Movies
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10 Very Black (Non-Spoiler) Reasons to Go See The Photograph
The Photograph, a new black love story starring Issa “Lookin’ Like a Bag of Money” Rae and Lakeith “Can I Measure Your Tree?” Stanfield, comes out in theaters nationwide on Friday, Feb. 14 (also known either as Valentine’s Day or “National I Don’t Celebrate That Commercialized Obligation of Love Day”). I had a chance to…
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And the Skippy Goes To!: The Root's Inaugural The Blackest Awards Winners
What’s up, Black America! Now that the Oscars have come and gone and awards were given to winners and what not and henceforth, it’s time to redirect that energy back into what matters most: celebrating Blackness in all of its Black Excellence Achievement. And that is exactly what we’re doing here with the Skippies. You…
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Ava DuVernay's Nipsey Hussle Doc Lands at Netflix After Major Bidding War
Netflix is taking a victory lap after landing rights to a feature-length documentary about the life of Nipsey Hussle. Streamers including Apple and Amazon are also reported to have vied for the project in an intense bidding war that ended in an eight-figure deal. Ava DuVernay will direct in a collaboration between her ARRAY film…
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Oscars 2020: Matthew A. Cherry Manifests #HairLove Success and Janelle Monáe Welcomes Us to the Neighborhood
It’s the biggest (and whitest) night of film once again and we’re here to give you the scoop. The 92nd Academy Awards marks the conclusion of awards season (but not really because there are at least two big award ceremonies I’ll be attending later this month as Los Angeles loves to pat itself on the…
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Black Movie Fridays: Just Wright Is a Fun Romantic Comedy But It Couldn’t Have Happened in Real Life
I’m one of those people who gets hung up on the little things in movies and television shows. Like, I’ll be sitting in a movie theater minding my business watching some varying level of black cinematic excellence set in 1980-whenever, and an era-specific song will come on to really give you a sense of time,…
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From Kickstarter to Kickin' It At the Oscars: Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver Talk Hair Love
Animation raised me. Yes, I know we all grew up watching Saturday cartoons and animated movies, but those little doodles of Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse shaped my desire to tell stories. I wanted to create animated films. I wanted to be Cree Summer. I wanted to have anything and everything to do with the…
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First Look: Boyz N The Hood Is Now Available on 4K Ultra HD With Bonus Tribute to John Singleton, Who 'Changed Hollywood'
I’ll never forget the day I found out that John Singleton died. I was gallivanting about the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, not realizing that my current location would mean so much more than it already did to a cinephile like myself. Having some idle time on my hands, I scrambled to write up a proper…
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Sneak Peek: Black Canary Knows It's a Man's World but It'll Be Nothing Without a Woman or a Girl in Birds of Prey
In a follow-up to Suicide Squad, D.C. Comics is continuing the saga of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) after her epic split with the Joker as she “joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.” James Brown gave us one of the best lyrics of all…
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After Oprah Backs Out, HBO Max Steps in to Stream Film About Russell Simmons’ Accusers
After Oprah Winfrey and Apple TV Plus backed out of plans to back a documentary film on the women accusing hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct and assault, HBO Max has stepped in, saying it will stream the film on its service that launches in May. As the New York Times reports, this news…
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First Look: The Children Are Our Future In HBO's We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
It’s Black History Month and The Root is here to give you the most adorable inspiration ever. Growing up black meant realizing that the most important speech ever uttered was by a man named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Four words, “I Have A Dream,” would be embedded in the minds of every black kid…