Jessica Alba stars as a hard-working dancer and choreographer who makes good but finds that working with a group of neighbourhood kids is worth far more than success.
He's had some good performances in supporting parts, but Richard Pryor's major film roles, including Brewster's Millions, never managed to captured his comic brilliance the way his concert films did--proving that magic isn't something you can bottle. This 1985 film is no exception, even though it was directed by Walter Hill three years after he turned Eddie Murphy into a film star with 48 Hours. The seventh film reworking of a warhorse stage play, this film stars Pryor and John Candy as a pair of minor-league baseball players whose best days are behind them. Then Pryor is informed that he's just inherited a fortune--300 million dollars. But it comes with a condition: he must spend 30 million dollars in one month, with a number of rules about how much he can spend at one time and how many of any one thing he can buy. Both Pryor and Candy were at the top of their comedy games at this point, but were utterly failed both by ham-handed direction and a script that left them higher and drier than seems humanly possible, given the comic talents involved. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com
Welcome to the Cotton Club where crime lords rub shoulders with the rich and famous. Cornet player Dixie Dwyer gets a job in Harlem's famous Cotton Club while his brother gets a job as Dutch Schultz's bodyguard. Dwyer falls for Schultz's mistress Vera Cicero and finds himself caught in the middle of mobster rivalry in this stylish gangster film.
Brewster (Pryor) a lowly pitcher with the minor league Hackensack Bulls baseball team suddenly is left $300 million by a distant relative. But there's a catch; he must spend $30 million in thirty days without having any assets to show for it. And if he reveals it to a soul the real reason why he's throwing away all his cash he will forfeit everything! So aided and abetted by his team mate Spike (Candy) and a stream of hangers-on Brewster begins a spending spree that would bring a
'Round Midnight is a love letter from director BERTRAND TAVERNIER (Coup de torchon) to the heyday of bebop and to the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a miraculous, sui generis fusion of performer and character, legendary saxophonist DEXTER GORDON plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start, Turner relocates to Paris, where he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (The Intouchables' FRANÃOIS CLUZET) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician. HERBIE HANCOCK's evocative, Oscar-winning score sets the mood for this definitive jazz film, a bittersweet opus that glows with lived in, soulful authenticity. Product Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by composer Herbie Hancock and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio New interview with jazz critic Gary Giddins New conversation with music producer Michael Cuscuna and author Maxine Gordon, widow of musician Dexter Gordon Behind-the-scenes documentary from 19TK[ck] Panel discussion from 2014 featuring director Bertrand Tavernier, Cuscuna, Maxine Gordon, and jazz scholar John Szwed, moderated by jazz critic and broadcaster Mark Ruffin Performance from 1969 of Fried Bananas by Dexter Gordon, directed by Teit Jørgensen[ck] Excerpt from the 1996 documentary Dexter Gordon: More Than You Know, by Don McGlynn ck] New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by scholar Mark Anthony Neal
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.
Robert Dapes (Connery) is a cynical mercenary who comes to Cuba at the request of one of Batista's most corrupt functionaries General Bello (Martin Balsam). Once there he finds himself unable to ignore the brutality and depravity of the Batista regime - or Alexandra Pulido (Adams) an older lover who is now married to a wealthy Cuban landowner. Surrounded by volatile guerrilla fighters and the human vultures present at all coups he must come to terms with himself and his shifting v
A 4 disc box set featuring a quartet of the finest films starring motormouth funnyman Richard Pryor! R.I.P Ritchie... Car Wash ((Dir. Michael Schultz 1976): An earthy irreverent but affectionate look at a typical day in Los Angeles car wash! An ensemble piece which interweaves the lives of employees customers and passers-by Car Wash stars a galaxy of gifted actors most of whom are relatively unknown to movie goers and spotlights an array of guest stars in vivid cameo rol
Filmmaker Spike Lee actor Denzel Washington and other top talents vividly portray the life and times of Malcolm X. ""Heres a man who rose up from the dregs of society spent time in jail re-educated himself and through spiritual enlightenment rose to the top "" Lee says. Academy Award winner Washington was an Oscar nominee and the New York Boston and Chicago Film Critics choice as 1992s Best Actor.
When married architect Flipper (Wesley Snipes) begins an affair with his secretary Angie (Annabella Sciorra), neither anticipate the turmoil their romance unleashes. Drawn together by jungle fever' sexualised racial myths rather than love the couple struggle to reconcile their emotions with the social expectations that foster division between the black and white communities. Set on the streets of New York City in the early 1990s, Spike Lee's (Do the Right Thing) allstar drama is a typically engaging and provocative examination of interracial relationships in the United States. Featuring a stellar supporting cast, including Lee, Anthony Quinn and a multi awardwinning performance by Samuel L Jackson, Jungle Fever is made available on Bluray for the first time in the UK to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary
The Cotton Club is routinely eclipsed by the controversies that surrounded its tumultuous production, but the film itself offers abundant pleasures that should not be overlooked. If Apocalypse Now represents the triumph of director Francis Coppola's perilous ambition, then The Cotton Club represents the ungainly glory of uncontrolled genius, as brilliant as it is out of its depth. As an upscale homage to classic gangster films it's frequently astonishing, cramming a thick novel's worth of plot and characters into 129 minutes, gloriously serviced by impeccable production design, elegant cinematography, and stylistic flourishes that show Coppola at the top of his game. What The Cotton Club lacks is cohesion. Written by Coppola and novelist William Kennedy (then enjoying the peak of his critical acclaim), the film struggles to exceed the narrative scope of The Godfather, but its multiple early-'30s plotlines fail to form any strong connective tissue. It's three (or four) movies in one, with cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own jazzy solos) drifting from one story to the next--loving a young, ambitious vamp (Diane Lane, with whom Gere shares precious little chemistry), enjoying the success of a hot-shot hoofer (Gregory Hines), and protecting his brazen brother (Coppola's then-newcomer nephew, Nicolas Cage) from the deadly temper of mob boss "Dutch" Schultz (James Remar). Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne also score big in grand supporting roles, but The Cotton Club is perhaps best appreciated for its meticulous recreation of Harlem's Cotton Club heyday, and the brilliant music (Ellington, Calloway, etc.) that brought rhythm to gangland's rat-a-tat-tat. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Brewster's Millions (Dir. Walter Hill) (1985): Richard Pryor is Montgomery Brewster, a minor league baseball pitcher who discovers he has to blow $30 million in 30 days as a condition to inherit a much greater fortune.Here's The Catch: He will forfeit everything if he reveals to a soul the real reason he seems to be throwing away all that cash.With the help of his pal Spike (John Candy), they set off on a frantic spending spree the likes of which would bring any self-respecting accountant to his knees.Uncle Buck (Dir. John Hughes) (1989): An idle, good natured bachelor is left in charge of his nephew and nieces during a family crisis. Unaccustomed to family life, Buck soon charms his younger relatives, but his style doesn't impress everyone, including his girlfriend. The film charts his progress from slob to a reasonable human being by having to manage with girlfriend troubles, unemployment, a sex mad neighbour, cooking breakfast and a beautiful but rebellious niece.
The subtext of Gardens of Stone, a grim, snail-paced Francis Ford Coppola film, is the death of Coppola's son Giancarlo in a boating accident. Coppola came back with this Vietnam-era military drama about the men assigned to patrol and serve at the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. James Caan is the world-weary patrol leader with a fatherly interest in a gung-ho cadet (DB Sweeney). Caan tries to show Sweeney the potentially fatal future that awaits him if he volunteers for combat, but he can't break through his young charge's zealousness. The subplot involves crusty Caan's attempts at romance with Anjelica Huston, who can't quite fathom his contradictions. The story is all glum and lumbering, despite a warm, full-bodied performance by James Earl Jones as one of Caan's buddies.--Marshall Fine
The Glitter of Success Couldn't Hide How They Got There. Three soulful sisters rise out of Harlem to become music's hottest singing group in this rags-to-riches tale of glitz glamour and the high price of fame. Against the vibrant grooves of Curtis Mayfield these divas explode onto the scene with off-the-hook harmonies and a sexy style that catapult them to superstardom - but not every fairytale has a happy ending. When success leads to excess one sister's star will fade while another's will sparkle. Starring Academy Award-winner Irene Cara (Fame Flashdance) Lonette McKee (ATL Round Midnight) Dwan Smith and Philip Michael Thomas this inspiring story of struggle and hope is guaranteed to put a song in your heart.
The Women Of Brewster Place is a gripping and loving group portrait of seven women whose backs are literally against the wall: a surrounding wall whose brick facade has turned the address of Brewster Place into both a real and symbolic dead end. It is a street overflowing with tales of courage and anguish. For the women who call this home (played by Oprah Winfrey Robin Givens and Cicely Tyson among others) Brewster Place is a source of conflicts amid the dark and overcrowded tenements. Despite their different backgrounds these women are ultimately united in a single act of courage against the walls of racism sexism and violence in a stirring climax.
Fired from his job for whistle-blowing, a high-powered executive turns to impregnating lesbian women for cash in the latest film from Spike Lee.
Richard Pryor plays three roles - a beleaguered sex-starved farm worker named Leroy Jones; the farm worker's randy old father Rufus; and the hypocritical town preacher Rev. Lenox Thomas - and Pryor has never been so outrageously funny. The lives and love lives of these three men cross and crisscross as Leroy tries to get his life back on track. The fun kicks into high gear when Leroy moves from labor to management. He tries to juggle his wife and his girlfriend but the only peace he can find the arms of the Reverend's wife! It's a case of too many women and too little time. No wonder he doesn't know Which Way Is Up?.
Titles Comprise: Car Wash: An ensemble piece which interweaves the lives of employees customers and passers-by Car Wash stars a galaxy of gifted actors most of whom are relatively unknown to movie goers and spotlights an array of guest stars in vivid cameo roles. Stir Crazy: Playwright Skip Donahue (Wilder) and actor Harry Monroe (Pryor) are out of work and penniless. Deciding they have had enough of Broadway they set off to make their fortunes and find freedom down South. On the way their funds get so low that they have to find work; as singing dancing Woodpeckers promoting a bank. Plagued by bad luck thieves steal their costumes and rob the bank and guess who gets the blame and get put jail? Brewster's Millions: Brewster (Pryor) a lowly pitcher with the minor league Hackensack Bulls baseball team suddenly is left 0 million by a distant relative. But there's a catch; he must spend million in thirty days without having any assets to show for it. And if he reveals it to a soul the real reason why he's throwing away all his cash he will forfeit everything! So aided and abetted by his team mate Spike (Candy) and a stream of hangers-on Brewster begins a spending spree that would bring any self-respecting accountant to his knees... See No Evil Hear No Evil: Two men are witness to a murder - a blind man who couldn't see it and a deaf man who couldn't hear it but somehow they become prime suspects in the case. They escape the police and set out to catch the bad guy themselves...
Brewster's Millions (Dir. Walter Hill) (1985): Richard Pryor is Montgomery Brewster a minor league baseball pitcher who discovers he has to blow million in 30 days as a condition to inherit a much greater fortune. Here's The Catch: He will forfeit everything if he reveals to a soul the real reason he seems to be throwing away all that cash. With the help of his pal Spike (John Candy) they set off on a frantic spending spree the likes of which would bring any self-respecting accountant to his knees. Uncle Buck (Dir. John Hughes) (1989): An idle good natured bachelor is left in charge of his nephew and nieces during a family crisis. Unaccustomed to family life Buck soon charms his younger relatives but his style doesn't impress everyone including his girlfriend. The film charts his progress from slob to a reasonable human being by having to manage with girlfriend troubles unemployment a sex mad neighbour cooking breakfast and a beautiful but rebellious niece.
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