Release Date:11/3/21; Netflix Genre:Drama/Western Rating:NR Director:Jeymes Samuel Studio(s): Netflix, Overbrook Entertainment
Cast: Jonathan Majors as Nat Love; Idris Elba as Rufus Buck; Zazie Beetz as Stagecoach Mary; Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill; Delroy Lindo as Bass Reeves; Regina King as Trudy Smith; Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee; Edi Gathegi as Bill Pickett; RJ Cyler as Jim Beckwourth; Deon Cole as Wiley Escoe.
Story:Executive produced by Jay Z, The Harder They Fall begins when outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison. He rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), his right-and-left hand men – hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi), fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler) and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose. Sources: movieweb. IMDB.
Release Date:2/1/21; Sundance Film Festival & 2/12/21; HBO Max Genre: Biography Rating: R Director:Shaka King Studio(s):Bron Creative, MACRO Participant, Warner Bros. Pictures Running Time: 126 mins.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya (Fred Hampton), Lakeith Stanfield (William O’Neal), Jesse Plemons (Roy Mitchell), Dominique Fishback (Deborah Johnson), Ashton Sanders (Larry Roberson), Martin Sheen (J. Edgar Hoover), Algee Smith (Jake Winters), Lil Rel Howery (Brian), Jermaine Fowler (Mark Clark), Darrell Britt-Gibson (Bobby Rush), Robert Longstreet (Special Agent Carlyle).
Story: The story follows the rise and demise of Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) as seen through the eyes of William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), a petty criminal who cut a deal with the FBI to infiltrate the Panthers. O’Neal helped create rifts within the organization, kept tabs on Hampton and, when the time came, drugged the 21-year old activist on the night of the raid, which ultimately led to Hampton being gunned down by officers.
Details: Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced William O’Neal to help them silence him and the Black Panther Party. But they could not kill Fred Hampton’s legacy and, 50 years later, his words still echo…louder than ever.
I am a revolutionary!
In 1968, a young, charismatic activist named Fred Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the slaughter of Black people. The Chairman was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him in the line of fire of the government, the FBI and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outside…and the inside. Facing prison, William O’Neal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. O’Neal takes the deal. Now a comrade in arms in the Black Panther Party, O’Neal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hampton’s fiery message draws him in, O’Neal cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his ultimate betrayal.
Though his life was cut short, Fred Hampton’s impact has continued to reverberate. The government saw the Black Panthers as a militant threat to the status quo and sold that lie to a frightened public in a time of growing civil unrest. But the perception of the Panthers was not reality. In inner cities across America, they were providing free breakfasts for children, legal services, medical clinics and research into sickle cell anemia, and political education. And it was Chairman Fred Hampton in Chicago, who, recognizing the power of multicultural unity for a common cause, created the Rainbow Coalition—joining forces with other oppressed peoples in the city to fight for equality and political empowerment. O’Neal was placed in federal witness protection after his role in the infamous raid was revealed. He reportedly died by suicide in 1990, aged 40. Source(s): msn.com; official site, judasandtheblackmessiah. Com; Wikipedia; Openroad.la; denofgeek.com.
Release Date: 2/14/20; In Theaters Genre: Drama/Romance Rating: PG-13 Director:Stella Meghie Studio(s): Universal; Will Packer Productions Running Time:Unknown Cast: Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield, Chelsea Peretti, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chante Adams, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Y’lan Noel, Courtney B. Vance, Lil Rel Howery, Teyonah Parris.
Details: The Photograph stars Issa Rae as Mae Morton, the estranged daughter of famed photographer Christina Eames. When her mother suddenly passes away, Mae ends up on a journey to learn more about Christina’s life, and finds herself in a romance with Michael Block (LaKeith Stanfield), a journalist who’s writing an article about Christina, along the way.
Story: Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield), a 30-something black telemarketer with self-esteem issues, discovers a magical selling power living inside of him. Suddenly he’s rising up the ranks to the elite team of his company, which sells heinous products and services. The upswing in Cassius’s career raises serious red flags with his brilliant girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), a sign-twirling gallery artist who is secretly a part of a Banksy-style collective called Left Eye. But the unimaginable hits the fan when Cassius meets the company’s cocaine-snorting, orgy-hosting, obnoxious, and relentlessly optimistic CEO, Steve Lift (Armie Hammer). Source: Sundance.org. Photo Source: IMDB.
Release Date:1/21/18; Sundance Film Festival Genre:Drama Rating:NR Director: Joshua Marston Studio(s): Netflix Running time:106 mins. Cast:Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Condola Rashad, Jason Segel, Lakeith Stanfield,
Martin Sheen.
Story:Every Sunday, Bishop Carlton Pearson—evangelical megastar, brilliant orator, and television host with millions of followers—preaches the fundamentalist gospel to six thousand supplicants at his Higher Dimensions Church. He’s the pride and joy of his spiritual father, Oral Roberts, and the toast of Tulsa. One day, rattled by an uncle’s suicide and distraught by reports of the Rwandan Genocide, Pearson receives an epiphany. Suddenly it’s crystal clear—God loves all humankind; everyone is already saved, whether Christian or not; and there is no hell. But these ideas are heretical, violating sacrosanct doctrines.
The next Sunday, when Pearson unveils this theology of inclusion to his flock, shock waves sweep the enormous hall. Church leaders and members begin to defect in droves, and his empire topples. Based on the true story of a controversial and courageous man of God, Come Sunday elegantly and respectfully captures the authentic texture and tone of Pearson’s devout world, never resorting to hyperbole. Source: Sundance.org.
Cast: Dree Hemingway (Nadine), Lakeith Stanfield (Lewis), Robert Wisdom (Roy), Sam Dillon (Myron), Leonard Earl Howze (Doughboy).
Story: Following a devastating loss, Nadine and Lewis retreat to a small Bahamian island where Nadine’s family has kept a house for many years. As they try to heal and move forward with their relationship, the community on the island shows signs of unraveling — with the island’s mayor squaring off against Doughboy, a human trafficker who manipulates the impressionable homeless teenager Myron into assisting with his smuggling operation. Source: Official site.
Black Cinema Connection 