‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’...

The recent film release, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” by Marielle Heller, is based on the Esquire magazine article, “Can you say..Hero?” that award-winning journalist Tom Junod wrote in 1998 about Fred Rogers. The newly released films shows how two polar opposites, an empathic Mister Rogers and a cynical writer, become friends

Red Carpet

This week on Red Carpet, Jay-Z hosts his inaugural Shawn Carter Foundation Gala, two “Black Panther” actors starring in new films, and who is this year’s pick for People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive?” Also, queen of Afro-zouk music Monique Seka joins us in studio

How Harriet Advances the Slavery Narrative...

Feature films on slavery have been part of Hollywood since the beginning of the film industry in United States. However, only recently, movies on slavery have been told from the perspective of the slaves, and now, with the film “Harriet” from the perspective of a female slave

Hollywood Movies Reflecting Changes in How...

East Asian characters have been a part of Hollywood since the silent film era. But the portrayal of Asian and especially Chinese characters in the history of U.S. movies has been described as problematic by many film scholars. This is changing — not only have Asian characters evolved over time, so have movie-going audiences

How to Succeed in Hollywood as...

The Hollywood film industry is hard for anyone to break into. There may be a few more hurdles if you are a woman and Muslim. One filmmaker found success both in Hollywood and in her own community

After Some Blockbusters, Have Black Films...

2018 was a year of box office successes and awards of artistic recognition for black films. Marvel’s action flick “Black Panther” introduced the first black superhero lead actor and grossed over a billion dollars domestically and internationally. Other films with black leading characters also did well with audiences and critics. Do these distinctions signal that …

Continue reading “After Some Blockbusters, Have Black Films Entered Hollywood Mainstream?”