Release Date: 7/7/23; In Theaters Genre: Thriller Rating: NR Running Time:100 mins. Director:William Atticus Parker Studio(s):River Styx Productions
Cast: Leon Addison Brown (Steve), Whoopi Goldberg (Dr. Andrea Hart), Brandon E. Burton (Neil), Steven Maier (Brad), Lewis Black (Roy Altman), Jeffrey Wright (Vincent), Evan Jonigkeit (Dr. Raphael Clearwater), Mark Boone Junior (Dr. Eduard Gillespie), Brooks Ashmanskas (Todd), Joel De La Fuente (Mark), Alec Baldwin (Proctor Carlisle).
Story: Steven is grieving the passing of his son Neil. He attends therapy sessions with Dr. Andrea Hart and commiserates with his co-worker Roy. Then a mysterious man named Vincent gives Steven an envelope with a piece of paper containing a barcode. This leads Steven to the sinister bar Atrabilious where therapeutic concoctions are served that make people forget their sorrows. Steven senses something is wrong at the bar and recruits his friends Todd and Mark to help him investigate. The more he digs around, the more Steven realizes that his son may not be dead after all. Source:filmthreat.com. Photo source: rottentomatoes.com.
Release Date: 7/7/23 – In Theaters (Original Release: 1/20/23 – Sundance Film Festival) Genre: Drama Rating: R Running Time:97 mins. Director:Savanah Leaf Studio(s):A24, Academy Films, Film4, Net-Net Worldwide, Park Pictures
Story: Earth Mama is based on The Heart Still Hums, a 2020 documentary about mothers and children that writer and director Savanah Leaf made with actress Taylor Russell (Bones and All). Earth Mama centers on Gia a pregnant single mother in recovery with two kids in foster care. Gia lives in the Bay Area, where she shares an apartment with her sister and works in a mall portrait studio. Gia struggles to get her kids back, a time-consuming process that involves a reunification program in which she’s constantly monitored. Gia is also concerned about the fate of her unborn child. Fearing that the state will also take her third child, Gia enlists the women in her community for guidance as she fights to reclaim her family. Sources: hollywoodreporter. com, nytimes.com. Photo Sources: hammertonail.com.
Release Date:2/17/23; Tubi Genre:Drama/Thriller Rating: TV-MA Running Time:86 mins. Director:Matthew Kohnen Studio(s):Bombshelter Post Production Studios, MarVista Entertainment, Shadow Vale Productions, Tubi Movies, Tubi TV. Cast: Pooch Hall (Sean Davidson), Brittany Baker (Janet Davidson), Chris Whitcomb (Billy Davidson), Eric Lutes (Andrew Tyler). Story:A couple’s weekend getaway turns into a kill-or-be-killed crisis when masked men invade their home and make their teenage son a hostage. Source: Tubitv.com.
Release Date:9/8/80 (TV Movie, HBO) Genre:Drama Rating:R Director: Andy Wolk Studio(s):Elysian Films, Home Box Office (HBO), Warner Bros. Running Time: 90 mins. Cast:Forest Whitaker (Jessie Williams), Rosie Perez (Denise Moore), Anthony LaPaglia (David Ringel), Jennifer Grey (Liz Carter), Tony Todd (Detective Riley).
Story: Criminal Justice tells the story of a 19-year-old prostitute named Denise who is brutally robbed as she leaves a Brooklyn crack den. In addition to stealing her night’s earnings, her assailant leaves a knife slash across her cheek. From a pile of mug shots and a lineup, Denise identifies her attacker as Jesse Williams, an unemployed man in his early 20’s who lives only a couple of blocks from the crime scene in East New York. Jessie claims he is innocent but is quickly arrested. The plot proceeds to follow Jesse through every stage of his prosecution, from the time a detective throws him down on a desk and sarcastically snarls his Miranda rights at him, through his incarceration, to the resolution of the case six months later. Sources: IMDB; Newyorktimes.com.
Release Date: 4/11/1973 Genre: Drama/Crime Rating: R Director: Raymond St. Jacques Studio(s):Brut Productions, AVCO Embassy Pictures Running Time:81 mins.
Cast: Raymond St. Jacques, Philip Michael Thomas, Freda Payne, Hope Clarke, Willie Washington, Jr., D’Urville Martin, Doug Finell, Sterling St. Jacques, C. L. Williams, Jerry Leon, Gilbert Green, Irma P. Hall.
Story: Blueboy Harris and Dave Green are struggling to make a living as waiters in the deep South during the Depression. They assess their options and decide that there’s more money to be made on the shadier side of the law, so they set up a numbers racket. It proves to have been the right decision and things are going smoothly for them until a white crime boss finds out about their success which leads to struggles with the mafia, the KKK and a corrupt police force. Source(s): tcm.com; daarac.org.
Cast:Eddie Murphy (Vernest “Quick” Brown), Richard Pryor (Sugar Ray), Redd Foxx (Bennie Wilson), Della Reese (Madame Vera Walker), Danny Aiello (Phil Cantone), Michael Lerner (Bugsy Calhoune), Berlinda Tolbert (Annie), Stan Shaw (Jack Jenkins), Jasmine Guy (Dominique La Rue), Lela Rochon (Sunshine), Thomas Mikal Ford (Tommy Smalls), Vic Polizos (Richie Vento), David Marciano (Tony), Arsenio Hall (Reggie), Charlie Murphy (Jimmy), Robin Harris (Romeo), Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. (Man with Broken Nose).
Details: Harlem Nights was written, executive produced, and directed by Eddie Murphy. Murphy co-stars with Richard Pryor as a team running a nightclub in late-1930s Harlem while contending with gangsters and corrupt police officials. The film also features Redd Foxx in his last film before his death in 1991.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Story:In 1918, small-time hustler Sugar Ray takes in seven-year-old orphan and errand boy Vernest Brown, who he nicknames “Quick” after the boy saves his life. Twenty years later, Ray and Quick, now wealthy gangsters, run a Harlem nightclub called Club Sugar Ray, with gambling and dancing in the front, and a brothel in the back that’s run by Ray’s old friend Madame Vera.
A white gangster by the name of Bugsy Calhoune, sends a corrupt detective to threaten Ray with having the Club shut down unless Colhoune gets a cut of the profits. Ray decides to shut down rather than pay, but makes sure his friends and workers are taken care of. After Ray and Quick steal bets made by Calhoune’s friends and associates on an upcoming boxing match, Calhoune sends his mistress, Dominique LaRue, to seduce and kill Quick but Quick turns the tables and kills LaRue with a gun he had hidden under his pillow.
The championship fight begins. With Calhoune’s gang distracted, Ray’s men seize the opportunity to blow up Calhoune’s “Pitty Pat Club”. Vera, seemingly angry with Ray over a business dispute, visits Calhoune and tells him where to find Ray and Quick. Calhoune and his men go to Ray’s hideout, but they unknowingly trigger hidden explosives that kill them all. Ray and Quick take one last look at Harlem, knowing they can never return and that there will never be another city like it. Despite this, the two, along with their associates leave for an unknown location as the credits roll.
Notes:Harlem Nights was Eddie Murphy’s brother Charlie first film role.The part of Dominique La Rue, played by Jasmine Guy, was originally cast with actress Michael Michele. Michele was fired during production because, according to Murphy, she “wasn’t working out”. Michele sued Murphy, saying that in reality she was fired for rejecting Murphy’s romantic advances. Murphy denied the charge, and the lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Release Date: 7/7/23; In Theaters
Release Date:
Release Date: 
Release Date:
Black Cinema Connection 