Otelo Burning set my emotions ablaze! I watched a geographically distant past that became present that ended up as a timeless tale despite the specificity of race, place, and the specific historical backdrop.

This often-quiet film explodes with deep passion igniting memories of the South African apartheid and the perils...

Partly paying homage to Red Hook, Brooklyn, partly a loss of innocence story on many, many levels, partly a commentary on churches across America, Red Hook Summer (2012) thrusts its main character Flick (Jules Brown) and the audience into a hot and confusing summer in the housing projects...

Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild is a superb addition to the recently minted "You Go, Girl" genre.

This vivid and visceral film brings out the theme of racial diversity in an odd but comfortable mix of a natural yet fantastical world of a child's real-life...

While Tanya Wexler's new film Hysteria is at times a LOL-hysterical romantic comedy, it also skillfully navigates important issues about class and medical practices in the 1880s, and takes a good look at women's rights in general.

The story takes place in London and has an interesting...

As a teacher it is my duty to introduce my students to films they have not seen, or in some cases may not want to see. As a teacher I believe it is also my duty to watch the films my students watch, whether I want to see them or...

Congratulations to Ms. Octavia Spencer for winning the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for The Help (2011). I thoroughly enjoyed her on screen passion, humor and audacity. Her irreverence shimmered like glitter, her rage took on an artistic flair, and the relationship she...

Congrats to the Hollywood Foreign Press for giving The Artist the respect and attention it deserves. The film won three awards for Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy (Jean Dujardin), and Best Original Score -- Motion...

Dee Rees' Pariah (2011) could and should be the beginning of the next wave in black American or African-American cinema, but don't let that notion box the film into any specific category or genre. Writer/director Rees offers us contemporary American cinema at its finest. Pariah is the story of a...