Plot
Maker (Master P), a hip-hop music mogul and crime boss, helps broker a deal between Noah (Gary Busey), a major dealer in illegal arms, and a consortium of extremist groups. However, Maker was cut out of the loop at the last minute and he's eager to get revenge—and his piece of the action. He initially uses Davis (Jeff Fahey), an employee of a shipping company, to send his merchandise around the world, but when the company upgrades to computer-based tracking, he brings in Jason (Gary Daniels), a digital-savvy workaholic trying to wipe out the memory of his first wife.
Jason earns a big cut of Davis' profits, and is introduced to his world of fast times and loose women, including Laura (Jodi Bianca Wise), a sweet but streetwise hooker. Unknown to the others, FBI Agent Diane (Pam Grier) is watching Noah's deal in order to put him and his crew behind bars, but she doesn't realize that several of the players have hidden agendas. A major arms deal is going down, and 3 separate characters are desperately trying to get in on it. Each is either a true career criminal out for personal profit or an undercover agent intercepting to elevate a CV. Everyone is playing each other off against one another.
Above the Law is a 1988 American action thriller film written, produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal and John C. Reilly, and stars Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Daniel Faraldo and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer. The film originated after a successful screen test, financed by Michael Ovitz, leading to Seagal being offered a contract by Warner Bros. The film was set and filmed on location in Chicago. The film premiered in the United States on April 8, 1988.
Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Pam Grier in the title role, along with Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, and Robert De Niro in supporting roles. An adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel Rum Punch, the film pays homage to 1970s blaxploitation films, particularly the films Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), both of which also starred Grier in the title roles. As Tarantino's third directorial effort following Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), it is the only feature-length film that Tarantino has adapted from a previous work.
Pamela Suzette Grier is an American actress. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation, and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Her accolades include nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Satellite Award, and a Saturn Award.
I'm with Busey was a television show in the comedy and documentary which aired on Comedy Central in the summer of 2003. It revolved around a young writer named Adam de la Peña, who met and befriended his childhood idol, actor Gary Busey.
Foxy Brown is a 1974 American blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Pam Grier as the title character, described by one character as "a whole lot of woman", who showcases unrelenting sexiness while battling the film's villains. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Truck Turner. The film uses Afrocentric references in clothing and hair. Grier starred in six blaxploitation films for American International Pictures.
Tail Lights Fade is a 1999 Canadian film directed by Malcolm Ingram and starring Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Breckin Meyer, Elizabeth Berkley, Jason Mewes, and Lisa Marie. The film follows two couples and their race across Canada to bail one of their brothers out of a marijuana charge by clearing out the grow house completely. The film's namesake gets its title from a 1992 Buffalo Tom song, which is also on the soundtrack.
Coffy is a 1973 American blaxploitation film written and directed by American filmmaker Jack Hill. The story is about a black female vigilante played by Pam Grier who seeks violent revenge against a heroin dealer responsible for her sister's addiction.
William Jakob Busey is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's The Frighteners, Ace in 1997's Starship Troopers, Kyle in 2001's Tomcats, Aiden Tanner in the 2014–2016 TV series From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, and Sean H. Keyes in the Predator franchise.
Sheba, Baby is a 1975 American blaxploitation action film directed by William Girdler and starring Pam Grier and Austin Stoker.
Black Mama White Mama is a 1973 women in prison film directed by Eddie Romero and starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film has elements of blaxploitation. The movie also was released as Hot, Hard and Mean.
The Package is a 1989 American political thriller film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, and Dennis Franz.
Hot Boyz is a 1999 action crime film written and directed by Master P. With Master P, the film stars Silkk the Shocker, Gary Busey, Jeff Speakman, Clifton Powell, Dick Anthony Williams, Shireen Crutchfield, Anthony Boswell, Mia X, Snoop Dogg, C-Murder and Mystikal. This film was a factor in the rivalry between No Limit and Cash Money as the name "Hot Boys" was already the name of the popular rap group, which consisted of: Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Turk, and B.G.
The Big Doll House is a 1971 American women-in-prison film starring Pam Grier, Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, Brooke Mills, and Pat Woodell. The film follows six female inmates through daily life in a gritty, unidentified tropical prison. Later the same year, the film Women in Cages featured a similar story and setting and much the same cast, and was shot in the same abandoned prison buildings. A nonsequel follow-up, titled The Big Bird Cage, was released in 1972.
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, then president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch. He so named it because he claimed the genre was "proliferating offenses" to the black community in its perpetuation of stereotypical characters often involved in criminal activity. However, the genre does rank among the first after the race films in the 1940s and 1960s in which black characters and communities are the heroes and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks, villains, or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s.
The Rage is a 1997 Canadian-American action-thriller film directed by Sidney J. Furie.
Hit Man is a 1972 American crime film directed by George Armitage and starring Bernie Casey, Pam Grier and Lisa Moore. With the action relocated from England to the United States, it is based on Ted Lewis' 1970 novel Jack's Return Home, more famously adapted as Get Carter.
Hunt to Kill is a 2010 Canadian action film starring Steve Austin, Gary Daniels, and Eric Roberts.
Jumping the Broom is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Salim Akil and produced by Tracey E. Edmonds, Elizabeth Hunter, T.D. Jakes, Glendon Palmer, and Curtis Wallace.
Jacob Two Two Meets The Hooded Fang is a 1999 television film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler.
Bad Grandmas is a 2017 American action comedy film directed by Srikant Chellappa starring Pam Grier, Judge Reinhold, Florence Henderson, and Randall Batinkoff. It is an independent film written by Chellappa and Jack Snyder. Filming took place in 2015, before veteran actress Florence Henderson's death in November of the following year. The film was released in late 2017.
