12 Years a Slave differs from traditional black slave films in featuring nuanced black voices, Wesley Morris observes in Grantland. It’s one of the first slave films to discredit the idea that “black stories are nothing without a white voice to tell them that black people can’t live without the aid of white ones,”  Morris writes.  It’s…

If you’re heading to see 42, the biopic about Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, be prepared for a sanitized version of his life and racism in America, writes Grantland‘s Wesley Morris. 42 is a Hollywood movie about American racism in which the objects of that racism must summon their most noble selves. [Screenwriter and director] Helgeland, who’s…

As celebrities in Hollywood count the hours until they either win an Academy Award or are once again able to eat carbs, Grantland film critic Wesley Morris breaks down his predictions for Sunday night’s Oscars. BEST PICTURE Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Les Misérables, Silver Linings Playbook,…