Jaki Brown-Karman Movies

Kid N' Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) star in this role-reversal comedy that plays like a badly done sitcom without the laughs. The switcheroo occurs when two inner-city high school students -- one a straight-A whiz-kid and the other an angry criminal type -- have to switch identities and are forced to live each other's lives. Christopher Reid is Duncan Pinderhughes, a student with perfect grades but who can't graduate high school unless he passes gym. Christopher Martin plays Blade Brown, whose probation officer gives him an ultimatum -- graduate high school or go to jail. Due to a mix-up in their high school records, Pinderhughes and Brown are forced to take over each other's lives. Brown ends up in a class for gifted students, and Pinderhughes finds himself skulking behind the school building to a shotgun shack that houses all the high school's troublemakers. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Cinematographer Ernest R. Dickerson directed and co-wrote this crime drama about a group of friends who get involved in a robbery. Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Q (Omar Epps), Raheem (Khalil Kain), and Steel (Jermaine Hopkins) are four Harlem friends who spend their days skipping school, getting in fights, and casually shoplifting. The only member of the group who has plans for the future is Q, who dreams of becoming a deejay. But one day Bishop happens to see James Cagney in White Heat and the film inspires him to buy a gun. His plan is to rob a corner store and split the money. Everyone goes along with the plan except for Q, who is competing that night in a deejay contest. At the club, Q is a rousing success, but he spies the stern faces of his friends through the cheering crowd and realizes that he has to go along with the robbery, which goes completely wrong. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Cool Runnings fictionalizes the true story of a bobsledding team from Jamaica making it to the Olympics. The tale begins when Derice Bannock (Leon), realizing that due to an accident his chances of qualifying for Jamaica's 1988 Olympic track team are dashed, scrounges around looking for another sport for the competition. Since ex-United States gold medal bobsledding winner Irv Blitzer (John Candy) now lives in Jamaica, Derice chooses bobsledding, convincing Irv to coach the team. Derice then forms his team. He gets his friend Sanka Cofie (Doug E. Doug) to join up and recruits Junior Bevil (Rawle D. Lewis), a young man who lacks self-confidence, and Yul Brenner (Malik Yoba), a disagreeable and bitter malcontent. After setbacks and near disasters, the group jells as team members and they head off to the Olympics to compete for an Olympic spot. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

A doomed interracial relationship provides the focus of this tragedy. White paralegal Lonny, wants to write a political novel that rails against the system, but he can't seem to start it. His writer's block has cost him emotionally, and he is bored with his job, his conversations with his father, and with his girlfriend. He looks for something different. He finds it with black teenager, Denise as she prepares for her SATs. He is attracted by her intelligence and the eagerness with which she learns and offers to tutor her. She accepts and soon they have transcended the teacher student relationship and become closer. They face resistance at every turn, but they do not heed the warnings. Tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This first theatrical feature spun off from the television series Tales from the Crypt (which was in turn inspired by the infamous EC horror comics of the 1950s) concerns a mysterious man named Brayker (Bill Sadler), who arrives at a church-turned-rooming house in a small town in New Mexico. Hot on his trail is an equally mysterious and very menacing figure known as the Collector (Billy Zane), who arrives with policemen in tow; he claims that Brayker stole some keys from him, and he wants the cops to help him reclaim them. It turns out, however, that the "keys" are actually several amulets that contain drops of the blood of Christ; they can be used to ward off evil in the right hands, but they can lead the world to doom if used improperly. The Collector and his forces lay siege to the house with the other residents caught in the middle between Brayker and the Collector, including alcoholic Uncle Willy (Dick Miller), prostitute Cordelia (Brenda Bakke), sleazy Southerner Roach (Thomas Haden Church), postal employee Wally (Charles Fleischer), sensible Jeryline (Jada Pinkett), and landlady Irene (CCH Pounder). Bordello of Blood, the second Tales from the Crypt feature, hit theaters the following year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A surprise Hollywood hit, this film is based on the novel of the same name by Terry McMillan and centers on four well-to-do African-American women and their relationships with men and one another. All of them are "holding their breath" until the day they can feel comfortable in a committed relationship with a man. Robin (Lela Rochon) is the long-time mistress of Russell (Leon), who keeps reneging on his promise to leave his wife for her. She dumps him to find a man she can have to herself, but her dates with a reliable but unattractive business partner (Wendell Pierce) and a drug addict (Mykelti Williamson) send her back to Russell. Savannah (Whitney Houston) is a successful television producer who also believes that her married lover Kenneth (Dennis Haysbert) will leave his wife. Bernadine (Angela Bassett) is a wealthy woman who abandoned her own career to raise a family. Her husband is now leaving her to marry a white woman. Gloria (Loretta Devine) is a beauty salon owner and single mother raising a teenage son. After years alone, she falls in love with a new neighbor, Marvin (Gregory Hines). The women share their stories over lunches and conversations at Gloria's salon. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Using relatively unknown actors, first-time screenwriter-director Preston A. Whitmore II examines the effects of the Vietnam War on four black Marines sent on a doomed prisoner-of-war rescue mission. The four men are what's left of a platoon that's been decimated after landing behind enemy lines. In charge is Sergeant Barkley (Joe Morton), a no-nonsense, Bible-quoting preacher who is leading three privates to find a POW camp in an abandoned temple. Cole Evans (Allen Payne) is an intellectual who is highly political, racially proud, and a devoted family man. Joe Brooks (Vonte Sweet) is a cheerful, naïve, and brave young soldier. Hoover Branche (Eddie Griffin) is a dope-smoking, foul-mouthed rebel who hates the war and fights the sergeant constantly. They eventually are joined by a crazy, bloodthirsty white soldier, Pippins (Roger Floyd). Flashbacks reveal why each character joined the Marines. Pippins entered the recruiting office to escape rival gang members who were trying to kill him. Brooks enlisted to impress his girlfriend. Branche signed up after being fired from a meat-packing plant for stealing a ham that he used as admission to a party where he wanted to woo a girl. Evans enlisted because bigoted real estate agents prevented him from buying a decent home for his family in L.A. -- he intended to become a Marine officer so that he can get free housing. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Hard-core rapper Ice Cube, after appearing in such hard-hitting films as Boyz 'N the Hood and Higher Learning, played his first comic role in this picture he co-wrote with frequent musical collaborator DJ Pooh. Craig (Ice Cube) manages to get fired on his day off (though he claims it's through no fault of his own) and spends the day hanging out with his buddy Smokey (Chris Tucker) and trying to avoid his father (John Witherspoon), who wants him to find another job immediately. Smokey (whose name might have something to do with his tremendous fondness for marijuana) has even more serious problems; he was given $200 worth of weed to sell by Big Worm (Faizon Love), but he ended up smoking it instead, and if he can't come up with the money by the end of the day, he'll be in a world of hurt (and will put Craig in the same place just for being his friend). And Deebo (Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr.), a gargantuan bully who roams the neighborhood on his bicycle, has it in for Craig, while Craig tries his best just to stay out of his way. As one would expect, Friday features a strong hip-hop soundtrack, featuring tracks by such artists as Dr. Dre, Cypress Hill, Mack 10, and Funkdoobiest, as well as old-school R&B selections from The Isley Brothers, Roger, and Rose Royce. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A man who's devoted his life to running around on his woman finally meets his match in this comedy. Dray Jackson (Bill Bellamy) is a ladies' man par excellence, who never lets the fact that he has a girlfriend, Lisa (Lark Voorhies), get in the way of making time with as many other women as possible. As he spends a typical day going from house to house "visiting" a number of beautiful females, Dray fills his friends David (Pierre Edwards), Kilo (Jermaine Hopkins), and Spootie (A.J. Johnson) in on the finer points of the art of having as many ladies as you want without getting caught. Dray's sister Jenny (Natalie Desselle) and her friend Katrina (Mari Morrow) are at once disgusted and morbidly fascinated with Dray's cheerful, chronic infidelity, and since Jenny is studying anthropology, they decide that Dray's lifestyle would be a worthy subject for research. Deciding to see what would happen if Dray was really put to the test (and maybe teach him a lesson in the process), Jenny and Katrina throw a party, and they invite Dray -- and all the women whose telephone numbers appear in his address book. Max Julien, best known for his role as the ultra-smooth pimp in the blaxploitation classic The Mack, appears as Dray's lady-killing Uncle Fred. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the popular Nickelodeon series All That, confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger stand, while his buddy Dexter (Thompson) also works there, but lack Ed's single-minded devotion to his job -- he's there because he accidentally destroyed the car of his teacher Mr. Wheat (Sinbad) and has to raise money to pay the damages. When Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-foot chain, opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is history, until Ed formulates a secret sauce that brings hundreds of new customers to their door. However, the monomaniacal manager of Mondo Burger, Kurt (Jan Schweiterman), is determined to get his hands on the sauce and put Good Burger out of business. Meanwhile, Ed and Dexter must rescue Otis (Abe Vigoda), the world's oldest fast food employee, from the Demented Hills Asylum, and Ed might just find love with Monique (Shar Jackson) if he could take his mind off the burgers long enough to pay attention to her. Good Burger also features basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as himself and George Clinton as one of the Demented Hills inmates. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In 1955, an African-American woman named Rosa Parks dared to take an empty seat in the "Whites Only" section on a city bus in Montomery, AL, and sparked one of the first major battles in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, thus bringing the work of Martin Luther King to the attention of many Americans for the first time. Boycott is a made-for-TV movie that dramatizes the events of the Montomery bus boycott, weaving vintage newsreel footage with scenes depicting the public and private dramas involved in the protests. Boycott stars Jeffrey Wright as Martin Luther King, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Terrence Dashon Howard as Ralph Abernathy; CCH Pounder, Reg E. Cathey, and Shawn Michael Howard highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she's hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school's spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson's 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It.
~ Mark Deming, Rovi