17 Movies Starring Angela Bassett

Boyz n the Hood

Boyz n the Hood

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1991-07-12

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

112 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (85638 Reviews)

Director:

John Singleton

Genres:

CrimeDrama

Fullplot:

John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the 'All-American' athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while 'Dough' succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor. Between these two is their friend Tre, who is lucky to have a father, 'Furious' Styles, to teach him to have the strength of character to do what is right and to always take responsibility for his actions.

The Jacksons: An American Dream

The Jacksons: An American Dream

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1992-11-15

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

240 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (2181 Reviews)

Director:

Karen Arthur

Fullplot:

The Jacksons are your average working-class family in Gary, Indiana; but when their father discovers the kids have an extraordinary musical talent they form a band. Winning talent show after talent show they soon hit it big when Motown calls. From there they become the now famous Jackson 5. But along the way their success brings trouble and turmoil

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1992-11-18

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA, Japan

Runtime:

202 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (59521 Reviews)

Director:

Spike Lee

Cast:

Writer:

Alex Haley (book)

Malcolm X (book)

Arnold Perl (screenplay)

Spike Lee (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Biograpical epic of Malcolm X, the legendary African American leader. Born Malcolm Little, his father (a Garveyite Baptist minister) was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm became a gangster, and while in jail discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Muhammad. He preaches the teachings when let out of jail, but later on goes on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, there he converts to the original Islamic religion and becomes a Sunni Muslim and changes his name to El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965 and dies a Muslim martyr.

Passion Fish

Passion Fish

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1992-12-11

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

135 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (4134 Reviews)

Director:

John Sayles

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

May-Alice Culhane was a successful soap opera star, but a car accident has left her bound to a wheelchair. She returns to her now-empty family home in the bayous of Louisiana which she had eagerly left years before. She drinks heavily and vents her bitterness on the succession of nurses who are hired to take care of her and immediately quit because she is so unbearable. Chantelle is the latest of these nurses, and May-Alice is told that Chantelle is the last nurse she'll get. Chantelle for reasons of her own, is also in a position where she badly needs the job to work out. The movie focuses on how these two women become friends and help each other heal emotionally.

Strange Days

Strange Days

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1995-10-13

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

145 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (51356 Reviews)

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Cast:

Writer:

James Cameron (story)

James Cameron (screenplay)

Jay Cocks (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Set in the year 1999 during the last days of the old millennium, the movie tells the story of Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now deals with data-discs containing recorded memories and emotions. One day he receives a disc which contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute. Lenny investigates and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of blackmail, murder and rape. Will he survive and solve the case?

Waiting to Exhale

Waiting to Exhale

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1995-12-22

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

124 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

5.6 (6912 Reviews)

Director:

Forest Whitaker

Cast:

Writer:

Terry McMillan (novel)

Terry McMillan (screenplay)

Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Fullplot:

This story based on the best selling novel by Terry McMillan follows the lives of four African-American women as they try to deal with their very lives. Friendship becomes the strongest bond between these women as men, careers, and families take them in different directions. Often light-hearted this movie speaks about some of the problems and struggles the modern women face in today's world.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1998-08-14

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

124 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

5.5 (5086 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Terry McMillan (novel)

Terry McMillan (screenplay)

Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Stella is a highly successful, forty-something San Francisco stock broker who is persuaded by her colorful New York girlfriend Delilah to take a well deserved, first-class vacation to Jamaica. As she soaks in the beauty of the island, she encounters a strapping, young islander, Winston Shakespeare. His pursuits for her turn into a hot and steamy romance that forces Stella to take personal inventory of her life and try to find a balance between her desire for love and companionship, and the responsibilities of mother and corporate executive.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1992-11-18

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA, Japan

Runtime:

202 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (59355 Reviews)

Director:

Spike Lee

Cast:

Writer:

Alex Haley (book)

Malcolm X (book)

Arnold Perl (screenplay)

Spike Lee (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Biograpical epic of Malcolm X, the legendary African American leader. Born Malcolm Little, his father (a Garveyite Baptist minister) was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm became a gangster, and while in jail discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Muhammad. He preaches the teachings when let out of jail, but later on goes on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, there he converts to the original Islamic religion and becomes a Sunni Muslim and changes his name to El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965 and dies a Muslim martyr.

The Score

The Score

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2001-07-13

Languages:

English, French

Countries:

USA, Germany

Runtime:

124 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.8 (96512 Reviews)

Director:

Frank Oz

Cast:

Writer:

Daniel E. Taylor (story)

Kario Salem (story)

Kario Salem (screenplay)

Lem Dobbs (screenplay)

Scott Marshall Smith (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Nick Wells, a professional criminal, decides to leave the business for good, since he nearly got caught on his last job. His plan is to live in peace with his girl Diane, running his Montreal jazz club. Soon afterward, Max, his good friend and financial partner, comes along with an offer Nick can't refuse: A historical and priceless French scepter has been discovered while being smuggled into the country. It is now under massive surveillance in the Montreal Customs House, and soon to be returned to France. Nick has to team up with Max's man inside, the young, talented and aggressive thief Jack Teller to get the precious item. Only one question remains: Who will trick whom out of their share?

The Rosa Parks Story

The Rosa Parks Story

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2002-02-24

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

97 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (511 Reviews)

Director:

Julie Dash

Fullplot:

The story of the civil rights heroine whose refusal to obey racial bus segregation was just one of her acts in her fight for justice.

Mr 3000

Mr 3000

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2004-09-17

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

104 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

5.5 (11715 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Eric Champnella (story)

Keith Mitchell (story)

Eric Champnella (screenplay)

Keith Mitchell (screenplay)

Howard Michael Gould (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Stan Ross was a baseball superstar who turned his back on the game years ago when he finally hit 3,000 hits. Years later, he's now a successful, self-made entrepreneur whose many businesses revolve around his title: Mr. 3000. But a clerical error has proven that Stan is just short three hits of his spectacular hit record. Now, with time on his side and the potential to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Stan must return back to the game and get back his title. But things have changed with age, and as Stan finds out, it's not too easy to get back into the game when he hasn't played for years, and he's nearing 50.

Meet the Robinsons

Meet the Robinsons

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2007-03-30

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

95 min

Rated:

G

IMDB Ratings:

6.9 (60606 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Jon Bernstein (screenplay)

Michelle Bochner Spitz (screenplay)

Don Hall (screenplay)

Nathan Greno (screenplay)

Aurian Redson (screenplay)

Joseph Mateo (screenplay)

Stephen J. Anderson (screenplay)

William Joyce (book)

Robert L. Baird (additional story material)

Daniel Gerson (additional story material)

Shirley Pierce (additional story material)

Fullplot:

Lewis an orphan wants to see what his mother looked like. So he invents a machine that looks through your brain so you can see your memories. But this weird kid says he's from the future and warns him about a guy in a bowler hat. The bowler hat guy messes with his invention and it fails. He decides that he's a failure and no one wants him. But the kid that warned him about the guy is here on a mission to find the bowler hat guy that wants to destroy Lewis. To prove he's from the future he takes Lewis to the future. But the time machine breaks and he's stuck in the future until he fixes it. In the meantime he spends quality time with the family. But the bowler hat guy is about to alter time and it's up to Lewis to save the future.

Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2006-04-28

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

112 min

Rated:

PG

IMDB Ratings:

7.5 (14368 Reviews)

Director:

Doug Atchison

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She's smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of -- but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. She also must get past Dr. Larabee's demons, and a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.

Meet the Browns

Meet the Browns

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2008-03-21

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

100 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

3.9 (5530 Reviews)

Director:

Tyler Perry

Fullplot:

A single mom takes her family to Georgia for the funeral of her father -- a man she never met. There, her clan is introduced to the crass, fun-loving Brown family.

Nothing But the Truth

Nothing But the Truth

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2009-07-29

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

108 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (29004 Reviews)

Director:

Rod Lurie

Fullplot:

Thinking Pulitzer Prize and hoping to bring down a President, D.C. political columnist Rachel Armstrong writes that the President ignored the findings of a covert CIA operative when ordering air strikes against Venezuela. Rachel names the agent, Erica Van Doren, a woman whose young daughter is in Rachel's son's class at school. The government moves quickly to force Rachel to name her source. She's jailed for contempt when she refuses. She won't change her mind, and the days add up. Chaos descends on Van Doren's life as well. First Amendment versus national security, marriage and motherhood versus separation. What's the value of a principle?

Black Nativity

Black Nativity

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2013-11-27

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

93 min

Rated:

PG

IMDB Ratings:

4.2 (1438 Reviews)

Director:

Kasi Lemmons

Genres:

DramaMusical

Cast:

Writer:

Langston Hughes (libretto)

Kasi Lemmons (screenplay)

Fullplot:

In a contemporary adaptation of Langston Hughes' celebrated play, the holiday musical drama BLACK NATIVITY follows Langston (Jacob Latimore), a street-wise teen from Baltimore raised by a single mother, as he journeys to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett). Unwilling to live by the imposing Reverend Cobbs' rules, a frustrated Langston is determined to return home to his mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Langston embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with his new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.

Jumping the Broom

Jumping the Broom

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2011-05-06

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

112 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

5.6 (7571 Reviews)

Director:

Salim Akil

Genres:

ComedyDrama

Cast:

Writer:

Elizabeth Hunter (screenplay)

Arlene Gibbs (screenplay)

Elizabeth Hunter (story)

Fullplot:

Two very different families converge on Martha's Vineyard one weekend for a wedding.

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