Editorial Review

The audacious concert film Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• HiFi Sound
• NTSC

Reviews (65)

Forget The Profanity, Too Funny To Miss
I don't know why anyone would be offended by anything on this program.If you get offended by any joke here, you're TOO SENSITIVE, LIGHTEN UP, LAUGH BEFORE YOU FREEZE YOURSELF TOO DEATH, AND BUY THIS DVD.Besides Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Chris Rock, and Bill Maher, the spirit of this type comedy knows unparalleled genius for its refusal to compromise.Today's comics take note:this is the formula, not your overly safe filler.Can we get a return to honest to life comedy?

Eddie Murphy Raw
He is a joke a recommend you get and try find Hilarious.

Eddie Murphys Best
This performance by Eddie Murphy had me laughing from start to finish, this is Eddie at his best. Forget the movies, forget the acting this is what made Eddie Murphy famous and that is from start to finish.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedy Video    2. Performing Arts - Concerts    3. Pop    4. Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows   

Editorial Review

Working with a theme and history that's obviously dear to her heart, first-time writer-director Julie Dash's exquisitely alive film chronicles the last days of the Gullah, an Americanized West African people in danger of losing their identity. Dash makes up for some overly schematic dialogue and an occasionally pokey pace with some strong performances (particularly Cora Lee Day as the sternly matriarchal Nana) and an absolutely wonderful visual sense (kudos should also go to her ace cinematographer Arthur Jafa, whose dazzlingly sumptuous imagery surely inspired Jonathan Demme's later Read more

Features

• Color
• NTSC

Reviews (25)

We Get What We Bring: Be a Guest at the Feast
We get what we bring. This principle is brilliantly illustrated in the responses here to "Daughters of Dust," Julie Dash's brilliant and ground-breaking independent film. To dismiss the film is easy, because it uses non-traditional story-telling techniques rather than the ones we are used to in mainstream cinema and popularly received independent films. To receive this film fully takes some time, willingness, effort, and suspension of our usual perception. But, if the viewer can do all that, what a gift Julia Dash and her tribute cast and crew has given us to unwrap.
Wonderful, exciting, historical and captivating
This film by independent filmmaker Julie Dash, shows a fictional portrayal of a family, dominated by their women, in the what would be considered to some as the Gullah South. The family prepares to leave their island place of origin to live on mainland America. As they embark on their departure, the narrator (an unborn child) traces the families story from slavery until the day. Truly an inspirational piece of work, used in many college film classes. This jewel of a film has been kept a secret due to the way cinema is disseminated and the trends in American marketing distribution of film. A must see for teachers of African American history, literature, and film.

The Emperor is Buck Naked
I was eagerly anticipating seeing this film, since it received so much praise.To say that I was bitterly disappointed is a sad understatement. Despite the fact that I'm interested in Gullah culture and African-American history in general, this film managed to put me to sleep after the first 15 minutes.No character development, no plot, no coherence (being a Jim Jarmusch fan, I can't even believe I'm writing this). I couldn't figure out the relation of half the characters to each other, or in some cases, even their names, because the dialect is almost unintelligible and there are no subtitles. It's as if you're dropped off in the middle of a strange family on an island, and during the time you stay there, they reveal nothing about themselves. Most student filmmakers could do better.I agree with the other review writer who stated this was one of the worst films they'd ever seen. Rent a Spike Lee film instead, or a PBS show about Gullahs. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

This 1958 variation on Huck Finn's adventures with Jim finds a white convict (Tony Curtis) chained to a black convict (Sidney Poitier) as they both escape their captors. With each man literally stuck with the other, racial conflicts take a back seat to survival. Directed by Stanley Kramer (Read more

Features

• Black & White
• Closed-captioned
• HiFi Sound
• NTSC

Reviews (14)

Black and white fight and run
A black and white movie about a hateful pair of black and white convicts struggling for their lives and against each other. During the era of the film in the South, it is amazing that a black man would touch a white -- let alone be chained to him with a defiant attitude. What is more remarkable than the intense hatred and out-and-out fist fight is the bond that forms between this unlikely pair as they flee for their lives after a prison break. Pushing personal differences asside, they must learn to rely upon one another or die trying.
"That's a hell of a way to live- you keep quiet all your life and the only time youopen your mouth is when you're dying."
The Defiant Ones is one of the great American films. Released in 1958, this starkly filmed story of two convicts on the run for their freedom evokes powerful emotions for the viewer. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier are wonderful in their roles and display a level of screen chemistry that has been sadly lacking in contemporary films. It is hard to say which one is better due to their very different but equally powerful performance. As one might expect, the two cons start out hating each other, but slowly develop a grudging respect for one another as they learn about the others life and eventually a kind of friendship is formed. The secondary story concerns the posse on their trail and the friction that develops amongst them as the chase goes on. Cara Williams is memorable as the woman that Curtis cares for while on the run and is the character that causes a change in his attitude that leads directly to the bittersweet ending. Theodore Bikel is also very accomplished as the beleagered Sheriff and Lon Chaney Jr. is very good as a townsman who has a special reason for aiding the 2 cons in their escape.The Defiant Ones is a great film that almost 50 years later still prods us with the reminder that YES, WE CAN learn to overcome our differences over race and live with and care for each other. Both Curtis and Poitier are at the top of their game here and each received an Academy Award nomination deservedly. A final note: watch the last scene and decide for yourself- was it an accident or did one friend make a sacrifice for another?

Bonding Under Pressure
The Defiant Ones
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Spike Lee's 1991 story about an interracial relationship and its consequences on the lives and communities of the lovers (Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra) is one of his most captivating and focused films. Snipes and Sciorra are very good as individuals trying to reach beyond the limits imposed upon them for reasons of race, tradition, sexism, and such. Lee makes an interesting and subtle case that they are driven to one another out of frustration with social obstacles as well as pure attraction--but is that enough for love to survive? John Turturro is featured in a subplot as an Italian American who grows attracted to a black woman and takes heat from his numbskull buddies.Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• Original recording reissued
• NTSC

Reviews (36)

Wesley should do more of this type of movie
he is a good actor and good looking.But this movie is like most of Spike's movies, always with the Black/White at odds issue.I think the subject should be put to rest, it has become boring.To each his own, I say, and everyone is entitled to her/his own opinion on the subject of race relations.Life could be so simple if the powers that be, Black & White,were not so power hungry and greedy.Why can't they let us live in peace and tolerance without pitting us against each other for their amusement.Wake up people - all governments are evil!

"When's the future?"
Spike Lee has said, in hindsight, that he'd lost his abilities as a filmmaker between Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.If that's true, you won't be able to tell during Jungle Fever - at least not in a way you'd expect.Jungle Fever is a lot of things - daring, empassioned, extreme, overarching, undeniably and intentionally "heavy" - but amateurish it is not.Watching Jungle Fever now made me realize all the power Lee movies entail - which is, especially at this point in his career, a real voice.Two scenes of extremes are rendered in equal precision - a group of African American women discussing the problems of keeping their men, contrasting with an equally long and empassioned scene of pugnacious racism between a group of Bensonhurst Italians.In each scene the experience of its characters is given vividness by the authenticity of the dialogue, by the conviction of its cast.And of the cast, let me add what a treasure of an ensemble it is: 15 years later, virtually every supporting role (some on screen for just minutes) has become a recognizable performer (it's a game in itself to count how many Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy wins/ nominations, not to mention plush Sopranos roles, these actors share).In its leading roles, Wesley Snipes has a seething immediacy, John Turturro burns with conscience, and Samuel L. Jackson, in the most fearless performances of his career, unfolds so many gripping layers at once, the Cannes jury created a special acting prize to honor him.All that helps make Jungle Fever provocative in the right ways - sparking conversations, as well as personal speculations, about the modern state of racism, of the way that we're never free of our own cultural expectations, and how they effect who and how we love.The movie's first giant, nagging flaw is its attempt to handle too much - the plot that follows the path of crack addiction belongs to a (terrific) different movie.Its second, and this is tougher, is that the notion of this "fever," of Flipper (Snipes) and Angie (Annabella Sciorra) being blinded by each others' race, is an unfulfilled idea in the movie - the characters, I'm afraid, work better as catalysts for thier environments than they do as lovers, as their affair is remote, and Sciorra, a gifted actress elsewhere, seems far too cold for fevers of any kind.Yet even these flaws are the product of a force already at work on the film industry - the movie suffers only from an ambition to reach all aspects of the urban race experience, and succeeds as well as can be expected; you'll rarely recall a film who fails its goals this intriguingly.

white and black argument
Okay the film is well made because it attacks the interracial argument from many perspectives. Black Men, Black Woman, White Woman, White Man. The only thing I found unsettling is why can't the two just be attracted to each other. Why do they have to be attracted to each other because of the color of their skin. I guess the film allows to draw whatever conclusion we want but the issue is sticky. And I guess because the issue is sticky the film is also sticky.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   

Features

• Animated
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• NTSC

Reviews (15)

"Are We There Yet" gets $18 million, but THIS BOMBS???
They're essentially the same movie, only "Bebe's Kids" is actually funny.Faizon Love's voice, as Robin Harris, is spot-on (a bit eerie, in fact), and the story is told part cartoony / part naturally.From Bruce Smith, the creator of Disney's "The Proud Family", it contains a few rap-music numbers ("He Ain't Havin' It" being the best) that threaten to derail the story, but they're brief enough to ignore.
Great comedy
A great animated movie with a very familier voice Robbin Harris. The way he becomes a father figure to the children creates a great overall comedy for the whole family.

Bernie Mac Stole Routine From Robin Harris!!!
3 bad kids....Bernie Mac just totally ripped off the late Robin Harris concept. Its all luv though..after all no ideas original!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cartoons & Animation    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Features

• Black & White
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• NTSC

Subjects:  1. Documentary   

Editorial Review

Taken together, Richard Pryor's concert films, the essential Read more

Features

• Color
• Live
• NTSC

Reviews (17)

Larry The Cable Guy funnier than Richard Pryor? Never.
I must first preface my comments by saying that I think Larry the Cable Guy is funny guy, but he is no Richard Pryor. I am a white anglo-saxon who thinks that Richard Pryor was one of the most funny people who ever lived, and if you asked Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, or Ron White who was the better comedian I think they would all pick Richard Pryor because Rich could find humor in the most unlikeliest sources, whereas Larry is rather obvious in his basis for humor.Good though, but not as profound as Richard Pryor.This along with the other two Richard Pryor stand up films should be the proof of what a comedian is all about. Yes, Rich used rough language, but listen to words between the cuss words, he was a very smart comic who had all the ablities needed to be the legend he was.

A Classic in Live Comedy
omgosh, I can't believe some one said the cable guy is funnier than Richard Pryor.. this country is definately going to hell in a handbasket! LOL!!!!!
His funniest work
I bought this as part of a two-pack with Dave Chappelle. Unfortunately, I watched Pryor first. It was so funny with almost constant laughter, that it ruined the Chappelle DVD for me. Chappelle (who is great on his TV show), just fell flat after watching the Pryor DVD. If you buy the two-pack, watch Chappellle as the "opening act," maybe it'll seem funny that way. But definitely save Pryor as the "headline" act & watch it last, he just can't be beat. Pryor was a real innovator, funny, insightful, honest, & what a great job he did here! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blue Humor    2. Performing Arts - Concerts    3. Pop    4. Satire    5. Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows    6. Standup Comedy   

Editorial Review

Pam Grier is Friday Foster, a photographer's assistant at a glamourmagazine assigned to cover the secret arrival of a reclusive black millionaire(Thalmus Rasula). "Just get your cute little behind out there and take yourlittle pictures and goddammit don't get involved!" Of course she does: The sceneerupts into an attempted assassination, and Friday digs up a conspiracy thatreaches to Washington, D.C., and involves sassy, flamboyant fashion designerEartha Kitt, lascivious but good-at-heart minister Scatman Crothers, and apowerful black congressman. Yaphet Kotto costars as a good-natured P.I. she tagsalong as a sidekick and bodyguard, and Carl Weathers makes a strong impressionas a silent but deadly hit man systematically silencing potential witnesses. Thescript feels more like a comic book than a movie (it was inspired by a newspapercomic strip), with Grier playing Friday as a plucky, resourceful amateur,stealing cars and stalking killers armed with nothing but a fully loaded camera.She's better as the street-smart pistol-packin' mamas of Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Original recording reissued
• NTSC

Reviews (11)

Still a Whole Lotta Woman!!!
Pam Grier is smokin hot in this blaxploitation classic...and enough "Jive" dialect to keep you laughing for days!!!

So-So Pam Grier Vehicle
Pam Grier is fine as the spunky photo-journalist title character and Yaphet Kotto is amusing as her P.I. sidekick helping her ferret out the "black widow" conspiracy.Their efforts are essentially for naught in this sluggishly directed actioner that has the substance of your average Spelling-Goldberg production.Lots of prominent African-American talent on hand(Eartha Kitt, Godfrey Cambridge, Scatman Crothers,etc.) but their impact is marginal.What this film needed was Sid Haig!

Hey, Whatcha Doin' Girl?
Friday Foster may not be Foxy Brown, but it's well worth your time if you're into this genre.It does have a catchy little theme song!It doesn't have alot of the action and violence of other Grier films, it's more about unravelling a conspiracy.Jim Backus is given high billing, but only appears in one scene.Carl Weathers is at the bottom of the billing, but appears in most of the film-But that's a good thing, coz who doesn't like Carl Weathers?Yaphet Koto, as usual, is a joy, and actually gets a few laughs.For those like myself who occasionally fantasize coming home from work to find a naked Pam Grier in the kitchen making goulash, will enjoy the two topless scenes.Foster sure has no problem jumping into the sack with people in this one.Basically all I can say about Friday Foster is that it's a sure bet if you dig Pam Grier and/or blaxploitation movies.I know I dig. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Just as Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• HiFi Sound
• NTSC

Reviews (124)

K. Tarin is a Racist!
This movie is great and white people all around the world should be forced to see it in school. Prefferably while they are still children, that way they won't have time to be persuaded by ignorant, conservative, racists like K. Tarin, a racist reviewer who wrote an article on this same page. Anybody who isn't a racist loves this movie.

Book from Alex Hailey is way better
The Book from Alex Haley when I read it some 10 years ago changed my life and views of people with color, and everyone should read it, yes even conservatives, manditory.
2 Much Power , for 1 Filmmaker, to Have
There are many lessons to learn from this 1992 bio. about slain civil rights activist , Malcom X. I think that one of the most obvious lesson wa that Hollywood wasn't teady for a film of this magnitude. Demonstrated by Denzel Washinton's snub at the Oscars ( Best Actor ) , for his piercing , haunting , and unforgettable portrayal of Malcom X. The film , based on the Alex Haley book , entitled " The Autobiography of Malcom X " , chronicles the life of Malcom Little ,from a poor negro child, raised in the openly racist and oppressive time of the 1920's and 1960's , turned hoodlum ,turned convict , turned redeemed soul , turned political activist. This film is very poignant, as it tells the story of one of the most influencial , charismatic , and feared revolutionaries of his generation. Spike Lee, does a phenominal job at capturing the essence of this story , with affection , direction , conviction and sensativity. As a matter of fact , this is by far the best feature film , the director has put out. Whereas , Speilberg has his " Jaws " , Lucas has his " Star Wars " , and so Spike Lee has his signature piece in " Malcom X ". With riveting supporting performances by such notable actors as Delroy Lindo , Theresa Randle , Angela Bassett , Albert Hall , Al Freenman Jr. , Lonette Mckee ,Kate Vernon, Christopher Plummer , Giancarlo Esposito , and a host of other cameos. Although largely snubbed by the Oscars , " Malcom X " was nominated for 2 ( Best Actor: Denzel Washington , and Best Costume Designer : Ruth E. Carter ). One good footnote is that Denzel Washington did win Best Actor by the Golden Globes , aka : Oscar's little brother. The cinematography is fabulous and the score is memorable. This is truly a film that all the crew and cast loved passionately and it shows in the final product. " Malcom X " is a very poignant and important film. It illustrates the necessity to understand one another and the need to somehow cooperate with each other on a human level.Ultimately , this film is not only about the struggle between the races in America , but also about the dynamics of our cultures and the difficulties that we all have , in accepting our differences as people. Hard to believe that a single film can capture these elements. However , it does capture these elements , perfectly. Needless to say , I highly recommend this film. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Original recording reissued
• NTSC

Reviews (17)

An impressive sequel to the classic blaxploitation original
In my opinion, Scream, Blacula, Scream is every bit as good as Blacula.Rather than offering a pedestrian rehash of the whole vampirism story of the original, the sequel throws another powerful force, that of voodoo, into the mix and gives the film a whole new direction.William Marshall is just as good as before in the title role, and he meets up with a worthy possible antagonist in Pam Grier, who plays the gifted voodoo priestess he seeks out for help.Blacula, resurrected in his undead state with no further possibility of reclaiming the modern incarnation of his beloved bride, now seeks to break the curse that has made him a bloodthirsty, yet exceedingly cool, pariah on society.That doesn't mean he's not going to keep killing people and turning them into vampires in the meantime, however, so expect more jugular action as this film winds its way to a conclusion.
Stupid
they should have stopped at the original BLACULA -1972 he was perfectly destroyed at the end but noooo they decide to bring him back and the story was not as fresh as the first one another thing in Blacula his Cape had silverish white linening but in this one it is Red Just like Dracula get this if only you are just wanting two have both of them that is what i did otherwise dont waste your money

More Bytes from the Dark Prince of Darkness!
In 1973's SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM!--an excellent sequel to BLACULA (1972), the first horror entry in AIP's "blaxploitation" line--William Marshall reprises his role as the aristocratic black vampire Mamuwalde (a.k.a. Blacula).Though he was killed by sunlight at the end of the first film, the vampire brother is resurrected when his bones are used as part of an evil voodoo rite.Realizing the preternatural potential of voodoo magic, the revivified Mamuwalde enlists the aid of a beautiful and powerful voodoo priestess (Pam Grier) in hopes of being forever freed from the curse of vampirism.Read more

Subjects:  1. Horror / Sci-Fi / Fantasy    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

All these decades after his assassination at the age of 39, Malcolm X remains one of the most controversial figures in modern American history, and this segment from the A&E Read more

Features

• Black & White
• Color
• NTSC

Reviews (1)

Great for an introduction
I was disappointed that you rarely heard from Malcom X. I was disappointed that I heard more from James Cone. I appreciate his thoughts, but I could read his book for his thoughts. I thought the video should have captured more comments from various people such as Ossie Davis who did his eulogy. I did enjoy the comments by Peter Goldman. It is an excellent video to be introduced to Malcolm X. If you are familiar with Malcolm X then I think you will be disappointed as I was. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie    3. TV Shows   

Editorial Review

Boy meets girl, and boy loses girl--no more and no less than that--in this romantic story of young, upwardly mobile African Americans navigating through Chicago club culture to the perilous shores of a relationship. The film was surprisingly popular at a couple of key film festivals in 1997, but there isn't anything particularly noteworthy about it aside from its rare emphasis on a love affair between black urbanites. Larenz Tate and Nia Long are fine in the leads (Tate makes a convincingly self-centered boy-man), and director Theodore Witcher aims for his small target and hits it squarely. Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• NTSC

Reviews (92)

I've got a Jones for Love Jones
This is one of my absolute favorites and if you have never seen you must.A beautiful love story that shows you love never fails!Lorenz Tate and Nia Long were excellent and Isiah Washington delivers a memorable performance as Savon. Loved the movie so much I even named my son SaVaughn.

Love and more love
Excellent, real romance!!! Filled with the magic and mistakes of falling in and out of love in America

Boring, boring, boring
Please folks save your money, it was like reading a bad romance novel ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, this weepy melodrama about four African American women and the men who wronged them became an instant cultural phenomenon when it was released back in 1995. It's easy to see why Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• HiFi Sound
• NTSC

Reviews (44)

beathe free!
Whooo weee honeychile!This is one humdinger of a movie, I cry everytime i see it.My best friend Ruby keeps saying that she's gonna take it away from me if i watch it again.
Feel good
Waiting to exhale is a great movie, all star cast.I is a movie, that draws you in and will leave you feeling good for the charaters and the story at the end.

Cynically True
Black women of different types, expericence love, loss, joy, and discover themselves... An excellent film. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   

Features

• Black & White
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• NTSC

Reviews (1)

Outstanding Video
I have shown this video several times in my Sociology class and the students are amazed at the content. Many students were not born or even a twinkle in their parents' eye in the 1960's; and this is a huge wawkening for them.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary   

Editorial Review

Pam Grier combines big guns and fantastic '70s outfits in Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Original recording reissued
• NTSC

Reviews (9)

I wasn't feeling this one baby.
If I had to describe `Sheba Baby,' the best I can come up with is Pam Grier Light with some really bad mellow drama. I really tried, but this movie just didn't work for me. The action scenes were dull, the acting was surprisingly poor, and some of these characters were TOO stereotypical to even be funny.
Pam Grier, Forever!
This is the first of Pam Grier's efforts that I would not lump wholly in the exploitation category.Sure, there's lots of gunplay and a redundant catfight. That said, the dialogue here avoids the tongue-and-cheek quality that was evident in "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" and the villains here are more realistic and not as cartoonish.The underlying theme here are the underworld elements that threaten legitimate black entrepreneurs.Because the film deals with the threat more seriously the message becomes more potent.Even in this low-budget effort Grier just commands the screen like any of her contemporaries and would give a run for the money for today's top actresses.She was definitely ahead of her time.I can't recall if Halle Berry thanked her in her Oscar speech.She does not appear nude here but she looks so fabulous clothed that your imagination will do somersaults.Timeless entertainment.

Worth it just to see Pam in a wetsuit
This may not be Pam Grier's best film, but I give it high marks, because there's a long stretch towards the end of the film where we see her in a sexy blue beavertail wetsuit. She keeps the jacket unzipped about half way through most of it, so you can get a good, alluring view of her chest. Sure, she has a swimsuit on under the wetsuit, but I find that more interesting anyway. Lets one use one's imagination, I say. You can't ask for more than a beautiful woman in a beavertail wetsuit (and if you ARE asking for things like character development, fine acting, etc you're really looking in the wrong place). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Based on the riveting bestseller by Richard Price, this 1995 crime drama was directed by Spike Lee with such authority and authenticity that it has the hyper-real quality of a stylized documentary. Fully capturing the thoroughly researched detail of Price's novel, the film focuses on Strike (newcomer Mekhi Phifer), a young, ambitious "clocker"--or drug dealer--who works the streets of his New York housing project, selling drugs for a local supplier named Rodney (played with ferocious charisma by Delroy Lindo). Just as Strike is struggling to get away from his dead-end life of crime, another dealer is murdered in a fast-food restaurant and local detectives (Harvey Keitel, John Turturro) consider Strike the primary suspect. In cowriting the script with novelist Price, Lee uses this murder mystery to explore the plague of guns and black-on-black crime in America's inner cities, in which drugs and death are familiar routines of daily life. The film doesn't pretend to offer solutions, nor does it dwell on the problem with numbing insistence. Rather, this taut, well-acted film takes the viewer into a world often hidden in plain sight--a world where options seem nonexistent for youth conditioned to have little or no expectation beyond a probable early death. Lee and Price are deadly serious in handling this volatile subject (which incorporates racism, powerless law enforcement, and political indifference), but Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• NTSC

Reviews (29)

Awesome movie...
Clockers is one the best movies I've seen covering life on the streets of Northeast America.Movies like Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society cover the streets of LA but people who kno the streets of the northeast (NYC, Trenton, Philly) do not relate to palm trees and spacious project homes.In the Northeast, people are tightly packed into high-rise projects or row homes.They co-exist with different ethnic groups, all struggling to make it out.Spike Lee does a great job collaborating with author Richard Price in coming up with a superb script.Growing up in an urban environment, I was instantly attracted to the film by its pure street dialogue.Mekhi Phifer makes the street dialogue seem as authentic as it can get.

Average Spike Lee drama
Wow.. to start with I had to turn on English subtitles to watch this movie in English.Even then it was hard to puzzle out what was said in this film half the time.I'm not a big fan of Spike Lee films - they're too stereotypical and portray people in a negative light.
AMAZIING!!!
This movie is absolutely incredible,(espeecially for a "spike Lee joint"!). WATCH THIS MOVIE!!! If you like commercial hollywood cinema you probably won't like this film, but this is truly quality filmaking. The movie just flows. The best thing about the movie is the acting! Absolutely incredible! MEKHI PHIFER's performance is the best I have ever seen (along with Derek Luke in Antwone Fisher)- Performance of a lifetime, his facial expressions are priceless! If you don't end up liking this movie then you don't appreciate good acting. The cinematography is also beautiful. The film is not overly moralistic, nor preachy or patronising like most of Spike Lee's work tends to be. THIS IS A WORK OF ART! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   

Features

• Black & White
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• NTSC

Reviews (1)

Terrific video for Black History Month
This video is inspirational and informative on an area of history too often ignored. The African American athletic experience in American history is rich with characters and stories of perserverence and courage, show thisin class with confidence or give it to a young person. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• NTSC

Reviews (21)

Great Movie
This was a great movie all the way thru. It was a little long but worth watching. I loved the cast, many of the great actors are in this movie. Even though this film was not based on any one persons life, you will find a bit of history and a bit of a reminder of how close our black families can be.

Excellent Movie!
I must have cried or come close watching this movie about a dozen times.This is a great movie about a strong lady who has survived so many upheavals in her life as a poor black woman who never loses her sense of self worth or the importance of integrity.Cicely Tyson is wonderful as always, and Erika Alexander has the ability to act well without saying a word as the young Flora.It takes a great actress to speak with her eyes the way Alexander did!
Mama Flora`s Family
I very disappointed because I saw the movie on TV and wanted to add it to my video collection.But the video I ordered did not have the whole movie on it and I think you should have made it clear that I was not getting the whole movie and then I would have ordered the cd if it had the whole movie on it.This was not good business, I wll never order anything from you again. And I told my friends and family not to order from you either.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie    3. TV Shows   

Editorial Review

Laurence Fishburne helped shepherd this Emmy Award-winning exposé from American medical history books to the small screen. Anchored in the 1973 Senate inquiry into the infamous Tuskegee Study, the film uses a flashback structure to take us back 40 years as Nurse Eunice Evers (played with honest conviction by Alfre Woodard, who also earned an acting Emmy for her powerful performance) describes how a program designed to treat syphilis among blacks in the South was twisted into an inhuman study. Evers's conscience is torn between leaving her position on principle or remaining to give the dying menwhat comfort she can while they are systematically refused life-saving medicine atevery turn. Fishburne costars as Caleb, a easygoing but ambitious young fieldhand who discovers the cold reality of the study while courting Miss Evers. Adapted by Walter Bernstein from a play by David Feldshuh, the film rises above the TV Movie of the Week mold with a complex moral structure that eschews (if you'll pardon the expression) black and white polarities for shades of gray as the doctors' initial compromises become a lifetime of lies. Ultimately that tone becomes the most disturbing facet of the drama: doctors and nurses so enmeshed in what is tantamount to a conspiracy they can find no way out, and a government that searches for scapegoats for its own cold-blooded research. Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• NTSC

Reviews (9)

A Shameful History
This movie is a great teaching tool for anyone. The events that occur and how they were enacted were an amazing, sad and shameful thing to wacht. It was use to teach me about laws that govern the medical field and why they are in place. My daughter use it to show the abuse that can occur when people are ignorant about STD's or any disease.
Blaming the Victim
Overall, this is a film worth watching, but to be honest I am extremely irritated in the fact that they bind a black woman up in all the evil, prejudice, racist, and other wrong doings of the U.S. government.Although, it is Miss Evers who calls the groups of men "her boys," its more self-inflicted labeling and a defense mechanism to fight off the nonsense the men encountered at the hands of the government.The subject is touchy and very heartbreaking yet, its still worth buying because it sheds a certain amount of truth to the history of brutality experienced by African-American men and women.

An American Tragedy
This is a made for cable drama based upon true events. As such, historicity takes a back seat to drama. That being said, there is no real reason to complain about this film. It depicts a despicable human experiment that took place near Tuskeegee, Alabama, beginning in 1932 and continuing for several decades. In a government study, black men with syphilis were offered treatment and records were kept on their progress. They got better. Suddenly, the funding for the program was cut. Some time later, a new program was begun. In this one, the black syphilitic men were studied and treated but the treatments were placebos. They served as a control group. Originally, the promise was that, upon completion of the program, the patients would be given the real treatments. In actuality, so much data was derived from these men that the program continued and continued for years with no real treatment. Eventually, the men began to die off and their minds an bodies succumbed to the devastation of the disease.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Actress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Read more

Features

• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• NTSC

Reviews (52)

"I need to be a hero."
As this wonderful movie opens, we enter the world of Eve's Bayou, the Louisiana home of ten-year old Eve (Jurnee Smollett) and her charming, philandering father Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), her glamorous and superstitious mother, her psychic aunt (Debbi Turner), and her big sister who idolizes Daddy as much as Eve does. The narrator's opening line concerns a murder, and we wait for this terrible event to occur.