Hairspray 2007  PG, 117 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical / Drama
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Janney, Taylor Parks, Jerry Stiller, Paul Dooley
Nikki Blonsky makes her film debut as tubby teen Tracy Turnblad who, with her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes), dreams of singing and dancing on a local TV show in Baltimore, "The Corny Collins (James Marsden) Show." Tracy wins the audition, but her overprotective stay-at-home mother Edna (John Travolta, in drag in a fat suit) is afraid that Tracy will be picked on for her obesity. Tracy perseveres, and now her nemesis is the TV station manager, Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), whose daughter Amber (Brittany Snow) holds the title of "Miss Hairspray." Not only does Tracy go after the "Miss Hairspray" title, she also wants the show to be integrated. The year is 1962, and the Black dancers are not allowed to perform on the show on a daily basis. When they do perform, the show is hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah). Tracy believes this is unfair, and with help from others–including Motormouth Maybelle, Motormouth's son and Penny's boyfriend Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), Tracy's boyfriend Link (Zac Efron), her father (Christopher Walken), and her mother–she sets out to integrate the show.
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A Lesson Before Dying 1999  PG-13, 101 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Joseph Sargent
Cast: Don Cheadle, Cicely Tyson, Mekhi Phifer, Irma P. Hall, Brent Jennings, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Stuart Culpepper, Patty Mack, Elijah Kelley
Set in the South during the 1940s, Don Cheadle plays the role of Grant Wiggins–a teacher, who at the request of a condemned man's mother, Miss Emma (Irma P. Hall) and aunt Tante Lou (Cicely Tyson), goes to visit Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer) daily while he awaits execution. Jefferson was wrongly convicted in a brutal trial that took away his dignity; it falls on Wiggins to help restore this black man's self esteem.
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| 1. Hairspray (2007)
2. A Lesson Before Dying (1999)
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