Actress Kimberly Elise (1967)

The American sci-fi flick, Ad Astra (2019), was produced, co-written, and directed by James Gray. Set in the early 22nd century, humanity faces a looming threat as unexplained power surges threaten to disrupt civilization. Roy McBride, a military major, receives word that these surges are linked to the ‘Lima Project’, a space station orbiting Neptune on a mission to discover intelligent life. Coincidentally, Roy’s father, H. Clifford McBride, leads this project. Desperate for answers, Roy agrees to journey to Mars to investigate the fate of the station’s crew. Unfortunately, his trip is derailed ...

The Great Debaters (2007), an American historical drama film directed by Denzel Washington, tells the story of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson’s efforts to overcome racial barriers in the Jim Crow-era American South. Based on a true story and inspired by a 1997 article for American Legacy by Tony Scherman, the film follows Tolson as he leads his team at Wiley College, a historically black institution affiliated with The United Methodist Church. Despite facing discrimination and violence, the Wiley debaters defy expectations and eventually earn the opportunity to challenge Harvard University in a debate competition. ...

Richard Condon’s 1959 novel, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), is a political thriller that tells the story of a prominent U.S. political family and their son’s involvement in a Communist conspiracy. The novel has been adapted into two feature films with the same title, released in 1962 and 2004 respectively. In the story, Major Bennett Marco and his infantry platoon are captured during the Korean War in 1952 by an elite Soviet commando unit. They are eventually brainwashed into believing that Sergeant Raymond Shaw saved their lives in combat, leading to him receiving the Medal of Honor. Years later, Marco, ...

The American thriller drama film, John Q. (2002), was written by James Kearns and directed by Nick Cassavetes. In the movie, a motorist driving recklessly on a freeway is fatally struck by a truck. Prior to this tragic event, John Quincy Archibald and his wife Denise were struggling financially in Chicago. Despite their challenges, they remained devoted parents to their young son Michael, who collapses at his baseball game one day after church. At the hospital, they receive devastating news from cardiologist Dr. Raymond Turner and administrator Rebecca Payne – ...

The film Set It Off (1996), directed by F. Gary Gray, follows the story of Francesca ‘Frankie’ Sutton, a bank teller in Los Angeles. After recognizing one of the robbers from her neighborhood during a robbery, Frankie is fired and falsely accused by Detective Strode of being an accomplice. She then begins working at Luther’s Janitorial Services with her friends Lida ‘Stony’ Newsom, Cleopatra ‘Cleo’ Sims, and Tisean ‘T.T.’ Williams. Unfortunately, their boss Luther treats them poorly and pays them very little. Tired of struggling to make ends meet, Frankie suggests ...