Kellita Smith
Shante Smith reprises her role from Two Can Play at That Game for this sequel that finds the popular relationship expert who draws on her knowledge of the male psyche to help females accomplish their relationship goals. Vivica A. Fox, Jason George, and Jazsmin Lewis co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivica A. Fox, Jason George, (more)
A 21-year-old aspiring hip-hop star from the Bronx is forced to put his career on hold when a gang of local thugs threatens his life and he is forced to seek refuge with his estranged father in Puerto Rico in this musical drama from producer Jennifer Lopez. Rob (Omarion Grandberry) is a New York City rapper who has gotten into hot water in his hometown, and now must flee to Puerto Rico. Upon arriving at his father's home in the Caribbean commonwealth, Rob immediately forms a bond with his half-brother, Javi, who introduces his distant sibling to the seductive sounds of Reggaeton. Rob and Javi's outwardly divergent musical tastes ultimately blend to form a unique new brand of hip-hop-flavored reggae, and they soon begin to gain a loyal following that ultimately leads them both back to New York City. Yet despite Rob's growing popularity in the music industry, the gangsters back in the Bronx are still hell-bent on revenge, and willing to gun him down at the first chance they get. Is Rob's newfound status as a high-profile musical innovator enough to make him bulletproof, or could it be that he's more vulnerable than ever now that he's up on-stage for all the world to see? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omarion Grandberry, Zulay Henao, (more)
When two co-workers who can't see eye to eye in the office are unexpectedly forced to share a living space, their initial distain soon transforms into attraction in this lighthearted look at the romantic games people play from filmmaker Michael Whaley. Michael (Whaley) and Stacey (Torres) can barely get along at the office, much less tolerate each other as roommates - but when Michael and Stacey are forced to move in together, the snooping landlords and gossiping co-workers soon take a backseat to the undeniable affection that they begin feeling for one and other. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Whaley, Gina Torres, (more)
A handful of inner-city kids move up to the big time in this teen-centric musical. Xavier Smith (Bow Wow), known to his friends as X, is a teenager growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the late '70s. X and his buddies are the hotshot skaters at the Palisades Gardens, a neighborhood roller rink where local kids roll to the latest disco sounds, but X loses his status as king of the hill when the Palisades closes down. With no skating action close by, X and his friends head uptown to the Sweetwater Roller Rink, where they feel like country mice in the big city among the expert skate dancers and beautiful women. But skating means a lot to X -- with his widower father, Curtis (Chi McBride) going through a bad patch, skating gives him a sense of accomplishment and a belief in his own talent. So X and company keep heading uptown to Sweetwater, where they prepare to take on Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan) and his crew of the rink's best dancers for the upcoming Roller Jam Skate-Off. X befriends a young local girl named Tori (Jurnee Smolett) and finds a good reason to go uptown when he meets a pretty skater girl, Naomi (Meagan Good). Meanwhile, Tori's mother, Vivian (Kellita Smith) takes an interest in Curtis. Featuring a score of classic '70s R&B and disco, Roll Bounce was directed by Malcolm D. Lee, who enjoyed a breakthrough hit with 2002's Undercover Brother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bow Wow, Chi McBride, (more)
A multi-millionaire plans a scam that goes wrong in a great many ways in this comedy. Malcolm King (Anthony Anderson) is a wildly successful businessman who has gotten used to having things his own way. When King decides to divorce his wife, she's none too thrilled at the prospect and makes it clear she will make him pay a huge settlement in exchange for his freedom. King isn't keen on this idea, so he and his mistress hatch a scheme by which one of her friends (Jay Mohr) will "kidnap" King and demand a large portion of his fortune for his return, which will be kicked back to the businessman later. But King seriously underestimates the ineptitude of his would-be kidnapper -- no to mention how many other people want a piece of his fortune. King's Ransom also stars Regina Hall, Leila Arcieri, Charlie Murphy, and Donald Faison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, (more)
Blood may be thicker than water, but it doesn't hold a candle to hairspray, as we learn in this urban comedy. Angela (Kellita Smith) is a successful hairdresser who operates her own salon based in Los Angeles. One day, Angela gets an unexpected visit from her sister Peaches (Mo'Nique), who runs a beauty shop of her own in Baltimore. The family reunion turns out to not be as happy as Angela may have hoped -- Peaches is trying to stay a step ahead of IRS agents who want to collect 50,000 dollars in back taxes, while also avoiding Marcella (Gina Torres), a fellow hair stylist who wants to take over Peaches' shop. Despite their differences, Angela and Peaches join forces in hopes of finding a way to get the bill paid and take Marcella out of the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mo'nique, Kellita Smith, (more)
Based on the play Dearly Departed by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones (who also penned this screenplay), this new comedy from the director of Jason's Lyric looks at a family gathering after one of their clan dies of a stroke. In the midst of a sweltering summer, the Slocumb family convenes. They include Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith), the long-suffering, frustrated wife of philandering Junior (Anthony Anderson); there's also the Bible-spouting Marguerite (Loretta Devine), who prays to save her hard-living son Royce (Darius McCrary) from a life on welfare. Lucille (Vivica A. Fox) is the devoted family peacekeeper who is struggling with a money-grubbing funeral director, and her husband Ray Bud (L.L. Cool J) has major contempt for his family and wishes he were burying them instead. Kingdom Come also features Cedric the Entertainer as an intestinally challenged reverend and Whoopi Goldberg as the family matriarch. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, (more)
Get ready America, if you haven't had the chance to catch up with the hottest sitcom in the country, here's you chance. Presented in 1.33:1 full-frame and offering audio rendered in closed-captioned English Dolby Digital Surround with optional English and Spanish subtitles, this disc is sure to please fans of the Original King of Comedy. Extra features include audio commentary on the pilot episode by Bernie Mac, Larry Wilmore, and Ken Kwapis, and the A&E special Bernie Mac: TV's Family Man. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernie Mac, Kellita Smith, (more)
- 2001
Still investigating the murder of a stripper, Danny (Rick Schroder) boozily spends the night with the dead woman's co-worker Kristin (Jenna Gering), who is being harassed by an obsessed fan. Andy (Dennis Franz) chews out Danny when he shows up with liquor on his breath the next morning. Nonetheless, Danny has the presence of mind to let Lt. Rodriguez (Esai Morales) know that he plans to worm his way into the confidence of Kristin's boss, Joey Shulman (Greg Grunberg), in hopes of solving the murder. And on another front, Greg (Gordon Clapp) and Baldwin (Henry Simmons) go after a gunman who murdered two people by mistake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A commitment-phobic Los Angeles photographer gets more than he bargained for when he invites an unpredictable jazz singer to his father's retirement party in Detroit in this comedy of manners from first-time filmmaker Thom Steinhoff. Drew is a West-coast shutterbug who just doesn't see the point of being in a committed relationship, but when his father requests Drew's presence at his upcoming retirement party with the one stipulation that his freewheeling son bring a date to the big event, Drew puts in a call to his old Detroit flame, CeCe. When CeCe rejects Drew's invitation on the grounds that she is already attending the party with hotshot Detroit basketball star Marcus, the jealous Drew attempts to one-up his former sweetheart by inviting a beautiful Los Angeles jazz singer named Tatiana as his date. His plan to drive CeCe into a jealous rage goes awry, however, when Drew discovers that Tatiana is something of a loose cannon. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Winters, Nikki Crawford, (more)
Two women find themselves falling for the same man -- whom neither of them have ever met -- in this modern romantic comedy. After a professional setback in New York City and a falling out with her mother, Joi (Simbi Khali) decides to move back home to Los Angeles, where she is soon sharing an apartment with her close friend Monica (Kellita Smith). One night, while surfing the web, Joi logs on to a chat site for singles, and has an intriging virtual conversation with a man calling himself Marcus (Cress Williams). Joi begins chatting with Marcus on a regular basis and finds herself falling in love with him, but it seems Monica has also been enjoying some on-line romance with a man who sounds a lot like Marcus, leading to no small amount of confusion and anger among the friends. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Sean Penn wrote and directed this tale of loss, guilt, and revenge. The daughter of Freddy and Mary Gale (Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston) was killed by a drunk driver, John Booth (David Morse). The death of their child took a heavy toll on the Gales; their marriage broke up, and, while Mary has remarried and attempted to put her life back together, Freddy has become an embittered alcoholic, seething with directionless rage and searching for a purpose in life. Freddy intends to kill Booth as soon as he's released from prison, as he believes that jail was not a severe enough punishment for his daughter's death. But Freddy discovers that Booth is still wracked with guilt for his crime and can barely live with himself. He tells Booth that he has three days left to live; Booth tries to find solace in the arms of artist Jojo (Robin Wright), while Freddy continues to wallow in alcohol and self-pity at a strip club. The Crossing Guard also features an original song by Bruce Springsteen; Penn's previous directorial outing, The Indian Runner, was loosely based on a Springsteen song from his album Nebraska. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, David Morse, (more)
