Danny Glover

Roland Emmerich delivers another large-scale disaster picture with 2012, a Sony Pictures Entertainment production detailing the year when many ancient scribes predicted that the world would end, with John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, and Oliver Platt filling out the cast. The director co-wrote the script with his 10,000 B.C. writer/composer Harald Kloser. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Bill Duke directs this quirky film adaptation of Chester Himes' crime novel -- a heavily plotted gangster tale with a sweet love story hidden underneath. The film begins in Natchez, Mississippi in 1956. During a police shoot-out with the mob leader Slim's (Badja Djola) gang, Slim's moll Imabelle (Robin Givens) takes off with a cadre of stolen gold. As a result, Imabelle is chased by Slim's mob from Mississippi to New York. By the time she reaches Harlem, she is broke and has to figure out a way to ditch the trunk full of gold. She finds herself at the annual Undertaker's Ball, where she sees the big and dumb Jackson (Forest Whitaker), a bumbling undertaker's assistant. She spots Jackson as a mark that she can use as a cover and latches onto him immediately. She moves in with him to hide out, but Imabelle becomes taken with his innocence. For his part, Jackson falls head over heels in love with her. But the Mississippi mob catches up with her and takes her away. Jackson calls in his street-wise brother Goldy (Gregory Hines) to help him rescue Imabelle. Jackson fears that Imabelle has been kidnapped. But Goldy knows better -- he still agrees to help him but Goldy wants the gold for himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this concert staged on what would have been reggae legend Bob Marley's sixtieth birthday, a whole host of musicians gather in historic Meskel Square of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a twelve hour concert presented to highlight Marley's timeless message of universal unity and understanding. In addition to capturing many of the performances on camera, the filmmakers also turn their attentions to the UNICEF-sponsored symposia and numerous children's workshops that were conducted during the week-long "Africa Unite" celebration, and addressing such crucial issues as human rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, conflict transformation, and youth and women's empowerment. Contributors include Danny Glover, Lauryn Hill, Rita Marley, and many of the Marley children. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Made especially for the HBO cable network, this well-wrought feature is comprised of three short stories by three noted black American authors, each of which is directed by a respected black director. The first tale, Long Black Song, was written by Richard Wright and is set in Alabama, 1938. It centers on a bored farmer's wife (Tina Lifford) who dallies with a handsome white peddler (Tate Donovan) while her husband (Danny Glover) takes the crops to market. The second story, The Boy Who Painted Christ Black, was written by John Henrik Clarke and takes place in Georgia ten years after the first vignette. It centers on a community-wide conflict created when a student attending a segregated high school paints a portrait of a black Jesus and submits it to a state-wide art contest designed to foster ethnic pride. At first, principal George Du Vaul (Wesley Snipes) is taken aback by the picture, but after much contemplation, he decides to put his career on the line and enter it. Maya Angelou penned the third story, The Reunion. It takes place in Chicago, 1958, and centers on a jazz singer (Lorraine Toussaint) who finds herself reliving painful childhood memories of growing up a servant's daughter in a wealthy white home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In honor of Martin Luther King's birthday, PBS' Wonderworks presentation of January 14, 1985 was And the Children Shall Lead. Set in Mississippi in 1964, the 60-minute drama recreates the black voter registration drive of that year. The events are seen through the eyes of a young black girl, played by Pam Polito. Danny Glover and Denise Nicholas co-star as Polito's parents, who are encouraged to participate in local civil rights activities when the Freedom Riders come to town. Andrew Prine plays the requisite redneck white sheriff. Following the original telecast of And the Children Shall Lead, PBS offered a similarly themed adult drama, Go Tell it on the Mountain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images collaborated on this all computer-animated comedy-adventure about the ant angst of misfit worker ant, Z (voice of Woody Allen), who feels trapped by the conformist confines of his totalitarian ant civilization and eventually sets forth in search of Insectopia. After DreamWorks began animating Prince of Egypt June 1, 1995, the company launched Antz in Palo Alto a year later (5/20/96), the same month the DreamWorks/PDI partnership was announced. The screenplay by Chris and Paul Weitz and Todd Alcott has uncredited input by Woody Allen (who matched dialogue to fit his usual style of verbal delivery). The story suggests the possible influence of Yevgeny Zamatin's classic novel We (1923) and Ayn Rand's similar-themed Anthem (1936), filmed in the early '70s in a rarely seen unauthorized film adaptation (which Rand never allowed to be shown commercially). Following the 1995 Toy Story (1995), Antz is the second fully computer-animated feature, preceding the release of Disney's all-CGI A Bug's Life by seven weeks. Antz begins with worker ant Z discussing his feelings of insignificance with a shrink (voice of Paul Mazursky) before heading off to his tunnel-digging job, work supervised by General Mandible (Gene Hackman) and Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken). Mandible has big dreams of conquest, and he convinces the Queen (Anne Bancroft) an attack is necessary to prevent a termite invasion. Her daughter is Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who's not overly enchanted by her engagement to Mandible. The Princess goes slumming, visiting the bar where Z hangs out with his friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone). To the tune of "Guantanamera," Bala dances with Z -- in a scene with allusions to the dance in Pulp Fiction (1994). Entranced by the encounter, Z convinces Weaver to swap places, so a military parade will allow him to see Bala in the reviewing stand. Befriended by soldier ant Barbatus (Danny Glover) during the parade, Z nervously realizes he's actually marching into battle. Attacked by termites, the troops experience horrors highly reminiscent of the Starship Troopers (1997) bug battles. The dying Barbatus tells Z, "Don't follow orders all your life." As the only survivor of the slaughter, Z returns home a war hero. Threatened by Mandible, Bala and Z are thrown together in a journey into the outside world, and they travel toward the legendary Insectopia. Major city newspaper critics were almost unanimous in their praise of Antz. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Abderrahmane Sissako wrote and directed this offbeat, satiric comedy which imagines how the powers that be in the West might be forced to answer for the damage they've done in the Third World. Mele (Aissa Maiga) is an attractive Malian lounge singer married to Chaka (Tiecoura Traore), though their relationship is on the verge of collapse. In their eyes, the African continent isn't in much better shape than their marriage, and one day a makeshift courtroom appears in the courtyard near their shabby home. In the courtyard, a handful of powerful international organizations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are put on trial for their crippling effect on the African economy; as the evidence is presented which explains how these "friends" of Africa have saddled the nations with debts they can never repay, witnesses explain how these actions impact the daily lives of ordinary citizens, who pass through the trial as they go on with their days. Executive producer Danny Glover makes a cameo appearance in a "Cowboys and Indians" sequence which supposedly takes place in Timbuktu. Bamako (aka The Court) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, Bat 21 follows the harrowing adventures of Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman), whose plane is shot down over enemy territory while on reconnaissance behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Because Hambleton used to call the shots from behind a desk, he lacks combat survival experience and is forced to adapt while the enemy surrounds him on all sides. As the Air Force plans a risky rescue mission, he is befriended by pilot Bartholomew Clark (Danny Glover), who can't land to pick up Hambleton due to the enemy activity but keeps him company by radio. Hambleton's plight takes a turn for the worse once the brass decide to execute an intensive bombing mission in the area, whether or not they can rescue Hambleton. The colonel, meanwhile, confronted for the first time by the horrors of war, begins to reassess his role in the bloodshed. An overlooked film at the time of its release, Bat 21 is a smaller war picture that focuses on an ordinary man in an excruciating situation, and how it ultimately changes his life. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Jonathan Demme directed this adaptation of Toni Morrison's fact-based fifth novel (winner of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize), written in an experimental stream-of-consciousness flow and capturing the impact and aftermath of slavery on the human soul. In 1873, middle-aged Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives near Cincinnati with her teenage daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). She gets a surprise visit from her old friend Paul D (Danny Glover), whom she knew when they were both slaves on the Kentucky plantation Sweet Home. Paul D moves in, and a number of mysteries are introduced, including Sethe's memories of her dead older daughter and the fact that Sethe has been abandoned by her husband, two sons, and Denver's grandmother, Baby Suggs (Beah Richards). When a feral, insect-covered, stuttering teenager (Thandie Newton) turns up at Sethe's house, she is nursed back to health by Denver and called "Beloved." Violent flashbacks begin to explore shocking episodes from Sethe's past. (The film is rated R "for violent images, sexuality and nudity.") Hints of the supernatural surface as the question arises -- could Beloved be Sethe's older daughter, back from the dead? This film was a pet project of producer-star Oprah Winfrey, who spent over a decade bringing this work to the screen after she bought the film rights in 1987. With titles fashioned by leading poster/titles designer Pablo Ferro and music by Rachel Portman, director Demme filmed in a variety of locations, including Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Civic Center, Lancaster's Landis Valley Museum), Maryland (Fair Hill Natural Resources Area), and Delaware (Old New Castle). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Angela Bassett and Danny Glover star in this gripping film adaptation of Athol Fugard's renowned play. Though written during the apex of apartheid and first staged in 1970, director John Berry downplays the work's historical background and strips the play of its poetic symbolism, lending the film a raw, universal quality. The film opens with stock footage of shantytowns being flattened by bulldozers followed by the two titular characters carrying what they can on their backs and heads. Recalling the tortured human bonds seen in such productions as Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? and Waiting for Godot, Boesman (Glover) and Lena (Bassett) are a couple united by pain and grief. Stopping at some god-forsaken roadside wasteland for the night, Lena spends much of the first half of the film heaping verbal abuse on her husband, while Boesman doggedly tries to jerry-rig some shelter to protect against the cold of the night. This dynamic changes went an elderly African tribesman shows up. Boesman scorns the old man, while Lena invites him to sit at their campfire. This film, which was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, was the last film that noted director John Berry made before his death on November 29, 1999. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Actor Danny Glover narrates this classic Southern tale of the spunky Brer Rabbit as he must figure out a way to escape the clutches of the no-mannered Tar Baby and Brer Fox. This animated tale is part of the series titled "We All Have Tales." ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

A mix of new interviews with old footage and recordings, this documentary, narrated by Danny Glover, highlights legendary Mississippi blues guitarist-singer Robert Johnson (1911-38). Kevin Moore (who records as Keb Mo) appears as Johnson in narrated reenactment sequences, and producer Don Law is portrayed by Don Law Jr. With both color and black-and-white footage, the film traces the brief but extremely influential career of this near-mythic figure, generally regarded as the king of the Delta blues. Shown at the 1997 Boston Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A former baseball player (Alan Arkin) has descended into alcoholism, and meets up with a has-been entertainer (Carol Burnett) when both spot a briefcase containing secret documents. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide