Stuart Benjamin Movies

In the early '50s, Ray Charles took the fiery passion of gospel and the hard-hitting sound of the blues, and by putting them together he created a whole new sound in rhythm & blues that helped make him a legend in American music. Nearly half a century later, Charles revisits his gospel roots in this performance video, in which he joins forces with the 120-member vocal group the Jubilation Gospel Choir for a stirring program of Christmas music. Ray Charles Celebrates a Gospel Christmas With the Voices of Jubilation includes the songs "The First Noel," "Silent Night," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Christmas Song," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A handful of top comedians get together to roast NBA star (and part-time actor and rap musician) Shaquille O'Neal in this comedy video. Roasting Shaquille O'Neal features Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, Bill Bellamy, Tommy Davidson and Michael Coyar aiming verbal barbs at good-natured Shaq. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Hypnotic regression prompts a pair of sisters to recognize that they've been abducted by aliens. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Ray (Ken Olin) is a young adult and has a girlfriend whom he lives with quite happily. However, the agreed-upon date of their marriage is coming up, and he's not quite sure he wants to make that kind of commitment. His buddies Dennis, Elliot, and Vinny have their own commitment problems. Dennis (Kevin Bacon) isn't sure he wants to stay away from his buddies long enough to get his music career going in Hollywood; Elliot (John Malkovich) knows that he's homosexual but thinks that being gay means fitting all sorts of ugly stereotypes -- stereotypes he is determined to avoid at all costs; and Vinny (Tony Spiridakis) commits himself all too frequently and often to the nearest desirable female. Meanwhile, cousin Al (Joe Mantegna) is in trouble with his wife, and only the intervention of a well-intentioned psychotic (Jamie Lee Curtis) can put him back on the right track. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In Sweet Talker, an amiable, charming ex-convict (Bryan Brown) arrives in a small Australian costal city with the intent of duping the populace into investing money in a phony excavation of a sunken ship, which is allegedly filled with gold. Unexpectedly, he falls in love with a young widow (Karen Allen) and becomes a father-figure to her young son. His new romance complicates his planned scam, and he can't decide whether to carry his plan through or stay with the woman. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Set in the Manhattan street milieu that served him well in West Side Story, Robert Wise's Rooftops tells the story of T, a quiet, soft-spoken teen-ager who has left his broken home and is living in a makeshift shelter in an old water tower on top of an abandoned tenement building. There are other kids like him, including Squeak, a talented graffiti artist who joins T after an altercation involving his mother's boy friend. T and Squeak manage to scrape together what little money they need through minor sins (stripping cars, etc.), and at night all these street inhabitants get together in a vacant lot to "combat" dance, in which they use a combination of karate and dancing to force an opponent off of a platform. Into this mix comes Lobo, a drug dealer who moves into T's building and turns it into a crack house. Lobo's beautiful cousin Elana serves as his lookout – not because she wants to, but because her father's heart attack has left her family in dire financial straits. T and Elana become interested in each other, but T and Lobo are at odds with each other – which fact leads to a showdown in which T must put his "combat" skills to good use. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Lou Diamond Phillips plays legendary 1950s rocker Ritchie Valens (born Ricardo Valenzuela), in this musical biography. Before scoring radio and concert success with hits like "La Bamba", "C'mon Let's Go", and "Donna", Valens was a 15-year-old migrant worker who worked with his mother Connie (Rosana De Soto). Valens' half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) is a vitriolic ex-con who roars into the migrant camp on his Harley after his release from jail. Valens' musical talents are encouraged by his family -- though later various members of his family react to his fame with varying degrees of pride and envy -- and he soon earns an audition with legendary record producer and former Artie Shaw clarinet player Bob Keane (Joe Pantoliano). Valens soon appears in an Alan Freed rock n' roll teen exploitation film, lip-synching his blistering recorded version of "Ooh, My Head". When a romance with Donna Ludwig (Danielle von Zerneck) is forbidden by her conservative father, Valens pens the famous ballad that bears her name. Tours follow his chart success until the fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of Valens, The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson), and Buddy Holly on February 3rd, 1959. The supporting cast is excellent with power-pop icon Marshall Crenshaw playing Buddy Holly singing "Crying, Waiting, Hoping". Brian Setzer accurately portrays rocker Eddie Cochran, and Howard Hunstberry plays Jackie Wilson and sings "Lonely Teardrops". Additional music is provided by Los Lobos, a band who traces their musical roots directly to Valens and other Mexican influences. Also making cameo appearances are the real-life Mrs. Connie Valenzuela and Bob Morales. Although not 100% historically accurate, La Bamba is much more accurate than 1978s The Buddy Holly Story. The feature turned a new generation on to the influential Tex-Mex rock that was an inspiration to such later rockers as The Bobby Fuller Four as well as Los Lobos. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This concert release captures the popular sixties band Traffic, fronted by Steve Winwood, performing a number of songs including "Freedom Rider," "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys," and "John Barleycorn Must Die." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi