Belly (1998)

Storyline: Tommy Brown (DMX, a.k.a. Earl Simmons ) and Sincere (Nasir "Nas" Jones) have grown up on the wild and violent streets of Queens. Part of a small gang of thieves whose members have gotten rich by knocking off strip joints and other establishments, these older teens have no fear of the law or killing for money. Even so, the two are starting to split in their ideological ways. Tommy, who lives in the fast lane and has no problem cheating on his girlfriend, Kisha (TARAL HICKS), while scoring hits, has recently decided to get into drug dealing after hearing of a new addictive substance now on the market.

Sincere, who's married to Tionne (TIONNE "T-BOZ" WATKINS) and has a baby girl, begins to question his criminal lifestyle and starts to think of ways to get out, and away from it. Even so, with the help of Tommy's wealthy Jamaican drug lord, Lennox (LOUIE RANKIN), the two men begin dealing drugs. With Tommy's associate, Knowledge (POWER) setting up shop in Omaha, the gang starts to make money running their interstate drug ring.

Trouble arises when Big (TYRIN TURNER), the local drug kingpin, decides he doesn't like outsiders moving in on his game. Ratting them out to the authorities, Big gets his revenge as Sincere and Tommy start feeling the heat as drug busts begin to fall all around them.
As the feds move in closer, more violence erupts on the streets, and an angry associate, Shameek (METHOD MAN) seeks revenge on Tommy for not getting him out of jail, the two friends do what they can to make things best for themselves.

Reviews: The only thing people liked about this movie is the cinematography. The plot and acting were highly criticized by many reviewers. Personally I sort of liked the movie. Although not an academy award performance or script I liked the whole vibe of it. Some of it didn't make sense but and Nas' plight to Africa seemed far-fetched but I enjoyed the action scenes and thought it was overly crticized.

Role: Criminal. See the Storyline above for full details.

Line to remember: ""

Box Office: The film was a flop. In it's first week in release it raked in a measely $3 million. It was pulled from theatres after one month and didn't manage to surpass the $10 million mark.

Soundtrack: One of the hottest albums of '98 featuring X's radio hit 'Top Shotter' featuring Sean Paul and other artists who contributed included The Lox, Wu-Tang Clan, D'angelo and more.

Romeo Must Die (2000)

Storyline:On Oakland's waterfront, a bitter turf battle is being played out between Asian and African American crime families. When the Asian warlord's son, Po (JON KIT LEE), is found dead, the gang war escalates to new heights. News of the murder eventually reaches a Hong Kong prison holding the victim's brother, Han (JET LI), a former cop who took the rap so that Po and their father, Ch'u Sing (HENRY O), could escape to the U.S.

Now, Sing and his right-hand man, Kai (RUSSELL WONG), control a powerful Asian crime family that's hostile to the local African-American crime family run by Isaak O'Day (DELROY LINDO). Although Isaak eventually wants to get into a legitimate business with his son, Colin (D.B. WOODSIDE), and an ambitious businessman, Roth (EDOARDO BALLERINI), he must first contend with allegations that his people were responsible for Po's death.

Thus, his right-hand man, Mac (ISAIAH WASHINGTON), is put on notice, as is Maurice (ANTHONY ANDERSON), a portly and bumbling fellow assigned to protect Isaak's adult and very independent daughter, Trish (AALIYAH), who wants nothing to do with her father's illegal business activities.

With Han arriving in the U.S. and repeatedly running into Trish, and more members of each crime family being murdered, the two young members of the opposing families try to figure out what's going on and determine exactly who's responsible.

Role: DMX's role was rather limited this time around. He played Silk, a nightclub owner and friend of Trish (played by Aaliyah). He doesn't get more than a total of about 5 minutes in screen time, and ends up dying by the way of the gun.

Line to remember: "Guns don't kill people. People kill people"

Box Office: The film was actually quite successful, grossing more than $17 million in it's first week and ended up grossing approximately $60 million. Not too shabby.

Soundtrack: The platinum album containing the hits "Try Again" and the DMX/Aaliyah collabo "Back In One Piece" also featured the likes of Joe, Destiny's Child and Timbaland and Magoo.

Exit Wounds (2001)

Storyline: Steven Seagal stars as a maverick Detroit dectective Orin Boyd, whose take no prisoners appoach to domestic terrorism gets him the boot to downtown to the cities toughest princenct. Multi-Platinum Hip Hop Star Dmx stars as the powerful and mysterious crime lord Latrell Walker, whose dicey connections and seemingly unlimited cash make him everyones target. Together, the 2 men take on a conspiracy that reaches all the way through the ranks to the heart of the precinct. The corrupted cops.

Opening March 16, 2001 Go see it!