Tyra Banks Movies
"A smart model is a good model," Tyra Banks was once quoted as saying, and she seems destined to prove it in every way. Now widely known as one of the world's foremost supermodels, Banks began her modeling career at the age of 17 with the Elite agency after flirting with attending college at Loyola Marymount. The 5'11" beauty was quickly discovered in Los Angeles, her birth city, and offered a healthy contract with cosmetics company Cover Girl -- becoming only the third African-American woman in the world to secure such an opportunity.Her striking looks and business savvy extended to several offers, including assignments with Ralph Lauren and various magazine covers (over 20 to be exact), including Sports Illustrated and most notably GQ, where Banks became the first black woman ever to grace the cover. In addition to various ads and runway gigs, Banks decided to branch out into feature films, scoring a few high-profile gigs, starring as Omar Epps' love interest in John Singleton's racially charged drama Higher Learning (1995) and snagging a stint opposite Will Smith on TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. These breakout roles led to more film work, including a British sexploitation film called Inferno and a comic turn in 1999's Love Stinks with actors French Stewart and Bill Bellamy. In 2000, Banks landed a high-profile gig in the critically dismissed but lively Jerry Bruckheimer production Coyote Ugly, playing a sexy barmaid in a role that showcased all of her assets in one tidy package.
Continuing her dual career, Banks' devotion to environmental issues has shown the world her ambition to be a role model as well. She is a promoter of a line of greeting cards for Children+Families, an organization dedicated to helping abused children. Created with the aid of children aged eight and nine, the card series is designed to promote literacy for children in troubled homes. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- 2009
This competitive reality series takes six beautiful girls and pits them against each other - but not in the way that they think. While the lovely ladies on the series believe that they are being judged purely on their beauty-queen looks, their actions are being observed as well, with judges Vanessa Minnillo, Cheryl Tiegs, and Nolé Marin forming conclusions based on their frequently bratty behavior. Each week, the gorgeous contestants are faced with challenges to their outer beauty, like photo shoots and trips down the catwalk, but unbeknownst to the girls, they're also given challenges that reveal character, conscience, and intelligence. After a competitor is eliminated, it's revealed to her why and how she failed, with a video montage of her atrocious behavior -- and a severe tongue lashing -- hopefully teaching each cast off that true beauty is about more than looks. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Minnillo, Cheryl Tiegs, (more)
- 2008
This competitive reality series tests the skills and knowledge of a handful of style savvy contestants, each hoping to score a job as a paid editorial staff member at Elle magazine, a lease on a swanky Manhattan apartment, and a $100,000 shopping allowance at H&M. Gauging their performances at increasingly outrageous challenges is Anne Slowey, fashion news director at the magazine, who keeps contestants on their toes with an icy over-the-top attitude styled after Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, whose demeanor, in turn, was based on Vogue's Anna Wintour. At the end of each episode, the competitor who fares worst at the challenge is booted off the show, whittling down the cast until at last, the ultimate stylista is revealed. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Slowey, Joe Zee, (more)
- 2005
Produced by Warner Bros. Television, The Tyra Banks Show was a sprightly daily, hour-long vehicle for supermodel-entrepreneur Tyra Banks -- and there were those who were astounded that the extremely busy host ever managed to find time for this project. Not simply a one-on-one chatfest (though there was plenty of time spent on the crucial issues of the day), the series was also big on audience participation, pop-culture segments, fashion and beauty hints, and musical performances. And in the tradition of Oprah Winfrey, Banks generally focused on a central theme in each episode, with the first week's worth of programs touching on an entirely different topic every day. Seen primarily on local WB and UPN network affiliates, The Tyra Banks Show premiered September 12, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyra Banks
- 2004
A new crop of 14 beautiful young women crowd into a swank loft apartment to prepare for the competition that will determine "America's Next Top Model" in the second season of the series of that name. This year, the action takes place in New York City, just like season one (or to be more accurate, "cycle one"). In addition to the usual competition rounds, the girls are taken on a whirlwind tour of the Big Apple, every so often performing impromptu "fashion shows" for appreciative male spectators. Interestingly, whereas one of the contestants in season one was eliminated for being "too sexy," the first casualty of season two is dropped because she refuses to pose nude. One thing that hasn't changed from the previous season is the range of temperaments amongst the contestants, from simperingly sweet to fire-eating monster. In lieu of giving away the end results of the second season, suffice to say that it comes down to four finalists, who go by the names of Yoanna, Shandi, April, and Mercedes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyra Banks, Yoanna House, (more)
- 2004
Thirteen new episodes of America's Next Top Model are served up for the reality series' third season (or third "cycle"), with a new bevy of young lovelies vying for the title. Forsaking the New York City locale of the series' first two seasons, season three begins in Los Angeles. The opening episode features a pool party, in which the viewer is given an up-close-and-personal look at the curvaceous contestants -- just before the first elimination round, in which 34 semi-finalists are whittled down to 20. This is followed by another elimination round, which leaves 14 girls standing (or swimming). Now we finally get to New York, and to the fashionable loft apartment where the 14 finalists will live together and prepare for their modeling careers. First on the docket is a fashion makeover at Peter Coppola Studios, followed by a training session with the winner of the season-two competition, Yoanna House. Then comes the posing session, the obstacle course (obstacle course?), the shopping trip, and all the rest of the rituals -- with girls being eliminated from the game on a steady and systematic basis. Following the "final three" elimination round -- and for the record, those three are named Eva, Yaya, and Amanda -- the season ends with a "where are they now?" special catching up with the winners and losers of the first three seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyra Banks, Eva Pigford, (more)
- 2003
On this eight-part reality series, ten average young women were selected to be groomed as professional models, with the winner landing a cover in Marie Claire magazine and a big-bucks modeling contract. Sequestered in a single Manhattan penthouse for the duration of the series, the wannabes were carefully coached in the attitudes, responsibilities, rigors, and occasional disadvantages of the glamour industry. On each episode, a handful of the contestants were eliminated by a panel of celebrity judges, among them supermodels Tyra Banks (who created and co-produced the series) and Janice Dickinson, fashion editor Beau Quillan, and designer Kimora Lee Simmons. America's Next Top Model premiered May 20, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
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The first season (or first "cycle") of the UPN reality series America's Next Top Model swiftly sets up the premise of 14 gorgeous girls living together in the same fashionable New York City loft as they compete for the titular title with the prestigious firm of Ford Models. It doesn't take long to establish "heroines" and "villains," nor is any time wasted before the girls are seen undergoing the grueling ritual of the Brazilian bikini wax. One by one, the contestants are eliminated, for reasons ranging from clumsiness in front of the camera to being "too sexy" (can anybody be "too sexy?"). And each week, a special guest judge sits in on the "sifting" process. Nine episodes later, the season is over, with the competition boiling down to two girls named Shannon Stewart and Adrianne Curry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyra Banks, Robbyne Manning, (more)
A girl unwittingly gives new meaning to the phrase "living doll" in this comic fantasy. After the death of her mother, 14-year-old Casey (Lindsay Lohan) is despondent. As she and her father Ben (Jere Burns) begin to drift apart, Casey finds a book of magic spells and tries to use one to bring her mother back to life. But the plan backfires, and instead she finds that she's animated Eve (Tyra Banks), a fashion-plate dress-up doll. Eve is excited to be both alive and nearly six feet tall, but she has a lot to learn about living in the real world -- and Casey isn't so sure she has the desire or the patience to teach her. Life Size was produced for The Disney Channel and first aired in the spring of 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyra Banks, Lindsay Lohan, (more)
- 1998
It is hardly a mystery why the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has become one of the most popular single issue magazines year in and year out. People's fascination with scantily clad women in exoctic locations is as close to a sure thing, in terms of sales, as you can get. And so it only makes sense for the magazine to back up its 1998 magazine release with a shot on location documentary. Filmed much like a Playboy Playmate video, the images range from behind the scenes shennigans, to wind wisped slow motion pans of the female body. Several of the scenes have voiced over interviews with photographers, camera crew and models Eva Herzigova, Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks accompanying the images. This video is definetly more risque than the magazine and may not be suitable for younger audiences. ~ Ed Atkinson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova are two of the several women featured in this video documenting the photo shoots that produced the images used to compile the 1997 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Several cameras accompany photagraphers, crew and models to various exotic locations throughout the Bahamas. The focus of the documentary drifts between Playboy-like sequences of the women posing and back stage footage of crew and models laughing and joking. Several of the models also grant interviews that detail life as a model and the conditions of the shoot. The footage is definitely more explicit than the images shown in the magazine, making the film less suitable for younger audiences. Several videos in this series have been released in both a safe for television format and a version that does contain some nudity. ~ Ed Atkinson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Taking no chances of failure, Will (Will Smith) signs up for a bunch of "easy" classes at college. There's only one exception: the Western Philosophy course in which he enrolled to meet pretty girls. Unfortunately, the course proves too topheavy for Will's taste, so he drops out--a decision he comes to regret after getting to know the philosophy teacher, the fascinating (and astonishingly versatile!) Professor Jeremy Mansfield (Jim Meskimen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In the first episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's two-part Season Four opener (originally seen as part of a single hour-long telecast), Will (Will Smith) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) move out of the Banks mansion and into their own tiny apartment, in preparation for launching their college career. During a tumultuous housewarming party, Carlton finds what he thinks is the girl of his dreams, namely new series regular (and future talkshow diva) Tyra Banks as Jackie. With this episode, Daphne Maxwell Reid takes over from Janet Hubert Whitten in the role of Will's aunt and Carlton's mom Vivian--a metamorphosis which is "noticed" on-screen by Will's outspoken buddy Jazz (Jeff Townes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
When a college football star (Cylk Cozart) comes between him and Jackie (Tyra Banks), Will (Will Smith) goes to great lengths to prove he's as "macho" as anyone. Unfortunately, this proof consists of drinking himself unconscious, at which point his prankish frat brothers haul Will out to the middle of a cemetary! As Will suffers the torments of the darned, his cousin Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) learns a sobering lesson about truth and beauty. This episode marks the final series appearance of Tyra Banks, not to mention a rare sitcom guest turn by popular Howard Stern cohort Robin Quivers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In the concluding episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's two-part Season Four opener (originally seen as part of a single hour-long telecast), Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) discovers to his horror that his "dream girl" Jackie (Tyra Banks) is actually an old Philadelphia acquaintance of his cousin Will (Will Smith). This leads to a brawl between our two heroes, whereupon they are evicted from their tiny apartment and forced to move back into the Banks home, much to the dismay of Carlton's dad Philip (James Avery). Meanwhile, Hilary (Karyn Parsons) pressures Trevor (Brian Stokes Mitchell, in his final series appearance) into delivering a "very special" wedding proposal--which proves to be the last thing he will ever do! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Obliged to babysit his infant cousin Nicky, Will (Will Smith) takes the kid along with him to the college campus. Almost immediately he is besieged by beautiful girls, all of whom are under the impression that Will is a "concerned and committed" single father. Basking in the adulation, Will persists in his paternal pose--which backfires when he is elected Father of the Year by the student body. Ironically, it turns out that Will is not the only phony father in the vicinity! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Both Will (Will Smith) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) aspire to join an all-black college fraternity. After a humiliating initiation ritual, Will is accepted--but Carlton is rejected as a Bel Air-bred "sellout" to his race. This sets the stage for a remarkable closing sequence, in which an indignant Carlton brilliantly defends himself, and his choices in life. Award-winning stage and screen actor Glenn Plummer is seen as the hostile fraternity head man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Declaring her independence from her parents, Hilary (Karyn Parsons) accepts an invitation to the Playboy Mansion, where host Hugh Hefner(playing himself) has arranged a photo shoot featuring female TV weather reporters. While Philip (James Avery) stays at home, terrified that his darling daughter will "bare all" for the sake of fame and fortune, wide-eyed Will (Will Smith) tags along with Hilary to Hef's pad--but not before fabricating an "illness" in order to weasel out of his first date with Jackie (Tyra Banks). "Fresh Prince After Dark" originally ran in tandem with an episode of the NBC sitcom Blossom, which was likewise set in the Playboy Mansion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Hoping to get off academic probation, Will (Will Smith) arranges a date between his recently divorced English professor Scott Burton (played by Phil Morris, best remembered as lawyer Jackie Chiles on Seinfeld) and his cousin Hilary (Karyn Parsons). But though Burton immediately warms up to Hilary, she can't stand the professor--and minces no words in telling him so! Meanwhile, Philip (James Avery) builds a crib for baby Nicky...sort of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
