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Video - Genres - Drama - African American Drama

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1. Glory
2. What's Love Got To Do With It?
3. Higher Learning
4. Rosewood
5. Amistad (Thx)
6. Set It Off
7. Do the Right Thing
$23.70
8. Daughters of the Dust
9. Jungle Fever
10. Malcolm X (2pc)
11. Love Jones
12. Waiting to Exhale
13. Clockers
14. Miss Evers Boys
15. Eve's Bayou
16. Mo Better Blues
17. How Stella Got Her Groove Back
18. Soldier's Story
19. Beloved (1998)
20. Soul Food

1. Glory
by Sony Pictures
VHS Tape (22 June, 1994)
list price: $14.95
Asin: 6301777867
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

One of the very best films about the Civil War, this instant classic from 1989 is also one of the few films to depict the participation of African American soldiers in Civil War combat. Based in part on the books Read more

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Reviews (320)

5-0 out of 5 stars 45 Times and Counting
It is not a mistake: I have seen this movie so many times that I can only estimate the number of times I have seen it. One may ask if it has even started to lose some of its charm. Short answer: no. It is still a great and moving story now, even after 45-odd viewings.
4-0 out of 5 stars Moving performances
Neither Mr. Broderick nor Mr. Washington have been favorites of mine in the past but I must give them their due in their performances in Glory. Both gave stunning and moving performances. The visuals that made you feel like you were there were astounding as well.Mr. Broderick does a wonderful job of portraying a character who is sometimes self-righteous and self-seeking and at other times inspiring and self-abasing. Mr. Washington provides the angry man to bring out the more sedate and clear-thinking Morgan Freeman character.All come together in common bond that builds in fighting together for a common cause.It is a somewhat one-sided and shallow portrayal of the war's causes that may not go over well with the lovers of history.But, the coming-of-age band-of-brothers mood of the film is moving and enjoyable all the same. No matter which side you may favor in that conflict (if either), you will still find yourself cheering with the rest, "Give-em Hell 54th!"

5-0 out of 5 stars INSPIRATIONAL MASTERPIECE
Flawless movie making at its best! Patriotic and powerful telling of the true beginning-of-the-end for the Confederacy. Ex-slaves and free blacks alike, finally aloud to defend their dignity, were the final blow to the Southern bondage of an entire race of human beings history tells us. The Truth based story of the Massachusetts 54th. Only the beginning of black heroics during the Civil War.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-action/Adventure    3. Movie   


2. What's Love Got To Do With It?
by Walt Disney Video
VHS Tape (09 January, 1996)
list price: $9.99
Asin: 6303022928
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Tina Turner, that dynamic diva of pop/soul/R&B from the '60s to the '90s, sings like a woman whose life story is every bit as rough and tough as her voice. And Read more

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Reviews (54)

5-0 out of 5 stars LOVE THIS MOVIE
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this movie.It's one of my all time favorites.It contains a little bit of everything from humor to drama to lots of entertainment.The color is great, the sound is good, the songs and dances will make you want to sing and dance along with them.It's very fun to watch.I believe everyone should have this movie in their collection.You'll never get tired of watching it.

5-0 out of 5 stars Angela Bassett / Halle Berry
Halle Berry is very attractive and I am sure that the roll she played in "Monster's Ball" was difficult but Angela Bassett deserved the monumental distinction of being the first African American Actress to win a leading role Oscar.
4-0 out of 5 stars Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
Wow! When they cast Angela Basset to play Tina Turner, they made an amazing choice.She has Tina's facial expressions down pat and an amazing figure too!I never knew that Ike Turner was such a monster.Laurence Fishburne was amazing in his role, he was very scary, and it just made you hate Ike for being so evil.This movie shows what kind of person Tina is: strong. As a little Anna Mae Bullock, she was abandoned by her parents. She stood by her husband Ike, despite the fact that he did drugs, slept with other women and beat her. But enough is enough. Tina couldn't stand it any longer. She left Ike and finally got a divorce. Tina started to rebuild her career as a solo artist but it wasn't an easy job. After years of working and touring, finally in 1983 Tina hit the charts with the cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together". Tina made the greatest comeback ever.This is a perfect movie. Great story, great music, great performances. ... Read more

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


3. Higher Learning
by Sony Pictures
VHS Tape (07 January, 1997)
list price: $9.95
Asin: 630350986X
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

This ambitious 1995 film by John Singleton (Read more

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Reviews (80)

3-0 out of 5 stars Singleton-ed out.
Singleton lightens up on the militantism and anti-establishment attitude that plagued so much of Boyz N Da Hood. Boyz was a microscopic view of the world, while Higher Learning is a macroscopic view.
5-0 out of 5 stars Higher Learning
I liked Boyz n the hood and this movie,I liked how Malik and Remy really left each other pissed off in scenes.Near the end Remy said he wanted to build things he wanted to be an enginear(I don't know the correct spelling)But you know because of the shooting he did it was all over.If only he didn't meet his Jerky friend Scott,Remy wouldn't have become a neo-nazi and kill.This movie was real entertaining.

5-0 out of 5 stars Verry Powerful movie
This is one of my favorite Jhon Singleton Movies. This Movie is Better than I expected, I thought it would be like Do the right thing but it was much better. Omar Epps, Tyra Banks, Lawrence Fishburn, Michael Rapaport, and Regina King did a great job in this movie too. ... Read more

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


4. Rosewood
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (27 January, 1998)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 0790732068
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

A shameful chapter in American history is powerfully dramatized in Read more

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Reviews (36)

4-0 out of 5 stars Too much Hollywood added, but understandable
The event this movie was based on was so despicable that John Singleton (Director) had to add in fictional characters so it wouldn't look as shameful as Rosewood really was.
5-0 out of 5 stars Tragic history, great story.
Based on a true story of a historic outbreak of racist violence, "Rosewood" is a compelling movie even without the social significance.The storyline is basically that a white woman falsely accuses a black man of rape, causing a whole town to go nuts.Certain of the white citizens form a mob to administer "justice" and end up on a rampage, while 2 men try to hide the black citizens of the town and help them escape.
5-0 out of 5 stars SAD CHAPTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Based on actual events, Rosewood relates the events that led to as many as 150 African Americans being murdered and burned out of their homes in Rosewood, Florida in 1923, by whites from a neighboring town.All this happens because a white woman falsely accused a black man of raping her.
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Subjects:  1. Action    2. Adventure    3. Drama    4. Feature Film-drama    5. Movie   


5. Amistad (Thx)
by Dreamworks Video
VHS Tape (10 November, 1998)
list price: $9.99
Asin: 0783227272
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitized history lesson, Read more

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Reviews (116)

4-0 out of 5 stars The Case for Freedom
What is the price one will pay for freedom ripped and seized from? It is a scenario that is presented by Stephen Spielberg's "Amistad"; when something so essential such as freedom is taken; the fight to regain it should understandably not be governed by rules. Freedom is a right all men and women are entitled to at birth or at least that is what all men and women should be entitled to. And for the pursuit of freedom one has to take into account drastic measures to regain it. Such is the case when over 40 men sold into slavery revolted against their owners off the coast of Cuba . Led by Sengbe Pieh or Cinque, the Africans eventually found themselves just off of Long Island . Their capture by U.S. authorities and their quarantine as their fate was put in limbo as abolitionists argued their case.
5-0 out of 5 stars Runs the distance
This film really struck deep with me. I'll find myself in some situation, and one or another line Adams' final speech will come drifting back to me. It has settled somehow in my inner repertoire of quotes... "I am that I am", "And miles to go before I sleep", "To be or not to be",... And yes... "Give us the courage to do what is right, and if it means civil war, then let it come."
4-0 out of 5 stars Another "must see" for history students.
As with all movies about history, I review them from the perspective of the history teacher and leave all of the other particulars to the other reviewers. In this case, however, I'd like to address the Amazon review (written by Dave McCoy) as well. McCoy states that the director (noneother than Steven Speilberg) feels compelled "to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion . . . [and] . . . cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--'villains' like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon." For the record, I'll say that I agree wholeheartedly---but in this case, an excellent movie still unfolds and a story that SHOULD be told is told! Also, let me address a fellow reviewer's (Leon Washington) remark that those who slam this movie are guilty of racism. I don't necessarily think that those who give this movie bad reviews are categorically racist, but I do think they may be missing the "big picture" here. Alright, let's get on with the review.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   


6. Set It Off
by New Line Home Video
VHS Tape (21 October, 1997)
list price: $6.98
Asin: 0780613880
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Even when it misses a dramatic opportunity in favor of generic action, Read more

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Reviews (47)

5-0 out of 5 stars "Queen Latifah was awesome"
A very depressing movie that showed how poverty caused 4 women to live a lifestyle that was doomed from the start.
4-0 out of 5 stars These four outrageous woman share one thing in common..... their desperation
Although the film is heavily stylized in gangland culture it's still very accessible. You could put this story into any situation and it would still be believable and credible. Yet there's one thing that puts "Set It Off" into a league of it's own, and that's the four central performances.
5-0 out of 5 stars one of the best
this is one of myall time fave films.fantastic storyline,fantastic actors,Queen Latifa is 'da bomb' !!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Movie   


7. Do the Right Thing
by MCA/Universal Home Video
VHS Tape (01 March, 1992)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 1558801596
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Spike Lee's incendiary look at race relations in America, circa 1989, is so colorful and exuberant for its first three-quarters that you can almost forget the terrible confrontation that the movie inexorably builds toward. Read more

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Reviews (115)

5-0 out of 5 stars Look deep
This movie goes beyond bigotry beyond dissatisifed human interaction.
5-0 out of 5 stars Do the Right Thing
"Do the Right Thing" is considered one of the great and most important films of the last twenty years. Some classes in college show the film to students. I almost didn't see this movie because it's in The Criterion Collection and I've seen maybe 3 movies I liked out of that collection (although I haven't seen that many in the first place). This was the era in which Spike Lee was making political films that deal with racism. Since then he has moved on to directing and producing only. In this film; Lee writes, directs, produces, and stars. He's a pretty good actor too. The movie tells the story of black, korean, and italian characters in New York who struggle with racism every day. We open as a radio station D.J. named Mister Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson)
5-0 out of 5 stars The "Crash" before the Oscar-winning 2005 version
This is seriously one of my all-time favorite movies.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


8. Daughters of the Dust
by Kino Video
VHS Tape (16 February, 1999)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $23.70
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: B000006PEC
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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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

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Reviews (25)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.
5-0 out of 5 stars 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.

1-0 out of 5 stars 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   


9. Jungle Fever
by MCA/Universal Home Video
VHS Tape (20 January, 1993)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 1558809007
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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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

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Reviews (36)

3-0 out of 5 stars 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!

4-0 out of 5 stars "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.

4-0 out of 5 stars 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.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


10. Malcolm X (2pc)
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (16 February, 1994)
list price: $4.98
Asin: 6302787556
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Just as Read more

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Reviews (124)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.

2-0 out of 5 stars 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.
5-0 out of 5 stars 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   


11. Love Jones
by New Line Home Video
VHS Tape (13 January, 1998)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 0780619439
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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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

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Reviews (92)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.

5-0 out of 5 stars Love and more love
Excellent, real romance!!! Filled with the magic and mistakes of falling in and out of love in America

1-0 out of 5 stars Boring, boring, boring
Please folks save your money, it was like reading a bad romance novel ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


12. Waiting to Exhale
by 20th Century Fox
VHS Tape (23 April, 1996)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 6304016859
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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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

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Reviews (44)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.
5-0 out of 5 stars 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.

4-0 out of 5 stars Cynically True
Black women of different types, expericence love, loss, joy, and discover themselves... An excellent film. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


13. Clockers
by Universal Studios
VHS Tape (17 September, 1996)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 6303955924
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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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

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Reviews (29)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.

2-0 out of 5 stars 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.
5-0 out of 5 stars 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   


14. Miss Evers Boys
by Hbo Home Video
VHS Tape (14 April, 1998)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 0783110901
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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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)

5-0 out of 5 stars 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.
4-0 out of 5 stars 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.

4-0 out of 5 stars 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.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


15. Eve's Bayou
by Vidmark / Trimark
VHS Tape (08 September, 1998)
list price: $14.99
Asin: 1573623733
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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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)

5-0 out of 5 stars "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.
5-0 out of 5 stars Big Present in a Small Package
Eve's Bayou is an incredible film about a family struggling to keep family together.Eve's Bayou is a town founded by a freed slave.Our heroine is named after her predecessor.