• 0 5 Movies To Watch During Black History Month

    • Film
    • by Hugh Smith
    • 02/25/2015

    What 5 movies would you pick to watch during Black History Month? Shown left to right are Eddie Murphy, Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel (Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone with the Wind (1939) - she was the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar), and Sammy Davis Jr. Film critic Jeff Peterson has his favorites. Read his review to see if you agree or disagree. Overall, his selections make sense. 5 Movies To Watch During Black History Month.

  • 0 Selma the Movie

    • Film
    • by Hugh Smith
    • 12/10/2014

    A movie about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights marches of Selma, Alabama.

  • 0 Black History Month with The Color Purple and Malcolm X

    • Film
    • by Hugh Smith
    • 10/13/2010

      Warner Home Video will celebrate Black History Month 2011 by releasing re-mastered versions of Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple starring Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg. Spike Lee's Malcolm X starring Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett will also be released on Blu-ray Disc for the first time.

  • 0 100 Screen Icons of Black History

    • Film
    • by Hugh Smith
    • 04/11/2007

    100 Black Screen Icons is a new website that spotlights 100 of the most significant black personalities in film and television. You can vote on your favorites in four different categories through June 29, 2007. The new site is sponsored by the United Kingdom Film Council and the BBC. Personalities in the poll are not just the usual suspects... Denzel Washington Halle Berry Ousmane Sembene Oscar Michieux (British actors) Ashley Walters, Sophie Okenodo, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Adrian Lester Amanda Nevill, Director of BFI, a co-sponsor of the site, says: “We believe the 100 Black Screen Icons website will not only promote the cultural and creative importance of black professionals in film and television, but will also inspire young people globally in the future to pursue a career in film and television." "It is our hope that the website will become a definitive guide to black film, as well as an educational learning resource and entertaining medium which can reach a huge range of audiences all over the world." The nominations have been compiled with the help of experts including directors, actors, writers and technical innovators. Nominees come from the U.K., Europe, North America, Africa and the Caribbean. 2018 Update: we removed the link to the site as it may no longer be in operation.

  • 0 Spike Lee Directs Cinema Forward at 50

    • Film
    • by Hugh Smith
    • 03/21/2007

    Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 20, 1957. Spike’s family moved to New York City in 1959 for employment opportunities for his jazz bassist father, Bill Lee. Spike Lee graduated from Morehouse College in 1979, then studied film at New York University. Lee’s 1983 student film, We Cut Heads, was screened at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City as part of the New Directors/New Films Festival. We Cut Heads was also broadcast on public television in 1983-1984. Spike's first successful commercial hit, She’s Gotta Have it, premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival in March, 1986. Lee’s vision is to make realistic movies for and about real African American people that stimulate, provoke, and entertain. His success in films School Daze, Jungle Fever, and Do the Right Thing, have paved the way for other contemporary African American directors, including: Mario Van Peebles - New Jack City, John Singleton - Boyz N the Hood, Matty Rich - Straight out of Brooklyn, and (Lee cinematographer) Ernest Dickerson - Juice. When the Levees Broke, Lee's acclaimed 2006 documentary about Hurricane Katrina, was featured on both HBO and public television. Spike Lee's entire filmography is available at imdb.com.