Victor Love Movies

Summoned by Captain Lochley, Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koenig) attempts to bring the telepath crisis under control. Garibaldi's unexpected response to Bester's presence becomes a moot issue when he and Franklin are trapped by Byron's more violent disciples. This is one of those Babylon 5 episodes which asks far more questions than it answers. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Phoenix Rising" was originally telecast on April 1, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of corrupt police officers discover the hard way that crime really doesn't pay in this action drama. Divinci (James Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur) are two New York undercover cops with serious money problems: Rodriguez owes a huge gambling debt, while Divinci wants to retire to Hawaii but lacks the cash. To stretch their paychecks, the partners pose as drug dealers, using narcotics confiscated as evidence; they sell the dope, and after receiving payment, they kill the buyers in carefully arranged drive-by shootings, always collecting the drugs afterward so that they can be sold again. The men try to morally justify their actions by claiming that they only kill people who need to be taken off the street anyway. Divinci's girlfriend, an exotic dancer named Cynthia (Lela Rochon), helps set the cops up with their latest victim, but after they've made the transaction, Divinci and Rodriguez discover the tables have been turned -- the purchaser is actually an undercover DEA agent. The DEA man winds up dead, and Divinci and Rodriguez are assigned to investigate the killing. Needing a fall guy, they try to frame a homeless man for the murder, but before long, their web of deception begins to collapse like a house of cards. Gang Related was the final film completed by rapper-turned-actor Tupac Shakur; he himself was the victim of a still-unsolved shooting in Las Vegas 13 months before the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi adventure, an honest cop is given an assignment that will supposedly keep him out of trouble, but it soon lands him in a maelstrom of deadly danger. In the year 2150, the economic needs of most people on Earth and the surrounding galaxy are satisfied by on-line exchanges, but a sudden and dramatic wave of electronic crime creates a new demand for cash. As a result, the Federal Banking Ship USF Atlantic regularly ferries $40 billion in paper money from Earth to mining outposts on other planets. When policeman Raymond Stokes (Olivier Gruner) is framed by corrupt colleagues, he is forced to take a security assignment aboard the Atlantic, where Capt. Fenner (Bruce Weitz) and navigator Beth Sheffield (Alicia Coppola) do not go out of their way to make Stokes welcome. But what originally seemed like busy-work for Stokes turns out to be a life-and-death challenge, when a team of interstellar pirates attempts to board the Atlantic and steal their cargo, as a 600 million ton asteroid hurtles through space heading straight for the ship. Velocity Trap also stars Craig Wasson, Ken Olandt, Victor Love, and former child star Moosie Drier. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this bittersweet comedy drama, a man nearing the end of his life seeks closure with his family and friends, and he confronts the issues of the right to die. Nick Stark (Eric Roberts) is a successful architect who is openly gay. He was involved in a committed relationship with Brandon Theis (Gregory Harrison), a television director, until Nick discovered that he's HIV-positive. Nick's first question to Brandon is "You won't leave me, will you? I don't want to die alone." Brandon, however, doesn't have the emotional strength to deal with Nick's condition and soon moves on. Several years later, even though Nick has been mindful of his health, he begins to display symptoms of full-blown AIDS, most notably the brain lesions that indicate Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy, an AIDS-related illness that has already claimed several of his friends. Wanting to go out with his dignity intact, Nick decides to throw one last party, which will give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his friends and family while he's still lucid -- shortly after which he intends to take his own life with painkillers. Nick attempts to make peace with his mother and father (Lee Grant and George Segal), who had difficulty accepting their son's lifestyle, and he enjoys a last laugh with his close friends, until Brandon -- who is hardly welcomed by the group -- shows up. Appearing as Nick's friends and family are Margaret Cho, Bronson Pinchot, Bruce Davison, Sally Kellerman, Marlee Matlin, Roddy McDowall, and Dennis Christopher. Writer and director Randal Kleiser loosely based It's My Party on his own personal experiences when his longtime companion was diagnosed with AIDS and opted to take his own life before his symptoms became too severe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Freddie (Cree Summer) is visited by a man (Victor Love) identifying himself as her prison pen-pal Jamal. Finding out that Jamal desperately needs a job, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) turns over his janitorial duties to him--an act of generosity both Ron and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) regret when Whitley (Jasmine Guy) falls for the former convict. As it turns out, Jamal is a fraud in more ways than one...but this does not in any way, shape or form result in a reunion between Dwayne and Whitley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in Chicago, Heaven is a Playground is about an inner-city basketball coach and a young lawyer who set out to save a group of teen-aged boys from crime and drugs by giving them athletic scholarships and teaching them basketball. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Dorian Harewood stars as real-life Texas engineer Lenell Geter, who in 1982 was accused of armed robbery. Beyond the fact that both he and the suspect are African-American, Geter looks nothing at all like the actual robber; still, he is identified as the culprit in a police lineup. Despite the testimony of six character witnesses, all of whom were with Geter at the time of the robbery, he is sentenced to life imprisonment. He very likely would have remained in prison had not the CBS investigative series 60 Minutes told Geter's story to millions of viewers. The authorities refuse to acknowledge the possibility that they have erred, and attempt to block a re-opening of the case. Even Geter's court-appointed attorney (Dabney Coleman) is unsympathetic to his client's plight. But Geter's somewhat ingenuous faith in the American justice system is eventually rewarded, and he is finally set free. Guilty of Innocence was originally telecast February 3, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide