The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American independent teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film tells the story of five teenagers from different high school cliques who serve a Saturday detention overseen by their authoritarian vice-principal.
John Daniel Singleton was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for that award.
Boyz n the Hood is a 1991 American coming-of-age crime drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Tyra Ferrell, Laurence Fishburne, Regina King, and Angela Bassett. Boyz n the Hood follows Tre Styles, who is sent to live with his father Furious Styles (Fishburne) in South Central Los Angeles, surrounded by the neighborhood's booming gang culture. The film's title is a double entendre: a play on the term boyhood and a reference to the 1987 Eazy-E rap song of the same name, written by Ice Cube.
Matthew Langford Perry is an American-Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He gained international recognition as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004).
Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate the wife and child of drug dealer Cullen Crisp, who are living under assumed identities. Pamela Reed, Penelope Ann Miller and Linda Hunt co-star. The original music score was composed by Randy Edelman. A direct-to-video sequel, Kindergarten Cop 2, was released in 2016.
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film Absolute Power, Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the CBS action drama series The Unit, God on the Netflix show Lucifer, and President David Palmer on the first five seasons of 24. He has also appeared in the films Love Field, Heat, Waiting to Exhale, and Far from Heaven, as well as the science fiction series Incorporated.
Never Die Alone is a 2004 American crime thriller film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson and written by James Gibson, based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Donald Goines. The film stars DMX, David Arquette, and Michael Ealy.
Capote is a 2005 biographical drama film about American novelist Truman Capote directed by Bennett Miller, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role. The film primarily follows the events during the writing of Capote's 1965 nonfiction book In Cold Blood. The film was based on Gerald Clarke's 1988 biography Capote. It was released September 30, 2005, coinciding with Capote's birthday.
Knights of the South Bronx is a 2005 American drama television film directed by Allen Hughes and written by Jamal Joseph and Dianne Houston. Based on a true story, it stars Ted Danson as a teacher who helps students at a tough South Bronx elementary school to succeed by teaching them to play chess. It aired on A&E on December 6, 2005.
Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by Robert Redford in the 2001 film The Last Castle. His extensive work includes featured roles in films such as One Eight Seven (1997), Traffic (2000), Capote (2005), Star Trek (2009) and Pacific Rim (2013). Collins' extensive work on television series includes Crisis Center (1997), Thief (2006), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, The Event (2010–2011), and Westworld (2016–2020), as well as the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).
Class of 1984 is a 1982 crime action thriller film directed by Mark Lester and co-written by Tom Holland and John Saxton, based on a story by Holland. The film stars Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross, Timothy Van Patten, Lisa Langlois, Stefan Arngrim, Michael J. Fox, and Roddy McDowall.
Meet the Browns is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film released by Lionsgate on March 21, 2008. The film was based on the play of the same name by Tyler Perry and is the third film in the Madea cinematic universe. It was written and directed by Tyler Perry with Ruben Cannon helping with the writing, and starring Angela Bassett, Rick Fox, Margaret Avery, Frankie Faison, Jenifer Lewis, Lance Gross, Sofía Vergara, Lamman Rucker, Tamela Mann, Tyler Perry, and introducing David Mann in his film debut as Leroy Brown. The film tells the story of a struggling single mother from Chicago who takes her children to Georgia to attend her long-lost father's funeral and meets the relatives she didn't know she had.
Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips is an American who was convicted of murder as a child. In November 1998, when he was 14 years old, Phillips killed Maddie Clifton, his 8-year-old friend and neighbor. The following year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Phillips stated that he killed Clifton to stop her from crying after she was accidentally struck with a baseball while they were playing, and that he feared punishment from his abusive father. Although elements of Phillips's story are disputed, officials who were involved in his prosecution have subsequently expressed contrition over the severity of his sentence. Phillips is eligible for re-sentencing in 2023.
Trans is a 1998 American independent film written and directed by Julian Goldberger. It is based on a story by Goldberger, Michael Robinson and Martin Garner, and stars Ryan Daugherty as Ryan Kazinski. It was filmed in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Butler is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election".
LUV is a 2012 crime drama film directed by Sheldon Candis. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. LUV was shot in and around Baltimore, Maryland, and had its Baltimore premiere at the Maryland Film Festival 2012. It was later released in theaters on January 18, 2013. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.
Fist Fight is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Richie Keen and written by Van Robichaux and Evan Susser. The film stars Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Tracy Morgan and Jillian Bell with Dean Norris, Christina Hendricks, Kumail Nanjiani and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. The film centers on a school teacher who is challenged to an after-school fist fight after causing another teacher's termination.
Critical Thinking is a 2020 American biographical drama film based on the true story of the 1998 Miami Jackson High School chess team, the first inner-city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
Sweet Tooth is an American fantasy drama television series developed by Jim Mickle. It is based on the comic book of the same name written by Jeff Lemire and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The series premiered on Netflix on June 4, 2021. The following month, it was renewed for a second season which was released on April 27, 2023. In May 2023, the series was renewed for a third and final season.
Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was assassinated in Manhattan, New York City on February 21, 1965. While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Malcolm X was shot multiple times and killed. Three members of the Nation of Islam—Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Thomas Hagan—were charged, tried, and convicted of the murder and given indeterminate life sentences, but in November 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated.
