Category: Movie Reviews

Bernice Stokes (LisaGay Hamilton) is a parole officer in Los Angeles where her job routinely places her in close proximity with the dregs of society. She normally has no reason to associate with such miscreants after hours, being very straitlaced and coming from a solid, middle class background. However, everything changes the day the single-mom’s […]

Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline), inseparable since growing up in Flatbush back in the 1950s, have managed to remain close over the years despite the demands of families and careers. That’s why, when never-married Billy finally decides to tie the knot, the others agree to throw […]

It’s the last day of school for eighth grader Mister Winfield (Skylan Brooks), who comes home to the projects where he lives with his single-mom (Jennifer Hudson), Gloria, a hooker with a heroin habit. His best friend, 9 year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon), isn’t any better off, since his mother (Martha Millan) works out on the […]

Rapper Ja Rule was paroled from prison earlier this year after spending a couple of years behind bars for a weapons violation and tax evasion. In a case of art imitating life, he now stars in a faith-based tale of redemption revolving around a hip-hop producer endeavoring to go straight following his release from jail. […]

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a black man born free in upstate New York in 1808. A skilled carpenter and fiddler, he and his wife (Kelsey Scott) settled in Saratoga Springs where they were raising their children (Quvenzhane Wallis and Cameron Zeigler) when their American Dream turned into a neverending nightmare. For, in 1841, he […]

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is a rugged outdoorsman and family man with deep roots in rural Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Grace (Maria Bello), are raising their kids, 6 year-old Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) and teenage Ralph (Dylan Minnette) in the tiny town of Dover, an idyllic oasis seemingly far removed from big city afflictions. It […]

When we first met Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) in Pitch Black, the notorious criminal had been arrested by a bounty hunter and was being transported to prison when the spaceship encountered a comet and had to make a crash-landing on an uncharted planet. He escaped, and proceeded to elude his captors in a gruesome […]

Winnie Mandela (Jennifer Hudson) is a controversial figure in the annals of South African history. For not only was she the first wife of freedom fighter-turned-President Nelson Mandela (Terrence Howard), but she was also convicted of ordering numerous human rights violations. At the height of the anti-apartheid movement, she headed a goon squad which doled […]

It’s November 4, 2008, and Brooklyn is bristling with anticipation about the impending election returns to see whether or not Barack Obama will be the nation’s first African-American president. But the magic of the moment is pretty much lost on John aka MC Wordsmith (Dorian Missick), James aka Jay-V (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Terry aka DJ […]

Theo (Ryan Reynolds) is routinely ridiculed by his friends for entertaining what they see as the impossible dream of one day competing in the Indianapolis 500. Even his brother, Chet (Paul Giamatti), suggests that, “The sooner you accept the reality of your existence, the happier you’ll be.” After all, Theo is just your garden variety, […]

Move over Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Steve Harvey and Katt Williams, the hottest black comic around right now is Kevin Hart. The diminutive, 5’ 2” funnyman has skyrocketed to the heights of showbiz ladder lately, making myriad memorable performances on both TV and film. This year on TV alone, he’s hosted Saturday Night Live and launched […]

Richard Williams was born and raised in Shreveport, La., where he was left traumatized by having a railroad spike driven through his leg for refusing to behave deferentially towards a gang of white racists. Understandably, that experience played a significant role in shaping the youngster into the highly-ambitious and fiercely-overprotective father he would later become. […]