Margaret Avery
A look at the Black revolution in 1970s cinema, from genre films to social realism, from the making of new superstars to the craft of rising auteurs.
Recent Harvard grad Keke McQueen, 23, is eager to ditch her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan for her dream job in Atlanta, but when Keke discovers that her once super-sharp Grandma Janice is showing early signs of dementia, Keke puts her career at stake in order to save her Grandma’s block party, and in the process, Keke falls back in love with her hometown and its people.
The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Louis Pinnock is a white worker in a chocolate factory, loving husband and father of two children. While delivering a package for black CEO Thaddeus Thomas, he is mistaken for a voyeur and, as a result, loses his job, gets beaten by black cops and his family gets evicted from their home. Desperate Pinnock takes a gun and kidnaps Thomas, demanding justice.
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie’s abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing “Mister” Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
Martin Lawrence leads an all-star cast, including Cedric the Entertainer, Mo’Nique, and Mike Epps, in the hit comedy “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.” When a celebrated TV show host (Lawrence) returns to his hometown in the South, his family is there to remind him that going home is no vacation! It’s one outrageous predicament after another when big-city attitude and small-town values collide in this hysterical comedy critics are praising for its “over-the-top hilarity!” (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel).
“Dirty” Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.
Richard Pryor plays three roles – a beleaguered, sex-starved farm worker named Leroy Jones; the farm worker’s randy old father Rufus; and the hypocritical town preacher Rev. Lenox Thomas – and Pryor has never been so outrageously funny. The lives and love lives of these three men cross and crisscross as Leroy tries to get his life back on track.
Mary is a hit woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.
A man has to figure out a way to make extra money when his father-in-law moves in.
Mary Jane Paul is a one-woman-show: a successful TV news anchor, and an entirely self-sufficient powerhouse who remains devoted to a family that doesn’t share her motivation. Intense drama and unforgettable moments unfold as Mary Jane juggles her life, her relationships, her work, and commitments to her family.