Movie » African American Drama Cinema

Spike Lee turns his attention to the high-stakes world of basketball with this charged drama. Jake Shuttlesworth Denzel Washington is serving 15 years for playing a role in the death of his wife. His son Jesus Ray Allen is the best high school basketball player in the country. One week before Jesus must sign a letter of intent to the college of his choice Jake is granted a temporary reprieve. The catch is that the state's governor wants the prodigy to go to his alma mater and is willing to consider commuting Jake's sentence if he can persuade Jesus to go there. When the time comes for Jesus to make a decision both father and son are forced to confront their past and present actions--as a role reversal has taken place during Jake's time in prison that sparks a heated confrontation on the basketball court. Lee's unusual choice to use the music of Aaron Copland an American classical composer for the soundtrack and his concept of pairing it with the national sport of basketball is a contrast that is made even mor

GLORY recounts the bravery of a group of Civil War soldiers often overlooked by history--the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts a troop of free black men who fought to help win liberty for their enslaved brothers. Based on the historical novels ONE GALLANT RUSH by Peter Burchand and LAY THIS LAUREL by Lincoln Kirstein and the letters of Robert Gould Shaw the film follows the youthful Colonel Shaw Matthew Broderick as he takes responsibility for readying these soldiers for battle. Shaw a privileged young Boston Brahman finds the job harder than expected because many of the men balk at taking orders from him. Private Trip Denzel Washington is especially resistant to Shaw's leadership but over time the two come to an understanding as they endure the hardships of the war. On July 18 1863 Shaw volunteers the 54th for the honor of leading the charge against Ft. Wagner a mission that means almost certain death with Trip carrying the regiment's colors into battle. This gritty and realistic vision of the horrors of war is

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After an immediate infatuation the titular "jones" blossoms between a once-bitten Chicagoan woman and a slick spoken-word artist they've got to find a way to maintain their relationship. Screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Spike Lee brings the life of African-American leader Malcolm X an intense Denzel Washington in an Oscar-nominated performance to the big screen in this sprawling epic biographical drama. Born Malcolm Little son of a Nebraska preacher on May 19 1925 he became one of the most militant leaders and charismatic spokesmen of the black liberation movement before his assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21 1965. The film sweeps through his early life as a small-time hustler and thief with his friend Shorty Lee his conversion to Islam in jail and his subsequent life as a controversial spiritual leader and husband of Betty Shabazz Angela Bassett. Malcolm's tragic assassination is presented as a conspiracy of Nation of Islam leaders; the film shows how his philosophy has been realized in the lives of others who have been moved by his words. Filmed with great visual flair by Lee the film is a work of entertainment as much as it is a historical artifact. Washington captures the spiritual conv

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A young black man from Brooklyn leaves his girlfriend and his numbers-running mentor to fight in Vietnam in 1968 only to return three years later to find no welcome and little hope for him and his buddies. Unemployed and desperate he plans and executes an armored car robbery to secure enough "dead presidents" slang for cash to give him a fresh start.

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After a lifetime of being exploited by unscrupulous employers pushed around by sleazy boyfriends persecuted by the police and unable to escape from the undertow of ghetto life by socially approved means a quartet of Angelina women arm themselves to the teeth and bust up banks in this provocative and intriguing social drama.