Charles Weldon Movies

Shay (Tank) is the leader of the Hoop Soldiers, one of the inner city's fiercest competitors in the secret indoor sport of caged three-on-three basketball, a game that is played with no rules. Punches and kicks are permitted by opponents as they struggle to slam dunk their way into a slimy crime boss' good graces. Bright and beautiful Rochelle Moore (Cassandra King), a video game designer on the brink of national success, infiltrates the netherworld of caged basketball, becoming friends with Cal (Jerome Green), one of the gangsters who runs the illegal betting operations. Cal, of course, would like the relationship to go further, until he learns that Rochelle has reported the game to the police. During the big game, Shay learns Rochelle is in danger and has to rescue her -- and win the game -- before it's too late.

~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Spike Lee's epic portrayal of the life and times of the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X begins with the cross-cut imagery of the police beating of black motorist Rodney King juxtaposed with an American flag burning into the shape of the letter X. When the film's narrative begins moments later, it jumps back to World War II-era Boston, where Malcolm Little (Denzel Washington) is making his living as a hustler. The son of a Baptist preacher who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, Little was raised by foster parents after his mother was deemed clinically insane; as an adult, he turned to a life of crime, which leads to his imprisonment on burglary charges. In jail, Little receives epiphany in the form of an introduction to Islam; he is especially taken with the lessons of Elijah Mohammed, who comes to him in a vision. Adopting the name 'Malcolm X' as a rejection of the 'Little' surname (given his family by white slave owners), he meets the real Elijah Mohammed (Al Freeman, Jr.) upon exiting prison, and begins work as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Marriage to a Muslim nurse named Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) follows, after which X spearheads a well-attended march on a Harlem hospital housing a Muslim recovering from an episode of police brutality. The march's success helps elevate X to the position of Islam's national spokesperson. There is dissension in the ranks, however, and soon X is targeted for assassination by other Nation leaders; even Elijah Mohammed fears Malcolm's growing influence. After getting wind of the murder plot, X leaves the Nation of Islam, embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca that proves revelatory; renouncing his separatist beliefs, his oratories begin embracing all races and cultures. During a 1965 speech, Malcolm X is shot and killed, reportedly by Nation of Islam members. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The Atlanta Child Murders is a five-hour, two-part dramatization of one of the most tragic and controversial homicide cases of the past twenty years. From 1979 through 1982, some 28 African-American children and young adults disappeared from Atlanta--some without a trace, but others to later turn up as murder victims. Part One (which debuted February 10, 1985) details the beginning of the manhunt conducted by the Atlanta Chief of Police (James Earl Jones). Screenwriter Abby Mann uses the actual events as a springboard for his thesis that the case and its outcome revealed many uncomfortable truths about the still-fragile state of race relations in the New South. Both parts of The Atlanta Child Murders were later combined into one 245-minute "feature film."

The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the excellent audience response to their teaming in Silver Streak, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor reunited for this zany comedy. Wilder and Pryor play a couple of out-of-work numbskulls who take a promotional job that requires them to dress up like gigantic woodpeckers. Unfortunately, a pair of thieves, likewise decked out in woodpecker suits, pull off a bank job not long after Wilder and Pryor make their first public appearance. The boys are arrested and sentenced to 120 years each (at this point, we know we're not dealing with real life). After a concerted (and hilarious) effort to make the best of things "in stir," Wilder and Pryor break out of jail, hoping to track down the genuine thieves. The mess never really works itself out, suggesting that perhaps the stars had a Stir Crazy II lurking in the recesses of their minds. Written by Bruce Jay Friedman and directed by Sidney Poitier, it never did spawn a sequel, though a TV series spin-off, starring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo, briefly surfaced in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Kojak episode is the first of two pilots for a projected spinoff series starring Rosey Grier) as hard-nosed California bounty hunter Salathiel Harris. Arriving in New York, Harris begins his search for a bail-jumping racketeer, while home-grown police lieutenant Kojak (Telly Savalas) embarks upon the same quest. To flush out his quarry, Harris sets himself up as the target for a hired assassin--and goes to great lengths to prevent Kojak from "rescuing" him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

River Niger is a Tony Award-winning play turned to a movie. It features James Earl Jones as a house-painter/poet who struggles to support his cancer-plagued wife (Cicely Tyson). This is a realistic portrayal of the difficulties encountered in the poverty-stricken ghetto. ~ All Movie Guide

The Double Con is an alternate title for the blaxploitationer Trick Baby. Jan Leighton and Byron Sander star as a pair of African American con artists. One of the slicksters can pass for white, enabling the two to pull off any number of clever race-related scams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide