Club Paradise 1986  PG-13, 96 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Harold Ramis
Cast: Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole, Rick Moranis, Jimmy Cliff, Twiggy, Adolph Caesar, Eugene Levy, Joanna Cassidy, Andrea Martin, Mary Gross
The dream of turning a beachfront in the West Indies into a thriving "Club Med" type business features an ex-fireman (Robin Williams) from the windy city forming a partnership with a local (Jimmy Cliff). Highlight: Jimmy Cliff's music is great.
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The Color Purple 1985  PG-13, 152 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh, Akosua Busia, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Dana Ivey, Laurence Fishburne, Desreta Jackson, Leonard Jackson, Bennet Guillory
This story is based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and revolves around a Black family in Georgia where success is learned from lessons in adversity. In 1909, teenager Celie (Desreta Jackson) gives birth to two children and is virtually sold off to sharecropper Alfred (Danny Glover) who marries her and then sells the children. Celie is treated like a slave. Later, Albert moves his mistress Shug (Margaret Avery) into the house. Celie (now played by Whoopi Goldberg) develops a good relationship with Shug and Alfred's take-no-guff daughter-in-law Sofia (Oprah Winfrey). Through their friendships, Celie gains the strength to leave Albert and begin a new life. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Actress (Whoopi Goldberg), and two for Supporting Actress (Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey). A "must see."
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Fist of Fear, Touch of Death 1980  R, 90 min.
Genre: Action / Drama
Director: Matthew Mallinson
Cast: Fred Williamson, Ron Van Clief, Adolph Caesar, Aaron Banks, Teruyuki Higa, Gail Turner, Richard Barathy, Hollywood Browde, Bill Louie, Louis Neglia, Bruce Lee, Cydra Karlyn, John Flood, Ron Harvey, George Lopez
Filmed at Madison Square Garden, this pseudo-documentary provides phony interviews associated with a major martial arts tournament at the Garden. A cheap, unwatchable exploitation of Bruce Lee (showing archival footage).
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A Soldier's Story 1984  PG, 102 min.
Genre: Mystery / Drama
Director: Norman Jewison
Cast: Howard E. Rollins Jr., Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Art Evans, David Alan Grier, David Harris, Robert Townsend, Wings Hauser, Dennis Lipscomb, Larry Riley, William Allen Young, Patti LaBelle, Scott Paulin, John Hancock, Trey Wilson
Racial hatred in the military is depicted in this story about a Black Army lawyer, Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.), who is given a murder case when Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar) is killed. When he arrives at the Fort he discovers that proud Black soldiers do not understand sneering White soldiers; both groups are so steeped in their prejudices that it seems there is no hope that they can get together. This film does a good job of focusing on man's inhumanity to man and was nominated for an Oscar; Adolph Caesar was nominated for Supporting Actor.
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| 1. Club Paradise (1986)
2. The Color Purple (1985)
3. Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)
4. A Soldier's Story (1984)
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