Movies
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John Boyega Is Partnering With Netflix to Create Feature Films Focusing on Africa's Rich History of Storytelling
With the latest Star Wars installment now in his rearview, actor John Boyega is shifting his priorities to bring more diverse content to American audiences. Variety reports that the 27-year-old’s U.K.-based production company, UpperRoom Productions, is joining forces with streaming media giant Netflix to develop film projects that will explore a wealth of stories about…
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9 Thoughts About The Trailer For the New Candyman Movie
The trailer for the new Candyman movie—produced and written by Jordan Peele, directed by Nia DaCosta—hit the interwebs on February 27 and, well, I cannot wait until it is released on June 12. Don’t get it twisted, the first movie scared the everloving shit out of me and I’m not a horror movie person, but…
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Black Movie Fridays: A Fun Story About Cool Runnings, 'Gummies' and a New York City Evening in 2017
I’d like to tell you a fun story about one of my favorite black movies, Cool Runnings. If you don’t know, Cool Runnings (released in 1993) is the “based on a true story” movie about the Jamaican bobsled team’s journey and ultimately their debut appearance at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It’s…
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The Candyman Can Because Yes, Gentrification Deserves Its Own Horror Flick
Jordan Peele is pretty good at this whole horror thing. In 2017’s Get Out, he schooled us with a satirical take on the perils of benevolent racism, while 2019’s Us was a duplicitous mind fuck in itself. This time around, with Candyman—a spiritual successor to the 1992 original, helmed by the bold and brilliant Nia…
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Black Movie Fridays: I Probably Quote The Wood More Than Any Other Black Movie
If you were to ask me what the most quotable black movie of all time is, I’d say, without hesitation, Coming to America. So many of the movie’s phrases are iconic and are simply part of black pop culture at this point. When somebody’s hair looks especially fresh, it is customary to remark on the…
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Racing Champion Willy T. Ribbs Reminds Us All of His Place in Black History With Brilliant Victory Lap Uppity
Throughout the course of history, we’ve been taught that there is a clear hierarchy in regard to a black person’s place in society. As such, the term “uppity”—which first surfaced in the 1800s as the snarky descendant of its equally demeaning predecessor “ungrateful”—has served to both dissuade and disparage those of us who’ve dared to…
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Black Movie Fridays: Love Jones Is the Iconic Black Love Movie but for Me, Brown Sugar Is the GOAT
The 1990s and early aughts were a good time for black movies. From Boyz n The Hood to Menace II Society to What’s Love Got To Do With It to sleeper classics like The Wood, almost every year we got several dope black movies that showed us some version of blackness that existed in our…
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10 Very Black (Non-Spoiler) Reasons to Go See The Photograph
The Photograph, a new black love story starring Issa “Lookin’ Like a Bag of Money” Rae and Lakeith “Can I Measure Your Tree?” Stanfield, comes out in theaters nationwide on Friday, Feb. 14 (also known either as Valentine’s Day or “National I Don’t Celebrate That Commercialized Obligation of Love Day”). I had a chance to…
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And the Skippy Goes To!: The Root's Inaugural The Blackest Awards Winners
What’s up, Black America! Now that the Oscars have come and gone and awards were given to winners and what not and henceforth, it’s time to redirect that energy back into what matters most: celebrating Blackness in all of its Black Excellence Achievement. And that is exactly what we’re doing here with the Skippies. You…
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Ava DuVernay's Nipsey Hussle Doc Lands at Netflix After Major Bidding War
Netflix is taking a victory lap after landing rights to a feature-length documentary about the life of Nipsey Hussle. Streamers including Apple and Amazon are also reported to have vied for the project in an intense bidding war that ended in an eight-figure deal. Ava DuVernay will direct in a collaboration between her ARRAY film…