Joe Williams Movies

In this release featuring three of the Goodyear Tyre Company's five short jazz films, The Louis Armstrong All Stars, The Eddie Condon All Stars, and the Bobby Hacket Sextet are showcased performing a variety of their best-loved hits. Originally filmed on 35mm negative and recorded in professional stereo sound, these important jazz films were nearly lost to the ravages of time. Now, thanks to the efforts of Storyville Films, these films have been fully restored to their original 35mm glory and preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

During a glorious Southern California summer, high school student Benny King (Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins) is doing time flipping burgers. Benny's father wants him to learn the work ethic, rather than have him sit around the house all summer, dreaming and writing. It's not surprising, then, that when his old friend Durrell (Brian Hooks) comes by with a more attractive alternative, Benny jumps at it. When his family goes on vacation, Benny borrows his father's Mercedes and heads on down to the beach with Durrell. They have told themselves that they are there to sell beach-goers cheap sunglasses, but they are really there to party and hit on the girls. Rap and hip-hop performer Coolio, playing himself, has a brief performance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In the first half of The Cosby Show's now-legendary series finale (originally shown as a single, hour-long special), Cliff (Bill Cosby) insists upon inviting everyone he knows to his son Theo's graduation--much to the dismay of Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), who is allowed only two commencement tickets. At the same time, Cliff's step-granddaughter Olivia (Raven-Symone) prepares to move to Singapore with her parents Denise and Martin. And there is a remote possibility that Vanessa will get back together with her much-older fiance Dabnis (William Thomas Jr.). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Moony (Bob Hoskins) is a vice detective, but he is also an intense and crazed, racist lout. Jack has had a brief fling with a hooker named Crystal (Chloe Webb), but Crystal left him for Napoleon Stone (Denzel Washington), a suave, handsome, cosmopolitan lawyer, who becomes the object of Jack's rage, not simply because he has stolen his girl but also because he is black. Jack, who lives on cheeseburgers, beer, and whiskey, has a heart attack. This occurs the same night that Stone is killed in an un-accidental car crash. Thanks to a quick organ transplant, Jake ends up with Stone's heart. But to Jack's horror, he discovers the ghost of the lawyer has returned to earth to follow Jack around -- offering Jack nutritional advise, giving him tips on solving his murder, and suggestions on how to get back together with Crystal. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

After getting a dismal "C" on his report about the 1963 march on Washington, Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is ordered to rewrite the paper, this time using more than one source. And this he does, as four very special members of the Huxtable family provide insight and eyewitness testimony regarding the historic march. Elsewhere, Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) worries that the boy she has invited to the annual "Turnaround Dance" won't accept--a situation that eerily mirrors an event in the past lives of her parents. This is the first episode since Season One that was NOT directed by Emmy winner Jay Sandrich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Each year, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, sponsors a number of special cultural events for the public. This six-part video series showcases the diverse musical talents of a group of artists who have performed at the Institute. Art Blakey, Benny Carter, Alberta Hunter, Art Farmer, Joe Williams, and Mel Lewis take the stage and delight audiences in each videotaped performance. This volume highlights the special talents of vocalist Joe Williams, who worked with such greats as Count Basie. In this program, he's backed by Kirk Stuart on piano, Keeter Betts on bass, and Steve Williams) on drums. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

This standard, tongue-in-cheek, gangsters and good guys saga is carried on the star power and screen presence of Clint Eastwood as Lt. Speer, a taciturn, tough, play-it-by-the-book cop, and on Burt Reynolds as Mike Murphy, Speer's old friend in the force, now turned private eye but still a captivating rogue at heart. With a sub-text of playing their well-known screen personas off each other, Eastwood and Reynolds provide more than a surface interpretation of the characters that made them famous. After Murphy's partner is murdered, he focuses on pitting one mob boss against another in an attempt to have both mobsters kill each other. In the meantime, Lt. Speer -- who has never approved of Murphy's private detective business -- does not really know if Murphy is for or against the two top gangsters. Set in the era of speakeasies and Prohibition, an added layer of "film noir" can be discerned under the complex plot, verbal repartée, and episodes of toned-down violence (a kind of parody in themselves). Although this may not be the best film either star has made, it is still interesting to see them together on screen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This music documentary records a concert given on November 23, 1972, at Sing Sing prison in upstate New York. Among the performers shown are the Voices of East Harlem, Joan Baez, B.B. King, Jimmy Walker, and Mimi Farina. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama set during the late Prohibition era, a federal agent attempts to make some real money before the alcohol ban is lifted. He sets his sights on the whiskey cache of an old army buddy, but just before they strike a deal, two ex-convicts frighten the buddy away. The creeps then murder the town sheriff and his deputy and begin looking to get a hold of the moonshine. The agent decides to help his friend defeat the thugs. One of the crooks ends up killing the agent and taking four locals hostage. In exchange for their lives, he wants all the whiskey. The moonshiner acquiesces and tells him that the booze is stashed in a graveyard. The greedy crook races off and begins digging. Unfortunately instead of hooch, he finds dynamite and blows himself up. To celebrate his death and the end of Prohibition, the town decides to have a blow-out of their own. Naturally the buddy provides the booze. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide