Michele Shay Movies
- 2002
It has been two months since the smallpox lockdown at County General. The Emergency Room is now swamped with patients due to the wholesale closings of many other ERs in Cook County. Likewise, there is huge influx of new med students, among them the outspoken Erin Harkins (Leslie Bibb), who is tired of waiting for her first orientation. Elsewhere, Corday (Alex Kingston) has returned to Chicago, only to be immediately unnerved by the bizarre behavior of Weaver (Laura Innes). Romano's (Paul McCrane) severed arm has been re-attached, but he's not out of danger yet. And Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) performs what amounts to a medical miracle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Denzel Washington and writer-director Spike Lee team for the third time with this contemporary basketball drama focusing on a promising athlete, the son of a convict-father. Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) has been in prison for six years when tough prison-warden Wyatt (Ned Beatty) tells him that he's getting a temporary parole with the promise of a commuted sentence. However, there's a trade-off -- Jake must talk his son, Jesus Shuttlesworth (NBA star Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks), the top-ranked high-school basketball player in the country, into signing with the governor's alma mater, Big State. A flashback makes it clear that Jesus' mother (Lonette McKee was accidentally killed by Jake during a violent family fight. After Jake went to prison, the resentful Jesus was left alone to raise his sister Mary (Zelda Harris). Now several colleges are offering Jesus scholarships, and montages satirize the manner in which young athletes are wooed by educators and coaches across the country. However, Jake will soon be back behind bars if he can't get Jesus to sign with Big State within the week. Meanwhile, the greed of other family members begins to surface. John Turturro is seen in a cameo as Coach Billy Sunday, and several real-life coaches can also be spotted in this movie. Music by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) with songs by Public Enemy. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, (more)
Spike Lee and his siblings Cinque Lee and Joie Lee co-wrote this nostalgic but unglamorized look at a family growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s, inspired by their own childhood. Woody Carmichael (Delroy Lindo) is a jazz musician whose career is in a slump; he once made a good living as a session musician, but he has moved away from it to devote himself to more serious music, a choice that has not worked out well from a financial standpoint. His wife Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) works as a school teacher to keep food on the table. The Carmichaels have five children, a bright and introspective daughter named Troy (Zelda Harris) and four sons with a habit of causing trouble, and they all share an apartment in a brownstone in Brooklyn. Crooklyn follows the Carmichaels as the kids learn the funny and painful lessons of growing up, Mom and Dad balance their love for each other against the financial and personal difficulties of the creative life, and they all try to get along with the often eccentric neighbors on their block. Crooklyn's soundtrack is enlivened by classic 70s R&B hits, including selections by Sly and the Family Stone, The Jackson Five, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers, and The Chambers Brothers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, (more)
- 1991
Tired of playing pinochle with their wives, Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his friend Jim Harmon (Sullivan Walker) partner up for tournament. When Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and Nichole (Michelle Shay) team up for the same tournament, their husbands mock them--but no one is laughing when, after defeating the defending champions, the ladies square off against Cliff Jim in a grudge match. Meanwhile, in keeping with the episode's title, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) insists that she is old enough to babysit for her stepsister Olivia (Raven-Symone)--leading to a "scare" situation and a booby-trapped house reminiscent of star Bill Cosby's classic monologue "Chicken Heart." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The Huxtables and their friends the Harmons turn an ordinary dinner party into a cutthroat game of "Petanque" (an upscale form of bocci-ball) , to prove which couple is the toughest. Though Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and Nicole Harmon (Michelle Shay) try to remain aloof, their husbands Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Jim (Sullivan Walker) insist upon such manly-man pursuits as playing the game outside in freezing weather--without their coats. Meanwhile, Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) risks life and limb to prove to the Harmons' daughter Lindy (Laurie Morrison) that he is a rock-climbing aficionado. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Red Dragon, the Thomas Harris novel that introduced serial killer Hannibal Lecter to the world, was adapted for the screen by Michael Mann as Manhunter. Ace criminal profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) is very good at his job because he has the ability to make himself think like the killers he tracks. Will has been in retirement since catching Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Brian Cox), as being inside that particular deranged mind caused Will to have a breakdown. Will's boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina visits Will at his home, showing him pictures from a murder scene and asking for his help in catching a new killer they have dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan). In order to test his mental strength, Will visits Hannibal in his prison cell. Adding to the already substantial mental stress Will experiences when he returns to the job are nosy tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds (Stephen Lang), as well as Hannibal's attempts at seeking revenge through the Tooth Fairy. After two additional films that featured Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal) became box-office blockbusters, Manhunter was re-made as Red Dragon starring Hopkins and Edward Norton as Will Graham. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, (more)
Skokie is the true story of a critical test of Constitutional rights in Illinois. In 1977, a small band of American neo-fascists calling itself the National Socialist Party of America plans to stage a swastika-dominated demonstration and rally. Their intended site is the Chicago suburb of Skokie, a town populated predominantly by Jews--many of them survivors of the Nazi holocaust. Jewish ACLU lawyer John Rubinstein is compelled to lobby for the National Socialists' freedom to express their views, despite his own inner turmoil over defending the very people who'd destroy him. The most vocal opponent to the planned rally is Skokie senior citizen Max Liebman (Danny Kaye), who spent five years in Hitler's death camps. Ernest Kinoy's teleplay for Skokie is fair-minded to a fault, presenting all points of view with equanimity, proving that there are no simple solutions when the fundamental right of Free Speech is involved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
