Urban

Superstar Janet Jackson makes her stunning film debut in director John Singleton's (Boyz N the Hood) street-smart love story, Poetic Justice. A mismatched pair pushed together on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland, Justice (Jackson) and Lucky (Tupac Shakur) have only one thing in common: they can't stand each other. But as their friends Lesha and Chicago (Regina King and Joe Torry) fight and make up in the back of the van, Justice and Lucky find themselves reluctantly drawn together. After a surprising detour toward romance, the two travelers are confronted once again by the shocking violence they thought they'd left behind. Featuring the music of Naughty by Nature and Tony! Toni! Tone! and the poetry of Maya Angelou, Poetic Justice is every bit as intense, original and unforgettable as Boyz N the Hood.

Director John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Rosewood) made an earnest effort in this, his second, film to say a great deal that is true and relevant about living and loving in a violent, difficult time in American history. Janet Jackson plays a beautician and poet who withdraws into herself after her boyfriend is murdered by gangsters. The late Tupac Shakur plays a postman who tries to get through to her, and the two travel on a course through urban America, connecting with family and community. Singleton has so much on his mind that the film comes out a terrible muddle, but there is a certain integrity peeking through the fog. Shakur makes a startlingly good impression in his film debut, and Jackson strips away her star veneer to play something like a real person--and entirely succeeds. Maya Angelou wrote the poems that pass as those penned by Jackson's character, and she also appears in the film. --Tom Keogh

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Cuba Gooding Jr., Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube. A coming-of-age story in black urban America showing three friends struggling to survive in a place where friendship, pain, danger and love combine to form a picture of what life is truly like in the Hood." 1991/color/107 min/R.

John Singleton, at the age of 23, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his debut film, Boyz N the Hood. The film stars Laurence Fishburne, Angela Basset, Ice Cube, and Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in his first starring role in a feature film. Gooding plays Tre Styles, a teenager growing up in South Central Los Angeles. His father, Furious (Fishburne), is divorced and living away from Tre and his mother (Basset), but he's still involved in Tre's upbringing, teaching him the values of right and wrong and responsibility. Meanwhile, Tre's childhood buddies Ricky (Morris Chestnut) and Doughboy (Ice Cube) are living their lives in terms of the epidemic of violence and poverty that has plagued their neighborhood. Ricky, a talented football player, strives to get a full athletic scholarship to college. If only his SAT scores were higher. Doughboy lives a life full of crime but still remains true to his friends. The obstacles that these three young men come across result in dire consequences, devastatingly avoidable and inevitable at the same time. Boyz N the Hood is a landmark film beyond its commercial success, presenting a portrait of South Central in the late '80s and early '90s as painted by Singleton (who grew up in that neighborhood), achieving accuracy and dramatic resonance in this story of at-risk youth. --Shannon Gee

John Singleton, at the age of 23, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his debut film, Boyz N the Hood. The film stars Laurence Fishburne, Angela Basset, Ice Cube, and Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in his first starring role in a feature film. Gooding plays Tre Styles, a teenager growing up in South Central Los Angeles. His father, Furious (Fishburne), is divorced and living away from Tre and his mother (Basset), but he's still involved in Tre's upbringing, teaching him the values of right and wrong and responsibility. Meanwhile, Tre's childhood buddies Ricky (Morris Chestnut) and Doughboy (Ice Cube) are living their lives in terms of the epidemic of violence and poverty that has plagued their neighborhood. Ricky, a talented football player, strives to get a full athletic scholarship to college. If only his SAT scores were higher. Doughboy lives a life full of crime but still remains true to his friends. The obstacles that these three young men come across result in dire consequences, devastatingly avoidable and inevitable at the same time. Boyz N the Hood is a landmark film beyond its commercial success, presenting a portrait of South Central in the late '80s and early '90s as painted by Singleton (who grew up in that neighborhood), achieving accuracy and dramatic resonance in this story of at-risk youth. --Shannon Gee

Jody is a 20-year-old unemployed black man who is reluctant to grow up. Irresponsible, uninspired and seemingly aimless, he is the father of two babies by two different women and is still living at home with his mother. But a series of events and circum

A worthy companion piece to 1991's Boyz N the Hood, John Singleton's Baby Boy expresses compassionate but unforgiving criticism of young, African American black men who lead reckless, irresponsible lives while blithely blaming racism for their chronic disadvantage. That's already enough to make this a provocative and emotionally challenging film, but Singleton injects his drama with such passionate vitality that it never seems inflammatory; instead, in presenting this portrait of a confused and conflicted 20-year-old black man named Jody (Tyrese Gibson), Singleton is both affectionate and accusatory, lending Baby Boy an edgy, timeless wisdom that other, less courageous films could never hope to offer.

Unemployed and living with his 36-year-old mother (A.J. Johnson), Jody has fathered children from two young mothers and seems destined for an early grave. He never knew his father, but his mother's new boyfriend Melvin (played to perfection by Ving Rhames) is an ex-con with streetwise maturity that Jody, in time, will come to recognize and respect. This generational dynamic is the lifeblood of Singleton's central theme; Jody can follow Melvin's example or fall into the trap of lawlessness personified by Rodney (Snoop Dogg), a violent gangsta who arrives to threaten Jody's tenuous chance at a respectable adulthood. Through a wealth of fine performances and blistering dialogue, Baby Boy presents hard questions with no easy answers, and although Singleton is prone to polemical melodrama, his blunt approach serves a noble and ultimately hopeful purpose. --Jeff Shannon

• New

Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito. Two rival factions at an all-black college do battle in Spike Lee's second feature, a striking blend of music, comedy and social commentary. 1987/color/114 min/R.

Spike Lee's follow-up to his unlikely hit She's Gotta Have It was this ambitious--some would say too ambitious--attempt at a musical about college life. But Lee, ever the provocateur, doesn't settle for a simple college comedy. Rather, he wants to make a point about the social divisions within all-black colleges: between the socializers and the socially conscious, and between light and dark-skinned blacks. Laurence Fishburne plays a politically aware student trying to bring his fellow students together; Giancarlo Esposito plays the fraternity boss who constantly seeks to insert a wedge between the haves and have-nots. Lee himself plays a pawn in the middle, a would-be frat boy undergoing a wicked Hell Week as a pledge. The story doesn't pull together and the musical numbers--more spoof than anything else--only serve to fragment it. While it offers interesting points, it never does so in a particularly cohesive way. --Marshall Fine

Will Smith, Jamie Foxx. The life of Muhammad Ali from 1965 through 1974 takes new form in Michael Mann's excellent biopic about The Greatest." 2001/color/157 min/R/widescreen.

Ali is a rush of charm, violence, and well-crafted mythmaking sure to enthrall. From the unforgettable surge of the opening--a 10-minute montage of sheer brilliance where formative scenes from the early life of Cassius Clay float along on the rapture of a live performance by Sam Cooke in a Harlem nightclub--through to Muhammad Ali's departure for Zaire to fight George Foreman, Michael Mann's homage is mostly crisp and fleet-footed. As Clay/Ali, Will Smith acquits himself marvelously due in large part to his uncanny re-creation of Ali's most famous weapon, his mesmerizing voice. Indeed, the best scenes throughout showcase Ali's verbal rather than pugilistic sparring; whether with his entourage (notably Jamie Foxx), Howard Cosell (Jon Voight), or Don King (Mykelti Williamson), Michael Mann's Ali has the same authoritative wit and ability to surprise that so disarmed the public. The news conferences and behind-the-scenes banter are exquisitely re-created; not so Ali's flaws. Mann's attempt to depict Ali's womanizing, his dubious affiliation with the Nation of Islam, and his insatiable need for the spotlight seems halfhearted and laborious in comparison to the film's enlivened adoration of its subject. As the sluggish second half of the film betrays, Ali is at its impressionistic best when it's in awe rather than when it explains. --Fionn Meade

Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, T+ªa Leoni. A fast-paced comedy/action film about two Miami cops on a hunt for a million dollars in heroin. 1995/color/119 min/R/widescreen.

Blockbuster star Will Smith and comedian Martin Lawrence shoot rapid-fire lines and bullets in this cop caper directed by action director Michael Bay. Mike Lowry (Smith) is a smooth-talking ladies man and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) is happily married to his job as well as his wife. As partners in the narcotics division of the Miami police department, they have a reputation as two cops who don't play by the rules. When two pallets full of seized heroin are stolen from the police station, Mike and Marcus are put on the case. A girlfriend of Mike's gets caught in the crossfire and her roommate, Julie (Téa Leoni), becomes a material witness. She calls the police pleading only to talk to Mike. Mike isn't around so to convince her to cooperate, Marcus assumes Mike's identity, complicating matters as the trio take down the bad guys.

There's plenty of pyrotechnics for the special-effects fans, complicated gun battle choreography, and a large-scale dance-club scene complete with exotic dancers--a device that's becoming some what of a recurring charter in films directed by Bay. Lawrence and Smith (who had yet been elevated to multimillion dollar box-office status) deliver with comedic, foul-mouthed finesse. Téa Leoni gives a strong performance as Julie, and Bad Boys also has good supporting roles from Theresa Randle (Spawn, The Big Hit) as Marcus's neglected wife and Tchéky Karyo (Addicted to Love) as the mastermind behind the heist. --Shannon Gee

Kristy Swanson, Omar Epps, Ice Cube. A college freshman must confront racial injustice, sexuality and a group of dangerous neo-Nazis in this jarring look at college life. 1995/color/126 min/R.

This ambitious 1995 film by John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) doesn't quite succeed at painting the illuminating, collective portrait of college life in the '90s that the director seeks. But Singleton does do a fine job of defining some conflicting impulses for young people on the cusp of adulthood, particularly the desire to broaden horizons on the one hand and circle the wagons with like-minded allies on the other. Students in the film's Columbus University divide themselves along lines of race, sexual preferences, ideology, and, most dangerously, levels of paranoia. Among the fine cast is Michael Rapaport, who portrays a loner drawn to a local community of neo-Nazis. His resultant problems with the school's African-Americans takes over the story at the expense of other, parallel dramas, but Singleton's insights into race hatred on campus--a microcosm of the surrounding culture--is not to be dismissed. --Tom Keogh

Stirring Civil War drama recounts the inspiring true story of the Union's 54th Regiment, comprised of black soldiers who had to fight prejudice and neglect to win the chance to prove themselves in battle. Matthew Broderick, as the 54th's white commander, stars along with Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, who earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. 122 min. Standard and Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital stereo Surround, French Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital stereo, Spanish Dolby Digital stereo, Portuguese Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English, Chinese, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai; audio commentary; theatrical trailers; featurettes; "making of" documentary. Two-disc set.

One of the finest films ever made about the American Civil War, Glory also has the honor of being the first major Hollywood film to acknowledge the vital contribution of African American soldiers to the country's historic struggle. Based on the books Lay This Laurel, by Lincoln Kirstein, and One Gallant Rush, by Peter Burchard, and the wartime letters of Robert Gould Shaw, the film tells the story of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an all-black unit comprising Northern freemen and escaped slaves. Under the command of Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick), the 54th served admirably in battle until they made their ultimate demonstration of bravery during the almost suicidal assault on the Confederate Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 18, 1863. Glory achieves its powerful impact by meticulously setting up the terrible conditions under which these neglected soldiers fought, and by illuminating the tenacity of the human spirit from the oppression of slavery to the hard-won recognition of battlefield heroism. Although Denzel Washington deservedly won an Oscar for his supporting role as a runaway-slave-turned-soldier, Glory faced some tough competition at the 1989 Academy Awards (against popular hits like Driving Miss Daisy and Dead Poets Society) and was shut out of nearly all the major categories. Since then, it's been duly recognized by historians and critics as a classic film of its genre. --Jeff Shannon

Freed from jail after two years, jewel thief Martin Lawrence is dismayed to learn that the building site where he hid a valuable diamond just before his arrest is now home to an LAPD station. Lawrence's solution to getting inside is to impersonate a police detective, but soon he finds himself cleaning up the streets before he can retrieve the gem. Wild action-comedy also stars Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle. 94 min. Standard and Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English; "making of" documentary; featurette; music videos; theatrical trailers.

Martin Lawrence can certainly talk a blue streak (witness his concert film, You So Crazy), but he tones it down to PG-13 for this by-the-book action comedy. Lawrence stars as Logan, a bank robber and jewel thief (nice role model we're supposed to cheer for) who, just before he is arrested, manages to stash the $20 million diamond he has just heisted at a construction site. When he is released from prison two years later, he returns to the scene of the crime only to find that the completed building houses a police station. To get inside and retrieve the precious gem he secures a fake ID and passes himself off as LAPD's newest, and most unorthodox, detective. As he demonstrated on his TV series, Lawrence has a knack for characterization second to Eddie Murphy. But he's no Beverly Hills Cop. Indulgent sequences where Martin has seemingly been given free reign to ad-lib are the film's weakest. Early on, Logan cases the police station outlandishly disguised as a snaggle-toothed, Geri-curled pizza deliveryman. You'd think the last thing his character would want to do is call attention to himself. Lawrence is at his best in the scenes in which, thanks to all those years of breaking and entering, his formerly lawless character proves to be a natural at cracking burglary cases. Logan is paired with the requisite white partner, Carlson (Luke Wilson), a buttoned-up rookie. Departing from the Lethal Weapon, buddy-movie playbook, they are not antagonists; theirs is more a teacher-mentor relationship. "Don't we need a warrant to do that?" Carlson asks Logan at one point. "We don't even need a key," Logan responds, picking a lock. There is little in Blue that is remotely fresh, but Lawrence fans, who watched him play it straight opposite Murphy in Life, will relish the opportunity to see him get down with his bad self. --Donald Liebenson

D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy. Four black Californians deal with themselves and the opposite sex. 2000/color/94 min/R.

Think of it as a male version of Waiting to Exhale. The Brothers similarly features four good friends who offer each other advice and support as they navigate the strange and treacherous waters of romantic relationships. Jackson (Morris Chestnut) is a doctor with serious commitment problems; he has dreams about a woman in a bridal gown aiming a gun at him. Brian (Bill Bellamy) is a lawyer with a caustic view of the opposite sex, inspired in large part by his untrusting and unaffectionate mother; he also has commitment problems. Upwardly mobile professional Terry (Shemar Moore) is a well-muscled womanizer who's finally decided to settle down, but as the wedding draws close it becomes clear that he, too, has commitment problems. Fortunately, the fourth member of the quartet, Derrick (D.L. Hughley), is married and devoted to his family--except that his wife refuses to engage in anything but straight missionary sex, which Derrick sees as manipulative. The Brothers depicts a glamorous world in which everyone is good-looking and well dressed; the number of characters makes it hard to delve into anyone's life with any depth, but the actors are engaging and the script makes an effort to look at the "battle of the sexes" from both sides. The immensely charming Gabrielle Union (from Bring It On) plays the girl who just might convince Jackson to give up his single ways. --Bret Fetzer