the neighborhood are begging to bear his children. Unfortunately for Kevin and his grandma, the lottery-claims office doesn't open until Monday, and over the next 72 hours there are more than a million ways the winning ticket could fall into the wrong hands. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bow Wow, Brandon T. Jackson, (more)
Dark, the debut feature film of up-and-coming Chicago-based indie filmmaker Darryl Bullock, became an official selection at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, and American Black Film Festival, and receives its first home video release from Cheeseburger Films. It tells the story of one Dark Freeman (Jason Bonner), a young African American man who finds himself torn between his tough urban roots - living as a resident on the impoverished, crime-ridden south side of Chicago - and his day-to-day life, in the comparatively wealthy and privileged University of Chicago, where he is enrolled as a student. Walking between the two worlds, Freeman must find a way to succeed in both, with the help of lovers, family members, close friends and acquaintances. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Bonner, Elizabeth Isibue, (more)
Calvin (Ice Cube) never wanted to take over the family business, a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Disgusted with the shop's crime-ridden neighborhood, and caught up in his moneymaking schemes, one morning Calvin decides to sell the shop to the shady Lester (Keith David). Chastised by his pregnant wife, Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis), for his rash decision, Calvin spends the day cutting heads at the shop, and starts to understand the importance of the legacy his grandfather and father have left to him. The bickering barbers include Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), the old-timer with his own unique perspective on black life; Terri (rapper Eve in her film debut), a hot-tempered woman with a trifling boyfriend; Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas), a college educated snob; Ricky (Michael Ealy) a reformed criminal; Isaac (Troy Garity, the son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden), a white B-Boy, whom no one is ready to let cut their hair; and Dinka (Leonard Howze), a recent African immigrant who's too shy to express his feelings for Terri. Calvin learns to appreciate them all, and discovers that the place where they work is more than just a place to get a haircut -- it's a meeting place for the neighborhood, a place where folks can speak their minds and find out what's happening. Calvin gradually changes his mind about selling the shop, but it may be too late. Meanwhile, a bumbling thief, J.D. (Anthony Anderson) spends a painful day trying to crack open the ATM he's stolen from the grocery store across the street. Barbershop was directed by Tim Story and produced by George Tillman Jr. and Robert Teitel, the producers of Soul Food. Barbershop had its world premiere at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, (more)
In this romantic drama, two teenagers in love struggle to look past their differences. After the unexpected death of her mother, Sarah Johnson (Julia Stiles) moves to Chicago to live with her father. Knowing no one at her new school and not at home in a gritty, inner-city high school, Sarah has trouble adjusting, but she soon becomes friends with Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who has talent and street smarts but a checkered past. Sarah was an avid student of ballet before her mother's death sidelined her studies, while Derek has some serious hip-hop moves, and their mutual love of dance leads their friendship into something deeper. However, since Sarah is white and Derek is black, they have more to contend with than the average high school couple; Sarah gets static from Nikki (Bianca Lawson), Derek's former girlfriend, while Derek has to deal with his friend Malakai (Fredro Starr), who is still deep in the thug life Derek is trying to avoid. Save the Last Dance was directed by Thomas Carter, who previously examined the sociopolitical side of dancing in Swing Kids. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, (more)
- 1998
This ER episode eschews the usual "multiple-subplot" format to focus on a single plot line involving little Corinna (Nicolette Little), a seven-year-old victim of a car accident. Inasmuch as the girl has an extremely rare blood type, it is necessary to locate her missing father -- a task that falls to Carter (Noah Wyle) and Lucy (Kellie Martin), who embark upon an odyssey through Chicago that takes them from Wrigley Field to a forbidding back alley. As time runs out for Corinna, Benton (Eriq La Salle) is forced into an unorthodox surgical procedure. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
