Melanie Nicholls-King
An aspiring medical student whose drug-addicted sister has recently died and who may be forced to relocate from her posh private school to the crime-infested neighborhood in which she was raised enters a step-dancing competition in hope of securing the funds needed to continue her education. Unable to afford the tuition needed to fund her private-school education, ambitious teen Raya returns to her family home in the city and is reluctantly forced to reevaluate her future. Upon learning that the top prize for an upcoming step-dancing competition is 50,000 dollars, Raya uses her impressive moves to earn a coveted slot in her good friend Bishop's predominately male JSJ crew. Isolated from the local females due to jealousy and separated from her fellow dancers by gender, the ambitious dancer is subsequently kicked off the team for showing off during a preliminary competition. Now, if Raya has any hope of realizing her medical-school dreams, she will have to either earn back Bishop's trust or organize her own dance crew and start over from scratch. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutina Wesley, Tracey 'Tre' Armstrong, (more)
- 2004
Falling victim to a glib con artist named Michael (Stewart Bick), Texas housewife Diane (Peta Wilson) loses all her money, a disaster that drives her husband Randal (Anthony Lemke) to suicide. Unable to get justice through the official channels, Diane mounts her own plan of revenge. This involves assuming a new identity, trading in her blonde tresses for a redheaded "do", moving to a small town, and systematically seducing the man who ruined her life. One of six "no frills" TV movies produced in Canada for the Lifetime cable network at a flat cost of $2 million each, False Pretenses originally aired October 25, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Omar (Michael K. Williams) and his crew continue to plague Avon's (Wood Harris) crew, robbing another stash, prompting Stringer (Idris Elba) to double the muscle at all his stash houses. Stringer's lieutenants make their sales pitch to the other gangs, but Bodie (J.D. Williams) has a difficult time convincing one strong-minded independent dealer, Marlo (Jamie Hector) of their common cause. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) gets Stan Valchek (Al Brown) to help him pressure Burrell (Frankie Faison) to cooperate with him. Burrell is loath to go behind the mayor's back, but reaches what seems to be a mutually beneficial agreement with Carcetti. McNulty (Dominic West) investigates D'Angelo Barksdale's apparent suicide in prison, and visits Donette (Shamyl Brown) to tell her that D'Angelo might have been murdered. Cutty (Chad L. Coleman) gives straight life a try, getting day work as a landscaper, and finds it difficult. Cheese's (Method Man) loss at a dogfight leads to murder. It also causes confusion among Daniels' (Lance Reddick) team about what they're hearing on the wire. Ronnie (Deirdre Lovejoy) realizes that Daniels is no longer living with his wife, and pursues him. Kima (Sonja Sohn) is having a difficult time adjusting to domestic life with a new baby. During an undercover hand-to-hand buy and bust in the Western District, one of the officers under Bunny's (Robert Wisdom) command is shot, leading him to further question the good he's done over the course of his long law enforcement career. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Ten-year-old Nikki Best (Kyley Statham) is a beautiful, intelligent and precocious child. She also suffers from Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which prohibits her from speaking more than a few words without assistance. Unable or unwilling to understand Nikki's ailment, the doctors and the school authorities are willing to write her off as just another mentally handicapped youngster. But Nikki's courageous mother, Terri (Jessica Steen), is not about to let this happen, embarking on a fierce and ferocious campaign to fight for her daughter's basic rights. In the end, both mother and daughter must put up a united front against the powers that be in order to face the most daunting challenge of Nikki's young life. Based on a true story, Society's Child made its Canadian TV debut over the CBC network on February 2, 2002, and was subsequently aired in the U.S. by the Lifetime cable channel on November 21 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
A high school girl is found murdered in the laundry room of her building. The ensuing investigation reveals that the dead girl had informed upon several of her classmates, who were running a website which spread vicious sexual rumors about their peers. The solution to the murder may hinge upon the eyewitness testimony of the victim's best friend -- if only the DA's office can persuade the reluctant friend to testify. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
While on a location shoot, spoiled movie actress Sydney Clarke (Sela Ward) clashes with her equally temperamental director. Storming off the set in a snit, Sydney gets lost in the woods, then hitches a ride to a small New England steel town -- where, amazingly, no one seems to recognize her. Curiously enjoying her anonymity, she befriends bowling-alley waitress Joyce (Rebecca Jenkins), who helps her land a job as a nurse at the local steel mill, managed by a handsome, down-to-earth hunk named Ryan (Andrew Jackson). Upon learning that the mill is in danger of demolition at the hands of greedy corporate fat-cats, Sydney vows to save the community's only source of income -- but will the citizens rally behind her if they find out she's been posing as something she's not? Made for the CBS TV network, Catch a Falling Star premiered March 5, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sela Ward, Rebecca Jenkins, (more)
- 1995
- R
The first feature-length Canadian drama to be created by an all-black team of filmmakers, this inner city film from writer-director Clement Virgo tracks the lives and struggles of several urban minorities during one Easter weekend. As the pirate radio disc jockey known as Rude (Sharon M. Lewis) broadcasts throughout a Toronto project, an artist named General (Maurice Dean Witt) arrives at the home of his wife Jessica (Melanie Nicholls-King) after serving several years in jail for drug dealing. He's there to reconcile with Jessica, who is now a police officer, and with the ten-year-old son, Johnny (Ashley Brown), whom he didn't help raise. Impeding his progress is General's brother Reece (Clark Johnson), who covets his brother's wife and still works for the neighborhood's racist white drug lord Yankee (Stephen Shellen) -- who in turn wants General back in charge of the drug trade. Meanwhile, the young boxer Jordan (Richard Chevolleau) reluctantly accompanies his fellow athletes on a testosterone-fueled gay-bashing spree, even though he is beginning to believe that he may be homosexual. As all of this is happening, the heart-broken window dresser Maxine (Rachel Crawford) faces the dissolution of her relationship with her boyfriend after she has an abortion. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Dean Wint, Rachael Crawford, (more)
- 1994
Tattooing is the focus of this Canadian lesbian drama. The film also examines artistic ambition. The protagonist is Alex a filmmaker whose reputation in the alternative art world is well established. She is getting ready to make a feature film. She puts out an advertisement and receives a letter from Chris, a woman pretending to be a man. In the letter, Chris describes, in delicious detail, the sexual pleasure involved with getting a tattoo. Intrigued, Alex hires Chris as her production assistant. She is interested in more than Chris's skills; she also wants her input in the film. Alex's lover tries to warn her that Chris is extremely unstable, but Alex doesn't listen, and allows Chris's crush upon her to run unchecked. This leads to disaster. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Sidney Lumet directed this Larry Cohen-scripted courtroom procedural that owes more than it should to Jagged Edge. Jennifer Haines (Rebecca De Mornay), one of the top female lawyers in the country and flush from the success of defending a gangster, has a new client to defend. A suave ladies man in an Armani suit, David Greenhill (Don Johnson) has come to solicit Jennifer's services. It seems that his rich socialite wife has been pushed to her death through an open window, and David stands to inherit a very large fortune. Needless to say, David is a prime suspect in his wife's murder. David admits to Jennifer the he is a womanizer and an oily manipulator, but nevertheless Jennifer decides to take his case as a challenge -- as she puts it: "People who are guilty are rarely this blunt." The result is an intricate chess game between Jennifer and David as they manipulate events, other people, and each other in order to determine the guilt or innocence of the playboy widower. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rebecca De Mornay, Don Johnson, (more)
