Honoring Selma and other must see African-American films....
Oscar's Selma snub, has wide implications, socially and economically. Hollywood films have been as much to blame for propagating negative stereotypes as any institution in America. So, when every so often a film comes along that dares to shine a light of truth and justice, and the craft is impeccable...they deserve the spotlight.
Not just sometimes...or only when it suits the current social climate,
These films all explore dynamics of the African-American experience with courage and passion, and are cinematic jewels.
Not just sometimes...or only when it suits the current social climate,
These films all explore dynamics of the African-American experience with courage and passion, and are cinematic jewels.
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- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsDavid OyelowoCarmen EjogoOprah WinfreyA chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.In order to understand the present, one must know the past....Essential.
- DirectorRyan CooglerStarsMichael B. JordanMelonie DiazOctavia SpencerThe story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.Another true story that needs to be told....and remembered...how often will it be repeated?
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonForest WhitakerKimberly EliseA drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.This film is simply a pure gem. Denzel directed and seems to be not only playing the role of the teacher, but teaching his cast how to act at the same time. This film is moving and inspirational on many levels. Simply, stellar.
- DirectorTim DisneyStarsNicole BeharieWill PattonAlfre WoodardA single mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished Texas town.Somehow this film flew under the radar....hmmm...wonder why?
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonAngela BassettDelroy LindoBiographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.An essential figure in American history.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Laurence FishburneHudhail Al-AmirFollows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.Shining Light on what the media intentionally does not....
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSidney PoitierRod SteigerWarren OatesA black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.This was a very brave film for its time and it still stands up on the strength of the two lead performances.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsCicely TysonEric BrownRichard DysartStory of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.worth finding....very moving...
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.The acting may have an almost cartoonish quality, but the message and impact is loud and clear and the theme, Public enemy's remix of the Isley bros, Fight the Power, works like magic.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsChadwick BosemanT.R. KnightHarrison FordIn 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.Another softened for the masses product, but it is the best biopic on one of the most courageous men to breech the racial divide.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsMatthew McConaugheySandra BullockSamuel L. JacksonIn Canton, Mississippi, young lawyer Jake Brigance and his aide Harry Vonner defend black Carl Lee Hailey accused of killing two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter Tonya, inciting violent retribution.A good reminder of how important juries are in our justice system...
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsHoward E. Rollins Jr.Adolph CaesarArt EvansAn African-American officer investigates a murder in a racially charged situation in World War II.Things are not always what they seem....
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsForest WhitakerOprah WinfreyJohn CusackAs Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.Soft, but insightful...Outstanding performances anchored by the always deep, Forrest Whitaker.
- DirectorBoaz YakinStarsDenzel WashingtonWill PattonWood HarrisIn 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.Ok...It's wrapped up nice and Hollywood like, but it's still a worthwhile perspective...
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsGene HackmanWillem DafoeFrances McDormandTwo F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
- DirectorJason OsderStarsBirdie AfricaRamona AfricaWilson GoodeA history of the conflict of the City of Philadelphia and the Black Liberation organization, MOVE, that led to the disastrously violent final confrontation in 1985.very well made documentary about an event that should never be forgotten....
- DirectorKen BurnsSarah BurnsDavid McMahonStarsAntron McCrayKevin RichardsonKharey WiseA documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.Finely crafted compelling look at the truth behind a tragic miscarriage of justice.
- DirectorMegan MylanJon ShenkStarsSantino Majok ChuorJarrid GeduldPeter Kon DutLost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.The real story that A Good Lie is based on, a very poignant look at the long and difficult journey these Sudanese refugees faced.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsRaymond ArsenaultGenevieve HoughtonGordon CareyThe story of the Civil Rights Movement interstate busing protest campaign.