Author: blackcinemaconnection

The Final Patient

Release Date:  2005
Genre:  Horror
Rating:  NR
Director:  Jerry Mainardi
Studio(s):  The Final Patient Productions LLC, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
Running Time:  100 mins.

Cast:  Bill Cobbs (Dr. Daniel Green), Alex Feldman (Cameron Streckman), Jason Scott Campbell (Willy Jenkins), Lizan Mitchell (Elizabeth Green), Guy Boyd (Sheriff McKnee).


Story:  Elderly physician, Dr. Daniel Green, lifts a farm tractor off a boy who is trapped underneath it.  The heroic act brings the unwanted attention of two medical students who are determined to learn the secret as to what keeps Dr. Green so healthy and why he is so strong. Visiting the old doctor and his sickly wife at their isolated farmhouse, the young men learn that the doctor has uncovered the key to eternal youth. They soon discover that Dr. Green’s miracle comes with horrifying consequences and a fate far worse than growing old.  Source:  Boo!  The Essential Guide to Black Horror.  Photo Source:  imdb.com, blackhorrormovies.com.

by Categories: Fright Night FridaysTags: Leave a comment

To All My Friends On Shore

Release Date:  2/25/1972; CBS
Genre: Drama / TV Movie
Rating:   NR
Running Time:  70 mins.
Director:  Gilbert Cates
Studio(s):  Jamel Productions Inc., Jemmin Inc.

Cast:  Bill Cosby (Blue). Gloria Foster (Serena), Dennis Hines (Vandy), Teddy Thompson (Tempo), Ray Mason (Doctor), Dennis Tate (Dr. Fogson).

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Story:  Blue is an airport redcap struggling to support his family.  He takes on several odd jobs so he can save enough money to buy a house so they can move out of the projects. His wife Serena would rather he work less and spend more time with his young son, Vandy. Blue’s single-minded determination to get his family out of the ghetto has cut him off from them.  Only when Vandy is diagnosed with sickle cell anemia does Blue realize what he should spend his time on – being with his family.  Bill Cosby wrote, produced, scored and starred in the film.  Sources:  tcm.com, rottentomatoes.com.  Photos source:  daaracarchive.org.

Movie:

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Gang War

Release Date:  3/29/1940
Genre:  Crime
Rating:  NR
B&W
Director:  Leo C. Popkin
Studio(s):  Million Dollar Productions, Sack Amusement Enterprises, Toddy Pictures Co.,
Alpha Video Distributors, Image Entertainment
Running Time:  62 mins.

Cast:  Ralph Cooper (Bob “Killer” Meade), Gladys Snyder (Mazie “Sugar” Walford), Reggie Fenderson (Danny), Lawrence Criner (Lew Baron), Monte Hawley (Bill), Jesse C. Brooks (Lt. Holmes), Johnny Thomas (Phil), Maceo Sheffield (Bull Brown), Charles Hawkins (Pip), Robert Johnson (Waxy), Henry Roberts (Slim), Harold Garrison (Slicum).

Story:  Bob “Killer” Meade is a rising lawbreaker in Harlem. A member of Bull Brown’s gang, Bob soon takes over and orders Bull to be “given some air.” Bob is indicted for his crimes, but witnesses are afraid to talk and he is found not guilty. At the courthouse, he meets Mazie “Sugar” Walford and although Sugar is engaged to a member of a prominent local family, Bob begins to court her, promising to lay Harlem at her feet. Bob decides to cut in on the juke box action of rival crime boss, Lew Baron, who sends several killers after him. In the ensuing gangland war, Bob and his men defeat Lew and take over his machines.  Eventually Bob kills Lew.  But while Bob has risen to the top of the seamy underworld by ruthlessly exterminating his competition, the one person closest to him puts the police on his trail. In an attempt to escape, Bob makes a mad dash over neighborhood rooftops as the police pursue and finally shoot him, his corpse falling at Sugar’s feet.  Sources:  tcm.com, daaracarchive.org.

Movie:

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Sitting in Bars With Cake

Release Date:  9/8/23; Prime Video

Genre:  Romance/Comedy

Rating:   PG-13

Running Time:  120 mins.

Director:  Trish Sie

Studio(s):  Resonate Entertainment, All Night Diner, Amazon Studios

Cast:  Yara Shahidi (Jane), Odessa A’zion (Corinne), Bette Midler (Benita), Ron Livingston (Fred), Adina Porter (Tasha).

 

 

 

 


Story:  Sitting in Bars with Cake follows two best friends—shy-but-extremely-talented home baker Jane and her best friend Corinne, the ultimate extrovert—as they navigate life in Los Angeles.  Corinne convinces Jane to commit to a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars — known as “cakebarring” — with the goal of meeting people and developing confidence. But when Corrine receives a life-altering diagnosis, the pair face a challenge unlike anything they’ve experienced before, resulting in a moving celebration of female friendship, forging identity, and finding joy in the most unexpected places.

Inspired by real-life events and the book of the same name by Audrey Shulman, who also wrote the screenplay.  Sources:  aboutamazon.com, ew.com.  Photos:  IMDB.com, ew.com.

Trailer:

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Regeneration

Release Date:  12/25/1923
Genre:  Action/Drama
Rating:  NR
Director:  Richard E. Norman
Studio(s):  Norman Film Mfg. Co.
B&W
Silent

Cast:  Stella Mayo (Violet Daniels), M.C. Maxwell (Jack Roper), Alfred Norcom, Charlie Gaines, R.L. Brown, Clarence Rucker, Steve Reynolds.

Story:  After a widowed sea captain dies he leaves his only daughter, Violet Daniels, a map detailing the location of buried treasure on an unknown south seas island.  Violet and Jack Roper leave on his fishing schooner, the “Anna Bell,” to find the treasure. During the voyage the ship’s mate, Knife Hurley, attempts to steal the map and there is a fight involving the crew he has recruited from the scum of the waterfront. The ship is set on fire, and Knife escapes in the only lifeboat with the map and his crew. Violet and Jack are left to die on the burning boat, however, they survive on a raft they build and after days of drifting, hungry and thirsty, they arrive at an uninhabited island. They name the island Regeneration and begin life anew. Sometime later, Knife and his crew land on Regeneration, which turns out to be the island on which the treasure is buried.  Eventually Knife is defeated.

Notes:  Contemporary information about the exact conclusion of the film has not been located. The movie was a hit, not just with black audiences but with white patrons, too, as a benefit from director and founder of Norman Studios, Richard E. Norman’s unique promotional methods. In particular, Norman encouraged theaters to fill their lobbies with sand to draw potential customers in. Unfortunately, no known full copies of Regeneration exist. However, Kino Lorber restored an 11-minute portion of the second reel, archived in the Library of Congress, though video remains largely obscured by nitrate decomposition.  Sources:  tcm.com, daaracarchive.org.  Photos:  imdb.com.

Preview Clip

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Rustin

Release Date:  11/3/23 – Limited; 11/17/23 – Netflix
Genre:  Biopic/Drama
Rating:   PG-13
Director:  George C. Wolfe
Studio(s):  Higher Ground Productions, Netflix

Cast:  Colman Domingo (Bayard Rustin), Chris Rock (Roy Wilkins), Glynn Turman (A. Philip Randolph), Aml Ameen (Martin Luther King, Jr.), CCH Pounder (Anna Arnold Hedgeman), Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Michael Potts (Cleveland Robinson), Bill Irwin (A. J. Muste). Jeffrey Wright (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.), Audra McDonald (Ella Baker).

Story:  The powerful story of Bayard Rustin, the openly gay civil rights leader who dedicated his life to a quest for racial equality. Rustin follows the activist as he takes on the mammoth task of turning the 1963 March on Washington from dream into reality, all while contending with racism and homophobia in the 1960s. The film is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions.  Source:  Netflix.com.

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