Hill Harper Movies

Suffering from a back injury, Al (Ed O'Neill) enters the hospital for a "circular incision." Unfortunately, the doctors don't read so well, and Al ends up with a circumcision. Ordered to remain--er--sedate for a week, Al had trouble keeping himself under control...especially with all those nudie magazines in the household. Highlights in this episode include Marcy's (Amanda Bearse) mean-spirited "Circumcision Card." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peg (Katey Sagal) presents Al (Ed O'Neill) with what she regards as the perfect birthday present--a photograph of herself, barely clad and reclining sexily on a sofa. Somehow or other, the photo is enlarged to gargantuan proportions and ends up hanging across the street from Al's shoe store. Swallowing his masculine pride, Al prevails upon Marcy (Amanda Bearse) to organize a demonstration against the lurid photo, harnessing the stridency of Marcy's group Feminists Against Neanderthal Guys--or FANG for short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A new auto plant is slated to be built on the site of the Polk High School Football Field. Rather than stand by and watch as the site of his gridiron triumphs is bulldozed into oblivion, Al (Ed O'Neill) stages a protest. Meanwhile, Al's daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate), in her professional guise as The Verminator, tests out the new "Springtime in Baghdad" pesticide on Bud (David Faustino) and Buck--with some fascinating side effects (among them an emormous pair of male breasts). Appearing as Sascha is future Buffy the Vampire Slayer regular Julie Benz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released one year to the day after the 1995 Million Man March, in which a million African-American men marched peacefully in Washington, D.C. in a bid for greater unity and understanding, Spike Lee's Get On the Bus follows a group of black men who take a charter bus from Los Angeles to the rally in the nation's capital and watches as they interact and air their personal issues and concerns. George (Charles S. Dutton) is the organizer of the trip and de facto leader of the group. Evan Thomas (Thomas Jefferson Byrd) is a truck driver who travels to the march with his son (De'Aundre Bonds) chained to his belt by court order after the boy was arrested for petty theft. Kyle (Isaiah Washington) and Randall (Harry Lennix) are gay lovers who take no small amount of abuse from their fellow passengers. Gary (Roger Guenveur Smith) is the product of a mixed-race marriage who could pass for white but sees himself as black; he's also a cop, which does little to endear him to his peers. Flip (Andre Braugher) is an actor who seems more concerned with getting his next film role than the larger issues of the march. Jamal (Gabriel Casseus) is a good-natured young Muslim trying to lead a righteous life to make up for his violent past as a gang member. A film student (Hill Harper) is capturing the trip on videotape, and Jeremiah (Ossie Davis) sits in the back, reflecting on the struggles of African-Americans in the past and present. Financed by a private group of 15 black American men (among them Will Smith and Wesley Snipes), Get On the Bus speaks less of a single political goal than of the need for black men to set aside their differences to work for their common good. While the film falls short of openly criticizing Million Man March organizer Louis Farrakhan, it does present debate about Farrakhan's ideals and statements, ultimately coming to the conclusion that whoever brought this group together is less important than the fact that they came together in peace and brotherhood. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Low-rent, poorly-lit superhero action is the order of the day in this film from television director Kenneth Johnson -- who makes several references to his series Alien Nation throughout the course of the movie. NBA basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal stars as John Henry Irons, a weapons designer and metallurgical genius who is developing a new sonic weapon for the military with the help of Sparks (Annabeth Gish), a computer whiz. When an accident caused by unscrupulous superior Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) leaves Sparks paralyzed, Irons quits his job in disgust. It turns out later that Burke has begun mass-producing the weapon and selling it to terrorists and L.A. street gangs, so Irons and Sparks team up with Uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree), a junkyard artist, to create a suit of armor and a gadget-packed sledgehammer. Irons dons the suit and becomes known as the superhero Steel, who kicks criminal posterior all over the city with his impenetrable get-up and high-tech gizmos. Before long, Burke's comeuppance is in the offing. Although specific references to it were excised between the source material and script, the original DC Comics version of Steel was a spin-off of the Superman comics series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This bittersweet romantic comedy tosses a few screwball comedics into the path to true love. Impoverished, would-be novelist Lee Plenty (Christopher Scott Cherot) lives off his pals while hoping to score big some day soon. Then wealthy, beautiful Havilland Savage (Chenoa Maxwell) invites him to Washington, D.C., for a quiet New Year's Eve party at her affluent family's home -- where Lee becomes the focus of attention from every woman on the premises. Hav's grandmother (Betty Vaughn), however, foresees that Hav and Lee were destined for each other. Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The men of Alaye provide a glorious alternative for the savvy African American woman who appreciates men with heart and mind. Not only are Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Shermar Moore, and Genuwine very attractive men, but they also talk about their concerns and careers, what's shaped them and put them on the path they follow. These are men of wit and sophistication who have a lot to be proud of, as you'll see when you watch them be just their plain old sexy, desirable selves; positive men of ability and smart opinions on what it means to be a black man in America. ~ Leslie Birdwell, All Movie Guide

Denzel Washington and writer-director Spike Lee team for the third time with this contemporary basketball drama focusing on a promising athlete, the son of a convict-father. Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) has been in prison for six years when tough prison-warden Wyatt (Ned Beatty) tells him that he's getting a temporary parole with the promise of a commuted sentence. However, there's a trade-off -- Jake must talk his son, Jesus Shuttlesworth (NBA star Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks), the top-ranked high-school basketball player in the country, into signing with the governor's alma mater, Big State. A flashback makes it clear that Jesus' mother (Lonette McKee was accidentally killed by Jake during a violent family fight. After Jake went to prison, the resentful Jesus was left alone to raise his sister Mary (Zelda Harris). Now several colleges are offering Jesus scholarships, and montages satirize the manner in which young athletes are wooed by educators and coaches across the country. However, Jake will soon be back behind bars if he can't get Jesus to sign with Big State within the week. Meanwhile, the greed of other family members begins to surface. John Turturro is seen in a cameo as Coach Billy Sunday, and several real-life coaches can also be spotted in this movie. Music by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) with songs by Public Enemy. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Kwyn Bader debuts with this romantic comedy about finding the right woman at the wrong time. Theodorus (Hill Harper) has a knack for falling for "Jezebels," women who are already involved with someone else. His romantic misadventures begin in Kindergarten and continue with a platonic relationship with beautiful acting student Frances (Nicole Ari Parker), a fling with a teddy bear-obsessed lass, and a passionate crush on fledgling poet and very married Samantha (Laurel Holloman). Loving Jezebel was screened at the 1999 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this suspense drama, a college student finds himself immersed in forces beyond his control. Born and raised in a working-class Connecticut community, Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) made it into an Ivy League college, where he's done quite well; his dream is to be accepted into Harvard Law School, but he knows that it will take more than a good report card to beat out the competition. When an upper-crust secret society called the Skulls asks Luke to join, he eagerly accepts, thinking that the club's connections will help him gain acceptance to Harvard. He enjoys the Skulls' luxurious lifestyle, but when his roommate, a journalism student, dies of an apparent suicide, he's convinced that something is wrong. The deeper Luke digs into the secrets of the Skulls, the more he's convinced that his friend's death was no suicide and that he's put himself in more danger than he imagined. The Skulls was the first starring vehicle for Joshua Jackson, who gained fame on the TV series Dawson's Creek; the supporting cast includes Paul Walker, Craig T. Nelson, Hill Harper, and William L. Petersen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A good-old-boy small-town sheriff in a New Orleans parish happens upon a murder case that threatens to end his career in Behind the Badge, the embattled second feature of writer/director Robby Henson (Pharaoh's Army). Billy Bob Thornton stars as Darl, a divorced lawman first spotted sleeping in his truck outside his favorite bar. Darl gets a call about a truck accident, and happily hands out shoes from the ditched tractor-trailer to win over the locals for his re-election. But then the body of a beautiful woman is found in the mud near the wrecked truck. The "woman" turns out to be a transsexual with a .22 slug in her back. Prejudice reigns in the small community, and no one seems to be taking the murder too seriously. Local politicians, including a powerful judge (William Devane), are focused on the upcoming election, and are also angling to build a casino in town, and so they want to keep the sordid murder quiet. The victim's wife, Scarlet (Patricia Arquette), a New Orleans stripper, shows up. Despite Darl's own prejudices, he finds himself attracted to Scarlet, and starts to look into the case. Soon he learns that his investigation and his big mouth have cost him his slot on the ticket. When he presses on, he finds himself jailed on a trumped-up statutory rape charge. Struggling with his own family history of disgrace, Darl considers making a deal with the local bigwigs in order to keep his job. But when he learns that Scarlet is in danger, he's forced into action. Sela Ward and Jena Malone also star. Behind the Badge was heading for theatrical distribution before production company Propaganda Films went bankrupt. The film was unable to find a new distributor and premiered on Starz cable on September 7, 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

No sooner had actor Joe Pantoliano's character literally lost his head as mobster Ralph Cifaretto on the HBO crime series The Sopranos than he switched to the "right" side of the law on the CBS weekly The Handler. Pantoliano was cast as veteran FBI agent Joe Renato, who was placed in charge of a group of rookie undercover agents operating in L.A. Each of Renato's chameleon charges was a master of disguise and deception, ideally suited for the various FBI stings to which they assigned -- but still not yet dry behind the years insofar as surviving deadly situations. Featured in the cast was another Sopranos expatriate, Lola Glaudini, as eager young agent Heather, Anna Belknap as Lily, Ken Weiler as Roy, Hill Harper as Darnell, and Tanya Wright as Marcy. The Handler debuted September 26, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide