King of New York (1990) is Abel Ferrara's neon-soaked, moral-grayscale crime saga. Christopher Walken plays Frank White, a drug kingpin freshly out of prison with plans to fund a children's hospital in the Bronx with the proceeds of his empire — a film that asks whether purpose redeems means.
For the homage, the spotlight belongs to Laurence Fishburne as Jimmy Jump, the gleeful, gold-fronted enforcer who steals every scene he's in. It's an early-career performance that telegraphed the range Fishburne would bring to Boyz n the Hood, The Matrix, and three decades of work since. The film is a record of Black actors making indelible art inside genre cinema that didn't always serve them — and Fishburne walked out of it a star.
Co-starring Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, and David Caruso. Cinematography by Bojan Bazelli. Score by Joe Delia.