Bonz Malone Movies

The Original 50 Cent documents the crime-filled life of Kelvin Martin, known on the mean streets of Brooklyn as "50 Cent." He became one of the most infamous criminals during the first wave of crack cocaine that swept across New York. His reputation, cemented by a violent, bullet-ridden death, inspired Curtis Jackson who would become the successful rap performer known as 50 Cent. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Kamal Ahmed, formerly one-half of the prank phone-call duo the Jerky Boys, makes his directorial debut with God Has a Rap Sheet. A holding tank filled with nine ethnically and culturally diverse New Yorkers is shaken when one of them announces that he is God. His outlandish claim is eventually proven to be true when the Devil shows up to put his two cents into the proceedings. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

New York City may be the city that never sleeps, but that means some people have to stay awake all night to look after the folks whose days begin after the sun goes down; this made-for-premium-cable drama looks at a group of cabbies trying to get by while working the night shift. The Lady Luck Cab Company is a taxi service run by Box (Sarita Choudhury), who inherited the failing business from her late father and is struggling to keep it afloat against long economic odds as Lady Luck's drivers work long shifts in some of the Big Apple's less picturesque neighborhoods. Hershey (Danny Glover), one of Lady Luck's drivers, was once a professional boxer, but when his athletic career went south, so did his wife, and now he drives a hack while trying to romance George (Pam Grier), a good-looking waitress who likes Hershey, but is frustrated with his schedule, which rarely allows him a night off. This is bad news for Hershey, since Ralph (Paul Calderon), a regular at the diner where George works, has been making a play for her as well. Another driver, Salgado (Michelle Rodriguez), is a short-fused Latin American woman who is frequently the victim of sexual harassment from her customers, which makes her all the more difficult to be around. Jose (Bobby Cannavale) thinks he's hit the jackpot when he discovers a briefcase full of cash has been left in his cab, though he has reason to believe it's stolen. And Rasha (Sergej Trifunovic), a refugee from Bosnia, is still tormented by the violence that cost his family their lives, and has trouble concentrating on his driving, leading him into more than one auto accident. While the drivers deal with their individual dilemmas, all of them are suddenly wary of their customers, thanks to reports of a serial killer preying on New York's cab drivers. Produced for the Showtime premium cable network, 3 A.M. was screened at the Sundance Film Festival prior to its broadcast debut, where it earned an enthusiastic reception. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this screen adaptation of his acclaimed one-man show, actor, writer, and performance artist Danny Hoch explores the lives of a culturally diverse group of New Yorkers, often seen through the influence of hip-hop music. Hoch's characters include a kid in a wheelchair explaining the toll his mother's cocaine addiction has taken on him; a street vendor in the Bronx whose face-off with a cop is complicated when the policeman can't tell what race he is; an elderly Jewish woman who fears for the safety of her grandson, a social worker in an African-American community; a rap star discussing the shifting trends of hip-hop music; a Cuban man convinced that being on crutches hasn't hurt his dancing abilities; and Hoch as himself, explaining how he came to be cast on an episode of Seinfeld and why he walked off the show. One of the characters in Hoch's original show, a white kid from Iowa named Flip who wants to be a gangsta rapper, became the basis for the film Whiteboys, which Hoch starred in and wrote. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmmaker Marc Levin, known for his documentaries exploring prison life, drug addiction, and street gangs, won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival grand jury prize when he made his feature dramatic directorial debut with this downbeat prison drama about a black poet jailed on minor drug charges. At "Dodge City," a Washington, D.C., housing project, streetwise Ray Joshua (Saul Williams), a marijuana dealer who writes poetry, sees his drug connection gunned down, winds up busted as a murder suspect, and is also charged with possession. Incarcerated in a tough D.C. jail, Ray is caught between two rival gangs, Thug Life and the Union, when both compete for his membership, and he becomes friends with the Union's leader, Hopha (Vibe columnist Bonz Malone), and Lauren (Sonja Sohn), a volunteer who runs the prison's creative writing workshop. Prison yard fights between the rival gangs prompt a poem of such passion that Hopha decides to bring his connections into play to arrange for Ray's bail. Back in Dodge City, Ray learns Big Mike was blinded yet is still alive, and he joins Lauren in a poetry session. Real-life poets Williams and Sohn wrote their own material. This film was produced by Levin, New York nightclub owner Henri Kessler, and Prison Life magazine founder Richard Stratton, who spent eight years in prison on marijuana charges. Stratton encountered Williams during a 1996 poetry reading at New York's Nuyorican Poets Cafe. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi