Clockers

Martin Scorsese's brutal character study incisively portrays the true rise and fall and redemption of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, a violent man in and out of the ring who thrives on his ability (and desire) to take a beating.…Read More

Spike Lee's breakthrough independent feature, shot in fifteen days on a budget of $175,000, ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites. Lee's slight…Read More

New Jersey Drive opens with Jason (Gabriel Casseus) heading off to juvenile detention then unfolds in flashback as, chronologically, the incidents leading to his arrest surface one by one. First the audience sees his violence and poverty-ridden project; next his go-nowhere delinquent friends are introduced, as is their hobby: joy riding. Soon some of the teens, including Jason, begin to convert their hobby into a part-time job as they steal cars and sell…Read More

A somber portrait of organized crime and family trauma, Little Odessa centers on the trouble caused when hit man Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) returns to his old neighborhood of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. A hired killer for the Russian Mafia, Joshua is given an assignment in his hometown, where he renews contact with his younger brother Reuben (Edward Furlong) and an old flame (Moira Kelly). But others do not welcome Joshua's return, particularly his harsh,…Read More

In this crime drama, an honest lawman has to decide where his loyalties lie in a corrupt system. All his life, J.J. (Michael Boatman) has dreamed of being a cop, and after graduating from the Police Academy, he gets his wish, becoming the first ...…Read More