Darris Love Movies
To save his son from ruthless gangsters, a streetwise ex-con finds himself coerced into performing a series of crimes in this gritty thriller. Waist Deep features Tyrese Gibson as O2, a young father and recent parolee whose life on the outside is upended when his young son Junior is taken hostage after an auto-theft gone wrong. After learning that his boy is in the hands of a mob boss named Meat (The Game), O2 is forced to break the law once again to satisfy his demands, and teams up with Coco (Meagan Good), a hooker with ties to Meat, to get into the gangster's inner sanctum and save his son. Waist Deep marked the acting debut of rapper The Game. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrese Gibson, Meagan Good, (more)
Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee makes the leap from the big screen to the small screen for this Showtime drama concerning the battle waged between black, white, an Asian gangs for control of the San Francisco streets. A modern-day melting pot that has become home to some of the vicious street-gangs in the country, San Francisco is a city teeming with racial tension. When each gang lays claim to the streets in a desperate bid to establish their turf, the simmering tensions soon boil to the surface in a violent eruption of murder and chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Crowley, Ken Leung, (more)
- 2001
Despite their estrangement from Angel (David Boreanaz), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and Gunn (J. August Richards) work on the same case as their boss. It seems a ring of renegade zombie cops is cracking down on street crime -- and even innocent street people -- using methods more than a little reminiscent of the real-life Rodney King case. Cordy and the boys learn of this from one of Gunn's old crew, who don't hide their displeasure that Gunn seems to have forsaken them to work with Angel Investigations. As Gunn and company team up with homeless-shelter manager Anne Steele (Julia Lee) (see "Blood Money") to protect her young charges from the violent pigs, Angel also becomes aware of the brutality. He works behind the scenes with Detective Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Rohm) to determine the source of the undead law-enforcement officials, eventually locating a police captain with a taste for voodoo and an obsession with law and order at any cost. After mortally wounding Wesley with a handgun, the zombies close in on the gang and the kids they're protecting. But just in time, Angel manages to undo the police captain's spell, stopping the cop monsters in their tracks. Angel has saved his former co-workers, and they don't even know it. Originally broadcast February 13, 2001, on the WB network, "The Thin Dead Line" marked season two, episode 14 of the supernatural comedy drama. In a brief subplot at the start of the episode, a woman named Francine Sharp (Marie Chambers) turns to Cordy and the gang for help removing a demonic third eye that has sprouted on the back of her daughter's head. This case will resurface in the next two episodes, "Reprise" and "Epiphany." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) is transported involuntarily to the unfriendly home dimension of the Host (Andy Hallett) in this first installment of a four-episode Angel season finale. When a monstrous Drokken crashes through a portal at the Caritas karaoke bar, the Host turns to Angel (David Boreanaz) for help in tracking it down. Evasive about the creature's origins, the Host is found out when the gang inadvertently open up another portal through which steps Landokmar of the Deathwok Clan (Brody Hutzler), a warrior who turns out to be the Host's cousin. It seems the Host grew up in a repressive medieval dimension in which music did not exist; he escaped to Los Angeles a mere five years ago, shaming his family back home. Landok helps the gang track the Drokken, which Angel kills, earning the other dimensional warrior's respect. Along the way, the group learns that a librarian and physics student nicknamed Fred (Amy Acker) disappeared five years earlier through a portal similar to the one used by Landok and the Drokken. When Wesley (Alexis Denisof) and the others use a magic tome to open a portal so the wounded Landok can return home for treatment, Cordy gets sucked through inadvertently. Originally broadcast May 1, 2001, on the WB network, "Belonging" marked season two, episode 19 of the supernatural comedy drama. The saga continues in "Over the Rainbow." Amy Acker, who guest stars briefly in this episode and more extensively in the next three, would become a regular cast member in season three. The formerly nameless Host is here revealed to prefer the moniker Loren. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
A normal kid growing up in a bad neighborhood is drawn into a life of crime in this mock-documentary, which purports to be the videotaped document of a 13-year-old boy from Watts who grabs a camera while his friends carjack a group of tourists and begins taping what is going on around him. Kris (Trivell) is the son of a single mother (Sonja Marie) who is strong and caring, but is overworked and isn't able to keep a close watch over her son. Kris falls in with Alonzo (Darris Love), an older teenager who runs with a gang that deals drugs and dabbles in armed robbery. As Kris begins to develop a taste for the criminal lifestyle, Cyril (Darontay McLendon), an older member of the gang, is sprung from jail and returns to the streets. Alonzo may be a junior-league gangbanger, but Cyril is the real thing, and as Kris becomes a full-fledged member of the gang, under Cyril's tutelage he and his friends advance from dope deals and petty theft to drive-by shootings and worse. Director Adam Ripp and screenwriter Stephan Wolfson based their screenplay on extensive interviews with members of L.A. street gangs, their relatives, and L.A.P.D. officers who've worked with gangs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trivell
- 2001
Season eight of NYPD Blue begins by picking up where season seven left off. Det. Jill Kirkendall is still missing in action, having slipped through the fingers of the IAB after the arrest of her drug-trafficking ex-husband, Don. Former police lawyer Leo Cohen (Michael B. Silver), now in private practice, endeavors to defend the other members of the 15th precinct during the IAB's probe of their "complicity" in the Kirkendall case -- but first, Det. Diane Russell (Kim Delaney) must put her life on the line to locate Don Kirkendall's partner in crime, corrupt cop Denby. And Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) tensely awaits the results of his son Theo's bone-marrow tests. In new developments, a suspect in a multiple murder begs the detectives to help him retrieve his daughter, whom he left as collateral with his drug dealer; also, Andy's troubled partner, Danny Sorenson (Rick Schroder), tries to get back together with Diane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Sally Field makes the first of several appearances in the Emmy-winning role of Maggie Wyczenski, the bipolar mother of ER nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney). Off her medication, a hyper Maggie tries to pay a visit to Abby -- who refuses to see her. Meanwhile, Kovac (Goran Visnjic) looks into a suspected case of child abuse. In a rush to begin her vacation, Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) makes a serious mistake during an operation. And Benton (Eriq La Salle), grieving over his murdered nephew, takes out his rage on Malucci (Erik Palladino) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set in the institutionally segregated New Orleans of 1965, the made-for-cable Passing Glory is the story of black priest Father Joseph Verrett (Andre Braugher) and his efforts to arrange the first integrated high-school basketball game in the city's history. Against the wishes of trepid white parish leader Father Robert Grant (Rip Torn), Fr. Verrett encourages the team members of the all-black -- and undefeated -- St. Augustine High School basketball team to prepare to play the equally successful all-white team of Jesuit Prep. Throughout it all, Fr. Verrett must learn to curb his own impatience over the racial status quo, and to keep his own faith afloat. Although some of the scenes are drawn in broad, unsubtle strokes -- especially those involving the bigoted father of Jesuit Prep's best player -- the film is thoroughly credible, right down to the last-second winning basket. Earning extra points for having its heart in the right place, Passing Glory made its TNT cable network bow on February 21, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andre Braugher, Rip Torn, (more)
- 1999
On the night before Halloween, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and friends attend a costume party at the Alpha Delta house. Oz (Seth Green) helps prepare the sound system, subsequently cutting himself and dripping blood onto an occult symbol a frat brother is painting on the floor. Unbeknownst to everyone, the symbol summons the fear demon Gachnar, who forces everyone to face their fears. As Buffy, still hung up on Parker (Adam Kaufman), fears being alone, Oz fears the monster within himself. Meanwhile, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) fears she cannot control her magic, and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) fears his friends will forget about him. His may be the most well-founded worry, as no one tells him about the party and he (almost) stays home alone to watch Phantasm instead. This is also the first time that Buffy actually notices the Initiative Commandos -- see "The Initiative" -- but mistakes them for costumed students. ~ All Movie Guide
