Posts Tagged ‘racism’
Monster’s Ball (2001)Thursday, February 18th, 2010 |
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Hank Grotowski is a prison guard. He works with his son, Sonny, and lives at home with his racist father, Buck. Lawrence Musgrove has just been executed and a horrible tragedy has happened at home. Now, Hank has just met Leticia, a young black woman struggling to make ends meet and they quickly fall in love to ease each other’s pains. If only he knew that Leticia is Musgrove’s widow… |
Hoodlum (1997)Thursday, February 18th, 2010 |
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The film focuses on the war of two gangs in 1930s Harlem for the control of illegal gaming – one headed by black strategic godfather Bumpy Johnson and another by white ruthless hothead Dutch Schultz. Negotiations proposed by white syndicate boss Lucky Luciano never get under way, blood flows and Johnson gets jailed. When Johnson is paroled, he gets the work of enforcer for mighty Stephanie “The Queen” St. Clair. She is also jailed for racketeering and when she leaves she makes him promise “no violence”. |
Festen (1998)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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The Father turns 60. His family, which is a big one of the kind, gathers to celebrate him on a castle. Everybody likes and respects the father deeply…or do they? The Youngest Son is trying to live up to The Father’s expectations. He is running a grill-bar in a dirty part of Copenhagen. The oldest son runs a restaurant in France, while the sister is a lawyer. The older sister has recently committed suicide and the father asks the oldest son to say a few words about her, because he is afraid he will break into tears if he does it himself. The oldest son agrees without arguments. Actually he has already written two speeches. A yellow and a green one. By the table, he asks the father to pick a speech. The father chooses green. The oldest son announces that this is the Speech of Truth. Everybody laughs, except for the father who gets a nervous look on his face. For he knows that the oldest son is about to reveal the secret of why the oldest sister killed herself. |
Crash (2004)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more. |
Falling Down (1993)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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William (D-FENS) just wants to get home to see his daughter on her birthday. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be going right for him. First there’s the traffic jam, then the unhelpful Korean shopkeeper who “doesn’t give change”. D-FENS begins to crack and starts to fight back against the every day “injustices” he encounters on his journey home. The film has a story running in parallel about a desk-bound cop who is about to retire. He’s retiring for his wife’s sake, and obviously isn’t happy about it. The cop tracks down D-FENS and in the final scene….. |
Guess Who (2005)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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A sarcastic father (Mac) has plenty to say about his daughter wanting to marry a white boy (Kutcher). |
Enemy Mine (1985)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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Friday Night Lights (2004)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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Odessa, Texas, is a small, town in Texas. Racially divided and economically dying, there is one night that gives the town something to live for: Friday Night. The Permian Panthers have a big winning tradition in Texas high school football, led by QB Mike Winchell and superstar tailback Boobie Miles, but all is not well, as Boobie suffers a career-ending injury in the first game of the season. Hope is lost among citizens in Odessa, and for the team, but Coach Gary Gaines, who believes that “Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down”, is somehow able to help the team rise up from the ashes and make a huge season comeback. Now on their way to state, the Panthers must go out and be perfect, because they may never matter this much for the rest of their lives. |
The Sopranos (1999)Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
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An innovative look at the life of fictional Mafia Capo Tony Soprano, this serial is presented largely first person, but additional perspective is conveyed by the intimate conversations Tony has with his psychotherapist. We see Tony at work, at home, and in therapy. Moments of black comedy intersperse this aggressive, adult drama, with adult language, and extreme violence. |
The Closet (2001)Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 |
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François Pignon, a very bland sort of man who works as an accountant in a rubber factory, is about to be fired. His new neighbour comes up with an idea to prevent such a thing to happen: he spreads the rumor that he’s gay so that the factory management might be afraid they’ll be sued for sexual discrimination. Of course, nothing happens as it should, but the changes in François Pignon’s life -and other people’s too- is drastic ! |
Hart’s War (2002)Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 |
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Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous eye of the Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero’s resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country. |
Strange Days (1995)Friday, December 4th, 2009 |
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Ex-vice cop, Lenny Nero, is a loser who deals in VR clips – captured straight from the cerebral cortex – who uncovers that some things are not as they should be. Lenny keeps trying to protect old girlfriend Faith, a punk-rock singer, from her manager – and current boyfriend – the shady Philo Gant. Lenny’s hooker friend is brutally murdered – and the killer records his rape-kill and sends it to Lenny. Lenny must figure out who killed her, protect Faith, and come to terms with his life… |
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)Friday, June 5th, 2009 |
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An accident on the Klingon moon Praxis forces the reluctant Klingon Empire into a peace treaty with the Federation. Kirk, despite his mistrust of the Klingons after they murdered his son at Genesis, is forced to escort a Klingon cruiser carrying the Klingon Chancellor to Earth for the meetings. During the voyage the Klingon cruiser is attacked, and Kirk & McCoy are taken prisoner after the Chancellor is murdered by two Starfleet crewmen. Spock immediately begins an investigation, while Kirk & McCoy are sentenced to life on Rura Penthe – a deep-frozen asteroid. Spock, meanwhile, has discovered that a Klingon Bird of Prey – one that can fire when cloaked, and under the command of Kingon General Chang – is the ship responsible for firing on the Chancellor, and the 2 assassins came from the Enterprise. A rescue of Kirk & McCoy is successful, after which they discover a conspiracy among Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan officials whose plan is to incite a full-blown war! The Enterprise & Excelsior – under the command of Hikaru Sulu – head for a deadly rendezvous with General Chang at the peace summit to prevent war from breaking out…but will they be too late? |
Cry Freedom (1987)Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 |
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Donald Woods is chief editor at the liberal newspaper Daily Dispatch in South Africa. He has written several editorials critical of the views of Steve Biko. But after having met him for the first time, he changes his views. They meet several times, and this means that Woods and his family get attention from the security police. When Steve Biko dies in police custody, he writes a book about Biko. The only way to get it published is for Woods himself to illegally escape the country. |
Finding Forrester (2000)Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 |
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Jamal Wallace is an inner-city kid from the Bronx who has an aptness at basketball and a genius at writing. While always a C student, Jamal comes to the attention of a prestigious New York prep school when he scores highly on his standardized tests. While Jamal is given a heavy load at his new school, both he and the school know that the real reason they took him on is for his prowess on the court. Befriended by fellow student Claire and helped along by Pulitzer-prize winning author and recluse William Forrester, Jamal pursues his dreams both on and off the court while overcoming obstacles placed by his bitter literature teacher. As Jamal is shaped by Forrester, he finds that he is changing the old writer as well, forcing him to confront his past…and his future. Search keywords |
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 |
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Joey Drayton brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice, home to sunny San Francisco to meet her affluent parents. Their liberal persuasions are now put to the test, for although the young man is an ideal choice (he’s highly and internationally respected in the medical field, and he’s impeccably mannered, handsome, well dressed and of a respectable California family), he’s black. The film, which covers one busy day in the Drayton home, is essentially a drawing-room comedy, a series of cross-conversations between the young doctor and the girl’s parents, and finally between all sets of parents and offspring. A simple dinner is extended to include the doctor’s parents, who fly up from Los Angeles for the evening, and the crusty but benevolent old Irish priest, a friend of the family. Thus, the title of the film . . . Search keywords |
Girl, Interrupted (1999)Monday, May 4th, 2009 |
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Susanna is rushed to the hospital. Afterwards she discusses this with a psychiatrist. She had been having some delusions. She had also been having an affair with the husband of her parents’ friend. The doctor suggests that combining a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of vodka was a suicide attempt. This she denies. He recommends a short period of rest at Claymoore. Claymoore is a private mental hospital full of noisy, crazy people. Georgina is a pathological liar. Polly has been badly scarred by fire. Daisy won’t eat in the presence of other people. Lisa is a sociopath, the biggest exasperation for the staff – like Nurse Valerie – and the biggest influence on the other girls in the hospital. Lisa has a history of escapes, so gaining access to personal medical files is not a problem… Susanna’s boyfriend Toby is concerned that she seems too comfortable living with her institutionalized friends… |
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 |
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It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal “Easy” Rawlins, an African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work. At his friend’s bar, he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright, who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA’s Black community. This woman, Daphane Monet, happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy “blue blood,” Todd Carter, who is currently the favorite in the city’s mayoralty race. Daphane Monet is known to frequent the Black jazz clubs in LA. Easy, innocently, accepts Albright’s offer; however, he quickly finds himself amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums. This is a Chandler-esque “who-done-it” with an African-American theme. |
The Defiant Ones (1958)Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 |
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Joker Jackson and Noah Cullen are two convicts on a chain gang who hate each other. After a truck prison accident, they flee and are pursued by the police. While they’re chained, the two are dependent on one another. When they eventually get rid of their chains, their hostility has been changed into fellowship and respect. |
Always Outnumbered (1998)Friday, March 13th, 2009 |
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An ex-con moves to L.A. to find work and creates a disturbance by fighting for a position. More importantly he touches the lives of many of his neighbors including an older man dying of cancer, a young married couple whose husband is too proud to accept a lesser position which causes strife with his wife, and a young boy on the verge of getting in trouble with street gangs. |



















