Death Row Records Celebrates ‘Above the Rim’ Deluxe Soundtrack with Exclusive Merch

May 20, 2021June 11, 2021 Jamal Michel

When we all saw Tupac Shakur in Juice in the ‘90s, not only did we pray to never run into someone like Bishop in our own lives, but we learned the range Pac had outside of the studio. ‘90s and early 2000s Black cinema was marked by a particular era of gangster-laden, hip-hop fueled narratives that sometimes hit the mark, with films like Do the Right Thing, Boyz N the Hood, and New Jack City lending various insights into the cinematic representation of Black Consciousness as it was in the ‘90s and later.

Interview, Movies

A Conversation with Toronto Black Film Festival Creator Fabienne Colas

February 23, 2021November 5, 2021 Jamal Michel

On January 19, the ninth annual Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF), presented by TD Bank in collaboration with Global News, announced the official online program and events lineup running February 10-21, 2021. Created by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, TBFF returned for an impactful ninth edition, which amplifies more black voices through a record number of 154 films from 25 countries and various special events.

Literature, Movies, Television

Ava DuVernay’s Collection of Work is Necessary Viewing for Students and Educators Alike

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 Jamal Michel

Six years ago, I was student teaching in Durham under the graduate MAT program at Duke University and was well on my way to perhaps the most fulfilling, demanding, and emotionally draining career path in my life. I like to think I accidentally ended up at the front of the classroom — senior year of high school saw my required community service hours stack up until I could go nowhere else last minute, aside from my neighborhood mosque. As presumptuous as it was, the imam still agreed to have me on board teaching elementary Arabic.

Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies

Hard NOC Life: Foxy Talks to ‘Night School’ Director Malcolm D. Lee

September 28, 2018May 8, 2020 Hard NOC Media

Extra Hard NOC Life this week! Foxy Jazzabelle goes one-on-one with the director of the new hit comedy starring Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart, Malcolm D. Lee!

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Horror, Movies11 Comments

Moonlight and Get Out: Renaissance or Wave?

February 27, 2017February 27, 2017 Shawn Taylor

This has been an amazing ten months for Black cinematic culture. We had Beyoncé’s Lemonade in April 2016. Donald Glover’s Atlanta and Ava Duvernay’s Queen Sugar both premiered on September 6, 2016. Luke Cage’s entire season broke the Internet on September 30. Barry Jenkins’s Best Picture Oscar winning Moonlight dropped October 2016. So did Issa Rae’s Insecure. And then the wicked mind of Jordan Peele unleashed Get Out, this past weekend. There were other films, television shows, videos and the like, but damn. Look at this trajectory. It would be so easy to label this a Black Cinematic Renaissance, but I don’t think I want to be that optimistic.

Continue reading “Moonlight and Get Out: Renaissance or Wave?”