Angela Bassett

Three weeks after the end of the world via collapse of the multiverse, a birthday girl tries to find people to invite to her birthday party.

When the Prime Minister of Britain passes away under mysterious circumstances, his funeral becomes an international event, with several world leaders of the western world gathering to pay their respects. But this protected gathering is actually a part of a deadly assassination plan. Now, it is up to the U.S. Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) alongside U.S. Vice President V.P. Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) to protect their President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and put an end to this major conspiracy.

Chi-Raq is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play `Lysistrata` by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago`s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.

Curious George goes on an epic adventure to space that crash lands in the jungles of Africa leading to an unforgettable journey with some new animal friends. Launch into the adventure of a lifetime with everyone's favorite monkey in this all-new movie, Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle! When Curious George is asked to take part in a very important space mission, a little monkeying around forces him to crash-land in Africa. While a worried Man with the Yellow Hat searches for him, Curious George bravely explores the jungle and makes new animal friends along the way. Reunited at last, the two best pals have an unforgettable adventure shared with their new friends! Featuring the voice talents of Angela Bassett & John Goodman, with music by the Plain White T's, join Curious George on his fun-filled journey that the whole family will enjoy! —Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

When the White House (Secret Service Code: Olympus) is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning`s inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President, and avert an even bigger crisis.

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for millenniums. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected for the Corps: Hal Jordan. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but unlike him, the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Two roommates deathly afraid of ghosts both fall in love with a girl who believes their home is haunted. In order to impress a girl, two roommates set out to make a documentary about a murder that took place in their house decades ago. The girl thinks that the victim's ghost still resides there, the two guys think that making a movie with her will get them laid. But after they set cameras up around the house, and scary/funny things begin to happen that seem legitimately supernatural...they realize that the ghost is not only real, but she's become smitten with our guys. Now, they have to try and find a way to get this 'ghost bitch' out of the house. A subversive, comedic take on the found footage genre. —Anonymous

In Washington, D.C., a reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source. Thinking Pulitzer Prize and hoping to bring down a President, D.C. political columnist Rachel Armstrong writes that the President ignored the findings of a covert CIA operative when ordering air strikes against Venezuela. Rachel names the agent, Erica Van Doren, a woman whose young daughter is in Rachel's son's class at school. The government moves quickly to force Rachel to name her source. She's jailed for contempt when she refuses. She won't change her mind, and the days add up. Chaos descends on Van Doren's life as well. First Amendment versus national security, marriage and motherhood versus separation. What's the value of a principle? —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Rachel Armstrong is trying to balance her life as wife to novelist Ray Armstrong and "soccer mom" to adolescent Timmy Armstrong against the want to advance her career as an investigative journalist at the national news desk of the Capital Sun-Times newspaper. Her name within the profession may become more renowned when her editor, Bonnie Benjamin, decides to print the latest explosive story on which she has been working and for which many predict she will win a Pulitzer Prize. The story is that Erica Van Doren, the wife of Ambassador Oscar Van Doren who has been critical of the current administration, is a covert CIA operative who investigated and found conclusive evidence that the Venezuelan government was not responsible for a recent assassination attempt on US President Lyman. Erica's report was ignored by the White House, the US government which proceeded to bomb strategic Venezuelan sites in retaliation. Beyond exposing Erica's role, the story is not meant to be critical of her or Ambassador Van Doren per se but rather the White House for their inappropriate and potentially illegal behavior, which the newspaper sees as being in the same league as something like Watergate. The coincidental part of the story is that the Van Dorens' daughter Alison Van Doren is Timmy's classmate, although Rachel doesn't know the Van Doren parents personally and has only seen fellow soccer mom Erica in the past from afar in their respective volunteer work at the school. Although he OKs proceeding with the story, what makes the newspaper's chief counsel Avril Aaronson nervous is that Rachel has not divulged to him or anyone else at the newspaper her primary source, although Rachel, Bonnie and her staff have verified the story through secondary sources. The issue is is that it is considered treasonous for government officials to have provided Rachel this type of information, and thus the story could be problematic if Rachel's primary source is someone in the White House or within the CIA which is most likely the case. Although the story is meant to focus on the White House's actions and behaviors, it instead results in the two women in the center being the targets. Many of Erica's colleagues believe she knows who leaked the story to Rachel, she herself being under suspicion to support the views of her husband. The government, through the FBI which hires special prosecutor Patton Dubois, is determined for Rachel to reveal her source as a measure of national security, there being precedent in a 1972 case which ruled that national security trumps Rachel's First Amendment right to protect her source. The newspaper in turn hires high powered lawyer Albert Burnside to fight Rachel's case in front of a grand jury against Dubois. Rachel, who is as determined to keep her source a secret beyond the First Amendment issue as Dubois is as determined for her to reveal the source, may not be prepared for the consequences, which could be jail time for contempt for as long as she decides to hold out. —Huggo When reporter Rachel Armstrong writes a story that reveals the identity of a covert CIA operative, the government demands that Rachel reveal her source. She defies the special prosecutor and is thrown in jail. Meanwhile, her attorney, Albert Burnside argues her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. —yusufpiskin

A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development. Real estate developers descend upon a sleepy coastal Florida community with the promise of big money and bigger changes. Torn between honoring family obligations and the lure of quick cash, the locals greet the outsiders with a wildly mixed reception. Marly Temple is eager to give in and sell the family business to start over her life. As caretaker of her father's motel and cafe, she has grown resentful of missed opportunities. However, she finds a glimmer of hope in a tentative romance with a visiting landscape architect. Desiree Perry left town many years ago to escape a scandal and make a name for herself as an actress. Reluctantly returning home, she finds her strong willed mother unwilling to let go of the past. —Susan C. Mitchell <susanm@indirect.com> Ambitious land developers descend on a small Florida coastline community, inhabited mostly by local yokels and elderly African Americans. Many of them don't want to see their homes and businesses sacrificed in the name of progress (a.k.a. condos, hotels, strip malls, and so on). But the city council appears to be all too willing to let them come in and develop the land. In addition, one weary hotel owner is thinking about giving in and selling. Meanwhile, one prominent African American athlete suddenly becomes interested in buying out his aging neighbors. So now that the wheels of progress appear to be in motion, it seems that a minor miracle is the only thing that can stop it. —jgp3553@yahoo.com

After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-cracker Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his Montreal jazz club. Nick was robbing a necklace from a safe in a rich mansion, which was the venue of a party downstairs. 2 random guests walked into the room to have sex, and Nick barely managed to hide in time. The guy left after the woman changed her mind, but then she noticed Nick's equipment lying on the ground. Nick manages to control her before she raised an alarm and had her back facing him, so she did not see his face. Nick escaped in his van and then crossed over into Canada in a boat. Nick has an elaborate set up to keep his clandestine life completely isolated from his regular identity as a club owner in Montreal. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence Max (Marlon Brando). Max says that the buyer for the necklace died and now it would take more time to pay Nick his cut and offers him $4 million for his next job. Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief. Nick was very reluctant as the job is in Montreal Customs House and he lives in Montreal. Nick is approached by the job's mastermind Jack. Nick sends his associate Burt (Gary Farmer) to intimidate Jack into leaving town, but Jack gains the upper hand and arrives at Nick's home to change his mind. Nick agrees to join the heist in exchange for total control of the operation. The job, negotiated to a $6 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and detained at the Montreal Customs House. The scepter was recovered from a termite infested piano, when it was being burned down, and then kept in safekeeping in the vault room. The vault room itself has no cameras inside. Teller has infiltrated the Custom's House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick accesses the vault room through the sewage network of the city and finds that the vault room has a camera and an alert system. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom Houses' security system to obtain the bypass codes allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. The security system was set up by a private company named Ironclad. Steven is caught, however, by a corrupt Ironclad system's administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. The administrator arranges to meet in a public park, bringing his cousin for protection; tensions arise when the cousin and Jack each reveal they have brought a gun, to Nick's displeasure, but the exchange is made. The safe inside the vault is itself a new model and it tamper proof. If Nick tries to drill through it to gain access, the safe will trigger safety bolts and after that it can only be pried open with a blow torch. After seeing a pressurized beer keg burst open in the street, Nick concocts a plan to defeat the Customs House's impregnable safe. He frustrates Jack by urging patience and refusing to let him be part of the hand-off with Max, despite Jack's insistence. Advised by Burt that the job may be too risky, Nick confronts Max, who confesses that he is deeply in debt to a mob boss but is secretly selling the scepter for $30 million. Max implores him to finish the job, and Nick reluctantly agrees. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their timetable after the Custom's House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV cameras to monitor it while they make preparations to return it to its rightful owners. Jack arrives for his graveyard shift with his gun hidden inside a portable radio. Burt, posing as a garbage truck driver, delivers computer components that Jack uses to bypass the security system. Nick uses a sewer system tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. A fellow janitor stumbles upon Jack, who locks him in a closet at gunpoint. Jack, pretending to be Brian, keeps the guards and other janitors occupied while Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water and inserts and then detonates a depth charge to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double crosses him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire compound to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick manages to elude the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels and escapes. After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat and is shocked to discover that Nick has in fact double crossed him by handing him a carrying case containing a fake scepter. Taunting Jack that "every cop in the city" is now looking for him, Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an "unknown" accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him

Supernova chronicles the search-and-rescue patrol of the medical ship Nightingale 229 in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew, which includes captain and pilot A.J. Marley (Robert Forster), co-pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader), medical officer Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), medical technician Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), search and rescue paramedic Danika Lund (Robin Tunney) and computer technician Benjamin Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz). Sweetie (Vanessa Marshall) is the ship's on-board computer. Aboard their vessel, they receive an emergency distress signal directly coming from an ice mining operation on the moon Titan 37, more than 3,000 light-years away. The ship usually receives signals from dispatch, so getting a direct signal is unusual. Titan 37 is a rogue moon as it was expelled from its parent body and is now wandering in deep space. The moon was abandoned 5 years ago, and all mining operations stopped. The call is from Karl Larson, who is Kaela's old former lover. Nick has joined the crew just 12 days before and is ex-military. He was discharged for drug use and he opted to spend his volunteer service (as part of the rehabilitation) on the Nightingale. Kaela doesn't trust Nick. Danika is having a sexual relationship with Yerzy. The crew answers the call and dimension-jumps-during which Captain Marley suffers fatal injuries due to a malfunction of the ship's equipment (the dimensional pods will allow humans to survive during the jump malfunctioned)-arriving in the path of Titan 37's debris cloud, some of which damages the ship and causes the loss of 82 percent of its maneuvering fuel. Worse still, Titan 37 orbits a blue giant, and its high gravity field will pull the ship to the point where it will be incinerated in 17 hours, 12 minutes-which happens to be almost the same amount of time that the Nightingale 229 will need to recharge its jump drive, their only possible hope for escape. Benajmin figures out that the dimension pod was showing signs of malfunction prior to the jump, which he thinks that Marley must have seen. He is puzzled as to why Marley chose to jump in this case. With only an 11-minute window for escape, the surviving crew soon find themselves in danger from the disturbing young man in his 20's (Peter Facinelli) they rescue (Karl launched a ship from the Titan's surface while the Nightingale was in orbit around the moon), and the mysterious alien artifact he has smuggled aboard. Kaela says the young man they rescued is not Karl. The man claims to be Troy, Karl's son, who he says died 3 years ago. Troy claims that he was scavenging the moon after the Govt left and was left stranded by his friends when they found nothing of value on the moon. But he reports that the moon has plenty of fuel for the Nightingale. He found the alien artifact when he was on the moon all alone. He plans to sell it to the Govt for a hefty profit and offers 5% each to the crew. But Nick says this can dangerous and plans to abandon the artifact in deep space, when they get out of their current situation with the blue star. Nick leaves on a shuttle to get fuel for the ship. Yerzy is fascinated with the artifact, while Troy seduces and has sex with Danika. The artifact is analyzed by the ship's computer and is said to contain nine-dimensional matter (The shell casing enclosing the matter is supposed to disperse it in all directions, resulting in the creation of new 3-dimensional matter. Kaela concludes its a bomb, but Sweetie says that it will replenish essential minerals in the 3 dimensional universe).. Kaela believes that an alien civilization has planted this device, so that an advanced civilization discovers it, takes it home, where it explodes and eliminates their competition. Troy cuts off Sweetie's communication with Nick, while Nick discovers many dead bodies inside the mining station. It is ultimately discovered (Sweetie matches with known the DNA records, when she can't ascertain Troy's identity as stated) that the young man who called for rescue is actually Karl Larson, an old former lover of Kaela (it is implied that he was abusive). Karl came into contact with the nine-dimensional matter after recovering the artifact. It somehow enabled him to acquire super-strength (his bones have strengthened themselves) and supernatural healing abilities, ability to read people's minds and made him younger (such that Kaela did not recognize him as Karl). Karl murders most of the crew (Danika is killed first when she finds Troy sabotaging Nick's shuttle. He kills Yerzy as he was getting stronger due to the closeness to the artifact. Benjamin discovers that Yerzy and Danika are missing and attacks Troy, who kills him) except Kaela and strands Nick on the mining platform (By flying the shuttle back to the Nightingale, remotely). Karl unsuccessfully attempts to romantically reconcile with Kaela. Nick finds his way back to the medical ship through a rescue pod left on the mining platform, and a battle ensues between Nick and Karl. Karl is ultimately killed by Kaela using explosives placed near the alien artifact which Karl was obsessed with retrieving. The explosion ejects the artifact into space, hurtling it towards the blue giant. With moments left before the dimension jump activates, Kaela and Nick place themselves into the only remaining dimensional stabilization chamber (Karl had destroyed all but one), which is the only thing that enables human beings to survive the ship's dimensional jump drive. The pods are meant to hold only one person; however, two subjects might be genetically mixed during the dimensional jump. Before Nick and Kaela enter the only remaining pod, the computer warns them that the nine-dimensional matter is reacting with the gravity of the blue giant sun and will cause a nine-dimensional reaction that will spread in all directions, such that the reaction's resulting supernova will reach Earth within 51 years. The computer hypothesizes that the reaction will either destroy life on Earth or "enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence". Just before the blue giant supernovas, the ship engages in a dimensional jump which brings Nick and Kaela back to Earth. As a result of their being in the same pod, the two of them each have one eye of the other person's original eye color. The ship's computer also reveals that Kaela is pregnant, which may be the result of them being in the pod together during the jump, or the result of their copulation hours earlier.

After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem. The true story of a young teacher who fights against the board of education in her bid to teach underprivileged kids in a Harlem school the beauty of music through the violin. In her struggle she loses everything as the system comes down on her with all their might but her determination for the kids happiness helps her to battle back with wonderfully inspirational results.

A ship of dead men steers into Brooklyn harbor. It keeps going until it runs aground. A large wolf jumps from the ship. The wolf is the vampire Maximilian [Eddie Murphy], the sole survivor of the massacre of a tribe of vampires living on an island in the Bermuda Triangle. Max has come to Brooklyn to find Rita Veder [Angela Bassett], the half-vampire daughter born to a human and a vampire from his tribe. Meanwhile, Julius Jones [Kadeem Hardison] isn't having a good night. First, there was that ship that ran aground and plowed right through the building where he and Silas Green [John Witherspoon] were working. Then his woman kicked him out of the house for snoring while otherwise engaged. Now, two thugs are after him for his money or his blood. Then, just as Julius is about to meet his maker, the vampire Maximilian shows up, neatly kills off the two thugs, and informs Julius that he is to become his renfield and that the first thing he must do is retrieve Max's coffin from the ship. Ship and dock are crawling with the law, one of whom is Detective Rita Veder. Rita and her partner Justice [Allen Payne] have been sent to investigate the accident in the harbor and the 18 bodies aboard that were found drained of blood. While checking out the ship, Rita falls through a rotten floorboard and lands in the cargohold where she finds a coffin and gets a glimpse of Max, who recognizes her immediately. Rita chases him, but he disappears. When she returns to the cargohold, the coffin is gone, a human ear remaining in its place. Max and Julius take the coffin to Julius's house, an apartment he rents from Silas. The ship's log is retrieved, but it is written in some obscure language that no one at the university can decipher, so it is sent to Dr Zeko for translation. Zeko's turns out to be a nightclub, but Zeko [Zakes Mokae] is able to tell that the log speaks about a nosferatu on board. As Rita sits at a table, waiting for Justice to return from a phone call, she doesn't notice that a cobra in a nearby terrarium has escaped and is crawling toward her. Fortunately, Max is seated nearby and catches the cobra just in time, giving Max the perfect opportunity to introduce himself to Rita. He asks her to dance, believing that one dance with him will make her his, but Justice returns and Julius butts in with his jive talk, so Rita splits, not at all enthralled with Max. Rita and Justice go back to the apartment Rita shares with roommate Nikki [Simbi Khali]. Nikki comes on to Justice but he turns her down and leaves. Instead, Nikki picks up Max and brings him home. Rita overhears the bumping and screaming in Nikki's bedroom. The next morning, Rita finds that Nikki has split with all her belongings, and there's a note saying that she's getting an apartment with a man she just met. Rita assumes it is Justice, and she becomes very jealous. Time is growing short. Max has to start using drastic measures, like taking on the personas of other people, such as Preacher Pauly and stupid Guido in order to get closer to Rita. But Max's plans seem to backfire, so he takes the direct route and saves her from being run over by a speeding taxi. In gratitude, Rita accepts a dinner date with him. Max hurries back to Julius's apartment and casts every spell he knows to change it from a pigsty to an elegant lovenest, complete with candelabras, fireplace, and a baby grand piano. He finally manages to get his dance with Rita as well as a bite on her neck. Julius is enjoying the benefits of working for a vampire, e.g., driving the black limo with vanity plates that say 'RIP'. He is also having to adjust to the side-effects, e.g., acquiring a taste for bugs and losing parts of his body. First his ear, then his right hand, then his hair, then an eye, then his whole right arm. Meanwhile, Justice is following up a lead that suggests Julius might have been involved in the killing of the two thugs a few nights ago. The next morning, Justice pays a visit to Julius's apartment where he meets Silas Green who tells him that Rita was there all night with the new tenant, some suave guy. Just then, Justice receives a call from the dispatcher sending him to investigate a DOA at Brooklyn City Hall. It turns out to be Nikki. Justice goes to Rita's apartment to tell her about Nikki. As he is holding her, Rita's tears turn into fangs and she tries to bite his neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that her reflection in the mirror is fading. She runs to Max, who tells her of her father, the vampire. Justice goes to see Dr Zeko, who tells him the story of Rita's mother, a researcher who was studying the vampires on his island and who succumbed to the powers of the "dark one." Rita is the result, he says. He warns Justice that he must kill Max and do it before Rita loses all of her humanity. Max attempts to teach Rita how to feed, but she refuses. When she tries to run away, Max retrieves her and brings her to his apartment, intending to leave for the island in the morning. He brings Silas to her, but Justice and Zeko arrive just in time to stop her from feeding on him. A fight breaks out, of course, but Max is easily able to dodge their fists and stakes. Justice searches out Max's coffin and opens it, prepared to stake him, but he finds Rita laying there. Rita begins to advance on Justice, her fangs showing. She stops long enough to share a kiss with Max and then stakes him, claiming that this part of her must die. Rita and Justice end up in each others' arms. Epiloque: Max is dead, and Julius doesn't have much left in the way of limbs, skin, arms, etc., but Silas reminds him that he does have the limo, and they decide to go for a ride. In the backseat, Julius finds a ring left behind by Max and places it on his finger. POOF! Julius has back all his parts (and then some). There's a new vampire in Brooklyn, and his name is Julius Jones. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

As the opening credits roll, we hear Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) delivering a speech about the oppression of the black race by the white race, openly and loudly accusing whites of murder, rape and slavery. Intercut with the credits is footage of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers and an American flag burning into an "X". In the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, during the early 1940s in the early years of World War II, a teenage Malcolm Little meets with his friend, Shorty (Spike Lee) at a local barber shop to have his hair straightened to make him acceptable to whites. The process is a painful one, with a concoction of eggs and lye applied to Malcolm's head and combed out. Malcolm admires himself in the mirror and he and Shorty take to the streets dressed in colorful "zoot" suits. In a flashback sequence, Malcolm narrates that he grew up poor in rural Nebraska. When his mother was pregnant with him, a small group of Ku Klux Klan riders broke the windows of his parents' house, looking for his father, a local minister and activist. Malcolm later narrates that his family's home was burned down and his father was murdered when he was four or five, thrown in front of a train after suffering a skull injury. The case was falsely recorded as a suicide and his family received no compensation, becoming destitute. Malcolm's mother Louise (Lonette McKee), who was of Caribbean descent and partially white, married his father because he was black and a follower of Marcus Garvey, who preached that Black Americans should return to Africa to have their own region of the world, free of white influence. Eventually, his mother was remanded to a mental institution and Malcolm and his brothers and sisters became wards of the state. Malcolm, while in grade school, showed excellent academic skills and told a teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. However, his racist teacher tells him that it "isn't a practical career for a negro". Flashing back to contemporary 1944, Malcolm and Shorty and their girlfriends go to a jitterbug club. After a rigorous dancing number, Malcolm meets Sophia (Kate Vernon), a white, blond woman who becomes infatuated with him. Malcolm's black girlfriend, Laura (Theresa Randle), is a devout Catholic and has avoided Malcolm's sexual advances. Eventually, Malcolm takes up with Sophia. At one point, he treats her with obvious racial misogyny, getting her to feed him breakfast. Working for a local railroad company, Malcolm travels to Harlem, New York City. He goes to a bar where his drink is doubled unexpectedly by a man named West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo), who runs numbers locally. When Malcolm is harassed by another patron who insults his clothes and speaks ill of his mother, Malcolm hits the man on the head with a liquor bottle. Archie recognizes that Malcolm won't back down in a fight and calls him over to his table. Malcolm sees immediately that Archie is a person of considerable influence and goes to work for him, running numbers. One night, while Malcolm, Sophia and Archie drink and snort cocaine, Malcolm places a bet for several numbers with Archie. One of Malcolm's numbers hits and he stands to collect a large sum of money. Archie denies that Malcolm had the number and reminds his protege of his reputation for never forgetting a number. Malcolm chooses to break his ties with Archie. A few nights later, at a dinner club, Archie threatens Malcolm. Malcolm escapes through the bathroom window. He returns to Boston, reconnects with Shorty and the two resolve to become petty thieves. One of their first partners, Rudy (Roger Guenveur Smith), tells them about a elderly man he takes care of who has money and many valuable items in his house. When Rudy declares he'll lead the group, Malcolm plays Russian Roulette, threatening to blow off Rudy's nose. A terrified Rudy tells Malcolm to lead the group. The robbery is a success and over a period of time, Shorty and Malcolm loot a considerable amount. One night in early 1946, while Shorty and Malcolm straighten Malcolm's hair, they discover the water has been turned off. Malcolm is forced to rinse his head in the toilet bowl and he and Shorty are arrested when the police burst in. Sophia and Peg (Debi Mazar) are also arrested. The racist judge (a cameo by civil rights attorney William Kuntsler), after hearing a guilty verdict, sentences the two white women to 18 months for their association with the robbery group, but harshly sentences both Shorty and Malcolm to eight to ten years for 14 different robbery charges and declares the sentences will be served concurrently (a devastated Shorty literally faints in the courtroom, thinking he'd serve over 100 years until Malcolm explains to him what "concurrent" sentencing is). Malcolm is sent to a Massachusetts penitentiary. On his first day he refuses to recite his incarceration number and is thrown into solitary confinement. The prison priest (Christopher Plummer) tries to reach Malcolm but is obscenely rebuffed. Malcolm is eventually released from solitary and recites his number. While in the showers, straightening his hair, he is met by Baines (Albert Hall), a member of the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim organization of the United States. Baines tells Malcolm that the best way out of prison, both the penitentiary and the figurative prisons of his mind, is through the teachings of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.), the founder and leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm refuses at first but grows more interested in Baines' preaching, especially when he sees the confidence and courage Baines has -- he refuses to show any fear when the prison's guards threaten him. Malcolm becomes a willing student; Baines tells him that all white people are not to be trusted. Baines has Malcolm copy out an entire English language dictionary, pointing out the double-standards that guide words like "black" and "white", telling his student that he must learn the meanings behind every word and that language is the key to using the white race's power against them. Malcolm is reluctant at first to pray directly to Allah until he has a vision in his jail cell of Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad tells him that the only path to truth is through Allah. Malcolm finally gains the courage to pray as a Muslim. Malcolm also becomes a sore point for the prison priest; Malcolm challenges the traditional images of Jesus and the apostles, claiming they were anything but white. Malcolm is paroled from prison in 1952 after serving six years. A few days after his release, he travels to the Nation's headquarters in Chicago where he meets Elijah Muhammad himself. Malcolm is noticeably humbled by the experience and breaks down in awe-filled tears at meeting his savior. As part of joining the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad instructs Malcolm to drop his last name of 'Little', which his ancestors inherited from a white slave owner, and replace it with the letter 'X' which is a symbol of his lost African surname. Malcolm X returns to Harlem and begins his life as a preacher for the Nation of Islam. The Nation sets up a mosque in a single room and their congregation quickly grows over the next few years. At one point, Malcolm, while preaching a sermon, sees Shorty in the crowd. He embraces him, kindly pointing out that Shorty is a representative of his former criminal life and the two go out for coffee. Shorty tries to get Malcolm to join him for a cocaine fix but Malcolm tells him that he's clean. Malcolm gets news about West Indian Archie and his old gang from Shorty and finds out where Archie is living. Archie has since suffered a stroke and lives as an invalid in a squalid Bronx apartment. Malcolm visits him and comforts him when he sees how poor life has become for his old boss. In 1957, Malcolm challenges the Harlem division of the New York City Police Department when one of his temple's members, Brother Johnson, is beaten in the streets and taken to jail and denied medical attention. Malcolm gathers the Fruit of Islam, the Nation's security force, and, joined by a growing mob of local protesters, marches on the police precinct, demanding to see Johnson. When he is turned down he calmly and firmly tells the officers in charge that neither he nor the Fruit of Islam will move until they are satisfied that Johnson is being cared for properly. The silent protest works and Johnson is taken to the hospital. Malcolm orders the Fruit of Islam to disperse and leaves the angry crowd on the street for the police to deal with. As the Nation leaves, the captain (a cameo by Peter Boyle) remarks "that's too much power for one man to have." A short time later, while drinking coffee in a nearby cafe, a young man named Benjamin (Jean LaMarre), who'd witnessed the police beating of Brother Johnson and was impressed with Malcolm's stolid handling of the police, approaches Malcolm and asks him how he can become a Muslim. Malcolm questions Benjamin carefully, saying he shouldn't join an organization if he doesn't understand it. Benjamin becomes disappointed and begins to leave when Malcolm tells him he shouldn't give up that easily either. Malcolm invites him to come to his temple the next day. Benjamin leaves, promising he'll make Malcolm proud of him. In 1958, Malcolm meets his future wife, nurse Betty Sanders (Angela Bassett). The two are instantly attracted to each other and Malcolm eventually proposes to her. They are married in a private ceremony and plan to have children. They are soon the parents of four daughters. Over the next few years as Malcolm's influence grows, he soon finds himself in a high advisory position to Elijah Muhammad himself, which draws much jealously from Baines. As a result, Malcolm receives less attention in the Nation's official publication, "Muhammad Speaks". Baines speaks to Muhammad directly, telling him that Malcolm may be shamelessly courting the white media for himself, rather than for the good of the Nation. Following a formal public speaking session, Malcolm is confronted by a disgruntled man who suggests that Muhammad may not be the benevolent leader the Nation believes him to be. In 1962, Malcolm and Betty argue bitterly over reports in the New York Post that claim Muhammad may have fathered illegitimate children with at least two unmarried women who served on his office staff. Betty's argument also points to the manner with which Malcolm has been largely ignored by the leadership of the Nation. Following their small fight, Malcolm talks to the women who confirm the reports and have been ostracized within the Nation. Malcolm privately confronts Muhammad who claims that, because he himself never married, that he must father his progeny any way he can. Baines also tries to justify Muhammad's philandering by recounting the stories of both Noah (a drunk) and Solomon (who had many wives). Malcolm is not convinced and loses much of his stature and faith in the Nation of Islam. In late November 1963, Malcolm's candid and brutally truthful reputation is further damaged when, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, publicly states that the president's death was an example of the historical violence of the white race and the United States itself, referring to the incident as an example of "the chickens coming home to roost." The remark is quickly misconstrued in American newspapers, prompting anger from both the black and white establishments. Muhammad, who appears to be in poor health, decides to sideline Malcolm by informing him that his duties as the Nation of Islam's spokesperson are suspended for 90 days. Malcolm is enraged by what he sees as a clear case of betrayal by both Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, but he none the less accepts and submits to the punishment. In early 1964, during his suspension, Malcolm announces publicly that he'll be establishing a new organization called Muslim Mosque Inc, one that will allow white people to aide them but not permit them to join. Malcolm also announces he will complete a "hajj", a holy journey of self-discovery to the Middle East and Mecca in Saudi Arabia, required of all Muslims if they are able. He tours the ancient pyramids at Giza, knowing that he's being tailed by two men he assumes are CIA agents. Arriving in Mecca, he participates in the Muslim ritual of the seven circuits around the Kaaba, drinks from the Well of Zamzam and kisses the Black Stone. He also realizes that Islam is not limited to people of Arab, Middle Eastern or African descent, but the many people in his pilgrimage include quite a few Caucasian whites, mixed race people and Asians as well. Malcolm willingly eats and prays with them. The hajj changes Malcolm's outlook and he experiences a spiritual re-awakening, realizing that exclusion of races other than African-Americans from Islam cannot accomplish anything. Returning to the United States, he gives a press conference where he declares that his days of preaching for African-American separation from white America are over. He forms a new Islamic organization, the Organization for African-American Unity (OAAU), one that will spread the word of tolerance of all who wish to worship Allah and the Qur'an, and which involves breaking his relations with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm also gives himself a new Arab Islamic name, "El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz." Very soon, Malcolm's family begins to receive death threats on the phone from Nation of Islam members. In September 1964, Malcolm is photographed guarding his house at night with a rifle. One night in February 1965, two firebombs are thrown at Malcolm's house in Queens and he gives a public statement to a television news crew outside that if he'd actually seen the bombers himself, he'd have opened fire on them in the street. Baines himself gives a public statement to the media, suggesting Malcolm may have fire-bombed his own house as a publicity stunt. Afterwords, Baines sends a message via a written note to five men that Malcolm survived the firebombing and they are to continue to carry on with their orders to kill Malcolm. Malcolm receives further death threats and becomes somewhat despondent. He arranges to speak at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on February 21, 1965, his first such public speech since founding OAAU. Malcolm goes to a New York hotel and stays overnight there, possibly to draw attention away from his family. He receives more death threats from the Nation of Islam in his hotel room. He drives to the Audubon and meets a woman on the street who tells him not to listen to his detractors and that Jesus will protect him -- Malcolm acknowledges her kindness. One of his men, Brother Earl (James McDaniel), wants to position guards around the stage and podium and wants everyone attending to be searched to insure Malcolm's safety. Malcolm refuses, saying he wants the attendees of the speech to feel relaxed. Malcolm also becomes angry when his staff inform him that the OAAU program hasn't been completed and that the reverend scheduled to speak before Malcolm cannot attend. The rest of the staff are excused and Malcolm speaks alone to Brother Earl, muttering about the present day being "a time for martyrs." He also refuses to postpone the engagement when Earl suggests it. Earl leaves and Malcolm prepares his notes. In the auditorium, Betty and Malcolm's four daughters are seated in the front row while Brother Benjamin 2X (the same young man from the cafe scene) speaks ahead of Malcolm and introduces him. Malcolm steps to the podium and greets the crowd when a man in the back row suddenly starts shouting at someone... intended as a distraction. While the security guards run over and deals with the yelling man (exactly as planned), a man in the second row pulls out a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, runs up to the stage and opens fire. Malcolm (seeing the armed man approach and aware that he is a dead man) smiles slightly and is hit in his left shoulder and chest by two shotgun blasts and falls to the stage. Two additional assassins seated in the front row also run forward to the stage and shoot Malcolm several more times with semi-automatic pistols. As the killers run out of the auditorium, one of handgun shooters, Thomas Hayer (Giancarlo Esposito), is shot in his right leg by one of Malcolm's bodyguards. Hampered by his bullet wound, he is caught and beaten by the angry crowd outside the front entrance of the building. The police arrive a minute later to place the captured assassin under arrest before quietly entering the building to find Betty holding her dead husband and crying. Malcolm's body is taken to a nearby hospital just down the street where he is declared dead-on-arrival from multiple gunshot wounds. The story ends with Martin Luther King's weary statement on Malcolm's death and the violence that caused it. The same eulogy delivered by Ossie Davis at Malcolm's memorial services plays over a montage of film and photographs of the real Malcolm. Footage of Nelson Mandela (recently released from prison after 30 years) speaking to a South African grade school class is also shown. The final shot is of Malcolm himself proclaiming "By any means necessary!"

Follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects. Writer and Director John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles, California takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together in the "hood". Half-brothers Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the "All-American" athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while Doughboy succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor. Between these two is their friend Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who is lucky to have a father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), to teach him to have the strength of character to do what is right and to always take responsibility for his actions. —Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu> At the age of ten, Tre Styles moves to the inner city to live with his dad, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne). The elder Styles is determined to raise his son with self-respect and self-worth, not an easy task in a neighborhood where crime and drugs are rampant. By the age of seventeen, Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a level-headed young man who has stayed out of trouble, unlike his friend Doughboy (Ice Cube), who has been in and out of jail several times. His brother hopes a football scholarship will be his way out. Tre works hard to be true to his father and to his friends, but violence, which can change your life in an instant, is something they all have to deal with. —garykmcd In South Central Los Angeles, California, Tre Styles lives with his divorced mother Reva Styles (Angela Bassett). When Tre is suspended for three days at school, Reva decides to send him to live in Crenshaw with his father, the businessman Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), "to become a man". Tre befriends his neighbors, the half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker, and soon they become best friends. Seven years later, Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is an educated teenager preparing to join the university; Ricky (Morris Chestnut) is an athlete, expecting to join the university with a scholarship, since he is a great football player; and Doughboy (Ice Cube) is a small time criminal that has been arrested several times. But they live in a dangerous neighborhood where dreams are shattered by bullets. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Black and in their late teens, Tre, Doughboy and Ricky - the latter two half brothers - have hung out together since they were kids, they doing so more after Tre's mother, Reva, seven years ago sent him, bright but adversarial, to live with his father, Furious, in the Crenshaw district of South Central Los Angeles across the street from the other two living with their single mother. The move was for Furious to show Tre what it means to have a sense of responsibility as a black male, especially in an atmosphere of black male violence against each other that pervades their neighborhoods. Furious, an independent financial adviser working in the neighborhood, believes that the urban black problems within which they live, including this violence and crime, is only fostered by the white majority. That move to live with Furious largely resulted in Tre having that responsibility in he now wanting to head off to college for a better life with his Catholic girlfriend Brandi, who has resisted the pressure of having sex in wanting to wait until the "inevitability" of she and Tre getting married. Ricky, already married with a child - the marriage because of the baby - is also aiming for a better life for his young family. A high school football star, Ricky is resting his dreams on a football scholarship. However, in not being sure he can meet the minimum SAT requirement of 700, he is sketching out a less than ideal Plan B considering that focus on his young family. Of the three, Doughboy is the one who has fallen into that "predetermined" life of crime and violence, he in a gang and having just been released from a stint in prison. Regardless of what the three view as their respective futures, those futures may be affected by the environment in which they live where looking at the wrong person in the wrong way could result in a death sentence. —Huggo