The religious overtones of JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH come towards the end of this searing examination of racial politics during the 1960s. And when they arrive, in a sequence that is most assuredly a shout-out to the Last Supper, director/co-writer Shaka King has earned the right, and then some, to invoke the metaphor. The… Read More »
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO — Raoul Peck Interview
As we were settling down to talk, Raoul Peck asked me about the name of my web site, KillerMovieReviews.com. When I told him it was a nod to the fact that I take no prisoners when it comes to bad movies, he laughed and said that was exactly the resolve with which he went into… Read More »
AGENTS OF CHANGE — Ramona Tascoe and Abby Ginzberg Interview
When Ramona Tascoe arrived at San Francisco State in the 1960s, she was brought up short by the African-American students she met there who were wearing Afros and dashikis. As she told me when we talked on May 5, 2016, those same students were not shy about telling her what they thought of her emulating… Read More »
W. Kamau Bell Loves THE LAST DRAGON and You Should, Too.
W. Kamau Bell, comedian, podcaster, broadcaster, writer, host of the late-lamented Totally Biased, and soon to be co-host of CNN’s United Shades of America, has proven himself a savvy connoisseur of cinema. Aside from the obvious entertainment value of a film, he is a student, and a fan, of the subtext of films that might… Read More »
THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION — Stanley Nelson
When Stanley Nelson started working on THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION, it was seven years ago and he thought the history of that movement was particularly relevant to those times. In 2015, he thinks it’s even more relevant. When I spoke to him on October 1, 2015, the echoes of the Panther movement in… Read More »