Movies
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Oscars 2020: Matthew A. Cherry Manifests #HairLove Success and Janelle Monáe Welcomes Us to the Neighborhood
It’s the biggest (and whitest) night of film once again and we’re here to give you the scoop. The 92nd Academy Awards marks the conclusion of awards season (but not really because there are at least two big award ceremonies I’ll be attending later this month as Los Angeles loves to pat itself on the…
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Black Movie Fridays: Just Wright Is a Fun Romantic Comedy But It Couldn’t Have Happened in Real Life
I’m one of those people who gets hung up on the little things in movies and television shows. Like, I’ll be sitting in a movie theater minding my business watching some varying level of black cinematic excellence set in 1980-whenever, and an era-specific song will come on to really give you a sense of time,…
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From Kickstarter to Kickin' It At the Oscars: Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver Talk Hair Love
Animation raised me. Yes, I know we all grew up watching Saturday cartoons and animated movies, but those little doodles of Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse shaped my desire to tell stories. I wanted to create animated films. I wanted to be Cree Summer. I wanted to have anything and everything to do with the…
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First Look: Boyz N The Hood Is Now Available on 4K Ultra HD With Bonus Tribute to John Singleton, Who 'Changed Hollywood'
I’ll never forget the day I found out that John Singleton died. I was gallivanting about the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, not realizing that my current location would mean so much more than it already did to a cinephile like myself. Having some idle time on my hands, I scrambled to write up a proper…
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Sneak Peek: Black Canary Knows It's a Man's World but It'll Be Nothing Without a Woman or a Girl in Birds of Prey
In a follow-up to Suicide Squad, D.C. Comics is continuing the saga of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) after her epic split with the Joker as she “joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.” James Brown gave us one of the best lyrics of all…
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After Oprah Backs Out, HBO Max Steps in to Stream Film About Russell Simmons’ Accusers
After Oprah Winfrey and Apple TV Plus backed out of plans to back a documentary film on the women accusing hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct and assault, HBO Max has stepped in, saying it will stream the film on its service that launches in May. As the New York Times reports, this news…
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First Look: The Children Are Our Future In HBO's We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
It’s Black History Month and The Root is here to give you the most adorable inspiration ever. Growing up black meant realizing that the most important speech ever uttered was by a man named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Four words, “I Have A Dream,” would be embedded in the minds of every black kid…
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The Color Purple Returning to the Big Screen for Black History Month
“I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it,” Shug Avery famously says during a watershed moment in one of the best movies ever, which was adapted from one of the best books ever. Stephen Spielberg’s masterful adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel…
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12 Thoughts, Facts, and Opinions About Tyler Perry’s Wildly Ridiculous, Entertaining Movie, A Fall From Grace
There will be spoilers. 1. Guys, A Fall from Grace is a Tyler Perry (TP) movie. At this point, there is NOTHING more indicative of what a movie will be than having the words “Tyler Perry” attached to it. Expectations should never even exist. I watch his films because they exist and because I’m rooting…
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Sundance 2020: A List of Black Movies to Watch While You’re in the White Mountains
It’s a brand new decade, but we have a familiar festival season! Like last year, I’m going to give you the scoop on some black-ass films I’m looking forward to. The mountains may be white, but we are going to stay black, always. I, along with most of Hollywood, will be lollygagging in Park City,…