Valarie Pettiford Movies

Angela Bassett and Paula Patton headline this comedy about two vastly divergent African-American families who clash during a lavish weekend wedding at Martha's Vineyard. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two young performers have to deal with racial stereotyping along with the countless other stumbling blocks to establishing a successful career in this independent comedy from director Tom Huang. Lester Niles (Anthony Montgomery) is a struggling stand-up comic who deals in dry observational humor. However, Lester is also African-American, and audiences and comedy club bookers are often puzzled about why his material isn't more "black," while his manager and half-brother Kenny (Joe Torry) urges him to sound more like Martin Lawrence. Adding to his frustrations, Kenny is in love with Nira (Sheetal Sheth), who clearly likes him but doesn't take him seriously as a boyfriend. Lester is good friends with Tony Chang (Tom Huang), an aspiring actor who is Asian-American and sick of getting auditions for roles as sushi chefs, delivery boys or exchange students. Tony's parents are tired of his career getting nowhere, his older sister Donna (Tamlyn Tomita) is a successful businesswoman who thinks Tony should quit show biz for a desk job, and his younger brother Danny (Dion Basco) is a would-be rapper and street racer. And Tony has his own romantic problems, as he's torn between Katie (Lynn Chen), a fellow struggling actor he meets while they're both working a children's party, and Amber (Emma Caulfield), who is blonde and beautiful but more interested in borrowing Tony's car than a long-term relationship. Why Am I Doing This? won the "New Visions" Award at the 2009 Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The premise of this UPN sitcom was based on the notion that half-siblings never get along -- at least, not on black-oriented sitcoms with loud laugh tracks. Rachel True and Essence Atkins starred as half sisters Mona and Dee Dee who, despite their oil-and-water personalities (one was footloose, the other an uptight preppie), ended up living in the same apartment building. As if this wasn't hilarious enough, the girls, who shared the same father, were constantly besieged by their respective mothers Phyllis (Telma Hopkins) and Big Dee Dee (Valarie Pettiford), who likewise never saw eye to eye on anything. The air was thick with creative and sometimes amusing personal insults, enabling the series' writers to bypass such irritations as providing plots or character development. Half and Half debuted September 23, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The acting debut of pop music diva Mariah Carey loosely traces the singer's real-life trajectory to fame. Carey is Billie, an impoverished girl growing up in a tough New York neighborhood abandoned by her drug-addicted mother and dreaming of stardom. Billie gets her big break when her group's demo tape is heard by Julian Dice (Max Beesley), an infamous bad boy DJ and record producer in the club scene of the early '80s. A volatile relationship soon develops between Dice and Billie while her professional life takes off, leading to fame, fortune, and heartbreak. Glitter is the sophomore film of actor-turned-director Vondie Curtis-Hall and co-stars Eric Benet, Dorian Harewood, Ann Magnuson, Terrence Dashon Howard. and Da Brat. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Bailing out of a crippled aircraft, Quinn (Jerry O'Connell) and Rembrandt (Cleavant Derricks) sustain serious injuries when they land on a world that has been environmentally devastated by the Kromagg. One of the few doctors remaining on this planet is Dr. Grace Venable (Valarie Pettiford), who despite her back-breaking workload agrees to provide much-needed medical treatment for the comatose Quinn. Meanwhile, Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) discovers that Dr. Venable is anything but the selfless humanitarian that she appears to be--a particularly painful discovery in light of the fact that Remmy has fallen in love with Grace. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi