“Beasts of No Nation” is a 2015 Netflix film based on Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel about a boy who becomes a child soldier. Set in an unnamed West African country, a violent civil war is being fought between the military and rebel groups. Agu (Abraham Atta) is a small boy from a loving tight-knit family living in a village that is in the path of the approaching armies. When the fighting spreads to his village it is destroyed and his family torn apart, Agu flees in search of safety but instead finds himself drafted to fight in a rebel group under the Commandant (Idris Elba).
Category: <span>Movie Reviews</span>
“When the Levees Broke” is a 2006 Spike Lee documentary about the impact of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans. Residents of the city explain the events and their experiences leading up to, during, and after the hurricane made landfall. The film also explores the government’s preparation and response or lack thereof and its impact in the wake of this natural disaster.
“A Time to Kill” is a 1996 film based on a book by John Grisham that takes place in a relatively small community in Mississippi. A courtroom drama, “A Time to Kill” follows the case of a Black man who is on trial for murdering two racist White men who viciously attacked and raped his daughter. Needing legal representation, he seeks the help of a local lawyer with a struggling law practice. The pair face off against a prosecutor who is hoping to use the case to advance his career and the murdered men’s supporters who are seeking revenge for their deaths.
“Free Angela and All Political Prisoners” is a 2013 documentary directed by Shola Lynch about the events that led to Angela Davis’ arrest and prosecution. Davis was a college professor in California whose social activism put her at odds with various politicians, including the state’s then-governor, Ronald Regan. When associates of Davis created a hostage situation, she was implicated as being involved after the situation left four people dead. The hostile climate and looming accusations led to Davis going on the run and would land her on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
“Lean on Me” is a 1989 film about Joe Clark, a high school principal who was put in charge of a school that was underperforming academically while also struggling with multiple other issues. Morgan Freeman stars as Clark, a fictionalized version of the real-life principal of Patterson, New Jersey’s Eastside High School. In the 1980s, Clark gained notoriety for the disciplined and almost tyrannical methods that he used in an attempt to turn the school around.