In which we learn that it’s possible to be nostalgic about something yet not remember it as perfect.
Category Archives: Race themes
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
A lightish drama about interracial marriage that came out the same year it became legal nationwide. But is it a good movie?
WITHIN OUR GATES (1920)
The earliest extant movie from a Black director, I found myself getting into it as more than homework.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
This tiny indie movie found the right metaphor for basically all of modern society’s fears and single-handedly spawned a major subgenre that’s lasted until today.
BOYZ N THE HOOD (1991)
John Singleton’s slice-of-life drama about young men dealing with life South Central Los Angeles received wide acclaim and maybe changed Hollywood a little.
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
Sidney Poitier has to solve a murder in a small southern town that hates him. A great social movie but kind of a blah procedural.
CANDYMAN (1992)
More a dream-like, twisted love story than a slasher movie, also there are lots of bees.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN (1996)
Considered the first feature from an African-American lesbian, I found it enjoyable and interesting. Not everyone agreed at the time.
BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
Mel Brooks takes a western pastiche and pushes the boundaries of comedy about racism. Oh, and it’s super funny.
LA NOIRE DE… (1966)
The first film from Sub-Saharan Africa to make a big splash in Europe and the US, its story about the toll of colonization is very relevant even today.
