Malik’s Movie Reviews Past & Present
While we all have different ‘favorite’ films in black cinema, it is my argument, using the criteria I’ve established (relevance to black culture, the legacy or shelf life of the project after the initial release, the actual craftmanship of the filmmaking, the degree to which the film was noticed/recognized by the mainstream, and the Apollo […]
Spike Lee’s third film takes place on the hottest day of the summer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York. I heard Spike say in an interview this week that while he didn’t know what he was doing on his first film, She’s Gotta Have It, and was finding his way with School Daze, with this […]
There is a little argument over the facts that surround The Birth of a Nation. It was the first ‘blockbuster’ of American cinema; the techniques introduced in this film by D.W. Griffith revolutionized the art of filmmaking. Some of the investors in this picture were Hollywood’s earliest moguls; the profits they earned back from this […]
Boyz N The Hood was the debut film by writer/director John Singleton. The semi-autobiographical tale revolves around three young black men, Tre, Ricky, and Doughboy, and their daily lives growing up in South Central Los Angeles. On to the tale of the tape… Relevance: While the phrase ‘black film’ can take on many different meanings […]
Glory is based on the true story of the 54th Massachussetts Infantry, one of the Army’s first all black units. Led by Robert Shaw, the unit played an important role in the battle for Fort Wagner (Civil War). On to the tale of the tape… Relevance: The real life military unit this film is […]
Debatably the most popular black film of all time, Coming to America is the story of Prince Akeem, who, in lieu of his arranged marriage as the Prince of Zumunda, elects to go to Queens in search of true love. On to the tale of the tape… Relevance: While we live in a ‘post-racial’ America […]
Father Vogler: It makes no difference. All men are equal in God’s eyes. Salieri: [leans in mockingly] *Are* they? The Hater lives by a simple credo: “If I can’t do it/have it, then you can’t it either.” For my money, no film has ever, or will ever come close to capturing the Hater in all […]
The film that literally starts the discussion of modern black filmmaking, Sweet Sweetback on its most basic level is the story of one brotha on the run from the police. If you know anything about black folks, our history, and our paranoia, you can easily insert the statement/joke, “Well, that’s a movie!” and be done […]
When you start talking about the iconic films of black cinema, it won’t be long before you get to Shaft. Made in 1971, this film stars Richard Roundtree as a black private eye in Harlem who gets dragged into a private war between the Italian mob and the black gangsters of the city. Yes, I […]
Before he became the face of the NBA’s next generation of superstars, LeBron James was a skinny prep school star in Akron. The documentary More Than A Game takes a look at LeBron’s well known relationship with his boys, who over the years have earned their own version of notoriety on a smaller scale. […]
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