MovieSorter

loading Title loading Tws summary loading Trust ▲ loading Year Viewable
Glory Road
Very Good 66 Points 2006

A fine basketball movie, elevated to true inspiration given that it is about a transcendent moment in American race relations: the first all black team to compete for – and win – the NCAA championship.

Full Review »
He Got Game
Great 66 Points 1998

Spike Lee’s He Got Game serves as an elegy for basketball in America – its cultural transcendence, but also the avariciousness at the upper reaches of the hoops industry. The movie trawls through agents, leeches, homeboys and groupies on the make, each hoping to ride a prime-time player to Eas…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Reel Hoop Stars in Real Life
Foxy Brown
Good 66 Points 1974

A time capsule of 70s stereotypes, Foxy Brown represents a high-water mark for Blaxploitation movies. It’s certainly exploitative, with lots of black thrown in. Well, black as Hollywood often caricatured it during that freewheeling time. “Dyn-o-mite” gets said unironically, for instance. "S…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Foxy Brown statue: Super Bad!
Devil In A Blue...
Great 66 Points 1995

Devil In A Blue Dress is a twofer: a damn good neo-noir movie and an excellent 1940s L.A. period piece, from an African-American POV. Throw in a prime Denzel Washington performance and you’ve got a great movie, one that stands the test of time. Pity they never made a sequel.

Taken from Walte…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Denzel on Devil In A Blue Dress
What Happened, ...
Great 66 Points 2015

Nina Simone’s name and presence had occasionally penetrated my consciousness and always piqued my interest. Happily, this well done documentary finally brought her consequential music and politics alive.

Dubbed the High Priestess of Soul, she was a unique and uniquely transfixing artist, fusin…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Liz Garbus on her Nina Simone doc
Barbershop: The...
Really Great 66 Points 2016

Barbershop: The Next Cut should be a Best Picture contender but won’t be. Not because it’s black, because it’s a comedy. Comedies get no respect from the Academy. Can I get a witness? Somebody?

While LOL funny, Barbershop 3 is not your ordinary comedy. Instead, it bridges several paradoxes…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Cube, Common, Cedric & Nicki, oh my!
Marshall
Great 66 Points 2017

The American hero who almost single-handedly defeated institutional racism personified his unique first name. Lots of Marshalls, just one Thurgood, which is why Marshall is a poor title for this stirring biopic. OTOH, Thurgood sounds like a thoroughly good historical drama about Thurgood Mars…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Thurgood Marshall, American action hero
Uncle Drew
Great 66 Points 2018

Uncle Drew has great timing, both when it hit theaters and how it rolls its comedy. It premiered on-time and on-target: three weeks after the NBA playoffs concluded, just as my basketball jones started to kick in. Plus, it’s populated with proven NBA superstars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Amer…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Original Uncle Drew short films
Amazing Grace
Really Great 66 Points 2018

Aretha Franklin was never even that close to being one of my favorite soul singers. There, I’ve said it.
Diana Ross, Nina Simone & Mavis Staples all found more favor with me than did the Queen of Soul.

That’s now chang…

Full Review »
WikChip Video The most sought-after concert film? Yes!
Devotion
Very Good 66 Points 2022

Devotion is a poorly-titled twofer: a damn good war movie about a Medal of Honor recipient and his heroic squadron, plus a powerful biopic about the Navy’s first black fighter pilot. It’s triply good for reviving these true stories about the sadly overlooked Korean War. All in all, that makes i…

Full Review »
WikChip Image NAVY Fighters in the Korean War