Monday, February 25, 2008

Top 50 Black Films 50 - 41


Aol Black Voices have compiled a list of the top 50 Black Films of all times. I will provide ten of the movies everyday this week. Providing them ten at a time is not my idea, Black Voices powers that be made this decision. As I looked at 50 - 41 I was not in total agreement with the positions of some of the movies already, however I will wait to provide my commentary when the final ten movies have been revealed. So here are the first ten.

50. House Party - The first installment of the rap group Kid and Play movies. I thought this was a fun film, which included a lot of up and coming stars, such as Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, and A. J. Johnson to name a few.

49. The Pursuit of Happyness - I would have thought that this movie would have been higher on the list. The film showcased Will Smith's sensitivity and I really liked how he and his real life son Jaden played off of each other.

48. Menace To Society - I did not love this film when it was released because it seemed to glorify gang violence. This film marked the breakthrough of Larenz Tate as "Ole Dog", a ruthless street thug.

47. Jackie Brown - Love him or hate him, Quentin Tarentino had a winner in this one. The dialogue between the characters was real, though sometimes objectionable. My favorite scene is when Ordell Robie comes to kill Jackie Brown and she gets the drop on him...Classic!

46. Madea's Family Reunion - Tyler Perry seem to have locked in on a working formula. This was one of his better ventures in my opinion.

45. Posse - Mario Van Peebles depiction of the old west seem to hit a note with the audience. I was not a fan of this film.

44. Akeelah and the Bee - This feel good movie about perseverance, overcoming obstacles and believing in yourself was one of the best of 2006.

43. Rosewood - The tragic and true story of events that transpired in Rosewood, Florida. This film tapped in to all my emotions.

42. Drumline - This was a pretty good movie about college life. I wouldn't say it was one of the best Black films.

41. Remember The Titans - Denzel turned in a fine performance portraying the football coach of a southern high school recently integrated.

I will get back to you tomorrow with numbers 40 - 31.

2 comments:

X. Dell said...

It's hard for me to comment on anything since I haven't seen the entire list. (I don't know what's been excluded). Guess I'm going to jump the gun and take a peak to see what the perspective of this is.

I don't particularly like top-ten lists because they reflect a consensus opinion, but rather the opposite. I think they're intresting because of what they say about the rater. So far, what it says about the raters is that they're very young, and possibly not that knowledgable about cinematic history. I really wonder if a filmmaker such as Oscar Micheaux will receive any mention at all. I would exepct to see something by Melvin Van Peebles or Gordon Parks on the list further down. But since the first ten are from the 1990s or later, I wouldn't be too surprised if they weren't.

pjazzypar said...

Hi x.dell, while I don't know if Micheaux will make the list. I would not be surprised if further down the line we "Shaft" or "Sweetback". I also expect Spike Lee to crop up a lot later. I am hoping they will go deeper and include some of the films that made black cinema possible.