Nicholas, Denise

Let's Do It Again

Back in the day, when Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson, Issac Hayes, and Pam Grier were stickin' it to the Man, Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby collaborated on three buddy comedies that offered urban audiences an alternative to private dicks, sex machines, and bad muthas. The Uptown Saturday Nightstars re-team for an "outtasite" scam involving hypnosis, a hopeless beanpole boxer (Jimmie Good Times Walker), and two rival kingpins. Though in fashion and patois Let's Do It Again is a candidate for the '70s time capsule, it does hold up better than most of its more militant blaxploitation brethren. Poitier, the straight man, and Cosby, working his improvisational mojo, are a great comedy team. Worth the price of purchase alone is the sight of these icons decked out in flamboyant Mack Daddy duds to impress their marks, Kansas City Mack (John Amos) and Biggie Smalls (Calvin Lockhart). Curtis Mayfield's score, with vocals by the Staples Singers, is also good for the soul. --Donald Liebenson

Comedy about a pair of blue collar cons who raise funds for their fraternal order by hypnotizing a scrawny boxer into believing he's a mighty fighter then betting heavily on him. Trouble ensues when gangsters figure out their plot and seek payback.Running Time: 113 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085392888429

Capricorn One

Thanks to repeated showings on cable television and home video, this speculative thriller has built quite a loyal following since its release in 1978. The provocative "what if?" scenario still packs a punch, even if it is not always believable. James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson star as three astronauts who agree to spare the government embarrassment by faking their historic landing on Mars after their spacecraft is determined to be unsafe for blastoff. When a scheming mission controller (Hal Holbrook) plots to kill the astronauts in a staged capsule fire, the trio embarks on a dangerous mission to expose the truth. Elliott Gould costars as the journalist determined to crack the conspiracy, and director Peter Hyams turns up the tension with an exciting chase sequence involving Telly Savalas as an eccentric barnstormer who comes to Gould's aid in his attempt rescue the hoax mission's sole survivor. --Jeff Shannon

Ghost Dad

Blacula

William Marshall, a Shakespearean actor with a rich baritone voice, enriches this otherwise bland blaxploitation vampire film with his strong, seductive performance. He's Manuwalde, a European-educated 18th-century African prince who appeals to the Count Dracula for help in ending the slave trade. Dracula, never known as a great emancipator, puts the bite on Manuwalde's troubles, dubs him "Blacula" (the only time the name is uttered in the film), and imprisons him in a casket. Stirred to life, so to speak, centuries later in Los Angeles by gay antique hunters, he steps into the soulful '70s and splits his energies between feeding his bloodlust and wooing a young beauty (Vonetta McGee), a dead ringer for his long-dead wife. Thalmus Rasulala (Friday Foster) is a modern medical professor turned urban Van Helsing, and Elisha Cook Jr. has a bit part as a coroner with a hook for a hand. The potential for a clever urban black twist on the European vampire myth is lost in this dull, thoroughly conventional tale. Marshall is under enough sloppily applied facial hair to make him a wolfman, and his victims walk around with a plastic blue pallor. But despite the limitations, Marshall creates a magnetic, aristocratic character and infuses his monster with a sense of loss and sadness in the climax. It was followed by a sequel, Scream, Blacula, Scream, and inspired Blackenstein. For a more interesting and thoughtful African American take on the vampire legend, look to Ganja and Hess. --Sean Axmaker

Urban action and fatal attraction give rise to a groove from beyond the grave in this funkadelic fangadelic Soul Cinema sensation! The eternally cool William Marshall puts a fresh spin on the age-old legend of the vampire condemned to wander the earth with an insatiable lust for blood.In 1780 African Prince Mamuwalde (Marshall) pays a visit to Count Dracula in Transylvania seeking his support in ending the slave trade. Instead the evil count curses his noble guest and transforms him into a vampire! Released from his coffin nearly two centuries later by a pair of luckless interior decorators Mamuwalde emerges as "Blacula" one strange dude strollin' the streets of L.A. on a nightly quest for human blood!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 027616901538 Manufacturer No: 1005919

Proud

Based on the book PROUDLY WE SERVED: THE MEN OF THE USS MASON PROUD tells the true story of an all-black contingent that served in WWII and was belatedly recognized for heroism in 1994. The stellar cast features Ossie Davis (DR. DOOLITTLE) Albert Jones (LAW & ORDER) Erik LaRay Harvey (ROUNDERS) Darnell Williams (S1M0NE) and Stephen Rea (V FOR VENDETTA THE CRYING GAME).System Requirements:Running Time 87 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 031398192114 Manufacturer No: 19350

And the Children Shall Lead

In 1964 segregation is a reality in Catesville, Mississippi, but 12-year-old Rachel doesn't notice it because she has many white friends. When a group of civil rights activists comes to town, the tension between black and white citizens grows. It's now up to Rachel and her friends to persuade the adults to overcome the racial barriers that divide them.

A Piece of the Action

The last, and least, film in the so-called Uptown trilogy, this 1977 buddy comedy is preachier than its more rollicking predecessors, Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again. It begins like The Sting, but then veers into To Sir, with Love territory, as Dave (Bill Cosby), a safecracker, and Manny (Sidney Poitier), a con man, are blackmailed by a retired detective (James Earl Jones, who would achieve pop-culture immortality that year as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars) to work at a community-improvement center and inspire the delinquent youth to respect themselves and find jobs. An answer to the violent and militant blaxploitation films of the period, these films, each directed by Poitier, were the Barbershop of their day. Poitier and Cosby are a seamless team; their ease, charm, and integrity carry the film's more plodding patches, as does Curtis Mayfield's authentic score. Fans of these icons will want to get a piece of this action. --Donald Liebenson

A pair of con men are obliged to help a social worker set some kids on the right track.Running Time: 135 min.System Requirements:Running Time 135 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 085392888627

Ghost Dad

Capricorn One [Region 2]

Thanks to repeated showings on cable television and home video, this speculative thriller has built quite a loyal following since its release in 1978. The provocative "what if?" scenario still packs a punch, even if it is not always believable. James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson star as three astronauts who agree to spare the government embarrassment by faking their historic landing on Mars after their spacecraft is determined to be unsafe for blastoff. When a scheming mission controller (Hal Holbrook) plots to kill the astronauts in a staged capsule fire, the trio embarks on a dangerous mission to expose the truth. Elliott Gould costars as the journalist determined to crack the conspiracy, and director Peter Hyams turns up the tension with an exciting chase sequence involving Telly Savalas as an eccentric barnstormer who comes to Gould's aid. --Jeff Shannon

Ghost Dad/Bustin' Loose