Starring: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp Director: D. W. Griffith Full of youthful idealism, a young Buddhist (Barthelmess) leaves China for London, hoping to convert people to his peaceful religion. But life in Limehouse, one of the poorer parts of the city, leaves him disillusioned and he starts to smoke opium. When he sees… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: Broken Blossoms (1919)
Starring: Tommy Lewis, Freddy Reynolds, Angela Punch McGregor Director: Fred Schepisi Jimmie Blacksmith (Lewis) is half Indigenous Australian and half white, and is raised by a clergyman and his wife to be "civilised". To them, he's the poster child for their ideas of assimilation and how the life of the Indigenous Australian can be improved.… Continue reading Australian Movie Month: The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Starring: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Diane Cilento Director: Martin Ritt John Russell (Newman) inherits some property and heads out to claim it. He's a quiet man, rough and direct, and he's disliked and distrusted because he was raised by Native Americans. But when the stage coach he's travelling back on comes under threat… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: Hombre (1967)
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier Director: Spike Lee In the 1970's in Colorado, Ron Stallworth (Washington) is a young black cop who is initally sent to the basement records room and faces the everyday racism of his colleagues. But when he makes it out of the basement and into the undercover crimes… Continue reading BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Starring: Mahershala Ali, Viggo Mortensen, Linda Cardellini Director: Peter Farrelly In the 1960's, a racist Italian bouncer Tony (Mortensen) takes on a job driving Dr Don Shirley, a black classical musician, on tour through the American South. While initially complete opposites, the two find their time together eye opening, and a friendship slowly develops between… Continue reading Green Book (2018)
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates Director: Norman Jewison There's a murder of a wealthy white man in a small Southern town. The local cops arrest a black man they come across who seems suspicious. He's not doing anything wrong, but he's black and he has money in his wallet, which is enough evidence… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
In a small town in Missouri, Mildred (McDormand) takes out advertising on three billboards that ask the local police chief why there have been no arrests in the case of the rape and murder of her daughter. It’s a small act of defiance, and yet it has some big repercussions.
From the writer/director of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh, it’s a fine return to form for a man whose films tend to have serious tones, violence and yet also humour and some heart felt moments. Taking on the subject of small town America, of incompetent police, dysfunctional family relationships and of course, the deep sadness of losing a child to violence, this film could have been a very different story in the hands of someone else. Because whilst it explores the grief of Mildred, it focuses on her strength and her ability to act, her toughness and…
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Starring: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland Director: Alan Crosland Jakie (Jolson) the son of Jewish Cantor, finds himself cast out of his family when he has to choose between following his fathers footsteps or his love of jazz music and his desire to perform. Whilst he slowly finds fame, his dream of being reunited… Continue reading 105 Must Watch Movies: The Jazz Singer (1927)
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore Perhaps the weirdest Disney film I've seen in a while, this film is a anthropomorphic buddy cop movie about the dangers of racism, sexism and profiling. Whilst it's often hilariously funny, the message on the whole is highly political, and it's incredibly easy to… Continue reading Zootopia (2016)
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