Tatyana Ali Movies

Internationally acclaimed director and Japanese media phenomenon Takeshi Kitano follows up his well-regarded Kikujiro with this straight-ahead gangster saga with a cross-cultural twist. The film focuses on Yamamoto (Kitano), a yakuza forced out of the country when a gang war all but wipes out his clan. Armed with a fake credit card, a forged passport, and a bag of money, he journeys to the strange and foreign land of Los Angeles to join his half-brother Ken (Claude Maki), who works as a low-rent street tough alongside fast-talking hustler Denny (Omar Epps). With brutal efficiency, the poker-faced Yamamoto starts staking out turf and organizing Ken's mob into one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the city. As his gang grows in number and power, he is joined by Kato (Kitano regular Susumu Terajima), his former lieutenant from Japan, who entreats Little Tokyo's pathological crime boss Shirase (Masaya Kato) to join the group. Yamamoto seems unstoppable until his gang runs afoul of the Mafia. Soon, all that he built quickly and bloodily starts to unravel as every member in his gang is marked for death. This film was screened at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

When a wise teacher takes eight troubled, aimless kids on a re-creation of a wagon train journey along the Oregon trail, the youths learn important lessons from the past while enduring the struggles and strife suffered by the pioneers who settled the West. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Although the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was planned as the series' last year on the air, the producers managed to forge a new contract with ABC assuring that Will Smith (as teenager Will Smith) and his co-stars would be reporting to duty for season five. The basic "culture clash" premise with streetwise Philadelphia native Will Smith moving in with his wealthy relatives, the Banks family in Bel-Air, CA, was still in place, but a few changes were made for the series' fifth go-round. Gone are two holdovers from Will's Philadelphia days, his buddy Jazz (played by actor Smith's real-life musical partner Jeff Townes) and his off-and-on girlfriend Jackie (Tyra Banks); the latter character is more or less replaced by Will's new heartthrob Lisa (Nia Long), who almost -- but not quite -- marched down the matrimonial aisle with our hero at season's end. In another development, Will's cousin Ashley Banks (Tatyana M. Ali) launches a career as a singer with Will as her manager; and the baby of the Banks family, little Nicholas (Ross Bagley), turns five years old -- even though he had been "born" only a year and a half before! Highlights of season five include the ever-growing confidence of Will's prissy cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) in the romance department; an effort by Carlton, Ashley, and their sister Hilary (Karyn Parsons) to sneak a peak at their father Philip's (James Avery) will; and a chilling episode in which Will is shot and wounded by a would-be robber. And, in keeping with the precedent established in season four, season five of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is top-heavy with guest stars. This year's celebrity roster includes the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Don Cornelius, Jay Leno, Pat Morita, Ken Griffey Jr., John Amos, Isaac Hayes, Robin Givens, and Sherman Hemsley...as George Jefferson! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The producers of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air weren't about to tinker with a successful format as the series entered its third season. Although West Philadelphia teenager Will Smith (played, of course, by Will Smith) has been living with his wealthy relatives in Bel-Air for three years now, he still hasn't lost his streetwise flippancy, though he does begin evincing signs of burgeoning maturity and responsibility. In the same fashion, Will's host, the Banks family, continues putting on airs and currying favor with the Bel-Air elite, though they generally get their heads out of the clouds and return to earth at the end of each episode. The most signifcant change from seasons past is the pregnancy of Will's Aunt Vivian, a plot development created to accommodate the real-life pregnancy of actress Janet Hubert-Whitten. By the end of season three, Vivian has given birth to a son named Nicholas -- whereupon she virtually disappears from view, reportedly because of creative differences between Janet Hubert-Whitten and Will Smith.
The actress left the show at the end of the year and would be replaced by Daphne Reed Maxwell for the 1994-1995 season. In this season's opener, Will returns from a summer visit to his mom in West Philly with a new haircut and flamboyant wardrobe that appalls his stuffy lawyer uncle Philip Banks (James Avery), leading to the first of several obligatory "Let's stop arguing and compromise" moments. Later highlights included Philip and Vivian's not-so-sentimental journey to their old neighborhood, which had been all but levelled during the L.A. riots; the matriculation of the Banks' youngest daughter Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) into the newly co-ed Bel-Air Prep School; older daughter Hilary's (Karyn Parsons) new job as a TV weather girl; former Jeffersons star Sherman Hemsley's appearance as Judge Carl Robertson, against whom Philip Banks would enter into a bitterly fought political battle; another guest-star turn, this one by no less than Oprah Winfrey; and the ongoing romantic tribulations of Will's prissy, preppy cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro). In one of the season's final episodes, Will gets the opportunity to perform at a comedy club -- where among the other participants is future sitcom leading man D.L. Hughley. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air enjoyed its highest-ever ratings during season three, ending up the 16th most watched program on network television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rap star Will Smith plays West Philadelphia teenager Will Smith (!) as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air launches its first season. Worried that the family's ghetto neighborhood is getting too dangerous for her son, Will's mom packs him up and ships him out to his rich relatives, the Banks family, in ritzy Bel-Air, CA. In the first few episodes, Will's irreverent, streetwise attitude rubs his new family the wrong way, just as their snooty airs drive him crazy; but before long, everyone likes everyone else, and it is clear that the series is in for the long haul. Most of season one is devoted to establishing the characters of the Banks clan: Wealthy, snobbish attorney Philip Banks (James Avery); his down-to-earth wife Vivian (Janet Hubert-Whitten); their nerdish, preppy son Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro); their spoiled-brat older daughter Hilary (Karyn Parsons); and their smart-mouthed younger daughter Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali). Viewing the entire culture-clash spectacle with haughty disdain (and commenting on the same with hilarious pithy putdowns) is the Banks' "veddy" proper butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell). Occasionally, Will's jive-talking buddy Jazz (played by Will Smith's real-life musical partner Jeff Townes) would pop into the Banks mansion. Among the highlights of season one are a guest appearance by future award-winning actor Don Cheadle as Will's "homey" Ice Tray; Jasmine Guy in another guest-star turn as a scholarship student who briefly falls for Will; Queen Latifah as a flamboyant actress who hires Hilary as an assistant but only under certain "conditions;" the sudden realization when Will and Carlton are wrongly arrested that even in Bel-Air some people judge others by the color of their skin instead of the content of their character; and a wild family Christmas party in which former President Ronald Reagan (played by impressionist John Roarke) makes an extended cameo appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) is quite fond of her classmate Clarence (Michael A. Moran), and the feeling is mutual. Unfortunately, Clarence caves into peer pressure from his male friends and begins harrassing Rudy, whereupon she and her friends retaliate in kind. The situation soon gets nasty, culminating with Clarence getting pummelled by Rudy--and it is at this point that the kids' teacher Mrs. McGee (Elaine Stritch) force-feeds them a crash course in Etiquette! Featured in the cast is Tatyana Ali, who later appeared as Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The lowbrow side of higher education returns to the screen in this purposefully tasteless comedy brought to you by the folks at National Lampoon. It's a few days before Christmas vacation, and a mood of giddy enthusiasm is in the air at a coed college dormitory. However, one of the students, a freshman, is despondent over his lack of success with the ladies during his first term at school. His older brother decides the lad needs to lose his virginity before he can make any real progress with his classmates, and hires a prostitute named Dominique (Boti Bliss) to give his brother some experience in the ways of physical love. However, it turns out that more than one Dominique is on her way to the dorm -- a French foreign-exchange student with the same name and almost no working knowledge of the English language (Marie Noelle Marquis) also shows up, and much confusion and comic hijinks ensue. Shot under the title Dorm Day Crazy, National Lampoon Presents: Dorm Daze was produced independently, but was later picked up by the National Lampoon organization, who in turn arranged a distribution deal for the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this atmospheric horror outing, an abandoned opera house has been donated to a high school, and theater instructor Ellen Gibby (Margot Kidder) organizes a team of student volunteers to restore the hall so it can be used for upcoming drama projects. However, the old theater holds disturbing memories for Kate (Sarah Lassez); her mother was a classical vocalist who was murdered 15 years ago in the opera house's dressing room after a performance of Pagliacci, appropriately enough by a stranger wearing the clown's costume. Since then, Kate has been haunted in her sleeping and waking hours by visions of the murder, and as Kate and her friends George (James Duval) and Monica (Tatyana Ali) work to bring the music hall back to its former glory, they find themselves stalked by the same murderous clown who killed Kate's mother. The Clown at Midnight also stars Christopher Plummer and Melissa Galianos. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Amidst claims that the African-American family unit is slowly deteriorating, filmmaker Leslie Small sets out to explore how the role of black women in the family has evolved as the population of black males continues to diminish. Inspired by the musical stage play of the same name, Small's film follows three women as they battle temptation and contend with their personal demons while waging a valiant battle to maintain happy, healthy relationships. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A true-life story of a basketball team who broke down barriers while racking up victories is the basis for this sports drama. Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) was a high school and college basketball star who, after six years of working with high school teams, became the head coach at Texas Western University in 1962. At that time, Texas Western's basketball program was not well respected, but Haskins was determined to change that, and in 1966 Haskins assembled what he was certain was a winning team. However, Haskins' starting lineup was comprised entirely of African-American athletes at a time when racially integrated teams were still a novelty in the South and West. Despite generating a firestorm of controversy, Haskins and his players showed they could succeed where it counted -- on the court. In post-season play Haskins and the Texas Western team found themselves competing for the NCAA championship against the University of Kentucky's all-white team, lead by legendary coach Adolph Rupp (Jon Voight). Glory Road also stars Derek Luke, Alphonso McAuley, Mehcad Brooks, Al Shearer, Damaine Radcliff, Sam Jones III, and Schin S. Kerr as members of Haskins' winning team. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide