African American Classics Movies

A police detective finds that looking into a murder is anything but routine when one of the suspects is the President of the United States. When the nude and bloodied corpse of an attractive woman is found in a bathroom at the White House, Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes), a top detective with the Washington D.C. police force, is assigned to investigate. However, Regis soon learns that the Secret Service, headed by Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali), is launching their own investigation, and they want Regis to stay out of their way. While Alvin Jordan (Alan Alda), National Security Advisor to President Jack Neil (Ronny Cox), intervenes in Regis' favor, it becomes obvious that no one wants him poking his nose into a case in which the suspects include both the President and his ill-tempered son Kyle (Tate Donovan). Eventually, Regis finds an ally in Nina Chance (Diane Lane), a member of the Secret Service's team, while the President tries to fend off the investigation in the midst of an international crisis. Comedian Dennis Miller also appears as Regis' partner Stengel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Patrick Ewing: Standing Tall, a documentary, provides an intimate look at the basketball-focused biography of celebrated NBA center Patrick Ewing and proves that there is more to this man than game-saving blocks and slams. Catch footage of him as a schoolboy star in Boston, revisit his college career at Georgetown, snag a courtside seat for his battles as the centerpiece of the resurgent New York Knicks, and fly with him to Barcelona to be part of the historic "Dream Team." Rare footage and detailed interviews capture some of Ewing's career-building moments and give fans a taste of the celebrity center's friendly demeanor.
~ Betsy Boyd, Rovi

The queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, and four of the biggest female hitmakers in contemporary pop, Mariah Carey Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, and Shania Twain, joined forces for this once-in-a-lifetime concert event, in which they individually sing their hits and team up for a variety of ensemble performances. Video includes an appearance by legendary songwriter Carole King. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-1982) lived the kind of jazz life only found in Hollywood movies. His prodigious talent led him to top gigs as a teenager, but drugs and attendant criminal activity knocked him out of commission for virtually all of the 1960s and early 1970s. This documentary, shot shortly after his searing memoir, Straight Life, was published in 1979, shows Pepper in the full flower of a remarkable comeback. His third wife, Laurie, is featured prominently; they met in the drug treatment facility Synanon in 1969 and were married in 1974. She took over his business affairs and helped him write Straight Life. Pepper tells his own story here, but the emphasis is on an evening's performance at a club in Malibu, with the musician in fine form, backed by a terrific trio. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi, best-known for the groundbreaking shockumentary Mondo Cane, directed this bizarre and shocking look at slavery in America. Set in the deep South prior to the Civil War, Zio Tom finds Jacopetti and Prosperi travelling back in time aboard a helicopter to investigate the nuts and bolts of slavery as it happened in the United States prior to abolition. Along the way, the filmmakers go aboard a slave ship as frightened Africans are brought to America under inhuman conditions; they witness the dangerous and degrading process by which slaves were made ready for market; and they visit a "breeding farm" for slaves after laws prohibit the importation of slaves from abroad. Also included is a sermon from a preacher who argues for the moral and spiritual necessity of slavery (while another man speaks out against it strictly on grounds of economics and practicality); the contrasting thoughts of men and women on the matter of miscegenation; and an interview with an educated slave who feels his circumstances are better for him than conventional employment. Also shown is the brutal torture and punishment of slaves for any number of real or imagined grievances. Re-creating both the opulence and the ugliness of the Old South on a grand scale, Zio Tom concludes with present-day African-Americans reading The Confession of Nat Turner and contemplating violent overthrow of the white-dominated culture. Understandably controversial, Zio Tom received a very brief theatrical release in the United States under the title Farewell Uncle Tom, where it received an X rating from the MPAA despite being trimmed by approximately 20 minutes from its original Italian running time. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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

Masters of the Country Blues: Fred McDowell and Big Joe Williams features performances by each of these legendary figures. Among the songs performed are "Good Morning Little School Girl," "When I Lay My Burden Down," and "Shake 'em On Down," by McDowell. Williams delivers renditions of "Baby Please Don't Go," "Low Down Dirty Shame," and "Tailor Made Baby." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Indian Jay (Roshan Seth), a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government. Flash-forward to 1990: Jay and his family have settled in Mississippi. Seth's daughter Mina (Sarit Choudhury) makes the acquaintance of African-American Demetrius (Denzel Washington), the prosperous manager of a carpet-cleaning business. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Both Jay and Demetrius must learn to bury their pasts and their prejudices to go on with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

No Way Out is told in flashback as Naval officer Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) is grilled by his superiors regarding a recent "unpleasantness." While at a Washington party, Tom meets Susan Atwel (Sean Young), and they're soon sharing a steamy love scene in the back of a limo (marvelously parodied in 1993's Hot Shots! Part Deux). Several months pass before Tom meets Susan again; he discovers she's the mistress of the US Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman). When Susan is murdered by Brice, his loyal aide (Will Patton) dutifully destroys the evidence and invents the fallacious theory that a KGB mole was responsible. Tom is assigned to locate that mole -- a perilous situation, since Tom knows that no such mole exists, but must go along with the charade since he was the last person who was seen with Susan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) returns to finds himself in hot water with the police over his acceptance of help from a neighborhood anti-drug group. The group has done some things which are far from textbook legal, such as stealing and destroying a large shipment of drugs. Though they pulled off their robbery without loss of life, a corpse is found at the scene of the heist. Tibbs, now suspended from the force, uses their help to string together clues which enable him to break up a large drug ring. This is the third movie made starring Poitier and based on John Bail's novels In The Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mister Tibbs. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This highly rated independent production was written years before Bull Durham, and though it covers much of the same territory, it is considered worth seeing in its own right. In the story, Roy Dean Bream (William Russ) is too old to be part of his minor-league baseball team's cultural mainstream. In short, he's often ignored, derided, or treated to the worst or last of everything, like any other outcast. Tyrone (Glenn Plummer) is so young that it gives the same teammates who shun Roy the willies and reminds them that they too are getting older -- so he's an outcaste, too. What could be more natural than for these two men to seek one another out. It doesn't matter that the older man is white, the younger is black. They both love the game, and Roy has been around the block a few times and has plenty to teach Tyrone. When the time comes for Roy to be sent to retirement, everyone holds their breaths to see how he will react. It's a pity they didn't get to know him better, or they would know that this kind, generous man wishes them all well. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

R&B star Janet Jackson made an impressive film debut in Poetic Justice as Justice, a hairdresser at a small salon in South Central Los Angeles. Justice uses her poetry to deal with her grief after her boyfriend is killed in a shooting incident at a drive-in. Hired to work at a hair stylists' event in Oakland, Justice is stranded when her car breaks down, until she remembers that her friend Ieasha (Regina King) was going to hop a ride down to Oakland with her boyfriend Chicago (Joe Torry), a postal worker who is heading there with a truck full of mail. Justice tags along to discover that Chicago's driving partner is Lucky (Tupac Shakur), the postman who delivers mail to her shop and keeps asking her out. Ieasha and Chicago have to deal with their own rocky relationship while Justice has to decide if she's ready for a new love -- and if Lucky is the man she's waiting for. Along with strong work from Jackson, Poetic Justice features a surprising turn from Shakur, whose nuanced performance as Lucky is in strong contrast to his "Thug Life" public persona. Justice's poems were written by Maya Angelou, who also appears in a small role. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Ricochet, a suspenseful, exciting police thriller that loses its way at the end, is the story of a good cop whose life is destroyed by an obsessed psychotic criminal whom he sent to prison years before. Nick (Denzel Washington) is a successful happily married police officer with a distinguished record. He is drugged, kidnapped and framed by Blake (John Lithgow) who has never forgiven him for arresting him years before. Nick must redeem himself both to the police force, his family and the public who had come to love and respect him. Denzel Washington is excellent in his role of the good man in an impossible situation. John Lithgow, while always interesting, is completely over-the-top as the psychotic criminal, and the film looses plausibility during an extended and highly improbable and unbelievable final chase sequence around the Watts Towers. Despite these flaws, Ricochet is an exiting suspense film with a fine performance by Washington and worth watching despite its disappointing conclusion. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi