Jernard Burks Movies
- 2003
Jenny McCarthy, Melody Perkins, and Jennifer Sky guest star as the Stillman sisters, a trio of trampish bleach-blonde witches. Envious of the Charmed Ones, the Stillmans steal the girls' identities and powers. Whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) is now convinced that the Stillmans are actually Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and Paige (Rose McGowan) -- and if he doesn't learn the truth soon, there will be serious long-range consequences. In separate developments, Phoebe is still having difficulty reigning in her empath powers, especially when her lover, Jason (Eric Dane), is concerned; and Piper tries to get baby son Wyatt to bond with his Whitelighter father, Leo (Brian Krause). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory, (more)
Denzel Washington stars in this adaptation of the novel by African-American crime author Walter Mosley, the first of his stories to reach the screen. Ezekiel Rawlins (Washington), known to his friends as "Easy," has just lost his job at an aircraft plant in post-WW II Los Angeles, a time when good-paying jobs for black men are hard to come by. He's wondering how to make his mortgage payment when he's approached by De Witt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who describes his job as "doing favors for friends." It seems that a woman named Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals) has gone missing; Daphne is the former girlfriend of wealthy mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Terry Kinney) and a known habitué of the black jazz clubs and night spots on L.A.'s Central Avenue. Albright offers Easy $100 to help him find Daphne, and while he doesn't have any detective experience, the price is right, so Easy agrees. After a passionate affair with a friend of Daphne's, Coretta James (Lisa Nicole Carson), leads to that woman's murder, Easy enlists the help of his friend Mouse (Don Cheadle), who seems to know just a bit too well how to use a gun, which gives Easy all too clear a look at the lower depths of L.A.'s upper crust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, (more)
Comic Chris Rock co-scripted and stars in this remake of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan, which was also remade with Warren Beatty in 1978 as Heaven Can Wait. Comedian Lance Barton (Rock) is struggling to get his career off the ground when he dies in an untimely bus accident; arriving at the Pearly Gates, he discovers that he's not supposed to have passed on for another 50 years. Barton is not happy with this turn of events, and eventually the Powers That Be send his spirit back to Earth, but for the time being he has to make do with the body of a middle-aged, closed-minded millionaire, Charles Wellington. Lance falls in love with a young community activist (Regina King), but he soon finds he has bigger problems at home: the millionaire's wife and her lover are both trying to kill him. The supporting cast includes Mark Addy as an actor passing himself off as an English manservant, Chazz Palminteri as Mr. King, Heaven's no-nonsense manager, and Eugene Levy as Mr. Keyes, the angel who accidentally ends Barton's life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Rock, Regina King, (more)
Four men come together to find out how and why the woman who raised them was killed in this hard-edged urban drama from director John Singleton. Short-tempered Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), struggling musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund), streetwise Angel (Tyrese Gibson), and hard-working Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) are four guys who don't appear to have much in common, in terms of either race or temperament. However, these men have one very important bond -- all four were adopted and raised by the same woman (Fionnula Flanagan), and they all love her as a mother, and respect one another as brothers. When their mother is killed during a robbery at a grocery store, the four brothers come together for the funeral, but when they don't get straight answers about what happened to her, they begin looking into the crime themselves. The deeper they dig into the case, the more the brothers begin to suspect that the shooting wasn't an accident, and that powerful and unexpected forces were involved. Four Brothers marked one of the first starring roles for Andre Benjamin, better known as Andre 3000 of the top selling hip-hop group OutKast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, (more)
- 1994
The father of celebrated baseball star Pat Williams (Malik Yoba) is murdered. Following the trail of clues, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) determine that the killing was tied in with gambling debts and not-so-veiled threats against the dead man's relatives. All roads eventually lead to big-time bookie "Papa Doc" Doniel (Ray Aranha) -- but that's hardly the end of the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two people who've known the pain of loss and the sting of betrayal are brought together under trying circumstances in this romantic drama. Dutch van den Broeck (Harrison Ford) is a police detective based in Washington D.C. whose wife works for an upscale department store; flying to Miami on business, she dies shortly after takeoff in one of the worst aviation disasters in the city's history. However, Dutch finds out that his wife wasn't actually traveling on business: Kay Chandler (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a prominent political figure whose husband was also killed in the crash, and Dutch and Kay discover that their spouses were on the plane together because they were having an affair. Random Hearts was directed by Sydney Pollack, who also worked with Harrison Ford on his previous film, Sabrina. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, (more)
Brian DePalma directed this taut thriller, set in Atlantic City, where a corrupt cop investigates a political assassination. Outside an Atlantic City arena-hotel-casino, a TV news reporter stands in a pre-hurricane storm to report on the heavyweight boxing match about to begin inside. A transition to the stadium interior focuses on Atlantic City homicide Detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage), a father with a wife and son, yet also a dishonest cop who maintains a mistress and cheerfully accepts bribes. DePalma's Steadicam follows Santoro on a fast-paced tour of the stadium as the laughing, yelling detective travels stairs and hallways, talks to a gal with a between-rounds placard, visits the dressing room of champ Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw), rides down an escalator to squeeze money from a small-time hood, enters the arena of 14,000 fight fans, talks on his phone with his girlfriend and wife, and sits ringside next to his lifelong buddy, Navy Cmdr. Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise). Behind Dunne, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani) is seated alongside billionaire casino owner Gilbert Powell (John Heard). As the fight gets underway, Dunne abandons his position protecting the defense chief to pursue a suspicious redhead. From his ringside vantage point, Santoro has a close view of the champ, curiously conscious despite taking a kayo punch. At that moment, an assassin fires at Kirkland. Santoro immediately concocts a good cover story for his pal (to explain why Dunne left his post protecting Kirkland). Just after the shooting, Dunne kills a Palestinian extremist, the apparent killer, and Santoro orders the stadium doors locked, hoping he can locate other suspects among the fleeing crowd. One such is Julia Costello (Carla Gugino), an injured woman in a blond wig who spoke with Kirkland seconds before the gunfire. After a video replay reveals the champ took a fall, going down to the floor from a punch that never touched him, Santoro becomes more curious and suspicious, comparing witness accounts, and he attempts to locate Julia, convinced she's the key to truth behind the assassination. As it all comes to a head, Santoro peels through successive layers of corruption, ultimately confronting himself in a self-examination of his own values. Filmed at Montreal's old Forum. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, (more)
A blowout Las Vegas bachelor party turns into a race against time when three hung-over groomsmen awaken after a night of drunken debauchery to find that the groom has gone missing, and attempt to get him to the alter in time for his wedding. In 48 hours, Doug is scheduled to walk down the aisle, effectively ending his reign as a rowdy bachelor. Realizing that this is their last blowout with their best friend, Doug's groomsmen organize a Sin City bachelor bash he'll never forget. The next morning, the groomsmen come to in their Caesar's Palace suite to find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby tucked away in the closet. Unfortunately, Doug is nowhere to be found. With no memory of the previous night's transgressions and precious little time to spare, the trio sets out in a hazy attempt to retrace their steps and discover exactly where things went wrong. Will they find Doug in time to get him to the wedding back in Los Angeles, or will his bride experience the sharp sting of disappointment when she walks down the aisle to discover that her future husband is nowhere to be found? Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Heather Graham star in a rambunctious comedy from Old School director Todd Phillips. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, (more)
An angel wonders if love can be Heaven on Earth in this family-themed romantic fantasy. Rev. Henry Biggs (Courtney B. Vance) is the pastor of a struggling Baptist church in a poor section of New York City. Biggs is devoted to serving his flock and his community, but things are not easy; membership is down, money is tight, the furnace is broken, and real estate mogul Joe Hamilton (Gregory Hines) wants to buy the property and put up condominiums. The strain is taking its toll on Biggs' marriage to his childhood sweetheart Julia (Whitney Houston), and in a moment of desperation, he prays to the Lord for help. The prayer is answered in the form of Dudley (Denzel Washington), an angel sent to earth to assist Biggs. The preacher doesn't believe that Dudley is a divine being, but he'll take any help he can get, while Julia, who thinks that Dudley is just another community volunteer, welcomes him into their home. However, Dudley is sidetracked in his earthly mission when he finds himself falling in love with Julia. Leading lady Whitney Houston takes the opportunity to sing several gospel numbers along the way. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, (more)
As visually stylish as it is graphically violent, this thriller directed by Luc Besson concerns Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age: her family lives in a slum and her abusive father works for drug dealers, cutting and storing dope. Mathilda doesn't much care for her parents, but she has a close bond with her four-year-old brother. One day, she returns from running an errand to discover that most of her family, including her brother, have been killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents, led by the psychotic Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Mathilda takes refuge in the apartment of her secretive neighbor, Leon (Jean Reno), who takes her in with a certain reluctance. She discovers that Leon is a professional assassin, working for Tony (Danny Aiello), a mob kingpin based in Little Italy. Wanting to avenge the death of her brother, Mathilda makes a deal with Leon to become his protégée in exchange for work as a domestic servant, hoping to learn the hitman's trade and take out the men who took her brother's life. However, an affection develops between Leon and Mathilda that changes his outlook on his life and career. Besson's first American film boasted a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman. Léon was originally released in the U.S. in 1994 as The Professional, with 26 minutes cut in response to audience preview tests. Those 26 minutes were restored in the director's preferred cut, released in 1996 in France as Léon: Version Intégrale and in the U.S. on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, (more)
- 2004
Ronnie (David Rees Snell) discovers that there is 7,000 dollars missing from the "Money Train" stash. He and Lem (Kenny Johnson) suspect Shane (Walton Goggins), but Vic (Michael Chiklis) doesn't believe it. Shane, meanwhile, decides to buy an engagement ring for Mara (Michele Hicks) from Taylor (RonReaco Lee), a fence. Julien (Michael Jace), desperate to have a child with his wife, visits a doctor about his sexual dysfunction. Dutch (Jay Karnes) takes Danny (Catherine Dent) out to look for the "cuddler" rapist, and later learns that an elderly woman was sexually assaulted and murdered just a few blocks away. A minor oversight by Claudette (CCH Pounder) endangers the lives of Trish (Nicki Micheaux) and Waylon (Gareth Williams), who are working undercover to bust a gang-related contract-murder business. Waylon's cover is blown, putting the cops in the precarious position of needing to alert Waylon not to go forward with the sting, without putting Trish in further jeopardy. Tommy (Matt Gerald) returns to the station to beg for his old job back. When neither Julien nor Danny seems enthusiastic about helping him, he takes drastic action. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
A talented young rock keyboardist allows his life to fall into the gutter after he loses both hands during a mugging. He is later fitted with special hand extensions, but these neither allow him to play music nor much of anything else. Despondent, he starts drinking heavily and soon finds himself a self-pitying homeless street bum in New York. His life starts improving after he encounters Anamika, a New Age girl who befriends him and introduces him to special friends, one a computer genius and the other, her landlady, a metal sculptor. Together with some assistance from his roommate, the three devise a marvelous set of hands for the boy, ones endowed with special qualities that allow to play music even better than before. Billing himself as Cyberstorm, the lad becomes a star. A hometown concert gives him a chance at revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, James Marshall, (more)
