Frankie Crocker Movies
An influential figure in urban/contemporary radio of the late '70s and early '80s, Frankie Crocker's career as program director and on-air personality stretched across almost three decades and cross-country from Los Angeles to New York. Named "Program Director of the Year," and "Air Personality of the Year" by Billboard magazine, Crocker's Harlem-based WBLS-FM general-market afternoon radio show was No. 1 with New York City audiences 12-and-over for years. Crocker was also simultaneously No. 1 as a DJ and program director in the Arbitron Radio Ratings, and was recently named a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honoree. In addition to radio, Crocker was one of VH1's original VJs and hosted both NBC's Friday Night Videos and Solid Gold. On October 21, 2000, Crocker died of pancreatic cancer in Miami. He was 62. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi- 1993
Following up the goofy big-screen comedies Dragnet and Delirious, director Tom Mankiewicz delivered this made-for-cable thriller starring Tony Goldwyn and Lynn Whitfield. After witnessing a murder, Goldwyn finds himself pursued by a group of thugs led by mafia boss Alan Arkin. Whitfield stars as the detective assigned to ensure that Goldwyn not only doesn't flee out of fear for his life, but stays alive long enough to testify at the murder trial. Along the way, as the two spend more time together, a romance ensues. Peter Boyle, George Segal and Will Patton round out the cast, and the film was scripted by Dan Gordon who would later gain noteriety as a scribe on 1999's The Hurricane. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lynn Whitfield, Tony Goldwyn, (more)
Breakdancing, hip-hop, rap, and a good time are the main stars of this standard teen movie about youths trying to raise money to save their community club from being razed for a shopping mall. Ozone (Adolfo Quiñones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are two master breakdancers who have started a community club to teach other teens how to manage the acrobatics of the dance without literally breaking anything. Their efforts create some choreographed, group breakdancing that is rather innovative. But an evil developer (Peter MacLean) sees their property as ideal for a shopping mall project -- and a crooked politician is willing to back him up for a fee. As the teens do their best to raise money to keep their center, some are also battling with restrictive parents or trying to ease into romantic liaisons that offer their own challenges. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lucinda Dickey, Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quinones, (more)
- 1983
- PG13
The hopes of an aspiring singer/songwriter musician (Philip Michael Thomas) are starting to look up, that is until an episode with PCP (angel dust) leads him down a dark road of addiction. ~ John Bush, Rovi
This cult favorite from director/producer Sig Shore featured the music of Earth, Wind and Fire and had a #1 soundtrack album, but went belly-up at the box-office. That's a shame, because what other film offers viewers Harvey Keitel as a record producer who skates at an all-black disco rink, Bert Parks as a child molester, and squeaky-clean singer Jimmy Boyd ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus") as a hardcase junkie? Other treats on hand include the manager of a Christian pop band threatening to stick an ice pick in Keitel's ear and appearances by noted disc jockeys Murray the K and Frankie Crocker. Amidst all of this insanity, Cynthia Bostick's female-lead turn as a Joplin-like junkie singer named Velour is lost. The film ends with a number of Earth, Wind and Fire songs, but by that point most viewers will be in bad-movie shellshock. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Ed Nelson, (more)
- 1974
A tough biker gang comprised of African-American women heads off to find a member's mother and her abductor in this exploitation comedy ostensibly designed to make fun of racial stereotypes. The film was later retitled Get Down and Boogie. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Five on the Black Hand Side was released at a time when most black-oriented films were bloody action fests. In contrast, this low-budget effort, coproduced by actors Brock Peters and Michael Tolan, eschews exploitation for humanity and domestic drama. Leonard Jackson plays a barber who is also the domineering head of a middle-class African American family. Jackson is forced to rethink his values when his previously docile wife (Clarice Taylor) joins their three children in rebelling against her husband's retrogressive behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clarice Taylor, Leonard Jackson, (more)
Jimi Hendrix was one of the most prodigiously gifted electric guitarists in rock music history, leaving behind a remarkable body of work after his death in 1970. Jimi Hendrix combines live footage of Hendrix in concert with interviews with Hendrix's friends and contemporaries. Also known as A Film About Jimi Hendrix. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
